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The last position reports for Tides Inn will be displayed on the map. (Courtesy of www.winlink.org) Tides Inn homeport is Dare Marina, Yorktown VA

Titusville - 27-28 Jan



   The winds were forecasted to be 20kts, gusting to 30, so we thought it would be wise to further explore around Titusville from a safe dockside berth. It turned out to be a wise decision as the winds fulfilled the forecast and then some. We were rocking and rolling in the marina. Glad we were not sitting out in the river at anchor amidst the whitecaps. There was no protection in the anchorage spot we were at.


   Titusville is actually a pretty little town. You would need to take a bus ride out to the mall to get to the big box stores and Publix, but there are several small business spots in town of interest. 

   We really like looking at the murals that show up all around town.


   In addition to the large murals on building walls, the town has a program to decorate the utility boxes with sea scenes. 


 

   We were hoping to watch a rocket launch from Titusville which is directly across the river from launch pads 39 and 40. There was a Space-X rocket scheduled to launch on the 29th, but it got delayed till the 30th, and then the 31st. We have to meet some friends in Cocoa down the river a ways, so we will leave tomorrow and watch the launch Sunday from Cocoa.


   What used to be the town Hardware Store is now the local brewery Playalinda. We had to spend a couple visits checking out their brews.



   Yesterday it was 80degrees, perfect for outdoor drinking. Today it was 65 and blustery.  We ordered a cup of their Tomato Bisque soup to go with our beers. Just right for the temps.

Titusville Alligators - 25 Jan


 

   We're anchored off Titusville for a couple days. Another bridge to walk over and get our 10K steps in.


    At the foot of the bridge is the Pier220 restaurant with outdoor dining. The weather is about 15degrees warmer  this week and just right for some beer and fish tacos on the deck.

   We stopped at the restaurant after our walk, but noticed that it is actually a fairly short dinghy ride from our boat over to here. Would be a pretty high step to the fixed dock level though.


   Just after dark we started hearing some very unusual sounds coming from under the boat. It took us quite a while to figure out they were coming from the water and not anything on our boat. The noises were "grunting" very similar to bullfrogs but we were thousands of yards from shore and no frogs out here.

   The next day we asked in the marina what marine life was making those noises. "Alligators", the folks told us. 

   Sure enough, next day we saw this 5ft alligator swimming away from the marina along the shoreline. From the sounds we heard at anchor, there had to be 5-10 of them nearby our boat. They start grunting at sunset and grunt away until midnight or so. Very weird sounds that come right through the hull.

New Smyrna Anchorage

 


   Anchoring at New Smyrna for a couple weeks gave us plenty of time to do some exploring - and walking.




   This is the shoreline alongside our anchoring spot with a small beachy area amongst the mangroves and pines.


   We thought we would dinghy over for a nice happy hour drink and cheese and crackers and watch the sunset. Unfortunately, "Happy Hour" time is also the time when no-seeums come out when there is no breeze to blow them away. In Florida, the no-seeums are large enough that you can easily see them - and they bite just as bad as up north.

   We had a quick beer and beat feet back to the boat.



   A more enjoyable day was spent exploring the waterways winding between the mangrove covered islands. We saw lots of fish, birds and one turtle during our trip.  Rivah loves to travel with us and check out all the new smells.



   Back at anchor, Sue finally had time and the right weather to break out the hammock. The yoga mat provided ideal cushion and a head rest.



There are two main bridges across the Indian River at New Smyrna and walking the large "block" over both bridges is a 5-mile circuit. We made the walk a couple times during our stay.


   Near the end of the walk, a short diversion takes you to "Donna's Cafe" where a nice iced coffee awaits. The slight diversion provides just enough steps to hit the 10K steps goal.


   Hard to believe we were at New Smyrna for 13 days already. Soon it was time to push off further south. We had one last breakfast with Carol and Tara. The weather was a little nippy, but it is still January. The outdoor seating was ideal for these COVID times. It'll be a few more months until we can get our vaccines. 

  We had a great visit, but now its time to continue the adventure.



  

New Smyrna 12-25 Jan

 

    After 3 weeks of transiting, we are in Florida and ready to enjoy the Florida weather, while visiting our friends Tara and Carol in New Smyrna.  Actually its not quite "Florida weather" as the temperatures are only in the high 60s during the day and mid 40s at night. But that's much better than the snows of Virginia. 


