Marineland, FL to Fort Lauderdale, FL

After a week in Marineland, we were ready to get back underway on Sunday. We said goodbye to Chris, the Dockmaster at Marineland and headed south and thanked him for his help and hospitality.

Our first night south of Marineland was to anchor for the night at Titusville, FL. We did not get off the boat here, just settled in to a nice quiet evening.

We were up and underway the next morning at our usual 7 A.M. We ran into some heavy rain that day and got a nice boat wash. Bob loves it when mother nature takes care of keeping the boat washed!

By the time we reached Vero Beach, the rain had stopped and the sun had come out. Vero Beach Marina (lovingly called "Velcro Beach" by cruisers because you can't seem to leave here), has a few docks, but the rest is all mooring balls protected from the ICW by mangroves. It makes for a very peachful anchorage. There must be about 60 some mooring balls here, and we have seen up to 4 sailboats tied to one. You can do that because the anchorage is so calm here. It is quite a mecca for cruisers coming down the ICW that need a rest. Many leave their boats here and go home for Christmas, then return and continue on farther south to prepare for a crossing to the Bahamas early January.

Many new friendships have been made by this arrangement of mooring ball sharing. Matter of fact, I think it was our second year when we were paired with a sailing cat named Harmony. We have stayed in touch with Lew and Florence, now via Facebook, ever since. Some other people we met two years ago from a town close to our home port here in Vero, happen to be here this year as well.

The town of Vero provides a shuttle that will take us from the marina to a several shopping areas in town, or to the beach for free, however, tips are accepted and appreciated. There is also a group of former cruisers here (now living on land) that help out the cruisers when needed as well. This town and marina could not be more cruiser friendly.

We stop in Vero because this is the location where we pick up boxes of books donated by a local school system to take to schools in the Bahamas. In the past we have taken books to three islands, Staniel Cay, Blackpoint Settlement, and George Town. This year all our books go to George Town.

We have also been watching the weather and it looks like there is a window to cross around Wednesday each week, so we plan to make the crossing around November 30, if the pattern holds. Our friends Rita-Kay and Clay on Carleigh are waiting for us to make the crossing with them them and we hope that friends, Dee and Ed on Sea Fox X, and Vic and Gigi on Oconee will also be ready and in place to cross next week as well. It is always better to cross with other cruisers, but we have done it alone with no problem.

We connected up with Dee and Ed (Sea Fox X) who have their boat in a marina at Ft. Pierce for dinner last night. It was great catching up with them and hearing about their summer. During the last two years they had gotten married and sold both houses and purchased a new one. They have spent last summer "feathering the new nest."

Since the weather isn't going to give us a window this weekend, we decided to stay in Vero Beach for their famous annual cruisers pot luck Thanksgiving. We have never attended this, but had always heard good things about it. Bob made a small turkey and dressing for the huge potluck dinner. The city owns the marina and a couple of party houses nearby. The let the cruisers use one with a large room with round and long tables and a small kitchen. The long tables were set up with all the food. Some tables had to be set up outside because there were so many in attendance. There had to be about 150 to 200 people attending.


Bob contributed a small turkey to the pot luck Thanksgiving dinner along with a bowl of stuffing.


This was just half of the buffet table full of food!

We were surprised to see Toby and Donna, friends that drove up from Fort Lauderdale to have Thanksgiving with the cruisers. Ed and Dee came too as they knew several people at the marina besides us.


Bob and I and Dee and Ed


The inside group. There were about 5 tables outside in the overflow seats!

The weather did not cooperate and we ended up staying at Vero Beach longer than we had planned. We did not want to go to Fort Lauderdale until we are a day or two to a good weather window to cross due to expensive marinas. So we stayed in Vero Beach until Sunday, December 4th, when it looked like Tuesday was a window. Vero Beach Marina is known among cruisers as "Velcro Beach" because cruisers often find that they end up staying longer than they had planned there. We were no exception to that rule!


Vero Beach has a Christmas Boat Parade and this boat came by us in the anchorage.

Our stop after Vero Beach is an anchorage in Lake Worth in West Palm Bay, FL. This is a small area that is lined with large homes, including the home of Jack Nicklaus. It is hard to see the house because all his boats are lined up at docks backing to the lake!

