Cruising from Northern to Southern Florida

I was up at 4:45 with thoughts racing through my mind on what I had to do before leaving dock. I left Ted to sleep till 06:00 since we would be going overnight I wanted him to get the extra sleep.  By 07:10 we were underway for our overnight cruise down the Atlantic Coast to West Palm Beach, Florida.  Although it is near high tide we are still fighting the current coming into the St. Mary’s River Inlet.  Past the break wall Ted commented on something in the channel up ahead that looks like it had a cross on top.  Minutes later we realized it was a submarine partially submerged.  The announcement on the radio was  brief and left us unsure if it was the same sub that we were looking at. I checked the chart for safe water and started to move further over to the side of the channel away from the sub. Within minutes we spotted a small orange Coast Guard boat coming up the channel at full speed. When it crossed the channel and started coming towards us we noticed that there was a machine gun mounted on the bow manned by someone who was prepared to use it. I went out to the top deck making no sudden movements as they came along side us. I waved but received no smiles and no warm greetings for their friendly northern neighbours. They opened the side door and with a megaphone they ordered us to head south out of the channel away from the sub.  I went back into the flybridge to navigate Ted through the area. Ted asked if I took pictures of our visitors but I think that was definately out of the question. Our friends in arms did not leave us right away but rather stayed alongside us to escort us out of the area. No waves or friendly goodbyes. They just turned quickly to pursue their next victim.  I guess that they do not want to announce the arrival of a military submarine on the VHF radio in advance.  The excitement never ends.

Once the drama ended we settled onto our waypoint and headed south.  We opened the side windows,  donned our bathing suits, slathered on the sunscreen and settled in for wonderful relaxing cruise.  The sun shining on the waves looked like fireflies dancing on the water. I was surprised (and excited) when I managed to capture this with my camera. 

Sunlight beaming on the water

To pass the time I often read to Ted while we are cruising to pass the time. During the course of the day, as I was reading aloud Ted would interrupt to point something on the water. We spotted at three turtles who popped their heads up to check us out and then quickly dove under water.  We also saw schools of fish jumping a foot out of the water. Obviously there was something chasing under the water that we could not see. It was interesting to see hundreds of fish doing backflips around us. And ofcourse our faithful dolphins joined us for playtime on our bullnose throughout the day.  Although the camera was ready I did not get pictures of the turtles or the jumping fish so you will have to trust me on this.

We watched the sunset and at around eight pm we watched the full moon rise.  Within five minutes it had peeked up from east over the ocean and was quickly visible in all of its glory.  The moon and stars would light the sky for the duration of the night guiding our way.  There were few boats on the water tonight so very little chatter on the VHF radio. We heard one sailboat calling the Coast Guard to ask a question about clearance around Cape Canaveral. I was tempted to radio them just to make contact with another boat letting them know that they were not alone.

The winds were from the east and were expected to shift to Southeast. The wind clocking around would flatten the swells however the wind did not clock as forecasted (oh what a surprise) so we were forced to tolerate the easterly swells all night which made for uncomfortable sleeping. We took 2 hour shifts most of the night.

Ted & I switched places at 05:45 to give him the opportunity to do the sunrise shift. As the day progressed the ocean swells settled and we observed the colour of the water changing to rich shades of deep aqua blue. How exciting, it was diffidently a sign that we were approaching the Bahamas and the Gulf Stream.  By 16:00 we were at anchored in crystal clear water in Lake Worth surrounded by condos, waterfront villas and palm trees. We reported in with our shore friends whom we had filed a float plan to let them know we were at anchor. We keep a watch for manatees in the area, perhaps in the next few days we will see a few.  At our most southerly US destination 1728 nautical miles from Toronto we prepare for our crossing of the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. After a 266 mile run down the coast in 33 hours we enjoyed dinner on the boat and then a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow we will launch the dinghy and join our friends Anne & Paul at their condo in Delray Beach a few miles away to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner (again).

Fantastic Florida

November 12^th continued

After anchoring in the Bells River in Florida the wind picked up so we decided to stay on board rather than take a dinghy trip to Fernandina Beach.  On Saturday morning the winds settled, so after breakfast we launched the dinghy for the first time during this trip. We have started a tradition in our family to celebrate Birthday Boxing Day.  After 5 days on board we head to shore to find our land legs again and walk around town. We went to the Marina Restaurant for lunch for my favourite crab burger and Ted had deep fried soft shelled crab.  They batter the whole crab and deep fry it so you are eating the whole crab.

                              Deep fried crab sandwich.

 The Marina Restaurant building is one of the oldest buildings in Fernandina  built in 1882 as an office building for the collector of customs, newspaper, bank and bar.  With 400 years of history under 8 different flags, the town is not only a historic but is a pretty little town comparable to Niagara on the Lake in Ontario with lots of boutique shops, art galleries, a great ice cream/fudge store.  The blocks are short and the streets are narrow with lots of huge palm and other native trees. My favourite building in the 50 block historic downtown is Lesesne House which was built in 1860 of hand-hewn timber and wooden pegs for Dr. Lesesne and later sold to Judge Friend in 1868. The house is still owned today by the descendents of that family.

