After leaving Savannah, we continue north, crossing the state line into South Carolina, spend one night in Beaufort and continue on to Charleston where, sadly, John needs to catch a train back home for a meeting. Just past Beaufort, we find another spot in the Ashepoo River where the chart needs updating. Once again we find the Towboat US towing insurance helpful.
The chart says 23 feet of water....
Fortunately, the tide was rising (there's a 9 foot tide in this area). The crew broke into the emergency rum locker. This guy seemed amused by it all...
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Savannah, GA
August 19 - 22
We used the website www.marinetraffic.com/
to watch the ships travel up the Savannah River and approach our dock. You can click on each ship and the website gives you information about the ship such as it's size, speed, destination, last port of call, when it was built and the country where it's flagged.
We also turned on the marine radio to channels 16 and 13 to listen to the ships' captains contact each other and the tugs. It was very interesting.
There was also this small plane landing and taking off just beside us.
Savannah was located along a 40 foot bluff above the Savannah River. Here are several views of the historic waterfront....
City Hall from the river....
Some of the ironwork in the historic district....
Colonial Park Cemetary....
Cathedral of St John the Baptist...
Some antique police cars. I can remember when these actually were pretty common on the highway.
We decide to come back by Savannah and spend a few days. Savannah is the second busiest port on the east coast. Tied up on the historic riverfront district, we watch huge ships of all nationalities pass by on their way to the port, just upstream. There were typically at least a dozen ships each day passing by.
This container ship is typical, it was so big and so close it took four photos to get it all.
We used the website www.marinetraffic.com/
to watch the ships travel up the Savannah River and approach our dock. You can click on each ship and the website gives you information about the ship such as it's size, speed, destination, last port of call, when it was built and the country where it's flagged.
We also turned on the marine radio to channels 16 and 13 to listen to the ships' captains contact each other and the tugs. It was very interesting.
There was also this small plane landing and taking off just beside us.
We decided to take advantage of the free trolley running along the historic district.
One of the many squares found in "old" Savannah...
The City Hall from the street....
Savannah was located along a 40 foot bluff above the Savannah River. Here are several views of the historic waterfront....
City Hall from the river....
Some of the ironwork in the historic district....
Colonial Park Cemetary....
Cathedral of St John the Baptist...
Some antique police cars. I can remember when these actually were pretty common on the highway.
St Marys, Georgia
August 16, 2010
When passing through this portion of the ICW, we usually anchor just off Cumberland Island and visit the national park there by dinghy. However this trip we decide to visit St Marys Georgia, a quiet little town just 2 miles up the St Marys river.
St Marys is a historic town adjacent to the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base and also hosts the visitors center for the Cumberland Island National Park. A few street scenes from walking around the town.
The Spencer Inn (ca 1872)...
Among other attractions, the town has a beautiful, waterfront park. This is the riverfront walk....
Some sailing ships moored on the St Marys River...
A view of the park from the town pier...
One of several fountains in the park...
The park entrance...
Looking out at the St Marys River...
The town market....
The First Presbyterian Church....
We decided to spend two days and three nights in this peaceful, enchanting place.
Finally we must leave, however, and turn the bow again north towards home. The ICW is beautiful along this stretch of Georgia, a couple of views...
When passing through this portion of the ICW, we usually anchor just off Cumberland Island and visit the national park there by dinghy. However this trip we decide to visit St Marys Georgia, a quiet little town just 2 miles up the St Marys river.
St Marys is a historic town adjacent to the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base and also hosts the visitors center for the Cumberland Island National Park. A few street scenes from walking around the town.
The Spencer Inn (ca 1872)...
Among other attractions, the town has a beautiful, waterfront park. This is the riverfront walk....
Some sailing ships moored on the St Marys River...
A view of the park from the town pier...
One of several fountains in the park...
The park entrance...
Looking out at the St Marys River...
The town market....
The First Presbyterian Church....
We decided to spend two days and three nights in this peaceful, enchanting place.
Finally we must leave, however, and turn the bow again north towards home. The ICW is beautiful along this stretch of Georgia, a couple of views...
The resort at Sea Island....
We anchor for the night on the Crescent River at ICW mile marker 643 and watch several late afternoon thundershowers pass by in the distance.
St Augustine
August 15, 2010
We usually stay in St Augustine for at least a couple of days, however the municipal marina had an electrical fire on July 4 and most of the docks have no power. In addition, the repairs are scheduled to start tomorrow and they will need to cut power to the rest of the marina. Here's a shot of the dock where we tied up for the one night. It is usually filled with boats.
Pulling away from the dock, we pass the famous Bridge of Lions, currently undergoing some renovations.
A view of downtown St Augustine from the harbor,
And the fort, Castillo De San Marcos (1672 - 1695)
Since the weather continues to be nice and the ocean is calm we decide to run outside again today to the St Mary's River inlet on the Florida-Georgia state line.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Daytona Beach
August 14, 2010
We continue north up the ICW today and are accompanied by several groups of dolphins. Some dolphins wanted to play in our wake and followed us for several miles. A couple of shots. They did a lot of jumping but it was hard to catch them in mid-air.
