Granted it's not the usual response to be excited when being bitten by bugs while sitting outside in the evening, but we were. Yesterday evening we arrived at Vero Beach and realized we had landed in the bug zone. Although bugs are generally annoying, they mean no more REALLY cold mornings or nights.
The wind was coming from the wrong direction, the seas were rougher than we'd preferred, and regardless we set out for our first overnight in the ocean. Leaving St. Augustine at approximately 1:00pm on Dec 27, we headed out the inlet, into the ocean, where we would spend the next 24 hours. Going directly into the wind did not lend itself to much actually sailing, the rough water sloshed and churned us up a bit, and we took turns sleeping throughout the night. The next afternoon, we were quite happy to pull into the channel at Cape Canaveral with calm water around us once again. Our 24 hour voyage allowed us to skip 3 days of winding, narrow, shallow water of the intercoastal.
Finally we got our weather! Leaving Fernandina Beach just after sunrise, we had clear enough weather with small enough waves to head out to sea. We went out St. Mary's inlet and traveled along the coast in the ocean down to St. Augustine FL. The day was a little hazy but warm, sunny and calm. There was a very gentle breeze, we were able to put the sails up but there was not enough wind to actually sail so the motor stayed on all day. After all the days of careful planning and constant attention traveling down the inter-coastal, a calm day on the ocean was a treat. We still had to keep a lookout for other ships and Right Wales (we didn't see any Right Wales, but since they are on the endangered species list if we were to spot one we would need to be cautious to stay 500 yard away). However the autopilot could do all the work, no standing behind the wheel with a firm grip, no watching the depth gage, no being concerned about the next bridge. It was easy and relaxing, with our only concern being the St. Augustine inlet. When we arrived at the inlet the tide was going out (not the best thing for us), our calm seas were suddenly rough, sloshing us around a bit, and there were breakers to each side of us. We found our marks kept in deep water, and made it in with no troubles.
During our stay at Jekyll Island we picked up a couple of crew members. Keith and Shane McManus are now voyaging with us. We are taking advantage of them as much as we can as; galley chef, cleaning crew, and teak sanders. I'll try to get some new pictures up in the gallery very soon.
As we left Jekyll Island and headed on down south we continued our discussion of doing a hop out in the ocean. On our brief stop overnight at Cumberland Island, we realized the weather was not on our side. With another small storm front moving through, high seas, rain and wind we moved just south to Fernandina Beach. We hung around there for about 4 days, enjoying the town and doing some work on the boat. I managed to get some pillows made, and we now have all new throw pills on the settee's. A petty thing that makes me really happy. And we have a good start on getting the old varnish off the hand rails, a task that needs completed before beginning to apply the new coats of varnish.
After a couple of days of watching tides, water depth, and weather we landed at Jekyll Harbor Marina. We are safely docked and will be sitting still for a few days letting a storm system pass over and awaiting the arrival of some friends.
We left Hilton Head yesterday and made the decision to continue along the intercoastal thru Georgia rather than make an overnight hop to southern Georgia in the Ocean. We really wanted to skip most of Georgia due to the fact that poor funding has left most of the intercoastal undredged with shallow areas. But due to cold temperatures at night (which would be even colder out on the ocean with a nice steady breeze) and poor forecast for most of the week (rain, high winds, thunderstorms) we thought it best to save our first ocean passage for more favorable conditions.
Our days of travel are fairly short, we can only pass most places at mid-tide rising or higher. One such location we passed thru today, hell's gate. Our charts and books all tell us that parts of Hell's Gate have 1' of water at the average low tide (MLW). Obviously this is problematic with a 6' draft on our boat (Mom, that means at 6' of water we'll be touching bottom). We traversed Hell's Gate at 1.5 hours before high tide and had no problems getting through, although we did see 8' of water at one point.
With that behind us we'll make as many miles as we can today, enjoy the dolphins, and see what treats lay in store for us tomorrow.
