East Coast Travels

11/16 to 11/30 2007

We're working our way south,  currently in the Carolina's. A couple of cold fronts have made believers out of us... time to hustle south.

We plan to post and update at least weekly. We move the older portions of the log to secondary pages accessible at the bottom of the page. Join our voyage!

Updated on 12/03/2007

11/16/07 - The wind petered out a little after midnight, the cold front had pushed in and our barometer reflected the new high. Clear skies heralded dawn. Warmed up to mid 50's. Ariel arrived at Thunderbolt Marina early afternoon after an eventless journey from Hilton Head. Bob and Paula moved their boat closer to ours and further from the channel after having the barge and tow ground across from them last night. I measured their boat for a cockpit bimini and worked up a bill of materials for making one. Ruth worked on paper - no hits, no run, no errors. Miles and Laureen are going out to celebrate their anniversary tonight. Looking for somewhere special in Savannah... shouldn't be hard to find. We'll likely go into the city tomorrow - we've spent days there in past years. 11/17/07 - We toured Savannah, revisiting places we'd seen before: the river walk, factors' street, the many gardened squares and found new spots like the market square. We were surprised at the places that had closed and the amount of new construction including a large new downtown condo project. Savannah is a small city you can walk in and that makes it inviting. We listened to street musicians, stopping for a while to listen to live music in an outdoor bar. We even managed to stop at Piggly Wiggly for provisions before returning to our dinghies and running back to the anchorage. 11/18/07 - Sunday, we departed at 9am for a short day on the water. Our objective was Cowpen Creek at mile marker 625 - about a 35 mile day. Being an inland waterway miles on the ICW are statute miles, offshore we measure in nautical miles. Our late start was to ensure high tides when we passed through some of the shallow areas, like Hell's Gate. In reality we needn't have been that concerned. Even mid tide would have carried up safely through. Cowpen Creek was a narrow anchorage requiring that the boats anchor in a string like pearls on a chain. With the Packer win Laureen invited Bob, Paula, Ruth and I over for brats (Bob & Paula had grilled something they called a brat last week though we Wisconsinites quickly corrected that belief). We also had "Transient Sausage", a 2 foot plus, brat diameter, creation Miles supposed was ground lost transients who had stumbled into the secluded backwater marina where they'd bought the sausage. Miles contended the transients became dinner and their boats were resold. Good sausage though. 11/19/07 - An 8am departure from Cowpen started us on our route to Wally's Leg, an anchorage we've used on other trips (looking on the chart we thought is was someone's knee... couldn't remember the name). Cowpen proved to be a great anchorage with virtually no tidal current. The current in the leg was stronger, but not enough to be an issue. This part of the ICW is all marsh with small islands. One of the islands we passed had cow. Escapees from the Cowpens? We've had gnats the past few nights - not as bad as skeets as the bites don't rise and itch, but annoying as the gnats keep on chewing. They also hang around all day unless there is a breeze. We went looking for alligators last evening. Didn't find any - luckily? We see porpoises every day, usually in pairs or small groups. No matter how many we see it is still a thrill to see them. White Egrets, Herons and marsh birds are present all along the waterway. 11/20/07 - We started at 8am again to make sure we got out of our anchorage before the 7.5' tide stole all our water. By noon we were at Brunswick, GA and the head of Jekyll Creek off Jekyll sound. We anchored off the mouth of the creek waiting for mid-high tide as the waterway is reported to contain 4' water at low tide (the project depth is supposed to be 12' but Georgia doesn't maintain it). At one we headed down the creek to Jekyll Harbor Marina where Ariel's parts had arrived. Miles took a slip there while we anchored a quarter of a mile downstream. We decided they went to Jekyll to hide. 11/21/07 - Morning began routinely, up before 7am, dress, make coffee, eat a bowl of cereal and ready the boat for an 8am departure. Readying the boat includes firing up the electronics, verifying boat position and removing the anchor snubber bridle at the bow. I'd just returned to the cockpit when I heard a hail for Another Adventure on the VHF radio. We quickly learned that Fourth Watch was fouled in the anchor line of a small unoccupied sailboat we'd noticed in the anchorage the day before. Miles and I responded with our dinghies to see if we would free them. It became apparent it was a job for a diver so they called TowBoatUS. After an hour it became apparent TowBoatUS wouldn't be able to response with a diver for several hours. Bob had tried to go in the water, learning that it was too cold. We were all heading to St Marys, GA, for Thanksgiving Dinner; hence we had to make 30 miles. We couldn't leave late in the day and make it. So, I got into my wetsuit, donned fins, mask and snorkel; then slid into the chocolate colored water. Bob was dead on, it was cold! Three dives and I had the line unwrapped from the prop and shaft, freeing Fourth Watch. Miles untangle the anchors and we were ready to go. Cancel the TowBoatUS call; proceed to destination. We arrived at St Marys to find over 107 boats anchored in the river. That evening during a cruisers' happy hour we met some of the over 270 persons that had arrived for dinner tomorrow. 11/22/07 - Happy Thanksgiving! We woke to light drizzle as forecast. Ruth prepared a sweet potato casserole as our contribution to dinner. By noon the sky had cleared and it was a t-shirt day when the crews started lining up for dinner. We missed the oyster hour in order to make sure we delivered hot food. We hit the dinner line perfectly and quickly filled our plates with turkey, ham, and a variety of potato and veggie casseroles. Ruth and I didn't find a table so we ate at one of the hotel's many bars. It was an excellent meal. We shared our barroom with folks from as far away a Quebec and as near as Madison, WI. French, German, Scottish, were heard in the rooms as we threaded our way to the Pumpkin pie. The variety of nationalities cruising the coast is amazing. Stuffed like turkeys we waddled around meeting the crews of vessels we knew only by their names over the radio. It was great putting faces with voices we'd heard for days. Later in the afternoon we retired to Ariel to watch the fourth quarter of the Packer - Lion game. It was exciting when the momentum went with the Lions, yet the Packers came back for the victory. 