Navigating the shoaling Georgia waterway and nestled in Florida

We indeed left Charleston on slack high tide and motored our way down the Intracoastal Waterway.  We knew the trip from Charleston to Florida would prove challenging due to much shoaling in the ICW along the way.  We use a crowd-sourced application called Active Captain all the time while traveling to learn from others what is ahead of us.  This has been of tremendous assistance to us and has saved us from unpleasant and potentially dangerous groundings.  What we didn't expect was the cold we experienced along the way.

Our first stop was Hilton Head Island at our friend Karen's beautiful home in Wexford Plantation.  As always, she welcomed us with open arms and made us feel right at home in her large and luxurious abode.  We were also excited to get to meet her mom who stays with her much of the year.  We had lovely meals together, good walks, some fun shopping and helped with a few small projects around the house.  It was a delightful three days and we are so thankful for her kind hospitality.

Karen and her mom

Greg had his eye on a painting at Endangered Arts Limited Gallery last year when we visited Karen.  This year he bought one, an oil painting by Rino Gonzalez.  Greg has developed a taste for still life art, especially those among the "Realist" school, meaning they paint to depict the objects of their art as realistically as possible.  Courtney and Paolo agreed to store it until we move back to a land home.

New Acquisition

We left Karen's backyard dock mid-morning and navigated our way out of the lock system at Wexford.  We only went a short distance as weather was on the way and we wanted to be tucked into a marina.  We found a small family run marina that had space for us at Isle of Hope in south Savannah.  Greg was busy with work, but by Friday afternoon, we started the weekend early and Uber'd into town for dinner.  We walked along the waterway and discovered some of the unique history of Savannah and ended up at a lovely French restaurant called Circa 1875 for a yummy meal.  Saturday was more work for Greg and then a ride into town.  We walked and walked and enjoyed the unique architecture, beautiful parks and historical squares.  This was a stop we've talked about making each year and were happy to finally get the time to do so.

The historical stairs from the riverside

City Market area

Cathedral of St John the Baptist

The following are all examples of the architectural detail

Forsyth Park - lots of weddings going on this Saturday

Live Oaks

Candler Oak - thought to have taken root in the 1700's

Wesley Monumental United Methodist  

More of the architectural detail

Sherman's Headquarters

We stopped for lunch at a crazy pizza place near downtown called "The Mellow Mushroom". Can you guess why? :)

These from the Mellow Mushroom local fabulous pizza place!
The Peace symbol continuously changed colors

More mellow art!

The pizza was fabulous, and Greg is not an easy mark when it comes to pizza!  Still, we're wondering if the pizza itself was good, or maybe the ingredients helped our attitude a little!

The shoaling reports we learned about made it necessary to leave as early as possible each morning and stop sooner than we may have wanted to, in order to traverse many areas at high tide.  The tidal range in Georgia is nine feet (as compared to 18 inches in Stuart, FL)!  Two days after Savannah and predictions for more nights in the high 40's, we scheduled another stop at Jekyll Island.  After longingly floating past here each year, we were excited to finally get a spot on the town dock.  Though we would have loved to have gotten the bicycles out and stayed for several days, we had wasted enough time by now that we needed to keep moving.  So, off we went, transiting the lumpy Jekyll Sound, trying to take the bad spots at high tide and making as much mileage as possible each day.  The trip was mostly uneventful and smooth from here on down the coast.

Free bikes at the Jekyll Island marina

The beach at Jekyll Island

The Jekyll Island dock - Dream Catcher is tucked in third from the end. 

The good news was that once passed St Augustine, the evenings got warmer and we enjoyed several beautiful nights on the hook.  We kept pushing on, and by Sunday, November 19, we pulled into the fuel dock at Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart, FL, filled the tanks and slid nicely into the slip that was to be ours for the next two months.  This new spot offers a very nice restaurant on the same property, easy walks into town for shopping and dining, great walking along the St Lucie River and easy car rides to the beach.  Only an hour north of daughter Courtney and new husband Paolo, we will enjoy sharing the holidays at their home and discovering a new area.  There is a pretty strong live-aboard group here at the marina and a couple boats we recognize from our travels.  We look forward to enjoying our time here.

Here are some great shots that Greg took as we transited Haulover Cut, just north of Cape Canaveral.

Who are you looking at? says the Osprey

A Belted Kingfisher

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue ready for take-off

Oh the sights we see!  'Til next time -

A bit of maintenance and heading south

Though it was cloudy and drippy, we successfully got the bottom painted on Dream Catcher, polished the propeller, changed the zinc, compounded and polished the topsides and spent four nights living on the hard in the boatyard.  That was interesting!  All-in-all, it was a successful few days.  The paint from two and a half years ago was still in pretty good shape, so we knew that two coats this time would stand us in good stead for the next two and maybe three.

Coming out

After a shine up

We found time to share dinner with good friends Cynthia, Jim, Chrisy and Roger and meet new friends Jane and Scott.  We drove over to Falls Church, VA to visit Sharon's nephew Andrew, where he manages Conte's Bike Shop.  We spent time with friend Pat, sister Pam and Sharon's dad and generally enjoyed being in Annapolis.

