No Name Harbor, Key Biscayne, FL

We left Lake Worth at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, December 19th and had a great overnight sail to No Name Harbor on Key Biscayne.  The wind was 10-15 knots all night so the sailing was perfect.  The only problem was we were sailing so fast we would be arriving in the dark so we had to shorten sail  during the night to slow down.  This is not our usual problem with speed! 

During my 9:00 to midnight watch a pod of dolphins swam alongside for about 20 minutes and kept me company.  On the shore side of the boat there was so much light pollution from the cities that even a couple of miles offshore I could see the dolphins in the dark.  On the seaward side of the boat it was darker and I could hear them breathing and see the sparkles from the phosphorerescence in the water as they surfaced.

No Name Harbor is a pretty little protected harbor in the Bill Baggs State Park.  We spent Christmas here with many other boats who were also waiting for a weather window to cross over to the Bahamas.  We have made new friends and had a great time visiting with the other cruisers and had a potluck on shore for Christmas.

One of the attractions at the park is a lighthouse with 109 steps to the top.  The view from the lighthouse varies from a long sand beach, clear blue water, reefs, stilt houses, kite boarders, sailboats, mangrove swamps, to the Miami skyline.

On Christmas Eve day we went for a sail up to Crandon Park Marina for fuel and water then sailed around in Biscayne Bay.  Sailing on Christmas was a great gift!

We spent hours every day walking. There is a grocery store 1 1/2 miles away.  The walk to the store is easy. Walking back carrying all of our groceries makes the return trip seem longer.  Besides walking for errands we have been going for long walks on the nature trails and to the beach.  There are many birds, butterflies and lizards along with the occasional raccoon. 

Tuesday morning, December 27th was very social as there were dinghies constantly coming and going from boat to boat discussing the weather window and who was planning on going where to clear through customs in the Bahamas.  Most of the boats are heading out either late in the evening, or at 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday to cross over to the Bahamas.  Our plan is to leave at 3:00 a.m. and clear in at Bimini and then either to go to New Providence Island or Great Harbor Cay, depending on the weather.  We will be crossing with OUR DIAMOND and SEA JULES.

Unstuck from Velcro Beach

While the boat was in Vero Beach I flew home to Maine for a  week and Bill stayed on the boat .  I had a great time at home and had fun volunteering at the Grange Fair,  going to the Gardens a Glow at the Botanical Garden in Boothbay, the Christmas concert at the Knox Mansion, seeing friends and family, spending time with my mother, and playing with Bailey.  It snowed a couple of times while I was home so I had a taste of winter to make me appreciate the warm Florida weather.  David and Liz picked up and dropped me off at the airport in Portland. David was a good sport about eating at an Indian restaurant and browsing a yarn store.  My carry on bag when I returned to Florida was loaded down with molasses cookies from my mother and cheesecake from Liz. Bill appreciated the deserts from home!

While I was home Bill was very productive (as usual) and fixed the windlass, painted depth markers on the new anchor chain, loaded the anchor chain, changed the oil, refilled the propane, and did various and sundry other boat tasks.

Vero Beach lived up to its nickname of “Velcro Beach”.  We reserved a mooring on November 20^th for a week and finally unstuck ourselves from the Velcro with a loud ripping sound on December 13^th.

Tuesday we went to Manatee Pocket where our friends Russ and Pat met us in their powerboat and led us to a friend’s dock. They then gave us a boat tour of Manatee Pocket and drove us around beautiful downtown Stuart in their truck. We then had dinner on their balcony overlooking the water.  It was a treat to see them and to have a chance to tour this beautiful area of Florida. 

Wednesday we went offshore to Lake Worth.  The weather was quite calm so it was a motor sail all day.  Really, it was a motor boat ride and the sail was for decorative and shade purposes, but we like to pretend!

The anchorage in Lake Worth is a popular place to wait for a weather window to either go to the Bahamas or Miami.  Publix, West Marine, and a fantastic Italian bakery are within walking distance. Unfortunately, West Palm Beach is not particularly welcoming to cheap cruisers, so the only place to land the dinghy is a small beach under a bridge in a high theft area.  Unless your dinghy is locked to the metal fence it may not be there when you return.  

