BEAUFORT TO CHARLESTON

DAY 294, MON. MAY 7, 2012

DEP. BEAUFORT SC 07:50  ARR. CHARLESTON, SC 3:35

D. 68.2sm / 4531.3

We left Beaufort SC with Evelyn and Sid Tilstra on “Something Special” and the departure was a hair raiser.  Because of the current there was a very large “raft” of reeds that formed an almost solid mass behind their boat so thick that it took them attempts to get the boat to move astern into the current.  When they got under way we very easily left our slip and joined them for the long ride to Charleston, SC.  The course is so convoluted that we cruised almost 70 miles to go a distance of 54 miles as the crow flies.  For the most part the rivers were wide and deep and compared to Georgia, easier to navigate.  We averaged 9.1 mph, a little faster than usual as we had a long distance to go.  The weather was mostly cloudy with a few scattered showers.  When we got to Charleston the wind picked up to 25k and we encountered 3’ waves on the Cooper River.  Our biggest concern was how we would be able to pull into a slip without taking out a few boats, but the staff was on hand to “catch” us before we could do any damage.

OVERTAKING A TOW

BEAUFORT, SC

DAY 293, MAY 5, 2012

DEP HHI 07:30  ARR BEAUFORT, SC 11:AM

D. 28.4 sm / 4463.1

The trip to Beaufort, SC took us through Callibogue Sound and Port Royal Sound.  Navigation was easy as the water was deep and the channels wide.  When we got to the marina the current was against us at about 1.9k, and we had to tie up port side to between 2 boats in an inside slip.  I didn’t give the current much thought until the next morning when we wanted to leave.  This was the night of the “super moon”, (when the moon is closest to earth) and the current was unusually strong. There was no way I could pull out from between 2 boats and turn the Glory Days in the short space between floats, so we changed our plans and stayed another day.  However, to avoid the same situation the next day, I moved the boat to a different slip at slack current.  The next morning we were able to just pull straight out.  The highlight of our stay here was that Evelyn & Sid Tilstra on Something Special caught up with us.  We first met them back in Grand Haven MI, and a few other stops along the way.  This time our plans were the same so we decided to travel together until they changed. They are a great couple; they both came from large families and were raised on dairy farms in Canada.

THE "SUPER" MOON

MARINE BASE

BEAUFORT MARINA

9' TIDES

SAVANNAH TO HILTON HEAD ISLAND

DAY 292 FRI. MAY 4, 2012

DEP. SAVANNAH 07:15, ARR. HILTON HEAD IS. 10:35
D. 28.1sm / 4434.7 [1]

We bid farewell to Steve & Beth and headed for Hilton Head Island (HHI), just 28 miles north.  At 07:50 am we started across the Savannah River and spotted the USCG Eagle inbound to the Tall Ship Parade in Savannah Harbor.  We quickly turned to starboard, cruised by her to port, then made a u turn to continue our journey.  She was a thrilling site!  HHI is a very “upscale” Island.  The marina is beautiful, and there are many shops nearby.  There were a lot of beautiful homes and many high end condos.  There was a shuttle that took guests to the various shops and the beach.  We went to the beach and it was one of the nicest ones we’ve ever seen.  On a side note, we met a couple that we knew from our trip down the ICW in 1999 aboard their boat Adnil, and they are still cruising.

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[1]

LIGHTHOUSE AT HHI

FROM THE LIGHTHOUSE (GLORY DAYS IS AT 1 O'CLOCK)

A MAP OF THE MARINA

BEAUTIFUL WIDE BEACHES

SAVANNAH & FRIENDS

DAY 291, DAY 292:  WED, THURS, MAY 2, 3, 2012
DEPART SUNBURY CRAB CO 09:50 ARR BETH & STEVEN WESTGATE (mm585+) SAVANNAH, GA. 2:10 

D. 43.0sm / 4406.6

Today was one of those beautiful, blue skies, blue water days.  It was hot and humid and we had the sun in our face as we made our way along all of the curvy rivers on the ICW. Looking at all of the tall grass lining the rivers, you see how Savannah got her name. Steve Westgate (Gemini) met us on the river in his whaler and led us to his dock. We all had a cold one while we caught up on the news. We got together again that evening for cocktails at the Westgate’s yacht club and dinner at a local restaurant. It was great seeing Beth and Steve again and sharing Looper stories from our trips. Beth graciously loaned us her car on Thursday so we could go in to Savannah and see the sights. We began our visit with a trip to the Savannah museum, followed by a trolley tour. We had lunch on River St., and luckily saw the tall ships that had just come in for a huge celebration on the Savannah waterfront. We finished our trolley tour of beautiful Savannah and went back to our boat for cocktails with Beth and Steve. We really enjoyed our visit with them and hope to see them again soon. THANKS, Beth & Steve for your hospitality and friendship.

