JMGT 2011 ( Jacksonville MacGregor Get Together) Florida
30 Aug 2011 - 9 Sep 2011
Leaving Missouri - We provisioned
Galactica, checked over the tow beast one last time, last minute check up with Grandma who was keeping an eye on our son and farm, loaded up after work and was on the road at twilight! Our aim the first evening was to get as far down the road as we could before Midnight.
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| Finally, on our way! |
We headed to St. Louis then south, making it just outside of Cape Girardeau, MO where we camped RV style in a Walmart Parking lot (flushing facilities inside...) I picked up a couple items we may have needed.
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| Walmart Parking Lot, near Cape Girardeau, MO. |
Like usual, we provisioned
Galactica to be totally self-sufficient as that is how we sail/gunkhole normally. With the JMGT, we didn't need as much so in the end, we had way too much food, drink, water, clothing, etc... We had been planning this big trip for over a year and had enough sail time in local inland lakes to feel confident to make this adventure and sail on the ocean!!!
The next morning, we breakfasted early and soon passed into Kentucky....
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| Entering Kentucky! |
Quickly followed by entering Tennessee...
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| Tennessee! |
By afternoon, we were entering Georgia!
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| Georgia State Line! |
We drove until around 6pm, looking for a State Park or KOA. Angie found one on her phone, calling them to ensure that they had pull-through sites for long rigs--we didn't really tell them that we were not a standard RV. We didn't want to confuse anyone. We found a really nice State Park in North West Georgia called High Falls State Park.
The MacGregor is extremely versatile on land and water! It makes a great RV and with our Shore Power, we can connect to camp ground electricity for fans and lights! And...Showers!!!
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| Camping at High Falls State Park, Georgia. |
Having camped in tents or under tarps with the boy scouts for over a decade--this is positively decadent! Thursday morning, we got another relatively early start after breakfast and showers. We were on track to be at the Ramp in Florida by early/mid afternoon. That was before Georgia roads and the flying peanut...
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| Another blow out. |
Somewhere past Macon, Georgia, We had a blow out on the passenger side trailer tire--same one that blew last year disintegrating our fender. This time, it was just the tread which flew off, taking a running light and knocking a hole in the new fender... I had the tire changed and we were on the road within 15 minutes--but we had to backtrack to find a Walmart to replace our $pare tire.
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| Crack of the Flying Peanut |
A couple hours later, an 18 wheeler peanut truck passed us pelting us with peanuts. We no sooner commented about explaining to the insurance company that it was flying peanuts which put holes in us when WHAMMO--a particularly aggressive flying peanut cracked the Silverado's windshield!
Angie was following JMGT group emails on her phone while I was driving, another Macgregor,
XX (double cross) out of North Carolina had a flat tire and yet another North Carolina Macgregor,
Knot Shore's tow vehicle blew a radiator! Fortunately, they were also fixed relatively quick!
Late afternoon--finally, FLORIDA!!!!
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| Rest area just inside the Florida state line! |
We finally pulled into Sister's Creek Ramp as the sun was setting. We figured we could either rig and put her into strange waters in the dark; or, wait until morning.
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| Sister's Creek, Florida. A totally new environment to explore! |
Angie and I sat back and watched the sun set! The ramp was pretty much empty being Thursday evening! I started removing the travel bungees with the intent on rigging Galactica and going to bed. We could launch our great adventure early in the morning...plus, there were flushing facilities open at the ramp!
This was the 3rd Annual JMGT and was to have more than twice the number of MacGregors--the furthest coming from Maryland and Missouri with more than half coming from Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia! I've never sailed with any other MacGregors so this was tremendously exciting to me! I had a bucket list for this JMGT! Meeting other Mac owners, sailing with other Macs, checking out all the boats and modifications, Sailing on the Ocean, pictures of Galactica on the sand during low tide, etc...
As I started to prep
Galactica for raising her mast, the way-cool sight of two white MacGregor26X models pulled in!
