Day 223: Monday, April 15, 2013

Port to Port: Little River Anchorage to Southport, North Carolina

Underway: 8:37 am      Motor Off: 3:20 pm      Miles Traveled: 33       Stayed At: Free Dock

First Things First: First time in North Carolina.

Mile 342 to Mile 309: After a dark and stormy night (the other kind of dark and stormy), we awoke to overcast skies and wind out of the northeast. It rained steady all night but there wasn’t any thunder and the wind gusts were manageable. It still makes sleep difficult, though, with all the new noises and the uncertainty of the weather. It is also hard to get used to the idea that our home is attached to a thin piece of rope which is attached to a fairly light anchor which hopefully is stuck securely in the mud at the bottom of the river. Only a little disconcerting.

Yesterday we didn’t want to quit, today we couldn’t wait to be done. Our goal was Southport only 33 miles up the ICW. It seemed to take forever. The skies were overcast. The wind was howling right at us all day bringing in a strong high pressure system. The waves were against us. And, except for an hour in the morning, we fought the current all day. We were lucky to go 5 mph. I guess you can’t win them all.

We slogged through the day counting off the miles one at a time. There were several choices to stay in Southport – the city allows transients to stay a day on the end of their municipal dock, we could anchor in the small harbor, we could dock at the Provisions Restaurant and stay overnight for free if we ate dinner there or we could find a marina. We ended up at the restaurant. The free dock was taken by a cruiser that had passed us, the harbor was tiny and a boat was already anchored in the middle and we aren’t desperate for a marina yet. It turns out, the food was excellent and the prices reasonable at The Provisions and we didn’t have to cook. All’s well that ends well.

In Passing: Little Saucepan Creek, Sunset Beach, Mad Inlet, Calabash River, Bonaparte Creek, Lockwoods Folly River, Deadback Water, and Corkins Neck.

Day 222: Sunday, April 14, 2013

Port to Port: Minum Creek to Little River South Carolina

Underway: 7:07 am      Motor Off: 7:35 pm      Miles Traveled: 73      Stayed At: Anchor

First Things First: First day over 70 miles; First cable cars passing over river (to and from a golf course near Myrtle Beach.

Mile 415 to Mile 342: Our goal was today was about 40 miles to a nice anchorage in an oxbow part off the river off the ICW. We had excellent assist from the current so we were almost done by 2 pm. Or not.

We were traveling almost 7 mph and according to the chart the next 30 miles would probably be all downhill (with the current) because there were no more openings to the ocean anywhere along this stretch. There weren’t any anchorages along this manmade channel but we decided it was worth paying to stay in a marina to keep going with the flow. So we did. We added another 30 miles on and hoped to get to the marina about 6:45 pm. Rain is forecast for tonight – 100% chance – so being as a marina would be nice. We lucked out and zoomed through several bridges without having to wait and road the current for hours. In fact, our speed went up as we got closer to the marina. Although there was a fair amount of weekend boat traffic – the most we have seen so far this stretch – it was exhilarating watching the shoreline fly by at 6.8 + mph (everythings relative). We arrived a little early, in fact, at 6:30 pm. And we kept going.

They had told us to tie up to the gas dock but this was between two noisy bridges, on the channel, by a restaurant and fairly exposed to the wind. All that for almost $40 a night. We decided to keep going a little farther to a nice protected anchorage about 4 miles away and finally stopped for the night, had cereal for dinner and read until we couldn’t keep our eyes open. A good day.

Day 221: Saturday, April 13, 2013

Port to Port: Charleston to  Minum Creek Anchorage

Underway: 7:30 am      Motor Off: 6:02 pm      Miles Traveled: 51      Stayed At: Anchor

Mile 464 to Mile 415 (plus 2): Spring has sprung in South Carolina. The birds are singing (and doing lots of fishing). We are always amazed to see butterflies flying into the wind (and beating us). The college coeds are definitely ready for spring (and dressed for it). And we are back marking time by watching the green and red marker buoys go slowly by and flipping pages in the chart book. Life is good.

