From: Canright, Shelley
Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 7:58 AM
Subject: Georgia on my mind!

Departed into the fog this morning, but this was quickly dissipated once the sun came out and burned things off. Close to 7am, we departed from the Amelia Island Yacht Basin with 'Georgia On Our Minds'.

Approximately 45-minutes into our paddlin'''', we have sighted....now passed the marker that indicates we are now within the GA portion of the intracoastal waterway (ICW).

The entire GA portion of the ICW appears to be approx 140-miles. Thus, if we continue to cover a distance of 120-miles...we shall be putting most of GA behind us.

HOWEVER, as Captain Rob would caution...don't get too much in front of things. Take things mile by mile. Good point, plus that would get us too far ahead in this little story...

- The Admiral

From: Canright, Shelley (HQ-NE060)
Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 9:36 AM
Subject: Coast Guard Escort with BIG Guns!

YIKES...how about this for the next chapter of the 'Now We're Ready' saga:

Moments after that last transmission there was a barrage of chatter coming across the radio. The chatter was being directed at us!

In front of us sat a big ship, motionless...hmmm...was this fellow calling us...might there be some distress?  Immediately after this fleeting thought, it became apparent that the big fellow was NOT in distress, but was being held.  Hmmm..wonder why? The channel seemed to be blocked from us entering..

YIKES...small orange craft off our port with flashing blue lights ...Coast Guard Gun Ship (25-ft)...small, but mighty.  THIS fellow was equipped with two M-60 machine guns, fore and aft. Across the air waves, we got a call asking what were our intentions.

Photo 216

What was going on and why all this excitement? We responded where we were headed...and immediately were told to power down. As we did so, the Coast Guard boat began to speed towards us. We were being sized up via binoculars...as we were likewise sizing up them. 

Dare we take pictures of this? Oh...Bill would be SO disappointed if this moment passed and no pictures taken. Hmmm...if I am seen taking a picture, will the camera and us be impounded? What WAS happening?

From the radio, we were informed that we were to be given a Coast Guard escort. Guess they must have checked out who was the Admiral of this vessel and thus deemed such escort necessary.  NOT!

Actually, the truth of this story is that we were within range of the Kings Bay Submarine Facility.  This is where Trident (LA) class submarines are refitted. The Coasties informed us that they were 'practicing' boat harbor security. Translation: About to bring out big, secret sub!

All traffic was to be stopped, per orders. However, after a few minutes of silence from the radio, we were informed that the Coasties were coming alongside us.  We wondered whether this meant a boarding was to take place...and I worried that I had been seen taking pictures and that was the reason for this action!

Sigh of relief....no boarding...just riding alongside of us, portside. They were between us and 'the facility'. They were a little more than daunting this close with guns gleaming in sunshine. Dare I wave, smile, salute them. Double dare...should I send Captain Michael to lower level with camera to get a 'secret shot' from below? Could the Admiral and Captain Rob keep their eyes on us, top side?

NOW joining this little party came a helicopter overhead...obviously ALSO with guns. I looked back at our 68-ft party deck and wondered for an instance whether a helicopter could actually land on this vessel. Sigh of relief...no 'H' (helicopter marking for landing pad) on THIS party deck, so we felt 'confident' that this fellow was simply checkin' us out from above.

Minutes seemed to slowly pass and it seemed that we were not to easily shake this escort. How much farther and longer would we have such 'company'? Ahhh...they begin to drop speed and have  fallen back. We are IN the clear...full speed ahead. Well, maybe not just yet. Seems we have simply been handed off to yet another escort.

Our second escort is simply ensuring our 'safe' passage to the correct channel markers of the ICW and not to be confused with 'other' markers that might take us someplace where we are not to go. No scenic detours for us!

We take some pictures of the 'facility' as we look back and one last picture of our escorts as we leave this chapter behind us.

Ahead of us...who knows? We can expect a little rain as we look to the horizon. But you know what they say....one must have a little rain to clean the air and bring forth sunshine and new possibilities.

Let this adventure continue!

Ahoy mates!

From: Jackson, Shanessa
Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 9:37 AM
Subject: RE: Coast Guard Escort with BIG Guns!

After reading your update, I have only one thing to say.

COOL! :-)

From: Canright, Shelley
Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 10:09 PM
Subject: PHOTO: Coast Guard Escort with BIG Guns!

We have arrived safely this evening to Savannah, GA.  I could not think of sleep until photos were downloaded and I had sent at least one to go along with the morning adventure that we had with the 'Coasties'.  Here it is!  (Photo #216)