Monday April 13, 2015
Awendaw Creek, SC
Mile Post 436 ICW
One Day Closer
We started from Toms Point Creek at 6:55. We decided after reading Judy's log we would not consider going outside as they were talking about coming in at Georgetown because of the conditions. We went right through Charleston harbor and back in the waterway. We made Charleston about noon. We were touch and go making the Wappoo Bridge. Since it only opened once every half hour making it on time was important. We could see we would be a couple of minutes late so Lee went below and talked to the lady. He told her we wanted her 11:30 opening but maybe could not quite get there. She could see us and told him to keep coming. She held the bridge for a couple of minutes . We got through and the cars probably never noticed the opening was a few minutes late happening. I hit a shallow spot and ran aground . We anchored in Awendaw Creek at about 5:20. We plan to stay at a marina near Socastee Bridge tomorrow night and go in to Light Keepers on Wed. Gotta get to the taxes before PO closes on the 15th.
We have 1,971 nautical miles since we left Little River. Tomorrow we should reach over 2,000. I feel every one of them.
Voyages of Sea Turtle
Monday, April 13, 2015
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Gloomy & Grumpy
Sunday April 12, 2015
ICW mile 495
North Edisto River
SC
We left our anchorage at 7:00. I was exhausted and went back to bed after raising the anchor. Lee took the first shift at the helm. He generously let me sleep and it was 9:45 when I came up to take my turn at the wheel. We got to Ladies Island bascule bridge which the waterway chart book said opened at the hr and 1/2 hr right at 10:25. When Lee told him we would like his 10:30 opening he said he was on demand and to come on up and he would open. After sitting idle in the water and getting closer and closer to the bridge I started turning slow circles. 15 min after we arrived he still had not stopped traffic. Lee went down to see if there was a problem and he said he would open in about 5 minutes. We finally got through 25 minutes after we arrived. I was doing a slow burn. For the first time I refused to thank the bridge tinder. We listen on the radio as he communicated with boats behind us. He could not manage the boats and cars. They should have left that guy on a 30 min schedule. That way he did not have to think about what to do and when to do it.
We had 14 to 20 kt winds on the nose and no help from tide or current all afternoon. With the motor wound to 2200 rpm we were only making 3 kt per hr and sometimes less than 3. Felt like a slow boat to China. We made our 60 miles but it took us almost 11 hours to do it. We had had good speed in the morning or we never would have made it . Dreary drizzle of a day. Reflected my mood. I am very affected by gloomy or sunny days. I should live where the sun shines all the time. Sure liked those sunny days in the Bahamas.
ICW mile 495
North Edisto River
SC
We left our anchorage at 7:00. I was exhausted and went back to bed after raising the anchor. Lee took the first shift at the helm. He generously let me sleep and it was 9:45 when I came up to take my turn at the wheel. We got to Ladies Island bascule bridge which the waterway chart book said opened at the hr and 1/2 hr right at 10:25. When Lee told him we would like his 10:30 opening he said he was on demand and to come on up and he would open. After sitting idle in the water and getting closer and closer to the bridge I started turning slow circles. 15 min after we arrived he still had not stopped traffic. Lee went down to see if there was a problem and he said he would open in about 5 minutes. We finally got through 25 minutes after we arrived. I was doing a slow burn. For the first time I refused to thank the bridge tinder. We listen on the radio as he communicated with boats behind us. He could not manage the boats and cars. They should have left that guy on a 30 min schedule. That way he did not have to think about what to do and when to do it.
We had 14 to 20 kt winds on the nose and no help from tide or current all afternoon. With the motor wound to 2200 rpm we were only making 3 kt per hr and sometimes less than 3. Felt like a slow boat to China. We made our 60 miles but it took us almost 11 hours to do it. We had had good speed in the morning or we never would have made it . Dreary drizzle of a day. Reflected my mood. I am very affected by gloomy or sunny days. I should live where the sun shines all the time. Sure liked those sunny days in the Bahamas.
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Another Day Another Adventure
Saturday April 11, 2015
Hilton Head, SC
ICW Mile 556
Hickory Bluff Anchorage
Another Day Another Adventure
We left Big Tom's Creek anchorage at 7:20 and did not run aground. Yea. About 9:00 we got to Hell Gate. It is a very narrow shallow cut and who should we meet but a large yacht also transiting Hell Gate. We got to 5' 7 " trying to get past him and I got on the radio and told the captain we were constrained by draft and in danger of running aground could he please give us as much room as possible. He moved over a little we got back up to high 6' and we made it past. A few tense moments.
