Friday, December 24, 2010
Nassau to Staniel Cay
Entrance to Nassau
Greeting committee at the dock at Nassau.
We spent last Sunday on anchor in Nassau waiting for a weather window. Bill stayed on the boat and worked on boat projects. I hitchhiked ashore with Bob and Gail. We walked to the Catholic Church for the 11:00 service. It was a long walk, but the service was beautiful and the people were very friendly so it was worth it. The Bahamians dress to the nines to go to church, so I felt a little bad about showing up in my "cruiser best" clothes, but no one seemed to mind. After church we were walking by an elegant old hotel that had its door open. We admired the enormous christmas tree in the lobby so much that they let us in to see it at close view. The ceilings were probably 15 feet tall and the tree was so tall that they had to set it up in the stairwell so the top was only visible from the second floor. That evening there was a parade of lighted boats. Where we were anchored we had a front row seat for the fireworks.
Monday we headed out with a group of other boats for the Exumas. We had a nice sail to Elbow Cay. We had originally planned on Shroud Cay, but Elbow had better protection, although around sunset Bill had to take the stern anchor out in the dinghy so we could pull the boat around to head into the swells to stop the boat from rolling in the swells wrapping around he bottom of the island. After that we had a pretty comfortable moonlit night. Unfortunately we forgot about the eclipse.
Tuesday we had another beautiful sail and sailed down to Wardwick Wells. We anchored next to STAR in the anchorage by Emerald Rock. In the afternoon we went for a hike that involved as much wading as hiking.
The goal of our wading walk was to visit the Pirate's Lair. There is a very protected anchorage that was a popular hiding spots for pirates back in the day. Besides a sneaky place to hide their boats there was access to fresh(ish) water. The water hole is surrounded by non-native palm trees. The pirates slept on woven palm mats from the states. The seeds managed to grow into a little grove of palm trees.
Wednesday Bob and Gail decided to head down to Georgetown to get ahead of some windy weather that is coming our way. We decided to stay in the Exumas for a couple of weeks. We went for another wading hike in the morning.
Bill on the trail to Boo Boo Hill
Curly tailed lizard
The tradition for cruisers is to leave a piece of driftwood with their boat name a the top of Boo Boo Hill.
Next to Boo Boo Hill there are some amazing blow holes. The islands are quite porous and between the erosion from the rain water from the top and the pounding waves from the bottom holes have formed in the island next to the sea. When a little wave comes in you can feel the air blowing out with quite a lot of force. When a big wave comes in the water shoots out of the hole 10 or 15 feet in the air. After about tweny pictures of rocks I gave up trying to capture the spray with the digital camera. In the afternoon we went snorkeling around some beautiful little coral heads near our anchorage. This year we bot have prescription drive masks. Now that I can see what is going on I was astonished at the number and variety of fish. There were hundreds of fish of every conceivable color at each reef and giant lobster hiding in the rocks. Fishing is not allowed in the park so the fish are abundant and big.
The water in the Bahamas is absolutley amazing. It is crystal clear. From a distance the color ranges from dark blue in deep water to almost white in shallow water. This is a view from the top of Boo Boo Hill.
Wednesday night we had a great time on board BLESSED SPIRIT, a boat from Edgecomb, Maine. Corning and Tita are alot of fun, and they have one of the cutest puppies I have ever seen.
Thursday we headed down to Cambridge Cay to meet up with CHAPTER TWO. It was great catching up with Mike and Karen who we haven't seen since Maine. They are on a leisurely circumnavigation so it was a nice treat when we heard them on the radio.
Today, Friday, we are at Staniel Cay. I am listening to Christmas Carols as I am typing at the Yacht Club. It is surreal to listen to Frosty the Snowman in the Bahamas.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Nassau, Bahamas
We are finally in the Bahamas!
We left No Name Harbor (just south of Miami) at daybreak on Thursday with a group of other boats. The crossing was okay, although the wind was pretty much on the nose. We were off Bimini by late afternoon and decided to head on to Chubb Cay. Crossing from the ocean to the Bahama banks is incredible. The depth goes from thousands of feet to tens of feet in about a quarter of a mile. When the depth sounder started working again at 499 feet I timed it on my watch. Within 4 minutes at 5 knots we were in 30 feet of water. The water is so clear that the bottom is visible. After months in the murky ICW we spend a lot of time just staring overboard at the novelty of see through water.
The overnight run was one of the most enjoyable we have had - the 3/4 moon was bright enough that we had great visibility. After the moon set the stars were incredible. We even saw a few of the leftover meteors from the Geminid meteor shower.
Around 4:00 in the morning we realized that for a change we were making better time than expected and would get into Chubb too early so we spent an enjoyable four hours sailing. The sunrise was gorgeous. Around 8:00 STAR called with an update on the weather and we decided to head on to Nassau. When we made the decision we were happily sailing and did not want to waste a good sailing day sitting in a harbor. About an hour later the wind was again exactly from the direction we were headed so it was a long, very slow slog. Happily, we pulled into Nassau harbor in the late afternoon, at exactly the same time as STAR. Unfortunately, the marina we were hoping to go to was full ($1.75 per foot), so we had to call the next one on our list. We ended up at Nassau Yacht Haven ($2.00 per foot). Pulling into tricky marinas is always a slightly tense moment. This time the tension was lightened by the cheerful greeting from the very small dog that was helping the dock hands. Although it was a little more expensive at this marina we lucked out because the customs officer came to this marina first. We were cleared through by 7:00 p.m. The customs officer was heading to the other marina next and didn't expect to get done there until midnight. The hot shower at the marina was wonderful. The great thing about going 20 days without an indoor shower is the tremendous enjoyment of unlimited hot water in a room with a door!
We are not sure where we are headed next but it will probably be one of the islands in the Exumas. Our decision will be based on wind, weather, and where other boats are headed. Judging from all our other trips you may think we look to see where the wind is coming from and decide on a point directly into the wind but we really do use other criteria. In our defense we are not the only ones with this problem. I heard another cruiser say he doesn't really need to look at his compass. If he knows the wind direction he knows his heading as it is always the same.
We are enjoying the warm weather and the clear waters and are very happy to be in the Bahamas.
