2012 Cruise up the St John's River

Plans have been made for a three week cruise south to the St. John's River in Jacksonville, FL and then up to it's head waters in Sanford. Check in after February 22 when we will head out.

Claria's calendar continues to be very full, so one of our neighbors on Distant Island is a delivery captain, and his wife is going to be out of town during the week of February 20, so Jim will join me to "deliver" ODYSSEE to Palatka, FL, where Claria and Diane will drive down to meet us. We dropped the lines at our dock at 6:45 on Wednesday, February 22, and headed out on a light wind day. With the light breeze forcast at least through 14:00, we made the decision to run outside as far as we could. The day went pretty well as predicted, with the wind increasing from the SW to about 15 knots at 14:00. We put ODYSSEE up on a plane and headed for Doboy Sound and went inside to the ICW. Put the anchor down in the north end of the Frederica River at 18:00, with 105 miles under our keel. The outside route saved us 35 miles, about 4 hours of run time. The wind was forcast to blow for the next three days, so we were glad to have been able to run outside on Wednesday.

We pulled the anchor at 7:40 on Thursday, fueled up in Fernandina Beach, FL and tied up to the Fort George Park dock, just 6 miles from the St. John's River, at 16:35, putting another 73 miles under the keel.

On Friday we cast off at 8:20 and headed back to the ICW, turning south towards the St. John's River. By accident, we timed our entrance on the St. John's River perfectly with an incoming tide, and got a push all the way to the Out Back Crab Shack, our planned stop for the night. We arrived about an hour earlier than our plan because of the great push we got all day, sometimes as much as 1.5 MPH. The Out Back Crab Shack has a 1,500' face dock for boaters to use and spend the night if they buy dinner at the Shack. We did have dinner, a 1/2 order of the crab platter, including crawfish, shrimp, clams, snow crab, corn, potatoes, and broccoli. The 1/2 platter could have fed 4!

On Saturday we only had 30 miles to go to get to the marina in Palatka, FL where we planned to meet the girls. We cast off at 9:20 and arrived at the dock in Palatka at 12:20. Claria and Diane arrived at about 18:00, we went to dinner, and settled down for a night on the boat.

After a relaxing breakfast on the boat, Jim and Diane left to drive our car back to Beaufort and we continued south up the River. The River north of Palatka is pretty much a large lake, but south of Palatka the River narrows down and winds through the cypress swamp. Birds of all species, ducks, allagators, turtels, and manatee become common sightings. We got 46 miles up the river and anchored just north of Astor, FL. It rained most of the day, but with our hard top over our drive station and a windshield make running in the rain a non event.

Today, Monday, we arrived at Sanford on Lake Monroe, a suburbe of Orlando. As the river approaches Sanford, several large springs line the river. These springs of pure water bubble from the large Florida aquafur beneath. There water is at a constant 72 degrees which attracks the manatee. As northern Florida towns, Georgia towns, and Hilton Head, SC draw their domestic water from this aquafur, the flow from the springs deminish, and the river level drops. Years ago, steamboats left Palatka and took passengers to Sanford and up the Ocklawaha River to Silver Springs. Today the Ocklawaha is barely navigatable. The Ocklawaha River was going to be part of the Cross Florida Barge Canal connecting Jacksonville with the Gulf of Mexico. Two locks were built, the Buckman lock functions today raising boats about 15' up into the Rodman reservoir. The second lock, at Eureka was completed but never flooded. The Cross Florida Barge Canal project was cancelled in the Nixon administration. Interesting to look at these structures on Google Earth.

While we've been in Sanford, we've had a chance to see several friends. On Tuesday Alyre and Jeanne, a Canadian couple we met in 2009 in Richibugto, NB while on the Down East Loop, came over for a visit and lunch. They spend their winters in Port Orange, FL, not far from Sanford. Today Bill and Kathleen Root came over from Yalaha, FL for a visit and lunch. We see Bill and Kathleen every time they come through Beaufort on their 54' Hatteras.

Tomorrow, Thursday we will head back down river to the north. Another Canadian couple, Al and Marilyn Smith from Huntsville, ON will be on the boat with us to Palatka, a trip of three to five days, depending on where we stop to see the sights. For sure we will stop at Blue Springs State Park, Hontoon Island State Park, Silver Glen State Park, Murphy Creek, and possible through Buckman Lock into Rodman Reservoir.

We'll be without internet service for several days so don't look for an update until we get to Palatka.

We're in Palatka Sunday afternoon, March 4. We've had four interesting days. Thursday afternoon we anchored outside of Blue Springs State Park and ferried everybody to shore in the dingy. This spring bubbles 104 million gallons of water daily from the norther Florida aquafur. The water is a a constant 72 degrees so many manatee spend the winter here. The river has just warmed to about 70 degrees so just one day before we arrived about 200 manatee had left the warm spring pool.

The water flowing from the spring to the deep brown river water is crystal clear. We were able to row the dingy into the creek most of the way to the spring. Marilyn is in the dingy with Chuck. we spent the night at Hontoon Island State Park marina three miles further down the river.

Friday morning we took a walk on the nature trail at Hontoon before we departed. Before continuing down the river, we took a side trip up the Hontoon Dead River, a narrow creek that ran up the back side of the Island. Once we were back on the river we went about 4 miles down ther river to the "fancy" Shady Oak Restaurant for a local cat fish lunch. On the way up the river we had passed this place with a parking lot full of cars and decided it must be good if that number of locals come!

The plan for the night was to try to get into the anchorage at Silver Glen Springs, about 1/3 the way down the west shore of Lake George. As we came onto Lake George we hit something in the middle of the channel, virtually on the exact same course we had used crossing Lake George on the way up just 6 days ago. Nothing was visable and there was no vibration in the boat, so we continued. When I inspected the props the next day no damage was noted. The water level in the St John's River is about 2' lower than normal so I was concerned we may not have enough water to get into the Silver Glen anchorage. As we approached the entrance channel, there was a 27' SeaRay anchored outside of the entrance, that was a bad sign for we were sure he had an IO drive and should have been able to get in. We followed the instructions we had on how to find the deepest water and proceeded slowly, watching the depth sounder approach 3.5', our draft. In another few feet the keel hit the soft sand bottom. We backed off, mover to the north about 50' and tried again, only to hit the bottom again. So we moved about 100' to the south, tried again with the same result. The forecast was for a light westerly wind thoughout the night, so we anchored in 4.5' of water and had a peaceful night.

Saturday morning after breakfast, we lowered the dingy into the water to ferry us into the spring. The motor didn't want to start, and as I was analysing the problem, a Sea Doo showed up wondering if he could tow the dingy in. After some discussion, we agreed, and three of us went in, Al on the Sea Doo and Marilyn and I in the dingy, with Claria taking pictures of the whole event! Turned out Logan, the guy with the Sea Doo owned a houseboat that was anchored in the lagoon near the spring, with a Volvo IO drive that didn't work. He was planning on towing the houseboat with his Sea Doo about 3 miles to the north to a marina where he would put the houseboat on a trailer to take it to get the IO drive fixed. We wind was starting to build, so I suggested that we could tow the houseboat north on the lake to help him out. OK. So after we had viewed the spring we towed the houseboat out to ODYSSEE, tied up a tow line, and proceeded north up the lake. After letting Logan go we continued north to an anchorage behind one of the Seven Sister Islands for the night. A strong storm front was predicted to come through about 4:00 AM in the morning, so we set two anchors, the second to hold us at the new wind direction. Then storm came through right on schedule, blew at least 40 MPH.

