Thursday 21 January

Shortly after checking in last Wednesday the 11^th,  we were treated to a guided tour of the island by Mr. Elon. Elon (age 72) and his wife run a small grocery/gift shop located just off the marina property and as we were walking by, he just happened to be heading into town and offered to give us a ride. It seems that many of the several hundred residents on island call on Elon to help them with mechanical issues as well. While he was driving us into town, he took a call from Miss Gracey who needed his help. The pump from her well was leaking badly and beginning to fail.  Elon assured her that once he finished running his guest around town, he would swing by her place and see what he could do to help out.  Not wanting to keep him from helping her out, we told him if he needed to take care of her now, we’d could go with him and resume our island tour later. So that’s what he did.

We drove out to Miss Gracey’s place and after verifying the pump was leaky and what parts he needed to fix the issue, he resumed giving us an abbreviated tour of the 7 mile long by 1 ½ mile wide island and then returned us to the marina. And then we crashed for the better part of the day.  Apparently, we were a little more exhausted from our crossing and all the activity leading up to it than we realized, and we needed to recharge our batteries. So, we slept most of the afternoon and then just took it easy the rest of the day.

We spent the next couple of days exploring the island on bikes and by foot as we needed to wait until Sunday to complete our mandatory 5 day rapid Covid test. The island of Great Harbour has a population of less than 1000 people and not much in the way of industry other than tourism. During the late 1950’s and into the 70’s several developers make a few attempts at developing the island but they each ultimately failed to attract enough investors to make the various projects successful. On the island you can find remnants of a golf course, a luxury hotel casino, but none in operation.  The main source of tourism is the marina, several condo complexes, and charter fishing businesses. 

None the less, the people we met were all very friendly, welcoming, and seemed to appreciate tourist coming to support the local economy. We did our part to help out by frequenting a restaurant or two and enjoyed some great fresh cracked conch.

By Sunday though we were ready to move on. Fortunately, we successfully passed our rapid Covid test on Sunday morning and were granted permission to travel throughout the rest of the islands.  We settled up our account with the marina and untied our dock lines right around noontime.

We ended up taking almost 3 hours to move the boat to the other side of the island just over a mile and half away from the marina. To get to the anchorage on the other side of the island we had to travel back out the small inlet, head north several miles to clear the end of the island, then we could finally turn south to the anchorage. The entire trip was about 12 miles or so but we didn’t mind because we were now finally free to travel around the Bahamas.

We enjoyed our first night at anchor and then in the morning we headed south another 12 to 15 miles to the south end of Hoffmans Cay.

Our cruising guide and charts indicated that the area south of Hoffmans Cay had some of the nicest beaches and anchorages in this part of the Bahamas and we didn’t want to miss them.  The guides weren’t kidding – the anchorage was beautiful. So beautiful and peaceful that we ended up spending 3 days there just exploring and relaxing.

We spent a day hiking on the island and found a blue hole in the middle of island and of course, yours truly had to go swimming in it! We also tried our hand at snorkeling and diving for lobsters.  Let’s just say the lobsters are still safe and we still need to perfect our technique to capture them.  I’m confident with time we will acquire the necessary skill and finesse and will be able to report back in future posts about all the lobster we’ve successful snagged! In the meantime, we are glad our freezer and fridge are well stocked with food.

After spending 3 days exploring the area, we headed out earlier this morning and made the 30+ mile crossing from the Berrys to the west end of New Providence Island (Nassau area).  We’ve stopped here for the evening and will head another 30 to 40 miles east tomorrow to Allen’s or Highbourne Cay in the northern end of the Exumas.  We intend to spend the next month or so exploring this chain of islands before eventfully turning around and beginning our journey home.

But for now, we’re anchored safely for the evening after enjoying a great few days in the Berrys and are excited to see what the Exumas have in store for us.

Take care, keep the prayers coming, and we’ll keep you posted on our travels.

God bless, Pete & Diane

Thursday 14 January 2021

A week ago last Thursday we borrowed bikes from the marina and peddled up to the drive through testing site that advertised results back within 2 days for a RT-PCR Covid test (the one required for entry into the Bahamas).  For a much higher premium they offered a 3 hour turnaround time for results, but that wasn’t something we needed.  Our current timeline had us getting tested on Thursday, receiving results on Saturday then immediately applying on-line for our health visa which would allow us to cross on Sunday. Perhaps a little optimistic, but doable.

As we mentioned in the last update, after our test we did move the boat down to Lake Worth to wait for our results, hoping to cross on Sunday. So we spent all day Saturday alternating between spending time chillin’ and anxiously checking our phones for the test results we needed to apply for our travel visa.  We also spent some time looking for testing sites in Lake Worth and ended up scheduling tests for Sunday afternoon at Walgreens just in case the results didn’t come in. When we went to bed Saturday evening we still didn’t have our results and realized we would not be crossing over on Sunday.  While we were disappointed we didn’t receive our results within two days as advertised, we were also a little relieved because the forecast for Sunday was deteriorating and the weather window to cross was pretty short.  The forecast for Monday evening through Wednesday morning was starting to look better.

When we woke Sunday, we checked our email again and saw that we had received one test result, Pete’s, but not the other, Diane’s.  Of course Diane immediately thought something must be wrong and that perhaps she had tested positive and they were just confirming before sending her the bad news.  I on the other hand just thought the company had dropped the ball and I would contact them to see what they could do about not providing us results in time.

I sent a reply to the email with my results letting them know we had only received one of the results and were now having to change our travel plans and to please give me a call.   Within the hour or so I got a call from the one of the owners of the testing company who apologized for any inconvenience that we had incurred but also confirmed that the results had been sent earlier Saturday.  Apparently since the test results are sent as encrypted emails they sometimes get blocked, flagged as spam, or simply take longer to process.  After confirming they weren’t in our spam folders, they resent the results as unencrypted pdf files and they came right through.  So we had our results, but no longer had a good travel window.  After explaining the situation to the owner, she offered to retest us and provide results within 3 hours at no cost.  Great, now all we had to do figure out a way to get back up to Stuart, which was 40 miles away, for a retest!

We ended up taking our dinghy ashore and tied and it up to the dock at a public park in West Palm Beach. We looked for signs or postings that might indicate whether or not this was actually allowable to do or not, but we couldn’t find any.  So we decided we’d take our chance and leave it there for the day and hope it would still be there when we got back later in the afternoon or early evening.

We hailed an Uber to take us from the park to the airport and picked up a rental car to drive up the 40 miles up to Stuart. We arrived at the testing center a little before 1 pm and were able to be tested immediately.  Now all we had to do was wait until 4 pm and we’d have our results. We decided that we would wait around in Stuart until we had our results just incase there were any other issues with the results or email.  So we headed back to the marina where we had kept the boat for the last month and spent the afternoon there.

As 4 o’clock rolled around we got a call from the testing center asking us it we had received our results yet.  We hadn’t.  Rather than wait for the encrypted emails to come through, they resent just the plain pdf versions to us.  This time we received Diane’s results but not mine.  After another phone call or two, we decided to just drive back to the test center and they would provide us with printed copies of our results.

Shortly after arriving at the test center and getting printed copies all the emails finally started coming through! It had taken longer than we expected, but we finally had our negative test results in hand, and could now apply for our health visa for travel into the Bahamas.

Since it wasn’t too late yet, we ended up finding a Staples office store that was open, used their Wifi service to apply for our travel visas, upload our test results and print any forms we needed.  The application process was pretty straight forward and once the test results were uploaded, we received approval to travel within minutes.  We paid our visa fees and then printed out copies of all our documents and headed back down to West Palm Beach to return the rental car, and Uber back to the park.

We finally arrived back at the park just a little after 7 pm. It was dark, the park was deserted, but our dinghy was there waiting for us, right where we left it. We boarded the dinghy, untied and unlocked it from the dock and made our way in the dark back to Eos.

It was a long day, but we had our test results, our approved travel visas, and an improving weather window for Tuesday to finally make our way over to the Bahamas. It wouldn’t be long now.

We woke early Monday morning to listen to the marine weather forecast for the Bahamas and Florida.  There are several services out there that provide detailed forecasts for mariners to use while cruising or planning a trip.  We subscribe to several of them, some of them are free, while others charge a small subscription fee. The one that we actually pay for gives us access to a team of meteorologists that will provide detailed forecasts and advice specific to our cruising area as well as provide advice on crossing windows and specific routes to take.  While they are still ultimately forecasts and can not guarantee great weather, we do find that they help us make better decisions regarding our travel.

