Thank you........

Thank you to those that were following us during our trip :)

We are now starting our boat blog........ follow us @ http://svsanuk.wordpress.com/ .. it may take awhile :)

Home....

We are finally home...... got into Md. Sunday morning at around 2am. Slept on the boat. Then did the 4 hr drive home Sunday late afternoon. It's mid 50's to low 60's here by day. But at night.... it's flipping cold!!!! Headed back to Md. Wednesday I believe, to wrap up some unfinished boat projects. Then home in Pa. for the last winter...........

On the way home..........

Woke up, ate breakfast, checked out. Said our good-bye's to Capt. Ron and hit MCarthey Park. We experienced a Florida flash rain and when the sun came back out, so we hit Jupiter Beach.... A farewell float in the beautiful and calm sea. Sigh.....

We returned the rent-a-car, had a bye-bye beer, and hopped on a (30min late) flight from West Palm to Charlotte, NC. We are currently in Charlotte, NC. In the airport. With a 2hr delay... crap. We wont get to the boat now until 2am, maybe later. Gotta love airports. If we escape swine flu tonight we will be happy.

Juno Beach..

Still in Palm Beach.... it's still nice out. Headed back down to Juno Beach today. Pictures and frolicking in the ocean......... warm breezes and swaying palm trees. Oh, and corona :) I'll do my reflecting on our trip when I get home. Right now I just want to enjoy being here.... I'll post picures later. Chow

What worked.. and what didn't.

THE END.

We are finally at the end of our trip. This is our current location, next to Tiger Woods' boat:

Palm Beach, Fl

We arrived sometime around 11:30 this morning. Internet and phone reception was perfect the entire way.

So now would be a good time to go over the last topic:

What worked.. and what didn't.

The Verizon internet card USB760 with optional external antenna - I was very impressed by the coverage, and quality of the service from Verizon. Very few times was I unable to connect with the card alone, and serval of those times I was able to plug the antenna in and connect again. Only twice was I completely out of service; and then only for a couple of hours.

The iPhone - great to have for tide carts, and that amazing app that Tom introduced me to: Navionics. Navionics is a chartplotter app and covers all of the eastern coast including the ICW - all for $10! It also has tide AND currents built in! It is not a fully featured chart plotter and I would not trade my Garmin for it.. but it came in handy several times on this trip.

However, the reception was crap until we hit Florida. And there were points when I could be on the internet with Verizon but not talk on the phone with AT&T.

Cruising Guides & Flip Chart - I will not do this trip again without a couple good cruising guides and the flip chart. The flip chart, which has each leg in order - page after page on a spiral binder - was REALLY nice. We only had a guide for Georgia and while we were there it helped immensely. I purchased it as an after-thought in SC.. I wish we had gotten guides sooner.

I recommend the Doziers guides:

I also recommend you also consult the Doziers website:

http://www.waterwayguide.com/navupdate.php?area=1

and click on the area you are traveling on the left. It seems to be very up to date.

Garmin NUVI GPS with touch screen - Ron has a new Nuvi touch screen. I do not recommend this gps.. the touch screen is terrible and doesn't work well in this environment. I really missed my old reliable Garmin 182C on this trip. I have a nuvi for the car - so I am not totally against these.. just against them for use in a boat.

6 foot draft - Bad, bad, bad. If that is what you have, try to go around Georgia. Buy cruising charts. Get local knowledge whenever you can.

Seatow - Great, especially if your draft is 6 feet. I use BoatUS Tow.

Boat Preparedness - I was very concerned with this topic when this trip began. When I did my trip from MA to MD I spent many hours and thousands of dollars on safety and gear. I don't think anyone has spent a minute or a dollar on Ron's boat. We spent the trip battling fuel leaks and water leaks.. I didn't know where the life jackets were, if there were any at all. There wasn't a dingy, let alone a life raft. Ron seldom had the radio on, or on channel 16 - I'm pretty sure there wasn't a spare handheld. What I learned from this is basically: if it floats, and steers, it can make it down the ICW. Some of the other boats we passed looked like they barely even met that criterion.

Not waiting until November - We had the waterway basically to ourselves until Florida. That was very nice - no fighting for space at marina's, and not being waked repeatedly. However, the weather was very unstable the entire trip. I think next time we do this we'll leave at the same time to avoid the crowds, go slower, and once I hit SC, wait until a weather window opens and run outside. After SC going inside gets really old, really fast.

Privacy - No privacy for 21 days. Bad, bad, bad. If I ever do this trip with guests or as a guest it will be in a boat with at least one private stateroom!

As I think of more things, I'll add them. In the meanwhile, why don't you checkout our boat blog: http://svsanuk.wordpress.com/ and see if we have posted anything yet :D

Palm Beach......

We are on land... I am sitting in a hotel (in Palm Beach) as I am writing this. Ron is back on his mooring and glad to be home. After Chris snagged a rental car , we stopped and had lunch at "Duffy's" with Ron. Dropped him back off and found a room nearby. Oh , then we took a nice two hour nap.

We are in Florida until Sunday..... nice. So swimming and beach's will be done.
Life is good.

We will in the next few days reflect on the last 21 days and blog our thoughts on what worked well and what didn't. That will be Chris's area mostly.

Headed for a bath and some drinks..... cheers. :)

Made it................

We didn't make it to North Palm last night (we couldn't make all the bridges) so we anchored out again, I made some Thai chicken and Mexican rice. It was international night here on Skylark... :) Gatorade and Tangeray for cocktails.... and some Mexican Train. Hey, were running low on provisions... :p

This morning we all slept in until 8-8:30am. I made coffee, bacon, french toast, and eggs. Happy bellies mean happy men. I have to make this short, sooooooooooooo

We are just passing Jupiter and its beautiful... water is a turquoise color and the sun is out, and it's WARM. wooooooooooooo-hooooooooooo!

15 miles to go..

We are 15 miles from the end of our trip and Tracy is making dinner while the sun sets on our little anchorage. We are currently here. I really thought we would be able to make it to the end tonight, but we were just a little too late to be safe. Tomorrow morning we will sail into Ron's home at Lake Worth, about 10AM.

Florida has phone and wireless internet covered.. there is nothing to say on that front. I didn't use the external antenna on the usb card at all today and had 2-3 bars all the time. Phone service was even better.

Almost there......