We left No Name Harbor (just south of Miami) at daybreak on Thursday with a group of other boats. The crossing was okay, although the wind was pretty much on the nose. We were off Bimini by late afternoon and decided to head on to Chubb Cay. Crossing from the ocean to the Bahama banks is incredible. The depth goes from thousands of feet to tens of feet in about a quarter of a mile. When the depth sounder started working again at 499 feet I timed it on my watch. Within 4 minutes at 5 knots we were in 30 feet of water. The water is so clear that the bottom is visible. After months in the murky ICW we spend a lot of time just staring overboard at the novelty of see through water.
The overnight run was one of the most enjoyable we have had - the 3/4 moon was bright enough that we had great visibility. After the moon set the stars were incredible. We even saw a few of the leftover meteors from the Geminid meteor shower.
Around 4:00 in the morning we realized that for a change we were making better time than expected and would get into Chubb too early so we spent an enjoyable four hours sailing. The sunrise was gorgeous. Around 8:00 STAR called with an update on the weather and we decided to head on to Nassau. When we made the decision we were happily sailing and did not want to waste a good sailing day sitting in a harbor. About an hour later the wind was again exactly from the direction we were headed so it was a long, very slow slog. Happily, we pulled into Nassau harbor in the late afternoon, at exactly the same time as STAR. Unfortunately, the marina we were hoping to go to was full ($1.75 per foot), so we had to call the next one on our list. We ended up at Nassau Yacht Haven ($2.00 per foot). Pulling into tricky marinas is always a slightly tense moment. This time the tension was lightened by the cheerful greeting from the very small dog that was helping the dock hands. Although it was a little more expensive at this marina we lucked out because the customs officer came to this marina first. We were cleared through by 7:00 p.m. The customs officer was heading to the other marina next and didn't expect to get done there until midnight. The hot shower at the marina was wonderful. The great thing about going 20 days without an indoor shower is the tremendous enjoyment of unlimited hot water in a room with a door!
We are not sure where we are headed next but it will probably be one of the islands in the Exumas. Our decision will be based on wind, weather, and where other boats are headed. Judging from all our other trips you may think we look to see where the wind is coming from and decide on a point directly into the wind but we really do use other criteria. In our defense we are not the only ones with this problem. I heard another cruiser say he doesn't really need to look at his compass. If he knows the wind direction he knows his heading as it is always the same.
We are enjoying the warm weather and the clear waters and are very happy to be in the Bahamas.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Miami
We have spent the last few days mostly running errands.
Usually at night we hang the dinghy from a halyard to get it out of the water and to make it less of an attraction to anyone who would have evil intentions of stealing it. Around 5:00 a.m. Monday morning when the wind was blowing about 25 knots the dinghy flipped itself around so it was hanging straight up and down instead of horizontal. In doing so one of the oars was lost overboard. Monday's project was to find a new oar. This required finding a West Marine, calling and talking them into taking an oar off a display dinghy, and then figuring out the public transportation system so we could get there. We ended up taking a bus, walking a few blocks, then taking a train. We were quite proud of ourselves for mastering the system, until we missed our stop on the way back and ended up with an unintentional tour of North Miami Beach.
Tuesday was laundry day. Gail and I did laundry while Bill and Bob sorted out refilling propane canisters. When we were walking down the street bundled up against the cold carrying our clothes in sacks we wondered if anyone would mistake us for homeless people and give us money for food. In the evening Bob and Gail came over for dinner. I made a chicken pot pie and apple turnovers for dessert. Gail brought a salad.
(If anyone out there is reading this blog are you interested in recipes? If so, leave a comment and I will start adding them, or not...)
Today we are finally getting ready to leave for the Bahamas with quite a few other boats. We have all been listening to various weather sources, researching the weather on the internet, comparing notes via the VHF and it looks like an okay weather window. Our plan is to leave sometime early tomorrow morning - probably around 1:00 a.m. and head for Nassau which will probably be about a 30 to 35 hour run depending on the wind and the gulf stream current. If the weather turns bad our bail out points are Bimini and Chubb Cay. Hopefully the next post will be from the Bahamas.
Usually at night we hang the dinghy from a halyard to get it out of the water and to make it less of an attraction to anyone who would have evil intentions of stealing it. Around 5:00 a.m. Monday morning when the wind was blowing about 25 knots the dinghy flipped itself around so it was hanging straight up and down instead of horizontal. In doing so one of the oars was lost overboard. Monday's project was to find a new oar. This required finding a West Marine, calling and talking them into taking an oar off a display dinghy, and then figuring out the public transportation system so we could get there. We ended up taking a bus, walking a few blocks, then taking a train. We were quite proud of ourselves for mastering the system, until we missed our stop on the way back and ended up with an unintentional tour of North Miami Beach.
Tuesday was laundry day. Gail and I did laundry while Bill and Bob sorted out refilling propane canisters. When we were walking down the street bundled up against the cold carrying our clothes in sacks we wondered if anyone would mistake us for homeless people and give us money for food. In the evening Bob and Gail came over for dinner. I made a chicken pot pie and apple turnovers for dessert. Gail brought a salad.
(If anyone out there is reading this blog are you interested in recipes? If so, leave a comment and I will start adding them, or not...)
Today we are finally getting ready to leave for the Bahamas with quite a few other boats. We have all been listening to various weather sources, researching the weather on the internet, comparing notes via the VHF and it looks like an okay weather window. Our plan is to leave sometime early tomorrow morning - probably around 1:00 a.m. and head for Nassau which will probably be about a 30 to 35 hour run depending on the wind and the gulf stream current. If the weather turns bad our bail out points are Bimini and Chubb Cay. Hopefully the next post will be from the Bahamas.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Lake Worth to Miami
Wednesday, Dec 8 there was a short weather window to head to the Bahamas. We are a slow boat so decided not to take the chance. Quite a few boats that were waiting in Lake Worth headed over to Lucaya late in the day. We decided that it was time for us to get a move on too, so we moved to Peanut Island near the Palm Beach inlet for the night. On the way down we came across POLAR PACER limping back to Lake Worth with engine troubles. This was very sad as Tom and Chris were looking forward to making the crossing and had been organizing timing and places to go with the other boats.
We had heard on the radio that ITS ABOUT TIME, an Island Packet, was planning to head down to Miami the next morning at the same time we were thinking about leaving so we made arrangements to travel with them. Thursday we were up dark and early at 3:15 a.m. and left the anchorage at 4:00 a.m. There was a chilly north wind at 15 - 20 knots so we made fantastic time.
About 5:30 a.m. Bill caught a flying fish by the ingenious method of having his forehead in the fish's flight path. Luckily the fish was only about 4 inches long.