Fortunately the forecasts for the next several days continued to improve and support a favorable window to cross over to the Bahamas on Tuesday and into Wednesday.  With a favorable forecast received, we spent the remainder of the day ensuring everything on the boat was secured safely for our 30 hour trip and also checking in with all our family members for a last minute chat before heading out.

We tried to turn into bed shortly after 8 pm since we would be leaving before dawn.  The updated afternoon forecast was indicating a chance of some late afternoon showers or thunderstorms in Gulf Stream so they were recommending that anyone crossing try to be across and out of the Gulf Stream before 3 pm if possible.  It was definitely possible, it simply meant we needed to get up and leave earlier. Our planned departure time was now moved up from 8 am to 4:30 or 5 am.

We were both anxious and excited for the trip so neither one of us rested particularly well Monday evening. Regardless, when the alarm went off at 4 am, we were up and ready to go. 

We pulled up our anchor right at 4:30 am and headed out towards the inlet.  The water was still and harbor was very quiet at that pre-dawn hour.  As we made our way to the inlet there was a tug boat also headed out to sea, so we decided to hang back just a little and follow him out the channel since we had never passed through this inlet before.  It’s always nice to have someone provide some guidance along the way!

Following the tug boat out the channel helped lower our stress level and before we knew it, they turned north to head up the coast of Florida and we were heading east to the Bahamas all by ourselves!

The weather for the early part of the day was exactly as forecasted, the winds were light and variable, and the seas were relatively calm. A nice day to motor, but not great for sailing. So we motored our way across the Gulf Stream at 5 ½ knots under slightly overcast skies.

We did threw out the fishing line but once again, we were skunked.  One of these days we’ll be able to report that we actually caught something, but not today.

While it would have been nice to have bright sunny skies as we crossed, the weather and flat sea state made a very uneventful and safe first passage across the Gulf Stream.  We ended up getting across by around 2:30 in the afternoon. We could have checked in and cleared immigration in the port of West End, spent the night there and then figured out where we wanted to go next but we had heard that there really isn’t much to see or do there and not many options to anchor so you have to stay in a marina, and if the weather changes, you can easily get stuck there for several days. So, we had decided that once we crossed the Gulf Stream, we would continue on and sail or motor overnight an additional 60 to 70 miles and check-in in at Great Harbour Cay (pronounced “key) in the Berry Islands.  The overall trip of 120 miles could easily be covered in just over 24 hours.

Since we ended up pulling our departure time up several hours to 4:30am, this meant if our trip did in fact only take us 24 hours, we’d be reaching our final destination around 4:30 or 5 am Wednesday morning.  Entering into a new harbor at night or in the dark is not something we like to do in the US where the channels are well marked but will do it f absolutely necessary. Entering a new foreign port at night, in the dark, where the channels and navigation aides are not well marked or maintained is not something we are willing to do.  So this meant we needed to adjust our travel speed and time our arrival for sometime later in the morning – ideally around 9 or 10 am. 

So we turned south east towards Great Harbor Cay after exiting the Gulf Stream and slowed down to just over 4 knots. It would take us longer to get there, but we’d arrive at a good time.  It was now time to prepare dinner and get ready for another overnight journey.

Once we turned south east, the motion of the waves coming from slightly astern of us, gently rocked the boat from side to side. About every two or three minutes, one of the waves would hit us at just the right angle to cause the boat to roll more. Not bad on deck, but not great down below for cooking.  I tried to find a course that still had us moving towards our destination but was a little more comfortable but I ultimately wasn’t too successful.

While Diane was down below preparing a gourmet meal – boat galley salad – I saw something small, appeared white, and kept popping up on the waves off in the distance. To me, from this distance it looked like a small boat. Being at least 10 to 15 miles offshore, I would not expect for a small boat to be out in the ocean unless something was wrong. So informed Diane that I was going to alter course to take a closer look and to be prepared to render assistance if needed.

This of course made the rolling motion a little more rolly and made it tougher on the cook. But with the possibility of helping a vessel in distress at sea I had no choice but to alter course and possible sacrifice our dinner if someone needed help. (yes, dishes were sliding) I would hope another captain would do the same for us if we needed assistance. 

As I got a little closer it became obvious that what I thought was a small boat helplessly adrift in the ocean was in fact several partially deflated mylar Happy Birthday balloons that were floating on the surface of the water. I’m not sure whether they were initially from the US or Bahamas, but rather than successfully carrying birthday wishes skywards, they ended up floating on the ocean just waiting for some fish to mistake them for food or to end up as trash on a beach somewhere.  So, while we didn’t end up helping a vessel in distress, we did end up pulling up next to them and pulled them out of the ocean and ultimately properly disposed of them in the trash ashore. 

With our rescue at sea complete, Diane returned to the galley and finished cooking dinner.  While it was more work than I think she initially thought it would be, the dinner was delicious and we enjoyed it as the sun retreated for the evening.

The clouds that were with us during the day, stayed with us throughout the evening so we never really saw many stars overnight. There was one brief period while Diane was on watch that the sky cleared and she said you could see stars on the horizon, which she had never seen before.

Throughout the evening we took 2 to 3 hour shifts – one driving/navigating/and keeping us on track, and the other one resting/sleeping. Again, the winds were light and the seas weren’t big at all, but it was a little rolly so rest wasn’t easy.

As we traveled through the Northwest Providence Channel on our way to the Berry Islands and Great Harbour Cay, we encountered several dozen large cruise ships that were anchored and apparently still idled due to Covid and it’s impact on the cruise ship industry.  Fortunately for us though, navigating by anchored cruise ships is a lot less stressful than navigating by moving cruise ships! They had lots of lights on and were very impressive looking.

Day break finally arrived, and we found ourselves only about 2 hours or so from our final destination. We reviewed our charts several times, contacted the marina, and confirmed our arrival and request to check in later in the morning.  They gave us our slip assignment and we began to make our way into the unmarked channel to the harbor. Unlike the US, harbors and channels in the Bahamas and many other Caribbean Islands are not well marked or maintained, so safely navigating them can be a lot more difficult than what we’re used to in the US.

None the less, we were able to enter the harbor and make it safely to our slip.  It was a long trip, but we were finally here. Now all we needed to do was to check in with Customs and Immigrations and we would be all set to travel freely in the Bahamas for the next couple of months.

The marina provided us with all the necessary forms and once those were complete, they called the Customs and Immigration Officers to come meet us at the marina.  The check-in process was smooth and by around 11 am we were officially checked in!

We’ll spend the next few days exploring this part of the Bahamas, complete our final required Covid test on Sunday (the rapid one) and then begin to head further south.

We’ll provide more details about our time in the Berrys in a future post, but for now we wanted to let you all know we made it over safely. Thanks for all the prayers. We’ll keep you posted on our progress.

Saturday January 9^th, 2021

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We certainly did.

We did end up going home for the holidays and enjoyed celebrating Christmas with the family. We returned to Stuart on the 31^st and spent New Years Eve at the marina and on the boat. Like most, we’re excited that 2020 is finally over and that the new year has arrived.

Upon returning to Stuart we’ve been busy learning about and working through the logistical challenges of traveling over to the Bahamas ‘during these challenging times.’ The Bahama Islands are open for travel but require all visitors to have negative PCR Covid test that is no older than 5 days from the date of your arrival. Given that it typically takes 2-3 days to get your results, this only provides a 2-3 day travel the window.  Plenty of time if one is flying over or doesn’t have to be concerned with the weather.  But since we aren’t flying and we are concerned about the weather, 3 days isn’t a very big window.

The Bahamas are located only about 50 to 60 miles off the east coast of Florida, a 10 to 12 hour sail/ motorsail for us.  While that is not a great distance to cover, the Gulf Stream runs between Florida and the  Bahamas and provides a bit of a challenge to navigation.  The Gulf Stream is an underwater current that is about 25 to 30 miles wide and flows north at an average speed of around 2 to 4 knots.  For small, slower boats like ours that will take several hours to cross, the Gulf Stream will actually be pushing us north the whole time we are crossing.  For every 6 to 7 miles we travel east, we’ll be pushed 2 to 3 miles north, so we need to compensate for this northly ‘set’ by actually steering towards a point that is 15 to 18 miles south of our intended final destination.

