A Sad Note

About an hour out of Titusville we listened to Coast Guard warnings of an out of control boat and 1 person in the water.  As we crossed through the NASA haul over canal and approached the Titusville train bridge we could see a police boat with lights flashing and 2 smaller power boats around the "out of control" boat. It was only a 12' open fishing boat and was spinning in circles.  Once moored in Titusville we heard on the local news that they found the person in the water. It was a 48 year old man who appeared to try to swim to shore and drowned. He did not have a life jacket on. The water was rough out there with wind advisories out and small craft warnings.  Later we saw the police towing the little open boat into Titusville.  Sad ending to a preventable accident. We should all respect the strength of wind and water.

Titusville

We woke to a windy and overcast morning in Daytona. We made the decision to leave and get to Titusville so that tomorrow we would make it back to our marina in Cape Canaveral. We fought wind and occasional rain and at times up to 3knot current from the Ponce Inlet. It was one of those days when all the elements were stacked against us. The day was brightened by the wild life we passed along the way. Just outside Daytona Beach we passed three Eagles on a rocky outcrop where we had seen them on our last trip. We were escorted by Dolphins all the way down the ICW, not the same ones all the way!!!!!!!! As usual the bird life was extensive and because of the bad weather most were perched on small islands and bridge abutments. We watched several Osprey perching on inter ICW day marks munching on their prey. It was disturbing watching some of the fish trying to wriggle to freedom to no avail. Nature all around us.
The Admiral worked wonders in the galley today. That is not to say she doesn't do this every day, but today was special. An hour or so after leaving Daytona she cooked up some awesome scrambled eggs, toast and coffee.  Later in the day she cooked a batch of chocolate chip cookies accompanied with hot steaming tea, yum yum. The day's culinary delights finished with Chicken Cordon Blue and Stove Top Stuffing. How good was all that?

Tea and Chocolate Chip Cookies

 We arrived in Titusville at three o'clock and picked up a mooring in 20 knot winds. Once again the crew performed flawlessly. We doubled up on the lines for peace of mind because a cold front is moving through the state and will not clear until after midnight.

Crazy skies heralding the cold front.

Daytona Beach

Today we travelled 54 miles in more time than it took us yesterday to go 61 miles. We left St Augustine with the tidal current and made it easily through Matanzas Inlet, a place known for terrible shoaling. We came through at almost high tide but found it had been dredged and we had no problems at all.  There were a lot of boats moving south along the ICW and a lot of pleasure boats out. We forgot it was the weekend so we had to deal with lots of rolling waves from boats moving by at high speed. That also slows down our forward speed as well as running against the current and wind for at least half of the day. 

When we turned on the GPS this morning we discovered the autopilot was 180' off the compass reading. Because of that our screen was completely in reverse. The boat icon was upside down and travelling in reverse. Try following a route in that mode!  Anyway about half way to Daytona we found a manual which explained how to recalibrate the autopilot. It worked so we hope it is correct tomorrow too!

Osprey having lunch in St Augustine

We pulled into Halifax Harbor marina for the night. The wind was blowing 20 and the current was fierce so we decided not to anchor.  Docking was not an easy feat either with the wind...and the dock hand who came to help was useless and tied the lines too loose. Our boat kept drifting into the piling between slips.  Once we retied the lines we eventually relaxed. It was so much easier to do this trip last year in 26 hours going outside!

We had a nice surprise after sunset. Three boats down from us they were decorating it with Christmas lights. The Christmas boat parade must be next weekend. Pretty!


partly done






St Augustine...again!

We came through here last year and stayed a week. This trip it's only overnight and we won't even go ashore. hanging on a mooring ball. It's a great deal at $20.20 per night.  The trip was 61 miles and went faster than we expected. We actually had the current almost the entire trip here. At the top speed we registered 11mph coming toward the St Augustine Inlet.  We tied up to the ball by 3:30 then sat and relaxed....and watched 4-5 boats try to cross an area that has shoaled and run aground!  Peter tried to warn a few on VHF but they did not respond. It's not fun to run aground but especially so when there is an audience! Luckily everyone was able to back off the mud and free themselves. Getting dark now at 5:30PM so we will have to think about dinner.

Fernandina Harbor Marina

Our plan was to leave St Mary, GA and travel to St Augustine today. Unfortunately we realized it was 70 miles and the currents and tides would not let us go that far before dark. You do not want to travel the ICW in the dark. So we waited in St Mary's until after high tide, 9:30 AM, so we could get off the dock easily.  there is up to a 4k current to work against.  Our dock mates, Mick and Tony from Australia, pushed off just before us. They are headed outside to Ft Lauderdale. Their boat cannot travel inside due to mast height. Eventually they will go through the Panama Canal and cross the Pacific to Australia.

Ahquabi leaving to dock

Safe travels to Australia!

We left the dock next without any difficulties. The trip out the St Mary's River was right at high tide and the current was with us so the first 6 miles or so were very easy.
As Ahquabi continued out the river we turned to starboard to head south toward Fernandina Beach. The outgoing tide caught up with us and we quickly went from 8mph to 2mph. The entire trip, about 8 miles took us 2.5 hours. This was our first time on this part of the ICW since 2009. Two years ago we spent Thanksgiving here and remembered well the paper plants. Back then we said, never again, but here we are!
We will leave at first light, about 6:30AM, and with the rising tide to travel the 60 miles to St Augustine.
There is a rocket launch tomorrow morning at 10AM so we should clearly see it.

Paper plant

Boats from Monrovia and Nassau
loading up 

The American Cruise Line now comes to
Fernandina harbor Marina

Thanksgiving in St Mary's

Thanksgiving in St Mary's Georgia was an experience. Two years ago when coming south on the ICW we stayed at Fernandina Harbor Marina for thanksgiving and had 5 guests aboard. This year since we were moving the boat anyway we decided to try St Mary's. We arrived on Saturday and took a space at the face dock with a view of the harbor. We could watch all the boats coming and going. At a rate of .75 per foot per day it was the best bargain!

We dressed ship in the morning

Peter had to tie off the wind
generator so it would not
tear our flags!

The morning was busy. Jane made a sweet potato casserole...island style with rum and coconut milk. She then made a port wine cranberry sauce and Peter made his traditional trifle dessert. That took most of the morning. By 11AM we sat down to take a breather but ended up watching a mess in the harbor. The wind was blowing 25 and gusting to 30-35 against the outgoing tidal current. It created a maelstrom where the anchored boats were not laying to their anchor but bouncing around in all different directions. Some boats dragged anchor and many others simply moved to different locations because they were bouncing too close to other boats. This lasted a good part of the next 3-4 hours. There were probably many who did not leave their boat to come ashore for dinner.
We left our boat about 12:15 and quickly found a table spot then joined the line. We had all of our traditional foods available, just not really hot, but nice. We sat with the father and son, Mick and Tony, who are sailing their boat back to Australia. It turned out to be a lovely day but we did miss our family in New Hampshire.

Seaview Hotel who provides turkey and ham.

Yum! A feast for Thanksgiving!

Out and About in St Mary's Georgia

This is a charming little town which is just right for a few days visit. You just have to deal with the no see ums every morning!


Waterfront park



Beautiful fountain!

Main Street



Submarine museum
King's Bay Submarine Station
is just a few miles north

Main Street gift shop

The Blue Goose Wine & Coffee shop

Office building

Main Street Inn

Main Street Catholic church....not in use anymore.
used for meetings, I think.
Beautifully preserved