Chicken or Smart, It Depends How You Look At It!

A cold front came with some brisk winds. You would think we would love the winds, which we do when moving, but not at night on anchor. So we made a decision to go into a marina in Daytona. One of the reasons we decided this is because of the circumstances of dockage at the marina, and second, because it was predicted to be in the mid forties at night. Heat would be nice! With the dockage situation, it is that we are planning on docking the boat at Loggerhead Marina in Stuart, FL for three weeks so that we can fly home for 10 days over Thanksgiving. It is cheaper to rent the slip for a month and Loggerhead has reciprocal dockage at other Loggerhead Marinas, one of which is in Daytona, the rest are south of Stuart. So we have a week of days we can use at other Loggerhead marinas, so why not use them when it is so windy and sooooooooo… cold?!!



Sailing in ICW



On the way to Daytona Beach the winds were 18-20knots.  We sailed in the ICW as you can see by the tilt of the boat with the winds abeam.  When we pulled into the marina the winds were still 18 knots. Speaking of knots, that was what my stomach was in, since we had to get into a slip with the winds blowing so strong. However, it was all for “naught” because Al did a perfect job. The cold front definitely came through as it went from the high seventies to the low sixties and finally to the forties for the night.

 

View of Daytona Beach from bridge that we biked.

We had never been to Daytona, so exploring was a must. Out came the folding bikes and our winter jackets. Since it was a Saturday, we biked to the Farmer’s Market on City Island to get some needed produce because there was no major supermarket close by. We were lucky to discover the Halifax Arts Festival going on with at least 120 or more stands of high quality goods, food and music, I enjoyed myself immensely looking at all the art and crafts while Al, who hates to shop, took the produce back to the boat. After lunch we then biked over the bridge to see the beach side of Daytona Beach. With it being so brisk, there certainly were not many people out and about. Al and I agreed we have never seen so many motorcycle shops and bars in one place as in Daytona Beach. I think I was glad there were not many people around! I cannot imagine what it is like here during “Bike Week.”



Halifax Arts Festival

                                                                                                  


Boardwalk at Daytona Beach



We had a great meal at the marina’s restaurant called “Caribbean Jack’s” It is a popular spot for locals with people sitting outside on the deck from lunch through late evening. I think we lucked out being closed up for

the cold so we did not have to hear the music all night long.

On Sunday I went to church. For those who are Catholics and travel, you cannot beat the website, www.masstimes.org. for finding a church in the city you are in. We visited the Arts Festival again and then accomplished various chores. We are getting ready to move on to Titusville area tomorrow since the temperature is suppose to start climbing and be near eighty by midweek  Hopefully I will be able to get rid of my fleece top and vest!

Cumberland Island Wildlife to Henry Flagler Highlife



Blue Heaven off Cumberland Island. GA



Shrimping

We decided to stay another day at anchor off of Cumberland Island. We wanted to hike some of the island because the trails are so beautiful and Sue and Don Engler from Jubilee, friends from our sailing association, were coming over from Fernadina. I had a great morning kayaking along the inland coast.  While having lunch we got to see how locals get shrimp by throwing the nets off their boats and hauling them in and dumping their catch in the bottom of their boat.  Once the word gets out that there are shrimp in an area it must spread fast because there had to be at least ten boats doing it all within 20 ft. of each other.  

Armadillo



 After lunch Al and I visited the island. We hiked the River Trail and got a great shot of Blue Heaven out on the water. The wild horses were abundant that day. We counted eleven of them in one area at the same time. You can see they are not that wild if I can get a shot that close! We also saw several armadillos (which blend so well into the surroundings) and a flock of wild turkeys. We also made it to the other side of the island to see the beautiful pristine beach. We certainly got our exercise which we so desperately needed! We ended the day catching up with the Englers on their boat all the while smacking those darn no-see-ums.

Cumberland Island Beach

 



St. Augustine






Flagler College



One of eleven Tiffany stained glaas windows

Pine Island was our next stop after a motor sail through a bit of rain on the way. It quieted down for the night and we were in St. Augustine by 10:30AM the next day on a mooring ball. We had lunch in town and afterwards toured Flagler College . What makes this college so interesting is that it had been the Ponce de Leon Hotel which was “the place” for the very wealthy back in the late 1800’s and early 1900s. The architecture was amazing and the inside was even more so. In the present day dining hall there are more Tiffany stained glass windows in one place than any place in the entire world. They also had true Tiffany chandeliers and any gold you saw on the woodwork or ceilings and walls was real gold leaf. Henry Flagler knew how to really make the wealthy feel even wealthier in one of his hotels. Now college students sleep where the Rockerfellers and Gettys perhaps stayed! 

