Nov 16-17

Wednesday

Port Canaveral to St. Lucie (Stuart, Fl)

We get off to a great start.  By noon we're through the inlet and in the ocean for what promises to be perfect conditions for sailing 1 or 2 nights.  We are able to motor sail or sail the afternoon.  We stay within 2 or 3 miles of shore because of the Southern current we are running into - I guess it's the outskirts of the Gulf Stream.

Sunset is beautiful.

Around 7 PM, we decide that we probably should cut the trip short.  Clara can't come down as planned for the next phase, and we've checked with Jim Moores in Palm Beach about what it will cost to keep a boat there for a few weeks - about $900 per month.  We figure we'd best start looking further away from the high priced Palm Beach, Miami area.

However the guide books suggest that you don't even attempt the St Lucie Inlet in the daytime, much less at night, without some local knowledge.  We call Tow Boat and they advise against it, however, a local boater overheard the conversation and said he would meet us at the outer marker and guide us in.  Lucky for us.  It is a very tricky inlet.  We got down to 1 foot under the keel. We would never have made it without his assistance.  He brought us in to an anchorage and went on his way. 

Thursday morning we start checking on local marinas, and true to our guess, the rates are much more reasonable.

We start up the engine to get closer to some of the marinas that we want to check out and within a few minutes we get an engine overheat warning.  We quickly anchor and upon checking the engine compartment find that one of the belts has shredded.  Thank goodness for spares.  Joe and I are able to take everything apart and replace the belt and we inspect the impeller while we're at it.  Everything now works okay.

Sunset Bay Marina, Stuart Fl

We contact Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart, FL and they have space on a mooring for us.  We check everything out and it seems like a reasonable rate ($275/month) and we make arrangements to have someone check the boat and batteries every week. 

Now we start making arrangements for a rental car.  But no rental agencies are willing to make one-way rentals this weekend because of the holidays.  Finally, we are able to make an on-line reservation with Hertz.  We pick up the car tomorrow and head back to Beaufort.

Nov 15-16

Monday, Tuesday

We left Daytona Beach mid-morning Monday heading to Ponce de Leon Inlet to go offshore.  The seas were subsiding and the wind forecast is favorable to 2 or 3 days outside.

As we get outside, we find the wind very light, and sometimes none at all.  It looks like it's going to a good motor/sail to at least Ft. Pierce and maybe even beyond.

On this leg we go around Cape Canaveral and pass the Kennedy Space Center.  We are able to see the Vehicle Assembly Building and Space Shuttle at the Space Center all day long.  Around sunset we are passing the Space Center and planning for a pleasant evening. 

We have found the weather forecast generally be useful for only one thing - and that is that the forecasters predict there will be weather.  That's about all.  The wind speed and direction have never been right - and tonight, the forecasters have maintained their 100% record of being wrong.  They are calling for late night increase of wind to 10 to 15 mph out of the Southwest, and dieing down by morning.

Around 9 pm the winds do start to pick up - straight on the nose - about the time we pass the Cape. 

I laid down to take a brief nap and when I woke up around 10:15, the winds are howling, running 15 to 20 knots right on the nose.  The seas are building and it is getting very uncomfortable, with the nose of the boat diving into the waves.  We're having a hard time making 3 knots motoring into the waves and prospects don't look favorable for another 8 hours of beating into the wind.  We can't even use the sails to help stabilize the motion.

We take our bearings and see that we are about 10 miles offshore from Port Canaveral and decide that we should probably head there.  One of the most worrisome things is coming into an unknown port in the dark, but the charts show a well marked channel and our phone GPS systems have been operating flawlessly.

After we make the turn back to the Northwest, the ride becomes much more comfortable.  We make contact with Tow Boat US (FYI,  Tow Boat US called us this morning to see if everything was alright - that's good customer service)  for local knowledge and he suggests that we plan to tie up at Port Marina's fuel dock when we get in and settle up with them in the morning. 

We make it to the marina around 12:30 am.  We had no problems navigating in.  We did observe a major blob of light coming out as we were heading in.  Port Canaveral is the embarkation point for several cruise ships.  They are an imposing site at night on the sea.

Tuesday morning we check the weather and find that the prediction of winds has once again been wrong, keeping up the 100 % record.  They were supposed to swing more Westerly and drop off, however, they are out of the South (our intended direction) and running 15 - 25 knots.

So we decide that we will once again get on the ICW.  It was interesting leaving Port Canaveral.  There is a canal going inland and you have to actually go through locks that raise and lower the water level 3 to 4 feet. 

We motor sailed all day down the ICW with winds running 15 to 20 knots. 

