SAILS 1990 45 Florida Bay Coaster
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SAILS....Cruising Blogs
These are all the Blogs posted in April, 2015.
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Friday, 24
FL to CT Day 15
Conway, SC to Carolina Beach, NC
Last night we all went out to dinner… Susan, Beecha and myself to Captain Seaweeds Bar and Grill at Bucksport Marina. We enjoyed some hot wings, burgers, fries and of course a couple of beers.

We departed fairly early at 0710 and headed north bound for North Carolina today! It is always nice to enter a new state… South and North Carolina seem to take forever to get through.

We did leave with current against us but it was only a few minutes before we had the current on the stern pushing us over 8 knots quite often. There were a few times we had the current against us but not that often today.

I had some cabinet work come in that needed to be completed ASAP so I turned the helm over to Susan and for about an hour she was in control of SAILS with me down in the salon working. She did a great job!

Had great luck with the bridges today… Socastee and Little River both had to be opened for us to pass. Socastee has a reputation for holding boats up unnecessarily but today they actually held the bridge open for us and we had the same thing happen at Little River… he actually held the bridge for 5 minutes… does not sound like a long time but for a bridge to do this is amazing.

We arrived to our destination for the night at 1720 and were securely docked at Carolina Beach State Park Marina at 1725. Our position at the marina N34°03.012', W077°55.153'. We traveled today for 10 hours and 20 minutes covering 69.8 nautical miles averaging 6.87 knots.
Posted at 4:57 PM by:Jay
Thursday, 23
FL to CT Day 14
Charleston, SC to Conway, SC
Where we anchored in Price Creek last night was basically in the middle of nowhere and very dark and quiet. Unlike being at a dock where there is always some bright security lighting so being dark and quiet was very nice!

There are a lot of boats heading north… it’s that annual migration so the boat traffic we are seeing are all part of the northerly migration of sailboats, motor yachts and trawlers. We’re doing longer days than most of the others so each day we have a new group of boas moving with us… makes it interesting.

We had planned to stop at Wacca Wache Marina but arrived there way too early to stop… current boosting us most of the day… very nice! So we continued on not knowing exactly where we would stop for the night. There was this great sailboat anchored there… we see it every year either anchored here or at Bucksport Marina… I took a photo… it’s all steel and really cool… at least I think it is.

We arrived to Bucksport Marina and hailed them on the radio to see if they had sausage available. They have the absolute best sausage and we were out so it was time to restock. Susan does not like it but I love it. We were in luck and they had some so we pulled up to their dock to make a quick sausage purchase. The dock master said why not stay for the night… we have a dockage special this month… 75 cents per foot… we stopped… that’s a great dockage rate… we actually spent more on sausage than the dockage. We will also eat out at the restaurant here at the marina… Captain Seaweeds… pretty basic bar/grill menu.

We were securely docked at 1645. Our position at the marina N33°39.078', W079°05.696'. We traveled today for 8 hours and 50 minutes covering 62.02 nautical miles averaging 7.02 knots
Posted at 5:12 PM by:Jay
Wednesday, 22
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 by:Jay
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