And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 34

We were anchored last night in Mill Creek, just off the Patuxent River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay.  It is also known as Solomons Md. a very popular boating area, so there are lots of marinas and the channels are well marked with nice deep water.  Easy in, easy out.  We got up early again and had the anchor up and were under way before 7:00.  The winds were expected to pick up as the day wore on, so we wanted to get as close to home as we could before that happened.  The morning was beautiful and the sunrise was spectacular with the sun reflecting off the sparkling calm water of the Patuxent River.  Once we hit the bay the winds were from the south creating some following seas which made it a little more challenging to hand steer, but not too bad.  Actually it was quite a pleasant ride with plenty of sunshine.  The air might be a little on the chilly side but it warmed up nicely and by the afternoon we were up on the flybridge enjoying the ride.

As expected the winds did begin to get a little stronger and blustery, but by that time we were in Eastern Bay, approaching Kent Narrows, a rather tricky area with a very narrow and windy channel out into the Chester River, our home waters.  It was high tide, so no problems there.  And then we were on the Chester River.  It really felt good to be so close to home.  Around Eastern Neck Island, up Lankford Creek to our home port marina, Lankford Bay Marina, and we were home, in the slip and tied up by 3:00.  Rick was there to greet us and help the marina guys get us tied up.  It was time for a beer.

Well, the trip is over, 69.8 miles for the day, bringing our total 1404.3 miles for the trip north.  That’s a lot of miles. The round trip mileage is 2788 total miles.

 

So now we are home and it’s time to give Rogue some TLC.  She needs some maintenance work, and definitely a wash and wax with as much salt as she has had thrown on her on the trip.

This will most likely be my last blog entry completing this blog.  I hope you all have enjoyed following along as much as I enjoyed sharing the experience with you.  There is plenty of work here on land for me to catch up on, mail is stacked up and I am looking forward to seeing my family again after being away for the better part of 5 months, so I don’t think I will be doing any long trips again anytime soon, at least nothing worth writing about.  But, you never know.  Take care everyone.

Sincerely, Me.

P.S. Hi Tyler

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 33

Today we were up at the crack of dawn.  It was a gorgeous sunrise with the sun peeking under some clouds and reflecting off the relatively still water in our anchorage.  I had no idea what was to come, it was just so idyllic.  We had the anchor up and were moving out of the anchorage before 7:00.  By the time we hit the bay, the chop and swells were starting gather some momentum.  By the time we turned to head north near the main shipping channel, the waves had gathered some intensity.  By 8:00 or so we were into it pretty good.  You see, there was a good stiff 20 mph or so “breeze” coming out of the north.  When you live in this area, you know a north wind on the Chesapeake Bay can lead to some “unpleasantness”.  As I was listening to the marine weather on the VHF I hear “small craft warnings until 10:00”, “seas 1 to 2 feet.”  Yeah, I’ve heard that before.  What reality are you looking at Mr. Forecaster. Looking out in front of me I’m seeing a lot if intensity at more than 2 feet.  By 10:00 there are waves as high as the foredeck before we ride them up and then bam, it drops us like a stone and the boat crashes down with a smack, bang and shudder.  Sometimes I can’t see the horizon when the bow goes up before it comes crashing down with a bang.  I know, you’ve all heard this before, and that’s true.  Things inside were being rearranged yet again.  To tell you all the truth, I’m getting pretty sick and tired of having to deal with all this.  It just doesn’t end.  Every day is yet another difficult time.  I thought this was supposed to be fun.  Well, this all went on for five hours, yes, five hours, and we hadn’t even reached the Potomac River which also has a reputation of being a bit rough at times.  At one point I was able to make it to the galley to try and make some lunch.  I opened the freezer door to get some ice for a drink and all the ice trays fell out dumping ice all over the floor.  So much for a cold drink.  There were times when the boat hit a wave and it felt like it hit a wall, you were actually throw forward into the steering wheel like being in a car accident but without the high intensity.  Anyway, you get the picture.  On the bright side, by midafternoon the sun was out the winds had calmed, the sea state was calm and it was actually a beautiful late afternoon on the bay.  We went up to the flybridge to finish our trip for the day.

As I said, we were on the move before 7:00, and we didn’t drop the anchor and settle in until after 7:00 p.m.  And, are you ready for this?  We have established a new Rogue daily distance record.  Drum roll please.  We traveled 103 miles in 12hrs. 30mins. breaking the old record of 100 miles set with Rick George on the crew.  Sorry Rick, as you said so eloquently, “records are meant to be broken.” And it was.

If all goes according to plan, tomorrow will be the last day on the water.  We should reach our destination near Rock Hall Md. by tomorrow afternoon.  The trip is expected to be about 71 miles.  Of course the wind is predicted to pick up there around the time we are arriving which should make docking this monster a little more “interesting.”  I’ll let you know how it goes.

So boys and girls, until then……

P.S. Hi Tyler 

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 32

Well the title says it all.  We are back to the Chesapeake.  We left Coinjock Marina this morning bright and early.  We pushed off from the dock at 7:00 after wiping the flybridge down from all the rain last night.  We stowed all the extra lines and disconnected shore power and were off.  Getting across Coinjock Bay was a little nerve wracking, the channel is extremely narrow, and if you wander off a little bit you can run aground.  We didn’t run aground, so that is good.  Another boat that was docked at Coinjock caught up with us and followed us for a little while.  He called me on the radio and asked if I was trying to time for the 8:00 or 9:00 bridge opening.  I thought for a second and told him I wasn’t timing for anything, I would get there when I got there.  I had hesitated because I couldn’t figure out what bridge he was talking about.  There wasn’t a bridge we had to open for quite some distance.  There was a bridge nearby, but it was 65 ft. high.  Not a problem.  Eventually he went by me and said he was going for the 9:00 opening.  I thought, go for it.  We did have to negotiate four bridge openings today, and one lock.  Jan is sure getting an education being on the water full time.  She did pretty well at the lock, just a couple of tips to make things a little easier for her.  She got the fenders out and at this lock you have to supply your own lines.  All the other locks they had lines hanging and you grabbed them when you stopped in the lock.  Here we only went up a foot, so not much turbulence.  All in all a pretty easy first time for her.  I will say the lock tender here was pretty useless.  When we pulled into the lock, he stood about six feet away from the side and stuck out a boat hook, which we had to stretch and get the line on the hook so he could pull in the line and wrap it around the post.  That was about all he did.  He barely moved.  Nonetheless, we got through the lock.

We did have to wait for two bridges.  We waited at one for about 15 minutes; it opened on the hour and half hour, and the other about 35 minutes, which opened only on the hour.  Timing wasn’t so good, so we lost almost an hour, and then the lock slowed us down some.  All in all we lost probably close to an hour and a half. 

Today was also Jan’s first trip through Norfolk’s never ending waterfront.  Very industrial with lots of Navy vessels.  There is a section where it looks like you go through downtown Norfolk; you see hotels, parks and other “normal” cityscapes, but most of the tour is dry-docks and freight and cargo terminals.  There were also several tugboats and barges moving around too. 

We arrived at our destination right around 6:00.  Not too bad even with the delays.  We are anchored in Chisman Creek just off the Poquoson River which itself is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay.  So yes we did make it back to the Chesapeake.  Tomorrow we are hoping to make it to the Patuxent River where we will anchor.  That anchorage I estimate to be 97 miles from here.  Another long day and another early start.

Today we traveled 86 miles, for a total of 1231.5 miles thus far.  Travel time was 11 hrs. 9 mins.

So boys and girl, until next time…..

