SAILS 1990 45 Florida Bay Coaster
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Wednesday, 22 April 2015
FL to CT Day 13
Beaufort, SC to Charleston, SC
After taking Beecha for a walk up a real long dock at Port Royal Landing we departed at 0745. Fairly routine departure other than I left Susan on the dock... Whoops! Thought she yelled she was on board the boat... but it was I'm not on board get the boat closer to dock. The current is really strong here and was pushing SAILS away from the dock. Got the boat back to the dock and Susan aboard and we were off.

I brought SAILS up to RPM but quickly dropped it back to idle... we had a bad vibration on the starboard engine. /when we left Kilkenny yesterday leaving the dock we had hit a large clump of reed grass in the water... and it made some noise as the starboard prop chewed it up... maybe there was something still on the starboard running gear that the reversing to get back to dock had sucked up and was now fouled on the prop. We decided to continue on one engine about a mile or so ahead and either anchor or dock on the Beaufort Town Docks so I could dive and check the starboard prop.

As we approached we had an IDEA! We called the Downtown Marina of Beaufort and asked if we could use one of their mooring balls for a few minutes to dive and check our running gear... NO PROBLEM! Awesome... we found a free mooring ball and secured SAILS to it... very swift current here so much easier to use a mooring ball than anchor or dock again.

Pulled out the hookah and dive gear and I was in the water within 15 minutes of stopping. I found about 8 feet of 1/4" line wrapped around the starboard prop. I cut it free with a knife... checked the prop and no damage... COOL! 30 minute stop and we were back underway at 0845 with no vibration!

We had planned to anchor at St. John's Island just before Charleston but when we arrived the winds were out of the WSW and this anchorage has zero protection for that direction winds and they were blowing over 20 knots. Although the winds were predicted to die off we opted to continue on for a better protected area.

We continued past Charleston and anchored at 1955 in Price Creek just north of Charleston. Still not a lot of wind protection but the winds had died down as forecast. Our position in Price Creek N32°54.142', W079°40.304'. We traveled today for 9 hours and 45 minutes covering 65.77 nautical miles averaging 6.75 knots.

We received some sad news today that a very dear friend Don Gillette had passed away. Susan knowing him since she was a very small girl. He lived on his boat in Fishermen's Village for many years and at Legacy Marina in Fort Myers. He would take his 36' Monk Trawler from Florida to Connecticut each spring and fall but a few years ago he had to sell his boat due to his health and he remained at his home in Guildford, CT with his wife. He loved reading this blog and making the trip vicariously through our blog and photos. I dedicate todays blog to Don may he rest in peace. He will be truly missed.

Posted at 7:10 PM
Tuesday, 21 April 2015
FL to CT Day 12
Kilkenny Creek, GA to Beaufort, SC
This marina we stayed at last night is one of favorite stops with its massive live oaks with Spanish moss hanging from their branches. They are spectacular in daylight... Susan says they are pretty spooky in the dark walking Beecha. We walked Beecha together just before dark and I took some photos of them... not so spooky.





With a some what long day planned we were up bright and early and underway at 0700 with another beautiful sunrise over the Georgia marshes. We had planned to offshore yesterday from Brunswick and avoid the Georgia marshes and their strong currents but when you see a sunrise this you are happy the weather forecast kept us inside in the ICW.

We did have to deal with the currents… fast then slow and it’s really hard to predict what you are going to have the way the ICW winds around like a snake through multiple natural and man-made waterways. The other thing that can really add some tension to yur day are the tide levels in Georgia… 8 foot tide and some of the ICW has some really skinny places. We have been lucky though and have had mid and rising tides in every known trouble spot. First time in 2 or three years we transited the Little Mud River at high tide… very nice indeed.

We did have one interesting event just before the Savannah River. The ICW cuts across the river and just as we were arriving a container ship hailed on the VHF that they were crossing the ICW in 5 minutes… checking the chartplotter we would be crossing the Savannah River in 5 minutes… quick VHF conversation with the ship and it was decided that I would stand off and wait for him to pass in front of us. No Problem… well this happened to be one of the moments when we had the current with us and pushing us at abut 9 knots… so standing off was easier to say than actually accomplish. The problem was there are two channels of the Savannah River… the north channel where the ships transit to and from Savannah and the south channel… much shallower and only small boats can use it… but the current uses both of them and with the strong ebbing current we were also being pushed sideways down the south channel and it’s not deep enough for us… so I had to proceed into the north channel slowly and turn up river alongside the ship as it passed to keep from being pushed aground. I fell in behind him and proceeded back down river to the ICW. It was pretty exciting actually but Susan was not thrilled with the experience to say the least.

At the MTOA rendezvous in Daytona we had won a free nights stay at Port Royal Landing Marina is Beaufort, SC so this was our destination for today. Normally, we anchor in this area but tonight we would be docked with power for FREE!

We arrived to our destination for the night and were securely docked at 1645. Our position at the marina N32°23.750', W080°40.665'. We traveled today for 9 hours and 45 minutes covering 65.77 nautical miles averaging 6.75 knots.
Posted at 5:08 PM
Monday, 20 April 2015
FL to CT Day 11
Brunswick, GA to Kilkenny Creek
We departed from Brunswick this morning at 0705 and again spent the day with yo-yoing currents… our speed ranging from less than 4 knots to over 9 knots… but think we had it in favor of us more than against us today.

Weather was the same… cloudy all day and a little windier than yesterday. Late afternoon radar shows a storm just south of us but no warnings issued for our area. I expect we will get some rain late evening.

A couple of photos from today...





We arrived to our destination for the night Kilkenny Marina and were securely docked at 1630. Our position at the marina N31°47.366', W081°12.167'. We traveled today for 9 hours and 25 minutes covering 63.37 nautical miles averaging 6.73 knots
Posted at 4:13 PM
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