Key West !!!! - Mile 1244 + 140

We are in Key West!! We made it down the entire Atlantic ICW and down the Keys via Hawk Channel.

 

 

We stayed on a mooring ball in Marathon for 3 nights. There is a great park there, Crane Point, where we spent a whole day. It has trails through a huge mangrove swamp with tropical fish, a wild bird rescue center, a tabby house (oyster shell cement house from 1904), a butterfly garden, and an authentic Florida cracker house. Simple construction of a single room house raised a foot above the ground to keep out bugs and snakes and with high roof and porches for the heat. This park in the middle of the over-developed Keys along with several other historic areas, houses, and parks along the way have really left us with a strong sense of appreciation for those that worked so hard to preserve natural and historic sites.

 

We had every bit of 6 foot seas during our final run to Key West. I wanted to try one more snorkeling reef enroute so we did some advanced mooring pick up in high winds and seas with Linda driving and me grabbing the mooring line with the boat hook. Everything went great but just after we were secured on the mooring I detected that we were ever so slightly over weight on the starboard side. Thinking quickly, I flipped the boat hook overboard to correct the imbalance. I'm sure it was the right choice. Sadly, Linda declared 25 feet too deep to retrieve it so we'll have to procure another.

We are settled now at the Key West Bight Marina which is right in the heart of the action in Key West. The Marina staff were busy as we came in but other boaters jumped up and helped us get into a very tight space with a strong wind blowing us away from the dock.  We are close to Mallory Square where Sundown is celebrated every night.

 

Today we worked on replacing our batteries. Every year batteries loose 5 to 10 percent of their capacity and ours were 6 years old. Add to that batteries do not like to be run all the way down to no charge especially if you leave them that way for a few days. The sailing has been great in Hawk Channel and anchoring out and moorings are cheep. The down side is that you are not hooked to shore power for a nightly recharge or running the engines to charge the aging batteries. The refrigerator and autopilot plus lights at night etc. put a demand on the batteries and ours just gave up. Luckily, Catalina built in two batteries with a switch to select one, two, or both and I always put it on a single battery for anchoring so we were able to switch to the other to start the engine.  Anyway, West Marine is close to our marina in Key West and the same poor guy that helped us dock got the honor of helping me lug two 135 pound batteries aboard.

Finished in time to appreciate the sunset.

 

Linda will spend the week in Key West and her sister will visit here while I get back to the office for a week. Next we will work the boat back North a bit and find a spot to put her up for the Winter with an eye toward a Spring trip to bring her back to the Chesapeake.  I think we will close out the blog of the trip here. 1244 miles traveled. A great trip that really gave us the flavor of the Southern US coast. The boat took a little wear but that is to be expected and the crew is still in great shape.

 

Marathon - Mile 1194

We are in the keys! There is a bridge on the inside route at Miami that has a height of 55 feet. Our mast is 54 feet 9 inches. We might try it on the way back but decided to do another ocean run from Lauderdale to Bicsane Bay. It was predicted to be 15 to 20 knots winds with 4 to 6 foot waves but we got out and had steady 12 to 15 knott wind and 1 to 2 foot waves and had a great down wind sail along the southern Florida coast.

 

We encountered flying fish for the first time on this leg. Whole schools of small fish launching themselves in unison to skim across the top of the waves for a surprising distance. Our first choice anchorage in Biscane Bay, No Name Harbor, was packed. It was Sunday and all the fast party boats from Miami come over for the day. We found a spot around the corner where there were also tons of boats but there was more space. It eventually cleared out and we had a nice view of the bay.

 

And the Miami sky line which was even cooler lit up at night.

 

The next two days were similar sailing down Hawk Channel which runs on the Atlantic side of the Keys but is behind a reef that breaks up the swell so it has been good sailing. We filled up at Lauderdale and still have close to a full tank of diesel. There are spots along the reef with mooring balls that you can tie to to go snorkeling. Yesterday, I snorkeled Hen and Chickens Reef and realized quite suddenly that I did not know the difference between a harmless shark and a harmful shark. Still a great spot with a good variety of fish and coral even if it was cut a bit short.  I think now it was just a nurse shark. We also saw a large sea turtle and rays jumping out of the water during yesterday's sail.

Now we are in Boot Key Harbor in Marathon Key. It has a popular mooring field with 274 mooring balls and has developed an atmosphere of a summer camp for adults with self-organized groups and activities swirling all day long starting with the morning Cruiser's Net Announcements on the VHF radio. We knew that it might be hard to get a spot here because it fills up earlier each year.  They don't take reservations but the office staff does have a pool for the first time it is completely full each year. It is first come, first serve. You only get a spot by calling on the radio once you enter the harbor. We came in at 3:30 yesterday and were assigned the very last mooring! The guy coming in 10 minutes behind us was less thrilled than we were. Finally, my futzing with the sails all day to go just a tiny bit faster pays off.