It is Tuesday morning, and thank god it finally has gotten warmer. We are on our way to North Palm Beach today. We should make it there around dinner time. (fingers crossed) Yesterday was an uneventful day really. We motored all day, it was windy and cold again. I made coffee and meals and went out for about an hour or so at the helm in the early afternoon. I mostly stayed inside the cabin for the past two days. Chris was at the helm all of Sunday, and Ron did the brunt of yesterday. Ron's excited that he is so close to home, he was up before the birds and ready to haul ass.

I'm glad we stayed to finish the trip. I'm not sure if we are going to run straight home or relax for a day or so and then head back... it's up in the air. It would be nice to just get a hotel and visit the beach, ride a bike, get some sun... you know.. the Florida thing. It's going to be 80 degrees today, maybe more. All I know is I'm going to swim SOMEWHERE before I go back north.

Yesterdays highlight for me was dolphins, they were playing alongside the boat. I was whistling and drumming on the side of the hull and they stayed around awhile, (Chris of course thinks I'm a weirdo.) but I don't care, I think they liked it.

Today is just a race to Palm Beach, Ron's at the helm now with his GPS, charts and his goggles... focused and determined to get home. I think I speak for all of us when I say... it's been fun but it needs to end...lol. We have been on the water for 20days. Yes, for short periods we stop and get off but due to the fact we never had the chance to go offshore made this trip seem long.... very long.

Last night the guys picked an anchorage, I was hoping for a marina. I had a little naggy headache all day and just wanted to relax and be able to take a shower. Nope. We stayed out. The winds where 15-20 and the chop was not fun. (the boys seem to enjoy the see-saw motion) It sucks to cook or eat when the boats bouncing... but oh well. We were in a sound, hiding behind this tiny little Island, followed by another tiny island. I tossed and turned all night... it was windy and bumpy but I wasn't worried because Ron has a magic anchor. I just couldn't sleep.

Chris is working and hasn't had a real problem working this whole trip. So its good that he knows now what to expect next year. We will take our time and spend days in cute little towns next time. Start early and enjoy a slow southerly float. :)

I'm going to nap... I'll drop a line tonight.. zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sunday .......10-18-09

It's Sunday , October 18th. We are back in the ditch... Chris and I both enjoyed St. Augustine. We will definitely go back and anchor there next year. We are headed to Daytona. It's going to be a long day, a bumpy day due to 20+ knot winds with quick currents. It's also really, really cold this morning, and the high today is like 64 degrees. We aren't convinced we are in Florida. Where is all the sun, and warmth? Its colder here than it was in any other state...lol. The weather people say its a cold front passing thru... holy crap I hope its over by tomorrow.

The plan is to anchor out tonight in Daytona and tomorrow night anchor in Titusville. We should hit Vero beach the day after and then its Palm beach from there..... :)

Monday..

We made a whopping 82 miles today and we now lie in Malabar, FL, USA The anchorage is very lumpy.. and we are swinging pretty badly with 15 knots of wind blowing us around. But the view is good.. tucked between two little islands.

Internet was good today although I was disconnected one or two times just before Titusville. Clicking 'connect' got me right back on, even though the Verizon app showed no bars. At&t service was very good all the way down here.

Anyway, we are half way between where we wanted to be today and where we wanted to be tomorrow. What that means is - if we wake up early in the morning we probably can get all the way to North Palm Beach by tomorrow night. Its another long run, 75 miles.. but worth it if we can do it, says I. Maybe we can be home by this weekend?

Sundays view from the front porch..

Location:

New Smyrna Beach, FL, USA

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday.

Awesome internet and phone service all day today from mile 775 (St
Augustine) to 843 (New Smyrna Beach). We are tucked into an
absolutely beautiful anchorage with a view of crashing waves on the
beach.

St. Augustine.....

We had a great night last night with Ron and Allan, A little Rum and Brie. Then a great dinner at the marina's restaurant. Then Chris and I took a walk... it was a nice night.

Ron decided to stay over again and Chris and I went off exploring the town. I wasn't aware that St. Augustine was the first colony in America ... It's a very historic town. I'm not going to write much because Chris and I are going to have a nice dinner together.. ;)

I thought everyone should see this picture of Chris.... I KNOW he is looking at that cannon and trying to figure out how to get one like it on a sailboat!!!

Internet Report

Very good service (phone and internet) from 725 (Fernandina Beach,
Beach) to 775 (St. Augustine, FL)

Welcome to Florida.....

Yep... you know your in Florida when its sunny, hot and humid one minute and then the next its pouring down rain with a chilly breeze. Hello Florida..... we are sitting in the boat at a marina in St. Augustine. Its about 4:40pm... Chris is almost done working and we have an invite to have drinks and snacks on Allan's boat. Allan is an English friend of Ron's. Seems so nice and sweet.. and salty....lol. Then we will probably go out for dinner ....

The bad news of the day is , Chris and I are starting to miss home, and our boat and our kitty. We are thinking about cutting the trip down by a few days. Nothing is definite yet. . I'm facing car repairs new registration and inspection for my car.... we have allot of varnishing yet to do on Sanuk .. and we hear its getting cold in Md already. Yesterday my friend Nikki told me, back in Pa, they had snow flurries!!..... ugh. I haven't even raked the leaves out of our yard yet ! We have neglected being home and finishing things on the boat. I think it may be time to get back to our responsibilities. It's been fun tho. I'll update you on what we decide to do............... toodles ;)

Internet Report

From mile 650 to 675 [St. Simons] we have had very good internet and phone service.

Today we got disconnected around mile 700, and then poor service for a couple miles. Afterwards we were back on again [through 720] and had 5 bars in Fernandina Beach.

Current position:

Fernandina Beach, FL 32034, USA

Tracy's thoughts................ like 'em or not.

I'm not going to write about the rest of yesterday or about today.... what I'm going to do is write about what I'm thinking today and what I thought the ICW was, and now that I'm in it, what it really is.

When Chris and I first thought about making this trip we really didn't think about doing any research about the ICW. Don't get me wrong, we looked at maps, and distance, and possibilities of ocean inlets and outlets... but thats about all. Why would you need to do anymore than that? Its a protected inland waterway to the south. Period. Soooo, Tracy thought, of just floating down canals, anchoring for the night in remote calm gunk holes, and taking in the fresh air, photographing nature, stopping off in quaint little historic towns for dinner and shopping. Again, don't get me wrong. It is like that some of the time. But its got more to it......

