Home again, home again, Jigedy, Jig

My Grandfather use to say that, and I don't know why, but I think I am feeling that way. We motored thru some of the prettiest areas on the whole ICW as we departed NC and entered Virginia. Then the bridges. North Landing at 20 miles to go, only opens on the hour and half hour. Five miles further is Centerville Bridge which opens on the hour and half hour, but if you can only do 8 knots you miss the next opening and must wait an hour; however I kicked Marcnicliz in afterburner and just made it . The ICW miles are statute; however the boat speed is knots, a slight advantage. I keep my Air Force issued E-6B handy to work the conversions and time and distance problems. Then comes the Norfolk Southern Railroad Bridge at 13.7, and finally Great Bridge at 12 miles, which only opens on the hour, and then only if the Great Bridge Lock is open just one half mile ahead. So you go thur the bridge, tie up to the bulkhead and run to Kentucky Fried and back, by crossing rush hour traffic, and try to get back in time to make the lock; I didn't and had to wait for the next one, and had to wait longer for a fuel barge to be locked thru. We then go 3.3 miles to Steel Bridge which is only on the hour and 3 miles futher to the Gilmerton Bridge which does not open until after 1730 due to rush hour.. After that, there is a rail road bridge which is normally open. Then you motor up the river past down town Norfolk and on past the Navy base where the Enterprise is tied up and very impressive to see. Departed at 0710 this morning to Deltaville Marina and had the fuel filters changed due to the engine quitting a idle while waiting at Great Bridge for the opening with other boats around. End of story. Hope everyone has a great summer. We are going to cruise the Bay. S

We arrived at Georgetown and tied up to the city docks and had dinneer at a local restaurant. We then tied up at a marina; since there was very little room in the anchorage and there are alligators around. We motored up the Wacama River the next day past Myrtle Beach and anchored close by Calabash. The next day we went outside to the Cape Fear River and up to a Marina, where we had dinner with one of Nanc's friends, Barbara Johnston. We then motored North to Masonboro Inlet and went outside to Beaufort, NC and up the river to Adams Creek. When I got up this morning the boat was covered with Midges. They were everywhere. We battled with them all the way to the Alligator River Marina where we are now. As we where approaching Bellhaven today a Cat passed us by called Final Approach. I hailed him on channel 16 and we talked. He had been a Marine Fighter pilot who flew F-4s, we had been behind him in the Charleston City Marina, watched him pass us outside going to Beaufort, and he passed us again today coming here. We spent three hours in the Alligator=Pungo Canal which is my least favorite part of the ICW. Boring! I had planned on going across the Albemarle Sound and anchoring tonight, but Nanc threw the "Jewelry Card" on me, I panicked, and we put into the Alligator Marina next to "Final Approach." We had them over for drinks; Peggy and Bob Demers, really nice folks, and they have a frozen prop shaft bearing. We head North in the morning for Norfolk. Priscilla has promised apple pie for my birthday on Friday; full steam ahead. The sunset pics are Adams Creek. S

Georgetown, SC on Fri

We departed Charleston at 0720, and as we passed Ft Sumter, we decided to go outside to here. DK stayed inside in the ICW. We had a smooth motor/sail up to the breakwater doing 8 knots plus. As we turned into the breakwater the speed over ground (SOG) dropped to 3.8 knots as we motored into a 5.2 knot current. Left click on pic of the chart plotter, and you can see the SOG of 4.8 at the top, with a boat speed of 8.2 midway down on the right. Then see the current and drift of 139 at 3.2. It got up to 5.2 at one point. DK got to the same point, doing 6 knots all the way, about 30 minutes after us. I got to read a book while he watched for channel markers. I have included a pic of the Red Channel Marker with a yellow square on it. That means for those traveling the ICW to treat it as a green marker. Confusing if you have not traveled the "Ditch" before. Nanc is having wine while I slave to get this out. S

Blue Angels stop horse tours in Charleston

Yep, no horse and surrey tours in Charleston from 1200 until 1600 today. They were afraid of the noise and a possible stampede. Guess who wanted to take a tour; Nanc. We did the Grey Line Bus tour which was probably better. More to see in same time. Watched the performance over the Cooper River next to where we ate last evening and plan on heading down the Ashely River in the morning to make a 0900 opening of the Ben Sawyer Bridge. Georgetown tomorrow night. S

