On our Way!

We pulled in the dock lines, secured the boat for a long passage, met up with our cruising buddies, Carleigh, passed the cruise ship docks and headed out the cut in Fort Lauderdale. We passed the Mailboat coming in from Nassau on our way out this morning. We are experiencing fairly calm seas this morning, it should be a calm passage to the Bahamas. Next post to the blog will be sent from the Bahamas!

Lake Worth, FL to Fort Lauderdale, FL

This is MiraBello another Crosswater at her dock along the ICW in Fort Lauderdale


House being fumigated along the ICW - how the heck to they get that much tarp over a house?


Goodyear Blimp over the ICW


We have seen this boat in Nassau before - it is owned by a mega car dealer - we understand it may now be for sale.


One of many beautiful homes along the ICW in Fort Lauderdale area

Our trip from Lake Worth to Fort Lauderdale went calmly. The biggest problem we encounter in this part of the ICW is all the bridges we have to wait to be raised for us to pass through. It is just time consuming. You must time your speed to arrive at the next bridge just about the time for it to open.

We arrived at Las Olas Marina about 3 PM to meet Mac and Shirley of Cat's Paw on the dock waiting for us. We had not seen them since last year. Also at this marina was My Sharona who had arrived the day before us from Vero Beach. At a nearby marina, Clay and Rita-Kay of Carleigh were also docked and they had a rental car to come visit with us.


Pretty Penny at Las Olas Marina after the rain ended


Our traditional photo of Bob about to carve the bird

We had a great reunion with all our friends from last year. We had Thanksgiving on our boat with Carleigh and Cat's Paw. Bob again determined the size of the turkey, not by the "pounds per person" measurement, but by "inches per convection oven" method. That resulted in the very tight fit of a 20 pound turkey.


One full oven


Mac, Shirley, Clay, and Bob and I

We ate till we were all stuffed. It was a great time to catch up and enjoy the day together.

Friday night we hosted a "leftover" dinner with Carleigh, Cat's Paw, and My Sharona. Afterwards, we played the new domino game I had purchased called "Highrise" and then played a card game called "infinity" that Shirley and Mac knew.

We are just about 3 blocks from the beach and have enjoyed dining at restaurants on the beach walk. Fort Lauderdale also has a trolley system and a water taxi to use to get around town easily. I took the water taxi to the Galleria Mall on Saturday for my last real shopping bonaza before leaving for the Bahamas, where finding a decent place to shop is pretty slim.

Sunday looks like a good time to cross as the weather is predicted to be calm enough for us to cross. So, it will be a little while before I get to do the next post to the blog.

Palm Coast, FL to Lake Worth, FL

Appeared to by a white pelican flock


Photo of an island full of roosting pink birds - couldn't tell what they were.

Well, our favorite mechanic Al, of Al's Marine Service, got all the parts and put us back together on Wednesday, Thursday, finishing up Friday morning.
Engines run great and so does the generator (until the next time it breaks).

We then did a short test run and dropped Al back off at the marina and were on our way by 1.

We anchored for the night in New Smyrna Beach, in a parallel channel to the ICW. Rather narrow, but very calm water. We were underway until almost dark.

Saturday we have to go 110 miles to get to Vero Beach! That is the longest day we have ever run.


Haulover Canal Bridge is open while undergoing repairs


Pleasant way to spend a weekend, kayaking the Haulover Canal

We had to pass under the NASA railroad bridge at Titusville and had heard it was closed during working hours for repairs. Luckily, it is open on weekends, so we breezed right through. I had read from some other boaters their stories of having to wait up to four hours for it to open for them.

We spent the night at Vero Beach Marina and there we finally met up with some of our Bahamas cruising friends. It was like homecoming! Dee and Ed on Sea Fox X, Carl and Deb on Diva, and Wayne and Sharon on My Sharona were there and all joined us for dinner at the Riverside Cafe. It was great to catch up with everyone and find out what everyone had done all summer and where they plan on cruising this winter.


