Sail Away

We were off the dock before 8 am and motoring away from Beaufort, SC. We hoisted a sail in front of Camp Lejune and sailed out of Port Royal Sound. Since the wind was coming from the direction we were going we ended up tacking a bunch. Also because the breeze was light we motor sailed the whole day, maybe picking up an extra knot of speed with the genoa unfurled.
We didn't pull in to Savannah until almost 5:30 pm. But it was a wonderful day on the water! We had to move aside on the Savannah River several times for large barges to pass by. Where we were able to dock is right there in the historic district, primo location to walk off the boat and do the tourst thing! We streched our legs walking the length of River Street and then climbing the steep staircase to Bay Street. We poked our head into a bunch of shops. Then we had a nice super at the Cotton Exchange. I had the shrimp and grits and thoroughly enjoyed it!

We were up and out early from our anchor spot. I had been up for hours by the time we left. We divvied up the anchor watch schedule and I should have slept from 12 am until 5:30 am, as Captain Deb was doing the 3 am watch. There was significant shoaling not too far from where we set anchor and we wanted to make sure the strong tidal range did not shift us onto it. It would be a rather rude awakening to find ourselves aground and having to wait for the next tide cycle! We decided to set the alarm on the depth meter and did that for 8 ft, as the keel is almost 6 feet. Well, at 3:30 am the buzz of the alarm jolted me awake. The meter is about 1.5 feet above my bunk! I poked my head above and shined a flashlight on the gauge. But it read 21 feet?! Listening for a minute I heard the short exhalations of multiple dolphins swimming and feeding all around the boat. There was no moon at that hour, but the clear skies gleamed with amazingly bright stars. Even though it was chilly, I sat for several minutes in awe of my surroundings.
A return to sleep proved elusive. I turned off my early morning alarm before it sounded, and started brewing coffee about 6 am. I took charge of pulling up the anchor and had the same struggles getting it squeezed into the lockdown position as Debbie has been having. Ultimately it did slip into place and off we went across Sapelo Sound. We hoisted the sails as we navigated our way out the channel. The wind had finally shifted over night and was southeastern. This wind was creating "eastern swells" which turned out to be wide bumps rather than rough seas. We tossed and turned but only the cat seemed too distressed by it. We had 65 nautical miles to cover and with the sails and the motor we were only averaging 5.5 knots. Debbie spent time teaching me about navigation, both paper and GPS. We plotted our waypoints to ensure deep water and just pointed Ons Moe along the track line drawn by the GPS. She also taught me how to splice line and backbraid it to keep worn line from unraveling.
Sometime after lunch I was fading and told her I wanted to see if I could sleep in this bucking bronco. It did not take me long to grab a pillow and drift off into an awesome nap. I think I was down for 1.5 hours.
We pulled into out new home around 6:30 pm. All the deckhands were gone, but the slip was easy to find and we were tied off in no time. It was a great trip and we made it a day quicker than expected.

Woke up at 7 am. Slept so very soundly after the long day! Being firmly tied to dock means no anchor watches, so I felt like I closed my eyes at 10 pm and opened them a minute later only to find 9 hours had gone by! Feel wonderfully rested, but very disoriented. It's pitch black at 7 am?! We had no clue it was that daylight savings Sunday. Luckily the phones and iPad automatically adjust.
We had many chores to do this morning and Captain Debbie jumped right to it, while I lazed around for a bit daydreaming of a bike ride, round of golf, and walk on driftwood beach...all fond memories of our month on Jekyll. Deb pumped almost 40 gallons of diesel, took care of the pump out, and started filling the water tank. I finally dug out the vacuum and took care of some cat hair. We then prepped Ons Moe for some ocean sailing. Hung the radar reflector, took off the main sail cover and rigged the halyard. Tightened the davits and secured the dinghy as tight as possible. Checked all lines, rigging and portholes, secured everything and anything that could be thrown around down below. Also topped the fluids off on Perky again.
It was 12:30 pm when we were finally pulling away from the marina. And my wallet was $275 lighter after the fuel, dockage, and a map. Good news is, it will be light out until almost 8 pm!
We motored up Jekyll Creek and turned into St. Simons Sound. We headed out the major shipping channel. But the swells grew and the wind was still all wrong. The captain convinced me it would just be a miserable day of motoring on the open ocean. So back we turned onto the ICW and cut up behind SSI. Unfortunately, once we crossed the sound we were running against the ebbing tide. So 4.5 knots was the snails pace we traveled for most of the day. We unfurled the genoa (bigger foresail than a jib, it rolls out from the spindle it stays on...so you can't properly call it hoisting) for a brief stretch when we weren't headed directly into the wind. It helped us climb to 5.8 knots for a little over one mile. I always love the look and the feel though of being under sail. Far more beautiful though is when the winds and your trip coincide and the engine can be silenced in exchange for full sail power.
It was 6 pm before we were running with the tide and saw 7 and 8 knots of speed. Then we were blowing by the last designated anchorages, but refusing to stop before the sun went down! We are thinking we can make it to HHI tomorrow, a day ahead of schedule, if we just take what the water and day gives us. Just as we passed Creighton Island and pulled into the sound, the sun dove and twilight descended. We found this spot with lots of swing room and 16 feet of water. We set our anchor alarm and agreed to a 2 hour watch schedule.
The photo was not from today. I forget to mention last week was our one and only manatee sighting. This lone one was floating along in Cocoa Village Marina, just one dock over. Thought it was cool with the boat it was behind.