Knot Shore and
XX After introductions, we spent a lot of time checking out each other's mods.
Knot Shore has a massive 90hp motor...
XX dwarfed us both with a 140hp motor!!!
I've seen these two macs on our Mac forum (macgregorsailors.com) and on Youtube! Cool to see them in person! Sometime before midnight, we rigged all three and turned them into the wind to catch the cool breeze through our fore hatches!
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| Good Morning Florida! Galactica & crew are here! |
We had a leisurely morning, eating breakfasts and making final preparations.
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| 3 Macs, sunrise at Sisters Creek, ICW, Florida. |
Jean and Eric from
Knot shore graciously provided coffee!
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| Admirals: Angie & Jean |
We launched all three boats and the two Admirals (Angie and Jean) had a meeting while we parked and secured our tow beasts after washing the salt water off our trailers. I must say, I was surprised by the strength of the tidal currents. With the uncertain results of the hurricane, I wanted to head out to sail on the Atlantic, ten miles away just in case we couldn't make a sail on open ocean from St Augustine back to Jacksonville. I called to open the Sisters Creek draw bridge and we motored from the ICW to the St. Johns river.
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| KnotShore |
Not long after we set sail, we saw the gleaming white hull of a Macgregor 26M roaring up to us at WOT! It turned out to be Konig, owned by Jim King. His first mate on this trip was a fellow officer, DJ. We dropped sails and motored out to the inlet. Jim and I have corresponded over the past couple years and finally got to see each other's boat in person! The St. Johns inlet was a bit rough but we made it out to the ocean where all four Macs hoisted sails and played around for a couple hours!
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| Captain Douglas |
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| Galactica's first time on the Ocean! |
With the rollers and wave action, Angie got a little sea sick--So did Jean on Knot Shore. It did calm down after we were away from the inlet and the jetties. It's easier to avoid the sea sickness when your at the helm but I admit, my stomach flipped a bit for a bout 30 seconds but that may have been the sheer excitement of finally being on the Atlantic Ocean --and realizing that there were thousands of miles between Galactica's bow and Africa and the boat was solely under my command!!!
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| Knot Shore sailing on the other side of a trawler... |
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| Ocean view from Galactica's helm... |
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| Galactica sailing on the Atlantica Ocean! |
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| Konig and XX |
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| Galactica sailing on the Atlantic Ocean! (JMGT bucket list picture) |
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| JMGT bucklist items... sailing with other MacGregor sailboats! |
After playing around, we furled our sails at the inlet and motored back up towards Sisters Creek. From there, we'd head up the ICW to the St. George river where we followed this narrow, shoaling channel to Little Talbot Island. This was the meeting place for the 13 Macgregors attending! Thirteen!!!!!
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| Angie at the helm |
The first official meeting for JMGT is the arrival at Little Talbot island off the ICW northeast of Jacksonville. The four boats came off the Ocean and met with John Casale and crew on the 26X, Untethered at MorningStar Marina where we all topped off any used fuel tanks. John was one of the originators of the JMGT event. Once we were through the Sisters Creek drawbridge, the 5 boats motored up the ICW to the St. George. The local/veteran boats guided those of us who were a long distance from home through the shallow winding channel. Two boats arrived within an hour before us and were already anchored stern-to-shore. Seven Macs! Already a JMGT record!!
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| First seven Macs at Little Talbot island. Tide was going out! |
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| Macgregor gathering at Little Talbot island, Florida |
After we had all seven MacGregors secured, we spent the afternoon making introductions, swimming, exploring, checking out each other’s boats and modifications while waiting for the remaining 6 boats to arrive.
Twelve Macs made it to little Talbot island before low tide. The thirteenth,
UnWinder, could not make it past a particularly shallow sand bar at low water so they gunkholed in a cove a mile or so from us.
