Beaufort, SC to Ocean Isle, NC

April 24, 2018 - April 27, 2018

We left Beaufort at 10:00 am so we would hit the trouble spots of the day at mid or rising tide.  It was chilly but sunny and the trip was going so well that we decided to continue past our original planned anchorage and stopped in Charleston Harbor at about 7:30 pm (another very long day).  Along the way we noticed that some friends of ours, Prue and Bert on s/v Exuberant, were behind us.  We chatted a bit over the radio and wound up in the same anchorage for the night.  

We left Charleston at 7:30 am and were pushed along so swiftly by the incoming tide that we made it to the Ben Sawyer Bridge 45 minutes before its opening at 9:00 am.  Bob just circled around in front of the bridge until it opened.  Just below Isle of Palms there is an ocean inlet north of Sullivan’s Island that caused shoaling well into the ICW channel.  Without any beeping of the depth sounder we hit the sandbar hard and were aground there for almost three hours waiting for the tide to come in.  We had lunch while waiting and were on our way again by 12:30.  This interruption in the schedule caused us to alter our plan for the day. Bob took 10 miles off the trip and we anchored at about 7:30 just before sunset.  It was another long day. My new found skill at making various types of fruit daiquiris came in handy to take the edge off our stress.  Just saying - I think I like our Bahamian lifestyle better than traveling the ICW. 

Which do you prefer? This...

...or this?

On Thursday we left our peaceful anchorage at sunrise headed for Barefoot landing Marina in the middle of the rock pile (a section of the ICW in order to form the channel it had to be blasted out due to the solid rock bottom). One unexpected treat of the day was witnessing a Blue Angels air show as we traveled. Boy those planes are loud!  We passed a section of palatial waterfront homes in Myrtle Beach and were amazed at the size of the homes and the splendor of the terracing, landscaping, and infinity pools. 

One of the houses we passed

After 10.5 hours of motoring we docked at 5:30 pm and I fixed a delicious stir fry type meal using our available meat and veggies. Sometimes you have to be creative with the provisions you have when on a journey like this.  

On Friday we waited until 10:00 am to leave the marina to take advantage of high tides in some trouble spots ahead.  We docked at Ocean Isle Marina just below the most treacherous inlets in North Carolina in the early afternoon.  Bob’s thinking was that we could pass by the inlets at high tide and be fresh for facing the challenge. During Friday's trip the auto pilot decided to not work.  Hopefully, Bob can trouble shoot and fix the problem.  Hand steering all the way home will be difficult.

I’ll let you know in my next blog how that goes.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Beaufort, SC

April 20, 2018 - April 24, 2018

We stayed in Beaufort for four days at the Downtown Marina.  The marina is centrally located next to the lovely waterfront park, restaurants, shops, and historic homes which allows us to get off the boat for awhile and stretch our legs.  The city has charm galore and is always a pleasant stop for us.

This is a view of the park with its brick walkways and
front porch type swings for seating along the water.

Beaufort is filled with historic homes like this one

Since we had been pushing ourselves quite hard for the four day trip from St. Augustine, we were ready to enjoy some down time. Even though we had to complete the basic chores of provisioning, doing laundry, and checking engine fluid levels we had plenty of time to relax and enjoy Beaufort.  We ate either lunch or dinner out every day at a variety of restaurants. Most of the restaurants are in historic buildings that have been converted to serve their new purpose. My favorite meal was at the Old Bull Tavern where I had gnocchi and shrimp with a rich cream sauce.  

Our neighbors from Anchorage Marina in Baltimore were docked near us at the marina.  Since we hadn’t seen them in almost two years it was good to catch up on their travel experiences. One night we went out to dinner together at Plum’s and enjoyed a great meal and the warm night air on the terrace.  

 This is Hemingway’s Tavern where we had lunch
 over looking the waterfront park.

Our final day in Beaufort was rainy, cold and windy.  We didn’t do much sightseeing but did venture out for lunch. We left Beaufort mid-morning on the 24th to continue our trip up the ICW.

Thank you for reading my blog.

St. Augustine, FL to Beaufort, SC.

April 17, 2018 - April 20, 2018

We left St. Augustine at sunrise (the temperature was 52) heading to Fernandina Beach area.  We were making good time and decided to continue on into Georgia even though 70+ mile days really wear us down.  We anchored near Stafford Island, GA.  It took us three days to get through Georgia with its notorious trouble spots- Jekyll Creek, Little Mud River, and Hell Gate.  We got through the first two trouble spots only to go aground in a channel that was charted as having a 16 ft. depth.  When I first heard the depth sounder beep I let out a colorful phrase (those of Irish heritage would recognize it) and started to keen. Bob’s skill at the helm and me on the bow rocking my weight back and forth got us off the bottom and on our way again. We made it to a desolate anchorage in Supelo Sound and spent a cold rocky night.  Our third day started out cold and windy, but warmed up by the afternoon.  We crossed the Savannah River and anchored on New River, South Carolina leaving Georgia in our rear view.

