The Carolinas

We've been working our way up the ICW through the Carolinas. It is a snake like path for the most part full of twists then straightening for canals and cuts which link rivers and creeks . The channel is fairly narrow in most places and that makes sailing a real challenge. Straying out of the channel means you go aground hard and fast. South Carolina is still a bit tropical but slowly becomes that unique blend of seashore, marsh, river and swamp that is Low Country. It is not great sailing but it is beautiful in a spooky and wild sort of way. As with everything , it is also more developed even than last fall! We have spent some time in fabulous places here. Beaufort ( Bew ) of Pat Conroy fame. This is the setting Conroy's many books and for the films Conrack and Prince of Tides. I guess some of the Forrest Gump shots were made here too. People here still talk about Nick Nolte and Tom Hanks as if they were local. Fast running rivers eventually lead to Charleston . The currents here are fierce as two rivers come together to make Charleston Harbor. This makes docking such an adventure. We watched one skipper try to put the dock on his starboard side but the current just grabbed him and turned him around completely. There were a few chances for a port side tie up but after several turns in the narrow dock area he finally tied up. This was accomplished with the required calls to fend off and scampering on deck along with helpful supervision from anyone on the docks. Sometimes you watch the show ; sometimes you are the show! Charleston just never disappoints. So much history took place here. Tales of pirates, war heroes and scoundrels abound. I do have a somewhat different take on the War of Northern aggression but never mind. Each afternoon the skies let go with deluges of rain, thunder and lightening. We were wading in the street almost knee deep to get to a bar - just for shelter of course. The bar tender was from Boston. Once we talked with him , he played Drop Kick Murphys and Dirty Water for us. I said something about the flooding and he just said welcome to low country happens all the time! Georgetown, about 60 miles away. is an old city that now has busy, noisy papermills . It was the homebase of Francis Marion the Swamp Fox of Revolutionary war fame. Their harbor is not big but it is quite pleasant. There is a riverwalk around the whole harbor for an enjoyable stroll. The water is river brown here as in most of the ICW along this stretch. After Tom saw an alligator, I was completely against a swim no matter how hot it got. Many people were water skiing and tubing though. We are now in Beaufort - (BO ) NC with it's charming waterfront. There is a ton of development on the Morehead City side of things but it can't quite ruin the beauty of Beaufort and the outer banks. Saw many wild ponies and wading birds near Cape Lookout. Moving along tomorrow if the Tstorms let up .

Georgia

Georgia has been hot and beautiful. Still a storm every afternoon but we are beginning to think that must be the weather pattern. The sea islands are lovely. On Cumberland Island, some of the wild horses were galloping across the beach and around the ruins of their old stables at Dungeness - the Carnegie mansion. We stopped at Jeckyll Island with this shrimp boat practically running us down. With the stabilizers down, they sure take up a lot of room. He came into the dock just behind us. They needed to raise some money for fuel so they were selling shrimp from the boat. Jumbo $3.50 a pound Medium $2.50. Really couldn't get any fresher! He had many sales in the marina and the on site restaurant bought shrimp too . Jeckyll is very beautiful with fairly strict limits on development. Many robber barons spent winters there in the early 1900's. Their cottages have been preserved in a museum. They are lovely, not on the scale of Newport just your average 5-10 bedroom Victorian mansion. These cottages all used a central clubhouse, central stables and carriage house. It is a spectacular hotel now - the Jeckyll Island club. We ate breakfast there , felt wonderfully pampered and wished we had the resources of JP Morgan, Crane, Rockefeller , or some of the others. It would be easy to spend a month or more here.

Florida

We've been having a wonderful time exploring Florida. Vero Beach, Peck's Lake, Cocoa , Daytona Beach, St Augustine. and Fernandina The ICW cuts through canals , cities and marshes. I can imagine that eventually we will get sick of the meandering waterways but not yet. Although the color of the water is very yucky compared to the Bahamas. The abundance of birdlife in the marshes is astonishing. There are pelicans, gulls, cormorants, ibis with their odd bills and elegant herons and egrets by the score. And we have seen many roseate spoonbills. Aren't these the weirdest birds ever? I saw a picture of them at the Audubon museum in Key West years ago and have wanted to see one since. Several searches have generated only quick glimpses of pink blobs. Up close and esp when the birds are flying they are intense pink, they have red eyes and a bill like a duck but longer. Bizarre but cool. These two birds in the marsh are just some of many that we have seen. Often I am too astonished to even grab the camera. Before I saw these I thought the only pink birds were flamingos. The abundance of life in general has been a pleasure. We have seen more dolphins than we saw all winter in just these few days. In fact the abundance of everything here in the states is quite remarkable. The other day it rained really hard and we realized that we hadn't seen more than 5 days of rain in the Bahamas all winter. I understand that it is rainy season now so things may be different, but we were ready to jump into action and save the water filling all the tanks etc. The contrast between the dry coral islands and the marshes is huge. Thunder storms also seem to be abundant and some of these are really ferocious. We have watched the lightning from far away forking down from the sky and touching the water or ground. A few days ago, near Jacksonville we got caught and had to throw down the anchor just on the side of the ICW . We were just out of the channel and the squalls spun us a full 360 degrees - twice ! The rain was so fierce there was no visibility and lightning was all around us. We had anchored near a bridge so we hoped for a "cone of protection" from that higher structure but wow. After an hour and a half things settled and the thunder became just a dull roar. The dinghy in that short time filled with almost knee deep water! wild. There has been thunder and lightning almost daily but nothing like that . It would be all right if that stuff were less plentiful.