Tonight (Tuesday) we are anchored  near the Sabistian Inlet.  It has been a very pleasant evening with very comfortable temperatures.  I'm beginning to feel like we're getting far enough South to begin feeling good again.  The area we're in reminds me a lot of the Florida keys - really whetting my appetite to get down there.

We again hope to be able to get outside tomorrow for a 2-3 day run South, but we are flexible.

Nov 14

Sunday, Nov 14

Our two week anniversary.  We left Beaufort two weeks ago today.  It's been an interesting and educational journey thus far.  A few frustrations - alternator -, lots of excitement - sailing in BIG seas, and something new - sailing offshore overnight.  I hope the rest of the journey is equally exciting and educational.

We did not get offshore.  The seas are still running real high, even though the wind has decreased to around 10 knots.  We decided as we went through the inlet at St. Augustine that we didn't want to be rolling in those seas with such a light wind - so we sailed a loooong day in the ICW.  If there is one part of the trip that is the least fun, it is sailing on the ICW.

However, we did get to see St Augustine.  We wish we had planned a day or so there.  There waterfront is among the most beautiful I've ever seen - and they have mooring balls to tie up to.  Lots of them.  It is a shame that Beaufort doesn't have mooring balls.  The harbor would be so much more attractive to transient boaters. 

Along the waterway, it continues to amaze me the fine homes and boats along the waterway.

We went a long way today, and it really is a drag listening to the engine all day and watching the homes and swamps roll by.  But it's the price you have to pay to get where it's warm.

We had a special visitor for a while today.  A couple of dolphin swam along with us for a while.

And it's actually beginning to get warm.  This is the first evening that we can be outside comfortably. 

We've found that our cell phones, both of which have Navionics charts on them are our best GPS system.  We've turned off the boat's GPS system - it doesn't have Florida charts on it anyway.  But the charts on the phones are great.  We've even found a good use for the radar on the boat.  It holds the holder for the cell phone.  This is the first time we've seen the radar useful.

However, with old eyes and small print, we've also come up with another essential piece of boating equipment.

We stopped tonight in the Halifax Harbor Marina in Daytona Beach.  It's a real fine facility.  Our little sailboat gets lost in the big (expensive) boats that are here. 

As we think about tomorrow, we both feel we want to get back on the ocean, so we hope to go out the Ponce de Leon Inlet a few miles South of here and stay on the ocean a couple of days.  Maybe the seas have calmed down a little.  We'll see.

Nov 13

Today, we motored all day in the ICW.  It's still to rough out in the ocean for timid sailors like us.  Seas are 10 to 12 feet.

We went through Jacksonville Florida this morning.  But the navigator (me) got the Captain (Joe) messed up and we went up the river rather than following the ICW.  After discovering this, we turned around and I'm trying to forget it.  However, later when we got in the waterway, Joe promptly ran the boat aground (which is pretty easy in this area).  Fortunately, we were able to extract ourselves from the sandbar with a little reverse on the engine.

We stopped for lunch and a run to a West Marine Store South of Jacksonville.  We found that we didn't have any paper charts for Florida - and they are pretty important to know where you're going.  They may help us keep from going aground some.  (I think this is the 3rd time this trip).

It's interesting on the waterway here.  There are LOTS of real fine homes, just like around Myrtle Beach.

And some of the real fine home have lots of toys.

We're anchored in a very secluded creek just of the waterway tonight. 

MAYBE tomorrow we can get back in the ocean for a couple of days.

Nov 12

Friday, Nov 12

We up anchor early today and head down the ICW behind Jekyl Island to get fuel and water.  After refueling and traveling on down, the ICW intersects the next inlet right on the ocean.  We decide that we have the time and only plan to travel about 15 miles further today, so decide we might as well go on the outside.

This ends up being one of the most challenging and exciting sails I have ever taken.  The winds are running 15 to 20 knots out of the North and there are heavy swell of 8 to 10 feet and their are lots of shallow water right around the channel going out.  The combination of these  gives Eureka (and crew) the ride of our lives.  We have breaking seas and rolling seas laying Eureka 40 + degrees on her side.  The boat handles all of this in stride.  The crew just hangs on.  This short video clip will give you some idea of the ride - however we couldn't take video when it got rough, we were just hanging on.

We run downwind with the rolling seas following us, giving the autopilot more of a challenge than it can handle most of the time so we are hand steering trying to keep the boat on a heading of 180 degrees.

We come in the St Marys inlet which is the dividing line between Georgia and Florida and get out of the action.  We travel several miles down the ICW and end up anchoring in the middle of nowhere just off the waterway.  As the picture shows, we are at least a mile out in what I guess you could call a swamp that has deep water channels running through it.  There doesn't seem to be anyone else within sight.  The evening should be quiet.