 This is a cruiser friendly location and regular stop for boaters like us. The marina has a dinghy dock, laundry, showers, garbage and recycle services and a boater’s lounge. So it doesn’t matter if you are at dock, on a mooring ball or at anchor everyone has access to the facilities. The seafood stop next door has local fresh crab, shrimp and other fish available and guaranteed fresh – not frozen. We spent most of the day just strolling around getting to know the area, kind of feels like coming home again. Back to the boat to test out a new crab dip on the captain. It passed in flying colours.

Sunday November 14^th

We decided to do a dinghy trip to historic St. Mary’s and tour the area. We studied the charts before we left and tried to memorize the many little cuts in the Bells River. Our plan was not very successfully because we very quickly got lost. We were going pretty fast and then all of a sudden the water was only a foot deep.  We stopped right on top of oyster beds was not a very good thing with a soft bottom dinghy. We lifted the outboard as quickly as we could (but still got some damage to the prop). We paddled out of the area. Realizing that you can get there from here we head back to the boat to pick up our VHF radio which we had forgotten. First rule of gunkholing is to bring a radio in case you break down (or end up on top of oyster beds).  We headed out a second time but took the safe (big boat) route towards the ICW and North to St. Mary’s.  St. Mary’s is in Georgia so we had to cross the Georgia/ Florida border to get there however without any sign posts we once again got lost. Traveling by dinghy through the marsh is alot like walking in a corn field. You can’t see a way out and then all of a sudden you turn a corner and the path continues. We did this for miles, weaving in s-turns trying to find our way.  We kept going north until we eventually ran out of water again. The waterway literally stopped at a bridge so we did the Captain Ron thing and pulled over to ask directions. A couple were fishing and they gladly offered us directions, except that they kept talking at the same time and correcting each other. I wished I could have video taped them. Basically do 3 S-turns in the route that we had come from and then at the boat launch go straight and follow the water. Surprising we found St. Mary’s and it truly is a charming town where people ride around in golf carts. Even though Thanksgiving is around the corner we found that most of the town was already decorated for Christmas.

Decorated for Christmas 

We received a warm greeting at the dock by Ken who hosts the cruisers net every morning at 8 am. A  “cruisers net” is a morning VHF radio broadcast for a group of local and or transient boaters. It covers the weather; general announcements; an open mike time for anyone to ask for help and the all important social activities. This is the only cruisers net that we have found outside of the Bahamas. Ken arrived 3 years ago by boat, liked it so he stayed. He has become the honorary mayor of St. Mary’s Harbour.  Ken told us that if we need to go anywhere we could use the truck in the parking lot which was for any of the boaters who needed wheels to go somewhere.  Every community should be like this one! We also learned that St. Mary’s was hosting the annual Thanksgiving Week events at Seagles Bar, which also hosts a happy hour every night (bring your own snacks!).  The whole community kicks in for the Thanksgiving Dinner with people volunteering to cook turkeys, hams and casseroles. Everyone shows up with something to offer. Thanksgiving Day at St. Mary’s started 10 years ago with 7 or 8 boaters who were together because of a storm. The next year there were 30 people and this year they expect 300. Too bad we aren’t going to be around to attend the dinner, sounds like fun. On the way back to the boat we spotted a flock of white pelicans and I managed to get some of them in flight as we approached to get a closer picture.

Not sure what these trees are

           

The pink flowers on these trees are like paper

 White pelican‘s in flight

Monday November 15

When asked, we both have no idea what date it is and more often than not we don’t know what day of the week it is either.  The days don’t really matter anymore. Our plans are usually made in the morning for that day with little thought about what tomorrow will bring. It’s an usual lifestyle we lead.  We turn on the VHF radio and find that our friends on Saber Tooth are at the entrance of the harbour so we decide to dinghy into town and greet them at the dock and go for breakfast. By the time we got to dock they had already arrived and they decided to join us for breakfast.  While we were shopping it was decided that we would have pot luck dinner together aboard our boat. We picked up more fresh crab and tested a new crab cake recipe.  Someone else brought fresh shrimp.  Over the next few days we spent time working on the boat and going into dock to check emails, do errands and get to know some other boaters.

 On Thursday we planned a road trip to Jacksonville and Green Cove Springs to tour a couple of Mirage Great Harbour boats. We stopped into West Marine to provision and did groceries for a second time since New York. 

Friday we stopped at a neighbouring boat on the way to town to ask if they needed us to bring back anything. As it turns out the couple was from Oakville aboard a 40 year old wooden trawler named Jawbone. They were in dire need of oil to fix an engine problem and  with no cell phone or VHF radio connection they needed our help. They only had one engine so going into a crowded dock with current was not an option for them. We made arrangement for the oil and took Patrick by dinghy to pick up the oil he needed to repair the engine. In return they invited us over for drinks before dinner. It was a bit of an inconvenience however they needed help and one day we could be in their position. This is in fact the mantra by which we cruisers live.  Going into dock we watched another boat try to turn in a narrow channel which clearly was not wide enough for them to turn. We quickly docked the dinghy and came to their rescue. We grabbed lines and walk the boat around so that it cleared the dock.  The first mate aboard Salty Dog said “we owe you guys”.  We responded with a “pass it on” and help someone else in need and so the saga continues as we help each other any way we can. No money is every exchanged hands for assistance rendered and no one keeps score, it’s just something we do. If someone needs something and you have it then you give it to them, because someday you might need something yourself.   We were fortunate to have had the opportunity to have helped two couples today. If you have not seen the movie “Pay it forward” then you should rent it and it will help you understand the unwritten cruisers rules by which we live.