 

Fancy Party Boat anchored off the ICW we passed on our way to Fort Lauderdale

 

Iguana that lives on the bridge

 

House on ICW decorated up for Christmas - wished we could have gone through this area at night.

 

Our boat reflected in the windows of a house on the ICW.

We arrived in Fort Lauderdale and checked in to the Las Olas Municipal Marina. This is the only marine we have encountered on the ICW that will not come out and help with lines. It is city run. After a grueling time of docking against the wind and current, we finally got ourselves docked.

That evening we walked over to the boardwalk along the ocean and had dinner at Bubba Gumps Shrimp House. We wanted to check out the sea state and we found it fairly calm so expected to leave in the morning for the Bahamas. We talked with our friends waiting at another marina on Carleigh and agreed to a time to leave in the morning. Finally, we will be leaving for the Bahamas.

Swansboro, NC to Marineland, FL

Due to the strong winds, we tucked in to Swansboro, NC for a few days. Friday and Saturday we experienced some pretty strong winds. We did see some brave boats in the ICW on Saturday though.

Since Bob's daughter Krista and family could come and see us on Sunday in Swansboro, we stayed another day. They arrived in the afternoon and we had a nice dinner at one of the local restaurants.

Monday we headed out and stopped for the night at Bald Head Marina in Southport, NC. This marina is adjacent to the ferry dock that takes people to Bald Head Island. Every hour, a ferry departs and sounds their horn. Since we are right off the bow of the ferry boat, the blast sounds like it is in the boat! Luckily, they ferry stopped sounding the horn at 7 PM till they stopped at 11 PM.


Ferry at the dock adjacent to our boat.

However, they start up the ferry at 7 AM with a horn blast. I did jump out of bed when they sounded that blast however!

This marina is well equipped, and has a free washer and dryer, so I took the time to get some much needed laundry done. We both had nice hot showers as well.

We got underway shortly after 7 heading south with plans to stop at Barefoot Landing Marina in North Myrtle Beach. The day's adventure included passing through an area known to boaters as the "rock pile." This is a blasted out channel that is not only lined with huge unforgiving boulders on each side, but parts of it are very narrow as well. With our 23 feet beam, meeting a tug and barge coming the other direction could be deadly. Bob always announces a "security" message as we are about to enter the area. Luckily, we didn't meet any large north-bound vessels in this 5 mile stretch of the ICW.

We met some folks last year in the Bahamas that almost lost their sailboat to a tug and barge coming through this area.

We got underway shortly after 7 heading south with plans to stop at Barefoot Landing Marina in North Myrtle Beach. The day's adventure included passing through an area known to boaters as the "rock pile." This is a blasted out channel that is not only lined with huge unforgiving boulders on each side, but parts of it are very narrow as well. With our 23 feet beam, meeting a tug and barge coming the other direction could be deadly. Bob always announces a "security" message as we are about to enter the area. Luckily, we didn't meet any large north-bound vessels in this 5 mile stretch of the ICW.

We met some folks last year in the Bahamas that almost lost their sailboat to a tug and barge they encountered in the ICW. Even though they had announced they were entering the area on the radio and no one responded, they met a large barge in a very narrow part of the channel. They tried to turn around, but the channel was too narrow and they lost their prop and were dead in the water with the barge heading straight toward them. The Captain threw a hook to shore and pulled the boat as close to the rocks as he could go and the barge scrapped theie boat on one side and rocks on the other side. They survived, but the boat took serious damage.

I told Bob if we couldn't turn the boat around, he should just run it backwards as fast as he could!

Barefoot Landing Marina is really just a single long dock along the ICW. They have electricity and water, but little else in the way of amenities. No showers or laundry. There are bathrooms, although they are in the shopping area right off the ICW and they are only open during store hours. I like to stop there because it is a location with many restaurants, making it easy for my son and family to come and visit us on our way south and have dinner. Also because I enjoy the shops. I have watched the docks deteriorate over the years and many of the name brand shops leave, being filled by cheap T shirt and shell shops. If this continues, we may have to choose another marina in the area to stop at.

