Day 9 brought to you by Captain Will




The day began at 6:45 with John and I leaving South Carolina for the trip south without our fearless boat owner Shirl. The morning sun peeked over the horizon with promise of beautiful weather and calm water.

Just after going under one of the bridges we noticed something that I know Bob would love to have seen; three tug boats pushing, pulling and steering a barge of pipe followed by another barge with just as many tug boats which went on for what seemed to be ½ a mile a piece.

Later in the morning as we rounded a corner we saw what seemed to be an enormous satellite dome that would only fit something of equal stature. As we drew closer we saw a yacht the size of small city with ten or more small cities yachts. Both John and I sat in awe of the sheer size and styles of the yachts, first thinking it was a builder but with so many different styles we assumed it was a repair yard or retrofitter i.e. Thunderbolt Marine Inc. in Savannah, GA.

One mega-yacht we both liked best was called “Maridome” rumored to be owned by Bruce Willis and Demi Moore.

Now I have heard things in Georgia are big but come on look at the size of this egg, could it be Humpty Dumpty on his way to get his egg fixed at Thunderbolt Marine Inc?

John and I must have been a little tired because we thought we saw a tug boat pushing a whole marina including the office and several boats, some were going backward, then we realized the tug was tied to a dock and the tide was running hard making it appear that the dock was moving. I do not know about John but that was one of those “how stupid could I be moments”.

John and I were given another reminder today to be safe and watch where you are going. You have seen in previous posts several boats that were sunk for reasons unknown to us, which serves to be a subtle reminder that Mother Nature is in charge and/or someone was "asleep" at the wheel. Carelessness can cost. Hopefully no one paid the ultimate price.

After drooling over the mega-yachts, we became unaware of our surroundings until we heard a "horn from Hell" that brought us back to reality, only to see a cargo laden container ship bearing down on our stern, less than a block away. Will's frantic words to John were "STOMP ON IT!"

We made great time today passing thru the south end of South Carolina thru all of Georgia and into Florida where we sit now in Jacksonville Beach Florida. Tomorrow we continue the journey to Daytona Beach and points south.