It means getting up before the sun, worrying about the tide because of the speed of current and depth, wondering if green is still to your left- since your now in a sound, you get to say "what the hell does that marker mean?", it means running aground because no one dredges and there is shit load of shoaling... the east side in one channel, sometimes the west side, hell we almost got stuck more than once smack dab in the center... ugh. You have to check a chart and watch a GPS, lol... sometimes they are both wrong and you need to make a quick choice. Pray its the right one.

I enjoy the anchoring and the peace, I don't enjoy how strong the currents in Georgia were. (we just entered Florida) We can't even think about swimming... but I love the days when the chart reads 20-50ft of water :) Those are relaxing. That's when I like to be at the helm. The days where we are in cramped little channels with 5 ft low means suck. Guarantee that if you draft more than 5 ft you will ground. ... Allot.

I also thought we would be able to navigate at night... ha ha. No. That isn't even possible. Day-time can be a challenge. Trying it at night makes you feel like your on a reality show. Its crazy. Hey "Survivor... does the ICW" (this year in October we will be dropping 6 sailboats with 6ft drafts in the Norfolk Va inlet to the ICW with no updates to charts or extinguished marker lights, they must not take more than 3 weeks, they can go outside but only if they have a good weather and wind window for MORE than two days, they must do 60-80 miles a day and they cant start until noon.).. It may be a show yet . If your the ass sitting there saying... "oh that's not hard" then you haven't been here in awhile, or ever.

Ok done with the rant.....Seriously, I am enjoying myself don't get the wrong impression. I love the view quite often and the laughs we have daily are memorable. I love just being on the water. I enjoy the cooking and taking pictures, having our meals together and playing games at night. I like the history of the ports and have enjoyed every town we've seen. Its been fun and a learning experience.

One thing Ive started to learn about myself on this trip is as much as I love the look and feel and self sufficiency of a sailboat, if gas was getting any cheaper Id rather have one of those Trawlers or Tugs. Ya... I'm going to be on every sailors shitlist now but I know everyONE of you guys have thought it too. Plus some sailors live on powerboats and only race on other peoples sailboats. It doesn't mean you have to be a loud ,drunk, fast driving, obnoxious power boater. It just means getting there. Faster... without caring about the direction of the wind, with less effort, less draft and less shit to fix. OK... yes they have things that break too. But guess what...? They don't need rigging, or Riggers, 10 freakin different sails, hundreds of feet of halyards, self tailing wenches, wind vanes, Windex, crap that tells you how fast the wind is , spinnakers, and their poles, mast steps, whisker poles, furllers , blah blah ...ect. Yes they pay allot for gas. What did you spend on your sailboat this year? I keep hearing sailboats are cheaper... um really?

Think about all you spend on a sailboat. I also bet even tho they have to pay for gas they spend allot of time on their boats and don't pay that much more a damn season. They definitely get to see more. Plus I know their boats are much easier to live on. Sailboats are romantic and classic, thats sooo true. They are a piece of history, I get it... sometimes they are just seem like too much of a headache I guess.


Ive gone off today... Maybe I'm just "being a girl" today. Maybe not................ maybe I make sense to somepeole. :p

Lazy day....

Now it's Wednesday.... we stopped at a marina around dinner time yesterday on St. Simon. Took nice long hot showers, went out for dinner, played Mexican Train and slept in till 8:30am. We are still here. Its time to take a day or two and chill out. Ron has to fix the water hose, Chris needs to get some work done and I want to get the food in order after shopping, do a load of laundry, clean up a little and reorganize.

It's a nice little break. It's been a few days since we had one. These past three days were a little tense. The marina we are at (Golden Isle) is nice. The employees are very nice and help however they can. They hand deliver a newspaper and blueberry muffins in the morning at 8am as a "thank you" for staying. Sweet :)

Chris and I took advantage of the courtesy car to run for groceries and a cell charger. Thats right I finally have a working cell phone again. Its been over a week, and guess what....... I didn't really miss it. Its a nice little place here. Georgia seems nice, at least the parts I've seen so far.

Tomorrow we will be leaving here in the early afternoon, we have to wait for the tide to start rising before we head out. We should be in Florida by tomorrow night.... fill you in tomorrow. Enjoy your hump-day........ we are :)

I'm glad Monday is over !!!

Its Tuesday morning.... I'm not sure where to start. No entry for yesterday due to a very eventful day. I mean that it the worst sense.

Morning wasn't bad, I made us all breakfast fajitas and the coffee was mmm..... hazelnut. Then we hit whats called "hell's gate" we bumped and ran aground. Ron was at the helm and managed to get us off and running again. After that a water hose from the freshwater tank was leaking so we have no water now. Its just a little hose. But until we hit a dock again and fix it .... no water. We have some bottled water so its not all that dramatic.

Then I took the helm later ..... and I put too much faith in the GPS . Yep, I finally had my turn running aground. But I couldn't be like the boy's and just bump... rev...wiggle and sway, and get moving. I had to do it right. An hour before sunset on a falling tide that's going down 6-7ft, having a 6'2 draft in 5.8ft of water, very close to a channel marker. It sucked the big one. That's right I said it.

So.... SeaTow was called, they would be there in an hour. Doesn't sound bad right? ...Wrong. Tides falling almost two ft an hour. Then they call again and add anther 38 minutes to that hour. A thunder storm is headed our way to top it all off. It starts getting windy, then it rains, the boat is now sitting on a small piece of land and turning on its side in a very strong current. Tracy is not a happy camper.... The guys keep making jokes and telling me its nooo big deal. I however am not someone that is easily calmed when I'm anxious. All I can think of is that its dark, there's no freaking lights, houses or anything for that matter for 40 damn miles. We are on a boat that may take on water (the guys say its not possible and I wasn't convinced.) and the current is really strong... oh plus we have no dinghy...Tracy was not a happy camper.......Chris finally realized I was getting scared after it got dark and he went all sweet on me and I so appreciated that. (Sorry hun, I just ruined your mean guy image.)

Anyway, Sea tow finally got to us and slid us off. It went rather smooth. First encounter with Sea tow. It was a good one, I highly recommend having Sea tow... for non-water folks its like triple A (ya know "AAA") but for yer boat. Half sitting on the wall of the boat for awhile I decided I'm not steering again until we are in bigger waters.... screw that.

