December 5-6, 2014 SC to Brunswick, GA

We left our anchorage at 10:00 am.  We were glad to see that it wasn’t foggy.  Dave brought up the anchor and I took the boat out of the anchorage and back into the ICW to follow the channel back out of the harbor.  We decided to start our 3  hour watches at 12:00.  Dave took over at 12:00 and about 12:30 turned south out of the shipping lane.  You have to go off shore aways to avoid a lot of hazards.  We’re usually about 3 miles off shore. 

On my 3:00-6:00 pm watch, I had dolphins swimming with the boat for about 2 hours!  Just when I thought they were gone, they would leap out of the water next to the boat again.    There had to be at least 8 of them.  Another cool experience when you are out on the sea alone.  I ended my watch with a beautiful sunset.  This gives a whole new meaning to “Friday happy hour”. 

Dave’s 6-9:00 pm shift was uneventful.  But when I came up at 9:00 pm, there were 5 boats anchored outside of the Savannah inlet.  Dave said “there are more lights here than in most South Dakota towns.”  You could also see them on the radar.  The AIS makes them show up as arrows.  We can hover our cursor over the boat and bring up information.  It gives you the name of the boat, the country of origin, the destination, whether it’s cargo, cruise ship, private or other, and whether it’s anchored our under engine power.  Very interesting.  There is also an alarm that goes off if one of them is within a certain range of our boat.  We can set that range. 

About 9:30, another boat came out of the Savannah River and was heading straight out across our path.  I watched it for about 15 minutes and it seemed like we would be very close to colliding.  They would have the right away for 3 reasons: 1) he is in a shipping lane and we are crossing it, 2) when 2 boats meet, the boat on the starboard side has the right of way, which was their ship (rule of the water), 3) he was much bigger and wouldn’t have cared if he hit our boat.  So I checked with Dave on whether I should change our course.  He suggested just slowing down until I was sure he would clear our path.  Duh!  That was a simple solution.  So about 9:45, I slowed down until he passed in front of us.  Then about 10:20 pm I resumed our speed.  That kept me awake for the remainder of my 3 hour watch.  And our AIS alarm did go off warning us of the collision after I had figured it out.  But that would be helpful if I had fallen asleep on my watch.

Chart plotter with radar  and AIS overlay.  We are in the center, each ring is 5 km, the arrows are the other ships.  you can see one approaching from behind us on the upper right side of the screen.  the 6 facing north are anchored.  The 7th one at right angles to them is moving out across our path.  The one closest to us is red because the AIS was warning us that they were with in our "comfort zone".

This screen shows the ship crossing our path and in red, since it is in our "comfort zone".  If you look closely, the ships on the top of the screen have 2 markings.  The arrows are the AIS indicators and the purple blobs are the radar indicators.  All I remember about the ship crossing our path was that it was a cargo ship and it's destination was China. 

 
Uneventful night watches.  By the end of Dave’s watch at 9:00 am, it was foggy again.  We were just turning into the St Simons Sound Inlet shipping lane.  These lanes have red and green buoys leading you into the inlet.  The outermost green buoy starts with the number 1, the red ones are even numbers, and they lead you into the inlet, then can split off into different rivers or channels once you are inside.  So they are kind of like road signs for boats.  Since we were heading into the inlet we had the red on the starboard side - "red right returning".

We entered the channel near #5 green and #6 red.  We had to really slow down because of the fog.  Shortly after we turned into the channel, we heard the Coast Guard make a securite’ announcement on the VHF that they were working on the #10 buoy in the St Simons Sound Inlet and any concerned traffic should contact them.  We were just discussing whether we should call them when we heard them call us by our boat name.  I’m sure they could see us coming by radar.  They just let us know that they had a cutter and were located next to the #10 buoy.  So we had to watch through the fog for them to show up and make sure we cleared them.  We were concerned about moving further into the shipping lane, but they hadn’t hailed any other boats, so I think we were the only crazy ones out there in that fog. 

Once we were inside the inlet, we turned south on the ICW and anchored near Red buoy 24.  We went 144 nautical miles (165.6 miles)  in 27 hours.  By now it was 1:00 and our eyes were strained from staring into the fog.  Besides, Dave ended up putting in 4 more hours after his watch should have ended.  It reminded us of driving though fog or snow.  It also reminded me of cross country skiing in a blizzard with Tami Petersen.  I wish we had radar with us on a couple of those days. 

