Saturday, April 25, 2009

Better to anchor with a "hook" rather than the keel!!

As you can tell from the title – not a good day. Yep it finally happened. Ran the boat HARD aground!! Ohhh the waiting is no fun..

The day started nice enough weatherwise but the crazy fisherman where moving in their articulated power boats around 4:30am and rocking and rolling the boats at the dock. After a long hot water wasteful shower we left towards Georgetown.. We delayed leaving to catch the falling tide. It was perfect for going offshore which I wanted to do but could convince no others so relegated to the ICW. We figured – actually I did – that giving the strong tide we would have half a fine ride then a slow ride to the Ben Sawyer bridge which opens only on the hour weekends and holidays. We targeted for the 11am opening and left at 9:15 am to go 7.2 miles. Well we got to the bridge 50 minutes before the next opening!! Had we left 15 minutes early we would have made the 10am. The boats I was gravelling with would not let it die!!

Several other boats joined the wait then at 11am it opened and we were last ones through. I was feeling feisty so I ran the engine into TURBO range of 2700 RPMs and motor sailed and passed boats. I was doing fine and had an unexpected favorable current till we hit Dewees Island – there is an inlet there and it dropped our progress to under 5kts. We plodded along with 5 boats behind me and 2 in front and I was down to normal cruise RPM of 2400. Everything went fine till we approached marker G103. Ohh did I say we were 2 hours from low tide?? Well suddenly the boats in front jogged to the red side. I checked the Skipper Bob updates and they said to favor the red through here so I moved over too rather aggressively – don’t do that. Suddenly the low water alarm went off. Only 6 feet. I figured I was still too close to the green and drove hard to red. No fast stop here – just slowed down and all forward motion stopped. I checked the marks closer – Damn – I was out of the channel on the RED side!! The current was fast and the water level dropping quickly. I tried to motor off and no avail. I dropped the dinghy and kedged out the main anchor but the chain proved too unwieldy. I grabbed the smaller delta and took it into the channel and dropped it but could not kedge off. Grrrr.
I then checked the tide tables and saw I was 2 hours from low tide and the low tide would be .5 feet lower than average… Aaaach!! Remember when I did well at low tide areas the tide was 1.6 feet above low average. Well I was hard aground now. The boat listed a little but the water level would only go down another .5 feet.

I thought – what the hell – call Boat US towing. You have bought the insurance for 16 years and never used it. I called – they said 45 minutes. Well 90 minutes later they show up but now my rudder is in the mud. I tell him I don’t want to be pulled off with the rudder in the mud. He said no problem he had 2 others to service and would be back. Oh this occurred at 12:05pm. N Well at 4 pm he returns and now the water is up 1.5 feet and I’m nearly floating but I have 3 anchors in the water. Another 2 hours and IO can pull myself off but then will have to gather all those anchors up. I let him pull me off and gather my anchors. It took maybe 20 minutes but went smoothly – only because I waited 4 hours!!

It was now 4:30pm and we were whipped. WE just went 2.5 miles to Whiteside Creek and anchored for the night. I had a whole lot of anchor mud to clean up and anchors to store.

Wow a full 8 hour day and only traveled 16 miles!!

Tomorrow we leave at 6:45am so we will have a rising to high tide for all the upcoming shallow spots.

Man I really wanted to go offshore today. Had we – we would have been in the Cape Fear River near Southport, NC rather than 16 miles north of Charleston..

Ohhh big news today.. I was hailed by Born to Cruise – they ahhh heard me call Boat US for the tow. They were coming in from running offshore from Allen Pennsicola in the Abacos to Charleston non-stop. They left Thursday and had a great mild crossing all the way – the lucky dogs!! They still may beat us back to the Oriental, NC area yet!!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Just a working on the dock

It’s a nice day at the dock but way too much boat traffic past the Mega-dock. It is quite rough on the outside because of it. Must be fishing season because these darn boats start moving just after 4am!~!

Karen went to town with Ian and Sharon to wander around and I remained to clean the boat. I had a pretty good morning. I got the top sides washed, the Lighthouse Windlass polished, and the bow pulpit polished. I was able to clean and restore the Lucite windows on the sides and aft cabin of the boat. I was also able to clean and polish the full enclosure.

A little excitement this afternoon – a boat MAYDAY!! Boy hearing a MAYDAY really grabs your attention.

