Adventuring with Aurora

Vessel Name: Aurora
Vessel Make/Model: Beneteau Oceanis
Hailing Port: Baltimore MD
29 January 2017 | Peck Lake, FL
25 January 2017 | Cape Canaveral, FL
20 January 2017 | Palm Coast, FL
20 January 2017 | Palm Coast, FL
15 January 2017 | North of St. Augustine, FL
13 January 2017 | St. John's River FL
13 January 2017 | St. John's River FL
07 December 2016 | Fernandina Beach, FL
06 December 2016 | Fernandina Beach, FL
04 December 2016 | Fernandina Beach FL
04 December 2016 | Fernandina Beach FL
04 December 2016 | Fernandina Beach FL
04 December 2016 | Fernandina Beach FL
01 December 2016 | St. Simon Sound
27 November 2016 | Savannah area, ICW
25 November 2016 | Hilton Head Is
21 November 2016 | South Carolina Low Country, mile #500
19 November 2016 | Charleston, SC
17 November 2016 | Waccamaw River SC
15 November 2016 | Calabash River, SC
Recent Blog Posts
29 January 2017 | Peck Lake, FL

Sunshine State?

We have been fortunate in fair weather, but not today! This was a socks and foul weather gear morning that improved not at all as we left Vero Beach and made our way south through fog and steady rain. By the time we dropped the anchor at 4:00 PM the accumulated salt on the cockpit surround and bird [...]

25 January 2017 | Cape Canaveral, FL

On the ICW in Florida

Blue skies and bright sun (most of the time) mean lots and lots of boats in all types and sizes here. As we head south down the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River, we are surrounded by water that is less than 5' deep, so we and most other sailboats must stick to the dredged ICW channel. Our power boating [...]

20 January 2017 | Palm Coast, FL

Farewell to St. Augustine

This morning we said goodbye to the oldest town in the country and started south down the ICW once more. St. Augustine is small and charming! With the boat tied to a mooring ball off the city marina, we took the dinghy into town for several days of strolling old streets, reading historical markers, sampling good restaurants and doing some hardcore tourist things. You just can't be there and skip the old fort, Henry Flagler's hotel-turned-college, and the sightseeing trolley! And when the sun went down, we had a perfect spot in the cockpit for wine and the view of the waterfront's holiday lights. We won't return by boat, but there are roads and an airport. . .

20 January 2017 | Palm Coast, FL

Farewell to St. Augustine

This morning we said goodbye to the oldest town in the country and started south down the ICW once more. St. Augustine is small and charming! With the boat tied to a mooring ball off the city marina, we took the dinghy into town for several days of strolling old streets, reading historical markers, sampling good restaurants and doing some hardcore tourist things. You just can't be there and skip the old fort, Henry Flagler's hotel-turned-college, and the sightseeing trolley! And when the sun went down, we had a perfect spot in the cockpit for wine and the view of the waterfront's holiday lights. We won't return by boat, but there are roads and an airport. . .

15 January 2017 | North of St. Augustine, FL

The last sailboat heading south

We spent last night at anchor next to the marshland north of St. Augustine with a southbound trawler our only company. There were plenty of small fishing boats buzzing around us during the day, but only a few sizable trawlers headed south on the ICW and not another single hull sailboat. Hello?? Hello?? [...]

13 January 2017 | St. John's River FL

Goodbye and Hello

We have returned to Florida after a warm, wonderful Holiday visit with family and friends. Santa even brought us a new grandson on the 22nd!

Thanksgiving weekend, part 2

27 November 2016 | Savannah area, ICW
Meg Conners / sunny and cool
Wednesday evening and everyone else in the USA is preparing the big meal, dashing to the store for just one more thing, visiting with friends who came in for the weekend, etc. Meanwhile we were frantically calling every marina in the Savannah area, hunting for a place to stash the boat for the weekend. Surprise! There are only four in the city: one was badly damaged in the hurricane and not yet repaired, one would take us for only one night, one never replied to my voicemail, and the fourth explained that the city had no dock space anyway because they have a big holiday parade of lighted boats that lasts all weekend and why didn't we call last month? Sigh!
Thursday morning and we were back on the phone, this time looking for dock or slip space back upstream at Hilton Head Island or Daufuskie Island. TDB just sat there in the morning light while we left message after message, begging and groveling into voicemail boxes. It was Thanksgiving morning so no one was in the office, Dummy!
Sitting and cursing TDB all weekend wasn't in the cards, so we pulled the anchor, made a U-turn, and started north. Surely there would be a marina with space for Aurora and a restaurant with turkey dinner for her crew somewhere in South Carolina! The good news is that we finally found an empty dock at a marina on HH that would let us stay after they discovered a stray boat Friday morning. Unfortunately, we ran aground on our way through a cut full of shoals on our way north and had to wait an hour and a half for a rising tide to float again, which meant that late dinner was far from a restaurant meal. The picture is of red 48A, sitting on top of Tom's favorite sandbar. Yes, we have tow insurance, but you don't think those guys were going to leave their football games to rescue us, do you? Not a chance!
There is one more crazy part to this story, but you'll have to wait for that. We hope you all had a lovely turkey day!
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