Dave recently added a built in horn but hadn't wired it yet.  When we are motoring in fog, we are supposed to blast our horn for 5 seconds every 2 minutes.  Our wired horn will do this automatically.  When I could hear the Coast Guard’s horn, I used an air horn for our horn.  But as we were getting close to the mouth of the inlet, it was running out.  So I stopped and saved it to use as a warning if we saw another boat.  Luckily we didn’t meet any other boats before our anchorage.  I guess hooking up the horn just moved up on the list of things to be done. 

We plan to stay in this area for 2-3 days because of some bad weather moving through the area.  We enjoyed listening to the Alabama Crimson Tide college football team beat Missouri State in the SEC-south eastern conference. 

My first sight of the buoy in the fog. just above the sail on our deck

looked like the end of the world past this buoy

December 3-4, 2014 NC to Charleston, SC

We finally left NC after 4 months!!  It felt similar to leaving Alabama last December, but we weren’t as nervous. 

We woke to dense fog, but nothing was going to stop us.  The draw bridge just south of the marina opens on demand before 6:00 am and after 6:00 pm, and at 10:00 am and 2:00 pm.  We decided to take the 10:00 opening since we have never been early morning people.  We were out of the slip at 9:30 as planned with the help of Mike, the dock master.  Then we called the bridge tender to request the opening and motored up and down the river waiting for the opening. 

Dockmaster, Mike, helping us cast off

Our home for 4 months, already a foggy memory

The bridge opening for us.  the fog wasn't going to stop us

Normally it takes about 4 hours to get to the mouth of the Cape Fear River and out on the ocean.  Today it took us 6 hours with fog the entire way.  We shared the watch so we would have 2 sets of eyes.  About 1:00, the fog was lifting, so I let Dave go below for a nap.  But by 2:00 it was back and I panicked when a large boat gave out a warning 5 second horn blast really close and I couldn’t see him.  No more nap for Dave.  We signaled back and forth several times until we saw the boat cross behind us and head for shore. 

It was still foggy once we got to the ocean.  There were 3 different boats on the radar and AIS (automated  identification system) that we couldn’t see at first.  Once we figured out which direction they were going and could actually see them, we set a course for Charleston with the autopilot.  At 5:00, I started the first of our 3 hour watches.  We then rotated shifts every 3 hours. 

Fog lifting on the ocean.  We actually headed WSW because of the curvature of the coastline

The fog cleared and an almost full moon lit our way through the night.  We made our dining table into a bed to sleep on when we were off watch.  It is more centrally located, so more stable than our v-berth.  During my 5:00-8:00 am watch, the sun came up.  It was beautiful and humbling to see and so peaceful when you don’t see land, another vessel or human being.  Just you and the ocean and the sunrise.  Doesn’t get any better. 

"Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light...."

The ocean was fairly calm all night.  There were winds less than 10mph and just rolling 2-4 foot swells.  In the morning, the winds had picked up just over 10mph.  The wind was on our stern most of the passage.  About 12:00 noon, we turned about 90 degrees to the starboard to enter the Charleston shipping channel into their harbor.  Now the waves were hitting us broad side, so it was more rough.  I could hear a few things hitting the floor below, but Dave tried to sleep a little longer.  He got up about 1:00 when we were close to entering the harbor.  I would have woke him up if he hadn’t.  There is a lot of traffic in this harbor.  We chose to go left up the Ashley River and anchor across the ICW from Battery Park in historic Charleston.  The Cooper River has much more commercial traffic, therefore much more turbulence during the night. 

We were anchored by 2:30pm.  We went 150 nautical miles (172.5 miles) in 28.5 hours.  As Dave settled the boat for the night, I cooked us a hot meal, since we had been eating cold prepared foods for the last 24 hours.  We spent the afternoon figuring out our plan for the next leg of our trip and checking weather reports from several sources.  Sounds like a windy weekend coming up.  We caught up on internet since we had service again.  We had soup about 7:00 and went to bed by 8:00 so we can do this all over again tomorrow.  Dave moved the bedding from our salon area back to our bed.  I heard him say “making the bed is just like throwing a casting net for shrimp”.  He’s been practicing casting the net for when we get to Georgia. 