 

1194 miles traveled and 50 to go.

Ft Lauderdale FL - Mile 1064

We hung out an extra day in Vero with our catamaran friends from Portsmouth but still wanted to make Fort Lauderdale by the weekend so we put in a long day Thursday covering a record 65 miles (statute not nautical as is the ICW tradition). It was a good run with the one issue being timing the opening schedule of 13 or so bridges.

 

As we crossed some of the inlets we started getting Ocean water coming in that was vivid blue. Like the color that you draw water when you are a kid. This one is called St Lucie. As a bay sailor it is really a treat to sail in clear blue water.

 

By the end of the day, we knew we were in Southern Florida because we shared our secluded anchorage with 20,000 condo owners.

 

Looking ahead at the next day's run through Boca Raton, Delray, Pompano Beach, and into Ft Lauderdale we counted 27 draw bridges many with restricted opening schedules. There was just no way. It would have taken forever with delays at the bridges and although we are getting much better at holding position in current waiting for a bridge many other boaters have not mastered this trick and it is just not tons of fun as it gets more crowded. A few bridges are workable but at 27, we decided we were Ocean sailors.

 

We did a ~40 nautical mile run from Lake Worth inlet to Port Everglades inlet at Ft Lauderdale. You can't use all the inlets in Florida as some are shallow and don't have enough of a breakwater to be safe but the two we chose were deep, wide, and well protected. Big ships use them too though so we raced to get out before a cruise ship came in and came in with freighter traffic at Port Everglades.  The outside run was in 10 to 15 knots with 4+ foot waves. It was a little choppy at times but the sailing was nice and it feels like stealing miles for free after so many miles of motoring plus we got here by 2:00 in the afternoon which we could never do on the ICW with those bridges.

 

I like Ft. Lauderdale. It is around 80 degrees and I went swimming in November here. We had a nice dinner with my brother Scott who lives here. It is definitely very developed but the Las Olas Marina where we got a slip is very reasonable and just 3 blocks from the amazing Ft Lauderdale Beach.

 

The city is also a total boating city with rivers and canals and huge boats everywhere. We took the dinghy on a long trip up the New River right into the downtown area. It is narrow and crowded but people still drive their  massive mega yachts all through its narrow twists and turns.

 

1064 miles traveled. 180 to Key West.

Vero Beach FL - Mile 949

We decided to push a bit to get further along. We did two 60 mile days which are a stretch for us. Start around 6:30 and run until 4:00 or so. It gets dark around 5:30 so that is pretty much the full day. Florida is much easier than previous sections so it is nice traveling.  It is starting to get more developed but most sections still have nice scenery.  Some of the canals are so narrow you feel like you are driving a boat through people's front yards.

 

Lots of bridges still but the bridge tenders have generally been very nice. You call and they tell you to keep up your speed and they time the opening for when you get to the bridge.  This is Haulover bridge on a narrow little mangrove lined canal with lots of people fishing.  I know someone who will not care but we spotted our first manatee just past the bridge. 

 

The water is changing a bit.  We are starting to have sections that look a bit more tropical and you can start reading the water by its color.  The lighter spot here is shallow sand.

 

Today we are in Vero at a great marina, Loggerhead Vero.  We met back up with our catamaran friends from Portsmouth. They have a rental car so we have been zipping around Vero trying restaurants and getting provisions.  

949 done, 295 to Key West.

Marineland Florida - Mile 796

We made it to Florida! Northern Florida had a good bit of hurricane damage from Matthew.  These boats are a good example of severely "hard aground". There are boats like this everywhere.

 

Fernandina Beach Marina was disabled as well so we anchored out across the river. Good holding but gusty so the boat makes a never ending variety of new noises during the night so not much sleep. I like Northern Florida. I thought it would be all developed but there are long stretches with this on one side.

 

And this on the other. You can watch the king fishers, herons, bald eagles, and egrets and then turn your head and window shop the water front houses with great docks.

 

Yesterday we were in St. Augustine on a mooring ball.  Here was the view off our back porch of the oldest masonry fort in the US.

 

I scored a coveted triple selfie while on a tour of the city at the oldest tree in the city - yes it is in the Ho-Jo parking lot.

 

Cruisers are full time liveabord boaters traveling up and down the US and into the Caribean and beyond. Cruisers are an interesting bunch. They are like the opposite of a high school clique. We were at dinner last night and offered to help the folks next to us take a group picture. They asked if we were on a boat and were elated that we were first timers heading down the ICW. They grabbed our table, joined it to theirs, introduced us to every cruiser that wandered by, and started telling us stories and asking about our trip. Fun and we got some good tips.

