We were finally ready and it looked like we had a good weather window after running up to Maryland for a few days. The boat was ready. Diana had done all the provisioning and we moved the last of our gear on board. Monday night the 18th, we had a few friends over for a glass of wine and goodbyes to everyone, slept on the boat prepared for an early departure. So Tuesday morning we set off, first the ICW track south to the Bay River, up the Neuse past Oriental and anchored for the night on Adams Creek ready to go offshore on Wednesday with plans to go all the way to St. Mary's, GA a total of 260 miles. Our first day out was wonderful, full sail up right out of Beaufort Inlet, blowing 15-20 for more than 8 hours as we powered along on a broad reach at times more than 8 knts. After crossing Frying Pan shoal it all changed. The wind died and although still on a broad reach we motor sailed through the night and all the next day. We passed by Charleston about 5 pm on Thursday and conditions changed again. Just as predicted the wind shifted southwest, right on our nose, never more than 3 or 4 knts and we motored the rest of Thursday night and all day Friday.
With the extent of motoring we used up a great deal of fuel and St. Mary's, our destination, has no easy access to refuel. Fernandina, FL a stop we enjoy making was severely damaged by Hurricane Mathew and closed in 2018. Due to a lot of political in fighting and lack of commitment the repairs have been continually delayed and still the marina and its fuel dock remain closed. We made good time moving south and decided to go into St Simon Sound, the inlet at Brunswick, GA about 20 miles north of St Mary's. Brunswick has a long run in, and we have never stopped here so it seemed a good new adventure. Brunswick has a large marina, which unlike a lot of the marinas seems to cater more to sailboats, we were able to fuel and decided to take a slip for a couple days to wait out bad weather forecast for Saturday.
The entrance to St Simons has a recent morbid past. On September 8, 2019 part of the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian the 656 ft Cargo Freighter Golden Ray capsized between St Simon's Island to the north and Jekyll Island to the south and 4 crew lost their lives. The freighter was loaded with cars from South Korea. The giant freighter remains, lying on its side, just at the edge of the shipping channel. Local information indicates that they plan to cut the freighter into pieces. As we passed by the wreckage it was surrounded by barge cranes, security patrols and curious boaters out for an afternoon watching the dismantling. The automobile cargo appear to all be gone, sunk or unloaded, it's giant propeller sticking high out of the water, one of the last reminders that this giant powerful freighter fell subject to the sea and extreme weather.

It has been a very eventful summer, so much so that I haven't even looked at this blog and just realized that I never even finished it from last season ! Well suffice it to say, we made it out of Charleston, sailed home to Morehead City, anchoring for the night at Cape Lookout, next day an easy run to River Dunes on the Neuse, got fuel, a pump out and a nice dinner with a slip for the night. Then a final run home to the Plantation on the Pamlico River at Washington, NC.
So ends last year, now after many questions, deliberations, health issues, and way too much work necessary on the boat, here it is October and we are scrambling to get ready to head south again for another winter cruise.
Where to start ? Our first task has been to get the boat ready, something we needed to do regardless of a decision to sail south again this winter or not. The generator was locked up with a seized bearing just before we left the Bahamas in April. The loss of the generator wasn't that major an issue, but we had to have it running in order to use the water maker, so we also lost the ability to make water. After pulling the generator out we were told it could be repaired, but they couldn't guarantee how long it would last because of some prior damage only evident with it out of the boat. Our decision was to replace it with a new generator, rebuild and sell the old Fischer-Panda. The generator is still not actually in the boat! But we are getting close....
Our refrigerator had been giving us trouble all last year, it worked on 110v, but not on 12v so it was time for a replacement. We researched, measured, looked at different models. Diana wanted a drawer refrigerator rather than a door and ideally we tried to see if a double drawer refrigerator would fit, of course it was too big so we ended up with a single drawer with a small freezer compartment, It was delivered last week and also not actually in the boat yet !
There were a lot of small fiberglass cracks, and one of the aft pulpit posts had broken loose, more work on the boat, and "most" of that is actually done !
Then there is our starboard handrail on the deck that was dented two years ago when the radar came off the mast in heavy seas and hit the rail, denting it and causing a continual leak that I had secured with a lot of silicone. We got lucky and Catalina actually had one so it is on order, but again, not actually on the boat yet !
Along comes Dorian, strip everything off the boat, get ready for a hurricane, and send our canvas in for some repairs and a zipper replacement, also not yet back and on the boat !
Of course, I won't even begin on the dozen or so little things that needed repairs, some of which are still not done!
Any of this sound familiar ? It is how the summer has gone, but it hadn't been desperate until the last couple weeks because until then I thought we might have to cancel this winter's cruise. Because of a prior cancer 4 years ago, every year my Oncologist does a Pet scan to establish if there has been any change of concern.... this year one blip shows up and after an initial consult, I'm told to schedule surgery in October. Then, more anxiety, and Diana falls and breaks her wrist, so we are both thinking...it doesn't look good for the winter. She is in a cast, I'm researching everything I can find about a process called EMR developed at MD Anderson in Houston that handles my problem internally without major surgery. I'm insistent, no surgery and my Oncologist suggests a 2nd opinion and we found a Gastroenterologist that is EMR trained, grab the opportunity, explain what we are looking for, and she says "if I can get it out I'm going to do it today".... great doc, just what I wanted, one morning under anesthesia, in exchange for open surgery with lots of complications and a 6 months recovery time, I'll take that one every time !!! A couple hours later in recovery the doctor hands me the report, all removed, got it out and sent to pathology, we will know in a couple days. Pathology report back, benign and it felt like a rebirth, I got my life back !
That was about 3 weeks ago, the same afternoon, we started making plans to sail again for the winter, and oh yes, pushing getting the boat ready. Diana is out of the cast and working with the physical therapist to get motion and full use of her hand back, its not there yet, but we can see progress. She says it's all good to go, as long as I don't mind her waking me up on long passages when there is something she can't fully accomplish with her limited use of the right hand.... I'll take that exchange anytime!
So we are getting ready, planning to leave NC in early November. Already talking to friends about where we can meet up with plans to head south in the Exumas, go again to Cat and Long Island, a run to the Dry Tortugas and spend at least some part of March in Key West.
What's the old saying, "When life sends you lemons, make lemonade", sometimes life's mysteries keep us making lemonade daily, and every once in awhile it has the sweetest taste ! See you all on the water....

