Sometimes you just get lucky

As we like to say when sail boat racing, better lucky than good.  You can beat good, but you can’t beat lucky.  We managed to travel 60 miles today in 7-3/4 hours.  Considering the fact that most days we have been traveling against the current, and the current reverses direction every seven hours it is hard to time things.  When ever there is an inlet to the sea, the rivers feeding the inlet (one on each side) usually flow opposite of each other.  Today, just looking at the charts it would appear that on a falling tide, which is what we had most of the day, we expected to be bucking a head current the entire day.  That was not the case.  There was only one hour that we were going less than 7 knots and we won’t complain about that, especially since Lightkeepers Marina, our ultimate destination today closed at 4 PM.  Actually, when we talked to them a few days ago we mentioned that we probably wouldn’t be in before they closed but we could dock ourselves with no problems if we knew where we were supposed to go.   As it was we got here about 1430 (after leaving at 0705), took on another 60 gallons of fuel and then attempted to contact the marina.  No answer either on channel 16 on the VHF or by phone, so we simply tied up at the end of one of their T docks that had room.  I went into their shore office and the dock master was just getting ready to call us.  He was out on the docks without a radio and was apologizing for not being able to help us in.  When we need help docking the boat it will be time to sell it.  It turns out that the T dock that we selected was the one that they were going to place us so we didn’t need to move the boat.

After some laundry and showers Uncle Dick and Aunt Marline showed up for shrimp, cheese, crackers and wine.  After that it was out to dinner where we made plans for tomorrow.  They dropped off one of their cars for us to use so the first order of the day will be unpacking all the stuff we had sent here (new folding bikes; not the clown version, a skillet for the induction range and the wind anemometer).  Then it will be off to breakfast, some grocery shopping and who knows what else.

Flat dead calm this morning, a perfect trawler day.

The reflections on the water were just magnificent.

The grassy marshes of Georgia have given way to the Cyprus swamps of northern South Carolina.

Once more through the Rockpile. The advantage of going through at almost low tide is the ledges are visible. When the water is up you can’t see the edge of the cut. Very few of the edges are marked as this one is. We traversed this three mile passage with no issues, meeting only a few boats heading in the opposite direction.

This boat is interesting. It is a sailing catamaran that the owner decided to turn into a power boat. The short spar is actually the top of the original mast when it was a sail boat. The chain plates for the rig are still mounted on the hull.

Here is another anchor design that we have never seen before, and probably with good reason.

Dave

Harborwalk Marina, Georgetown, SC.

A fairly short 30 mile day brought us to the marina in Georgetown, SC.  There were a few spots that we had to pay attention to depths where we felt the need to slowed down and go slow but had no issues meaning we didn’t run aground.

Georgetown has an interesting history dating back to 1526 although the town really wasn’t laid out until 1729.  Rice used to be king here and fortunes were made in the rice fields.  When slavery was abolished it pretty much did in the rice trade as growing rice in this area was labor intensive.  Mechanized rice growing was not possible here due to the soft soil.  Lumber took over until that too was gone.  International Paper has a large plant here and there is also a steel mill making the town aromatic depending on the wind direction.  We have been hoping for the wind to shift but it doesn’t look like it will happen tonight.

We did tour the Rice Museum as well as the South Carolina Maritime Museum.  They have a board walk along the river and quite a few small specialty shops along the street paralleling the river but unfortunately there are quite a few empty storefronts.

Our Lord Nelson Victory Tug friends, Bicki and Dave met up with us to stay the night.  They are driving back to their home in Maryland after putting their boat on the hard in Florida for the summer.   We had an enjoyable time catching up on activities since we left them in Stuart, Florida a few weeks ago.  After dinner on Liberty, Dave beat Dave in a backgammon set (again).  We need to be on our way fairly early in the morning as we have a 60 mile run planned for tomorrow.

Harborwalk Marina

The board walk by the river. The far end is dominated by restaurants.

The steel and paper mills with a few shrimp boats.

