6/25/2002

We started our travels this morning to a little excitement.  After we left the anchorage and started back down Chowan Creek we came upon a sailboat adrift and with no one on board.  This is shown below.  We called the Coast Guard and reported the situation, and then got the position of the mooring buoy where we had seen the boat the previous evening.  The CG asked us to send more photos of the adrift boat, so we turned back towards it.  To our surprise a small boat emerged from a shallow creek and proceeded towards the adrift boat.  They had heard our radio call and came to rescue the absent neighbor’s boat.  We left the area with them towing the boat back to its mooring.

We continued north through Beaufort, SC and crossed St Helena Sound.  Along the way we passed a couple boats whose owners are acquaintances of ours, Hoot Owl (shown below) and Escape.  The latter has just been sold and is now called Casa Marina.  The former owners, John and Susie McCarley were on board helping the new owners move the boat to Beaufort.  The cruising world is pretty small, and you frequently run into people you have met previously.

After passing through the shallow Ashepoo-Coosaw Cutoff, and manmade canal between the two rivers, and Snow’s Cut, we emerged onto the Dawho River which became the Wadmalaw and then Stono Rivers.  The rivers here seem to change names every few miles, much like the streets in some towns.  It’s hard to keep up with it.  The salt marshes just north of the Cutoff are shown below—an area that I think is very pretty but remote.

Along the Stono River we saw some of the long docks people build across the salt marshes from their houses to navigable water on the river.  A couple examples are shown below.  I’m amazed at how much these docks must cost, maybe exceeding the home value.

We are tied up tonight at St Johns Yacht Harbor, a marina just south of Charleston.  Good friends, John and Pam Short have their boat in a yard near here for some work on the bottom paint.  We were blessed to have dinner with them at a socially distanced restaurant in Charleston.  It turns out they are planning to have more bottom paint work done at Wayfarer’s Cove, one of our favorite boatyards on the east coast.  We, of course, gave them a glowing recommendation.

6/24/2020

This morning we weighed anchor in Newport River and continued north up the ICW.  Today we passed Savannah, GA and Hilton Head, SC, and are anchored tonight in Chowan Creek, immediately east of Parris Island, SC.

This part of the ICW continues the seemingly never-ending salt marshes as shown below.  There are lots of small creeks that drain the marshes, some of which are navigable enough to anchor.  We didn’t try that, but we know others do so.  The photos also show the tiny bit of boat traffic in this area including the occasional shrimp boat passing out to the ocean or back to their home port.

One significant milestone today is passing an ICW feature known as Hell Gate.  This is a manmade channel between the Ogeechee and Little Ogeechee Rivers.  It shoals often, but was dredged just last year.  Lots of people run aground here and around this place.  We went through without a problem, but I was following the markers and got into some pretty shallow water.  It is a stressful spot.  Close inspection of the photo will show the numerous navigation markers that help guide you through.

We also passed through Savannah, but not close to downtown.  The waterway is through a mostly industrial area with the only sight being an old cemetery, shown below.  Marilou had visited this place with her hospice friends on land.

We are anchored tonight in a spot called Chowan Creek.  We can see the Marine Corps training base at Parris Island.  The water tower proudly says “We Make Marines”.

Tomorrow we will continue north again.

6/23/2020

After finishing our anchor work and numerous other boat projects we decided it was time to get underway again.  We departed Brunswick this morning, traveling up the ICW, and are anchored tonight in the Newport River, a little more than halfway to Savannah.  We dodged thunderstorms all day, and most of them missed us as we moved along.

When we departed Brunswick we got within a mile or so of the Golden Ray that I talked about a couple days ago.  The photos below show some of the work that is in process there.  A really big operation to salvage the vessel and contents.

This stretch of the ICW has little traffic as it is pretty remote.  We saw a couple shrimpers and one tow today along with a few crabbers and sport fishermen.  One of the shrimpers is shown below.

We are anchored tonight in the Newport River.  There isn’t much out here, but that’s a good thing.  Last year Georgia passed an ordinance prohibiting anchoring within 1000 feet of a manmade structure.  The law wouldn’t stand up in court as it violates federal control of the waterways, but we learned today the legislature has passed a bill overturning the ordinance.  Assuming the governor signs it reasonable anchoring can resume.

Tomorrow we expect to continue north through Savannah and on into South Carolina.

6/2-22/2020

Our time in Brunswick wasn’t all work.  We made the time to visit friends that are at a marina in Jacksonville.  We also visited a pre-Revolutionary War fort on St Simons Island, and got involved in a dog rescue.

