Friday, April 20, 2012
Last Blog on Our Winter Cruise
When we posted last it was on Phil's big 70 birthday. Our next significant stop was Georgetown, SC where we planned to stay overnight...and what a stop it turned out to be. Late Saturday afternoon we pulled into the town dock where a cruising friend had told us we could stay. About the time we finished securing the lines Capt Rod came riding up on his bike. He gave us some good advice: If we stayed there overnight we may have a visit from the local police department. Seems a lady councilmemeber who lives in the condos directly behind this dock has made it her mission to enforce the "no overnight docking".
Taking his advice, we moved the boat and made a really good friend. We went to church with him the next morning and he took us alligator hunting that afternoon. He runs Lowcountry Plantation Tours and is a walking encyclopedia about the history of the area. The next morning we joined a group that he was taking out on his big boat.
Phil and Vi on the beach where Lafayette mistakenly landed on his first trip to America.
Georgetown Lighthouse - After Georgetown had surrendered, the British used the lighthouse for target practice. The townspeople made a handmade bomb and placed it in the area where the ship had to pass through when leaving. When it struck the bomb it exploded sinking the ship where it still lies today.
Capt Rod at the helm
Reluctantly we left Georgetown heading north. Going against the current in a slow boat is not the best way to travel...at times we were just barely moving but we finally made it to Myrtle Beach about 4:00 Tuesday afternoon. Next morning we made a pleasant run up to Little River where we anchored. Tours boats, shrimp boats, pleasure boats, even a racing-style kayak all came by our anchorage.
This was one of the smaller tour boats out of Calabash.
Shrimp boat that apparently serves as something during hurricanes.
Thursday afternoon we're finally back in Southport, NC and don't you know it was cold and windy just like when we passed through going south in November. The Provision Co. Restaurant offers free dockage IF you eat dinner with them. At least we didn't have to dress or make reservations, just step off the boat into the restaurant. We hooked up with a couople from Vermont who were also waiting out the weather so we had company for dinner. The second night we were there the tide came up os high that it flooded the restauratn floor. The locals just kept on eating like it was nothing unusual while all of us tourists just gawked.
Grace and Seahawk at the dock in Southport
The Cape Fear River can strike fear in the heart of even experienced boaters. In fact Kevin and Debbie, the couple from Vermont that we met in Southport, have nicknamed it the Daisy Patch. He said there was no way he was going to take his boat on a river named Fear. They left directly ahead of us and it was fairly calm when we made the run up to Wrightsville Beach on Saturday. We stopped there to visit a friend that we'd made in Marathon and had planned to spend a couple of days with him. As it turned out, the Wrightsville Beach Yacht Club was the most expensive marina we stayed in the entire trip so we only stay one night. Terry and Kathy took us to an Easter service at the Port City Community Church. It has 10,000 members and an awesome light and sound system. The pastor was a 40 year old surfer dressed in jeans and a short sleeve shirt. Appearances can be deceiving, the young man preached the bible.
The next couple of days were just travel and stop, nothing exciting. We stopped in Oriental to pick up supplies and stayed 2 days because of the weather. By Thursday the winds had calmed enough for us to cross the Neuse and Pamlico. We dropped anchor in Pungo Creek that night and made it to Alligator River Marina early Friday afternoon.
Almost home right? WRONG! Our cruise club was meeting in Edenton for the week-end so we kept right on going past Columbia to join them. What a nice unplanned welcome home party!
We finally made it back to our homeport Sunday, April 15 after 5 months and 6 days on the water. What a wonderful leg on the incredible journey we know as life!!
Friday, March 30, 2012
Phil's Big Day
Wednesday didn't start out too good; when we were hauling the anchor the bugs covered us up. They were tiny little things that get in your eyes and nose and mouth. Needless to say that was the fastest we've ever gotten an anchor up. And that was the worse part of the day.
The wind switched around during the night so it was out of the southwest...perfect sailing wind when you're headed north. So on Phil's birthday (big 70) he got to sail most of the way to Beaufort, SC.