Dave

 

 

 

Leland Oil Company Marina

We added 38 more miles to our trip today, with the beginning and ending miles being somewhat stressful as far as running aground was concerned.  We left Charleston at 0730 (37 degrees) so as to arrive at the Sullivans Island Narrows before low tide.  When we got there the water was 1.5 feet above MWWL (Mean Lower Low Water; the average height of the lowest tide).  We almost needed that extra 1.5 feet as when we passed the shallow spots we only had 2.5′ below our keel.  As a matter of fact, the channel has shifted enough that you need to stay at least one channel width to the North-West of the actual channel in one spot to remain in the deepest water.  If you stay in the channel, you will be hard aground.  Of course they haven’t moved the channel markers and if it wasn’t for Active Captain and the comments that people leave you would be like quite a few other people; being hard aground and waiting for the tide to float you off.  Once sail boater was lamenting that he moved over to let a power boat pass, went hard aground in the marked channel and waited two hours for the tide to go down, another two hours for the tide to come up to where it was when he went aground and another two hours to get enough water to float him off.  Six hours down the tubes.

We went through this area at 2.5 knots, carefully zig-zagging our way through the channel looking for the deepest water.  The Corp of Engineers state that they do not have money in the budget to fix the problem so things will stay like they are.  In theory the depth of the Intracoastal in this area is supposed to be 12′ above MLLW.  Right now it is 5′ and not even in the marked channel.  I guess not too many Congressmen have any use for this channel.  We did get passed by about a 40′ power boat just as we got north of the problem spot while he was running wide open.  By the look of the rooster tail he had we figured he had one of those new fancy jet drive boats.  He went by so fast throwing so much water that we weren’t able to read the name on his transom.  Fortunately he didn’t come across us 10 minutes prior when we were busy hunting for a way past the shallowest spots.

As we approached Jeremy Creek, the location of Leland Oil we were hailed on the VHF by two boats heading south warning us about shallow water ahead.  Again we slowed down to make sure that we wouldn’t have any issues but now we were on a rising tide so if we ran aground it wouldn’t be too much of an inconvenience.

This marina is more of a dock than a marina; you wouldn’t want to use their laundry facilities and I understand the showers are nothing to write home about.  The floating concrete docks are nice but the power is somewhat marginal.  Last time we were here we had some issues with a delivery crew and their big boat sucking up all the juice and tripping breakers on shore.  We appear to be the only people on board a boat tonight.  A sailboat came in after us but we don’t know if he is even on-board as the boat is dark and there is no shore power cable run.

This afternoon we went for a little walk and got the hours of the the seafood place near here.  Before we leave in the morning we will be getting some fresh shrimp.

We heard about this guy as we were heading north today. The USCG was asking people if they saw this boat to report on the situation. They canceled the alert before we came across him. We wonder if he meant to do this. You would think not.

This overly friendly dolphin came by to greet us as we motored into the dock. Evidently he has been hanging around here for a few years and was hoping for a fish from us.

He (she) would come right up to the boat and look right at you.

This small Chinese junk rigged craft is quite interesting. I doubt if the owner is a real sailor as there are no sail covers and those sails are taking a beating from the sun.

Liberty at the Leland Oil dock.

This must be a real southern dog. He did move a few feet to remain in the sun as it was rather cool today.

Tire swings are the norm here.

The tree in the picture above is actually over 1000 years old.

This is as far as the Mate could climb.

 

 

Dave

Well, today Dave seemed a tad stressed as we got going!!!  (No coffee was ready for me when I got up!!!!!)  There apparently was a bad cut we had to go through, of course he did fine!!!!  We got into Leland Oil Marina between one and two.  While we were coming in a dolphin greeted us.  It was very tame and must of stayed with us for ten minutes.  It seemed to look right at us!!  I think he was looking for some food!!!

We took a little walk once we got in and checked out the area.  We took a walk where the fresh seafood store is and we plan on taking a walk over there and get a few things early tomorrow morning before we leave.

I’m really looking forward to the next few days.  Tomorrow Bicky and Dave are coming for dinner and spending the night.  We always have a great time with our Lord Nelson Tug buddies!!!!!  The next day we will be spending time with our aunt and uncle, Dick and Marlene.   We had a great time in the fall and we are really looking forward to seeing them again.