We came to a lift bridge as we came around a curve that we had missed when we scanned today course and had to move quickly to get the bridge tinder to give us an opening. Fortunately it was an on demand not a scheduled bridge. Around 11:30 am we came across the SC border. Felt we were headed home and even the bugs got better. No place like home. We didn't have much rain or wind. What we had was on and off and nothing of significance. We put up the sail for a few hours this afternoon but doubt it made any difference. We seemed to have the current against us all but an hour or two all day.
Our slow progress kept us from making 60 miles today. We got as far as Hilton Head, SC and dropped anchor at Hickory Bluff just past Hilton Head Harbor marina. We are still hoping the weather will let us get off shore before we reach Little River. Time will tell.
Hilton Head, SC
ICW Mile 556
Hickory Bluff Anchorage
Another Day Another Adventure
We left Big Tom's Creek anchorage at 7:20 and did not run aground. Yea. About 9:00 we got to Hell Gate. It is a very narrow shallow cut and who should we meet but a large yacht also transiting Hell Gate. We got to 5' 7 " trying to get past him and I got on the radio and told the captain we were constrained by draft and in danger of running aground could he please give us as much room as possible. He moved over a little we got back up to high 6' and we made it past. A few tense moments.
We came to a lift bridge as we came around a curve that we had missed when we scanned today course and had to move quickly to get the bridge tinder to give us an opening. Fortunately it was an on demand not a scheduled bridge. Around 11:30 am we came across the SC border. Felt we were headed home and even the bugs got better. No place like home. We didn't have much rain or wind. What we had was on and off and nothing of significance. We put up the sail for a few hours this afternoon but doubt it made any difference. We seemed to have the current against us all but an hour or two all day.
Our slow progress kept us from making 60 miles today. We got as far as Hilton Head, SC and dropped anchor at Hickory Bluff just past Hilton Head Harbor marina. We are still hoping the weather will let us get off shore before we reach Little River. Time will tell.
Friday, April 10, 2015
Buggy ICW
Friday April 10, 2015
ICW Georgia Mile 615
Just north of St Catherine's Sound
We started the day with what has become a habit. Running aground before we can get out of the anchorage. We got unstuck quickly and went on. It hit at 4'8" again. We need to adjust the depth gauge. We had cloudy overcast skies most of the morning and partly cloudy in the afternoon. We made a little more than 60 miles.
The bugs, every kind, were out in force today. Gnats, flies, bees, no seeums, things that looked like a cross between a bee and a fly. They drove us nuts. We killed them till there was a pile in the cockpit floor of dead bodies. Lee got the bright idea I should put up some fly paper. Don't know where it came from but there was some on the boat. If you are my age or older you probably remember an older relative using it when you were a kid. If you are younger then me you probably have no idea what that is. It is a long piece of paper wrapped in a circular pattern something like the stripes on candy canes. You hang the paper in a door way or on the ceiling and it is very sticky. Hopefully the flies will lite on it and get stuck. I have never used it so was not even sure how to open it. I finally got it open but not before tearing off the top which had a little ribbon and thumb tack to mount it with. I got the sticky stuff all over me and could not get loose from the paper to do anything with it. When I finally got it stuck to something I had all my fingers sticking to each other. It must have looked like a Laural and Hardy comedy but Lee never said a word while all this was going on. Good move, he valued his life. I tried rubbing alcohol, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, soap, laundry soap, nothing would take it off. I couldn't touch anything or I would get it on that stuff too. I finally put salt on my hands and rubbed and rubbed more salt more rubbing. After all that only one fly lit on the paper.
We are taking turns at the helm in 60 to 90 min. shifts so Lee's back will be happy. He is mostly ok now but not doing anything to aggravate it. We are in our second week on the ICW and getting tired and trying to put in 10 hour days on the water. Looks like starting to night we have several days of rain storms. Cross your fingers we do not get hit with lightning. We have had stuff damaged twice already from lightning. Rain or shine I intend to keep moving unless it is impossible to do so.
