Offshore - St Mary's to Winyah Bay 15-16 Apr

 

   Goodbye to Fernandina. This would be a fantastic place to live if it wasn't for the large, noisy and very smelly paper mill and wood products factory on either side of town. Of course, if there were no factories there probably wouldn't be a great town here.

  We are heading out St Mary's Inlet for South Carolina under blue skies and little wind with our large high pressure system still overhead. The winds and seas are forecasted to be light and favorable for the 30hr trip. We'll see, the forecasts never seem to match reality.

   There were a couple shrimp boats working off the Inlet we had to maneuver around as we turned to head north. No problem as we were motoring with basically no wind and the smooth seas you can sea. So far the forecast is holding up. We're supposed to get more wind this evening and will be putting the sails out. 

   We were able to put the sails out and catch some of the light winds from astern but, still needed the engine to keep us moving at a 6kt speed to get us into port tomorrow before dark. The waves did come up somewhat when the wind is blowing against the tidal current but still only 2-3ft from the aft quarter so not a bad ride. 

  Another sunset at sea. Red sky at night. And the forecast is for more good weather tomorrow.

     Still cruising offshore just north of Savannah after a relatively smooth night. The wind is up enough that we are sailing (for a few hours) and a family of dolphins came over to play around the boat. I got some video with my GoPro camera I will have to edit and see if it is any good. I seem to get better video with my phone, but that has to be above the water. The GoPro is the camera to use underwater. 

  We have made good time and meanwhile, can't get reservations at a convenient marina in Charleston, so we decided to just keep on going to Winyah Bay, at Georgetown, SC. We should arrive there about 5pm if the conditions hold up. So far, so good.

   It's 5pm and we are heading up Winyah Bay just as planned, passing by the old lighthouse. It is always windy at the Winyah Bay Inlet and today was no different as our 10kt winds with us the whole trip from Fernandina built to 20kts. We put a deep reef in the mainsail and sailed up the inlet with main and staysail.

  By 7pm we had made it to a convenient anchorage at Butler Island and pulled over for the night, 36hrs after departing Fernandina. Surprisingly, the offshore conditions were exactly as forecasted, which is a first for the last 4 trips we have made south and back. I'm afraid we will get spoiled now and think any ocean passage will be as comfortable. But, it was very nice to have an uneventful passage. No transmission breaking. No heat exchanger or oil cooler hose leaking. No big winds or seas. And we even got 6hrs of sailing and a visit by dolphins. A great trip. Now its back to the ICW motoring to Yorktown.

    

Fernandina 14-15 Apr

Bridge of Lions

 

      Its another early departure on a crisp sunny morning under a large high pressure system after the frontal passage. 

   Its another full day trip to Fernandina and this time we will have the current against us most of way. 

   The dredging is finished at Mantanzas Inlet so there are no difficult shallow spots to manage on this leg.

   Arrived at Fernandina uneventfully and grabbed an anchorage spot just off the town marina.  Another beautiful sunset from our anchorage. 

   So far all systems onboard have been working without any problems. Hope that keeps up. Our batteries even seem to be holding a charge better after the 36hr motoring trip over from the Bahamas. 

   Fernandina is a necessary stop as this is where we make all preps to go offshore from Mary's Inlet here up to either Charleston or Georgetown, South Carolina. The goal is always to skip the ICW through Georgia which is endless meandering through grassland marshes with lots of very shallow water. 

   At Fernandina we hit all our favorite spots like the Aloha Bagel shop for cheese and Jalapeno bagels. 

   Aloha Bagels now has decaf coffee but our favorite coffee spot in Fernandina is the Amelia Coffee Shop and park. Grab a coffee and update our tablets with their free wifi.

   We also ate dinner at our favorite spot, Timoti's, where I normally get a shrimp seafood basket and Sue gets black bean salad. It was as great as always. Didn't get any photos this stop.

   Normally we grab a beer at either Amelia Brewing or First Love, but this time we spied this German Biergarten right downtown. We checked the beer list and noted a grapefruit Hefeweizen which I had to try. It was superb. Now a new brewery on our must visit list at Fernandina. Even better, Sue got talking to the couple sitting next to us all about Rivah and Labs/dogs and they ended up buying our beers for us. What a great day (notice the clear blue sky as well).  A very enjoyable visit as always in Fernandina.

St Augustine 10-13 Apr

                                                                            

   Heading north out of New Smyrna for St Augustine this morning. Its an early departure to make sure we can make it even if the current is against us. Through the northern causeway bridge at 0730 on another sunny day. Light winds behind us will help us along.

   Daytona now has two of the prettiest bridges along the ICW. This new bridge has decorative rock faces along the supports (versus flat concrete). The next bridge up has ocean blue mosaic tiles on the lower supports. 

   Made it to our mooring ball with no problem. We'll be staying here for 3 days waiting for a front to pass through with strong winds. Looks like we'll spend tomorrow onboard the boat all day, no need to get all wet riding to shore in the big waves.

