GCSM

Meredith in Green Cove Springs Florida
Crew in London, ON where it is warmer than GCS
January 7, 2010

Our intention was to leave our beloved Meredith at Green Cove Springs Marina while we returned home to spend time with and money on our children. As these things tend to happen we had occasion to lunch with a pair of characters the day before we embarked.

The duo, friends for years, were a comedic dynamo competing incessantly for centre stage. One was an MIT prof and the other a retired naval officer. The navy guy had, the year before, laid up his own vessel at Green Cove Springs for extensive painting and fiberglass repair. He spoke glowingly of the marina, its facilities and local population. As to the environmentals of the marina he was less sanguine. "I made the mistake only once of walking from my boat to the shower without wearing my shoes" we were advised. "It was a week before I recovered the feeling in my feet. I don't know what is in that soil but we could sure use it in Iraq". We were pretty sure he was exaggerating.

This was where we had decided to leave our beloved boat for a whole month.

It was like winning the lottery. OK, a small church lottery.

As it leaves Jacksonville the St. Johns River widens to several miles across. Several miles of inscrutably brown liquid. Miles wide the St. Johns lacks depth which runs from 10 to 20 feet in the winding navigable part of the channel.