Sunday morning brought sun and some wind from the NW. One thing I wanted to try on this trip was to go through the Buckman lock into Rodman Reservior, all built as part of the Florida Barge Canal. Construction was started in November of 1964 and finished December 1968. This lock functions 4 days per week, Thursday thru Sunday from 6:30 AM to 2:00 PM. Their normal water level is 18', but with the drought it was at 11' at the end of February. Starting March 1, they were drawing the level back up to 18'. I called the lockmaster and learned the current level was 12.5', which ment we would have 4.5' of water over the upper sill, and we could get through the lock. This lock has a 600'X84' chamber with 65' clearance bridge over the channel for SR19. We locked up at 11:00, and found we actually had 5.3' over the upper sill. We went 7 miles up the canal to the Rodman Reservior, turned around, and locked down at 2:00. The Eureka Lock and Dam was also built from 1965 through 1970. The earthen dam was never closed and flooded and the lock has never operated. The entire project was cancelled during the Nixon administration. Had the second dam been completed, and the lock opened, rather large boats could have transited the Ocklawaha River from the St. Johns River to the Silver River and possible all the way to Lake Harris. Two more smaller locks function on the upper Ocklawaha River. We finished the day in Palatka, tied up at the Quality Inn marina.

On Monday we drove Al and Marilyn back to their car in Sanford.

Tuesday came with a strong eastery wind, which made getting off the dock very difficult. We tied a midship line to the end dock post to give us a line to pivot the boat into the wind, once there, we released the line and pulled it onto the boat. Our destination for the day was the Outback Crab Shack to meet up with Neil and Peggy King from EARLY OUT. They showed up at about 5:15, we had some cocktails on board and went in for a sea food dinner. The Crab Shack allows you a free overnight stay on their 1,500' face dock if you have dinner with them.

On Wednesday we intended to get through Jacksonville and down to the ICW. The only possible hang up was the RR bridge in Jacksonville. This bridge has been having some major maintenance work, and the bridge is on a restricted opening schedule. Per the official Notice to Mainers, the bridge will be opened dailey from 11:30 to 12:30. I had called the bridge tender earlier in the week and learned that the contractor has some parts shortages, so some days the bridge is open all day. As we left the Crab Shack dock, I again called the bridge tender and learned they were working and the bridge would be open from 12:00 to 13:00. The wind was again very heavy from the east, and depending on how the tidal current was running, we were going to arrive at the bridge at about 13:00. We decided to put ODYSSEE up on plane to pick up 15 minutes on our arrival time. As we approached Jacksonville, the tide was falling and the tidal current was building as we approached the bridge. We passed under the bridge at 12:40 and started down the river with a 2.5 to 3 mph push from the tidal current. Remember, the wind is blowing hard from the east, and the river at this point flows east, big wind against rapid current builds BIG, SQUARE, waves, 5'-7' on our nose. As ODYSSEE splashed them into the air the wind caught then and threw them in our face. Have we told you before how glad we are to have a hard top over our heads and a windshield in front of us! We were snug as a bug with the windshield wipers working overtime. Sure glad we weren't under canvas with an isenglass enclosure in front of us. We made it to an anchorage just south Fernandina Beach for the night. Every time we come through this section of Florida we see large flocks of white pelicans.

On Thursday we intended to stop at Fernandina Beach for a visit to Bristly Thistle needlepoint shop and a nice lunch ashore, and then go onto St. Mary's, GA for the night. As we always do crossing into a new state, we hoist the state curtesy flag on our port yard arm, here the Georgia flag goes up. We arrived at Langs Marina in St. Mary's, GA at about 15:00, giving us time to walk around their three square block historic area. The big event in town was filming of "Love Town" for the Oprah Channel. St. Mary's was originally settled by Spain in the 1500's shortly after St. Augustine was established. For 200 years the French and Spanish fought for control, until finally the English arrived in 1700. Today the Navy has a large sub base, Kings Bay, on the Cumberland Sound. When this facility was built in the 1980's, P&H installed a large number of overhead cranes. St. Mary's is also the headquarters for Cumberland Island National Park. Cumberland Island was the summer residence for the Carnegie family. The ruins of their mansion at Dungeness with almost 60 bedrooms and their cottage at Plum Orchard are open for viewing. Plum Orchard is pretty well restored, has 24,000 sq. ft., some 30 bedrooms, running water, indoor plumbing, DC powered lights, ice maker, and Otis elevator.

On Friday we took ODYSSEE out to Plum Orchard on Cumberland Island to see this "cottage". The condition of this building was remarkable and the technology that was used in these island homes was way ahead of their time. The wind had finally dropped, but a cold front was due to cross the reagion during the night. We anchored in a small creek for the night, set two anchors in anticipation of a strong NE wind near gale force before morning. The front came through about 8:00 PM, before we went to bed.

This morning, the wind was a steady 25 kts. with gusts to 30. We had to cross St. Andrews Sound between Cumberland Island and Jekyll Island, with the outside turning bouy beyond the coast line. This was going to be a rough ride, and several others traveling on the ICW had elected to anchor for the day and hope for less wind tomorrow. There is an alternate channel that runs inland through some shallow, narrow, creeks. High tide was at about 11:00, was 8', so if we timed things right and hit high tide at the inland turning mark we could ride the tidal current in, go through the shallow spots with an extra 8' of water, and ride the tidal current back out. We timed it perfect, and had a pretty smooth ride. We ran into the worst waves coming onto the Brunswick River from behind Jekyll Island, where they were 3-4' for a short period until we could turn down wind and head west into Brunswick, which is where we are for the night.

Sunday, another day with high easterly winds. When the tide current was coming in, waves weren't too bad, but when tide was running out, waves were BIG. Both Sapelo and St. Catherines Sounds were rough. We put ODYSSEE up on plane handle the waves crossing both sounds. In St. Catherines sound we took a hard left turn up into Medway River to Sunbury, GA and dinner and a night at Sunbury Crab Co. Wonderfull dinner!

Monday we left Sunbury for an 83 mile run home. The wind was light and it was a beautiful day. We pulled up to our dock at 6:20 PM