He also got to eat 3 of his favorite things...peanut butter, hot dogs, and a banana split...no, not at the same time. Since we were back in civilization I told him we could go out to dinner but he opted for Dairy Queen for the hot dog and banana split.
Sailing and eating peanut butter on graham crackers. It doesn't get any better than this.
Well maybe it doesn't get any better than this!
Since we only traveled about 6 hours it felt like a day off. After grocery shopping and taking a shower, our day was over.
The wind switched around during the night so it was out of the southwest...perfect sailing wind when you're headed north. So on Phil's birthday (big 70) he got to sail most of the way to Beaufort, SC.
He also got to eat 3 of his favorite things...peanut butter, hot dogs, and a banana split...no, not at the same time. Since we were back in civilization I told him we could go out to dinner but he opted for Dairy Queen for the hot dog and banana split.
Since we only traveled about 6 hours it felt like a day off. After grocery shopping and taking a shower, our day was over.
Slow Boat thru Georgia Waters
The ICW runs 140 miles through coastal Georgia and the most of it is salt marshes. Since there's so little to see, and we seemed to be one of a very few boats traveling on it, we ran 10-12 hours days.
Sunday was a rough day to cross the Cumberland Sound. The wind was out of the northeast so traveling north was tough. We pulled into Two Way Fish Camp in Brunswick, GA after 12 grueling hours. Fortunately we were docked right beside a restaurant so dinner wasn't a problem.
Moday was an easier day...11 hours before we dropped anchor in Big Tom Creek which has a Richmond Hills, Ga address. There was nobody out there except us and the critters. Did have a nice sunset and perfectly calm water.
Tuesday was another rough day with 15-20 mph winds out of the northeast. We stopped for fuel in Thurnderbolt, GA. The water was so choppy that it swamped Kermit, our dinghy. Because of the chop it nearly sank before we got to where we could stop to bail it out. Ten hours after departure we dropped anchor just across the Savannah River...we were finally out of Georgia.
When we left Eau Gallie on the 15th we had a stow-a-way abroad...a little tree lizard (think that's what it is). We didn't want to throw him overboard so we just let him stay on the bow and he's still with us. Sounds unbelievable so here's proof.
Sunday was a rough day to cross the Cumberland Sound. The wind was out of the northeast so traveling north was tough. We pulled into Two Way Fish Camp in Brunswick, GA after 12 grueling hours. Fortunately we were docked right beside a restaurant so dinner wasn't a problem.
Moday was an easier day...11 hours before we dropped anchor in Big Tom Creek which has a Richmond Hills, Ga address. There was nobody out there except us and the critters. Did have a nice sunset and perfectly calm water.
When we left Eau Gallie on the 15th we had a stow-a-way abroad...a little tree lizard (think that's what it is). We didn't want to throw him overboard so we just let him stay on the bow and he's still with us. Sounds unbelievable so here's proof.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
History Lesson for Today
Fernandina Beach is located at the north end of Amelia Island. Talk about culturally diverse, the island is the only US location to have been under eight different flags. The town of Fernandina was established in 1811 and named for King Ferdinand VII of Spain. To take advantage of the new Florida Railroad and the tourists it brought in, the town site was moved just south a little in 1853. The original town now called Old Town Fernandina, still remains. It's historic district encompasses 50 blocks and is recognized on the National Register of Historic Places.
We spent our first day here biking to Ft. Clinch State Park...about a 10 mile round trip. Named for General Duncan Lamont Clinch, a prominent figure of the Second Seminole War, construction of Fort Clinch began in 1847. It is one of a series of masonry forts constructed between 1816 and 1867 known as the Third System Fortifications. The fort was built at the mouth of the St. Mary's River to protect the natural deep-water port of Fernandina- the eastern link of Florida's only cross-state railroad. Never fully completed, the fort still served as a military post during the Civil War, Spanish-American War, and World War II.
A diagram of the fort.
Phil at the old hand pump.
Wish we could show you more pictures but the web is uncooperative tonight.
When we got back to the marina we went to the boater's lounge and watched North Carolina squeak by Ohio in overtime. It was storming so we watched part of the second game but gave up as soon as the rain stopped. It was still almost midnight when we got back to the boat...late hours for two old farts.
