12/11 Waiting for parts
We’ve made pretty good time, in sailboat terms, working our way down the coast. With only a few multi-day stops it took three weeks to get from Annapolis to Florida. But the watermaker woes finally left us stuck for a over a week. We found reasonable dockage at Riviera Beach so the warranty work on the watermaker could be done. Most marine service companies will not work on a boat that is not at a dock. Something about insurance. For us, it means the added expense of docking at a marina. But at least the Riviera Beach town marina has a cool tiki bar restaurant and great grouper tacos. IATO was at the dock too for most of the time, so it was nice to have some time to hang out with Rick and Linda, and to finally meet my 2nd cousin Keith and his wife Lori, who came up for lunch on Sunday.
Beard Marine responded pretty quickly, but then we had to wait for days for the replacement feed pump to come from California. Sure enough that fixed the problem and we were glad it was covered under warranty. Watermakers are alchemy to me. Sea salinity, Energy Transfer Device pressure, brine discharge, membranes, flow rates, diverter valves, backflush and pickling…. And it’s all about reverse osmosis and the ultimate “product water” that dribbles into our water tank at a few gallons an hour. As a trained engineer, I’m usually pretty good at troubleshooting systems, but so far I’m mystified by the watermaker. Something else to learn.
Finally, we left Rivera Beach and it wasn’t easy. With a stiff breeze blowing us onto the dock, I was worried we would scrape against the pilings or blow into other boats. Rick helped from the dock and we were able to spring around the end of the dock and back out into the channel. By mid afternoon we were at anchor in Lake Boca. The plan was to meet Keith and go to their home for dinner. But now comes my biggest peeve about the cruising life. In so many towns there is no place to go ashore. Lake Boca is stuffed with luxury condos, homes, and hotels. There is a small public boat ramp, but no place to leave the dinghy for a few hours. We fruitlessly ran up and down the ICW looking for a suitable spot. Keith was looking from the shore. We even spotted him one time. But alas, to no avail, we went back to the boat and didn’t get a chance to visit them. What a disappointment!
12/13
Miami Blue
We timed our 0645 departure from Lake Boca with the first bridge opening. By mid-day we had staggered through a myriad of ICW bridges and waited behind two racing sailboats for the last obstacle between us and the Atlantic…. The 55 foot bascule bridge at Port Everglades. Out the huge inlet we were greeted by a 15 knot easterly, 4 foot seas and the bluest of seas. Despite it being a little rough, the sails pushed us along at almost 8 knots and we enjoyed watching Miami draw near over the brilliant blue. We quickly made the short offshore leg and sailed into Miami’s Government Cut… South Beach on our right and Fisher Island on our left. Enormous docks and ships lay ahead, with the Miami skyline as backdrop. As we took the south side of Lummus Island, a confusing commotion approached in the channel. We saw a couple of small tugs and pilot boats and a small ship belching white smoke. It was old and rusty, perhaps 100’ long. The deck was strewn with rusty bicycles and parts, as if salvaged from the bottom. Its hailing port was African, and about 25 very unhappy looking men were on the deck milling about. We wondered. We still wonder.
Out of Miami we made for Key Biscayne and No Name Harbor, a beautiful little harbor that is part of a state park. We didn’t get out and explore, but with a late arrival we settled in and were out early the next morning. The wind was perfect for a sail down Biscayne Bay, and we made good time to Islamorada. We tried to anchor at Tavernier, but ran aground in the Community Harbor channel. It is very shallow all over the keys, and it felt a little weird to be under sail at 7.5 knots with only a couple of feet of water under the keel.
12/15 Tropics
After our sprint to the keys, we figured we had plenty of time to make it Ft Myers Beach, so we decided to linger in Islamorada for a couple of days. The famous Lorelei restaurant provided dockage and breakfast, and we were able to walk to provision nearby. The water was warm and clear and we finally felt we had accomplished something cruiserly by having delivered ourselves to a tropical anchorage in December. To celebrate, we dove in. A quick inspection of the hull revealed a rope around the starboard prop. Probably one of the myriads of crab pots dotting Florida Bay. Our line cutters had done their job, and it was easy to get the remnant clear of the prop.
