Category Archives: ICW – Intracoastal Waterway

2018/19 is a wrap!

5/12/19
Southport NC
Posted by Bill

The last blog post was almost a month ago and we left you in Cocoa FL. We made it home on 5/4 and have been taking all of the stuff off the boat and finding a home for it in the house. It sure is a contrast living in the house versus the boat, but we are enjoying all of the creature comforts that we didn’t have for the past 7 months, including our fantastic shower, flushing toilets that you don’t have to pump out, an endless supply of running water, ice maker, washing machine and dryer, endless supply of electricity that you don’t have to manage, and FAST INTERNET!

I haven’t kept up the blog very well. A big part of the reason is that our good friends and travel partners are splitting up. It came down about halfway through our trip and it is difficult to compose my typical blog content and respect their privacy at the same time, so I chose not to post like I usually do.

Our trip home from Cocoa was pretty good weather wise. We only had 4 or 5 days of rain or high winds in just over 2 weeks of travel. We left Cocoa and motored to Rock House Creek at Ponce Inlet, anchoring in position 29 03.672N, 080 55.877W. As the wind died we got swarmed by no-see-ums in the worst bout of them we have encountered. By the time we got down below in the cabin and shut all the hatches and ports, we had a swarm in the boat. It made for a miserable evening and little sleep. We had several days of high winds (up to 40 knots) in the next 4 day forecast so in the morning we upped anchor and took a slip at Halifax Harbor in Daytona Beach, position 29 12.265N, 081 00.549W. We spent 3 nights there and enjoyed having shore power and shore access without dealing with the dinghy in bad weather, and it did blow in the 30s and low 40s for 3 days. This allowed us to explore an area that we typically don’t go ashore while transiting each year, and we found some great places to eat. We’ll stop here again in the future. On the 21st, we left Halifax and took a mooring buoy in St Augustine at position 29 53.657N, 081 18.560W. This is one of our favorite stops and we spent 2 nights there enjoying our favorite places to eat and drink. On the 23rd we traveled to Fernandina Beach and anchored in the Amelia River at position 30 40.638N, 081 28.729W. The marina and mooring field at Fernandina is still closed from last years hurricane damage so we couldn’t go to shore and enjoy the town there.

On 4/24 we entered Georgia and left Florida behind. Georgia has 3 major shoal areas that we have to time the tides for, and several open sounds that can be nasty with high winds. We always get our asses kicked in them. The tides lined up perfectly for us and winds were calm except for the transiting of the last sound, and we made it through Georgia in 3 days stopping each night as follows: Brunswick, position 31 09.056N, 081 29.994W; Kilkenny Creek, position 31 47.522N, 081 11.812W; Turner Creek, position 32 00.910N, 080 59.404W.

On 4/27 we left Georgia Behind and entered South Carolina. We picked up a mooring in Beaufort at position 32 25.722N, 080 40.849W, and had a great dinner at the Bull Tavern. The next day we ran aground entering the Ashepoo Cusaw Cutoff (a known shoal area) but we were able to back up and find enough water on the starboard side to get going again. We anchored that night in Steamboat Creek at position 32 36.327N, 080 17.799W. The next day we traveled to Charleston and took a slip in the Charleston Maritime Center at position 32 47.321N, 079 55.443W. We love Charleston and decided to stay 3 nights to enjoy our favorite places to eat and drink. Usually when we are there, it rains at least a couple of days, but we had fantastic weather this time. On 5/2 we traveled to Georgetown and anchored in position 33 21.972N, 079 17.410W, in front of the steel mill. The mill is active again which was interesting to watch, but made it hard to sleep. The next day we pulled in to Grande Dunes Marina in Myrtle Beach, position 33 45.815N, 078 49.082W. We had never stayed there before. The guy helping us with our lines was completely clueless about how to dock and tie a boat and we had to make 2 attempts to get tied up. They put us in a slip that was very difficult to get out of for our boat, but Matt and Larry helped the next morning and we had no issues. We left early in the morning and arrived in Southport early in the afternoon.

It was a couple of weeks of long days and we pushed hard to get back, so we were pretty worn out. The house was in excellent shape when we got back and we were really happy to be home.