The second day we were in Fernandina, they were hosting a Ribs Cook-off in a local park. The weather was nice, the crowd large, and the smell of cooking ribs reaching all the way to the harbor, a couple of miles away. We followed our nose to the park and enjoyed barbecued chicken, potato salad, and baked beans courtesy of one of the vendors. Didn't try the ribs but every eating them said they were delicious.
On the way to the park we passed a farmers market so we stopped to check it out. Left with fresh cukes, summer squash, bell pepper and vine-ripened tomatoes. Phil had to carry them in his backpack but it was worth it...we had a tomato sandwich when we got back to the boat.
Don't want you to think that we ignored all the historic places...we had lunch the Marina Restaurant. It's located in the Durkee Building that was completed in the mid-1880's. It has housed a feed store, the first US Custom House in the US, the oldest newspaper in the state, and the First Bank of Florida. In the early 1900's a restaurant was established and continues until today.
We also went in the old train depot that now serves as a visitors center, several old buildings that house a variety of shops and restaurants, and took a short walking tour of some of the old houses.
We spent our first day here biking to Ft. Clinch State Park...about a 10 mile round trip. Named for General Duncan Lamont Clinch, a prominent figure of the Second Seminole War, construction of Fort Clinch began in 1847. It is one of a series of masonry forts constructed between 1816 and 1867 known as the Third System Fortifications. The fort was built at the mouth of the St. Mary's River to protect the natural deep-water port of Fernandina- the eastern link of Florida's only cross-state railroad. Never fully completed, the fort still served as a military post during the Civil War, Spanish-American War, and World War II.
Wish we could show you more pictures but the web is uncooperative tonight.
When we got back to the marina we went to the boater's lounge and watched North Carolina squeak by Ohio in overtime. It was storming so we watched part of the second game but gave up as soon as the rain stopped. It was still almost midnight when we got back to the boat...late hours for two old farts.
The second day we were in Fernandina, they were hosting a Ribs Cook-off in a local park. The weather was nice, the crowd large, and the smell of cooking ribs reaching all the way to the harbor, a couple of miles away. We followed our nose to the park and enjoyed barbecued chicken, potato salad, and baked beans courtesy of one of the vendors. Didn't try the ribs but every eating them said they were delicious.
On the way to the park we passed a farmers market so we stopped to check it out. Left with fresh cukes, summer squash, bell pepper and vine-ripened tomatoes. Phil had to carry them in his backpack but it was worth it...we had a tomato sandwich when we got back to the boat.
Don't want you to think that we ignored all the historic places...we had lunch the Marina Restaurant. It's located in the Durkee Building that was completed in the mid-1880's. It has housed a feed store, the first US Custom House in the US, the oldest newspaper in the state, and the First Bank of Florida. In the early 1900's a restaurant was established and continues until today.
We also went in the old train depot that now serves as a visitors center, several old buildings that house a variety of shops and restaurants, and took a short walking tour of some of the old houses.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Good-bye St. Augustine
As much as we'd like to spend 3 more days in St. Augustine we have to leave tomorrow. This is an interesting old city with something different to explore every day. The historic district encompasses 144 square blocks and contains 34 buildings on the National Registry of Historic Place. St. Augustine has also been named one of the ten Most Walkable City in America.
Founded in 1565 as a Spanish military outpost, it's the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the US. Traces of the city's Spanish heritage are everywhere. We toured the battlement and dungeons of Castillo de San Marcos National Monument built in 1672 making it one of the oldest standing structures in America. The star-like outline of the Castillo is formed by diamond-shaped projections at each corner of the fort; this design eliminates blind spots for the guards in the sentry boxes at each point.
Vi in one of the sentry boxes
Phil with one of the "big guns"
Then we wandered the narrow old streets of San Agustin Antiquo which depicts Spanish Colonial life. The oldest wooden schoolhouse in America is located here. As well as the oldest street in America, Aviles St., sometimes referred to as the Bourbon Street of St. Augustine. And the oldest surviving home in the city was built circa 1706.
St. George Street is a narrow street lined with many specialty shops and restaurants. This is a “pedestrian only” street packed with tourists everyday.
