Today we made a short (relatively) cruise up to Beaufort, SC. We had a quiet night in Isle of Hope and got an early start out of the marina. We made a winding passage to the Savannah River. Over the grassland, we saw a container ship coming down the river and realized we were on a path to intercept it. The pelican was oblivious to the circumstances. We put on a little speed and got across the river ahead of the ship. It's pretty imposing to see one of those big ships bearing down on you. We passed through more seagrass areas, negotiated a few challenging areas of the ICW and made our way towards Hilton Head. The traffic picked up a little and we had to slow down as we cruised around the island. We entered Port Royal Sound on our way to the Beaufort River. The sound was fine until we got to the other side when the wind and waves picked up. We were bounced around a little, but it was nothing compared to our ocean passage last week. We had to deal with a strong current on the way up the river. The engines were working hard to keep up the speed. We passed the Parris Island Marine Corps Base and many sailors out taking advantage of the good winds. This part of South Carolina is called the Low Country and has a long history. We have always enjoyed visiting this part of the country. We made good time to the Beaufort Safe Harbor Marina and that meant docking with some strong winds and a swift current at the dock. The dockhands are accustomed to these conditions and were very helpful getting us tied up safely. These may be the strongest currents we have experienced so far. The tides here change about seven feet or more on each cycle. Seeing the change is pretty cool.
Beaufort is an historic little town with a number of nice shops and restaurants. We will spend the day here tomorrow and take a rest from cruising.
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We had another fog delay this morning for about 45 minutes. It was quite thick with visibility less than 300 yards. Once visibility improved some we decided to untie and get going. The first hour was very slow progress as we didn’t go any faster than 4.5 knots per hour. When the fog cleared, we put on the speed to make up some time. We had a good night at Morningstar Marina. The full moon was clearly visible and I could see the lights of the Golden Ray project in the distance from the marina. I had forgotten how open Georgia is on the ICW. The rivers are pretty wide, especially during high tide and there were not many boats on the water. All of the sounds where the rivers meet the ocean were calm. No water over the bow today. There really are a lot of beautiful places in Georgia for boaters as development along the coastline is limited. The only commercial traffic we came upon was the Sun River City tug pushing a barge. I thought the name sounded familiar, so I checked my pictures from November and found that it was the same barge we saw at Jekyll Island on November 6. Later that day we passed the barge on the way to Jacksonville. We made a safe pass at Sapelo Sound today and a few hours later the tug passed us at the marina. I don’t know where he was going, but I wonder if we will see him tomorrow. Every day on the water provides at least one adventurous moment (read anxiety). It seems these events happen at the end of the day, and reason is that we have high tide early in the morning and by the time we approach our destination, the tide is low. The full moon is causing the tide to be even lower than normal. I am trying very hard not to run aground and damage the props. There were two anxious moments today. The first spot is appropriately called “Hell Gate” and is a short, narrow and shallow connection between the Ossabow Sound South Channel and North Channel. We took it very slow and made it through ok. The last mile or so was almost as bad. The channel was very narrow and the close shoreline looked ominous. Fortunately the channel was deep enough. We got the the Isle of Hope Marina on the Isle of Hope, fueled up and settled in at the dock. The folks here are very nice and helpful. The marina was busy since it was a Saturday, but I think it will be a quiet night. Martha and I took a walk around the neighborhood after dinner on the boat. There are some very beautiful historic-looking homes here surrounded by huge live oak trees draped in Spanish Moss. Many of the residents were out riding around in their golf carts. A number of the residents were gathered around one live oak with a resident owl. Apparently there are some baby owls in the nest and it seems that everyone on the island wants to catch a glimpse of them. We only saw the momma owl. Tomorrow we leave Georgia on our way to Beaufort, South Carolina.
