On the way from Jekyll Island to 60+ miles further north, we found ourselves in really out of the way rural Georgia.  We had scoped out the cruise directory for the area and decided to go off route maybe 6 miles.  We chose the Sunbury Crab Company and Marina.  We encountered this sign prior to turning left into their river that assured us we were not lost. 

Small cruise ship that chased behind us, eventually passing us since we were in a no wake zone, into Beaufort, SC.

Boat we crossed paths with a couple of times on our way from Beaufort to Charleston, SC.  Note that she has the French Flag on her stern, with the American courtesy flag to the right of it.

The so called "face dock" of the Charleston Municipal marina.  Boats in excess of 150 feet are common here.  In this picture, there are two of them.  Once again we have the smallest vessel in the marina.

This one would be of interest to my brother Tim, and maybe others.  Our dad had a business in the 50's and 60's and it was known as the Walcon Corporation.  The cleat is the one used in abundance here at our marina here in Charleston.

There are so many stories that have been accumulating in the story register since leaving Jekyll Island to visit Sunbury GA, Beaufort, SC, and here at Charleston SC.



Just a few.


I had the first mutiny by my crew but I did not suffer the same fate as Captain Bligh of the HMS Bounty. All issues were addressed and I am once again "in charge."


Marinas of note include the one at Sunbury, GA. This is one that is slightly off the route but it is well worth the extra miles. It is run by a family and has a very rural GA flavor. The restaurant part is a destination in itself because it is so unique. Of course they specialize in sea food and have many recipes. They have entertainment certain nights but of course the night we arrived being Tuesday was one that they are normally closed for food service. But they gave us kitchen service just the same. The marina part is a fully capable facility and has several hundred feet of face dock space on a 30 foot deep natural channel. They are becoming a stop for many loopers. There were two other loop boats sharing the dock with us that night.


Then at Beaufort, we were just into dinner on the veranda deck of our small yacht when we observed a 14 foot skiff with a non running outboard motor and one of the 5 or 6 aboard paddling, sort of making the boat go in circles, like they were lining the boat up for a perfect cast. The guy at the stern did have a fishing pole in his hand. Still it looked very strange. We finally asked them if they need some help and a small female voice came out of the group with a sheepish "yes." It turned out that they had no idea how to use a single paddle to cause a boat to make headway so we had to shout orders to them each time they were to switch the paddle from one side of the boat and start paddling on the other. They followed our instructions to the letter. If we had stopped giving instructions, they would have gone back to circle mode. They reached the dock and watching them try to tie the boat to the dock was just as entertaining. They needed basic basic instructions on this point as well.


We had done our job so we left them to their own devices about how to finish fixing their situation. It turned out there was an altercation at the entrance to the marina that required the cops later that night. We do not know that it involved our rescuees but it could have because this situation was so abnormal.


The next day, coming up to Charleston we encountered a dredging operation on one of the small rivers that make up the Intra Coastal. As we approached, we were met by guy in a skiff waving a red stop sign. We stopped and he asked us to wait there and he went to the other side of the dredge to stop a couple of boats coming from that direction. Once he had things organized, he then lead the other boats thru the "construction" zone and once that was done, he lead us thru it so we could continue our journey too. Just like sometimes happens in a highway construction zone where they use a "follow" me truck to take the traffic, one direction at a time past the work area.


My favorite story up to this point. When I hailed the Charleston Marina for dock assignment and other instructions, the guy on the other end of the radio said. "I think I see you, are you the Sea Ray?" I said back, "No, we are a Rinker but they sort of look like Sea Ray's" The answer back was a sort of obligatory apology. There is a feeling out there among some that Rinker boats are sort of a "poor man's Sea Ray." Once I got into the marina office to pay for the night's dockage we all had a huge laugh about the radio exchange.


Today it is off to Georgetown, SC. We are against the clock because we want to get to North Myrtle Beach by Saturday to attend the beginning of the loopers rendezvous.


Tony n Pat

Day 16 continued---

As usual, we are the smallest boat in the harbor.  This is at Fernandia Beach Marina

This was a fellow and his dog returning back to their sail boat at its anchorage.  See how relaxed the dog is.  I missed getting a picture of them on the way coming from the boat.  The dog was not so relaxed.

Day 16 Jekyll Island

This one is for Rachel n Jeff  (Maui's future home?)

Captain's quarters

                                                     The Captain's "shed"

The admiral's galley

The path to Jekyll Island leads out into the Atlantic between North Cumberland Island and Jekyll.  It is to get around a shoal.  We were in 7 footers at the turn.  Head sea going out, and a quartering following sea coming back in.  Picture does not describe but it might suggest the sea.  Needless to say, we got wet.