Saturday night the wind was gusting well over 20 knots, and it is still 15 - 20 with higher gusts so we are waiting for the weather to clear before heading to Miami.  There are so many bridges between here and there and the anchoring is very limited in Ft. Lauderdale so we will be going outside when the wind dies down. 

Vero Beach

Vero Beach is known as "Velcro Beach" for good reason.  It is very common for people to plan on being here for a day or two and staying for weeks.  We had planned on leaving the day after Thanksgiving but I am flying home for a week so the boat will be here until at least December 9th. 

We have been enjoying the convenience of the local free bus system and walking to the beach.  This is a great place for birders. We have been using our bird book every day.   Watching the sanderlings scamper along the beach has been keeping me amused. The bird book describes their behavior as looking like "wind up toys" which is an accurate description. Their little legs are a blur as they zoom across the sand.  They are so fast they are hard to photograph.

Boats are expected to raft up to 3 boats per mooring.  Because of the close proximity, and the tendency to hang around here, there is an active social life.  We have been going to other boats for drinks, we have had people aboard, and we had a nice turkey dinner at Lynn and Walt's house (friends from a previous trip) where we met yet more boaters.  Every Monday we have been joining a group that dinghies over to Mr. Manatees for happy hour.  Anyone who is able to eat the giant burger gets a free tee-shirt.  We did not attempt this challenge.

Vero Beach Thanksgiving

We had fun Thanksgiving in Vero Beach.  All of the boats get together for a potluck dinner at the local boat club building. The boats bring all of the sides and deserts and the local CLODS (Cruisers Living On Dirt) bring the turkeys.  Bill went for a dinghy ride in the morning and came back and said that he had never been in a harbor that smelled so good. 

After dinner we enjoyed live music.

November 15, 2016 to November 20, 2016

Tuesday, November 15^th we left Pablo Creek and headed for St. Augustine.  When we were approaching the inlet the current was with us. When we went through the inlet the current was against us.  Traveling at 9.2 knots was a lot more fun than the 2.9 knots after the change. We fueled up at the marina and then picked up a mooring. 

In the afternoon we walked to the Sailors Exchange with our wish list of boat parts hoping to find affordable second hand parts. The only part we managed to find was a piece of stainless steel tubing to replace a piece of the bimini that is bent.  We spent Wednesday morning doing laundry and ordering boat parts. We need a new part for the windlass and an adapter for the propane tanks to make filling them easier, especially when we get to the Bahamas.  In the afternoon we walked about a mile to the nearest small market in search of milk, fruit, and some meat to grill.  It is hard to find necessary items within walking distance of the waterfront in tourist towns. After our errands we spent the afternoon wandering around the city playing tourist and visiting the fort.

Thursday we left St. Augustine and headed for Daytona Beach. Overall a surprisingly uneventful day considering the strong current and shoaling through the Matanzas inlet. 

Friday we saw hundreds of pelicans in the mangroves and on little islands. Sadly we saw many boats aground and in the mangroves. The hurricane did a lot of damage in this area. 

In the afternoon the boat we were following, DAGNY, called us on the radio to let us know there was a manatee near one of the channel markers.  I was very excited to see a manatee, and Bill was relieved I finally saw one.  Here is a sample of the bulk of our conversation for the last few days.

Susan, “Bill! Look, look, a manatee!”

Bill, “That is a mostly submerged buoy.”

Susan, “Bill! Look, a manatee!”

Bill, “That is another mostly submerged buoy.”

Susan, “Bill! Look, a manatee!”

Bill, “That is a ripple in the water.”

Even though we could only see the manatee’s head occasionally emerging from the water, and it looked like a cross between a seal and a cow, it was still cool to see.

We anchored in Titusville for the evening south of the Max Brewer bridge.  This turned into a surprisingly nice place to stay. There were dozens of dolphins fishing around the boat.  After dark the bar near the bridge had live music so we had Friday night entertainment.