Wednesday, Oct 18, we pulled away from the dock at 7:15am and motored our way south.  There was enough wind to motor-sail for a while and it was a delightful day on the Chesapeake Bay.  We just kept going and going and finally motored into a favorite anchorage in Mill Creek off the Great Wicomico River, about 10 miles south of where the Potomac feeds into the Bay.  The sun was down before the anchor was, but there was enough light to squeak by.  It was a great first day away.

Next day was another long one and we made it to Tidewater Marina at mile 0 of the Intracoastal Waterway.  Here was our view.

Downtown Norfolk, Virginia

Being blessed with beautiful weather the next several days, we took the opportunity to log long days south along the waterway.  In parts delightful and frustrating, we laid down a lot of miles each day.  Knowing there was bad weather coming through, we gauged our progress to arrive at River Dunes Marina on Monday for a two night stay.  River Dunes is a lovely planned community of gorgeous architecture and stylish interiors.  There is a nice restaurant, a lounge for football watching, a pool (if it had been warmer), a loaner car to get you the 15 minutes into Oriental, NC, a laundry and great bath houses!  It was good to be in a protected spot as the wind blew and the rain poured down.  And, it is always a delightful stay.

Greg spotted this Bald Eagle sitting on a mile marker in the Pungo River

Taking off

A scene along the waterway

Sunrise at anchor on the Pungo River, North Carolina 

Smoke on the water in the morning.

Wednesday dawned cloudy but the sun was to arrive sometime late morning, so we got up early and headed out.  After many miles on the waterway, we got to Camp Lejeune - a US Marine Corp Base and training facility -  and were heartened to learn that the shooting range was not active. (when active, there is no way through the waterway - you just have to wait it out).  However, the one bridge we had to get through in order to reach our anchorage was closed until 5pm due to Coast Guard exercises between the bridge and our anchorage - still related to Camp Lejeune.  While we were waiting for the bridge to open, an amphibious vehicle waited for the pleasure boats to go by, then drove into the water to cross over to the beach.  Though we have ridden the duck boats in Boston, we never saw an actual vehicle operate.  This thing hit the water and it looked like it was going to sink!  Whoever was in it got wet for sure - you could barely see the top of the thing as it belched smoke all the way across the waterway, then drove out the other side.  Unique entertainment on the waterway!

An amphibious vehicle crossing the waterway
(Click on any photos to enlarge)

Another beautiful dawn reminded us it would be another long day.  While researching our route on Active Captain (a crowd-sourced website for cruisers), we found numerous shoaling areas south of us which meant a slow passage for safety.  Our goal was to get to the Cape Fear River and out into the ocean before dark, twelve hours away.  Even with delays along the way, we were motoring past Old Baldy on Bald Head Island by 7pm - out to sea.  The ocean chop didn't make us happy.  With no wind for the sails to help steady the boat, we dug in and figured it would be an uncomfortable 12 hours to Charleston.  But, by midnight the waters calmed to almost flat and we each got some good sleep on our off shifts.  By 10am we could see the Ravenel Bridge in Charleston Harbor way off in the distance.  Sharon thought it was a sailboat on the horizon until we got a bit closer and figured it out.  This bridge was completed and opened in 2005 and carries cars across the wide Cooper River from Mount Pleasant to Charleston.  It is amazing how large it is.

Arthur Ravenel Bridge from 15 miles out
(Click to enlarge)

Little Blue Heron, Ibis and Egrets
fishing for those little shrimp that we can hear
feasting on the bottom of our boat

As always, our time in Charleston has been fun, but expensive, as we eat our way around town.  Greg has been working pretty hard this week, but we have found time for long walks, browsing some shops, and of course, dinner out!  New restaurants we've tried this time are Grill 225, Magnolia's, Oak Steak House, and Hank's.  And a stop at Carmella's for take-out!  All were yummy.  

The Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina sits next to Patriot's Point in Mount Pleasant, on the East side of the Cooper River across from Charleston proper.  At Patriot's Point, there is a museum, the Yorktown aircraft carrier, and various other exhibits to see.  On land, there is a memorial to the Cold War Submarine Fleet.  In addition to many informative plaques, memorial benches and memorial stones, there is an illusion of a full size submarine emerging from the park grounds.   It incorporates the authentic sail and rudder of the USS Lewis and Clark SSBN 644, a US Navy submarine that saw active duty during the Cold War (1947-1989).  Greg has been running along this route all week, but took a break to let his legs catch up!

We leave tomorrow morning at slack tide to make our way down the ICW for a visit to friend Karen in Hilton Head for a couple of days.  Then, we will continue on our way to Florida.  Destination, Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart for a couple months.  