This was the best passage for me so far.  I felt rested, stayed warm, no sea sickness, and fairly calm seas.  I wasn’t sure how it would go since we had been land locked for 4 months.  Dave was great, as always.  He doesn’t sleep as well, but he never complains.  This next passage will be windier and maybe some rain.  But we’re moving south!!

November 27- Dec 2, 2014 Thanksgiving and sailing prep

Thanksgiving Day:  We had a scrumptious Thanksgiving Dinner at St Mark’s Catholic Church that I have been attending.  They provided a meal for those without family in the area.  It was the first time I had collard greens for Thanksgiving.  They even let us make a “to go box”.  Everyone was so friendly.  And several people went out of their way to meet us once they heard we were from SD.  They had family there or were from SD, MN or WI.

Saturday afternoon we went to Wrightsville Beach to watch a Boat Christmas Parade.  We went early to get a decent place to park.  We planned to eat at a restaurant on the route but we would have to sit outside.  It was about 4:00 and the parade wasn't until 6:00.  So we walked to another restaurant, ate at their bar, watched college football and walked back to the original restaurant for the parade.  It was shorter than the ones we saw in Alabama, but still fun.

The pictures don't do them justice

I like the reflection on the water.  You had to be there

I wrote our Christmas letter and e-mailed it out to my usual list.  Then I mailed about a dozen cards to aunts and uncles and older family friends that may not use the internet.  I am trying to have people e-mail their greetings to us, since we have a mail forwarding service now.  This is the second year, but I thought I'd get them out early as a reminder.    

Dave spent the next few days going through systems on the boat to be sure we are ready to leave next week.  Checked raw water screens, checked filters, stowed things and rearrange things in storage, etc.  I cleaned and cooked and did laundry today.  We pulled out some winter clothes for the trip south.  We’ll be able to stow them again once we’re in warmer weather again.  It’s a constant shuffle.  One evening, Dave said he was going to bed because he "ran out of nothing to do".

Dave called the insurance agent handling our claim on Monday.  He said everything was approved!!!!  He was putting together the surveyor’s paperwork, the boat yard’s and their payment statement and would send it on Tuesday. 

So on Tuesday, we settled our bill with Bennet Brother’s Yacht, returned the rental car, topped off our water tanks, and got everything ready to take off in the morning.  Can’t believe this is finally happening. 

November 24-26, 2014 Ready to leave NC

Dave talked to the boat yard on Monday.  He was surprised we hadn’t heard from the insurance company since the charges were sent to them before we left over a week ago.  That’s when they told us that the insurance company wanted further explanation of the charges, so the final information went to them just this last Friday.  Well, you can imagine that we were really frustrated.  We thought we would hear from the insurance while we were in Florida, come back, settle our bill and head out. 

Well, the weather looked kind of bad this week, so we probably wouldn’t leave until Friday anyway.  We spent the day unpacking and getting resettled into boat life. 

Dave was also working on our Single Side Band radio.  He is getting it hooked up to our GPS.  Then the screen on the SSB and the VHF radio will show our latitude, longitude and time.  That will be handy in an emergency.  Also, when you are listening to the radio and hear of an emergency, it is nice to see immediately if we are in the area and can offer help.  So far, I have been writing down this information when we leave and periodically though out the day.  Here was Dave’s thought for the day: Projects have to give you a little headache or else you didn’t really earn your accomplishment. 

Tuesday:  Dave needed some boat parts, so we went out for a late breakfast.  We made a grocery store run to replenish our fresh fruits, bread, milk etc.  But I also planned some food for our passage.  It is good to cook foods ahead of time that will take little preparation while under way. 

Wednesday:  We discovered the walls of the compartments along the hull are getting condensation because the water is colder now.  So  we opened a few and did some repackaging of things we had in storage.  The compartment with our canned foods was wet, so a lot of the labels were wet and some rust was showing up on the cans.  So I wrote on the lid of every can what the contents were in case the labels come off.  Then I bagged several cans in 2 gallon bags.  I also organized the cans into like foods.   Should be easier to find things now.  And I updated the "what's on my boat" list.

