Day 47: Fort Pierce and a possible weather window

The lazy blogger returns. We stayed at Hammock Beach until Saturday the 27th, then headed south again. We overnighted at Halifax Harbor Marina in Daytona Beach, had a stroll in the historic (Florida-historic) downtown, dined on Thai food, and started to ponder the inside/outside question. Uncle NOAA said conditions for outside would not be favorable until Thursday the 2nd earliest, so we replotted a more leisurely trek toward the best inlet, at Fort Pierce.
First stop on Sunday night was the SE corner of the NASA Causeway/Addison Point Bridge. We cooked the quail that we had picked up in Isle of Hope, and Leigh's famous fried cabbage (handed down from Pearl to Virginia to Beth) for JP's birthday (alas, no cake - bad planning) and had a good night despite the rather blustery conditions.
We had a rainy slog to Melbourne, even a short period of low visibility. We have been very fortunate in our weather for nearly the whole trip (aided by our ability to stay put whenever we felt like it) so no big complaints. Stayed two nights at Melbourne Harbor, mostly because Captain JP caught himself a cold. Nice marina w a good dock bar restaurant steps from the boat (Ichabod's) and a good if expensive Chart House right around the inlet "corner". We made up for the no birthday cake with a shared chocolate lava cake and vanilla ice cream (yes, we had dinner too).
Left Melbourne a little before 8 yesterday and headed for the last (??) ICW stop before home port. The weather window had shifted out a bit but has stayed at Friday/Saturday for several days so we plan to head out the inlet tomorrow, targeting the all-too-necessary slack tide that will occur around 1245 Saturday for our arrival at 777 Bayshore.
Cool to cold at the moment (in the 40's) so the silks will have to come out one more time tomorrow.

Day 40: aka Thanksgiving Day, at Hammock Beach

After several very nice days in the mooring field at Saint Augustine Municipal Marina, we made a short four-hour hop south to Palm Coast, Florida. There is a resort complex here that has a marina for residents and transients just right off the ICW. The marina area is splendid - the restrooms, showers, laundry, business center, fitness center and lounge are all part of a large new condominium building and are brand spanking new. A short shuttle ride takes you to the Hammock Beach resort itself, with multiple restaurants, pools, a spectacular ocean beach, and more things to do than one could manage in a week.
We were planning to leave tomorrow, but...we extended by one day. We are facing some weather challenges for going outside - wind is in the wrong direction, surf is a bit OTT, tide is wrong for an exit at Ponce - so plan now is to head to Canaveral in two ICW hops, Saturday and Sunday, and then to wait for better conditions for the passage home to Port Everglades.
Here are the pictures of the day; I posted them all on Picasa, but they are worth repeating here, I think.

Day 30: Long time no blog

I've been posting pictures every couple of days, but for some reason not hitting the blog. Tonight we have moved on to Georgia: Goodbye Maryland, Goodbye Virginia, Goodbye North Carolina, Goodbye South Carolina. We are staying at Isle of Hope Marina; here is a picture JP or Susan took while I was maneuvering into the fuel dock:

and here is the very definition of service at a marina:

He actually climbed aboard to do the pump out for us. Very impressive.

I spent some time last night compiling some statistics for our journey so far:

~760 statute miles as counted mile marker to mile marker, including the trip down the Chesapeake from Castle Harbor

8 nights at anchor

22 nights at a marina, including tonight and tomorrow night here at Isle of Hope

5 "singleton" marinas

4 two-night marinas, including Isle of Hope

3 three-night marinas

1 free tie-up

We are averaging about 30 statute miles a day. Our longest day was 56 statute miles from Beaufort (NC) Docks to Surf City (Beach House Marina); our shortest 21 statute miles from Bull Creek on the Waccamaw to Harborwalk Marina in Georgetown, SC. The rhythm and pace seem to work well for all of us; you can make the trip in +/- 50 mile increments in a slow boat, but it is much more fun and interesting at the 30 mile average.

Savannah tomorrow.

Day 21: Bald Head to North Myrtle Beach to Georgetown

We docked this afternoon at Harborwalk Marina in Georgetown, SC. We had a great day touring Bald Head Island on Wednesday the 3rd, then headed out at Cape Fear Inlet and back in 24 miles west to Little River Inlet, just at the NC/SC border, and on to a low-key overnight at Barefoot Landing Transient Docks (which for you cruisers out there has no showers at present; restrooms are just those of the mall itself). From there we made our way to the Waccamaw River - absolutely beautiful surroundings.