Stateside

Once we decided to head home, we started to think of weather windows. There is still so much of the Bahamas to see but once the decision was made we wanted to go. The weather had been great for a while but predictions called for tropical storms, squalls, and lightning forming South of us. It looked like the window was closing fast...and for about a week. We decided to go before it closed. That meant leave RIGHT NOW, a night crossing. Reports called for wind from SE at 13 -17 knots, building to 20-25 the following day. Seas 2-4 building to 4-6 feet, higher in the gulf stream. The forecasts seemed to indicate that we would make port before things got too strong. We departed Gun Cay at about 645PM and literally sailed into the setting sun. Great feeling! We had reefed the main and were zooming along at 6 1/2 knots before we even got the jib up. Waves were off the stern quarter and while on the 4 foot side of 2-4 they were ok. With the jib up we saw 8 knots consistently. We hadn't reached the Gulf Stream yet and I was nervous about what that would throw at us. But as Tom said " What a sail!" By about an hour after dark we were making 9 knots, but felt a little overpowered, so we reeled in the jib and sailed under just the reefed main - at 7 - 8 knots. We were flying. There was no moon, the stars were bright and we were appreciating the "exhilarating sail" . Unexpectedly, a voice sounded on the radio, hailing a vessel at so many degrees North and West . "This is the US Coast Guard please respond". We couldn't believe they wanted to talk to us but there was no one else around and it was our position so...We discussed the vessel's name and official numbers, length , passengers, contraband (or lack thereof), destination etc. By now the waves and wind were really "exhilarating" but the thought of turning into the wind and heaving to was daunting. After standing by for a while the CG said "thanks and have a safe trip. " Actually, it was kind of nice to know they were out there. Tom ,was having a glorious time surfing down the waves but it took a lot of steering. I was helpfully singing Beach Boys and Jan and Dean "surfing" songs to him to keep him awake. It was a beautiful night. However, the wind kept building, and the waves got bigger all the way to the coast. We were about a mile off Lake Worth Buoy before dawn . When we turned into the wind to douse the main, we slammed into waves that felt solid. Sailing down wind is better!! With first light we headed into the harbor , we had sailed 80 miles in under 11 hours mostly under a reefed main . Amazing , then we slept like logs.

We have decided to cruise around the states this summer as it turns out we have a few things to organize. So we planned to spend a night on the Bahama Banks, visit Cat Cay and Gun Cay maybe Bimini and cross the Gulf Stream this week. We have both heard people talk about tossing out a hook on the banks as if it is no big deal at all. So we were pretty excited. It seemed such a great idea to anchor on the shallows surrounded by nothing but water. Miles and miles of water 7 to 12 feet deep. It would be great. Thought we might see some more marine life. As we set out from Chub, the wind died and we drifted, and drifted and drifted. Beautiful , but not really sailing. About 5 pm the wind improved and we maybe made 3 1/2 knots. Then as the sun set we were making almost 5. As the anchor went down , the seas came up. We were really moving at this point , up and down, hobbyhorsing like mad. This was not the scene we had imagined. It was so odd, we were anchored in less than 10 feet of water , the sunset was lovely there were a few clouds but nothing too serious looking. We saw nothing and no one for miles and miles. The sea which had seemed so smooth all day had turned into a choppy mess. Steep, choppy waves were beating us up. There wasn't even very much wind. There certainly wasn't much sleeping. We were underway the next day before 6. Glad to put the seas to our stern. Guess what? The wind died and we could barely make way under sail!

Mysterious Thunk

We left Nassau Harbor for Chub Cay on Monday . Nassau is city and touristy but you can certainly have some fun there. Still, we were glad to be departing and were just out of the harbor, sun shining, sea sparkling , engine ticking along when there was a mysterious thunk. Yikes, never good. we didn't think we hit anything , there was no impact. Engine kept running but not quite right. Tom went running too. He had just replaced Racor and filters and assumed someting not installed properly. Engine looked fine and all pressures etc were fine, Filters were not leaking. Bilges were happily not filling with water and the pumps were not in overdrive. Of course by now we are in 500 or so feet of water with cruise ships behind us. so neither of us were up for swimming. We reversed, reved and listened . Engine working but things just seemed off a little. No wind at all, couldn't even make 2 knots with sails so powered all the way to Chub. Set hook and dove on bottom and prop. A clear plastic bag of the heavy duty and extra large variety was wrapped around the prop. It was pretty well shredded but still there. By the time I got the knife out Tom had already loosened it and removed all. Aren't we lucky that was it!