Pictures:

Anchored at the steel mill in Georgetown:
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Island Bound at the Maritime Center in Charleston:
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Sunrise in Beaufort:
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Working our way north

4/19/19
Halifax Harbor Marina, Daytona Beach FL
Position: 29 12.265N, 081 00.549W
Posted by Bill

We spent our last day in Bimini hanging at the Beach:
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On 4/11 we left Bimini at 4:30 AM because we had to be past the entrance to the marina before 4:45 due to tide. It started out a little rough but as forecasted, the wind and seas died and we had a very calm crossing. You don’t get to see the Gulf Stream look like this very often:
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We arrived at Lake Worth inlet and braced for the culture shock. Even though this is the 4th time to the Bahamas and back, we still were in awe of the difference of the cultures. Back to wealth and overcrowding, and boats running around rudely everywhere. We anchored in the north anchorage at position 26 50.328N, 080 03.360W. We went ashore to Publix for groceries and had some great Mexican food before returning to the boat. We were hoping to make Vero Beach but had too many bridges to get through to make it in a day, so we went to Hobe Sound and anchored at our usual spot across from Tiger Woods house at position: 27 00.367N, 080 05.754W. On the 13th we traveled to Vero Beach and spent a couple days there. On the way there we were waiting for a bridge opening in pretty windy conditions and a sailboat came up that was disabled and wanted to get through the bridge under sail. They had a couple of miscalculations waiting for the opening and ended up running into the bridge and wedged up against the bridge fender:
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There was nothing we could do to help them and we really felt bad. We were left wondering why they wouldn’t just anchor and get a tow boat to take them to a place where they could get the motor working.

In Vero we took on fuel and water, and pumped out the holding tank and moved on to Cocoa on the 15th, anchoring in position 28 20.943N, 080 43.169W. We enjoyed our favorite places to eat and drink and opted to stay 2 days. We saw 3 days of high winds coming up on the forecast and decided to hold up in a marina for the blow. On the 17th we moved up to Rock House Creek in Ponce Inlet and anchored in position: 29 03.672N, 080 55.877W. The wind died and the no-see-ums swarmed us an hour before sunset. By the time we ducked below and closed all the hatches we had a small swarm inside the boat and they tortured us all night! It was horrible. The next day we went in to Halifax Harbor at Daytona Beach and arrived before lunch. We went to a great Mexican restaurant for lunch and happy hour at the Chart House, 2 of our favorites here. The winds arrived early but after we were already tied up, and today they are expected to go over 40 knots. This is a well protected marina and we are glad to have gotten slips here.

In closing, we see lots of boats and boat names. This one is pretty creative:
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Only in southern Florida…

The Boot Key Anchorage Blues

1/26/2019
Boot Key Harbor, Marathon FL
Position: 24 42.238N, 081 06.069W
Posted by Bill

I know…long time…no blog! It has been more difficult to write blogs more often for some reason this year. I think it is because this is year 5 of our cruising, and we have pretty much “been there…done that” from Southport to Key West and through much of the Bahamas. In the first couple of years, there were many new things to share. This time around, especially in the Keys, we have just settled in to our normal routine, and for those of you that follow the blog…you already know what it is like!

