On Anchor at St. Simons Island

Our Dinghy

On January 2, 2009 we moved the boat in closer to Gascoigne Bluff, which is near the causeway bridge and directly across from a public dock so we could row to get to shore. We started out with a 5hp Nissan Outboard that came with the boat when we bought it 5 years ago. I never ran the engine and Hil’s dad got it up and running. I put a new prop on the outboard and adjusted the throttle cables but just as soon as I cranked her up the lower oil seal went out and blew oil everywhere.

We also have to register the dinghy if it has an outboard. Florida is particularly picky about this fact. I didn’t like the fact that we would have to carry a third fuel, gasoline, aboard as well. In the end, we decided to drop the outboard off at the house and row the dinghy (JC row your boat ashore….).

Gascoigne Bluff, St. Simons Island

We spent a few days anchored at Gascoigne Bluff taking things off the boat, picking things up we forgot and most importantly running final errands ashore before we headed south. I made sure we had liability insurance on the sailboat. Not too bad- $170/year. It covers us if we plow into someone’s million dollar yacht and it also protects us from ininsured boaters.

We put our mail on hold for pickup. Mom is coming down every few weeks and will forward the mail to us when she can. We settled some account and arranged for the housecleaner and landscaper to maintain the house while we were away.

Frankie G's

We had a final HURRAH! at Frankie G’s diner around the corner from the house to say goodbye to all the friends we’d made in our frequent enjoyment of happy hour (the diner is within walking distance of the house) and then we rowed back to the boat to settle in and prepare to weigh anchor in the morning.