The guys said today we will look back and laugh... nope. I'm not there yet. I want my world horizontal. Sorry... think of it the way I do in my mind...... tilt your house to a 45 degree angle in the middle of a fast moving river in the dark and tell me that its a good feeling....

Today we are being a little smarter. We did a few miles and then anchored while the tide is hitting low. Then were going to go about 20 miles until we get to St. Simon, Ga. Dock for the night and fix the water hose.... shop,, take showers, and float into Florida tomorrow.....
Cant wait to get away from these crazy tides.... as if the tides aren't bad enough we have been in a full moon cycle which means the sun and moon are pulling and making them a bit more drastic...

I think Chris just wants to get to Florida, he doesn't seem to want to go to a marina today. Maybe he is still fearing once I get on land I'll run... :p


Anyway, I just finished making us french toast for breakfast... it was pretty good. Maybe today will be a better day. :)

Chris's Monday

There are some weekdays days that seem like Mondays and then there are some Mondays that seem like Mondays. The Mondays that feel like Mondays are worse.

There are days when things go wrong and there are days when you just shouldn't have gotten out of bed. I think it has something to do with the way the stars and planets align causing a cross current in the ebb and flow of life.

Anyway, Monday was one of those days.

The story includes a place called "Hell's Gate", springing a leak in the engine compartment, mechanical and electrical failure, a big yellow tow boat, a sudden thunderstorm.. and the nearest town is 40 miles away. Get the picture?

This section of the Intracostal is beautiful desolation. Miles and miles of little channels wandering through swamp grass. Here on the AICW (mile 600 - 650) we have very little Verizon internet connection. It literally took several minutes to load a web page. But.. it did work, and only kicked me off twice. I was able to hold a chat with the boss and work [at a horrifically slow pace] on a project for him. It's lucky he did not want to hold a conference call because the phone was intermittent all day.

Today [Tuesday, just south of mile 650] I have great reception on the internet card and a couple bars on the phone. We are waiting until 1130 to get started because the tide will be rising again and the next 30 miles are very shallow and narrow. 20 miles from here [St Simon, GA] we are going to stop at a marina, shower, re-provision, do some repairs.. and then tomorrow, if all goes well, we will be in Florida!

We are just South of Doboy Sound - Here.

Sunday Log for Chris

I haven't tried connecting much over the weekend but when I have connected I didn't have much of a problem. Tracy reports that she had no issues either. The iPhone has had 5 bars most of the day today from Bull River [just north of Beaufort, SC] to Savannah, GA. Yesterday was spotty but it mostly worked.

Last night we had a blast. We stopped early-ish and got the brilliant idea to tie off plastic bottles to the stern and shoot them with bb's. Captain Ron never misses. I don't miss often. Austin, even though he's from Texas, doesn't hit often. Tracy made Ohio Spaghetti... ask her about that some time! After that we played an episode from 'The Mighty Boosh' TV show for Austin - 'The Legend of Old Gregg'.  And then Ron taught us how to play a domino game called "Mexican Train". Oh, what a night!

Current location:

Wilmington Island, GA, USA

Goodbye South Carolina...

Its Sunday afternoon, we are back in the ditch. Morning started with Tom cutting out on us. I guess he feels we are holding him back now because we have to travel on decent tides due to our draft. Chris and I will miss Austin, he was a fun to be around. It was Toms idea to go to Beaufort for a night , but he left us so we decided to only stop there to pick up Ron's prescription. So we walked quick through town ,and within an hour we were back on the boat. Now that we are back as a solo boat we get to decide where we will stop next.... woo-hoo!

The tides here in Sc are insane. The change gets up to 7ft. Sometimes (like this morning) we could see all the shoaling...ABOVE the water...lol. The markers look 40ft high... it takes some getting used to. I haven't been at the helm much this weekend.. its a tricky bit the next 150 miles. The guys with more experience will be doing this leg.

The guys just furled out the jenny and we are over 7 knots on a rising tide... we will be in Georgia tonight. We will probably just anchor out. I found out today we wont be visiting Savannah. I hope we get a day or so somewhere cool in Georgia. Because to me all of Florida looks the same. (except the Keys and some of the gulf side) Its all Mc- Condos, marinas, beaches and shopping malls. :p

Chris and I are anxious now to come back here on our boat, so we can anchor in a town for a few days at a time Plus have our dinghy to get us back and fourth to shore. Its been a good experience so far. Few ooopsies, but good laughs. Well, I'll stop here and write tomorrow.

Night y'all.............

Bull run River....

We are at our half-way point now... passed the 500 mile marker a short while before we anchored. Sigh. Anyway, a quick storm passed over us today, we were poured on for 3 whole minutes. Chris was in his bathing suit on the bow with a Mojito and enjoyed getting wet. It was 90 degrees today. The temperature dropped as soon as the storm passed. Brrrr, a chilly 75 maybe... :) Soon after, we are anchored out in "Bull River." It has a really strong current here. I think if one of us fell in we probably couldnt get back to the boat...ugh.

Tomorrow we'll be in Beaufort, SC. :) The guys are stopping to let us get a little tour of the town. Plus, Ron is concerned about a little diesel leak that's developed so he's going to consult a mechanic. I made the boys spaghetti for dinner, followed by chocolate chip cookies... we are going to gain weight on this trip. :) Thats ok because its going to be cold when we get home...at least we will be well insulated.

I tried to get some pics of the sunset, but the clouds hid it. Still looks cool shining pink through the clouds. The boys were outside floating bottles and shooting at them again. Silly boys :p We watched some Mighty Boosh and played a domino game Ron taught us. We anchored early so we needed to kill time. Allot of time. There is nothing where we are tonight. Water, lots of it. Thats it..Shoreline is far away and there's no lights just us and bugs. I'm gonna be in bed by 10:30pm on a Saturday .... yuck. Its ok, tomorrow should be fun... if we don't get poured on. (naw it will still be fun) Nighty-night, y'all. ;)

Internet Report

Since shortly after the last internet report things have been very
stable and quite fast. Even the iPhone has had service [amazing,
huh?]. It is now Oct 10th at 10 AM and we just passed 480 miles. By
the end of the day today we will have completed over half this trip
with only a couple spots that didn't have any service at all!

Changed plans......

We had a change of plans yesterday. We were against the current all day yesterday and the boats needed to refuel so we stopped in at the "Isle of Palms" for fuel and decided to stay for the night. The docks were very nice and the view was great. They have a decent store for some of your needs. Our need was Corona :) Hello weekend....