November 22^nd

In the morning the people from Jawbone dropped off something we had forgotten on their boat. The hand off was made with precise precision and the help of a boat pole.

We had planned to stay a few days or maybe a week in Fernandina Beach but now its 10 days later. We wanted to make sure that the hurricanes were not a threat but now the water temperature has dropped and there appears to be no hurricane activity so its time to head further south. We had planned to leave today after going to dock and getting fuel but we felt rushed this morning to get everything ready so we decided to wait until tomorrow. No use being rushed or stressed right? So we decide to go to dock this afternoon, fuel up, wash the boat, cook a turkey ($9.49 for a 14 pound turkey) and invite friends over for dinner. The turkey is defrosted so we decide to celebrate US Thanksgiving a few days early. We have after all much to be thankful for. We will be ready to leave in the morning at first light for a 32 hour trip from Fernandina Beach to Lake Worth (West Palm Beach).  We expect light winds (5 to 10 knots) and a full moon. Once we arrive in Lake Worth we will do our final provisioning before we head to the Bahamas.

Good bye North Carolina and Hello Georgia

Wednesday November 10 – We’re at anchor in Red Bird Creek south of Savannah, Georgia. We should both be tired since we have been up since 06:00 am yesterday however we still have a small bit of remaining energy left.  We spent the morning yesterday saying goodbye to the others at dock and preparing to do an offshore run ourselves. We filed our Float Plan with our friend Paul, which is something we do whenever we go offshore. Our float plan details everything about us, the boat, our safety equipment onboard, departure and expected arrival times.  We file it with someone and if we are delayed we call or if we don’t call then they are instructed to call the Coast Guard. So we make sure we call if we are going to be delayed. If we don’t have cell or sat phone coverage then we call the Coast Guard on our VHF radio and ask them to do a ship-to-shore call. We did that when we were anchored at Main Duck Island on Lake Ontario.

We left dock at noon on Tuesday October 9^th and headed out the Cape Fear River. We timed our departure so that we could take full advantage of the ebbing tide.  At 10+ knots we were soon rushing out the cut and on our way to Atlantic Ocean to run overnight along the coast. Hobo II (Port Credit), H2OBO (Port Credit), Reboot (Ridgewood, NJ), Marjorie E and Saber Tooth (Port Credit) who were over for cocktails last night did the same. Sylvie aboard EOS (Green Cove Springs, FL) remarked last night that she thought she was in Canada and not North Carolina with all the Canadian boats at dock. We kept 7-10 nautical miles offshore but the others (all sailboats) went out 20 nautical miles overnight.  Winds were supposed to be N & NW 10 -15 all night and all day however in actual fact they were southwest and increased slightly at dusk.  We watched the sunset faded and the sunrise the next morning.

Sunset over the ocean

During the night the moon was only a sliver. It was lighting the water head of our bow for a few hours which helped to guide our way. With no clouds the millions of stars in the sky twinkled brightly and we spotted many shooting stars throughout the night.  The waves were running 3 – 5 feet off our starboard bow and winds increased to 15 but everything was quite manageable.  Ted & I took turns sleeping during the course of the night. I took the first sleeping shift and slept till midnight when Ted woke me to add a quarter of oil in the engine (which we do every 12 hours). After that I took my turn at the helm, looking at the charts for any obstructions and the radar for any boat traffic. Otherwise I started out into the night, looked for any boats that might not show up on our radar. We kept in radio contact with Saber Tooth during the night and said our good-byes at 02:00 am as we arrived near the Charleston, South Carolina inlet. They would be heading into Charleston at first light and spending the day touring around the city. We will catch up to them again in Florida. Once we approached Charleston Harbour I woke Ted so that we would both be awake to cross the channel and sort out all of the lights and markers on radar. The last time we crossed this channel we had a large ship coming out and other ships at anchor just south of the harbour.  Tonight things thankfully were quiet.  At 03:00 we were clear of the harbour and Ted took over for the next 2 hours. At 05:00 I took over the sunrise shift. This is my first time doing the sunrise shift because Ted usually likes this time of the day.  I watched as a sliver of light appeared in the east a good half hour before I started to see the sun rising.

At 06:00 Ted woke up, made coffee and we planned our day. Our intention was to go to Hilton Head, South Carolina, but we decided to keep going further since we had a good forecast for the day and we were rested.  For the next hour I checked and double checked our route options. We wanted to be able to get to the entrance of a Sound during daylight hours. At 09:40 we set a waypoint to St. Simond’s Sound in southern Georgia, but  quickly discovered it would be 8 hours 40 minutes and we could not do the run in daylights hours. We altered course to enter Tybee Roads Inlet which was long inlet but had a well marked entrance channel.  We checked in early with Paul to report on our Float Plan and to let him know we were headed in the inlet.  As I was talking to Paul on the phone, I noticed something in the water beside us. Upon closer inspection I discovered that we were surrounded by thousands of jelly fish floating around the boat.  Once we were in the inlet, we passed a ship coming out with a pilot boat. This time there was lots of room and the ship stayed in his lane, unlike the tug in the intercoastal a few days ago who edged us out of the channel into 3 feet of water.  