We finally are leaving behind the massive tides and currents of South Carolina and Georga.  I am so happy to be in Florida.  There is one price to pay though. Florida is the land of bridges. Many open "on demand" just by calling on the radio.

 

Others have restricted opening schedules so you plan your day around them.  Today the Bridge of Lions was not opening between 7 am and 10:30 am. So we were up and going before dawn.

 

Tonight we are in Marineland a very cool little marina in the complex were they used to film lots of animal related TV shows and movies like Sea Hunt. Tomorrow we start working our way down into the Treasure Coast. 

796 done 488 to Key West.

Jekyll Island - Mile 685

"Going aground" sounds bad and has a finality about it that I don't like. Fortunately, in Georgia "going amud" would be more accurate. We tried a cut through on Sunday morning on low tide to save some back tracking from where we anchored and got stuck.  I was eventually able to pivot us off and Linda really did not want to back track so she poked around and found deeper water to get us through.

We are now down in Georgia's Golden Isles.  We spent a few days touring St Simon Island and Jekyll Island. Both were great.  On St Simon we loaded the folder bikes into the dinghy and made it to and back from a public landing dock in gusty conditions. We are getting the hang of this. On Jekyll, we are staying at a great marina, Jekyll Harbor Marina.  

 

Both islands are very bike friendly with great bike trails (to the left of the roadway above) that run through tree lined lanes, along marshes, past undeveloped beaches, and on Jekyll go by multi-million dollar historic mansions of the wealthy families of the early 1900s.

The little towns and beaches on both were also really nice.  We are about 1 to 2 weeks late for swimming weather. It was windy and low 70s during the day.

 

On Jeckyll in addition to bike touring, we rented a cool electric car - well maybe not cool, but cute and fun.

 

The car let us get to Jekyll's famous Driftwood Beach.

 

Also to the Sea Turtle Rescue Center which works to protect the loggerhead turtles that nest on the island and to treat injured ones.

 

685  seen - 2 groundings - no calls to Tow Boat US - and 559 to see.

Walburg Creek GA - Mile 621

We are in the grasslands of Georga now.  It took four tries and a break for a bowl of cereal to leave the dock this morning but otherwise was a good day.

 

I flew home for 5 days to work and Linda stayed in Hilton Head SC (the current position track on the blog feed by my phone needed to be restarted). Linda explored the beaches by bike, reprovisioned at the Hilton Head Walmart, changed the boat's engine oil, reconditioned the teak, planned the next couple legs of the trip, and got a bunch of furnishings and gadgets for the boat. I need to leave more often.

The ICW in Georga is very twisty and turny with snaking rivers connected by cuts and sounds. Tides changes are almost 8 feet now. Here is the happy side of current. Crushing along at 8.1 knots. We had the current with us.

 

The tricky thing about the ICW in Georga is that there are some spots with just a few feet of water at low tide. We need 4.5 feet. So we need to plan around the tides and when we will be at the various low spots. So far we are doing well. You can see the helmswoman is unphased here as we run a boat length from shore through the treacherous Hell Gate.

621 in the books 623 to go.

Beaufort, SC. Mile 536

Well the current that I complained about in North Carolina was child's play. In South Carolina, there are 7+ foot tidal changes and in Elliott Cut the current can run as fast as 7 knots. If we went through at the wrong time, running Serenity flat out we might be able to stay still.  Here is what a cut looks like, in this case Fennick Cut, after you make it through.

 

The other issue is when an inlet is close to the ICW it tends to wash sediment into the canal and there can be spots with very shallow water or twisty, unexpected paths that you need to follow to make it through. Rumors, Internet advice, and stories you hear in the marinas can be very helpful but also can be overwhelming and if you believe all of them you will never leave whatever port you are in.  For the most part we have done fine by doing moderate planning at night and active navigation with new tech (Navionics and Active Captain) and old school charts. Here is what a real world nav station / auto pilot controller looks like in the middle of a hairy section.

 

We have run most of the major trouble spots, inlets, and cuts with no issues. Elliott Cut was a bit crazy as we ran that within 20 minutes of slack and still had 2 knots of current. The one issue we did have was in Mathews Cut were we wound up running it at low tide and scraped in a few spots and got stuck once but I was able to spin us off and we found another way through. 

We got to Charleston on Monday and stayed at a cool Marina with floating docks - a must for this kind of tide. We docked nicely the first day but then had to move without much notice to another slip and the current was ripping. I could not make a 180 turn and wound up stuck going down the main lane sideways at 2+ knots.  We stayed fairly calm and I was able to back up a bit at the next cross lane and bring the nose around. Fun.

Charleston is a really cool city with lots of history and well preserved buildings.