Wed in Charleston

We left Savannah on Monday at 0740 after a super time with Beth and Steve.We then realized that we had to wait for the restriction on the first bridge to be lifted at 0900, so we motored slowly and still made Beaufort at 1425. We took a horse and surrey tour of the city, I learned my lesson, surreys need horses named Gilbert! Got to see the house were they made my favorite movie, "The Big Chill." Glenn was gone. We ate at Luthers and motored thru Lady Island Bridge and anchored in Factory Creek for the night. We departed early this morning, and motored hard to make it to a restricted bridge prior to 1600, due to rush hour traffic. We got thru at 1430 and are tied to the dock at Charleston City Marina were the super sailing yacht Tamsen is still tied up. She was here when we went thru in Feb. We have seen some wildlife, but not as much as we would have thought there would be. The noseeum have been terrible, and Nanc is having a allergic reaction to their bites. We are having dinner tonight with Becky and John Bradham, plus Eric Vollmecke and a friend. Eric was my exec in Iraq, and I promoted him to Colonel at the Baghdad International Airport in 2003. The Blue Angles are practicing for their weekend airshow tomorrow thru Fri, and we may stay and watch tomorrow. then on to Georgetown. S

Jekyll to Red Bird Creek to Steve's at Savannah

Well, we motored thru some of the most remote and shallow water on the ICW to Red Bird Creek from Jekyll, took 11 hours. Beautiful, remote anchorage. We departed at 0800 this morning and arrived at Steve's around 1120. Savannah is my favorite southern city. The sunset is at Red Bird, where the quiet and peacefulness is overwhelming, and all the others pic are on the way here. You can see the tide range thru Little Mud River and how the moving map can show you on land when you are in the middle of the creek. The name Mud River is very appropriate. Southern Ospreys decorate their nest with Spanish Moss. Southern Bells just do it better. We arrived at Steve's at low tide, and I have tried to show the tidal range in just 6 hours at his dock. Boat is clean and everyone is coming to dinner on Marcnicliz. Laundry is done and the boat is washed and waxed. Time for a rum and coke. S

A bicycle adventure

Well, Nanc wanted to tour the Jekyll Historic District, and so we looked for a way to get there. Bicycles were out, but two person Surreys were in. As we walked to the Day's Inn to rent the Surrey her leg gave out. Along comes Carleen and DK on their marina bikes. I take Carleen's bike and DK and I ride to the Days Inn using a simple map provided by the marina. We ended up on the wrong road, and peddled for about nine miles to get there. I rented the Surrey, which takes twice the energy of a bike. Think very tired. When I finally got to Nanc, we rode for less than a 1/4 mile and she decided it was too much for the injured leg; so I took her back to the marina, bike back to the Inn, and then walked back to the marina; since the cab never showed. the cab then arrived and we toured the Historic District. I am now back at the boat with zero energy left. I sure wish Joe were still here. Half way to Savannah tomorrow. S

Joe is gone, Marcnicliz at Jekyll Island

We left the dock at St. Marys at 1345 and motored in following winds of 20 knots plus. As we got to the entrance of the St Mary's River the Coast Guard asked us to hold position to allow a war ship to pass to sea. The picture show a nuclear sub under escort with helos overhead and Coast Guard rubber craft fore and aft with 60 mm attached. As we passed Kings Bay Naval base you could see the overhaul facilities for the Trident subs and a degaussing facility, to eliminate the magnetic signature from the subs, prior to going to sea. We arrived at Jekyll Island and tied to the dock since another cold front will pass thru tonight with T'storms. Aviator is anchored in Floyd Creek about 10 miles South and will join us morning. We both plan on staying here tomorrow and leaving on Sat. I hope to be at Steve's dock in Savannah on Sunday, possibly Sat night if we can go outside which I doubt. S

St. Marys, GA

First for us. We departed St Augustine dock at 0710 this morning and made the 0730 Bridge of Lions opening. We proceeded outside into the ocean and motored sailed with our red, white, and blue spinnaker up all the way to here and arrived at 1600. It was very smooth up until we turned into the breakwater entrance which extends about 1 1/2 miles into the ocean. As we put our port beam to the wind, the motion picked up somewhat, but not that bad. I decided to tie up to the dock here due to the wind and Nanc getting off and on easily. We will eat at Lang's tonight with Carleen, DK, and Joe. Joe has a friend picking him up tomorrow, and he is flying back to D'ville via RIC or ORF. I believe he has had a good time and learned a lot. He definitely has the bug to cruise when he retires in a couple months. It has been nice having an extra hand. S

Chasing Spring

We departed Titusville right after the Shuttle went up, and found ourselves in a race with 10 other boats to the Crossover Canal bridge. I outdid all the sailboats, and we made it to Daytona Beach last night and had Nanc's great nephew, and his friend over to a dinner of steak and baked potato, which is his favorite. We departed this morning and made the 830 Memorial Bridge opening. We arrived at the City Marina right next to the Bridge of Lions in St Augustine at 1500. My sisters Dottie and Jeanne are here with Jeanne's husband Harry. They brought me peanut cookies instead of cake. It will be worth turning 66 on the 23rd for those cookies. My sisters learned well at my mothers side. Jeanne is also a hair dresser and cut Nanc's and my hair on the stern of the boat. We will be off to St Mary's in the morning. S

Shuttle worth the trip

You can feel the launch as well as see it. Overpowering! Beautiful. S