After a short delay due to heavy fog, we departed Palm Cove Marina in Jacksonville for the last time this trip. The fog cleared pretty quickly and we were able to enjoy some sights unique to this area. A car carrier was heading out to sea as we approached the St. Johns River and then we passed some Navy ships going through refurbishment. It was a pretty clear run up to Fernandina Beach. We enjoyed the countryside and the waterway, and made good time since there was minimal traffic on the water. Fernandina has a curious mix of industry, tourism, a marina with yachts of various sizes and boats anchored out in the bay. Dredge equipment was also at work on the water. We enjoyed the cruise through southern Georgia. It was a very nice warm day and the water was calm. We made it through the Kings Bay Submarine Base area without getting into any trouble with the security boats. We made it through St. Andrews Sound just south of Jekyll Island. It is a tricky path and you have to watch the depths carefully. We watched one impatient boater, who happened to pass us quickly a little earlier, backtrack when he realized he wasn't taking the correct route. He was lucky he didn't run aground. Going by Jekyll Island was the nail-biter moment of the day. It was low tide and the area is well-known for skinny water. We took it really slow and had our eyes glued on the depth sounder. Once through that section, we entered the Brunswick River and passed the Golden Ray auto carrier that ran aground last year and is being dismantled piecemeal. We could see progress from the time we first saw it in November.
The winds were picking up as we approached our marina for tonight. Fortunately, they were blowing in a helpful manner and docking was uneventful. It is a large marina with a lot of activity. We enjoyed watching the tall ship dock in the heavy winds. It was artful. Tomorrow we head to another new marina, Isle of Hope. Yesterday we left Palm Coast Marina and took a slow pace to Jacksonville. We knew that we needed to "play the tides," as the entry to the marina is very shallow at low tide. If we travelled at a slow speed we would arrive as the tide was rising and have a more relaxed entry. There really was no reason to travel fast. We passed many nice areas that are now familiar to us. Matanzas Inlet, St. Augustine and the Tolomato River are very picturesque areas and are not highly developed. Once we started seeing the beautiful homes in the Ponte Vedre and Sawgrass areas, we knew we were getting close to Jacksonville. We saw quite a few Border Patrol Boats around St. Augustine. Apparently they were involved in some training. They have very cool boats and look pretty ominous. They are also using some "unmarked" boats. We also passed a nice power boat up on shore. We wondered how he got there, and of course will he get back in the water. As we approached the Beach Blvd. bridge, traffic began to build. The marina is just north of the bridge on the west side. A large barge with a tug pushing it was on the other side of the bridge, but we had time to get through. We followed a small boat that decided to pass the barge on it's starboard side and at the same time, another boat was coming out of the marina on the east side of the ICW and he stopped directly in front of the barge. I had to follow the small boat that was traveling very close to the shoreline, not sure how shallow the water would get. I'm sure the tug captain was a little perturbed with the power boat that was stopped in front of him and blew his horn as a warning. I was too concerned about not going aground and have no idea what the other boat did. We passed very close to the barge, but got through safely. Next was the entry to the marina. I hailed the marina to ask about getting fuel and docking. The fuel dock was already busy with a big power boat that we had been following all the way from Palm Coast and other boats were stacked up trying to get. We decided to delay the fuel up and go ahead to our slip. They put us in the same slip we were in before, making things more familiar and easier. It was another lesson in boating, that seems to be a daily event, and how things can change in an instant. Situational awareness is critical and little mistakes could be disastrous. Due to many variables, i.e. wind, current, traffic, rude boaters, obstructions, and depth, the captain has to be constantly on guard.
We have another thousand miles of this to go before we are back on home turf in the Chesapeake. I wonder every day what the next adventure will be. Tomorrow we head for Georgia and leave Florida behind. I am again combining two days of travel into one blog post. On Monday morning we left the Titusville Marina mooring field and traveled through some of our favorite areas on the way to New Smyrna Beach. We enjoy going through the Haulover Canal and through Mosquito Lagoon (we didn't encounter any mosquitos). The final leg into New Smyrna includes a real variety of RV parks, modest waterfront homes and not so modest waterfront homes. The New Smyrna Beach City Marina is a great place to stay. The floating transient docks are very easily accessible and the town is a short walk from the marina. There are a few restaurants to choose from. We ate dinner at Corkscrew and were able to take home some leftovers. Today we made the short trip from New Smyrna Beach to Palm Coast. We could have combined the last two days into one, but we like both of these stops and decided to treat ourselves since it will be the last time this season. The ICW is pretty open from NSB to Daytona and gave us the opportunity to make some time. The Halifax River in Daytona is also fairly open to go fast with only a couple no wake zones. Daytona certainly has many high rise condos and hotels along the beach. We do enjoy all of the bridges in Daytona. We determined they are the most aesthetically pleasing. You know you are getting close to Palm Coast when you start seeing many magnificent homes. The folks here at the marina are very nice, and we have a spot right next to the office. Martha and I walked around the area a little bit to look at some of the homes and how they back up to canals so that everyone has the possibility of having a dock and a boat. It is very quiet and there don't seem to be as many people on their boats as the last time we stayed here. Tomorrow we head to Jacksonville for a couple of days and one last visit. It will be our last stop in Florida.