We all went to the dock restaurant and were eaten alive by the starving SC mosquitoes... the service sucked but the food was pretty good. However, I think the band upstairs either just started out or SC doesn't have any good musicians and singers because they were BAD. When it was time for bed they were still playing and we were docked right in front of the bar/ restaurant. I asked Chris if we could pull out Ron's BB gun and shoot at the singer. He said no.

So here its is.... Saturday morning and we were up at six and on the move. We left at low tide this morning and it was a little sticky motoring around for the first 2 hrs. Ron pointed out Fort Sumner a few minutes ago, thats where the first shot of the civil war was from. Chris and I may stop there next time down here but no time today for touring.

We are presently passing Charleston, SC. It looks like a cute little town but we are saving our next stop for Beaufort, SC. Ron has beef with a gentleman that stiffed him on some cash about 3 yrs ago that has his boat in Charleston. He just used the radio to broadcast to Charleston who the man is , his boat and basically that the mans a loser and doesn't pay his debts. I guess it doesn't matter how old we get, when someone hurts us or pisses us off that angry kid comes out. It was kinda cute :)

I have to go clean up the galley, made french toast for breakfast mmmmm. Update later..... ta.

Back on track.

All the laundry is done, the food shopping was done, the indulging ourselves ashore is over and we are back in the ditch. This part is another remote area. Backwoods SC.... moss hanging off some trees and tall straw/grass. No houses.... few little fishing boats, that's it. We did see two dolphins this morning playing at our bow :)

I think it would have been nice to pop out and avoid some of this part of the trip due to huge tide changes and narrow channels. It wont happen this trip because the guys don't want to wait for a window. Onward we go....

I still enjoy the scenery and the peace of it. We should pass Charleston SC tomorrow afternoon. We will be out of SC and into Georgia on Sunday. Sun is shinning and its getting warm... shorts today :)

Friday Morning

After spending a wonderful day in Georgetown, SC we are off again.
Soon as we left Georgetown the service left my iPhone. I am now sure
that the next time I do this trip it won't be with an iPhone. Even the
old trusty internet has faded to almost nothing - ran horribly slow -
and then disappeared at 0830, just an hour and a half into the
morning. It came right back but it's really, really, slow.

The next leg of this trip is slow, narrow, and at points it gets very
shallow. If I had my 'druthers we would wait for a window and go the
outside.. but it appears I left my 'druthers in Maryland.

We are hoping to make 60 miles today and anchor out.

On shore..........

Gooooood morning. Its a lovely Thursday morning and we just returned from breakfast. A little southern cafe that probably hasn't changed much in 60 yrs. The interior and the appliances are still the same and it takes you back in time. I had a good southern breakfast with eggs, hash, yellow stone ground grits and toast with orange marmalade. Im not a huge fan of grits but I think when your somewhere different try to eat what the locals eat.

Im getting ready to grab the camera and wander about town. I need to do a little shopping and laundry at some point today..... later :)

We all have smiles on our faces this morning. The sun is out and the weather is going to be comfortable all day. It may be another few days before we step out on land again so we will soak up all this little "Mayberry" town offers............... gotta run!

The joke is that Ron for some reason continues to think my name is Terry... so the guys all call me Terry now. Asses.. ;p

Its almost midnight, I'm getting tired. Loading and sorting photos for the past hour while I have decent internet. Went out to eat at The River Room, its this nautical restaurant here in Georgetown, SC. It had good food and great atmosphere. This town is adorable. The only bad part is the gargantuan factory that can be seen and smelled from anywhere in this town. It smells like boiling hot dogs.... weird.

I'm beat and everyone but me is asleep...I'm going to bed. Night y'all................

quick connectivity update

The iPhone was dead from approx mile 350-390. I swapped the sim card to a motorola phone, it was no better - seems to be an AT&T dead zone here. The Verizon internet card was slow but functional in that same area.

Of course the AT&T dead spot was right about the time I needed to join a conference call for work. We arrived at here around 1700, and once we got tied up and settled in Tracy, Austin and I went to explore the town. Its a quaint little "Historic Seaport" as they like to say.

current location: Georgetown, SC

Thats all from me tonight. I'll let Terry post the events of the evening.

It's been a week....

Well folks, we are officially a week into our trip. That means we are 1/3 the way there. Its been a fun, confusing, interesting, tiring, and confining week. I'm thrilled that Ron is the kind of guy that just smiles and says "ah... no big deal" and then whistles and sings. Not much bothers Ron. Its nice not to have tension in such close quarters. Chris and I are learning allot about what we will need to do for our trip, and a few things that are "no no's" :)

Let me give you an update. Chris may have already mentioned it but NC was our grounding state. Four times I believe. (I seriously stopped count) Sometimes the helmsman's fault, sometimes the gps, but more than once it was just shoaling on bad tides. Last night
was the best. If it hasn't been said yet, Skylark has a 6'2 draft... thats way more than we are used to. Its 1 ft 3 inches more to worry about.

Anyway, We anchored in the dark last night in this small anchorage (after we were pulled out again) guided in by Larkspur. We anchored in 8.8 to 9.2 ft of water. We weren't aware that this part of SC has a 4-6 ft tide change... yep, not good. I woke up at about 4 am to go to the head and the boat was heeled to port about 10 degrees or a little more. Our ass end was up in the air and we were sitting in 3 ft of water. It was low tide. I woke up Chris... he woke up Ron. We made sure we weren't hurting Tom's boat (since we were tied up) and then agreed to sleep in until the tide comes back. Oh, we didn't wake Tom.

6:30 am we here footsteps and chain on our bow. We lift up the hatch and see Tom and Austin. We let them know why we are still in bed and that tide should be up soon. They aren't stuck and are anxious to get moving. We go out and see the water has returned enough to probably get out. The guys are barley dressed while starting the motor and pulling the anchor up. It was a blurry morning until we had coffee.

This afternoon has been really pleasant, the scenery has gone from oversized pastel mansions, back to trees and nature. ( We have past Myrtle Beach finally!! ) The leaves here are starting to change color here a little. Its a beautiful day. About 80 degrees and some 15 to 20 knots of wind. Lots of sea spray today!! Sun in and out this afternoon but thunderstorms are in the forecast for tonight. We should hit Georgetown by 5 o'clock. Sweet.... :)

Tuesday Evening - Wednesday Morning.