We were up and underway by 7 in the morning heading into the Wacammaw River. I love this beautiful river. It is tree lined and uninhabited. We see Eagles and other large birds nesting in the trees. I half expect to see Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart come paddling by like in the movie the "River Queen." Luckily, there is still some color in the trees through this area now - it will be lush and green when we return in May.

We stopped Wednesday night at Leland Marine in McClellanville, SC. This place is hardly anything more than a rickety dock where two or three boats can tie up to. Bathroom and shower feel like somebody's closet, but the price is cheap. Bob likes it because many shrimp boats return to this area from a day shrimping and will sell their fresh caught shrimp by the bucket. I can usually count on having shrimp and grits for dinner here.

McClellanville is a town that time forgot. Beautiful huge Pin Oak trees line the streets of big old homes. So, given the fresh shrimp and pretty town, we overlook the lacking amenities of better marinas.

We we arrived, we found out that the shrimp have moved farther south as have the fishermen. We were able to buy some fresh shrimp and scallops from a local fish market. Bob made us shrimp and grits for dinner. We had walked to the local market by the docks and found the pin oak trees to be very old and beautiful, but the mosquitoes to be "killers."

The moon was full and Bob was up in time on Thursday to see the moon set and the sun rise. We got underway early in the morning as we had a longer than usual day. We need to reach Skidaway Island on Friday in time to take showers and clean up for dinner with Bob's former boss, Mark and his lovely wife Shirley.


Two eagles resting along the ICW

We managed to pass through Charleston around 11 A.M., too early to stop for the night. I keep hoping that we would hit Charleston later in the day and I could get the Captain to stop for the night. I would love to take a day and explore Charleston. It was a really nice calm day to cross Charleston Harbor.

This schooner is a charter tour boat. She is always a beauty to see underway.
Once we get south of Charleston, the number of cruising boats we pass decreases dramatically. Many boaters choose to take the outside route and avoid all of Georgia. This requires overnight travel, which neither of us are interested in doing, so we just plod along the ICW. I find Georgia to be some of the most beautiful land around the ICW, so I would miss that if we went the ocean route.


Schooner in Charleston Harbor

About two hours south of Charleston, there was a fire off to the left of the ICW and the smoke was so dense, we shut up the boat to limit the amount we would get in the boat. I was afraid we would smell the smoke all through the night, but we got far enough south of it when we anchored that it was gone.

We found a nice little river and creek to anchor in for the night. It turned out to be a pretty cold night to be anchoring out. I quickly got out of bed and put my clothes under the covers to warm them up in the morning before putting them on. We got underway by 6:45, a bit early for us. We need to reach Skidaway Island early enough to shower and be picked up by our friends before 6, so Bob got us going early.

We passed Beaufort, SC and noticed several boats with names we recognized. I expect we will see them farther down the line.

We managed to reach our destination Friday night of Skidaway Island at dead low tide. The Delegal Creek Marina channel has a shoal at the entrance to the creek that is always a problem. We managed to cross it with about 2 feet under our keel, but we made it ok and could breath again.

Bob's former boss Mark and his wife Shirley live on this lovely island and we like to stop and catch up with them on our way south and again on our way north each year. This year, Shirley had made plans for them and a group of friends and neighbors to attend a charity fund raising event for a group called Wycliffe Associates. The aim of this group is to translate the bible into every language of the world. Many of these languages do not have a written form, so in the process of doing this, they also leave the group of people with the ability to have a written language as well as having the bible. It was a fascinating presentation and a goal worth doing. Because of technology, allowing them to use a small solar panel and satellite receiver, they are able to put fewer people in the field, thus saving money and resources.

