6/11/2016 Back on board in Fernandina Beach

The clocks were set back last night so we had a second extra hour in bed (the first one was last week when we left the UK). The last few days have been busy for us, getting Tumi ready for sailing again. The coppercoat has been sanded back a bit to expose the copper again, the engine and generator have been serviced, the sails are back on and furled, the sprayhood is in place and the interior no longer looks like a scene from a disaster movie. We are getting a state of order back into the boat. Today we will put the bimini back on, and then test out the new dinghy and outboard. We sold the old outboard yesterday too - a bit of a bonus as we could have been left carting it around for quite a while waiting for someone to buy it, and space is always at a premium! The initial provisioning has been done, America is SO expensive for foodstuffs and supplies, I wouldn't want to have to shop here all the time, especially with the pound being so weak, but we have to eat so what choice do we have?

Amelia Island where the boatyard is was hit pretty hard by Hurricane Matthew and there was a tidal surge that wrecked the municipal marina in the heart of Fernandina town. The boatyard office was two feet underwater but Tumi was high and dry in her cradle. Having looked over the boat, we are both very relieved to see that there was no storm damage from Matthew, a couple of pins were shaken loose from the safety rails but we replaced those with some new ones and we are in good shape. The sails went on much easier than last time, which probably means we know what we are doing now (phew!) and we hadn't forgotten how to do it. The dinghy arrived shrink wrapped and was soon inflated, the outboard wasn't as heavy as expected and we had that on the transom sharpish, added the oil as required and all we needed then was some fuel. It gave me a chance to read the manual to see how the thing works, all very different from the last one.

One thing has struck us very quickly, how friendly the sailing community is, we have been offered rides to supermarkets and gas stations and have been made to feel very welcome. That's why we keep coming back to sailing, that and the lovely warm temperatures!

We are heading out from the marina today up the inlet to Cumberland Island, home of the Carnegie family where we will anchor overnight, then sail down to St Augustine where we will stay for three nights or more.