Jacksonville Beach to St. Augustine

A great trip today.  Sunny with a good wind from the west so we motor sailed and timed the currents right and made good time down the Intercoastal Waterway getting back to St. Augustine.  We were doing 8+ over the bottom on a few occasions. We are still amazed at the currents that we have encountered in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.  I have always been aware of timing our trips through Hell Gate in NYC and up or down Delaware Bay.  I didn't think it would be necessary down here, but it is.

We spent a couple of hours securing the boat and getting ready to fly north for a few weeks.  It's great to have Jay and Pegg watching the boat for us and we are already looking forward to sailing on in 2009 to Key West and then to the Bahamas.  We aren't sure that there will be many entries to our Blog between now and the beginning of 2009.  I hope you all signed up for the email notification that Sam has provided...along with everything else he has done to publicize this adventure.  Thanks Sam!   Hopefully we'll see most of you while we are home for December.  For those we miss - - - - HAPPY HOLIDAYS!  ~~~_/)~~~D&M
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Here we are at mile marker 750 on the ICW and who should be right behind us but a trawler from Mears Point Marina at Kent Narrows, MD!

We are flying (with the tide) toward the Vilano Bridge with the St. Augustine lighthouse coming into view . . . back to our temporary home.

Blount Island on the St. Johns River to Jacksonville Beach

A very short day.  Storms were predicted to come in at 1:00 PM and so we got underway at daybreak hoping to get to St. Augustine before they did.  At Jacksonville Beach we decided that we were probably not going to beat the storms so we signed up for a night at Beach Marina.  Since this was the first time in a long time with a hose hook-up I washed down the boat while Martha did some cleaning below.  At 11:30 the front came through and gave the boat another freshwater rinse.  We are glad we wimped out on going on.  Winds were over 30 and rain was by the bucket-load.
~~~(\_~~~ D & M
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The black cloud approaching was more dramatic, but I forgot to grab
the camera in time.

Maida Landing on the St. Johns River to Blount Island on the St. Johns River

Yesterday, we packed up some Thanksgiving leftovers and drove to Jacksonville where our crew waited.  The crew consisited of 8 adults and 7 children, so we had a full house!  The three hour sail was lazy and meandering, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.  It was a "first" for most of the Maida clan and I think we have a few converts!  Several took a turn at the wheel and lots of pictures were created down in the salon, along with a few paper airplanes!  Our 4 year old granddaughter Zoe chose to sleep aboard with Grand Mar and Popov after an enjoyable BBQ hosted by Jerry and Sandy Maida.

Today had two starts.  At 2:30 AM Martha and I awoke to a west wind that was bouncing us unnecessarily against the well fendered dock at Maida's but then we also felt ourselves bouncing against the bottom more and more frequently.  We abandoned the dock and motored about 5 boat lengths from the dock and baptized the Manson Supreme anchor.  Anchor held well and we spent a restfull rest of the night.  Zoe slept through the whole exercise.

About 8:00 AM we lowered the dinghy and delivered Zoe to her Dad and other Grandfather who came out on the dock to get her.  We returned to Brunelle, hoisted the dinghy, and headed down the St. Johns.   It was an uneventful ride and we chose to stop here instead of heading into the ICW against a strong current.  The tables say that early in the morning we can ride with the current most of the way to St. Augustine (first an incoming tide and then outgoing on the half of the 36 mile trip.  We'll see!  Weather isn't real promising and there is a chance that we will sit here and wait for Monday morning. ~~~(\_~~~D&M
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Dan captured the Maida crew before we set sail.

Zoe enjoys breakfast aboard Brunelle on her own special "table"

There was very little traffic on the St. John's River today, but what
there was, was BIG!

Jacksonville Landing to Maida "Landing"

Easy day today. This morning we walked around Jacksonville Landing and across to the Modis building where their atrium cafe served a delicious breakfast.  We left the dock at 9:40 and headed south UP the St. John's River, as it flows northward to the sea.  The trip to the Maida's (our son in law's parents) dock was 14 miles (statute) and it took about two and a half hours under jib and 1800 RPM to do a little charging.  We are comfortably tied up at the end of their dock in about 5.6 feet of water, so we may be sitting in mud at dead low, but it'll work.  We are heading back to St. Augustine with Jay this afternoon and will drive back up here on Friday or Saturday to take any of the Maida clan sailing that would like to go. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!  ~~~(\_~~~D&M
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Brunelle happily tied to the Maida's dock at one of the widest points of the St. John's River.