Another factor we need to consider in planning our crossing is the weather. Specifically, the strength and direction of the wind. Since the Gulf Stream is flowing from the south to the north, if the wind is coming from the north it is blowing directly against the current which can create steep, choppy waves.  Not something we want to deal with for several hours. Unfortunately, during the winter months those cold fronts that blow through the US once a week or so end up generating winds from the north just off the coast of Florida and in the Gulf Stream.  Fortunately, the fronts don’t last too long and generally pass within a few days, but they do present us with another variable to consider and deal with as we plan our passage.

But we’re not complaining, just explaining what’s happening with us here in Florida!

We did get tested again at the end of last week and moved the boat down from Stuart to the Lake Worth/West Palm Beach area on Friday with hopes of catching a good weather window early this upcoming week.  If the window closes before we can cross we may consider moving further south to the Miami area, explore Biscayne Bay for a few days and wait for our next opportunity to cross.

So right now we’re just waiting for a good weather window and enjoying the sunshine – definitely not complaining though.  We’ll keep you all updated on our progress and hopefully will be posting from the Bahamas before too long.

God Bless, and as always, keep those prayers coming.

Tuesday December 8th

Waking up at the crack of dawn would normally sound early, but with the day’s still shortening here in St. Augustine sunrise isn’t until after 7 am, so rolling out of bed at sunrise really isn’t that early.  But that’s what we did.

Prior to arriving in St. Augustine we had called multiple marina’s on Florida’s Atlantic coast trying to secure a slip or mooring so that we could leave the boat for a few weeks, grab a rental car, and head home for Christmas.  Our family had all agreed to quarantine for 10 to 14 days prior to Christmas so that everyone could feel comfortable getting together and celebrating together.

The majority of places we called either didn’t have any space available or would only rent one for a week.  Given that we would be driving a full day each way, a one-week rental wouldn’t give us much time at home. We wanted to be able to have a few more days so we kept looking. We did find a place that would rent us a slip, but we wouldn’t be allowed to stay aboard the boat for more than a day or two.  That was a little more restrictive than we wanted for once we returned to the boat we would need to spend a day or two restocking the boat for our upcoming travels. If it was the only option, we’d have to make do. 

On our previous trip to Florida, we stayed for a week on a mooring at Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart Florida. The marina was nice and the rates for moorings were both reasonable and flexible.  They rent by the day, week, or month which would be perfect for us.  The only problem was that the moorings are offered on a first come, first serve basis (they don’t take reservations). 

We had been checking in with them regarding mooring availability throughout our trip.  When we initially checked back in early November, they said it was too early to forecast but ‘typically there are at least a few open moorings’ in late December.  After Thanksgiving, their forecast changed to ‘it’s still early but they are filling up so it’s hard to tell if there will be any left by the middle of December.’ That wasn’t too encouraging. Hence our calls to other marinas.

Finally, when we called on Monday and we confirmed that our boat was less than 38’ long they said that they in fact have several open moorings and that it was unlikely they would fill up before the end of the week.  That was good news.  If our boat had been over 38’ long, all those moorings for larger boats were taken.

Knowing there was a good possibility of being able to secure a mooring once again in Stuart, we could relax a little bit. Stuart was about 200 miles south of St. Augustine so we would be able to be there no later than Saturday morning.

Diane skippered us over to the fuel dock to top off the fuel tank before heading out. We would be motoring pretty much all day, each day, until we reached Stuart. The ICW between ST. Augustine and Fort Lauderdale is pretty much a straight and narrow shot, initially following the Halifax River to Daytona Beach, and then the Indian River until you hit Stuart.

The scenery along the way is varied, with some stretches being heavily developed like around Daytona Beach where the shore is lined with hotels and highrise condos, to stretches south of New Smyrna that are not developed at all or only lined with modest RV camps or small homes.  In between these extremes are sections like Melbourne and Jensen Beach that have seen what looks like managed development or growth, the shore line has some undisturbed sections and others occupied nice homes with neatly manicured lawns.

The most remote section we would travel through is the area north of Cape Canaveral. I’m not sure how much land is owned by the government and NASA , but we could first spot the large iconic NASA building where the rockets are assembled almost 25 miles away and there didn’t appear to be any development between us and the building.

For the next four days we motored during the day, taking in the varied scenery, and then tried to find some quiet spot to anchor.

Sometimes though, a ‘quiet spot’ was no where to be found. We reached Daytona Beach late Tuesday afternoon and ended up anchoring just a few hundred yards south of a highway bridge and highrise apartments or condos lining each side of the shoreline.

Wednesday evening, we were just a few miles north of Melbourne and were able to find a quiet anchorage. The stars were out and we enjoyed a nice evening of stargazing.

While we were underway on Thursday the Coast Guard was broadcasting a warning for sections of the waterway that would be closed to traffic later in the evening because of a planned rocket launch.  They were giving the coordinates for the areas that needed to be vacated prior to 4:30 in the afternoon.  Since we were already south of the effected area we did not need to worry, but with a launch planned for early evening, we did want to make sure we found an anchorage in a relatively unpopulated area so we could hopefully have a good view, unaffected by light pollution from the shore.

We did end up finding a great spot about 10 miles south of Fort Pierce Florida and were able to witness a night launch for the first time.  On our first trip, we went to the NASA Space Center and witnessed a daytime rocket launch live. We were only 4 miles from the launch pad, so we were able to hear it, feel the rumble, and enjoy the experience.

This time, we were about 75 miles south and couldn’t hear anything, but the view was great.  The rocket was visible for almost 5 minutes in the night sky.  We also ended up listening to the launch broadcast live, so not only could we see the rocket as it ascended and then began to disappear into darkness, we could here the ‘play by play’ of the countdown and the other actions that were taking place on the rocket (main engine cut off, booster separation, etc).  Again, a great experience.

With only about 30 miles to go until we reached Stuart and hopefully secure a mooring, we were able to enjoy a lazy Friday morning. After coffee and breakfast we did eventually get underway and begin the final leg of this section of the trip.

Along the way we kept a look out for river dolphins and manatees, both of which populate this section of the Indian River.  I haven’t been able to confirm a manatee sighting yet on this trip, but we have seen dolphin almost every day for a week or two now.  They are fun to watch, and it never gets old watching them swim by. Many times we see them no closer than a hundred feet or so off, but occasionally they swim by close enough that when they surface you can hear them breath.  That’s especially true when we’re anchored in the evening or early in the morning. We just sit in the cockpit and listen.

We eventually did make it into Stuart later that afternoon and were successful in securing a mooring.  There was only one open mooring for the larger boats and about a half dozen for the smaller boats like ours.  They have a total of 66 moorings, so over 90% of them were occupied!  We were grateful to have been able to secure a mooring and thankful that we had arrived safely in Stuart.

We’ll be spending the next week or so just hanging out on the boat, minimizing contact with others, and taking advantage of a decent wifi signal in the mooring field so that we can rent a car, schedule our Covid test, and finish some on-line shopping before heading home for a week.

We hope you and your families continue to stay safe and be well and are looking forward to this Christmas and the upcoming New Year.  We’ve appreciated your prayers and have enjoyed sharing our travels with you.  We’re still not sure what our plans are once we return to the boat in January but regardless of where we end up, we know we’ll enjoy it and look forward to being able to continue to share our experiences with you.

We’re going to sign off for now by wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

With much love and appreciation,

Pete & Diane

Things on the move …

Thursday December 3^rd

After taking a short 30 to 45 minute power nap we got ready to ashore and explore Cumberland Island. The island is a protected National Seashore with little to no development and much of the island remains in its primitive, undisturbed state.  Almost 90% of the island is owned by the government. Because of its protected status, no roads or causeway from the mainland can ever be built. All visitors must arrive either by ferry or private boat and must bring their own food & supplies and transport all their garbage back to the mainland. The only facilities available on the island are a few campsites, restrooms, and water facilities.  It is very primitive.

The private property on the Island consists of several cottages passed down from generation to generation and the Greyfield Inn.

