On the road again

After a week in Fernandina we are back on the ICW . Fernandina was a great place to park the boat while I flew back to Houston for my check ups. Everything went well and after a Thursday thu Sat morning stay in Houston I arrived back Sat afternoon. Anita and I took advantage of the rental car we picked up, to go shopping. After two trips to Costco in Jacksonville, Walmart, and several others we made it back to the marina and loaded up the boat. We got off Sunday at 8 am and had a pleasant run south. We did encounter some of the most extreme current so far on the trip. At times we had a 3 knot current at our back and at others we had 4 knots on our nose! Transiting bridges with the current just blasting thru is a experience! Saw one boat actually was driven into the side rails at the bridge of lions in St.Augustine.


We did have a causality, the current here in the St Augustine mooring fid claimed our boat hook!
Anita was attempting to snag the line on the ball when the current started moving us away from the ball and she could not hold it so it went to davey jones locker. We will be getting another before we leave so we can continue to use mooring fields.

We will be leaving after a day or two here, headed for Daytona beach!
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Charleston to Fernandina

Well after almost two weeks here in Charleston weather finally allowed us to continue south. Sat morning we left the marina at slack tide around 1030 am. We had a very uneventful 22 hr offshore motor sail. We arrived at Fernandina beach marina. This is a great marina actually on Amelia Island! We will be here about a week. I will be flying back to Houston for my yearly check up. More later. Below are a few pics




Ft Sumtner as we left Charleston Harbour on Sat.





Ft that guards the entrance to Fernandina




-Huge live oak in neighborhood at Fernadina




Our dock on the inside at the marina





Resturant at the Marina





More of the Marina

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Return to Charleston

We left Beaufort NC Saturday morning at 8am, forecast was for benign weather. What we got was wind on our nose at 15 knots for 12 hrs, then a beam reach in 3-5 foot seas for 6 hrs, followed by wind from astern starting at 15 building to a steady 25 with guest to 35 and 8-12 foot seas! Wow! We managed and arrived in charleston channel at 530pm and then waited til 830pm to enter the marina at slack current! Went right to bed! Got up Monday morn to a gorgeous day! Spent the morning getting a mountain of salt off the boat, then Anita and I went down town to have lunch. Some pics below





Sunset offshore on way to Charleston







Discovery and Jubilee at the face dock at Charelston Harbour after the demanding passage!





Discovery with Ashley river bridge in background





Charleston Harbour from bridge






Anita at our fav eating spot in Charleston, pogans porch





-Anita in the post office downtown charleston.






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Back to River Dunes

Well we had two great passage days south on the ICW! The best part is that we cleared all the bridges plus the infamous 64 foot Wilkerson bridge! Weather was great temps in the mid 70s sunshine and gentle breeze. We stopped sun nite and anchored out just before the albemale sound , then monitored down to Belhaven and anchored out in the Harbour. We got up early and motor sailed to river dunes one of our favorite stops. Just about a hour out we were having a friendly race (yes sailing for a change) when the mainsail came sliding down the mast flaking itself nicely on the deck! We got it under control and then continued on to river dunes. We called a sailmaker (inner banks sails) and they met us at the dock and took the sail back to the loft and to our surprise returned it within 3 hrs! We then had a wonderful dinner of grilled salmon on our friends tommy and Kay Lyons boat and slept well that night. Tomorrow we will use the loaner car to explore oriental! Oh and did I mention it's a buck a foot and we have a two for one coupon so it's 50 cents a foot!!!!!!!!





-River dunes pool







Shot of docks from clubhouse







Cool outside seating area at clubhouse







Fireplace at clubhouse at river dunes





Billiards anyone!

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Leaving norfolk

Well we left Annapolis tues morning at 530 am and made a 80 mile run to Deltaville. Spent 3 days there and then sailed to Norfolk. Spent the night at tidewater marina due to high winds that night. We got a early start sat morning and managed to make it thru the bridges and locks that make Norfolk a tough chore. We anchored out sat night and got a early start Sun morning. Made good time and reached Belhaven Sun night and we anchored out in the Harbour. Plans are to reach river dunes Monday!




Big navy ship in Norfolk naval base





Aircraft carrier





One of the big major bridges on the way out of Norfolk. That's our travel companion Jubilee out in front







This is a shot from inside the lock south of Norfolk





-More great bridge shots








Great bridge, Norfolk VA






Thimble shoals light on approach to Norfolk from Chessapeake





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Annapolis wrap up

Well our two weeks here in Americas sailing capital has come to an end. The boat show was great, today was the final day, mother nature is telling us it's time for us to go also. Cold and rainy yesterday and today, improving tomorrow. Our plan is to shove off at 5 am tomorrow. We will be buddy boating with our friends on Jubilee, a gorgeous Passport 47 crewed by Tommy and Kay Lyons! Heading for Deltaville for a overbite and then to Norfolk and points south. Below are some more pics of our stay in Annapolis





-Man they have big crabs here in Maryland!






My favorite boat show girl!






View from our mooring looking over to the boat show! Can you say primo spot!






More shots from the show







Cool boats






There's that girl again!







Our last day ashore, went to Ruth and chicks for lunch one more time, that's the famous 6 pound milk shake(17 bucks) if you drink it in 30 min you get a t shirt and a tummy ache I bet!

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More pics from Annapolis

Discovery on her mooring in Annapolis Harbour.





-
Middeltons is a famous tavern in historic district of Annapolis.






Super fast transpac 52 on the hard in boatyard in back creek.






Pic looking down spa creek from the spa creek bascule bridge in Annapolis.



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