We anchored overnight on Bull Creek, just off the Waccamaw, about 22 miles from Georgetown, SC. It has gotten very chilly - forecast lows overnight tonight are near freezing - although the daytime highs today and tomorrow are still in the 50's and will be low 60's Monday and back to low 70's Tuesday through Friday. The transit of the Waccamaw has been a joy, because it is wide and deep - a bit curvy in spots, but it's great to watch the depthfinder when "low water" means anything under 15'.

We have a bit of a pickle for tomorrow, because we will hit a well-known trouble spot at McClellanville right about at low or low-ish tide. We may have to anchor just before it and transit at high tide in the morning. We have read various reports, from motorboats grounding, to less than 5' at mid-channel, to "no problem", so we will make our way there and see what happens.

If we are able to transit, then we may head on for Isle of Palms or an anchorage somewhere before Charleston; our friends who live there are in Fort Lauderdale right now (!) so we won't linger but make our way to Beaufort (Bew-fert) SC for a visit instead.

I'm uploading pictures via Picasa S--L--O--W--L-Y so I'll try to come back and add a few to the blog after that finishes...IF it finishes.

PS Susan and JP are slaving because I had to whack the floating dock when we came in here and now they are trying to SCRAPE the stuff from the dock off the hull. I didn't have much choice given the conditions (wind direction, slip and positions of other boats) BUT...

Day 17: Bald Head Island, NC

Had a decent start - made the 0800 opening of the Surf City Swing Bridge, just a quick left from last night's marina



and thanks to a very kind bridge tender, we also made the Figure Eight Bridge; both Surf City and Wrightsville open only on the hour, so ideally if you are slow like us you try to make Figure Eight on the hour, make a leisurely 4 miles or so to Wrightsville to make it one hour later. HOWEVER...for the same slow sail boat, it is a real stretch to make the Figure Eight in an hour after Surf City, and we were about 4 or 5 minutes off. He opened VERRRRYYYY slowly for us, and saved us an hour of transit time today.

The last couple of hours of the trip were on the Cape Fear River, in a lot of wind and current; Susan was helming and JP navigating while I shivered with Pooh



The marina here is very pretty; we will stay two nights and explore the island by golf cart tomorrow. Here is one of the houses that surround the marina

Day 16: Nice progress today

We had planned to go from Beaufort Docks to Swan Point Marina, but got off early (around 0725)


and made good progress despite our many friends.




Here is our last mile marker of the day; we actually made it to 260.6, Beach House Marina, just before the Surf City Swing Bridge.



We plan to head on south to Bald Head Island tomorrow, and treat ourselves to a couple of nights there. Keeping a weather eye on Tomas, which could be troublesome early next week.

Day 15: Update from Beaufort

We left Belhaven on Wednesday the 27th and headed for Oriental. We took a slip at Whittaker Creek Yacht Haven, which is a little way out from town (long walk or reasonable bike ride).



We ended up staying a few nights; the sun protection on the jib sail was coming loose, and when Susan and JP took it down to stitch it, they found a lot more of the thread gone than they expected. On Thursday, we checked with the sail loft on site and they were fully booked (read: already behind on existing commitments) but we found Inner Banks Sail Loft not far away, and they agreed to give it a go. Knute at WCYH took us and the sail over to them, and indeed by noon on Friday they had it out, dried, fixed and beautifully folded, and JP caught a ride with another marina denizen to pick it up.

Thursday night we ate a really good meal at Broad Street Grill (they also picked us up and brought us back to the marina), got dropped off in town in the pouring rain on Friday, had lunch, and when the sun came out, took a rather hot walk back to Whittaker Creek. The deck light had also died, so Knute ordered a new one and a spare from NAPA (it's a tractor light, as it turns out) and JP climbed the mast yet again on Friday to install it.



We borrowed bikes from the marina Friday afternoon and made another trip into town, stopped at "The Bean" for cappucinos (JP and Susan) and mint chip ice cream (Leigh);



another restaurant, the Oriental Steamer, picked us up for dinner on Friday night.