We decided to call the insurance company to see when they thought we would have an answer.  That’s when we found out they were closed for the rest of the week!!!  We called our surveyor.  He said he received the info from out boat yard on Friday.  But he didn’t get his part submitted until yesterday!  So now we are looking at leaving Tuesday at the earliest.  The surveyor really suggested staying here until we receive the payment, then pay the boat yard, just in case there is anything not covered.  Then we could discuss it with them.  We are tempted to just pay the bill and leave and take what ever the insurance pays. 

We did talk to the owner about how frustrated we are.  Originally we were told to expect everything to take a month to a month and a half.  Now it's been 4 months!!  So we decided to go out for chicken wings and beer.  I had a new appetizer-jalapeno macaroni and cheese bites.  They were sinful. 

view of our marina from the draw bridge

jalapeno macaroni and cheese bites

November 20-23, 2014 Florida Tourists

Thursday: Finally we get to play tourist.  We went out for a late breakfast at the Nook.  We saw a high school friend of Pete’s there, Melissa Beadle.  She is now living in Jupiter.  Small world.  On Jupiter Island, there is a section of rocky beach.  We hiked along there looking at the unusual formations.  Cheryl even climbed down between some for a few photo ops, but ended up getting drenched by a rogue wave.  It was great to check out sea shells, get our feet in the water, and just sit and enjoy the view and sounds.  We spent most of the afternoon at the beach.  We returned to the hotel and enjoyed the pool and hot tub.  Then we had dinner in our room with fresh guacamole, seafood salad, cheese and crackers, etc.  And we played cribbage. 

Friday:  We went to Palm Springs to tour the Flagler Museum.  Henry Flagler was responsible for a lot of the development of Florida by bringing the railroad south and building resort hotels.  He was one of the original owners of Standard Oil with Rockefeller.  He also built the railroad to Key West along the Keys.  His home is now a museum and very fascinating.  If you are interested, read Last Train to Paradise.

Then we returned to Jupiter in time to catch the last tour of their lighthouse.  It had 104 steps.  And the view was beautiful.  Afterwards, we had dinner at a restaurant across the inlet with a view of the lighthouse in the dark.  Very pretty.  We returned to our rooms to pack and play more cribbage. 

It had been a windy, rainy, cooler week than usual.  But it was snowing and cold back in SD and OK, so Bev and Cheryl didn’t complain.  It was still in the 70-80’s.  The dive shop said they didn’t go out again the rest of the week because of the conditions, so we wouldn’t have done any more diving anyway.

Saturday: We all left around 10:00 am.  Our hotel was on the IntraCoastal Waterway, the Jupiter Waterfront Inn.  It was only a 2 story unit with balconies over looking the ICW.  It was very clean and comfortable.  The staff were very nice, always helpful, and had great suggestions for restaurants.  It was really windy today.  Dave walked outside with a cup of coffee and the top of his coffee had breakers splashing the coffee onto his hand. 

The girls checked out a tourist shop next door to our hotel.  We saw a sign that was appropriate for our lifestyle: At the beach (boat for us), life id different.  Time doesn’t move hour to hour but mood to moment.  We live by the currents, plan by the tides, and follow the sun. 

We said our good-byes.  They returned to the airport in their rental car.  And we drove north in ours. 

We had a 10 hour drive so we ended up spending the night in Savannah, GA.  We had a room on Bay Street near the Riverwalk.  We had a great dinner and went to an Irish Pub for some great music.  Dave spent most of the week eating our leftovers in the room.  So he enjoyed the night out. 

Sunday: Drove home to our boat in NC.  Stopped for gas and ate at a great Mexican restaurant.  We’ll enjoy a second meal with our leftovers.  

Blowing Rock Beach on Jupiter Island

minutes later Cheryl was soaking wet

Henry Flagler home now a museum

top of lighthouse

Seafood dinner in Savannah, GA

November 13-19, 2014 Florida Vacation

St Augustine, Diving, Hospital

Nothing like taking a vacation when you are on a permanent vacation. 
Our boat insurance says we can’t go south of 30 degree latitude North until November 1, which is about the northern border of Florida. We really thought we would have our boat in Florida after that date.  Dave had a yearly exam scheduled in St Augustine on November 14 at the VA clinic.  So we drove to Florida. 