LOOKING ASTERN

THE MIDDLE SECTION OF THE BRIDGE IS BEING HELD BY THE 2 CABLES AND THE CRANE. 2OOTONS!  WE HAD TO PASS THRU HERE

LOW TIDE IN THE MARSH

LIL TOOT IN SAVANNAH

A PORTION OF RIVER ST. SAVANNAH

TALL SHIPS

OUR HOST, STEVEN WESTGATE

 

UNDER WAY FINALLY/SUNBURY CRAB CO.

DAY 290, TUES. MAY 2, 2012

DEP BRUNSWICK, GA (mm680+) 07:00  ARR.SUNBURY CRAB CO (mm620+) 2:45

D. 72.2sm / 4363.6

We are finally under way, and the boat is running very smoothly. The bottom wash seemed to give us a couple of mph more than before. Cruising through GA is pretty tense. We are in narrow waterways with lots of turns, and shoaling on the insides of the turns. You can't just be in the channel, you have to be on the correct side of the channel as the depth can vary from nothing to 10'. We must not only watch the markers, we have to constantly monitor the depth and stay in the deeper water. especially around turns, of which there are many. We turned off the ICW at the Medway River for the 4 mile trip to the Sunbury Crab Co, and it was worth the effort. When we arrived, the owner, Elaine, and her 2 sons, Clay and Joe were there to take our lines and help us get secured. We were the only boat there and Elaine invited us up to the bar for a free beer which we gratefully accepted. Even though the restaurant was closed they made dinner for us and Elaine sat with us and told us about her family and business. We started out with the most delicious steamed clams in garlic sauce and an entrée of fresh shrimp grilled to perfection. I mentioned to Clay that I always wanted to watch a pro pick crabs, so before dinner he came out with 2 large blue claw crabs and showed me his secrets. It took him about a minute a crab, about 1/ 10^th the time it takes me. Needless to say if we ever come thru here we will most definitely stop here. 

THE MARSHLANDS OF GA

SHRIMPER

AT SUNBURY CRAB DOCK

A LONG WALK ACROSS THE MARSH

THE SUNBURY CRAB CO RESTAURANT

PAT WITH ELAINE (THE OWNER)

THESE STEAMED CLAMS WERE DELICIOUS!

FAREWELL FL. / HELLO GA. & DISASTER

DAY 284, FRI APRIL 27, 2012

DEPART FERNANDINA BEACH 07:35

FAREWELL FL, WELCOME (?) GA.

We dropped our mooring at 07:35 and headed up Cumberland Sound.  The forecast called for sunny skies, winds SSW 8k-13k.  As we passed the inlet we encountered fog with  ¼ to ½ mile visibility, which I correctly predicted we would see, as soon as we got north of St. Mary’s Inlet. At approximately 08:00 we bid a final farewell to FL and entered Georgia.  We entered Florida on Dec. 6, 2011, four months and 1300 miles ago.  Now it would be clear sailing to St. Simon’s I., or so we thought.  As we passed the “R44A” to starboard we knew we now had to keep the green buoys to starboard, and steered for what I thought was the “G79”.  However, I was distracted by the Sub Degaussing station, and in particular by a southbound vessel heading straight for the “R44A”.  I thought the green buoy to his port was the G”79”, but it was the “G75”, and I headed straight for it completely missing the “G79”.  Mistake!  When the southbound boat saw me stop and turn, he realized his mistake and quickly stopped and turned.  My mistake was thinking he was heading down the channel and not checking the chart.   As I write this we are under tow on the way to Brunswick Harbor Marina, some 30 miles north.  We grounded, but were not stuck.  The problem was when I put the boat in gear and increased the rpm’s there was a bad vibration.  We called Tow boat US and had them tow us 30 miles to Brunswick Landing marina. 

