Nov 23 to 25

Vero Beach was a time to rest in one spot for a few days, visit the beach and do some needed maintenance.

We got together for “sundowners” twice with the Geoff, Bunky and Sharon on the boat to which we were rafted, “Party of Two” from Toronto. It is a Catana 41 and makes our boat look very small.

The picture of the ladies in the dingy is Bev, Bunky and Sharon going “trolling” in the harbour for single men for Sharon.

Sharon had an amazing story of how she and her late husband lost their boat off Cape Hatteras. They had been rolled, loosing the masts in the process. After 4 days, the Coast Guard rescued them telling them that they would tow their boat to shore. Once they were on board, however, the story changed. The Coast Guard pronounced the boat as unseaworthy and offered either to sink it or to put a strobe light on it and let it drift. Recognizing that even with a strobe, the boat would be a hazard to navigation, Sharon’s husband said that the better alternative was to sink it. Apparently it took them 900 rounds of heavy machine gun fire to sink this “unseaworthy” steel hulled vessel. Had they known what the Coast Guard was going to do, I don’t think they would have left the vessel but would have waited for calmer weather to jury rig something that would allow them to sail towards shore where they might get a commercial tow into a port.

The sunset photo was actually taken by our friends Wayne and Geraldine of Inspiration when we were all at St Mary’s. They caught up with us at Vero Beach.

Nov 22

You know, you have to have balls to take a boat with a 70+ foot mast under a 65 foot bridge and to do it regularly. This owner did have the balls to do it. By letting it all hang out, he could heel the boat over as required. I understand these things can be handy for traversing shallow spots as well.

On the 22nd, we got off to a mid morning start under spinnaker for Vero Beach, just 15 miles North of Ft Pierce. The attraction was the internationally famous sailors thanksgiving dinner feast.

We did not know the schedule, but our logic was something like:
Sailors early to bed and early to rise so dinner – probably around 4:30 or 5:00 with a get together probably around 3:30.

When we arrived shortly after noon, we should have been immediately worried because nobody was on their boats.

The get together was at 10:30 AM and the dinner was from 1:30 to 3:00 in the afternoon. At least we made it for the meal, happening to sit down by chance at the catamaran table. It was a great meal and we met some great people. It just would have been better to arrive much earlier.

On the bright side, Bev did have more luck photographing wild life.

Nov 19 to 21

Early on the 19th, we left St Augustine for Ft Pierce where we hoped to meet up with Byrne and Sharon. The weather was beautiful as were the sunrises and sunsets. The houses by the waterway were not getting especially smaller and there was interesting water life everywhere.

One morning, before Bev got up, I must have seen 100 dolphins, sometimes 4 or 5 at a time. Bev finally had some success photographing some. In one of the photos, you can see a dolphin’s back and the ripples from a few others that she had just missed.

On the 19th, we actually managed to go aground. We were given some local advice on where to anchor. Our charts showed a deep water passage, but it turned out that the deepwater passage was only about 2’ 7” deep and we draw 2’ 8” – and this was at peak high tide. By wiggling the outboard, we managed to turn the boat and to excavate a bit under the keels. Once we were afloat, we went full bore back towards the channel, bouncing several times. The important thing was that we made it. Even Tow Boat US would not have done us much good. By the time they might have arrived, the tide would almost certainly have dropped at least a few inches and we would have been stranded until the next high tide.

So, we went to the next anchorage, Sheephead Cut, no longer recommended by Skipper Bob, but viable for three boats. Someone from shore kindly started up a conversation and invited our dogs ashore for a little run. It turned out he had done some long distance cruising on a catamaran and just wanted to chat.

The next morning, as we cruised through New Smyrna Beach (just South of the Ponce de Leon Inlet), there were lots of boats anchored. This was our first plan and it would have worked well.

From New Smyrna, you pass through the Mosquito Lagoon, but we only saw “noseeums”. Actually, you feel more than see their presence.

This leads through a narrow but manatee filled cut to the Indian River. The Indian River is not really a river at all but is a long and shallow body of water running parallel to the coast. There are many bridges, mostly fixed. If you were in search of signs of civilization, you would not have to search far.

We have heard that Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center are pretty interesting, but did not stop. Instead, we pressed on.

On this date, we were able to motorsail with a beam wind of about 10 to 15 knots. We set the throttle for about 7.5 mph, but did 8 to 9.5 mph through the water. In this manner, we were able to save time and to save fuel.

We had heard of a great restaurant/bar called Conchy Joes in Telemar Bay, not far from Melbourne. Unfortunately, Conchy Joes was no longer in business. After going to a yacht club and a marina which did not sell gas, we found a marina which did – but at $4.00 per US gallon. Ouch!!!

Seeing that there was nothing to keep us in Telemar Bay, we pressed on, putting in another 10 miles and anchoring behind one of the spoils islands. In spite of the gas stop, we still managed an 80 mile day!