A large 56 foot trawler had just left the marina here and was just south of the Coast Guard station when they called a MAYDAY – Engine room fire!! He investigated further and reported the engine room full of smoke but no flames, said he would try to get back to marina then immediately reported loss of second engine!! He was towed in.

I wonder if anyone worked on the boat while it was here?? Could be very bad for someone other than the owner – eh?? Oops the Canadian influence showing.

I visited with a few other boaters in the afternoon and discussed going offshore from here but Karen still does not want to be on the ocean overnight. Thus back on the ICW./

The wild fire near Barefoot Landing has closed the ICW from mile marker 347 – 366 but is expected to reopen soon. We should be there in about 3 days. I guess worse case will have us going offshore at Georgetown if necessary.

We went out to dinner to Hymans Seafood in downtown Charleston. It was good but a long wait since we were a group of 10. We took the marina van there but had to call a taxi to return. The fare was only $4.75 for us.

It was a late night but because of the tidal current we don’t expect top leave the marina until around 10am. I hope I can sleep in in the morning.

Just a working on the dock

It’s a nice day at the dock but way too much boat traffic past the Mega-dock. It is quite rough on the outside because of it. Must be fishing season because these darn boats start moving just after 4am!~!

Karen went to town with Ian and Sharon to wander around and I remained to clean the boat. I had a pretty good morning. I got the top sides washed, the Lighthouse Windlass polished, and the bow pulpit polished. I was able to clean and restore the Lucite windows on the sides and aft cabin of the boat. I was also able to clean and polish the full enclosure.

A little excitement this afternoon – a boat MAYDAY!! Boy hearing a MAYDAY really grabs your attention.

A large 56 foot trawler had just left the marina here and was just south of the Coast Guard station when they called a MAYDAY – Engine room fire!! He investigated further and reported the engine room full of smoke but no flames, said he would try to get back to marina then immediately reported loss of second engine!! He was towed in.

I wonder if anyone worked on the boat while it was here?? Could be very bad for someone other than the owner – eh?? Oops the Canadian influence showing.

I visited with a few other boaters in the afternoon and discussed going offshore from here but Karen still does not want to be on the ocean overnight. Thus back on the ICW./

The wild fire near Barefoot Landing has closed the ICW from mile marker 347 – 366 but is expected to reopen soon. We should be there in about 3 days. I guess worse case will have us going offshore at Georgetown if necessary.

We went out to dinner to Hymans Seafood in downtown Charleston. It was good but a long wait since we were a group of 10. We took the marina van there but had to call a taxi to return. The fare was only $4.75 for us.

It was a late night but because of the tidal current we don’t expect top leave the marina until around 10am. I hope I can sleep in in the morning.

It only gets better



Sorry no blog yesterday – too busy.

We had a great cruise from Tom Point Creek to Charleston, SC where we tied up to the MEGA-dock and Charleston City Marina. For ONCE we had the current and tides with us. Transiented a couple of problem areas at low tide but since it was near high – no trouble seen. Then with the current with us we averaged better than 6.5 knots and actually hit 8.2 through Elliott’s cut.. We were all smiling ear to ear. Especially Graeme on Sweet Chariot – in the fall he went through there – about 2 miles long – and he fought the current and it took 1.5 hours!! This time it took only 10 minutes.

WE had an easy dockage and were secure by 11am. Then it was time for fuel and water, then lunch, setup the backs. Took care of some personal business then a van trip to Harris Teeter.

Back on the boat Karen discovered her purse missing!! Ohh how quickly a fine day can turn BAD. I raced to the office and the purse was not there, they checked the van and it wasn’t there!! Then we checked the communication office and we found it. Ohhh the sun came out then and it was a nice day except with the sea breeze coming in, boat traffic off the beam of the boat and strong current coming aft it was very bouncy on the boat. We dealt with it the best we could. We took showers and went out to dinner with the Canadian Armada -- the local marine restaurant.

When we returned the wind had died, boat traffic was minimal, the current switched and it was quite nice on the boat for the rest of the evening.

We expect to stay today – Friday then leave Saturday. This could be problematic since there is a large wildfire near Bare Foot Landing in myrtle Beach that has shut down the swing bridge there and essentially stopped traffic on the ICW.

The weather looks great for going offshore but can I talk Karen into spending a night at sea??

Enjoy the pics from Tom Point Creek.

Nightmare in Beaufort, SC!!

