Palm Coast, FL to Vero Beach, FL

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Lighthouse on the ICW

This covers two days of cruising and two days in Vero Beach. Both cruising days were nice and sunny and WARM! I'm actually went barefoot on the boat and we both wore shorts for a couple of days. The second day the wind picked up and we had to contend with sailboats actually sailing.

Here is some ICW humor - "How do you tell it is the weekend on the ICW?" "There are boats going North too." During the week, we rarely see any Northbound traffic.


Old Fort on the ICW

We also noticed that on this stretch of the ICW, which is really Indian River, there are a number of small islands. One is named "Hole in the Wall Island." On the weekend, we see people camping on these small islands with their boats anchored off-shore. I assume the campsites are available by reservation through the park service, but they certainly make a nice place to camp.


Island Camp


Some islands are very, very small

The scenery starting at Vero Beach changes from nice houses to mansions with boats that require a dedicated crew parked in front. It will be like that the rest of the way South.


House with its own observatory


Pelicans Napping


There must be a story here - but we don't know what it is.

Coming into the harbor, we had been told we would be on a mooring ball, so Bob prepared lines for that. Then, when we called to ask which one, we were told that we would be rafting up to another catamaran. Well, that requires a whole different set up with lines and side fenders. So, I spent a harried few minutes running all over the boat re-setting everything. It is a very protected mooring, the water tonight is like glass. Since we expected the wind to pick up Sunday, we will stay here till the weather improves before moving on.

The folks next to us are from New Jersey on their sailing cat named Harmony. I had read that the city of Vero Beach provides a nice shuttle bus with stops at shopping and tourist sites. Unfortunately, they do not run on Sunday.

Saturday night, we went up top to enjoy a cocktail at anchor and I heard some splashes and what sounded like a gasp. I could see in the dark, the porpoise coming up to the surface and hear the blow, then the splash again as it went back down. Since it was quiet, we could actually hear that.

Sunday we loaded up the boat with boxes of school supplies we had signed up to take to the Bahamas. We have some to drop off at Staniel Cay, Blackpoint, and Georgetown.

We had some excitement Sunday morning when we went to launch the dinghy with its new Honda motor. The dinghy is stowed on top of the boat and is lowered to the water with a hoist and straps. We had checked the straps that hold the boat and thought that they were good for another year because we could not see any fraying at all. Well, unfortunately, the strap holding the front of the dinghy broke, dropping the bow of the dinghy into the water. Bob was able to hold it up enough while I lowered the aft end down so we didn't take on too much water. He then pumped out the water we did take on and checked the motor to make sure no oil spilled. We were very lucky that the dinghy did not hit the boat, or us in the fall. Sorry, I was too wrapped up in helping to get you a photo of this mess.

We were able to over to check in and pay for the mooring, take showers, and pick up our mail that had been forwarded, and we just made it back before the rain started in buckets.

When the rain stopped, Bob took off on foot to walk the two miles to the West Marine store to purchase new strapping. While he was at the store, the sky opened again and the wind picked up. We had added another line to the mooring ball to give us extra holding. I was very glad we did that because the wind turned the boat so that the stern was just off a stand on mangrove. If we had broken loose, we would have ended up tied up in the mangrove. Why do these things happen when Bob leaves me alone on the boat? He didn't make it back till after dark.

Monday we took the shuttle back to West Marine, WalMart, and returned to the boat. The weather has cleared up and we expect to continue on Tuesday.

Thanksgiving in Palm Coast, FL

Sunset at anchor

Hi Everyone, we hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We got to spend thanksgiving with our friends Bill and Linda and members of Linda's family in Palm Coast. It was a wonderful day.

Linda had lent us her cute little Smartcar that she has named "Penelope." I like that idea. Even Bob could fit in it to drive it. We were able to go shopping at a Walmart and do some re-stocking on Wednesday.


"Penelope"

Bob had the generator fixed - again. If the water pump goes out again, I think he is about experienced enough to change the next one himself.

Here are some photos of Thanksgiving. It was a great time and we really appreciated sharing it with our friends and their family.


Our tradition is for Bob to "attack" the turkey - and Ray was nice enough to allow Bob to do that.


Bob, Linda, Bill and Penny

Savannah, GA to St. Augustine, FL

Even the "big boys" need work

Our first stop after Savannah was a night at anchor. Actually, the sunset photo from the last blog entry was taken that night. Unfortunately, Bob discovered a problem with the - guess what - the generator. He has the problem diagnosed and we will get it fixed when we stop in Palm Coast.

Monday, we passed Kings Bay Naval Base and I took these photos. They have these huge buildings that you can see for miles away.


Kings Bay in Background




We then stopped for the night at Pernandina Beach. We actually had planned to anchor out, but there is a cold front coming through and the only way to have heat on the boat with the generator out, is to hook up to shore power.

