Hilton Head to Cumberland Island

Outside to St Mary' Inlet

Weather was with us for this outside trip of 100 miles to the St Mary's Inlet, which is about 20 miles north of Jacksonville, FL.  We left Hilton Head on the sourth side of Tybee sound. Travel time was estimated to be about 19hrs.  Planning to arrive at the inlet with either a ebb current or rising tide which would push us in and not fight current.  Would you believe we had such favorable winds we had to reduce sail to slow down. At times we were doing 7 kts.  Go Figure..

 

Hilton Head to St Marys

Couldn't slow down forever, so we entered the inlet with out going tide and current at about 8 in the morning.  Took about two hours to reach the anchorage up behind Cumberland Island.

 

 

 

 

Anchored at - Click for more info

More to come on Cumberland Island

Beaufort to Charleston to Hilton Head

Gather around and I'll tell you a story with a beautiful beginning and a horrible ending.

 On Friday, Nov 3 we and two other boats were going to go together from Beaufort to Charleston in one hop.  Starting at 4:30am Nov 4, yeah I know its damn early in the morning.  We expected to arrive in Charleston around 10:30a to 12:00 on Nov 5th. This should be a 31 hour run, sail, motor - whatever.

Things started going wrong at the beginning, as we pulled out the inlet we started wondering where are the two other boats..   Well,  (no names here). Found out that one boat had snagged another boats anchor and had fun getting un-hooked, then they ran aground in the anchorage, they draw 7ft. Then to top it off, they t-boned (thats HIT) another sail boat causing a bit of damage.  So they were delayed a couple of hours.

The other boat - no windlass to get the anchor up- was having much difficultly geting their anchor up was behind.

Great way to start an off-shore sail with buddy boats.

Needless to say, the sailing was fabulous. At times during the day we were hitting 7kts of speed over the ground and our arrival time was holding.  First boat was catching us at Cape Fear,  a faster boat.  We arrived at Cape Fear just before sundown and was treated to a great sunset.  I got to see my first GREEN FLASH. I'll leave it up to you to read this for a better explanation. Green Flash  

Joan and I were taking about 2 hrs on and off during the night. That seems comfortable for us. Around 2 in the morning things started picking up. Winds started blowing about 15 to 20 kts which caused us to  reduce sail since we were getting over powered. Not a good thing at this time of the morning.  Seas were building with swells hitting us from the left front with the wind hitting us from the right. This makes for a un-comfortable ride. By sun up around 6 or 7, damn daylight saving time change. Wind had shifted to our nose with all the wave and swell.  Sails were very reefed or should I say we had just a small porting of the mainsail out to provide stabilization as we started getting our brains bashed out. 

Route from Beaufort to Charleston

This bashing got worse, swells were running 3-5 ft with the occasional 7 footer to wake you up. The winds were directly out the Southwest on our nose.  This forecast weather was not supposed to happen until late in the afternoon. So much for weather.  We beat our brains out until we arrived at Charleston at about 2:00p about 4 hours after expected.  Hitting the inlet at a outgoing tide against current, against barges, against ships....you get the idea. But the important thing was SMOOTH WATER. 

We raced up the channel, pass all the marinas to an anchorage we have used in the pass.  It required going through a bridge that has to open and we made by the skin of our teeth.  We were expecting the bridge tender to stop up but keep the bridge open just long enough for to get by.  Half mile later we were at anchor.  Hot shower, some food and a drink and then it was nite nite.

Barge

At anchor at Fenwick Island

Monday Nov 5th, we got up and started moving again, next destination is Hilton Head and it is two days away via the ICW.

We got into Skull Creek Marina at Hilton Head around 1:30p on Nov 6th.  Boat has had bath, oil changed and all systems checked.   Back in Charleston, I noticed this saltwater splash on top of the engine, which is not supposed to happen.  Checked this with Dean, a fellow boater and thinks it came from the anti-siphon valve in the upper right conner of pictures. Clean it out and watch it.  Cleaned up the engine and being watched 

SALT WATER?