With 70% chance of rain, we decided to stay put for another day and spent it doing various chores. It only rained in the morning and then once again around 5PM. We learned high percentages doesn’t mean it will rain all day!

Wild Horses on Cumberland Island













St. Simon and Beyond

Another beautiful sunrise in Bull Creek, GA

After leaving Thunderbolt we anchored in Bull Creek for the first major rain of the trip.  It poured on and off for two hours.  The front came through with no problems and cooled us down which was great and made for a beautiful sunrise the next day.
We pulled into Golden Isles Morning Star Marina in mid afternoon which was an easy in along their t-head dock. Al’s high school buddy, Tony and wife Shirley who live on the island were the reason for the stop here. Tony came over to see the boat and then we went to their beautiful oceanfront property for some catching up since two years ago. 

Golden Isles Marina, St. Simon Island


Al and Tony played golf the next day while I borrowed the Guthrie’s car to run some errands and do some shopping. Later they took us to their country club on the other side of the island which was just exquisite, the furnishings and the food!

The Golden Isles Marina must figure they have to keep up with Thunderbolt, because they too delivered a newspaper and fresh muffins instead of Krispy Kremes to your boat every morning.  It seemed the resident pelican posed so that you would take his picture.



Jekyll Island Dock



We left the marina around 10am because we were in no rush to try to go through Jekyll Creek on a dropping tide. We got through fine so our plan worked! We anchored off the southern end of Cumberland and ran into Dawn Treader whom we know from the upper bay. They came over for dinner and once again we spent another evening updating each other about our trips and sharing information learned.

Southwest Winds-What’s Up With That?

Ever since we left the Norfolk/Portsmouth area the winds have been south or southwest, exactly the direction we are headed.  This is unusual for the fall when they usually come out of the north or northeast which would allow us to sail more, but when they are right on your nose it is useless when you are trying to make miles. We have not been able to go out in the ocean due to the wind direction either.  We got to sail all of twenty minutes in Port Royal Sound on our way to Savannah area.  The one benefit of this wind direction is the great warm weather we have been having.  It is around the low eighties during the day and cools off for sleeping at night.  Today in Thunderbolt, GA was the first really humid day but luckily we are at a marina and can use the air conditioning.  Another benefit at this marina is the complimentary Krispy Kreme donuts and a USA Today newspaper delivered to your boat.                                                                                    



 I have been getting a lot of rug hooking done on the long motoring days as well as reading and tending my little herb garden.  It is great to pluck a sprig of mint for my mojitos or basil or parsley for my recipes for dinner..



Since leaving Charleston it seems all we have been seeing are catamarans.  There are definitely more this year than on the last trip.  We had drinks on Lipari (40 ft. catamaran) in Bull Creek with Janet and Randy Wallace.  We enjoyed getting together but I don’t want to get on too many catamarans because they make your mono hull feel small!

In Thunderbolt we found a shrimper selling fresh shrimp from his small shack about a block from the marina.  While we were getting the shrimp, there was a gent fishing through a hole in the cement floor of the structure.  We could not believe it when he pulled out a nice size red drum bass which you can see in the basket.  The fish barely fit through the hole. The owner said that is the best fishing hole because shrimp parts get thrown down there which attracts the fish.  It was like he was ice fishing, so do you think they call this cement fishing?!!

We took the bus from Thunderbolt Marina and enjoyed a day in Savannah, A modern flagship named Peacemaker built in 1989 was docked at the harbor and free tours were available.  It has an interesting background and you can learn more about it at www.peacemaker.com.  Next big stop is St. Simon Island, GA.







Charleston Bound



The cut into Osprey Marina

   We motored the waterway past Myrtle Beach and the famous “Rock Pile” with no problems.  In the middle of the cypress swamps there was a cut which led to Osprey Marina where we were spending the night.  Since we got in around noon, we had plenty of time to get fuel, wash the salt off the boat, do a load of laundry and take a long walk. It was a nice but smaller marina.  It was a reasonable at $1/ft, and fuel was $2.67 with Boat US discount..


