like ships passing in the night...

After leaving beautiful Ft. George Island, we pulled into Fernandina Beach, on Amelia Island, for a couple days. Not only was it a perfect spot to wait for our repaired autopilot to (hopefully) catch up with us, but we had the great good fortune to overlap there with our friend Robert Halverson (dad to Julie, Grandpa to Baby Graham!). To say that 'timing is everything' on this trip is surely an understatement. Robert was in town for work but generously carved out some time to hang out with Ute, and even let us enjoy the amenities of his hotel, which was a big treat for us.......we could see Ute from the pool and from the room.....major bonus! We three were content to pal around the town and be tourists for a couple days, sampling the local seafood, pawing through totally useless trinkets in overpriced shops, and making a late night run for ice cream, which we gorged ourselves on while watching baseball at the hotel. He even drove us all over town to find some parts for Ute. what a trooper! Thanks Robert!!


As is typical of our current lifestyle, we were totally wowed by the very normal parts of Robert's everyday life, and vice versa. He was blissed out to come hang out on Ute on a sunny afternoon, whereas we were stoked to take advantage of the Hilton's air conditioned business center to catch up on our emails!



Our trusty rusty crewmember, Otto the Autopilot, arrived safe, sound and lovingly reconditioned on Thursday....we are so happy to have him back from the lightning doctor!