Dinning out at Boathouse Pub, Hilton Head

Having fun in Hilton Head. Took a taxi to Sam's Club and stocked up on some STUFF.

Now it is on to St Mary's and Cumberland Island.  Leaving Hilton at 10pm on Nov 8.... more to come

Hurricane Sandy and on to Beaufort

Hurricane Sandy

Sorry about the delay in publishing, but since we have arrived in Beaufort, NC, we have been on the go.

On Thursday, after looking at weather until I ran the battery down on the computer, we decided that on Friday,  Oct 26th we should move to a safe anchorage.  Being tied to a dock in a major storm is not a place to be. So we picked up and headed to South River which is 5 miles southeast from Oriental.

10 miles from Oriental to anchorage in South River

We found another boat named Sassafras already anchored in Southwest Creek as we pulled in.  This corner of the creek looked the best for what we were about to receive.  The mud was great and the anchor set in real well, now all we have to do is wait.
 Things went real well Friday afternoon and through the night. About mid-morning on Saturday, wind started picking up from the east and north east, which is not a real good thing since we were open to swells from that direction.  By late afternoon, winds were topping out in the 28kt area with steady at 22-25 kts.  Around 6pm the winds had shifted more to the northeast and had picked up to 30kts. HERE IT COMES.  We were protected from the major winds at this point but the problem came from the waves coming down the South River and wrapping around the point and directly into us.  This made for a very LUMPY ride all night.

Swinging at anchor

At around 10pm I realized we were dragging anchor but not real fast.  The dragging was being caused by the waves rocking us not the winds.  The most wind we saw was 36kts which was not a problem.  We dragged about 80ft back from what you are seeing in the above pic... I stayed up all night worrying that we could REALLY start dragging at any time. This is called 'Anchor Watch', if you start dragging you start the motor and take the strain of the anchor by slowly moving forward.
Believe it or not, just while we were at anchor we traveled 18 miles just swinging back and forth on the anchor. Hell of a trip. 
Sunday morning with the winds still blowing and the waves still smacking us, I decided that we should up anchor and move over in the creek to what looked a lot calmer than what we where experiencing.  At this point Joan was having a fit that I was going up on the bow to retrieve the anchor.  Storm gear on, Life preserver,   harness and safety tether was the order of the day.  Got up on the bow and sat in the anchor well and she would power the boat forward as I raised the anchor.  Lots of mud on the anchor.  No problem Mon. We moved over to the spot that looked a lot calmer and dropped the hook.  It was... We spent Sunday and Monday in the spot swinging and swinging and swinging.  By Monday evening we realized it was time to vacate this place.
So Tuesday morning we upped anchor and motored out into the Neuse River right into 2 to 4 ft waves on our nose for about 8 miles until we could get into Adams Creek ICW where things smoothed out.  Then it was a milk run down to Beaufort and anchorage in Town Creek..

 

 

Meeting with friends Melissa (Twisty) and Bill (hearjr)

These are friends from 'Cruising Outpost' (Latitudes and Attitudes). Ever since we got here it has been party time on Java. Happy Hour every night.....

Halloween

This man has his John Deer

My sweet Pirate

 Its Friday afternoon, Nov 2. There will be a planning meeting on board this evening to discuss leaving on Saturday morning around 4am and head to Charleston, SC. This would be a 43 hr trip out in the ocean.  Much weather needs to be discussed with two other boats. Our bail-out port will be Wrightsville Beach, NC just above Wilmington.

Enough for now....

Oriental, NC

Who is this man?

Oriental is an interesting old sea town. Lots of boats, power and sail plus a shrimping fleet.  Anchoring in the harbor is almost a chore, not lots of room. Of course, Joan found several shops that needed her inspection.  Only thing that saves me is, no more room on the boat.  We did take a walk (about a mile) to the West Marine store.  Need a part for the barbecue that I dropped overboard. Never fails.

Flat Water

She likes this porch!

Kids playing on the swing

Java is out there in the harbor.

