Down Florida

We're currently in Miami area at No Name Harbor. I guess that's as good as any other name.

Travelling down FL, for me, lacked the visual interest that other states provided. Sections were great, and some of the wildlife (seeing my first manatees, an ICW section with an osprey atop a nest on many of the channel markers, the white pelican flock) was outstanding, but overall this was not my favorite state. And I've had writer's block.

And there are crazy things here. Like this view of mega boats, mega people swimming, jet skis every where, and no separation between them and the narrow darker water color channel where boats like us are travelling through. Too crazy and too close for comfort.

Here's a pic of the trip down FL. Top half all outside and coastal, bottom half on the ICW.

Maybe on the way back, we'll ride up the Gulf Stream a bit weather permitting and not feel compelled to come straight back across. We have options.

04/18/15 at. Augustine

I love St Augustine. I have this thing for doors to hidden gardens. 

It was great to be able to hook up with the Rosner's here. The 4 of us Wales up to their recommended BBQ restaurant. It was terrific. Lots of people watching on the street but also some lovely architecture all around. Nice night.

Rosner's ahead, Reuter's behind.

04/30/15 Dinghy-Ville

We stayed two nights on a mooring at the Dinner Key Marina. Nice enough and The Fresh Market was only a half mile away. We bicycled to reprovision, buy oil for a complete oil change, and waited out thunder and lightning storms our second day. It rained buckets. Yesterday. I think that might have been the storm that rolled over AL having finally made its way eastward. 

The marina offered a shuttle service that landed us at the dinghy dock. I like the dinghy with a families worth of shoes lined up on the seat. 

We've moved on to get fuel ( we thought it was self-serve at first with no one around ) and then over to No Name harbor. Good jumping off spot for Bahamas. We may join a flotilla of 4 planning an early early morning take-off. This harbor has 10 boats in it, all sailboats except one. Beautiful little spot but it's very wet today so we'll likely just hang out this eve.

So I guess we'll sit tight

We are at Dinner Key for a second day. The plan was to maybe take advantage of a steady SW breeze that was forecast for today and scoot across to Bimini. A SW wind is a good direction to cross over the northbound Gulf Stream because it keeps the peaking chop to a minimum. We chatted on the local cruiser net here in the key and while our wind direction plan was reinforced, advise was given to perhaps be careful of the storms forecast for today. Well they did materialize and....this morning the wind is from the East and.....

......right over our current location and where we want to go.

We actually made the decision to sit tight today already yesterday. That call being made, we completed an oil change on the engine, hooked up the stern shower and some cleaning. We'll leave the mooring here at Dinner today and head over to top the fuel off across the bay. Tonight we'll check out No Name harbor which will be a great staging point to jump off......maybe on tomorrow's predicted westy. As there is likely to be some northerly component to the winds in the next few days, it will be prudent to wait till those subside. Northerly winds coming down and bumping into a Gulf Stream going up makes for a pretty uncomfortable ride.  We are pretty avid followers of GRIB file reading. While they are just computer generated and without professional interpretation, they are mighty accurate for at least 2-3 days out. 

If one is serious......

This morning I'm sitting here peacefully in Biscayne Bay admiring the skyline of Miami as the rising sun highlights every feature of the landscape. But it's not always so peaceful. Having just read Len and Lynea's posting on the Antares blog, I'm very thankful about having made the last minute decision to purchase and install a Viking 4 person liferaft in Little River. Yes it was one more project that delayed us by another week....but....we have great peace of mind knowing that if or when the need to abandon ship arises, we have someplace to go. Now it really doesn't matter whether you're a mile offshore or 500 miles offshore. If your serious about being on a boat and its your life, the time and expense is more than worth it.

Growth

You grow from your experiences. And yesterday was a experiential day. The good news is that yesterday is just that - yesterday. 

Today we're on a beautiful sail heading south.

Oh darrrling......

 ......we're in Boca. A long day of trying to get to bridge openings has us just south of Boca Raton tonight. A very long day and our evening drink tastes awfully good. In a very small "lake" just off the icw in 7.2. Ft of water. We're getting very used to seeing these depths and need to as we head out for the Bahamas next week. But first.... the weekend in ....Miami.. Stay tuned for fun stuff. 

Hobe Sound

We've dropped anchor this evening on Hobe Sound just north of Lake Worth FL. A bit further than we were planning but our other choice was upstream near Stuart. The ICW there was full of shoaling hazards. We tried once then again Znd decided .....sc.... it..we're moving on. An hour later we find ourselves securely set in 8 Ft of water just off the channel with a great breeze and a current that defines nicely where the boat will point with each impending tide change....nice. Snack time. 

We say good bye to Vero Beach

After spending a day here yesterday and 2 nights on a mooring...$29 total....we're heading on down the line this morning.  Fuel and water is next. Free buses here get us Round nicely.  This is a very cruiser friendly place. 