Florida Bound for some Sunshine

Happy New Year! On January 18, 2011, we will drop the lines from our dock in Beaufort and are heading down to find some warm sunshine in Florida. First stop will be Daytona Beach to catch up with some Canadian friends we met doing the "Down East Loop". Expect to be there about January 21. We left our dock at 0600 this morning, Tuesday, Jaunary 18, in the dark. No problem getting down our creek and out to the Atlantic through the Port Royal Sound entrance, this is home territory. But we never saw the sun until about 2:00 pm, when it finally broke through the fog. With all out practice running through the rooks in fog off the Nova Scotia coast using radar, today was a piece of cake. Only challange was weaving through the anchored container ships at the mouth of the Savannah River. There were 7 boats anchored, and stayed about .4 of a mile from each one of them, never saw any of them in that visibility was about .2 of a mile. No wind, but some left over swells. Ran 113 miles averaging 10.3 MPH, getting a tidal current push most of the way. Arrived at Golden Isles Marina at St. Simons Island shortly after 5:00 pm. We left St. Simons shortly after noon on Wednesday, stopped in Fernandina Beach to fuel up, and spent the night anchored in the Amelia River just off the ICW at MM720. As we woke up Thursday morning the fog was very thick, which delayed our leaving until about 10:00, even then visability was limited until about 11:00. We put in a longer than planned day, getting down to MM 792, and anchored in the Matanzas River, east of the ICW behind Ft. Matanzas. We woke up on Friday to heavy fog again, and delayed our departure until 9:30. We arrived in Daytona Beach at 2:00. Shortly after arriving, our Canadian friends showed up at the marina to welcome us and invite us to dinner at their campground in their RV. It was great to catch up with them since seeing them last. On Saturday, January 22, we took a boat ride with our Canadian friends 9 miles down the ICW to Inlet Harbor Restaurant for lunch. It was windy and chilly, but the sun was out and it was comfortable in the boat. We left Daytona Beach Sunday morning for a short boat ride to New Smyrna Beach where we docked at the guest dock of Tom and Cheryl Gifford's condo so we could drop off replacement pads for the AirBerth boatlift we installed for them several years ago. After the parts were dropped off, we went a little further down the ICW to join Tom and Cheryl for lunch. After lunch we traveled further down the ICW to an anchorage near Tittesville. Monday was just a travel day, dropping our anchor behind Pine Island near Vero Beach at the end of the day. Tuesday we arrived in Stuart, and turned right into the Okeechobee Canal, stopping before a severe weather system moved across south Florida at Sunset Bay Marina. Two other looper boats were here, we got together for cocktails and dinner. Tuesday night the storm can through and the wind worked Lake Okeechobee into a washing machine! We spent one more night in Stuart waiting for the waves to settle down on the lake. We left the Marina Thursday morning at 7:30 AM to make the 9:00 St Lucie lock opening. We were rased about 13'. Three hours later we arrived at Port Mayaca Lock. Normally, you are raised another foot or so up to the lake level, today they lowered us about 8" to the lake level. There was still plenty of water for us to safely cross the lake, we only draw 3'7". That night we got to the Moore Haven City dock, a great place to spend the night. On Friday our plan was to get to Ft Myers about 4:00, we had a 57 mile run and two locks to pass through. What we didn't know, the Franklin Lock is also operating on openings only on the odd hours, as was the St. Lucie. We arrived just before 2:00 and had to wait for an hour for the 3:00 opening. Because of the low water level of Lake Okeechobee, they have restricked the lock openinngs to every two hours. They lock the up bound traffic first, fill the lock chamber once, let those boats out, and then lock the down bound traffic, leaving the lock at the lower level for the next cycle. This way they only let one lock chamber of water flow downstream each cycle, plus some lock gate leakage. This delay held us up an hour so we didn't arrive in Ft. Myers until a little after 5:00. Our friends were waiting and went and enjoyed a nice Itialian dinner together. Saturday we moved the boat to Ft. Myers Beach where we have reservations for a months dockage. After arriving I fixed a small leak in the starboard engine raw water pump while Claria joined Jaci Willow for a shopping excursion. When my project was done, I joined up with Ron and Jaci, and the four of us went to dinner near their condo. Ron and Jaci Willow are high school friends. Sunday morning I left the boat at 8:45 to pick up the public bus system for a trip to the airport to pick up a one way rental car. As a senior citizen, it cost me $.85 to ride to the airport, and then we found a special deal with Hertz for a one way rental north-bound for $37.00. We assume they want to get some cars back north. We ended up brand new Chevy HHR with 6 miles on it, and a Tennessee license plate. It was obviously delivered to Florida. They actually had about 7 brand new HHR's sitting in the same area of their lot, probably a whole truck load that had just been delivered. So we put 585 miles on the new car, getting home about 10:00 that evening. We will be home until February 18, when we will return to Ft. Myers to enjoy 6 weeks on the boat, ending up back in Beaufort about the first of April. We're packing tonight, February 17, for a morning ride to the Savannah Airport, to pick up a one-way rental back to Ft. Myers Beach. We have a stop to make in Lakeland to visit a boat lift fabricator, so it will be late when we get to the boat. Well, Friday's drive back to Ft. Myers didn't go so well, and much of it was my error. I assumed when Hertz gave us a return reservation, it would be a trip in reverse, from the Savannah airport to Ft. Myers airport. I got so busy getting ready to go Thursday evening, I didn't reconfirm the reservation with Hertz, bad decision. We went to Savannah to pick up our car, only to learn that the car was waiting for us in Beaufort, and everybody was sold out of cars, so we had to go back to Beaufort to pick up our car, in the process we lost 2 1/2 hours. That really didn't delay our planned late arrival in Ft. Myers, but I did miss meeting our boat lift fabricator in Lakeland. Weather today, Saturday, February 19, was very nice and just what we are looking for, sunny and 80. There was a "looper" pot luck picnic today, we had a chance to see many boating friends currently in SW Florida. Sunday provide an opportunity to worship at Chapel by the Sea, one of our favorite churches in the country. The motif of the church is all based on symbolism of the sea, the pulpit is the bow of a boat, the eternal circle in depicted in a stained glass window with three dolphins swimming in a circle, and all the other windows also have a depict a bible story based on the sea. The cross is a broken mast and the spreaders. After church we joined our friends the Willows for brunch. Monday was just a day of relaxation, but it did include a trolley ride down the Island to Publix. Tuesday we enjoyed entertaining old friend from years past with a boat ride to Cabbage Key for lunch. We delayed our departure from the dock for an hour waiting for fog to lift. But after the fog lifted we had a georges day, arriving at the Inn at Cabbage Key at 1:00. ODYSSEE seemed to be enjoying the day as much as we were as she sat waiting at the docks at Cabbage Key ready to take us back to Ft. Myers! After lunch we had a relaxing ride back to Ft. Myers Beach, getting back to the dock after 5:00.

Everybody is smiling after a great lunch!

Wednesday and Thursday we were beach bums, spending most of our beach time at Bowditch Park at the north end of Eserto Island. Both of the sculptures are in the park.

This Gopher Tortoise was also roaming the park, unbothered by those following it around taking pictures.

Friday morning Ft. Myers Beach has a Farmers Market. We were there bright and early to buy some stone crab claws and vegies for dinner. Then Claria and Jaci Willow went to a knitting show and then joined Chuck and Ron for lunch. Looper friends joined us on our boat for dinner and the stone crab.

Sunday, March 27, we left Moss Marine and headed south through Matanzass Pass and through Estero Bay and out into the Gulf through Big Carlos Pass on our way south to Goodland. The tide level was about 1' above 0 water and was rising as we left, so the charted 4' areas had about 5' of water depth, plently for our boat that draws 3'6". We came back in off the Gulf at Capri Pass and along the inside of Marco Island to Goodland. We met up with Rusty and Betty Hughes who are getting their trawler ready to leave on the Great Loop Trip.

On Monday we left Goodland late morning and proceeded north to Little Marco Pass, and anchored for the afternoon and night behind the white sand barrier island.

Tuesday, back up to Ft. Myers Beach and a stop at Snook Bight Marina. They still had fuel at $3.40 a gallon, while others on the Beach had prices ranging from 3.65 to 4.14 a gallon. We met the Mitchell's from Lake James Indiana and M-20 sailing days for dinner.

Wednesday morning our computer acted up, so Steve Mitchell took me to Best Buy and the Geeke Squad. When we got there the computer started right up, couldn't make it act up, so came back to the marina and had lunch with Steve and Jacki. Then afternoon walk on the beach.

Thursday, we had made arrangements to meet Ann Johanson, son in law Pete's aunt, for lunch at south Seas Plantation on the north end of Captiva Island. South Seas Plantation is an upscale resort that has been considered one of the premier resorts in southwest Florida. Our little 43' Hatteras looked like a dingy amongst the large yachts docked in the marina. After lunch we cruised further north to a anchorage in Pelican Bay at Cayo Costo.

