Well we are just hanging out in North Palm still waiting. Next Tuesday might be a possible crossing day but we check the weather daily for updates. Not a bad place to be stuck. Today and tomorrow are going to be rainy days with some winds coming in this afternoon. We’ve rented a car through Monday so we can get out and see what’s around the area and do a little provisioning. Well, not much going on so if you don’t see a post for a few days, it just means there’s nothing happening.
We made it to North Palm Beach and are waiting on a weather window to cross over to the Bahamas. We had a long trip down the ICW from Vero Beach to North Palm, a little over 7-1/2 hours. There was a lot of slow going because of no wake Manatee zones or Marinas. We had to deal with 8 draw bridges, some we could pass under and others we had to wait for an opening. The weather was wonderful, lots of sun and temps in the low 80’s so we drove from the fly bridge for the first time on this trip. We arrived at Old Port Cove Marina around 4:00 in the afternoon. We filled up with fuel and took a slip close to the outside for a easy departure when the time arises. According to the weather report we will may be here for a few days. We met some of the crew of a mega yacht at the marina bar tonight. They are great people and two of them are from Savanna Ga. so it was nice to talk with some true southerners. They are based out of this marina and have been here since January. Well not a lot going on right now except for trips to Publix and catching up on boat chores. We checked the weather for back home and they are calling for 6 inches or more of snow. Hate we’re missing it! Check back soon. NO WORRIES!
Early morning, Like GlassEnjoying the rideMoving down the ICWGreat view from the fly bridge
As you may have noticed I didn’t list the day or days of our trip in this blog entry. It is finally taking a lot of thought and research to know how many days have passed. Its hard enough to know which day of the week it is, so I will just list the date of my posting because that date is listed on the bottom of my computer screen.
While we were in Cocoa Beach we attended a Mardi Gras celebration in the Village. They closed off 2 city blocks and had a number of bands performing. We enjoyed the festivities but headed back to the boat early, it had been a long day. The weather has really improved so we decided to stay an extra day just to relax and enjoy some awesome sunshine. We are now in Vero Beach and will head out early tomorrow morning on our way to North Palm Beach where will wait for the right weather to cross over to the Bahamas. We hope to meet some other boaters waiting so we won’t be alone when we cross.
St Augustine, Ponce de Leon Inlet and Cocoa Beach – 114 Miles
We pulled out of St. Augustine yesterday morning heading to a small marina south of Daytona called the Inlet Harbor Marina. It had received good reviews from cruisers and I can say it lived up to them. They had a great staff, party deck, food and live entertainment. We partied till almost 9:00. Not really, more like 7:30. Left there this morning at 7:45 and slowly, not our choice, headed farther south to Cocoa Beach. Not much activity on the past 2 days of travel just a few friends tagged along for a while and we saw lots of RV developments along the way. We did have to stop before approaching one of the draw bridges and I had to lower our antennas while Connie kept us steady in the canal, in which she had no experience until now. It is the law that if you can clear a bridge my lowering or removing non permanent fixtures, you must do so. I tried to tell the bridge tender I was taller than I was but she disagreed. She won. We are now enjoying the warmest day so for, 72 degrees, in a great marina in Cocoa Beach and heading out to their Mardi Gras party. Hopefully we can stay out till at least 9:00. No Worries !
TGIFParty deck Inlet marinaOne of the many BridgesAll things love the Sun ShineOur View from our Aft Deck
Left Fernandina Beach in heavy winds on Wednesday morning but made it to St. Augustine with no issues. We took a slip at the St. Augustine Municipal Marina, got settled in and celebrated our 20th anniversary with a nice Dinner at the A1A restaurant. Today was very cold and windy and we had lunch with our Niece Alicia and then found a great warm place to spend the afternoon. We(mostly me) settled in at the bar at the oldest pub in St. Augustine, Trade Winds. This is still an old smoky bar with live entertainment all day. Enjoyed the Music of Jim Essery and Smokin Joe and some beer. We will leave Friday morning on our way to a marina just south of Daytona Beach. We are so ready to find some warm weather, we have been accused of bringing this cold weather with us. Onward we go in search of our next adventure. No Worries!
We were wrong. There are Pirates in these waters,20 great years.
