Christmas in Brunswick - Dec 2010

Brunswick Landing Marina is definitely one of those spots that boaters refer to as a "velcro" marina ... meaning that once you stop there, you tend to stick around!  Our original plans had us heading south with Chris and Karen (s/v Synergy) who crossed to the Bahamas today, or with Greg and Janice (s/v Glenice) who'll spend Christmas in Miami ... oh well ... now, we're just hopeful that we'll catch up with them someplace in 2011!  This first year of living aboard Maja has taught us why the slogan "a sailor's plans are etched in jello" is ohhhh soooo true!

Our best holiday news is that our good friend, Jim Garfunkel, is coming to Brunswick to spend Christmas week with us.  That definitely added a huge dose of warmth to our Christmas spirit as this will be our first holiday away from MN where we'll sorely miss the comfort of being around life-long friends, family, and especially James and Michelle. Jim is a natural boater, so he's game for any of our 3 plans during his visit: if the weather is great, we'll start moving the boat south into Florida; if the weather cooperates, we'll take a short trip down to Cumberland Island and St Marys and test out the new autopilot; if the weather totally sucks, we'll jump in the car and go to Savannah (Craig -- Michelle's boyfriend -- is letting us use his car and apartment while he and Michelle are back in MN for Christmas).  We figure that having multiple plans is our antidote to seldom following our original plan!

It also brightened our holiday to be in Savannah when Craig returned from a 6-month deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan.  Michelle drove down from her home in Loveland OH to meet him, and she came and picked us up in Brunswick so all 3 of us could be there to greet him when he landed at 2:30 a.m.!  We stayed up until sunrise toasting his safe return, both cheering and crying over the experiences of war.

Craig (aka Captain Nelson, Platoon Leader, C Company)

Craig, Michelle, and Molly!

Life in the marina has been fun as we've reunited with several people that we meet last year and connected with this summer at their home ports in the Chesapeake area.  Everyone seems to return to Brunswick (hence the well-deserved velcro reputation), and it is very nice to have developed a new community of friends who feel like home to us.

We've managed to whittle down our list of boat projects, making progress towards being able to leave here in January.  The biggest addition to Maja is the new autopilot ... our beloved "3rd crew member" who helps automatically maintain our course while underway (think about how much you love cruise control on your car!).  The autopilot connects to the helm (our steering system) and has a controller box and belt that maintains the course we set ... look, mom, no hands!  Gotta love having additional crew on board who never complains or needs to be fed or asks to be relieved when it's cold and rainy outside!

Of course, going from the box to the finished product is never easy ...

First, remove the old autopilot.

Second, sort all the parts for the new one.

Third, the wiring had to be upgraded (of course!)

And it's never easy working in small, tight spaces.

You rock Capt Dan! 

Now, all that's left is to try this baby out!  Right now, there are restrictions on sailing in the Brunswick channel because they are filming the next X-Men movie in our own back yard (so to speak). 

We've finally located a motor lift that will fit on our stern -- we'll use the motor lift when raising the motor from the dinghy to where it is stored on our stern rail.  If the autopilot was our Christmas gift to Dan, then the motor lift was our Christmas gift to me!  It's not a good idea to tow the dinghy behind the boat when we are underway (it is our 2nd car after all), and for security reasons, we should raise the dinghy/motor every night in the Bahamas.  The dinghy is easily raised via the davits (off the back of the boat), but the davits are not strong enough to raise both the dinghy and our monster 15hp, 4-stroke motor, that weighs over 100 lbs.  After heaving that beast aboard by a rope (and block on the mizzen boom - on the 2nd mast) on a regular basis this summer (since Dan has to be down in the dinghy to unhook the motor and push up while I pull), I resolved to either get a motor lift or add a strong cabin boy to our crew!  

And, we believe we've eliminated the mouse that took up residence in our boat as the weather turned from warm and sunny to bitterly cold in the last few weeks.  That nasty little varmint kept a low profile and only left us little tell-tale nibbles on random packaging to let us know we were not alone.  Seldom a dull moment aboard Maja!

All-in-all, the end to a very good year.  We've been able to watch storm after storm dump several feet of snow on MN on the weather channel and through pictures sent by James of our cars buried in snow at his house! Lovely to watch from afar, but something we don't miss ... even though as we were watching MN blizzards, we were freezing on the boat as the temps dropped into the teens and the gale force winds rocked Maja like crazy. Thankfully, we were securely tied to the dock (with double dock lines)!

As we dream about a new year of sailing adventures, it's our sincere wish that all your dreams come true as well. 

Peace.

P.S. 

One last thought .... When we left MN, one of my biggest fears was that cruising would be lonely. 

Brunswick Landing Marina was full of surprises with all the wonderful new people we met this year who not only embraced us so warmly and extended so much help and friendship our way, but also provided us with buddy boaters during the summer and home ports to visit ... Clyde and Sherri, Earl, Ed and Connie, Bob and Sue, Karen and Chris, Ann and Lynn, Art and Mary Jane, Bill and Carol, Keith and Terry, Greg and Janice...not to mention the TowBoatUS captains who have so graciously come to our rescue - more than once!). 

My heart is also overflowing with thanks to our kids and long-time friends who helped make our first year aboard so memorable.... it takes a village ...

• Craig Nelson ... Jan and Feb would have been such a drag had you not shared your Savannah home. And St. Patricks Day in Savannah was a 4-day celebration.  What an experience!
• James Knowland and Ryan Bruns ... March.  Our first sail of the year.  Ryan's first time on a sailboat! Anchored out under a full moon.  This is why we sail!
• Robert Ewing... April.  Our first offshore sail to Cumberland Island! Our first real adventure of 2010!
• Michelle Knowland ... May.  2nd time on the boat with Craig. This time with Molly, the new puppy, and this time we anchored overnight!
• Jim Garfunkel ... July.  Jim's 2nd cruise on Maja, and our first trip up the ICW.  Fernandina FL to Myrtle Bch SC. What a month!
• Dan and Renee Devereaux ... September.  Chesapeake Bay, Solomons to St Michaels. Best sailing of the summer. Shared our 32nd wedding anniversary with dear friends. Who needs more?
• Tom McNally ... September. Personal tour guide to Baltimore. Came for 3 days and stayed 9. We'll be back!
• Michele Casey Kraftschik ... October. Personal tour guide to Washington DC. Anchored for 7 days in sight of the Washington Monument. Learned to use the metro!
• Jim Garfunkel ... December.  HoHoHo, he's back for more! 

 Merry Christmas!