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Generally speaking, the Georgia ICW is a desolate place. The scenery is swampy low country with brown spartina grass and scrub pines.  At low tide the mud flats give off a less than pleasant odor. No matter how far from land we are the flies find the boat.  The wildlife is the most interesting part of this portion of the ICW - sea gulls swoop and caw, brown pelicans fly just above the water and crash dive to seize fish, dolphins play near the boat and sometimes swim along in our wake for a mile or two.  These are the only diversions while at the helm for mile after mile.

This is the scenery for miles.

On the ICW Bob and I take two hour shifts at the helm.  While at the helm I follow the navigational lines on our chart plotter (it is a red line) and use the auto pilot to adjust our direction as needed.  However, I constantly compare what is on the chart plotter to what I see in front of me and what I see on our paper chart.  Navigational markers have to match up on all three.  So tracking our progress and watching the depth keep me alert and busy.  

These electronics are a valuable asset to navigation,
but we still need to use paper charts and our vision to stay on course.

Paper charts are essential for keeping on course.
 They give us the big picture of where we are.
I keep the chart on my lap while at the helm
 so I can constantly check our location.
Can you see the red line we follow?

We arrived in Beaufort, SC at 12:30 on Friday, April 20, 2018.  I’ll write about our four day stay in Beaufort in my next blog post.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Vero Beach, FL to St. Augustine, FL

April 10, 2018 - April 16, 2018

Our last two days in Vero Beach were consumed with engine maintenance, laundry, provisioning, and returning the rental car.  We, also had to visit Giorgio’s Pizzeria one last time for the best pizza in Vero Beach!

On Thursday morning we dropped our mooring line and said goodbye to Pierre and Michilene (our mooring neighbors) at 7 am. After filling our water tanks at the fuel dock and stocking up on ice we headed north on the ICW.  Bob took the first two hour shift while I made coffee and breakfast.  Quiche underway is such a treat.  It was sunny, but with a chilly wind so we kept our sweatshirts on all day.  We traded watches at the helm every two hours which helped us maintain our stamina throughout the day. We travelled 74 miles in 10.45 hours - all the way to Titusville, FL. 

The sunset on our first night anchoring out.

Our plan was to make it to St Augustine on Saturday, but calling the municipal marina for a reservation we found out they couldn’t accommodate us until Sunday.  We altered our plan and anchored out in Daytona Beach for a night and continued on to Marineland Municipal Marina the next morning.  We spent Saturday night there.

The beach was wide and the waves big, but too cold and windy for most.  

We encountered fishermen and a few sunbathers on our walk on the beach.

Marineland was the first oceanarium in the world, opening in 1938. 

This is a picture of an aquarium that was inside the gift shop.

Marineland is located on A1A  which used to be the main highway through south Florida. Marineland was quite popular until the building of I-95 and the advent of Seaworld. It has recently been refurbished and reopened and is the headquarters for local sea mammal rescues as well as a dolphin adventure. 

We left our slip mid morning on Sunday and arrived in St. Augustine and were moored in the north mooring field (north of the Bridge of Lions) by noon.  Of course, we went to Pizza Time for lunch and walked around a bit just to be off the boat for awhile.  A thunderstorm was predicted for the afternoon and it hit with a vengeance at 4:00pm.  We were glad to be back on the boat and snuggly tucked into the cabin.

We awoke to a chilly 52 degrees on Monday.  After bundling up we went into town for breakfast at the Cuban/American restaurant on Aviles St., La Herencia Cafe.  We used Uber to get to the Grocery store and back again. After stowing all the food we would need for the next leg of our journey (5-6 days) we went to lunch at Pizza Time again and bought a large pizza to go so we would have it for lunches while we are underway. Can you tell we really like New York style pizza?

I forgot to mention in my last blogpost that Bob and I have reserved a five month old Maine Coon kitten from a breeder in Pennsylvania.  We will pick her up as soon as we get back to Maryland.

We have decided to call her Gypsy.

We will be leaving at first light in the morning, headed north to Fernandina Beach.

Thank you for reading my blog.

From Vero Beach, Florida

March 25, 2018 to April 9, 2018

Some final pictures of the Bahamas:

Typical house in New Plymouth, Green Turtle Cay

Street in New Plymouth, Green Turtle Cay

Flower over a fence along a street in New Plymouth

The ever present bougainvillea in New Plymouth

Our final Bahamian sunrise
outside of West End, Grand Bahama

The weather was favorable for a good Gulf Stream Crossing and we arrived in Vero Beach on Monday March 26.  We’ve been here for two weeks and have accomplished much.  I visited my children’s grandmother, Claire, and her husband, Fred, in Sarasota for a few days.  I enjoyed catching up on their life in the assisted living facility and being able to take Claire shopping and both of them out to dinner.  