10 & 1, who would have predicted that? Go Pack Go! 11/23/07 - Cool and breezy morning - no snow. We went into St Marys for a cruisers' swap meet and picked up a few books. Didn't see anything else we need to haul around in the boat. We walked the town, noting they are doing a good job of picking up after the mill closed. We really enjoyed St Marys and would definitely return. Ruth bought a few Christmas gifts for her trip North. We had lunch in town. I had a very good pulled pork barbeque sandwich and Ruth a gyro - noting it was her first since we were last in Appleton. They had a Doggie Jam for all the boat dogs. Ruth, the big kid, went to play with the dogs while I got some work done back at the boat. 11/24/07 - Got up to a gray day and a cool boat (still in Buddy's range); realized the heater had fouled. Better clean that today as we are still in cold front country. We're trying to plan for the holidays with three boats trying to coordinate needs and schedules. I believe I need a haul out but will have to dive first to verify it. I do have several jobs to do for others during the next few weeks. Strong winds kept us at St Marys all morning. A Nor'easter had found its way south. Ruth went into the farmers market with Laureen. The winds stayed with us all day so we stayed put figuring proven anchors in 20-25 knot winds beat trying a new spot. I changed the engine oil, repaired a pair of Ruth's glasses and cleaned the diesel heater. Good day for routine maintenance. 11/25/07 - Another gray day, but the wind is down a lot. We headed to Cumberland Island at 9am in light mist. Naturally it started raining when I had to go forward to drop the hook in our new anchorage. With little wind or sunshine we had to generate with the engine for a couple of hours while I wrote and Ruth read. It's damp outside but the diesel heater has the boat nice and cozy. The sun broke through around 11:30 and we all agreed to do Cumberland after lunch. At 12:30 we were paying at the ranger station before embarking on our island hike. On our swing to the Atlantic beach we saw armadillos, horses, squirrels and a crow, the wildlife wasn't cooperating. We also visited the ruins of Dungeness, ruins of the recreation center and the carriage house. This was one of the Carnegie settlements. I say settlement as the home was essentially self sufficient with ice houses, generator stations, dairy, chickens, cattle and crops. They required only a few staples from the mainland. We walked over the sugar sand dunes to the beach. What a beach! 8 foot tides maintain a beach that is virtually white, is wider the the length of a football field and stretches as far as you can see. 11/26/07 - Fog greeted us in the morning. We stayed at anchor until it burned off at 10am. Then we ran about an hour to Fernandina Beach, FL (Amelia Island). We are still on the border of Florida and Georgia. We all took slips at the city marina for a chance to top off our batteries, take on water and wash down the boats. The crews did wash and explored the touristy downtown area - very nicely done. This is one of the towns Ruth and I enjoy visiting. We walked to the post office and collected a package of 4 headsets we are selling for Cruising Solutions (and us). We are waiting for a package of items I ordered for Fourth Watch. It looks like delivery will be the 28th - longer than we anticipated. Rather than hold up all the boats it was decided that Ariel and Fourth Watch will make a two day trip to St Augustine while Ruth and I wait for the package. Then we will make St Augustine in one day, catching up with the others. That will give them a chance to explore a delightful old city that we've visited several times. We are pushing to make Boca Raton by the 9th so the crews can fly home for the holidays. 11/27/07 - It was weird tossing the lines to Ariel and Fourth Watch, then watching them disappear down the waterway while we remained at dock. They should have an interesting day. The first bridge is reportedly a tight 64' which had Miles studying the tide charts at daybreak. The 8'+ tide here can make a big difference as to his pucker factor with these bridges. We got a call about 3pm, Miles said "Hey Dad, the kids are safely in St Augustine." Turns out they hit all the tide currents rights and screamed into St Augustine by 2:30pm... great run. Ruth has identified her mystery birds from Thunderbolt. They are nocturnal Night Herons, a threatened species. That explains why their eyes photographed so differently. 11/28/07 - Gray and windy today. We are waiting on UPS so we can grab the package and run. E-mail appears to be disabled again. We've sent out a couple of test mails to try to isolate the problem. The real tip off is when the Viagra e-mail disappears. The wind built all day. We went into town by dinghy to send some snail mail and pick up a UPS package we'd been waiting for. By the time we headed back to the boat the wind was 25-30 knots. We got soaked in the dinghy. At least the package is here and we can leave for St. Augustine in the morning. 11/29/07 - Woke to thick fog. We departed at 7am as it seemed to be lifting - not! By 7:15 we were running by radar, unable to see across the ICW. We caught up with A cappella, a Canadian sailboat, just as they grounded. They were able to back off and took up our offer to lead as we had radar and had transited the area several times. It was really hard to do any better than 3-4 knots in that pea soup. By 11am it had cleared and we were able to push our speed to 7 knots over the water. We had a pair of dolphins play with us for 15 minutes; racing alongside then pulling ahead and waiting for us. It was fun watching them... first time this trip. Ruth tried to photo them but the delay on the digital resulted in her getting a series of ripple shots, no dolphins (maybe in Miami?). No joy in mudville... Dallas over the Packers. 11/30/07 - Up at 7am so Ariel could leave the marina at slack tide. Pretty good tide currents here in St Augustine. Fourth Watch was up and raring to go but found they were landlocked and had to retrace their path to get out. It was a cool and gray day - as if a fog bank was just overhead. Ariel led today. We approached the Matanzas Inlet expect to have to sound our way through 5 - 6' water as we had in the past. We found it recently dredged; what was once a nightmare now 15' deep highway. Very nice! Mid afternoon we arrived in Daytona beach. We elected to anchor at the south edge of town, mm 832. As AA and Fourth Watch selected spots in 8.5' - 9' of water Ariel elected to return to a marina up route. With his draft 6" deeper than ours he wasn't comfortable in the shallow water. Tide here is 1.2' and we were at high tide. The nice thing about shallow anchorages is you don't have to let out all your anchor chain to get good scope. We were soon joined by a half dozen Canadian boats, filling the anchorage.