Dave’s appointment went well.  He likes his new Dr.  This was the general exam, so now he will be appointed for various things.  We hope to be back in St Augustine with our boat and not have to drive there for future appointments.

After his appointment on Friday, we drove on to Jupiter where we met my sister, Bev, and Cheryl Ulmer on Saturday.  I met Cheryl in Rapid City through the Chamber of Commerce in 1987 and we have been friends ever since.  When Bev moved to Rapid City, she also became friends with Cheryl.  She is a scuba diver and used to be an instructor.  She encouraged both of us to become divers.  We have had several dive trips together over the years.

Saturday: great seafood dinner at Food Shack.  Their local fresh fish are prepared in unique ways and served over a salad, which was also unique to each dish.  Wonderful.  Early to bed because we were diving on Sunday morning.

Sunday:  Bev, Cheryl and I went to Jupiter Dive Center at 8:00am.  We lined up everything we needed and were on the boat by 9:00.  It was about 75-80 degrees and a little windy.  We had 2 short dives.  Their reef was deep, so both dives were fairly deep.  Cheryl’s computer registered 94 feet and 74 feet for the deepest areas.  Usually our second dive is 40-60 feet deep.  Since they were so deep, it limits the time you can spend below water.  We saw large angle fish, 2 really large groupers-probably15 feet long, 2 large turtles about 4-6 ft diameter, a 6 ft green moray eel, and lots of schools of fish besides the reef itself. 

Bev gets motion sickness.  She took Dramamine, but didn’t keep it down.  She was sick before, between and after the dives, but felt great during the dives.  By the time we got back to the dive shop, she couldn’t walk off the boat and felt really out of it.  So we had them call an ambulance to evaluate her.  They decided she was dehydrated, but didn’t have decompression illness (DCI or the bends).  So they took her to a local hospital.  Cheryl and I followed and sat with her in the emergency room.  We were there about 2:00 and waited, and waited, and waited.  They were giving her fluids, but not much other attention.  About 5:00, they wanted a urine sample.  When she tried to get up, she nearly passed out.  That finally got a doctor’s attention.  They did a couple CT scans and found nitrogen bubbles near her liver.  So she did have DCI.  So they had to transfer her to a different hospital with a hyperbaric chamber in West Palm Beach. 

Cheryl and I followed her there and waited again in the emergency room.  A doctor did a neurological assessment right away.  They had to get her records from the first hospital and call in a pulmonary doctor.  Then they had to call in the hyperbaric nurse on call.  So it was about 12;30 am before she actually entered the chamber.  We waited about 30 minutes to be sure she was feeling better.  This would take about 6 hours, so we called it a night.  Our hotel was about 30 minutes away.  So it was about 2:00am by the time we hit the bed.  We had already cancelled our dive trip for Monday. 

Monday and Tuesday, Bev had to go into the hyperbaric chamber twice for about 2 hours each time.  So between times, we sat with her, visited and watched TV.  She was improving with each treatment.  Cheryl and I found a couple great restaurants for early dinner each day.  Wonderful seafood-red snapper, mahi mahi, salmon, to name a few.  And they were coconut, or pecan, or macadamia nut encrusted or grilled.  Every meal was fantastic. 

Wednesday: Bev was feeling and acting like her old self.  The pulmonary doctor said she would know when she wasn’t seeing any more improvement with the 2 hours treatments and she could basically decide when she was ready to leave.  She had one treatment on Wed before we returned.  A PA stopped by to check on her, but didn’t say much.  About 3:00, we knew they would be coming to get her for her second treatment and she was ready to leave the hospital.  So we talked to her nurse.  She said her doctor was through with the rounds and she’d get her dismissal tomorrow.  We said “oh no, she’s leaving today.”  I guess the PA was the one she should have talked to.  We thought it was the pulmonary doctor.  So the nurse made some phone calls and arranged for her to leave by about 5:00pm.  We celebrated at a great Italian restaurant.  We all ordered the special-lobster ravioli with a walnut cream sauce with shrimp and crab on top.  DELICIOUS!  We ordered spaghetti for Dave, to go. 