Salt Run to downtown Jacksonville

Well!! Here we are tied up at Hooters in downtown Jax. We left Salt Run at 7am and headed straight out the inlet and headed north - - - saw lots of boats going the other way. We made it to the St. John's River Inlet without incident but also without much help from the wind at 1:45pm and fought a slight current for the next 25 miles as we wound our way toward town. Our only restriction was to make it to the Main St. lift bridge by 4:30 or wait until 6pm. We arrived at the bridge exactly at 6! We had read about free docks here, but it was hard to figure which they were in the dark (even with the glow of Hooters!) Hopefully we are at the right place, but there are docks and there are cleats, what more could we ask for? Dan says he's too cold from being offshore to go sit on the deck and be served by scantily clad babes - - - me too! ~~~(\_~~~D&M
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A neat picture of a suspension bridge and a major scaffolding job to
do maintenance on it...probably costs more than the original
bridge...like painting the eastbound span of the Bay Bridge cost more
than building that bridge.

Up before dawn in St. Augustine (no pix) and then watching the sun go down over Jacksonville...beautiful and here are a few, culminating with the blue hued lift bridge at 6pm.

Another great week in St. Augustine

      We didn't actually turn on the GPS for our Sunday trip today, because we only brought the boat into the dock at Salt Run to fill up with water.   Dan spent most of the week aboard doing one project or another.  The big one was the installation of our NEW MANSON SUPREME  60 lb. anchor.  One night of dragging with the new delta anchor (all the way back in Deltaville) and Dan has been on a tear looking for the biggest best anchor we could add.  SO we ordered  the Manson supreme and Dan and Jay spent two days re shaping new rollers to accommodate the Manson alongside the Delta.   
      The other project was to design and install Dan's bird deterrent apparatus. It consisted of buying 2+ lbs of shrimp boat netting and rigging it to turn us into a square rigger (all to keep the birds off the spreaders)  IT WORKS! - - - but - - - this morning, Dan disturbed 4 blackbirds who were hanging out UNDER the bimini!  
      We are leaving early tomorrow morning to take Brunelle up to the St. John's River (south of the 295 bridge) where Ryan's (Katherine's husband) parents have a home.  Kath and Ryan and kids are coming down for Thanksgiving.  We plan to leave the boat up there and go up after Thanksgiving and take all out for a sail.  We'll put the GPS on tomorrow and Tuesday - - -  ~~~(\_~~~D&M


The new Manson Supreme on starboard side with the Delta on port. This
took new rollers from West modified by Jay. No more "anchor from
hell".

Pelicans liked to sit on the spreaders and bomb the boat...NO MORE!!!

Kodo has been great sharing her staff, Jay and Pegg, with us as we
have invaded her in her home in St. Augustine.

St. Augustine YC Commodores Race

Well, we've been here for a week and have been living ashore at Jay and Pegg's house.  Of course we've done a little tweaking and all aboard, including Dan installing a salt water spigot at the sink for Bahamas conservation of fresh.  Today Jay signed us up to race in the SAYC Commodore's Race.  We didn't start all that well, as we were still on the way out when the gun went off, so we started last.  We ended up third overall, and we found out our corrected time at the trophy dinner this evening - - -we were still 3rd overall!   We ended up with 5 aboard.   Dan, Martha and Jay, of course, and two passengers who wanted to see what a race was like.  Both proved to be helpful and a pleasant addition.  It was a cruising class race, so we didn't have to worry about spinnakers (which we don't even have aboard!).  The course was a six mile triangle, with relatively inconsistent winds, but we had a great time, especially as we were able to pass several of the boats.  Another highlight of the week was getting to watch the Friday evening Endeavor shuttle launch from the fishing pier in Salt Run, here in St. Augustine.  Quite an impressive sight.  ~~~_/)~~~D&M

Endeavor lights up the sky as it lifts off

Quite a sight! Of course the pix don't do it justice, it was really dramatic seeing the glow in the sky and then seeing the glow of the ship all the way up and past the moon!

The crew of Brunelle with their trophy at the St. Augustine YC trophy dinner

Delagal Creek in GA to St. Augustine, FL

Hi,
We left Delagal Creek yesterday in daylight but the sun wasn't up yet. We had an easy ride out to the ocean on the Vernon River in spite of there being many shallow areas. With the magic and wonderful GPS we plugged in the ocean buoy outside of St. Augustine. Before long we were worried that we were going to get here too soon...we were not anxious to come in the inlet and into Salt Run in the dark. We sailed with just the jib all day and night averaging 5 knots which was fine because at that rate the GPS was saying we would get to the St. Augustine buoy at 6:30...and that's what happened!!