12/18 Cruiser Central
Marathon’s Boot Key harbor is the end of the line for many snowbirds. A large protected harbor, winter warmth, and a cruiser-friendly attitude bring the crowds. There is even the Smorgasboat, which will act as a taxi and delivery service. Every morning there is a radio net to talk about local news, special offers from local businesses, weather, and want-ads. Marine services abound. We were anxious to get north but we waited a few nights for a front to pass. We sailed close-hauled at 6.3 kts past Bullard Bank and on to Cape Romano. The crab pots were so thick we were constantly dodging them. Everywhere, for miles. It was a long stretch and it was dark before we reached the Cape Romano shoals. The charted shoal light was nowhere to be seen, and for a while we confused radio tower lights near Marco Island for navigation lights. The wind was predicted to stay offshore, so we tucked in at about 9:30 north of Cape Romano Island just off the beach. It seemed a little strange to anchor in the Gulf of Mexico, but the offshore wind kept it calm all night, and we were close enough to the beach to be lulled asleep by the surf and the occasional breathing of a passing dolphin.
12/19 Destination
After a leisurely start, we sailed north until the wind died off Marco Island. We motored toward Ft Myers Beach, but decided to do a drive-by at the Naples pier. It looks so different from the other side. For a while, we had a hard time spotting it, but passed a couple of hundred yards off the pier and waved to the tourists. We tried to spot familiar sights along the way…. The Registry, Vanderbilt Beach, Wiggins State Park. Finally we were there, our winter destination. We slid underneath the bridge by the Matanzas Inn and decided to pick up a mooring in the east field past Salty Sam’s. As we approached, we spotted another Manta. We pulled near to see who it was. It was a new boat, a Mark IV named Serenity. It’s easy to tell by the added footsteps on the hull. A figure appeared, and called out “Sally, we meet at last!” Thanks, John. How nice to end our first cruise with a friendly Manta family welcome.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Friday, December 07, 2007
Water
29 November - 1 December - The watermaker worked less than a week, but we were hooked. 5 days after losing the source, we had to find water. The laundry had piled up, and our luxury of having a washer/dryer means a sacrifice of 12-20 gallons a load. We were on vapor, and that means it's time for a marina. We called in early to Vero Beach municipal who could accomodate us only on the fuel dock, and only if we arrived after 4:30. That fit our schedule if we motored on one engine, so we booked it. We tried to stop at the old Jones Fruit Dock, but were told the water is not good for tanks. I think the fruit dock may have been fun. Evidently, Mr. Jones entertains visitors with his recollections of old Florida. Next time. Vero Beach is cruiser central, with many of the St Marys crowd attached to the many mooring balls. Actually, there aren't enough mooring balls, and a lot of boats were rafted up in pairs or even three to a ball.
Next morning, we made a short trip to Riviera marina, as they advertise themselves as Suzuki outboard repair specialists. We still haven't gotten the outboard kill switch to work, so this looked like an opportunity. They had a cheap dock for $35 a night, so we figured we could hang out a day or two and finally get the thing fixed. Dan thought it was the kill switch, so he ordered one..... 2-3 days to arrive. Sigh. .... We didn't want to commit that time, so we asked them to forward it to us. On the south dock, folks there catch bait fish for local fishermen, and in return are paid in fish. One of the fishermen came back with a 2.5 ft King mackerel and gave it to one of the locals. He said he had enough, but needed some smokes. I took it off his hands for two packs worth. The next evening, Lora grilled the best fish we've had on the boat. She soaked it in milk overnight, and then marinated it in a mix of soy sauce, olive oil, and Montreal seasoning (recipe thanks to Rick from IATO). It was fabulous.
We departed at dawn in the rain and fueled at Ft. Pierce Port Petroleum for $3.149/gal. 40.5 gallons since Fernandina. This equates to about 6.3 statute miles/gallon or .77 gals per engine hour since entering Florida. Not bad.
The numerous bascule bridges to pass were a chore, but we enjoyed marvelling at the fabulous homes in Hobe sound, including the emerging compound of Lora's hero, Tiger. We dropped the hook in downtown Palm Beach next to our friends Rick and Linda from sistership IATO, a Manta 40. This is where we were sent to get the watermaker fixed, so we'll probably be here for a while. We don't mind so much. The weather is sweet, and it is very nice indeed to be down south in December!