After returning to Vero Beach, Bob and I prepared the boat for the electrical work that needed to be done by removing the dining table and the 74 screw that hold the floor boards in place.  I traced the wires that needed to be replaced back to the electrical panel.  The next day our friend Mike, who works for Hartges Yacht Yard, came over to the boat to replace the antenna wire and do the prep work to fix the wiring for the anchor light.  The next day Pete arrived with Mike to go up the mast, replace the antenna, and rewire the anchor light.  Unfortunately, Mike discovered that all of the wiring in the mast needs to be replaced and would have to be done at the yacht yard since the mast would most likely have to be taken down to do the work.  After several tries Pete rewired the anchor light so it would work until we get back to Maryland.  

Bob and I also procured a new galley sink faucet and installed it.  Sounds easy, right?  Well it wasn’t.  The supplier mistakenly sent the faucet to our mailing address in Green Cove Springs and we had to have it forwarded to Vero Beach.  Once it arrived the installation took 3 hours because of the impossibly small, dark, and deep area we needed to work in.  Hurray,  we now can do the dishes in the galley sink instead of walking them back and forth to the bathroom sink to be rinsed.  

I completed sewing all of my triangle quilt squares and once I can iron the seams I can start making the strips of squares.  The strips will start with 38 squares and reduce by one square until the final strip which will be 4 squares.  I’m sure I won’t complete that job until we get back to Baltimore and I can use my sewing machine and my quilt square cutting implements.

We still miss Lizzy terribly. Bob has been researching Maine Coon kittens available for adoption in Maryland.  He has discovered that reputable catteries will breed the Maine Coons so as to lessen the genetic chance of the kittens having a predisposition to congestive heart failure and hip dysplasia.  Lizzy had both problems. 

Jack seems to need more attention now that Lizzy is gone.

We took Jack for his spring lion cut on
Thursday.  Isn't he handsome!

On Saturday we went to the farmer’s market in Vero Beach.  The variety of beautiful fresh fruit and vegetables was amazing.  We bought several items, but the best were the Plant City Strawberries.  They were the sweetest most perfectly ripe berries we have ever had.  Yummy!

Beautiful and delicious!

Now that I’ve caught my blog up I will be posting more regularly.  We will be leaving Vero Beach this coming week (the weather looks unfavorable until Thursday) and continue our trek up the ICW to Maryland.  I enjoy this trip but I am anxious to get back to Maryland to see my nearby family and plan my trips to visit those who are farther away!

Thank you for reading my blog.

Marsh Harbour to Green Turtle Cay

 March 17, 2018 to March 24, 2018

We got busy with our chores on Saturday morning and took the garbage into the Union Jack Dock for disposal.  Two young boys carried the bags for me and deposited them in the dumpster.  I gave them both a generous tip.  I continued on to Bristol, the liquor store, to replenish our supply of rum, vodka and beer.  As I was returning I noticed Bob was the center of attention for several island boys who had shed their clothes (except for underwear) and were wet from swimming.  Bob had been taking them out in the dinghy where they jumped out and swam back to the dock.  The boys were loving it!

We stowed our purchases and rode over to the Jib Room to make our reservation for Steak Out that night and to have lunch.  While we were finishing our lunch a man on the deck called out, “That boat is on fire!”  I heard several “Oh shits” and watched as the employees and the owner ran to put out the fire with extinguishers.  Bob went over to investigate.  The fire started on the bimini (a cockpit covering) caused by faulty wiring of flexible solar panels. The controller for the panels was probably undersized for the 400 watts of power production by the panels and the wiring was sloppily done.

The bimini was completely destroyed and there was damage to the teak
and the fiberglass in the cockpit. Thank goodness the
 nearby propane tanks didn’t blow.

Here you can see the damage from astern.

Steak Out that night was delicious as always and we made it back to the boat just as the sun was setting.

 A lovely ending to an eventful day

Sunday was taken up by two walking trips to Maxwell’s Grocery Store (1/2 mile each way) and stowing our $300+ worth of purchases.  We like to repackage meats to eliminate the styrofoam containers so we can fit more into the fridge.  All cardboard has to be removed from items and discarded quickly to prevent roach infestation of the boat. Yuck!

We got up before the sun on Monday, hauled anchor, and were on our way back to Green Turtle Cay by 6:45. The light winds and calm seas made for an easy passage out into the ocean and around Whale Cay.

One of the rewards of getting up so early is a beautiful sunrise.

