St. Augustine to Stuart... Finally!

We caught up with Carolina Moon & Mike & Bejay after a day of rest at St. Augustine and continued the trek South with them. Plan was to go 3 days around 50 miles or so and them take it easy the next three days. This would give us a chance to rest and avoid the weekend boaters on the St. Lucie River.
      First stop was Daytona to anchor after 54 nm. Winds were from NE and settled down for a good nights sleep. We had a couple of boats anchor a little close, but had no issues with dragging anchors.

Morning of St. Augustine departure








Next was Coco. A little longer and the weather started getting cooler and cloudy. We weren't in short & t-shirt weather yet! 

Bundled up, but not as many layers as the first time we headed south!







 From Coco to Palm Bay and Ft. Pierce were shorter and really windy. The anchorages were a little rocky at night, but the anchors held well. A few scattered showers at Ft. Pierce, but we were well south of them.

 



Cloud burst at Ft. Pierce anchorage







During our motoring, we had the tides and winds in our favor most of the way. Soteria was able to really throw a bow wave that enticed some visitors to tag along.

One of several surprise visitors riding our wake!

Sunrise with Carolina Moon at Ft. Pierce and our final leg of our journey South










After 6 weeks of traveling and waiting out repairs, upgrades and hurricane Sandy, we pulled into slip J017 at Loggerhead Marina in Stuart around 11 am.We were greeted at the dock by friends we have missed and were glad to see. And the weather improved enough to get Elden into shorts!

Home again in Stuart, Florida!







It has been quite an adventure traveling up and down the East Coast, on the ICW and the North Atlantic the past summer, and we are glad to be back in the warmer weather. We will be spending some time settling in and going over Soteria to make sure she is ready to head to the Bahamas this season. Whether we make it this year depends on the weather and family situations. In the mean time, we will keep you posted on any adventures we take on in Southern Florida.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Fair winds and warm wishes to you all!

Port Royal to Fernandina, or so we thought!

We left Port Royal Landing Marina on Nov. 2, expecting a great sail on the ocean. Weather forecasts were favorable and the waves were to be 1-2 feet. Little did we know that the weather imps were afoot again. We got about 40 miles from Port Royal when the winds and the waves picked up, and on our nose, again. So we bailed out to the Savannah River to anchor for the night. It took us 9 hours to get there. Any port in a storm comes to mind. We went up as far as the USCG station with another sailboat behind us, Saber Tooth, and anchored with them. It was a lot calmer in the river, and warmer. The sunset was really beautiful, and appreciated, after the rough day we had. That's Saber Tooth on the left. Really great Canadians. More on them later.

We saw a SeaTow boat pulling a red marker up stream on the river as we went in. Not a usual sight. and it was still a little rolly at times.

Next morning, after checking the weather sites again, we left heading towards St. Augustine.  Fernandina was not an option as it would have put us there in the dark if we left early, and we didn't want to leave later. So, entering the North Atlantic was a completely different world. Winds were North and light and the waves were practically non existent. What a difference!  We saw very little boat traffic during the day and none at night until we got close to Jacksonville. That is were the winds starting picking up and the waves began to build. Elden turned Soteria towards shore, as the winds were from the SW. That was a great move as the ride became much smoother. It added a few hours, but it was worth it. As for Saber Tooth, we met up with them around Jacksonville and followed them into St. Augustine. It was good to have company, and someone with radar!  We slowed down to around 5 Kts. so we didn't arrive too early.
     We entered the inlet around 6:45 am following Saber Tooth and watching the out going boats. The USCG had a warning that  Markers 4,5,& 6 were off station, or in other words, missing. There was no problem, but a tight moment when a power boat decided to pass a shrimp boat coming out. Not much room, but credit goes to the shrimper for making room for us.We had the tide with us and we surfed into St. A, doing over 7 Kts. at times.  The sunrise was great and you can see how calm the ocean was.

