We had a quiet night on the hook last night. You need those occasionally.
We went to the Farmer's Market this morning and it was nice. Lot's of fresh veggies and bakery and craft stuff. Live music and a whole menagerie of characters walking around.
A nice inexpensive day. Bought some veggies for 7 dollars, a cold water for a buck, and 16 AA Alkaline batteries for $6.95.
We just walked the town for a few hours after that.
Back on the boat to relax. Batteries were getting low so ran the genset and ran the hot water heater and we had some welcome hot showers.
It's all clouded up now with rain expected tonight. Might be over by morning. If so we will head to the Pine Island Anchorage which is a LONG 49 mile day. If we can't leave early then we will rethink our approach. This part if the ICW in Northern Florida has very few good anchorages until you get to Pine Island. Most are just wide spots behind marks or very narrow creeks. Lots of marinas if you want to pay for the night though. I don't..
Not much else to report. Just an easy fun day.
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Friday, November 7, 2014
Consorting with Dummies
Whoo -- last night it got active in the anchorage. A predicted cold front came across but packed more wind then forecast. Naturally it really ramped up about 2am. I didn't sleep well. Because of the strong wind and opposing currents the boats were all over the place. No two boats pointing in the same direction.
This morning just as it got light I could tell I was perpendicular to the current -- not good at all. I went on deck and I was over my anchor rode (it was going behind the boat rather than the boat hanging from it.
I was sure my anchor rode had wrapped the keel -- a very bad thing. The wind was gusting to 25 and the current strong so nothing to do until slack tide. Fortunately about an hour later I checked and I was hanging correctly. Whew I didn't want to have to deal with that. I've had it happen on another boat and helped other folks that had it happen to them -- no fun and high probability of someone getting hurt.
The ladies had all made appointments to get a pedicure today so come hell or high water it was going to happen.
The wind laid down around 11am and we all went to town for a fine seafood lunch at the Marina Restaurant. It was great and we swapped a lot of stories. Afterwards I went back to the boat and the ladies all went to the salon. After about 2 hours I went back to town and walked around a while. I eventually found a park that had memorials to the founding fathers of Amelia Island. I sat on a bench with one of these brass mannequins (dummy). It was in the shade. Boy don't stop moving in Fernandina. I couldn't believe all the strangers that had to come up and make comments about me and "my buddy" e.g. "better keep moving or you will end up like him", "I like your buddy better", "does he talk your ear off?".
Ohh well all in good fun. Karen came back from the pedicure with shiny toes but I was disappointed in that there were no bells on her toes.
It's a beautiful calm night here tonight. Hopefully I'll sleep better.
This morning just as it got light I could tell I was perpendicular to the current -- not good at all. I went on deck and I was over my anchor rode (it was going behind the boat rather than the boat hanging from it.
I was sure my anchor rode had wrapped the keel -- a very bad thing. The wind was gusting to 25 and the current strong so nothing to do until slack tide. Fortunately about an hour later I checked and I was hanging correctly. Whew I didn't want to have to deal with that. I've had it happen on another boat and helped other folks that had it happen to them -- no fun and high probability of someone getting hurt.
The ladies had all made appointments to get a pedicure today so come hell or high water it was going to happen.
The wind laid down around 11am and we all went to town for a fine seafood lunch at the Marina Restaurant. It was great and we swapped a lot of stories. Afterwards I went back to the boat and the ladies all went to the salon. After about 2 hours I went back to town and walked around a while. I eventually found a park that had memorials to the founding fathers of Amelia Island. I sat on a bench with one of these brass mannequins (dummy). It was in the shade. Boy don't stop moving in Fernandina. I couldn't believe all the strangers that had to come up and make comments about me and "my buddy" e.g. "better keep moving or you will end up like him", "I like your buddy better", "does he talk your ear off?".
Ohh well all in good fun. Karen came back from the pedicure with shiny toes but I was disappointed in that there were no bells on her toes.
It's a beautiful calm night here tonight. Hopefully I'll sleep better.
Thursday, November 6, 2014
I've been to dreamland
Boy I was beat yesterday after being up 30 hours and wired tight from the offshore passage.