The blog left off in Key West just after Christmas. We continued our Key West routine of exploring the island, hanging at the pool, happy hours, entertainment every night, boat maintenance, and enjoying the luxury of being tied to a slip with fresh water and power. Here is a picture of Dante’s pool, which is directly in front of our marina:
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The weather was really nice while we were there, although very windy. Lots of friends visited us while we were there, so we naturally spent lots of time on Duval street, showing them the craziness. We spent New Years Eve outside of Sloppy Joes Bar and watched the big lighted conch drop. The streets were pretty packed:
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New Years Day we had a pot luck on the dock with some of the other boaters and Key West locals. After New Years we focused on getting the boats ready to leave. Just normal maintenance and provisioning. It takes several days to get provisions because we go by bike or walk, limiting how much we can get at one time. We had until the 17th of January to leave, but we saw a perfect weather window on the 13th, and we took advantage of it. It was a very calm day and I was expecting a comfortable passage. Turns out there was a 1-2 foot swell on the beam, which is not bad at all. Unfortunately, our boat does not like a beam sea with a short wave period, especially when you don’t have enough wind to get a sail up. The swell would start to roll the boat, and the next wave would hit just as the boat was starting its second roll period, thereby accentuating the first roll…and it just continued until you were getting thrown back and forth. If my speed dropped under 7 MPH, the motion was horrible, so we reluctantly pulled away from the group and maintained over 7. When we arrived at Boot Key Harbor in Marathon there was a waiting list of over 20 people for a mooring, which is normal this time of year. When a weather window opens up, a lot of people go to the Bahamas and moorings are freed up. So like everything else in cruising…it all depends on the weather, which began to deteriorate (winds pick up) the day after we get there. With no mooring, the only choice is to anchor and the anchorage was pretty full. We all squeezed into spots we thought were ok, and I thought we had a good one. As the winds shifted from NE to NW we noticed that the 2 boats that were tied together and anchored on our starboard side had the anchor line all twisted up. There are typically 2 types of boats in the Boot Key Harbor anchorage: 1) cruisers like us either waiting for a weather window or a mooring ball, and 2) people that live aboard permanently, and cannot afford any other type of dwelling. The liveaboards typically have boats that are very run down, barely floating in some cases, and most cannot be navigated. When they anchor, they typically put out at least 2 anchors and a normal amount of chain or rope (here we have 65’ of chain out) just like everyone else. However, over time and many changes in wind direction, the chain or rope gets twisted up effectively shortening the length. So, you anchor next to them expecting they have 65’ and will swing with the wind like a normal boat with 65’ of swing, and you space your anchoring so you will not hit anyone as the winds shift. As the winds did shift, we noticed that these 2 boats next to us had an effective swing of about 25’ due to the twisted lines, and we were coming very close to them. Thankfully, the winds didn’t shift any more to the west or we would have had to move, but I had several sleepless nights watching. After 3 days of stress, the guy in front of us left and we pulled anchor and moved further away. This is one of the reasons I hate this anchorage. I do feel bad for the permanent boats. It is so expensive to live in the Keys, and people who work the lesser paying jobs cannot make ends meet with any normal living method. That being said, these types of boats are anchored throughout the anchorage and effectively reduce the amount of boats that can anchor in here. Plus, when you anchor you aren’t really sure how they are going to behave because you can’t see their lines or anchors under the water.

The weather has not been good since we got here. In 2 weeks of being here, there have only been a couple of days where the winds weren’t blowing in the mid to upper 20s or low 30s. With exception of a few cold days (temps in the 60s) it has been very comfortable and very little rain, which is good. We dinghied to the beach a few times and have been doing our normal Marathon routines. You can dinghy and walk to many good restaurants and bars, and there are great happy hours every day. There are daily chores, including jugging water from the marina faucet via dinghy, managing power and running the generator, almost daily walks to the grocery store (about a mile from the marina), and of course…boat maintenance. There have been many days that it was so windy that we didn’t get off the boat. We only run the generator to charge batteries or when power is needed for projects, so we don’t have TV. Consequently, we have been reading LOTS of books. Looks like in a few days the weather is going to break. We should be able to get a mooring ball, and we will be able to enjoy the beach and other activities away from the boat.

One of our major projects is replacing our solar panels. We have 4 100 watt flexible panels installed on the top of our bimini. They are 3 years old and the acrylic finish has hazed over, so they are not working very well. They are under warranty and we purchased them here from a company called SALT, who has honored the warranty and is getting us new panels. They are not here yet and we really need them before we leave for the Bahamas. That plus the fact that all of us traveling together have tasks to be completed before we can go, means we have a couple more weeks until we can head offshore. It is looking like we will likely plan to depart Marathon the first week of February, work our way up the inside of the Keys, stop at some of our favorite places, then depart for the Bahamas from Key Biscayne. As always…it all depends on the weather!