They are also combining languages into language groups that have similar features and complete multiple language projects at the same time. There are still 2000 language groups around the world yet to be started. It is their goal to have started all these projects by the year 2025. If you are interested in knowing more about, or volunteering for this work, here is a link to their website. http://www.wycliffeassociates.org/

We arrived in Brunswick, GA, at 4 in the afternoon. We had made arrangements to come in to the fuel dock and tie up for the night. They would come and sell us our fuel in the morning, and then we would be on our way. When we arrived a large mega-yacht was at the dock, with just enough room to us to dock also. It turned out that the large boat had just gotten their fuel and the owner was still there, so he sold us ours meaning we did not have to wait in the morning. Because the owner closed and locked the gate when he left, we did not get off the boat and walk around Brunswick, however, we have done it many times before. Our favorite restaurant in Brunswick closed last year, so we had dinner on the boat and went to bed early.

We were underway on Sunday before the sun came up, but not by much. During the day, we passed Kings Bay Naval Base, GA, then Fernandina Beach, FL. On the ICW there are no "You have just entered Florida" or "Welcome to Florida" signs (or any other state), so just exactly the point we move from state to state is not easy to spot. Anyway, passing Fernandina Beach, and entering Florida is another milestone in the trip.

We passed a shipyard of the "rich and famous" where gigantic mega-yachts in some of the biggest drydocks in the area.


Mega-Yacht Drydock

We had received an email from friends Vic and Gigi on Oconee, stating that they were apparently in an anchorage where we planned to stop for the night. We had figured we would catch up with them at Palm Coast Marina, so it was a surprise to see them in the anchorage north of St. Augustine, FL. They were not paying attention and we sneaked up on them and Bob tooted the horn. What a surprise we gave them! They put their dingy in the water and headed over for happy hour after we got the anchor down.


Surprising Vic and Gigi!

It was great catching up with them. We look forward to cruising with them in them this winter.

The next day Oconee left and we stayed at anchor waiting to hear if we were going to get a slip at Palm Coast Marina and it turns out they could not get us in till December! Since that won't work for us, we were able to obtain space at a new marina at Marineland between St. Augustine and Palm Coast. It looks like a lovely new place on the ICW.


Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine

We ended up staying for almost a week at Marineland. Our mechanic Al, could not work us in to his schedule until Friday. We rented a car from Enterprise for the week, so we could get around and do some shopping. One of the first things we did when we got the car, was take Bob to the ER. Bob had suddenly had a problem with his right calf hurting and we feared it might be a blood clot. (He does sit for hours at a time in the pilot chair when we are underway.) Luckily all tests came back negative for blood clots (after over 5 hours). He must have strained a muscle at some point.

Marineland does have a couple of tanks with dolphins, but unfortunately, we didn't make it over to see it. It is open air and I wanted to go on a clear day and we just couldn't seem to work it out. We did get all our last minute shopping done.

Some of our cruising friends, Bettye and Dennis (formerly on Son of a Sailor which they sold after last season) live in St. Augustine nearby and we did get to spend some time with them. Bettye and I went on a shopping spree in downtown St. Augustine. I've concluded the best way to get there is by boat because parking is a zoo! It also turned out to be the evening when they light the Christmas lights all over the downtown area. People were arriving in droves when we were leaving. Bettye and I had a ball shopping. I don't often get a chance to go shopping when we are cruising.

Today we are headed to an anchorage in Titusville, FL.


Our mechanic Al, doing the last task of Bob's list - changing the anchor light. He did this in some pretty strong winds too!

Our 5th Year Cruising the Bahamas!

When the leaves turn color and begin to fall off the trees, that is our clue that it is time to toss off the dock lines and head south. All the planning, hauling and painting, maintenance, and provisioning has been done over the summer. Of course, this work intensifies during the last month of October until we are exhausted. The last week, we move onto the boat and start to live on the boat. This is done to make sure that we have taken all the important stuff with us while we still have the ability to rectify that situation.

Bob had his left knee replaced this summer and after lots of rehab is back walking normally. Knowing we planed on making this trip again this year, was good incentive for him to get back in shape. We will see if he needs the right one done next summer when we return.

The first weather window we had to leave was Monday, October 31st. This followed several days of windy and wavy weather on the bay. Heading out in the morning, our neighbors we all gone, so there was no one to give a farewell "toot" to, until we passed John and Joan Miles house. They were paying attention and came out and waved their American Flag to us giving us a great send-off. We will see them again in June. Thanks John and Joan!


There was a beautiful mist over the creek in the morning when we left.