Susan and JP re-installed the jib on Saturday morning, and we headed off for Beaufort.






Whittaker Creek caution: we grounded BOTH entering and leaving the VERY narrow Whittaker Creek channel. We got off both times pretty easily, but that place is a bit of an adventure.

We returned to Beaufort Docks yesterday, our first repeat from our 2008 trip; loving it every bit as much this time.



"Dined" at the local wine bar (mostly enjoyed two nice Pinots and had a small pizza and some NC artisanal chocolate to accompany it) and had fun looking at some wild and crazy Halloween costumes and listening to a band called The New Familials (I think).

JP took our port bike off to the Food Lion for a little light re-provisioning - we will cook jambalaya on board tonight - as we looked at 25+ kts of wind on the nose today and decided to hang here until tomorrow morning, when the speed and direction look a bit more favorable.

We are keeping an eye on Tomas - will hole up in Wilmington, up the Cape Fear River, if need be - and heading to Swan Point (about 45 nauticals away) tomorrow.

Day 10: Belhaven, NC

Arrived here before 2 in howling wind, so the docking was - ahem - interesting. We are safely ensconced for the night and planning to make our way to Oriental tomorrow, weather permitting.
Yesterday hit high winds (but not high enough to close the Alligator River Swing Bridge) and rain on our way to an anchorage in said river; had our second experience ever with dragging after dark, and thus raising and re=anchoring in less than prime conditions. A bit less stressful than the last one (Pumpkin Key in 2005, not long after we got Raconteur) but always...interesting. Second time was the charm and she held fine through the night.
Headed down the Alligator-Pungo Canal today, also in some driving rain for the first hour or so, but then the sun came out AND we actually got to SAIL for an hour or two on our way in to Belhaven. Took an ancient golf cart into town, had true North Carolina BBQ sandwiches at a place called Farm Boys, then risked life and limb to take the cart on out to the Food Lion for some light re-provisioning - including the frozen pizza we had for dinner. Susan did some laundry, JP rescued my pictures from the camera card, and all is right with the world from here.

Greek poetry, new horizons, and the Blue Peter

Today, I am cleaning out my AF office for the last time, and heading tomorrow to Europe (Paris and Monaco with my niece Cassady, then Sintra, Lisbon and Porto in Portugal with Cindy, Jackie and Joan).
When I return to the States on the 11th of October, JP and Susan and Raconteur will, if all goes well, be somewhere south of the Chesapeake, and I will join them whereever "there" turns out to be. We will meander down the ICW, looking for warm weather, planning to arrive in Lauderdale in early/mid December. We will be there for a few weeks, then start looking for a weather window to cross to the Bahamas. Next scheduled event: Cassady and Adam's wedding in Ohio, September 3 2011!
Courtesy of Jean-Philippe, this poem has been hanging over my desk at the AF for several years; it seems an appropriate re-start to the blog.

Ithaka (1911)
As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon - don't be afraid of of them:
you'll never find things like that one on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon - you won't encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbours you're seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenciian trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfumes of every kind -
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you're destined for.
But don't hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you're old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you've gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn't have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.
And if you find her poor, Ithaka won't have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you'll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean
Constantine P. Cavafy (1863-1933)

Charleston with Friends, and on south

We arrived in Charleston after a full 30+ hours outside from Wrightsville Beach. We just made it into the slip during the last light after sundown. We pretty much crashed that night, but the next morning we called our friend Steve (he was my boss, and later JP's) and his wife Barbara, who now live in Mt Pleasant just on the other side of the gorgeous new bridge (photos to come). As it happens, we could not get a slip at the Charleston City Marina, but Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina (on the Mt Pleasant side) had room for us. Steve and Barbara have a group of regulars from their neighborhood who get together at a delightful 'dive' called Dunleavy's on Sullivan's Island, and they invited us to join. Sage - the sign above was over the door there, and we took the picture just for you. We had a great time, listening to bluegrass/country music, eating pub food, and getting caught up with Steve and Barbara. The next day, Steve came out and took JP for a haircut (no, the beard is still there) and Susan to the Whole Foods - a luxury service for scruffy sailors. We had dinner at their place (thank you , Barbara - and another piece of that fabulous cake gave me courage to go out for my 10pm to 2am watch.
We set off from Charleston yesterday (Thursday) morning, with the hope that we could reach the St Mary's/Fernandina Beach inlet, and thanks to a wild blow as a front moved through last night (after my watch - JP and then Susan had to contend with steady 40 knot winds, with gusts over 50, and seas that caused everyone and everything to be drenched), we did indeed pull into a slip at Amelia Island Yacht Basin at 3 this afternoon. Florida at last!

