12/08/2009, Marathon, FL
Sorry again for the lapse in blog entries. We WILL catch everyone up with details, but our lack of internet connection (even when it is advertised) has stymied us on many occasions, and on other occasions, we've had only the time to check email, mail, and banking, etc.... OK, and the weather got nice, and we've become lazy. Stay tuned for updates, including:
• We watched the space shuttle launch from our anchorage
• We are almost always docked on "Troll Dock" whenever we stay in a marina...almost directly under a bridge. St. Augustine's Bridge of Lions was under construction, which made it all extra special!
• We might be getting tired of beautiful sunsets. Or maybe not.
• We CAN get through 19 bridge openings in one day!
• A 7-knot light breeze can really mess up the ocean.
• We CAN anchor in a 5-knot current...but we won't ever again.
• A 100 foot classic wooden yacht has been following us, and we think it might be the government ;-}
• Mike saved a man from drowning. He was on a boat anchored near us. Mike also saved his shoe.
• We might be getting tired of seeing dolphins swimming around and under our boat (or maybe not).
• Buttercup is having a great trip. Fugu....not so much. She lets us know frequently.
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Comments [3]
11/12/2009, Isle of Hope, SC (Savannah)
(Here's the beautiful street in front of the marina taken the following morning)
OK, we're staying another day and taking the car out for another few hours. It's still gusty, drizzly, chilly, and just plain old gloomy, so we search our list for other provisioning that we can attend to. The free courtesy car is costing us a lot of money! We are set, though, to ride out a week or so to South Florida and the more consistently warmer weather. Hope the hurricanes are over for good...certainly a wimpy season in general.
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11/11/2009, Isle of Hope, SC (Savannah)
(We're hanging with a new crowd here...notice in the picture, we're the itsy bitsy sailboat catamaran highlighted in the oval. Look at the height of our mast compared to the others (yes, it's entirely within the oval!))
We're so very glad we waited another day here at Isle of Hope. The remnants of Ida have brought constant waves of rain and wind gusts, which we could happily have endured in any of the protected anchorages in the area; however, we get a free loaner car here - and we know how to use it! We procure our folding bicycles that we had picked out a while back but were waiting for the $100 off sale. We get my prescriptions. This is a long story...but I have 2 prescriptions - nothing major - but our stupid health insurance will not let me get more than 30 days of my prescriptions, and I pay a $15 each as a copay. Walmart offers each of the prescriptions for $10 for a 90-day supply...NOT through the insurance! I save $70 a month and only need to fill the prescription 1/3 the time. Plus I only need to talk with my doctor to get an extra supply for when we're out of the country. Health insurance companies SUCK! OK...enough of that.
We also completely replenished our supply of propane, which is sometimes challenging. One time in 2007 I rode 12 miles on my bike with a propane tank stuffed in my biggest backpack. The ride back was not comfortable. Remember...our fridge and our stove runs on propane, and although we have 3 20 pound tanks, we cannot afford to ever run out.
We also did a little extra provisioning. You cannot have too many peanut m&ms.
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11/10/2009, Isle of Hope, SC (Savannah)
We take a chance. I look at the weather on broadcast TV, and it seems like we can sail until mid afternoon before the heavy wind and rain sock us in, although we expect some bands of showers to hit through the day. Our anchorage here in Port Royal is not ideal, especially with its exposure to the Southeast. We weigh anchor by 8 am and set sail, with help from Mr. Pushy, down the river to the often treacherous Port Royal Sound. The winds are still light, and we push on to the Calibogue Sound. Despite a nice ocean roll, it's reasonably calm and quickly abaft. The clouds seem to be closing in on us as we make it through the many cuts and cross the Savannah River...the whole time with a huge barge and tug at our stern which never got up the speed to pass us. We lose it as it goes up to Savannah and we head toward Thunderbolt. We had made reservations at the Isle of Hope Marina because it has a free loaner car (2 hours!) and we need to take care of a couple necessities...propane and prescriptions. We're not sure we'll make it before Ida hits. Some gusts...some sprinkles. We arrive at the marina in heavy clouds and wait for the dockmaster to shift a couple boats around. The place is packed, and with parallel docks with huge boats such that one couldn't comfortably dock past the ends. At first we though he intended us to thread through the boats to somehow squeeze into a deep spot on the quay. Phew! He's moving the boat at the end for us to take its place. No wonder a lot of the boats have multiple fenders out on their open sides! We tie up, put up the rest of our rain enclosure, and the sky lets loose! Sheets of rain and 40 knot gusts. We are SO glad to not be trying to navigate, but less dock, in these conditions. We timed this one just right.
Long day as it turned out. We'll get the car tomorrow. Papa John's delivery tonight.
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11/09/2009, Port Royal, SC
A beautiful morning in the Low Country of South Carolina, anchored in a oyster lined creek surrounded by seemingly endless marshland, with pelicans and dolphins and other creatures. We plan to move to Beaufort, SC (this one's pronounced "bee-you-fort"} on a short day to take the opportunity to check on Hurricane Ida and better plan our next few days. We take an easy roll through the cuts and on down the Beaufort River, but the wind picks up pretty firmly for the last few miles. Ladies Island Bridge opens to a Beaufort Harbor that's getting rolled from the East winds. We attempt to anchor within the crowd but realize that with the wind and the current are creating some of our most despised conditions - where the current puts us abeam of the winds and we get a constant pounding. We call the town dock, but they only have a loaner car for 1 hour...and the entire marina is getting the same pounding from the eastern exposure. We weigh anchor and move on to Port Royal, which has better protection. We anchor there with just 3 other unoccupied boats on moorings with plenty of room and protection. Another boat comes in after us, but anchors 100's of yards away. Rain bands move through, but we're comfy and secure for the evening.
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11/08/2009, Toogoodoo Creek, SC
We take a slow, easy morning in Charleston, and fill up, and pump out, and leave about midday for however long a run we feel like. There are miles and miles of marshland creeks to anchor where we please along this stretch. We take an easy day in fair weather, and find a beautiful creek, see the biggest barge we've ever seen as we near Church Flats, and anchor in Toogoodoo Creek with only one other boat, whose mast we can see over the marsh. Dolphins glide by. Very nice!
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