Today was another long and productive day. We started early to get a boost from the tide and were sailing across Charleston Harbor before 8 am. We passed by Fort Sumter where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. It’s strange to think about all the history that has happened here over the years – now people are sightseeing and fishing instead of firing mortars and muskets. Except for taking the sail down for a swing bridge (we don’t like the extra complications of a sail when transiting bridges), we motor sailed for almost ten hours. It helps to counter the current and makes the day go faster.

We are surprised how remote the ICW has been so far. Except for few bigger cities, we have seen very few houses, only a handful of marinas and traffic has been pleasantly light. We expected more civilization. This makes it easy to put in long days to crank out the miles – there really aren’t many places worth stopping.

The scenery has started to change gradually. We still have lots of swamp grass lining the channels but more forested areas have started to appear and palm trees and much less common. Dolphin are still abundant – we usually see our first one of the day within a half hour of leaving our anchorage. There have been a lot more birds (hum…more birds and less civilization, I wonder if there is a connection).

If our weather window holds, we should enter North Carolina by Monday or Tuesday. Another milestone to look forward to.

Day 220: Friday, April 12, 2013

Port to Port: Charleston, South Carolina

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0     Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: First Dominoes Pizza of the trip.

Mile 464 to Mile 464: Did you know that in 1708, Africans made up a majority of the population in South Carolina? (Neither did I). Or that by the early 1770’s, 9 of 10 of the richest men in the American colonies were from South Carolina? (Do you suppose there is a connection between slave labor and massive profits)?

After a rough and rolly night (this marina is not very well protected from the wind), we had all day to explore our little corner of Charleston. The only damage done overnight was a lack of sleep (lots of new noises keeping us awake) and a missing fender. Fenders are expensive so I decided to spend a few minutes searching while Cindy took a shower and got ready. It could be on its way to France by now. The marina has floating docks but there are big openings out into the bay. I was hoping it had gotten stuck or trapped by the wind or current but wasn’t optimistic. It was nowhere to be found but I decided to look in a small estuary area at the far end of the marina near an industrial loading facility. It was mostly fenced off but I saw something white high in the long sea grass – could it be? I snuck around the end of the fence and walked along the high tide line and, lo and behold, our big white fender was just waiting for me. A miracle. The rope tying it to the boat had torn right through the end where it was tied. I think I can fix it so it holds air again. I still can’t believe it didn’t escape to the ocean with the tidal currents or wind.

Our main goal today was to go to the Charleston Museum and wander around the College of Charleston. The Charleston Museum was the first museum in the American colonies having been originally formed in 1773. It’s hard to imagine. And the College of Charleston is the oldest municipal college in America. On our way to the Museum we walked by and visited a small museum about Fort Sumter – tour boats full of tourists leave for the Fort every hour just a few blocks down from the marina. Even though it was small, we learned a lot about Charleston’s key role in the civil war.

The Charleston Museum was amazing. Exhibits from ancient prehistoric creatures to the native American era to the revolutionary and civil war to today would take most of the day to do justice. Every time we turned a corner there were more exhibits on a new era of history. A lot of history has happened in this place. We took a tour of a civil war era home owned by one of the many wealthy plantation owners that called Charleston home. We ended our day’s tours by wandering around the College of Charleston. The campus is beautiful and they have preserved repurposed many old building on campus. The architecture is a joy to look at and appreciate. It’s interesting to juxtapose the source of the money that originally made much of this possible and its beauty today.

We ended the day restocking our supplies at Harris Teeter grocery store and having Dominoes Pizza for dinner (our first Dominoes Pizza of the trip). Tomorrow, we head north again chasing spring.

Day 219: Thursday, April 11, 2013

Port to Port: Elliot’s Cut Anchorage to Charleston Maritime Center

Underway: 7:45 am      Motor Off: 9:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 7      Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: First aircraft carrier (actually decommissioned and used as a museum).

Mile 471 to Mile 464: Guess what, Charleston has sidewalks. And beautiful old buildings. And too-many-to-choose-from restaurants. And good old southern hospitality. This is a place worthy of a much longer stay some day.