   We initially moored for a couple nights at the New Smyrna public dock right downtown. We then moved down to the anchorage a short dinghy ride away. We ended up staying nearly 2 weeks as the weather was fine and company great.


   Carol and Tara took us down to the Cape Canaveral beach federal park. In addition to the endless beaches the park is a great kayaking spot with good hiking trails.





      Our anchorage spot provided an excellent vantage point for watching rocket launches from Cape Canaveral . We'll proceed on down further south closer to the launch pads in the future, but while visiting with friends we were able to watch a Space-X launch in ideal conditions.


   Looks like a jet contrail in the photo, but in real time it is definitely a rocket speeding upwards and then arcing to the north across our horizon. We're looking forward to more launches as we proceed down off Titusville.
    


Finally Florida - Jacksonville and St Augustine 10-11 Jan


    The weather and the tides finally aligned so we pushed off from Cumberland Island for Florida. After a short day of motoring we arrived at the ICW crossing of the St John's River that heads up to Jacksonville. There is a nice dock provided by the city for boaters. In the foreground is the dock beside the launch basin where folks can launch and recover their trailored boats.

   Behind the trees in the background you can see the masts of 4 sailboats that are moored at another long dock well protected off the ICW. We are the first sailboat on the right.

The picture is taken from the Sister's Creek bridge which has a nice sidewalk walking path. We took Rivah for a long walk over the bridge and back.


   Here's Tides Inn tied up at the city dock. All ready to go first thing in the morning.


   Rivah got to play at the playground at the City park. She actually enjoys the slide, especially when she gets a treat each time she goes down.


   Next morning it was time to push off early and catch the tide for St Augustine. First event is to cross the St John's River and slip between the merchant ships heading up to the big city. We passed just behind this large car carrier and in front of a larger container ship coming in behind him.


   We come down to Florida from the Chesapeake for the winter so we can enjoy boating in the warm weather. For Floridians, January is just too cold to be boating. Boats tucked away for the winter.


   After another short transit day we arrived in St Augustine. The sun was out and the cockpit was 70 degrees. Motoring through the Bridge of Lions in St Augustine and the marina is just past the bridge on the right.


   The St Augustine marina has a strong current running through so we asked for a spot on one of there face docks - which they normally reserve for catamarans and large boats. I think they thought this first slip with no outer pier was a good compromise but it was a very challenging arrival maneuver to get properly lined up with the current pushing us in and not enough room in the fairway to get properly lined up. Fortunately they provided a strong dockhand that could grab our spring line and muscle the stern to the dock.  Soon we were all secured, plugged in and ready to explore St Augustine.


   Finally, some warm weather and chance to relax. About 50% of the folks here are wearing masks. Interestingly, most of the boaters are either wearing or carrying masks to quickly mask-up. We had a coffee and stopped for a piece of pizza from America's 2nd greatest pizza shop. The pizza there actually is pretty good. 

   Tomorrow we'll push off early again for farther south to Daytona or hopefully New Smyrna.

Georgetown to St Mary's - Jan 4-8

   The trials and tribulations of sailing. What was originally forecasted to be an ideal two day sail down the coast from Georgetown to New Smyrna, FL, turned out to be an ordeal, a very uncomfortable ride and, ultimately, a diversion to St Mary's.  But at least we did not have the white knuckled experience of this sailboat we encountered on the way out of Winah Bay. We saw them tacking across the narrow entrance channel and talked on the radio. They lost their engine before arriving the night before and had spent 14 hours sailing off the entrance waiting for daylight. Now they were tacking their way between the rock jetties up the entrance. I think I would have not been brave enough (stupid enough?) to attempt that. 
   Meanwhile, our saga started with our departure down the same lengthy channel, but we had the full tidal current against us - 3+ knots directly on the nose. Since we only make 6kts overall, that meant proceeding at half speed and taking twice the time to get out the rough channel. By the time we bashed our way out through the rough waters and could turn downwind, we were already feeling the mal-de-mer beginnings. 

   As we finally exited the breakwaters and were able to make our turn to the south we experienced the next inconvenience. The forecasted winds had been 10-15kts from the northwest, which would have provided a nice quartering downwind sail. Instead they were 5-10kts from the northeast which placed them directly astern and not strong enough to allow us to sail. So we had to motor downwind rolling from side to side ensuring a good bout of sea sickness. We spent the entire day motor sailing down the coast. At least we were making progress getting south and avoiding the shallow waters of South Carolina and Georgia. By the afternoon we were motoring (not sailing) pass Charleston and heading towards Savannah.