All this time, Dave had been staying at the hotel and studying for his Captain’s license.  He had been planning to do this over the past year, but things get in the way.  This is a study course with books and an online tutorial.  You have to get 90% on each of 4 tests online.  Then you have to schedule a final exam at a testing center, like a coast guard station or an actual sailing school.  So he hopes to take that test with in a few months.  Previously he obtained a license to be able to charter boats (credit card captain).  This will be an actual Coast Guard Captain's license.  This will allow him to be hired as a captain, our insurance should go down, and he has gained overall knowledge about boating.  Now we'll see if I can do it, too, because Dave said "it's only for boys". 

view of the ICW from our room

view of the Jupiter Inlet lighthouse from our restaurant

On break from hospital duty

Breaking Bev out of the "big house"

November 9-12, 2014 SEA TRIAL

Sunday, I enjoyed singing with the choir again at St Mark’s.  I really do get enjoyment from singing , especially in parts.  It gave me something to look forward to while we were here in Wilmington. 

We spent part of the day getting the boat ready for our sea trial on Monday.  We had to have part of our “garage” emptied so the mechanics could have access to our batteries. 

Monday-the SEA TRIAL.  This is where we took the boat out and ran it through a few maneuvers to see that everything was working.  First, they tested a few things at the dock.  We discovered that our engine wasn’t starting using the starter battery, just for that purpose.  It was actually running off of our house batteries.  So Dave is going to chase down what is running off of each battery on our own time. 

Then we took the boat out into the Cape Fear River and traveled up and down the river in front to the marina putting the engine through it’s tests.  And we set the autopilot so the direction our boat is going according to the autopilot matches the standard compass and the GPS in our chart plotter.  We were reminded that when you change direction, the 3 will take a few minutes to match.  The standard compass will react first, then the autopilot compass, then the chart plotter.  But the chart plotter will be the most accurate because it is using the satellite system.  I thought that was interesting.

We found out our prop has a vibration.  That is something we will investigate when we are in beautiful, warm blue water.  There was an antifreeze leak and our air filter was loose.  Little things that were good to know above the fact that everything they fixed was working. 

Now the boat yard will put together their final bill and it will be submitted to the insurance company.  AND we keep our fingers crossed that everything will be covered.  It seemed kind of anti-climactic after all this time.  I guess because we aren't leaving right away by boat.  We did go out for chicken wings as a celebration. 

Tuesday, we spent finishing a radio project.  Dave has been experimenting with the Single Side Band radio for weather, but also checking in with HAM nets.  It helps their nets know how far their signal can be heard.  And they register that you have checked in.  So if you have an emergency in the future, they recognize you.  They specifically asked if there were any marine mobile users to check in, that was us.  The net moderator that night was from San Diego, CA.  And there were people checking in from all over the US. 

So Dave started adding a 3 inch copper strap from the antenna to our dyna plate on the bottom of the hull.  We’re trying to take stray noises off of our radio.  This will ground the radio and the antenna directly into the water.  But he couldn’t finish the project tonight because the “no see-um” were eating him up. 

We made a trip to Home Depot to find some “beefier” rubbermaid totes for spar parts and tools that we store in the “garage”.  We are trying to get more efficient with our storage, so we can actually have guests some day.  Plus they totes will be easier to move out of the way when Dave does need access to the engine, batteries or other electrical connections. 

Dave has been researching a dual filter system for the engine to be able to bypass a clogged filter and change it later.  If the engine stops in rough weather or near rocks, you’d want it running again  quickly.  Not in the time it would take to change the filter.  Thank you, Ron & Libbo for that idea.  I think we’ll end up adding that to our boat.

Wednesday was spent packing for a trip to Florida.  Dave has another appointment with the VA in St Augustine.  So we are driving there tomorrow.  Then my sister, Beverly, and a close friend of ours, Cheryl Ulmer, will be in Jupiter, FL for a week vacationing.  So we are going to join them.  The girls plan to scuba dive.  And Dave is going to do some studying for his Captain’s license.  (His ears can’t handle diving anymore).  So the next entry in my blog will probably be at the end of the trip.  Then we will be moving the boat south. 

So the rest of the day was spent doing little projects so the boat will be ready to leave here when we get back.  Dave ran around trying to find an electrical part for one the lights in our boat.  He also had to take the rental car in to the agency to rewrite our contract.  I think they just wanted to be sure it was still in one piece, since we’ve had it so long.