 

There were blocks of house after house that were very narrow on the street, very deep, very tall, and all with long porches on the same side of the house. We later learned that in the early days of the city, the street front part of property was expensive so everyone got a small amount of street front but very deep lots and then turned their houses sideways. The porches are on the same side because it is hot here and south or west facing porches catch the most consistent breezes.

We took a historical walking tour from a 7th generation Charleston native. It was great with lots of good stories like how the locals decided kind of late to build a fort when the Revolutionary War seemed eminent. The only thing they had to build it with was Palmetto trees and sand.  They only had two sides of the fort done when the British showed up but after the smoke cleared from the big British cannon volleys, to everyone's surprise the fort was still there. The palmetto wood is so springy the cannon balls just bounced off.

After Charleston, we ran a tough stretch with cuts, shallow spots, and bridges. Everything went great except that Linda was awakened early by heavy breathing. Not me - it was these guys playing around the boat in our anchorage first thing in the morning.

 

Today we made it to Beaufort (b-u-fert in SC as opposed to bo-fert in NC). We will not make it to Savannah as it is out of the way but I was happy to see the Spanish moss here! This is a really pretty town.

 

536 in the books. 708 to see.

Quiz: Which one is Serenity? (left, middle, right) 

Santee River, SC Mile. 420

We made it to South Carolina! They hunt the elusive land shrimp here.

 

We had a weather front come through Friday Night.  See if you can spot the subtle difference. Before:

 

After:

 

Several spots in South Carolina still have issues with flooding including broken draw bridges. The combination of bridge issues and weather issues made Saturday a hold day. We were in a remote anchorage with strong currents and strong wind that gave us a really tough time anchoring. Normally you pick a spot with swing room, set the anchor into the wind with 5 or 6 times the water depth in anchor line.  The wind pushes you backward and you use the engine to back down harder and you are set. Here the tide range is 4 to 5 feet making selection of line length and anchor location more difficult and the current is so strong, the boat moves on some weird combination of wind and current that is constantly changing. We wound up resetting the anchor 4 times for reasons including swinging into the shrimp boat channel, dragging anchor, and going aground. Fortunately, we got a good set around 11 PM that held for the strong overnight winds. What a terrible anchorage! The next day we stayed in the same place and by evening it was a perfect, calm spot to spend the evening. Now we know why the reviews of various spots can be wildly divergent.

To get around the bridge issue and a few other trouble spots (the rock pile), we decided to make a short hop "outside" in the Ocean. We planned well and had great conditions - 2 to 4 foot following seas and 10 to 15 knots of wind plus a current boost at both the outbound and inbound inlets.

 

We even picked up a very tired hitch hiker several miles out and gave him a ride back to shore.

 Now we are back in the canals of South Carolina hoping to make Charleston tomorrow where we may go ashore for the first time in three days.

 

420 seen (except for the little section we skipped) 824 to see.

Mile 323 Holden Beach, NC

In the evening before we left Morehead City, we were talking with our friends on the catamaran and got to see the Orbital launch from Wallops. We could see the fire from the rocket about a minute after the launch and watched it go down range over the ocean for more than a minute. It was really neat to see.

We have made good mileage the last few days. There is a lot of current to deal with now. The place we are staying tonight has a 5 foot tidal range. The ICW in this part of North Carolina runs through the sounds just behind the barrier islands. There are quite a few bridges to go through. Here is a swing bridge at Surf City that pivots open at the center.

 

They all have various opening schedules and you need to try to time when you get to them as is is hard to hold position in the current if you need to wait half an hour for an opening. There are also inlets from the ocean were the power of the water tends to fill the ICW with sand so the channel is blocked in spots. We have seen 4 boats traveling close to us go aground in the last 3 days. Do you ever wonder what it is like for a little fish in a school of fish to watch his buddies get picked off and just keep on swimming? There is not much we can do to help them. Some work themselves off and others call the tow boat service. We find that if we research the problem inlets on Active Captain and Cruisers Net that we can plan a path that works well and if we slow down to approach the bridges close to opening time then we don't have to circle around as much which is how two of the four got stuck.

 

We have been anchoring on these little creeks off the ICW near the beach. Two nights ago we were behind Surf City and Topsail Beach where the pirates used to hide, waiting to pop out and hit the unsuspecting merchant ships. We really, really liked this area. The anchorage and beach were great.

 

The new dinghy and davit system have worked well to get us in.

 

We anchored behind Wrightsville Beach on Wednesday and are now at a brand new floating dock in Holden Beach where the City Manager came down to welcome us as we docked because we were the second boat to stay at their new dock. I am happy because for a stretch near Topsail the water turned almost blue and Linda is happy because we have had dolphins all around the boat for the last few days.

 

323 seen, 921 to see.