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| Relaxing afternoon awaiting the rest of the fleet... |
This night was scheduled to have a pot-luck BBQ—thanks Jim for the awesome Bratwursts. We fired up grills, including
Galactica’s Magma and enjoyed a bountiful meal. As the sun dipped towards twilight, I mounted
Galactica’s black powder signal cannon on her bow and fired off a salute!
Short Video -- Galactica salute cannon being fired at sunset
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| We enjoyed a tasty meal at twilight! |
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| Dinner being grilled on the beach and on some of our boats... |
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| Evening BBQ and get together at Little Talbot island! |
After a captains meeting to discuss the plans for the next couple days, our boats began re-floating as the tide returned. We needed to be heading down the ICW fairly early so that we’d have exploration time at St. Augustine. Tide levels at that hour was a concern.
Okay, one of the cool things about MacGregors are their ability to be beached. Another item on my JMGT bucket list was pictures of
Galactica sitting high and dry in the sand at low tide! Here she is!
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| Galactica at low tide! (JMGT bucket list picture!) |
About half of us decided to move our boats out to peacefully swing on our anchors, avoiding the risk of being grounded during an early morning low tide plus eliminating the worry of bumping each other’s boats on the beach as there-floated with tidal changes.
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| Dolphin in the morning! |
I awoke early the next morning to the labored sounds of dolphin just outside of
Galactica as they struggled over the shallow sandbar we were anchored above.
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| Morning Glory over the Mac Anchorage! |
At low tide, we were in less than 2 feet of water. After coffee was brewed, I grabbed my camera to photograph the gorgeous dawn and dolphins.
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| The view from Galactica as I sipped my morning coffee... |
Windezvous, the ‘S’ model Mac only has an 8 hp motor (nicknamed the Ocho) so they’d be nearly as slow under power as sail. John’s 26X Untethered along with our 26M Galactica raised sails with Windezvous keeping them company – no boat left behind.
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| Galactica, sailing towards St. Augustine on the ICW. |
We had a fun sail beating our way close-hauled south down the ICW towards St. Augustine, Florida. We have to tack a lot in our home waters so this was an easy sail with enough wind and current to make it exhilarating! I love some of the pics of
Galactica close-hauled on this leg!!
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| If your a Doctor Who fan.... This 26M, the name Allons-Y is a phrase the 10th doctor always said! It means "Let's Go!" |
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| DJ and Jim on Konig |
Most of the boats powered their way to St. Augustine…
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| Billy on XX (double cross) |
Some were very fast! Yes, folks—that’s a 140HP beast powering Billy’s ‘
XX’!!!
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| Konig |
Some of these boats were sailing around the St. Augustine area and when our little squadron arrived, we all went to the bridge together.
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| Line of Macs... Galactica, 3rd up, passing thru St. Augustine bridge... |
After getting through, we each contacted the St. Augustine municipal marina for instructions to navigate to our reserved slips.
Sea Wind had fuel problems at the most in-opportune time with a very fast tidal current and slammed into their slip—breaking off the bow eye.
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| Macgregor invasion fleet at St.Augustine's marina! |
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| The Columbian in historic St. Augustine. |
Everyone showered, explored, visited and eventually met up at the Columbian, a local Cuban restaurant in the historic district. They had an extremely tasty signature salad. I think it was called the ‘1905’.
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| more than 30 MacGregor sailors! |
We had more than 30 of us with 13 boats loaded with varying sized crews.
After Dinner, we held a short Captains meeting deciding on the next day’s sail then we broke up. Some exploring the night life, others visiting, cleaning up or going to bed.
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| Sunset at the St. Augustine Munincipal Marina |
We were up early the next morning. Nine of us decided to head out the treacherous inlet and sail on a long 34 mile run north to Jacksonville’s St. Johns inlet.
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| tour boat |
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| Easy Come Easy Go motoring along to the Ocean. |
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| Galactica on Broad Reach away from shore. We got about 5 miles out. |
At times, we only made 3.3 knots. At one point, Galactica set a personal record running wing-on-wing at 7.3 knots! Konig and others got even faster!