Saw several porpoises yesterday including one that came out of the water completely! None of them said get the camera ready, they just did it. The gibbous moon was with us for most of the night and right after it set over Jacksonville, I saw a shooting star. A beautiful night to be on the ocean.
Jay and Pegg met us at the mooring Jay had rigged this morning and as I write they are bringing out breakfast burritos! There probably won't be daily updates for awhile, as the boat is happily moored here in Salt Run for a couple of weeks. ~~~(\_~~~D&M
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Hmmm! Looks like we had a night visitor (a night heron perhaps?!)

Buoy buddies! Just what is the pecking order here?

Sunset - - -not to be confused with - - - -

SUNRISE

First leg completed, here we are with the St. Augustine lighthouse behind us.

Thunderbolt to Delegal Creek, Skidaway Is., GA

Short trip today, even shorter track because the GPS shut down for some reason about 10:30 and I had to restart everything. We saw an eagle, a lost Monarch butterfly and a southern version of Andiamo! (homeport Savannah). Did you know that "Moon River" the song (lyrics by Johnny Mercer) has an inlet named after it? Mercer is from Savannah and the powers that be chose to name an inlet (which we passed today) Moon River! We tied up at the Delegal Marina at 1:00 and waited for the McCloskeys (Dawn Zephyr - a 51' fast trawler) who are neighbors from Spring Grove. I cooked dinner for us all and we enjoyed catching up with them. We plan to head off early tomorrow (have to leave before the ebbing midtide to make it over the 4 ft. spot at the entrance to the creek) and head offshore - - - next stop St. Augustine!~~~(\_~~~D&M
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CCYC folks - - -we did a double take when we saw this Catalina 440 (but
homeport was Savannah.)

YUP, (kids) it's an eagle.

Dawn Zephyr and Brunelle (both from Spring Grove, PA) at the end of
the dock, Delegal Creek, Skidaway Island, GA.

Hilton Head to Thunderbolt (Savannah)

The sun came out! A very easy trip from HH to Savannah. A light breeze - - not enough to roll out the jib. We arrived at the marina at noon and relaxed until Cousin Steve Bliss, his wife Anna and their sons, Aidan and Griffin showed up. The boys enjoyed checking out our "home" and after a short drink they took us to a great BBQ place for dinner. It was a little dark to see much of Savannah, but we certainly enjoyed the visit. ~~~(\_~~~D&M
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Here we are in Savannah at Thunderbolt Marina, among many mega yachts
(and shrimp boats.)

More mega yachts and spanish moss.

B&B Seafood to Hilton Head

Hi!
What a contrast, our stop last night was in the lowest of the "low country" of SC and tonight we are in the Hilton Head. The trip here was very similar to yesterday with winding, sinuous waterways cutting through the marshes of SC. We have spotted several porpoises every day since we entered the Carolinas. They just lazily make their way through rivers and creeks. It was gray and drizzly most of the day, but began to break up as we arrived at Palmetto Bay Marina, up Broad Creek on Hilton Head. We tied up at 3:00 and did a little cleaning up of the boat before being picked up by Dave and Nan Ames (Nan is Kate Pennington's sister) who took us on a tour of the island and then back to their home in Long Cove, a development that Dave and his partner developed. They graciously let us use their shower and laundry before taking us out to a local Italian place that had GREAT food. We are back aboard, sated, washed and laundered! ~~~(\_~~~D&M
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A not so useful channel marker in SC.

Just one of the many porpoises who like to play around us.

Charleston to B & B Seafood, SC

BLUE skies above!! We didn't have signal last night to write, but we did have TV and watched the monumental change to our country (Dan hopes)! We spent a gray, brisk, windy day winding through the marshes of SC, never knowing when the currents would be with us or against us. We had a blustery NW wind behind us, so we were able to roll out the jib and enjoy a boost. We did have to jibe several times as our path wasn't very straight! We decided to go off the ICW track at Mile 513 and headed up the Ashepoo River to Mosquito Creek where we tied up to the B&B Seafood's ($25/night) floating dock. We were joined by a Nonsuch 30 from Hamilton, ONT who invited us over for drinks. We both had gone up to the small shack at the head of the dock where we bought a pound of FRESH shrimp. The shrimp boat tied to the pier had just returned at 2PM. We had a delicious shrimp dish from my favorite cookbook, FEAST AFLOAT. I was actually speaking metaphorically at the beginning of this post, it is actually very gray and misting heavily as we head off on our way to Hilton Head Island. ~~~(\_~~~D&M
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Sunpenny (a Gulfstar 44) and pelicans escorted us out of Charleston on
our way to a 9:00 bridge as we headed south.