We left the anchorage early and had to go through another basqual bridge with odd opening hours and only 33’ of clearance. We measured our height last night and think estimated that we need 33’+ a little to clear the top of the antennae. The Wappoo Creek Bridge has a clearance of 33’ at high tide but it wasn’t quite high tide yet so we hoped to clear it. And we did – we only barely tapped one beam with the tip of the antenna whip as we very slowly drifted under the bridge. Keep in mind that from the water, it looks like we are going to hit even under 65’ bridges so this was a slightly nerve-racking 60 seconds.

As soon as we were securely docked we started working on our normal marina to do list – check in, clean the boat, do laundry (its free here which is amazing), fill the gas tanks, clean and reorganize the cabin, refill our water bottles, take out the trash, take showers and many other minor tasks. We were able to get all of this done by noon so we had all afternoon to explore this wonderful city.

We wandered around until we found a tourist information center with all kinds info on restaurants, activities and tours. Our first goal was to find someplace to eat. Cindy found out about a BBQ place – the Sticky Fingers Smokehouse – from one of the local staff members – he even found a copy of the menu and a coupon for a free appetizer. With so many choices to pick from, finding someone with a little local knowledge is a lot easier than randomly wandering around. Plus we were starving. We enjoyed walking through downtown on our way to the restaurant. This is a very vibrant city. It’s also a college town with kids wandering around downtown just like they do back home in Dinkytown at the University of Minnesota. They all look so young.

We had a wonderful lunch at the Sticky Fingers – one of the best meals of our trip. Good BBQ, great service and surprises from beginning to end. We had assumed the “free” appetizer – we chose nachos – would be some lame chips with cheese poured over it (we have gotten a little cynical about restaurant meals over time) but we had some of the best nachos ever. And a full serving – not just a teaser sampler. For free. Wow. Surprise #1. Our food was just what we were hoping for – great BBQ, good portions, hot, and quick. Surprise #2. And when we went to the counter up front to buy a bottle of their Sweet and Tangy BBQ Sauce, I was filling out a comment card and the guy behind the counter just gave us a full size bottle for free. Surprise #3. Sticky Fingers is in the running for the best restaurant meal of the trip, no question.

We walked miles all over downtown doing a little shopping, checking out the architecture, taking pictures and smelling the flowers – its starting to smell good down here. This city is old and has a lot of interesting history mixed in with the new. We are looking forward to having a full day to take in more of the sights and eats in our new favorite city, Charleston, South Carolina.

Day 218: Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Port to Port: Beet Island to Elliots Cut Anchorage

Underway: 7:00 am      Motor Off: 3:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 45       Stayed At: Anchor

First Things First: First time going 9.9 mph – wow.

Mile 516 to Mile 471: How many days in your life do you get to see dolphins gracefully cruising in glass smooth water around your boat as the sun rises over fog shrouded wetlands on a beautiful, cloudless morning? Not many, I’m sure. We are incredibly lucky to be here right now.

We started early again today to try to get a boost from the current and we lucked out again. We averaged almost 6 mph for the day with a few 7+ spurts which makes the day much more interesting than slogging along at 4 mph for long stretches. We even hit a new record speed of 9.9 mph going through Elliot’s Cut just south of Charleston – this passage is short and very narrow which speeds up the flow considerably. If the tide had been going up when we got here we would have had to wait for slack tide because Boris would not have been able to get us through. Not something you have to plan for on the freeway.

Crying babies, sirens, loud motorcycles, jet skis and lawnmowers…we are back in civilization. We are anchored less than an hour south of the Charleston marina where we are going to stay for a couple of days to restock, clean the boat and rest before continuing our northward trek. We have to time tomorrow’s arrival at slack tide so we won’t leave here until 8:30 am to make docking at the marina easier. We are excited to do some exploring (and get some nice hot showers).

ay 217: Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Port to Port: Bull Creek to Beet Island

Underway: 7:00 am      Motor Off: 5:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 49       Stayed At: Anchor

First Things First: First time getting stuck on the bottom. Really stuck; snuck under a 30’ (at high tide) bridge as the tide was going down and cleared with 2’ to spare – phew! (we would have had to wait for a half hour for the next opening if this hadn’t worked).