Some pics!
The dinghy landing part of Sombrero Beach:
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The normal people part of Sombrero Beach:
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Boot Key Harbor at night…check out all of the anchor lights:
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Sunset from our boat in the anchorage:
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Merry Christmas from Key West

12/25/18
Key West, FL
Conch Harbor Marina
Position: 24 33.766N, 081 48.021W
Posted by Bill

The worst thing you can do when cruising is have a schedule, and we broke the number one rule heading to Key West. Our reservation in the Conch Harbor Marina started on the 13, and we didn’t want to miss any days in our one month reservation period, so we headed out in less than desirable passage conditions…to meet a schedule. It ended up being an all day ass kicking…even being behind the reef in the Hawk Channel. The boat was getting thrown all over, rolling back and forth from side to side. Stuff was flying around in the cabin below and it was difficult to keep from getting thrown around in the cockpit. I told Tricia…we said we were going to keep cruising until it wasn’t fun anymore…and if we have to travel in these conditions, we are on our last trip! We pulled in to the marina and got tied up late afternoon and were glad to be done with that trip.

Key West has lots of activities. Our usual daily routine involves hitting a good happy hour somewhere, enjoying the food and drinks, and then walking around in the evening to people watch and catch some good live music. We have been doing that pretty much every day. We also watched the Christmas boat parade in our marina, which was really good as always. We also spent a few days at the pool at Dante’s which is at the entrance to our marina, taken a few bike rides, rented scooters and went to Stock Island to have lunch at Hog Fish, and have taken walks every day. It is nice to be able to just walk off the boat without dealing with the dinghy, and the marina is in the heart of all of the action, which makes it easy to get into the vibe here.

Our good friends Rick and Barb (who have a boat next to us in Southport) came down for Christmas and stayed in an inn just a few blocks away, and we have been having a great time with all of us together again (like at home). We went to dinner at Mangia Mangia, a great Italian restaurant, for Christmas Eve, and then had an early dinner on the dock on Christmas Day. We had some friends on the dock and some we know that live in Key West join us, and we had a group of about 20 people. Everyone cooked/brought something and we pigged out!
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My favorite shirt in the Key West stores says “Key West…where the weird go pro!” It is pretty spot on, and a great example is this guy wandering the streets sporting his Christmas spirit:
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Also these pictures of street vendor food trucks:
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Mass quantities of alcohol are consumed here, to the extent that hang over treatments are a thriving business:
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And there is no lack of creative expression, including vehicles:
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There are some crazy boaters too. This guy pulled in on Christmas Day, when he knew no staff would be working the docks, and filled up his fresh water tanks with the marina’s water, then took off. Interesting that he had a Victorian couch and wing backed chairs on the back deck…lol!
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Hell’s Angels on scooters:
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A few shots of the Christmas boat parade:
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Cool Christmas lights in the palm trees:
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The weather was a little chilly for a few days while a front came through, bringing 40 plus knot winds, but other than that we have had excellent weather…nice and warm, with little rain. Given that we grew up in the north, it doesn’t give you the feel of Christmas like we know it, but I’ll take it any day over the cold!!!

Merry Christmas to you and yours!! I hope you had a good one! The blog will see you in the new year.

Marathon, Boot Key Harbor

12/6/18
Boot Key Harbor, Marathon FL
Position: 24 42.316N, 081 05.585W
Posted by Bill