On one of our off days we made a road trip to visit Fort Frederica.  In 1732 British Gen James Oglethorpe established a colony called Georgia, naming it after King George.  His purpose was to challenge Spanish control of Florida and act as a buffer between the established colony in South Carolina and the Spanish.  He built several smaller defensive forts, but his main efforts involved establishing Savannah as his capital and Fort Frederica as the primary defensive fort.  He hoped to populate his colony with the “worthy poor” or those serving in debtors prisons and outlawed slavery in the colony, though with the introduction of cotton farming the ban on slavery was overturned.  The Spanish forces attacked the fort in 1742, but lost the battle.

Several photos of Fort Frederica are shown below.  The site is about 100 acres, and was laid out as a town with streets and houses for the inhabitants.  Many of the foundations are still present.  He also constructed a military post on the beach, and the core blockhouse and magazine is still standing.  Marilou is shown below with Sinbad in the second set of photos.

The town was surrounded by a wood palisade built atop an earth berm.  The dirt for the berm was excavated from outside the palisade, and that was flooded to create a moat.  Parts of the berm are shown in the background of the photo below.

The site is now a National Park and has been planted with many live oaks.  The photo below shows an interesting tree with Spanish moss and different plants growing underneath.

Interestingly, John Wesley came here with the first colonists in 1736 and ministered to the colonists.  He later ran into legal trouble and was forced to return to England where he later founded Methodism.  There is a monument to him at the fort.

We also got involved in rescuing a local stray, shown below.  Several people at the marina told us a stray was under one of the buildings, thinking it was Sinbad.  We coaxed her out.  She was a really nice dog that was covered with fleas and appeared to have roundworm.  We took her to the local animal shelter with the hope she will be adopted soon.

 

6/2-22/2020

We had been unhappy with our anchor for some time, and when it dragged in only moderate winds off Cumberland Island we decided it was time to replace it.  We knew the anchor we had, a 60 pound Manson Supreme, was too small for the boat.  Since the chain attached to the anchor had begun to rust, and was potentially compromised in part of its length, a new chain was also in order.  This also meant new shackles to connect the chain to the anchor, a new splice onto the rode, and disposal of the old equipment.  Whew.

We decided we wanted a new Rocna anchor.  The choice of an anchor is almost like religion discussions to some people, and I’ve seen extended diatribes in the online cruising forums over what anchor is best.  This is one of the better anchors, though not without its detractors.  The anchor is sized based on the length and weight of the boat, and for our boat an 88 pound anchor (40 KG) is recommended.  Rocna has shape outlines of their anchors on their website, and we downloaded these for the 88 pound and 121 pound (55 KG) anchors to see what would fit in our anchor pulpit.  After transcribing the outline onto cardboard we determined the 121 pound would fit, just barely, so we ordered that.  Not cheap, and it had to be delivered by a lift gate truck which took a week or so.  The old and new anchors are shown below.  They look pretty similar in the photos, but the perspective doesn’t show how big the new anchor is.

Our old chain that had begun to have significant rust in part of its length.  We had 180 feet of chain of a grade called BBB.  Chain is rated by Working Load Limit which is the load it should carry in use.  Our old BBB chain was rated for 2400 pounds when new, but the references said we need at least 4500 pounds WLL.  I first ordered a chain sample that was one size up from our old, but that didn’t fit in the windlass, the machine that lifts the chain and anchor back aboard the boat.  I then ordered a sample of the same size as our old chain, but in a stronger alloy.  This fit the windlass, though not perfectly, so I ordered 200 feet of that size.  This new chain, called G43, is rated for 5400 pounds WLL.  Because of the weight (about 350 pounds) it also has to come by lift gate truck.  The new chain is shown below.

The chain arrived at low tide, so I left it on the dock until later that day when the tide had come in.  After moving it down to the floating dock next to the boat I laid it out showing its full length and painted marks every 25 feet.  This helps us put out the right amount of chain when anchoring.  I also discovered they had sent about 230 feet of chain, not the worst possible outcome.  The chain laid out and painted is shown below.

The chain is attached to a strong point in the chain locker at the front of the boat, and we have a nylon rode attached between the chain and the boat.  When you buy this nylon rope in the store and bring it to the boat it becomes rode (there is no rope on a boat).  One end of the rode is tied to the strong point, and the other is spliced onto the end of the chain.  The photo below shows the splice in process.  A splice is necessary because a knot is too big to go through the windlass.  Nylon has the advantage of stretching about 15% of its length when under load, thereby providing a shock absorber effect.

Finally we attached the other end of the chain to the new anchor using a special alloy shackle and pulled it all aboard using the windlass.  It wasn’t fun doing that on a hot and humid Georgia day, but we had to get it done.  The new anchor is shown below.

The new chain isn’t a perfect fit for the windlass.  We will try anchoring with it, but if we have trouble with it we will order a new gypsy or chainwheel for the windlass.  Maybe more on this in a future post.

