Home for the Holidays

November 10, 2014

Jeff is off on another business trip - this time to Boise, Idaho. I stayed behind, enjoyed a fun day with Cris Haskell, my friend from Maine and Hilton Head. She gave me a tour of Old Bluffton and Palmetto Bluff, where we had lunch at Buffalo's. Yum! 

Some of the sights around Palmetto Bluff are demonstrated below. What a quaint little church and OH! the view from inside overlooking the water. I understand this church gets a lot of requests from people to be wed within it's doors. I can see why.

The next day I spent onboard ALL day. We were expecting to have an A/C leak fixed but ended up in the company of the technician while he continued to test, test, test. After almost 8 hours, we still didn't have an answer. So, I buttoned the boat up and took off to Ponte Vedra Beach the next day, where the car would remain until we arrive in St. Augustine. It made sense to take care of this while Jeff was freezing his "pumpkin" off in Boise, where the snow was falling during the first Arctic blast this year. 

I also wanted to surprise my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter - which was pulled off with ease. We spent the next couple of hours together. What fun! I spent that night with my mother-in-law and felt like a kid coming home from college, since I brought our dirty laundry with me to throw in the washer/dryer while visiting! The next day my daughter, granddaughter and I shopped a little in the morning and created a crockpot meal in the afternoon. Most of the time I spent getting lots of hugs from Brooke. Boy, has she grown since the last time we saw her in CT in June for my nephew's wedding. Walking, talking, dancing, oh boy!

That night I spent with my next door neighbor, Barbara. We caught up on everything we could think of and the next morning I rented a car to return to Savannah to pick Jeff up from the airport and then returned the rental car to the Hilton Head airport the following morning prior to our departure from Hilton Head. The logistics of moving the car down the coast can be a little tricky. Next we have to figure out where to leave it when we head to the Bahamas!

Our journey south has resumed. We left Windmill Harbor - back through the lock - at 11:30. It was nice, sunny and in the high 60's. At 3:30 we arrived at the Isle of Hope Marina, where we had pre-planned to meet up with our friends Carol and Jack. We knew they'd catch up with us somewhere down the coast, and this turned out to be a great place. We had a fun and tasty dinner together at Fiore's and would highly recommend it. They left the next morning and we decided to stay put since it was cold and rainy. Jeff used the time to write his report from the Boise trip.

Decided to let this big boy go first!

Open sesame...

Great friends, great food, great time!

Wow! We have to beat feet south.  It's getting very cold. At 8:15 on the 18th of Nov. with the thermometer reading 35 degrees (wind chill 22!), we left the dock in 3 layers of clothes, hats and gloves then pushed our keel through the shallow depth of Hell Gate, a man made canal that connects the Little Ogeechee River to the Ogeechee River. Yeah, I'd never heard of them either... (Google "Geechee" for a bit of low country history.)  Just after 7pm. we finally reached Morningstar Marina in the dark. No - make that pitch black! It was a perfect night for chili that I had made and frozen earlier in the week considering we were chilled to the bone!

The next day we knew we'd have to head offshore because we'd be passing Jekyll Island at low tide when the ICW depth shoaled to 4'. (We draw 5'9"... no plowing through that!) We had a comfortable run to Fernandina Beach. We tied up to a face dock at the city marina and met up with Dick and Claudia who have moved their boat from Camachee Cove in St Augustine to Fernandina Beach for a while. We had lots of fun catching up and having dinner at Brett's at the marina. The sunsets there are incredible which Dick had alerted us to at dinner - a photo is shown below.

Fort Clinch, the northernmost fort in Florida defending the St. Mary's River

Fernandina Beach shrimp boats

Sailboats on moorings in Fernandina Beach

Off the dock Nov. 20th at 8:45 with an outgoing tide and headed offshore to St. Augustine. We were asked to stop by the Coast Guard to allow an incoming submarine and two escorts to clear the channel and make the turn up to Kings Bay. The submarines stationed at Kings Bay are "Boomers". They house nuclear missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles and patrol under the sea for 6 months at a time all over the world. A pretty impressive sight!