We entered the bay in wonderful calm water on a sunny day, that unfortunately, changed dramatically about half way to Norfolk. Winds shifted to our Port-side beam, waves increased to 3 -4 feet. This made for a pretty uncomfortable trip. I had to run around the boat and attempt to secure everything that was falling all around the boat. Luckily, nothing broke except and couple of plastic toss-able cups.

We had planned to stop at Top Hat Marina on the south side of Norfolk area in Chesapeake, VA for the night, but upon calculating our arrival upon reaching Norfolk, we realized that we would not reach that marina until well after dark. So we abandoned that plan and went to the Norfolk Naval Sailing Marina on the north side. There we watched the weather continue to deteriorate and decided to stay put there on Tuesday.

Wednesday turned out to be a fine day, so we headed out around 7:30, catching all the bridges going south. No matter how hard you try and plan, there are a couple of "un-known" bridges that are railroad bridges that have no set schedule. As a result, the best laid plans can go awry. We did the "boat dance" circling around with about 10 other boats waiting for bridges to open.

Once we reached the Great Bridge Lock, we were just one of four boats. The other boats had taken the canal leading to the other route south down the Dismal Swamp Canal.


Looking aft in the lock


Looking forward in the lock


This is the Great Bridge that is the only cantilevered bridge on the Atlantic ICW.

Our stop for the night was at the Coinjock Marina. Bob loves to stop there for their massive prime rib and seafood dinners. It's a heart attack on a plate! (I often listen to conversations and heard this one at a Bob Evans Restaurant in Jonesborough, TN this fall and I think it could apply here - "What I really want is a cinnamon bun as big as a hearse!" Just substitute prime rib for cinnamon bun.)

After a nice dinner and a walk of the docks talking with other boaters, we settled in for the night so we could get an early start. We have some rainy and windy weather headed our way in a day or two and we need to cross Currituck and Albermarle Sounds.

Bob was up before dawn getting the boat checks done and we left before the sun came up along with a lot of boats from Coinjock. The fog was pretty bad in the morning and we hoped for the sun to burn it off quickly. It took a while, but the world finally put on glasses and we could see clearly again.

It turned into a a very calm day to cross some large bodies of water and we enjoyed the cruise. We will be anchoring for the night along the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).

Watching the weather, it became clear that Saturday and Sunday were not going to be good cruising days. We had planned to visit with relatives in Swansboro, NC, but did not think we could make it on Friday as the winds and weather were picking up. Luckily, we did make it to Swansboro, NC. Friday night. The winds were fierce Friday night and Saturday. We watched the sailboats tied up next to us, hobby-horsing from the wave action.

We were at Caspers Marina, which is a small marina. Four sailboats and the "Coastal Queen" were there with us for the very windy night. I found this article on the Coastal Queen. http://www.ssentinel.com/index.php/news/article/famous_wooden_yacht_repaired_in_deltaville/

Saturday, we walked around the town after breakfast. It is an old coastal town with quite a history. Lots of houses built around the turn of the century. The little town had several nice restaurants and gift shops. Bob found a barber shop and got his hair trimmed (his annual pony-tail trim).

In the afternoon, two more boats came in to the marina. One was a beautiful Fleming Trawler and it turns out we have seen "Sundancer" in Sampson Cay in years past.

The other boat with quite a history called "The Washingtonian," a 1939 Trumpy yacht arrived. Here is a link to the information of this pretty boat. http://www.thewashingtonianyacht.com/index.php


Photo of The Washingtonian with the Coastal Queen behind her.


Pretty Penny at Caspers Marina.

Now, the marina is full-up for the night. Most all the boats except us and a sailboat stayed another day at the marina. I spent the morning in the pilot house watching all the traffic on the ICW and porpoises playing in the water around the marina. As the day went on, the marina started to fill up again. Bob's daughter Krista, her husband Randy and grandsons Ryan and Sam came to the marina and met us for dinner. It will be our last chance to see them until our return next spring.

Monday morning, we were the last to get underway from the marina at 6:30, although we caught up and passed the other trawlers by mid-morning. Our stop tonight will be in Southport, NC.

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