Saturday we had a nice, sunny, warm trip to the Eau Gallie Bridge, just north of Melbourne.  We anchored early in the afternoon. The water was very calm and warm and the sun was hot so Bill spent some time in the dingy scrubbing CORRET’s waterline.  Again, we were surrounded by camera shy dolphins fishing around the boat.

 NASA was scheduled to launch a weather satellite at 5:42.  Due to an anomaly they did not launch until 6:42 which made it even more impressive as it was dark.  Watching the horizon glow bright red the seeing the fireball climb into the sky was amazing. 

After midnight the wind came up to 20-25 knots.  The anchor held fine, but the waves were the exact distance apart to cause the boat to hobby-horse all night.  It was so uncomfortable in the v-berth we slept (or at least tried to sleep) on the settees in the main saloon.  Considering the waves were only 1 to 2 feet this was a lot of drama for not a lot of weather.

Sunday morning we left the anchorage at 7:30 a.m.  What a change in temperature!  Yesterday I was wearing my bikini in the afternoon. This morning it was back to long pants, fleece jackets, and wool hats.  The nice thing about the cold north wind was that it was from a useful direction and we were able to use the jib all day.  We pulled into Vero Beach at noon and fueled up. In Vero Beach rafting is expected on the moorings. We tied up next to REFLECTIONS, one mooring away from TAMURE.

November 10, 2016 to November 14, 2016

After spending a morning on Cumberland Island we motored over to Fernandina Beach, FL to spend the afternoon at a coffee shop using the internet to sign up for an appointment at Customs and Immigration for the Small Vessel Reporting Program (formerly known as the Local Boaters Option). The SVRP makes coming back from the Bahamas easier as we will not have to rent a taxi to go to a customs office, we can just call them. 

On Friday we pulled up the anchor in Fernandina Beach and promptly went aground. We put up the jib, but that did not work. We then filled up a bucket with water, attached it to the end of the boom, and ran it all the way out but that did not work. We then put up the main and were finally able to heel over enough to float free. 

We anchored in St Marys, Georgia in the early afternoon and walked around town.  This is a very boater friendly town.  There is a large public dinghy dock at the beautiful downtown park.  The park is landscaped with well maintained hedges, pergolas with swings, a gazebo, pavilion, and a playground.  The first person we met, John from LIVE NOW II, let us know he had a car and offered to drive us anywhere we wanted, or we could borrow the car if we wanted. 

Saturday we went out to breakfast at the Gray Goose café and overheard another couple telling the owner they were going to call a friend on a boat named Gray Goose to meet them at the café for coffee.  We introduced ourselves to them, and to their friend Roger from Gray Goose II. Roger lives on Islesboro.  After breakfast we went to the Visitors Center to use their internet to update the blog.  The very nice lady working at the desk offered to let us use her golf cart to tour the town.

When we went back to check on the boat she was not where we had left her.  The tide had turned against the wind and CORRET had wrapped her anchor rode around the keel and was dragging sideways through the anchorage.  The anchor caught on the LIVE NOW IIs chain and John had tied her off.  Someone had called the Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Auxillary boat was standing by.  We quickly jumped aboard, started the engine and worked on untangling the boat.  Bill had to get in the dinghy and use it to push the stern of the boat around to unwind CORRET, then he had to retrieve the anchor from the other boat’s chain, then he had to pull in all of the anchor rode and chain. Did I mention our windlass is not working?  Bill had quite the aerobic workout!  Luckily there was no damage to any of the boats and no one was hurt.  There was an empty space on Lang’s Dock in front of GRAY GOOSE II so we tied up there and I told the dockmaster, Nat, our tale of woe.  Luckily he had room for us for a couple of nights.  Once we were settled down we dinghied out to LIVE NOW II to apologize and to double check that we had not damaged their boat. They very kindly invited us aboard and we had a great visit with John and Pat. When we checked our email we had a message from Philippe (CORRET’s previous owner). The boat is registered. When the Coast Guard could not reach us they called Philippe to get our cell number.  We called Philippe to let him that all was well.

