Daytona Beach, FL

Bill and I decided to stay another day in St. Augustine. We still have over a week to get to Boca and St. Augustine is such a great place. We were up and ready to leave by 7:30 but as we were taking the shore power off, we both looked at each other and decided to stay.

So today, Tuesday, we left for Daytona. We left the dock around 8:00. Today was a strange day. We had twelve -- yes TWELVE -- bridges to deal with. And all went well. Four were open on demand, eight were fixed 65 footers.

The stranger part of today was the VERY dense fog that we experienced until about 11:00. The fog was so thick at parts that we could see no more than 100 feet (or two boat lengths) in front of us. For most of the morning there was a caravan of six boats inching our way forward - with Mary Elizabeth slowly navigating the lead before a trawler and motor vessel took over. It is such a strange feeling motoring at 5 knots into nothing but white and trying to find the next marker - especially when the channel is narrow and the depths are shallow. Most of the day the depth finder showed between 10 and 12 feet in the ICW. Eventually the fog lifted and it turned into a beautiful day. The warmer temperatures and sunshine felt marvelous.

We are at Halifax Harbor Marina in Daytona Beach (statute mile 830 on the ICW) for the night. It is another great facility; very helpful staff and, surprisingly, liveaboards! Part of our trek south via the ICW has involved scoping out where we will eventually want to live. We were surprised to find out that the state of Georgia does not allow liveaboards at all. And we have heard mixed things about (the rules, taxes, impressions of) living aboard in different parts of Florida. Bill and I chatted with a liveaboard here in Daytona (a fellow pilot, nonetheless) and he had great things to say.

Another cool thing about today was that we were in a "manatee zone" for most of the day. We didn't see any manatees, but we certainly kept an eye out. Maybe tomorrow.... Tomorrow we will be in Cocoa, FL where we will meet up with my uncle and his family for dinner. Yeah!

St. Augustine, FL

Friday was a perfect day.

High tide was around 8:00 am and we had to go under a bridge that was supposed to be less than 65 feet. Plus it was a full moon (or close to it anyway) and there was a lot of rain from the storms on Thursday. Needless to say, we were hesitant to go under the bridge. Why wouldn't we have just waited a few hours until mid tide? Because the McCormick Bridge in Jacksonville is only opening from 12 noon until 1:00 pm when the guys working on the bridge are at lunch and if we waited too long, we wouldn't make it

To avoid these bridges, we decided to leave the ICW and go on the outside. It made perfect sense; the weather was supposed to be good, the inlets to the Atlantic easy, the wind strong and out of the north / northwest, and we could skip the whole bridge thing altogether. So we left Fernandina Beach around 7:30 and had a great jib only run down to St. Augustine. For the good part of five hours we had between 15 and 20 knots of wind and averaged 7+ knots speed over ground. When the wind died to less than 10 knots, we motor sailed for a while and got to the dock around 4:30.

We are staying at Camachee Cove Marina at St. Augustine. It is probably the nicest marina we have stayed at so far in the sense that they have a really great boater's lounge, a nice laundry facility, very helpful and friendly staff, a casual restaurant, etc.

On Saturday we took a cab downtown and walked around St. Augustine. What a neat city. It has a different feel than many of the other places we have visited. There are old hotels, historic monuments, lots of different shops, an old fort, etc.

We stuck around for the boat parade of lights, which included 35 boats all decorated in lights and Christmas decorations. Some of the pictures actually came out this time!

On another note, Bill and I both hope that everyone in New England is doing OK after the ice storms and that power is restored ASAP. We are thinking of you.

Fernandina Beach, FL

As you can see why from this radar picture from weatherunderground.com, we have decided to wait out the rain and wind here in Fernandina Beach, FL. Yes, we made it to Florida (!) which feels like an accomplishment. We left Maryland more than 5 weeks ago.