Fleet of sea gulls following us in from the Atlantic, before they determined we were not a returning  fishing boat and took their leave.  They make lots of noise.

Day 14 St. Augustine, FL

My bride and me after an evening at Stavro's at Daytona Beach with friend Tom Morrison.  Best pizza and Greek salad in memory

And with our friend Tom

One for a certain son-in-law taken at Daytona Beach

And for Amanda and Chuck

A small but capable sail boat run by a couple of folks from British Columbia.  Note the Canadian flag on the back and the US "courtesy" flag on the starboard side just below the spreader.  When we get into Canada, our flag arrangement will be just the opposite.

The "admiral" at the helm.  Note the Porta-Bote lashed to the port side which made a convenient place to put a fender.  We have seen several Porta-Botes in use along our path.

The "Nina" moving over to the fuel dock at Titusville.  Shape, hull, rigging and sail materials are exact as was possible to determine from what was known about Columbus's ships.  A great sailing adventure for the year 1492.

We are slowly making our way toward North Myrtle Beach for the Rendezvous next week. We have about 425 miles to put under our so called "keel" over the next few days.

Since our last post, we were able to leave Vero Beach with light but increasing east winds and travel to Titusville where we spent three nights enjoying what is there plus having the Nina and the Pinta arrive and dock within feet of our boat.


We left Titusville and went on up to Daytona Beach and the next day, went from there to where we are now which is in the very layed back city of St. Augustine. Excellent place to spend some time.


We had an excellent dinner at the Habana Village Cafe, authentic Cuban fare and music and atmosphere. We had Chipolte Chicken and Tilapia, cooked per the Cuban recipes and they were outstanding, served by Juan "Jesus" Salazar.


We are now in the position to give advice for the trip. Take two boat poles, we did. You will never have enough Velcro straps. You will never have enough paper clamps or spring type cloths pins. You will never have enough #33 rubber bands. You will never have enough Shamwows. These are truly miracle wipe up machines. And take a complete set of office supplies, you will use them all.


Tony n Pat

View into the St. Lucie Lock as we were exiting.  Note the water mark about 3/4 of the way up.  That is were we were before they let the water out.

Note the Pelican standing on exposed sand.  This is just off to the side of where we are going down the Intracoastal.  Don't take the boat to where birds are standing.

Here is a boat whose captain did not understand the "bird rule."

A mother manatee and her calf in our marina, attracted by the fresh water coming out of a neighbor's boat.

This one is for Papa Joe.  This boat is named after Pat's mother.

Our area is under the influence of a really high pressure system.  The barometer is currently reading 30.15 inches.  Strong winds out of the east.  The sail boat docked near us and it was heart stopping.  The guy was good and the dock master was just as good.  The large cruiser came in for fuel.  He had less problems.  The boat was equipped with side thrusters and was operated with a computer controlled joy stick.  And the wind direction was such that the boat came to the fuel dock mostly by herself.

***********************************

One of the items I neglected to mention was the wonderful dinner we had in Vero Beach at the Riverside Cafe, within walking distance of the marina.  If anyone happens to go to Vero Beach, do not miss this.  We had left overs from there for the following night.  Just as good reheated aboard the Salt Shaker

Day 10 Wednesday

Been a little while since our last post.



We have been very busy with all the things necessary to make the cruise move along as well as making the most of our shore time and time getting much needed sleep.


Our departure from Indiantown was not uneventful as it has a close quartered configuration and if an unexpected wind arises, there is no maneuvering room to counter it. Where were at our slip we were essentially in zero wind and as we went out forward maybe the length of our boat and turned right, we suddenly had a significant wind pushing us right up on the line of boats on the "far" side. Maybe a total distance of 50 feet from the end of the slip we departed from.


The day "at sea" was the rest of the St. Lucie Canal to the St. Lucie lock which dropped us 14 feet down to the level of the St. Lucie River. The St. Lucie River meanders around and eventually led us to the Atlantic Intracoastal waterway to head north.


At the intersection and as we turned north there was a wind surfer coming south toward us. As is the custom, when encountering other watercraft, I pointed the Salt Shaker to the direction I thought would clear and he would point the same way, ensuring a collision. So I would point the other way and so would he. My only option was to put us in neutral and force the wind surfer make all the decisions. After all we were more of less constrained by the channel and he was not. He went flying past us and cleared us by maybe 15 feet with a grumpy look on his face. I wonder what kind of hand gesture he would have given us, were it not for the fact that he had to keep both hands on the tiller to control it. Those things really fly if there is any wind at all and today there was lots.


We were able to make it to Vero Beach where Piper Aircraft had a plant so many years ago, the plant that made the airplane that my father had and enjoyed for many years. That was 1960, my word, 50 years ago.


