Traveling South Carolina

More than a week has passed since the last entry into this blog. In that time we've moved out of Georgia and well into South Carolina, although we still have two more days of travel ahead before we can report that we've reached North Carolina. We're anchored in quiet Bull Creek about 20 miles southwest of Myrtle Beach. Although the Beach will be crowded this Memorial Day weekend, we are totally alone at the moment in a peaceful cypress swamp. Song birds chirp in the trees, and and lily pads are ready to bloom along the shoreline. We're enjoying a quiet afternoon without travel, because there are no good anchorages for another 40 miles. The ditch ahead (That's what many call the ICW.) is known as the Rockpile, since for a stretch of many miles the shallow sides of the canal are lined with rocks, often just under the surface. We'll pay close attention and remain in the channel as we travel that stretch.

At the park in Beaufort

Since I last wrote, we've enjoyed a brief respite in Beaufort, SC and another in Charleston. Beaufort, SC is pronounced “Beufort” unlike the town of the same name we'll travel through in NC which is pronounced “Bofort”. It gets a bit confusing to cruisers who travel this route. One must pronounce the town's name correctly in order to let people know which town you're talking about. That said, Beaufort is a pretty, old southern town with a gorgeous park along the riverfront. The town itself has quiet streets with classic southern homes surrounded by live oak trees dripping with Spanish moss. We always enjoy our stops which necessarily include a pizza at Panini's. Their pizza is quite unusual but always delicious. After a trip to the grocery and doing some laundry, we decided to push on.

Jasmine is everywhere this time of year.

We traveled to the outskirts of Charleston, but were not planning to stop. The anchorage there is usually full and the tidal current unpleasant. As we passed by the anchorage, however, we noted that it was pretty empty, so we made a quick change and dropped the hook for the day. As we'd hoped, the jasmine was still in bloom. We walked downtown to the old market, now full of venders offering to sell all sorts of trinkets, baskets, clothes, dishes and more. It's a popular spot for tourists now, but 150 years ago these same buildings were popular for another reason – it was the slave market. On one of our trips we'll have to take advantage of the horse drawn carriage tours to learn more of the history of the classic, southern town. We've sailed by Fort Sumter, but have yet to stop there for a visit. On another trip perhaps we'll do that too. We wandered around a bit and came by an old fire station complete with the equipment of an earlier time. We located this while seeking a local restaurant to sample. We'd had such good luck in the past from Islamorada, to South Beach to St. Augustine and Beaufort. We were looking for an authentic spot that would be worth adding to the list...and we hit a great spot – Jestine's Kitchen just across from the fire station. We enjoyed fried green tomatoes, oysters and a dessert to die for – blueberry-peach cobbler. The menu included a number of other traditional choices. We'll be sure to stop here again the next time we come to town.

A peaceful anchorage on Bull Creek in a South Carolina cypress swamp.

We left the next morning, the timing once again determined by our route. This time we got off to a later start, since a bridge would not open for us till 9AM. Had to get through the rush hour traffic without any interruptions. Then we had to time our travel to avoid low tide in a couple of areas. It all worked out well. Today our timing was dictated by the height of tide and also the tidal current. Again, it worked out well, and we arrived at this anchorage by 2PM. As mentioned earlier, there was little point to moving further, since there were no anchorages we were willing to try. Tomorrow will be another short day, but we will wait till 10AM or later to begin our travels to avoid low water in the Rockpile. At some point during the day, we'll get this blog entry added and let everyone know. In our current peaceful location, we have no access to Internet service. We do have phone service, but it's not strong. Ah well, we'll survive.

Carpe Diem

Captain Bob

Life in the Slow Lane

A very quiet beach.

Our day at Cumberland Island was a special one as each of our previous visits have been. This barrier Island is nearly 20 miles long, and the ocean side is all beach. We walked some of the beach with Maddie. At times we could not see another soul. We had it to ourselves. That isn't to say that we were alone. The local resident wild horses always manage to show up a few times, and this time wild turkeys were keeping an eye on us as well. The live oak trees on Cumberland and other places are strange to us northerners. We're used to trees growing up, generally pretty straight with branches coming out from the trunk in a regular pattern. These trees follow a whole different plan as the photos indicate.

Sandra got these from our boat.

These gobblers don't need to worry about November.

The weather continues to provide us with some sun but also lots of dark clouds with occasional storms. Since we were in Georgia with several stretches of shallow water in the ICW in addition to the storms, we decided to make our first day a short trip to Jekyll Island and stop at the marina there for a day of catching up. We took advantage of the courtesy car to get a few grocery items and to refill one of our propane tanks. The sun came out for a bit in the afternoon, so we tried out the pool while we did some laundry and then battened down the hatches for another thunderstorm. ( We actually have hatches to batten down!)