Next morning, we made a short trip to Riviera marina, as they advertise themselves as Suzuki outboard repair specialists. We still haven't gotten the outboard kill switch to work, so this looked like an opportunity. They had a cheap dock for $35 a night, so we figured we could hang out a day or two and finally get the thing fixed. Dan thought it was the kill switch, so he ordered one..... 2-3 days to arrive. Sigh. .... We didn't want to commit that time, so we asked them to forward it to us. On the south dock, folks there catch bait fish for local fishermen, and in return are paid in fish. One of the fishermen came back with a 2.5 ft King mackerel and gave it to one of the locals. He said he had enough, but needed some smokes. I took it off his hands for two packs worth. The next evening, Lora grilled the best fish we've had on the boat. She soaked it in milk overnight, and then marinated it in a mix of soy sauce, olive oil, and Montreal seasoning (recipe thanks to Rick from IATO). It was fabulous.
We departed at dawn in the rain and fueled at Ft. Pierce Port Petroleum for $3.149/gal. 40.5 gallons since Fernandina. This equates to about 6.3 statute miles/gallon or .77 gals per engine hour since entering Florida. Not bad.
The numerous bascule bridges to pass were a chore, but we enjoyed marvelling at the fabulous homes in Hobe sound, including the emerging compound of Lora's hero, Tiger. We dropped the hook in downtown Palm Beach next to our friends Rick and Linda from sistership IATO, a Manta 40. This is where we were sent to get the watermaker fixed, so we'll probably be here for a while. We don't mind so much. The weather is sweet, and it is very nice indeed to be down south in December!
Skipper Bob
26-28 November - The anchorage possibilities in St Augustine were poor, so we decided to keep moving. The wind was up, and the main anchorage was pretty rolly. This is where Skipper Bob comes in. In addition to our electronic charts, paper charts and glossy guidebooks, we have a little spiralbound book called "Anchorages Along the Intracoastal Waterway" by Skipper Bob Publications. This great little book has details about good places to drop the hook. It may sound simple, but finding a good anchorage has been, at times, challenging. One thing you don't want to do... find yourself without safe harbor when it gets dark. We tested a few places en route, but found no depth out of the channel. There weren't a lot of places in the guides to anchor as we approached Flagler Beach, but Skipper Bob listed a couple of little undeveloped canals at ICW mile 812.9. Skipper Bob says go in the south one, but curiously, there were two boats in the north canal and nobody in the south one. They scoot back about a quarter of a mile, but are only about 100' wide. We eased in the mouth, which had a shoal cutting off about 1/3 of the entrance. If it hadn't been in the guide, we'd never have gone in there. Lora read out the depth as I gingerly motored in. 7'.... 6'..... 5.5'.....5. Then we were in. The depth crept back up to 8 and 9 feet. The next challenge was how to anchor. We usually drop the spade anchor, conveniently attached to chain and easily lowered with the windlass at the press of a foot-controlled switch. But we would swing into the bank and trees with only about 30' of water on each side of the boat. So we took out our secondary anchor, a Fortress, and attached it to the stern. Lora lowered it off the stern and we motored forward, setting it and then paying out much of the rode. Then we dropped the spade with about 50' of chain and backed up, taking slack out of the stern anchor as we backed so as not to get tangled in the rode. It worked like a champ. The boat didn't budge all night. We were tucked in so well that it was still despite the windy night. The next morning the depth gauge crept up to 4.5' at the mouth of the canal, but we didn't hit bottom.
We spent the next couple of days making tracks, and anchored in Daytona and Titusville. Approaching Titusville, we could see the famous NASA Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) from miles away. I remember going there for the Apollo 14 launch with my dad the NASA rocket scientist. Despite the incredible advances in technology since that time, I still stand most amazed at the Apollo program. And, as a NASA brat having grown up with it all around me, I now have a perspective on how incredible it is.