Later in the day we were listening to the radio announcements about the Navy's surface operations in the area we would be going through. They requested that mariners stay out at least 2 miles. We were about 2 miles offshore when we saw the submarine. At about the same time the wind shifted a little so we had to rig the pole to hold the jib out. As soon as we sorted that out a patrol boat came out and asked us to alter our course away from the sub as it was getting ready to make a turn. Since they had nuclear weapons we did as they asked!
On our way into Miami we came across an impressive group of boats racing. It was fun to see the fast boats maneuvering around the buoys.
By 3:30 in the afternoon after traveling 70 nautical miles in 11 1/2 hours we were anchored in Miami next to STAR.
Friday we spent the afternoon exploring South Beach with Bob and Gail from STAR and Sally and Conrad from ITS ABOUT TIME. Gail taught us how to use the bus system and acted as a tour guide through the Art Deco district and along the beach.
Saturday Gail and I had a girl's day and went shopping in the morning. In the afternoon Bill tried out his new wetsuit and prescription goggles while scrubbing the bottom of the boat. The water is quite warm - probably around 80 degrees - and it is clear, a nice change from the murky ICW water.
In the late afternoon their was a cruiser potluck on monument island, about 40 people showed up all bearing yummy treats. Unfortunately, a very handsome but nervous looking man in a nice suit had arrived before we all showed up. He had spread flowers in a path from the shore to a clearing with the plan that a yacht was going to drop off his girlfriend who would follow the flower petals to find him so he could propose to her. After about 20 minutes of waiting and watching the crowd of cruisers at the end of the path he scrapped that idea, had the captain come get him in the dinghy and went to Plan B which was to go out to sea and propose from the boat. We all felt horrible about ruining his romantic plans. He was a very good sport about the whole thing, was very nice and polite to us, and we all wished him well. About an hour later the yacht came cruising back by the island and he and his new fiancee gave us the thumbs up.
We had heard on the radio that ITS ABOUT TIME, an Island Packet, was planning to head down to Miami the next morning at the same time we were thinking about leaving so we made arrangements to travel with them. Thursday we were up dark and early at 3:15 a.m. and left the anchorage at 4:00 a.m. There was a chilly north wind at 15 - 20 knots so we made fantastic time.
About 5:30 a.m. Bill caught a flying fish by the ingenious method of having his forehead in the fish's flight path. Luckily the fish was only about 4 inches long.
Later in the day we were listening to the radio announcements about the Navy's surface operations in the area we would be going through. They requested that mariners stay out at least 2 miles. We were about 2 miles offshore when we saw the submarine. At about the same time the wind shifted a little so we had to rig the pole to hold the jib out. As soon as we sorted that out a patrol boat came out and asked us to alter our course away from the sub as it was getting ready to make a turn. Since they had nuclear weapons we did as they asked!
By 3:30 in the afternoon after traveling 70 nautical miles in 11 1/2 hours we were anchored in Miami next to STAR.
Friday we spent the afternoon exploring South Beach with Bob and Gail from STAR and Sally and Conrad from ITS ABOUT TIME. Gail taught us how to use the bus system and acted as a tour guide through the Art Deco district and along the beach.
In the late afternoon their was a cruiser potluck on monument island, about 40 people showed up all bearing yummy treats. Unfortunately, a very handsome but nervous looking man in a nice suit had arrived before we all showed up. He had spread flowers in a path from the shore to a clearing with the plan that a yacht was going to drop off his girlfriend who would follow the flower petals to find him so he could propose to her. After about 20 minutes of waiting and watching the crowd of cruisers at the end of the path he scrapped that idea, had the captain come get him in the dinghy and went to Plan B which was to go out to sea and propose from the boat. We all felt horrible about ruining his romantic plans. He was a very good sport about the whole thing, was very nice and polite to us, and we all wished him well. About an hour later the yacht came cruising back by the island and he and his new fiancee gave us the thumbs up.
Monument Island
More misc photos
Rain approaching in the ICW
Bill searching for the gold at the end of the rainbow.
More fun than fighting with an outboard.
The most interesting "paint" job we have seen.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Sailing photos
Scott from TAMURE kindly forwarded these photos to prove that we do remember how to use the sails.
Still in Lake Worth
We are still hanging around in Lake Worth waiting for a weather window. We haven't been doing too much, a little last minute boat part shopping and provisioning, and waiting around on the boat.
Last week we did have one of those days that answers the question of "How do you spend your time?" It is easier to clear into customs coming back into the country if we get a clearance number before we go to the bahamas. At 8:00 a.m. I logged onto the extremely slow internet connection from the boat. At 9:00 I finally got through to the customs website. The only page that would not load was the one page needed to pre-register to get an appointment at customs. At 10:00 I gave up on the computer, but that was okay since we were going to meet Scott and Kitty at Starbucks at 10:30 to try on the internet there. When we walked in a couple of customs officers were having their coffee break. They could not get the page to come up on my computer either. Strangely, Scott could get to the correct page. It still took a long time to figure out how to fill in the information and make appointments. From 10:30 to 1:00 we worked on getting the appointments for each of us at 2:00, 2:15, 2:30, 2:45. This gave us just enough time to get lunch and drive to the customs office. It is amazing how long it takes to accomplish one simple thing.
The Christmas season is kicking into high gear down here. Saturday night there was a parade of lights and fireworks. The fireworks were very cool as they were from a moving barge that followed the ICW.
Last night we were having dinner when we heard Christmas carols. Some of our friends were caroling by dinghy.
We are having quite a cold spell. This morning it was 42 degrees inside the boat. Oh well, at least there was no snow.
Last week we did have one of those days that answers the question of "How do you spend your time?" It is easier to clear into customs coming back into the country if we get a clearance number before we go to the bahamas. At 8:00 a.m. I logged onto the extremely slow internet connection from the boat. At 9:00 I finally got through to the customs website. The only page that would not load was the one page needed to pre-register to get an appointment at customs. At 10:00 I gave up on the computer, but that was okay since we were going to meet Scott and Kitty at Starbucks at 10:30 to try on the internet there. When we walked in a couple of customs officers were having their coffee break. They could not get the page to come up on my computer either. Strangely, Scott could get to the correct page. It still took a long time to figure out how to fill in the information and make appointments. From 10:30 to 1:00 we worked on getting the appointments for each of us at 2:00, 2:15, 2:30, 2:45. This gave us just enough time to get lunch and drive to the customs office. It is amazing how long it takes to accomplish one simple thing.