During the American Revolution and later the Civil War the island played a part in several military and naval campaigns. In the late 1800’s members of the Carnegie family bought much of the land on the island and built a stunning mansion which in it’s day was said to be very impressive.  The property and grounds were maintained until around the time of the Great Depression when it was abandoned.  It eventually caught fire in the 1950’s and today all that remains of the once great mansion are some of the exterior walls and fences.

During our time on the island we weren’t able to learn why the property was abandoned, so that’s something we hope to uncover through further reading or study.

We spent most of Thursday walking the trails that wound through the forest and along the beach and river.  We ended up walking almost 10 miles that day.  The huge live oaks covered in Spanish moss looked like a scene from Jurassic park.  You felt like you were walking through a prehistoric forest and we probably wouldn’t have been surprised if we had seen a dinosaur trampling through trees.

Even though we didn’t see any dinosaurs, we did see our fair share of wildlife on the island. 

While walking on one trail to the beach an eight-point buck crossed our path.  Later that afternoon while on the trail along the river we heard something scurrying around in the brush, so we stopped and just waited. We wanted to see what, if anything, would come out of the brush. After a few minutes, our stillness was rewarded by an armadillo coming out from the brush and walking just a few yards in front of us across the path.  Rather than scare it away by pulling out the phone for a few photos we elected just to observe it meandering along for a minute or so before moving back into the brush.

To round out the trifecta, we ended up coming upon one of the small herds of wild horses on the island as we made our way back to the dock.  The island is apparently home to between 150 and 200 wild horses.  These were the first we had seen all day, but tomorrow we would end up seeing horses throughout the day.

With both daylight and our energy running low we made it back to the dock and then to the boat.  We had spent over 4 hours walking close to 10 miles and were now completely exhausted from the hike and the limited sleep we got while offshore. I think we ended up going to bed if not shortly before 8 pm, then not much long after.  Needless to say, we both slept well that night.

Friday December 4^th

After a solid 12 to 13 hours of sleep we were well rested and ready for another day of exploring.

Just before we started our hike, we saw several small patrol boats coming down the river.  Not too far behind the patrol boats was a Navy ballistic missile submarine heading out to sea.  Cumberland Island is not too far from the Kings Bay submarine base which is the home port for several submarines. 

We spent most of the day exploring the southern end of the island which included the ruins of the mansion and an elevated walking path through the salt marshes.

As I mentioned yesterday, the ruins were quite impressive.  The park service displays throughout this part of the island did a great job explaining the history of the home and the scale operations required to support and maintain the property and extravagant lifestyle of the owners.

On our trip through the salt marshes we saw many different types of water fowl. At one point during our walk we observed a pair of male ducks puffing out their chests and testing each other in what appeared to be an attempt to impress some nearby female ducks. The two males would circle each other and then in a not too aggressive manner, peck at the other duck.  The females must not have been impressed for as each time one of the males would swim over to the females, the ladies would either turn away or just pay them no attention. It was comical to watch.

The path through the salt marsh terminates at the beach and as we were leaving the path, we saw several horses walking along the path and over the dunes. 

We then came up close to a group of buzzards. They didn’t seem to be interested in us, so we were able to get fairly close to where they were roosting in the trees that lined the path.  I’ve always thought buzzards were pretty ugly birds and the closer we got the more my initial impression was confirmed.

The afternoon flew by even though we were taking a much more leisurely pace to our walk. Before we knew it, the sun was getting ready to set and we still needed to dinghy back to the boat. Yesterday it had been cooler and windy so we never encountered any bugs. Today it was warmer and very little breeze, so as the sun set the bugs came out!

We both got hammered by mosquitos as we got in the dingy and prepared to motor out to the boat.  If those ducks we were watching earlier could have seen us thrashing and swatting mosquitos on our way back to the boat I’m sure they would have thought we were the ones looking comical now.

As soon as we got the dinghy alongside the boat, Diane quickly tied the dinghy up while I tried to protect us by continuing to thrash and swat. We went below without turning on any lights in hopes the bugs wouldn’t find us below deck and would leave us alone.  Our plan seemed to work and we really weren’t bothered by them anymore that evening.

Here’s a few more random photos from our time on Cumberland Island

Saturday December 5^th

It was time to leave Jurassic Park, I mean Cumberland Island.

The next logical stop for the trip south was St. Augustine, Fla, about 70 miles south of Cumberland Island.  Even though we’ve stopped there before, we were looking forward to stopping again. The city has a very nice municipal marina and a large mooring field. So we thought it shouldn’t be too hard to find a place to tie to for a day or so. Also, one of my colleagues from work and his wife now live in Gainesville, Fla. They wanted to try and catch up with us for an afternoon or evening somewhere along our trip south and St. Augustine was one of the possibilities. 

Covering seventy miles to reach St. Augustine in one day wasn’t realistic, besides the earliest we could get a confirmed reservation for a mooring was Monday. So we broke out the cruising guide and started considering our options.

We ended up deciding that we could travel about 30 miles further south on the ICW and then take a side trip 16 miles up the St. John’s river to Jacksonville on Saturday and spend Sunday exploring Jacksonville. On Monday we would then travel back down the river, rejoin the ICW, and cover the remaining 40 miles to St. Augustine.

Several factors contributed to this being the best plan for us. First of all, the currents would be favorable for us to travel upriver on Saturday (a flood current) and downriver on Monday morning (an ebb current). Another factor was being in port on Sunday morning would make it easier for us to participate in our Sunday School class without being distracted. And finally, Sunday was my birthday so we could possibly find a nice place for dinner if we were in a larger city.

With that as our plan we got underway and headed south.

The day went according to plan and the travel was pretty uneventful.  Traveling upriver to Jacksonville we did encounter a couple of large ships heading out to sea and we passed under one bridge that has 165 feet vertical clearance. That’s about 2 ½ times higher than most the bridges we encounter along the ICW.

A fourth factor that made a side trip to Jacksonville attractive was that there were two municipal marinas along the downtown area that allow free dockage for up to 3 consecutive days. So, having a free slip for two days would be nice.

We ended up arriving at the marina in the late afternoon and unlike St. Augustine, there was plenty of room at the Inn.  There were only two other boats there when we arrived, and one additional boat showed up shortly after us. So, there were a total of 4 boats and a total of 80 slips.  Plenty of open space.

The marina is actually adjacent to the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars’ home football stadium. Apparently, the place is packed on weekends when the Jaguars have a home game, but otherwise it’s not used much in the late fall and winter.

We tied up, made pizza for dinner, and spent the evening on board since we’d be out exploring on Sunday.

Sunday December 6^th

We enjoyed a nice breakfast, met with our Sunday School class, and then gave the boat a good bath before heading out into town.  It had been at least a week or so since we washed the boat, and after spending a full day offshore the boat was covered in salt and needed a good cleaning.

Once that was finished, we thew on the backpacks and headed out to go exploring.  Jacksonville is located right on the banks of the St Johns River. There is a nice ‘River Walk’ path that follows the river for several miles.  There are also a few museums along the walk, but these weren’t open.  We didn’t see much retail development in the area so the options for dinner nearby weren’t looking too great. Most of the restaurants we did see were closed on Sundays in the winter.

After walking most of the trail/path we went looking for a place to grab a late lunch and find a grocery store. We ended up getting a really good burger and onion rings from a place called BugerFi which wasn’t too far from the one grocery store that was within walking distance from the marina.

We finished lunch and then went over to the grocery store.  The only store anywhere close to us was something called ‘Fresh Market’.  I had never been in one before, so I didn’t know what to expect.  It was a really nice small grocery store that primarily carries as its name would imply ‘fresh’ food. 

They had a large vegetable and fruit section. Great deli and bakery and a large section for fresh prepared meals.  While it was apparently all fresh, the majority of it was also all high-end or gourmet level food.  Fortunately, our shopping list was relatively small so buying gourmet English muffins and fresh organic eggs & milk weren’t going to break the budget.

As I mentioned earlier, we hadn’t seen many options for restaurants along our walk so we figured we could pick up a few ‘fresh’ items and have our own restaurant quality meal on board.  So, we picked up some sushi, smoked salmon, good bread, and then rounded it out with some treats from the bakery.

Loaded down with the few items on our list and all the dinner items that weren’t on our list, we headed out to walk the 2+ miles back to the boat. Burning off a few calories along the way helped us to be ready for a good relaxing dinner.

Although we didn’t get to go into any museums or galleries, we did enjoy ourselves walking around town.  Dinner on board was great and it was a great way to spend a birthday.