It was tempting to stay and see the shuttle launch, scheduled for Dec 6, but we decided to press on. On Wed we were able to sail from Titusville to Cocoa and decided to stop for some errands. The watermaker had since quit, and we were bummed about that. I needed a new phone, since mine died a slow death in a soapy bucket, and we needed some hardware for minor repairs such as the dinghy seat, which cracked on a rude wave in Titusville. The town dock made it an easy stop, and nearby Travis hardware is in itself worth a stop. The anti-Home Depot, they have everything, even in single quantities, and folks who know how to help you. Nothing against The Home Depot, but this place makes you miss old fashioned hardware stores. We also picked up an irresistible boat gadget, a RIDGID See Snake, an LED illuminated video system with the optics and lights on a gooseneck type stalk. It lets you look down pipes, around nooks, etc. We've already used it fishing cables through the boat. With a shiny new Verizon Voyager phone and hardware, we were ready to keep moving.
We spent the next couple of days making tracks, and anchored in Daytona and Titusville. Approaching Titusville, we could see the famous NASA Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) from miles away. I remember going there for the Apollo 14 launch with my dad the NASA rocket scientist. Despite the incredible advances in technology since that time, I still stand most amazed at the Apollo program. And, as a NASA brat having grown up with it all around me, I now have a perspective on how incredible it is.
It was tempting to stay and see the shuttle launch, scheduled for Dec 6, but we decided to press on. On Wed we were able to sail from Titusville to Cocoa and decided to stop for some errands. The watermaker had since quit, and we were bummed about that. I needed a new phone, since mine died a slow death in a soapy bucket, and we needed some hardware for minor repairs such as the dinghy seat, which cracked on a rude wave in Titusville. The town dock made it an easy stop, and nearby Travis hardware is in itself worth a stop. The anti-Home Depot, they have everything, even in single quantities, and folks who know how to help you. Nothing against The Home Depot, but this place makes you miss old fashioned hardware stores. We also picked up an irresistible boat gadget, a RIDGID See Snake, an LED illuminated video system with the optics and lights on a gooseneck type stalk. It lets you look down pipes, around nooks, etc. We've already used it fishing cables through the boat. With a shiny new Verizon Voyager phone and hardware, we were ready to keep moving.
Florida!
24 November - Florida was a milestone.... for some reason. Somehow, crossing the state line made us actually feel like we'd come a long way. After missing cheap diesel at the Fernandina petroleum port, we shelled out $3.59 a gallon for 70 gallons. Since we only sailed about 4 days coming down, we burned 185 gallons from Annapolis to Florida at a cost of $587. We overheard some powerboats chatting in NC hoping to make it to Charleston on 1200 gallons. I'm not complaining.
We motored into a wonderful, desolate anchorage at Pine Island by the Guana River State Park. There aren't a lot of anchorages around there, so by dusk 14 boats had settled in. Some of them, such as "Scandia", we recognized from St. Marys. As the sun went down, we heard the strains of pipes in the distance. On deck, we could see that it was the crew of S/V Strathspey helping us settle for the evening. The lovely sound, so appropriate in the lonely setting, reached even the farthest boat, and everyone was on deck listening. It went very well with single malt Scotch.
We motored into a wonderful, desolate anchorage at Pine Island by the Guana River State Park. There aren't a lot of anchorages around there, so by dusk 14 boats had settled in. Some of them, such as "Scandia", we recognized from St. Marys. As the sun went down, we heard the strains of pipes in the distance. On deck, we could see that it was the crew of S/V Strathspey helping us settle for the evening. The lovely sound, so appropriate in the lonely setting, reached even the farthest boat, and everyone was on deck listening. It went very well with single malt Scotch.
A Cruisers Thanksgiving
19-23 November - Dozens of sailboat masts marked the way long before we could see the St. Marys. We anchored right in front of the town dock between two huge mooring balls. Of megatanker scale, I have no idea why they are there. It didn't take long before the fest organizers came to greet us. The crew of Morning Glory made us feel quite welcome and were glad to add Lora's famous Mediterranean style potatoes to the menu. They listed the activities.... doggie meetings, happy hours, a swap meet, etc. along with the Thanksgiving meal. At 5 a crowd of happy cruisers squeezed into Seagle's Saloon. We met newbies like us to an older couple who'd been cruising for over 25 years. A jam session formed in the hotel lounge and I was happy to grab a guitar and pick for a few tunes.