Mile 565 to Mile 516: No, we didn’t see a rocket launch. We were exploring a little river where we thought there was a good anchorage and I guessed wrong when the depth sounder starting beeping. Shoals are ever changing and it is impossible to keep the charts updated. We have kissed the bottom several times but never gotten completely stuck. We could have just waited for the tide to raise us up but we decided to kedge our way off by throwing out an anchor and trying to drag the boat into deeper water. After 20 minutes of futzing, we came loose and soon found a good, quiet spot to anchor for the night.

Today was another good travel day. We got up early to catch the tidal boost – we were going 6.9 mph for a while. We sailed most of the day again – mostly on a beam reach. We had a great sail across St Helena Sound towards the end of the day. The sounds (large bodies of water that are open to the ocean somewhere) can be nasty if the wind driven waves are going against the tide and then you mix in rollers from the ocean. Today they were mostly flat with a nice warm breeze off land and almost no boat traffic.

After we anchored and cleaned up, a small powerboat came back into our little cove and we chatted with the guy for a few minutes. Believe it or not, he was originally from Wayzata and has lived in South Carolina for a long time now. Keep in mind, we are in the middle of no-where surrounded by swamp grass, water and some trees off in the distance. The only manmade objects we can see are airplanes and cell phone towers. The world is a tiny place.

We are going to anchor out one more night and then head into a marina in Charleston, South Carolina for a couple nights to relax, restock, finish some boat projects and do some sight seeing. We can’t wait.

In Passing: Hilton Head, Last End Point, Skull Creek, Honeyhorn Plantation, Beaufort, Distant Island, Brickyard Point, Coosaw Island.

Day 216: Monday, April 8, 2013

Port to Port: Big Tom Creek to Bull Creek

Underway: 8:00 am      Motor Off: 5:45 pm      Miles Traveled: 52       Stayed At: Anchor

First Things First: First time sailing in South Carolina (3:23 pm); first time passing a Coast Guard inflatable boat with a machine gun on the bow (I decided not to take a picture of it – why test fate).

Mile 613 to Mile 565: Today was pretty much like yesterday. We went a little slower on average but we motorsailed all day. The wind was steady from the east. The sun was shining. And we kept going past where we had originally planned stay. We couldn’t stop when we were going 7.2 mph.

At this point we don’t have a specific plan in mind – we are just trying to travel when the conditions are nice and make decent headway north. We want to be in Norfolk Virginia – Mile 0 – around May 1 but this isn’t set in stone. We cruised through Georgia because there wasn’t much to see or do – we couldn’t even get to shore easily because of the tides and mud flats everywhere. We’ll see what South Carolina has to offer but we have noticed more houses, docks, marinas and a few more boats (although the waterway has been surprisingly quiet – just the way we like it).

The tides here are amazing. The water goes up and down 8+ feet on each tidal cycle. If you anchor in 10 feet of water at high tide, at low tide you may be in only 2’ of water. When it goes out or comes in, it travels fast – in some places 2-3 knots – which kills your forward progress if it is against you. Where different speed flows meet, large eddy’s and swirling currents can make steering a straight line exciting. It makes you dizzy just looking at it speed by your boat when you are at anchor. If you fell in, you would have a hard time swimming back to the boat.

Tomorrow looks like another good travel day – sunny, warm and south breezes. High wind and some rain is forecast for later this week but maybe we can outrun it or miss it if we get farther north.

In Passing: Daufuskie Island, Ramshorn Creek, Savannah River, Bird Island, Thunderbolt, Skidaway River, Isle of Hope, Moon River, Pigeon Island, Hammock Island, Cane Patch Creek, St Mary’s Island

Day 215: Sunday, April 7, 2013

Port to Port: Two Way Fish Camp to Big Tom Creek

Underway: 7:55 am      Motor Off: 5:50 pm      Miles Traveled: 58       Stayed At: Anchor

First Things First: First time hearing the Coast Guard Station broadcast from South Carolina; first barge on ICW passed us going south.

