Just about a month later, we are back on the water in Brunswick. This time we arrived with our good friend, Jim Garfunkel, and a few "necessities" that we've learned will greatly improve the quality of life on the boat.
Jim was a tad surprised that we managed to fill his car with stuff before leaving Minneapolis since we had told him that the boat was already packed to overflowing ... but that didn't prevent us from bringing Dan's guitar and my sewing machine. With 3 drivers, we opted to drive straight through to GA, something we haven't done in many years (for good reason!). We left MN around 11am and arrived in Savannah 24 hours later, in time to go to lunch with Craig and watch the US/Ghana World Cup soccer game in AC comfort at his place.
Addition #1: Honda2000i generator. Thanks to Tim Ryan, we encountered an offer too good to pass up! Now we shouldn't have to be such "amp misers" when at anchor.
Addition #2: Air conditioner. I really thought we'd be able to do without one of these, but if you check the weather from Florida to Maryland, you'll understand the change in priorities! Plus, now that we have a generator, we figured we needed something big to run. We spent one night on the boat in GA heat and humidity, then learned from a dockmate that we could get a small AC (5 amps) at Home Depot for $99, so off we went ... taking advantage of having Jim's car in Brunswick.
Considering that the heat index today is 110, and it feels like a blast furnace outside, we consider the AC unit to be a very good investment! We don't even care that we're not sure where we are going to store it when it comes out of the companionway (which is how we enter and exit the boat). Dan and Jim made a good team in constructing an easy way to insert the AC unit ... and still have room to climb over it when needed. It's been a wonderful addition to our marine home! We sleep better ... the refrig runs better ... and now there's a cool place to escape the GA heat and humidity.
Last item of business is food shopping, and then we'll be in good shape to shove off. It looks like we'll have a decent weather window from Tues (6/29) to Thursday (7/1), so our fingers are crossed that we'll get to Southport or Wrightsville Beach in NC. Our goal is to reach Washington DC before Jim has to return to MN (~July 26).
Time to say goodbye to our favorite dockmates, Chris and Karen, who are leaving their boat in BLM until September while they return to their home in Houston. Not only fun to hang with during happy hour, they have been a great source of information as we plotted our course north.
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