Home again, home again

Some final thoughts

The trip was wonderful in all respects and the end is bittersweet..I'm glad to be back but already missing the voyage. 

I found that i enjoyed the ICW part more than the ocean part, and i believe it was becauseon leaving Charleston I felt a pressure to get to Miami as soon as possible. The most important lesson I learned is that this is all about the voyage, not the destination and I can't enjoy it if I feel I have to be someplace at some time....The next time I"m offshore I'll try and make it a point to forget about where I have to be an enjoy the moment...The negative of that however is that  more time spent offshore increases the odds of bad weather which is at best tiring and uncomfortable...so perhaps, at least for coastal travel, the right thing is to simply stay on the intracoastal!
We'll see.

The Dinner Key Marina is excellent. It is a well designed, well maintained facility (especially considering that it is a city run facility)  the staff is helpful and neighbors on the surrounding boats are friendly

The Marina has two parts. 

One part has over 300 slips, all of good size, with wide piers and very wide fairways that make it easy to maneuver

Notice the Miami skyline in the distance

The other part is a mooring field, with over 300 mooring balls

The mooring field at sunset, taken along the path as I walked to dinner in Coconut Grove

Mooring is cheaper, with more privacy but you have to dinghy ashore. Slips are more expensive with less privacy, but you can just walk down the dock to town or to the bath house. 

There is a "Fresh Produce" supermarket located 10 minutes from the Marina by foot. It much resembles a "Whole Foods"

Molli and I are going to Madison for thanksgiving and then to Miami on December 11 for the weekend and again on December 29 for a week. I'm anxious to get back to the boat

Coming to Miami

By evening the wind picked up to 15 knots out of the west (it had been predicted to be from the Northeast) but this was fine. The seas settled and we were able to motor sail at 6.5-7 knots

After midnight we encountered the western fringes of the Gulf Stream and we had as much as 2 knots against us, which meant we might not make Dinner Key till after dark... Not good. So we hoisted all sails which helped a little, but we were only doing 5.3 knots. I finally decided to come in closer to shore and had to go to about 500 feet off the beach till we were out of the Gulf Stream and could achieve speeds of over 6.5 knots!! I could almost peak in the windows of the condo's we were passing!!

Views of Miami 

More Miami

South Beach. You can almost make out Loews hotel in the middle

We finally made "Government Cut", then internists Miami, motored past Smith and Wilensky, past downtown Miami,  and then into Biscayne Bay

We stopped for fuel at Crandon Park, a small marina, and to my amazement we took 78 gallons. The tank holds 85 gallons and I figured we were one or two gallons shy of that when we left Charleston  so we had maybe 5 gallons left in the tank!!  Now I had two 5 gallon jugs of diesel in the lazerettes and if we had run out we could have refilled, but bum glad we made not. Going forward I will  raise my estimate of fuel usage to 1 gallon per hourl rather than the 0.8 I had been assuming. 

It was another 25 minutes across the Bay to Dinner Key and we got our slip assignment (pier 6, slip 40). I backed in because they have short docks and it makes it easier to get on and off the boat. Backing in was easier with the bow thruster I had added in the spring

We had a "good By" dinner at the Chart House restaurant next door to the Marina and the Bruce and George drove off in their rental car to drive back to New Jersey. I was alone again

This morning I cleaned the boat inside and out, mopping every surface and putting things away. It needed it

I then took a 15 minute walk into Coconut Grove, dropped off the satellite phone and GPIRB location beacon I had rented at the FEDEX to be shipped back  I then found a nice outdoor cafe for lunch (there are many in the Grove). It was 80 degrees so i took an outdoor table to enjoy the weather and the nice people walking by and then. After lunch I wandered around -!its a really neat place - and the stopped for a Gelato.  I may never leave this place

To get to Coconut Grove from the boat you just walk up the dock,!turnnleft along thenwaterbpast the mooring field, then ontobBayshorebdrivebtobMarybstreet which brings you to the corner of. Grand avenue and Main Street which is the center of town  there is a Cheesecake Factory restaurant at that corner, but if you walk down either street you pass many nice outdoor cafes which are more pleasant. The total walk is about 15-20 minutes

I'm gonna love it here

On the high seas - Charleston to Miami

We headed out from charleston on Wednesday at noon and soon were far enough out to sea that we had no cellular contact. As a result I wasn't able to post blogs and so made notes every day and post them here now

Day 1

After a great weekend and Monday at home joined by Ben, Tonya, Asher and Arya who had come down for Ben's book presentation at the Enoch Pratt library (which was wonderful),

 I flew back to charleston Tuesday morning, arriving back at the boat by 11am. 