Tonight we talked with Dave’s brother, Todd, and Todd’s wife Nancy.  Today is Todd’s birthday!!!!  We hope you had a great day today Todd!!!!  We’ll see you guys this summer!!!!  We love you!

Bobbi

 

Charleston, SC. Northbound this time

Last time we were here we stayed four days due to weather (wind and cold).  They had a record low of 27 degrees back in November during out stay and this evening it is supposed to drop to 40 degrees.  It was only  a 31 mile day but felt longer   We only obtained a 7 knot plus speed for 1/2 hour today, most of the day it was bucking a head current and were only seeing speeds over the ground in the low 5 knot range.  The worst was in Elliot Cut where we missed the end of slack water by 15 minutes and ended up motoring through this fairly short area at 4.1 knots meaning the current was running at almost 3 knots just shortly after the tide turned.

We had a nice dinner at cousin Jennifer and Jeff’s house this evening with their two children.  Hopefully we will see them again this summer as they plan to be in Erie during the second half of July.  On the way back to the boat we stopped at Trader Joe’s for some essentials, stocking up on some of their wine of course.

There is a plan for the next few days, tomorrow the stop is at the Leland Oil Company Marina in McClellanville, SC , Monday at the Georgetown Harborwalk Marina, SC and Tuesday and Wednesday at Lightkeeper’s Marina in Little River, SC.

While there is an anchorage across from the Leland Oil place, temperatures are supposed to be in the 40’s at night again so power would be nice.  Besides there is a fresh seafood store right there.  We have never been into Georgetown and the marina is right downtown so that warrents a stop and visit.  We stopped at Lightkeepers on our way south when we visited Uncle Dick and Aunt Marlene and will be doing the same again.  Actually distances are also dictating these stops.  If we skip Leland we can make Georgetown but won’t get in until after 5 pm as it is around a 10 hour run.  We want to spend a little time here and after 10 hours on the water we aren’t inclined to do to much exploring.  Arriving early afternoon we can walk the town.

From Georgetown to Lightkeepers is also a 10 hour day but staying two nights will give us a day to visit with our relatives.  That will be five marina days in a row, but on our way south we did eight marina days in a row and survived.

Our anchoring dance last night. Reversing tides and varying winds have an influence on the boats location and orientation. At 2 AM one of us were awakened by the anchor chain dragging over the forefoot of the boat as it swung around.  We slept fairly well however.

An early morning picture as we we getting prepared to leave the anchorage.

 

Dave

 

Well, last night we were at anchor and all went well.  There wasn’t much wind so there wasn’t much rocking around last night!

We got into Charleston around one o’clock this afternoon and  Jennifer (Dave’s cousin) picked us up for dinner around four.  We had a great time with Jennifer, Jeff, Lauren and Logan.  Jennifer and Jeff have two great kids!!!  Thanks for a great night!!!

Tomorrow we head a little farther north and as we head north the temperature sure is getting cooler!!!!

Bobbi

Toogoodoo Creek Anchorage

Forty two miles after leaving Port Royal Landing Marina we dropped anchor in the Toogoodoo Creek, about one-half mile from where we anchored on our way south in November.  It was an uneventful trip up, the only concern being water depth in the Ashepoo Coosaw Cutoff where we never saw less than 9′ of water, two hours after low tide.

While the day started out with a promise of warm weather and sun, it quickly clouded over and remained cool.  We hated to stop at 2 PM but given the wind forecast of NW winds this evening, there didn’t appear to be any real good anchorages with shelter from the NW for the next dozen miles.  We hoped to anchor in a particular spot at a bend in the creek but a Krogen 42 (trawler) beat us to that spot.  Being a good neighbor we anchored a discrete distance away, slightly more exposed as it was further around the bend, but at least it was in fairly shallow water (12′ under the keel with a maximum of an 8′ drop in water).   Of course some large catamaran came in and anchored between us and then a sailboat anchored at the end of the line although there was about 25′ of water there which is why we passed that spot.

It is about 30 miles to Charleston which makes for an easy run tomorrow.  We will stay at the same marina where we holed up for four days due to weather in the fall, but this time we are only staying overnight.  It looks like we will be eating dinner at cousin Jennifer’s tomorrow evening.

Tonight’s anchorage.  It is not as big as it appears in the photo.