Ship with pilot boat

Behind the big ship is the pilot boat going out with the ship to pick up the pilot who is onboard  escorting the ship through the channel. It is said that the job of a pilot captain is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. The pilot boat comes along side the ship as it is moving (sometimes going 18 knots) and climbs up a ladder on the side of the ship. He goes on board to take control of the navigation to escort the larger freighter in and out of harbours. Once he is done he then goes back down the ladder onto the waiting pilot boat. They do this in fair or foul weather. You can see by the picture above that the pilot boat is not that big, maybe 30 - 40 feet long compared to the ships that are 600 to 800 feet long.

Twenty four hours after we had departed dock from Southport, North Carolina we entered the ICW near Savannah Georgia. We had completely bypassed South Carolina on the outside! Having slept a few hours during the night we decided that we were both rested enough to continue cruising all day. There were 90 boats waiting in Beauford, North Carolina when we passed there. There were another 50 boats that we travelled with in North Carolina. As we escape the crowds and leave the vast majority of the traffic behind us we enjoying cruising again in the Intercoastal. We see only a few sailboats and a couple of trawlers all day and all of the chatter on the VHF airways has settled to the occasional call when boats want to pass.

Cruising along the ICW in Georgia  is not a straight line but rather a series of S and hairpin turns. The distance along the coast is approximately 85 miles on the outside and the inside ICW route is 130 miles and flat like a big coastal plain. It almost seems like the prairies but with water.  We passed very few towns along the waterway, just vast open waterways. The only notable town was at Thuderbolt with a bridge spanning the canal with marinas lining the waterway  on both sides. This is where we spotted Georgia Girl and a BIG shipyard.

Georgia Girl

Shipyard along the canal. The little boat on the left out of the water is probably 40 feet.

We spot only the occasional floats in the water along this section of the waterway. I did manage to capture a picture of a fisherman checking his traps. You will notice a float in the water behind his boat as well.

Fisherman checking his traps (Georgia 035)

Only two bridge today that we need clearance for, however we discover that we can sneak under both with 2 feet to spare at low tide.  Both bridge tenders are cooperative and read the tide board on the side of the bridge for us that indicate the clearance. We wish them a good winter and we’re off leaving the sailboats behind us to wait for a bridge opening.  The waterway curves between Sounds (entrances from the ocean) where the water floods in or ebbs out depending on the tide cycle.  The Sounds are sometimes an hour or 1 ½ hours apart, so halfway in between the two we lose our speed, when it drops  to around 7 knots and then once we get to the Sound and start heading the other way the speed increases to 9-10 knots  until we reach the half way point again and the cycle continues all day.

We cruised till 16:07 and dropped anchor at Red Bird Creek.  As I am working on the blog I am interrupted by the sound of dolphins swimming around our boat, they sound like they are huffing and puffing when they come up for air. We talked to them and they come closer sometimes just 5 feet off the side of the boat. Sadly the water is brackish so I can get good pictures of them beneath the water.  We tried to count them but quickly lost track.   We’ve never see this many together in the Bahamas. Today we have dolphins surrounding us and a martini at sunset having left all of our worries on the ICW (Inter Coastal Waterway).  

Dolphins playing around the boat

After dinner I struggled to keep my eyes open till 8 pm. Much like jet-lag, we have found that if you stay awake after an overnight cruise and go to bed at a regular time in the evening, your body is able to adjust much better than if we went to bed in the morning and slept for 6 hours. 

 In the past 28 hours we cruised 230 miles averaging 8.2 knots speed (or 15 kilometres per hour). Since we left Toronto on October 4^th we have now logged 1365 nautical miles (or 1570 statute miles or 2526 kilometres) under our keel or 2/3 of our trip south is now completed.  Our southernmost destination in George Town Great Exuma is 2085 nautical miles.

Our computer chart shows the twists and turns in Georgia ( Georgia 002)

Thursday  November 11^th

Now that the clocks have changed it is light at 06:00. We were up early to prepare for the days cruise. This morning we had to squeegee the decks and the cockpit windows. Everything was covered in dew and even the canvas was soaked right through. The two other sailboats that entered our anchorage in the river are still asleep as we ease out of the creek and into the ICW.  Although they call them creeks in Georgia, they resemble small rivers with STRONG currents. Last night as we dropped anchor the current help us set the anchor very quickly. We spun around in the creek ever six hours during the night with our anchor held firmly in place.  In the morning we are pointed in the opposite direction from last night indicating that the tide is ebbing which gives us a push and additional speed, at least unit the next Sound. We briefly contemplate heading out of the nearby  Sound but we are not comfortable with what we hear on the weather forecast and the shoaling at the end of this Sound near the ocean. Rather we take the safer route and spend the day cruising inside. Like yesterday the traffic is minimal and we spend the day weaving around the turns.  No more toques and fleece sweaters now that we are in Georgia. We start our day in t-shirts but by 09:00 we are putting on sun screen and cruising in our bathing suits. We open the side windows of the flybridge to get a breeze. It’s November 11^th and it is 72 degrees Fahrenheit  (22 degree Celsius) and we are in Georgia.  Our last trip through this area was in May 2006 and at the time we were swatting flies all day.

