Ft. Sumter in the AM and Awendaw Creek in the PM

Twas a smart move to hold off until today to take a tour of the harbor and visit Fort Sumter. The weather was much better and we enjoyed to the trip out and back with the running commentary almost as much as seeing the fort. Its significance to our country's history is great and we learned more than we did back in school about the sequence of events that lead up to the Civil War.

The trip out was aboard a mock paddle wheeler which was packed full of visitors (Easter weekend and all) that set us free to roam for an hour before returning to Charleston. The little 10 inch mortar launcher is the type of canon that fired the first shot on that fateful day, April 12, 1861. The other canons pictured are ones that were added when the fort was refortified during the Spanish American War in 1898. I was particularly fond of the flag that was raised at the end of the war. 35 stars - because two new states had been added to the US during the period of the war. The official US flag must have only rows and columns nowadays, as the uniform flag code was adopted in 1912.

As we prepared to leave Ft. Sumter we watched Sheet Music (a fellow ICW traveler) anchor and dinghy into the Fort (we preferred the ferry). The other shots are from our departure through the busy weekend Charleston Harbor.

The courtesy van from the Marina whisked us back to the marina by noon and we prepared to depart. Another look at "Buoyweather"(Dan's favorite site) had us reconsidering our decision to do an overnight to Bald Head Island. Instead we opted to head up the ICW looking for a place to anchor before it got dark. We dropped the hook in Awendaw Creek behind the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge at 6:45 pm after a pleasant afternoon of motorsailing. Quite a change from the bustling Charleston harbor! ~~~(\_~~~M&D

A peaceful change from Charleston's MegaDock here in Awendaw Creek. We are less than half a mile from the Atlantic here with only marshes separating us from the big O.

Hilton Head-B&B-Charleston

It did take us two days to meander through the creeks, rivers and canals of the South Carolina marshlands to get to Charleston. The days were sunny and the temperatures were warmer than we liked whenever the wind was directly behind us. We discussed several possible anchorages but decided we would head back up Mosquito Creek to B&B Seafood to tie up at their less than glamorous docks! It turns out it isn't shrimp season yet so the Billy B was sitting idle and the shop was closed, but we called and reached someone who said it would be OK to tie up and maybe he'd be able to find us some frozen shrimp. We ended up buying their next to last 5 lb. bag of frozen shrimp and feasted instead on lobster from Andiamo's freezer (they had bought it in Marsh Harbor, in the Abacos). We ate below because the name of the creek is very apt and the bugs were biting. In fact we found our decks darkened with masses of bugs as we headed off Wednesday morning.

As we rounded the bend by marker number 177 we marveled that every time we go past it, it is low tide and it's high and dry! A major part of the two day trip to Charleston looked like this - - - just not always with so much mud showing.

The closer we got to Charleston, the lusher things became. The Trumpy that passed us was such a lovely lady. We tied up right opposite the large dark hulled power boat at the Charleston City Marina - home of the megadock - a quarter mile long. It is QUITE a hike to the bathrooms and showers!

We pulled in around a little before three and kept our eyes peeled as the skies began to get darker and darker. We were glad to be tied up when the storm hit. We had hail (a new experience - being aboard in a hail storm) and thunder and lightning along with buckets of rain. The winds were not as bad as some storms we've experienced, but strong enough. We were still hearing wind and rain as we went to sleep last night.

Today, Earth day, Good Friday was supposed to be adventure around Charleston day, but the storms were still around so we headed into town, visited our favorite kitchen store (who would have thought), had a delicious lunch at S.N.O.B. (Slightly North Of Broad) and ended our tour at Harris Teeters. Luckily the courtesy van from the Marina came and got us before the next downpour and we were back aboard at 2:30 (instead of taking the harbor tour to Fort Sumter as originally planned!) We decided a dinner of hors d'oeuvres would be a good idea - and we did still have 5 lbs of shrimp to eat! So between showers we bounced back and forth between boats, cooking, cooling, peeling and then eating lots of shrimp (and a few other goodies too.) Hopefully we can see Ft. Sumter in the morning before shoving off for points north. ~~~(\_~~~M&D

Overnight to Harbour Town Marina on Hilton Head, SC

Out one inlet (St. Mary's Inlet) and in another (Tybee Roads) - this is all we saw of Georgia.

All we saw in between the inlets was one sunset, one moonrise (too rolly to get any photos) and one sunrise and one moonset.

Andiamo is close astern as Dan caught the moon still high in the sky after sunrise.