ICW Georgia Mile 615
Just north of St Catherine's Sound
We started the day with what has become a habit. Running aground before we can get out of the anchorage. We got unstuck quickly and went on. It hit at 4'8" again. We need to adjust the depth gauge. We had cloudy overcast skies most of the morning and partly cloudy in the afternoon. We made a little more than 60 miles.
The bugs, every kind, were out in force today. Gnats, flies, bees, no seeums, things that looked like a cross between a bee and a fly. They drove us nuts. We killed them till there was a pile in the cockpit floor of dead bodies. Lee got the bright idea I should put up some fly paper. Don't know where it came from but there was some on the boat. If you are my age or older you probably remember an older relative using it when you were a kid. If you are younger then me you probably have no idea what that is. It is a long piece of paper wrapped in a circular pattern something like the stripes on candy canes. You hang the paper in a door way or on the ceiling and it is very sticky. Hopefully the flies will lite on it and get stuck. I have never used it so was not even sure how to open it. I finally got it open but not before tearing off the top which had a little ribbon and thumb tack to mount it with. I got the sticky stuff all over me and could not get loose from the paper to do anything with it. When I finally got it stuck to something I had all my fingers sticking to each other. It must have looked like a Laural and Hardy comedy but Lee never said a word while all this was going on. Good move, he valued his life. I tried rubbing alcohol, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, soap, laundry soap, nothing would take it off. I couldn't touch anything or I would get it on that stuff too. I finally put salt on my hands and rubbed and rubbed more salt more rubbing. After all that only one fly lit on the paper.
We are taking turns at the helm in 60 to 90 min. shifts so Lee's back will be happy. He is mostly ok now but not doing anything to aggravate it. We are in our second week on the ICW and getting tired and trying to put in 10 hour days on the water. Looks like starting to night we have several days of rain storms. Cross your fingers we do not get hit with lightning. We have had stuff damaged twice already from lightning. Rain or shine I intend to keep moving unless it is impossible to do so.
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Sails Up
North of Saint Simon Island
ICW Georgia
We left our anchorage at dead low tide to run aground before we could get back in the waterway. We hit at 4'8" again when our draft is 4'. We sort of plowed our way through, turning our wheel first right then left while running the motor at 2000rpms. We eventually dug a trough to go through until we got in deeper water. Lee rationalized we probably scraped off some unwanted barnacles.
We motored all morning but finally got some straight stretches and winds 10 to 20 kts after noon and sailed all afternoon. Looks like tomorrow we won't have straight stretches in the afternoon to sail even if wind is good enough. Morning is usually calm and that is when we have the long straights. The weather doesn't look promising for going off shore long enough to do us much good. So we will start early and make the best of it.
We made over 60 miles today. We went up one anchorage and it didn't seem as protected as it should have been so went on to the next place and anchored in a better protected place from the south winds. Supposed to get in the high teens and we have gotten used to calm nights for sleeping. The no seeums finally attacked Lee. He said they were in his hair (what hair)., making his head itch. About time they harassed someone besides me. A day when nothing breaks, go badly wrong or some other problem crops up is a good day on a boat. So we had a good day.
ICW Georgia
We left our anchorage at dead low tide to run aground before we could get back in the waterway. We hit at 4'8" again when our draft is 4'. We sort of plowed our way through, turning our wheel first right then left while running the motor at 2000rpms. We eventually dug a trough to go through until we got in deeper water. Lee rationalized we probably scraped off some unwanted barnacles.
We motored all morning but finally got some straight stretches and winds 10 to 20 kts after noon and sailed all afternoon. Looks like tomorrow we won't have straight stretches in the afternoon to sail even if wind is good enough. Morning is usually calm and that is when we have the long straights. The weather doesn't look promising for going off shore long enough to do us much good. So we will start early and make the best of it.
We made over 60 miles today. We went up one anchorage and it didn't seem as protected as it should have been so went on to the next place and anchored in a better protected place from the south winds. Supposed to get in the high teens and we have gotten used to calm nights for sleeping. The no seeums finally attacked Lee. He said they were in his hair (what hair)., making his head itch. About time they harassed someone besides me. A day when nothing breaks, go badly wrong or some other problem crops up is a good day on a boat. So we had a good day.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Animals Galore
Wednesday April 8, 2015
St. George Island, FL
ICW
Animals Galore
We started early, before 7 from Mantanza River Inlet. We saw all kinds of sea birds. Egrets with a group of babies teaching them to hunt in the shallows, ducks, seagulls, and herons, my favorites. We saw dolphin galore. Some appeared to have young ones with them. A sting ray practically jumped in the boat. It came straight up out of the water so high it was at the level of our lower life line and inches away from the life line. Can not imagine what caused it to do that.