We saw the Columbia Restaurant but we'd already had lunch so we didn't get to try it.
An added attraction for boaters is one of the best nautical consignment stores on the east coast. You can wander around in it for hours and not begin to see all the “stuff” they have.
As busy as we were and as much as we've seen there is still lots more to do. Maybe next year.
Founded in 1565 as a Spanish military outpost, it's the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the US. Traces of the city's Spanish heritage are everywhere. We toured the battlement and dungeons of Castillo de San Marcos National Monument built in 1672 making it one of the oldest standing structures in America. The star-like outline of the Castillo is formed by diamond-shaped projections at each corner of the fort; this design eliminates blind spots for the guards in the sentry boxes at each point.
Then we wandered the narrow old streets of San Agustin Antiquo which depicts Spanish Colonial life. The oldest wooden schoolhouse in America is located here. As well as the oldest street in America, Aviles St., sometimes referred to as the Bourbon Street of St. Augustine. And the oldest surviving home in the city was built circa 1706.
St. George Street is a narrow street lined with many specialty shops and restaurants. This is a “pedestrian only” street packed with tourists everyday.
We saw the Columbia Restaurant but we'd already had lunch so we didn't get to try it.
An added attraction for boaters is one of the best nautical consignment stores on the east coast. You can wander around in it for hours and not begin to see all the “stuff” they have.
As busy as we were and as much as we've seen there is still lots more to do. Maybe next year.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Mosquito Lagoon and More
While we were biking around Eau Gallie we saw a guy raking leaving and realized that we can be thankful that we don't have to do yardwork all year round. Guess that's the price you pay for not having cold weather. We are also thankful for the vine-ripened tomatoes that we been eating every since we got into Florida. Can't think of any price you pay for that except not have ice or snow to deal with...sounds like more than a fair trade-off.
We didn't do much at Titusville, the Space Coast, except eat a nice lunch at Dixie Crossroads. We had rock shrimp which we had never heard of before. They were small shrimp about the size of your thumb and broiled. Suppose to taste like lobster but we didn't think so. We moored overnight in the mooring field and left early Friday morning.
Sunrise over Cape Canaveral
Traveling through Mosquito Lagoon was a pleasure. It's a shallow expanse of water and most of it can only be explored by a dinghy or shallow-draft boat. The same conditions that make this water popular for mosquitoes and deer flies also create an ideal feeding and breeding ground for sport and commercial fish. Crabs, clams and shrimp thrive among the dense aquatic grass beds. Flocks of white pelicans and the small fishing boats that fill Mosquito Lagoon attest to the abundance of fresh seafood. We saw all kinds of birds and lots of things that swim.
Prepared for the hot sun
Enjoying the sun
Found a shady spot
You go girl
One of the species of birds that live here
And another
We saw dolphin, manatee, and mullets but couldn't get good pictures of any of them.
Saturday night found us on the outskirts of Daytona Beach in a small boatyard/marina. It was Daytona Bike Week so there were motorcycles everywhere and a constant, dull noise from there engines. But we turned the air conditioner on and that drowned out the sound.
Another early start so that we could get to St. Augustine in one day (57 miles).
Sunrise over Daytona.
This is what you call "run aground". Not sure how it happened but glad that it wasn't the Seahawk.
After 9 hours on the move we pulled into the mooring field at St. Augustine about 4:30. Tried what our new friend, Jim, from Eau Gallie told us about catching the mooring ball from the cockpit instead of the bow and it worked on the first pass. Thanks Jim.
We didn't do much at Titusville, the Space Coast, except eat a nice lunch at Dixie Crossroads. We had rock shrimp which we had never heard of before. They were small shrimp about the size of your thumb and broiled. Suppose to taste like lobster but we didn't think so. We moored overnight in the mooring field and left early Friday morning.
Traveling through Mosquito Lagoon was a pleasure. It's a shallow expanse of water and most of it can only be explored by a dinghy or shallow-draft boat. The same conditions that make this water popular for mosquitoes and deer flies also create an ideal feeding and breeding ground for sport and commercial fish. Crabs, clams and shrimp thrive among the dense aquatic grass beds. Flocks of white pelicans and the small fishing boats that fill Mosquito Lagoon attest to the abundance of fresh seafood. We saw all kinds of birds and lots of things that swim.