   Next day update - the front blew through today. Thankfully the two tornados in the front passed us by, one to the north and one to the south of us. We just had thunderstorms with a bit of lightning, but none close.

      A stop in St Augustine now means a trip over to Sailor's Exchange, the secondhand boating store owned by Johnathan and Sammy Joe. We needed to pick up a few things including discount mooring lines as a couple of ours chafed through on the trip. 

     St Augustine also means a trip to Aldi's for fresh produce. Sue does the 5-mile hike for the exercise. This time she may have overestimated the volume and got a good arm and back workout as well as her legs. 

   The Spanish replica tall ship of one of Magellan's vessels was back in town at St Augustine. We toured this ship a couple years ago. The crew told us it was a terrible ride on the open ocean, rolling and yawing all over. Nothing like the tea clippers that came 250 years later.

   As you can see, the great weather was back after the frontal passage. Time to move on north.
 

New Smyrna 7-9 Apr

   Next stop up from Titusville is New Smyrna.  

  Back to our traditional anchoring spot at New Smyrna (in center of photo). Upon arrival, we thought someone had taken our spot, but they were off to the right and left and we were able to shoehorn ourselves right into our favorite spot.  

   There is just enough swing room there for us to put out 75ft of anchor chain which will hold us firmly in winds up to 20-25kts. Any more than that and we have to move somewhere else. 

  

   We were able to watch 3 rocket launches from New Smyrna. The first was at about 1700, an afternoon launch. It was a clear day and we could see the flame of the Space-X Falcon 9 rocket rise up and out of the atmosphere.

   The next launch was a night shot, again a Falcon 9 rocket. Usually the Falcon 9's go right on schedule but this one was delayed 3 times for short periods so we were awake at 2330, 0030 and finally it lifted off at 0130. 

   The night launches are more impressive than day launches as the night lights up at the horizon, then around the rising rocket. You can watch the main engine cutoff and second stage lighting off. 

   The last launch was the Delta IV Heavy. We had been tracking this launch for a couple weeks and several delays as I wanted to watch a "heavy" rocket launch, expecting it to be more impressive than the smaller Falcon 9 rockets.

   Carol and Tara drove us down to Titusville where we would be 50miles closer to the launch pad. But even being in Titusville, the launch basically appeared very similar to a Falcon 9. Yes it was larger but still a view of a little rocket, bright flame and long contrail.  Of note, my cousin happened to be at Cocoa Beach, further down to the south, and he got great pictures of the rocket itself. That seems a better location to see the rockets closer up.

   We did have a great spot to view the launch up at the top of the Titusville bridge. That's the contrail in the background.

   No more launches for several days so its time to head on north. Through the New Smyrna bridge and on our way north to St Augustine.

Titusville 4-6 Apr

    Working our way north now, we anchored just south of the Titusville bridge, getting protection from the strong northwest winds coming in tonight and tomorrow. The winds always seem to be stronger at Titusville than elsewhere along the Florida ICW and their mooring field can be quite rough. This spot on the other side of the bridge is well protected from the northwest winds.

   We always walk the bridge at Titusville to get our exercise in and see the sights.

   

   Our anchorage in Titusville put us in a perfect spot to watch tonight's Starlink Space-X launch. Originally set to go at 0230am, the launch was delayed until 5am and we were up to watch along with several other boats and spectators ashore.

   The launch was as bright as others we have seen. I thought it would be much louder at Titusville but there was a good breeze blowing and we were upwind so I guess most of the rumbling went the other way. Still very impressive.

  There were lots of chores to get done at Titusville. We got our propane tanks inspected and certified for another 5 years, then filled up. We got laundry done and showers. Then it was time to stop by the Playalinda brewery. This was peanut butter beer week. I had a standard IPA but Sue had the peanut butter and dark chocolate ale.

  

   While we waiting for the laundry to wash and dry, we watched a mother teaching her baby to fish in the marina. They were chasing mullet fish around the marina and we saw them catch a couple.

   At the other side of the marina there were several manatees including this mother and her two week old baby.

 The next morning it was time to head on to New Smyrna. We stopped by the fuel dock to top off the diesel and water and then we were off for the 5 hour transit. 

Eau Gallie, Fl 2-3 Apr

   Heading north up the Florida ICW, our first stop is at Eau Gallie, a small town just north of Melbourne.

   Eau Gallie has a protected anchorage from the southwest and westerly winds we are expecting with another cold front passing through this evening. There is also a town dock where you can dock and leave your dinghy with ready access to the town.

    The dinghy dock brings you to a park behind the city library. There are no services here for cruisers but it is a pretty spot. Just around the corner is the access to the bridge across the Indian River which enables a 5 mile walk over to Panera, for coffee and a bagel, and back.

   A downside to landing your dinghy at the city fishing pier. Heading back from our morning walk, we had some vibration and knocking from the dinghy engine. Upon inspection, there was about 50ft of fishline with a large hook and sinker wrapped around the propeller. With a sharp box cutter, we made a quick repair. All good to go.

