Feasting with Strangers

Wrong turn, for sure

Only a short trip north (what the heck were we doing going North???) from Amelia Island, the St. Mary's, Georgia, anchorage is a tough one; cross currents and tides can make for tricky situations even for well-seasoned sailors.  When we arrived, the anchorage was fairly crowded, so we had to motor around and around checking out likely spots to throw the anchor.  We ended up setting and resetting anchor four times; quirky place.  Especially quirky was the fact that a whole boat was sitting underwater with its mast above water right in the middle of the anchorage.  Creepy, actually.

Weird to think there's a whole boat under there

When we settled, we took the dinghy ashore to get the lay of the land and find out where the feast was going to be held.  This wonderful community of folks on land and boats  throw this big Thanksgiving feast every year for those cruisers who can't be with their families while on their way South.  

Got word that there was going to be a meet-and-greet the first night, as well as the big feast the next day.  Argh!  We wanted to go, but had been asked to bring a dish to share and I wasn't ready.  So it was back to the boat where I made another salad, a good standby for sure.

Beautiful waterfront park in St. Mary's, GA

Back on shore and after a quick spin about town, we met up with a young family that Elliott had befriended and spent some time chatting with them at the get together.  They're currently refurbishing a 65-foot boat and hope to be sailing her by the Spring.  Mom, Dad, and four children; they will have a fantastic time.  They're adventurers already, having driven down this way from Alaska in a camper.  Their boat is going to be a dream.  The dad so reminded me of a good friend of ours; uncanny resemblance.

We told them of our plans to get to Cumberland Island the day after Thanksgiving and they said they might come over on their dinghy.

The next morning, Gary left early by dinghy to help with the Thanksgiving feast set up.  Not an hour after he left, the captain of a nearby vessel, Azimuth, came over by dinghy and said that we had had a near collision with their boat while swinging on anchor.  I had been making the food for the meal and did not notice a thing.  He introduced himself as Brian and suggested that we make another anchor change.  Man, would this ever stop?  I did not like this anchorage at all, beautiful as it was; now I understand the boat sunk in the anchorage and another deserted after it had washed ashore. 

We tried to call Gary a bzillion times, but no answer.  We were feeling frantic because neither Elliott nor I felt we had the skills needed to make the decision to move the boat or actually move and re-anchor the boat.  We finally got on the radio and asked whether someone was close enough to shore to get him.  Took a while, but he finally received the message.  We also received offers of help from others, but I didn't feel the situation was that dire, so we waited until Gary finally showed up.  We made a small change and that seemed to comfort the owner of the other boat.  AND Gary is now asked to keep his phone ringing loud when he's away from us, especially with the dinghy.

Then we attended the Thanksgiving feast, which was awesome; so much food, so many varieties of foods (even healthy ones), and the desserts were out of this world.  Met some groovy people, too, including an older man who stood in line with us named John, another guy who solo circumnavigated around the world both ways (and who also bicycles, kayaks, canoes, unbelievably long trips), and then we met formally the captain of Azimuth and his family.  When he found out who Gary was, he treated him like a rock star because of the insurance affiliation.  They had just transferred to IMIS because nothing else quite compared for their standards.  Our kid had run off to play at the park with their kids during this time and a fast friendship had already been formed.

 Elliott stayed over at their boat for hours listening to music, talking, and playing games.  He brought the friends to our boat; Dillon and Neve spent some time with us and I could see why he was enjoying his time with them so much.  These kids had been living on a boat and sailing the world for four years with their parents.  They had been places I'd never heard of and were sparkly in conversation and personality.

We had plans to leave early in the morning to scoot over to Cumberland Island, and so the kids had to hope we'd cross paths again soon.  Elliott was very sad not to get more time with them, but since we all were heading South, things looked good for another meetup down the waterway.