Well, the wind forecast was calling for winds in the mid to upper 20s for a few days, and 15-25 for as long as the 10 day forecast was projecting…sheesh! We upped anchor and took a bit of a beating in Biscayne Bay on 12/5. Seas were following, so it helped the boat motion a bit, and I got to put up some sails, which is always enjoyed. When we got into the northern sounds of Florida Bay, we had smaller bodies of water and less fetch, so conditions were pretty good. We made it to Tarpon Basin in Key Largo, and anchored in position 25 07.204N, 080 25.649W. Tarpon Basin is fairly well protected from winds in all direction, but we still had a moderate chop at the anchorage. Many parts of the basin are full of sea grass and it is known for poor anchor holding. We have dragged anchor there a few times in the past. All of us found some sand patches and got a great hold. Good thing too, because the wind howled all day and night. We had small craft advisories that day and for the next couple of days, so we debated about staying for another day or leaving. At dawn the next day, we made the final call and decided to venture out, and if it was too bad we could come back. It wasn’t as bad as predicted, so we found our way into Boot Key Harbor late on the 6th. One of the boats had transmission problems and sea grass clogging the engine intake about 5 miles from the Seven Mile Bridge, and we had about a half hour delay sorting that all out, but we made it in. The day after we arrived, we saw some manatees and then watched the lighted boat parade from Steel Away’s top deck. It was fun. Then we all spent a few days doing boat maintenance and resting up a bit. Since Stuart, we have been running long days in high winds, and everyone is exhausted. We have reservations for a month in Key West at Conch Harbor Marina starting on the 13th, and it looks like the 12th is the best day to travel there, with the 13th being pretty good too. So we are planning to head out…not sure which day yet. See you in Key West!

Sunset from Sunset Grille in Marathon:
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The push to Miami

12/4/18
Marine Stadium Anchorage, Miami FL
Position: 25 44.507N, 080 09.972W
Posted by Bill

We had a great time as always in Stuart. We hit all of our usual favorite places to eat and drink, and also did some grocery shopping. We also got to catch up with good cruising friends Hayden and Radeen on Island Spirit. We haven’t seen them in a long time, and it was fun to get together. I wish we could have had more time hanging out with them. We were watching the weather because we knew that we needed to run offshore (which cruisers call “outside”) to get from Ft Lauderdale to Miami. There is a bridge on the ICW in Miami that we cannot get under, so this is our only option, and actually, it is so much nicer than dealing with all of the bridges and crazy ICW boaters in south Florida. We were also considering running outside from Lake Worth to Miami instead of taking the ICW from Lake Worth to Ft Lauderdale, so a good couple day weather window was what we needed. We have run offshore in winds over 20 knots but have found that we much prefer a calmer sea state, so we shoot for max of 15 knots in our windows. The weather this year has been a lot worse than usual from a wind perspective. This year we have had 15 plus knot winds for a good 90% of the days we have been traveling…very uncharacteristic this time of year, so we ended up staying in Stuart for a week before we could get a window.

So, we left on 12/2. The winds had not died much at all, so we stayed on the ICW through Lake Worth and anchored in Lantana FL at position 26 34.824N, 080 02.861W. On 12/3 we found that one of our preferred anchorage in Ft Lauderdale was empty…amazingly…so all 4 boats got in and we anchored in position 26 08.576N, 080 06.571W. Here is a picture that I took of Island Bound at anchor, from the top of Kurt and Sharon’s boat:
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Every time we run the ICW in south Florida I am amazed at the array of multi-million dollar homes and boats that line the waterway…and it just goes one after another for pretty much all of south Florida. I can’t fathom how that many people can have that much money. Here are some sample pics:
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You do get to see some wildlife at times. Here was an eagle:
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And then this Jurassic Iguana on the bridge:
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On 12/4 we went offshore from Ft Lauderdale to Miami. It was a great day on the ocean and it was really nice to be rid of the damn bridges on the ICW! Steel Away ran offshore with us while Sofia Jeanne and At Ease took the ICW. We floated into Marine Stadium and dropped anchor. This anchorage was an old marine stadium where all sorts of water based competition took place decades ago. Now it is a great anchorage with an amazing view of the Miami skyline:
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Here is a shot from offshore looking at Miami Beach and South Beach:
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Here we are coming in the Government Cut Inlet at Miami:
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Kurt shot this view of Island Bound going into Miami:
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The winds are picking back up and we are trying to decide if we stay at Marine Stadium or tough it out on Biscayne Bay and Florida Bay, which are large bodies of water with pretty rough conditions in higher winds. We will check again in the morning and make a final decision.