A BIKE RIDE IN A NICE NEIGHBOORHOOD

THIS IS A BAHAMAS FLY FISHING CHARTER BOAT

   

DAY 285, 286, 287, 288, SAT THUR MON APRIL 29 – MAY 1,, 2012

AT BRUNSWICK LANDING MARINA

The marina manager, Sherry, was a real hot ticket.  Very friendly and helpful, and she made an effort to make us feel better about being stuck until Mon. when the boat could be hauled.  Once resigned to the wait we made the best of it.  The weather was good so we took the bikes to the supermarket to restock and did a tour of the town.  Unfortunately, like many other towns, Brunswick’s downtown is struggling to re invent itself.  We didn’t get around the outlying areas, but we could see a busy port with container ships, shrimp boats, and 2 paper mills.  The marina itself was also pretty busy and was 1 mile from one end to the other.

BEING HAULED

JUST A BENT PROP

FERNANDINA BEACH

DAY 282, DAY 283  WED.,THURS., APRIL 25,26 2012

DEPART JACKSONVILLE BEACH (mm747.7) 08:15:   ARR FERNANDINA BEACH (mm714) 12:30

D. 30.75sm / 4251.4

The original plan was to anchor out in Cumberland Sound, but the weather forecast was for increasing winds, and the choice was between a beautiful anchorage in a state park on an anchor, or a mooring in a charming town with lots to do. We picked the town, and it was a very enjoyable 2 day stop.  The first day we did a quick tour of the town to get our bearings and were forced to consume 2 triple chocolate gelatos.  The second day we met fellow Loopers Donna and Greg Howard on Lady In Red.  We went to dinner with them at Pompeos and had some of the best Zuppa de Pesces we’ve ever had.   

QUAINT DOWNTOWN

JUST SOUTH OF FERNANDINA BEACH

ST. AUG. TO PALM COVE MARINA, JACKSONVILLE, FL

DAY 281, TUES. APRIL 24, 2012

AM 44* CLEAR WIND 15K-20K NNW  PM 71* WIND 15K-20K NNW

DEP. ST. AUGUSTINE 07:00  ARR. PALM COVE MARINA JACKSONVILLE BEACH (mm747) 11:50

D. 35.46 sm / 4219.65

We woke up this am and the outside temps were in the 40’s. We had to turn on the heat this as it was in the low 60’s inside the boat.  I hope this is just a cold spell and not because we are going north. We wanted to get an early start so we could be at our destination early, so we left the dock at 07:00 and entered the ICW at 07:28.  Initially the current was against us until we passed the ST. Aug. inlet, then it gave us a real boost, we were up to 9.7 mph at 1950rpm, which is good for this boat.  Unfortunately it was short lived and we  had the current alternating between with us and against us all the way up the ICW.  The first 10 miles we cruised thru a lot of marshy areas until we got to the Palm Valley Bridge at mm 759.  Then the channel became straight and narrow with many homes on either side.  These were mostly modest homes on narrow lots, kind of like Seacoast Shores in Falmouth, except for one thing.  Every home had a boat lift and a waterside deck.

THIS IS THE FACTORY WHERE GLORY DAYS WAS BORN

A VICTIM OF THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN

ST. AUG FROM THE ICW

BRIDGE OF LIONS

FORT MATANZAS

THIS GOES ON FOR MILES

THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT

HERE'S A NICE ONE

TOURING ST AUGUSTINE

AT ST. AUGUSTINE

The cold front came through and the temps dropped to the 50’s. It rained Fri. night, Sat. night, with occasional rain or showers on Sun. In spite of the weather we did all the tourist routines. We took the 3 day pass for the trolley tour. This is one of those trollys that let you on and off at any of the 15 stops on the tour. It worked out well as stop 11 was just across the bridge from the boat. Among the things we saw was the Ponce De Leon Hotel, now Flagler College, &  Fort Matanzas, built by the Spanish to defend St. A. from the English in 1672 ( http://www.nps.gov/foma/historyculture/index.htm).   We also saw the oldest house, the oldest apothecary, and several museums. St. Aug. has many good and interesting restaurants. The first night we ate at a Polish Greek Restaurant where we ate beet soup, hunter stew, and pirogues. The best food we had was at the Columbia, a Spanish tapas restaurant. We had a tapas of mussels with chourice in a delicious sauce that was so good we went back a second time.

ST AUGUSTINE LIGHT

THE LIGHTKEPERS MUSEUM

JOE IS THE ONE ON THE LEFT

WHERE'S THE ENEMY?

THIS IS THE COLLEGE DINING ROOM

ST AUGUSTINE FROM THE AIR

ST AUGUSTINE MUSEUM

ONE OF THE FEW RAINY DAYS