Finally I cut off the most rusted part off the old chain and disposed of that.  I posted a note on the marina bulletin board, and 15 minutes later a sailboater had bought the old anchor, swivel and chain.  I hope he can make use of it.

6/1/2020

This morning we awoke to freshening northeast winds, meaning they were stronger than we anticipated.  We discovered our anchor had dragged about 10 feet, not the first time we have had problems with it.  Feeling a little bit like Darth Vader I said, “You have failed me for the last time”, and decided we will extend our planned stay in Brunswick to replace it.

This transit involves passing the submarine base mentioned yesterday and continuing up the river through an area called the Cumberland Dividings.  I don’t know the source of the name, but I think it refers to the original riverbeds in this area that primarily flowed out from this area both north and south.  There isn’t much to see here, but watching the depth sounder becomes an obsession.

After transiting up the East River we emerge onto Jekyll Sound.  This is a difficult area because the main ICW channel goes out near the very shallow ocean entrance and then runs broadside to the waves.  Because of the freshening wind the waves here were predicted to be 5 feet, and since they would be beam seas it was a most unwelcome prospect.  Instead we used an alternate channel around the west side of the sound.  It isn’t well marked, but we had a route from Bob Sherer, one of the experts on navigating the ICW.  We made the transit without incident, and the worst seas we saw were the 3 footers shown below.

After passing Jekyll Sound we continued up Jekyll Creek.  This area is again notorious for shoaling, but it was dredged last year.  Prior to the dredging it only had about 2 feet of water at low tide, so boats usually had to wait for help from the 8 foot tides in this area.  Today we went through pretty close to low tide and never saw less than 7 feet.

We next emerged onto St Simons Sound.  This is a shipping port carrying wood products and car imports.  We got a view of the Golden Ray, a RORO car carrier filled with 4800 Hyundai cars that capsized in the harbor here about 9 months ago.  It is shown below.  I don’t know if the cause has been determined, but things like this usually happen when the cargo shifts.  The captain and pilot had the presence of mind to run the ship out of the main channel, thereby avoiding fouling the port entrance and putting the port out of business.  The Coast Guard has had a frame constructed around the ship and they are beginning to cut it up for removal.  This involves unusually heavy equipment capable of lifting hundreds of tons of what will become scrap.  We will get a better view of the wreck when we depart Brunswick in a few weeks.

When we entered St Simon Sound we turned and went up to a marina in an industrial canal near the downtown.  The entrance is shown below.  We will be here until our anchor is replaced.

5/31/2020

This morning we waited at the free dock at Sisters Creek until the tidal current dropped before leaving.  There is a strong current there, and the boats were packed in pretty tight.  We then continued north and anchored off the southwest shore of Cumberland Island.

This stretch of the ICW really starts the extensive salt marshes that we will see until we get to Georgetown, SC.  They are extensive, shallow and full of wildlife.  A couple views of them are shown below.

Along the way we saw what appeared at first to be pink flamingoes, similar to the unattractive plastic lawn art that was common in our youth.  These birds however are roseate spoonbills.  At least these are pretty birds.

In the Frederica River just south of the eponymous town we encountered one of the towing service boats trying to free a sailboat that had gotten stuck on a shoal.  There are two boat towing services that offer towing insurance.  We buy both of them.  We have never needed a tow, and have never seen another boat using their services until today.  As you can see in the photos, many of the weekender recreational boats don’t give them much berth while they are doing their job.

This stretch of the Frederica River is well known for its shallow spot, right about where the sailboat is at in the photo.  Just past the shoal the town opens up to a working port with shrimpers, an idled cruise ship and a newly rebuilt marina.  This area was devastated in a hurricane several years ago, and the marina is just beginning to reopen.  We saw a megayacht moored at the marina with his dinghy garage open on the side of the boat.  This is the first time I have ever seen a garage in this position, and that is quite the dinghy sitting in there.

After passing through Frederica we crossed Cumberland Sound and the St Mary’s River.  The mouth of the harbor was once guarded by Fort Clinch, the remains of which are shown below.  The fortifications were first begun in 1736, and again in earnest in 1847.  By 1869 it was still unfinished, and was abandoned.  Today it is a Florida State Park.

Cumberland Sound is the home of a major submarine base.  It is a deep water harbor that is well maintained since it serves a strategic defense role.  We didn’t see any submarines today, and really have never seen one here.

We are anchored tonight off the Cumberland Island National Park.  I’ve written about this in the past.  The park is still closed owing to the virus nonsense, so we won’t go ashore.

5/30/2020

This morning we departed the mooring field at St Augustine and continued up the Matanzas and Tolomato Rivers.  We are tied up tonight at a free dock in Sisters Creek, on the ICW just north of the St Johns River.