Update

Success

Touch....

......and go. So we're in vero beach city marina and the fellow down the way is doing touch and goes as it tries to pickup the mooring. Perhaps the third time is the charm??? And ....yes!.... No failure again!

04/16/15 ICW to St Augustine

I don't think we've ever seen as much wildlife as on this section of the ICW. 

A large flock of white Pelicans, what I believe was 2 oyster catchers, a swallow tailed kite, hawks and osprey, Ernie's manatees, and more. 

Our original plan was to go halfway from Fernadina Beach to St Augustine but the current pushed us down river at about 8 to 8.5 knots. It switched around to the nose near the Jacksonville inlet. Under one narrow bridge, one could walk faster than we were moving SOG -- about 1.8 knots. Thankfully it was only that one bridge. An hour later we were being current shuttled down the ICW again. We made great time all the way to St Augustine dropping the hook just north of town.

04/16/15 ICW to St Augustine FL

Scores: Ernie 2 manatees; Bette zip.

04/15/15 Near Fernadina Beach

Rather than head to town, which we hope to do on the way back north someday, we found a quiet anchorage on  the Amelia River. Ernie and I were greeted to a pod of about 20 dolphins at one time for about 30 minutes of play. Youngsters.in the group were having a ball. Beautiful!

04/14/15

The town of Brunswick was pretty cool in that the historic section had been preserved with its original shop fronts. But sadly, many of rhe shops were empty.

We bicycled to our hearts content while Iemanja was parked dockside at an A1 marina there. Everyone showed their southern charm and politeness that we found and have come to love from NC to SC to GA.

The pizza at Foxes was wonderful!

04/13/15

We ICW'd down to Lanier Island today. Lanier being just north of Brunswick. The Active captain anchorage was just in front of a church whose church bells greeted us for the night with Emmanuel.

A Lovely and peaceful song as darkness set in for the night.

Outside this morning

Got an early start and headed out from St. Augustine. Running south about 1 or so off shore to take advantage of the shallower water and slower current. When the current is on the nose, it pays to find the shallower water to keep its affect to a minimum. Also nice to be out here so as not to have all the weekend ICW traffic. They can sometimes get a bit rude. Making water also is better out here since the seawater is cleaner....prefilters last longer. 

Rains are soooo nice

We are eager to get the late afternoon storms as the land heats up and the sea breeze  kicks in. Everything gets a fresh water washing. That's Antares from LCYC over there.  We're waiting for a break in the rain to go in for bbq at a St. Augustine favorite.

Just skirted in between....

As we entered the inlet to fernadina beach we sneak in between 2 nice looking.... from a distance .....tstorms. It was a nice ride outside yesterday Wednesday although the wind never materialized to sail. Nice to be outside however away from the icw traffic. 

Heading for Fernadina Beach FL

Bette's in the shade in shorts 'n T-shirt and has goose bumps. Ernie's in his favorite sunny spot on the wide combing and he's just Ernie. 

We got no problem heading south when many around us are heading north.

Brunswick GA

Here for the night. Water, fuel, food, and......pizza!

20 miles north of Brunswick GA 04/12/15

For such a quiet, calm, peaceful beginning of a day, it certainly turned more interesting as it went on.

We left easily from our night's anchorage (late start from #70), and easily got out to sea through a nearby channel at St Catherine's Sound.

 and put out a sail for a down winder. Not too rolly; the angle was just right.

Then we debated our wise-ness about the Doboy Sound entrance. We were about to forego the proper channel entrance due to water depth of 6.9 and 8.9 ft. Yep, we went for plan B with a jibe to get there.

Ern and Ozzie drove and Bette navigated. That works the best with lowest angst all around. It was a very straight forward entrance albeit windy and wavey. We understand the concern for shoaling; we took it slow and steady. 

And, boomps, we were in the sound. Cool!

Tonight we sit In a beautiful lanscape. The rain is pitter-pattering on the canvas, and we're happy.

Ozzie's driving 04/12/15

Ernie is relaxing. Ozzie is driving. The water-maker is making water. And Bette is blogging. Minnie is sleeping. A fun filled day. 

Heading for a jibe angle into Queens Island GA aka Doboy Sound. 

Where we at

Here's an AquaMap of travels from Little River SC down and into Georgetown travelling outside. It took about an hour to get it out the ICW   (Heading north and east) from Little River Marina.

It took about two hours to head into an anchorage at Georgetown. Georgetown itself is even further inland from our night hook. 

Down at Charleston, it's about 2 1/2 hrs in from sea to a location dinghy -able to the historic center of town. Well worth it.

( I miss my Navionics charts but trashed the app (oops) and have to wait for a really good connection before downloading it again - it's big).

Our inlet to Wassaw Sound GA was 

another of the high tidal variance Georgia river inlets and lengthy trip to find wind and wave protection. But provided a great opportunity to hop back onto the ICW for a day's travel. 