Taking a break in Stuart

11/27/18
Stuart FL
Position: 27 11.716N, 080 15.720W
Posted by Bill
As you know from the last post, we waited a day to leave Cocoa because a gale warning was up, and the days afterward showed light winds. Well, we left Cocoa on the 24th expecting light and variable winds…suckers! We didn’t get gale force winds, but we had them in the 20-30 knot range the whole day. I can’t believe they can’t forecast winds any better than they have been. It sure makes passage planning difficult. At least it was warm, highs in the low to mid 80s…yay! We left around 7 AM and were treated to a beautiful sunrise:
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We cruised to Vero Beach and all of us were able to get a mooring ball, the sailboats tied together and the trawlers tied together. We went ashore long enough to check in and pay, and then back to the boats for dinner. We really like Vero and it has appeal to the general cruiser community with the bus system, close proximity to provisioning, restaurants you can walk or dinghy to, and a 20 minute walk to the beach. It is known in the cruising community as “Velcro Beach” because people get comfortable there and don’t want to leave. We opted to stay only one night and move on to spend more time in Stuart. It was a warm night and we sat out in the cockpit and chilled after dinner. We also got destroyed by mosquitoes and no-see-ums, which really sucked the days after!
We left the next morning and cruised the ICW to the St Lucie River, then turned right to go up the river to Sunset Bay Marina where three of us we were able to grab mooring balls (a difficult feat for 3 boats this time of year), and Kurt and Sharon opted for a slip so they could move stuff from their old boat stored in Indiantown to this new boat. Prices have gone up at the marina, probably because their popularity has increased dramatically the last 3 years. It is 8 miles off the ICW, but the marina is very well kept, has a shuttle service that runs every day, is a short walk to downtown Stuart, and a short walk to restaurants, Publix, and liquor store. It seems like it has become “the” place to go, and many cruisers stay for extended time periods, some the entire winter. We are spending at least 4 days here and will consider staying as long as a week. Here is a picture of the mooring field around sunset:
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People often ask, “what the hell do you do all day when you stay for days at a time?” Usually, we go ashore and explore, provision, or do boat work. Today I had to clean out the bilge as it was starting to smell rank! One of the only things I don’t like about the typical Island Packet sailboat, is that the anchor locker drains to the bilge. We anchor in all kinds of mud and sand as we move south, and although we have an anchor wash down pump, and use it religiously, ultimately some muddy water with all of the living creatures gets into the bilge. It doesn’t take long to start to decay and stink the place up.

Here is the Christmas tree in downtown Stuart…it sure doesn’t seem like Christmas yet, in spite of all of the decorations!
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Giving thanks…and pigging out!

11/23/18
Cocoa Village Marina
Cocoa FL
Posted by Bill

Well, we hope everyone had a great thanksgiving! I have always liked thanksgiving, getting together with friends and family, pigging out on great food, and none of the pressures of gift selecting, shopping and giving that Christmas brings. It is always a good time to reflect on the many blessings in your life, and I spent a lot of thought time on it this year. We are so blessed to have been given our lot in life, with great families, wonderful children and grandchildren, and the opportunity to make your own life with the freedoms this country offers. We have been given many opportunities in this life and we worked our butts off to achieve the lifestyle we have enjoyed. The many setbacks and challenges in life are also blessings in disguise, as they strengthen you and also lead you in different directions. We have certainly had our share of those too. There are so many people to thank along the way, especially parents and the people who sacrificed to give us the freedom and opportunity we have, but I especially thank God for all that has been given to me, especially all of the opportunities to earn the life I have. In cruising mode, we miss our family and friends back home very much this time of year. But, we have also been blessed with close friends that we travel with, and the cruising community. Our little flotilla had a great feast yesterday…each boat cooking different portions of our meal, and then getting together to eat and enjoy our friendships on Kurt and Sharon’s boat, Steel Away. Yes, we all have Lilliputian ovens and stoves but you can still cook one hell of a feast!
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Here is a shot of the marina. It is very nice and the people who work here are amazing! One of the best marina experiences we have had in our years of traveling.
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We were going to leave today, but a gale warning was posted for today, and we decided not to get our asses kicked and stay one more!