Sunday we went out to breakfast and went for a walk with the reassuring feeling of having the boat tied securely to a dock.  We were crossing the street and a gentleman, Paul McClelland, stopped and asked us if we were in town visiting and if we had been seen much of the area yet. We explained we were on a boat. He asked if we were busy and offered us to take us on a tour of the area.  He drove us around some beautiful neighborhoods, we walked in back of his friend’s house to look at the view of Crooked River, then we drove through a park.  Paul was an interesting tour guide; he is a semi-retired musician (trained at Julliard) who has worked with many of the churches in the area and is very familiar with the people and history.

Monday we headed back to Fernandina Beach for our appointment at Customs and Immigration. Getting ashore at Fernandina is a challenge because the marina is closed due to hurricane damage.  There was a damaged dock with some shrimp boats and hurricane damaged boats tied to it next to the marina so we tied up that dock and walked into town from there.  At Customs the officer was very nice and efficient and we were done in about 15 minutes.  We were able to leave the anchorage by 10:30.

When we reached the St. John’s River we had to wait for traffic before going across the river. A huge container barge being pulled by one tugboat, pushed by another one, with a third on the side was coming up the river, and a similar one was going down the river.  This was impressive in an intimidating sort of way.  The river has a 4 knot current so crossing it is tricky to begin with, even without giant ships.  We felt like a turtle crossing a highway.  Timing is important!

We anchored for the night at Pablo Creek.  The sunset was amazing, followed by the King Moon rising.  One of the most impressive and beautiful evenings we have seen.

Swans Point to Cumberland Island

Swans Point to Cumberland Island

After our unexpected stay at Swans Point we headed for Wrightsville Beach.  The hurricane moved the channels, especially around the inlets. Nature is busily re-routing the deep water back to wherever it thinks it should be making the areas around inlets very unstable. Some of the channels are moving with each tide. The Coast Guard has done an amazing job of re-buoying, but humans cannot keep up with Mother Nature.  We ran aground at Masons Inlet. A very nice family came along in their outboard and asked if we would like a tow off the sandbar.  We happily said yes.  While they were towing us off one of their beautiful flat coated retrievers took the opportunity to go for a swim.  No one on board seemed to think this was unusual behavior for the dog. After we were afloat the dog swam to the boat and they pulled it aboard.

We left Wrightsville Beach Monday morning (October 31) and had a fast run down the Cape Fear River with the jib up and the tide pushing us along at 7-8 knots.  We spent the night at St James Plantation Marina.

November 1^st we left at 6:45 a.m.  Sunrise was at 7:32 a.m. so we had the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful sunrise.  We had the tide with us and went through Lockwoods Folly and Shallotte Inlet with plenty of water.  Around Myrtle Beach we started seeing hurricane damage. The water was still very high. Seeing people’s houses with water damage is very sad.  When we were in the Cypress Swamp we could see the high water line about 5 feet up the trees.  We spent the night anchored in an oxbow of the Waccamaw River.

Wednesday we had an uneventful trip through the cypress swamps and marshes. The marshes are a great place for bird watching. We saw dozens of blue heron, egrets, and pelicans. In the afternoon a wood stork flew over the boat. We went aground briefly while trying to get into the anchorage at Price Creek. Luckily there was enough wind from a useful direction that we were able to use the jib to heel the boat over and sail off the mudbank. The boat already in the creek, DIRT FREE, called us on the radio to compliment our use of the sails to get unstuck, and to give us the heads-up about some more shoaling in the creek.  We were able to successfully enter the creek and had a calm night.  We were planning on cooking on the barbecue but due to the zillion no-see-ums, we had to change to a meal that we could cook inside.

Thursday we had an easy run to Charleston and docked at the Ashley Marina.  We spent the next few days in Charleston walking miles and admiring the beautiful homes.  The walking was great as I didn’t feel so guilty about eating ribs, a fried green tomato BLT, fried okra, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, boiled peanuts, and shrimp and grits. On Saturday we were in full tourist mode and took the tour boat to Fort Sumter.

Sunday we left Charleston and had an uneventful day on the way to Bass Creek.