Another bit of nostalgia at the Vero Beach Municipal Marina was right next door to our slip. It was a 1931 38 foot Mathews boat with a live aboard fellow, (reminded me of one of those so called "free spirit folks from the 60's now aged appropriately.) My folks had the sister boat to this one back in the late 40's. I remember all the Mahogany wood that was varnished to a shine and all the brightly colored greens and whites and the care my dad took of this boat. The one next to us was in good shape considering her age but was showing all the signs of the care being practical instead of being done to make her look good. Everything was covered with many layers of old white paint.


We made our way out of Vero Beach yesterday and traveled to Titusville, staying at their Municipal Marina which is very nice, as they all have been so far. My docking skills are improving. There was enough maneuvering room here to allow us to counter the fairly brisk cross wind to our "back in" slip. I am beginning to handle the throttles and shifters with more instinct and authority which is necessary under such conditions.


On the way up the Indian River we passed Cape Canaveral and got a good view of the "vehicle assembly" building. We went under the bridge that connects the mainland with the cape. This is the only bridge in the state of Florida that has hours of operation for boat openings. There are large blocks of time at the morning and the afternoon rush hours that they will not open the bridge to let tall boats thru. Our boat height, fortunately was low enough we could pass under, there quite a grouping of boats taller than us that were "patiently" waiting for the rush hour to pass.


I will post some pictures with the next entry.


Tony n Pat

Day 6 April 10 @ Indiantown, FL

We left Port La Belle on Friday, April 9 not too early in the morning, around 10:00 and continued heading east. Followed the west canal and did three locks. The locks were the Ortona lock, 20 miles east of La Belle and the Moore Haven Lock at the town of Moore Haven, and finally the Port Mayaca Lock on the other side of Lake Okeechobee, right at the entrance to the St. Lucie Canal.



The day before we had to open the Fort Denaud swing bridge at Denaud which has a 9 foot clearance which we could not get under. It it carries the traffic across the river for the town. The lady bridge operator was very country and was very helpful and found the point in the traffic flow to give us an opening. Her controls are in the open at the center of the bridge and it was fun to see how things can be done without being complicated.


When you hit Moore Haven you encounter a T intersection where you can go to the right or the left but you must make a decision. There are signs at the intersection, just like traffic signs that says what is in each direction. We turned right because, among other things we knew, the sign said Clewiston to the right.


The crossing of Lake Okeechobee was a delight, the chop was a foot or less and we were able to set the boat up on plane and made it across the entire lake in just over an hour at 22 knots.


The St. Lucie Canal is much different than the Caloosahatchee. The Caloosahatchee has a high boating and jet ski and water sport population and in other areas there is a lot of agriculture while the St. Lucie reminded us of the River system in the movie, "The African Queen." No sign of development anywhere along and woods and brush right down to the banks. It had a slight meander personality that was different from the Caloosahatchee canal.


We were able to make our way to the Indiantown marina which is a neat place to hole up. It is a very large very full service marina with lots of boats with lots of boaters. Boats from all over the world are here, as far away as Australia. We met a looper who arrived today, two ladies running a Mainship 34 around the loop for the second time.


When we arrived, we were both exhausted so we decided to spend an extra day here. Great choice.


Tony n Pat

A few pics of Tarpon Point Marina to Port La Belle Marina 04/08/2010

    

 Tarpon Point Marina

   The Nina and the Pinta @ a Fort Meyers marina

A tourist river boat along the Caloosahatchee River

Franklin lock that will take us up all of two feet

The "admiral"

Bridge operator @ the Ft. Denaud swing bridge making the way clear for us.

Shore after a good day!  The gas dock @ Port Labelle Marina

Gorgeous sunset @ La Belle

Alligator making his way across the Port La Belle harbor

What they think of Jet Skis in these parts!

A bunch of photos fron Venice to Tarpon Point Marina 4/7/2010

The good and the BADOsprey feeding her young at her home on marker 39a Porta-Bote in actionPalm Island fareBeing overtaken by a bunch of "fast" boats

The New Zealand couple who shared our marina at the Crow's Nest

Day 4 April 8, 2010

We are adapting to a life on the water.
Yesterday we traveled from the Crow's nest @ Venice FL to Tarpon Point Marina @ Cape Coral, a distance of about 57 miles. The entire travel was along the Intracoastal Water Way which is scenic all along the way and wide in places and narrow in others and deep in places and shallow in others. Lots of boats encountered going with us and going against us. The weather was as good as it gets as it was perfect.


We opened our first bridge that we could not pass beneath and we encountered one of the sail boats that had been docked at the Crows Nest with us, a couple from New Zealand. We discussed whether the couple sailed her across or whether they had her shipped over. My guess is that they sailed across. There are so many small boats, mostly sail, in the open ocean that are going from one foreign port to another.