Mile 666 to Mile 613 (plus 5): We hit the jackpot today. The sun was shining. The temperature was ideal. The wind was a steady 10-12 mph from the east (and we are traveling generally north). We motor sailed all day. We had a favorable current (random chance) almost all day. We saw some dolphin. We had almost no traffic. And we baked perfect cinnamon rolls for breakfast. What more could you ask for?

We averaged almost 6 mph for 10 hours. We were still going 7+mph when we took the sail down to head up into the channel we picked to anchor. It took everything in us not to keep going but we didn’t want to make dinner while the no-see-ums had us for dinner. There aren’t any towns, marinas or places to stop along this stretch so we aren’t missing anything by cranking out the miles.

We are surrounded by swamp grass and an occasional wooded area in every direction. It is interesting to watch how your view changes during the day as the tide goes up and down 8+ feet. These are the highest tides we have had to deal with on the trip so far. It makes anchoring a challenge. We anchored in 10’ of water a couple nights ago and found out the tide was going to go down more than 7’ overnight – a little too close for comfort. We picked a 13’ spot tonight. As I write this we are at high tide and we can see out over the surrounding grass all around us – during the day, all we could see was the edge of the grass and few trees because we were 8’ lower down in the river. Just think how much water gets flushed in and out of these waterways everyday, day in and day out, for eons. Amazing to think about.

We are going to sleep good tonight. It is quiet out. The wind has died down. The sunset was beautiful. And tomorrow is supposed to be a repeat of today. We’ll see if we can win the lottery again tomorrow.

In Passing: Bear Creek, St. Catherines Sound, Wahoo River, Blackbeard Creek, Dog Hammock Spit, Mud River, Old Teakettle Creek, Postoffice Creek, Dead River

Day 214: Saturday, April 6, 2013

Port to Port: Jeckyl Island Anchorage to Two Way Fish Camp, Georgia

Underway: 8:50 am      Motor Off: 3:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 27      Stayed At: Anchor

First Things First: Sailed through the middle of a sailing regatta crossing St Simons Sound.

Mile 685 to Mile 662 (Plus 5): We usually try to go with the flow when we travel – it’s too stressful to try to get everything to work out perfect and you might miss something fun in the process. Today was a good example of that.

Because of the timing of the tides, we couldn’t really wait for a favorable current – we just had to go when the going was good and get whatever miles we could. There probably is an app that could tell you given your normal boat speed and your chosen route the best time to leave but I haven’t found it yet. It’s all just math but there are so many variables, you can’t do it easily on paper. With a north wind and unfavorable tides all day we probably only averaged a little over 4 mph – a fast walk.

We wanted to make 40 miles today but we made some bad assumptions and had to make a 5 mile detour to get gas which was an hour for us (we at least had the current and wind in our favor for this little stretch). We didn’t realize that the marina’s listed in our guidebook are not necessarily close to the ICW. You can get there by water but it might be a 5 mile detour off the magenta line. The next gas was over 50 miles away and by my calculations we had about 55-65 miles of gas left given the challenging conditions. Too close for comfort. So we went with the flow (literally and figuratively) and discovered a nice little marina/fish camp in the middle of nowhere with gas, a gift shop and a great little restaurant. We got gassed up and decided to splurge and have an early dinner splitting a hamburger and shrimp po’ boy (guess who). We anchored in a quiet spot a half mile up river and were resting and getting ready to ride the tide tomorrow morning by 5 pm. We even have phone coverage, my hot spot works and the breeze is keeping the no-see-ums away. A surprising ending to a slow slog of a day.

Day 213: Friday, April 5, 2013

Port to Port: Fernandina to Jekyl Island Anchorage

Underway: 10:45 am      Motor Off: 5:15 pm      Miles Traveled: 31       Stayed At: Anchor

Mile 716 to Mile 685: By 11:27 am, we had left Florida behind and entered Georgia – our first new state in over 5 months. We enjoyed our adventures in Florida – there were many – by we are excited to be starting a new phase of the Loop. Surprisingly, the terrain and scenery changed quickly. Many large sounds (openings to the Atlantic) to cross over and if we saw 5 houses today, that was a lot. The shoreline reminds us a little of the vegetation along the Mississippi. We have 685 miles of ever changing waterways before we reach Norfolk Virginia where our next big waterway will be the Chesepeake Bay.