On Monday we left Beaufort and traveled down to Hilton Head, SC. It was an easy fairly short trip other than the wind being really cold. After 4 days of not getting off the boat we loaded the dingy with our bikes on Tuesday, or was it Wednesday? I think it was Wednesday, and we headed to town. We had a very enjoyable ride as we discovered the bike trails that go all over the island. We even rode several miles along the beach and saw some dolphins swimming near shore.
That's about all there is to say about the past week, we're not moving much right now and life is pretty uneventful. There's always the big question of "Do we get dressed and get off the boat today and do something, or just wait till tomorrow?" IB has fixed some electronics, I made I couple of throw pillows, and we have been monitoring our power. It seems that our battery bank is a bit older and not performing up to par. Basically that means until they are replaced we have to run the motor everyday for a few hours to keep running the refrigerator, and limited computer usage, since the computers use a lot of power to charge.
In the past two days we've traveled with our friends on Hawkeye and covered the better part of South Carolina. Finally yesterday we saw temperatures over 70, and were able to shed our foul weather gear and several layers of clothes.
Today should land us in Beaufort SC, if all goes well and the Lady's Island Bridge is opening. The bridge has been have some mechanical difficulties and is only opening twice a day for ICW traffic. We should be there in time for the 2:00 pm opening, assuming we don't run aground and get delayed on any shoals between us and the bridge. But at least the temperature is up to 62, the sun is shinning and it's only 9:30am.
Once in Beaufort, we plan to stay at least 3 days, possibly longer. Now that we are clear of the unpredictable weather in North Carolina, we can slow down and work on some boat projects. We may even get started on varnishing teak if the temperatures stay warm enough to work outside.
We are now into our third day in South Carolina. We stopped over in Surf City for about three days, since we were in a marina and plugged into shore power we had the heater running. Since it was below 30, and the wind was blowing, we weren't in a hurry to leave. Since leaving we have had an uneventful trip. A usual day: wake up at 6:00 am, get up at 7:00 am, put on a lot of clothes (3 pairs of pants, 5 shirts, down jacket and fowl weather gear), start water for coffee, turn on instruments, turn on engine, pull up anchor and start moving. We usually make 35 to 40 miles in a day, depending on tides, bridges, etc. When we choose our new anchorage, we could stop anywhere between 2:00 and 4:00 depending on location of anchorages to choose from, tides, bridges, etc.. Once anchored we have our afternoon cocktail, bake something in the oven to warm the cabin up, eat some dinner, and we're in bed between 6:00 and 7:00.
Today we met up with some friends from our home marina, and we will be traveling with them for the next day or two.
For the questions about how much time we spend actually sailing (the answer being none since we left the Chesapeake) I'll try to get some pictures up of the waterway, as long as my internet connection holds out.
Having gone aground in our slip at low tide, we woke up bright and early in Morehead City so we could hang out and watch the water rise. Once we were bobbing and could get underway we headed up to our first obstacle, yet another supposedly 65' bridge. They had a nice helpful tide board that read 62' and the tide was still rising. The only thing left to do was turn around and get comfortable somewhere. After dropping anchor for a couple of hours we realized it would be 2:00pm before the tide dropped enough to get under the bridge. So we moved over to the dock at the Sanitary Restaurant and tied up for the night in deep water. 5:30am was our wake up time the next day, we made it under the bridge at low tide, and watched the sun rise behind us.
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, we got stopped briefly at Camp LeJeune where the military was having some firing practices and they only open the canal every hour or so. We went aground, but quickly got back under way. And we ended our day at Beach House Marina in Surf City.
Those are the words we heard on our VHF today during a coast guard announcement of serious thunderstorms in our area. And the announcement made perfect sense as rain had just started pouring down, we were heading into 25-30kts of wind, with 4-5 ft waves, preparing to enter a narrow channel in Adams Creek and wondering if we should have stayed put in South River.
As soon as we entered Adams Creek, the winds died down going over the land and the storm system continued North, leaving us with some scattered blue sky. We decided to keep moving, and arrived safely at Morehead City. The wind is still howling, but we are parked in a slip at a local marina.