     We made the 7:30 opening at the Bridge of Lions and docked at St. A City Marina at 7:45 am. It took us 24 1/2 hours to travel 140 nautical miles. in landsman's terms, 161.11 statue miles. Not bad at all! We even saw Vivere, the mega yacht we first saw in Southport. they actually left the dock sideways to get to the Bridge of Lions!

     After getting the mooring ball, we went into town for a hot shower, pizza, beer and bread. Pizzalley's is the best ( and we deserved the beers!)and the Spanish Bakery has fantastic bread. It was back to the boat to crash and wait for Mike & Bejay to arrive on Tuesday before heading out for Daytona. the local pirate ship was out for an evening cruise as well.

More later as we head south to Stuart to prepare and provision for the Bahamas!

Jumping Ahead...

Seems I can't get caught up with all that has been going on, so I am trying something different. This post will begin with what is happening now, with some posts in the future playing catch up. We'll see how this works. We are in Port Royal, SC at the Port Royal Landing Marina, awaiting the passing of Tropical Storm "Sandy" before heading South again. So, here we go....


 We left Sailcraft in Oriental, NC and headed to Morehead City Yacht Basin, where our friends, Robert & Becky, on Sea Quell, were staying for a month. Don & Judy on Nemo, had left by the time we got there, but will catch up with them along the way. We enjoyed a great dinner at "Ruddy Duck" with them. MCYB is a much better choice to stay than Beaufort. Less expensive and better protection.
      From there to Mile Hammock Bay anchorage for a quiet night, or so we thought. We were the second boat to anchor there, along side Sojourn, a motor trawler that we would play leap frog for quite a while. Another Endeavour, Samara (Mario & Sherry), came and anchored fairly close but not a danger. But the last boat in chose to drop his anchor not 50 ft. from us. Elden decided to move, and when we got to our anchor, we were 5 feet from his boat. If the winds had changed, we would have hit each other. He had no clue, and was amazed we were moving.

Sunset with Carolina Moon and friends










     From there, we headed to Wrightsville Beach, playing the waiting game with the bridges, and  we caught up with Carolina Moon and Mike & Bejay Grackin. Had three days of fun with them and discovered a great restaurant,the Causeway Cafe, on the other side of the bridge. Thursday morning came and headed to Southport,NC hoping to head offshore from there.  We left Southport, NC heading to Little River Inlet to go offshore as the tide was coming in Cape Fear Inlet and would not be safe. The weather sites(at least three of them), forecast 5-10 Kts, maybe 15 and 1-2 ft waves overnight. Boy were they wrong! It started out that way, but soon built to 30 Kt. winds with waves over 6 ft after midnight! It was not fun! Elden was a trooper, taking the midnight watch, and after I went below for "a couple of minutes", he wound up on watch until 7 am. I fell asleep for another three hours, missing the worst of it.

Mile Hammock Bay Sunset








       We made it to Charleston around 9 am and to Charleston Maritime Marina by noon. As there were no available docks at any marina, we went to the anchorage across from the city docks. Not bad, but wouldn't want to be there in a blow. One sailboat had it's anchor drag and started drifting down river! the owner finally showed up and reset his anchor. From Charleston we headed towards Port Royal, anchoring at Rock Creek. Very quiet and calm, and since it's been cool, hardly any bugs. Morning saw us off to Beaufort & Port Royal, SC.

Sunrise at Port Royal Landing Marina before Hurricane Sandy





 We are now at Port Royal Landing Marina,were we were planning on a two day stay to restock and recover some more from out offshore experience to Charleston, but nature has again stepped in. We are here for a week, due to Hurricane Sandy.  We have met up with Sami & Barry on Deja Vu, and Mary & Ron Stegall and have been enjoying the time relaxing.  They had a potluck last night, with around 40 people. tonight is the Halloween party. We are not planning on any costumes, but may wind up going in our foul weather gear. Move over Big Bird! 