Bruce Gregory and his friend George Healy arrived at the boat around 5 pm on Tuesday. 

Bruce

George

We had a nice dinner that evening, slept well, and made preparations to leave on Wednesday around high tide, which was at 11:30am. We checked the weather and it looks good for the entire trip!! 

Bruce went to return his rental car that he had used to drive up from Florida while George and I went shopping for more provisions  we regrouped by 11 and started getting ready to go

We slipped the lines at noon and headed ohut to sea.  

Leaving Charleston

Fishing boat coming in to Charleston

Fort Sumter

The seas are calm, the winds light, the sun is shining.  Just wonderful. We have a sail up, but the motor is going at 2700 rpm and we are doing about 6.3 knots. If we can keep this up (doubtful) we'll be in Miami by noon on Saturday

George is an excellent cook and enjoys preparing interesting dishes. He made sandwiches with cold cuts and sunny side up eggs on top for a late breakfast and at 5pm made a 5 cheese salad and chicken noodle soup for dinner

The sea is beautiful with slow rollers giving a gentle rocking. No other boats or anything around. No birds even. But lots of flies that came along for the trip

Sunset was at 5:30 and was lovely

We started 2 hour watches at 6 pm with Bruce first, George second, me third (10-12 then 4-6)

My first watch began at 10 pm  immediately on coming on deck I noted a large ship off our starboard port, several miles off but headed towards us. The AIS system confirmed his direction and gave his name, but when I called the ship on the VHF radio there was no response. So I just changed course 20 degrees to port and ENT around him. He was a large car carrier and it is not at all clear why he didn't respond. 

A short time later the AIS showed another large vessel headed towards us (all these ships were headed for Savannah) but he did respond to the radio and went behind us. Much more civilized

Soon after that I noted a large orange object off our port beam. I couldn't imagine what sort of ship this might be, and it didn't show on the AIS. ABOUT 10 minutes later it became clear that this was merely the rising moon. It was half full but impressively bright and it became much easier to see for the rest of the night

I had no more contacts, real or imaginary for the rest of my watch

Bruce relieved me at midnight and I lied down to get some rest

My bed while at sea is one of the settees that is set up with a lee cloth so I can't roll out when the boat heels. I wrapped myself in a sleeping bag (leaving my clothes on in case I was needed above) and slept - more or less - till 4 am when it was time for my next watch. 

I had no contacts but did get to see a beautiful dawn and sunrise beginning at 5 am

Day 2

Everyone rose by 8 am and I went down to wash up, change underwear and socks, brush my teeth, shave and take my pills

By this time George had made us all his specialty sandwich of cold cuts with a sunny side egg on top all in a nice roll

We reached the Georgia- Florida border at 11am and turned left towards Cape Caneveral, 127 miles south. After that it is 170 miles to Miami. Our navigation computers are predicting a noon arrival on Saturday at dinner key marina. We'll see

Last night was much like the night before, but the temperature was up (70 degrees all night), the wind calmer, and the contacts fewer (one cruise ship all light up, with a friendly captain)

Clouds began forming by daybreak, the winds built to 15 - 20 and seas became a little tougher. After an initial attempt to sail we went back to motor-sailing to maintain our expected mid-day arrival at Dinner Key on Saturday (tomorrow)

George made another superb breakfast (turkey sausage and scrambled eggs) after which Bruce and George turned in for a nap and I kept the helm (which means the autopilots tears the boat while I huddle under the dodger)

Day 3

We closed the Florida coast near Vero beach and turned south at 5 miles out, paralleling the coast. Before we turned it was windy and rolly, after the turn it appeared calmer, in part because the wind was now behind us and in past because the front was turning north while we were heading south. In any event it was appreciated