P.S. Hi Tyler

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 31

Last night I was going back and forth in my mind do we go tomorrow or do we stay here and extra day.  I was looking a weather reports some of which were showing winds as high as 42 mph today and this evening, and other weather reports showing wind gusts in the 25 mph range.  Of course rain was a given, with possible thunderstorms.  I’m thinking we can go in the rain, and we’ve handled wind of 25 mph, so why not go.  But the other source was showing strong gusts that would be very difficult to deal with on a boat, or on land for that matter.  We got up early this morning planning to leave at 7:00.  I went for a walk on the dock to check things out; it was calm and fairly warm for that early in the morning.  I’m thinking it’s not bad, maybe we can go.  So I went back inside and rechecked the weather to see what was in store for Norfolk, our destination.  I started reading weather reports about severe weather with damaging winds, possible hail, thunderstorms and maybe tornados later in the day for northeast North Carolina and Southeastern Virginia.  Exactly where we are and where we are going.  So at 6:45 I told Jan we’re staying put.  Of course she says something like,” well, you could have told me that while I was in bed.”  Of course she was all dressed and ready to go so going back to bed was out of the question.  A couple of boats that were here last night actually did go, and for part of the morning I was second guessing myself.  The weather was overcast, but quite calm.  Then about 11:00 it started to rain and lightning.  I didn’t really hear much thunder, but I could see the light flashing.  I thought maybe this was the right choice.  I sat down and looked at the radar online and noticed that Norfolk was getting hammered, much worse than we were here.  Not where I would want to be.  The rain continued into the afternoon then started to clear up for a while.  So we just hung out and sat on the back deck for a little while.

Later we mosied over to the restaurant for dinner but sat there hearing the high pitched tone of weather alerts every so often.  Eventually the dockmaster came by and told us, as well as other boat operators in the restaurant that tornado warnings had been issued and he was expecting a blow in an hour to two.  It would be prudent to add a couple more lines to hold the boat.  So we went back to the boat, doubled up lines fore and aft, and added an additional spring line.  We also cleared all items that could blow around and cause damage, and although the dinghy on the hardtop was already strapped down, we added another line to hold it in the cradle.  Hopefully all this will be sufficient.  We’ll see when the blow comes through.  After we were finished, we checked the weather and alerts on the computer.  They had a mariners warning and alert issued for all the areas around Norfolk including Willoughby Bay where we were going to anchor for the night.  High winds and possible waterspouts-tornados on the water.  The alert was urging mariners to seek safe harbor.  In other words it would be dangerous being out there.  Not where I want to be, so it seems staying here the extra day was the prudent thing to do.  Stay tuned.

Well I think we are through the worst of it.  The boat blew around a bit then the rain and lightning started.  It rained pretty hard for about 15 minutes then you could hear pieces of hail hitting the windshield and decks, then all of a sudden the rain just stopped.  There was still some lightning and thunder, but I think the worst is over for today.  I guess it’s almost time to go to bed.  Tomorrow will be an early morning again.  We have to make up some of what we lost today.  I believe it will be an 85 mile day instead of a 65 mile day.  Plus, the wind is supposed to be back again tomorrow. That should make moving up the Chesapeake Bay fun.

So boys and girls, until we have internet again……

P.S. Hi Tyler

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 30

Yesterday we anchored out again and had a pretty restful sleep.  The lapping of the water on the hull actually stopped for a while signaling that the wind had pretty much died down.  But then later in the early morning it started up again telling us the winds were again picking up.  The wind was primarily coming from the east, and since we were heading mostly north, that meant the wind was on the beam.  And, today we were crossing Albemarle Sound.  Yippee.  The last time I did this with Rick, we had stiff winds creating beam to rollers that had the boat rolling from side to side like and amusement ride.  And to top it off, Rick was trying to cook some breakfast, bacon, eggs and toast.  If you have been following along, you know the bacon was burnt, the eggs were like sawdust and the toast, well that was pretty much ok.  I’m not saying the overcooked food was because of the wind and rollers, but it did make standing up in the galley a little hard.

So we took some more spray over the bow, coated the windows with salt water, all in a day’s adventures I guess.  Oh, and along with all the rollers, spray and wind, we were dodging crab pots across the sound.  The pots were so close to the charted course, you almost ran over them.  These guys have all the water in the sound, and they have to put crab pots on the rhumb line through Albemarle Sound?  Come on!!!  It was a relatively short day; we were going to Coinjock to stage for the push to Norfolk tomorrow.  And yet again, the weather looks crappy for the next several days.  Rain, thunderstorms, and wind.  What else can we get here?  Maybe some hail thrown in? 

It is about a 65 mile trip to the anchorage we plan to stay in which should be pretty well protected.  We have several bridges to negotiate tomorrow along with a lock.  This will be Jan’s first lock, and it will probably be raining to boot.  I’m not sure how this will go but I will be sure to let you know when it’s all over.  Oh, and because of the high winds with thunderstorms, we took the bimini down again, so there is no shelter on the flybridge from the rain.  So, when I am negotiating the lock or anchoring I will be doing it from the flybridge, and Jan will be out on the foredeck.  It looks like a pretty wet day tomorrow.

Today’s travels took us 38.8 miles.  So far we have traveled a total of 1145.5 miles from Ft. Myers Beach Fl.  Today we were on the water for 5 hrs. 19 mins.

So boys and girls we will have to see how this all plays out.  Until then…..

P.S. Hi Tyler

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 29

So boys and girls what is the word for today?  Can you say W-I-N-D?  It never lets up!  After spending the night in a great anchorage, with no cell service, no internet and no light, we were completely off the grid.  Lying in bed this morning you could hear the water lapping hard against the boat.  That was the first sign there was some wind building out there.  Today was supposed to be about 55 miles, relatively easy compared to the last several days, so there was no urgency to get started early.  As it was we had the anchor up at 8:00 and were on our way.  With the wind blowing right in your face at probably 20+ mph, and a little chill in the air we decided we could operate from down below.  So downstairs we went.  We made our way up the Pungo River as the wind continued to get a little stronger.  If you have ever observed a body of water with strong winds blowing parallel to the flow of the water, you will see lines of foam in line with the wind.  You will also see white caps, or if the body of water is large enough, waves.  Well, there were waves and long lines of foam on the water. 

Eventually we left the Pungo River and entered the Alligator – Pungo Canal which connects the Pungo River with the Alligator River.  Along the canal, the wind was beam to, so we weren’t heading directly into it anymore.  But, you could see and feel the boat heel a little like a sailboat from the wind pushing on the superstructure.  The only other thing that was annoying was the current.  We fought the current which slowed us down, but I knew eventually we would reach a point where the current would be in our favor and give us a push.  So you just deal with it.  There is absolutely nothing, I mean nothing, no cell, no 4G, no way to communicate along this canal except with smoke signals, and nothing to see but trees, stumps, and grasses as far as you can see.  I asked Jan if she was hearing banjos yet.  She said she didn’t hear them playing, but she thought she heard them tuning up.  20 miles of nothing, that is the Alligator – Pungo Canal.  I have anchored at the northern end a couple of time, and you are completely, totally isolated from the rest of the world.  If you want peaceful and alone, this is the place.

Eventually we made it to the Alligator River and turned back into the wind, in big water.  By this time the wind had picked up a little bit and we were bashing our way along getting sprayed on.  What’s a day without some spray over the bow all over the windows?  It’s old hat by now, almost child’s play at this point.  Some bridges won’t open if winds are over 25 or sometimes 35 mph.  So as we were heading up the Alligator River I called the Alligator River Bridge on the radio when we were about 10 miles out to make sure they we still operating.  The bridge tender assured me they were.  We were going to stay tonight at the Alligator River Marina which is just on the north side of the bridge.  The woman told me they were closing the store at 2:00 since it wasn’t high season yet and I was on my own docking, and maybe some other boater might give me a hand.  Well thank you ma’am for all your help.  We decided to check it out and see how hard it might be parking this monster in 20+ mph winds there.  I hate trying to gently bring this to a fixed object like a dock, gently, in high winds.  It’s almost impossible to do unless you are nose to the wind.  Then you might have some control.   After we cleared the bridge we turned into the marina to check it out.  It was 2:40, so no one was around.  The best alternative was nose in to the slip, that way you were facing pretty close to the wind.  But, the finger piers were short, and the shoreline was rock, so you were trying to dock on a short pier, and stop short of the rocks with no help to grab lines.  I don’t think I saw any cleats on the dock to you were tying to pilings.  The outer pilings were sitting alone with no means to get to them, so you had to lasso them on the way in from the boat.  The whole thing looked pretty difficult under the circumstances.  So we made a U-turn and left.  We did find an anchorage not too far away that is somewhat protected from the wind which has subsided somewhat, so we dropped anchor and settled in for the night.  I can hear the water lapping loudly against the hull as I write this.  So there is still wind, not nearly as strong, but we are secure.  I loves me some Rocna!