Out the channel we went and motored all the way to St. Augustine. The winds were too light to get us there by nightfall. We were secure in a slip at Camachee Cove at 4:10 and will be here until the end of the month visiting family and friends over the Holiday season, then begin our sail to the Bahamas. Can't wait! This year our friend Kevin Oliver is going to make the crossing with us and spend a couple of weeks away from the ice and snow in Maine. You may remember, he joined us in Portland on our way up the coast and spent three days onboard. We're excited he'll be joining us again!

St. Augustine is in sight!

The ever so familiar cross leading us into the channel

The Vilano Bridge. We're almost there!

Channel to Camachee Cove Yacht Harbor

My daughter Becky and Guess Who!!

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to all! See you in the new year.

Enjoying the Low Country

November came in like a lion - quite windy and cold! Jeff needed some equipment from Home Depot for his upcoming one day trip to Detroit, so we bundled up and drove to Hilton Head. After we found everything we needed, we drove back to Port Royal. We enjoyed the Port Royal Landing Marina and felt totally confident in leaving the boat there during our four day trip to Atlanta for the annual RETA conference.

Back to Hilton Head on Tuesday to drop Jeff off at the airport, then I explored the shops in the area. The next day I made the round trip again to Hilton Head to retrieve Jeff and before coming back to Port Royal, we stopped  at Cris and Dean's in Bluffton and all went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant called Claude and Uli's. We all thoroughly enjoyed our meals - neat place!

Can you believe it? We had to return to Hilton Head one more time (4 round trips in 4 days - about a 40 minute commute from Port Royal) so that I could get a much needed haircut and color. I know you guys out there just don't "get it" as to why we women are so particular about who does our hair, but believe me, it was well worth it to have a referral to someone as talented as Joanna. Thanks Cris!

Immediately after I was finished, we took off for Atlanta. Watermelons anyone?

Certainly nothing compared to the water shots and sunsets I've been posting... A little fun and games for the spouses at the conference. Oh the things we do... Nona and I each won a Coach clutch for participating in this game!

One day when the boys were able to break free, we decided to take the MARTA to Buckhead to enjoy lunch at the Buckhead Diner and then walk it off at the Lenox Mall.  Twyla and I enjoyed the shops, while Harry and Jeff talked business. Thank goodness for comfy chairs in the mall!

Obviously NOT your standard diner!

We left the next afternoon after Jeff presented his last technical paper with hopes of not getting caught in the Atlanta rush hour traffic. Thanks to Google maps, we were diverted to avoid an hour delay. I love that feature. We made it back to Port Royal by 7 and went straight to the Dockside restaurant, which turned out to be a great choice. It reminded us of the Fisherman's Friend restaurant in Maine - which we frequent with friends usually on Friday nights. They both serve great cornbread! So much food over the past 4 days. Time to put the brakes on!

On Saturday the 8th of November, after Jeff picked up our outboard for the dinghy which needed a new water pump, we headed out at noon toward Windmill Harbour in Hilton Head. About a half hour into our trip and in the middle of lunch we were flagged down by flashing blue lights - you know the kind! The Sheriff's office and Coast Guard had paired up and we were the lucky ones to get boarded and inspected. The same thing happened on our way up the coast in June in NYC. So, 20 minutes later with our "pass inspection" sheet in hand, we were given the thumbs up. Onward, once again.

Check out that gun!

Bridge to Hilton Head Island

Windmill Harbour is one of the first marina/housing development in the Hilton Head area. They have a lock in order to enter the marina. We came in at low tide and instead of waiting for the tide to turn we pushed through the silt to get into the lock. Our draft is 5'9" and the estimated depth in the entrance to the lock was 5+.  When we were secure in the lock, they opened the floodgates. Very cool to watch the water pour in and bring us up approx. 5 feet to the water level in the marina. This is an incredibly secure marina. No current, no tide.  We love it! The neighborhood is beautiful with pretty homes, large trees and Spanish moss hanging, typical South Carolina style.