After dinner I went to bed at 8:30pm and slept non-stop till 4:30am. Longest stretch in years. I've conditioned myself to get up and look around 3 - 5 times a night when I'm on anchor. No problem because I can sleep on command and go right back to sleep. I never feel tired in the mornings. Last night I was dead to the world.
I went back to bed after a short inspection and then I entered dreamland. WOW what dreams -- all were nice none were scary. The most interesting was one were we were at party in West End Grand Bahama with Jim and Barb from Skat and many old friends from work of which some are dead now. I remember being at a table eating little Debbie Cake cookies, Karen showed up with a treat -- Hostess Cupcakes, then a waiter shows up with a large portion of Tirmasu dripping in honey. Oh boy I get to eat all this and Tirmasu too and wash it all down with Amaretto -- Jim said "that's too much sugar".
Other nice dreams but I can not divulge those details without getting in trouble.
Today was a low energy day. My bilge counter indicated that the pump ran three times during our offshore voyage. Water was coming in somewhere. I checked the stuffing boxes and sure enough the rudder stuffing box was wet and there was a trail of water coming from it. I tightened it. My prop shaft stuffing box was fine. It is supposed to drip a little and never drips and never runs hot so I don't touch it.
All the other equipment looked fine.
Kudos to the engine and fuel system that never clogged in all that rolling and the autopilot that did 99.9997% of the steering. Not bad for a couple of pieces of 24 year old equipment.
I cleaned the interior of the boat, updated the inventory log. and just relaxed.
Karen went to town and walked for a couple of hours but I hung on the boat and puttered around.
Dinner will be on the grill tonight. No one wants to socialize tonight but tomorrow the crews from Skat, Victoria Gaye and Temptation will take the town of Fernandina by storm!
Note to offshore cruisers: Turn your cell phones off when going more that 10 miles offshore. The phone will exhaust its battery pretty quick. Both our phones had dead batteries when we arrived here in Fernandina yesterday.
Was the offshore passage worth it? Well I met some cruisers who did come via the ICW and one who went out Savanna river after hearing several boats in Fields Cut calling Boat/US for tows. I think so. It would have taken 8 days on the ICW and lots of worrying and action through the low water areas. I'm glad we did it -- just wished it wasn't so rolly.
After dinner I went to bed at 8:30pm and slept non-stop till 4:30am. Longest stretch in years. I've conditioned myself to get up and look around 3 - 5 times a night when I'm on anchor. No problem because I can sleep on command and go right back to sleep. I never feel tired in the mornings. Last night I was dead to the world.
I went back to bed after a short inspection and then I entered dreamland. WOW what dreams -- all were nice none were scary. The most interesting was one were we were at party in West End Grand Bahama with Jim and Barb from Skat and many old friends from work of which some are dead now. I remember being at a table eating little Debbie Cake cookies, Karen showed up with a treat -- Hostess Cupcakes, then a waiter shows up with a large portion of Tirmasu dripping in honey. Oh boy I get to eat all this and Tirmasu too and wash it all down with Amaretto -- Jim said "that's too much sugar".
Other nice dreams but I can not divulge those details without getting in trouble.
Today was a low energy day. My bilge counter indicated that the pump ran three times during our offshore voyage. Water was coming in somewhere. I checked the stuffing boxes and sure enough the rudder stuffing box was wet and there was a trail of water coming from it. I tightened it. My prop shaft stuffing box was fine. It is supposed to drip a little and never drips and never runs hot so I don't touch it.
All the other equipment looked fine.
Kudos to the engine and fuel system that never clogged in all that rolling and the autopilot that did 99.9997% of the steering. Not bad for a couple of pieces of 24 year old equipment.
I cleaned the interior of the boat, updated the inventory log. and just relaxed.
Karen went to town and walked for a couple of hours but I hung on the boat and puttered around.
Dinner will be on the grill tonight. No one wants to socialize tonight but tomorrow the crews from Skat, Victoria Gaye and Temptation will take the town of Fernandina by storm!
Note to offshore cruisers: Turn your cell phones off when going more that 10 miles offshore. The phone will exhaust its battery pretty quick. Both our phones had dead batteries when we arrived here in Fernandina yesterday.