We woke up to a nice warm morning and left for St. Augustine, FL.

Normally, helicopters and high electric wires are not compatible. We spotted this helicopter hovering near some men working on a very high wire. It was very unnerving to say the least. I wouldn't have wanted to be either in the helicopter or on the support. You never know what strange thing you will see along the ICW. If you double click on the photos, you can see them in a larger format.


Check out the man on the skid.


Oh - too close




I think this qualifies for one of those "Most Dangerous Job" shows


Egret near our dock in St. Augustine.

Savannah, Georgia

Thursday, while Bob was off on a consulting job, Shirley took me downtown where I could get a tour bus to do a little sightseeing of this beautiful city of Savannah. Although it is still chilly, the sky was clear, making it good for taking photos.

I have to tell you that I searched for the statue from the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" specifically so I could take a photo of it for the blog.
Well, it seems that the city wants to "protect" it, and it is now in a museum where "no photos are allowed." I was very dissappointed. However, I found this copy in the window of a sightseeing tour company. Sorry, it was the best I could do.



Savannah has a wonderful river walk along the Savannah River. Here are some photos of tour boats cruising the river.


Tour boat going under the Savannah River bridge





There must be a story about this - there was only one balcony on this building - somebody really wanted a balcony.


Statute of the Waving Girl

The story of this statute can be read at this link. http://www.nationalmathtrail.org/Math%20Trail%20Site%20folder%2066/wavinggirlinfopage.html


The first good sunset photo this year taken at anchor South of Savannah.

Thanks to Mark and Shirley for your hospitality.

Myrtle Beach, SC to Savannah, GA

We left on Saturday morning to a day that appeared to be a better weather day than the previous day. We had no fog or rain most of the day. It came, however, right before it was time to anchor for the night in Price Creek. Since I have to assist with anchoring, I got drenched. So far, the weather has not coorporated with our travels.

Sunday, however, was another story. We woke up to a clear bright blue sky - what a relief! Temperature was still a little chilly, bur overall a much better cruising day.

We passed through Charleston harbor and I got this photo.


Crossing Charleston Harbor

We spent the night at the Beaufort, SC Downtown Marina. Lovely marina and quaint town. The main reason we stayed there was so that Bob could find a sports bar where we could watch the Redskins game, which again started out promissing and turned to dissapointment. Darn


Passing the Thunderbolt Marine Service Facility known for large boat repair.

We got up on Monday to another nice clear day and travelled down past Savannah to the Isle of Hope area where we will be till Saturday. We need to get a little maintenance done on the boat. We will meet for dinner with Grant, of Belezza that we met last year. We met Grant and Brenda from Vancouver last year in the Bahamas. They had left their boat in the Savannah area for the summer and are now preparing to leave for the Virgin Islands this week. Brenda decided that she would return home while Grant and his crew, take the boat to the VI and then join him when they get there. Unfortunately, we just missed her by a day. It was great to get caught up with Grant.

We will also get a chance to visit with Bob's former boss, Mark and his wife Shirley while we are here.


With the curve in the river right before the marina, we get a nice view of the oncoming boat traffic during the day.

Wilimington, NC to Myrtle Beach, SC

Barge and Tug in fog


This guy gets all the room he wants

What started out to be a calm quiet day, turned rather interesting quickly. We left Wilmington with overcast skies that soon turned to pea soup fog. Visibility was terrible. On top of that, we were in an area where there is heavy barge and ferry traffic. We would hear loud horn blasts, and shortly thereafter, we would finally see the barge coming very close to the boat. Bob could see what looked like the barges on his radar, so was able to prepare for them, and he continually sounded our horm back to let them know we were there.

Then, on top of that, a Coast Guard patrol boat came screaming up alongside us with an armed machine gun operator at the bow. Turned out they only wanted us stay to the right of the channel so that they could do a training exercise ahead. We then saw three more armed patrol boats escorting a larger Coast Guard boat through the fog. Given that we couldn't see anything ahead, it was quite a shock to be approached with the armed boat. I didn't try and take any photos of that experience.

Then, we came to a place in the ICW where a new bridge was being built. There was a working platform in the middle of the channel with a huge crane. A barge was tied to it with huge concrete spans that were to be lifted into place. It was too narrow to pass on the right, and barely wide enough to pass on the left in water only 5 feet deep. A sailboat ahead of us had been afraid to try it because of the depth. We did make it through just fine.(So, the sailboat followed us after we made it.) If we had to wait for the span to be lifted so they could move the barge, we would not have made Myrtle Beach that night.

The last challenge was navigating through the area called the "rockpile." It is an area that had been blasted through rock. The bottom and shoreline are not "boat friendly."