The day dawned wet, gloomy, cold and windy – not a day in paradise. But our spirits brightened considerably when Dave (from Sea Bird II) made a special delivery of a loaf of fresh, homemade, still warm banana bread (baked first thing this morning by Doris Ann). What an amazing treat on this misty morning. Made us think of home. We had it half finished before we crossed the Georgia border (which was really quick). Thanks for everything Dave and Doris Ann – safe travels. We’ll meet again somewhere on the Loop.

Today we paid our dues to get those 31 miles. We had originally thought about stopping at a nice anchorage at about 19 miles but we were doing okay – a little cold – but we were making progress. The on the nose north wind died a little so we kept going across a couple sounds but by the last one rollers from the ocean mixed with wind driven waves made the crossing a little lumpy and we were glad to finally tuck around a point of land and find an decent anchorage. The sun made a weak appearance as we cooked up a big batch of chili allowing us a few minutes to enjoy a little warmth before going below to relax before nightfall. We weren’t cold or hungry anymore but we were tired so it will probably be an early night.

Day 212: Thursday, April 4, 2013

Port to Port: Fernandina, Florida

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled:       Stayed At: Marina

Mile 716 to Mile 716: Today would have been a perfect weather day – a little overcast, not too hot and not too cold, no rain and moderate winds. The weather forecast was for 70% of rain and thunderstorms. It didn’t really matter since we had a lot of errands and projects to get done but it’s a taste of how challenging it will be to travel this spring. We’ll have to find a lucky weather coin to get our weather reports.

We spent the morning in the cruisers lounge reading and working on the blog. I spent most of the time swearing about how crappy the internet was – slow speeds and weak signal – but I really wanted to get up to date before we get into Georgia. It took 3 hours to do 1 hour of work. We did luck out, though, when we met Doris Ann and Dave on Sea Bird II. They have been traveling up and down the Intracoastal for many years and are a wealth of knowledge. This year they are going to keep going and do the Loop so we had a lot to talk about. We chatted for a long time and they loaned us a couple bikes which is a huge gift – the Walmart and grocery store are 2.5 miles away – the bikes will save us a lot of time (and wear and tear on Cindy’s sore heal) – thank you guys. We also made plans to get together for docktails later in the afternoon to chat and learn about the good places to anchor and stop between here and Norfolk, Virginia.

We biked around town getting our errands done – I wish we had room for bikes. It expands your comfortable range from 2-3 miles out to 7-10 miles. Most everything we would ever need is well within that range. Maybe next time.

We had a blast at docktails. We talked non-stop from 4 pm to after 10 pm. They have had some great adventures and are an invaluable source of knowledge. I think we polished off 3 bottles of wine too. We feel a lot more comfortable about the next 700 miles – we have a lot better idea what to expect and we are excited about the upcoming adventures. Goodbye Florida, hello Georgia.

Day 211: Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Port to Port: Jacksonville to Fernandina, Florida

Underway: 9:30 am      Motor Off: 1:39 pm      Miles Traveled: 23      Stayed At: Marina

Mile 739 to Mile 716 : We dawdled this morning waiting for the incoming tide to give us a boost north. We left at 9:30 am and immediately picked up a 1.25 mph favorable current. We also were able to raise the mainsail and get a little extra boost – for a couple hours we were consistently cruising at 6.9 to 7.0 mph. We were flying. Fernandina (say that three times in a row), here we come.

We were going to make bake some cinnamon rolls and share with our neighbors Roger and Dorothy but the no-see-ums were still active and cooking wasn’t worth the hassle. They are also heading north and will stop at Fernandina too.