Visiting Savanna We anchored at Thunderbolt, GA for our visit to Savannah as previous visits and our waterway guides revealed a waterfront that while historic and  worth a visit were not boater friendly. We were pleased to find they have added floating docks with access to downtown. We'll definitely try to go up the Savannah River on our next visit. River Street, Savannah Paula & Ruth, Savannah Savannah Cotton Exchange Barry & Bob, Savannah Ruth's mystery bird, Thunderbolt Buddy's buddies, oh s....! Even the dinghy was covered St Marys, GA, waterfront Fourth Watch among a hundred Part of the T-bird dinner crowd Ruthie on a Cumberland live oak Chemical barge and tow - Fernandina She sells sea ...

Visit earlier portions of our east coast travels...

Boca Raton to Charleston, 4/1/07 - 4/15/07	Charleston to Elizabeth City, 4/16/07 - 4/30/07
Elizabeth City to Deltaville, 4/31/08 - 5/15/07	Deltaville to Barrington, RI, 6/12/07 - 6/30/07
Barrington RI (Ariel), 6/30 - 7/14/07	Barrington Boatyard Blues, 7/15 -7/29/07
Barrington to Salem, 7/30 - 8/14/07	Salem, MA to Rockland, ME, 8/15 - 8/30/07
Rockland to Salem, 9/1 - 9/14/07	Salem to Baltimore, 9/15 - 9/29/07
Baltimore to Solomon Landing, 9/30 - 10/13/07	Tangier Island to Elizabeth City, 10/14 - 10/29/07
Elizabeth City to Hilton Head, 10/30 - 11/15/07