Another "Penny" boat

All but Diva, include the Bahamas in their plans. Diva is looking at cruising to the Keys, passing Cuba, and heading to the Yucatan Peninsula and Belize this winter. We will certainly miss them if they do that. We had been thinking that if they open up Cuba next year, we might do that trip next winter instead of the Bahamas - we will see next year when the time to decide occurs.

Since the Vero Bus Municipal transportation does not run on Sunday, we decided to press on to Lake Worth on Sunday. It is 62 miles and was a long afternoon's -well into the evening - cruise.

As it started to get dark, we noticed so many of the large and small homes already decorated for Christmas. The lights along the roofs and docks turned the ICW into a magical place. This was the first time we had cruised in the dark.

We successfully anchored in a pretty full anchorage in Lake Worth in the dark - always an exciting thing to do, had dinner and crashed for the night.


Well, that is one way to make a living


I guess you'd call this a "Cruise-In" Restaurant

Monday we rented a car and went about 20 places on our list of items to get, and all were successful, except that the mail did not arrive. If it comes in a day or two, Shipping Plus will forward it to our next marina in Fort Lauderdale, otherwise, they will return it to the post office. This has only happened to us twice in the three years that we missed a delivery. Oh well, stuff happens. By the end of the day, we were officially "shopped out" and were anxious to get back to the boat. Then the problem of where to stow everything wed bought got underway. Think we should tow a storage unit behind the boat.


Not going anywhere soon


Not going anywhere - ever

Tuesday we'll be in Fort Lauderdale and meet up with the folks on Cat's Paw, Carleigh, and My Sharona for Thanksgiving dinner! These are all folks we met last year in the Bahamas. We purchased the turkey Monday our usual way - not by pounds per person," but by "inches per convection oven." Last year, that was a 17 pound turkey, this year, Bob found a 20 pound turkey that met our measurement requirements.

Palm Coast, FL - NASA launch

We are still in Palm Coast, FL getting the work done on the engines and generator. We hope to be all fixed and underway by Wednesday or Thursday.

We decided to see if we could get some good photos of the space launch today. We were told by the staff at the Palm Coast Marina to go to the top of the bridge just South of the marina over the Intracoastal Waterway for the best view of the launch.

So, we rented some bikes from the marina and rode to the bridge. Turns out, we weren't the only ones with that idea today. Cars stopped on the bridge and blocked one lane in each direction and many people walked or rode bikes from both directions to the top of the bridge.

Someone yelled, "there it is" and then we spotted it. Bob had the Canon camera with the telephoto lens, and I had our Sony camera, both of us snapping photos. Here are some of the best. To see any photo on this blog larger, just double-click on the photo and it will enlarge.


Taken with the telephotos lens


Taken with the Sony camera showing the ICW below.

Beaufort, SC, to Palm Coast. FL

We left Beaufort and were underway early, again by 7. Georgia is so pretty to cruise through. Other states have these nice direct many man-made canals to pass through. Georgia, on the other hand, takes maximum use of the natural waterways that exist in the state. As a result, you don't "cruise through" the state, so much as "meander through" the state.

We arrived mid afternoon at Delegal Creek Marina and met our friend Mark who lives on Skidaway Island on the dock. We had a lovely chance to catch up with Mark and Shirley over dinner at one of their Island Clubs. Good food with great friends always makes for a pleasant evening!

We were up and underway Tuesday again at 7 in the morning. We expected to run into some of the rain and wind from Ida during that day. So the Captain sped us up to 10 knots from our usual 8-9 knot cruising speed. The rain met us at 11:45, making visibility difficult.

Luckily, the rain stopped before we got to Brunswick for our fuel stop and to spend the night at the Municipal Marina.

We walked to a great restaurant in town that we enjoyed so much last spring that had been recommended to us by Mac and Shirley on Cat's Paw last year. The restaurant is Cargo's Portside Grill and they did not disappoint us again this year.