We're finding planning to be useless.  Every plan we make we change.  It looks like we "MIGHT" make Jacksonville or vicinity tomorrow.

Nov 11

Thursday, Nov 11

Sapelo to St Simon

We awakened fairly early and had a casual breakfast and finally got away around 8:45 am.  The weather sounded good and we initially planned another run like the last outside - overnight with a preliminary goal of St. Augustine, FL.

We almost immediately put up the sails as we went out the long channel to the ocean.  As was the case on arrival yesterday, we were going against the tide.  The tides run up to 1.8 knots in this area.  I believe we had more like 2.5 knots.

As we got out, we set our course at 180 degrees with following seas and following winds.  As we settled in, we started cross checking and realized that at the speeds we were running, we would arrive in St. Augustine around 3 am.  Arriving at a strange destination in the dark is not something we want to try, so we start rethinking our destination.

About the same time we are rethinking our destination, the winds have built to 20 knots and the seas are running 4 to 6 feet.  The weather had talked about a strong low pressure near Bermuda that was causing big ocean swales, and we were beginning to really see the swales.  And we were running downwind.  The boat is rolling 30 degrees either side of center, making for rapid changes of up to 50 and 60 degrees.  And the weather forecast is for increasing winds to 15 to 20 knots (which means 20 to 25 knots).

We make a prudent decision that this is not conducive to safe night time operations.  Every time we go on deck we put on a life vest and safety harness - and it's daylight.  It will be much more dangerous and uncomfortable in the dark.

We started looking for reasonable inlets that we can make in daylight and finally decide on St. Simons.

The sailing was a lot of fun, especially when we were able to change course and not be running dead downwind.  Probably the longest, most fun sail we've had.

We arrive at St. Simons around 5 pm, just in time to find a good anchorage before sunset.

Based on the current weather forecast and the fact that we need to get fuel, we will probably take the next leg on the inside.  It looks like by the weekend we should be able to get back outside and make some more great overnight runs.

Our voyage today.

I sure hope so.  It's still a long was to South Florida.

Nov 6 - 9

Georgetown Nov 5-9

Georgetown to Sapelo Sound

After determining that we had a faulty alternator and getting Bruce Brainard to work on it, we planned to stay in Georgetown until Wednesday. So we settled in for the stay.

Bruce plays bass in a band “Foreclosure” and he told us about the “Taste of Georgetown" that would be held Saturday in downtown. His band was playing.

Saturday, we awoke to bone chilling cold in the upper 30's. Deju vous all over again.

We walked downtown around noon, watched the band (their fingers were cold), and decided we wanted a good cheeseburger from “the Big Tuna” on the waterfront. After lunch we went back and listened to the band and had dessert.

Georgetown has a community theater and had a show of Broadway Musicals playing Saturday evening, so we went to it. It was some good singing and we enjoyed it. They have a great theater and it was full. We sat in the balcony, but the sound and view were great.

Sunday, we decided we needed some supplies (i.e. a space heater) from Walmart. We checked the GPS and it was about a 3 mile walk. We needed the exercise. We picked up a few things (space heater) at Walmart and decided that we could afford a taxi back to the boat.

Monday morning Bruce called and said he had located a new alternator. We could drive to Charleston and pick it up or have it shipped. We opted to rent a car and drove to Charleston. We picked up a couple movies at The Red Box on the way back and that provided our evening entertainment.

Tuesday morning Bruce came over and had the alternator fixed by 11:00. By 11:30 we were underway headed out to the Ocean for our first real opportunity to sail offshore on the trip.

We had a destination of Beaufort SC, figuring we would arrive around 6 or 7 am Wednesday morning.

Our trip South this time is our first overnighter on Eureka.

Weather called for north winds around 10 knots and we were excited that we could probably sail all night.

 Ends up that most of the night the winds were out of the Southwest, so we ended up motoring until around 2 am. Then the winds started clocking to the Northwest. We put up the sails around 2 am and shut down the engine. It's 8:30 am now and we're still under sail.

This was our first overnight offshore sailing.  It is incredible to sail at night offshore with no lights to interfere with seeing the sky.  There was no moon after about 10:30 and it really gets dark.  You can't tell the sky from earth.  It all is black.  The starts are magnificent.  You can see millions.   Sailing in the dark compares somewhat with flying by instrument in an airplane.  You have to depend on your compass and GPS - sailing by instrument - because there are no visual references.

Sailing at night is a whole new perspective.  With the engine off and no night at all, you can barely see the bow wave.  It seems that you are moving fast looking at the bow wave.  We did average about 5.7 knots. 