Luckily the marina had slips available for us as we arrived at 8:45 am. The overnight trip was one of the easiest we've experienced. We left at 5 pm and had a nice beam reach in winds generally around 10 knots until well into the night. We averaged close to 6.5 knots most of the time, and then got a good boost from the incoming tide as we entered the Tybee Roads. The moon was brilliant and a welcome companion throughout the night. We did alter course for about an hour off of Brunswick, Georgia to avoid a cargo ship that ended up coming to almost a complete stop in front of us as she waited for the pilot to arrive. We slipped by her stern less than half a mile away, but as she was making 2.3 knots we weren't bothered by any great wake!

After tying up and receiving our welcome packet (which includes a bottle of wine) we headed around the circular marina to the showers - located next to the decorative lighthouse. Several shops dotted the area by the lighthouse, but we did our shopping yesterday! We hadn't realized when we arrived that this week is the big PGA tournament here and crowds of golf fans are all over the place!

Our walk over to the showers took us past the elegant condos that surround the marina, this one festooned with the plaid of the Heritage Tournament. We explored the watersports area of the resort and found the full moon had brought all sorts of horseshoe crabs to the beach to mate. All clean and refreshed we walked out toward the 18th green and found the 19th hole just in time to have our 11z's beer!

My first look at this big rig had me puzzled until I went around the "stern" and realized it was a travelling sports bar! I assume it will be set up when thing really get underway with the golf tournament.

We enjoyed walking around and seeing all the activity even though the real action doesn't start until Thursday. Today people were wearing tags that said "Practice Rounds". The 18th hole looks out on Calibogue Sound and Daufuskie Island AND the ICW.

Tomorrow we'll skip all the hoop-la here and mosey on toward Charleston. It should take two days (on the inside.) ~~~(\_~~~M&D

Touring Fernandina Beach

The longest part of our walk was exiting the dock!

We were all the way at the end of the facing pier. We started on our adventure expecting to explore all the interesting historic sites of the area, but found that the shops held much more interest. Of course that sent the guys wandering back toward the boats before we ladies were done finding unique and artsy "stuff". We met up with the non-shoppers at Brett's Waterway Cafe for our big meal of the day and enjoyed sitting out on their deck watching the harbor as we ate.

We noticed that Brunelle was

nestled right underneath the

stacks of the paper mill.

Made Dan feel right at home.

Very well restored and maintained center city in Fernandina.

The afternoon was spent resting and readying the boat for the overnight trip outside from here to Hilton Head, SC. We will be heading out St. Mary's Inlet which is on the FL/GA border and come in the Tybee Roads on the GA/SC border. Once again we are avoiding the winding shallows that make up the ICW throughout Georgia. ~~~(\_~~~M&D

St. Augustine to Fernandina Beach

Our 8 o'clock departure from Camachee Cove Yacht Harbor put us right into the incoming tide as we headed up the ICW, so we got a boost half the way to Jacksonville. We then picked up the outgoing tide as we headed on toward Jacksonville, once again getting a lift. The only problem came as we neared our destination of Fernandina Beach at dead low tide (on a full moon) and found lots of spots right in the middle of the channel that were less than 7 feet! We managed to avoid hitting, but Andiamo had to back off twice after running aground. The winds were from the northern quadrant all day, so we had no chance to sail and we had to keep adding layers of clothes!

Dan and I had a contest to see who could

take a better picture of us lined up along

up along the dock at the marina. He won!

We made it to Fernandina Beach around 4 pm and found that all the moorings were full, so we tied up at the Fernandina Beach Municipal Marina for the night. It seems that we are right in the middle of the big northern migration of all us snowbirds. Weather permitting we will leave here tomorrow afternoon for an overnight trip on the outside to Hilton Head. We plan to explore ashore tomorrow. ~~~(\_~~~M&D

Not a lot of new scenery on the 60 mile trip north up the ICW, but we did get a kick out of these fish chairs along the way.

On the move again - after 5 days in St. Augustine

Just a brief recap of our busy stay in St. Augustine. We awoke refreshed on Wednesday morning ready to face to world, but more importantly, ready to face the Customs and Border Patrol officers in Jacksonville. We buzzed over to Jay and Pegg's house early and put in a load of laundry so we could be back at Camachee Cove Harbor Marina to pick up Andiamo and Pekabu III's crews at nine. We arrrived at the office of the CBP without incident and proceeded to watch at least 10 different CBP officers try to figure out how to process the three boats!