When we anchored Thursday evening we did so in 6' of water so I could dive the boat Friday morning. I hadn't been under the boat since we hauled and painted the bottom last August. There aree several pictures of the boat just before we relaunched her on the "For Sale" page of this blog. There was no growth on the bottom or running gear, and only some barnicle growth on the two grounding plates and depth sounder transducer. I did replace the rudder zincs. While I was under the boat I stepped on a counch shell. We left the anchorage at noon and ran up Charlotte Harbor Bay against a 20-30 knot wind and 3'-5' waves. The boat was covered with salt when we arrived at Fisherman's Village Marina in Punta Gorda.

We had a good stay in Punta Gorda, visiting with "looper" friends and meeting Jim and Katie Johanson for lunch on Sunday, our son in laws parents.

Sunday afternoon we left to start heading up to Sarasota, getting to an anchorage behind Gasparilla Island. Monday we continued north on the Gulf ICW, stopping in Venice and finally anchoring in Little Sarasota Bay for the night south of Sarasota.

We arrived at Marina Jack's in downtown Sarasota at about 10:00 AM on Tuesday March 8. More "looper" friends were waiting here for us plus friends from Lake Minnetonka. We made sure we had our MYC burgee flying from our starboard yardarm. More meals out and a couple of cocktail parties.

We left Sarasota on Thursday afternoon in a strong NW wind for a 20 mile run to Anna Maria Island meet up with Pete and Nancy Weir, our son in laws God parents and good sailing friends from Minnetonka and western Michigan. The Weir's have a winter home here on one of many canals and we can dock ODYSSEE at their home.

On Saturday Pete had offered my services to crew with him on a 30' sailboat to compete in Bradenton Yacht Club's "around Egmont Key" race. The skipper and crew of four were all from Wisconsin or Minnesota. 13 boats competed using a reverse handycap system and you could go around Egmont Key either way, the decision was based mostly on the tidal currents. Nine boats went around counter clockwise and four of us went around clockwise. Clockwise was NOT the way to go. We finished 2nd with counter clockwise boats but all of the clockwise boats beat us. What do all us lake sailors know about tides and current!

On Sunday, March 13 we will start back south towards Ft. Myers, stoping several places to see friends. Pete and Nancy say goodby. Sunday night we anchored south of Sarasota just off the GICW.

Monday we continued south another 20 miles and anchored behing Englewood Beach just north of Stump Pass. All the charts show Stump Pass is closed, but as they pump sand to renurish Palm Island Beach they have opened up the pass again. Once anchored we dingied to Stump Pass and walked Englewood Beach for a couple of hours. This turned out to be a delightfull anchorage.

Tuesday morning we pulled anchore and proceeded south down the channel behind Englewood Beach to Stump Pass and then turned east in the old Stump Pass channel back to the GICW. We had learned on Monday afternoon there was plenty of water in these waters. We pulled into Palm Island Marina about 11:00AM to meet boating friends from Canada and Maine.l Once our friends were aboard we Took the boat to Rum Bay Restaurant where we had a delightful lunch. Note the smiles! We spent the night at Palm Island Marina.

Wednesday morning we took a short cruise to Boca Grande. We have a favorite anchorage in a small bayou between the Gasparilla Golf Course and the docks in front of the Pink Elephant Restaurant. It's easy to access the town from the docks in front of the Restaurant. On Thursday we took our bikes to shore and rode out to the light house at the south end of the island. Thursday evening we were guests of Nat and Twink Robbins, Minnetonka Yacht Club E boaters in years past, for a delightful dinner. It was great to reminisce on all the years of sailing we have both enjoyed.

Friday we pulled anchor and went a little further south to another favorite anchorage in Pelican Bay behind Caya Costa State Park. We dingyied in to the park dock and walked across the island to the beach on the Gulf. Saturday we took our bikes in to the park and biked the trails through the park.

Sunday we cruised further south to the Sanibel Marina, where we met up with Jim and Joan Reynolds for dinner. Jim was a fraternity brother at the University of Minnesota.

It's Monday, March 21 and we have started our trip back to Beaufort. We arrived at Ft. Myers Yacht Basin shortly after lunch. There is a Publix close to the marina so we have provisioned the boat and will start accross the Okeechobee Water Way tomorrow expecting to arrive on the east coast of Florida on Wednesday.

Friday night, March 25, we're anchored south of New Symerna Beach, will be in Daytona Beach before noon tomorrow. I'm srtealing wi-fi from "Yachtclub1", whoever that is! Will post more and fill in details from Daytona Beach.

We're in Daytona Beach, have tried twice to update the blog, spend over two hours at it, and both times it has failed to publish. So, if this publishes, you know I've been trying. It's late, so won't spend any more time at it tonight.

Well, our computer problems continue, but this time it is our computer. We are home, arrived back in Beaufort Thursday afternoon. After tying up the boat, took the computer up to the house, downloaded 51 e-mails, when opening the third one, computer screen went black, never to come to life again. So let me fill in the blanks and close this chapter out.

Tuesday, March 22, we left Ft. Myers Yacht Basin at 8:45 AM to make the 11:00 AM opening of the Franklin Lock. Then last lock at each end of the canal system are operating every two hours on the odd hour because the Lake level is so low. We pulled into the arrivals area for the lock at 10:40 with three other boats. They opened the lock at 10:50 and we started loading. At 10:55 a fourth boat arrived, a 65' Grand Alaskan. At 11:00 they closed the lock and they raised us about 2'. By 2:15 we were at the Ortona Lock and locked through with the same four boats, this time going up about 8'. By 4:30 we arrived at Moore Haven and tied up to the city dock with two of the four boats we had been traveling with. Soon we had gathered with drinks in hand on our boat to discuss the days cruise. We agreed to leave together in the morning at 8:00 to make the 3:00 opening at the St. Lucie lock at the other end of the canal.

We dropped our lines at 7:55 the next morning with CRASSANDRA JADE II,(CJ) the 65' Grand Alaskan from Toronto, Ontario, Canada and BAVARIAN CREAM, (BC) a 40' express cruiser from New Orleans dooing the "Great Loop". The hull speed of CJ was about 1 knot faster than ours so she lead the way and set the pace. Immeadiatly after casting off, we went through the Moore Haven Lock and were raised about 3' to Lake Okeechobee lake level. The lake was low with a published navigation depth of 5.81'. CJ managed hull speed quite well, but when we tried to push ODYSSEE at 9 KTS she just drew down, churning lots of wake but really not going any faster. BC was haviong the same problem. We let CJ continue at her hull speed and when we got out into 12' water depth in the middle of the Lake, we put our boats up on plane to catch up with CJ as we got to the far shore and the Mayaca Lock. We entered the lock, tied up, closed the upstream door, opened the downstream door, untied, and proceeded through the lock. No discernable drop was detected.

About 5 miles after leaving the lock, we went under an automated RR bridge which is always open unless a train is coming. Well CJ made it through, and just as we arrived the red blinking light started to flash and the horn blew, ands the bridge started to swing shut. We expected to soon see a train cross the canal. No train, and about three minutes later the horn sounded again and the bridge started to swing open. Finally a green light and we were on our way again. CJ was right on target to get to the St. Lucie lock right at 3:00, so some how we had to catch up, and we were running in a narrow canal. As I studied the charts it appeared we would find a undeveloped part of the canal about 12 miles befor the lock, so if we could run that section at 16 MPH we could catch up to CJ. When we got to that section we did get up on top to run on plane. About two miles down the canal there was a large old boat docked, so we did slow down so we wouldn't wake him, then back up on top. CJ arrived at St. Lucie lock at 3:00, the door opened and they started to load. CJ advised the lockmaster we were coming as we came into view of the lock. We slowed down and drove right in, tied up, and we were lowered about 14' back to sea level. We were out of the lock by 3:30 and tied up at Sunset Marina in Stuart by 4:45, just in time for a 5:30 cocktail party and dinner with 8 other "looper" friends who were waiting for us. To bad we weren't having any fun!