The Florida coast

At the rate we are going - 6.5 knots we'll be in dinner key before noon tomorrow (Saturday)

Break in Baltimore

On Friday I returned to Baltimore for the weekend, mainly to attend Ben's Enoch Pratt library presentation for his latest book (7 Wonders)

Ben, Tonya, Arya and Asher came in on Saturday and we had a great time touring Baltimore, enjoying the park on top of federal hill

The view of Baltimore from Federal Hill

Ben and Arya

And eating way too much

Ben's presentation was excellent and Molli and I were appropriately proud

The library created a great poster for the event

Jon and Ben

Tlyler got in on the fun

Now I'm at the airport, awaiting a flight back to Charleston. 

Bruce Gregory and his friend George will arrive this afternoon and we'll plan our departure to Miami

Fort Sumter

Thursday morning we toured Fort Sumter.

The fort is on a man made island, created shortly after the war of 1812, when the country realized that they need better defenses for the harbors along the coast. The fort wasn't quite finished when South Carolina seceded from the Union - prompted by the election of Abraham Lincoln - and the one small federal brigade that was stationed in Charleston found themselves isolated on this island fort, surrounded by 4 other forts well staffed with new confederate soldiers. The fort was bombed by all of the surrounding forts and withstood the attack for 2 days untill they finally surrendered and left for NY. 

Over the next year the Union forces launched several attacks to regain the fort but failed, and they finally set up batteries on the surrounding shoreline and over the next 2 years simply bombed the fort into rubble. The Union army also set iup cannons aimed at Charlestoln and began bombing the city, causing considerable damage.

The city was rebuilt, the fort...not so much...some of the structures remain, especially the base of the fort, but it is1/3 as tall as it was, and piles of rubble remain...

it is not at all as nice in any respect as Fort McHenry in Baltimore...curiously, they still fly the confederate flag on this and some of the surrounding forts.

the fort is reached by a ferry which does afford a nice, if cold, ride over

I spent the rest of the day on minor plumbing matters..somehow air is getting into the line, causing occasional bursts and splashes from the faucet, the kind you get after work is done on the water line. I replaced the filtr housing that I installed before the pump, on the theory that it might be leaking and tightened all connections on every hose from the water tank to the sink..but the problem - which is minor - remains...I'm suspecting that the particular type of filter h ousing, which is designed for ousehjold use where the pressure forces air out is the probllem...in my application the pump is after the filter and is sucking air in through a relief valve..I'll try again after I get to miami

Today I fly home to Baltimore and will rerturn on Tuesday to continue the voyage

Touring Charleston

Wednesday was spent touring Charleston. 

After a breakfast at " Fast and French", a small place that serves wonderful croissants and baguettes and delicious cheeses, (I'm hoping Atkins isn't spinning in his grave) we went for a carriage ride around Charleston

The city is small,  and proud of its heritage and is devoted to preservation, so many houses from 200 years ago are still here, well maintained and lived in. Old municipal builtings still stand and appear in good repair. It all makes for great pictures

Our horse and carrieage

The next few images are of the city and federal buildings moslty located near the old market that I showed yesterday

This next image is the original jail designed to actually keepn people for long periods of time. Before that people were jailed till their trial was held and then either released or hung...this new jail was felt to be more progressive!

This is the home of a rice plantation owner. The plantation was in Georgetown but in the summer the plantation owners would escape the malarial swamps (actually the rice paddies) and summer in Charleston...it was hot but there was no malaria (since there were no mosquitos, but they didn't know that

The typical home of the middle class, called a "Charleston Single". It presented a narrow front to the street, with a door that opened onto a porch, and the door to the house was in the middle of the porch. The reason for this design is that taxes were assessed based on the length of the house facing the street, so they put the houses in sideways.

I spent the afternoon on some minor boat tasks..for some reason I had the urge to wash the deck and mop the cabin floor. I then topped off the fuel tank to get ready for the trip to Miami next week. 

