Thanksgiving Break

Tuesday, Nov.20 - Monday, Nov.26

Our good friends Pat and Doug Reichenbach came from their home in Lake Wales to pick
us up at Titusville Marina to spend some time with them at their home in central Florida.
This is our first time away from the boat for a few days and it has been enjoyable.
It seemed strange to travel in a car again, live in a house,watch TV, and go to movies.
On Thanksgiving day we were joined by Jerry and Mary Bailey for a great dinner with
pumpkin pie, turkey and all the trimmings. What a blessing.
While there we got to spend a couple of hours visiting Mike and Chris Link and absorbing
all the knowledge they have gained from two trips out to the Abacos.They loaned us their
Chartbooks and cruising guides which will be very helpful as we plan our upcoming jump
out to the Bahamas. Reading the books renews our excitement as we get ready for the next
phase of our adventure. The trip so far has been full of adventure but we are looking forward
to getting over there.
We have another 140 miles until we get to our jump- off site which we intend to cover in three
days of travel. The important thing is to be ready when the proper weather window presents
itself so we intend to hang out at Lake Worth near West Palm Beach.  We will be anchoring
tomorrow night which we haven't done as much because of the lousy weather but are
looking forward to.
The boat has set here fine at Titusville but today we received the part we had ordered and
will leave tomorrow for an anchorage half way to Vero Beach. The last few days have been
very pleasant with daytime temps in the mid 70s and quite a bit of sunshine. We were actually
in shorts today and rode our bikes all over town visiting the hardware and our favorite donut
shop.
While in Lake Wales Carol got to help decorate a Christmas tree. Our normal traditions will
not be observed on this trip so this was a nice touch.

Thanksgiving with Doug, Mary, Jerry, Roger, Pat, and Carol

 

Getting our Christmas decorating fix

 

Re- provisioning with the help of friends.

 

A local osprey that likes to hang out all day at the

top of a mast nearby.

 

 

 

Heading towards Thanksgiving Dinner

Sunday, Nov. 18

Overnight was a little bouncy and swinging on the mooring ball but not too bad for how
windy it was. Skipper Bob talks about how the ICW often has better weather conditions
as you move on down from St. Augustine which is fairly exposed to the weather coming
off the Atlantic Ocean right there. It did improve some and we are anxious to head down
to Titusville where our good friends Doug and Pat Reichenbach will be picking us up
to spend some time at their place in Lake Wales.
After a long cold day on the water we pulled into Halifax Harbor Marina at Daytona Beach.
They say that if there is a race going on at the Raceway you can hear it from the marina but
there was no race today, only a very quiet town. We rode our bikes to the Old Town area
and over to the DDaytona Beach on the Atlantic and both areas seemed very dead. We're
not sure if it's the economy, the cold weather or maybe everyone stayed home to watch
Sunday football. The marina is nice and well run. We stayed next to a guy from Nova Scotia
who sails up there in the summer and down to the Bahamas in the winter by himself while
his wife stays home where the grandkids live. He was a nice interesting guy, about 65.

53 miles


Monday, Nov.19

Today we joined the mass migration southward as we traveled with more other sailboats
than we had seen traveling since back at Dismal Swamp Canal. Many insurance companies
require owners to remain north of Oriental, North Carolina until after Nov.1 due to the
normal hurricane season and after that date the boats travel with a little more urgency.
We plan on heading over to the Bahamas around the second week of December, leaving
from West Palm Beach, FL.
We saw lots of dolphins and white pelicans again today.
Our day today ended at Titusville Municipal Marina, a well-protected marina with a good
weekly rate where we plan to leave the boat for a week while we visit Doug and Pat.
"The Missing Link" belonging to Mike and Chris Link from Madison is in the marina
right next to us and we plan to visit them in Lake Wales, as they live a half mile from
where we will be staying.
We also met a Danish couple traveling to the Abacos the same time as us from the
same departure place in a boat identical to ours. We may go over together.