   It's good the dinghy engine fix was no trouble as the next stop in Eau Gallie is the local brewery, just up the street. 

   There were two many choices so we had to resort to a flight. Best ones were the Canaveral Porter and the Art Handler double IPA.

   Walking back to the dinghy dock we noticed this "Yoga retreat garden" that was open to the public and any volunteers to help maintain.

  Sue checked out the papaya tree but there were no ripe ones.

   Along the fence were numerous plants with black berries which looked like and tasted very similar to New York wild blackberries. The sign said they were Black Mulberry plants. They were very good.

   Sue found the table where they put out the ripe papayas for the public. 

   We got back to the boat shortly before the front and thunderstorms rolled through. No strong storms like we had in the Bahamas, just a couple hours of rain which are great for washing the salt off the boat. 

   The next morning the temperature had dropped 30 degrees (to 55) and the skies were blue. It was time to head up the ICW for Titusville, our next stop.

Transit back to Florida - 31 Mar- 01 Apr

 

   Wind and waves are down and we are off for the 36hr transit back to Florida. There is still a 2ft swell running but winds are only 6-10kts from astern. The problem is that is not enough wind to keep the sails full so we are basically motoring with the mainsail keeping us steady and genoa furled up.

   Rivah is much happier with this transit,  (Sue as well), quite different from the trip over. We're hoping to get a little sailing in but the wind is pretty much astern and not much help.

   There are two opportunities to fish along this transit. It is deep water with flying fish and mahi for the first 8hr leg from Nassau to the Northwest passage.  Then no fish on the 12hr transit across the bank, which will mostly be at night anyways. Then 16hrs across the Gulf Stream to Florida where the fishing is good.

   Our fishing rig is a spool of 200lb line with a blue plastic lure that acts like a flying fish splashing on the surface. The bungy cord acts as a shock absorber and "fish on" indicator as it stretches out when the fish hits the lure.

  Our first catch. As we came through the Northwest Passage cut we caught this small barracuda. Proof that our lure is a good one.

   We throw the barracudas back. Too many teeth and bones although these small ones can be good eating.

   This is the pole that marks the channel at Northwest Passage. Its supposed to have a white light but the light hasn't worked for the past 15years. The pole does show up clearly on radar as it has a radar reflector at the top. There's another one of these poles at Mackie Shoal on the bank where a lot of transitors anchor for the night. The white light works on that pole.

   Sunset on day one of the transit. Wind and waves are still down so it has been a motoring trip. The crew is definitely not complaining. 

   We will transit across the bank during the night and come off at Moselle just north of Bimini at around 2am. Then its northwest over to the Gulf Stream and Florida coast - another 100miles to Fort Pierce. We should arrive there late afternoon, but definitely before dark.

   In the Gulf Stream now and we caught this small tuna. Sue got this one picture before the fish went crazy trying to get away. We tried the alcohol and cloth over the eyes with little success. Normally the alcohol knocks them out but he was a fighter. As I tried to hold him down with a cloth he violently shuddered and threw out the hook and went overboard. Oh well, no sushi for dinner.

   We hoped to get a mahi later in the day, especially as we trolled through a gaggle of fishing boats off Fort Pierce later , but no luck.

   After our 32hr motor transit over calm seas we arrived at the Fort Pierce Inlet as the winds built to 15-20kts and seas 3-4ft. Sue took some video of us rolling and yawing but I can't load video to this blog. It was only for 15-20 minutes though and we were soon inside the breakwaters and back into smooth water.

    Anchored in the Fort Pierce Inlet with the wind dying down. Its been two full days and one overnight and we are ready to crash. We both got only a couple 1hr naps during the night.

    I was amazed at the number of boats and ships between Florida and the Bahamas but between the 6 cruise ships and multiple mega-yachts, added to the normal merchant shipping and cruising boats, it's a busy piece of water.  

Another successful ocean crossing without any incidents. Tomorrow we'll be off heading north up the ICW.  

Staging for Return Transit - Providence Island West Bay 30 Mar

 

   We sat out the mild frontal passage anchored in Montague Bay to the east of Nassau as the winds shifted from the southwest to northwest to northeast. 

   Friday it was 20-25kts from the northeast so we stayed on the boat all day and prepared for our transit back to the states. Topped off the oil and antifreeze and secured gear for sea.

   Saturday morning and the winds are down to 15kts so we are moving over to West Bay on the western shore of Providence Island. It has better protection from the northeast winds and will cut a couple hours off our transit back to Florida.

   We were delayed 15mins passing through Nassau harbor as we had to wait for one of the many cruise ships to enter the harbor and get moored. There are 5 cruise boats in this morning.

   Entering the West Bay anchorage. There were six boats here when we arrived. Another six came in after us, all preparing to cross over to Florida over the next couple days with light southeasterly winds forecasted.

   Our last sunset from the Bahamas, looking west from our anchorage. We get underway tomorrow morning for Florida.