Tomorrow is on to Coinjock.  The weather looks like we might get some storms Friday, so we might have to layover for a day there.  We’ll have to see what it looks like tomorrow.

So boys and girls, until then……

P.S. Hi Tyler

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 28

After yesterday, we both hoped today would be much less stressful.  After being talked into it, first order of business was to put the bimini back up.  Of course today was mostly cloudy, and we even had some rain.  Good choice.  Maybe it will be beneficial later in the week.  Nonetheless, we were under way at 8:00 on the nose. We made it around Morehead City, up Adams Creek, across the Pamlico Sound all without incident.  No bridges to negotiate, no trouble spots of any concern and here we are anchored in Slade Creek about 5 miles from Belhaven N.C.  The spot is great, nice and wide, good water and good protection.  What is lacking is cell phone access, and any type of internet.  We are totally off the grid here.  So by the time you read this it may be a few days.  Tomorrow we are heading up the Alligator River to the edge of Albemarle Sound where we hope to be in Alligator River Marina.  After that it is a short hop to Coinjock, the jump off place to Norfolk and the Chesapeake. 

Today’s adventure, or lack thereof, took us 73.1 miles for a total of 1039.1 miles.  Travel time today was 8hrs 38mins.

So boys and girls, until next time…..

P.S. Hi Tyler

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 27

Today we left the dock at about 7:45.  The weather was great with bright sunshine which lasted all day.  In my infinite wisdom, anticipating strong winds later in the week, I decided to take down the bimini, not only because of potential winds, but I didn’t think the temperatures would be that high, and the sun would feel better than shade this time of year.  Well today proved me absolutely wrong, at least on the second count.  By this afternoon we were taking turns driving so we could get some shade.  It was pretty hot in the sun, and we both ended up with quite a bit of sun on our exposed skin…sunburn.  Needless to say I was glad when the sun started to set.  Sitting in that much sun really wears you out believe it or not.

Throughout todays travels there are several “trouble” spots you need to be aware of.  Well, we got through those problem areas in the morning with a rising tide.  A rising tide is a good thing, and compensates for a multitude of stupid mistakes.  Fortunately during the week while I was waiting for Jan to arrive in Myrtle Beach to join the crew, I was able to access the Army Corp of Engineers web site where they publish depth sounding for these trouble spots, and produce a “heat map” if you will of the area, and a chart of waypoints to get you through.  I was able to take the waypoint and upload them into my chartplotters and create a track through the areas, giving me a path to follow.  Worked like a charm.  We had no problems at all.  Some areas had a pretty convoluted path, but… whatever works.

Today was expected to be a long day, I had estimated 80 miles or so, so we had to keep moving to make it to the anchorage at Spooners Creek.  After we left Carolina Beach I expected to get to Wrightsvile Beach in time for the 9:00 bridge opening.  This bridge only opens on the hour, and I estimated it to be 5 miles to the bridge from Carolina Beach.  I don’t know what I was thinking, well it was more like 15 miles, and we were there 30 minutes early for the 10:00 bridge opening.  So we had to wait 30 minutes.  Bridge tenders cut you no slack.  We weren’t alone, there were two other boats waiting as well.  The next bridge came up pretty quickly, Figure 8 Island Bridge.  This bridge opens on the hour and half hour, so a little more flexibility.  Turns out we could fit under the Figure 8 Island Beach Bridge with the antennas down,  so no need to stop and wait there.  Our next bridge was the Surf City Swing Bridge.  This bridge only opens on the hour as well.  Guess what, we had to wait 30 minutes for this bridge to open.  So much for keeping moving today.  Our last bridge of the day was Onslow Beach Bridge on the edge of Camp Lejeune live firing range.  This bridge opens on the hour and half hour.  Yay!!  Guess what time we got to the bridge.  Yep, missed the hour by 5 minutes, and had to wait 25 minutes for the opening.  Crap, what else can go wrong.  80 miles today is going to be a stretch at this point.  After we cleared the bridge, we entered Camp Lejeune’s live fire area.  There is a big sign that warns you of the live fire area with red lights that flash when exercises are in progress.  Well guess what, the big red lights were flashing.  Are you kidding me????  In the distance were Navy patrol boats waiting to stop anyone foolish enough to proceed.  The guidance we had on hand said the exercises could last 1-2 hours at a time.  So we had no choice but to drop anchor and relax for a while.  Can this get any worse?  Turns out we had to wait about 45 minutes. Finally, one of the patrol boats came up and said we could “traverse the area, but, do not stop.”  Yes sir!  So we upped anchor and started moving again.  Let’s see, so far we lost over 2+ hours stopped and waiting for bridges and marines.  Can we still make it to Spooners Creek anchorage?  The other place I had originally thought we might anchor was in Swansboro.  When we reached Swansboro we still had about 3 hours of day light left with 20 miles or so to go until we reached Spooners Creek.  We decided we could just make it  by dusk.  Well currents and tides can be cruel sometimes.  The currents in and around Bogue Inlet are quite strong and slowed us down quite a bit.  Also as we approached Spooners Creek the current there also took its toll, slowing us down almost to a crawl.  As a result of all that we didn’t get to our chosen anchorage until after 8:00, in the dark, and had to thread our way into the narrow channel and entrance to Spooners Creek.  Fortunately I had been there before so I still had the image in my head.  With the spot lights on, the chartplotter and the image in my mind, we made it with no problem.  By the time we were anchored was almost 8:30 and we still had to finish cooking dinner.  Jan had put together a crock pot meal, chicken cacciatorie.  It had been cooking all day from 11:00 on.  We threw some spaghetti in boiling water and finally had ourselves a nice dinner.  Needless to say, we were both beat.

But here is the kicker, remember the 10 mile difference between my estimate and the actual distance to Wrightsville Beach?  Well instead of an 80 mile day it was closer to 90 miles.  87.9 miles to be exact.   Total miles traveled back to the Chesapeake so far is 966 miles.  Our travel time today is 11hrs. 47mins.

So boys and girls, until next time….

P.S. Hi Tyler

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 26

Today was the day.  Jan was on board and we were up early.  We cast off from Barefoot Landing shortly after 7:00, and went all the way across the ICW to Barefoot Marina, directly across from where we started.  Wow, what a cruise.  No, we didn’t stop for the day there, but we did get pumped out so our holding tank was empty, and our water tank was full, our fuel tanks were almost full as well, so we were good to go.  We were off the dock there by 7:30, an early start.  I guess we were anxious to get started.

We cruised through the rockpile area without incident and made it through all the other traditional problem areas also without incident.  In fact, two of the most notorious areas had recently been dredged so they were no longer problems.  Shallotte’s Inlet and Lockwoods Folly were straight through shots.  Very nice.  On the way down In November we saw boats that had run aground at both spots waiting to get rescued or in the process of being towed off the shoal.  To get through you had to take a curved route through the crossing carefully following the buoys and markers.  Now it was just straight across, Very nice.  There are several more trouble spots along the way that we will negotiate as we go along. We had to open a couple bridges today, so Jan got to see how that worked, as well as working with some of the navigation tools I use as well.  All in all a good day.