A single bascule bridge that lifted for us.

48 miles ( 2020 miles total )

St. Augustine

Friday, Nov.16

We had drizzle in the morning before leaving but we once again made good time with a
favorable current. We went through a narrow cut that was lined with many beautiful homes with docks on the ICW.  Today I got to watch another eagle catch a fish and take it to shore for
his meal.
As we neared St. Augustine it got very windy with a strong current which made it difficult
to grab the mooring ball we would be on for the next two days. With the heavy wind and
currents predicted it was best to get a mooring ball. Also provided with the mooring
rental is free water taxi service to take us to shore. The tough part is that the taxi service
only runs once every two hours, unlike Put-In-Bay which comes whenever you call them,
on demand.
The A1A Brewery across from the marina has always been a favorite of ours so we enjoyed
some good brews and got carryout pizza from Pizza Time to enjoy back at the boat since
the last water taxi run was 5:30 pm.
Saturday was also spent at St. Augustine due to weather and our desire to watch the OSU
football game. We spent all day on shore, taking our own dinghy for flexibility and a late
return to the boat. The motor worked hard to make headway against the wind and currrent.
St. Augustine's old town area has a lot of history but best of all it has good sticky buns at
a place called Bunnery, where we also had a good lunch later. There is a great art gallery
that we enjoyed and then we checked out J.P.Henley which is known for its 70 draft beers
and extensive foreign beer list. The rest of the afternoon/evening was spent next door at
A1A Brewery watching the end of the Michigan game and then the OSO?Wisconsin game.
We envited others to join us at our table while they were waiting for friends and for their
dinner reservations and had some great conversations.
Tonight was the lighting of the Christmas lights in the town, an annual event that brings out
the residents and visitors and the town looks beautiful. Afterwards we dinghied back to our
boat in the dark windy night which was exciting.

Sampling the sticky buns from the Bunnery.

 

Annual lighting ceremony at St. Augustine

33 miles

Jacksonville Beach

Thursday, Nov. 15

Today was a day with lots of dolphin sightings and lots of white pelicans along withbrown
pelicans. It was cool and cloudy all day but we had a helping current most of the way.
We stayed at Harbortown Marina which was built mainly as a marina for those that live
in the beautiful expensive condos surrounding it. They have built a few docks for transients
and some of the empty owner docks are also rented out. The marina is very nice and protected
and close to shopping, accessible with our bikes. There are no bathrooms/showers but the
price is good and Jim, the harbormaster is friendly. There is a great availability of fresh
vegetables and fruit at the Fresh Market nearby.

29 miles

Traveling the Shallow Waters of Georgia

Tuesday, Nov. 13

These waters in Georgia seem remote and wild with mostly wide open areas of marsh grass
and meandering streams and rivers in a land that seems part land, part water. We see very
few houses along much of the way but lots of egrets, pelicans, dolphins, terns,and gulls.
Today we left at high tide to make good time with a follwing current and make Creighton
Narrows at half tide. The plan worked and we were able to successfully navigate some
pretty shallow spots.
We ended our day's journey anchored  the marsh in Back River, where a dolphin was
"strand feeding".  This is done by the dolphins chasing fish onto the river bank where they
are stranded and become "easy pickin's". Very quiet night at anchor with one other boat
joining us at this spot.
Zero dollar day.

40 miles


Wednesday, Nov. 14

We awoke to a hazy slightly foggy morning. We actually left before sunrise because of the
need to traverse the section that has the reputation for the worst area of the ICW. This is due
to severe shoaling, having depths of only three and a half feet at low tide. This doesn't work
well for a boat that is over five feet deep no matter how soft the bottom is. The solution to
navigating areas such as this Little Mud River ( sounds less intimidating than "Hell Gate",
but isn't) is to go through them at high tide. Right now Georgia is having really high daily
tidal ranges of ten feet. This means a spot in the river can be dry at low tide but be ten feet
deep at high tide. This means that by carefully using the tides, waiting when necessary, and
being patient and willing to travel at the times of day that work, one can make it through
the state of Georgia on the ICW. Also, anyone on blood pressure medication may want to
make sure they have an adequate supply on board.
We went by Jekyll Island today but continued on as we had visited there by land this spring.
The boat is anchored securely in a side river, the Brickhill River, tonight as a strong wind
is forcast to hit us during the night. We are beside Cumberland Island, all national park
land with wild horses and untouched beaches.
Zero dollar day.