Over the next couple of days we enjoyed relaxing, meeting folks, and finishing up our weather system installation. Amazingly, over 100 boats had arrived by Thursday! The feast was jammed with people, and for a while we didn't think we'd find a place to sit. But everyone was accomodated, and there was more than enough food and folks were sent back to their boats with leftovers. Fat'n'happy, we dinked back to the boat for the American Thanksgiving tradition of football and digestion.
Over the next couple of days we enjoyed relaxing, meeting folks, and finishing up our weather system installation. Amazingly, over 100 boats had arrived by Thursday! The feast was jammed with people, and for a while we didn't think we'd find a place to sit. But everyone was accomodated, and there was more than enough food and folks were sent back to their boats with leftovers. Fat'n'happy, we dinked back to the boat for the American Thanksgiving tradition of football and digestion.
A pause at Jekyll
18-19 November - Some towns make an effort to welcome boaters. Others seem oblivious, and a few even seem outright hostile. St. Marys, GA sets the standard for hospitality. The town has opened its doors to boaters and for the last few years thrown a Thanksgiving feast for the visitors. Not wanting to miss that, we decided to pace our progress, and with palms and dolphins greeting us around every bend, it was time to slow down.
Jekyll Island is a trail-laden state park, an ideal spot to break out the folding bicycles. We loaded them into the dink and assembled them on a nearby public dock. The trails are fabulous, taking you through woodland, swamp, beach and golf courses. We did a little provisioning and decided we needed to break out the golf clubs as well. Jekyll was once a retreat for the likes of JP Morgan and the Rockefellers. Many of the 'cottages' and the club house have been restored and are fascinating to see. The Sunday brunch at the club is a worthwhile luxury.
The golf courses are gorgeous, yet public and reasonably priced ($59 for 18 holes including cart). The challenge was getting our clubs to the course. We decided to try to bike to the course... with our clubs slung over our backs. We got about a third of the way there, but they kept sliding off and we were getting pretty sore and tired. We mounted the clubs on the bikes and walked them. It didn't hurt but they kept sliding off the bikes. When we came to a road, a maintenance truck stopped, and we thankfully got a ride, with all our gear, to the course. Ed and Sue from Homestead, FL, nice folks and good golfers, rounded out our foursome. Lora and I stank, but it was fun. Fortunately, Ed and Sue had a shiny new truck that fit us and our stuff, so we were back on the boat in time for cocktails.
The first couple of weeks had pretty much been a sprint to get south, so a few days at Jekyll Island was quite welcome. We used the extra time to do what boaters do.... boat projects! First came the watermaker. Although we've had Synchronicity for over a year, the watermaker had yet to be re-activated. Even though I'm an engineer, the watermaker always seemed a bit like black magic to me. Simple in theory, but chock full of tubes and pumps, the desalination process works simply on the reverse osmosis (RO) principle.... forcing water through filters under pressure to take out salt and impurities... yielding a very high quality drinking water. We were so scared of screwing it up that we had the RO membrane stored by professionals since last winter. But since we were finally spending a lot of time in clean water it was time to hook it up. We bought some distilled water to do a fresh water flush (yet another slog with heavy stuff on bikes), and then held our breath. Chug, chug, whirr! and after about 5 minutes the POTABLE WATER light came on. We were makin' water!
Having a watermaker changes things. Suddenly, you are not tethered to marinas after so many days to fill the tank. With all the low energy systems on the boat, coupled with the solar collectors, Synchronicity can stay off the grid for a long time. The limiting factor is often fresh water. It's a beautiful thing to be flush with fresh water.