Thursday I went down in the engine room to check out our prime movers, and found about 30 galons of water under the port engine. It was clean sea water so I suspected in the raw water system was leaking. Pumped the water out, had Claria start up the port engine, and soon found a leak under the cover of the raw water pump. Removed the cover, which appeared to be tight, inspected the gasket which also looked OK, cleaned the gasket and flange, applied some Permatex Gasket Sealer, and reassembled. Had Claria start the engine again, leak fixed. Lets go! Having lost the morning, we had a short day, running 48 miles up to an anchorage behind Pine Island, an anchorage we had used on our way south in January, just north of Vero Beach.

On Friday, we put in a long day, running up paast the back side of Cape Canaveral and the VAB at complex 39, where I let a project for P&H to install 25 large jib crane hoists back in 1964. We finished the day at 8:05, dropping our anchor just south of New Symerna Beach.

On Saturday, March 26, we cruised up to Daytona Beach, arriving at 11:05 at the marina. Bill and Kathleen Root picked us up and took us over to Sanford so we could see their new to them, 54' Hatteras. Oh my, what a beautifull boat, a real floating condo! We look forward to their visit at our dock as they travel north later this spring. Sunday morning Ayrle and Jeanne, friends from Richibucto, New Brunswick, picked us up and we enjoyed a late breakfast together.

We cast off from the marina at 12:30 and traveled 40 miles further north, anchoring in the Mantanzas River near Fort Mantanzas a short distance south of St. Augustine.

On Monday we had a 70 mile run planned to an anchorage in the Amelia River, just short of Fernadina Beach.sFrom this point Mission accomplished.

Tuesday, March 29, we stopped at the Fernadina Beach marina, deployed the bikes, and rode to the needlepoint store in town, and then to a grocery store to stock up on a few items needed to get us home. Shopping done, we fueled up at a commercial fuel supplier, and headed north into Georgia. We dropped anchor near Ft. Fredricka behind St. Simons Island.

From here north we will be in delivery mode. Wednesday we anchored in Herb River, just south of Savannah. Thursday we reached our home dock at 3:10 PM. The end of another very successfull trip.

Down the St. Johns River

It's Thursday, June 3, ODYSSEE and crew are poised to cast off for a three week trip. We're anticipating a noon departure. We will update as we go and as we find Wi-Fi, we don't have phone access to the internet as we did while we were on our big trips.

It's Friday night, and we are at Golden Isle Marina in St. Simons, GA. Yesterday we didn't cast off until about 4:00 pm, traveled until 7:30 pm, and anchored in the New River behind Dufuskie, Is. Today we fueled up Thunderbolt, took the Wilmington River outside and travelled 42 miles off shore, coming back in to the ICW at Doboy Sound as the afternoon thunderstorms started to develope. we logged in 104 miles.

Tomorrow we plan on visiting Cumberland Island and then anchoring for the night about 40 miles from downtown Jacksonville.

On Saturday we got anchored and dingied into the campers dock on Cumberland Island just as the dailey afternoon thunderstorms rolled in, which delayed our hike around the southern end of the island about an hour.

On Sunday we arrived at Jacksonville Landing free dock just as the Sunday afternoon storms arrived. Met with some boating friends who were traveling with us on the Down East Loop last summer and had a delighful afternoon chat, some Gin and Tonics and dinner at one of their favorite places in Jacksonvill.

Today we are off to up river, expecting to arrive in Sanford on Thursday. We may not have any internet until we get there so don't get excited if we don't post for a couple of days.

Just a quick post, I hope! Did a complete update last night on our trip up the river to Sanford, went to publish, computer picked up a weaker wi-fi signal, which dropped my post when I clicked on "publish post", all was lost. Will fill in details when time allows, have a full day planned with boating friends who are also Hatteras owners.

Sorry, been to busy when we have had internet access to do much posting, and tonight, Monday June 14, is not going to be much better. It's already 10:30pm, I've just completed answering some e-mail, and it's time to call it a day. We are back in Jacksonville, been very hot down here and so we haven't wanted to get off the boat to do much walking around. Did go to three of several of the springs that that feed into the river, and waded in the cool, clear, water. Probably won't get a full report posted and some pictures downloaded until we get home by next weekend.

Tuesday, our first day as we head home, was cut short by the weather. Afternoon thunderstorms got active about 4:00, and we were in the path of a storm reported to have 60 mph winds. We quickly found Crooked Riverjust a little north of St. Mary's, GA neuclear sub base, dropped two anchors, tied up the flags, and felt ready to handle whatever came our way. Got some rain and maybe 30 mph wind.

Wednesday we continued north up the ICW, taking an alternate route north of Brunswick, up the Fredrica River past Fort Fredrica, constructed when Oglethorp settled in Georgia. We anchored for the night just south of St. Catherines Sound in Cattle Pen Creek. We are 82 miles from home via the ICW or 70 miles if we go outside.

We got up early on Thursday so we could go outside if the weather was acceptable. It looked good so we went out through the St. Catherines entrance, set our way point on the sea bouy at Port Royal Sound, and let the boat follow the magenta line to the way point. The waves outside were 1-2' in a light NW breeze, forcast to shift SW by noon. The forcast was right, as the light breeze filled in from the SW it knocked the wave down to less than 1', so we had a comfortable ride. We'de been running at hull speed all day, running the engines at 1350 rpm. At that speed we get almost 2 mpg. Once inside the entrance channel, we put the throttles down, ODYSSEE climbed up onto a plane, cruised comfortable at 14 KTS, 2450 RPM, for the next 9 miles. As we entered Chowan Creek, slowed back down to hull speed for the last two miles, turned to the west into Distant Island Creek, slowed down to closed throttles, and snuggled up to our dock, trip over.

We were gone 15 days, traveled 745 miles, and had another succesful trip on ODYSSEE.

ODYSSEE for sale

This classic Hatteras has served us well, better than original expectations. She was bought to do the Great Loop, but we were having so much fun, we added the Down East Loop to our cruising agenda. She turnout to be a fantastic boat to do the traveling we did, earlier posting in this blog will take you on our travels. We went places few if any loopers have gone before! Now it's time to move on to other items on our Bucket List. Her new accomodations and equipment list provide you with everything you need to do extensive coastal cruising. With her 39' waterline, low profile, and minimum draft, she is an exceptional "looper" boat.


Specifications: Year built 1971, hull number 313.

LOA: 43' 1", LWL: 39', Beam: 14', Draft: 3' 6", Displacement (net): 36,000 lbs., Bridge Clearance: All up, 23', antenna down, 18', signal mast down, 14'8".

Engines, 2: Detroit Diesel, model 8V53N, 285 HP each, 4500 hours.

Generator: Northern Lights, 8KW, 1600 hours (new in 2003).

Performance: Hull speed: 8 K @ 1450 RPM, 5.5 Gal/Hr.

Cruise speed: 14 K @ 2400 RPM, 24 Gal/Hr.

Max speed: 18 K @ 2800 RPM, est. 30 Gal/Hr.

Tankage: Fuel: 2 X 200 gallons; Water: 130 gallons; Holding: Forward 30 gallons, aft 55 gallons.