Around noon we hear a call between two cruisers which was distressing. We listen to the conversation on the VHF radio ... “This is Scott Free. We have a fire in the engine room and we are dropping anchor now”, then nothing.  We wait for a mayday call but nothing is heard.  An hour later we discover a sailboat at anchor to one side of the canal. No one hails us and no one is on watch.  The boat should have done a SECURITE call on the VHF to advise the rest of us their position and the status of the emergency. Some boaters still lack experience and common sense.  Half and hour later Towboat US is there to tow them into Brunswick. As it turns out they had smoke but no fire from a transmission hose that leaked fluid onto the hot manifold. They lost enough fluid that they needed to be towed in for repairs.

We saw a few isolated homes with no road or hydro. These appeared to be on island in the swamp with no road access.  We passed one small house on stilts.  We saw dolphins rushing to play on our bow and along our wake beside the boat. They seems so happy you can almost see them smiling.

We anchored on the Frederica River at St. Simons Island near Brunswick Georgia. We debate going to the marina nearby but prefer to stay at anchor rather than battle the 3 knot current near the marina. We are anchored in 10 feet however as the tides drops we discover that we are in 5’7” at low tide. This area has one of the highest tide ranges of 7’8”. As night falls the wind drops and we sit calmly at anchor.  The only sound is the nearby church bells that peel out on the hour. At seven pm we discover that the church bells ring to the sound of Amazing Grace.  Clearly the most beautiful sounding church bells we have ever heard. 

Friday November 12

I awoke to Ted singing our traditional family birthday song. “It’s your birthday, the day you were born. You will have it every year and you’ll always get a cheer, on your birthday, the day you were born” Hooray,  it’s been a good year! We re-opened the Boatel, visited by family in New Brunswick twice, spent time with our children and got back to cruising again. Life is good.  People worry about getting old but in my opinion  life just keeps getting better.  I am doing what I want to do when I grow up. Today we have 34 miles to go to Fernandina Beach, Florida which is the first town on the Georgia – Florida border. 

Along the route we spotted wild horses on Cumberland Island and manage to grab a picture of them. They are the only inhabitants on this protected barrier island refuge. Cumberland is probably the largest of all the barrier islands only the Georgia coast. The ICW runs between these islands and the Atlantic. 

Wild Horses

We get cheers from a group of children on a pontoon boat out on a school trip near St. Simon Island. They cheer and wave as I take their picture. By noon we are in Florida. I got the best birthday gift from Ted – a trip to Florida!

At dock in Southport, NC

We have now spent 3 nights in Southport, we need to recharge our batteries (mine and Ted's as well as Boatel).  On Saturday the best thing that day was seeing the white tailed deer swimming in the water which was truly exciting for me. All of the other 25 -30 boats that we were traveling with us missed it because they had just all passed us as we were waiting for the SeaTow Boat to tow us off our grounding at 8:30 am (that was how our day started). The day ended at dock with us loosing our bow thruster while trying to dock against 25 knot winds and the 8 hours in between weren't any better. Saturday was probably our worst day on the water in 6 years. I was going to blog our day however ever time I start to relive the day, I get upset all over again, so I have decided that we will vanish the day from our memory bank and just pretend the day did not happen and move on.

We are fortunate to have met some very nice people at dock over the past few days,  whom we will meet again somewhere down the water. Jim & Debbie (and Emily) aboard Emily E which is a 67 foot Ocean Alexander were docked here yesterday. We got to share our mutual horror stories of our experience on Saturday with each other. I met Kathy aboard Shearer Adventure lives aboard in Southport and they will be  leaving in December to cruise to the Bahamas aboard their Bayliner. Kathy was so kind to drive me (twice) into town to do groceries.  I bought some cherry tomatoes at the market and they were from Beamsville, Ontario. I had to come to North Carolina to get Niagara tomatoes, and they actually tasted better than the ones we bought at home.

This afternoon the boat lemming fleet started arriving around lunch time with 3 boats from Port Credit, Ontario arriving at dock along with 3 other Canadian boats. We had a few people over for cocktails on Boatel tonight. We we cooked a turkey today so the smell was wafting over the dock. Rested, full of turkey and mellow from the wine we head for bed with our batteries recharged and ready to cruise again tomorrow. Among one of the people we met today was Sophie's owners aboard H2OBO from Port Credit. Here is a picture I took of Sophie a few days ago behind us at anchor. I am told that Sophie doesn't come out very often. Sophie also has a blog at http://h2obo.blogspot.com/  and they describe their bad day too. Seems like a common theme this weekend. Tommorrow we all head offshore - no more ICW for a few days.

Sophie's perched on H20BO

43 degrees at night and 65 during the day, the heaters are on. No snow though :)  We will likely be somewhere in Northern Florida by my birthday (Nov 12). It is said that if you don't go aground then you have not cruised the ICW, so let it be said that we have now officially cruised the ICW this year and we have the pictures to prove it. With that behind us we move on. Next stop Hilton Head, South Carolina. 

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Our little towboat as he leaves us after towing us off. We ran hard aground after we ran out of room passing a barge.