The whole trip ended up to be 171 nautical miles for the 28 hours.

We decided that we need to get further South while conditions are good, so we have a tentative destination of St. Catherines Sound about 40 NM further South than Charleston. We should arrive around 1 or 2 PM this afternoon.

During the overnight, Joe and I took alternate short naps, with both of bringing our sleeping bags on deck while the other was on-watch. That worked out well, although it was rather cool all night.

The sunset and sunrise were nice and the weather is still looking great.

September 10

Turns out that we decided to go into Sapelo Sound for the evening.  It's further South and we were able to make it before dark. 

We anchored in a beautiful place off Sapelo Island and met a couple (Lilly and George Haywood) on a trawler from the area.  They told us some interesting information about the area. 

This reminds us a little of Cape Lookout because it is so isolated and well preserved.

The Journey to date

Nov 5

Myrtle Beach to Georgetown

Happy Birthday Clara! Sorry I'm not home to help celebrate.

Georgetown was the Southern extreme of our attempt two years ago to go South.  That trip was in February and it was COLD all the way down and back.  At that time, we decided to head back home rather than continue.  We are determined this time to make it, although we haven't had the best weather.  This morning it is 46 degrees.

After a rather messy day traveling the ditch, we arrived in Georgetown, SC.  We settled in for a rather rainy evening on the anchor in the harbor.  But good sleeping.

We needed fuel, so started the engine to go a marina.  On starting the engine, the batteries were weak and we had to switch to battery selector to "all".  This raised a "red flag".

We were able to leave the boat on the dock and walk downtown to get breakfast.  The more we thought about it, we thought there might be something wrong because of the problem starting the engine.  After breakfast, we got back to the boat and started doing some checks and it didn't take long to realize that we were probably having alternator problems. 

After some conversations with the dock master, we were able to arrange for a marine technician to meet us in the afternoon to confirm our concerns.  And he did.  After a few checks, he determined that our alternator was not working.  A few phone calls later and we determined that we are stuck here in Georgetown until probably next Wednesday while awaiting a new alternator and getting it installed.

I've heard it said about cruising that it is just working on your boat in exotic places.  Georgetown is nice, but not exotic.  However, it is a nice community, somewhat like Beaufort.  There are some events going on this weekend and we plan to make a run to the local Walmart. 

We are sitting at the dock beside a big shrimp boat at "The Boat Shed Marina"  and will be here for a while.

Nov 4

The Picture pretty well tells the story of the day.

We left the marina around 9:15 this morning in heavy fog - and it gradually got worse.  By the time we got to the Waccamaw River, it had started to rain - and then it got worse.  It started raining hard.

Tonight we are sitting in Georgetown, SC.  This is a historic point for Joe and I.  We've been here before.  This is the Southernmost point that we accomplished in our previous attempt to "go South".  However, we will not be defeated this time.  We have time, and we won't be embarrassed. 

Actually our spirits are quite high.  Joe is working on a new cover for the anchor windless.  Our's blew off night before last.  He is very diligent. 

I've been working on trying to learn how to use some new navigation software using GPS and Google Earth.  If I can ever get it working, it will be great.

It's raining in Georgetown Harbor as I write this. 

We are on our 5th night for dinner and we haven't even touched the food we bought for the trip.  We're living off chicken pastry that Clara fixed and chili that Joe fixed.  And Clara laughed when we bought $200 worth of food and $100 worth of booze!

Nov 3 - day 4

Tuesday, Nov 3

Southport to Myrtle Beach

A rather uneventful day.  The weather has been cloudy, windy and cool all day. 

We left early from our anchorage in Southport and headed South (actually Southwest), fixing coffee and breakfast after getting underway.

The winds are in a good direction for motor sailing and we do that most of the day.  We put up both the main and the Genoa, generally adding about .5 to .7 knots to our speed.  It sure is nice having the roller furling main. 

Going down the ICW, we are constantly going with or against a tide it seems.  There are several inlets in this area and they obviously affect our speed with the tide going and coming. 

This is probably the ugliest part of the ICW - literally a ditch.  We try to make as much mileage as possible - just to get it out of the way.  The goal is still to get around Georgetown, SC tomorrow and hopefully wait out the weather and get a good break so we can go outside and do some real sailing.  The leg between Georgetown and Charleston is only about 50 miles, and with any decent winds (except the Southwest) we should be able to make that. 

This part of the journey is not even worth a picture.

The Journey so far!

We stopped this evening at Barefoot Landing - supposedly one of the nice shopping centers around Myrtle Beach.  There are very few people out tonight.  We have supper at a steak house, come back to the boat and settle in.

Maybe tomorrow.