'Til next time - 

Hiding from Hurricanes

After a wonderful few weeks on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, we returned to Newport, our boat-soul home. We were eagerly anticipating another trip to the Chesapeake in early September.  Over Labor Day, we had a visit from friends Nancy and Ted, enjoyed a spirited sail with them in Narragansett Bay, hung out onboard, and enjoyed some of Newport's restaurant offerings.  The plan was to head offshore the day after we said goodbye to them.  However, it was not to be.  With Hurricane Jose' heating up south of us with an uncertain path north, we knew we needed to stay put and to wait for Jose' to commit. We conceded to another week in Newport - not a bad place to be all in all.

Friends Nancy and Ted

Scenes from the Cliff Walk

A beautiful, sunny day in Newport!

The Breakers

The detail and the overall building are fabulous!

Click any of these to enlarge them

Note the buttons on the wall to call up the servants!

The view out to sea!

We had a couple of good bicycle rides around Newport, a walking trip to and around The Breakers (the Vanderbilt Mansion), and a bit of lazy shop hopping. The weather in Newport was nothing like what was raging in the Caribbean.  It has been so sad to see the devastation from all the hurricane activity this year.

We finally got a good weather window between the storms.  Heading out of Newport Harbor on Friday, September 15 in a thick fog we were bound for the Chesapeake, two days away.  In just a few hours, the fog lifted into a beautifully, sunny day.  The seas were so calm it again reminded us of how different it was in comparison to what was going on south of us.  Sharon was fortunate to get a visit from a couple dolphins while Greg was napping, and she happened to look in the right spot at the right time to see the back of a whale and then its tale as it took a dive.  The joys of being at sea on a good day!

Chris Parker, our weather router, on the air via laptop at 7:15AM, explaining the wind and wave forecast along our route before our departure from Newport. You may be able to see Dream Catcher's interaction at bottom left, although the type is quite tiny.

The trip was so smooth it turned out to be a total motor trip, but nice to have flat seas.  The toughest part was a foggy night when we navigated totally by radar and AIS (visually blind) and later the midnight rounding of Cape May to enter the Delaware Bay.  It is always tough to navigate a place like that in the dark.  The various navigation lights on buoys, lighthouses and ashore can be very confusing, and you definitely don't want to hit anything!  Dawn broke around 5am on Sunday as we approached the entrance to the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.  We entered around 7:30am to catch a favorable current, which is very important in the canal.  If you time it right you have a one to four knot current pushing you.  If you time it wrong, the same current is against you, and you never get to your destination.

By 5:30 Sunday evening, we had the anchor down in Weems Creek, Annapolis. We enjoyed a warm meal and were early to bed.  We felt very fortunate to be safe and having gotten such a great window between hurricanes as Maria was on her way up the coast.

Sunset in Newport Harbor - click to enlarge

Sunrise in Delaware Bay with nuclear reactor

Coming at us in the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal!
The canal is not  wide!

Annapolis is always a favorite spot for us to hang.  Sailing friends Jim and Cynthia are across Back Creek from our dock at Bert Jabin Yacht Yard.  Fenwick Island is an easy car ride away and lots of friends and family are not far.  We keep a car in Fenwick, so we rented a car one-way to retrieve it, and spent several days there. We had a perfect beach weekend the third weekend of September.  The water was a perfect temperature and the waves were reasonably calm enough for Sharon to swim in the ocean - her happy place!  We celebrated friend Pat's birthday, and enjoyed time with some of her family at their home in Ocean City, thanks to Michael and Rebecca.

A perfect beach day at Fenwick Island, Delaware

Last weekend, we traveled to see friends Lori and Tom in Delaware. We spent a wonderful weekend with them, visited Lori's Mom (who Sharon knows well from her earlier years with Lori), and had a wonderful visit to Longwood Gardens.  If you are ever in the vicinity of Kennet Square, PA, a visit to Longwood is not to be missed!  The highlight of the evening was the lighted fountain show set to music and lights.  Beautiful!  It's the largest show of its kind in the world.  Thanks to Lori and Tom for our free admission with their member passes.  It was a delight to be there and share time with them.

Lori wouldn't let us post a photo of them,
so you get us instead!

Rosemary!

It was hard to stop taking photos of the beauty!

Bamboo wall

These water lilies grow to 8 feet in diameter in three weeks time

We returned to Dream Catcher to enjoy Annapolis, work on the boat (an endless endeavor), and plan a haul-out before heading south.  The haul-out includes having the boatyard pull Dream Catcher out of the creek, pressure wash the bottom to clean any scum off, then put the boat securely on blocks. Once she's settled we go to work (again) to prepare the bottom for a few new coats of bottom paint. Cleaning, sanding, washing, and taping are preludes to the actual painting.  The paint is specially formulated to hold heavy amounts of copper to ward off plant and animal life.  One gallon weighs about twenty pounds and costs $200.  (Filet mignon!)  This chore is waiting for us later this week.

This weekend we had a lovely time at the Annapolis Sailboat Show, where we were able to spend time with family and friends.  We're headed back to Fenwick for a few days before Dream Catcher will be hauled for us to get our work done. We will give you the rundown of our accomplishments in the next few weeks.

'Til next time -