We had an interesting day yesterday.... We left St. Simons Island around 8:00 in a dense fog. The weather was warm (70s) and there was a strong wind on our nose (20 knots) for most of the day. Low tide was at 12:21, which concerned us since we had several shallow places to get through. We saw less than 10 feet for the majority of the day, which made for a tense ride. We did run aground once in Jekell Creek -- even though we were in the middle of the channel and were following the range markers -- but Bill quickly got us off. We were again fortunate to be passed by another boat with only a four foot draft who was able to relay water depths via the VHF so we had a better idea of which direction to head once we got off. It is impossible to know which way to point the boat when you are aground in the middle of the channel. We were both more than relieved to get off the bottom so quickly since the tide was still going out and we would have been in trouble.

The water depths in the ICW in Florida are supposed to be less of an issue, which we will both be thankful for. From what we have read and heard from others, Georgia just doesn't have the money (or hasn't allocated the money) for dredging and shoaling is everywhere.

The rain missed us and we were tied up at the dock by about 3:00. Bill and I enjoyed a warm rest of the afternoon topside and had dinner and a movie on the boat. We also saw a big Coast Guard ship dock next to us after dark, which was neat.

So today it is raining and very windy. They have issued a tornado warning, so we are glad to be at the dock with the super duper fender from Dave and Molly. We were woken up early this morning with knock, knock, knocks on the hull from the dock master who was advising all boaters to put (even) more lines out. Since we already doubled up yesterday, so there isn't much more we can do. Hopefully we'll be able to explore the town a little in between raindrops!

St. Simons Island, GA

Today was a strange day. We had rain, sunshine, wind, no wind off an on throughout the day. Today, like yesterday, was a very beautiful leg of the trip. We went from Killkenny (statute mile 614) to St. Simons Island, GA (statute mile 675). For a lot of the trip today Bill cut the engine back so we were doing between 4.5 and 5 knots. He did this for two reasons. First, we wanted to let the tide rise a little more before going through the Mudd River, which has depths of under 6 feet (mean low tide.) Second, if we were going to run aground, we wanted to do it at a slow speed. There were two boats ahead of us who were nice enough to give periodic updates on the water depths that they saw, and we went through without incident.

Today we also saw lots of animals on the shore. We saw some type of burro, goats, herons, and of course dolphins. The rivers we traveled through today were windey and narrow, so we got a good view of the shoreline.

It rained off and on today but ended up being a beautiful late afternoon. We even saw a rainbow, which disappeared after only a few minutes.

We are staying at Golden Isles Marina in St. Simons Island, GA, which is a nice facility. We enjoyed a fabulous sunset and are about to go to dinner. Destination Fernandina Beach, FL (statue mile 770) tomorrow.

For more pictures of today's beautiful trip, click here.

Killkenny, GA

We left the dock at Thunderbolt around 10:00 and had another short day to Killkenny, GA. The ride today was beautiful. We didn't see another boat until we were almost to Killkenny. The shores were lined with marshes and trees; very few homes. What a beautiful way to see parts of our country. For most of the day, our view looked exactly like the picture below.



Today we went through through Hell Gate at statute mile 601. The cruising guide we are using (Doziers which has been very helpful, very spot on) and the reports on cruisers net indicated that there was some VERY shallow water here. We went through at mid-tide and saw no less than 8 feet, which was a relief.

Not a whole lot to do in Killkenny (no cable, no restaurant, no Internet, just us and another transient sailboat and a few locals) so we did boat projects down below. Bill put up some Christmas decorations. We'll do the tree when we get to the Boca Raton Club and Resort where we'll spend the holidays. We are excited because we will catch up with Cindy and Boyd who live close to Boca for New Years.



I reorganized the "office", the forward cabin, and the forward head. We culled our books and have them ready for the next book swap that we come across. Believe it or not, above is the "after" picture of the organized (what we call) "office," which is basically a room where we store spare parts, extra water, ditch bag when we are not offshore, Bill's guitar and golf clubs, tools, cleaning supplies, and other gear. It is a work in progress to keep this part of the boat organized.

Bill did a few crosswords and caught up on magazines and I read. We called it a very early night. We expect to be in St. Augustine by Thursday, which will be nice. We are having our mail delivered there; the marina is nice enough to accept our packages for us.

