It’s been a long while since Madrone has been tied up to a dock for an extended period. She spent a summer in a marina in Mexico, and passed much of the start of the Covid pandemic at the dock in Chile. But without much marine infrastructure or easy accessibility to parts and equipment, neither of those places offered a good opportunity to fix the many things that wear and break on any boat after a few ocean crossings.

Sunset sailing on the way to Brunswick

So, after exploring the channels of Patagonia, our Epic Journey back to the US, and then a spectacular summer in Maine, it’s definitely time to park Madrone for a few months and catch up on deferred maintenance.

St Simons Island Lighthouse

Our pick for a spot to spend the winter turned out to be Brunswick, Georgia. We wanted somewhere with mild weather so that we’d be able to work on outdoor projects, so that ruled out anywhere north of the Carolians. And we wanted a place where our boatwork wouldn’t raise our dock neighbors eyebrows, which rules out many of the fancier marinas in Florida. So we booked a berth in the marina in Brunswick without really knowing much about the place.

Dock 8- Madrone’s new home for a few months

As soon as we arrived, we learned that Brunswick has recently been in the news for two events. Firstly (chronologically, at least), St. Simons Sound, the body of water at the entrance to town, is home to the capsize of the M/V Golden Ray. Yes, you read that right – capsize. The Golden Ray is (or was) a 650′ (200m) long auto transport ship that was apparently misloaded at the port of Brunswick, leading to its rolling over on its side as it turned the corner to exit the sound. Our path into Brunswick took us about 100 yards (90m) from the worksite where a flotilla of barges, tugs, and support boats work to cut the sunken ship into pieces to be ferried away for recycling.

The capsized M/V Golden Ray in St Simons Sound at the entrance to Brunswick, GA. And yes, that is a helicopter parked on the side (or top, now) of the ship – it wa apparently dropping off supplies. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Dickinson)

Secondly, Brunswick is the site of the Ahmaud Aubrey debacle and subsequent trial. The marina in town is directly across the street from the courthouse, and we were surprised to find a swarm of news trucks and their associated workers buzzing around. When we investigated what they were doing there, we were both embarrassed to be so unplugged from current events that we didn’t already know, and shocked and devastated to learn about what happened.

A small fraction of the crowd outside the county courthouse across the street from the town marina. (Photo courtesy of Georgia Public Broadcasting)

With those two recent events as a backdrop, we pulled into our slip. Welcome home!