It looks like the ICW is a lot of twist and turns, but going outside no faster if speed is your goal.(ours is not). You really pay time-wise to get in and out of the inlets.

Minnie scoping out our anchorage on the ICW.

We're right in it tonight...

....see blue circle

04/09/15 --an overnighter

To stay (in Charleston, SC) or not to stay? We both had this strong urge to sail outside and overnight , so that was it. That's what we went for. Packed up the dinghy, stowed everything and would sail down coast until it made sense to turn inland . We scoped out options and that was enough to know for some time. Re-check on weather and all was good. SW breeze, we loved it. Then we were off. 

Ernie called the sail epic. It was that and more. Perfect wind speed and direction, Temps were mild. Porpoises galore that day.

Once out of the jetty, we opted to take a long tack offshore 20 miles, then tacked to port. From 6 pm we stayed on port until the next day.  

Full sails or reefed all day and into the night.

Love sailing at night! Only 3 or 4 boats to search for on radar and a few others with lights but very quiet overall. The loons called out to add a mysterious feeing to the night. Once the moon came up we had plenty of light. Maybe 1 am and a partial moon but bright none-the-less.

Winds lightened by 9 a.m. so we motor sailed down to Wasauw Sound, Georgia.

By then we were both ear to ear grinning so we didn't begrudge  the need to use the engine. The loons now showed their faces and didn't seem to mind our presence. Even a travelling prairie warbler stopped on board for a ride.

What a sail that was!

Forgot to mention

......this would be a great storm hurricane hole. 

Skidaway Island GA

After an overnight sail that was epic we find ourselves anchored off of Skidaway Instiute of Oceanography tonight. Weather is forecast to be stormy overnight so we tucked in here safe and sound. I think the portable electronics might go in the microwave tonight. This is a fine anchorage.....

Porpoise ho!

We get company....

04/08/15 Charleston SC

This is my kind of city. Everyone is walking or bicycling or enjoying time in a shaded park by the waterfront. The architecture of the historical city is beautiful; long balconies and big old trees, immaculate landscaping, and so much more. 

The trees on both sides of so many streets would touch at street center making shady canopies over the road. And many of the streets made me feel like I was walking in France or Spain; very narrow with tiny sidewalks, yet lovely and quaint with window flower boxes, wrought ironed balconies, and shutters everywhere. 

My photography does it no justice. So just trust me.

Gardens galore and then this tiny secret door leading to who knows what surprise.

And then the delicious big Al's andouille  sausages that you can buy at Burbages. They're a small mom and pop market with the warmest folks running the store. 

We loved it here.

04/07/15 heading to Georgetown SC

We heard so many good things about Georgetown SC. But you know, we just got off a dock and out of town and it was time to be on a hook and on our own. 

Most of the day was too light for sailing except for about an hour. That hour was wonderful, a lovely sail moving along about 6.5 knots.

Then back to motoring. We didn't go all the way up river to Georgetown. Pulled into an Active Captain anchorage instead and enjoyed the quiet and serenity of the hook. Nice night. 

Day 1 in Charleston SC

Slept in a bit this morning after the two previous days of up early 60 mile days. Our anchorage is off Battery Park in a nice open wide channel. The tide coming or going dictates which way we swing. A very swift current once again reinforces or purchase of the Rocna 35 anchor.  We are solidly held on 125 feet of chain in 25 feet of water. We dingy in towards the current...... Not bad at all for the Yamaha 8 hsp. A 2 hour walk around town to gaze at the southern charms of the town. Flowers are all in full bloom. 

Little River time

Did we read? yes. Take walks? yes. Party with Marina folks? Sure... But the projects, the projects we went ape-s*^# on.😀. Water maker now makin' water, 4man life raft now on the pushpit, lazy jacks ( might take a bit to get used to those) installed, new mainsail cover, new stern rail weather cloth (kept that north wind out of the cockpit thank you very much), fold-out cockpit table (room for more than two cups and two forks), engine start panel door, toe rail and eyebrow stripped and oil sealed, engine sound insulation added, commissioned the port fuel tank, and 2 of 3 cowl guards installed (1 to go). For real.

As George Takei would say, "oh my".

Reuter projects

We're known for our many projects. One that kept us in Little River longer than we expected: Shoe goo, C-clamps, and slipper -- good as new.

Sunrise as we depart

As we turn into the icw, the sun makes its appearance. Headin outside. 

Happy Easter from little river sc....

We're spending Easter here at Lightkeepers marina. Final chores are about done before departure tomorrow morning 0630 and headin for Georgetown. We're expecting a nice 12-15 knot breeze from the east southeast which we hope will give us a nice close reach down the 47 mile coast to Winyah bay. Will hop along to the coast for the next week or so down to Miami and then peel east yo Bimini. .....unless of course we change our minds which is our choice. 😀😀