The Christmas season is kicking into high gear down here. Saturday night there was a parade of lights and fireworks. The fireworks were very cool as they were from a moving barge that followed the ICW.
Last night we were having dinner when we heard Christmas carols. Some of our friends were caroling by dinghy.
We are having quite a cold spell. This morning it was 42 degrees inside the boat. Oh well, at least there was no snow.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
The first fish of the trip
Vero Beach to Lake Worth
We finally unstuck ourselves from Vero Beach. I can see how people spend the season there as it is convenient, comfortable, and very friendly.
We had a quiet, kind of boring day to Jensen Beach where we anchored by a bridge for the night. I am not complaining about the boring as that is one of my goals when boating. Exciting days tend to go over the edge into scary too fast for my taste!
After Jensen Beach we headed for Lake Worth through scattered showers. On the way past a wide spot in the ICW called Peck Lake we had a call on the radio from a boat we had met at Vero Beach, they had been hanging out there for 3 days and walking over to the beach. We may head back and try out this anchorage if we have to wait for too long for a weather window instead of spending the time in Lake Worth where it is very crowded and surrounded by high rises.
We did a pretty good job timing the bridges - we only missed one because we were too slow. We pulled up to the last bridge before the Lake Worth anchorage right on time to hear the bridge tender say they had electrical problems and could not open the bridge for at least a half an hour. We were a little worried that they would not be able to open it at all as we would have had to back track for about 4 hours to get to an anchorage and it was already 2:15 in the afternoon. Travelling on the ICW in the dark is not the best idea in the world. Luckily they were able to open one side of the bridge so we were able to get through.
Tuesday night we went out a an all you can eat Chinese buffet with Scott and Kitty. I usually can't eat enough at these sorts of things to make it worth while, but I think I did this time. I was full before going for dessert, but could not pass up the ice cream.
Our plan is to cross over to the Bahamas as soon as there is a weather window. Unfortunately, the windows seem to be closed. We probably will not be able to leave until next week.
We had a quiet, kind of boring day to Jensen Beach where we anchored by a bridge for the night. I am not complaining about the boring as that is one of my goals when boating. Exciting days tend to go over the edge into scary too fast for my taste!
After Jensen Beach we headed for Lake Worth through scattered showers. On the way past a wide spot in the ICW called Peck Lake we had a call on the radio from a boat we had met at Vero Beach, they had been hanging out there for 3 days and walking over to the beach. We may head back and try out this anchorage if we have to wait for too long for a weather window instead of spending the time in Lake Worth where it is very crowded and surrounded by high rises.
We did a pretty good job timing the bridges - we only missed one because we were too slow. We pulled up to the last bridge before the Lake Worth anchorage right on time to hear the bridge tender say they had electrical problems and could not open the bridge for at least a half an hour. We were a little worried that they would not be able to open it at all as we would have had to back track for about 4 hours to get to an anchorage and it was already 2:15 in the afternoon. Travelling on the ICW in the dark is not the best idea in the world. Luckily they were able to open one side of the bridge so we were able to get through.
Tuesday night we went out a an all you can eat Chinese buffet with Scott and Kitty. I usually can't eat enough at these sorts of things to make it worth while, but I think I did this time. I was full before going for dessert, but could not pass up the ice cream.
Our plan is to cross over to the Bahamas as soon as there is a weather window. Unfortunately, the windows seem to be closed. We probably will not be able to leave until next week.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Fernandina Beach to Vero Beach, FL
Sunday, Nov 14
We left Fernandina Beach just as TAMURE pulled into the harbor. We were tempted to stay another day to see them, and the dinner invitation from CONSORT was hard to turn down, but after talking to everyone on the radio we realized that they were planning to head outside to St. Augustine so our two day trip would be one day for them and we would see them in a couple of days. We had an enjoyable trip to Pablo Creek where we anchored for the night behind a couple of “islands”. The islands looked more like tall swamp grass than real islands but we had a calm night with thousands of little round brown jelly fish floating by in the three knot current.
Monday, Nov 15
As soon as it was light enough to see the navigation markers we were under way through glassy calm water. The water was calm on the top, but moving fast under the surface. The current going through the first bridge brought our speed down to about 2 knots and the swirling cross current made for a wrestling match with the tiller to avoid running into the bridge. After that things settled down to the point of being boring. The first 3 or 4 hours of the day the ICW was dead straight and about 150 feet wide. The east side was lined with houses, the west side was swamp. I spent most of my time sitting so my back was to the houses so I could watch the birds and pretend we were in the wilderness. This kept me amused for about an hour then I gave in, found my ipod, and listened to NPR news while driving the boat. In the late morning the river widened out so it was more interesting. We pulled into St. Augustine just in time for the 12:30 opening of the Bridge of Lions. We spent the afternoon walking around town and splurged on ice creams.
Tuesday Nov 16 and Wednesday Nov 17
We spent a couple of enjoyable days in St. Augustine. TAMURE, CONSORT, and POLAR PACER were also in the harbor so we had plenty of company for walking around town, and dinners on boats. Bill found an external speaker for our radio so that we can hear it in the cockpit without turning the volume up to a deafening level down below. This has made our life much more enjoyable.
Thursday, Nov 18
We left St. Augustine at 6:45 and for a change had the current with us all day. It is a huge treat to have the increase in speed and not have the frustration of fighting for every tenth of a knot of speed. TAMURE and CONSORT left about 15 minutes behind us and didn’t catch up to us until we were anchoring in Daytona Beach. We are usually the slowest boat around so when we are not passed by everybody we are happy. After being on the boat this long small things amuse us greatly.
Bill spent the afternoon helping Scott with a plumbing project on his boat so Kitty and I had a nice visit on our boat.
Friday, Nov 19
Yet again we left slightly before the crack of dawn. We spent about an 2 hours actually sailing the boat without the engine. It has been so long since we used the boat as a sailboat we had been starting to talk about going over to the dark side and getting a powerboat, but now we remember that sailing is fun.
We anchored for the night at Titusville with TAMURE. There was a satellite launch scheduled for the evening, but unfortunately it was postponed.