Today was a short day but we still were able to cover 2    miles by 1:30 pm when we arrived at the Fernandina City Marina. The weather is supposed to be sketchy tonight and tomorrow with a 90% chance of rain and thunderstorms and wind. We quickly got tucked in, cleaned the boat, gassed up and showered. We wandered around town a little – lots of tourists and neat little shops lining the main street. You wouldn’t guess that a city called Fernandina would have a huge paper mill at one end and some other industrial facilities at the other. You can’t really see them from downtown but you can sure smell the paper mill.

We will be staying tomorrow to wait for the front to blow itself through before heading north again. We are really close to our next milestone – we can see Georgia from the river. We have really enjoyed Florida but we are looking forward to the new experiences ahead of us. It sounds like the Georgia part of the ICW will be a lot like the rivers – lots of curves, very few facilities and lots of nature. Sounds like an adventure.

Day 210: Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Port to Port: St. Augustine to Jacksonville, Florida

Underway: 7:35 am      Motor Off: 3:46 pm      Miles Traveled: 41      Stayed At: Dock

First Things First: First time listening to a cruisers net broadcast on the VHF radio (in some popular and large marina, boaters share info on weather, events, new arrivals, and things to sell over the radio); first dirigible flying near Jacksonville beach.

Mile 780 to 739 Mile: Our first challenge of the day was to get to the Bridge of Lions in time for the 8:30 am opening. They only open every half hour and we don’t want to be late. We also want to time it right to get a boost from the current for as long as possible as we travel north. We actually set the alarm (a rare event lately) for 6:30 am so we could shower, get ice and leave by about 7:30 am. We were only a couple minutes late and actually arrived at the bridge with 15 minutes to spare. Whew!

Playing the currents is an art (and random luck most times). We were going to stop around 30 miles at an anchorage we learned about but we were making such good mileage that we decided to just keep cranking out the miles and get across the St. Johns River while the weather is perfect. With the current boost in the morning we were going 7.2 mph for several hours – the houses and docks along the ICW whizzed by all morning. The tide eventually switched but we kept going 5 mph or better.

The scenery was ever changing. Off in the distance we could see the smoke from a huge fire somewhere north us. We learned later that it was supposed to be a controlled burn on about 40 acres of brush but got out of hand and burned 800 acres. We also started seeing military helicopters flying back and forth over the ICW from the Naval Air Station near Jacksonville.

It was only mid-afternoon by the time we stopped at a nice floating dock just north of the St. Johns River to use the restroom and walk around a little before anchoring across the channel. As luck would have it, Jacksonville allows travelers to stay at their docks for up to three days for free. What an amazing surprise (like I said, it’s the little things). I walked to the restroom and found another dock on a small channel north of us with another boat tied up there. I chatted with them for a few minutes and decided it was quieter, deeper and more protected on this dock so we moved Aurora over and within minutes were chatting with Roger and Dorothy on Slow Churn. We brought our beef stew over to their boat and they cooked up their hamburgers and we enjoyed several hours of stories until the sun started to set (and the no-see-ums came out to play). What a joy. They have been exploring the east coast and northern canal system and hope to make a complete loop someday. We will be seeing them again I am sure.

We were tired after a long and productive day. Although the current flowing fast by the boat makes for some new noises, we are securely tied to a dock and we were soon fast asleep.

Day 209: Monday, April 1 , 2013

Port to Port: St Augustine, Florida

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled:       Stayed At: Marina

Mile 780 to Mile 780: Time to do the touristy thing. Most of our boat projects are done and we are ready to explore this beautiful town. Our main goal today is to tour Fort Castillo de San Marcos. This is the oldest masonry fort in the United States  - construction started in 1672 – and it has never been overrun. It has changed hands many times – but each time it was as part of some other agreement. We only have time for one major tour – we are glad this was our choice.

We found many more shops that we missed yesterday and we enjoyed wandering, snacking, and people watching all afternoon. Cindy did buy a nice St. Augustine t-shirt – Augustine is her maiden name so we might have to cross off the Saint part. We wish we had more time but we feel like it is time to start heading north before the bulk of the snow birds and Looper’s hit the trail. We’ll be back though.

After rice cooker beef stew for dinner, we got everything ready to leave early tomorrow morning. We are almost done with Florida. It’s been a amazing visit and we will be leaving with many great memories.