Captain’s Blog

We finally found a weather window to cross to the Bahamas

After about 10 days (most of them chilly) we finally left Vero Beach this morning. We were tied up with ShanksMare – a very nice couple who were the voice of our morning cruisers net.

We used the city “free bus” quite a bit to get around. We took several walks on the beach. During one of our walks we saw a stranded sea turtle (the park ranger came to help her out), a purple sea creature of some sort and a friendly giraffe named Jeff.

We will be anchoring close to Lake Worth tonight and moving a little farther south in the morning. If all goes well we will cross on Friday night.

We were on the move further South and spent several days in St Augustine. Captain Jeff had several deliveries (new batteries) from Amazon so we didn’t want to miss any.

We also received a sweet Christmas gift from Colorado 🙂

One day we climbed the St Augustine’s lighthouse 220 steps. It was a beautiful day for a climb!

From St Augustine we traveled south to Daytona.

Right after we left St Augustine, a thick fogged descended upon us. I went up on the bow to look for any boats through the fog.

Finally the fog broke through and we made it to Daytona and dropped an anchor for the night.

The next day we set off for Titusville. There were no mooring balls available so we just anchored out next to the mooring field. A controlled burn was going on right by where we were going to watch the Falcoln launch. The launch went off without a hitch.

The next day we met up with Captain James and Kristen who are currently campground hosts at a park near Ocala. We went to the Goat Pizza restaurant and had the best vegetarian with bacon pizza ever!

Along the way to the restaurant, I saw my first Florida alligator

Next we headed off for Cocoa and dropped an anchor right before the bridge.

The next morning we headed off early with Vero Beach as our destination.

We arrived at Vero about 2:00 and are now on a mooring ball with another smaller sailboat. We will be here for about a week since rough weather is on the way.

Left our anchor spot fairly early and navigated through some pretty strong currents. We had planned to stop about 3 in the afternoon but a massive storm was on the move.

The weather looked better ahead so we kept on rolling.

Set our anchor near Pine Island right before sunset.

We left early in the morning from our anchorage near Southern Georgia and were greeted with a beautiful sunset as we headed East into the Atlantic.

Along the way we saw a huge shrimper boat coming back into shore.

And then – our first right whale sighting! The whale was directly off our stern side and we stopped the motor to let her pass by. Captain Jeff called in the coordinates to the Coast Guard and shortly thereafter it was broadcast to all boats in the area. Although the video only shows one, we actually saw two.

The Atlantic cruising went very well – waters weren’t too choppy and we were able to cover quite a bit of ground in a short time.

Took off writing for the week during Christmas and New Years. I suffered from acute bronchitis that came from nowhere. As a result we spent several days at Wacca Wacca Marina in South Carolina to recover.

This morning we took off from the Isle of Hope Marina near Savannah. They have an excellent perk – the use of a loaner car. We took full advantage of that!

We walked around a small botanical garden and enjoyed the fresh air. Tonight we are at anchor near Supelo Island in the Dupin River. Tomorrow we are headed out to the Atlantic for the first time this trip.

We had another short travel day through Prince Creek and onto the marina. We stopped by last year for gas but this is our first time staying here.

We got fuel, water and pump out. They have a nice restaurant here but a bad cold has descended upon me. Jeff is going out on his own 😌

We left early this morning with little wind and about 40 degrees temperature. There were a few dolphins out in the distance (although they wouldn’t pose for the camera).

There were three bridges on our journey and one super smallish light house.

Motoring through Myrtle Beach was interesting – and expensive – scenery.

We stopped to anchor right before Prince Creek. We plan on motoring through the creek tomorrow in hopes of seeing an alligator or two. Last year, we saw several but the water was much warmer. Most likely, the alligators are in brumation.

We started out early in Southport North Carolina with a cold, rainy, windy morning. Captain Jeff had to drain the plug on our dinghy as it rained heavily last night. After he pulled up the anchor, the boat was blown dangerously close to the shoreline. Luckily he was able to maneuver out of the shallow water. He also worked on the generator as we used quite a bit of power.

We anchored in Calabash Creek on the North/South Carolina border. Calabash is the last coastal town on the intercoastal waterway in North Carolina.

We had another short day stopping at 3 in the afternoon. Our anchorage spot for the night is either North or South Carolina – depending on which way the wind is blowing.

We flew back from KC, picked up some groceries in Carolina Beach and are now back on the water.

Heading back in the dinghy we watched the pelicans as we motored by.

Outside of Carolina Beach, the scenery changed drastically. We also motored by The Fishy Fishy cafe on Cape Fear River – looks pretty good! We may have to stop by next time when it’s open.

Down below, I indulged in hot chocolate with marshmallows. It’s still a bit chilly here in North Carolina.

It was a short day which was good! Our carbon monoxide alarm went off about 3:00 in the morning. After trouble shooting, Captain Jeff determined it was coming from outside – not inside. It did revert back to safe levels but we did, of course, lose quite a bit of sleep.

The first place we tried to anchor was a bit too shallow so we searched for deeper water. While we did actually hit the bottom, we weren’t stuck for too long. We found another spot near Southport. Hopefully we will be able to get out in the morning.