We did finally stop for the day at Carolina Beach Marina, which is a state park with a small marina.  Reasonable priced, with electric and water.  We arrived at the marina about 3:30, a little shorter day for the first day.   Of course when we got to the dock to tie up, a ranger came to help us.  Well, he was about useless.  Jan tossed him two lines and he tied them to the wrong cleats.  We couldn't get the boat against the dock well enough to get off and fix it.  He just tied a couple of lines and left.  We finally did figure a way to get alongside the dock so I could get off and re position the lines.  I guess he doesn't do much with boats.  

We traveled 57 miles today for a total of 878 miles total traveled so far.  Travel time was 7hrs. 9mins. Tomorrow is a long day, probably about 80 miles, just short of Morehead City.  There are also a couple bridges we have to open along the way.  The Wrightsville Beach bridge only opens on the hour so we have to time it so we don’t have to wait too long to get through.  Hopefully we can get off here around 8:00 so we can make it to Wrightsville by the 9:00 opening.  It would really suck if we got there at 9:05 and had to wait for the 10:00 opening.  The other bridge opens on the hour and half hour so we have some more flexibility there.  Of course if we can pick up a shrimper and follow him, the bridges open for commercial traffic on demand…bam! No waiting.  If we have to wait for bridges, that will really slow us down.

I doubt we will have any sort of internet access for the next several days, we will be anchored in some fairly remote areas, we’ll see.

So boys and girls, until next time…..

P.S. Hi Tyler

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 24

Hello boys and girls, today is Friday and I have been here at Barefoot Landing Marina for almost a week now.  During the week I did little minor maintenance things, checking things mostly, and since I have internet access I was able to download a newer version of the navigation chart on my chartplotters and install it on both.  On Wednesday Rick and his friend Brian came and picked me up.  We went back to the house they are staying in in Murrells Inlet.  There are six guys staying there while they play golf all week.  Wednesday happened to be an off day for Brian and Rick to rest up, so I hung with them for the day, and was able to catch up on my laundry.  They also took me to a grocery store so I could stock up on several things.  Jan will be here tomorrow late afternoon and we will be leaving first thing Sunday morning.  The weather so far looks favorable so that will make things easier on the tenderfoot until she gets her sea legs under her after a few days. 

It should take us about 10 days to get back to Rock Hall.  We will be anchoring out most of the time, stopping at a marina only two or three nights I believe, so internet access will be pretty scarce during that time.  And, since we will be anchoring out most nights, Jan will get some practice handling the windlass and washdown duties.

 

Barefoot Landing is a pretty big place, it is pretty much a shopping mecca and is built in the middle of a lake and is divided into two sections with boardwalks across the lake to get from side to side.  Along the sides of the lake there are reeds and “shore brush” along with signs to not go near the water because there are snakes and alligators in the lake.  Nice to know.

 

I am looking forward to getting back home, it’s been quite a while since I was there, and there are a lot if things I need to catch up on there, not to mention the boat will need some TLC.

So boys and girls,  I will let you know my progress as I can, so stay tuned.

Until then……

P.S. Hi Tyler

Good to know

Very colorful wildlife

And back to the Chesapeake – Day 19

Well boys and girls, we have been on the go for 19 days and have arrived in Myrtle Beach S.C.  Closer to North Myrtle Beach actually, Barefoot Landing Marina to be exact.  We left Georgetown a little later than usual because we decided to into town and have breakfast.  The trip to Myrtle is only 52 miles or so, so not a long day.  And, true to form the wind was blowing pretty hard again when we left.  Fortunately it was blowing out of the NW so it literally blew us away from the dock instead of yesterday when it was blowing from the SW when it blew us into the dock.  Not fun trying to dock this beast!

Well, the wind blew hard all…day…long!  It blew 20 mph+ with gusts as high as 28/29 mph.  Sometimes we would come out from behind some trees or buildings and the wind would actually rock the boat, and actually blowing it sideways a bit.  Along the way we decided to slow down and take our time hoping that later in the day the wind would begin to subside a little, making it easier to dock in Myrtle when we got there.  We arrived  at the marina about 4:30, but the wind was still blowing a stiff breeze.  Fortunately I was able to turn the boat into the wind somewhat so it was blowing about 20-25 degrees off the bow rather than straight abeam so I could control the boat a little better.  We got docked without incident and then it was time to relax a little.

Since we had a hearty breakfast this morning, neither one of us was hungry for lunch, but we were beginning to get hungry by now.  A little after 5:00 we went over to TBonz Gill and Grille for dinner.  After dinner Rick started packing up to depart and spend the next week playing golf with some other guys just down the road.  They are staying in a rented house near Murrells Inlet, and playing different courses in the area each day.  So now I am alone on the boat for the next week until Jan arrives on Sat.  Hopefully we can leave and head for home on Sunday.  I say hopefully because… you guessed it, the winds are expected to blow and gust into the 30’s on Sunday, and we have to negotiate the Cape Fear River.  Not a fun time!  We’ll see what happens closer to then.

Today we traveled 52.3 miles for a total of 821.1 miles.  Travel time was 7hrs. 12mins.

So boys and girls when I have some more to talk about I’ll continue to add to the blog between now and Sunday.  So until then…..

P.S. Hi Tyler

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 18

We spent the night on the hook in a fairly exposed anchorage with quite a bit of wind when we anchored.  I diminished somewhat overnight but you could still hear it gusting periodically.  I let out plenty of anchor rode and the anchor held fast all night.  We never moved.  I love, love, love my new anchor.

   

Today it was on to Georgetown S.C.  I was a little concerned with what I was going to find weather wise later in the day.  I was looking at two different weather sources to figure what the winds would be like.  One source had winds in the low teens with gusts in the mid to upper teens, the other showed winds in the mid-teens with gusts in the mid to upper twenties.  I liked the first source better, but was concerned about the second.  By the time we got to Georgetown the winds were definitely howling, not as bad as the second source I don’t think, but probably more than the first.  As a result docking with the wind on the beam, pushing you into the dock was, needless to say, a challenge.   But, it makes getting off the dock an even bigger challenge.  Hopefully the wind will change direction, as predicted by tomorrow morning and make getting off the dock easier.  The wind tomorrow is expected to be much the same as today, but we will be in canals most of the day making it much easier.

The trip to Georgetown was pretty uneventful, even made it through McClellanville without a problem.  That area is traditionally full of shoals, and crab pots making it like a mind field.  What is going to get you, wrap a crab pot around your prop, or hit bottom.  But a rising tide helps immensely, and for some reason there weren’t too many crab pots.  So we didn’t really have much of a problem.  Of course there are other spots where the water can get pretty thin, but like I said, a rising tide really helps to mitigate the anxiety.

We even got to rinse the boat off and get some of the salt from all the spray that had been raining down on the boat from the waves we went through for a couple days.  Almost everything on the outside had a salt crust on it. Ugh!  So giving it a quick bath was good.

When we were here in late November or early December, one of the places we ate and really liked was and Italian restaurant, DiAngelo’s on Front St.  We had lunch there then and really enjoyed it.  Tonight we decided to go back for dinner.  I have to tell you, it was one of the best meals I have ever had.  I got the seafood alfredo over linguine.  It had shrimp and a couple small lobster tails.  I think he gave me an extra lobster tail because I didn’t want scallops.  But let me tell you, it was absolutely scrumptious.  Rick had chicken marsala over linguine and couldn’t stop talking about how good it was.  So, if you are ever in Georgetown S.C., stop in to DiAngelo’s Italian Restaurant and enjoy a great meal.  The owner came out and talked to us for a while both times.  Tonight when we told him we had been here a couple of months ago, he said,” Oh yeah, the guys on the boat.”  I think he remembered us, and he is really a nice guy.

Tomorrow it is on the Myrtle Beach.  I should be another easy day, 53 miles or so, getting us there by early to mid-afternoon.  The winds are expected to diminish in the afternoon, so hopefully we won’t have to dock with the wind honkin’ like it has been.

Today we traveled 52.6 miles today for a total of 761.8 miles so far.  Travel time was 5hrs. 41 mins.