Another interesting thing is that we have received several emails (via our gmail account) from people following the blog. Most are from fellow sailors who have done the trip down the ICW before or hope to do it soon. The stats on the site show that many more people have been reading in the past month or so (we're almost to our 4,500th hit on the site!) So thanks to all our family, friends, and those of you we have never met for reading.

Savannah, GA

Bill and I have had so much fun in Savannah. On Saturday when we arrived in Thunderbolt, we took a cab to Savannah, which is about 20 minutes away via car. After a late lunch, we walked down River Street, and were happy to find out that there was a Christmas fair going on. There were vendors selling everything from jewelry to pottery to homemade breads. And various dance schools performed on the stage. It was great; very Christmasy. We decided to stick around for the Christmas parade, which started at 5:30 and went right down River Street. There were thousands of people lining the street. It was a cute parade; local high school bands, old cars etc. And Ruby from the TV show on Style was the Parade Marshall. When we got back to the boat, we caught the tale end of anothe parade -- this time a boat parade of lights. About a dozen boats were completely decorated and all lit up and went right by the marina where we were docked. Very cool.

Downtown Savannah is beautiful. There are a ton of old churches, lots of parks, beautiful homes. We decided to stay another day and explore a little more. On Sunday we again took a cab to Savannah and walked the historic district. Each park has a sign explaining the historical significance of the various statues and water fountains. Again we were happy to discover that in one of the larger parks there was a music / chili festival going on, and again thousands of people were out enjoying the beautiful day. We found the Oyster Bar at Dave's recommendation and watched some football while eating good cheap oysters and shrimp.

We took a cab back to Thunderbolt and found a bar to watch the night game. Unfortunately the Redskins lost to Baltimore. Today we are on our way to Killkenney, GA for the night.

Even though we whine about the cold weather all the time, one of the great things about doing this trip during November and December is that we get to experience holiday happenings in each city. It was great to see a holiday parade and see the various performers, etc. Savannah is by far one of my favorite stops so far. Who would have thought?

For more pictures of Savannah, click here

Hilton Head, SC and Thunderbolt, GA

As I said the other day, in Hilton Head we stayed at Harbour Town Marina, which is actually part of the Sea Pines Resort. Thursday I went for a long walk along the bike path while Bill enjoyed a round of golf. Friday after the rain I rented a bike and went for an even longer tour of the area. Sea Pines is actually 5,000 acres of neighborhoods with three golf courses, marinas, tennis, shopping, and restaurants. The homes here are beautiful, and the scenery is outstanding. Bill saw a six foot alligator on the course yesterday. We have also seen pelicans, herrings and turtles on the paved bike path. It was a nice place to stay for a few days.

We left the dock at 9:00 this morning and had a very short motor (about 3 hours) to Thunderbolt, GA. We are going to take a taxi to Savanah this afternoon and do a little sightseeing. On our trip to Thunderbolt today we saw lots of dolphins. Here is an attempt to capture them on video. It is an overcast day, but not freezing.

Hilton Head, SC

We left the dock at Beaufort, SC around 9:45 in order to make the bridge opening at 10:00. It was a beautiful day and we actually took layers OFF today. The sunshine felt wonderful. It was a quick motor over to Hilton Head Island, SC (we got in around 2:30) where we decided to stop for a few days instead of going straight to Thunderbolt / Savannah.

Today we saw a lot of dolphins but none came very close to the boat. We also went under two 65 foot fixed bridges. Here is a video of what it is like each time we go under a fixed bridge. You can see why we hold our breath!

We are staying at Harbor Town Yacht Basin, which is really nice. We got fuel and a pumpout (and were given a complimentary bottle of wine for fueling up). After spraying down the boat, doing laundry, and going to CVS for a prescription, we are enjoying the weather topside. Bill is going to play golf tomorrow and I am going to explore the area a bit.

