Day 12 St Simons to Hilton Head Island

 The crew was up early for the 100 mile day in the Atlantic to Hilton Head Island (Harbour Town Marina)  We departed at 0700 and the water was like glass as we motored south to the inlet. Total miles to date 654.

 Surprise!  A freighter coming down the river to the sea.  I wanted to stay in front of this beast as the wake would be awful so I pushed up the throttles to 20 knots and I made it past him before he turned into the exit channel.

The ocean was great today.  2-3 foot swells from the SE and winds 5 knots from the NW. We were headed north.

 Nice wake at 20 knots.

We pulled into Harbour Town Marina at 1230.  Beat the storms again. They held off until 4:30 PM.
We bicycled to South Beach (Salty Dog) for a soft drink.  10 mile round trip on a bike path, a great time.

A beautifully restored Trumpy Yacht built in 1924 was in the marina.  Too much maintenance for me.

 The new top on Island Hopper with the clear polycarbonate is great.  Water tight and easy to see through the clear panels.  Pulled into the slip next to a boat from Ottawa Canada so I picked his brain about our upcoming travels.

True to form, the storms hit around 4:30.  Not much rain a a little wind were it today.  Savannah got hammered according to the news.

Day 11 Wed May 16 Fernandina Beach to St Simon Island, GA

After a nice day to relax and dinner with our friend we departed Fernandina Beach 0800.  We traveled 68 miles in the Atlantic to St Simons Island.  We arrived at the Marina at 1050.  Total miles to date 561.  We wanted to arrive early due to afternoon thunderstorms that were predicted and did in fact happen!  En route we saw a number of shrimp boats.

As we entered the river we saw a pilot boat heading
out to a freighter.  Every ocean going commercial vessel must have a local pilot on board to navigate the vessel through the local waters.

Before the arrival at any marina the first mate must ready the lines and fenders for the arrival. It is a hard task.  Eddie is a great first mate as is my wife Debbie.  It is much easier to sit in the captain's chair and steer the vessel.   It always seems to rain and blow just before we are docking.

Very good marina but not near a town.  They do have a courtesy vehicle for use for 1 hour for trip to pharmacy, grocery, etc.  Luckily a nice restaurant adjacent to the marina.  In the morning we were surprised by the  dockmaster delivering warm muffins at 0645, just before we departed.

Pictures of restaurant below.

Lay Day Fernandina Beach, FL Tuesday May 15

 We decided to take a lay day in Fernandina Beach, FL (Amelia Island) so we could have dinner with our friend Dick Devoe and his wife Tina.  The town is very historic and adjacent to the marina.  http://www.ameliaisland.com/

 Known as the “Isle of Eight Flags,” Amelia Island has had an amazing, interesting and tumultuous past, characterized by its diverse cast of Timucuan Indians, pirates, shrimpers, nobles and confederates. Early on, Amelia exhibits Florida's history as few other areas can, adding to the lore and mystery brought forth on its shore by its amazing collection of residents.  Early on, the community of Fernandina Beach emerged as an important seaport, a legacy that today can be seen throughout its Victorian-era architecture and charming historic district. Today, the island is home to Florida’s oldest continuously operating bar, the Palace Saloon, located within a sprawling 50-block area of homes and buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. History enthusiasts will also have to visit the Amelia Island Museum of History and Old Town.

Of course every town in this area has a pirate past.

 We carry folding bikes on the boat.  Great for sightseeing and for provisioning and other errands.  We rode a total of 10 miles to  Fort Clinch

Fort Clinch is one of the most well-preserved 19th century forts in the country. Although no battles were fought here, it was garrisoned during both the Civil and Spanish-American wars.

 The lighthouse originally  was built stood across the border in Georgia, guiding vessels into the St. Mary’s River and along the Atlantic Coast. In 1838, however, the Cumberland Lighthouse was dismantled brick by brick, shipped across the river, and reconstructed atop the highest spot on Amelia Island, where the beacon was likely more visible. The light source for the tower consisted of a collection of fourteen lamps, backed by reflectors, which revolved to produce a flashing characteristic. Amos Latham was the first keeper of the tower at its new location. The lighthouse was upgraded in 1856 with a third-order Fresnel lens manufactured in Paris by Barbier & Benard. A red sector was added to the light in 1917 to alert mariners of dangerous shoals south of the tower.

Day 9 St Augustine to Fernandina Beach, FL

 An exciting day on the water today.   We left at 0815 after taking on fuel.  Usually we do this when we arrive in the afternoon but it was too windy.  We had an easy day of 57 miles.  We traveled through the rivers of the ICW, lined with many beautiful homes like this one.  After two hours a boater on the radio announced that a railroad bridge across the ICW which is normally open was to be closed every day until 5:30 PM for repairs.  It was a few hours away.    We called the Coast Guard and confirmed the rumors.  We scrambled and determined the best route was to exit the ICW through the St Johns River at Mayport Naval Base
to the Atlantic and come back in through the St Marys 
River and head south a few miles to the Marina.  We 
Checked Sirius weather on the chartplotter and 
determined the predicted thunderstorms were not yet 
building as of noon.  A call to vessels in the ocean 
determined that the seas were as predicted, 3-4 feet and 
winds of 10-15 knots from the SE, which put them on our
starboard quarter.  Not pleasant but manageable. The 57 mile day turned in to 70 due to the ocean passage.  