So boys and girls, until tomorrow…….

P.S. Hi Tyler

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 17

Welcome back dear readers, all two of you.  I’ve been off the grid for a few days while we anchored out in some more remote locations.  Today we are anchored about 10 miles north of Charleston, somewhat remote, but my WiFi extender was able to pick up a hotspot, so I’m back on.

We left Beaufort this morning, by the time we got the anchor up and underway it was about 8:30.  Not the earliest, but heck, it was still cold.  We woke to 35 degree temps, not as bad as yesterday, but still cold.  Especially when you have no heat overnight.  I was the same routine as the night before, sweats and double blankets.  Slept ok, and was warm enough.  It feels like when I was in the Boy Scouts and we went camping in the winter in the Poconos. Back then, we put our outer clothes in the sleeping bag with us to keep them warm.

When Rick went out to begin pulling the anchor he slipped a little, the overnight dew had frozen on the deck so it was a little slippery until the sun hit it.  At least it wasn’t windy like yesterday.  Yesterday Rick’s clothes and shoes got wet from the washdown water because the wind was blowing so hard it blew back on him.  One of his jobs is to wash the mud off the anchor and anchor chain as it comes up.  Today was much better than yesterday in that department.  Actually it was flat calm, the water was like glass early on with little or no wind.  Yay, finally!

The trip today was pretty uneventful, there was favorable current pushing us along for most of the trip and we made pretty good time.  There were the usual places where you had to be careful of shoaling and lack of depth, particularly since I don’t have my “get home track” we had to figure out how to navigate these trouble spots.  Speaking of trouble spots, tomorrow we pass through an area called McClellanville S.C.  It is a known trouble spot with numerous shallows, and to add to that the crabbers are out and in this area they drop crab pots everywhere, in the channel and on the sides.  You really have to be careful not to pick one up in your prop.

When we were in Titusville, Connie and Gordon took us to Aldi’s grocery store.  I had never been to one.  While there we picked up a pork roast.  I had never been to Aldi’s before, and many of the items they have are maybe not brands you recognize, but let me tell you, everything we got is very good.  I have no complaints, and it seemed much less expensive than Publix or another major grocery store.

Well, last night we took it out of the freezer to thaw overnight.  During the day today I put it in the crockpot with some potatoes and carrots.  It cooked all afternoon and by the time we got anchored tonight it was thoroughly cooked.  That was dinner, and it was good.  There are some leftovers, but that’s ok.

Tomorrow it is on to Georgetown S.C. about a 55 mile run.  After two 85 mile days, tomorrow should be a piece of cake.  But we will see.

Today we traveled 83.8 miles for a total of 709.2 miles.  Travel time was 10hrs. 17mins.

So boys and girls, until tomorrow…..

P.S. Hi Tyler 

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 16

Last evening we anchored in Wahlberg Creek, just off of St. Catherine’s Sound.  The weather service had issued hard freeze warnings, meaning it was going to be cold.  By bed time it - was – cold!  With no overnight heat, I went to bed wearing sweatpants, a t-shirt, and had on the bed a bedspread and blanket that was folded over to double it on my side of the bed, acting like two blankets.  Once I was in and covered up, it warmed up nicely, and I must admit, I was quite toasty all night.  But, when I woke up at 6:45 this morning, the temperature outside was 29 degrees, and I’m sure it wasn’t much warmer inside.  Talk about feet on a cold floor.  I turned on the generator, switched on all the heaters and things warmed up quickly.  I left everything running as is for the first hour while underway, and once the sun started to warm up the inside of the boat everything was shut off and we motored on.

Our goal today was to reach May River, off of Hilton Head Island and anchor for the night.  We reached that destination about 4:30 in the afternoon, and with several hours of daylight left we decided to try for Beaufort.  That way we can be in Charleston tomorrow.  So on we went.  We are now anchored in an anchorage outside Beaufort, reaching the anchorage about 6:30.  Just in time for dinner.  They are still talking about freeze warnings here tonight, I don’t think it will get that cold, but it will still be quite cold anyway.

Today was pretty uneventful from a travel standpoint, the wind was still present, but not nearly as strong or gusty as it had been the last several days.  Tomorrow should be quite nice to travel, cool, but not overly windy.  The weather people had been calling for the weekend here to be quite windy and rainy, but the last time I looked, the forecast had changed for the better.  So it appears we have a good shot at making Myrtle Beach by Sunday or Monday.  Once there, Rick will depart to go play golf and I will hang out and wait for Jan to join me for a week or so while we continue the trip northward.

Today we traveled 84.8 miles for a total of 625.4 miles total.  Travel time was 10hrs. 32 mins.

Tomorrow will probably be close to the same, 10+ hours.

Until tomorrow then….

P.S. Hi Tyler

And Back to the Chesapeake – Days 13, 14, 15

Days 13 and 14 weren’t very exciting, so there wasn’t really much to write about.  We stopped in Brunswick Ga. to wait out some more high winds, probably a remnant of the nor’easter that was pounding the northeast.  While we waited we did some minor maintenance items, laundry, grocery shopping, not very exciting stuff.

 

But, are you freaking kidding me?  What is with all this freaking wind?  It just won’t quit.  It was still blowing pretty hard this morning when we left Brunswick, and in addition, the temperature was 36 degrees.  What the heck!!  Needless to say we operated the boat from inside.  With the wind blowing, and temps in the upper 30’s, the wind chill had to be in the low 20’s.  The wind blew so hard the boat was heeling over a couple degrees like a sailboat.  The temperature peaked today at a whopping 48 degrees.  To add insult to injury they are calling for a hard freeze tonight.  We are anchored out tonight, so there will be no heat on the boat.  Guess I’ll be sleeping in sweats.

 

The ride to Wahlberg Creek where we are currently anchored was uneventful, the currents were pretty intense.  The tides here have a seven foot range between high and low.  That’s a lot of water that flows in and out of these inlets.  The decision tomorrow is do we go outside and avoid the trouble spots we avoided on the way down, or do we stay inside and make the best of it.  If we stay inside, the good thing is we will hit the worst spot, Hell Gate, on a rising tide.  That would be a good thing and quite a help, so maybe it won’t be too bad.

The other thing that happened today is my get home track disappeared off the chartplotter.  When we travel, the chartplotter leaves a track of where you went.  So going back, all I had to do is follow the track back, which was advantageous because we had navigated all the problem areas successfully on the way down.  If I followed the track back, I wouldn’t have to “re-navigate” everything all over.  I believe what happened was the memory got full, and began deleting the old track as I added the new track I was leaving on the way back.  So, from here on out, the old track is gone, and we have to navigate the problem areas again.  Oh well, that’s the way it works.

Tomorrow we are headed about 60 miles farther north past Savannah.  We won’t make Beaufort if we stay inside, but we will probably have a smoother ride

. 

There is no internet around here, and we will be on the hook for the next several days, so I don’t know when I will get to post this.

Today we traveled 69.9 miles for a total of 540.6 miles so far.  Travel time was 8hrs. 50mins.

Until next time boys and girls…….

P.S. Hi Tyler

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 12

What is it they say about best laid plans?  Last night we anchored off of Amelia Island Fl. Just south of Fernandina Beach.  With the winds expected to pick up later in the day, the plan was to head out early, cover the 45 miles or so to Brunswick Ga., and get tied up before the winds started in earnest, all by lunch time.  Well, when I woke up, the room was spinning quite rapidly, and I could barely get out of bed to use the bathroom.  When I stood up I started to feel really nauseous.  So I laid back down for a little bit, but things didn’t seem to get much better at first, all I could do is lay there and moan, breaking into a sweat, like you get when you feel really sick.  I thought great, we are going to have to stay here for three days and get pounded by the wind in a relatively unprotected anchorage while I lay here and get sick.  About 45 minutes later I could get up and get dressed, but that was about it.  I had to sit down and rest when the room started to spin again.  I sat on the couch for a bit while Rick drank his coffee, and for some reason I started to get sick in my stomach so I headed for the bathroom, did what I had to do, and sat back down on the couch with my eyes closed.  Eventually I started to feel well enough to get started, but it was after 8:00, the plan was to be underway by 7:00.  For the longest time I just didn’t feel right, not 100%, maybe 85%, but nonetheless we pushed on. 

