Monday, April 26, 2010
The ICW is Beautiful & Windy!
One of the reasons that we stopped in Beaufort, SC; besides it being a beautiful city, is that they have some of the best bagels here! At the Palm & Moon Bagel Company we picked up a delicious dozen! We took a walking tour with Barry & Susan to see lovely homes & gardens before we weighed anchor to travel 30 something miles to anchor in Tom Point Creek for a couple of days to wait out still another cold front (the one that created devastating tornadoes in Mississippi). It was nice to hang out and relax in a very beautiful remote creek. Today it was time to go again - in the a.m. we motorsailed 22 miles to Wappoo Creek, just outside of Charleston SC, and quickly anchored the boat, dinghied to shore, to go grocery shopping & take care of some mail. Then we were off again to sail across Charleston Harbor, past Isle of Palms, to an anchorage called Whiteside Creek. The wind is honking here tonight 20 - 25 knots - anchoring was an experience!
Friday, April 23, 2010
Captain Bligh Pushes North!
The Captain is making a grand effort of pushing North at a fast pace. That is partly the reason for my lack of blogging. I will try to bring all of our faithful followers up to date - with the highlights! From Vero we make our first stops; traveling with Barry & Susan on "Swan", at Dragon Point on the Indian River & Cocoa. Great sailing on the Indian River. Then on to anchor at Rockhouse Creek in New Smryna Beach; where the no-see-ums ate us alive! We got out of there as soon as the sun came up, and motorsailed to Saint Augustine. Navigated the very shoaled Matanzas Inlet area close to low tide; successfully, following "Tortuga" a Gemini catamaran, that radioed us the depths as he traversed the area. We spent 2 days enjoying Saint Augustine, where we were with "Swan", Bill & Margy on "Tortuga", Dick & Jan on "Cambia", and Don & Mary on "Luff Affair". Next stop was Alligator Creek and Fernandina Beach; where we rendezvoused with Bill & Karen on their new Island Packet, "Island Moon. Their previous boat was a Contessa 32 that they recently sold. We spent a great afternoon with them and Barry & Susan, window shopping and lunch at "The Happy Tomato". We decided to do a trip off shore to eliminate traveling through Georgia to make faster tracks; so at 0830 on 4/22, Swan & Kismet weighed anchor, and headed out St Marys river. 124 miles and 29 hours later we were anchored in Beaufort SC. The trip was good, the seas were fairly flat, although abit rolly. The nightime hours were less than fun, and crossing Tybee Roads by Savannah in the dark, with the ships was kind of confusing. Our other offshore runs were much more spectacular. But we made it! We will go to sleep very early tonight to recover!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Vacationing in Vero Beach
After our 250 mile run up the Keys and the East Coast of Florida; which we did in 6 days, we have been enjoying Vero Beach. Taking in the sights, walking, relaxing, and of course doing the normal boat chores. It's not too crowded in the mooring field, so nobody is rafted up to us. Yesterday, both of us got long overdue haircuts! We were waiting for Mo on "Passages" to return from the Bahamas; but couldn't wait any longer. We will spend 5 days here - probably leaving tomorrow to continue North on the Indian River. Barry & Susan on "Swan" are here and we will travel with them; hopefully. Once we left Fort Lauderdale, we sailed outside up to North Palm Beach; from there on the ICW we had a good downwind sail to Faber Cove; by Causeway Island once we past St. Lucie Inlet. Faber Cove is a very protected anchorage. Then another great downwind sail from there to Vero.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Making Tracks Northward
The trip to the Dry Tortugas was great. 70 miles west of Key West lies a cluster of seven islands which make up the Dry Tortugas National Park. Fort Jefferson its central feature, is the nation's 1800s largest masonry fort - made of 16 million bricks! A variety of birds; sooty terns, brown noddies, and frigate birds live in this wildlife refuge. Green sea turtles, Loggerheads, and hawksbill turtles are also residents here. The water is beautiful; clear and light green. We made it out to the Tortugas in two days from Marathon, FL - anchoring overnight by Boca Grande Key - 16 miles from Key West. On the return trip; after spending 5 days, we sailed the 100 miles in one day; arriving at the anchorage at Boot Key Harbor, Marathon at 0200! Our sailing buddies, on Grey Hound beat us back by 5 hours. And they left an hour later than us. After spending three days in Marathon, we started our journey back North on Saturday, April 3rd. We had a tacking marathon up the Hawk Channel in an East wind, but arrived to anchor next to Dick & Jan on "Cambia" by Lignamvitae Key. Next day was Easter Sunday, and EVERYBODY with a boat was out - as was Kismet & Cambia. We anchored in Tarpon Basin (Key Largo) for the night. Next day anchors were up at 0700 and we were off to Miami! Once we turned North; the sails were up and we had a great sail up Biscayne Bay in the East wind that has been blowing for almost a week. We pulled into Crandon Park Marina for fuel; then went to the anchorage by Key Biscayne for the night - a spectacular view of Miami!. This morning we said good-bye to "Cambia" and made our way out the Fisherman's Channel; through the inlet at Government Cut, to sail the East wind to Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale). The inlet was very rough, since we were driving right into waves coming in the inlet. The bow when under several times - thank goodness the anchors were tied on tight. Once we turned North, and raised the sails, we had a good sail to Fort Lauderdale where we anchored in Lake Sylvia. A time to relax! In the crazy inlet we met John, on "Tychee", a friend that we met last Spring in Oriental, NC - so we'll have company for dinner on Kismet!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Back in Marathon
We had a wonderful trip to the Tortugas and now we have returned to Marathon for a couple of days before we start heading North! I will update our trip with pictures on the next entry.
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