Week two Jekyll Island, GA to Little River, SC

Week 2 Jekyll Island to Little River  (May 11 to 16, 2013)

Despite all the cautions and local knowledge about traveling along Jekyll Creek, we experienced our first grounding not 15 minutes after our departure from Jekyll Island Marina.  We had just radioed a sailboat following us to remark about sufficient water near a notorious marker when we touched softly on the bottom.  We were on a rising tide and backing off occurred easily allowing us to proceed out the Creek into St Simons Sound, our first of many Sounds in Georgia.  We were both a little surprised at the expanse of water in these Sounds.

Surprise, shrimp at The Jekyll Wharf Rah Bar

Our second (third and fourth) grounding occurred at the entrance to Walburg Creek just south of St Catherine’s Sound.  We arrived at low tide, and were greeted by a well-charted shoal and an unfavorable wind.  As we tried to find the deepest water into the creek, we touched a few times but eventually plowed into much deeper water.  Our nautical expertise did not go unnoticed as a local fisherman looked on as he fished near our entrance.  About two miles up Walburg Creek we successfully anchored for the night among four boats that had been traveling with us most of the day.  The sailboat I had talked to early that morning “Tank” also arrived and anchored near us.  We invited Jim to Some R Lovin for a beer and to talk about life on the water.  He has been living on his Morgan ’41 for years and shared many experiences helping us prepare for our transit through Georgia.  He left before the Georgia flies carried him away and sent us down below.  During this anchoring, Anchor Alert HD, an app on our iPad, allowed us to sleep better at night on the hook.

HUGE Georgia fly

Day three we crossed St Catherine’s Sound approaching the Atlantic Ocean and experienced a bumpy ride for the first three hours of our journey.  It was Heather’s birthday so we traveled with her in spirit as one of our crew.  We have been amazed that water so wide can experience such shallow areas. Minding makers in big water is just as important as it is in much smaller canals and rivers.  After leaving the Sound we continued our trek stopping for the night at Hilton Head Harbor Marina.  As this day was Mother’s Day, Dan tried to do something special for Sandy.  The choices nearby were limited but we found the Harbor restaurant, Sunset Grill was exceptional.  We later learned one of our friends, Alice and Mike, from Vero Beach lived just across the street from the marina.  Unfortunately, they were not at home so we missed catching up with them.  Maybe next time…

Sunset at Sunset Grill

Some R Lovin' at the fuel dock

Our next day became one of the most memorable to date.  We read about B&B Seafood on the Mosquito Creek in the Waterway Guide as a recommended stop just off the ICW.  That day we were limited in distance we could travel because of tides and shallow water so we decided to take the excursion.  Advertised as a flat-rate $25 dockage and fresh shrimp at the office, this stop at Bennett Point was a highlight of low country South Carolina.  We docked behind a 68’ shrimp boat and of the 50 families living there, probably ¼ of the population stopped by to welcome us.  Tank also happened along and joined us aboard Some R Lovin’ for a shrimp boil.  Later that night Billie B, the shrimp boat returned to the dock with the day’s catch.  Sandy talked Captain Rich into selling us more shrimp from his catch that later turned into shrimp scampi with linguini and white wine sauce.  Wish we could get the bumper sticker we saw there,“friends don’t let friends eat foreign shrimp.”  We have become attached to fresh shrimp in the most delicious way.

B&B Seafood at Bennet Point, SC

Tank's Captain, Jim and Dan eating more shrimp

Captain Rich measuring out our shrimp

Our next day was our longest to date, Mosquito Creek to Dewees Creek north of Charleston near Isle of Palms.  To get to this anchorage we traversed additional skinny water, hazardous shoaling areas and through Charleston Bay.  After more than 8 hours on the water we were ready for a peaceful night.  Unfortunately, Dewees anchorage, though advertised as excellent, we had to reset the anchor three times and endured a restless night despite our trusty anchor alarm.  That was the scampi night so at least our tummies were happy.

