New Smyrna, Fl 31 Jan - 7 Feb 2023

 

   After a month of traveling we are finally arriving in New Smyrna where our good friends, Tara and Carol live. And, it is finally starting to warm up with temperatures in the mid-70s.  The lighthouse guards the Ponce de Leon inlet just north of the city.

   Heading for our anchorage off the city dock, we pass through the George Musson bridge.

   New Smyrna used to have a convenient free dock and a floating dinghy dock just north of this spot but they were both damaged by last year's hurricane and not repaired yet.

   This is the problem with doing nothing about abandoned boats. The general rule is no staying at the free docks for more than 48hrs but this boat was tied to the New Smyrna dock for over 2 years. The city wouldn't move it because they didn't want to take responsibility for properly disposing it. Then when the hurricane came it damaged the dock and sank. Now it will cost thousands more to dispose of it and meanwhile it is a hazard to all the other boaters and blocks access to the town dock.

   Here we are anchored off the city docks. We now have to dinghy to the dock at the far right in the photo along the far shore. Its farther from town and the brewery, but closer to the coffee cafe that we stop at along our walks.

   We had a nice couple of warm days and visit with our friends but, now a cold front is blowing through. We moved our anchorage spot further down the river where there is more room to swing around and put more anchor chain out for when the strong winds come.

  The north winds still reach down to mid-Florida in early February and it is back into winter garb at least for a couple days. But soon the sun will be back out and warming us up. At least no snow and ice like Yorktown is receiving.

   A day later and the sun is back out. Still long sleeve weather and the hammock does a great job blocking the cool breeze, but much nicer than February in the north.

   Not too many people on the beach in early Feb, just the seagulls. 

   Sue got to visit with Tara and her Dad. She also got to help Tara provide clothes and showers to the New Smyrna homeless community where she volunteers each week. 

  Full moon and a quiet night over the anchorage.

   The anchorage also provides a great viewing spot for space launches from Cape Canaveral. Not quite as impressive as Titusville (where we saw some launches later) but still excellent. We watched a day and a night launch from New Smyrna, the night launches being more impressive.

   After a week in New Smyrna it was time to move on further south. We have other friends waiting for us in Stuart and in Marathon so time to get going.

   Rivah would be happy to spend the rest of the trip right here in New Smyrna.

St Augustine 26-29 Jan

 

   St Augustine has a large mooring field. we were assigned one of the balls in the next to last row to the south (left in the photo), a long dinghy ride to shore. After our two days on the ball (which provides shower access) we figured it was just as easy to anchor  a couple hundred feet further south outside the mooring field.

   There are plenty of places to walk in St Augustine and all 3 of us took advantage of getting off the boat and getting some exercise.

   I nice walk is across the Lions Bridge over to the Lighthouse.  Sue climbed to the top while I volunteered to watch Rivah, sitting on a park bench under the trees.

   It just so happens that along the way to the lighthouse, there is a new brewery, Old Coast Ales, with a taco stand just next door. What a great spot.

   Our nephew and his wife and son live in St Augustine and when we pass through we stop to visit with them. This time the weather was cooperating and we were able to go for a daysail in the St Augustine harbor. First you have to dinghy out from the marina to our anchorage outside the mooring field.

   Crewe got instructions on the instruments and steering the boat. Later came the snacks from Grammie Sue's "snacklebox".

   A daysail in the harbor means two passages through the Lions Bridge.

   It was a great sailing day but soon time to dinghy our guests back to shore after a great visit. 

   The next day we walked around town and found this great patio area where we could drink our coffee and listen to a great jazz guitarist, standing there in the background.

   That evening we were invited to watch Crewe at the BMX bike race track but, it was very cold and he had a bad cough so after one time around the track he was gasping for breath and ready to call it a night. 

   Instead of a bike race, we went out for dinner. Johnathan took us to the local Ford Motors hamburger joint, which was excellent. 

   After 4 days in St Augustine it was time to get on the road south again. With the current strong against us again, it was a two day trip to New Smyrna so we stopped in Daytona for diesel fuel, then motored across the channel and anchored for the night. It turned out our anchorage spot, off the ICW channel, was right along where the Daytona high school crew teams practice. 