A LONG day on the ICW

We left Beaufort pre-breakfast, and made it back to MM215 by perhaps 0715. It started raining, pretty hard. Then, the rain slowed - and the fog built. Pictures mostly look like a snowperson sitting on a cloud eating vanilla ice cream with a white plastic spoon. At the G7 of the infamous Bogue Sound, we ran aground despite honoring both the markers and the GPS rendition of the channel. This time, it took nearly 45 minutes to recover, by which time, we had called Tow Boat US. Still, we were off before they got there. And yes, Leigh was at the helm AGAIN.
Then the real fun began - "visibility O" as Peggy and I used to say - very, very difficult to navigate Bogue Sound on a good day, and being unable to see the markers until we were nearly upon them made for some very adventuresome moments. We were relieved to find that the Marines at Camp LeJeune, through which the ICW passes on this leg of the trip, were NOT doing their firing exercises, AND we made the bridge opening at Onslow Beach Bridge at 1400, thanks to a kind and patient bridgetender. So, we made it to MM247 a little after 1500 and tied up alongside a dock at Swan Point Marina.
We have consulted our various weather sources, and talked with our Gulfstream analysts (Dane and Jenifer, who provide great consultation for offshore passages) and it looks like we can make a great run from Wrightsville Beach or Southport starting Sunday morning. We'll have reasonable winds from the NW, and the waves will be kept down near shore by the westing. Perfect. We'll probably head for Fernandina Beach/St Mary's in northern Florida.
Tomorrow's run to Wrightsville or Southport is likely to be a bit wet, but we are hoping to avoid a fog repeat. Stay tuned...

Dolphin Video, Maybe

The rock music was coming from a (not so nearby) large boat on a mooring...their immediate neighbors must have loved the concert. The dolphins didn't seem to mind.

Beaufort, continued

It was raining cats and dogs and gusting to 35kts this morning, so we stayed put, after much discussion and hand-wringing. We will, assuming no similar conditions in the morning, head south on the ICW tomorrow and Saturday, hoping to take advantage of some northing in the wind forecast for Sunday. We want to go out for a few days, to make our way to Charleston/Savannah or to Fernandina Beach/St Mary's.
As a reward for our extended stay, we got some clearing this afternoon - and dolphins (note to Cal: the kind that swim) just off the docks. I made a couple of ineffective videos, and I'll try to post one.
The boat above is one of several neighbors we've had here at Beaufort Docks...I think the staircase is bigger than any I've had in a two story house! Yesterday it was the smaller sister of this one...JP and Susan ran into them in town, and they commented that they have a bike like ours. JP said - it's great, and it only took me 5 minutes to get it out and another 5 to assemble that. They sort of coughed and said "well.....the Captain did that for us".
Steve - we are eating pretty well, in the ICW, at anchor and in the marina. Wait until we are sailing watch on watch - I'll let you know if anyone CAN eat while we're doing that. I'm trying to think of things people can 'grab and go'.
Kay - wish you were here too. We are having much too good a time. Kent, if you are reading - we'll be back, I promise!
Joni - could you read the flag??
Kaye and DJ: I'm with David, but for some reason, Susan has Lauderdale on the brain. Glad you like the photos - I'm not in your league (nor is my camera) but I'm having fun with it.

Attending to business in Beaufort

JP testing out our port bike - having a great time, wouldn't you say?









Can you guess what the flags spell? (Oh, SailorGirl...)


























Susan did laundry in THE best laundry on the Eastern Seabord. TEN washers, TEN dryers, quarters and supplies available from the General Store out front, FIVE loads simultaneously -heaven on earth!, while JP and Leigh borrowed the Beaufort Docks car to do a little reprovisioning.