Sunset in Dewees Creek

After leaving Dewees Creek we headed to Georgetown Harborwalk Marina.  What an unexpected pleasure stop, but not without another day of fighting tides, currents and shoaling water.  We docked around 3:00 PM and caught the last city tram tour of the day.  Lloyd, our personal guide as we were the only ones on the tour, enlightened us about revolutionary and civil war history of the town.  Period homes have been restored to their original state in the historic area of downtown.  Michele Obama’s Great-great Grandfather was freed from slavery here and educated in the African Methodist Episcopal Church where so many other slaves learned to read and write before leaving Georgia to work in the north.  We learned of and bought Carolina Gold Rice, one of the cash crops of Georgetown.  And if you ever get to Georgetown, don’t pass up an opportunity to dine outside at Krazy Fish with its funky, local color and conversation.

Our final day this week we nearly completed our journey through South Carolina stopping at Little River for three delightful days with our friends from high school, JoAnne and Kevin.  Our route there took us through the Waccamaw River, one of the most scenic passages along the South Carolina ICW.  Cyprus trees lined the river and we saw dozens of turtles lazing along the banks.  One must take the good with the bad and the second half of the day we trudged along the narrow and unforgiving rocky banks through the Myrtle Beaches arriving at Cricket Cove Marina in Little River.  Here we re-provisioned and bought things we didn’t know we would need like a fly swatter and new aft stateroom pillows.  Thanks to Jo and Kev for driving us around and hosting us in their home away from home.

The beautiful Waccamaw River

Friends forever at Molly Darcy's Irish Pub, Myrtle Beach, SC

 

Red, White and Blue pillows for our bed

From Vero Beach, FL to Jekyll Island, GA

Week 1 Vero Beach, FL to Jekyll Island, GA (May 4 - May 10, 2013)

Our departure from Loggerhead Marina occurred during the monthly breakfast gathering of fellow boaters and staff.  Consequently, we had plenty of help casting off our lines.  Our smiles, while genuine, didn’t tell all the story of all the feelings we were experiencing.  Excitement and apprehension of what lay ahead, leaving behind so many new friends and the reality of actually starting the journey that we had been planning for so many months.

They just wouldn't let go...

Fond farewell

Cocoa Village Marina was our first stop.  Our plan to make Titusville turned out to be a little ambitious but the stop included a Kentucky Derby party at the marina.  The hosts were very gracious but we were unprepared for the “dress up” occasion so we took a short walk into town and decided to enjoy a meal at the packed Thai Thai Restaurant.  We returned to our boat and began what has become our practice of reviewing the charts, Skipper Bob’s Anchorages and Marinas books and the Waterway Guide for the next day’s cruise noting points of interest and cautions for the passage.

Sunset over Cocoa Village Marina

Our second day was short (only 32 miles enroute) found us in Titusville Municipal Marina where we picked up a mooring ball (our first).  For those new to boating and reading our blog, a mooring ball is similar to anchoring but using a pennant attached to a chain, attached usually to a large block of concrete on the bottom of a protected harbor near a marina.  They are very secure but lack the luxury of dock-side power, water or easy access to marina amenities.  Nonetheless we took our dinghy to shore to use the facilities and enjoyed a night of peaceful security.

From Titusville we went nearly our planned 50 miles and anchored just south of Memorial Bridge in Daytona Beach (our first overnight anchor).  We chose not to dinghy to shore but rather just sat around the boat enjoying the solitude of a quiet anchorage.  This also provided us the opportunity of improving our power conservation without running our generator all the time.  We grilled dinner and settled in for a night “on the hook.”  That night was a little restless as Some R lovin’ swung with the tide and wind, but we held firmly throughout the night and woke early prepared for another day on the water.

Memorial Bridge Anchorage
Daytona Beach, FL

Our next destination was St Augustine, one of the oldest cities in Florida.  We had visited there before but it’s a really cool town and a must-stop place on most boaters’ itineraries.  We decided to pick up another mooring ball and dinghy to town for dinner and revisit a couple of the local sites we enjoyed on our previous trip.  We found a delightful Cuban restaurant but best of all the bartender shared his recipes for white and red sangria, delicious!  To this point in our trip the waterway was pretty unremarkable from a challenging navigation perspective. 