Travelling through Beaufort, NC

Last night our plans were to go to Beaufort, however we hear that there are 90 sailboats waiting at Beaufort for the weather to change. Things are getting crowded at the anchorages and at the docks. We decide to keep going rather than staying at dock in Beaufort. We spot our first dolphins about 5 miles from Beaufort. What an exciting experience to have these beautiful creatures greet us with such enthusiasm. The waterway is busy again as everyone is jocking for positions to arrive early. We hear a few boats broadcast "security" announcements to the other further behind. For this everyone is grateful.

This was one of the obstacles that everyone was staying clear of.


to be continued

Sights along the ICW in North Carolina

These are all photos along the waterway. Click on the photos to enlarge.

Lime green house with boat that is painted to match

Shrimp boat that has seen better days and probably has many stories to tell.

A newly restored boat. We saw many of these.

Yellow, green and pink huge waterfront homes with wrap around balconies and long walk out to the peer.

The pink house on its own island.

A drive up bait store at Wrightsville Beach

Dophins spotted - oh my!

We know that we are now in the south as we spot the dolphins jumping as we approach Beauford (pronounced BEAU ford) NC as opposed to Beauford, South Carolina (pronounce BEW ford). They bounce toward us and jump in the water to reach the bow of the boat and then they turn and roll and play. Oh my what a sight and they stay with us for miles. I am not sure who is more excited me or them. As you all know we have a bullnose (bulbous bow) on our boat, we think that the dolphins really like the bow wake that this cause which is why they swim with us for 20 to 25 minutes.

North Carolina - We're in Shrimp Country

No more crab pots from Chesapeake Bay, we are in shrimp country now. It is said that at anchor you can hear the shrimp cleaning the bottom of the boat at night, however are hull is too thick to hear anything. We lift anchor north of Belhaven and continue our route through the Pamilco River and Sound to anchor in Oriental NC. During the day we start to see the many "Shrimpers" along the route.

Then we spot this fisherman in this unusal boat along the canal in Hobucken, NC. We are not sure what he is fishing for but you see many of these boats along the waterway.

The weather is turning in the afternoon so everyone is up and out early to reach anchorage before the winds and rain. A nice cruise and we reach our anchorage at Broad Creek off the Neuse River, at statute mile 173 of the ICW. It just starts to blow and rain as we enter this new anchorage.  We find a safe spot and drop the anchor but the water depths drop off right away so we pull up anchor and move to a new location. Within a few minutes we drop the anchor a second time and this time we are happy that we have a good hold in good water. We are ready for the SW 20 - 25 winds that will clock to the NE then NW over night. The river is true to its name, it is broad. We are 300 feet off shore so that when the winds clock around we are still in safe waters 150 from shore. Friends on Saber Tooth make it through the opening that looks distressing on the charts but in actual fact it is wide. They decide to brave the winds and rain in the dinghy to enjoy captain Ted's grilled chicken, sundried tomato pizza made from scratch (one of the captains many talents).

Cruising the ditch in North Carolina

Wednesday November 3^rd, 2010

Tonight as we look out we are surrounded by a sea of anchor lights. The winds will increase during the night so we have sought out protection on the NW side of the channel along with 20 other boats, only 4 trawler and the 16 sailboats. The larger yachts or fast boats have all gone to seek shelter at marina docks for the night. You hear the rumbling of the generators but soon everyone will retire for the night after a long days run and the anchorage will be quiet except for the occasional wind generator to break the silence.  Cruisers midnight is nine o'clock because by then it feels like midnight since we have all been up since 5 am.

Our days start early, before daybreak we check the oil levels and do the necessary daily maintenance to ensure that everything works optimally. Everyone is ready to lift anchor at daybreak or some even earlier. In single file we leave the dock or anchorage for another day of cruising the channels, lemmings on the water with one purpose to get the best spot at anchor or at dock before dark.  Large faster boats pass slower boats and take the lead, making time and distance between themselves and the slowest of trawlers and sailboats.  As a slow trawler we pass other boats at what we call “warp trawler speed”.

I will attempt to answer questions which we are often asked about our life afloat. One common question is about our batteries and generator. We have an 18 Kilowatt generator that we run twice a day, once in the morning making breakfast and in the evening making dinner. This is enough to keep our house bank of 12 batteries charged up. The house batteries then work with an inverter to convert DC power to AC power for our refrigeration and lights. We need to run the generator for our stove, dryer and hot water heater which are all DC power.  We shut down our fridge and freeze overnight to conserve battery power (which is okay because unless it is opened it keeps everything cold.  We try to conserve power whenever possible when we are away from dock. We replaced all of our batteries this year before leaving Toronto which is impressive considering our old batteries lasted us five years.  

Today was the least scenic of our entire trip. At Norfolk, Virginia you must choose to go to either the Dismal Swamp Route which is shallower or the Virgina Cut Route which we like to call the Less Dismal Swamp. Once we leave Coinjock, NC, we cross Albermarle Sound , its a 14 mile crossing and it can get sloppy because of its shallow depths. We have never had problems but we have heard that sometimes boats get holed up in Coinjock waiting for a crossing.  Once across the Sound, we enter the ditch and as you can see below it is a long dredge out canal with tree stumps on each side and on a grey day it really does look dismal, just one long canal. You will note the rain drops on our windows.