   As the sun set we were still making steady progress southward and still feeling not so well, but it was to get worse. The wind was forecasted to shift to the west and strengthen to 15tks during the night, which would have enabled us to sail to the south towards Florida. Unfortunately, it shifted slightly beyond due west which put it on our bow instead of the beam and increased to 15-18kts. Combined with out speed of 6kts that meant we had 20kts now to motor into. The waves began to grow steadily and by midnight were 3-4 feet and very steep and close together. The ride was becoming very uncomfortable. At this point, I had to admit to Sue that this was no longer fun. It was time to get off the ocean.
   Unfortunately, we were now trapped between the westerly winds and seas that prevented us from making much progress towards shore and the Gulf Stream on our eastern side which would prevent us from simply sailing to the southeast with the winds we had. Normally, we could just sail off to the southeast with these winds but that would take us into the Gulf Stream and its 3kt northerly current which would basically stop any progress further south and also give us an even rougher ride. There was nothing to do but try to keep edging towards shore and into some inlet.
   Initially we set our sights on Brunswick GA, hoping to get there before dark on the 5th. That would at least get us south of most of the shallow waters and meandering ICW through Georgia. But by morning it became apparent that was not going to be possible. The earliest we could arrive would be after dark and it would be a long sail up the Brunswick inlet to reach a safe anchoring spot. We began looking at the next safe inlets, St Mary's and Jacksonville.  So along we bashed, making as best progress we could to the southwest. 
   The wind was forecasted to diminish during the day and veer back to the northwest, but as of noon it was still blowing strongly and the waves crashing off the bow. I was beginning to regret not pulling into Charleston the day before and waiting there another day before pushing south.
   Finally, mid-afternoon, the wind began to comply with the forecast, slightly veering and diminishing. At this point I could make the decision to stop bashing into the waves on a direct course towards St Mary's and steer more southward, slightly off the wind, assuming that the veering and declining wind would allow us to turn to the west later in the day and motor to the inlet. That's exactly what happened. By 1800, we had much calmer conditions and were motoring directly on course to St Mary's. We arrived at the entrance channel at 9pm well after dark, but it was not a serious issue as St Mary's is a deep and straight in shot and by that time the winds were down to 10kts and not a factor. We drove straight up the channel and pulled over to the side and anchored at the first opportunity. We were all secure by 2230.  If you click on our map position, and switch to Satellite view instead of Map view you can see exactly where we have been anchoring.

   We spent all the next day at that anchorage recuperating from our trek, but the following day the wind came up again and we were rocking and rolling being so close still to the ocean. We got underway and motored up along Cumberland Island to a more protected anchorage area. Interestingly, Georgia has 6-8ft tides so at low tide we are well protected and sitting quietly. At high tide however, the water comes over the sand and shell banks beside us and the waves start rolling in. So we get 6hrs of calm and 6hrs of rolling here. But that's better than 24hrs of bashing at sea.


   Another beautiful sunset. The sky is actually much redder than the photo shows.  We will push off for Jacksonville and further on south tomorrow. 

   


    



Georgetown, SC Jan 3




    Quick blog update. We are in Georgetown, SC today. Topping up the fuel and water and drying out the boat in the sunshine. We are heading offshore tomorrow for a two day jog to Florida. Hope to be in New Smyrna by Wednesday. 

Calabash to the Waccamaw River - Dec 31


 

   The next ICW leg takes you through Little River and Myrtle Beach SC to the Waccamaw River. Just down from our anchorage for the night, you pass the Casino boats at Calabash. These big boats transit a few miles up the ICW and out the Little River taking gamblers off-shore for their entertainment. We wondered if they were running during these COVID times, but watched one of them returning. 


   Its party time at Myrtle Beach as well with Pirate Cruises running in the summer. 


   Finally, through the congestion of Little River and Myrtle Beach and into the Waccamaw. It started raining about noon and soon the fog was rolling in. We only needed to transit another couple hours to our planned anchorage spot, but soon the fog became too thick and it was too dangerous to continue. We pulled off into a creek and anchored for lunch. An hour later, the fog lifted some and we were able to continue.


   A bit fuzzy, but this is where we anchor on the Waccamaw. 

  We ended up staying here for 3 nights as the rain moved in on Thurs and rained steadily all Fri and Sat. We had a very quiet New Year's Eve at anchor. 