ICW marker on a high pole at low tide

but nearly under water at extra high tide.

47 miles

Swinging on the Hook

Wednesday, Nov.14

High tide comes approximately every 12 hours and low tides occur in between these
high tides. This causes tidal currents that greatly affect the movement of your vessel
and how it moves and swings to the anchor that holds it to a spot of ground under
the water. It takes a great deal of trust to go to sleep at night, relying on the anchor
to keep the boat in the same spot all night. It takes even more trust on a very windy
night like last night when we were ready to go to bed. Wind seems to gain strength
when it's dark and you can't get your bearings.
The tidal change every 6 hours causes big swings in a boat at anchor and a wind
that opposes the tidal current adds a special dimension to the experience. All that
to say we didn't sleep as well last night. The good news - we trust our anchor more
than before, as it held securely.
We had planned on spending some time this morning on Cumberland Island but had
to pass, literally, on account of the weather. We will stop there in the spring on our
way back through. Instead we continued on to Fernandina Beach, and are now in
Florida.
Right before crossing the Cumberland Sound we passed Kings Bay submarine base
at St. Mary's, Georgia. There were several surface craft there but we only saw one
submarine back in the bay. With the heavy wind , opposing current and the ocean
inlet right there at the Cumberland Sound it made for a rather exciting ride until we
made it into our dock at Fernandina Beach Marina. We fueled first and the outside
face dock was very rough with waves and the worst current situation we have had
so far. We learned some new techniques for docking, using spring lines and fenders.
There are lots of small shops and restaurants in this town and it seems more lively
than the other towns.
We met a young couple here from New York City that married two years ago,
bought an older sailboat, and have taken a three month trip on it down to Florida.
They will sell the boat in Florida and go back to New York but wanted to do this
before starting a family and settling down. They are both architects and were able
to take the time off.

20 miles

Georgia On My Mind

Sunday, Nov. 11

After a great time in Hilton Head we headed off for Georgia, which has a reputation
for the most problem spots on the ICW ( interpretation: shallow and seldom dredged ).
It also has mostly mostly remote, wilderness waterways bordered by lots of marsh grass.
Georgia has the highest tides of all the areas with tides of 10 feet while we were going
through which, while nerve-wracking, can be used to advantage. An area that is dry
ground at low tide can be traversed at high tide if you are patient and time your passage
accordingly. This requires constant vigilance regarding the charts and the tide tables so
it has kept my mind occupied. I think it is a good exercise to stave off Alzheimer's. We
were able to traverse everything and only drug once, in Hell Gate. Don't you love the
names of some of these places. The mud bottom is so soft it has been described as
plowing through pudding when you touch.
We stayed the night at Kilkenny Creek Marina, a place with a large indigenous population
of no-see-ums. Before being chased inside by them we enjoyed watching all the Sunday
fisherman retrieve their boats from the river. Here because of the large tidal range an
overhead hoist launches and retrives the boats and drops them onto their trailers. They
have the system so well practiced they are nearly as quick as most people are capable of
when using a ramp. Most of the sport fisherman I've observed in the rivers and bays on
our trip have not been catching many fish like I'm used to seeing up on Lake Erie.
When leaving Hilton Head in the morning we were greeted by a pair of dolphins outside
the marina. So far on our trip we have seen more dolphins in Calibogue Sound by
Hilton Head than any where else.