Things we have learned on our trip down the ICW

As we passed the 500+ mile marker on our way to Beaufort, SC I started thinking about some of the things that we have learned on our trip south via the ICW:

1. It's colder than we thought it would be. I regret giving our long underwear to Goodwill when we cleaned out our closets and moved out of the condo. In hindsight, we might have been better off to leave Annapolis a little earlier.
2. Most marinas don't recycle.
3. People have very creative names for their boats. Two great names that we have seen so far are FESTIVUS, and BODONKADONK.
4. Bridge schedules do dictate how far we can get in one day. Many of the bridges only open on the hour, some twice a day only, some open for the last time at 4:00, etc. Timing (and luck) is everything.
5. Running aground is sort of inevitable. We have done it twice and have met several others who have also. No shame in that.
6. Keeping a constant eye on the depth finder and worrying about bridges has been worth it (although some days Bill might beg to differ). The scenery is amazing, the wildlife awe inspiring. We have met many people in marinas who went on the outside because they despise the ICW. I have enjoyed every minute of it.
7. Weather has put us "behind" by about 2 weeks and that's ok. We have enjoyed each place we have visited even if it was for a few more days than we originally planned for.
8. It's better to call for a slip reservation the day of. When we first started I called each marina three or four days ahead of time and had our reservations all lined up and neatly listed in my notebook. This just doesn't make sense since we have been delayed several times for weather or we traveled more / fewer miles than we thought we would for the day and a second call to reschedule or cancel was necessary.
9. The ICW is diverse; the scenery on each leg of the trip has been completely different. We have traveled through small canals, large inlets, windey rivers, wide harbors. Seeing dolphins almost every day has been amazing.
10. We have had fun meeting lots of fellow sailors, and have enjoyed traveling as a "pack" with the same boats on different parts of the trip. We have run into boats that we haven't seen since Norfolk three weeks later in a random marina bar.
11. I didn't realize how much I would appreciate a good laundry facility (i.e. more than one washer and dryer, change machine, etc.)
12. Mary Elizabeth is a great boat. We have put her through a lot and she has been good to us.

Beaufort, SC

We left Charleston around 8:30 to make the first bridge opening at 9:00. Many of the bridges have restrictions during rush hour in the morning and don't open until 9:00. We had a relatively uneventful trip today. The water was calm but the wind continues to make things very cold. We started with only a few layers but added more as the day went on.

We did pass the 500 mile mark today! The other amazing thing was that we saw several dolphins. And today, two of them played in our wake. One swam over to the port side of the boat and stayed with us for three minutes or so before swimming away. About ten minutes later, another dolphin swam over to our starboard side and started playing with us. He kept jumping out of the water and swam on his side looking right at us the whole time -- as if he was flirting. It was amazing. I tried to take a picture, but it didn't come out so great. Today we are on high dolphin alert and will try to capture a video.

We pulled into Beaufort, SC around 5:20 to a sleepy little marina. We made chicken curry for dinner and watched a little TV before calling it a night.

Parks in Charleston

We stayed in Charleston today (Monday) since there were 25+ knots of wind for the majority of the morning / early afternoon. Tomorrow we are going to leave around 8:00 to make the first swing bridge opening at 9:00. Our destination tomorrow is Beaufort, SC. There is a bridge on the ICW in Beaufort that is currently only opening at 10:00 am and 2:00 pm. Since we won't make it to the bridge before 2:00, we will stay the night and then make the 10:00 am opening on Wednesday.

Today Bill hung out on the boat still nursing his cold. I went for a long walk and discovered another beautiful park. I have included pictures of the many parks that we have seen while in Charleston. Again, this really is a great city. We are going to take the marina shuttle downtown and have an early dinner in a bit. Hopefully it won't be tooooo cold tomorrow on the water.

Thanks for your many emails. It has been nice hearing from everyone. Please feel free to comment on the blog also! We love to know people are reading.

Homes in Charleston

Here are some pictures of just a sample of the many beautiful homes (mansions!) in Charleston. Literally every street is lined with stunning houses, gardens, yards. Charleston certainly is a great place to visit and simply walk the streets and explore.