Dave

Almost made it to Beaufort

Actually, we did make it (in an F-150 pickup truck).  Last night on the Savannah river was a night to forget.  The drunks and their screaming after bar hours and the cargo ships (and the tugs racing up and down the river to help them) going by all night long with their wakes knocking you against the dock is enough to make you not want to stay here again.  The flotsam on the river that we dealt with earlier (including the tree) came back to haunt us like a Twilight Zone episode as the tide turned a few hours later, the same trash came by.  We could see our favorite tree coming from a long way off, with it’s distinctive Y shaped limb suspended above the water like a claw.  This time it missed the boat by a few feet as it was swept along with the current.  We were kept busy for a bit fending off large timbers as the mass continued north.  The smart money stays at the Thunderbolt Marina on the Wilmington River, a few miles out of Savannah for $1.90/ft and take a cab into town.  We obviously aren’t too smart until after the fact.

We left at 8:05 AM allowing us to ride the tide down the Savannah River until we picked up the Intracoastal at the Fields Cut.  It was now dead low tide and we crept through this region mindful of the warnings given on Active Captain but actually never saw less then eight feet under our keel by following suggestions on which side of the cut to be on depending on location.  For most of the day we were able to ride the tide making 42 miles in 5.7 hours, averaging 7.3 mph.

A few miles from our destination at Beaufort we passed the Port Royal Landing Marina and as we went by I noticed that their fuel dock had no boats on it and it was conveniently oriented with the river given the current.  I checked the Active Captain pages that list current fuel prices and this place was one of the lowest in the state so we turned around and came in for fuel and a pump out.  While this was going on, the dock attendant asked if we were staying and of course the answer was no as we were heading for the $20 mooring balls at Beaufort.  Bobbi asked the price per foot ($1.75) and what the attraction was here.  The dock guy enthusiastically listed why we should stay; free loaner vehicle, cheap on site restaurant,  all the local retail establishments etc.  Since the bird always votes with the Mate, it was decided that we would stay, especially since last evening turned out so poorly.

In the end it cost us $2.72/gallon for fuel and $71 for dockage including electric.  They tried to get us to stay another night because if you pay for two nights you stay a third night free.  We will remember this for the fall but for right now we feel the need to keep working our way north towards the Chesapeake.  We did end up paying $51 more than the mooring ball, but we got the use of a vehicle for the afternoon.  We could have kept it all evening as they had nobody else that needed it and said if we got back when nobody was around to just drop the keys into a box by the office.

Since we had wheels, we drove over to Beaufort, parked a few blocks from the downtown area where there we no parking meters and walked the downtown area.  Then it was off to a shopping plaza to visit Piggly Wiggly for a few odds and ends and West Marine for some fasteners and a cover plate.  Dinner was at the little place at the marina that served cheap bar food.  The left overs that we were going to eat tonight will have to wait for tomorrow night when we are at anchor.

The sun finally came out for a few hours today while crossing Port Royal Sound.

The mooring field in Beaufort that we didn’t stay at. They did have a few moorings available.

Port Royal Marina. You can just barely see the top of our mast at the far end of the dock to the right. The staff use a golf cart to get around.

Dave

Savannah, GA

We wanted to make Savannah by early afternoon so we would have time to see the town which had us leaving the dock at 0810 this morning.  The fog on the river was fairly thick and the exit from the marina requires some tight turns through closely spaced buoys as well as going over land if you believe the charts.  Since we had an accurate trail on the plot charter from when we came in, it was a simple matter of following the bread crumb trail back out.

The rest of the run to the Savannah river was uneventful.   Some dolphins decided they wanted to swim off our bow which we always enjoy watching.   We did meet on large (910 feet) container ship and a smaller 450 foot freighter on the Savannah river which we gave a wide berth.  The Savannah City Docks for recreational boaters is a nice 750 foot floating dock.  The rules are: first come, first served (no reservations).   After you dock you call a posted number to check in then go to the parking garage to pay the $1.5/foot fee.