Kilkenny boat launch

52 miles

Hilton Head Island

Saturday, Nov.10

It was great to spend time with Jerry and Debby Caldwell here as we were able to
connect with them while they were in town. We spent our first night off the boat since
leaving Madison and slept well although the bed didn't rock at all like we are used to.
After a great breakfast out in their outdoor room we headed back to the boat and
made the 10 mile trip to Harbortown Marina. After so many years looking at other
peoples' boats in the harbor it was a joy to be experiencing things from the other
side. There was live music being performed all afternoon by a group under The
Century Tree, a landmark here at Harbortown. On our trip here, out in Calibugue
Sound we saw lots of dolphins. This is a prime area for them.
It was sunny and 70 degrees here today, a welcome respite from the unseasonable
cold we've been experiencing.
These short days are shrinking our usable day so we plan on leaving pretty early
as we head into Georgia, a state with 8 -9' tides and many shallow spots in the
Waterway.

Docked in Harbortown next to the famous lighthouse.

 

We are one of the sailboats to the left and that is

the #18 green from Harbortown Golf Course,

home of the Heritage Golf Tournament.

 

10 miles

Lowcountry, South Carolina

Monday, Nov. 5

We left at the right time to catch the 9:30 bridge just below Charleston, which worked
out alright since we didn't have a very long day ahead of us. We spent the day in the
Stono River which is very curvy but fairly wide. Most homes along here are set back
from the river, with long boardwalks over the salt marsh to the river's edge. We had a
couple of dolphin sightings and by early afternoon had found our way a couple of
miles up Tom Point Creek and set our anchor in a quiet secluded spot with no one in
sight. We saw pied - billed grebes around the marsh grass and pelicans and heard owls
at night.
Right after dark a small fishing boat came to fish for a while near us but aother than that
it was just us out in the salt marsh. Overnight it started raining and was dreary so we
decided to stay put another day. We had high tides and strong currents in the creek but
the anchor held good. The second afternoon a pair of dolphins came over to the boat,
their blowing catching my attention as I was reading in the cockpit. They were noiseless
as they approached except for their breathing.

Marker at the entrance to a fixed bridge that indicates

the vertical clearance at that time (we need 60'). It

changes throughout the day, according to the tides.

29 miles


Wednesday, Nov.7

We left our anchorage at low tide in order to arrive at the shallow spots in the rivers
when they were at high tide. It was 41 degrees in the cabin this morning and this day
proved to be the coldest day in the cockpit yet. We had all our winter gear on, including
clothes we purchased during our trip since we had not planned on this much cold
weather. Previous blogsites we have followed all said the one mistake they made was
in bringing too many warm clothes on the trip. Well, we certainly weren't going to make
that mistake. I'm chalking it up to this fall being colder than normal. Seems like the
farther south we travel the colder it gets. Perhaps our compass is off and we've been
going the wrong direction.
When we arrived at Ladys Island Marina at Beaufort we were pleased to learn there
was a place within a half mile where we could get our propane tank refilled. Our first
tank had emptied only the day before after two months of use, amazingly, and it can
be difficult to find places to fill them. We were able to strap it to the carrier on our bike,
once again amusing the locals.
Beaufort has a nice downtown area and many historic beautiful homes which we enjoyed
seeing from our bikes.

44 miles


Thursday, Nov. 8

Today we had a short trip to Hilton Head Island, an area we've enjoyed visiting for
many years as Carol's brother and family have lived here. It was fun to view things
from the water aspect since this is an island and it gives a different perspective. We
approached the island at Dolphin Head Point and right on cue a dolphin swam over
to greet us. We've seen quite a few dolphins but they still excite us when we see them.
We are staying at Skull Creek Marina, right in Hilton Head Plantation where the
Caldwells still have a house and enjoyed riding our bikes around the places we know.