I spend the day reading to the captain to pass the time. We are often interrupted with calls on the VHF radio of boats trying to pass each other. Luckily the depth in the ditch are no problem for passing.

more photos for Maryland, Virginia

Just to let y'all know (we are now in the south now ya hear) that I added more pictures to the blog from a few days ago, so look back.

Good-bye Norfolk Virginia... Hello North Carolina.

Tuesday November 2^nd 2010

The most worrisome part of our trip (after Lake Ontario in October) is Norfolk Harbour to the Great Bridge Lock and Bridge. This is a stretch of 20 miles that is subject to wind, current, big freighter, warships, tug and barges working, a lock and lots of bridges that make you wait in the current and wind. All this in 20 short miles of waterway which is why we consider it the most nerve racking part of the trip and we are both overjoyed when it is over.  When you are waiting for a bridge opening the bridge tender person wants all the boats up close to the bridge so she/he can open and close the bridge quickly, easy for them but not easy for us  with current and wind and boats all trying to stay straight in the channel and not hit each other.  Others open on the hour or the half hour and you are staring at the lock counting down the minutes till opening. If you are too far back then they close the bridge right in front of you and make you wait for the next opening. I am sure you get the picture now.  

The one interesting part about this 20 mile stretch is that it takes you through Norfolk Harbour in front of all the military boats. It goes without saying that you do not approach this area. I managed to snap a picture, although I think this is a no-no.

Once out of the Great Bridge bridge it is smooth sailing except for one more  bridge who ended up waiting for us because we were half a mile away and that NEVER happens.  We travelled with a whole group of about 20-30 boats all heading to parts south.  This is where we begin to talk to each other on the VHS radio and meet up at dock later on.

We stop at Coinjock, North Carolina. Where the hell is Coinjock you ask? I should you because I have the T-shirt (a birthday gift from Paul in 2005). But what happens in Coinjock ...stays in Coinjock.  Coinjock is home of the 32 ounce prime rib. Those of you who know Captain Ted’s appetite knows that this is the stop he looks forward to.

After docking in Coinjock we meet Katherine (from Sault Ste Marie) and Timothy (from where ever the boat is) on the dock. They are aboard fun@sea.calm we invite them to join us and John & Nora for dinner. First a much need wash down of the boat to get the salt off after a few days on the Bays. At dinner we swap stories and enjoy meeting new friends. Katherine & Timothy leave us the next day in Oriental, NC. We say our goodbyes till we meet again in Charleston on our return trip in the spring or back in Toronto.

Coinjock Marina has a 1000 feet of docking and they make use of ever foot by docking all the boat ..ahem close. How close you ask? See the picture of our bow behind Fun@Sea.calm  and the stern of Boatel I with Sea Dog close by. The dock staff are wonderful and Lewis the owner is always at hand to greet everyone with a "we're glad to see y'all again". I just hand them the lines and they move the boat where they want it and tie all the lines. Craig - you need to send your dock staff to train at Coinjock Marina!

Now getting out the next morning is a different thing! We wait for the delivery captains with the bow and stern thrusters to leave dock and an empty hole so that the rest of us can move up and get out. No dock staff in the morning. The parade of boat leaving (reminds me of lemmings) starts again in the morning.

White Tail Deer swimming in North Carolina

I spotted something in the water. I thought it was a dolpin and looked through my binoculars. To my amazement it was a white tailed deer. He swam a long way and then hopped on land and quickly hopped away. Very cool.

Maryland, Virginia,

Thursday October 28, 2010

We have travelled 654 nautical miles to date. I awake and look at my watch 5:45 am, time to get up and prepare to cast off today from Chesapeake City, Maryland. We checked the weather forecast again. With the mention of fog we decide to delay our departure waiting to make sure we have no fog leaving the C & D canal. With the big ships we want to make sure we can be seen. Nora & John came over as agreed to help us cast off the lines from the dock. The skies are grey but no fog so we leave followed by Saber Tooth. Within minutes of entering the canal we enter fog however we can still see the next set of markers ahead so we continue watching carefully. The canal is too narrow for the radar to be helpful so we rely on our eyes and are ready to sound the fog horn if necessary. Luckily the fog doesn’t last long, only half an hour and we leave the gray skies behind us as we exit the canal and start the dogleg turns onto Chesapeake Bay. It’s time for breakfast now that we have good visibility. A pleasant days cruise, no sailboats precariously in our path, no wind or strong current to battle, only the occasional crab pot float so navigate around but they all seem to be more visible than usual, many of them with flags. We read that approximately 23 million pounds of crab are harvested locally each year! We also learned that fisherman like to put their traps in less than 30 feet of water, so we look for the deeper water or watch for the crab pot markers whenever we venture off the marketed channel, if only it was that easy. Even in the channel we have to keep a prudent eye for crab pots.  The traffic on the bay is an unusual combination of boats on this sunny Thursday afternoon, a crab boat, a large local sailboat sailing across the channel, a working tug and barge doing a dreg operation and other boats like us heading south to warmer weather.