Angie didn’t feel so well again after the rollers in the inlet so she laid in the cockpit the whole trip.
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| Konig running north on the Atlantic |
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| Galactica: Running with the wind! Wing on Wing. |
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| Captain Douglas sailing Galactica on the Atlantic Ocean! |
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| No Name sailing north on Atlantic |
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| Sailing north on the Atlantic back to Jacksonville! |
Weather started affecting the ocean as we neared the inlet. The last couple miles were pretty rough. Coming through the inlet,
Galactica actually surfed down some rollers – what a fun ride!!!
Once in the river again, some of us stopped at the MorningStar Marina. Others headed straight to their ramps in order to get home and half the boats motored 20 miles up the river to the St. Johns Landing for the night. This would have been fun but we were intending to get on the road before lunch; plus, we were tired.
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| Dave in 'Capn Morgan' stance on Windezvous. MorningStar Marina |
Windezvous and
Galactica bid farewell to the fleet and stayed at MorningStar who in turn gave us a dramatic discount for our slips as they were new and still building services (flushing facilities, showers, etc…)
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| Singleton's Seafood Shack's 'life changing hush puppies' |
John had said to try the Seafood restaurant near the marina. They had Hush Puppies that could ‘change your life!’ I admit, they were very good and I normally don’t eat hush puppies!
A large 47’ sailboat had engine problems and the coast guard responded. In the inlet, their tow line snapped making it hairy. MorningStar was closed so those of us there, met the sailboat and towboat and helped moor them.
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| Galactica waiting for me to get the truck & trailer to the ramp. Sisters Creek, Florida |
In the morning, Angie and I sailed back to the ICW and Sisters Creek! We had a fun relaxing sail. We pulled Galactica out. As we were putting her onto her trailer, a maneuver in a fast cross current which went so smoothly that we looked like old salts, two SUV loads of armed border agents arrived and waited for us at the top of the ramp. After we pulled out, the followed us and talked with us briefly…either checking us out or simply bored and interested in the big blue sailboat from Missouri…
Pedro and Family on Sea Wind arrived, escorted by other Macs. Together, we were able to get them loaded onto their trailer and rig up a harness to secure the bow to the trailer.
Angie and I took our time de-rigging and got onto the road by early afternoon.
A large tropical storm had been hammering the gulf side for four or five days was finally moving off. We chased the trailing arm of that storm as we drove west across Florida. It seemed to rain every time we stopped… food, gas… etc…
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| Laundry room wall |
We set up camp at Chattahoochee KOA in the panhandle. This turned out to be a very nice campground set up like a state park rather than a typical rv parking lot. Between the storms and day of the week, we had it mostly to ourselves.
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| Versatile MacGregor, Galactica camping at Chattahoochee KOA, Florida panhandle |
I rigged up a tarp over the cockpit and Angie made Chicken with brocolli on the Magma grill with fresh Missouri corn on the cob! We showered and washed our clothing in the laundry room in the cabin! This was a very nice campground that I’d stay at again if passing through…
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| My tabletop mod worked wonderfully on the cockpit table!!! |
The next morning, we took our time and got onto the road, heading down to Mary Esther where Doug and Libby, friends from Missouri now live. We spent the afternoon relaxing there—Angie and I got to read a lot!
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| Doug K. and Libby's home in Florida |
Doug’s Cousin and her husband had just arrived on vacation from Illinois so the 6 of us went to dinner. I had fish tacos which were very good! Libby had to work the next day so the plan was for us to head out in the morning to put
Galactica into the water at Navarre Beach on the ICW. Doug would come out with his 14’ Cat rigged Peep Hen '
Fat Chick' with Liis and Shawn to meet us.