Their first question was "Does anyone speak German?" because they were having trouble communicating with a man who was trying to pick up his car. His English was so-so and they didn't like his "plan of action" anyway, so he watched us come and go and was still standing there waiting when we finally left on hour and 15 minutes later! We had every paper needed and every "i" dotted and "t" crossed and it still took forever! We left there with LBO (Local Boaters Option) cards that SHOULD allow us to do the check-in over the phone in the future.

Pegg had planned a gala evening for all so we made our way back to St. A and over to Jay and Pegg's. Added to the crowd were cousin Andy Bliss, his mom, Aunt Jane Bliss, who were down visiting from New England, and two friends of Pegg's. Pegg declared it a Dark n Stormy evening, so we brought all the fixings and had a great time!

Betty, Erin, Pegg, Martha, Deb and Kathy enjoying the evening.

Pegg was excited to show off her new Androsia fabric tablecloth to all of us.

Thursday and Friday were spent getting boats clean and laundry done AND putting in new Engine Mounts in Brunelle. Dan enlisted help from brother Jay and cousin Andy (who is 6'10" - and had fun trying to snuggle down next to the engine!) and they got it accomplished in fine order. Dan also tried to install a flexible coupling between engine and shaft for the second time, but it still doesn't fit.

What with all the engine work going on, I stayed clear of the boat most of the time and enjoyed visiting and shopping and partying! Saturday Dan washed down the boat, filled tanks and put things back together down below while I did laundry, finished provisioning and joined Pegg at an Easter extravaganza at her friend Judith's house. It's an annual event for all her friends and neighbors and their daughters. There were several craft stations for the kids and TONS of food for all the adults. I couldn't resist making a tissue paper flower (hey girls, remember folding kleenex into accordions, sticking them on bobby pins and then "fluffing them out"? Well this was with full pieces of colorful tissue paper. The Easter bonnets were cute. She had taken a paper plate, cut out the center and glued a paper bowl on top. The creations were adorable.

Easter bonnet making plus my tissue flower lower right.

We had our last dinner at Jay and Pegg's and are ready to head off Sunday morning, this time inside as far as Fernandina Beach. ....I'm turning the sailboat around .....~~~(\_~~~~M&D

Facing the Gulf Stream -the Banks to St. Augustine

Leaving the anchorage near the Lily Bank at sunrise.

After a very comfortable night anchored in the middle of nowhere, we had a hearty breakfast and weighed anchor at 7 am. There wasn't a breath of air and the waters were glassy for the first 6 hours of the trip. When we left the bank I had plotted a slight zig zag course that would take us over to the center of the stream west of the rhumb line to St. Augustine and then we would head more northerly than the course to St. A for around 80 -100 miles before turning to the northwest to move out of the stream and head for St. A Inlet. It took a little doing to convince Pete that going and extra 10 miles or so would actually save us time, but he finally bought into it. It took a LONG time to finally reach the axis of the stream, but after making 7 + knots for hours we immediately shot up to 9 and then 10 knots by following the axis of the stream.

We didn't ride it as long as planned because the wind shifted from SE to S and then SW and freshened quite a bit, so we angled back NW more and drove on through the night with the main up, still doing 9 knots for much of the time. Daylight had us still 7 hours from St. Augustine, but that would get us in around 1 or 1:30 pm and the tide would be going in at the inlet, so we were fine with that.

Unfortunately no one had mentioned a series of small squalls that we would encounter as the wind made its way from SW to NW Tuesday morning. John picked them up on his Satellite Weather Program and we got sails down before they hit and rode them out without too much difficulty, but after a long night, no one really wanted to face even a little adversity! All had quieted down by the time we entered St. Augustine Inlet and we made it through smoothly. Everyone took a slip at Camachee Cove Yacht Harbor and here we sit with our yellow "Q" (quarantine) flags up waiting to take a road trip to Jacksonville tomorrow to go through customs. Nobody had any big plans to go out dancing tonight, so it's no big deal. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

What would an ocean voyage be without a little entertainment.

These guys didn't stay as long as our first experience with dolphins, but they were very playful and loved riding the bow wake. I loved they way their bodies sparkled in the crystal clear waters.

Later in the day we had another visitor, he made the rounds between all three boats, but Dan put out food and water for him, so we had him visiting for quite a while. I think he is a seaside sparrow.

Andiamo before the storms and after!

At least being quarantined didn't keep us from taking showers ashore!