As we exited we saw a missile cruiser in dry dock.
I did not know the type of vessel but Eddie say the 
number on the bow and googled it.  Soon thereafter it
was announced on the radio that a Sub was departing 
river just behind us. We saw it pass.  This was very
exciting to Eddie has his son Mark is an officer on 
an attack submarine out of Norfolk.

 The quaint revitalized train station in Fernandina Beach also know as Amelia Island.

 While in the ICW we were bitten by what Eddie called Deer flies.  I found the trusty electric fly swatter Debbie had found on Amazon and we had a contest on how many we could kill. They departed quickly.

 As we entered the inlet at the St Mary's River, the heavens opened and lightning strikes were everywhere. The radar helped locate the marks so we came in safely.  .We idled off the marina for 15 minutes for the rain to stop before docking.

After docking we walked into town to visit the sites.  We saw Felix the peanut vendor, a local character.

Before we went to dinner the rains finally stopped and we say a beautiful rainbow over the Marina.

Day 8 Halifax River YC to St. Augustine, FL

 We lucked out again today with the weather.  Thunderstorms were predicted but none materialized. We track them on our navigation chart plotter that is equipped with a Sirius Weather black box, like full time weather channel.


After a beautiful sunrise like this how could it be a bad day.  


We departed at 0815 for St Augustine.  Total mile today 55, trip total 448 miles.    

 This is the Bridge of Lions in St Augustine.  We followed a tug and shrimp boat through the opening. northbound, but we would have made it by a few feet without an opening.

 We backed in to the slip with 30 MPH winds on our bow.  A challenge but thanks to the bowthruster and not my skills we made it in.  The building across the channel is the restaurant in the Marina know as the Swordfish Grill. We avoided going into St Augustine (about a mile away) for dinner as we were warned everything was crowded due to Mother's Day.  

This is a shot looking from the restaurant across the channel to Island Hopper. We are staying in Camachee Cove Marina home to over 500 boats many of them Sport fish types.  The Ocean Inlet is only a few miles away.   http://www.camacheeisland.com/

 A few of the yachts in residence.

Day 7 Cocoa Beach to Daytona

Another windy day.  Eddie wasn't too sure about traveling with a small craft advisory with winds predicted to be 15-25 knots from the east.   I said if less than 30 it won't be a problem in the ICW. Yes, choppy at times but not bad. The new enclosure means we can zip it up and still see out and no wind.

We passed Titusville and we saw the NASA assembly building in the distance. A huge structure used to assemble the space station rockets before moving them to the launch pad.

Today was a long day in our schedule of 68 miles for a total to date of 392.  We passed Ponce Inlet with its neat lighthouse we were able to see in the distance. 

 Our destination was the Halifax River Yacht Club in Daytona. founded in 1896 if is a very old club. The Club house was destroyed in 2004 by Hurricane Charley, so the members are now enjoying a new clubhouse which is very nice.  We receive reciprocity for SPYC membership so we receive one night free dockage.  Very friendly club. 

History of Halifax River Yacht Club 

Nice downtown shopping area in Daytona (not Beach) 

Daytona even has a minor league baseball team. Note teh ticket prices.  They advertised $2, 16 oz beers, a bit cheaper than the Reds.  Tonight after the game we watched a fireworks display from the adjacent ballpark.









Typical view on the ICW today. Being a Saturday lots of fishing boats.  We had a few long Manatee zones which means reducing speed to 5-6 knots, sailboat speed.

Day 6 Vero Beach to Cocoa Beach, FL

   

 Another great day boating in FL.We traveled from Vero Beach Marina to Cocoa Beach.  We traveled 55 miles, at our fuel sipping speed of 10 mph.  We now have traveled 325 miles.  Eddie is great spelling me at the helm so I can book reservations for marinas, check weather forecasts and look for navigation alerts for shoaled channels, obstructions, etc. on several cruising websites.

We maintain internet access underway with an IPAD through the Verizon, 4G network. the IPAD acts as a wireless hot spot on the vessel.

We stayed at Cocoa Village Marina which is a first Class marina handy to a quaint downtown area.  Many shops none of which interested us except the ice cream parlor and a huge hardware store, Travis Hardware.


We had arranged to meet our fraternity brother Dan Adovasio here. Dan has lived in the area for over 30 years.  He is the owner of a State Farm Agency in Merritt Island, next door.

Dan took us back to his house to enjoy grilling out steaks and drinks at his Tiki Bar.  

OK so we don't look like the pictures in the composite in 1971, but we still are enjoying life and swapping stories of college days.

 Island Hopper at Cocoa Village Marina  .Cocoa Village Marina Link.