Ohhhh what a night. I hinted it might be uncomfortable – well it was a NIGHTMARE!! I went to bed around 9pm, then around 10:30pm I was awakened by a strong wind gust. I went topsides to check boat positions – I have never seen such a picture. All the boats were in motion. Some moving forward, some back, some upstream, and some down stream and constantly moving. I had no point of reference. I checked my anchor and I was fully forward of it!! The anchor rode was streaming to the rear of the boat. The wind was gusting to 30 – 40 knots and then it started to rain. The closest boat was at first a couple of hundred feet away and then suddenly just 25 feet away. He was swinging in a very large circle coming close to several boats. At one point he hailed me and I asked how much chain he had out – he said 2 anchors!! Ohhh boy he was definitely going to lay differently than the other boats. Then I heard him running his windlass and motor and changing all kinds of anchoring parameters – this was not good. I was going to have to stay in the cockpit and fend him off till the wind settled – ohh did I say “this was NOT forecast!!!”

Well others yelled at him and he was able to pull both anchors up. He tried once to re-anchor then moved to the fuel dock of the marina. I was thinking of that too just to get out of the way but I needed more than this to pull an anchor and move in the dead of night with so much wind.

Unbelievably it was like someone turned a switch. He tied to the dock and the wind laid down to an acceptable level. I went to bed 20 minutes once seeing no other boats were close to me and VOWing never to anchor in Beaufort, SC again!!

Boy this was just the final coating to a rather anxious day anyway. All that shallow water to negotiate – it was bad.

Today started out pretty nice except we could no leave Beaufort until 9am. The Ladies Island Swing bridge is on a restricted schedule in the morning. Once through we had an adverse current – under 5 kts – until we reached the Coosaw River then we FLEW – Current and strong current had us going 7+ and at times 8 kts!!.. It was great but only for about 10 miles then we had to fight the current again. The Ashpoo cut was horrible. Going through low tide we had 6+ feet is spots where it should have been 10. Then all along to the North Edisto River we had shallow water of 8 feet or so. Then again low tide was 1:30pm today so we had 4 hours either side to navigate these terrible waters. Just the luck of the draw!!

We are anchored just 26 miles from Charleston tonight so we should be in before noon tomorrow and NOT have to fight any lousy shallow water.

Damn we need a break. Looking forward to a few lay days.

Every day for the last several the NOAA forecast for tomorrow is 5 – 10 kts then it blows 15 – 20 with higher gusts!! As a taxpayer – I need a refund!!!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Fields Cut -- BAH HUMBUG!!

We had a nice evening in Herb River last nut. One big thunderstorm hit around 5pm and was all rain and a little flash and boom but no big wind. Another at 11pm and still not too bad. Definitely better than expected but we will take it!!

Graeme and Laura from Sweet Chariot came over just before the rain for GNTs and stuff and we had a nice visit in our full enclosure watching the storm unfold. Great protection in that Herb River.

Finally in South Carolina -- good riddance Georgia! I hate the waterway through Georgia except for maybe Cumberland Island.

It was a good passage today except for being on Pins and Needles through Fields Cut which is actually in SC but on the border – just North of the Savannah River. It was tense but we transited at 2 hours after high tide and had plenty of water. Later we heard there were 2 sailboats aground there at 2 hours before low tide!! What a bummer.. Remember I said there were 3 aground yesterday at low tide!!

We had adverse current most of the way but a favorable one and light winds to cross Port Royal Sound and slide pass Paris Island.

We anchored on the Beaufort water front in deep water. Usually not too bad but it was crowded and I short scoped it at 100 feet of chain for 22 feet of water. Then – the weather forecast was wrong and instead of 5 –10 SW – W today it has built to 15 – 20 SE late this afternoon and probably tonight. That will be uncomfortable in all this current and deep water. Ohhh well – we will be moving along in the morning.

Shortly after arrival at 2:45pm we launched the dinghy and went to tow to walk a bit. Haven’t been off the boat in a couple of days!! Felt good and almost didn’t buy anything except Karen found a book she just had to have.

Hopefully a quiet night but if this wind doesn’t die down – won’t be. Looking forward to a couple of days in Charleston – tied to the dock. Hope to get there Thursday morning and stay till Saturday morning.