Fernandina - St Augustine 22 - 25 Jan 2023

 

   Anchored off Fernandina, FL. Fortunately, this time through Fernandina we are not stopping for maintenance at Tiger Point Marina. All systems are working properly, so we anchored a short dinghy ride off the city marina. Then it was time to head to shore for a coffee at Amelia Island Coffee, lunch then a beer at Amelia Island Brewery.

   We had lunch at the Cafe Karibo which was highly recommended to us. It was a very good lunch, we sat in their pretty garden patio with Rivah but, the next door seafood taco hut is still my favorite lunch spot in Fernandina.

   After lunch and a long walk it was beer time at the Amelia Island Brewery. Sue opted for the Farm Cider.

   Along our walk, Sue noticed this cross-ocean rowing boat and we stopped and talked to the ladies. They had rowed across from Europe, were going to be trucked to California, then planned to row across the Pacific. They row with two women rowing and one sleeping in the front bow area.

  When we left the anchorage heading for St Augustine the ladies were out training.

   Moving on south we had the tidal current against us the whole day so we couldn't reach St Augustine before dark. We were thinking of stopping at the Sister's Creek free dock near Jacksonville but, it was full so we pushed on.  At dusk we anchored off Pine Island, a spot we have anchored off before. One other boat came in the creek after us and anchored further up the creek. It was a quiet night - "red sky at night" ?

   From Pine Island it is only a couple hours to St Augustine and soon the Lions Bridge was off the bow. We grabbed a mooring ball and received our Marina services cards which means hot showers today and laundry.

Offshore Charleston to St Mary's, Florida, 20-21 Jan

    Friday morning, 20 Jan, and the high pressure system continues to sit over the East Coast. It's clear and cold with blue skies and light winds. Not a great sailing day but a good motoring day and we have a 24hr transit to make offshore from Charleston to the St Mary's inlet on the GA/FL border.

   Making the transit offshore allows us to bypass the shallow and winding marshlands of southern South Carolina and Georgia with their 8ft tides, and cuts about 4 days off the meandering ICW route. 

   After a last minute early morning run to Publix for coffee and bagels, we are off and heading down the Charleston Harbor bound for sea with a strong 3kt tail current pushing us out the channel. The sails are up, but they are mostly for looks as the winds are light. The good news is the seas are relatively flat so no mal-de-mer yet.

    Making good progress. This ocean area always seems rougher than it should be and the wind is never from the direction forecasted. The last 3 years we have experienced quite uncomfortable passages along this route, but this year it's not so bad. Not ideal, but far better than previous trips.

Here's a video of the typical sailing conditions on a relatively mild day - click on the video link. Sailing Conditions

   The crew are toughing it out. Chilly temps and rolly conditions, but a lot better than our previous transits through here. 

 

   Sunset after a full day of motor sailing south along the coast. We learned in previous trips not to take the straight, shortest path south which takes you farther offshore and makes it tough to get back in if the weather turns bad. We are taking the slightly longer route paralleling the coast line about 20 miles offshore. 

   We'll be at the inlet first thing in the morning after another 12hrs of motor-sailing through the night.

   Here we are off the paper mill at Fernandina, FL. Last year we spent a month here waiting for our transmission to be repaired. This year we were able to motor past the plant and anchor up a nearby creek.

   Life on a boat is always an adventure. The evening after we arrived, a cold front passed through with a leading squall line.  The front arrived with a 45kt blast that laid the boat over about 45degrees.  We watched the boat next to us with no one onboard (fortunately downwind) break free from his anchoring and be blown downwind, then taken by the current downstream right through the city mooring field, where his anchor finally grabbed and stopped him as the wind had died back down to 20kts. I'm sure he will be surprised to find his boat in a different place when he returns.  We didn't have any problems with the wind. It's almost always boats with not enough anchor line put out that drag.

Charleston, SC 17-19 Jan

    Getting underway from our Awendaw Creek anchorage, Rivah was fascinated with a visiting pelican that was swimming around the boat, I guess hoping for a handout.   We are looking at another beautiful day with blue skies and light winds, but still on the cool side.

   Just one bridge to pass through today on our way to Charleston, the Ben Sawyer swing bridge at Pt Pleasant. This is a very shallow section of the ICW but we had a couple of feet of tide to give us a cushion. 