Saturday, Nov 20
For once we had a late start and did not get under way until almost 10:00 a.m. because a bridge was having some maintenance work scheduled and would not open until 11:00. We motorsailed almost to the bridge and heard the announcement that they would not open until 11:30. Everyone else anchored and waited for the opening, but it was such a nice day we just turned the motor off and tacked back and forth. (Yes, we do remember how to tack…)
At 11:30 the bridge tender announced that due to technical difficulties the bridge would not open until 12:00. Other people were grumbling to the bridge tender over the radio, but we were having fun sailing. For lunch we had chocolate cake with strawberry jelly and whipped cream as we were sailing around. About the time we finished our lunch the bridge tender announced that it would be another ½ an hour before the opening. Scott had given Bill a Halloween mask so Bill put on the mask and we sailed by TAMURE to amuse them. We then sailed by a little catamaran that we didn’t know. They know think we are crazy, perhaps dangerously so. Oh well, we were on a sugar high and having a great time playing with the boat. After the bridge finally opened we put up the mainsail and had a great sail all afternoon. Most of the other boats were also sailing so it was like a little race. RONDO does surprisingly well against the other heavily laden cruising boats, especially Island Packets! Scott was able to take a couple of pictures of us with the sails up.
We anchored for the night in Cocoa with TAMURE. Scott and Kitty picked us up in their dinghy and we went ashore. The hardware store in town is supposed to be amazing and have everything you could possibly dream about needing. We got there 10 minutes after they closed so we window shopped the tool section until Bill yelled “come here, you have to see this.” We thought he had spotted some great gadget he just had to have, but it turned out to be the biggest rat he had ever seen. Kitty and I were no longer disappointed about the store being closed. After walking around town Scott and Kitty treated us to a delicious meal at a Thai restaurant.
Sunday, Nov 21
We had a fantastic sailing day! We spent most of the day under sail and were sailing fast enough to make the dolphins want to come over to play. Three dolphins swam with us for about 5 minutes. Two would surface on the port side and one on the starboard side, then they would all swim under the boat and one would pop up on the starboard side and two on the port side. When we are under sail we have very little freeboard on the leeward side so we could almost touch them. Later in the day one large dolphin stayed with us for quite a long time and would turn on its side to look at us while he was underwater.
In the early afternoon we caught up with TAMURE who had left about 15 minutes before we did. They had slowed down because they thought they had engine problems. We sailed along beside them for a while in case they needed Bill’s help. Scott was impressed that at one point we had to reef the jib to slow down so we did not pass them while they were motoring. We had to take the sails down about an our before we got into Vero Beach as the channel was narrow and winding. Oh well, we needed to charge the batteries anyway.
Monday Nov 22 - ?
Vero Beach is known as Velcro Beach to the cruisers. Once you get here you tend to stick here as it is convenient and relatively inexpensive. The moorings are 20 per night and there are usually two or three boats rafted on mooring, with the crowd hanging out for Thanksgiving it is mostly three to a mooring. We are sandwiched in between a 28 foot boat called SEARCHER with a very nice singlehander named Steve and his elderly collie Danny, and a 30 footer, SANUK, with Chris and Tracy on board. We fritter our days away riding the bus to the grocery store, Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, and the beach. It is very social here as by this point in the trip everyone knows so many other boats. The hardest part is deciding which cocktail party or dinner to attend.
Thanksgiving was a lot of fun as over 60 boats signed up for the potluck, which translates to around 120 people. It is truly amazing what people are able to cook in little galleys. There was plenty of turkey, ham, pork roast, side dishes, and a huge variety of desserts. I made two loaves of white bread, a batch of rolls, and a loaf of maple oatmeal bread.
Friday was the first day of the entire trip that was relaxing and lazy. About 10:30 in the morning as we were hanging out on SANUK drinking coffee and talking we all realized the same thing. Cruising sounds laid back and luxurious, but most of the time is spent getting from point A to point B and working on the boat.
We went out to dinner in the evening at the Riverside Café with Lynn, Walt, Gail, Bob, Kitty, Scott, and Evan. Everyone is planning on leaving sometime soon so we all wanted to have a get together.
Saturday we rented a car and drove to Orlando to visit John Ewing who is in the hospital. The Ewings have been friends with Bill’s family forever. John looked great for someone waiting for surgery to relieve pressure from blood on the brain. Jane looks beautiful as always, she never seems to change. Bill enjoyed catching up with Jack who he hasn’t seen for about 40 years. Bill and Jack had been close friends through their entire childhood. Please keep John in your prayers.
Our new plan is to tear ourselves away from Velcro Beach on Monday…
We left Fernandina Beach just as TAMURE pulled into the harbor. We were tempted to stay another day to see them, and the dinner invitation from CONSORT was hard to turn down, but after talking to everyone on the radio we realized that they were planning to head outside to St. Augustine so our two day trip would be one day for them and we would see them in a couple of days. We had an enjoyable trip to Pablo Creek where we anchored for the night behind a couple of “islands”. The islands looked more like tall swamp grass than real islands but we had a calm night with thousands of little round brown jelly fish floating by in the three knot current.
Monday, Nov 15
As soon as it was light enough to see the navigation markers we were under way through glassy calm water. The water was calm on the top, but moving fast under the surface. The current going through the first bridge brought our speed down to about 2 knots and the swirling cross current made for a wrestling match with the tiller to avoid running into the bridge. After that things settled down to the point of being boring. The first 3 or 4 hours of the day the ICW was dead straight and about 150 feet wide. The east side was lined with houses, the west side was swamp. I spent most of my time sitting so my back was to the houses so I could watch the birds and pretend we were in the wilderness. This kept me amused for about an hour then I gave in, found my ipod, and listened to NPR news while driving the boat. In the late morning the river widened out so it was more interesting. We pulled into St. Augustine just in time for the 12:30 opening of the Bridge of Lions. We spent the afternoon walking around town and splurged on ice creams.
Tuesday Nov 16 and Wednesday Nov 17
We spent a couple of enjoyable days in St. Augustine. TAMURE, CONSORT, and POLAR PACER were also in the harbor so we had plenty of company for walking around town, and dinners on boats. Bill found an external speaker for our radio so that we can hear it in the cockpit without turning the volume up to a deafening level down below. This has made our life much more enjoyable.
Thursday, Nov 18
We left St. Augustine at 6:45 and for a change had the current with us all day. It is a huge treat to have the increase in speed and not have the frustration of fighting for every tenth of a knot of speed. TAMURE and CONSORT left about 15 minutes behind us and didn’t catch up to us until we were anchoring in Daytona Beach. We are usually the slowest boat around so when we are not passed by everybody we are happy. After being on the boat this long small things amuse us greatly.
Bill spent the afternoon helping Scott with a plumbing project on his boat so Kitty and I had a nice visit on our boat.