We made great time most of the day. Bridges opened just as we got to them. We went 10 miles farther than we planned because we made such good time. We anchored at Ft George Island where an old fort and plantation are open to visitors. We were just to tired to get the dinghy down to dingy to shore to see the sites. It is a pretty anchorage and quiet. Not too awfully buggy for FL.
Tomorrows goal is St Simons Sound in GA. If weather is right Fri and Sat we may go from there off shore and do a overnighter to get home by late Saturday or early Sunday. Will see what the weather guru thinks tomorrow and Fri morning.
.We were slowly winding our way up the waterway and the charting software says we are in 15-16 ft of water I feel a bump. I looked at the depth gauge and it said, 4' 8" Our draft is 4' so we should have had 8inches under us. Luckily in half a boat length I was in 12 ' of water, but we thought our depth sounder was showing us shallower than we were, not deeper. It had happened once before on this trip that we bumped at what our gauge said was 5'1". Now I do not trust the gauge. A foot error seems a lot.
Wish us a good weather report getting anxious to get home.
St. George Island, FL
ICW
Animals Galore
We started early, before 7 from Mantanza River Inlet. We saw all kinds of sea birds. Egrets with a group of babies teaching them to hunt in the shallows, ducks, seagulls, and herons, my favorites. We saw dolphin galore. Some appeared to have young ones with them. A sting ray practically jumped in the boat. It came straight up out of the water so high it was at the level of our lower life line and inches away from the life line. Can not imagine what caused it to do that.
We made great time most of the day. Bridges opened just as we got to them. We went 10 miles farther than we planned because we made such good time. We anchored at Ft George Island where an old fort and plantation are open to visitors. We were just to tired to get the dinghy down to dingy to shore to see the sites. It is a pretty anchorage and quiet. Not too awfully buggy for FL.
Tomorrows goal is St Simons Sound in GA. If weather is right Fri and Sat we may go from there off shore and do a overnighter to get home by late Saturday or early Sunday. Will see what the weather guru thinks tomorrow and Fri morning.
.We were slowly winding our way up the waterway and the charting software says we are in 15-16 ft of water I feel a bump. I looked at the depth gauge and it said, 4' 8" Our draft is 4' so we should have had 8inches under us. Luckily in half a boat length I was in 12 ' of water, but we thought our depth sounder was showing us shallower than we were, not deeper. It had happened once before on this trip that we bumped at what our gauge said was 5'1". Now I do not trust the gauge. A foot error seems a lot.
Wish us a good weather report getting anxious to get home.
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Routine Day
Tuesday April 7, 2015
Mantanza River Inlet
ICW Florida
Routine Day
We left the marina and immediately Lee got turned around. By the time he found his way we were watching our bridge begin to close. That cost us a 20 min wait til the next opening. The day went smoothly other wise. We had good weather not enough breeze to put up a sail but nothing to slow us down either. We anchored to current stronger than the wind in Mantanza River. It was a little odd for the anchor not to lay with the wind but current has switched now and everything looks normal. Not as buggy as last night but at dusk they did come by for me as dessert.
We hope to make Jacksonville tomorrow. We are going for more miles and a longer day. There is nowhere decent to anchor within 15 miles so we will stay in a marina. Rather not but we are not running the ICW at night. Nothing noteworthy happened today so.....
Mantanza River Inlet
ICW Florida
Routine Day
We left the marina and immediately Lee got turned around. By the time he found his way we were watching our bridge begin to close. That cost us a 20 min wait til the next opening. The day went smoothly other wise. We had good weather not enough breeze to put up a sail but nothing to slow us down either. We anchored to current stronger than the wind in Mantanza River. It was a little odd for the anchor not to lay with the wind but current has switched now and everything looks normal. Not as buggy as last night but at dusk they did come by for me as dessert.
We hope to make Jacksonville tomorrow. We are going for more miles and a longer day. There is nowhere decent to anchor within 15 miles so we will stay in a marina. Rather not but we are not running the ICW at night. Nothing noteworthy happened today so.....
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