200 Mile Marker, ICW (aka Beaufort, NC)

Mile Marker 200, ICW, 11 November 2008


After locking through Great Mills on Saturday morning, we motored to Elizabeth City, at about Mile 50 on the ICW, and found one of the remaining 6 slips (of 14, all free). JP and Susan walked into town while Leigh cooked from various of our stores (shrimp cocktail, ratatouille, and a Smithfield Ham and Scallion Fritatta). The organic grocery that is reported in the guides is gone; the market that is in town is only half provisioned (many empty shelves) and is for sale. The downturn has hit, I would say. We would guess there are grocery stores outside of the downtown, since there are some very fancy houses around. Still, a nice stopover, very friendly fellow sailors, and perfect location.
From Elizabeth City, we motored to the Alligator River, and overnighted in a gorgeous anchorage there (pork cutlets, apple slaw and ratatouille, with banana pudding for dessert), then on to Campbell Creek, off Goose Creek, for another incredibly peaceful night at anchor (Susan and JP's Hatch Chili Stew, made in DC, courtesy of Dawnna's New Mexico chilis, with leftover banana pudding).
Today we finally got to sail again, across the Neuse River, before returning to the creek/canal system and into Beaufort Docks Marina.
We'll stay here tonight and tomorrow night, and decide whether to 1)continue down the ICW to Southport/Bald Head Island 2) go out and sail to Southport or Charleston or 3)chuck it all and sail to the Bahamas (four days from here)...the last is unlikely, but a girl can dream.
Marisa - we had a bottle of Schramsberg Blanc de Noir, set aside especially to celebrate 4 November. Peggy - it was SO cold this morning I expected to find ice on deck [but no one had been in a crew shell at 0600 either...]. Dawnna - of course she forgave me, and they know she is my own sweet baby, especially after my docking work today. Judy and Tom - Glad you are enjoying the blog. Thanks again for the sendoff. We've seen several Chesapeake and Annapolis boats so far.

Photos, Alligator River to Beaufort, NC

Elizabeth City Docks - The colorful boats next to us. Friendly bridge tender (see bridge in the background) and about 6 of the slips free after we came through - Leigh grabbed one and her faithful line handlers managed to secure.
Pooh, keeping warm in Leigh's scarf.
Moonrise, Alligator River November 9th.
Sunset, Alligator River, November 10
Funky house, Adams Creek Cut Canal, a few miles north of Beaufort, NC November 11.

Our Stopover before the Great Mills Lock

This is oThis is our stopover for the night on Friday, awaiting the second locking. We JUST made it through a small bridge, and got to stop in (just as it appears) a small neighborhood with 'dolphins' for overnighters. It was charming, actually. We ate the local pizza, too.
The view back to the bridge we just made...aren't the colors great?

Photos, Norfolk to Deep Creek Lock

One of the sites in Norfolk Harbor; luckily, no one was on maneuvers that morning.

The RR bridge that is "almost never" down...oops. It's down.
The RR bridge, up (after two railcars passed from west to east!)

Susan expertly locking through on her first try!

Finally, something pretty to look at...making our way from Deep Creek Lock and Great Mills Lock.

Grounding, Locking, and North Carolina

We had read all kinds of warnings about ICW groundings, particularly in the Great Dismal Swamp, which only carries 6' of water in places. So what did I do? I grounded her as we were leaving Willoughby Bay yesterday morning. Since she is my own sweet baby, I was able to exercise my boat whispering skills and got us off (good thing since we were still TWO hours from low tide). We made our way to the 1130 locking at Deep Creek, on the Great Dismal route, and though we bumped something once or twice, the water stayed at no less than 7' and we were able to get all the way through the last opening of the bridge at Great Mills. The town there has put in these 'dolphins' all along the west wall just between the bridge and the lock and it was a delightful, calm and welcoming place to spend the night. We even grabbed a couple of pizzas at the local Citgo-cum-convenience store, and made an early night of it.
The colors in the swamp are really lovely, and the Pasquotank opens out about 6 miles or so past the second lock on its way to Elizabeth City. We will stop there, as it would be another 30+ to go and cross Albemarle Sound. We should be there in the next half hour.
I'm going to try to post some pictures while we have the inverter running and I'm on power. There is no power, no water and no facilities at the EC docks - they are free to transients, and the town is famous for its "Rose Buddies" who set up a little welcome wine and cheese party many evenings when there are a number of us tied up.
Hello to Peggy, Joanne, Dawnna and any others I'm forgetting who have checked in with us. Nice to have followers.