The next challenge to tackle was the Raymarine Sirius weather data system. This is a nifty high tech capability that downloads weather data from the Sirius satellites and lets you view it on the E-Series chartplotter. It's great to have up to the minute weather, including radar, buoy data and forecasts graphically presented right at the helm. The challenge here was running cables throughout the boat. So we decided to take this one in stages. First, we fished the antenna cable down the radar arch into the engine room. Fortunately, I found twine left by Tropica, the original installer, that let us pull the cable through with little problem. Then we had to run it behind the guest berth cabinets where we mounted the receiver unit. Power wasn't too much of a problem, as Manta had conveniently left an uninstalled 12V outlet cable right where we needed it. The big hassle was the network cable. This required pulling out both berth cabinets, the range in the galley, and the master head cabinet.... all in search of the SeaTalk HS LAN cable. The little culprit was tucked between the electrical panel and master head. We pulled it back through to the berth and connected the SeaTalk coupler. After activating the Sirius service, and the data started coming through. Hooray! All in all, it took 3-4 work sessions of a couple of hours each, and we learned more about the boat. That was a lot better than the $900 an installer in Annapolis wanted to charge us for installation! Total cost: Sirius SR-100, $725, cables $100, misc (including dropping two drill bits overboard) $25. Then there is a $29.95 monthly subscription fee.
19- 23 November - Since the weather looked good, we decided yet again to go outside for the next leg... St. Marys. Shoals at St. Andrew Sound continue for several miles, and here we almost ran into trouble. The chart showed red buoy which looked out of place with the line of the other buoys and the depth contours. I followed the line of greens out as we left the sound. I looked for a red but didn't see it. But about 4 miles out, the depths suddenly fell to 6 feet. The sea was pretty calm, but I was not happy about being in the Atlantic with 2 feet of water under the boat. I stopped and called Lora to bring the paper chart, and thought about doing a 180. But was that the best route? The paper chart showed the red buoy, too, so I got out the binoculars and looked back. There it was! I'd been blinded by the morning sun and missed it, fueled by my assumptions from looking at the chart. Knowing where the channel was, I elected to take the shortest path to it. Sure enough, it got deeper quickly, and within a few yards we were back in 12 feet of water. Lesson learned: don't assume quirky buoys are chart errors. Sort it out before you go.
As this was a short run, we quickly reached the St Marys inlet to find a bustle of activity. The unmistakable shape told us it was a nuclear sub. Not surprising since Kings Bay sub base is just inside. There was a hive of Coast Guard patrol boats buzzing all around. We were hoping to sneak in the channel first to get a closer look, but weren't surprised when asked, nicely, to stand off until the 'deep draft naval vessel event' was over. Why can't they just say "wait until the sub passes"? We got close enough for a good snapshot, though. Looks like the crew was glad to get some fresh air.
Jekyll Island is a trail-laden state park, an ideal spot to break out the folding bicycles. We loaded them into the dink and assembled them on a nearby public dock. The trails are fabulous, taking you through woodland, swamp, beach and golf courses. We did a little provisioning and decided we needed to break out the golf clubs as well. Jekyll was once a retreat for the likes of JP Morgan and the Rockefellers. Many of the 'cottages' and the club house have been restored and are fascinating to see. The Sunday brunch at the club is a worthwhile luxury.
The golf courses are gorgeous, yet public and reasonably priced ($59 for 18 holes including cart). The challenge was getting our clubs to the course. We decided to try to bike to the course... with our clubs slung over our backs. We got about a third of the way there, but they kept sliding off and we were getting pretty sore and tired. We mounted the clubs on the bikes and walked them. It didn't hurt but they kept sliding off the bikes. When we came to a road, a maintenance truck stopped, and we thankfully got a ride, with all our gear, to the course. Ed and Sue from Homestead, FL, nice folks and good golfers, rounded out our foursome. Lora and I stank, but it was fun. Fortunately, Ed and Sue had a shiny new truck that fit us and our stuff, so we were back on the boat in time for cocktails.
The first couple of weeks had pretty much been a sprint to get south, so a few days at Jekyll Island was quite welcome. We used the extra time to do what boaters do.... boat projects! First came the watermaker. Although we've had Synchronicity for over a year, the watermaker had yet to be re-activated. Even though I'm an engineer, the watermaker always seemed a bit like black magic to me. Simple in theory, but chock full of tubes and pumps, the desalination process works simply on the reverse osmosis (RO) principle.... forcing water through filters under pressure to take out salt and impurities... yielding a very high quality drinking water. We were so scared of screwing it up that we had the RO membrane stored by professionals since last winter. But since we were finally spending a lot of time in clean water it was time to hook it up. We bought some distilled water to do a fresh water flush (yet another slog with heavy stuff on bikes), and then held our breath. Chug, chug, whirr! and after about 5 minutes the POTABLE WATER light came on. We were makin' water!