The Spanish fort in St Augustine is still standing, and is in good repair.  It is shown below.  We couldn’t see it last night as it is just downriver from the bridge, but we got a good view today.  It must have been an impressive edifice when it was built.

After moving north of St Augustine inlet we continued up the Tolomato River.  This is a long, narrow ditch that starts out surrounded by swamps, and then by million dollar homes.  We passed lots of both as is shown below.

Finally at the north end of the Tolomato River we entered Pablo Creek.  This has a strong tidal current in parts of the creek.  The photo below shows the standing waves at a bridge that we passed under.  The waves are not wakes from the boats, but are generated by the high water flow.  The current was over 3 knots, and I felt for a while we might be going backwards there.  Thankfully we got through it without incident.

Finally we exited Pablo Creek onto the St Johns River.  The spot shown below is where we started our Great Loop trip in April, 2019.  Thus, we have crossed our wake.  The photos below show us with our new gold burgee, and the tattered white one that has been frequently mended and shredded by various storms and other adventures.  We feel like we earned this.

The final photo below shows an overview of our travels over the past year.  This can give a perspective on the magnitude of our travels.

We will continue north tomorrow.  While we achieved one accomplishment we still have lots of adventures in front of us.

5/29/2020

After departing Daytona Beach we continued up the ICW along the Halifax and Matanzas Rivers, finally getting a mooring ball at the St Augustine municipal marina.  It was another uneventful day.

St Augustine is known as the oldest city in the US.  It was settled by Spanish explorers in 1565, well before any English settlement on the continent.  It is also the oldest, continuously inhabited European settlement in the US.  As such, it has a colorful history.

The French had already discovered St Augustine inlet, and had named it the River of the Dolphins.  They had moved their fleet to the mouth of what is now the St Johns river, 40 or so miles north of St Augustine.  When the Spanish fleet arrived at St Augustine they first sailed north to confront the French.  After a brief skirmish they returned to what is now St Augustine and established a settlement.  Meanwhile the French had sailed to the mouth of the Matanzas River, south of the St Augustine where their ships were wrecked in a storm.  The Spanish first marched overland to the St Johns River where they destroyed the French settlement, and then went south to the mouth of the Matanzas River where the French survivors were holding out.  After a negotiation the French surrendered and the Spanish executed almost all the French soldiers, hence the name ‘Matanzas’ which is Spanish for ‘slaughter’.  The Spanish established a strong fort in St Augustine which is still in place today (see tomorrow’s post).

As we moved north along the Matanzas River we saw the ocean very close to us.  The barrier island is only a couple hundred feet across at this point, and the ocean is shown below.

This stretch of the river is known for excessive shoaling with the shoals moving around very often.  The view below shows the confusing nav markers in this area.

We are moored tonight in the river near downtown St Augustine.  This mooring field is pretty tight, and you can see the boat behind us which is only about 40 feet away.  Nonetheless, it isn’t unsafe at all so long as people know how to do this.  There is lots of current here depending on the tide state.

The bridge across the river is also shown below.  This is the Bridge of Lions.  It is challenging to get through this bridge because the opening is narrow and there is lots of tidal current here.  When we bought our boat we brought it north through here with a training captain, and passed under this bridge on Sunday afternoon of Memorial Day, 2017.  As we passed under this bridge the training captain was driving and the current turned us sideways before he could recover.  A local in a small bowrider boat had tried to pass under the bridge as we were going through, and he and his family were inches from being smashed against the fender system.  I doubt he knows yet how much he messed up by being there.  The photos below show a boat waiting for the bridge to open as the current sweeps him to the left of the photo.  Had it not opened within the next minute or so he might have been swept into the docks on the left of the photo.

We will stay here for the night before moving on.

5/28/2020

We departed the mooring field on Thursday morning and headed north on the ICW.  This path takes us through a small barrier island, part of the NASA complex, and then through an area called Mosquito Lagoon.  The mosquitos aren’t really bad, but there isn’t much wind there and it is stiflingly hot.

We continued up the Halifax River, passing several small towns until we came to Daytona Beach.  We planned to anchor this night, but a thunderstorm was threatening, so we ducked into a really good marina there and got a slip for the night.  The photos below show the view from the front of the boat as the thunderstorm was close along with the same view the next morning after it had passed.  It looked ominous, so being on a dock seemed like a good idea at the time.

I also included a couple additional views of the thunderstorm before it got to us.  It turned out to be some good lightening but only a little rain and wind.  Erring on the side of safety is a good idea, and we weren’t sorry we went into the marina.  We did get an evening to go to a local brewpub for dinner, the first time since Marathon we could achieve this.

The next morning, as we departed the marina, we saw a sailboat aground outside the entrance and probably abandoned there.  This is a common problem in Florida, and I don’t know how boat owners can do this with a clear conscience.