Was the offshore passage worth it? Well I met some cruisers who did come via the ICW and one who went out Savanna river after hearing several boats in Fields Cut calling Boat/US for tows. I think so. It would have taken 8 days on the ICW and lots of worrying and action through the low water areas. I'm glad we did it -- just wished it wasn't so rolly.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Life inside your washing machine
This trip from Charleston, SC to Fernandina, FL on the outside was planned with the best intentions.
The forecasts all predicted winds of 5-10 knots from the NW going E. Waves of 1 - 2 feet. It looked great.
This trip would save us 8 days of travel through problem areas in SC and GA. We were all for that.
The forecast was right on -- that's what we found. BUT what we didn't consider and will never forget again is the effect of those mild seas and winds and the ride. They were beam on for 12 hours which caused the boats to roll from side to side sometimes very aggressively.
We left Charleston Harbour or tried to on the Ebb tide but met 2 large container ships at the start of the inlet. We waited for them to pass rather than try to negotiate with them in a crowded waterway.
That cost us an hour. Then out we went with mild swells. It was not uncomfortable. We had that ride till dark then the wind increased to 7 - 10 knots which caused us to roll some. There wasn't enough wind to fill my sail so we had to take the roll, otherwise the sail would have dampened it.
When we approached the Savannah River entrance we found several large AIS targets. Mainly container ships on anchor waiting to enter Savannah. We also had a few large ships under way. Boy I'm glad I have an AIS transducer on board. These boats could see and read my track. We were on a first name basis too.
Once through that mess we headed 20 miles to the next way point. On this leg the wind came up and we started to roll uncomfortably. Once pass that point I decided to make a run on the Rhumb line to the last point at Fernandina. This both shortened the ride and gave me a better angle on the swells but pushed me further offshore. That worked for 2 hours until the winds went light again and then I had to bring sail in and we started to roll again. It was tough and a VERY LONG night.
The near full moon helped in that we could see a lot on the water but it disappeared behind clouds about an hour before dawn. Man it was DARK then.
Once the sun came up we felt better but still the hours of rolling was really wearing everyone down.
Ohh we had a roll call every hour on the hour after dark with Skat and Victoria Gaye. That worked very well. We were all within 1/4 mile of each other until the last 4 hours when we all tried different approaches to minimize the rolling -- nothing worked very well.
We are all anchored here in Fernandina and plan to spend a few days here and Cumberland Island before moving on.
No get together tonight as we all try to recover from this marathon voyage. I won't do this again until we cross to the Bahamas in December.
We had the roll all the way to the end of the inlet in Fernandina. We anchored in Bell River in Fernandina and the smooth calm water never felt better.
After a little reorganization and Sun Showers I tried to do a few other things but I started to hallucinate -- I had been up for 35 hours by this time. I thought a large mound of mud was a ship coming in when it was just a large mound of mud -- not moving.
The forecasts all predicted winds of 5-10 knots from the NW going E. Waves of 1 - 2 feet. It looked great.
This trip would save us 8 days of travel through problem areas in SC and GA. We were all for that.
The forecast was right on -- that's what we found. BUT what we didn't consider and will never forget again is the effect of those mild seas and winds and the ride. They were beam on for 12 hours which caused the boats to roll from side to side sometimes very aggressively.
We left Charleston Harbour or tried to on the Ebb tide but met 2 large container ships at the start of the inlet. We waited for them to pass rather than try to negotiate with them in a crowded waterway.
That cost us an hour. Then out we went with mild swells. It was not uncomfortable. We had that ride till dark then the wind increased to 7 - 10 knots which caused us to roll some. There wasn't enough wind to fill my sail so we had to take the roll, otherwise the sail would have dampened it.
When we approached the Savannah River entrance we found several large AIS targets. Mainly container ships on anchor waiting to enter Savannah. We also had a few large ships under way. Boy I'm glad I have an AIS transducer on board. These boats could see and read my track. We were on a first name basis too.