   The temps were in the 60s in the rain both during the day and at night. The only problem we ran into was the humidity was so high in the boat (90%), the moisture was condensing on the fiberglass inside the hull and getting all the teak wet along the floor.

Finally on the 3rd, the rain stopped, the sun was out and humidity dropped down to 50%. We transited down to Georgetown and tied up at a marina to dry out, do some laundry and top the tanks for heading out to the ocean tomorrow.


Carolina Beach to Calabash, NC Anchorage - Dec 30

 


   We are enjoying the good weather we are having since the Christmas Eve storm. It has been sunny each day since the 27th which provides us 60deg temps within our enclosure which acts like a green house. Nightly temps have been in the mid 40s which is a bit on the cold side hopping into bed, but not cold enough for us to break out the generator. 

   Rivah tried on some cool shades with the bright sun.

   

The challenge today is to get through two of the shallowest spots on the ICW in North Carolina, the inlets of Lockwoods Folly and Shallotte. The sands are constantly shifting in these inlets and the USCG is sometimes slow repositioning the buoys but, even with all the new technologies that help, sometimes it's just too shallow to get through at the lowest tide levels.  We were fortunate at Lockwoods to have a work vessel in front of us that we could watch on our chartplotter transit the pass. The new path, which was not the same as earlier in the year, was accurately marked by the buoys and deep. No problems. At Shallotte, however it was a different story. The buoys were in the right spots and the chart guidance accurate, but it was very shallow and we just made it through with a few inches to spare. If we had been an hour later at dead low tide, we probably would have not made it through. 


   As I mentioned, there are always interesting sights on the ICW. This paddler came up and raced us for awhile. We were cruising at 7mph and he kept right beside us for 5-10 minutes or so, before tiring I suppose. Or getting bored.


   All along this stretch of the ICW from Southport to Calabash there were many signs of the destruction caused by the several hurricanes striking this coastline the last couple years. Many docks were damaged and boats blown up onto shore. This shrimp boat has been beached since our last trip through in 2019 and slowly decaying.


   The Calabash anchorage is just around the corner from that shrimp boat and it had 3 new derelict boats washed up on shore. Not the most reassuring sight to see from a narrow and slightly exposed anchorage. 


   We anchored here next to the stranded boats and were joined by two other sailboats later in the day. Another quiet night with temps in the mid 40s.



Hammock Bay to Carolina Beach - Dec 29


    There's always something new to see on a trip down the ICW. This homemade workboat had some interesting scaffolding, apparently to enable work on docks and boat lifts. 


   Today is another short mileage day, only 40 miles, but we have to go through 2 bridges and several shallow spots which will slow us down. Also, we made a quick stop for fuel top off at Swan Point where diesel fuel is only $2 a gal. This is normally the cheapest fuel on the ICW, but this year many marinas have fuel only slightly higher.


   Nope, we're not in Kansas anymore. Passing through Wrightsville beach, where the deep-sea fishing boats and megayachts hangout. 

  We had to wait nearly an hour to get through the Wrightsville bridge which only opens on the hour. It would be easier to time one's arrival except we have to pass through the  Figure Eight bridge which  is only 4 miles away and opens on the hour and half-hour so you have a 50-50 chance of getting through the two of them without a lengthy wait. As usual, we had to wait.


   We made it through the bridges and shallow water spots without incident and got to Carolina Beach just before sunset. Anchored and set for a quiet night at the anchorage, watching the last full moon of 2020 rising over the Condo's.

Beaufort to Hammock Bay Anchorage - Dec 28


    Today is much shorter day, planning on a 45 mile journey down the North Carolina ICW waters that run just inland of the barrier islands. 

   Much of this leg runs through wide open waters of Bogue Sound which is only a couple feet deep. We have to stay carefully within the dredged ICW path. The ICW does narrow down to basically a canal in several spots. Generally there are houses on the western shore and open spaces and islands on the east. Here we passed a camp on the eastern shore only accessible by boat.


 

   By noon we were passing through the Camp LeJeune area. The ICW runs through a "Firing Range" on the base and occasionally it is active and boats have to stop and wait. No problems today. The red and white water tower is a familiar landmark. We dont remember the cell tower being next door in previous trips through.



    Another day, another sunset. We had an easy transit today with temperatures again in the 60s and light winds. We were anchored in this protected bay, built courtesy of the US military, along with 7 other fellow transiters.