Material: Hull: solid fiberglass; deck and cabin: cored fiberglass; stringers: molded fiberglass.

The first two owners used this boat in fresh water. We bought the boat in New Orleans in February 2006.

Go back to the first postings on this blog to see what we did to the interior to this boat. It is unique and very livable. Since that work was done, the water heater and battery charger have been replaced.

You enter the boat on either side of the aft deck. Plexiglass wing doors have been added to the side passages forward to the front deck , replacing the original roll up canvas covers. The new wet bar provides ice and drink refrigerator at the drive station/sun deck, no need to go down to galley for drinks while underway. The lawn/patio furniture normally found in these boats has been replaced with a custom built, U shaped padded bench seat, glued to the deck so nothing moves around while underway in rough seas, and a custom built Hi/Low table with teak and holly top. Additional storage is available under seat.

The instrument panel is new and modern, with a new Garmin 3210 chartplotter at the center. The radar image can be superimposed over the chart or shown on a seperate screen. New Raymarine auto pilot control is to the left of the chartplotter.








Access to the salon is just to port of center. 3 wide steps brings you down to the salon level. to the left is a new trash compactor in custom built cabinet/book case, behind fold out double bunk.






Looking forward into the forward V berth. Original L shaped couch/fold out bunk has been recovered, desk is on the starboard side. All interior wood on starboard side is new, interior wood on port side is original. All new wood is per the original Hatteras specifications, Afromosha trim and Teak plywood panels. The new wood perfectly matches the old. Original Hatteras Hi/Low table sits in front of L shaped couch.


To the right aft is a complete new galley which proved to be efficient, roomy, with great natural light. Cabinet top is Coriane. There is a 36" lazy susan under the GE Advantiam fast cook oven that goes all the way out to the hull under the deck. Access to cabinet shelves under cook top is from both sides. The new refrigerator is 110/12 volt so it functions without shore power or the generator. The cook top is two burner ceramic glass. Overhead lighting is L shaped track lights. Both 12 and 110 volt plugs are available in the back splash.



As you look aft you see the extra wide steps to the right coming down to the salon from the aft deck. You also get a good look at the new, genuine Teak and Holly floor. This floor is finished with 5 coats of two part Polyurethane Varnish.

Custom shutters worked very well. Shutter slates are spring loaded so they stay in the oriontation where they were adjusted under way.


Looking forward, starboard at the nav station/desk. There is cabinet room for a full office, lap top computer, printer/scanner, and two built in file drawers. Chart books nicely stow in the shelves along the starboard side. A HD flat screen TV is mounted above the back of the desk, over the top of the washer/dryer.

Further forward to starboard and down two steps is where the old galley was, is now additional storage, hanging closet, and laundry room. Floor in this area is vinal tile. Counter top is Coriane. Again you won't be able to tell which is new wood and which is old.









Splendide 2100 washer/dryer has outside vent. Opposite the laundry area is the guest head with full stand up shower.








From the salon level, go down three steps aft to master suite. Large suite is 12' X 12' with twin beds over fuel tanks. Built in dresser has 6 drawers and three hanging lockers provide substantial storage space. Additional closet serves as linen closet. Master head is spacious with full stand up shower, vanity top is Coriane.






This boat is extremely wave worthy, compared to other Hatteras 43 DC's. There is no furniture on the aft deck to stow or tie down, and only the desk chair needs to be tied down in the salon. This boat has handled some rough water and survived well.

On the deck, starting at the bow. Forward on the bow pulpit is a remote controlled spotlight. Behind the spotlight, two anchores are rigged and stowed for deployment, a Bruce fluke with 20' of chain and 200' of 3/4" nylon rode, and a 44# Lewmar claw with 20' of chain and 200' of 5/8" nylon rode. Behind both anchors is a single Lewmar gypsy/drum windlass, push button controlled which can handle both anchores individually. Two deck boxes port and starboard provide storage for lines and three life vests forward. Across the front of the cabin is a covered cushioned seat. On the cabin roof are two air horns on either side of the signal mast. The mast easily hinges down for low overhead obstructions.

On the aft deck roof centered forward is a PA loud speaker with an Garmin GMR 18 4kW, 36NM Radar Scanner. Over the helm seat, to starboard of the radar antenna is a lever controlled, 8" sealed beam search light. Centered on the roof is a SeaWatch TV antenna that works extremely well with HD TV.

On the transome, the center mounted swim platform access ladder has PlasTeak steps and the swim platform is white PlasTeak. The 8.8 Watertender dingy easily hinges to a vertical position for traveling.


We hauled the boat on August 26, 2010 for normal bottom maintenance. Here she is finished and ready to go back in the water on September 1. The bottom was painted with two coats of "Ultima Blue", the topsides were cleaned and waxed, "ProSpeed" was applied to the propellers and rudders, and a new set of zincs installed.

This boat is well equipped to head out right now. There is an extensive inventory that she comes with. Spare parts inventory includes a spare set of propellers. A roll out tool box with several special tools including propeller nut wrenches, a prop puller, and stuffing box wrench. For underwater work, there is a Brownie third lung and dive gear.

If you have interest in this boat, e-mail or call Chuck at candcm20@centurylink.net or 843-470-0277 (home), 843-263-3088 (cell). The boat is listed on YachtWorld, YW#57029-2173707. If your a member of AGLCA, I can sell this boat directly to you. You need to see her to appreciate the new interior.

Homeward Bound

Keep checking back on previous posts, I still am adding pictures as I can.



The easterly wind continued to blow strong on Sunday and it rained much of the day. We enjoyed a noon meal with our nephew and his wife. The forecast for Monday indicated a period before 11:00 where the wind would be moderate from the WSW, but after 11:00 it was suppose to pick up to 25-30 from the south. If we were going to be able to use the day, we would have to run outside to get to Manasquan before 11:00 and then run down the New Jersey ICW in the shelter of the barrier islands. Looked like a plan!



We were up early, recheck the forecast on the computer, look at the conditions outside, and make a final decision. Things looked like our plan of yesterday would work. We cast off from the dock at 6:40 and headed across Lower Bay and around Sandy Hook. The sea conditions were delightful, a lazy swell with just a small ripple on top. At 10:30 we turned into Manasquan Inlet, stopped for some fuel, and started down the inside route. By 11:30 the wind was blowing 25-30 from the south, and the waters of the inside route were choppy, especially Barnagat Bay. The 3' chop was not any challenge for the boat, but as soon as the bow kicked up the water, the wind made sure we gave the boat a good salt water bath. One more time we were glad to be under a hard top and behind a windshield, nice and dry. We finished the day in Beach haven, NJ, logging on 83 miles for the day. We got in about an hour before the next cold front came through, bringing some showers and a blast of wing from the NNW. So we even got the boat rinsed off. Now I call that planning!

The wind forecast was WSW, 20-25 for Tuesday. Our plan was to run inside down to Cape May. The wind was SW, 20-25 when we woke up. We got underway at 8:55. The run was 71 miles, winding through the back side of several beach front communities, Atlantic City, Ocean City, Stone Harbor, and Wildwood, under several draw bridges, some we could just squeeze under and others we had to have open for us. We arrived at Miss Chris Marina at 5:45 and were put in a slip next to another looper boat from Beaufort, SC. Small world. At the end of the day the wind did back around to the West.