Monday December 7^th

We wanted to get an early start to take advantage of a strong Ebb current that would be flowing early in the morning and we wanted to make it St Augustine by early afternoon so we could have plenty of time to visit with our friends.

We untied our dock lines at 7 am and the current slid us back off the slip while Diane kept the motor in neutral. Once off the dock, she put the engine in forward gear and maneuvered us into the middle of the channel.  The same current that had made backing out of the slip easy, now made going down river really easy and fast.  Before we knew it, the boat was going over 8 knots allowing us to make the 16-mile downriver trip in 2 hours.  If we kept that speed up, we’d be in St. Augustine by lunch!

Once we turned off the St Johns River and back onto the ICW the current slowed some, but we were still making good time.  I confirmed with my friend that we’d be in later in the afternoon and so our plans for the evening were set.

The sky had been overcast and rainy most of the morning and just after lunch the clouds finally went away and it started to warm up.  The breeze also picked up so were able to do some motor sailing along the way.  We reached Bridge of Lyons just outside St. Augustine shortly after 2 pm and had to motor around the harbor to kill some time before the next bridge opening at 2:30 pm.

The bridge opening was delayed just a few minutes to allow an emergency vehicle to cross but even with the short delay we were tied up to our mooring ball by 2:45 pm.  Once moored, we lowered and set up the dinghy then got cleaned up for dinner.

Our friends showed up just before 4 and were waiting for us on the docks as we dinghied in.

They’re retiring shortly after the beginning of the year and will be taking delivery of a new catamaran later this summer and hope to be out cruising themselves by this same time next year. It was a great evening catching up and just chatting. 

As we’ve said before, being able to reconnect with old friends and make new ones along the way is always a blessing.

After dinner they headed back to Gainesville and we headed back to the boat and enjoyed being able to look at Christmas lights on some of the buildings in town.

Tomorrow we will continue south. Our most likely destination is Stuart Fla where we hope to be able to secure a mooring for a week or so while we figure out where we’re going next.

Wednesday December 2^nd

With the cabin and all the topside gear already stored or secured for going offshore we were able to enjoy a very relaxing morning. 

The Savannah River, which was just over an hour further south from where we anchored, can have strong currents of over 2 to 3 knots. Consequently, we wanted to ensure that we were traveling down the river either on an Ebb or Slack current so we wouldn’t be fighting it on our 10 to 12 mile journey on the river while heading out to sea. According to the tide tables for the day, slack current was going to be around 930 am, followed by an Ebb for the next several hours.

We got underway at 0830, entered the Savannah River shortly after 930, and were in the Atlantic by 1045! Our timing was perfect, and we were blessed with a few knots of current flowing with us and were doing between 7 and 8 knots as we traveled down river.

We weren’t the only ones who had timed our trip down river to take advantage of the currents. Several large cargo ships also were on the river at the same time. We moved over outside the right side of the channel and made sure they had plenty of room to pass by us.

Once we cleared Tybee Island, we continued to motor for another hour so that we could get a few more miles offshore before turning our course south. Finally, around noon, we turned the engine off and except for a 30 minute period around dinner time, the engine remained off until 630 in the morning.  There is something so peaceful about traveling at sea without any sound other than the wind in the sail and the water moving along the boat.

The wind was relatively light (less than 10 knots) and basically behind us for most of our trip so we were slowly moving along at between 4 to 6 mph. The trip from Savannah to Fernandina Beach was just over 100 miles and we wanted to time our arrival for anywhere between 7 to 10 am Thursday morning so that we would once again have favorable currents heading up the channel. This time we wanted either a Flood or Slack current.  That meant as long as we averaged just under 5 miles an hour for our trip, we’d reach the channel entrance at our intended time.

The wind, sea, and weather cooperated throughout the day and for the duration of the sail, so we faced no issues with our arrival time.

We weren’t able to capture the highlights of our time offshore on camera so I’ll briefly describe them for you. I wish I could report that one of the highlights included “caught a fish” but I was once again skunked in that department!

Late in the afternoon I was down below and Diane was at the helm. She called for me to come up on deck and was pointing for me to look off to the left.  There, about a 100 yards or so off our port bow, was a school of a dozen or so dolphin. They were jumping in the air as they moved by us chasing , I’m sure, a school of fish. They apparently were having a successful fishing! We were able to watch them for at least 5 minutes as they moved along their way.

Another highlight was the night sky for the first couple of hours after sunset and before the nearly full moon rose sometime after 9. With a clear sky and no background light pollution the stars really popped. Before we left for the trip Diane found a copy of her grandfathers 1936 edition of Field Book of The Skies and has been studying it so that she can identify more planets and constellations on our trip.  She had several hours to practice before the moon came out.

Moon rise was a mixed blessing. Being nearly a full moon and clear sky, the moon lit up the sky enough that the ocean didn’t look dark and you could see the horizon most of the night.  With that much light though, it quickly washed out all the stars, putting an end to our star gazing for the evening.

The final highlight of our time offshore was the fact that we weren’t alone out there. Throughout the night there were close to a dozen other sailboats within a few miles of us all heading south, sailing about 20 to 30 miles offshore like we were.  We could see their lights off in the distance, and some even had AIS transponders on like we did, so we could electronically ‘see them’ on our navigation system. Even though we weren’t really traveling together, it was comforting to know there were other boats around you could call if something did go wrong throughout the night.

Fortunately, nothing did go wrong and we arrived at the entrance to the channel right at 0630.  We turned the engine on and made our way up the channel and to our anchorage off the banks of Cumberland Island Ga.  We anchored at 0900 and went below to take a short nap with another safe passage under our belts.  Thanks for all the prayers!

Friday November 27^th

The anchorage was once again still and quiet when we woke Friday morning. It was so quiet in fact that we were able to hear an owl across the way.  We broke out the binoculars and carefully scanned the trees but it apparently didn’t want to be seen, just heard. Even so, it was a great way to start the morning.

We had an easy day in front of us as there were many options for good anchorages the next hundred miles or so along the waterway towards Charleston, SC.  We enjoyed the scenery and waterfowl we saw as we traveled the Waccamaw south past Georgetown, SC. 

After traveling about 50 miles we selected a nice spot to anchor in the south branch of the Santee River just off the ICW.  The river was just a few hundred yards wide at this point and surrounded by marshes.  There was an opening in the marsh along the west shore that looked like it opened into a small creek or pond. Every few minutes groups of about eight to ten waterfowl would fly out of the opening and head across the river. The sun was setting just behind the opening and as the birds flew out they would cross the setting sun.  Too bad we’re not better photographers or we could have captured some great pictures for you all to enjoy. 

After the sunset we spent some time out in the cockpit star gazing and enjoying the quiet. It was a great way to end the day.

Saturday November 28^th

 It must be duck hunting season in South Carolina because we were awakened just before sunrise by sound of shotguns popping off every few minutes.  The early morning hunters must have found where those birds flew off to the night before! 

For the next several hours as we motored on towards Charleston, we saw dozens of hunters hiding out in duck blinds or in boats pulled just to the edge of the marshes waiting for the birds to fly by.  Several of the groups had decoys floating out in front of them in hopes of attracting the ducks to their area.  We also saw a few ‘high-tech’ decoys with frantically whirling wings that were raised a foot or two off the water. I’m not sure if any of these things actually fooled the ducks as we never saw any appear to take the bait.

As the morning wore on the skies became more overcast, and eventually it started raining.  We made good time getting close to Charleston, but our progress was slowed some as we had to wait for almost 45 minutes for a bridge opening. We had arrived near the bridge at 1:15 pm and since this particular bridge only opens on the hour we slowed down and waited.

After the opening, we crossed the Cooper River, sailed past Fort Sumter, and motored up the Ashley River.   During our last trip through Charleston we had stayed at the City Municipal Marina and had ‘a little incident’ as we left the dock, bumping into a sixty foot catamaran. Even though our docking skills have improved since then, we decided to skip staying there again and find a nice anchorage a few miles further south.

That night we anchored in the Stono River just north of a bridge. There were houses along one shoreline and a marina just south of us.  The anchorage wasn’t crowded, but it wasn’t secluded like the previous evening, so we weren’t able to enjoy a ‘quiet’ evening stargazing.