Will post more as the weekend progresses.
Til then, fair winds and calmer seas!

Susan

On to Charleston and places North!

After a week of resting and waiting for Beryl to depart, we left Callawassie Island for Charleston. After a stop at Port Royal Landing Marina for fuel and a quick visit with Sami & Barry on Deja Vu, we set out for Toogoodoo Creek, our anchorage for the night, and was rewarded with a gorgeous sunset.

It doesn't get much better than this!














On to Charleston and the Maritime Center. The kids from Iowa were able to join us and we all had a great time exploring the city. The grandkids even remembered the life jacket rule! It was a hoot watching them take off and put in the jackets every time they went from the cabin to the cockpit.!

Ethan playing peek-a-boo with Grandpa

Ethan and Hannah hanging out with Dad (Tim)

Caleb having fun with the camera.









The only down side was a late night rocking from a container ship that didn't slow down. Wound up hitting the mast on the boat next door with only minimal damage to the Windex.


Decided to stay inside for the next leg, as the winds were kicking up a bit. Butler Creek was our next stop, with great views at sunset and sunrise. The moon even cooperated by being full that night!

Carolina Moon and friend.







We enjoyed a great meal on board with Mike & Bejay on Carolina Moon. Mike even came over in their dingy to get us.

Mike at the helm!













Next stop was Cricket Cove Marina for fuel and a night's rest at a marina. The weather was wet, and a little cooler, and they have their own weather forecasting service!

 

  Next day was COLD! Rain stayed with us until we almost got to Wrightsville Beach anchorage. The wind and the tide were against us and it was a miserable ride from Southport on the Cape Fear River. At least it warmed up at the end of the day.

Next post will continue to cover the North Carolina journey on our way to the Chesapeake.

Till then, fair winds and calm seas!

Susan

Fernandina Beach and Alberto, Callawassie Island and Beryl.....

 Now for the weather issues:

First, the storms: they caught us just south of the railroad bridge that had been closed most of the day for a week for painting. We had to be at the bridge after 5:30, but the storms were moving fast. So we (with Carolina Moon who we are traveling with) turned around to go to a less open place. But that didn't quite happen. We got to a turn in the ICW and the winds and rain hit. And what wind! We saw a gust of 35 kts. at one time. It was blowing us both sideways at times. We tried to drop anchors in shallower waters, but wound up in 26 ft. with only 100 ft. of anchor chain out. 4-1 scope at anchor is not good. But the anchor held and with Elden at the helm and the engine running, we waited out the storms for about an hour. We pulled up and headed through the bridge and into Fernandina around 7 pm. As we pulled into the harbor, there were more storms moving in where we had anchored. (Sorry, we were so busy with handling the boat, we didn't get to take photos.)

Next was Alberto, the first of the tropical storms to waylay us. We were only planning on staying a couple of days, but the weather outside was way to rough to even try it. So, we upped our stay to a week, and explored Fernandina Beach.

Aftermath of Alberto: a really great sunset

Tall ship visiting Fernandina Beach. Belongs to a religious group that trains their youth in sailing basics. No not Mormons.

Surprise visitor at the docks. Stayed around for days before we finally got a good shot.

Ft. Clinch at St. Mary's inlet











Offshore stories are up next from St. Mary's Inlet to Port Royal Sound and Callawassie Island.  We headed out around 8 am to the inlet to start our offshore trip. Winds were SE at about 5-8 and building. We had a double reef in and were glad we did. The winds upped to 10-15 and gusts to 18 kts. We were making such great time we had to slow down so we didn't get to Port Royal Sound too early. Elden was thrilled to be able to sail without the engine. After about 2 hours of sailing, we reached the inlet and motor sailed the rest of the was to Callawassie Island. I had made the mistake of taking my vitamins that were oil based and started feeling a bit queasy. Gingersnaps weren't working, so I had to pull out the Sturgeron pills. They worked great! No more fish oil before we go offshore!