Other than entering a new state, South Carolina, we have had a rather uneventful day. That was soon to change. Our last bridge opened on the hour and we missed the 1800 opening so we were stuck waiting until the 1900 opening. The thing is.. sunset was at 1849. So, there we were, at the "Sunset Beach Bridge", watching the sunset. Beautiful, huh? Nope. The other thing is, you don't want to be in the ICW after dark. And we were. The anchorage was only a mile further but there were no lights and the moon wasn't due to rise until 2051.

Captain Ron took the lead and was successful at locating the shoreline, then Larkspur pulled us off -again- and took the lead. We trolled along at .5 knots into the anchorage, dropped anchor in 9 ft of water, and joined Tom and Austin on the Larkspur for some of "Austin's Awesome Pasta Alfredo", and a cocktail.

We expected that the tide would reverse direction at some point during the evening and we might swing around. We had a little concern about which direction we would swing and whether we would clear the shore line. When Tracy awoke in the middle of the night she immediately knew something was askew. Our stern was high by about three feet. I immediately checked the tide charts and found we were 4 feet down from the night before, and that we should be back to normal by 0800. We woke the captain who assessed the situation and said, "Well, I guess we can sleep in today". Yea! Back to bed.

We came clear at 0730 and we were off to Georgetown, 60 miles downstream. Along the way we passed what some consider to be the most treacherous point of the ICW: a rocky something-or-other. There are rocks on both sides and it's very narrow. It wasn't too bad to navigate other than the narrowness. It was really pretty, but I wouldn't want to meet up with any big boats on this stretch!

We saw a sign today: Miami 740 miles. We are just at one week into the trip and more than a third of the way there. This is our current location:

Socastee, SC

The internet report for the day: 4 bars on Verizon Internet, and 5 on AT&T iPhone. It looks like South Carolina is an AT&T spot. Good thing, because I have a conference call to make at noon.

Side note: Ron prefers to call Tracy by the name Terry. He says its easier to say. Its the new running joke.

October 6th..... almost SC.

Stuck waiting for another bridge. 45min wait to be exact. I'm glad the scenery is so beautiful here. We are still in NC. , at Wrightsville Beach. We can see the condos and beach from where we are sitting. This is the Wrightsville Beach Bridge and its a Bastille bridge. Which I've been informed by capt. Ron., means "teeter-totter" in french... :)

Today is going to be another.... "lets see how far we can get" kind of days. We will anchor out again tonight. I'm hoping it goes a bit smoother than yesterdays anchor adventure. It was a close quarter, shallow, little anchorage. We didn't have an easy time. The wind picked up last night and swung us around a few times, but the anchor held both boats. Ron keeps telling me how good his anchors are. Now I belive him.

Tomorrow we are taking a trip to Georgetown, SC. It will be our first two day stay dockside and we are thrilled. It means town exploration and reprovisioning. Tom and Ron are meeting up with a friend and Tom's waiting on a boat part. We can run "a-muck" on shore for all of Thursday.... woo-hoo!

Until then......................

Things that go BUMP in the dark

In the dark water, to be precise.

We didn't make 80 miles yesterday and stopped short at mile 265. A solid 60 miles for the day, and an early stop at 1630. The day was rainy and I think everyone was ready to pull over. The channel to the anchorage was narrow and it took a call on VHF from a nice fishing boat to get us pointed in the right direction, and then careful attention to the narrow channel to keep us from running aground... well almost.

Bump, Bump, Bump. That is an all to common sound over the last two days. We bumped and ran aground going into Morehead City - luckily we got off easily. We bumped and almost ran aground in the middle of the channel at 72B. Then we bumped and ran hard aground on the way to the anchorage last night. Oh boy, we were stuck. Stuck good! With fast current running us more into the muck. Luckily Larkspur is still with us and they pulled us off. After a bit of tugging this way and that way we were free and made it to the anchorage with no further problems. We rafted up again last night and the Larkspur crew came over for some of Ron's famous "Detroit Coney Island Hot Dogs" and chocolate chip cookies.

Today we were up again before the sun .. again trying for 70-something miles. I doubt we are going to make it though; we ran aground again this morning (and needed assistance from Tom again) and now we are waiting an hour for a bridge opening. Those two things will cost us nearly 10 miles today.

Now - before someone else brings this up I'm just going to say it - yes I was at the helm for every one of the groundings. Yes, I admit it. At least two (of four) were entirely my fault. Last night's and 72B both were just a fluke uncharted shoaling. But the two other times it was completely preventable. The first time I was talking to Austin on the radio and not paying attention. And today the channel was too narrow for both the commercial fishing boat and I - and I knew it too, I should have slowed down and let him pass first. That was my gut feeling and I should have followed it.

Oh yeah - you want an intracostal internet report. Good service again last night and good again today. Even the iPhones work down this way. We are currently at Wrightsville Beach, NC, USA.

Monday...

It's Monday afternoon. We spent the night at the Beaufort City Docks. I have to say they are pretty nice. We were docked alongside a few megayatchs. The one next to us was "topping off" his tank. It was almost 500 gallons!! Get the picture? I want to add that when coming in you really have to stay close to the markers and pay attention. Ill let Chris decide if he wants to tell that cute little story.... ;)

We docked ,took showers, and headed out to eat. The town is small, but really cute. Loads of restaurants and little shops. Of course we got in on a Sunday and after 5pm, so there wasn't much open. Anywhere we did go however, we were handed "wooden nickels" for free drinks at the "Dock Bar." We ended up having 10 of them. We aren't professional drinkers, but we did go to the bar after dinner. :)

Once again, up at 6am and on the move. It rained for 3 hrs this morning, and it was chilly out. Blah. What a crappy morning. Chris went to work and I sat at the helm quite a bit until noon. The only thing I really have to say in this entry is that you have to really watch for bridges and know where they are and what time they will be opening. As we found out today at the "Onslow Swing Bridge" if you are so much as 1 minute late for the bridge, it will close. We learned this lesson by following a barge and our sailboat friends to said bridge but we were a 3-5 min behind them and the bridge attendant closed the bridge right in front of us. I guess he thought it would be funny to

close it and watch us have to circle for a half an hour until he opened it again. What a douche. He knew we were right there and following the other sailboat. Bridge Nazi. :p

Chris is a little down, because we could have popped out into the big Atlantic for a two day trip on the outside, but mother nature said "I don't think so." I'm glad we didn't try because I don't want to be beating into the wind for a day, ( and possibly getting sick) and then being poured on the next day, all day. Screw that. Thats not fun , thats just silly.