Skull Creek Marina, Hilton Head Island

 

Lowcountry sunset, taken from Windows on the Waterway

 

20 miles

Isle of Palms and Charleston

Friday, Nov.2

We left late because we planned on anchoring in Five Fathom Creek, only 30 miles
away and we would catch better tides. We traveled through the Romain National
Wildlife Refuge, an important area of bird migration and were rewarded with lots of
bird sightings: eagles, egrets, pelicans, ducks, terns and gulls. We also saw a dolphin.
When we stopped to anchor in the creek it was very exposed and with the 25 mph winds
and strong current we were not able to get our anchor to set like we wanted so we
decided to continue on to Isle of Palms Marina, another 30 miles further. When the
wind and current are both strong and in opposite directions it can make anchoring very
difficult. By the way, Betty, the headsets have been a big help during setting and
weighing anchor. This area of the ICW has wide areas of low marsh grass on both sides.
After a long day of strong headwinds we made it to Isle of Palms right at sunset and it
a nice marina next to a large restaurant with live music ( but good music, which we
enjoyed ). We were right next to a very busy boat launch ramp and enjoyed watching
the locals coming and going in their fishing boats.

Being watched by an eagle in the wildlife refuge.

62 miles


Saturday, Nov.3

We decided to spend a couple days touring Charleston so we had a short trip today,
passing Fort Sumter on our way to the Charleston City Marina which gives good
access to the city. There is a complimentary shuttle service from the marina but we
chose to use our bikes to tour the city. It is amazing how many historic preserved
homes are here and we really enjoy riding the streets and seeing the sights. The side
streets are very quiet and easy to ride on. We visited Market Street and visited two
pubs while viewing the OSU game.

Some of the beautiful historic homes along the waterfront.

 

Watching OSU while testing the local brew.

 



 

Waccamaw River

Wednesday, Oct. 31

We loved St. James but got going early because we had a long day ahead. We needed
to navigate some areas that are notorious for shoaling and three opening bridges were
on our schedule. With the recent storm we weren't sure what to expect on shoaling so
we wanted to hit all the really bad spots at high tide. We had good depths on our
course thankfully and not much traffic going through the "Rockpile", a narrow section
30 miles long that goes through the Myrtle Beach area.
We saw many gorgeous homes today especially up near St. James Plantation and then
again down around Myrtle Beach. At one point there was an overhead gondola taking
golfers across the canal to continue the course on the other side. You don't see that
every day.
We ended our day at Osprey Marina which had been recommended to us by people
we met in Oriental. To reach it you turn off the river into what appears to be a ditch
through the swamp and there it is. It's a very nice marina, not very big but the staff
was very friendly, the price was great and they gave us a golf cart for our personal
use to access the facilities while we were there. They also gave us a gift bag with
some nice items and a jar of locally made jelly. In the morning they provided a nice
contintal breakfast. We met several cruisers who had weathered the storm right there
very well. It's a great hurricane hole.
We were able to pick up some packages we had sent to Osprey that were waiting
for us.

Gondolas passing overhead with golfers

 

Our nice dock at Osprey Marina with swamp surrounding us

 

59 miles


Thursday, Nov.1

The Waccamaw River today was beautiful. It is very wild and scenic with almost no
houses along it, just picturesque swamp with bald cypress and black gum trees growing
in standing water. We saw lots of osprey nests, turtles, and a few eagles. Had all our
cold weather gear on today as it was cold with quite a bit of wind. I'm not sure what the
marina people think each day as we arrive all bundled up compared to how they are
dressed. It's always much colder moving down the river than it is on land blocked
from the wind.
We had a major disaster two days ago. Our coffee pot broke. But, today we were able
to ride our bikes to Walmart and found the exact model we needed to continue using our
thermal carafe, a special blessing.
Georgetown, SC, according to many historians was the first settlement in the New World
by Europeans. We arrived here today in time to ride our bikes around and see many of
the historic homes in the town. The city seems to be thriving compared to many of the
towns we've visited and we had dinner at a small establishment with great home cooked
meals "Aunnies".
The visit to Walmart was special since it had been a long time since visiting a real store.

Entertaing the locals with how much stuff we strap

to our bike carriers. Our bikes always bring comments.

32 miles