You have got to be kidding me!

There are two free docking spots in the harbor, which were taken already. We were sitting at the Tiki Bar doing what most boaters do - DRINK. When this guy in a 44ft tried to tie up to the end of the dock blocking the other two boats in.  Dockmaster said watch this, he let the guy get all tied up and then called the local police.  This is not permitted..  Police showed up and in a few minutes after much talking he moved on...  Arn't small towns wonderful..

Got Hurricane Sandy coming up the coast and we plan to move over into South River and anchor down.  Only problem with the place is that it is a electronic black hole. So once we move over this afternoon we might not have any contact for three days.  Stay tuned...

Sitting still....

Alligator-Pungo Canal

We have not been moving very much, just enjoying the trip.  Transition south across the Albemarie Sound with 15kts of wind from the north which pushed us across real fast.  At times we were doing 8kts of speed.  Then through the Alligator Bridge into the Alligator River.  Once in the canal it was a beautiful day, sun keeping you warm and no waves.

Mirror smooth

Our own private grass mat floating by at anchor

Dowery Creek Marina

 https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=35.531563,-76.534882&spn=0.026088,0.034418&t=h&z=15

Morning fog..

Today is Tuesday 23rd, will be doing some engine work, checking the values, washing the boat down just small stuff killing time.  Will leave here on Wednesday...

Slowly moving south

No pictures tonight

We left Portsmouth this morning around 8:15a so we could make a bridge opening at 9:30, made it with a large tug pushing a barge in front of us. Eight boats went through with him. Now down to the Great Bridge Lock system. Barge, 3 power boats and one sailboat squeezed into the lock. We could not fit along with several others. We had to wait for about a hour and a half before we could be locked thru.  On the other side of the lock is a bridge that has to open for everyone. We decided to pull over to a free dock and spent the night. While motoring down from Portsmouth I noticed we were blowing some black smoke out the exhaust, this indicated a problem with the fuel.  Needed to change the fuel filter in case we picked up some crud from the mixing we got coming down the Chesapeake Bay.  Things turned out ok after changing the filters.  This free dock is great. Shopping is a quick walk down the road for just about anything you need.  We will continue south in the morning.
We only moved about 12 miles today...

It's a real bitch not having a schedule to maintain. Do whatever....

Fast Run

We left the dock at Cobb Island about 8am and started the journey south. Winds were favorable at about 15 to 20 kts from the SW on our starboard beam. As we move down the Potomac we started taking gusts 25 to 30 but we had already reefed the sails and by the time we reached the mouth of the Potomac at the Chesapeake Bay we were taking gust to 40kts. By this time we were triple reefed. Made for a wild ride. 

Due to the sun going down in a couple of hours and the wave really kicking up we went into Reedville, VA and spent the night.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=reedville,va&hl=en&ll=37.838462,-76.274557&spn=0.054227,0.071068&geocode=+&hnear=Reedville,+Northumberland,+Virginia&t=h&z=14

Got up at sunrise on Tuesday, Oct 16 and started south again we had a a 55 nm run to the entrance of Norfolk harbor.  During the night the winds had moved to the NW which was forecast for 15 to 25 kts.  For a change the weather man got it right.  The Bay was very choppy and mixed waves. Wave were running 3 to 5 ft smacking in the butt, but was making for great speed.  Under sail 90% of the way, we made Hampton in 10 hrs.  A little wine and rum and it was good night to all.

Ft Monroe

As we were dropping the anchor for the night we notice lots of black smoke coming from our exhaust. This was caused by have very little fuel in the tank and it getting shook up from the ride down the bay. On Wednesday morning, I drained the primary filter of some gunk and everything turned back to normal.  Will probably have to change the filter by the time we get to North Carolina.

Start of the Intercoast waterway (ICW)

On Wednesday we moved down to Ocean Marine Marina and fueled up. Saw some friends at the marina and then moved a few hundred yards to a free docks at the foot of High St in Portsmouth.

We will stay here for a couple of days and continue south on Friday. 

More to come..