I had to walk away from this entry because Chris needed some help. Apparently at red marker 72B in the New River, some shoaling has occurred and we were almost grounded in the middle of the channel!!! So beware when you near that intersection.

We are supposed to just anchor out tonight but I'm not sure where because the guys are going for distance today and not a destination.

I cant wait until Chris and I do this trip in our boat. We will be able to stop and spend some time in these little towns.

Not much to add at the moment. I'm headed in for a nap. Thats right, because the guys had a little "snore off" last night and I didn't get a hell of allot of sleep.... oh and they both think they don't snore. I'm going to video tape them next time. Ha.
Chow ;)

Monday Morning

We set off from Morehead City at 0630, before light. Slight drizzle,
which later turned to rain has kept the mood this morning fairly
subdued. We are trying to make 80 miles today, and the numbers so far
say we might make it. We have estimated 6.75 knots over the last 4
hours. Although common sense tells me we'll get in just after dark, I
hope daylight will see our anchor down.

The internet report for the morning: Verizon gets another A+ from
Moorehead City to marker 230. It's 1100 now, and I have been able to
work for a solid 3 hours so it's time to take a break. What a hard
life. I have a conference call at 12 to get ready for and I hope my
iPhone will not let me down.

Sunday Evening

We are in Beaufort, NC now. We arrived at 1730. We made 70 miles of
the ICW today in 11 hours. We finally saw some dolphins along the way
and we are docked along side some really nice, HUGE boats.

After some quick showers we are going to grab something to eat. (Side
note - The city dock showers are so small I actually felt
claustrophobic in them. But it was hot and good pressure - so I
shouldn't complain. It could have been a Belizian shower - rain water,
warmed by the sun.)

OK, everyone has met back up at the boat so I think it's time to grab
something to eat. Somehow Tracy and I have scored 8 free drink tokens
since we arrived.. I think it's gong to be a drunken night!

AT&T: Fewest dropped calls.

I don't doubt that AT&T has the fewest dropped calls. That's very
probable considering few places I actually get service!

Barely 2 bars on AT&T until Statute Mile 155. That was about 50 miles
of the ICW that you could not make a call on an iPhone. Verizon has
had service most of that time. Most of that time I was also online
with the Verizon service.

Out of the Alligator and into the Goose..

It's 10:30am Sunday morning and the sun is shining away. Yesterday was a day of relaxing. There were no houses or marinas or signs of human life. All I could think of was that this must have been what it looked like when the early settlers first came here. The channels and sounds on the ICW in NC. and full of nature. All you see are birds, trees, high grass, and did I mention birds? All different kinds of birds. It was very peaceful. I even took a power nap... :)

We anchored at sunset in this beautiful little spot that was surrounded by tall grass coming out of the water and aged cypress trees. We are still amazed that there is so much water and land not touched by people here. Its so nice to see what America looked like once. Back to last night. We anchored and rafted up with our friends on Larkspur. Then we had some veggies, and tortilla chips and salsa and dips. Austin whipped up a few drinks for us and we called it an early night. The moon was full and close to earth last night. So nature provided us with a nightlight through the hatches. Its so cool when that happens.

The motor alarm clock went off around 6:30- 7am and we were off! Like yesterday we motored out into another sound and was able to furl out the big jenny for awhile. The morning was the same, trees, birds , grass and of course red and green markers. We have gone a little over 150 miles on the intracoastal. (that's since we hit Norfolk, Va.) and so far its been very relaxing and tranquil. I think were going to hit Morhead City today. We will actually get off the boat again, and be able top off fuel and water, plug in to juice up, and pump out. Right now we are in Goose Creek NC. Man its a nice day out. The kind of day you can wear shorts and a long sleave shirt and not sweat or be cold. Light breeze and sun is out showing off.


All I have ta say for now............ back to the bow.

Sunday Morning

Current position: 35.521949-76.576756

Last night we rafted up with 'Larkspur' and shared hor' devours and rum drinks. There was a light breeze all night, 4-5 knots and few bugs - unlike the night before at Coinjock. You might say the Coinjock mosquitos ate well that night.

As a follow up to that quick post last night I should say the internet was not fast. It was really slow - but I was able to check weather and send emails no problem. Ron's Verizon phone had a bar or two of service when we stopped, but the iphones were just paper weights.

This morning we started off a couple minutes before twilight. It's 0741 as I write this and we are starting to see houses scattered about the shoreline. Verizon service is now at a full 5 bars and my iPhone is still a brick. Oh, well.

Tracy made morning coffee for the crew, as usual. That is the highlight of every morning for me; By the time the boat is moving the coffee is on the stove. Thank you, Tracy!

All phones dead

N 35 34.90 W 76 17.44

All our phones are dead but the USB card with external antenna is still going.

Wow, I'm truly impressed.

Connectivity in the Carolinas

The post may be better titled "Lack of Connectivity in the Carolinas". We finally hit a spot with no AT&T connectivity about 90 miles down. Its hard to know exactly where to draw the line - today wasn't a "work day" so I was not concerned about being connected. I'm at SM 100 and still at zero bars, although it looks like Verizon it still ticking, and my wireless card is working. Slowly, but at least it is working.

The day started without the sun at 0600. Cloudy, dark, rainy and chilly. It stayed that way until about noon. Now it is beautiful and warm and we have made 40 miles so far - we are shooting for 60 today. We are in Cypress Swamp. This place is pure desolation.. 35 40.22 / W 76 02.22 The water is like glass, and there are no houses or other boats anywhere to be seen.

Leaving Coinjock.....

We both wimped out last night on the 32 oz. steak's. Thats not a human portion. Its a cut for a lion or two pitbulls. I didn't really realize how big and bloody a 32 oz steak was.... damn. So Chris had the "mate's" cut (half the size) and I had an (baby)8 oz cut with a few coconut shrimpies. The food was very good. Its a good place to eat if your floating through NC...

After dinner with our friends, (capt. Ron, Tom, and his grandson Austin) we walked past all the insanely huge powerboats tied up to this little dock. All I could think to myself was why? Why so big? Why would you want to ever need a thousand gallon gas tank? Its just silly.