We have some decent wifi here so I will update the previous blogs with a few pictures. Today was the exact opposite of yesterday. We left Fort Pierce and headed to Titusville. This was actually the first time we took this part of the ICW north. The other two times we went outside. It was a long trip, but we were able to make good time. The Indian River is wide with good depths. We had to make a number of slow passes of trawlers and sailboats, a number of them under sail. It was cool today, so the local traffic was light for a Sunday. We are starting to see familiar boats from the various marinas we have visited as they start their trip north.
Of the places we have been, the Indian River is the area most similar to the Chesapeake Bay. There are a lot of nice towns to visit, a number of anchorages and large expanses of open water. One can also get to other nice towns at either end of the river. You don't have the super yacht culture here and we haven't seen as many obnoxious boaters either. While going through Melbourne we watched the sailing school in operation. It was reminiscent of Annapolis. The winds picked up during the day and it took us a few minutes to tie up to the mooring ball in Titusville. There is a little chop on the water, but that is supposed to subside during the night. After we settled in, we were able to watch the Florida East Coast train pass by and we can see the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA from the mooring. Tomorrow we have a short trip to New Smyrna Beach. No pictures again today. We still have wifi connectivity issues in these remote areas. Today we started our trek north to return to the Chesapeake Bay within a few weeks. It was a rough day and I hope that it is not a warning of things to come. We decided to avoid the ICW Saturday traffic and go outside to Fort Pierce from North Palm Beach. I had checked various weather sources and the conditions were supposed to be ok for the run.
We left right after saying good bye to our good friends Debbie and Bill. Martha took the boat out of the slip and I took us out the channel in front of Old Port Cove. We immediately hit traffic as we headed to the Fort Worth Inlet, and took it slow. We were only waked by a couple of other boats that were in a hurry. As we rounded Peanut Island all traffic was at a standstill for a large barge that was being docked by a few tugs. We were able to wind our way around the traffic and head out the inlet. It was immediately apparent that we were going to be dealing with some heavy seas, but I thought it was going to settle down as we moved north. It didn’t turn out that way as the weather got worse. We were pounded by wave after wave with water going over the roof of the cabin. The wind and waves were coming directly from the north, the direction we were going. Our little Encore held her own and kept us safe. We experimented with different speeds to find the most comfortable one, and settled in around 10 or 11 kph. We spotted a number of sea turtles, but couldn’t get any pictures due to the weather conditions. They seemed to be having the same problems we were with the sea conditions. We finally reached the Fort Pierce inlet and made it through without incident. We were very happy to finally reach the calm conditions inside the inlet. We hailed the Fort Pierce City Marina to let them know we were coming in and needed fuel before going to our slip. The fuel dock was clear and we tied up immediately. It was a lot easier this time since the wind was coming from the north rather than the south. The fueling process went well, but things got a little dicey from there. We left the fuel dock and headed to our slip for the night. The wind was gusting and it was difficult to get the boat in position to back into the slip. We were starting to be pushed way too close to the other boats on the dock. I had to add some power in a not-so-glamorous fashion to avoid a crash. Once out of the way of the big boats, the wind pushed us into a smaller boat and we bumped his swim platform. Despite the embarrassment and concern about the other boat, I was able to get further out into the fairway and lined up to back into the slip. After getting tied up on the dock we talked to the owner of the boat, who was very understanding, and exchanged contact info. We spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the boat since it was completely covered in salt water. We knew that this marina can be challenging due to strong current and wind. As a matter of fact, the last time we were here, one of the slip holders told us they had witnessed some pretty bad crashes due to conditions. I was mindful of this, but still had problems. I will have to evaluate whether I want to return to this marina in the future. Despite the conditions, it is a very nice marina and it is convenient to downtown Fort Pierce. The wind has continued to gust all afternoon and evening. I am hoping for calmer conditions tomorrow, however we will be staying inside on the ICW on our way to Titusville. Today was enough adventure for a while! |
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