After dinner we arranged to have a cab take us to a location in Brunswick, right off 95 where the Tea Party Express was due to stop at 7:30 that evening. Along with several hundred folks, we the presentations by the Tea Party group along with some music. I was so happy it stopped raining through the whole event that evening. The Tea Party Express had made two other stops that day, the first in Augusta, GA, and Beaufort, SC, then in Brunswick. They have just one more day on this tour.


Me, in front of the Tea Party Express bus


Musical entertainment provided by the Tea Party

Bob had us underway again by 7. So far, the rain has stopped, but it is still overcast making the world around us monochromatic. We are expecting winds to pick up to a possible 25 mph.


Passed this interesting wooden sailboat near Kings Bay. At least they had built a nice enclosed cabin.

We passed Kings Bay Naval Base in Georgia. The mission of this base is to maintain submarines. They have two huge buildings that you can see for miles and this funny looking birdcage like structure where they do deguassing (to reduce the ships magnetic signature).


The "Bird Cage"


Two sub maintenance buildings at Kings Bay that you can see for miles. Sorry it wasn't a nice clear day.

We then passed Fernandina, Florida. This may be the first time we haven't stopped here for the night. Since it was only 11:30, we pressed on.

By early afternoon, the sun peeked through the clouds slowly turning the work back to technicolor.


We decided to let this guys cross in front of us in Jacksonville, FL

We anchored for the night at 5 - late for us. Bob picked an anchorage off the ICW that already had 5 sailboats and a large trawler. In the morning it is my job to wash the anchor chain as it comes into the boat. At this anchorage the chain and anchor was buried in plain thick mud! What a mess! I deserved a really big cup of coffee when I got done. My feet and hands were freezing.


Two porpoises followed us to the anchorage - do you have any idea how hard it is to try and capture a porpoise when it surfaces? There are two fins here anyway.

We have been very unhappy with our generator. It is a Westerbeke and it has broken down umpteen times each cruising season and every time it fails, it is a different problem. I'm beginning to think it is haunted. So, we thought we should add some levity to the situation and give the darn thing an appropriate name. This is what we've come up with so far, Buck-Buck, Broke Beek, and Wicked Westy. We'll take a look at all other contributions anyone has to offer for a nick-name for the machine too. I think we have finally decided to replace it next summer during our annual maintenance period.

Thursday is overcast and chilly. I've been wrapped up in everything I could possibly wear at one time this morning, feeling a little like Heidi. I finally put my hand warmer in the Microwave and that is helping.

We arrived at Palm Coast Marina at 11:30 today and expect to remain here for a few days while we have engine maintenance and the generator fixed. At least, with shore power now, I have heat, and I am happy! The Captain will tell you, that when the Admiral ain't happy, nobody's happy.

Snead's Ferry, NC to Beaufort, SC

View of Nauti-Gail II in her home dock (mentioned in earlier post)


Passing Carolina Moon

We enjoyed our visit with Krista, Ryan and Sammy. They are excited that Randy, is coming home from deployment in Afghanistan for 15 days of leave the latter part of November. We were sad to miss his visit.

Thursday night we anchored for the night in Wrightsville Beach. There we had dinner with Bob and Carol. Bob used to work with Bob years ago and shared a notorious carpool. It was great seeing them after many, many years.


Sunset Beach Bridge - Unusual Floating Bridge that is being replaced with a high fixed bridge


Another view of Sunset Beach Bridge with view of new bridge supports.

Our next stop was Myrtle Beach at the Barefoot Landing Marina. I love this stop as there is a large shopping area (that includes a Chico's!) right beside the marina. There we met my son, Michael, and his family and in-laws for dinner at Greg Norman's Restaurant. It was great seeing them again and we look forward to stopping and seeing them on the way home.