Wind was forecast to be lighter on Wednesday from the WNW, but we were starting up Delaware Bay and any NW wind has a long fetch down the bay, generally resulting in some serious waves. The Bay is also tidal with a normal current of 1.5 each way. I figured if we waited until after the max ebb, we would still have enough tidal flow to reduce the wave, and by the time we got up the bay about 30 miles into the narrower section, the waves would be smaller and if we timed it right the tidal flow would change and we would get a push for the last part of the run up to the C & D Canal. Well, I maybe over engineered the run, I didn't consider all the rain they have had which resulted in a much stronger ebb flow than normal, in fact twice as strong as normal and I expect there may not be any flood up higher in the river. Consequently we ran against a 2.5-3 MPH current all the way to the C & D Canal, and some 3-4 foot waves on the nose for the first 25 miles or so. We put ODYSSEE up onto a plane, going through the water at 16 MPH but only making 13.2 MPH or so over the ground. We spent a lot of energy to put 72 miles under our keel getting to Chesapeake City for the night.

On Thursday we left Chesapeake City at 8:30. Back on the C&D Canal at slack water. Within 30 minutes, we started getting a push, and we got a push all the way to Kent Narrows on our way to visit with my sister and brother-in-law in St. Michael's, MD. The wind in the upper Chesapeake were quite strong, on the side, much more than forecast. To smooth out the ride we put ODYSSEE up on a plane for two hours until the wind died and we turned to the SE into Kent Narrows. The rest of the ride was very pleasant and we arrived at my sister's dock at 4:20.

After a delightful weekend in St. Micheal's, we pushed off again south bound on Monday, October 5. We arrived in the Solomons to have dinner with our "Looper" friends on their boat LAGRACE. Spent Tuesday at the Spring Cove Marina and were joined by other "Looper" friends. After sundowners on ODYSSEE we all went to the marina restaurant for their Tuesday special, two dinners for $21.00. It was blowing gale force winds on Wednesday, so we laid low in the harbor, but did move to an anchorage so we could make an early departure on Thursday.

The wind died all day Thursday. We had the wind and waves on our stern so the remaining wind and sea during the morning were tolerable. By mid afternoon the wind was light and variable. We were able to get all the way to Yorktown where we will spend a couple of days visiting Willamsburg and other historic sits in the area. We are on a mooring ball at Riverwalk Marina right in the new village at Yorktown.

The National Park system operates buses throughout the "Historic Triangle". Yorktown, Williamsburg, and Jamestown operate shuttle buses around the three individual sites. All buses are free. So we could pick up the 9:30 bus from Yorktown to Williamsburg, and spend all day in Williamsburg, or we could transfer and go to Jamestown. The only hitch, we had to be on the last bus from Williamsburg back to Yorktown at 3:30. In Three days we were able to see all we wanted to see at all three sites. Jamestown is by far the most interesting from an historical point of view, it is the birthplace of our country, and as they continue to dig on the archaeological site continue to discover and confirm the history of 1607.

We left Yorktown at 4:15 PM on Sunday, October 11 and spent the night at the downtown marina in Hampton. Monday morning we met looper friends for breakfast, did some provisioning, and left for Portsmouth at 11:15. We fueled up and pumped out the holding tanks before tieing up to the free docks at Portsmouth.

Tuesday morning we left at 8:30 to head south down the Dismal Swamp canal. The bridges across the ICW have restricked openings before 8:30 and the second lock opening at the begining of the canal is at 11:00, so no reason to start out too early. Tuesday was a delightful day and it was very relaxing gliding through the canal at 6 MPH. We made it to Elizabeth City by 6:30 that evening and tied up to the free docks.

The weather was predicted to get rainy and windy from the north for the next few days. We are 150 miles from Morehead City where we plan on meeting our son and his family for the weekend. Two 75 mile days would get us there Thursday evening. On Wednesday we ran 77 miles to an anchorage on the Pungo River east of Bellhaven and on Thursday we ran 75 miles to the Morehead City Town Docks where we are tied up.

Will, Nancy, and our two grand kids arrived at the boat at 8:15 Friday night. We all settled into the boat for the night with a plan to go to Cape Lookout bite on Saturday for the afternoon and anchor for the night. Saturday morning the wind was blowing hard from the NW, it was drizzling, and it was chilly. It was about 11:00 when we left the dock in Morehead City for the 15 mile cruise to the bite. The channels in the bite and Core Sound are affected by every storm so there are no good charts. The Channel buoys are constantly moved to reflect the changing water levels. We poked our way east of the channel to a spot near the light house and dropped the anchor. We launched the dingy with the intention of rowing everyone ashore. On the second trip back to the boat both oar locks broke and we had to fashion oar locks from rope. By now the wind had increased and getting back to ODYSSEE was difficult. With everybody ashore, we walked across Cape Lookout to the Atlantic beach, did some shelling, flew a kite we had brought with us, and walked to the lighthouse. The wind was still blowing as the late afternoon came upon us. It was going to be difficult to get everybody back to ODYSSEE with our makeshift oar locks. There is a ferry dock at the lighthouse, so I went to talk with the ranger to see if we could have permission to bring ODYSSEE into their dock to pick up our passengers, and if so how much water was at the end of the dock. Permission was granted, and with the high tide we would have, we should find at least 6' of water. Will and I went back to take the dingy out to ODYSSEE while the others waited at the lighthouse dock. The rangers guesstimate of 6' was confirmed and we slowly brought ODYSSEE into their dock which is designed to handle 18' outboard ferry boats. Mission accomplished, we moved over to the SW corner of the bite to anchor for the night. We set two anchors at high tide with a flood tide and the wind both from the west. The anchors set well in the sand bottom, but with the high wind we left a 1/10 scope in the anchor lines. At about 11:30PM the wind died some and the ebb tide current became the strongest force on the boat. With the angle of the boat to the wind, the reverse current took the boat south towards shore. At 12:25 AM we were awakened by the bump of the boat hitting bottom. Will and I went to the drive station and turned on the depth sounder and chart plotter. The depth read 3.3 ft and the chartplotter showed we had moved about 200 ft. from our original anchoring position. We check the tide table, low was forecast to be 12:28 AM at -0.1 ft. So in just a few minutes we would go through low, the current would turn to flood, and by 1:15 or so we would have an addition 4-6" of water which, with the current change, we should float and end up at our original position. At 1:20 AN the boat floated free and within about two minutes the boat was back in 29 ft. of water. The tide would be high at 7:33 AM and the current would reverse again shortly thereafter. So we were up at 6:30 AM, and had the anchor up by 7:00 AM and on our way back to Morehead City. The wind was still blowing and it was chilly so we went back to our dock at Morehead City Docks, plugged in the boat, turned on the heat, and had a nice breakfast. We played Monopoly the rest of the morning, went to Atlantic Beach for a late lunch, and said goodbye to the Gorgen's at 3:30.

We left Monday morning for home, pretty much in delivery mode. We had two bridges that opened on a schedule that dictated our schedule. We timed the bridges perfectly, having only to slow down for the second bridge. We traveled 93 miles and anchored behind Carolina Beach near Wilmington, NC. If we can keep up this pace we can be home next Thursday afternoon. It will be nice to get home, it's been a long, grueling trip.

Tuesday we were unable to do as well as Monday. The pontoon bridge at sunset Beach only opens on the hour and we timed our morning to be at the bridge for the 1:00 PM opening. A little further dow the waterway we went through Myrtle Beach, with a 1-1 1/2 current against us. Between all the "no wake" zones and the current, we only logged in 88 miles today. On Wednesday we will get to the Charleston area, and with luck, get home late Thursday afternoon.

We anchored Wednesday night in the Stono river just south of Elliot Cut. The weather was very nice today, sunny with a high temperature of 76, light SW wind. We travelled 92 miles today, averaging 9.1 MPH speed over ground while going through the water at 9.7 MPH most of the time. Again we pushed water more than we got a push.