This short cut created a U-turn as we wound our way through the marshes.

Our home for the night.

Charleston lay day

Hi,  I didn't turn the gps on today, because the only traveling we did today was from the gas dock where they put us last night into a slip!  Dan did get the oil changed, I did some laundry and we walked around town after a very good lunch at the Noisy Oyster.  We also did a little restocking at Harris Teeters, a very fancy grocery store.  We were invited to cocktails aboard Sunpenny (the Beattie's from Chambersburg, PA) at 5:30 and just returned to Brunelle a few minutes ago(9:50)!  Another cruising couple was also there (Wind Chaser), and the discussions were lively and informative, as we are the neophytes on this ICW stuff.  Lots of fun!  The only photo is from our walk today of a very interesting Charleston tradition...  We hope to head out tomorrow, but not outside as the weather is still a little wild offshore.  ~~~(\_~~~D&M

"Does you chewing gum lose it's flavor on the phone pole overnight...?"

Georgetown to Charleston, SC

Shoulda changed the oil this morning but our neighbors in Georgetown (and Kate P.) told us there was "weather on the way".  So we took off at 7:30 and headed down the ICW to try to get into Charleston for two nights while the weather came through.  It was a quiet trip with lotsa sights and we arrived at 5:00.  Soon after arriving our new acquaintances from last night arrived to invite us over for a drink.  We talked them into staying and that is why this was started at around 5:45 and I am just getting back to it at 7:30.  A nice time with nice people from Chambersburg, PA!

Thought it was time for a quick summary of the whole trip so far.  We left Kent Narrows on Sunday, 10/19.  We traveled down the Chesapeake (140 Nautical Miles) in 4 days.  We traveled down the Intercoastal Waterway for 170 Nautical Miles (8 1/2 Days which included 2 lay days).  We went "outside" for about 28 hours covering 150 nautical miles.  Today we traveled 56 nautical miles.  Totals are 15 days and 515 nautical miles.

Mileage on the intercoastal is marked off in statute miles.  Mile 0 is in Norfolk.  We are now at mile 465.  St. Augustine is 777 (Thanksgiving).  Key West is beyond Miami which is the last mile indicator in the guide (1095) and is our goal for Key West Race Week.   After that some time in the Bahamas on our way home.

Gotta change the oil in the morning.  ~~~(\_~~~ D & M
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Martha making plans with Sam about meeting us in Nassau in February as
she "drives" us out of Georgetown.

Heading into Charleston beating the weather.

Beaufort, NC Inlet to Georgetown, SC

Hi,  We hoped to make it to Charleston, but with no wind all night, we didn't make enough progress to put us there in daylight, so we chose Georgetown instead.  Little did we know when we started in the inlet at 2:00pm that it would take until almost 6:00pm to make it up to Georgetown!!  I had heard that the current was strong, but we didn't expect to be making just over 3 knots, (with the jib assisting us) most of the way.  The overnight was easy and amazingly warm.  The water temp was 56° and above, as was the air.  Very little traffic on the water and over the airways, so not much to report.  Sunny and warm and with finally enough wind to fill the sails, we had a comfortable day.  We tied up next to another sailboat at the Harborwalk Marina who are from Chambersburg, PA!  They were on their way out to dinner, but we had a short chat with them.  This is their 13th trip, so they had a few quick tips! Dan is already snoozing on the settee, so we're glad to have an extra hour of sleep tonight.  ~~~(\_~~~D&M
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There were several dolphins escorting us out the Beaufort Inlet, and
several more that played in our bow wave along the way - - but too fast
for us to get a good picture!

We were also "escorted" by several Navy ships playing war games right
off the NC coast.

Dan plotting our overnight passage.

Not much of a moon to light our way, it was setting shortly after the sunset.