We settled into Tarpon at about 4:30 in the afternoon, hooked the boat up to electric and water and then moseyed down to a tiki bar they had on site called the Naught Mermaid to celebrate. We came away with a 5 piece set of plastic ware for the boat with their logo which will be happily used from time to time aboard the Salt Shaker.


We met some nice folks there but could not stay long since we our intentions were to travel as far as we could go today east along the Okeechoobee water way toward the big lake.


Due to our late start, around 11:00 in the morning we only made 38 miles as opposed to 57 miles the day before. But we were able to nestle in at the gas dock at a really "in the country" marina called Port La Belle Marina at La Belle on the waterway. They were closed when we arrived but were available to discuss things with them and the kindly allowed us to remain at their gas dock until morning. Perfect because we are about 75 gallons short of a full load and I always feel good with full gas. From my days of flying small air planes I guess.


We did our first lock today. It was the Franklin Lock which lifted us all of about 2 feet for the next section of the waterway. We went thru the lock with 3 other boats, one of them a power boat and the other two were sail. It happened that we were assigned by the lockmaster to be the first boat in the string so we were less than perfect in our anticipations about what to do when but the boat behind gave us helpful hints over his radio and the lock master was super helpful and handled us like we were unsure which we were, unsure.


There are some boobs who have boats and we encountered one of them today along the waterway. He had what must have been a 50 footer, layed out like a trawler but with European styling and with a plaining hull. He passed us going about 30 knots making waves in this tiny 200 foot or so canal that we guessed to be about 4 feet. The waves went to the edges of the canal and slapped against the sea walls that were in this particular area and reflected back just as big as the originals. There were 3 people on a jet ski that encountered these waves and all 3 of them were launched off of the jet ski in 3 different directions. A boat ahead of us went over toward them  just in case any assistance was needed but all three ex passengers were able to swim back to their waiting machine and climb back aboard. This boob with a boat is the one I blame for causing all my beer in my beer fridge to be tipped over. "Jerk!:


The trip so far has exceed all of our expectations by orders of magnitude. Pat said we will probably be in better physical shape when we return home that when we left. It is physical stuff.


I will post this first and then try to post some pics that we thought would be interesting. We are accumulating a camera full of stuff.


Tony n Pat

The photo's in the previous post were supposed to be part of this one.  Finger fumbled and they posted before I was finished. 

First photo is Dave diagnosing the problem
Second photo is your captain at work.
Third photo is of the beautiful weather and the beautiful views and one of the reasons we elected to stay the extra night.

Day one was yesterday 04/05/10



Our departure was fun, did a loop run up to the end of the canal, and then a 180 to allow us to pass our dock and give the 3 long and 2 short blast of the horn. That was one of those times I wish the boat had a good set of high quality air horns. That would have sounded beautiful.


First thing out of the box, still within sight of our dock, we get an engine alarm. Turned out we had a clogged water intake on the port engine and consequently we were in "overheat mode" on that engine. I shut it down and the alarm went away. Good news. We putted her over to my favorite repair marina and I must say, Dave Marsh jumped into the engine room and had the clog cleared and replaced the impeller which was destroyed by the overheat. He had us ready to go within an hour. My hat is off to these guys.


We were back on our way early enough to be able to get to our planned destination, Venice FL before the marina shut down for the evening. I do recommend where we are at right now. The Crow's Nest Marina and restaurant.


The winds were such that I could approach and get to the gas dock like I was an expert. Got topped off with gas, and other services and then went to our assigned slip, #16 where the winds and tidal currents were such that I had to actually be an expert to pull it off. After the 3rd attempt, we were able to make fast in slip 16.


Dinner, we went to the restaurant at the marina for dinner and had excellent fare. For those who like wine, their wine cellar has 16,000 bottles of wine on hand and the prices range from $32.00 to $900.00 for a bottle. I have the theory that if you purchase the cheapest bottle of wine in the category you like at a quality restaurant, it will not disappoint you and last night was no exception.


This is a first for me. About half the wine was still in the bottle when we were ready to call it a night, and the waitress asked if we would like a "wine doggy bag." This was really neat. They recorked the bottle, put a sales slip with it and put it all in a single use seal able bag and we were good to go. Just like a concealed carry permit. Check them out at www.winedoggybag.com .


The weather is so perfect that we decided to spend an extra night and organize the boat and do some bicycle riding around town.


Next destination will be somewhere along the Okeechobee canal system. Anywhere between Fort Meyers and More Haven will be just fine.


Tony n Pat

Day 2 April 6, 2010