Sometimes misfortune turns into fortune. When I paddled the dogs ashore, I met Jimmy the fisherman. Jimmy invited Bev and I to return after dinner to join him. He had 4 fishing rods and suggested we try our luck. As it transpired, we were skunked from a fishing perspective, but we learned much about Jimmy, how he grew up in the Blue Ridge hills in Virginia, how he had been the first carpenter hired to work on the Washington Subway, his challenges in dealing with his children and his grandchildren etc. Jimmy was very charming, very down to earth and the experience offered a very interesting view into a part of the American culture.

We also learned a bit about fishing. I learned the next morning as we pulled out that after we had left to go to bed, Jimmy had caught a 3 foot redfish, so Jimmy did OK after all.

On the 21st, we again got off to an early start. This day, the wind was right on the nose, so we could not motorsail. On the way, we noticed a number of monohulls who appeared to have tried to anchor in catamaran anchorages. Oops. Oh well, eventually the tide will probably float them.

By noon, we were anchored off the Riverview Marina where Byrne and Sharon were keeping Sea Ya II. Shortly after we arrived, an old business acquaintance, David B and a member of Trident, arrived with his boat to have his air conditioning fixed. He was changing crew and was set to leave early the next morning to the Bahamas.

Wow, this was a long way to go on a boat to meet other people on boats who were also from the Ottawa area!

It was really great seeing Byrne and Sharon. Sitting on their boat, I felt that we had finally made it and that we could finally really relax. Life felt really good!

The whole crew got together for dinner at an absolutely great burger joint. I think the owner must be doing well selling beer and alcohol. The place offered karaoke entertainment. I have heard good karaoke before and this was not it. Most of the singers would drive a person to drink. I guess if you are the bar owner, this is a good thing.

Notwithstanding the singers, a good time was had by all.

Nov 16 to 18

St Augustine, Florida was great. It is an interesting mixture of the historic and the tacky tourist trap.

Some of the old dates back to the original occupation by the Spanish and includes a fort which we anchored next to but did not visit. Much dates back to before the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries and relates to Flagler’s efforts to put St Augustine on the map by building hotels, a magnificent church, a college and, of course, the railroad.

Some of the streets are beautifully lined with old oaks.

Some of the tacky includes things such as Ripley’s Believe it or Not. Note Beverley and her friend “Mikey”. He has a rather waxy complection.

It was a time to get caught up on some maintenance. Tiesha was not happy about being trimmed but she looked much better, smelled better since she no longer used her face as a mop and could actually see again.

St Augustine gave us a very high honour, turning on their festival of lights just for us. Of course, they invited many others to witness the spectacle so it was incredibly crowded.

There were people in tacky costumes such as pirates and some enticements of a more sophisticated nature such as the lady playing the harp.

You can take the grandmother away from the grandkids, but you cannot take the grandmotherly instincts out of the grandmother.

When we first arrived, the harbour was very crowded and we were probably about ½ mile from the dingy docks. After a day or so, we moved to a much closer spot.

By being at the docks, however, we were very close to the action. A bridal party paused close by for wedding photos.

The restaurants were great. We went to one that advertised the biggest and best fish and chips in town. At $14.95, it was a bit pricey, but Bev and I split one portion and it was all we could eat. I guess it was not so bad after all.

On our last afternoon, we met with Don and Wilma from the boat Agape. They knew of an interesting bar at the end of the touristy area. It must have been the seediest bar town. I loved it. Although his body was firmly rooted on earth, the singer must have been from another planet. His mind and his music seemed lost in outer (or perhaps inner) space. Oh well, each to their own!

Nov 15

A wonderful sighting of dolphins behind and in front of the boat every day now, problem is when you get close enough to take pictures they go under until the boat is gone.

The motor from St Mary’s to Augustine was pretty uneventful.

The smokestacks in the early morning dawn served to remind that the ICW was no longer meandering only through uninhabited swampland but was approaching more industrialized areas. The large houses at the side of the waterway as we approached St Augustine was also another reminder. Cant imagine what they were selling at when the condos were ranging in the 600ks . Jackie and Dianne you should be here.

We were hoping to spend a few days touring this historic city. When we anchored, it was in anticipation of a relaxing few days.
Keep reading , will update when we leave here.

Beverleys comments in Italics.

Nov 13 and 14

We planned on travelling with our friends in the trawler for the next few days. They travel at about 10 miles per hour and we travel at about 8, so it meant some pretty early starts (6:15).

Leaving the Vernon River anchorage turned out to be more challenging than planned. It was a tiny bit misty when we upped the anchor but within 30 minutes it was a “pea souper”. The first 4 miles or so were OK since the river was fairly wide and using the autopilot to steer and the computer/GPS combination, we were able to easily stay in the middle of the channel. By slowing down, I hoped to be able to avoid anything stopped in the water in front of us. I noted that this fog did not stop the sport fishing boats from whizzing by.

Unfortunately, we then had to go through a narrow cut where the channel is only about 100 feet wide. The autopilot weaves too much to be of use in such a narrow channel. Except for the computer/GPS chartplotter, there were no visual clues as to whether we were in the channel or where it was. We slowed down to about 3.5 mph and weaved a lot. Again, had we been a deep draft sailboat, we would have gone aground several times. Fortunately, this cut was only about half a mile long.