We did spend time looking at the forecast for the upcoming week and it wasn’t looking great.  Charleston Harbor provides good access to the Atlantic and is one of the ports along the ICW that people use as a jumping off point to head offshore and simply sail/motor directly to Florida.  We came into Charleston last trip, and it was only a 30 to 36 hour sail from Fernandina Beach to Charleston. Via inside ICW route it takes about a week to travel between those to cities. If the forecast was favorable, that is the winds not gusting over 25 knots and not blowing from the south, we were considering taking the offshore route again this time.

Unfortunately, not only were there Gale warnings for the next day or so, the temperatures were dropping into the low 30’s overnight and only getting into the high 40’s low 50’s during the day.  Not great weather for being offshore. 

So, we decided we’d continue south along the inside route and see if the forecast would improve any over the next few days.

Sunday November 29^th

The forecast didn’t change any overnight so after breakfast be pulled up the anchor and started south without a definite plan as to where we’d anchor later in the day. Wherever we did anchor, once again, we’d be staying put for a day or so waiting for the weather to improve.

As we motored along, we were able to call in and join the Advent Study our Sunday School class is doing this year. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but it truly is a blessing to be able to still participate in worship and small groups while we travel.  That was probably one of the things we missed the most on previous trips, but with Covid, many churches like ours have done a great job providing opportunities for people to stay connected ‘in these unprecedented times.’

Another blessing we had on Sunday was very favorable currents. In fact, several times throughout the day we were making over 8 knots so we were covering a lot of ground quickly.  Shortly after lunch we checked our progress and it looked like we could reach Beaufort, SC well before sunset.  That would make this a 60+ mile day. (Not bad given the shortening daylight travel window we have).

Since the winds were still projected to be blowing a steady 15 to 25 knots with gusts over 35 knots on Monday and this area has strong currents and large tidal swings, we needed to find a well protected anchorage or secure a slip or mooring. 

We ended up taking a mooring rather than anchoring. A mooring is basically tying your boat to a float that is connected to a permanent anchor.  They are typically very secure and if you stay on one, you have full access to all the marina facilities (showers, laundry, etc). With the strong winds and large tidal swings, we’d feel more comfortable exploring the town knowing Eos was tied to a mooring than having to worry if our anchor was holding or not.

The winds weren’t supposed to pick up until about 1 or 2am in the morning so we went to bed knowing we’d be secure when they did eventually arrive.

Monday 30 November

Bang! I jumped out of bed, opened up the companionway hatch and went out on deck to see what in the world had happened. It was close to 1:45 am.

The wind was howling and there was a boat right next to us, resting along our starboard side.  When the wind picked up and the current shifted, this boat that had been anchored outside the mooring field must have started dragging it’s anchor or just swung into the mooring field and hit us on our starboard side.

Diane wasn’t very far behind me getting out of bed, and it wasn’t long before the skipper and his wife on the other boat were up on their decks. I got a few fenders (bumpers) placed between the two boats so that there wouldn’t be any damage and Diane started our engine so we could maneuver as necessary.

The wind was continuing to push their boat alongside ours, but with the fenders in place neither boat was getting damaged. With us tied securely to our mooring it was obvious that his boat was the one that was moving so they quickly said they would pull up their anchor and go find another spot to spend the evening. A quick survey of our hull as they moved away didn’t show any signs of damage but we’d need to wait for the morning to assess if that was really the case or not.

With the wind now really starting to blow and the other boat about a half a mile away in another section of the harbor we tried to go back to sleep.  Needless to say, I didn’t rest well the rest of the evening.

When day broke and we could really check this out we were able to confirm that there in fact wasn’t any damage to our boat.  Several exterior features around our hull actually serve as bumpers or fenders to protect it from damage.  Fortunately, the other boat just drifted into us, and although it did make a loud noise when it made contact, it wasn’t going fast enough to do any damage.

After confirming all was well, we loaded up the dinghy with two loads of laundry and a few days worth of trash we needed to get rid of and headed to shore.

We did the laundry and once folded, put it all into a very large waterproof bag so everything would stay dry during our windy dinghy ride back to the boat later in the afternoon.

With all the chores done we went exploring, enjoyed a nice lunch, did some shopping, and grabbed an early dessert before heading back to the dinghy just before sunset.  The wind did blow all day, and as predicted the temperature started dropping later in the afternoon.  By the time we got back to the boat it was now in the mid-forties and expected to drop to the low 30’s overnight.

We made it an early evening, threw on an extra blanket or two and went to bed thinking ‘it’s supposed to be getting warmer the further we travel south, not colder!’

Tuesday December 1^st

We untied Eos from the mooring and headed to the fuel dock close to 9 am.  The wind had diminished a little and the current was also in the process of slowing down. Slack tide, when the current basically stops flowing either direction as the tides change, was only a few minutes away so we would have minimal current to deal with for the next 45 to 60 minutes.

We filled up the diesel tank and took advantage of a strong WIFI signal to get our bills done before heading back out for a few days.

We had also timed our departure from Beaufort to coincide with an Ebb tide so that the current would be flowing with us as we traveled down the river and give us a little extra push.  From experience we know that traveling against the current in this area can really slow you down.

For most of the day the wind and current were with us and we were again making close to 7 knots.  We did have one 3 ½ mile stretch heading towards Hilton Head, SC where we were had to travel directly into the current and a 15 – 20 knot wind.  Once we made that turn, our forward progress was immediately cut in half. We did turn the engine up some to try and make about 4 knots, but it still took us close to an hour to cover this 3 ½ miles.  Again, we were thankful for our enclosure as the waves gave the boat a good saltwater bath and we stayed dry.

After completing that stretch, we were able to change course and again made decent progress. We motored passed Hilton Head and started making our way towards Savannah Ga.  We anchored just after 4pm. The wind was finally dropping, but so was the temperature.

The offshore forecast for the next several days had improved and it looked like we would have the option to head down the Savannah River into the Atlantic and follow the coast down to Fernandina Beach. This would be about a 100-mile trip, give us a chance to get offshore again, and hopefully give us a day or two to visit Cumberland Island before it started raining again this coming weekend. 

With that as our plan, we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening getting the boat ready to head offshore.  We needed to remove all the dock lines, fenders, and other topside gear and store them in the locker and ensure anything that did remain on deck was secured. Inside the cabin we needed to make sure there weren’t any loose items laying out or on shelves that might go flying around if we encounter any rough swells or waves while offshore.

After that, we enjoyed a nice hearty dinner of meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans and then got ready for bed.

Monday November 23^rd

We got up shortly before sunrise to raise the outboard and dinghy back onboard before getting underway as we wouldn’t be needing them for the next few days and wanted them up in the davits when we pulled into the marina later this evening.

Once they were secured, we hoisted anchor, bid farewell to Wrightsville Beach for now and got underway.  If we had favorable currents with us, we were hoping to make it to Myrtle Beach for the evening. There we intended to have dinner with some friends from Harley that have since settled in Myrtle Beach. We’ve stopped there twice before and have stayed at Barefoot Landing Marina which is located right on the ICW and only 2 or 3 miles from my one friend’s house. Since we weren’t sure if we would be able to make it there in one day or not, we were waiting to call for reservations until after lunch when we’d have a better judge of progress and potential ETA.

Fortunately, the currents were more or less favorable and we were making ‘ok’ time. We could definitely make it to North Myrtle Beach (about 10 miles up the ICW from Barefoot Landing) before sunset, but Barefoot Landing was going to questionable.  We decided that we’d call for a reservation and if they had room, we’d push it and shoot for a sunset docking! We called for a reservation shortly after noon but they were already booked for the next two days so we’d have to look for somewhere else.

Our waterway guide mentioned several marinas in the North Myrtle Beach area that accommodated short term stays so we got on the phone and started calling down the list. The first marina was full and  the next one we called wasn’t taking any short-term stays. I was starting to get nervous.  Fortunately, the next marina we called, Myrtle Beach Yacht Club, did have room so we booked a slip for the evening but were still a good 4 to 4 ½ hours out. It turns out the Myrtle Beach Yacht Club was actually pretty close to our other friend’s house, so now we have two places to choose from in the future!

With our reservation secured for the evening we contacted our friends and worked on finalizing plans for the evening.  We all wanted to see each other but wanted to make sure we could find a place that practiced good social distancing and wouldn’t be very crowded.  I left that task to them and got back to enjoying the scenery and relaxing on the water.