Monday we were able to SAIL most of the way to Beaufort!  On the way we saw a man on a dock emptying crabs out of a crab pot with a bald eagle circling him hoping for handouts.  Eventually the seagulls, who also were hoping for a treat, drove the eagle away. In the afternoon we wandered around Beaufort enjoying the beautiful houses on quiet streets lined with live oaks.

Tuesday we had a choice of starting through Georgia, or going outside to Fernandina Beach. Georgia takes about 4 days and has some tricky areas and the weather looked good so we chose to do an overnight to Fernandina.  We were able to sail for 3 or 4 hours, then motor sail, then just motor.  The sunset was very dramatic with dark blue water, intermittent clouds, and a bright red stripe across the horizon.  The half moon would occasionally appear through the clouds during the night.  We came into Fernandina around sunrise and anchored for a few hours to catch up on sleep. In the afternoon we moved over to Cumberland Island.

Thursday morning we spent the morning ashore walking around Cumberland Island.  The hurricane damaged the docks so we had to tie our dinghy to a tree and bushwack our way through the brush to a trail.  We heard some rustling in the bushes and saw an armadillo, then when we reached a clearing we started seeing wild horses.  When we were walking down the path to the duck pond we heard the sound of galloping hooves and were almost run over by a wild horse.  Luckily it saw us and veered at the last minute.  Around the burned remains of the Dungeness mansion there were many wild horses and more armadillo. Even though armadillos seem to be armored rats they are strangely cute.  The beach on the ocean side of the island was almost deserted. We walked for over a mile before we saw anyone besides plovers and sandpipers.

 

We spent a few days in Oriental. This is a pretty little town and very friendly to cruisers.  We were able to borrow bicycles so we could go to the Piggly Wiggly for groceries.  We spent some time hanging out with SANDFLEA and we treated ourselves to ice cream at the Bean.

When we left Oriental we had a nice surprise, we were able to sail for part of the day.  Sailing on the ICW is rare and special.  Eventually when we were meandering down a creek at 3 knots Bill insisted that we turn on the engine.

On our way into Beaufort, NC we were hoping to find some room in Town Creek. We didn't find any room but we did find a sand bank that provided a very secure place to eat lunch while we were waiting for the tide to come up and float us free.

We anchored, then re-anchored, then re-anchored again in Taylor Creek. The town is great, but the anchorage is lousy.  We went for a nice long walk through beautiful neighborhoods in the afternoon. The next morning I spent doing laundry while Bill was working on boat projects. Once we were done with our chores we dinghied over to the Rachel Carson Reserve to have a picnic. On our search for the herd of horses we found huge groups of Fiddler Crabs (what is the collective noun for crabs?).

Friday we made our way to Mile Hammock Bay.  On the way the radio was very busy with boaters calling towboat because they were aground.  We approached one boat that was hard aground near some very confusing temporary buoys that looked like they were leading to a side channel. The red and green were in line parallel to the starboard shore.  The trick was to honor the markers even if they didn't make any sense. We eventually made our way through this area with only a little bit of a bump on the soft mud.  We had a interesting evening in Mile Hammock Bay watching the marines come in on their boats and helicopters.  Scott and Kitty invited us to their boat for dinner.

Saturday the plan was stop for fuel and water at Swan Point then head for Carolina Beach, just south of Wrightsville Beach.  When we were leaving the fuel dock the shifter cable broke.  Luckily we still had one line ashore and were able to retie to the dock.  While Bill was figuring out a way to jury rig the shifter so we could get off the fuel dock I walked next door to Swan Point Marina.  Evelyn Hobbs at the marina is fantastic!  She called around to see if she could find someone to tow us if needed.  Bill was able to take everything apart so he could shift into forward manually and we limped our way to the end of the Swan Point dock.  Evelyn then called her network of contacts and found Steve the Welder who agreed to try to weld the part for us within an hour.  Evelyn then lent us the courtesy car and gave us very clear directions to the welding shop and suggested that we go grocery shopping since we had the car anyway.  The repair is an all day project so we will spend the night at the dock. 

I feel very fortunate to be traveling with Bill.  Not only is he fun to travel with, but he is amazingly good at fixing things.