Having a watermaker changes things. Suddenly, you are not tethered to marinas after so many days to fill the tank. With all the low energy systems on the boat, coupled with the solar collectors, Synchronicity can stay off the grid for a long time. The limiting factor is often fresh water. It's a beautiful thing to be flush with fresh water.
The next challenge to tackle was the Raymarine Sirius weather data system. This is a nifty high tech capability that downloads weather data from the Sirius satellites and lets you view it on the E-Series chartplotter. It's great to have up to the minute weather, including radar, buoy data and forecasts graphically presented right at the helm. The challenge here was running cables throughout the boat. So we decided to take this one in stages. First, we fished the antenna cable down the radar arch into the engine room. Fortunately, I found twine left by Tropica, the original installer, that let us pull the cable through with little problem. Then we had to run it behind the guest berth cabinets where we mounted the receiver unit. Power wasn't too much of a problem, as Manta had conveniently left an uninstalled 12V outlet cable right where we needed it. The big hassle was the network cable. This required pulling out both berth cabinets, the range in the galley, and the master head cabinet.... all in search of the SeaTalk HS LAN cable. The little culprit was tucked between the electrical panel and master head. We pulled it back through to the berth and connected the SeaTalk coupler. After activating the Sirius service, and the data started coming through. Hooray! All in all, it took 3-4 work sessions of a couple of hours each, and we learned more about the boat. That was a lot better than the $900 an installer in Annapolis wanted to charge us for installation! Total cost: Sirius SR-100, $725, cables $100, misc (including dropping two drill bits overboard) $25. Then there is a $29.95 monthly subscription fee.
19- 23 November - Since the weather looked good, we decided yet again to go outside for the next leg... St. Marys. Shoals at St. Andrew Sound continue for several miles, and here we almost ran into trouble. The chart showed red buoy which looked out of place with the line of the other buoys and the depth contours. I followed the line of greens out as we left the sound. I looked for a red but didn't see it. But about 4 miles out, the depths suddenly fell to 6 feet. The sea was pretty calm, but I was not happy about being in the Atlantic with 2 feet of water under the boat. I stopped and called Lora to bring the paper chart, and thought about doing a 180. But was that the best route? The paper chart showed the red buoy, too, so I got out the binoculars and looked back. There it was! I'd been blinded by the morning sun and missed it, fueled by my assumptions from looking at the chart. Knowing where the channel was, I elected to take the shortest path to it. Sure enough, it got deeper quickly, and within a few yards we were back in 12 feet of water. Lesson learned: don't assume quirky buoys are chart errors. Sort it out before you go.
As this was a short run, we quickly reached the St Marys inlet to find a bustle of activity. The unmistakable shape told us it was a nuclear sub. Not surprising since Kings Bay sub base is just inside. There was a hive of Coast Guard patrol boats buzzing all around. We were hoping to sneak in the channel first to get a closer look, but weren't surprised when asked, nicely, to stand off until the 'deep draft naval vessel event' was over. Why can't they just say "wait until the sub passes"? We got close enough for a good snapshot, though. Looks like the crew was glad to get some fresh air.
Georgia from the outside
16 November - We got underway early in hopes of sailing offshore with Salty Paws. Port Royal Sound was much more pleasant than the jarring ride the day before, and we quickly spotted Salty Paws coming down the Beaufort River. Sails up, and out we went. Threading our way past the shoals, we turned on course for a lovely morning sail. This little stowaway visited for a while, hopping all about the cockpit, on me, in our basil plant, and finally took off for shore.
The wind died around lunch time and the motor took us the rest of the way to our quiet Walburg Creek anchorage near St. Catherine's Sound, Georgia. The loudest sound that evening was of dolphins breathing.
17 November - We got going early and planned to take the ICW. But as we headed back into St Catherine's Sound, we saw boats lined up single file, with the powerboats calling on the radio to announce overtaking sailboats. Ugh, too much like the I-95. That was enough to change the plan and head to sea for a calm and hassle-free day of motoring on the outside to our anchorage at Jekyll Island.