After a short while, a really short while, we went down and operated at the lower helm.  The wind was already blowing really hard, plus, the air was a little chilly.  By the time we hit Jekyll inlet and sound, the wind was howling across the water with some intensity raising quite a chop and waves.  Since we were headed almost directly into it, the boat motion wasn’t that bad, just a lot of up and down, like a carousel horse. Here is a short video crossing the sound.  Watch the horizon going up and down to get some idea of the motion.  All the water you see on the windshield was from the spray coming up.

Eventually we made it to Brunswick Landing.  We got tied up with some help from the dock person and another boat owner on the dock about 1:45, later than the plan, but all things considered not too bad. We got settled made a sandwich and headed down to the Yacht Club so Rick could have some beer with lunch and we watched a little TV.  Now we are comfortable here, having been here before we know the routine.  Tomorrow will be laundry day and maybe a few miscellaneous things on board, like cleaning. 

Today we traveled 45.4 miles for a total of 470.4 miles.  The trip took 5hrs 32mins. 

   

So here we will stay for a three nights, hopefully getting back on the water Wednesday.

Until then boys and girls…..

P.S. Hi Tyler

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 11

Today we were up early and off the mooring shortly after 7:00.  We headed over to the Marina office and fuel dock to take on fuel and get pumped out.  That took a little while but then we were off and running by 8:00.  When we got up this morning we put on the usual shorts, t-shirt, and sandals.  But…. as we were motoring up the ICW, the winds were whipping at a pretty good clip out of the north, so it had a little chill to it, and we were headed north generally, so the wind was pretty much in our face.  Within an hour I told Rick, I was going to change, it was pretty chilly.  So I ended up with long pants, socks, shoes and a sweatshirt.  Much better.  Shortly afterward he did the same.  I think the days of shorts and sandals is pretty much over, the farther north we go.  We are not in the tropic zone any longer.  A rude awakening it is for sure.  The wind was blowing hard all day, and the we fought the current all the way Jacksonville.  There were times we were clocking 1300 RPMs and barely making 6.5 knots.  Once the tide changed, we were making 11.5 knots and only clocking 1100 RPMs.  Quite a tide here, 6 ft. tide changes. We will probably have that all the way through Georgia, big tides and powerful currents.  We motored on and reached the Jacksonville free dock, one of the choices for stopping about 12:30, so we continued on, shooting for an anchorage called Piney Island, just south of Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island. We got there about 3:00 and decided to anchor and call it a day, after yesterday, neither one of us wanted another marathon.  We got anchored easily with the wind and decided it was bloody Mary time.   We each had two, which was more than enough for me. 

Looking ahead, it is supposed to rain sometime tomorrow late in the morning, then a front will come through and the constant wind will blow just a little harder for a day or so.  I hope we can be in Brunswick tomorrow by lunchtime, get tied up and settle in for a couple days before the wind starts blowing too hard.  It seem the wind had been in our face for days, it’s getting a little tiresome. I have a pretty good windburn going.  Down here you see people in small fishing boats zipping by pretty fast wearing a face mask/scarf over their faces.  I’ve wondered what they were for.  I thought it might be to keep bugs from getting in their mouth or smacking them on the face, but now I think it is to prevent windburn.   If anyone knows why they wear them I would really like to know.  Well boys and girls,

Until tomorrow…..

P.S. Hi Tyler.

And Back to the Chesapeake - Day 10

Well boys and girls, we have a new Rogue record.  Usually I don’t mention how far we traveled until the end of the entry, but today I have to put it first.  Today we traveled…drum roll please….. 100 miles!  We got to where we were going to anchor in Daytona at 2:30 this afternoon, and decided to keep on going and try for St. Augustine for a couple of reasons.  One is we had the time to cover more distance, and the second was the weather forecast.  Winds are expected to kick up again Sunday night into Monday morning.  I would rather sit out a blow in a marina rather than at anchor.  So we decided to try for Brunswick on Sunday.  Now that we are in St. Augustine, Brunswick is certainly doable.  The trip today took us 12 hours and 43 minutes, a very long day.  We were in the dark (yes I know, I’m always in the dark) for several hours before finally picking up a mooring ball here.  Anyway, we are here, it’s late and I’m pretty tired so this is going to be short.

I took several pictures of the sunset this evening, I’m not sure if they really show just how spectacular it was, the clouds were very dramatic against the colors in the sky.  Hope you enjoy.

Until next time….

P.S. Hi Tyler

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 9

Welcome back boys and girls, today we stayed tied up to the dock in Titusville Fl.  Today was a day to enjoy being with friends and get some errands taken care of.  This morning we took care of some business items online since we had access to some pretty good internet.  Connie and Gordon picked us up around noon and we went to a local Italian restaurant for lunch.  They had a lunch special including salad, and drink for $7.00.  It was quite good.  Then we went to the liquor store to stock up on some refreshments then hit the grocery store, stocking up on food.  We were really pretty low on food and drink, having no bread, and basically hot dogs for meals.  So now we have food on board, good thing, because we won’t be setting foot on land again for several days, not until we get to Brunswick, about four days from now.

After we got our supplies, we brought everything back to the boat, put everything away, then Connie and Gordon took us over to the beach.  What a nice beach.  It is a federal park, which I believe Gordon said was all part of NASA’s property that was turned into a park.  It has many small parking lots spaced out along the dunes, each with a walkway over the dunes to the water.  The beach when we got there was virtually deserted, and the water was a little on the cool side, but comfortable, and the nice blue/green color you would expect.  We walked on the beach for a while enjoying the ambiance, the breeze and the surf.  A really nice diversion.

 

Afterward we hit an Irish Pub for dinner, the fish and chips were a hit, and Gordon really enjoyed the beer which he had had before.  They dropped me and Rick off about 7:30 and we said our goodbyes.  Really nice to see them again, and I can’t thank Connie and Gordon enough for playing taxi and spending so much time with us.  We had a lot of fun with them and really enjoyed it.  A BIG thanks to Connie and Gordon!

After we got back to the boat, it was time to get into preparation mode.  We topped off the water tank, filled up the empty drinking water jugs, and each did a load of laundry.  (I was down to my last pair of undies, so it was time.)

Tomorrow it’s on to Daytona, not a long day.  So boys and girls,

Until then….

P.S.  Hi Tyler

Some pictures of the beach

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 8

We woke up this morning to a light misty rain that was beginning to taper off, but remained overcast.  We made tea and coffee and pulled the lines for the mooring ball, and we were loose.  It was 7:15 in the morning.  We headed up the ICW in the on and off light mist, passing numerous rowers out for early their morning exercise.  We cruised along oohing and aahing at the stately homes and their immaculately groomed grounds.  Along the way we saw rays actually flying out of the water and plopping back down with a thwack from the belly flop they do.  I can say I have never seen that before.

The ride up the ICW was pretty uneventful, not much to mention, just set the throttle and point the bow in the right direction.  It was overcast most of the day, but no rain after the early morning.  The sun did actually break out several times, and by the time we arrived in Titusville the sun was out and the sky had cleared.

We reached Titusville about 4:00 and got our docking assignment.  We tied up, got the shore power connected and kicked back for a little bit.  I called my friends Connie and Gordon and we agreed to get together for dinner.  They picked us up and we headed to a great Mexican restaurant in town.  We hadn’t had any Mexican food for quite a while, and it was good.  It was also a lot.  By the time we left, I was quite full.  We headed back to Connie and Gordon’s house for a while and talked and reminisced a bit.  They dropped us back at the boat a little after 9:00, so it was quite a full day.