 

More soon... on our way to St. Augustine!

Virginia to South Carolina

10.16.14

After staying in Deltaville for an extra day due to rain we awoke to sunny skies and tons of oyster fishermen dredging for their catch and sailed to Poquoson to visit with our friends Harry and Twyla, who were waiting our arrival at the marina! What fun to be welcomed by them! 

Twyla had made arrangements for me to get in with her dentist on short notice to mend a fractured crown (same one I fractured in Maine and had bonded back together), so she whisked me off to Newport News for the repair.  I opted for a temporary crown instead of a quick fix so that I can make it back to my dentist for the replacement crown in December.  Finding a dentist is difficult enough let alone getting an appointment on short notice while we're traveling, and it’s so fortunate to have friends up and down the coast to assist. One of the interesting tasks is to find a hairdresser. Jeff has it made…. I cut his hair.  Me, on the other hand need a cut and color. OH! those roots are getting BAD…. last time in the chair was the end of August! I will spare you a photo here..

After the trip to the dentist, we had a fantastic time. Harry and Twyla gave us a tour of their town and their home. Wow! What a lovely home and incredible back yard. We were even treated to a portion of a T-ball game where their grandsons were playing. What fun is THAT? Those kids are SO cute! After watching for a while, we returned to the marina restaurant and enjoyed a super meal…. The best fried oysters and broccoli EVER! 

The next morning Harry and Twyla picked us up at 11:00 after we finished a load of laundry (never ending task when we have the opportunity) and took us to a grocery store and fresh produce stand for provisions. The tomatoes from that stand (Harry said they were probably grown in Deltaville) were the best we've had in a long time. We were treated to a great lunch in Newport News (we owe you!).

At 3:00, Harry and Twyla tossed our dock lines, we waved goodbye and headed off to Norfolk.

We arrived in Norfolk after dark and anchored in front of the Naval Hospital. Boy, were we lucky! There were crab pots all around us in the morning. Fortunately we didn't snag one!

The next morning, Oct. 18^th, we made our way through Norfolk and arrived at the Lock well ahead of schedule only to find that a barge was taking up a large amount of available space. We ended up waiting for the “second shift” to get through. That set us back an hour or so.

Crabbing on the south side of the lock

Crewing on the ICW

We're all heading south to warmer weather!

We had made a reservation at the Coinjock Marina where we had stopped on our way north and also put our order in for their famous prime rib. After successfully transiting the Lock, the Great Lock Bridge and the Pungo Ferry Bridge we arrived at Coinjock.

We met another sailing couple there who also have a Beneteau, so we swapped notes and became fast friends with Karen and Rich, on Gypsea Winds - you guys are the greatest! Oh – and so is their Portuguese water dog, Maggie!

Leave it to Coinjock to think up a drink name like the one above!

We left Coinjock the next day and motor-sailed through the North River, then into the Albemarle Sound where the wind picked up so we were able to sail around 8-9 knots across the sound in 2’ seas on the rear quarter. We anchored with Gypsea Winds and five other boats in a pretty anchorage. The next morning we saw nothing but thick fog. When it finally burned off enough to see where we were going, we were underway once again and headed toward Oriental. Karen and Rich joined us there and we enjoyed dinner together at the marina restaurant where we discussed our plans for the next day. It was decided that we would reserve a spot at the Beaufort, NC town docks.

Here we are in the fog from Gypsea Winds

Rich and Karen's boat, Gypsea Winds

On our way to Oriental, NC

The ducks were back looking for a handout, which naturally I gave in to.

Next stop, Beaufort Town Docks.

Neat town! A nice walk through the waterfront shops, a little history and then dinner at a restaurant Karen recommended called Blue Moon. What a great place!

Karen and Rich at the Blue Moon

Wow – was it chilly the next day. We need to get further south soon! At 4:20, we set the anchor in Mile Hammock Bay with 15 other boats and settled in down below for a warm dinner.