Sample of the "Rockpile"

Three photos are of an interesting bridge known as a "pontoon" bridge. The center section floats our of the way to open and goes up and down with the tide. That means if you are crossing it in a car, you will either be going up and over or down and over to cross. Sad to say, this bridge is going to be replaced by a "standard" type bridge along with many others on the ICW. It makes for easier passing for cars and boats, but it does take away the "charm."







We went through fog and rain off and on the rest of the day. Captain Bob was ready for his cocktail when we docked.

We stopped for the night at Barefoot Landing Marina, right next to a large shopping and restaurant complex and met my son Mike, and his family for dinner. We also played Santa and delivered the rest of the Christmas packages we had on board. It was great to see them. Casey is now a senior in high school and being courted by several colleges. Riley is growing like a weed and I expect him to be almost as tall as I am when we pass through in next June on our way home.


Suppose they don't like their neighbors?

Norfolk, VA to Wilmington, NC

We've been travelling at a nice pace along the ICW. In Norfolk, we got to have dinner with our oldest granddaughter attending ODU, and Scott our neighbor working in Norfolk. A pleasant first stop along the way.


Tour boat from Yorktown passing through Norfolk

We got up early the next morning and navigated all the bridges through Norfolk. We locked through the Great Bridge Lock easily, now our third trip - we are getting to be old pros.


Locking Through


Leaving the lock

We stopped the second night at Coinjock Marina and had their famous prime rib at the restaurant - Bob had the enormous 32 ounce version.

The next day we heard Wayne and Lynne on Skinwalker on the radio, some folks we had met on the way home last Spring who are heading from Baltimore, where they had spent the summer, with Wayne working as Captain Bones of the Pirate Cruise Ship, to Florida where they will spend the winter in Fort Myers Beach, FL. We met them in Upper Dowry Creek and tied up together for the night. That was our first raft. We enjoyed the evening with them. They had come through the Great Dismal Swamp route stopping at Elizabeth City, a favorite stop of theirs.

We travelled with them the next day and ended up rafting up again in Spooner Creek in Morehead City.

Tuesday we split company and cruised up the New River to a marina at Camp LeJeune. There we met up with Bob's daughter Krista and family. We were able to do some shopping and pass on Christmas gifts off the "Santa Boat" to them and son Greg's family. We had quite an arrival team with Krista, husband Randy, kids Ryan and Sammy, and Randy's sister Kathy who was visiting, plus Greg, and his daughters Brooke and Lilly! No shortage of line handlers there.


Boat named the "Lucky Penny" at the base marina

Wednesday we did some provisioning at the commissary and a trip to Wal-Mart. That night Sammy and Ryan got to spend the night on the boat with us. Thursday, Krista, Ryan, and Kathy, travelled with us to Wilmington. We waited out a rain and thunder storm in the morning and left by noon. We arrived by 5:30 and had dinner. Randy and Sammy came to pick them up and take them home. It was fun to have company for a day along the way.


Ryan helping his Grandpa Bob in the Pilot House

Next stop will be Myrtle Beach, where the "Santa Boat" delivers packages to my son Mike, and his family. We will then get space back in our guest stateroom.


Baby Afgan I'm working on for the next grandchild due in the spring


Photo taken of the Pretty Penny "in the air" this summer during its haulout.

2008 Trip to the Bahamas - We're Underway!

After waiting three days ready to go at the dock for bad weather to clear, we finally got under way on the 7th at 7:48. We were fully loaded and ready to go when a storm with 30 mile per hour winds and pelting rain showed up. (Same kind of thing that happened to us last year! Guess we are to learn patience from that.)

The winds died down and it is still very gray and overcast, but the waves are less than one foot, so we expect a calm ride today to Norfolk.

The boat had an electric "tune-up" this summer with the addition of several large batteries that will allow us to anchor out longer before having to run the generator, the generator was repaired, the bottom painted, two stationary portholes were swapped out for ones that open, electronics were upgraded, a nice bimini top was added by our neighbor Deb so we can sit out up top in some shade, and a few other minor repairs were completed. We had some "tune-ups" ourselves also. Bob had hernia surgery, and I had an endarectomy, but we've both been cleared for the trip.

Our plan this year is to follow the same path South to Florida visiting three of our children along the way. We plan on being in the Bahamas over Christmas this year, so I did all my shopping this year by Oct. 31st, wrapped and mostly delivered. Actually the boat is the Santa sleigh for the three families we will visit on the way South. We expect to return by the middle of June. This will allow us to travel farther and see more of the Bahamas than we had time to last year.

I am working on moving this blog to another service that will allow you to see where we are on a map, but I have a few bugs to work out first, so follow along on this one and I'll post the new URL when I have it up and running.

We hope you all had a great summer.