What we found when we got here was that the Nina and Pinta “replicas” (one is smaller than the original, and one is larger than the original) were docked at the recreational docks and were busy giving tours (at $8/head).  There was enough room behind the Pinta for us so we pulled in and tied up.  We then proceeded to call the number to check in and got a recording that the City Docks were closed from March 23 through April 2, we presume so that the Nina and Pinta could be there.  It is really nice to find out you can’t dock someplace until you have tied up and called to check in.  We found out they also closed the City Dock around St. Patrick’s day, probably for the obvious reason.

On our way in we saw a LNVT (Lord Nelson Victory Tug)  tied up south of the City Docks where the sign said Private Dock.  We walked over to their boat and introduced ourselves, asking if they knew Dave and Bicki Howell (of course they did), and asked how they managed to tie up on a private dock.  They called over the guy who evidently is in charge of the dock and he would gladly let us stay for $2.75/ft.  Well, any port in a storm as they say.  We proceeded to move Liberty to her newly assigned spot, paid our fee and the guy then introduced us to one of the Tour Bus operators here who gave us a discount rate on a 90 minute tour of downtown Savannah.  We locked up the boat, grabbing a few pretzel rods to tide us over as we hadn’t eaten lunch and climbed aboard the trolley for our tour.  Like most tours, there was some schmaltz involved, characters in period costumes jumping aboard at different stops to tell a “story” and convince you that you might want to eat here or go for a ghost tour or some such thing.

After the tour we went to Joe’s Crab Shack for our late lunch/early dinner and then Bobbi went to visit some of the shops and Dave checked out the back of his eye lids for a few minutes.  We walked down to Fram, the LNVT docked ahead of us to properly introduce ourselves to Roger and Martha.  They were interested in Liberty so they came over for a quick boat tour before they headed off to dinner with friends.

A dolphin in the coffee colored water swimming in front of the bow.

 

I am sure we saw and posted a picture of  this guy on our way south, somebody who is still fighting the civil war.

Somebody at the Savannah Yacht Club has class.

Savannah is supposedly the fourth largest port in the US. When they are done dredging here they expect to move up to number three.

 

We fit in here nicely, that is until we found out that the dock was closed to us common people.

They have twenty four parks in the city.

Forrest Gump came aboard the trolley to give a little talk. In the movie, Forrest sits on a bench at the Chippewa Square in Savannah for 80% of the movie.

The Pirates House (c. 1753), supposedly where pirates congregated.

The LNVT Fram, docked ahead of us. A containership went by a while ago and thank goodness for the large ball fenders we have. I thought the boat bouncing off the dock from the wake was going to pop those fenders. The amount of junk coming down the river is incredible. I had to dig out a 12 foot Y shaped tree that was about a foot in diameter that was caught between the boat and the dock.

Dave

Well, we left Delegal Marina this morning.  It was a great little marina.  The manager of the dock, Billie, was just amazing.  It was a pleasure to meet such a dedicated person.  Billie was always busy keeping the marina very neat but always had time to help boaters out.  I think Billie needs a big raise!!!!!

Today we made it to Savannah even though we started out with an awful lot of fog.  (I even asked the old captain if he thought we should turn around!!!)

We took a tour of the city in a trolley.  It was a great way to see the city and get some history. After having dinner I took a walk along the river and visited several shops.  Our trolley driver told us about the book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, (the setting being in Savannah).  I found the movie version in one of the shops.  I guess that will be our entertainment for tonight!

We’ll be heading for Beaufort tomorrow and the plan is to be on a mooring ball.  I have had my fair share of problems trying to grab a mooring ball.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better!!!!!

Bobbi

 

Delegal Marina, Day Two

We were able to sleep in this morning and had our coffee in our stateroom while the Skipper perused the Internet and the Mate checked out Facebook.  We have long wanted an anemometer on the boat, but really want to know true wind and direction, not just apparent.  True and apparent are only the same if the boat is not in motion.   We have balked at spending over $1k for such a device but were thinking it might be about time to loosen up those purse strings and get what we want.  On our prior trawler we had the poor mans version from Raymarine that only gave us apparent direction and speed so we have always discounted that device.  Well, it turns out that the latest version of that unit actually will interface with all the other fancy Raymarine gear that we already have allowing it to compute and display true wind speed and direction.  It is certainly not as accurate as the ones used on sailboats but we are not a sailboat.  So, for 1/2 boat buck ($500) we can have a complete setup including a hinged extension pole to mount the unit on so we don’t need to mount it on the masthead.  That is important as we sometimes go for weeks with the mast down in places like the Erie Canal.