Connie and Gordon agreed to pick us up the next day late morning so we could do some grocery shopping and a pick up a few other things like beer and vodka. (not mine by the way, well, maybe some beer.)  Later in the day we will have to get a few things ready to head for Daytona on Friday.  We are finally making some progress on the road to Myrtle Beach.

Today we traveled 74 miles, for a total of 266 miles.  Travel time was 9hrs. 10mins. We are staying put on Thursday but will be heading out Friday morning.

So boys and girls, until next time…….

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 7

We have been “underway” now for seven days, and ended up traveling only two of those days, until today.  Even though wind speed today was expected to be in the mid 20’s, it is still less than what it has been for the last several days, mid to upper 30’s.  So we made the decision yesterday to cut and run.  We had been sitting for four days going nowhere.  Even though the park was nice, it was not accessible to anything unless you had transportation, which we didn’t.  So four days was about all we could take sitting in one place.

So, we got up early and were eager to get started.  Last evening we had disconnected the second power cord, topped off the water tank, filled up the drinking water jugs and had everything pretty much ready.  This morning we untied the seven lines we had holding the boat, disconnected the final power cord and pushed off at 7:04.  We had to wait a few minutes for the lock, but we were in and out before 8:00 and on our way.  The winds were fairly light at that early hour, but were expected to continue to build through the day before dying out later in the day.  By 9:30 the wind was blowing in earnest.

Stuart is about 14 miles from where we stayed, and as we approached Stuart around 9:30, we had to have a bridge raised to get through.  Immediately after the road bridge is a railroad bridge that is normally in the up position except when a train is approaching.  As we got closer, about a mile away from the bridge, we could see a train moving across the railroad bridge.  I hoped that by the time we got there the bridge would be up and we could get the highway bridge raised for us.  I hailed the highway bridge to let him know we needed an opening, and he informed me that he would not raise the highway bridge until the railroad bridge went up, since we couldn’t go anywhere anyway.  Makes sense.  As we got to the bridge to wait for the opening, the railroad bridge remained in the closed position, and there was already two other boats waiting, with another immediately behind us.  With the wind blowing us all around, we danced around each other in circles trying to keep far enough away from each other.  So we waited, and waited, and waited.  As we waited two more trains came through, so no bridge opening.  In all, we waited for about 30 to 40 minutes for the bridges while doing our boat ballet.  In the meantime, two more boats joined the parade on our side, for a total of six, and one waited on the other side of the bridge.  You could tell the bridge tender was getting a little tired explaining why he couldn’t open the highway bridge.  BTW, if you have been following along, this was the same tender that chewed out a catamaran operator for repeatedly trying to get him to open the bridge while he was waited for a boat towing a disabled boat, which had priority.  He didn’t chew anyone else out today. 

After we finally got through the bridges we headed down the St. Lucie River to the “Crossroads” where the Okeechobee waterway joins the Atlantic ICW.  The wind was blowing right in our face, and there was more than a little chop on the water.  Nothing too bad, two to two and a half feet, but it had some force behind it.  We made the turn and headed up the ICW to Ft. Pierce, and finally to Vero Beach where we are presently, attached to a mooring ball with little to no wind. FINALLY!! Tomorrow is expected to be a really nice travel day, so we will head past Cape Canaveral to Titusville for a couple days so we can resupply.  After that it will be on to Daytona, then St. Augustine.  I had originally planned to spend an extra day in Vero, but because we spent so much time in Port St. Lucie, we are moving on, the same for St. Augustine, one night then move on. 

Tomorrow will be a longer day than today, about 75 miles.  Today we traveled 53 miles for a total of 192 miles so far.  Not much for seven days.  Travel time today was 7hrs 35mins.

 

So boys and girls, Until tomorrow….

P.S. Hi Tyler.

Look how pretty and blue green the water is, almost like Caribbean water

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 5/6

Today is Monday, and it looks like today is just more of the same from Sunday.  So what did we do on Monday that will be replicated on Tuesday you ask?  Pretty much just hang around watching the trees blow sideways, listening to the wind blow, feeling the boat rock hearing the lines groan and the fenders squeak.  We did go to the visitors center to use their Wi-Fi internet for a while.  A highlight of the day was ordering a pizza and having it delivered.  The nearest town and eating establishments are several miles away, too far to walk, so delivery is good.

I am hoping today is our last day sitting still here.  I made contact at Vero Beach for a mooring on Tuesday, and talked to the marina at Titusville for dockage on Wednesday and Thursday. Normally we might spend a couple of days in Vero, but once we start moving, we need to keep going.  Two days at Titusville is out of necessity, we need to do some grocery shopping and laundry while we are there.  Also, my friends Connie and Gordon might be able to help us get around.  If you are following along, you might remember how much of a help they were on the trip down.  Maybe they will indulge me one more time while we are there.  After Titusville, it’s on to Daytona, then St. Augustine.  We probably won’t stop again for an extra day until we get to Brunswick Ga.  Hopefully all we go well to that point and we can catch our breath.

Today actually we need to start getting ready to head out in the morning.  Refilling the water tank, pulling the second 30 amp lead and storing it, I’ll leave one connected so we have electric until we leave.  We used the second one for A/C the first night we were here; it was really hot and muggy.  Not so anymore, it is a little cooler and not so humid. So, on to the tasks at hand, hopefully we can get out of here tomorrow and on our way again.

Until tomorrow…

Wind blowing the palm trees

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 4

Today, Saturday, was another lazy day, not much happening.  Because of the wind forecast we stayed yet another day at Port St. Lucie campground/RV Park.  The winds today didn’t materialize as much as was predicted in my opinion, and we probably could have made it to Vero Beach, but they are expected to really crank up tomorrow, and Monday.  There was some boat traffic through the lock here, but not much.  I suspect that no one is in the mood to try and cross the Okeechobee.  There is always the rim route, but it takes a lot longer that way.  No one docked here is moving either.  Everyone is staying put waiting for the winds to die down.

Yesterday, about the most ambitious we got was to take a walk.  We walked about 2.5 miles getting our exercise.  You don’t get much exercise living on a boat, nowhere to go.

 

Fortunately we stocked up pretty well on food before we left Ft. Myers Beach.  There is no grocery stores near hear, at least not in walking distance to get anything.  If we are going to be here for another couple of days, I’m sure our food supply will be dwindling by then.  Tonight we had cheeseburgers with asparagus and baked beans.  Not fancy, but it was still pretty good. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Until tomorrow…..

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 3

We are in Port St. Lucie, right in front of the lock on the Okeechobee waterway.  From here we could probably be in Vero Beach in a day.  The wind here is just honkin’ at a steady 25+ mph, with guts upwards of 30 to 35 mph.  Not the situation you want to be out on the water in.  We are at a camping/RV park that has boat slips, and are tied up fine with no intention of going anywhere soon.  There are seven lines on the boat holding it down and two fenders keeping us off the dock and the boat next to us.  So far things have been ok, a little groaning and squeaking from the lines and fenders but you get used to it and don’t really hear it after a while.  The wind is supposed to continue like this for the next several days, so it doesn’t look like we are going anywhere soon.  Today Rick and I went on a hike for a couple miles, read a little bit and I actually took a little power nap.

 

Since we have electricity full time here, we decided to break out the crock pot.  We had three pork chops in the freezer and some carrots and celery in the refrigerator, some potatoes and some cream of mushroom soup in the cabinet.  Sounds like dinner to me.  I put everything in the crock pot and let it cook all afternoon.  By dinner time the pork chops were so tender you could cut them with a fork, and the veggies were done.  The soup made nice gravy over everything, and boy was it good.  There were no leftovers.

Tomorrow will most likely be more of the same so we will be staying put again.

So boys and girls, until then….