We arrived Charleston at high tide on the 18th, about 8 AM. It was a quiet lovely trip north from St. Marys. Roughly 130 miles for an overnight, but the winds were constant the entire distance at 10 knts so we motor sailed with low rpm never dropping below 6 knts. The seas were smooth and it was a peaceful, calm night passage with a near full moon.
On arrival we motored into the harbor, directly for the City Marina Megadock where we filled our fuel tank. Then proceeded on to Cooper River Marina, just north of downtown, our regular stop in Charleston. We arrived without event, tied up and immediately both of us took a long afternoon nap.
Chris Parker, our weather guru has forecast a severe weather front moving all along the east coast Friday and Saturday. He is projecting 40 knt winds and squalls to 50, so we planned to stay at the marina thru at least Sunday, hide from the storm and leave when the weather improves to make the last big jump north to North Carolina.
Everyone at the marina is checking lines, doubling up and checking fenders as the winds before the front increase to 20-30 knts. Being on the river with a current, some of the boats here are hobby horsing wildly. We are tied up and secure, the highest winds out of the south and we are partially blocked by a large Tayana tied up directly behind us. The edge of the front just about to hit us as I write this entry.

If you follow our blog, you know that we like St. Marys, GA and usually stop there moving south in the fall, usually for Thanksgiving, and again in the spring moving north, returning to NC. It's one of our favorite spots along the southern coast and we enjoy the lovely waterfront and tranquil marshes surrounding the anchorage. St. Marys is also one of the widest, deepest and best marked inlets along the coast so we find it easy to get into and safe even entering late at night. Next to Kings Bay Submarine Base, the only concern is if a submarine and its destroyer accompaniment is going in or out the inlet at the same time.
From Ft Pierce to St. Marys we have to go around Cape Canaveral which juts out to sea about half way between the two. It just happened that our passage date was the same day as the SpaceX launch. We knew it was scheduled after a postponement the day prior and thought we might get to see it. After getting underway I called the Jacksonville Coast Guard office to check on restrictions passing by the Cape with the launch scheduled. I was told that the Coast Guard sets up a "security zone" beginning at 4:30 pm. We would not be allowed to continue north after that time, but if we got through by then we would be ok. There would be a number of Coast Guard boats in the area and we could ask for permission to proceed through. The launch was scheduled for around 6:30 and we didn't want to be stuck for hours unable to continue around Cape, so we had all sails up and pushed the motor up to maximum cruising speed to try to make it through. We arrived at the start of the security area around 3:30 pm and decided to just keep going. The area is more than 20 miles long, and we wouldn't make it through before the security deadline, but figured we could be beyond the launch site and they would let us continue.
Still motor sailing as fast as possible, at about 5pm a Coast Guard pursuit boat pulled up behind us, one short horn blast and he pulled along on our starboard side. A seaman came out and we had a long conversation, mostly questions about our intention, destination, how many on board and did we know there was a launch. I told him I had talked to the office that morning and that we thought we would be out of the security zone before the launch. He seemed impressed that I had actually inquired about the restrictions. he went back in, while checking with command, the helmsman told me they were deciding what to do with us. The seaman came back out, asked our speed, went back in, and then came out again. We were told to maintain our course and speed and we could continue. We should be about out of the security area by the launch time. Thanks all around, and we continued. We saw more Coast Guard patrols but none came near us, obviously told that we had been given permission to proceed.
So now the full story. We actually thought we were out of the launch area shortly after the Coast Guard stopped us. There was still some 5-8 miles ahead of the "designated" security zone, and we had no idea that the launch happened near the end of the security area. A location on the charts, well north of Canaveral called "False Cape" . It appears like a second launch area and that is where we found the SpaceX pad ready. We were offshore about 3-5 miles when the time came and we saw the gantry pull away, the rockets fire and the liftoff. As the rocket lifted, clouds of smoke billowing all around the pad and the rocket rising, to our amazement it seemed to be heading directly over the top of us. There was noise all around of the firing of the boosters and it passed over the top of our bimini and out to sea. The sound as it broke through the sound barrier a loud blast and we started wondering if parts of the boosters could fall on us ! As it turned out, we discovered probably the most amazing part of the launch. Two of the boosters actually landed back on land at Canaveral, and the third 500 miles out to sea on a platform.