Today was also laundry day (three loads) and organize/clean the boat day for the Mate while it was scrub the deck and route planning day for the Skipper.  We think that we have the next four days sort of mapped out, given the tide issues in some of the narrow and shallow cuts.  After those chores it was TV time for the Mate and the Skipper went back to his Backgammon game.  After being able to beat up the computer at the Medium skill level we decided to progress directly to the expert level.  Needless to say, in three sets the Skipper never even won one game at that setting.  A few were close, coming down to the last roll of the dice, but “no dice”.  I really don’t understand how the computer is playing any smarter than it was at the medium skill level but it does.

Since the weather is still overcast and cool with just a bit of mist in the air now and then, dinner was spaghetti with sausage that was simmering in the crock pot all day.   We took a nice walk after dinner along one of the “trails” along the waters edge that pass by a lot of the waterfront homes.  According to Wikipidia, ” It is one of the most affluent communities in the United States. The island is well known for its waterfront properties and golf courses within The Landings, one of the largest gated communities in the country.”  That explains a lot of what we have been observing here.  I doubt we will be moving in any time soon.  Billy the dock master mentioned that he could get us into one of the clubs for dinner if we wanted but since they have a dress code (we do have dress clothes aboard the boat if any body wants to invite us to some fancy doings) and the dinners probably aren’t inexpensive so we opt to “invest” our money in inexpensive wine and eat most dinners on the boat.

Liberty at the marina. It is still quiet around here with a lot of empty slips being early spring.

Marina at Delegal Creek

Part of the forty miles of paths in this community. They must have some pretty tight rules about what you can and can’t do. We never see any dogs running loose, ever.

Dave

Bobbi says we are off to Savannah tomorrow !!!

Delegal Creek Marina, Skidaway Island

Last night was one long night.  The character who chose the anchorage should lose his anchorage selecting license.  While the  location appeared to be marginally OK based on the wind forecast it turns out the forecast was wrong making the anchorage miserable to put it mildly.  Winds were supposed to be 5 to 10 from the NE.  Winds were more than that as the evening wore on (when it is too late to go hunting for another place to anchor).  When the tide turns, the boat naturally will swing 180 degrees to point in the opposite direction.  Wind velocity and direction also influence the boat and a lot of times the boat will take a long time to swing around, meaning it might be beam to the wind and waves for a while.  A few hours after we turned in we were rolling terribly requiring one of the ships company to get up multiple times to secure loose items in cabinets, take down pictures off bulkheads that were banging around and hoist blinds to keep them from slamming around.  We also need to check out the chart plotter to make sure we are still on station and haven’t dragged our anchor.

Before daybreak it was obvious that the wind was up in the 20 knot plus range and with a three mile fetch upwind the waves had the chance to become good sized.  With the boat pitching in the wind and waves, as soon as we had enough light to see we decided to get under way.  Weighing anchor ended up being more interesting than necessary.  With the boat pitching in the waves and being acted upon by wind and lots of current getting the anchor housed turned into a lot of work.  Using the engine to unload the anchor rode while the boat yaws back and forth still puts a strain in the windlass as it simply is not possible to keep all the load off the rode.  With three quarters of the rode aboard the windlass stops working requiring the rest to be brought in manually using a lever to ratchet in a few links at a time.  We use our communication headsets in these situations as there needs to be constant communication between the skipper in the bow and the mate at the controls.  Eventually the anchor comes aboard and we are on our way.

Since we didn’t want to get to Hell Gate, a fairly short but narrow passage, until high tide (tidal range being about 8′ here) we needed to kill some time.  Seven miles from Hell Gate we found a nice creek to temporarily anchor while we waited for the tide.   We took this opportunity to finally have a nice breakfast and look at the windlass.  The anchor issue turned out to be a tripped breaker in the forepeak meaning we were pretty much over loading the motor for an extended period of time.  At least the fix was easy as we just needed to reset the breaker.  We were concerned that the windlass motor problem had resurfaced and we are still a long way from home and really need a functioning windlass.