In the evening we all went to the Oak Steakhouse which turned out to be a fantastic restaurant, quite, with tables tucked away in corners for privacy, excellent service, awesome stakes and side dishes and a wonderful wine list...and the desserts were awesome...

We slowly walked home and so to bed

This morning I was awakened at dawn by some large boat going by the marina so I just got up and admired the dawn

Today we willl tour Fort Sumter

Tomorrow I fly back to Baltimore and then return to Charleston to meet Bruce Gregory and continue the voyage, either Tuesday or Wednesday

CharlestonP

We arrived at our slip in the Charleston Maritime Marina at 4pm, 10 hours after leaving Georgetown.
I described the harrowing trip out the Georgetown inlet in my previous post and it was much to rough to take any pictures...as I said before, it was all we could to to hold on and steer.
But Hayden did take some great pictures of Priority, one on the Waccamaw rive just before getting to Georgetown and a nice picture out on the ocean south of the inlet. Despite the waves, this was the calm part of the trip! To be honest, on this part of the trip out on the ocean, what with the gentle rocking, the hum of the engines and the sun warming the cockpit..I believe I fell asleep several times. Thank goodness for the autopilot!

This is Priority coming down the Waccamaw river, just above Georgetown

Priority on the high seas...

When we got into our slip, after hosing down the boat to wash off some of the salt (I promise I will wash the boat with soap and water one of these days), we gathered on Island Spirit to celebrate our arrival and the culmination of my single handing the boat from Baltimore to Charleston, including an ocean passage.

raising a glass of Champagne
clockwise from the left: me, Bob, Nina, Radeen, Hayden

The marina is small, with friendly, helpful staff and wonderful views of the Charleston Harbor

Tuesday morning we walked into town (one of the features of this marina is that it is a short walk to the center of Charleston), first stopping for breakfast at a favorite of Haydens (Caviar and Bananas) where they serve their version of bagel and lox (they wouldn't survive in Manhattan) and then down King street, a sort of Newbury street, with hints of Boyleston, and then into the 'Market", where they used to sell slaves, and now sell trinkets and artsy stuff you didn't know you needed

Entrance to the market

A view down the street from  the front of the market

Today I hope to see the Battery, perhaps take a carriage tour of Charleston, and perhaps a ferry over to tour Fort Sumter

Over the Bounding Main

Our goal today was to travel from Georgetown to Charleston, a distance of about 68 miles (about 10-11 hours by boat). The problem is that there are several shallow areas along the ICW in this region and these must be passed at or near high tide. At low tide you'll simply go aground and have to wait for the rising tide to lift you out...which will take several hours. Ifyou get stuck on a falling tide you'll have to wait many hours for the tide to fall and rise again...shooting the entire day.

Someone suggested that perhaps we should go "outside", which means out the Georgetown inlet to the ocean, head south till the Charleston inlet and then back in again...we looked at the charts and even with the extra distance of going in and out the inlets it's still 68 miles (a direct path rather than winding rivers)

So we did

We cast off at 6am - dawn - about 45 minutes before sunrise but enough light to see well.

Leaving Georgetown at dawn

heading out towards the inlet, following Island Spirit

 While in  the inlet we passed two ocean going tugs moving a large barge (they said to Connecticut)

Ocean going tugs. Moon Dance and Chris-Lea (Rich Fieldhouse's boat) getting ready to pass

We were going along pretty good down the inlet, the current was with us at 3 knots, giving us a speed of nearly 9 knots over the ground and we were feeling good till we hit the ocean..then we encountered a 15 knot breeze going the opposite direction of the 3 knot current which set up impressive waves...We were tossed and turned, bucked up and down but the boats just kept going and all I could do was hang on and steer..we couldn't turn around cause we might capsize in these waves...the only thing to do is face them head on...so we did for about 1/2 hour, with waves crashing over the deck, the boat dropping from one wave onto another,  till we passed a jetty that was a wall along one side of the inlet and could turn south  and away from the inlet current..it immediately calmed down

There was still an ocean current (about 1-2 knots) so we were going nearly 7 knots over the ground which is quite good..we were about 3 miles out and had an enjoyable ride down the coast. The wind was in the same direction as the current so there were only the usual ocean swells.