  The next day we shot down the Wacamaw River with the current with us and got into Minum Creek for another early day.  It was spaghetti night but that wasn’t all that was for dinner.  We were dinner for the vampire mosquitoes finding their way into any crack they could until we closed them all. 



Stillness of dawn in the marsh







An Egret Rookery



Mode of transportation on Dewees Island

The mosquitoes were still waiting for us the next morning so we got underway as fast as we could to let the air blow them out of the cockpit.  On the way to our next anchorage, Dewees Creek, we saw some different sights other than the usual fishermen..  One was an egret rookery in a tree and the other a group of kayakers in the waterway.  We also had two free loaders (black birds) land on our boat for a free ride.   Once into the creek, Al put the kayak in the water for me so I could kayak the nearby marsh creeks near privately own Dewees Island where I could see all the golf carts lined up for their personal use from the ferry to their homes.. 

We got into City Dock in Charleston early to take advantage of the marina and the wonderful city.  Out came our folding bikes and it was a great day for biking around the city.  We stayed Saturday also so that we could re-provision at the great Harris Teeters and do some more chores.  The history, homes and wonderful restaurants are not to be missed!





Oddities on the Waterway

 

On Friday, Oct.15^th we left the plush and posh marina for the very basic Dudley’s marina in Swansboro.  It was a blustery day of 20 knots and even the waterway was somewhat choppy.  Al chose here because of the location for us to make it to Wrightsville Beach the next day without a seventy mile day.  The only spot for our size boat was at the end of the  T-dock.  We got it in with three dock hands preventing us from damaging the boat for which we were thankful.  It a basic fishing marina with simplistic heads, showers and even a courtesy car all for .75/ft. but we really only needed the tie up for the night.  I don’t think the seagulls liked sharing their dock with us because they stood their ground on the pilings so close that I got some great close-ups of them.  At dusk we were joined on the dock by an Army Corp of Engineers dredge in back of us.  Are you getting the picture of the type of marina this was?  All in all, it was not a bad night because the wind died and so it was much quieter than anticipated until about 3:30am when something started banging the mast.  I, being a light sleeper, asked Al to please fix it.  Luckily I insisted because Al discovered it was the spinnaker pole hoist which came loose and the pole which takes almost two people to handle, could have come crashing down from its spot attached to the mast.  We don’t want to think what could have happened then.

On our way to Wrightsville Beach we saw several odd sites that you can see in the pictures.  First there was the Giraffe statue in someone’s yard.  Stylish isn’t it?  Then there was the boat that seemed like someone ran right up on land in the marsh.  Lastly, there was the house painted “hot” pink (Maybe in Key West, but not in NC!)  Since it was a long day getting here with four bridges that had to open, we decided to lay over a day in Wrightsville Beach and give our ears and body a rest from so much motoring.

We spent a nice day going to the beach with perfect beach weather and later invited Harriet and Skip from Moondance over for a drink and conversation.  They are another couple who have been to the Bahamas before so filled us in on more information.

Wrightsville Beach, NC

Leaving Calabash Creek, NC

We motored to Calabash Creek north of Myrtle Beach and had a quiet night on the hook.  We left at day break with this beautiful sky.



Amenities Galore

Main Lodge

Well if you want a little luxury you need to come to River Dunes Marina north of Oriental.  It is a beautiful riverfront community.  For $1.25/ft. per night you have lovely scenery, great floating docks, a beautiful main lodge with a restaurant (only weekends now), billiards, a screened porch, and the dockmaster's office.  The pool with some private cabanas, 2 hot tubs and a fountain are next door. They also have a superb shower and exercise facility which includes an office where you can use their computer or fax machine.  Bicycles, canoes and kayaks are also available.  And a great advantage for cruisers are the two courtesy cars which we used for getting groceries and going into Oriental for dinner.  There are also some small cottages to rent and two large homes are also able to be rented.  The private homes in the community are large and many have the southern architecture.  There were only a few transients there, so the small laundry was very accessible for our use.  He said during the summer months it is more difficult to use.  One drawback is no ATT accessibility, but Verizon works and they have free Wifi.   Secondly the mosquitoes, due to the warm muggy weather seemed to enjoy our northern blood.  Overall it was a great find and glad we stayed two days.  A storm blew through while we were there but due to the protected harbor we hardly felt it.  We highly recommend trying this three year old marina to renew after being out on the water awhile and cleaning up after a bug invasion!.   



One of the magnificent waterfront homes in River Dunes