We have 76 miles left to our dock. We pulled up the anchors, yes we used two because of the reversing tidal current in the Stono River, at 8:00 for the last leg of our journey. As we approached Beaufort, the tide was high so we were asble to take two short cuts, taking 5 miles off the day. As we had done when we finished the Great Loop, we strung all the courtesy flags from the states, countries, and provinces we had passed through in the order of our trip, from the bow rail to the cross arm on the signal mast, and flew these flags as we approached the end of our day. In all her glory, we tied ODYSSEE up at our dock at 3:55, a journey complete and safely at home. We logged 6096 miles under our keel since ODYSSEE was last tied up in front of our house. WOW, what an odyssey.

On to NYC

The "On to Nova Scotia" , "Saint John River" , and "Down the Maine Coast" sections are now done so go back to see the additional pictures. I still have a big backlog of pictures to post in the last two posts, so keep going back to check.

We left Portsmouth, NH on Sunday, September 13, after a wonderful visit with our friends from GOLD WATCH, and went south along the New Hampshire coast to Ipswich, MA to visit with our friends from MASCOT. Mary and Scott were in their boat at the harbor entrance to guide us in to their Yacht club and a mooring ball for the night. We spent the afternoon driving around Ipswich and a walk on the beach, then back to their house for a wonderful dinner.

Up Monday morning, and a check on the computer for e-mail messages and the weather report. An e-mail was there from HAPPY CLAMZ informing us that they would be in Sandwich tonight with JUST RELAX and VOYAGER II. S0 why don't we go to Sandwich as well, so we did. We took the Cape Ann Canel to Gloucester, down through Massachusetts Bay to Cape Code Bay and into Sandwich Harbor at the northern entrance to Cape Code Canel. Had a nice dinner with the other three boat crews and another looper couple who live in Sandwich.

Tuesday we all went our seperate ways. We went east along Cap Cod to Dennis to meet dear friends and former boss from my days working in Boston. Art and Mary Ann came to the marina to pick us up, have lunch together, and spend the afternoon at their Cap home.

Wednesday found us heading back west, through the Cape Cod Canal, through Woods Hole, and back east to Hyannis. As the day wore on, the wind kept building from the NE, and the waves got bigger. They were a good 4-5' as we entered the harbor at Hyannis, glad to be in out rocking and rolling.

We were up early Thursday and on our way to the ferry dock, on our fold up bikes, by 7:35. The first high speed ferry left at 8:00. We arrived at the ferry dock, baught our tickets, folded up the bikes and carried them on as baggage, and we were off for Nantucket. On the way out of the harbor we passed ODYSSEE docked between the 60 foot plus sport fishing boats. The one to the left is a new Hatteras. This boat cruises just under 40 Kts, so the trip, dock to dock is just an hour. Out in Nantucket sound the wind was blowing a good 25 and the waves were 5-6', a good day not to be on our own boat. Upon arrival, put the bikes back together, and spend the day touring the island. We were back at the ferry landing at 5:00 to take the last slow ferry back to Hyannis, getting back to the mainland at 8:30.

The weather forcast for Friday was moderate winds from the SW in the morning with 1-2' seas, building to 3' in the afternoon. We decided to head out and see how far west we could get before the waves got uncomfortable. We pocked our nose out of the harbor at 8:30 and it was already blowing 20. The waves weren't too bad yet because the tideal current and the wind were the same direction, but every wave we hit put a load of spray in our face. We put ODYSSEE up onto a plane and headed west. By 9:00 the wind was up to 25 and the waves were approaching 3', still manageable but very wet. Sure is nice to have a windshield and wipers. It was obvious that things would get progressively worse as the wind continued to blow and the tideal current turned against the wind. So we bailed at Falmouth at about 10:30, tied up at the city marina, and washed the boat down. A cold front came through Friday night, the wind switched to the NW and continued to blow 20-25 Saturday morning, slowely dieing as the day went on. We decided to wait until Sunday before we move. We spend the day biking to Woods Hole.

It's Sunday, September 20, and the weather is as forcast, light winds, calm seas, and sunny. Our plan is to move to the Newport, RI area with a stop at Cuttyhunk. The current situation was against us early in the day, so we elected to leave about 10:30 so we would get as much push as possible. We got to Cuttyhunk at about 1:00, went into the harbor, turned around, and left again. Stopping was going to be a bit of an ordeal and take at least an hour to just get in and out again, before we even started walking around. So back on our heading towards Newport. They have had their annual boat show going on this weekend and on Tuesday the 12-Meter World Championships start with at least 25 12's here, so we weren't sure we could even find a place to stop. We had an anchorage in the Sakonnet River if nothing else worked. We did find a spot on a floating anchored dock in Brenton Cove, and that is where we are spending the night.

On Monday we were up early, bikes in the dingy, and off to town at 8:15. The annual boat show was packing up and the 12-meter boats were moving in. Saw the historic sites, walked part of the "cliff walk", and saw a few 12-Meter boats tunning up. Back to the boat at 4:00, bikes back to the boat in the dingy, and on our way to Point Judith for a night on the hook.

We pulled up the anchor and were underway by 8:00, headed for Block Island. We went into The Great Salt Pond New Harbor, picked up a town mooring ball, lowered the dingy, loaded in the bikes, and went into the dingy dock. Bikes were assembled and we were off to see the island by 11:15. Before lunch we biked out to the South East Light House, the highest light on the east coast. 16 years ago the lighthouse and lighthouse keepers quarters were moved back from the cliff for fear the structure was going to colapse with the cliff into the sea, preserving the structure as a National Landmark. Back to town for lunch and ice cream, some more looking around, and then back to the marina about 4:30, ready to go back to the boat.

Wednesday we planned on meeting one of Claria's college classmates and her husband who live in East Haddam, CT. The original plan was to meet Kari in Mystic, but the only reasonable priced marina was full with boats being pulled for winter storage. We also had an oportunity to use another boating friends mooring ball in the Niantic River, but we weren't sure how we would get to shore from that mooring ball. We called Brian and Jan to ask where to take our dingy in and found they were only about 4 hours behind us and would be getting into the Niantic Bay Yacht Club later in the afternoon, and why don't we go into the Yacht Club, pick up a mooring ball there, and have Kari meet us at the YC. So that is what we did. Plans can sure change in a hurry! We had a nice visit and dinner at Kari and Phil's home.

Finding out that Brian and Jan would be at the Niantic Bay YC on Thursday, we delayed our departure so we could have lunch together, which we did. We had a nice lunch after toasting their succesful completion of the Down East Circle Loop. They will only be home for about three weeks and then will head south in their boat to the Bahamas for the winter. We will see them in November as they pass through Beaufort on their way south. After lunch we traveled west about 30 miles to the Thimble Islands where we anchored for the night.

On Friday morning the wind was blowing strong from the NNE, creating a 3-4' wave on Long Island Sound. We were headed to Port Jefferson. As we left our anchorage we hugged the north shore for several miles until our course to Port Jefferson was SW, putting the waves on our starboard stern corner, and a manageable ride across the sound. We enjoyed an evening with our looper friend from TIME OUT.

By Saturday the wind had rotated to the east, so as we headed out to New York City the waves were again to our stern. At 3:15 PM we crossed our "crumb line" under the Varrazano Narrows Bridge at the entrance to the New York Harbor, completing the Down East Circle Loop trip. We traveled 4123 miles since leaving New York City heading north up the Hudson River in June of 2008.