We casted off from the day dock around 6 am as the first launch was being dropped in. It was a beautiful sunrise as we motored away. We rode the tide and ran 7 and 8 knots making way much faster than planned. Perky was purring along happily after having gotten fluids last night and a good rest.
We reached our original destination, Fernandina Beach just before 2 pm and decided to just keep going. We new the extra 40 nautical miles would put us close to sundown. We finally got to hoist a sail as we cut across St. Andrew's Sound, but that was 6 pm and the sun was going down quick. Luckily there was space for us on the outside dock and we pulled in right before dusk ended.
It felt a little like arriving home. As the band was playing at Sea Jays and the live aboards were all gathered around the campfire. Captain Deb and I were completely exhausted and mustered only enough energy to make use of the hot showers. We were so tired we didn't even feel hungry, but she whipped us up a dinner of mushroom raviolis, chicken and pesto sauce. Once we started eating we realized how very hungry we were! More than a 12 hour day but we covered 82 Statute miles.

Captain Debbie and I were both awake at 6 am this morning committed to being through the two drawbridges before the rush hour closures. We pulled anchor just as the sun was coming up and motored through the bridges behind two other sailboats with the same determination. It was a glorious beginning to our day with mild temperatures and schools of dolphins frolicking along with us as the reddish sun rose over Daytona Beach.
Two hours up the ICW we heard the chatter on the VHF radio between our two lead boats. The next drawbridge was partially blocked by a barge and undergoing major construction, the bridge master had told them it could be a two hour delay before the next opening. As we rounded the corner we saw the bridge start to raise and realized we might have fallen a little too far behind to go through the same opening. I revved our engine and closed the gap while hailing the bridge on the radio. We squeaked through, but so did the two trawlers behind us! There seemed to be no more than 3 feet of clearance on either side of Ons Moe, as the barge was blocking at least half of the channel. In the midst of all this racing and squeezing the engine overheat alarm began. We pulled to the side of the narrow channel, let the other boats pass and then limped along for an hour or two not finding any good place to stop and cool Perky. We took turns going below to check on coolant overflow, to make sure the raw water intake was not obstructed, to open the engine housing and set up a fan to cool it. Luckily Deb was able to figure out how to disconnect the alarm. The incessant buzzing was was a firm signal to pull over, and since we couldn't really do that it was destined to drive us batty. I felt horrible that I had run Perky too hard and created this mess. Live and learn the hard lessons!
We eventually became comfortable that our engine was running well enough to continue on and brought old Perky back up to cruising speed. We lucked out just making it through the 2:30 pm opening of the Bridge of Lions in the heart of St. Augustine. We motored through right behind this replica pirate ship named Black Raven. It was a close call whether we would make that, or have to wait 30 minutes, but we did not push the engine this time. We were treated by cannon fire from the Castillo de San Marcos right after, and it seemed that much cooler occurring as we passed the pirate ship. At first we both did a double take unsure whether it was the ship firing on us, rather than the ancient fort!
I called my cousin Jack to let him know we were passing through. He greeted us again at the day dock around the corner from his house. We tied up there and headed over to his place to wait for Inge. They are wonderful people and insisted on taking us to dinner. We went just up the road to Caps on the Water and sat on the deck watching another beautiful sunset. The food was delicious, the service excellent, the company great, and the view spectacular. Once they lit the propane heater we all were in a state of bliss. The place reminded me greatly of the Old Fort Pub; looking out across the river as the sunset with live oaks dripping Spanish moss gracefully softening our vantage point.
After that it was right back to the boat for an hour of chores. We found the coolant level was low and topped that off. We mopped up some overflowed diesel in the bilge, cleaned out the raw water intake, and took out the trash. Then we started Perky again and she purred to life with no alarms and no tricky green light! We are staying right here for the night, tied off to this dock.

There was definitely a little nip in the air when we shoved off from Cocoa Village Marina this morning at 8:15 am. A slightly later than planned departure, but we still covered 68 miles before stopping to anchor just short of the Main Street drawbridge that is closed for rush hour. We should be the first boat in line in the morning, as we lay about 200 yards south of it.
It was a beautiful and uneventful day on the water. Captain Debbie is reluctantly approaching her 60th birthday and has had a fascinating life. It's been fun hanging out with someone else who grew up in Massachusetts...we are having a "wicked awesome time" as they say. Her accent has some strong Maine influence as she spent summers and owns a camp quite close to my alma mater. She got divorced, sold her house and bought a 50' sailboat at age 30 and proceeded to raise her three children aboard it.
We definitely were missing Anne, for many reasons, but definitely for her cooking! In fact she did not even come to the grocery store with us, so today we discovered a few small things that we didn't think to pick up. Like lettuce or an avocado for the sandwiches we plan to make. I fixed us chicked salad sandwiches for lunch. And we double teamed supper with a stirfry chicken teriyaki and reheating Anne's leftover Mango yellow curry. We ate in the cockpit while watching a beautiful sunset.