Oldest Catholic Parish in North America

Sangria time

St Augustine to port as we depart

Loggerhead Marina friends

Meeting Karen and Charles on Jan 26^th was instant bonding. New boat owners themselves since Dec. we had many of the same needs and list of must have. We shopped together till we dropped at the Miami boat show and hit every boat store from Vero to Miami. Charles was great help in fix or rebuild with his engineering background and it was Karen who got us in our seamanship class. They also want to do the loop but work is still in their immediate lives. Their daughter also helped us with a water system that gives us triple filtered water in the galley as well as the wet bar (#1 on Sandy’s list of must haves).  Do I believe in angels? YES

Pizza at the Miami Boat show

Charlie and Karen                      Danny and Sandy

Causing trouble! An evening with the Bill and Virginia and A&B was fun from the start and it was the first time we were ever asked to “be a little quieter” from any marina condo residents who overlook the marina.  First time for everything, I guess.  SomeRlovin’ loves to party!  Seven bottles of fine wine caused us to use our out doors voices

out doors—go figure…

Virginia and Bill  innocent looking right?

Loggerhead friends Sharon and Ken V. are AGLCA members and completed the Loop in 2011. It was Sharon who told us about having cards made to be able to pass to other cruisers. A thank you goes out to David and Deb for an outstanding job making our “boat cards.” Sharon also spent time helping us with a blog and gave us their list of their stops along the way. She is an inspiration as she is the Captain of their 44’ vessel, Dockers Inn

Ken and Sharon

When Dan needed help working on the boat one of his best resources was another boater just a couple slips away, Geoff.  What an amazing source of information and always willing to lend a hand.  He and his wife Jill soon joined our circle of friends in the marina.  Jill and Sandy bonded as retired nurses so they had things to talk about other than boating.  Geoff and Jill also intend to do some long-range cruising this year but travel about 4 times faster than we do.  However, with both boats going north it is very likely we'll run into each other somewhere along the way.  That's our hope anyway.

Marshall and Judy have been at Grand Harbor and Loggerhead Marina for years and could be seen riding their bikes around the docks frequently. We mentioned needing bikes for our adventure and that we had missed an advertised deal on some Dahon folding bikes. Judy said “Marshall has been wanting new ones and this was as good a time as ever to sell ours.” Just in the nick of time for us. Future pictures of the bikes to follow I’m sure. We met so many wonderful people in the marina. 

The Loggerhead Marina staff was great during SomeRlovin’s 7 month stay. They were helpful with keeping an eye on the boat during our absences and helped us in and out of our slip during the many real and practice dockings.  Harry, the assistant dock master, even had the same model boat as ours only a few feet larger, so he was a great source of information when Dan had his tool belt on.  We’ll be back…

Harry                       Steve                           Neil

A Day and a half with Capt. Chris Caldwell …March 20 and April 10th

Without a doubt one my best days on the water was hiring Capt. Chris Caldwell for trawler training.

Shear terror became an optimistic challenge. I can’t say enough about how Chris helped us.  In the first hour Ruth said “Worth every penny.” Chris looked over SomeRlovin’s   engine room, electrical panel, water system and safety equipment.  His wife Capt. Elyse worked as a nurse and so he understood my need for a fully equipped first aid kit including an AED which we have on our boat.  (Charlie thinks we should fly a white cross flag to alert other boaters of our medical capability.)

Maneuvering in and out of Loggerhead slips multiple times for practice helped us become more confident. Dan spent time using only the engine and no side thrusters. It can be quite difficult on a single engine boat especially in wind or current and in tight situations.  Depending on thrusters can be saved for me!

I practiced using the VHF radio and we went to the Vero Beach Municipal marina to practice picking up a mooring ball.  Chris was with us from 9am till 6pm and taught the entire time including during lunch.  On a different night, Elyse gave a free lecture at the power squadron for First Mates and the combination of these two dynamite instructors right here in Vero Beach was a Godsend and substantially improved our preparation for our journey north.

March visitors

Anita stopped by on her way to visit family in Ft Pierce from Rochester NY. We stopped at the Driftwood Inn for a drink and were told it is one of the oldest establishments in Vero with its late owner whose motto was “I’d rather be a Liar than a bore any day” We ended our visit at the Fish Shack for Wednesdays special,lobster.

Visitors in March included Ruth and Barb who drove from Canfield and despite the cool weather enjoyed the sun of Florida. The time passed quickly but not before we had a few good laughs, and of course good food and drinks.  Char and Jim joined us for our first anchoring and lunch at Hole in the wall.

Sandy Barb & Ruth

Jim and Char

Barb returned home to Canfield by air so she missed the St Patrick’s party with the power squadron. Ruth helped me find a green shirt after a lovely lunch at the Driftwood Inn.