Again, we woke to 45 degrees. Most of the other boats in the anchorage were heading out at daybreak. Since we don't have a bimini yet, we waited until the sun was higher in the sky. Wimps... we are truly weather wimps! It was our plan to return to Bald Head Island since we enjoyed it there so much on our way north. It was again a pleasant stay although we much preferred our northbound slip. We were assigned A-11 and don’t recommend it. The surge from the channel was bothersome as was the ferry traffic. Next time we'll request a B or C dock  T-head. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing hard this day and our ICW chart blew overboard. Oh well, it was 23 years old!
Some sights along the way....

Interesting location for an osprey nest!

In our slip at Bald Head Island Marina.

On the 24th of Oct. after provisioning and what else…. laundry, we left at noon and set our sights on Calabash Creek, a recommended anchorage. There were already 7 other boats anchored there and swinging room was tight, but we managed to “fit in”.  We saw a beautiful eagle sitting high in a lone tree and wished we could have gotten a photo but you've got to be extremely quick while the boat is on the move!

Uh-oh...

 

Remember the lost chart? Well, we left the anchorage around 9:00 and arrived at Little River at the cusp of a 4’3” high tide.  There were no markers on either side of the bridge and no tide stains so we decided it would be best to anchor and wait for the tide to turn. Our mast is taller than most on the ICW, so it’s best to sit tight until we're sure we'll make it under without ruining equipment. Interestingly enough, we anchored near a marine facility, called the number on the building and inquired as to whether they had charts for sale. Nope – no charts, however the man on the other end of the line said he had a used one (his, actually) that he'd sell us for $40. Bingo! What luck!  It was newer than our old one and way less $$ than a new one! We were back underway at noon and anchored in Thoroughfare Creek in a very rural, peaceful anchorage.

Amazing home on the Intracoastal Waterway

We prefer this....

We sailed the next day to Harborview Marina in Georgetown, strolled the shops and restaurants, most of which were closed on Sundays. After having cleaned up onboard, we enjoyed dinner at the only open restaurant in walking distance from the marina called 5 Rivers and happened to meet two more sailboat couples. Amazing how new friendships just blossom. Boat names: Max and Distant Drum. Hope we see you again Karen, Chuck, Meredith and Dick!

The next morning (27^th) we were off the dock at 11:30 and reached Five Fathom Creek just south of McClellanville at 4:30 and watched several shrimp boats heading in to sell their catch. We launched the dinghy and headed to town to buy some! We had to tie up to a shrimp boat, climb aboard and work our way to the dock in order to purchase 2 pounds of fantastic shrimp. It was well worth the effort!

Another morning waking to thick fog… which finally burned off at 11:00 and got underway. At 3:10, we anchored just beyond the ferry landing at DeWees Island, and a beautiful golden marsh surrounding us. The dolphins and herons were feeding. Once again, a blue heron thought our foredeck appealing and his muddy footprints were all over the deck. He didn't stick around long enough to require additional cleaning…  An uneventful next day landed us in the South Edisto River a mile up and around the bend from the ICW where we anchored for the evening.

Can you imagine hosing off THIS dock? Birds on all levels!

 

We then headed for Beaufort, SC passing Charleston on the way. We recognized the Battery, the bridges and Charleston Harbor and waved as we passed by.

Scary sight!

The Battery in Charleston

The weather is looking better!

Halo around the sun

    

We reserved a slip at the Port Royal Landing Marina for Thursday, where we are close enough to Hilton Head to retrieve my car (where it has spent the summer with our friends Cris and Dean).  The weather has taken a turn for the worse and we wanted to be secure in a slip when the chill and heavy winds were to hit. Since our arrival we have been quite happy with this marina and had the pleasure of hearing a live band on Halloween night coming from the deck of the marina.

Next, we're off to Atlanta for a conference and back to Hilton Head where we'll keep the boat at Windmill Harbour for perhaps a week. Then we hope to sail offshore to Cumberland Island, then on to St. Augustine. More to come........