The waterway in southern NC is very beautiful. There are a few sections that are built up, but for the most part the closer we got to SC, the less developed the coastline was.  Entering SC it’s the same for the first hour or so, then the closer you get to Myrtle Beach the more developed it is.  Even so, it was a beautiful afternoon on the water and we enjoyed our trip into Myrtle Beach.

We were able to dock right around 4 pm and had time to get cleaned up before meeting our friends at 530.  We enjoyed a great evening of good food and great conversation.  It’s always fun to catch up with old friends and it was even better to see & hear that everyone is doing well given this crazy past year.  We are already looking to visiting them again when we pass back through this spring!

Tuesday 22 November

We enjoyed a relaxing morning and took a long walk along the walking trail that surrounds the marina. There are actually 6 or 7 other marinas located in this basin, many of them are associated with the condo/homes that border the basin and are not open for transient or short-term stays, but still it’s a huge complex. The info brochure for the Yacht Club says the walking trail surrounding the basin is over 2 ½ miles long.

Since we had a short day in front of us, we took advantage of our time in the marina to give the boat a good scrubbing and also to catch up on the church service we missed on Sunday.  Good, strong, internet connections are something we no longer take for granted!

We finally got underway just after 12 and made our way through Myrtle Beach and on towards the scenic Waccamaw River.  The upper sections of the Waccamaw River are some of the most unspoiled areas of the ICW and where we intended to spend the next two days. Wednesday would be exploring, and Thursday we would be anchored all day to relax and enjoy a nice Thanksgiving dinner.

This area has had its fair share of rain over the past month and consequently the water level in the Waccamaw was very high. It was so high that some of the waterfront property along the way was flooded and the Coast Guard actually issued a travel advisory restricting the speed of traffic through the area. Fortunately for us, we don’t go fast enough to exceed the speed restriction and were able to continue on our travels.

We found a nice spot to anchor Tuesday evening, fixed a quick dinner and then settled in for the evening.

Wednesday 23 November

The only things on the agenda for Wednesday were to motor two miles south from our anchorage to refuel and pick up some famous Bucksport sausage for dad, then turn around and travel back up the Waccamaw (past where it’s joined by ICW) and find a nice quiet spot to anchor and spend Thanksgiving. Consequently, we spent another lazy morning putzing around and trying my hand at fishing again. 

I must admit I’m a much better putzer than fisherman.  One of the thermostats that controls our freezer was giving false readings causing the compressor on the freezer to stay on more than it should and thus consume more electricity from the batteries overtime. Not a huge deal right now since we were motoring most days and recharging the batteries while the motor was on. Moving forward though when we eventually get to somewhere where we intend to remain anchored for several weeks our primary source of electricity will be solar and our wind generator.  In theory our solar and wind generator should be able to keep up with our electrical needs, but we don’t want to have a system consume more electricity than we had planned on. Hence, the freezer running more than it should needed to addressed. 

With time on my hands, I called the manufacturer/supplier of our system and worked with one of the tech reps to help identify possible causes of the false readings.  Armed with a list of things to check, I was able to locate the culprit and fix the problem. Turns out it was simply a loose connection on the back of the thermostat that was easy to correct, but it was problem corrected none the less. Another successful ‘putz.’

Unfortunately, my fishing expedition wasn’t as successful. The fish may have been swimming around my lure and bait, but weren’t biting. Again, glad we are able to buy our food!

We eventually got underway, refueled, and started our way north up the Waccamaw. Our guide mentions that ‘although most of this section of the river is uncharted, as long as you stay in the center of the channel and don’t cut the bends too close you should have plenty of deep water.’ Not the most inviting description, but given the highwater we saw yesterday coming down the waterway yesterday we really weren’t too concerned.

We motored along at 3 ½ to 4 knots to both be able to take in the scenery and to ensure if we did encounter shallow water we weren’t going very fast.  It was a very pleasant journey upriver.

We found a quiet, scenic, anchorage about 6 or 7 miles upriver and decided it would be a perfect place to spend Thanksgiving.  We dropped our anchor, had a light dinner of soup, and went to bed dreaming about a great Thanksgiving meal.

Thursday 26 November

When we woke Thursday morning there was no wind and the water was perfectly still.  I love these quiet mornings when it’s like this and I can enjoy my coffee and just take in the beauty of God’s creation. This was definitely one of those mornings. 

See if you can tell which picture below is right side up and which one has been turned upside down.

Throughout the morning we checked in with family and finalized the plan and cooking schedule for Turkey dinner.  The galley, kitchen, on Eos is simple & small, but very functional for our needs.  We have a 3 burner stove top, a small oven, and minimal counter tops. We carry only 3 pots, a frying pan, a pizza pan, one baking sheet, a pie pan and a small cake pan. We also have a pressure cooker we’ve yet to put into service.  Given this was what we had to work with, we needed to plan how and in what pot each dish was going to be cooked.

Since we knew before we started the trip we were going to be having Thanksgiving dinner on the boat, Diane had purchased everything we needed for Thanksgiving ahead of time and had it all packed in a separate box. 

The first item to go into the oven was the pumpkin pie so it would have time to bake and have plenty of time to cool before dessert came around.  Once that was baked and out of the oven, the rest of the items followed suit and before we knew it we were sitting down to a full Thanksgiving meal at 2:30.  It was delicious and we thoroughly enjoyed every bite!

We were treated to a beautiful sunset to finish off the day.

Tomorrow we will resume our trip south and should be in Charleston, SC either Sunday or Monday.  We haven’t decided on whether or not we’ll continue down the ICW through Georgia on our way to Florida, or jump outside and go offshore.  We’ll watch the weather forecast as we travel to Charleston and make that call once we get there.

We all have so much to be thankful for, especially your friendship and continued prayers. Even though we weren’t spending the day with family we were able to connect and pass along our love and well wishes for each other. We hope that you all were able to do the same.  

Wednesday November 18^th

The forecast for the day called for winds from the north in the upper teens diminishing throughout the day.  Not a bad forecast for heading south, but unless we left right away it was unlikely we would make it to Oriental in time to find space at the town dock. Since we weren’t in any hurry to leave, we made a nice breakfast and took another walk through town. Not only were we able to stretch our legs, this would allow a little more time for the winds to die down and make leaving the slip and transiting the channel easier.

We got underway around 11am. The winds weren’t too bad and we had plenty of room to maneuver safely between us and a large powerboat tied at the other end of the town dock.  Once clear of the harbor, we let out the genoa and motor sailed south. With the wind from behind we were easily making over 6 knots. It was great sailing and inside the enclosure we were comfortable and warm, even though the wind was consistently blowing between 12 to 15 knots.

After crossing the Pamlico River we entered another canal which connects the Pamlico and Nuese Rivers.  Several large shrimp boats are based out of this section of the canal and make the RE Mayo Seafood Company and Marina their home base.  We’ve passed by the boats and docks every trip and each time after we’ve passed we say, ‘ I wonder if they sell fresh shrimp to retail customers or not’, but have never stopped. This time would be different.

As the shrimp boats and docks came into the view, we looked up their phone number online and gave them a call. The woman who answered the phone told me, ‘we sell shrimp to anybody. We’ll see ya’ll when you get here.’ With our question answered we made our way to the dock.  This was definitely more seafood company than marina, as the dock boards and pilings were well worn under constant heavy use.

Since we were going to have guests on board once we got to Oriental we ended up buying 3 ½ pounds of fresh, head-on shrimp (12-15 shrimp per pound size) for $5.75 a pound. Not a bad price, but we would need to deal with cleaning and shelling them onboard.

After our short stop we got underway and continued south to the end of the canal and our anchorage for the evening along the banks of the Bay River. We anchored just after 4 pm and then went to work cleaning the shrimp.  Since we were floating on the water I figured there wasn’t anything wrong returning the shrimp heads and shells back to their natural habitat while keeping the cleaned shrimp on board. This scheme would also help prevent our trash bin from developing that nice fish/shrimp smell.

Once cleaning detail was complete, we made dinner and them settled in for the evening.

Thursday 19 November

We were up early and underway by 7am headed for the town of Oriental just 10 miles south. I wanted to get an early start so that we had plenty of time to find space at the town docks or a place to anchor before our guests showed up at noon.