We saw dolphin, manatee, and mullets but couldn't get good pictures of any of them.
Saturday night found us on the outskirts of Daytona Beach in a small boatyard/marina. It was Daytona Bike Week so there were motorcycles everywhere and a constant, dull noise from there engines. But we turned the air conditioner on and that drowned out the sound.
Another early start so that we could get to St. Augustine in one day (57 miles).
After 9 hours on the move we pulled into the mooring field at St. Augustine about 4:30. Tried what our new friend, Jim, from Eau Gallie told us about catching the mooring ball from the cockpit instead of the bow and it worked on the first pass. Thanks Jim.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Back to Rocky Waters (Eau Gallie)
If you've been reading our blog since we left Columbia you may remember that we stopped in Eau Gallie, Fl on our way south. And that it rained buckets full the night we were here. That was also the night of their marina Christmas party to which we were invited. The owner captured our imagination with stories about the area so we decided to come back and spend a day or two here. Guess what, when we got in yesterday we learned that their St. Patrick's day party was last night. Again we were invited to join them and are we glad we did.
One of the guys who lives here is Irish and he prepared a traditional corned beef and cabbage boiled dinner. An interesting twist was the rutabagas that he put in it. Don't know if it was because it was the first boiled dinner we'd had since we left home or what, but it was delicious. Carol had made a chocolate tunnel cake and it also was great. Think it's the first time we've eaten too much on this trip.
All the vegs
Corned Beef
Vi, Phil, Dennis (the cook) and Harry
More members of the Wednesday night pot luck
Phil's telling something...see his hands!
All the pictures from the pot luck are courtesy of Jim Aitken, a new friend from Maine who lives here now.
Phil took a bike ride this morning to get change for the laundry. Can't get away from cooking and doing laundry unless you have the money to have someone else do it. We're on the face dock directly in front of the laundry room and showers so it was almost like doing laundry at home. Throw 'em in and go back when they're ready for the dryer.
After lunch Phil decided that he needed a haircut so he went back to a barbershop he'd past this morning. The guy did an okay job but it's really, really short. Think I'll just wait until I get back back...don't like letting anybody cut my hair until I've seen their work.
When it cooled down, we went for a bike ride in the historical district. Lovely old homes, shady streets, but really nothing outstanding to take pictures of. We invited Jim, the photographer, and his wife Carol to stop by the boat. We had a wonderful visit with them and then went to see their boat. Hope they'll make it to North Carolina sometime this year and spend some time with us.
Tomorrow we're headed for the Space Coast area and a mooring at Titusville.
One of the guys who lives here is Irish and he prepared a traditional corned beef and cabbage boiled dinner. An interesting twist was the rutabagas that he put in it. Don't know if it was because it was the first boiled dinner we'd had since we left home or what, but it was delicious. Carol had made a chocolate tunnel cake and it also was great. Think it's the first time we've eaten too much on this trip.
All the pictures from the pot luck are courtesy of Jim Aitken, a new friend from Maine who lives here now.
Phil took a bike ride this morning to get change for the laundry. Can't get away from cooking and doing laundry unless you have the money to have someone else do it. We're on the face dock directly in front of the laundry room and showers so it was almost like doing laundry at home. Throw 'em in and go back when they're ready for the dryer.
After lunch Phil decided that he needed a haircut so he went back to a barbershop he'd past this morning. The guy did an okay job but it's really, really short. Think I'll just wait until I get back back...don't like letting anybody cut my hair until I've seen their work.
When it cooled down, we went for a bike ride in the historical district. Lovely old homes, shady streets, but really nothing outstanding to take pictures of. We invited Jim, the photographer, and his wife Carol to stop by the boat. We had a wonderful visit with them and then went to see their boat. Hope they'll make it to North Carolina sometime this year and spend some time with us.
Tomorrow we're headed for the Space Coast area and a mooring at Titusville.
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