It was an amazing short time on a long journey, and we continued on through the night, and early the next morning arriving at St Marys to anchor, still with the wonder of seeing the rocket take off on a very successful launch.

St. Marys was just a little less exciting after watching a rocket launch. The winds were building and we stayed on the boat the first day. On going into town after a couple of days on-board, we arranged to rent a car for a day. Have breakfast in town, go to a Publix for groceries, drive to Fernandina for lunch at "Down Under" and get diesel fuel in jerry jugs to reassure our next leg north as there is no longer any fuel available in the immediate area. This time of the year, St. Marys is not particularly crowded, only a few boats anchored but the town is busy with people taking the ferry to spend a day at Cumberland Island and all the new construction on the waterfront due to prior hurricane damage.

Next stop north is Charleston, where we can fuel up and stop at Cooper River Marina. There is a storm front projected for Friday, Saturday so we will plan to sit out a few days before making our last big jump to North Carolina.

We decided on a long overnight, leaving Rodriguez, sailing east in the Keys, around Miami and turn north to Ft Pierce, more than 200 miles. Our assumption was that we could pick up the Gulf Stream to gain some speed and make it in a little over 28 hours. We were about 10 miles out as we passed Miami, winds were about 15 knts and we were making good progress. Its a long run and through the night the winds dropped and we had to motor sail the rest of the night and the following morning. We arrived at Fort Pierce pretty exhausted, went directly for our favorite anchorage and slept all the rest of the day and night.
Upon arriving, and not having used our outboard for more than a month, on mounting it found it very sluggish and difficult to start. I opened to clean the engine and carburetor, took all the jets out and sprayed with Carbout. Unfortunately while reassembling I somehow managed to loose (the dummy dropped it into the water) a carburetor jet. Unable to find the jet, I finished reassembling. The engine started great, ran fine, but couldn't idle. The jet was just below the idle adjustment producing a rich fuel mix and high rpm. So we abandoned use of the motor, moved it back to the boat and broke out our sometimes works, Torqueedo Electric outboard.
Ft Pierce has a lot of opportunities, and the Cove, at Harbortown Marina we enjoy because we can use their dinghy dock, enjoy lunch or dinner and use it as a pick-up location for uber to get around town. We made a run to Aldi's for provisions, a quick obligatory stop at West Marine, Diana and John both had a hair cuts and a walk to CVS. Before leaving we went in for fuel. The day before we left Bryan and Jeanine pulled in to the anchorage on Audrey Ann and we had a last opportunity to visit with our Canadian friends before they moved their boat to winter storage at Green Cove and we departed for St. Marys, GA.

We are anchored today at Rodriguez Key, near Key Largo, taking a short break as rain, thunderstorms and high winds pass just north of us at Miami. After two days of sailing, anchoring, dinner, sleep, then repeat the process it seemed like a good opportunity to stop for a break. We plan to leave in the morning for an overnight around Miami and north to Ft. Pierce. We will go further out to sea and catch the Gulf Stream which pushes us north gaining 2-3 knots on our normal speed arriving in the morning after a 24 hr passage.
For those who feel this is a solitary process, look at the photo above. It represents all the AIS targets in the Caribbean, Gulf and Southwestern North Atlantic. AIS stands for Automatic Identification System, distributed by radio transponder on boats. The photo, sent to us by Diane Oliver at the Pamlico Plantation is amazing, clearly indicating that we are not alone out here. Even Joy is in that photo somewhere in the Florida Keys. To track us, or any other boat, download the app "FindShip" and it will locate us. At night AIS and Radar make an enormous difference and help to identify traffic as we pass nearby.