Our youngest daughter and son-law were coming up from Topsail, NC to visit for the day and act as our private UBER drivers to shuttle us around town. Oriental is the self-proclaimed ‘sailing capital of North Carolina’. The town has less than 1000 full time residents, but close to 4000 sailboats call Oriental home and almost everywhere we stopped they reminded us of this piece of local triva.  The town itself is located on the northern banks of the Neuse River and does serve as an ideal base for local cruising. New Bern, NC is a few miles up river, Manteo and the coastal beaches are a few hours sail to the east, and Moorehead City/Beaufort and access to the Atlantic is only 12 miles to the south. So, there is some basis for its claim to being the sailing capital.

While we haven’t yet made firm plans for the rest of the winter, much less the spring and summer of 2021, Diane and I are considering possibly leaving the boat in Oriental later this spring on our way home and then splitting time between York, Topsail, and the boat in the summer. If we did leave the boat here it would be less than 2 hours away from Topsail allowing us time to enjoy both the beach and the boat without a 9 hour drive between them.

Since we’ve never stopped here ourselves, we wanted to spend some time visiting different marinas, getting information on slip cost and availability for the spring/summer season. Having the kids come over was a blessing in not only getting to have a nice visit, but also to save us a lot of walking and/or shuttle rides.

We did spend several hours checking out the various marinas and saw a few that could be a good fit if in fact we decide to leave Eos here for the summer.

As payment for driving us around all day we treated the kids to a dinner of shrimp and sausage and then had hand dipped ice cream from the local coffee shop for dessert.  After a game of hearts and great conversation, we all retired to our bunks and turned in for the evening.

Friday 20 November

After a hearty breakfast, they ran Diane out to the grocery store to restock our fresh food and I did a load of laundry at the nearby marina. They left Oriental just before noon and were going to search for another ice cream shop in New Bern, NC on their way back to Topsail.

Since we were staying at the free town dock, we decided help support the local economy by grabbing lunch at the marina restaurant before heading south across the river. We were only going just over 10 miles further south so we were in no rush to head out.

After lunch we finally untied our dock lines just before 2 pm and Diane took us out of the slip and headed into the harbor. I’m trying to do a better job this trip of letting Diane share in the docking and close quarters maneuvering so that she continues to build her ship handling skills.  As always, she did a great job.

We motor sailed across the Neuse and anchored in Adams Creek shortly after 3 pm.  It was a quiet anchorage so I decided to breakout the fishing pole and see if I could ‘catch us dinner’.  A friend of mine who is an avid fisherman set me up with a new rig and plenty of lures/bait to use while on this trip.  A few fish did find my selection of bait appetizing, but I was not successful in setting the hook and snagging the fish before they made off with my bait.  Fortunately, Diane had been to the grocery store earlier that day and we didn’t need to rely on my fishing skills for our dinner!

Saturday 21 November

Our anchorage in Adams Creek is at mile 187 on the ICW. The next place we intended to anchor was at mile 244 just at the south end of Camp LeJune, almost 60 miles away so it was another early morning. We got underway at 635 about 20 minutes before full sunrise. There was plenty of daylight and the water was dead calm at that early hour in the morning. We also had the current with us, so once out in the channel we were making just over 7 knots. One additional knot of speed may not seem like much but for us, it’s a boost of between 15 to 20% in speed that definitely adds up over the course of a days travel.

We were at Moorehead City/Beaufort Inlet just after 9 am and had we wanted to, we could have turned east at the inlet, headed out into the Atlantic and made our way directly to Florida.  But that would have meant we’d be passing up the rest of the ICW in North & South Carolina and Georgia, and as of right now, we’re not in a rush to get south. Rather, we’re just taking our time and enjoying the trip.

Shortly after passing through Moorehead City I was able to connect with one of my classmates from the Naval Academy who has a summer house on Emerald Isle, NC and we were going to be passing right by. Unfortunately they weren’t in town, so we exchanged a few quick emails/texts and agreed to connect in the Spring on our way north.  If we do end up keeping the boat in Oriental for the summer, we might even be able to take them out for a sail.

The rest of the day was uneventful and because we had made such great speed we reached our anchorage just after 3 pm. Since we had plenty of daylight still ahead of us, we launched the dinghy, put the motor on, and went for a short ride.  We really haven’t used the dinghy motor much at all over the past year so I wanted to make sure it is in great working order before it’s called into full time service in Florida or the Bahamas. I did service it myself prior to the trip but it’s still running rough and seems to get more sluggish the more I twist the throttle. Probably either bad fuel or a clogged filter, but regardless it’s not running as smoothly as I’d like so, I will continue to tinker with it in the evenings along the way south until I figure out & correct the problem.

After my dinghy ride, we enjoyed another spectacular sunset, sighted the International Space Station and watched it fly overhead and disappear into the night sky. (The website http://www.spotthestation.nassa.gov provides information on how to determine where the Space Station is and when it is visible in your area if you’d like to try and spot it yourself). We then had a nice dinner and settled in for the evening hoping the Marines weren’t going to be conducting night operations on a weekend.

Sunday 22 November

The Marines did not conduct night ops so we did have a peaceful anchorage for the evening. The morning was a different scene altogether!

On shore there were two black inflatable dinghies with big engines, 4 or 5 camaflouged work boats, and an olive green barge/floating car ramp.  The dinghies got pushed into the water, loaded with a half dozen Marines, and then proceeded to speed back and forth in the harbor/anchorage for several minutes.  Then about 3 dozen Marines emerged from around a corner and proceeded to board the floating ramp after two trucks were loaded. Eventually everyone was onboard and the work boats pulled the ramp away from the shore and took the rig out of the anchorage and down the river to, I assume, another part of the base. It was pretty cool to watch. We’ve anchored here several times in the past and have seen our fair share of helicopters fly overhead, but never witnessed a training exercise like this.  It was a cool way to start the day.

The Marines had left the area by 7:45 (early morning for those guys) so we got ready to get underway as well.  We pulled up the anchor just after 8am and headed out towards the New River Inlet. The inlet leads out into the Atlantic and crossing it can be a bit tricky. Sand from the nearby beaches can build up in the channel quicky causing the actual path you need to take each time you cross it to be different. If enough sand builds up, the depth can become too shallow for some boats to cross. Fortunately, that was not the case for us this time and we never saw a depth less than 8 feet as we crossed.  We also made sure we were crossing the inlet on a rising tide (changing from low tide to high tide). The theory of crossing on a rising tide is that if you do run aground you simply need to wait a few minutes for the tide to continue to come in and eventually lift you off the bottom.  Conversely, you don’t typically want to travel through an area with shallow water on a falling tide because if you do happen to run aground, you’ll be stuck for awhile.

Once we crossed the inlet we made our way south another mile or so, and then made our way over to the side of the channel and dropped our anchor not too far from the beach house where our daughter and son-in-law are staying. They had paddled out in the kayak and were waiting close to the channel to join us for the morning.

After the kids departed and started paddling back to the beach, we pulled up our anchor and continued south. With Diane at the helm driving the boat and navigating us south, I went below to do some writing for a bit.

We continued motorsailing the rest of the day. The weather was pleasant and we were joined on the water by lots of other boaters.  This was the most traffic we’ve seen on the water so far this trip.

We eventually made it to Wrightsville Beach just before sunset and were ready to drop the anchor and settle in for a quiet evening. Unfortunately, it took us several attempts, ok five or six, to get the anchor to hold properly. We’re typically able to get the anchor set on the first try, but for some reason we weren’t as successful in Wrightsville Beach.  Our cruising guides do make mention of a hard sandy bottom, so that may have been contributing to our problem. Also, the wind was picking up and we were in more of a hurry than we should have been, causing us to not initially put out enough chain before trying to back down and set the anchor.  We made three attempts in one part of the anchorage, and then moved further south to look for a better spot.  The boaters in the first anchorage were probably happy to see us leave as everyone gets nervous if they think the boats around them aren’t anchored securely.

We eventually ended up using our secondary anchor which has a slightly different shape and design of the ‘hooks’ that bite into the bottom and that seemed to do the trick. 

With the anchor finally set, we went below and cooked a quick dinner of sausage and Jamaican Jerk rice for dinner to warm us up and provide a little comfort from a long afternoon.  In the morning we will continue south and make our way into South Carolina.