We spent an extra day in St Simons waiting for the winds to calm down. Local knowledge stated that St. Andrews sound would be to dangerous to cross in the 15 to 20mph winds out of the North, so we stayed put. Left at 7:30am Monday morning on our way to Fernandina Beach with winds around 10 mph out of the east. We slowly navigated shallow Jekyll creek and made our way to St Andrews sound. The route through this area requires you to go out slightly into the ocean entrance and then turn almost 180 degrees and proceed up a river. The first part, heading towards the ocean wasn’t to bad but when we made our turn it became more rough. We had an outgoing tide colliding with an in bound sea pushed by 10 mph winds. We tried to take our time but controlling the direction of the boat became very difficult, so we pushed “Rita” up to almost full throttle so we could get on top of the incoming swells. Now on a calm day this would push us at almost 17mph but because of the current conditions we could only maintain about 9 mph. Once we reached the entrance to the ICW things calmed down and we returned to our normal speed of 12mph. Other than navigating a few shallow areas the rest of the day was un-eventful(thank goodness). We arrived in the charming little town of Fernandina Beach to a little warmer weather and sunshine. We took the dogs for a walk through town looking for a good eating place for dinner later. We checked the forecast and a rainy day was predicted for Tuesday. We had dinner, watched some TV and called it a night. It started raining around 4am and will continue through 4am Wednesday. Well I have spent this rainy day catching up on a little work and very few chores. Connie took an opportunity in a weather break to head into town and do a little shopping. She didn’t mind at all that I stayed on the boat, that way she could take her time looking around. We plan to leave tomorrow at 7am, destination, St Augustine. Weather is forecast to be sunny and in the lower 50’s but the winds will be 15-25mph from the west. Will make for a challenging day, wouldn’t expect anything less. So far on this trip we have discovered it takes both of us to navigate the ICW. While I’m at the wheel Connie is busy studying all of the hazard areas ahead and helping watch for crab pots. They are one of the most aggravating things on our journey and could create serious damage if we hit one. When she takes the wheel I try to help with the navigation but I guess I get a little nervous watching her drive and ask to return to the pilot position. She does a great job, so I guess its a guy thing. Well until next time. No Worries!
Welcome to Fernandina BeachDowntown FernandinaSunny and 65Guess what’s for dinner
We left Isle of Hope at 7 AM Friday morning bound for St Simon Island. We had 84 miles to go today and wanted to average 10mph on the ICW so that the trip would not be so tiring. We also had to go through a shallow passage called “Hell Gate” on a falling tide. This is a known passage for boats grounding at low tide and we would be passing through at 1 hour before low tide. I thought this trip was supposed to ease my stress level, not add to it. Well, we made it and checked “Hell Gate” off our list, and on Friday the 13th also. Well our adventurous day wasn’t over. A short while later on a narrow turn we met a barge that seemed to take up the whole channel but we moved off his port side and waited for him to pass. Tonnage always has the right of way. The ICW through this part of Georgia is like a winding mountain road with only one lane. No stress there. We noticed an Air Force plane flying at tree top level heading our way, thought he would pass by a good distance away but he turned towards us and gave us a good fly by. After hours of meandering back and forth we could see the bridge in St Simons appear on the horizon and the channel widened and got a little deeper. Then we starting meeting Georgia DNR and Coast Guard RIBS(Rigid Inflatable Boat) coming from St Simons. A total of nine passed us by and seemed to have no interest in us, but we watched each one to see if they would double back to check us out. We passed under the bridge that leads to the island and could see our marina on our port side(left) but couldn’t get there from here. We had to continue another mile down the river, make a hard turn to port(left) and go a mile to the marina. As we approached our marker for our turn we noticed a much larger Coast Guard RIB approaching from the ocean inlet. Maybe he would just pass by like the rest had, but Noooo! He called us on the Radio and let us know they would be putting 3 officers aboard our boat for an inspection. We opened our side door and railing so the nice armed officers could board. Long story short, we passed with flying colors with no violations and proceeded to our slip at he marina. Good ending to a stressful Friday the 13th.
Today we just relaxed and took a taxi to the village for a Valentines Day Lunch ,a couple of beers and a little shopping. Winds were blowing hard today and may continue tomorrow so don’t know when we might continue south.
No Worries.
Sharing the RiverUSAF doing there job wellUSCG doing their job well.Doing our job well. No WorriesValentine Sunset
Yesterday, after having a nice breakfast, it was time to move on to our next destination. We pointed the bow south for a short trip to Isle Of Hope, Ga. We had to cross the Savannah river making sure to look both ways before crossing. We let a north bound freighter pass by and then crossed in front of a south bound. Shortly after that we had to wait for about 10 minutes for a draw bridge opening because a barge was coming north and they wouldn’t open the bridge twice. No worries, just watched the cars pass by overhead. Made it to Isle of Hope Marina, enjoyed lunch on the boat and then borrowed the loaner car and headed to town for some Margaritas and chips. Today is a sunny day, just very windy, so we are catching up on a few boat chores and relaxing. Tomorrow we will move farther south to St. Simons Island.
Busy crossing the Savannah RiverIOH MarinaChillin at Isle of Hope
We felt a little better this morning and decided to make a short leg of our trip to Hilton Head, SC. We left Beaufort around 9:00 am and made our way to Boat Harbour Yacht Basin arriving before lunch. We had winds 25 to 30 mph which made crossing the Port Royal Sound a little bumpy and wet. We are so thankful for having a lower helm with wipers because it was like someone was throwing buckets of water on the windshield. We did get to see a coast guard helicopter practicing water rescue by dropping and raising the rescue basket down to a small coast guard boat. Did I mention the wind was really blowing! All settled in we enjoyed a light lunch, and headed back to the boat for some rest. We still don’t feel 100% so we aren’t going to push it too much.
Not too exciting today in Beaufort, SC today. We both awoke this morning feeling a little ill. Some kind of virus jumped on both of us for some unknown reason. We tried our best to stay as healthy as possible before the trip but you just never know. The whole day was spent on the boat taking meds and sleeping to try and feel better. We had a few eggs for breakfast and some peanut butter crackers for dinner. No fun. Hopefully this is just a 24 hour bug.