Friday, Nov 19
Yet again we left slightly before the crack of dawn. We spent about an 2 hours actually sailing the boat without the engine. It has been so long since we used the boat as a sailboat we had been starting to talk about going over to the dark side and getting a powerboat, but now we remember that sailing is fun.
We anchored for the night at Titusville with TAMURE. There was a satellite launch scheduled for the evening, but unfortunately it was postponed.
Saturday, Nov 20
For once we had a late start and did not get under way until almost 10:00 a.m. because a bridge was having some maintenance work scheduled and would not open until 11:00. We motorsailed almost to the bridge and heard the announcement that they would not open until 11:30. Everyone else anchored and waited for the opening, but it was such a nice day we just turned the motor off and tacked back and forth. (Yes, we do remember how to tack…)
At 11:30 the bridge tender announced that due to technical difficulties the bridge would not open until 12:00. Other people were grumbling to the bridge tender over the radio, but we were having fun sailing. For lunch we had chocolate cake with strawberry jelly and whipped cream as we were sailing around. About the time we finished our lunch the bridge tender announced that it would be another ½ an hour before the opening. Scott had given Bill a Halloween mask so Bill put on the mask and we sailed by TAMURE to amuse them. We then sailed by a little catamaran that we didn’t know. They know think we are crazy, perhaps dangerously so. Oh well, we were on a sugar high and having a great time playing with the boat. After the bridge finally opened we put up the mainsail and had a great sail all afternoon. Most of the other boats were also sailing so it was like a little race. RONDO does surprisingly well against the other heavily laden cruising boats, especially Island Packets! Scott was able to take a couple of pictures of us with the sails up.
We anchored for the night in Cocoa with TAMURE. Scott and Kitty picked us up in their dinghy and we went ashore. The hardware store in town is supposed to be amazing and have everything you could possibly dream about needing. We got there 10 minutes after they closed so we window shopped the tool section until Bill yelled “come here, you have to see this.” We thought he had spotted some great gadget he just had to have, but it turned out to be the biggest rat he had ever seen. Kitty and I were no longer disappointed about the store being closed. After walking around town Scott and Kitty treated us to a delicious meal at a Thai restaurant.
Sunday, Nov 21
We had a fantastic sailing day! We spent most of the day under sail and were sailing fast enough to make the dolphins want to come over to play. Three dolphins swam with us for about 5 minutes. Two would surface on the port side and one on the starboard side, then they would all swim under the boat and one would pop up on the starboard side and two on the port side. When we are under sail we have very little freeboard on the leeward side so we could almost touch them. Later in the day one large dolphin stayed with us for quite a long time and would turn on its side to look at us while he was underwater.
In the early afternoon we caught up with TAMURE who had left about 15 minutes before we did. They had slowed down because they thought they had engine problems. We sailed along beside them for a while in case they needed Bill’s help. Scott was impressed that at one point we had to reef the jib to slow down so we did not pass them while they were motoring. We had to take the sails down about an our before we got into Vero Beach as the channel was narrow and winding. Oh well, we needed to charge the batteries anyway.
Monday Nov 22 - ?
Vero Beach is known as Velcro Beach to the cruisers. Once you get here you tend to stick here as it is convenient and relatively inexpensive. The moorings are 20 per night and there are usually two or three boats rafted on mooring, with the crowd hanging out for Thanksgiving it is mostly three to a mooring. We are sandwiched in between a 28 foot boat called SEARCHER with a very nice singlehander named Steve and his elderly collie Danny, and a 30 footer, SANUK, with Chris and Tracy on board. We fritter our days away riding the bus to the grocery store, Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, and the beach. It is very social here as by this point in the trip everyone knows so many other boats. The hardest part is deciding which cocktail party or dinner to attend.
Thanksgiving was a lot of fun as over 60 boats signed up for the potluck, which translates to around 120 people. It is truly amazing what people are able to cook in little galleys. There was plenty of turkey, ham, pork roast, side dishes, and a huge variety of desserts. I made two loaves of white bread, a batch of rolls, and a loaf of maple oatmeal bread.
Friday was the first day of the entire trip that was relaxing and lazy. About 10:30 in the morning as we were hanging out on SANUK drinking coffee and talking we all realized the same thing. Cruising sounds laid back and luxurious, but most of the time is spent getting from point A to point B and working on the boat.
We went out to dinner in the evening at the Riverside Café with Lynn, Walt, Gail, Bob, Kitty, Scott, and Evan. Everyone is planning on leaving sometime soon so we all wanted to have a get together.
Saturday we rented a car and drove to Orlando to visit John Ewing who is in the hospital. The Ewings have been friends with Bill’s family forever. John looked great for someone waiting for surgery to relieve pressure from blood on the brain. Jane looks beautiful as always, she never seems to change. Bill enjoyed catching up with Jack who he hasn’t seen for about 40 years. Bill and Jack had been close friends through their entire childhood. Please keep John in your prayers.
Our new plan is to tear ourselves away from Velcro Beach on Monday…
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Jekyll Island to Fernandina Beach, FL
Wednesday we woke up to thick fog. We were anchored about 150 feet behind another boat and could not see it. The plan was to head for Cumberland Island. We had to wait until 10:30 for the fog to lift, which turned out to be good timing as we had the tide with us all day for a change. We had a peaceful, calm, fast run to Cumberland Island.
The ruins of Dungenes. Dungenes was built in the 1880s by Thomas and Lucy Carnegie. After Thomas died in 1886 Lucy and her nine children moved to the island full time. Whenever one of the children married Lucy would build them a house on the island. By the 1920s the "Gilded Age" lifestyle was on the way out and the house was not used as often. Sometime in the late 20s or 30s it was closed up, except for one wedding (I think the spouse was a Rockefeller). The mansion burned in 1959.
One of the prettiest boats we have seen. Whenever FREEDOM is underway there is a lot of radio chatter by boats complimenting her.
Submarine pens. There were dozens of dolphins in this area, but they are very hard to photograph with a digital camera. Since this is a military area maybe they are stealth dolphins.
We pulled into Cumberland in the early afternoon and walked over to the beach with Tom, Chris, and Randy. This is the first time we have been to a beach on this trip.
Thursday we spent the whole day Cumberland Island. We walked through the woods to the dock where the ferry comes in and looked through the small museum. The ranger invited us to join her tour at 12:30 so we had a picnic and watched the wild horses until the tour started.
Bill, Tom, Randy, Jeannie, and Chris waiting for the tour. Notice the size of the live oak behind them.