Swan chasing two ducks at pond across from the slip at Barefoot Landing Marina

Leaving Myrtle Beach, there are all these beautiful homes along the waterway along with many golf courses. One golf course has an overhead lift from the parking area to the course on the opposite side of the ICW with brackets on the outside of the gondola for golf bags. Interesting concept. I imagine it was much cheaper than building a high bridge over the waterway.

In the afternoon, the scenery changes to a very sparsely populated area of South Carolina known as the "low country," and it certainly is that. You can see for miles. It was, a nice day for fishing, based on the number of fishermen out in their small fishing boats among the marshes. It did make for a peaceful afternoon. Got a chance to catch up on email, do a little reading, and tending to the coffee runs and meals for the Captain.

We anchored for the night in Graham Creek just off the ICW. It was a very peaceful night and we sat outside till the sun went behind a bank of trees enjoying the warm sunshine before it got chilly for the night.


This is peace - that is out orange anchor ball in the water


Me, worshiping the warm evening sun


One lonely eagle we passed on the only perch for miles

We were underway again by 7 in the morning. We passed Charleston today at 10 in the morning. It was an almost cloudless day and a very calm crossing of the Ashley River. Bob says that the people of Charleston say that "Charles is where the Ashley and Cooper Rivers come together and form the Atlantic Ocean!"


Charleston Bridge


Fishing must have been good here


Beautiful homes along the Charleston waterfront


Charleston Municipal Marina

We have anchored for the night in Beaufort, SC. The is the first time we have anchored here and not stayed at the marina where we can go ashore easily. We are pressing to get farther south and out of the colder climes. We do expect to feel the effects of Hurricane Ida however, later this week. Next stop will be Skidaway Island, GA.

Elizabeth City to Snead's Ferry

Nice photo of the Pretty Penny entering Elizabeth City taken by the nice folks on Liberty

We were finally able to leave Elizabeth City on Monday. It was a quiet crossing of the Albermarle Sound, but overcast and dreary all the way. We anchored for the night in the Pungo Creek off the Pungo River. I didn't even get the camera out the whole day as there was no sun and nothing of interest to even take a photo of.

In the morning, we pulled up our new Rocna anchor and it was caked in mud, the normal procedure I used with the old CQR anchor did not work very well getting the muck off the anchor. I ended up taking a broom handle and pushing the worst off, then the hose wash got the rest off. In the process, I got my jacket and pants covered in muck as well, so I sprayed myself down before coming back into the boat. What a mess! Once we get to clearer waters, this process does improve.

We had experienced generator problems again. This time Bob thinks it is a leaking radiator cap, but he got it going and we had heat in the boat all evening. I was wrapped up in several layers of clothes and my snuggie worn like a bath robe.

We spent Tuesday night in Beaufort, NC at the town docks. While there we heard from Fur Ellise, a boat that had been docked behind us in Elizabeth City for a couple of days. They were smart, however, and left Elizabeth City on Saturday before the weather turned bad in the Albermarle Sound, keeping us at the dock there till Monday.

We had dinner with Kevin and Ellise at Clawson's Restaurant in town right by the docks. It was a nice dinner and chance to learn about Kevin and Ellise. This will be their first trip to the Bahamas.

When we were preparing to leave in the morning, Bob happened to see the newest Crosswater, the 4th Crosswater, Nauti-Gail passing through the harbor and hailed them. They had just taken delivery of the boat in Urbana and were heading for their home port in Georgia. It is always a treat to see a sister ship and doesn't happen very often given their are only 4.


Our brand new sister ship, Nauti-Gail


Side view of Nauti-Gail

We had a lovely day cruising on Wednesday. The sun is out the temps are mid 60's for a change. Still not shorts weather, and it could still turn colder again, but I'll take this for now.

We will see Bob's daughter Krista and her two boys Ryan and Sammy tonight in Snead's Ferry and spend a little time with them. In the morning we will travel to Wrightsville Beach, NC for the night.