One Day on the Waterway Sure Is Different Than One Day in the Bahamas
01 April 2014 | Ogeechee River, near Savannah, Georgia
Debbie
The title of this blog post is a quote from Kevin, while cleaning out what had accumulated in the engine raw water strainer prior to our second day on the ICW this spring.
Since our previous blog post, we have put many miles northbound under Grace's keel. On Thursday, March 27th, shortly before 8:00 AM we cast off from the mooring ball at Vero Beach, Florida, and an hour later we lowered our new chain for the first time near Pine Island since the engine temp was climbing. Within thirty minutes, Kevin had disconnected the water heater from the engine, and we were underway again. Shortly thereafter a spark plug wire that had become disconnected from the distributor cap was reconnected. We were able to motorsail with the genoa until we anchored northeast of the Addison Point Bridge at 6:00 PM.
Friday another spark plug wire that had a loose connection to the distributor cap was reconnected before we hauled anchor shortly before 7:30 AM, motorsailing with the genoa for most of the passage. Trying to get a few more northerly miles behind us, at 4:45 PM we were the first of two sailboats to go aground as we attempted a first time anchoring off the waterway in a charted six foot deep area north of Daytona Beach. Fortunately, we were able to use the wind in the genoa to heel Grace over and get going again quickly. For the other sailboat it was not so. So, instead of gaining some miles that day, we actually turned around and motored a few miles back, into twenty-plus knots of wind on our nose, and shortly after 5:30 PM we anchored for our first time northeast of the Seabreeze Bridge just as a light rain shower began. The other sailboat got towed off and arrived, under their own power, to anchor next to us a while later, just as the heavier rain of the evening began.
At 7:45 AM on Saturday we raised anchor, motorsailing with the genoa for a few hours, and before Noon we were docked at Palm Coast Marina while thunderstorms and tornado warnings passed. During that time we jerry jugged gasoline and water to Grace. After the sky cleared, about 3:30 PM we were underway again. Two knots of current, more in our favor than not, and motorsailing with the genoa on and off, we were able to get north of St Augustine, anchoring just after nightfall, at 8:30 PM, avoiding two trap marker buoys, near green ICW marker 41.
Before 7:45 AM on Sunday, among more trap marker buoys than we realized, we were safely underway. The wind direction only allowed us to motorsail with the genoa every once in a while. Just south of Fernandina Beach, an hour after low tide of one foot below MLW, just as we thought we had made the corner successfully, we were aground for twelve minutes before the wind in the genoa heeled Grace over enough to get us off. Hailing Towboat US, getting response from the county sheriff's office on VHF instead, and gaining the attention of many others on VHF, another eighteen minutes passed as we circled around between floating red marker 18 and green marker 1, finally putting to use some local advice that s/v Happy Hours II had obtained while docked at a nearby marina and kindly shared with us, which we were happy to report back to them the success of and what they were planning to use in transiting that section the following morning. The day's passage concluded at 6:15 PM, anchored at Cumberland Island, Georgia, seeing many of the free-roaming horses on the island.
More horses were again spotted yesterday morning, after our departure shortly before 7:30, allowing us to transit Jekyll Creek beyond mid-tide. We got to see a wild boar as we passed by the marsh area along the north side of Little St Simons Island. Shortly before 5:30 PM we were anchored near Dolbow Island, near Altamaha Sound.
This morning's anchor raising, shortly before 8:15 AM, we planned to allow us mid-tide or better water depths through Little Mud River, early in the passage. A few short bursts of motorsailing with the genoa throughout the passage, and shortly before 5:00 PM we anchored for our first time on the Ogeechee River, within sight of Hell Gate, the next mid-tide or better spot.
During these passages we have also gotten to see manatee, roseatte spoonbills, white and brown pelicans, bald eagles, numerous dolphins, and a sea turtle.
Above: sunrise as we passed the Kennedy Space Center.