The next few days of travel offer some pretty but desolate stretches of the ICW. Again, we'll travel based on the weather and tide times. On this our first day beyond Jekyll Island, we could only make progress in the morning before we reached our first challenge, the Little Mud River. This stretch reportedly has only 3-4 feet of water in places at low tide. We anchored just short of the river and will attack it in the morning near high tide. We've got two other shallow spots that will impact our schedule. One called Hell Gate. Unlike the one in NYC, this one is just another shallow stretch with a rather ominous name. Later we cross the Savannah River just east of the city by that name to arrive in South Carolina. A short cut there called Snow's Cut is another stretch to be avoided at low tide. We'll be heading for Beaufort, but that will be four days from now. Because of the low tides coming near the middle of the day, it's taking us an extra day to cross Georgia this spring. For non-boaters, keep in mind that if all goes well, we can travel on the ICW in a day about what one could cover in an hour by car. Georgia is slower because of the tides and because the route winds back and forth constantly making our mileage covered quite a bit greater than by car on I95. This coastline offered one of two surprises for us on our first trip south. One earlier mentioned is the extensive wealth indicated by the huge number of multi-million dollar homes visible along the ICW. The second is that parts of the east coast are totally free of any signs of modern civilization. There are times when we can't even make a cell phone call. ( An important, new indicator of civilization). It's OK though, since we don't have any pressing engagements. And we get to see parts of the state that most people will never see and not even realize exist.

Another advantage for me is that traveling on the ICW, the water is generally calm, and Sandra can be doing things when she's not steering. She's often working on a pine needle basket (look below for examples) or other creative endeavor. Today she baked some banana nut bread and then I got to enjoy a tasty roast chicken for our main meal. Now she's making chicken soup with leftovers.

So in spite of low tides and adverse tidal currents, life is still good.

Carpe Diem

Captain Bob

Last Days in Florida

Since the last entry, we traveled a bit of the Florida ICW and finally made it to Georgia today although all didn't quite go according to plan. After leaving Vero Beach, we stopped for the night in Coco before moving on to Daytona Beach. There we met up with friends Dan and Deb on About Time. We haven't seen them since Marathon two years ago and were happy to meet up with them again.

One Henry Flagler's creations in St. Augustine

We then made it to St. Augustine for a weekend visit. We never tire of this oldest city. We took the chocolate factory tour this time – really worthwhile. We also had a Mother's Day meal at a great restaurant – The Floridian – thanks to our daughter Jenn who arranged a gift certificate for her mother. Of course we also took time to do laundry, fill up on fuel and water and to get some groceries before pushing on.

The travel from St. Augustine appeared to be a bit tricky due to weather and tides. Between St. Augustine and Cumberland Island, GA are some of the shallow stretches of ICW we really don't want to travel through at low tide. Additionally there are some strong tidal currents to contend with that further impact our travel timing. The weather forecast called for likely thunderstorms each day, so we wanted to avoid those while traveling if we could. Hence we devised a plan that called for a 13 mile day yesterday to an anchorage we'd often thought would be attractive – Pine Island. It turned out to be a very pretty and desolate spot. Today we left later than normal to hit the tides and currents at the right time. We still thought we'd arrive at our planned anchorage by 5 PM.

Of course we can't plan for all circumstances that we'd face. And here's where we find an example of the uncertainty of boat travel beyond dealing with weather issues. We learned after pulling up the anchor and heading out this morning that a railroad bridge that would have to be open for us near Fernandina Beach was closed most of the day due to some maintenance issues. It wouldn't open till 5:30 PM. Think of it like learning of some major road construction on a highway you are traveling. You'll be held up for some time, and there's no chance to get onto another road. You're just stuck with that situation. For us it meant we wouldn't be arriving at our planned destination till well after 7 PM. We could handle this, but it just made for a long day of travel.

Thank goodness for our air card and computer. We were able to check out the weather radar picture and adjust our speed to avoid the worst of one thunderstorm. After hearing weather warnings of large hail and wind gusts up to 60 mph, we were relieved to get only some rain.

We're happy to have made it to Cumberland Island, GA. It's a stop we always look forward to. Perhaps I'll have some stories to share about this year's stop in the next entry. Till then...

Carpe Diem!

Captain Bob

Spring Comes Even When There is No Winter

It's that jasmine time of year.

Spring is certainly here. Even though we'd managed to skip by winter while staying in the Keys, we aren't missing spring. We are comfortably moored in Vero Beach near some mangroves that attract plenty of birds who manage to entertain us with their chirping. Yesterday we walked the mile or so to the beach and were somewhat intoxicated by the oleander and jasmine in bloom along with the many other flowers creating colorful scenes. This small harbor is full of fish, so we've been visited by numerous dolphin as well. This is really a special time to traveling the southern ICW. Our recollection from previous trips is that this spring bloom will follow us most of the way to Virginia. It provides quite a contrast to the gray vistas that surround us on the trip south in November. Additionally, the travel this time of year is less populated by cruisers, so this marina and others we choose to visit will be uncrowded. That means getting to the fuel dock and getting laundry done when we want to rather than trying to fit in to what appears to be a continuous lineup during the fall travel.

We're moored near the mangroves with their musical birds.

Vero Beach is a cut above many of the stops for us. Some cruisers arrive and have great difficulty leaving, hence the nick name of Velcro Beach. We enjoy free bus service to the best shopping areas. The beach is within walking distance and the marina facilities are of high quality.