By noon we were tied up at the Delegal Marina.  Billy, the dockmaster, remembered us from when we stopped here in November and made us feel at home.  While it really didn’t rain a light mist fell the entire day making it feel cooler than the 57 degree high temperatures.   Tomorrow is supposed to be slightly warmer but still windy with the marine forecast calling for winds to 30 knots (again).  Obviously we are staying put.

We used the marina’s golf cart and headed off to the town square that is three miles away for a late lunch and to go to the recently opened Publix for groceries and wine.  There are golf cart paths the entire distance as this island is really a large gated community.  The economy must be improving as we saw lots of new residential construction.  The town center has seven banks and only one bar and grill.  Most people eat at the “clubs”.  There are 40 miles of trails here, six golf courses, and three tennis centers with 34 courts.  The average age of most people around here is well, lets say older than us.

Bobbi finally got to wear the jacket she bought in the Keys. Today we have had to wear more clothes than we have worn in months to stay warm and dry.

Dave

 

Vandyke Creek Anchorage, Mile Marker 620

Sixty two statute miles under our bottom today as we needed to be in position to arrive at Hell Gate (aptly named) at high tide tomorrow.  This location has silted in dramatically in recent years and hopefully the money Georgia got from the Federal Government for Intracoastal dredging will be used here.

It took pretty much nine hours of motoring to cover that distance, at an average of 6.8 mph (roughly 6 knots) that is generally what we figure we will average even though we are running the engine at a speed that should give us 7 knots..

The day was overcast with a few sprinkles of rain and the forecast is for us not to see any sun for four days.  This isn’t Key West weather.   Tonight’s forecast is for NE winds, 5 to 10 knots.  We selected our anchorage with that forecast in mind.  There are more protected ones around but they are real narrow and we wanted to be where there is some room to swing.  No issues with any boats in the vicinity.  As a matter of fact we only had the tow boat for BoatUS speed by us on their way to aid some boat and after we were anchored another trawler came by and disappeared into the distance.  We are out here by ourselves.

Well, guess what.  The wind is more than 10 knots and not from the NE but from the East at the moment.  The good news is that we are facing straight into the waves given the current at this time.  In a few hours the current will reverse and we will see what happens.  If the wind was actually from the NE we would be somewhat protected by a spit of land but with the tidal situation here (eight feet) even that might be underwater later affording no protection anyway.  We might roll around at anchor but we will probably pretty secure as all the water behind us is shallow.

A day late and a dollar short is our motto.  If we hadn’t been fogged in delaying our departure for a day we would be sitting at anchor in pretty much a dead calm right now.  You can’t control the weather and just deal with what you are given.  They did knock 5 mph off the wind forecast for the next few days so we shouldn’t be seeing the 25 mph winds they were calling for yesterday.  We actually are planning on spending the next two evenings at the Delegal Creek Marina starting tomorrow.  We stayed there last November and it is just on the other side of Hell Gate.   It is a nice facility in a remote area which is what we prefer.  The cost is $1/ft so we figure we can stay for two nights for the same price we usually pay for one night.  This will also situate us be able to go through Elba Island Cut (another problematic region) to get to the Savannah River at high tide when we leave.  We need to grocery shop and do laundry.  The Mate purchased a quart of milk yesterday for her coffee and it turned out to be spoiled when it was opened today.  Obviously we need to keep some irradiated milk on board (needs no refrigeration) for such “emergencies”.

This is interesting. I happened to pick on a location of a saved track that was recorded back in November and darned if we weren’t passing by this exact location at the same time of day, almost to the minute.

This is dead slow, bucking a foul current at 3.74 knots when we should be doing 7 knots in flat water.

A ocean sea buoy that obviously doesn’t have a home anymore. We wont’ know if it can float as high tide isn’t until 11 PM this evening.

 

We received an email from our Canadian buddies, Dale and Sylvia on their Gozzard 36.  They finally made it to the Bahamas and hopefully it will be worth the effort and expense for them.  They hope to visit us in Erie this summer (not with their boat) and we will get the scoop then.

Dave