 Carolina Moon heading out

 Offshore heading to South Carolina








Callawassie Island, SC

If you wanted a place to wait out a storm, this is a great one. Far enough inland with good protection. Also having friends along who have a place there doesn't hurt either!  We made it to Callawassie Island after a calm overnight offshore trip and tied up for what we thought was going to be a couple days rest and then Beryl decided to join the mix. We spent a week waiting for her to move on, enjoying the area and company of BeJay & Mike.  Got to catch up with Sami & Barry (Deja Vu) and Chick & Dorothy (Illusion) to share MTD games and great food.

Part of the ambiance of Callawassie Island

Low tide from Beryl

High tide from Beryl

Sunsets were beautiful and plentiful

BeJay, Mike, Sami, me and Elden after MTD. Barry was MIA afterwards, doing work on Deja Vu.








Next post Toogoodoo Creek and Charleston.

And hopefully no more named storms!

My bad.... sorry for not posting!

No excuses, I have been sidetracked by relaxing. WiFi hasn't been the great, but still accessible. So I will be posting a lot this week before we start back South.

Again, my apologies for my lack of initiative.

Susan

Next stop: St. Augustine

 St. Augustine was great as we spent three days on a mooring ball. We were able to find the great pizza place and bakery with the $2 bread. Bejay and Mike are great traveling companions and have made the trip a lot more fun sharing experiences. 
Here a  few photos we were able to take while on the mooring ball.

St. Augustine Lighthouse

Shrimper heading out before dawn

Storm clouds over St. Augustine

Bridge of Lions

Schooner that gave tourists a taste of sailing






It was good to spend time on land after a week on the hook. Short days mixed with longer ones made the journey easy.  Next stop: Fernandina Beach and then offshore to Port Royal Sound

Next post will have the report on Alberto and Beryl. Two reasons to spend 8 extra days in marinas!
Til then fair winds and calm seas!

We are on our way!

It's finally begun, we are on our way north and what a journey it has been. We are sharing the journey with friends from Carolina Moon, Bejay and Mike Gracken. From Stuart to St. Augustine was great and uneventful. So much that the next two weeks are making up for it!  First was the line of storms that caught up to us just south of Fernandina Beach. Then the two, yes two, tropical storms that have stalled us during our trip.  This will take more than one entry to cover all that has happened so far.

Leaving Stuart was exciting and sad at the same time. New experiences vs. leaving good friends we made at Loggerhead. We will miss them all!

Loggerhead Friends

            Good bye Stuart!

Traveling companions were everywhere

Carolina Moon at anchor at Titiusville










We anchored every night until we reached St. Augustine. The sunrises and sunsets were fantastic.

Sunset at Cocoa

     
Another gorgeous sunset










Titusville was a great place to anchor as we were close to the Kennedy Space Center, where Spacehip X was waiting to launch.

Space shuttle museum

  Launch and assembly areas










St. Augustine was a great place the first time we visited, and even better this time. The next entry will have more on the time spent there.

Until then, fair winds!

The Journey North begins...

Apologies for no posts lately as we have been getting ready to head North for the summer. We have left Stuart, FL and are going up the ICW with fellow sailors, Mike & Bejay Grackin on "Carolina Moon". As time and WiFi allow, we will be posting more and adding photos. Here is just a sample of the views we have had the past 4 days. Till the next time, fair winds to all.

 Sunset at Cocoa

Sunrise at Cocoa

Evening visitors at anchor at Cocoa

We are a sailboat again!

Finally after 8 weeks of waiting and working and more waiting, Soteria is complete and moving! Ok, if only on the St. Lucie River, but we can move. A friend went out with us to calibrate the auto pilot again(seems we didn't tell it we were a sailboat the first time!) and the wind instrument, while her friend went around us taking some great photos.

Enjoy the following and will post more as we get ready to head North for the summer.