This large schooner was anchored in the
Sea of Abaco near  Whale Cay.

We were tied onto our mooring and thinking about lunch by 10:45. That afternoon the temperature was in the 80’s and I decided on a swim.  Bob needed me to check the propeller for growth or vines wrapped around the shaft.  I dove down and brushed away the growth and used a razor scrapper to remove the barnacles from the shaft.  I was on a roll and decided to start cleaning the bottom of the boat of the growth I could reach without going under.  I made it about 1/4 of the way around before I was tired out.  Cleaning tasks take a lot of energy!  I was done with work for the day.  After a hot shower and a lobster dinner I was ready to turn in early.

Tuesday morning I defrosted and cleaned the refrigerator thoroughly. I’m excited about getting back to work on my quilt now that I have all of the Androsia fabric I need.  

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Our Maine coon cat. Lizzy, passed away on Thursday morning of congestive heart failure while at a vet’s office in Marsh Harbour. Bob was holding her while the vet and his assistant did everything they could to save her. We took her to the vet because of labored breathing and refusal to eat. Unknown to us these can be signs of congestive heart problems of which Maine coon cats are predisposed. We are heart broken over her loss. This tragedy has sucked the joy out of our Bahamas adventure so we are taking advantage of a weather window to get back to the states. We left Green Turtle on Friday morning and will be in Ft. Pierce late Sunday afternoon. We will continue on to Vero Beach where we will spend 2-3 weeks.

This is the last picture I took of Lizzy (she is in the forefront)
while she and Jack were enjoying a relaxing afternoon in the cockpit. 

Here’s to fair winds and following seas. 

Thanks for reading my blog.

Green Turtle Cay to Man-O-War Cay to Marsh Harbour

March 12, 2018 - March 16, 2018

We’ve had some good weather and some not so good weather lately.  On Monday it rained during the early hours and into the morning but cleared up after lunch.  We left the boat to go into the grocery store with the sun shining, but by the time we got back to the boat we were hearing thunder.  Once we were inside the storm broke and we had rain off and on for the rest of the day.  There is something about rainy days that make Bob and I both want to cook.  He used some left over grouper he had grilled the night before to make a delicious creamy soup for lunch with mushrooms and a little sautéed onion.  For dinner that night I made an enchilada stove top casserole using some cooked chicken breasts we had in the fridge.  That also was quite good.  The problem with these “use what we have on hand” meals is that we can never duplicate them.

One Tuesday, the last day of Bob’s week long birthday celebration we went out to lunch at The Lizard Restaurant at the Leward Yacht Club.  We had excellent meals, but the deconstructed key lime pie was exceptional…probably the best we’ve ever had.

Like most Abaco restaurants the seating is outside
 with some protective shades that can be
let down or rolled up depending on the wind.

The biggest decision of the day...what to have for lunch.

The pool by the restaurant can be used by marina and restaurant guests.
I’ve yet to see anyone in the pool. 

After lunch the wind tapered off and I sunned on the bow waiting to get hot enough to go in the water.  At about 3:30 I swam around the boat several times and then used the deck brush (Bob always has a chore for me) to clean the growth off the rudder.  This is my first time in the water since we were in Man-O-War Cay…those pesky cold fronts.

I’ve been making progress on my quilt and was able to calculate the number of squares I need to complete it and found I need two more yards of Androsia fabric.  A shop in Green Turtle sells Androsia but they don’t have the colors I need.  We will have to visit Man-O-War again.  I love fabric shopping!!!!

I am always drawn to the beautiful flowers that grow on these cays - some are planted by home owners, but many grow wild.  On one of our daily walks I took photos of the flowers we encountered.

I think this pink flower may be a type of frangipani.

This may be another type of frangipani.

Could this be a morning glory?

I think this is a hibiscus.

This seems to be another type of morning glory.

Our outing on Thursday included a walk to
the beach in the central part of the cay.

Everywhere you look on this cay is
a great opportunity for a photograph.

The shelling was great at this beach.

Bob harvested a couple more coconuts and cracked them open on Wednesday while I was walking to the grocery store and then completed the process while I was doing laundry.  I made another batch of yummy coconut muffins.

Friday morning we left our mooring at 7:30 to make it to Man-O-War by mid tide.  The Whale channel was calm and we made record time to Man-O-War.  While Bob was topping off the fuel tank and filling our water tanks I hurried down to Sally’s Boutique to get the Androsia fabric.  They had all of the colors I needed and I was back at the boat before the water tanks were full.  It was still before mid-tide so we elected to continue on to Marsh Harbor and get a head start on all we needed to accomplish there.  We anchored near our friends Jonathan and Marion and invited them over for happy hour that night.  No sense getting too busy with tasks.  

Thank you for reading my blog.