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 2

Today we got a little later start than I had wanted because, well, we overslept. We didn’t actually get underway until after 8:00, not much after, but still after.  We made our tea and started getting things together, disconnecting the power cord etc.  We drank our tea after we left the dock.  Today was expected to be a long day, and it was.  The goal was to cross Lake Okeechobee, but the problem is there isn’t any place to stop except for Indiantown Marina between Lake Okeechobee and almost to Stuart.  After we were well on our way I called Indiantown Marina to get a reservation for tonight.  There was no room at the inn.  They told me they were booked solid.  Crap!!  Now what.  I pulled up my maps with Active Captain and started looking ahead.  I knew there was nothing between Lake Okeechobee and Indiantown.  We could stop before crossing the lake in Clewiston, but then we wouldn’t have gone very far for the day.  The best place I could find was a campground/RV park.  When I looked into the facility, they have 8 slips, 4 are reservable and 4 are first come first serve.  It is also similar to the campground/RV park we stayed at W.P. Franklin lock.  This is at Port St. Lucie Lock.  It has electric, water and only costs $15 per night with my Govt. park pass.  So I called and asked for a reservation and was able to get slip B6.   The only issue now, was getting there by dark if possible.  It is about 10 to 15 miles farther than Indiantown.

When we pulled up to the park all the slips were taken except B6.  We pulled in, got tied up, hooked up the electric and water.  Both of us were sticky and sweaty from the day so showers were in order.  Since we had electricity we decided that air conditioning was also in order.  So now here we sit, with air conditioning and showers.  Not bad for $15. 

It is supposed to really start to blow later tonight and all the way through Saturday possibly.  35+ mph wind gusts, so we might just stay put since we are set up pretty good.

Today we traveled 86.7 miles for a total of 139.7 miles so far.  Travel time today was 11 hrs. 12mins.

We’ll see what happens tomorrow.  Until then…..

Almost dead calm on Lake Okeechobee.  Hard to see where the water ends and the sky begins

And back to the Chesapeake.

It is March 1^st, and my month at Ft. Myers Beach is over, and time to be heading back north.  It will take me close to six weeks to get home, so it will be April by the time I get there.  The temps in Fla. Were in the 80’s most of the time, but I don’t expect that when I get home.  I’ll be happy with the 50’s.  My time at Ft. Myers Beach was quite enjoyable.  Jan got to come down for 8 days or so while there, and I have some very good friends that made my time even better.  I have to give a HUGE shout out to my good friends Craig and Ann.  It was so great to see them after so long now that they now live permanently in the Ft. Myers area.  We hung out for the month, they fed me several times with good home cooking, gave me a place to do laundry, and even gave me the use of one of their cars for the month. Truly good friends, it was so nice to be able to spend time with them, I can’t thank them enough.

Rick is back with me, at least until we get to Myrtle Beach.  We got the dinghy loaded last night and everything ready to go.  We were underway by 7:30 this morning and made our way up the Caloosahatchee River to LaBelle where we are presently.  We were able to score a slip at the town free dock.  It comes with electric, water, and wifi from the library across the street.  Did I mention it was free?  The slip is 15 ft. wide, and we just fit in.  It is tight, but we are in.  All the slips are full tonight, some people heading east like us, and some heading west.

Tomorrow we are off to cross the Okeechobee and heading for Indiantown marina.  The winds are expected to really start blowing Friday for several days, 35+ miles per hour gusts so I’m glad we can get across the Okeechobee before that happens, but we might be stuck in Indiantown for a couple days.  They are predicted to be east winds, and when we leave Indiantown we will be heading up the east coast, so no real protection.  We’ll have to take it one day at a time.

I will relate on amusing story that Jan didn’t think I would mention.  We were all set to go this morning, I turned the key to energize the start circuit and pushed the button.   Nothing.  I pushed again, nothing.  Are you kidding me?  Checked to make sure it was in neutral (yes Freddie I remembered the neutral safety switch), turned the key off and on, and tried again.  Nothing.  I stared at the control panel for a second and then realized I was pushing the stop button, not the start button. I pushed the start button and all was good.  After sitting for a month, the engines roared to life .  Boy, how soon we forget.

   

Today we traveled 53 miles over 7hrs. 40mins.  Tomorrow looks like it will be about a 70 mile day, probably close to 10 hours run time with two locks along the way.

 

Until tomorrow….

Not sure what this is.  It was in the Caloosahatchee River.  The "people" you see are actually mannequins dressed up.

Day 36

We spent the night at W.P. Franklin lock which has a great campground with eight boat slips.  We had a very peaceful and quiet night.  We woke to cooler temperatures, and an early morning with a fog hovering just above the water to about four feet above the water.  I was a peaceful and serene sight.

We got going about 8:00 or so and had to wait a little bit for the lock to be ready for us to transit.  The lock dropped us about three feet, not a whole lot, and we moved out of the lock and on our way.  We were in no hurry; I estimated the day’s journey to be about 30 miles.  We were on the Caloosahatchee River which takes you past Cape Coral, and Ft. Myers.  Some very nice places along the river.  It is a wide river for the most part, and we had some wind which created a little chop.  Nothing big, but some whitecaps in the river.  After a bit it calmed down and we went past Sanibel Island and out into the Gulf of Mexico for a short ride to the Matanzas Pass, and into Estero Bay behind Estero Island.  Estero Island is where Ft. Myers Beach is located.  There is a mooring field owned by the city of Ft. Myers Beach and run by the Matanzas Inn.  The mooring field is quite large, and stretches for over a mile.

 

This was our destination, Ft. Myers Beach and the mooring field.  I had called ahead to “reserve” a mooring, and was told no reservations, first come first serve.  When we arrived I called and requested an assignment.  The woman hemmed and hawed, and suggested #’s 52 or 55. Turns out there was already a boat on #52, we couldn’t seem to find #55, so we took #54 as it was empty.  By the way, there aren’t many open moorings here.  We got tied to the mooring, then got the dinghy down and motored into the office to pay.  When I told the woman we ended up on #54, she said that someone had paid for that and they must be out for the day.  So I asked about #52 again and also asked for a map to help us locate where the numbered mooring are.  She said #52 is no longer available as was #55.  People had tied up and came into pay before we got to the office.  She suggested #68 or #69, but didn’t really have a handle on which ones were taken or empty.  So we took the map, got back in the dinghy, and circled the mooring field with me calling her about empty moorings to see if they were taken.  Turns out we were back to #68 or #69, neither of which had a pendant on them, which is what you used to tie your boat to.  I called her back and said we would take #69, and don’t give it away since we had to go back to the boat, drop the other mooring and tie up to #69.  But even before that, we had to go back to the boat, grab some lines, and create our own pendant for #69.  We got the lines threaded through the eye of the mooring ball, and using a lifejacket as a float, created the pendant we could then attach to.  We went back to the boat, dropped the mooring #54, and motored back to #69.  Grabbing the lifejacket with the boat hook, we brought the lines on board and got Rogue tied to the mooring.  Now, we had to jump back into the dinghy and motor the mile plus back to the office to pay.  #69 is at the extreme far end of the mooring field.  There are only 70 moorings, so you get the picture.  Finally we got everything squared away, we paid up, got some necessary information and we now have our spot for the next 30 days.  Whew, what a cluster that was.

By this time it was after 4 p.m., we arrived at 1:30 p.m.  Since we were in town, we decided to stay and wait for my friends Craig and Ann to arrive.  They live here full time and were meeting us for dinner, so we went to the nearest tiki bar and had a few drinks while we waited.  We then had a nice dinner overlooking the beach and the sunset.  It was really nice to see Craig and Ann, it had been quite a while and I’m looking forward to hanging here for a while and spending time with them.

Wednesday morning Rousby, my crew, is leaving me so I will be on the boat by myself until my wife Janice flies in on February 13^th.  WooHoo, looking forward to some female companionship.

Today’s travel was 35.9 miles for a total of approximately 1384 miles.  Travel time was 4hrs 55mins.

Well boys and girls, Until next time….

P.S. Hi Tyler.

Sunrise and W.P. Franklin

Rogue in the mist.