By late morning we had arrived at Charleston Harbor and were passing by Fort Sumter heading for the Charleston Battery along the southern shore of the peninsula.

   We had been told not to enter the marina until closer to slack tidal current time which was in a couple hours, so we had some time to kill and spent it transiting along the Charleston shoreline checking out the million dollar estates down by the battery.

   These houses will continue to be great investments for a couple more generations but its only a matter of time before global warming floods all the US coastlines.

   This is the first year we have been able to get a slip in the Charleston Maritime Center marina. There are very few services here and it is quite difficult to get in and out because of the strong currents, but the location is ideal for visiting the city.

   We had no trouble getting into our slip but departing was a different story. Fortunately there was plenty of maneuvering room and few other boats so we were able to escape without incident.

   Our main reason for spending a couple days in Charleston was to visit with our school day friend and Sue's bridesmaid Paulette. We were able to spend most of the day with her and dine at a rooftop terrace restaurant. Other than a bit on the cool and blustery side, it was a great time. 

  Sue and I are avid walkers and Charleston has a beautiful bridge a couple miles long and 150ft high to walk over.

   A great view of the entire Charleston Harbor from up on the bridge. You can see the USS Yorktown to the left, at the maritime museum pier. It was another blue sky day but the wind was blowing hard up at this height and the temperature in the low 50s made it a chilly walk.

   We spent most of another day walking around town and taking in the sights.  Sue wanted to visit all the church steeples in town - there were 7 or 8 of them - so we wandered about town and have pictures of them all. 

   We happened to pass by this bar near the marketplace at the end of the day and were immediately attracted to the gas fireplace tables as it was about 45 degrees out. I expect if the temperatures had been any higher there would have been more people here and you couldn't get a seat, but on a cold January evening there were only a few of us hardy souls out. It was a great way to end an enjoyable day.

On to South Carolina 15-17 Jan

 

   We spent two days at the Holden Beach town dock visiting with my brother and walking the beach, then it was time to push on further south.

   The ICW stretch by Holden Beach has two of the worst shoaling spots along the entire 1000 mile waterway, Lockwood's Folly to the east and Shallotte to the west. Both have been recently dredged and have deep water but you have to follow the buoys, which are frequently repositioned, closely.

   This passage through Shallotte the dredge was working keeping the channel open. We had room to pass by the dredge and passed through with no problems. Should still be deep on our way north in April if that aren't any major storms before then.

   By midday we were into South Carolina and passing through Myrtle Beach. No need to stop this passage,  just making progress moving south. There is cold weather coming and we need to get further south quickly.

   By the end of the day we are in the Waccamaw River, one of the prettiest stretches of the ICW, although not so attractive in January. When we return in April all the trees will be budding and flowers blooming. We normally anchor behind Cow Island, but there was plenty of room right off Wacha Wachee marina so we dropped the anchor just off the ICW. In spring there would be excessive boat traffic here, but very quiet in January.

   In the Waccamaw River which winds through the cypress forests you feel like you are miles from civilization, but this anchorage is actually only about 5 miles west of Murrell's Inlet, SC, but with no waterway connection.

   OK, this is why we are moving south as fast as feasible. That's 32 degrees outside, at least it's 40 inside. Another chilly night sleeping under 4 blankets.    Hopefully the last night of freezing weather.

   A delayed departure this morning as we have to deice the dodger and enclosure windows so we can see where we are going.  

  Not a problem delaying as we are only planning on going halfway to Charleston today - its too far to make it all the way there and there is a nice secluded anchorage halfway.

   The sun is out and we are soaking up the solar heat. This is my "cormorant" pose, soaking up the maximum solar rays.  (The cormorants are diving ducks that often stand with wings outstretched, drying off their feathers)

  Hopefully the last days of fleece vest over polyester jersey over polyester long sleeve undershirt - plus, gloves.

   We are anchored in the Awendaw Creek watching a great sunset. This is a popular anchorage area, well off the ICW with a view of the ocean, but protected from the ocean surf. There were two other boats that pulled into the anchorage after us, but room for lots more. Tomorrow its off to Charleston and visits with old college day friends.