Bill and Tom in the Pergola. This is where the ladies would sit to watch the polo matches. A few minutes after I took this picture a colt that had misplaced his mother and was upset about being alone galloped by and started into the pergola, but stopped at the last possible second when he saw us.
The armidillos are fun to watch. They mostly scurry around in the underbrush. I think they are cute even if they are armored rats.
Friday morning we left Cumberland Island and headed over to Fernandina Beach. Most of Friday afternoon was spent doing laundry. Fernandina is an interesting town. From the water it looks very industrial - the towers from the mills can be seen from miles. Even approaching the town it does not look promising as the main street ends at the water, instead of paralleling the harbor. Once you walk into town, though, it is very picturesque and seems prosperous. It is nice to see a town with a variety of businesses and some actual industry. In the evening we had drinks at the marina bar with Tom, Chris, Randy, and Jeannie.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Vernon River to Jekyll Island, GA
Sunday, Nov 6
Yikes it is cold! When we woke up it was 41 degrees inside the boat. Getting out of bed is awful when it is this cold as you know this is the warmest you will be all day. The diesel engine agreed that it was too chilly to do anything and did not want to start. Eventually it reluctantly coughed its way to life and we set out. Once we got going it was a nice sunny day, if we wore enough clothes and huddled under the dodger. We are in the swamps of Georgia, which is prettier than it sounds.
Our goal was to anchor in Cattle Pen Creek for the night. When we were just around the corner from the entrance we got a call from the "Cattle Pen Creek Yacht Club" confirming our anchoring reservation. We had a nice get together with the crews from MUTUAL FUN, SIMPLE PLEASURES, LEE-ANN, and ATTITUDE.
Monday, Nov 7
We had a nice surpise in the morning. Randy radioed that he had left some electronic charts in our dinghy. We tried them in our chart plotter and they worked. It is a treat to have GPS charts again instead of just paper charts. We spent a lot of the day following a tug boat that was pushing two barges which made the navigation even easier.
Last night we were talking about what a small world this is and how everyone has mutual friends. In the course of a random conversation it turned out that Gary and Janet know our friends Scott and Kitty, and that Sharon grew up in the neighborhood that Bill's sister Robin used to live in. Anyway, today Bill called a powerboat that passed us on the radio to complement them on the boat. The boat's homeport is Belfast, Maine. After a few more sentences about Maine and Saint George and Tenants Harbor the other captain asked Bill if he knew Stuart Farnham. When he said yes, they worked together at Lyman Morse, and had worked at Wayfarer, the next sentence was "Do you want to talk to Mike King, he is right here."
At one point we were watching pelicans fly by in low level formations that would make a fighter pilot jealous and said we wished we could see young pelicans learning how to fly. They must make some spectacular miscalulations when flying inches above the water. About an hour later a squad of pelicans flew by and one broke formation and flew through our rigging. It misjudged its wingspan and the distance between our forestay and shrouds by about an inch and clipped a wing tip. It just wobbled in the air, then flew over to a navigation marker and made itself feel better by displacing a half a dozen cormorants.
We anchored for the night in the South River and had happy hour on LEE-ANN with MUTUAL FUN, SIMPLE PLEASURES, and ATTITUDE.
Yikes it is cold! When we woke up it was 41 degrees inside the boat. Getting out of bed is awful when it is this cold as you know this is the warmest you will be all day. The diesel engine agreed that it was too chilly to do anything and did not want to start. Eventually it reluctantly coughed its way to life and we set out. Once we got going it was a nice sunny day, if we wore enough clothes and huddled under the dodger. We are in the swamps of Georgia, which is prettier than it sounds.
Our goal was to anchor in Cattle Pen Creek for the night. When we were just around the corner from the entrance we got a call from the "Cattle Pen Creek Yacht Club" confirming our anchoring reservation. We had a nice get together with the crews from MUTUAL FUN, SIMPLE PLEASURES, LEE-ANN, and ATTITUDE.
Monday, Nov 7
We had a nice surpise in the morning. Randy radioed that he had left some electronic charts in our dinghy. We tried them in our chart plotter and they worked. It is a treat to have GPS charts again instead of just paper charts. We spent a lot of the day following a tug boat that was pushing two barges which made the navigation even easier.
Last night we were talking about what a small world this is and how everyone has mutual friends. In the course of a random conversation it turned out that Gary and Janet know our friends Scott and Kitty, and that Sharon grew up in the neighborhood that Bill's sister Robin used to live in. Anyway, today Bill called a powerboat that passed us on the radio to complement them on the boat. The boat's homeport is Belfast, Maine. After a few more sentences about Maine and Saint George and Tenants Harbor the other captain asked Bill if he knew Stuart Farnham. When he said yes, they worked together at Lyman Morse, and had worked at Wayfarer, the next sentence was "Do you want to talk to Mike King, he is right here."
At one point we were watching pelicans fly by in low level formations that would make a fighter pilot jealous and said we wished we could see young pelicans learning how to fly. They must make some spectacular miscalulations when flying inches above the water. About an hour later a squad of pelicans flew by and one broke formation and flew through our rigging. It misjudged its wingspan and the distance between our forestay and shrouds by about an inch and clipped a wing tip. It just wobbled in the air, then flew over to a navigation marker and made itself feel better by displacing a half a dozen cormorants.
We anchored for the night in the South River and had happy hour on LEE-ANN with MUTUAL FUN, SIMPLE PLEASURES, and ATTITUDE.
Tuesday, November 8
Today was a day when we were worried about shoaling. Skipper Bob's book and the updates on the website are littered with "caution, shoaling' warnings. We headed out at 7:20 so we would have a rising tide for most of the morning, then at least a half tide heading into Jekyll Creek. The warnings that there will be zero feet of water at mean low tide are alarming. Because we timed the tides we had an easy run with plenty of water. In the afternoon we went ashore and walked around the island and went by the millionaires mansions. We had dinner on board POLAR PACER with MUTUAL FUN.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Beaufort to Vernons River, GA
Wednesday, Nov 2
We had a nice day of walking around town. Beaufort is one of my favorite places to visit. The houses are beautiful and the side streets are quiet so we can act like tourists and stand in the middle of the road to take pictures and there is no traffice to run us over. In the afternoon our friends on POLAR PACER and MUTUAL FUN pulled into the harbor. We had a potluck with Tom and Chris. I brought freshly baked molasses oatmeal bread and a spinach artichoke pasta salad, Chris made pizza and flounder. This was not a menu you would put together on purpose, but it was delicious. After dinner Jeannie and Randy came over and we played rummy cubes then watched an episode of Top Gear on the lap top. It was a fun evening.
