Harry enjoying the screens
Where did June go? We spent the first half of the month still at Camachee Cove Marina in Saint Augustine, Florida. Justin, of Cooper's Canvas, was working full time to design, build and install a complete replacement of our bimini, insert, and dodger as well as a full enclosure with both clears and screens. CORMORANT has a canoe stern and a rather difficult cockpit entrance, so it was a real challenge. Justin's work is outstanding and with new "natural" colored canvas and dark green screens matching our hull stripe, we look like a new boat. It is a real change for us, because we have always been a blue water ready boat, with enough canvas for dryness in the companionway and a little shade, but nothing more. Now, we are going to be cruising the east coast for a couple of years, so we are going for more of the "sunroom" approach. When we left in 1997 heading south in November along the waterway, we envied those folks in T shirts inside their enclosures. This year that will be us!
One of the bonuses of choosing Cooper's Canvas is that the marina, Camachee Cove, is half price while the work is being done. That is a great offer for any cruiser. We were in the marina for tropical storm Beryl, whose eye, at just below hurricane strength, went right over St. Augustine. The protection is great there and we had no damage at all. We hauled out there too for our annual bottom job, and you can see in the photo that the work was very good and professional. Just a caution for others, though. They seem to think that one coat of paint is normal, and if you want two, be sure you settle on a price first.
Another maybe hurricane and Brunswick, Georgia
We made a little progress to the north, but only 3 days after leaving Saint Augustine a massive low developed in the Gulf and we decided to go into Brunswick Landing Marina to wait and see what might develop. Brunswick has a reputation of being a good hurricane hole, and we are very secure up the river. Debbie did develop and created lots of problems, but mostly it was just lots and lots of rain and some flooding. But she was slow, so the days passed by. Like lots of places here it seems, once you stay over 5 days you have paid for a month, so we are still here enjoying the area, waiting to see Jane's brother who lives in Thailand and is coming for a visit on Thursday, and just messing around with all the normal boat projects. We have a new map up, but our line just barely shows at the bottom. We hope to get to Washington DC this season.
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