Oriental, out the Beaufort Inlet and beyond

Hi!  We're 22 miles off the New River Inlet and still have signal, so I decided to wish everyone a HAPPY HALLOWEEN and hope the peacock, mouse, panda in Philly, the Abby KaDabby fairy and Thumbelina in MA and the pachyderm in NH are enjoying the evening!  We decided to head offshore overnight as the forecasts sounded excellent.  We hope to be in Charleston, SC by tomorrow afternoon.  ~~~(\_~~~D&M
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Oriental for the day

We spent two nights here in Oriental plugged in due to cold weather. The day was beautiful but cool and we did a lot of walking and looking and really not all that much buying. Spent at least an hour in the marine consignment shop and decided I could open up a bigger one than they had if I took all that is stowed on Brunelle, the garage, and the basement. It was a relaxing day. Now we have to get back at it a bit. We have traveled about 300 miles and we have about 600 to go before Thanksgiving in St. Augustine (hopefully). Tomorrow we head toward Beaufort and then we may even take a day or two outside to move on south...gotta get away from this cold! ~~~(\_~~~D&M


Brunelle is right next to the bridge in Oriental for two nights - had to get a picture of her and the harbor

Looking out from the bridge towards the Neuse River and the direction we should be going in the morning

Belhaven to Oriental, NC

Hi, After waiting out the weather for two days in Belhaven, we thought we would brave it even though it was still a bit windy and definitely brisk. We thought we would only go as far as Bear Creek (right after entering the Bay River), but the trip under jib with motor assist was quick and we got there at noon - - decided to keep going and found the Neuse River not as bad as advertised. We ended up slogging into the wind for the last two hours, but we had plenty of sun and stayed dry the whole day, so we made it to Oriental, NC. Recommended to us by Dan's brother Jay, we signed up for two nights here at the Oriental Harbor Marina. We walked over to the tiki bar (we had to go there to sign up at the office) where they were asking everyone to carve a pumpkin. How could I refuse? Of course Dan did refuse, but he enjoyed talking to a couple on a Catalina 42 from RI, while having a cocktail while I carved. We had a late dinner aboard. ~~~(\_~~~M&D
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There wasn't much traffic on the cut between Goose Creek and the Bay River...

...except these two deer swimming across.

We ended the day at the Tiki Bar at Oriental Marina with drinks and
pumpkin carving.

Belhaven to Belhaven (spelling corrected)

A very quiet day, as far as progress is concerned.  We are still in Belhaven.  I think this is working like a traffic light.  Yesterday we had a very quiet day on the water.  Today all that happened is a bunch of people came in and anchored in 20 knot winds and others came into a slip and fought the crosswinds to tie up.  Tomorrow AM if the wind improves (reduces...not something we normally would say on the Chesapeake in the summer) all of us that are anchored or are in slips will head off...a real traffic jam...not really.

Excitement today was a trip to the grocery store, a mile and a half away, in a golf cart with no brakes and less power.  No big deal until I was not paying enough attention and I rolled through a stop sign.  The UPS driver that could have had us slowed and waved.  I strongly recommend UPS over Fed Ex or DHL or anyone.  We also spent some time on battery checks...all seemed fine. 

7:00 PM now and all seems quiet.  Hate to talk about it.  Hope to be on the way it the AM.~~~(\_~~~D&M

Prettier than last night but not a lot different. Maybe tomorrow!!!!

Mile 101 to Bellhaven, NC

Hi,    Such panic,  NO SIGNAL.  We hadn't thought of that possibility!  There still isn't AT&T signal here, but the Marina where we are docked has wireless.  We were sure the same would be true with TV signal last night, but when we searched with the digital converter box we found 20 channels!  Dan was able to watch the Giants beat the Steelers.   The bight where we anchored was fairly open, but the weatherman was surprisingly accurate, and the wind was light and from the west.  The trip today was completely under power as we were in the Alligator-Pungo canal for most of it and when we entered the Pungo the wind there was on the nose.  We decided to tie up tonight to do housekeeping and arrived here at 2:30pm.  We walked into town so Dan could find another hardware store and then headed back because most other places weren't open on Monday!  We got back before it rained and are below listening to the rain and NW wind- - - promises to be a bit cooler tomorrow.  We were in shirt sleeves this afternoon. ~~~(\_~~~D&M
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Heading into the Alligator River - Pungo River Canal

Some rough days, many not. Bloody Mary's are still in order...or a
whole serving of vegetables in a glass

In a slip in Belhaven, NC filling with water, etc. This evening the
weather turned crappy and we were glad we were in the slip.

Elizabeth City to Mile 101 on the Alligator River

Good morning! Last night we had no signal so couldn't send track or message.  Sunday was sunny and warm and we sailed easily across the Albemarle Sound on a broad reach. We had to motor sail once in the Alligator River as the wind was dying, but all in all a very pleasant day and we enjoyed grilling out and eating dinner in the cockpit as we watched the sun set.  Very low scrub and cypress all along the Alligator.  We are about to head into the Alligator-Pungo canal.  Will report more tonight!
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Going by Elizabeth City this morning...it didn't look that quiet when
we dinghied in on Friday and Saturday

Lots of us were held up for a couple of days and we all headed down
the Pasquotank River this morning together.

After a great day and steak and potato packets on the grill a great
sunset at the south end of the Alligator River