As we neared Charleston a pod of Dolphins came near out boats but they were feeding and weren't interested in us. I tried to get some photos, but they came out poorly

you can almost make out some dolphins near the top of the photo

We arrived at the Charleston inlet at3 pm, 9 hours after setting out but the harbor is so large it took us another hour to get to the marina which is near downtown.

Approaching Charleston, Island Spirit leading the way

A vising aircraft carrier in the harbor

The marina (Charleston Maritime Center) is very nice with very helpful staff (4 people helped me get in and tied up). I hosed down the boat to get some of the salt off and then we all gathered on Hayden and Radeen's boat to celebrate my successful single-handing trip from Baltimore to Charleston. 607 miles, 100 hours of engine time (need to change the oil tomorrow)..all safe and sound and most enjoyable.

My flotilla partners, Hayden and Radeen on Island Spirit and Bob and Nina on Moondance, are great teacher, but in what they did and how they did it and with the advice they were very free with...I learned a lot

But perhaps the most important thing I learned that it is the voyage, and not the destination that is important. They taught me not to rush through the trip, hurrying from one point to another, but to stop and enjoy the towns, the people, the anchorages, everything..great lesson...enjoy and value the voyage!

I'll spend a few days here in Charleston, attending to some tasks on the boat, touring a bit, enjoying some dinners, and then I'll fly home to baltimore for the weekend and for Ben's evening at the Enoch Pratt Library which promises to be great fun, made even better because Ben and Tonya and Arya and Asher will be in baltimore for the weekend as well!

Then I"ll fly back to Charleston onTuesday to continue the trip to Miami. Bruce Gregory (and perhaps a friend of his) will join me and we'll leave either Tuesday evening or Wednesday for a 4 day ocean voyage to Coconut Grove, Miami, where a slip awaits for the winter..

Quiet Day in Georgetown

We decided to stay another day in Georgetown to wait till the storm passed. We had initially planned to  head towards Charleston today, anchor out about 15 miles short of Charleston 9in Dewees creek, and then go in early to Charleston, arriving at the Marina around noon. But when we looked at the tide tables we realized that this plan would bring us to a region of shallow water (just before the Ben Sawyer bridge, for those of you looking at charts) just at low tide which meant we wouldn't get through...you have to pass this region on a rising tide (so if you do get stuck you'll float free in a little while). In addition it is suposed to get down near freezing tonight and it would be tough to anchor out and leave this nice marina with the electic cord running to the heater!

So we decided we'd leave earlly tomorrow morning (with  the clock change it starts to get light around 6am) and with any luck we'll get to Charleston before 6 (sundown is around 6:30). We'll see how it all works out. 

So today was a rest day...really.

I went for a late breakfast at a cafe in town where they made a really good omelet. Then I went for a longish walk (about 1.5 miles) to the Piggly Wiggly supermaket on the edge of town...I didn't need anything, just wanted somewhere to walk to...Rich Fieldhouse joined me, for the same reason. 

When I got back I decided to attack an annoying problem we've been having with the sink...somehow air is getting into the line, causing occasional bursts of water, the sort you get after they've been working on the water lines around your house.

So  I uncovered the compartment under the port settee that houses the water pump and filters and noticed that air bubbles were in the line coming from the filter, but not to the filter...then I noticed bubbles in the filter. So I took it all apart, cleaned everythng, greased the O-ring, reassembled it...still had the bubbles...I assume there is a small crack in the lid of the filter that I can't see, allowing air to get sucked in, but above the water level so nothing leaks out. 

A new filter costs $16 so I'll replace it on one of the trips we will take to Miami this winter. 

At 5pm Radeen invited the flotilla (including Rich of course) over to her boat for appetizers. She had more of the Salmon that she had purchased at Costco...really quite good and it goes well with a bit of wine...I had enough of the Salmon that I'll be passing on dinner this evening. 

No pictures, no sunset...hopefullly more tomorrow.

Rainy Day in Georgetown

We had been pretty lucky with the weather this trip...sunny skies, reasonable winds little rain (once we passed Solomon's on the Chesapeake), which enabled all those great sunset views....until today...
It is cold, rainy, windy, more cold (44 degrees this afternoon)...not fun at all.

