Noëpe ~ A place amongst the waters

  Christmas in St. Augustine December 25th, 2025 We made port in Fernandina, FL on December 13th trying to put as much distance between us and the cold front that was predicted to arrive on the 14th. We anchored out the first night in a marshlands creek just west of the the city. I take great joy in finding a secluded anchorage that feels much farther from civilization than it actually is. Dolphins and waterfowl have replaced watching Netfix. We made our way over to the marina at Fernandina on the morning of the 14th along with a lot of other boaters looking to tie up and plug in during approaching wind and cold. We got a spot at the end of the face dock behind Aurora,  a Russian billionaires one-hundred-forty-six foot mega yacht. I continue to be stunned by the size of some of the vessels we see. I used to feel sheepish about telling folks that we had a forty-foot sailboat, but I am realizing that we are small fry in the cruising world. The water approach to Fernandina is dec...

 Cold Fronts & Southern Hospitality December 12th, 2025 The gravy and stuffing are all gone and our waistlines are beginning to recede after our return to New England to share Thanksgiving with family and close on the sale of our home. We left Noëpe tied up at Lady's Island Marina just across the bridge from Beaufort, SC. Lady's Island Marina suited our aesthetic with lovely views of the wetlands, friendly staff, and no pretense.  Wanting to avoid any mishaps with travel we rented a car for the short trip to the Savannah airport, which is in close competition with the T.F. Green International Airport in Warwick RI for comfort and ease of access. We spent a couple of days in West Hartford with our daughter Emma and her boyfriend Bright, enjoying the best of West Hartford's dinning options, catching up on current films, reuniting with Hurdy Gurdy, and confirming the health benefits of sleeping with canines. Sleep is not one of them. From West Hartford we headed to the Vin...