Moving with a vengence!

We finally left Saint Augustine on Thursday. Finally... The NOAA forecaster and Chris Parker have cost me some dollars. They have both been painting horrible weather these last several days (that's why we stayed in the marina) and virtually none has happened here... I'm just going to move inspite of the forecasts.

Thursday we had a nice day planned to travel to Fort George to anchor for the night. Well it didn't work out. We arrived at Fort George about 45 minutes before low tide and I could not get in. I tried 4 times and ran aground four times -- gently though and got off by ourselves. Victoria Gaye caught up and we decided to continue to Fernandina. A long days travel of 63 miles vs the 43 planned for Fort George. We did well until we hit the South Amelia river at low tide. I ran aground in charted 13 feet of water, got off ran aground again and waited. Victoria Gaye tried to find the water and ran aground twice then found some deeper water. I tried to get there but I was stuck. I could see deeper water just a few feet in front but the keel was on the bottom. I put out some sail and backed it rocking the boat and with the engine SCREAMING finally got off. The boats that went around us were complaining of bouncing in places. We anchored for about 45 minutes till the tide came up about 2 feet then went on. It was dicey and slow but we made it to Fernandina -- a nearly 12 hour travel day.

We pow wow and thought that going out front to Charleston would not work in the short term. I decided to move on in the inside. We left early Friday morning and had a good ride to St Andrews sound -- it was a bit rough and we took a lot of spray to the windows and top sides. Once in Jeykel Creek we were 2 hours from low tide and tried to pass. It was tough in places and quite shallow but we made it with out running aground. We had planned to go to "Wally's Leg" to anchor but gave it up early and anchored in the Frederica River. That was nice for awhile but the current changed direction and the wind picked up and we were driven forward on the anchor with waves from the aft end. Very uncomfortable but even with the Rocna short scooped and us doing nearly 360s and going forward on the anchor it held. Around dark the wind died and we had a nice evening.

Today we left early to hit the troublesome places of Buttermilk Sound and Little Mud River. Passed with plenty of water. We pressed on and passed 5 sounds today. Buttermilk, Altamaha, Doboy, Sapello, and St Catherines. It was a great day for the sounds with 10 kt or less wind from the NW. It was frustrating because when you pass a sound you get a push from the current in one direct and adverse in the other. Thus at one point you do 7.4 kts then 4.9 kts. We ran during low tide today but it occurred at none of the troublesome spots -- you just had to pay attention to depth and chart plotter to stay in the center of the charted channel. However there were a few places where the chart was wrong so you had to use best judgment.

Hopefully the 60+ mile days are done and we can get back to a conservative 40+ to 50 mile days.

Tomorrow we need to run Hells Gate but from this anchorage we will hit it just before high tide. The worry is we will hit Fields Cut and Elbow cut about 2 hours before low tide. If we get through okay then we will anchor at Bull Creek which is in South Carolina and Georgia will just be a memory

Surprise Surprise

Well not really. We are still in Saint Augustine waiting for some really poor weather to pass. The worst is expected today and tonight through tomorrow morning. A strong low pressure system is expected over New Orleans at mid day today and then move to over Fernandina by mid day tomorrow. Rather than just sit in some anchorages holed up from the rain for a couple of days we elected to just stay here in St Augustine until it passes. Much better weather is expected to build in Thursday and for the next several days so we should be able to make some real progress north, possibly even an offshore passage to Charleston -- we will see.

St Augustine Old Town area is really different on a weekday vs the weekend. It was quite quiet here yesterday. It was a cloudy day and quite comfortable with a high of only 78 degrees. Sunday the temps got up to 94 degrees -- thanks for the air conditioning. It was pleasant here plugged into the marina.

Let's see - Saturday we visited the Lightner Museum. It was very nice and surprisingly after I had to check my back pack they told me I could take my camera and take all the pictures I wanted. Now when has a museum offered you that?

We hope to take advantage of the lay days today and tomorrow and get some chores done and a visit to a grocery so come Thursday we can travel for several days without stopping. Still hope to be in North Carolina by mid May.

Oh yes we had a big surprise on Sunday. I was below looking out a hatch when I noticed a large sail boat backing into the slip next to us. This was very surprising because with the strong current in this Marina any movement is difficult and backing is usually not considered. Well I watched until I saw the helmsman and exclaimed "that's John and Madeline on Chanceaux!". Old friends from New Bern and haven't seen since December in Vero Beach.

Note -- John is known to back his boat in all conditions and he does it very well. It's like ol home now.