Walked around town (well bundled in foul weather gear) and toured the rice museum, where I learned about an industry and way of life built on the cheap labor of slaves. It worked great for the plantation owners till those damn northerners butted in in 1865 and ruined the business. I then toured the Georgetown Maritime museum, where I learned about an industry built on the availability of enormous amounts of trees (like the ones I showed in the pictures taken along the Waccamaw river). Initially the trees were cut and shipped to boat builders in Maine, but then some enterprising folk decided to build the boats closer to the source of the wood. It worked fine and some impressive 3 and 4 masted schooners were built, but then the Maine boatbuilders threatened to start buying their wood elsewhere and the entrepreneurs quickly folded, recognizing the profit in cutting and selling wood was greater than that in building boats. Some of them turned to making paper, and some paper mills exist in Georgetown to this day (you can smell them when the wind is right).

After touring the rest of the town (didn't take long...its a small town) I returned to the boat, attended to some minor tasks, including doing the laundry, and then spent the day reading and relaxing.

The flotilla crew went to dinner at the Old Fish restaurant (formerly Big Tuna) and had a fine meal. I had a whole flounder that is prepared in an unusual way...the fish is scored in a grid pattern, then fried and served whole. The scored lines go to the bone and serve to cut the meat into bite sized portions...awesome!

The flounder, with one square removed for tasting...great!

We are still a little up in the air about what to do tomorrow. The winds are predicted to be high in the morning, moderating later in the day. We may just stay here another day and leave on Monday...we'll decide in the morning.

There are no sunset pictures today...sunset was cancelled due to the rain.

Along the Waccamaw river

We cast off from Barefoot Landing Marina at 7:30am, waved goodby to the many outlet shops, and were off to Georgetown, SC. Our plan is to stay there till sunday and so hide from a tremendous gale forming off Cape Hatteras with winds of 30 knots or more extending down to our area. A very good plan!

The initial part of the trip took us past a golf course that had a unique feature in that the clubhouse was on one side of the ICW and the course on the other side. Gondolas passing over the ICW ferried golfers back and forth.

Gondolas carrying golfers over the ICW

We passed under numerous fixed bridges and encountered one swing bridge, the Socastee swing bridge which opens on request (which it very graciously did). The curious thing about this bridge is that just beyond it is a fixed  bridge arching over the waterway and the initial plan was to retire and remove the swing bridge, except the local townsfolk objected and got it named as an historic site, and so it remains...till the next budget cut I"m sure.

Soon after we came to the Waccamaw river, which becomes part of the ICW for about 20 miles, carrying us to Georgetown. The river is the center of a very large wildlife preserve, with almost no inhabitants and a glorious abundance of trees, swamps and other vegetation. I saw plenty of birds but no animals along the wayd. The river is  wide, deep and curvy and was a treat to pass down

It was absolutely gorgeous! I took dozens of pictures, and I share just a small sample here

It took us nearly 3 hours to pass through the Waccamaw river valley and I"d look forward to doing it again. There are many places to anchor in the many creeks that open into the river, very well protected,  and I think it would be fun to spend some time at anchor here...it would surely be peaceful

After yet another fixed bridge, the Lafayette bridge, we came to Georgetown and in particular to the Harborwalk Marina, our home for the next two days. After tying up we went for a walk into town (the main street - Front street - is one block away. It is Halloween and the custom of this town is for all the kids (and many adults) to dress up in costume and parade up and down Front street...staring and being stared at. The shopkeepers all sit out side their stores with lots of candies, giving it to anyone in costume..sadly we weren't prepared and got no candies

A view looking up Front street..crowded with people of all ages, many in costume

There are many fine restaurants on Front Street and so while we got no candy, we did have a fine dinner.

Finally, the sunset view, which I love taking as we travel down the waterway

Looking out from the dock, over Priority's bow, to the sunset

As always, the map of the voyage is available by "Clicking here" under the MAP heading at the upper right of the blog.

Tomorrow I plan to tour the Rice museum and the Maritime Museum (this will be the third one I've seen this trip).