The wind died around lunch time and the motor took us the rest of the way to our quiet Walburg Creek anchorage near St. Catherine's Sound, Georgia. The loudest sound that evening was of dolphins breathing.17 November - We got going early and planned to take the ICW. But as we headed back into St Catherine's Sound, we saw boats lined up single file, with the powerboats calling on the radio to announce overtaking sailboats. Ugh, too much like the I-95. That was enough to change the plan and head to sea for a calm and hassle-free day of motoring on the outside to our anchorage at Jekyll Island.
South Carolina 2
12- 13 November - The next morning was a short trip to Isle of Palms Marina, where we met with my friend Elizabeth, a native of the area. We took a slip at the marina ($1.50/ft) to make it easier for meeting up with Elizabeth. We hung out for a couple of days, and Elizabeth toured us around the historic old city. We were able to top of our propane right at the marina, which was a welcome convenience. Our generator had lost it's output, so we suspected the notorious capacitor. The marina found a supplier for us and Elizabeth took us to get the parts. We decided to mount the capacitor outside of the generator housing to make it easy to replace, as it is really hard to get to. As it turns out, the old capacitor was good after all, and the breaker inside the housing had tripped.I figure we must have been running both air conditioning units (for heat) and the battery charger at the same time. Some quick calculations indicated that load might exceed 5 kilowatts, so that's probably what did it. Note to self: keep up with what you flip on!
14-15November - Motored to Bass Creek, near Beaufort, SC. This is a stunning anchorage, partly because of it's isolation. Nothing but grass and water for miles. Except for a few fisherman who cleared out at dark, we had it to ourselves. We made it to Beaufort the next morning and took advantage of the free city dock to have a look about town. We lunched at the Magnolia Cafe, got some cash at Wachovia and headed out. The wind was picking up but we had no problem getting off the dock. As we pulled out of the harbor, there was Salty Paws passing right by, so we decided to sail with them. They suggested going down the river on jib alone, which makes it easy. Jim, a fabulous photographer, snapped this photo of us sailing down the Beaufort river. The wind kept building over 25kts and we were moving quite smartly on jib alone.
Jim and Bentley decided they were going to go outside the next day, so they dropped anchor near the river's mouth. We weren't thrilled about being exposed with all the wind, so we decided to make for Skull Creek at Hilton Head. But unfortunately, we didn't take into account how rough it might get in Port Royal Sound. We rounded the buoy and pounded our way into a very unpleasant chop, with gusts creeping up to around 40kts. The cats got sick and our speed came down to under 4 kts, and even a couple of times to about 2.5. Stuff started sliding off of tables inside and clattering about the cabin. But by this point it didn't make much sense to turn around as the stretch was thankfully only about 4 miles. It took us about an hour to cover that distance and finally as we made it to the lee shore things calmed down.
14-15November - Motored to Bass Creek, near Beaufort, SC. This is a stunning anchorage, partly because of it's isolation. Nothing but grass and water for miles. Except for a few fisherman who cleared out at dark, we had it to ourselves. We made it to Beaufort the next morning and took advantage of the free city dock to have a look about town. We lunched at the Magnolia Cafe, got some cash at Wachovia and headed out. The wind was picking up but we had no problem getting off the dock. As we pulled out of the harbor, there was Salty Paws passing right by, so we decided to sail with them. They suggested going down the river on jib alone, which makes it easy. Jim, a fabulous photographer, snapped this photo of us sailing down the Beaufort river. The wind kept building over 25kts and we were moving quite smartly on jib alone.
Jim and Bentley decided they were going to go outside the next day, so they dropped anchor near the river's mouth. We weren't thrilled about being exposed with all the wind, so we decided to make for Skull Creek at Hilton Head. But unfortunately, we didn't take into account how rough it might get in Port Royal Sound. We rounded the buoy and pounded our way into a very unpleasant chop, with gusts creeping up to around 40kts. The cats got sick and our speed came down to under 4 kts, and even a couple of times to about 2.5. Stuff started sliding off of tables inside and clattering about the cabin. But by this point it didn't make much sense to turn around as the stretch was thankfully only about 4 miles. It took us about an hour to cover that distance and finally as we made it to the lee shore things calmed down.
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