Once through that mess we headed 20 miles to the next way point. On this leg the wind came up and we started to roll uncomfortably. Once pass that point I decided to make a run on the Rhumb line to the last point at Fernandina. This both shortened the ride and gave me a better angle on the swells but pushed me further offshore. That worked for 2 hours until the winds went light again and then I had to bring sail in and we started to roll again. It was tough and a VERY LONG night.
The near full moon helped in that we could see a lot on the water but it disappeared behind clouds about an hour before dawn. Man it was DARK then.
Once the sun came up we felt better but still the hours of rolling was really wearing everyone down.
Ohh we had a roll call every hour on the hour after dark with Skat and Victoria Gaye. That worked very well. We were all within 1/4 mile of each other until the last 4 hours when we all tried different approaches to minimize the rolling -- nothing worked very well.
We are all anchored here in Fernandina and plan to spend a few days here and Cumberland Island before moving on.
No get together tonight as we all try to recover from this marathon voyage. I won't do this again until we cross to the Bahamas in December.
We had the roll all the way to the end of the inlet in Fernandina. We anchored in Bell River in Fernandina and the smooth calm water never felt better.
After a little reorganization and Sun Showers I tried to do a few other things but I started to hallucinate -- I had been up for 35 hours by this time. I thought a large mound of mud was a ship coming in when it was just a large mound of mud -- not moving.
Monday, November 3, 2014
How NOT to win friends and influence people
Today I was up early checking weather and sea conditions and listening to Chris Parker to see if it still was a good idea to head offshore to Fernandina tomorrow. All looked good then I thought hey we are looking at the wind sea conditions for out to 20nm but if we run the rumb line we will be about 40nm from the coast at times. I checked the forecast for 20 - 60nm offshore and it had more wind and bigger seas 3-5 foot with occasional 6 footers. Karen would not like that. The out to 20nm was still light winds and seas to 2 feet.
I got the boys together and we agreed to take the inside route especially since it was only 7 nm longer.
Great we have a plan. I paid the bill. Then back on Temptation I asked for some dockhand assistance with lines since we were turning in close proximity to a lot of high dollar boats. Two guys came down. One friendly and the other was a grumpy guy who drove us on the van a few times. He was a rough driver. Barb got severely motion sick on one ride. I never tipped him. he never got out of the van to help or unload provisions or park near the carts where other drivers did.
Any way they asked how I wanted to cast off. I said throw the spring and stern on board then hold the bow line to control as I backed out of the slip. The nice guy threw the lines off as asked and the grumpy guy held the bow line, and as I started to back, he just threw it onboard abandoning any control for me. We were fortunate and got out okay but it was very tight. What a Bozo..
We went to Buck's Roadstead anchorage across from Nun 2 at the Battery. Beautiful view but rolly from boat wakes. Jim and Barb joined us later and we had a pretty nice afternoon until some BIG ASS Mega Yacht came through casting a huge tsunami style wake. It both rocked our world and rang our bells. Jim was so fed up he left for the old anchorage.
It's dark now and there have been no repeats and it is quite nice here. Although a Coast Guard Cutter ran an exercise near us with a Coast Guard Chopper about 100 feet up off his stern. He created quite a wind near us but didn't bother us too much.
We are staged and ready to head offshore in the morning if the forecasts hold. Decision time 9am with departure at 10am.
Should be a nice run down the coast. Probably won't post a blog tomorrow night but will on Wednesday. I'll post a few position reports so you can see our progress down the coast. We will only be from 9 - 12 miles offshore.
Bon Voyage.
I got the boys together and we agreed to take the inside route especially since it was only 7 nm longer.
Great we have a plan. I paid the bill. Then back on Temptation I asked for some dockhand assistance with lines since we were turning in close proximity to a lot of high dollar boats. Two guys came down. One friendly and the other was a grumpy guy who drove us on the van a few times. He was a rough driver. Barb got severely motion sick on one ride. I never tipped him. he never got out of the van to help or unload provisions or park near the carts where other drivers did.
Any way they asked how I wanted to cast off. I said throw the spring and stern on board then hold the bow line to control as I backed out of the slip. The nice guy threw the lines off as asked and the grumpy guy held the bow line, and as I started to back, he just threw it onboard abandoning any control for me. We were fortunate and got out okay but it was very tight. What a Bozo..
