November 19

The engine started this morning and I breathed a sigh of relief. Today we left Georgia behind us and entered Florida. It may have just been psychological, but we immediately felt warmer. Our fuel tank was getting below half so we stopped at Fernandina Harbor Marina for diesel. We put in 27.9 gallons and paid $100.26. The gals managed to go shopping while I was fueling and adding water to our tank. They are so resourceful when an opportunity, however slight, appears. We were off and on our way without delay and made our 50 miles in 7.75 hours. The anchorage for the night was behind a Nassau Sound island near a boat launch. We had used it on the way north last Spring. Although Walt was leading, I asked him to let me take us in off the ICW as the entrance is not properly charted and I knew where to go. The route requires hugging the south shore (within 50 feet). While I was going in, I received a radio call from a boat that wanted to join us, asking about my route in. We had passed him earlier in the day because he had run aground. I am certain he didn't want that experience again. He followed us in and had no problem. That evening, another boat came in, a powerboat, and went past us to anchor. I was reading in the cockpit at the time and looked up to watch. As the man lowered his anchor, it got away from him and swept him off his feet. He lay there for a while and then got up very slowly. His wife came down from the helm station to check on him and complete the process of securing the anchor chain. I yelled across to see if they needed assistance, but they said it was ok. I went back to the cockpit but later noticed that he was still sitting on his bow and his wife appeared to be making a phone call. I again asked if I could help and, this time, they agreed that I might be able to assist them. Of course, our dinghy then had to be launched and the oars gotten out. I rowed over and was told that 911 had been called and that they were on the way. His back was severly bruised, he had fallen on the corner of a deck box. He was in pain but able to move about and there was no evidence of a neck injury and he said he had no heart problems. The paramedics could not take his wife with him to the hospital, so I volunteered to help her get ashore when her son arrived by car at the boat launch. I rowed back to the boat against a sharp current that made it very difficult to reach our boat. I put the engine on the dinghy and waited for her call. While I was waiting, Annette asked me to deliver some baked goods she had made to the Washers. It was a good opportunity to get the engine warmed up for later. On my way to Eagle's Wings, the engine quit and the current was so strong that I abandoned the effort almost in reach of the stern of their boat. Walt got on the phone and was laughing hysterically such that Annette could barely understand what he was saying. Apparently, my efforts to return to Sabbatical aided by the tide were amusing. Anyway, further attempts to start the engine including changing plugs did not work. Walt volunteered his engine and I rowed over once more not knowing that he had taken his dinghy down also. We put his engine on my dinghy and took Mrs. Chisholm to shore. It was getting quite late by this time, so any more attempts at engine repair were postponed until tomorrow.