When the fog did lift, around 8:30, it was like someone hit a light switch. It went from fog to clear within about 5 minutes.

We stopped the first night at Lanier Island in the middle of nowhere, but had a good dinner party. Joanne Marie made a wonderful stir-fry in Joannes words it was a grew-some dinner, going from a frying pan to filling a crock-pot.I had made appetizer of shrimp and made a delicious salad. To top it off Joanne had made a whiskey chocolate cake. Oh to have an oven.

The next morning saw us make a pre-dawn departure again. The water was incredibly still as may be seen by the reflection of the bridge.

The dawn was spectacular. The shot of the anchored ship is a reminder that we shared some of the waters (especially inlets) with some pretty large craft.

We arrived in St Mary’s just before noon. The St Mary’s River forms the border between Georgia and Florida. St Mary is on the Georgia side. We felt that we had achieved another milestone having hit the border and probably crossing over it back and forth as we went up the St Mary’s River.

The guy at the gas dock really did not want to bother to serve us, being much more interested in going to lunch. I found this unusual.

At St Mary’s, we were reunited with Wayne and Geraldine from Intuition who gave us a dingy tow into the town dock.

The town of St Mary’s is a very boater friendly, clean and pretty town. I gather that there is a major thanksgiving get together at that location. It is small, however, and there is just not a lot there. The harbour contains a number of wrecks. I am amazed that these appear not to have been salvaged. You would think that there would have been some good hardware on some of these after they sank.

Later that day, our friends, Bill and Judy, from Recess arrived. They had taken the outside route as their trawler draws 6 feet and much of the Georgia ICW would have been difficult for them to traverse. This meant a big get together and dinner party. Bev cooked her Stray Cat Pasta for all. They said it was wonderful guess it was the plates looked as tho Tuck and Teisha had cleaned them.

I think that Bill and Judy’s boat felt a little lonely during the dinner party because, at the change in the tides, it tried to visit. No damage was done, one of the dingies serving as a giant fender. What a fright tho, if Herb had not been outside admiring the moon, we definitely would have been rammed by the 80,000 lb trawler.

Nov 11 & 12

The motor from Beaufort to Savannah was uneventful.

We found that we now also had to contend with idle speed only zones. These can really slow you down so we cheated a little. At 5 knots, we leave absolutely no wake. Even at full speed, we leave no more wake than a big planing power boat at idle. The fine in Beaufort for going to fast, however, can be over $1000.00, so you don’t want to get dinged.

This whole area is flat, with a lot of swampy grasslands. The birds make good use of the navigational markers, perching and often building nests on top. I found the whole area quite beautiful but a little boring for lack of variety. Dolphin sightings were becoming remarkably common. Unfortunately, they are almost impossible to photograph with a digital camera. The time delay between pushing the shutter release and the snap of the photograph is simply too long.

Multihulls were becoming very common. We tried to raise the Canadian trimaran, Sulis, by radio, but to no avail.

Beverley beat some of the boredom by practicing her artwork.

When we headed up the Savannah River, the current was at its maximum ebb. It took us an hour and a half to cover 8 miles. The next day, coming back down at the same time of day, it would take us little more than 30 minutes.

Crossing the state line into Georgia felt like a real milestone. We felt we were now in the deep South.

There are no anchorages at Savannah so we had planned to stay at the town dock. Unfortunately, that being a Sunday afternoon, the dock was full of runabouts. We bit the bullet and went to the Hyatt next door. At $3 per foot, I would not want to do this often. Of course, within a few hours, there was lots of space at the town dock at $1 per foot. I must admit, however, that it was nice to have access to the Hyatt, their gym and showers.

The next day, we went grocery shopping and then did the trolley tour.

The waterfront is beautifully restored and vibrant. Savannah seems to be immensely proud of their heritage and is determined to conserve it. They have a large number of “squares” or small parks. Often, these have magnificent oaks, hundreds of years old, adorned with hanging air plants.

We were a bit surprised to discover that they were celebrating Remembrance Day on Nov 12, calling it Veterans Day. The parade almost sidetracked our grocery shopping. Fortunately for us, it was still forming, so we were able to cross. Otherwise, we would have had a long wait.

Our friends on Joanne-Marie in the trawler had caught up by now, so we left Savannah about 2 PM to meet with them at an anchorage in the middle of nowhere, the Vernon River.

It was almost completely dark by the time we arrived (about 6 PM). I would not have attempted the last mile or so if we did not have out trusted Fugawi software/GPS combination working as a chart plotter.

It was good to be reunited for cocktails with our friends Herb, Joanne and Lee.
I think they were as glad to see us as we were them.
Joanne had taken pictures the second day of our underwear hanging on the lifelines. Thanks Dorothy(mother Davidge) for the small portable washer, it has been wonderful! There certainly is a shortage of Laundromats on this route. Bev