We went to Buck's Roadstead anchorage across from Nun 2 at the Battery. Beautiful view but rolly from boat wakes. Jim and Barb joined us later and we had a pretty nice afternoon until some BIG ASS Mega Yacht came through casting a huge tsunami style wake. It both rocked our world and rang our bells. Jim was so fed up he left for the old anchorage.
It's dark now and there have been no repeats and it is quite nice here. Although a Coast Guard Cutter ran an exercise near us with a Coast Guard Chopper about 100 feet up off his stern. He created quite a wind near us but didn't bother us too much.
We are staged and ready to head offshore in the morning if the forecasts hold. Decision time 9am with departure at 10am.
Should be a nice run down the coast. Probably won't post a blog tomorrow night but will on Wednesday. I'll post a few position reports so you can see our progress down the coast. We will only be from 9 - 12 miles offshore.
Bon Voyage.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
GREAT Eating in Charleston
This morning dawned EARLy -- like 6:15am!! Thanks to going back to EST. On the flip side it is pitch dark at 5:45pm!!
Today was nice but a very cool and blustery day. The big winds subsided overnight and so the rain. We actually had lots of rain last evening forcing us to postpone Farkle for the Thompson's but not the Youngsters the Turners.
We played 4 games but I only won one. Ohhh Boo Hoo.
It was 42 here this morning and maybe 40
tomorrow morning then up to 65 then 71 on Tuesday and 75 on Wednesday.
Back in the good stuff.
We are planning to head offshore from here on Tuesday and do an Overnight to
Fernandina and skip all that skinny water in lower SC and GA. Buck, Jim and I had a great planning session this afternoon.
If the forecast holds then -- out the door we go,
We will be three -- Skat, Victoria Gaye, and Temptation. Bubbles wants to
continue down the ditch. Never done it and they are looking forward to it.
At 11am we took the shuttle to Charleston's classic Hyman's Seafood on Meeting Street. It was great. The food is good and the service excellent.
Afterwards we walked 4 blocks to the Harris Teeter on Bay Street and did some more provisioning. We are good for a few weeks now.
Back at the MArina they had had a major oil leak. One of the 4" Diesel supply lines ruptured and dumped a LOT of fuel in the water. Man it really stinks here tonight.
After our planning session this afternoon I had another VERY LONG hot shower -- what an indulgence. Tomorrow it is back to the "bird bath".
My hip where I fell Friday is much improved today. Two more days and I suspect all pain will be gone. Don't know where my tough bones come from but I'm glad I have them.
Now try to find some ways to amuse ourselves during these long winter evening.
Today was nice but a very cool and blustery day. The big winds subsided overnight and so the rain. We actually had lots of rain last evening forcing us to postpone Farkle for the Thompson's but not the Youngsters the Turners.
We played 4 games but I only won one. Ohhh Boo Hoo.
It was 42 here this morning and maybe 40
tomorrow morning then up to 65 then 71 on Tuesday and 75 on Wednesday.
Back in the good stuff.
We are planning to head offshore from here on Tuesday and do an Overnight to
Fernandina and skip all that skinny water in lower SC and GA. Buck, Jim and I had a great planning session this afternoon.
If the forecast holds then -- out the door we go,
We will be three -- Skat, Victoria Gaye, and Temptation. Bubbles wants to
continue down the ditch. Never done it and they are looking forward to it.
At 11am we took the shuttle to Charleston's classic Hyman's Seafood on Meeting Street. It was great. The food is good and the service excellent.
Afterwards we walked 4 blocks to the Harris Teeter on Bay Street and did some more provisioning. We are good for a few weeks now.
Back at the MArina they had had a major oil leak. One of the 4" Diesel supply lines ruptured and dumped a LOT of fuel in the water. Man it really stinks here tonight.
After our planning session this afternoon I had another VERY LONG hot shower -- what an indulgence. Tomorrow it is back to the "bird bath".
My hip where I fell Friday is much improved today. Two more days and I suspect all pain will be gone. Don't know where my tough bones come from but I'm glad I have them.
Now try to find some ways to amuse ourselves during these long winter evening.
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