St Augustine and into Cocoa

11/21/18
Cocoa Village Marina
Cocoa FL
Position 28 21.468N, 080 43.545W
Posted by Bill

On the 17th, we rolled into St Augustine and took a mooring ball in the north field at position 29 53.700N, 081 18.553W. Thankfully, the winds died down below 15 knots and temps were in the low 80s…yay!!! We came into town on the day that the Christmas lights are first turned on and the downtown was packed with people and festivities. We had a great view of the lights along the waterfront from our boat:
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The next day we went to the grocery to get food for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a 2 mile walk, but a few of the group Ubered back with the big items. On the 19th we ended up anchoring just south of the Memorial Bridge in Daytona at position 29 12.467N, 081 00.402W.

On the 20th we anchored in the Titusville South-3 anchorage at position 28 37.166N, 080 47.675W. It was supposed to be calm but the wind blew up to 20 knots again. At least it has been warmer. We all took food over to Kurt and Sharon’s boat and had a feast. It was a good time. Here is Island Bound in front of a beautiful sunrise this morning:
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We tried to get into several different marinas to spend Thanksgiving, but the only one that had openings for us was Cocoa Village Marina. That made it a short day today which was good. Once again, winds were supposed to be light, but it blew up to 20 knots again! I am damned tired of dealing with the weather already and we have been gone less than a month! This is a nice marina, and we are set up to have Thanksgiving here, cooking on our boats. At least it is warm and sunny!!

We have been putting in long days and leaving early most of the way, and we are worn out. Gonna sleep in tomorrow!! Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Freezin’ our ass through Georgia

11/16/18
Jacksonville FL Free Dock
Position: 30 23.892N, 081 18.553W
Posted by Bill

On the 11th we anchored in Turners Creek, GA at position 32 00.856N, 080 59.366W. This was day one in the Georgia ICW and is one of our favorite anchorages along the way. The creek is very narrow and has a tricky entrance with a huge rock below the surface that must be avoided. The reward for making it in there is an anchorage with one of the best dive bars overlooking the boat. Cheap drinks, free popcorn and very strong pours…what else could you want? There is also a Publix grocery store, hardware store and several restaurants within a tenth of a mile of the anchorage. That set us up for traversing the 3 major shoal areas in the Georgia ICW, Hell Gate. The next day we went through Hell Gate at near high tide! Yay!!! We anchored at the Crescent River anchorage to set up for shoal area two…Little Mud River, and we were plagued by no-see-ums again…even worse than Mosquito Creek…sheesh! We timed the tide at Little Mud River just fine and then had a decision to make. Could we get through the third shoal area, Jekyll Creek and get anchored somewhere before dark, or should we lay up before Jekyll. The winds were unrelenting most of the day, and it was cold, and the next couple of days were bringing a frontal system with more rain and NE winds…come on man…we need a break. So we decided to divert to Brunswick GA and wait out the weather in Brunswick Landing Marina. We docked at position 31 09.055N, 081 29.993W. The marina is well protected, is close to a great bar, has free laundry, and free beer. Yes, you read that right…free beer…PBR on tap 24 by 7! We took a 2 day break from traveling and did boat work, laundry and beer drinking. It howled all the time we were there with bouts of rain. This also allowed us to wait for better winds to get through St Andrews Sound. You have to go into the ocean to get through this sound and with any kind of east wind component you get large rolling waves for more than an hour that have kicked our asses soundly! It looked like the 15th was light west winds, so we planned our departure accordingly. Of course, as soon as we left the marina the winds kicked up in the mid to high 20 knot range and temps were in the low 40s to boot! We got through Jekyll Creek with enough tide to keep from grounding, but as we started into the sound we were battered by the sea state. We made a decision to take an alternate route around the sound which had better protection from the seas, but it is not a well known route and it plagued by shallow waters. We had a rising tide, so Matt led the group through. It was the right decision. We pushed on and took a mooring ball in Fernandina Beach FL at position 30 40.227N, 081 28.129W. Winds still howling and cold as hell, but we finally made it to Florida!

On the 16th we had to wait for the tide to come up to transit yet another shoal area, so we left later than usual and targeted to stop at the free dock at Sister’s Creek by the St Johns River. We have never stayed there because it is always full when we passed by, or we were pushing to make St Augustine in one day. This time there was only one boat there so we lucked out. Here are a couple of pics:
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