Thursday, Nov 3
Today we got our exercise, we spent another day walking around with Tom, Chris, Randy, and Jeannie. We had been amused by the "low clearance" signs on the live oaks until we saw a tractor trailer hit a low hanging branch that was not marked. The trailer was a little the worse for wear, but the tree branch did not move an inch, not even the leaves.
Friday, Nov 4
We left Beaufort late in the day for us, 9:20, to catch the tide for at least part of the day. We passed Paris Island and Hilton Head (very different life styles). It was kind of a strange sailing/motoring day. Sometimes we would be traveling at 8.0 knots, then we would turn into another river or sound and be traveling at 2.8 knots.
When we pulled into Bull Creek to anchor Tom had already anchored and came out in his dinghy to give us anchoring instructions. When we approached where we were going to anchor Randy was out in his dinghy with a hand held depthsounder making sure "our" spot would be appropriate. It is nice to have personalized harbor master service! In the evening we had a potluck with 6 other people on MUTUAL FUN.
Saturday, Nov 5
BRRRRRR. It is very cold. The temperature was in the 30s last night. When we woke up it was 45 degrees inside the boat in Georgia. Global warming is not all it is cracked up to be. We left at sunrise through skeins of sea smoke. Beautiful, but cold.
It stayed cold all day. We were going to anchor for the night at Isle of Hope (aren't the names great down here?), but it was very crowded so we headed 7 miles south to Vernon River. MUTUAL FUN made the same decision. They came over for drinks and snacks and brought charts so we could talk about places to go in the Bahamas. It was fun to have people over to our boat for a change. The general rule on RONDO is two guests at a time, otherwise the water comes in the cockpit drains. I hope the weather warms up soon!
We had a nice day of walking around town. Beaufort is one of my favorite places to visit. The houses are beautiful and the side streets are quiet so we can act like tourists and stand in the middle of the road to take pictures and there is no traffice to run us over. In the afternoon our friends on POLAR PACER and MUTUAL FUN pulled into the harbor. We had a potluck with Tom and Chris. I brought freshly baked molasses oatmeal bread and a spinach artichoke pasta salad, Chris made pizza and flounder. This was not a menu you would put together on purpose, but it was delicious. After dinner Jeannie and Randy came over and we played rummy cubes then watched an episode of Top Gear on the lap top. It was a fun evening.
Thursday, Nov 3
Today we got our exercise, we spent another day walking around with Tom, Chris, Randy, and Jeannie. We had been amused by the "low clearance" signs on the live oaks until we saw a tractor trailer hit a low hanging branch that was not marked. The trailer was a little the worse for wear, but the tree branch did not move an inch, not even the leaves.
In the afternoon we walked out to the National Cemetery which was started during the Civil War. It was sad to see all of the tombstones, but very uplifting to see the care and respect with which the cemetary is kept. The groundskeepers were very helpful about answering questions or pointing out monuments. In the late afternoon it started raining so we spent the rest of the time in the boat reading books.
We left Beaufort late in the day for us, 9:20, to catch the tide for at least part of the day. We passed Paris Island and Hilton Head (very different life styles). It was kind of a strange sailing/motoring day. Sometimes we would be traveling at 8.0 knots, then we would turn into another river or sound and be traveling at 2.8 knots.
When we pulled into Bull Creek to anchor Tom had already anchored and came out in his dinghy to give us anchoring instructions. When we approached where we were going to anchor Randy was out in his dinghy with a hand held depthsounder making sure "our" spot would be appropriate. It is nice to have personalized harbor master service! In the evening we had a potluck with 6 other people on MUTUAL FUN.
Saturday, Nov 5
BRRRRRR. It is very cold. The temperature was in the 30s last night. When we woke up it was 45 degrees inside the boat in Georgia. Global warming is not all it is cracked up to be. We left at sunrise through skeins of sea smoke. Beautiful, but cold.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Charleston to Beaufort, SC
We left Charleston on Monday morning before we ate too much of the incredible food. We have a very small boat so we can't afford to be any bigger than we are. The day was nice and warm and at times it was almost too hot. We enjoyed having a relaxing day as we were only traveling about 37 miles and at times we had the tide with us for a change. In the afternoon we had a stowaway.
Kermit the stowaway frog.
We were going to anchor for the night in Toogoodoo Creek because of the cool name, but continued on to Ashepoo Creek and enjoyed a very calm and relaxing night at anchor.
Tuesday was very cold with a north wind. We ended up wearing everything we owned, foul weather gear, hats and gloves. I know I sound like Goldilocks - first it was too hot, then it was too cold. What a whiner.
About noon time we came into Brickyard Creek. The guidebook directions were to favor the green side of the channel, which we did and promptly ran aground. A little while later another boat, FLEETWING who apparently has the same book we have ran aground right next to us. The next boat cleverly followed the middle of the channel where there was 10 feet of water. Luckily the bottom is all sand and mud and it was calm in the creek so there was no danger and it was about 20 minutes until low tide so it wouldn't be too long of a wait for the 8 foot tide to float us off the mud. We decided to make the best of the situation by having grilled sandwiches and a relaxing lunch. When the tide came back the current was trying to push us aground again so Bill used the dinghy as a yawl boat and pushed the bow off while I backed the boat out of the mud bank and we were on our way again. Later in the afternoon we thought we had timed the Lady's Island Bridge perfectly. We motored up at 2:25 for the 2:30 opening. Unfortunately the guide book and the chart were out of date and the bridge didn't open until 3:00. The bridge is right before the anchorage and we were not in any great hurry so it was okay. When we finally did get into the anchorage at Beaufort is was a little crowded. After our third attempt at anchoring we were far enough away from everyone else, not in the channel, and the anchor held. We had a nice walk in town and ran into Lynn and Walt from IOLAR who had passed us while we were aground. They are very kind and were worried about us and had offerred to try to pull us off the mud.
Beaufort is a very beautiful and charming town. Pictures do not do it justice.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Charleston
We have had a couple of fun days in Charleston. Saturday morning Bill changed the oil in the engine and replaced a belt, then we walked around town for hours and had dinner at A.W. Shucks. Sunday we spent the morning going to West Marine and grocery shopping. In the afternoon we had two visits from Triton owners who came over to see RONDO. We spent the evening walking around town and going out to dinner with Bob and Gail from STAR and Lynn and Walt from IOLAR.
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