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| Angie during sail on ICW near Navarre |
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| Doug K during sail on ICW near Navarre |
Doug’s 4hp motor wouldn’t start so he came out with us. We motored over to the hotel where Liis and Shawn were staying and brought
Galactica up to the beach. They waded out to join us and we spent the afternoon having an awesome sail—at one point, I was able to hold
Galactica at a 40 degree sustained heal! What a hoot!
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| Relaxing on beach on Santa Rosa barrier island.... |
It was the first time that Shawn and Liis had ever sailed so they got to experience some fun! We relaxed at a couple different beaches and intended to pick up Libby after work at a beach.
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| Doug K., Liis, Captain Douglas, Shawn, Admiral Angie...Navarre ICW, Florida |
She couldn’t get off early so we played a while longer.
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| Ahhh..... I was on boat time... forgot what day it was.... |
During that day, I hit sandbars twice under power. This spun the prop on
Galactica so we had little power to move the boat-- other than another $$$cha-ching$$$ expense, it was really not a big deal--we were sailing most of the time anyway. I was able to dock her in that condition and let Doug K., Shawn and Liis off. We sailed east the 11 miles towards Spectre Island where we intended to gunkhole for the night.
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| Our peaceful anchorage in a cove near the barrier island...ICW Florida |
As the sun was slipping down the horizion we ended up dropping our anchor in a secluded cove on the barrier island near Ft. Walton Beach –less than ¾ mile from spectre island. This turned out to be a peaceful anchorage with a beautiful Sunset!
The next morning, we breakfasted and I enjoyed my coffee while we swung on our anchor. Eventually, we set full sails and beat back to Navarre in a great sail! I know we looked good as we passed the manned radar towers on Santa Rosa as we were healed over towards them!
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| Sailing up to the Navarre Bridge on the ICW |
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| 36' mast, 50' clearance. What a perfect sail to end our Florida adventure! |
We sailed up to and through the Navarre bridge. As I furled all the sails, Angie piloted us back through the narrow channel to the ramp. At near idle, the lack of prop power wasn’t bad. The new Garmin 76 made it easy for her to follow the path we took each time we left the ramp!
I brought us up to the pier with no incident and retrieved the truck. Murphy’s law, there was an outside restaurant with a lot of people eating/watching. I had a lot of difficulty fighting the quartering current/wind with no power at the prop.
Galactica got turned sideways which damaged the trailer and scratched her. The steel power thruster hit the ramp bending the starboard wing into the prop and chipping a section out of the motor’s skeg. Glad this happened at the very end of an otherwise perfect trip!
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| Damage to Galactica's 'FTL' drive... |
I was so relaxed on ‘boat time’ that I kept forgetting which day of the week it was. In my world, that is a Perfect trip!!!
We de-rigged Galactica for the long journey home taking an extra hour talking to a young soldier who saw us from the bridge and came over to check the 26M out. He is the owner of a 32’ Oday which is a great boat. While in Afghanistan, his buddy had been learning all that he could about Macgregors so I had a long conversation explaining the merits and weaknesses of this versatile boat!
We drove late into the evening, stopping at a walmart parking lot in Winona, Mississippi.
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| The Arkansas/Missouri State Line...Galactica is returning home |
After leaving early the next morning, we arrived home late afternoon to find our little ranch had been ravaged by severe thunderstorms.
I replaced the prop and we drug
Galactica up to Mark Twain Lake’s visitor center to support our Sailing Association’s pirate weekend festivity with the Corps of Engineers.
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| Motley Pirates of the MTLSA fleet. Visitor's Center Mark Twain Lake |
We had a fast hunter -
Jewel, a cutter rigged venture
What Knot and
Galactica rigged as static displays in the parking lot. During the activities, the Oday
Wild Goose sailed by in very light winds! A number of parents and kids climbed aboard
Galactica and checked her out. A few asked questions regarding sailing.
All in all, what a magnificent end to the summer! Now, to squeak in some autumn sailing before the winter sets in!!!!!!
2400+ miles on road
80+ miles sailed
45+ miles powered
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