Crab boat (note the cages on top) 

A peaceful day on Cheaspeake Bay until the SECURITY announcement from the Coast Guard. The CG is escorting a naval submarine from Norfolk to Annapolis and we need to stay clear. The CG hail each boat as it approaches and asks them to give the sub a wide berth at least 500 yards. How can you give a wide berth to a sub when you can’t see it? We spot other Coast Guard boats that are obviously part of the entourage to protect and guide to the sub. Then we spot the sub peeking out of the water. Unless you know what it is you would never recognize it. The fine is huge to come too close to a naval vessel and the CG announce that with the fine comes imprisonment and deadly force will be used if necessary. Stern warning is enough to keep far away but we do get a good picture.

Navy Escort Boat

Submarine picture

We are now off course because the CG ordered us to manoeuvre to the other side of the channel. We get back on track and head to Tilghman Island, south of the Eastern River on the east side of Chesapeake Bay. We had been in this anchorage before in 2004 and found a shortcut through Knapps Narrows, which is home to a small fleet of oyster boats.

The Fleet of Oyster Boats

 We arrive at low tide and bump going in the narrow channel. We continue at slow speed to find the deep(er) waters. A small green hulled Canadian sailboat sits at dock in the channel and comes up and  waves as we pass.  Fellow travellers that we will likely meet up with again in some harbour further south. The bridge tender is friendly and offers to open the bridge for us but volunteers no information on the water depths.

We follow the deep water into Dun Cove and drop anchor.

First mate driving the boat into the anchorage.

Once again at anchor with no dock lines, no neighbours and no internet. Sitting on the aft deck at anchor in Dun Cove we are now protected from the winds and waves of the front due later today. A beautiful cove that could easily be a bay on Lake Muskoka. Our only neighbour is a water snake that slithers past the boat to check us out, he lifts his head spots us and then moves on.

Snake picture.

We enjoy sitting on our back deck with a martini enjoying the sunset. We remember  the hours of fibreglass work back in the spring which makes the whole evening that much more enjoyable. I take pictures of the sunset, but every 2- 3 minutes there is another sunset picture that is better than the last picture, until at last the sun has set. This now begins a nightly occurrence of chasing the best sunset pictures.  There could be worse hobbies.  Now the only permanent address we have is our email. This is our first night to truly enjoy the quiet and the star at anchor with no other boats around.

Sunset picture in Dun Cove, Maryland

Friday October 29, 2010

With the front passing through we stay at anchor, protected in our little cove. We work on some maintenance items and take time to relax with an easy schedule. We listen to the weather and prepare for an early departure on Saturday morning.

Saturday October 30, 2001

We listen to the forecast in the morning and now they have a Small Craft Wind Advisory until 10 am and again at 4:00pm but we decide to go ahead anyways. We have a back up plan to go to another anchorage an hour away if the weather is too rough. As our luck would have it we have a pleasant days cruise.  We anchor in Mill Creek, Virginia. As we approach Mill Creek the winds and waves increase. We tried to cut across the channel to head directly to the inlet but discovered that there was oyster stakes between us and the entrance. Oyster stakes are traps like crab pots but they are clustered.

We enter the protection of Mill Creek which is just south of the Virginia/Maryland, border south of the Potomac River on the West side of Chesapeake Bay. We are anchored for the night with five sailboats.  A few local fisherman are out fishing till sunset. Not happy with the holding in this anchorage we set a perimeter alarm with our GPS and sleep with an ear open to our anchor dragging but the anchor holds all night.

Sunset in Mill Creek, Virginia  The ripples on the water are from a local fishing boat

Sunday October 31, 2001

After a restless sleep we awake to the now daily ritual of listening to the NOAA weather report. All of the other boats at anchor prepare to leave.  The winds and waves are expected to die down in the afternoon so we decide to make a run for Norfolk.  Another beautiful day cruising on the Bay. We grab a picture of a sports fish boat (probably about 47 – 50 feet) trying to get close to one of the Chesapeake Lighthouses.  Lighthouse keepers use to live in the lighthouse but they have since been abandoned however they are still maintained as markers on the Bay.

Chesapeake Lighthouse Virginia
We enter Norfolk Harbour and anchored in Willoughby Bay. Norfolk is the second busiest harbour with lots of large ship traffic including a fleet of warships.  One year we entered Norfolk Harbour in the dark, it was a stressful experience that we promised ourselves we would never repeat.  Norfolk Harbour is difficult enough with all the lanes of traffic criss-crossing, entering the harbour at dark is dangerous.  We inflate our new Sea Eagle Kayak and kayak over to join our neighbours  on Saber Tooth that have caught up with us. Likely we will not see any trick or treaters knocking on the hull tonight.  We have only three other boats at anchor with us in this large bay however at 04:00 we awake to the sound of our perimeter anchor alarm on our navigation computer. Our anchor did drag and continued to move until we were closer to Saber Tooth then we felt comfortable with. In the wind and dark we start the engine, lift anchor and reposition the boat. This time we are confident that the anchor is well set  and go back to bed much further away from Saber Tooth. 

Monday  November 1^st

We decide to spend the day at anchor and work on odd jobs around the boat. We enjoy watching the many naval helicopter take off and land near us. We change our Canadian flag as the old one is aleady tattered and dirty. We have brought a supply with us as we do like to fly a torn flag. Early to bed to continue our journey south to Coinjock North Carolina. Perhaps on our next visit we will spend more time visiting Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia, but for now we are ready to continue south.