Then the 19yr old Austin went on to say... he wants a big powerboat, with big motors, and a bar, and a huge sound system, and big decks because that would make him cool, and chicks dig that stuff. Sooo NOW I get it. These guys that own these boats are older and are grey, but have the mentality of this 19yr old boy... but with money.... scary.

Anyway,
Its 8:45am Saturday morning now and we've been up since 6am... ugh. The sun was even lazy getting up today, dawn was even 10min late. Its going to be raining on and off all day today... sigh. Our friends from last night are following us today and they don't have a big bimini like we do. I kinda feel sorry for them getting soaked. Everyday cant be as beautiful as our first three.

Chris was at the helm this morning. I'm sure he was happy about that. He likes the rain. Plus he likes the fact he isn't working today. Captain Ron is taking over now at the helm and Ill probably but some time in after lunch. But I think its going to be an uneventful day. Just a motor trip in the rain, down Alligator river to a quiet little anchorage for the night. Even tho its raining and damp its not cold. Plus the scenery is pleasant and it smells like the ocean... ahhhh.

It beats being home anyday.

:)

Coinjock, NC.

It is now Friday afternoon and as Chris has posted, we are in Coinjock, NC. My entries will be out of time with Chris's sometimes because he is online often and has a fancy little card he uses for work that helps him get better internet. I spend my days on the bow taking photographs. Anyway....

Thursday morning we drifted on in to Norfolk, Va. It is a huge militant port and doesn't have a very "warm and fuzzy" kind of feeling. Makes you realize how small you and your boat really are. You almost feel as though youve gone the wrong way and dont belong there. Thats my
take on it anyway.

We had an hour wait for the first bridge, (they couldn't get it unlocked) and the water police were pacing making damn sure we didnt cross that imaginary waterline that becomes Federal Property. We did get lucky tho, the next bridge and lock went by fast. Once we hit The Great Bridge (famous for its battle in 1776) we decided to call it a day. Sooo, we did a little sleep over at the, shall I say, "rustic" city dock in Cheaspapeke, Va. Cute, quiet and FREE.... :) We tied up and without even turning off the running lights, jumped off and hit "El Toro Loco." A mexicain restaurant that was a five minute walk from the dock. We stuffed ourselves silly and drank a few margaritas , waddled back to the boat and passsed out. mmm..zzzzzzzzz

Chris and I woke to the sound of the motor starting. We now know that will be our alarm clock for this trip. Capt. Ron wanted an early start.. but our first bridge of the day wasn't going to open till 8:30am. It was 7am when we got to it. We had some coffee, eggs and chipped beef with a view of that same bridge.

I took a few pictures of the canal and its greenery and driftwood along the shorelines, but for the most part I was at the helm. We had a good easy day. I'm now sitting at the Coinjock Marina (and resturant) in NC. Its isolated and quiet because we are 2 weeks ahead of the hundreds of snow birds getting ready for this same trip. We will enjoy the peace tonight. This is where the famous 32oz steak is.....

We will fill you in on that important detail tonight.... hang tight. :P

Position Update

Coinjock, NC. We stopped for the day at 1430. Weather is high 70s,
overcast, slight breeze. Ron made Coney Island style hot dogs... YUM.
I'll let Tracy fill you in on all the details. It's time for beer.

1 to 2 bars of service on the card. Internet is still OK... slow, but
it works. So far I have been able to work underway the entire trip.
150 miles under our belt. 950 to go...

Tracy's Thursday

Life never really follows the plans you make, especially if your traveling on a sailboat. Mother nature makes your plans for you, and if you don't listen, expect to get spanked.

The reason I have said that is because in a rush, we headed out Wednesday ,instead of this Thursday. The wind was going to be in our favor and it was going to change direction by this Thursday morning. We motor-sailed through the night. From someone with bad night vision and really isn't fond of night sailing, I have to say it wasn't a bad night at all. The guys did the watches, i was company and cabin girl. Chris wants me to do a guys share in watches and sailing, but I made 5 dozen chocolate chip cookies for this trip. I was off the hook. Never underestimate the powers of night watch cookies ladies. :)

Its 10:40am and we are 5 miles from Norfolk Va.... not too shabby. So far the cell service and internet have been friendly for Chris. The weather is sunny and cool and the water has 1-2 foot seas. No complaints. No one slept very much but we all seem chipper.

The plan is to bypass Norfolk and head right to Coinjock, NC. As long as its daylight we might as well take advantage of the good weather. We may also be meeting up with Ron's friend Tom, whom we met at our marina as well. Tom was there for his Hinkley reunion. Capt. Ron says we must stop there for the 32oz steak dinner... Chris and I do not plan on talking him out of it.

I'll give details later... chow.

North Carolina

Just crossed the border into North Carolina. Connectivity has been
good all morning. I have a teleconference call in a half an hour with
a client.. this should be fun.

Weather is clear skies, brisk air. You can tell fall is coming.

Web Access at this point

It may not have been obvious by the fact that I just made a post but
we are just south of Chesapeake, VA and I am having no problems
signing into my Verizon service. Hmm, I guess I should get to work then.

South of Chesapeake, VA

It was a beautiful morning as we cast of the lines at 0630. The fog
started to build in the first couple of miles. And then two miles in,
we ran into out first oops of the day. The bridge in this picture was
closed and would remain closed until 0830. It's 0700 now.

Waiting for a bridge to open.

Ok, I have a couple minutes to burn while waiting for a bridge so I'll
post an update.

I was easily able to work all day today, and did from 0900 to 1200 and
again from 1400 to 1600. My connection was solid and rather quick the
whole time. I was even able to download drivers for my GPS.

Currently we are at mile 5. It looks like we aren't gonna make it much
further do to bridge trouble. I'll check in more tomorrow. Fair winds
and rum drinks till then.

Thursday morning

Well, we are 14 miles from Fort Monroe and signal is excellent - so
while I'm posting I'll give a little update about our travels, then
I'm gonna get some work done.

Last night we motor sailed from HHS [@1630] to where we are now [@
0900]. Conditions were great - 15kn from the starboard quarter until
sometime after 0300 when the wind changed to our port. Sea 2ft until
we hit the Potomac - then very bumpy. The moon was almost full and
visible until the wind shift - then cloudy.

The moon had a halo last night.. and we had a red dawn this morning...
hmm.

Looks like I get to work another day...

After a couple cups of coffee, and a bowl of cereal I thought I'd try
to log on for the day and see if I was able to work.