Hopefully the winds will die in the morning and we can continue south. We are feeling the need to get clear of North Carolina, known for unpredictable weather in November.
Two days ago, we anchored in South River for the night. Initially we were headed for the small town of Oriental, but stopped just before we got there to avoid a small potentially crowded anchorage. Thursday morning we awoke to rain and high winds, we weren't going anywhere. All day the winds howled and the rain fell, by nightfall all had become dead calm. We rested well wondering if we would leave in the morning. As we awoke with dawn, all sounded promising. Until we looked outside. There was no land, no other boats, no wind, and no sounds. We were completely surrounded by a dense white fog. The genetically modified crocodiles could be climbing aboard any moment now. I think one just passed by the starboard bow!
We patiently biding our time, watching the fog. If it lifts we will leave today and try to get farther south, if not we may be here a while.
We made it through the Wilkerson Bridge without even clipping an antenna. There is an accurate tide board before the bridge, and we were told a boat with a 64' mast made it through earlier in the day. Even with this information, going under was a bit nerve racking. I'm sure we had 6 or more inches to spare! Looking up at the bridge from the deck of the boat there is no clear way to tell if the mast will clear or not.
We anchored at Bellhaven tonight and will continue south tomorrow.
11-10-2008 After a brief visit to Manteo, we decided to take advantage of the pleasant although slightly chilly weather to keep heading down the ditch. We made it to ICW mile 101.1 in the Alligator River. So far we have not seen any alligators, but have been advised not to go swimming.
Tomorrow's destination is yet undecided. Our only concern is for the Wilkerson Bridge, that is a stated height of 64' at mean high tide. The standard for fixed bridges is 65'. Our mast is 63'. During exceptionally high tides there will be less clearance at the bridge. From the information I have read the tidal marker is not present at the bridge. It should be a fun day.
After being delayed by weather, we finally left Portsmouth on Friday morning. Our first day in "the ditch" went by without a glitch. Our 12 mile day had the most bridges we've encountered yet, and through gritted teeth we had no problem clearing the 65' fixed bridges. We tied up at Great Bridge and met up with some friends from our home marina. Saturday we got an early start and traveled with our friends approximately 50 miles and anchored at Broad Creek, just before the Albemarle Sound. We jumped in our dingy to socialize on our friends boat, remembered to grab a camera and finally have a picture of little boat. Just check out the photo gallery.
Today we said goodbye to our friends, crossed the Albemarle Sound and veered off the ICW to stop by Manteo. Just before we took our last turn into Manteo we saw a group of dolphins swimming by.
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| Winslow Life Raft |
Our dingy is trailing behind us, we made it out of our slip and we are headed south like the birds. Our departure date was a bit questionable when the night before our planned exit we discovered our out board motor was non functioning. First thing the next morning we got the the motor in working condition (thanks Spike!) and we were on our way just in time. Due to an unusual low tide we just made it out of the slip only dragging a little on our way out.
We are now on night two of our trip, anchored in Mill Creek off the Great Wicomico. We saw a wonderful sunset and two bald eagles resting in a nearby tree.
The long awaited time is nearly upon us. After a devastating spring, and an unexpected summer we are officially moved onto our sailboat. Everything we need is aboard (so we hope), our car is safely back in West Virginia, and in a few days we will be leaving port for points south.
So far nothing in the past year has gone as planned and currently our plans don't amount to much. We will be heading south along the ICW (that is the Intercoastal Waterway for those of you who are non boat savy - luv you mom!) We plan to head toward Florida, hopefully we will see some Bahamas, but our plan will have to unfold itself along the way.
I suppose a small introduction could be in order. My name is Rebecca, my partner is IB, and our boat is Passport, a 42 foot Tayana. Last year, after years of weekend sails in the Chesapeake Bay, life awakened itself to allow us the opportunity to live aboard our vessel and travel. So now, only about a half a year later than we planned, (life seems to have it's own plans we don't account for) we are nearly ready to set sail.
