Saturday, May 16, 2009
16 May - Day 74. Up before dawn the no-see-ums swam as we raise the anchor. Horse flies must not believe in the dictum 'the early bird gets the worm' as they don't swarm us until 0610 hours. Immediately we add four more kills to the score card. The weather thus far has really cooperated with flat seas and calm winds. I've learned to take places with scary names seriously--Ford's Terror in Alaska had us dodging icebergs and whales while being pushed by a 6kt current into the face of a 1000' fjord. Hell's Gate, just south of Savannah, might not have whales, icebergs, or fjords but is a challenge at the best of times. We approach to see a dredge and its equipment spanning the north end. Another thing I've learned is to always call dredges in the ICW. By not doing so last time I put Nellie on a sand bar, for which I got to buy John dinner, and in one fell swoop bruised both my ego and my wallet. Despite the scary name and the dredge we made it through without incident. The last time Nellie stayed on a dock was 5 April in West End, Grand Bahama Island. It was without guilt than that we pulled into Thunderbolt Marine (besides, included with the slip fee is the morning paper and six Crispy Cream donuts!). Dad and Claire join us for a drink aboard before we go for a Mexican dinner. A quick reprovision run to WalMart caps off the evening. 64nm today: 2099nm total. DBH