We traveled up here without issue on Friday. Although we had to deal with nine or ten bridges, we managed to reach them at the appropriate time to avoid long delays before opening. It was a long day of travel – just over ten hours to travel about 70 miles. ( I mention this just as a reminder for those who's mindset is only from the perspective of the automobile travel speeds.)

We were originally thinking of leaving yesterday, but the weather forecast for the first half of the week includes a likelihood of showers and thunderstorms. We managed to get lots of lightning in the afternoon along with a drenching downpour. We did that leaving Miami and don't wish to repeat such a trip again so soon. We'll enjoy our time here and avoid the lousy weather and then leave once it seems to have passed by. Our next stop is St. Augustine, the oldest city in the country with lots of attractions for us. We never wish to skip by without spending some time there. We aren't on a tight schedule at this point, so we can wait out the weather and still be in a position to enjoy our next stop without rushing. Also, unlike our fall travel, we're not rushing south to get out of the cold. Spring is here, and the weather is pleasant...most of the time at least.

Carpe diem,

Captain Bob

Ft. Lauderdale to Palm Beaches - The Gold Coast

As we had hoped, we left Lake Sylvia in Ft. Lauderdale early and got through the 22 bridge openings without serious troubles. Timing is key to this stretch, since the bridges are not that far apart and most have scheduled times for opening. For some we had to go slow, knowing we couldn't make an opening and would have to arrive later for the next. Once that worked against us in that the bridge opened late and we could have made it, but we ended up waiting another half hour. In another case, the bridge was being taken apart, so we didn't have to wait as we had expected, and a third had been reported to be opened on request, but now it is on a schedule, and, missing the opening by five minutes, were left to wait another 25 minutes for the next. In the world of cruising, these would all be considered minor issues. We arrived safely at our anchorage near Peanut Island in Lake Worth, otherwise known to landlubbers as the Palm Beaches.

 One advantage of traveling on the ICW in this part of Florida as apposed to driving on the Interstate, is that one gets to see the level of wealth that resides here. Included are a few photos of what I like to refer to as examples of conspicuous consumption.

The next day we enjoyed a great visit with my sister Mary Jo and her family. They took us to lunch in downtown West Palm Beach. The center of the city has lots of appeal, and we enjoyed a bit of a tour. They then provided transportation to a couple of stores. (We miss not having a car at times.) After a meal at their home, we were returned to our dinghy.

The next day we planned to tour Peanut Island, now a park run by the city. On it is a small museum which includes a bunker built to protect President Kennedy when he was staying at his Palm Beach home. The most interesting aspect of this bunker was how basic it was – nothing like we see in movies. It appeared to be Quonset hut under ground with the most basic of accommodations for a small group of people for up to a month. As surprising was the fact that Peanut Island was man made, thanks to Henry Flagler who wanted to create a port in Palm Beach. He had an inlet dug across the barrier island of Palm Beach into what was then fresh water Lake Worth. Now, of course, it is salt water. No EPA back in 1915.

The entrance to Kennedy's fallout shelter

The missing items from the photo are the bunk beds and containers of  food.  No high tech communications equipment to be found.  There was an short wave radio transciever  and a telephone.

After touring the museum we had planned to spend more time on the island before returning to the boat. However we saw that a large motor yacht somewhat longer than 100 feet had moved into the rather small anchorage area containing our boat and several others. We watched to see what was up. It soon became apparent that the boat was anchoring there, so be took the dinghy back to see how close it actually was to our boat. Upon returning, we saw that it was way too close for safety. We just couldn't believe that such a big boat would have attempted to anchor in such close quarters. I would have been unhappy if a 30 footer had anchored as close. After watching it swing and our boat swing at anchor for a short time, we determined that we would move. It just wasn't safe. We pulled up the anchor and moved off.

This was our neighbor within 40 feet of us before we moved.

As we were leaving, someone from the bridge deck of the yacht tried to get my attention for some reason, but I couldn't under stand or hear him, so I just continued on to our new anchorage about a half mile away. A short time later, we noticed that the tender was headed our way. (I say tender and not dinghy, because it was somewhere around 25 ft long.) He came up along side and sought to apologize for forcing us to move. He said there was no other spot nearby for him to anchor. He was expecting a VERY important guest, so he found himself forced to squeeze in to a spot that was really small. He said that he had planned to have a 24 hour watch and all. I was polite but told him I wasn't planning to put myself into the position where I'd be stuck providing the same. He understood and once again apologized and offered a bag with wine in it and mentioned a bit of money to help make up for our inconvenience. I assured him that wasn't necessary, but he insisted. I figured that he was a member of the crew and it wouldn't look good to the owner if he was unable to get me to accept the gift, so I thanked him and took it. After he departed, we looked into the bag and found two bottles of wine that our wine book priced at more than $50 a piece and an envelope with $300 in it. We were blown away!

This stop in Lake Worth has been most memorable. Oh, by the way, we can report that the first bottle has been opened, and it was excellent!

Captain Bob
Carpe Diem