An interesting observation this morning. While waiting for the 8am Causton Bluff bridge opening several sail boats congregated behind us. As the opening approached – 2 a hunter 44 and a Benneteau 47 passed in front of us and went through first – very discourteous. Well they had a lot of power and stayed ahead of us. In fact as the day wore on they disappeared from sight. I’m thinking – “boy they really want to travel a great distance today” -- NOT – as we pulled into the Beaufort Anchorage there they were sipping their drinks at 2:30pm.. We would have pushed on with a favorable current but there is no good anchorage for the next 18 miles and we had already down 45 for the day.

Cruisers as a group are a laid back set but when it comes to making anchorages and doing laundry – they are an especially aggressive crowd.
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Monday, April 20, 2009

Lucky -- I guess -- beat the forecast weather

Not a bad day. The weather forecast was the usual gloom and doom that did not come true. Such a pain to make plans based on these forecasts and then find that we could have done something differently. Like last night – 50% of Thunderstorms. I shortened a trip and went to a different anchorage than I wanted to and – no storms – no rain. Same forecast today with the addition of 15 – 25 kt winds and gust to 30. Hasn’t happened yet and it is almost 4pm and the sky is partly cloudy and no storm clouds in sight. I suspect bad weather is on the way but will be later than forecast.

Today we passed through the infamous Hells Gate channel and it was bad. We passed at mid tide – falling of course – and found 6.1 feet at G87. Ohh well we made it. We had a nice push to Hells gate from the falling tide and hit 8 kts for awhile but paid for it up the Vernon River at 5.2 kts but were able to motor sail or it would have been worst.

Ohhh well. We had a nice run from Kilkenny Creek to the Herb River this morning and were in just before noon. I felt safe and secure here in case of strong winds and thunderstorms ass forecast for today.

I put the easy day to use and changed the oil in the main engine – which is a 1.5 hour job including cleanup, and pulled the transducer for the knot meter and cleaned it – it hasn’t worked for a few days. Not critical because the GPS gives true Speed Over Ground reading but I like the gauge to work.

Other than that just some gentle cleaning and waiting for the big bad thunderstorms to arrive. No don’t think I’m making fun of the storms because I have a great respect for them – like 120 feet of chain rode down right now!!

Most of the Canadian contingent pushed on but Sweet Chariot came in here and they will be over in a little while for sundowners.

If the forecast holds then we will be across Port Royal Sound and Calibogue sound tomorrow and spend the night in Beaufort, SC. Actually we are just about 8 miles from the SC border but have to negotiate another terrible patch of water – Fields Cut just north of the Savannah River. Today near low tide we heard 3 sailboats were aground there. We hope to pass through tomorrow at 1 hour after high tide and should have no problem . Boy I will be glad to get this part of the ICW behind us.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

LOTS OF SOUNDS!!

Be careful what you wish for - you just might get it. That is how I felt today. We had four lay days due to weather last week and I really wanted to do some traveling but 10 hour days - is for the birds.

Wow - what a L O N G day. Mileage wise it was very respectable at 58 miles but no record. Unfortunately we had an adverse current for more than 4 hours at the start that really held us back. Mostly less than 5 kts for 4 hours!! Now we had some 7+ later in the day for an average of 5.8kts but still a very long day - 10 hrs for 58 miles.

On the plus side we traversed several Sounds - ocean frontage - the St. Simons, Buttermilk, Alatamaha, Doboy, Sapelo, and St Catherines. That is a LOT of sounds in one day. You must remember that when you traverse a sound the tides are with you part of the way than against you part of the way.

The other really bad part today is we had to traverse a couple of the worse sections of Georgia waterway at LOW tide. Namely the Buttermilk, Altamaha, and Mud River. We only bounced once on the bottom and that was at R209 on Altamaha Sound. We traversed the mud River at near low tide and had 6 - 7 feet most of the way - very slowly. My plan was if we hit bottom - drop anchor - wait 1 hour then go on.

Our Canadian friends were 20 miles ahead of us this morning but are now only 6 miles ahead. They anchored in the narrow RedBird Creek where with the threat of thunderstorms I opted for the wider Kilkenny Creek.

We all have to traverse the infamous Hells Gate tomorrow. They are an hour closer but I should be there 2 hours before low tide - not ideal but should manage it.

The forecast6 is for strong thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon from an approaching cold front and I hope to be into Herb Creek near Thunderbolt GA by 1pm. Hopefully before they start and well protected. Unfortunately the Canadian contingent want to head further on - but I am the captain of this boat.

Time for a late dinner and an early bedtime - we need to leave at first light tomorrow to make Hells Gate as early as possible.

It's Charleston or BUST by the weekend!!@