At times, they seemed to turn on their side and look up at you.
They followed us for miles and when one group left, another would show up.
We had never stayed at Daytona, but had a great time at the Halifax Harbor Marina, convenient to historic downtown Daytona.
Upon leaving Daytona, we passed what appeared to be an authentic steam boat.
And a family of snowy egrets...
We continue north up the ICW today and are accompanied by several groups of dolphins. Some dolphins wanted to play in our wake and followed us for several miles. A couple of shots. They did a lot of jumping but it was hard to catch them in mid-air.
At times, they seemed to turn on their side and look up at you.
They followed us for miles and when one group left, another would show up.
We had never stayed at Daytona, but had a great time at the Halifax Harbor Marina, convenient to historic downtown Daytona.
Upon leaving Daytona, we passed what appeared to be an authentic steam boat.
And a family of snowy egrets...
Friday, August 20, 2010
West Palm Beach
August 8, 2010
We pull away from the docks at Fort Lauderdale and head out the Port Everglades Inlet for an outside run up the Florida coast to West Palm Beach. While it remains clear over the ocean, we watch several thunderclouds build over the mainland. Just as we enter the Fort Worth Inlet, a major storm cloud hovers just south of the inlet and in the general direction of the Palm Harbor Marina, our destination about 3 miles away. Since we must wait for a bridge to open, we call the marina to find out the conditions there. They say it is currently clear and to come on.
When I pull the transmissions out of gear to stop for the bridge, the starboard shifter cable snaps. Since it is still in gear, I can only turn off the engine. I let the bridge know that we are having a problem and they agree to hold the bridge open until we can get ourselves straight and through the opening.
I call the marina and let them know we will be coming in on one engine. Since we need fuel anyway, we decide to tie up on the face dock. As we approach the dock, the sky opens up with a drenching downpour.
After the rain passes, we fuel up and manuever the boat over to a slip, still using one engine.
Even though it's a Sunday, I am able to contact a local mechanic recommended by the marina and he agrees to come over Monday morning and help replace the cable.
Here's a shot of Shane and I working down in the engine room.
Shane is a diver, so we talk about the local spots, and is pretty knowledgeable about cables. We learn that the starboard shifter cable runs from the bridge to the engine and is 28 feet in length. Shane picks one up locally and as we pull out the old cable we have attached a wire that is pulled into it's place. Then we attached the new cable to the wire and pull it from the bridge down to the engine room. Total time about 3 hours. The new cable works great and is noticeably smoother than the port side cable (it's currently working fine but probably needs replacement as well).
John and Nancy Crites fly down on Tuesday, the 10th to join us for the trip north.
W spend 4 days in West Palm Beach, reprovision the pantry, ride the free downtown trolley and eat some great food (the mexican/southwestern fare at Rico's Tacos was excellent).
Since the weather was again nice and the ocean calm, on August 12 we take the outside route up the florida coast to Fort Pierce Inlet. We meet a yacht going south out in the ocean.
We continue up the ICW and pick up a mooring at Vero Beach for the night. Since we want to go through the Haulover Canal to see the manatees that live there, we have decided to continue up through the ICW.
We pull away from the docks at Fort Lauderdale and head out the Port Everglades Inlet for an outside run up the Florida coast to West Palm Beach. While it remains clear over the ocean, we watch several thunderclouds build over the mainland. Just as we enter the Fort Worth Inlet, a major storm cloud hovers just south of the inlet and in the general direction of the Palm Harbor Marina, our destination about 3 miles away. Since we must wait for a bridge to open, we call the marina to find out the conditions there. They say it is currently clear and to come on.
When I pull the transmissions out of gear to stop for the bridge, the starboard shifter cable snaps. Since it is still in gear, I can only turn off the engine. I let the bridge know that we are having a problem and they agree to hold the bridge open until we can get ourselves straight and through the opening.
I call the marina and let them know we will be coming in on one engine. Since we need fuel anyway, we decide to tie up on the face dock. As we approach the dock, the sky opens up with a drenching downpour.
After the rain passes, we fuel up and manuever the boat over to a slip, still using one engine.
Even though it's a Sunday, I am able to contact a local mechanic recommended by the marina and he agrees to come over Monday morning and help replace the cable.
Here's a shot of Shane and I working down in the engine room.
Shane is a diver, so we talk about the local spots, and is pretty knowledgeable about cables. We learn that the starboard shifter cable runs from the bridge to the engine and is 28 feet in length. Shane picks one up locally and as we pull out the old cable we have attached a wire that is pulled into it's place. Then we attached the new cable to the wire and pull it from the bridge down to the engine room. Total time about 3 hours. The new cable works great and is noticeably smoother than the port side cable (it's currently working fine but probably needs replacement as well).
John and Nancy Crites fly down on Tuesday, the 10th to join us for the trip north.
W spend 4 days in West Palm Beach, reprovision the pantry, ride the free downtown trolley and eat some great food (the mexican/southwestern fare at Rico's Tacos was excellent).
Since the weather was again nice and the ocean calm, on August 12 we take the outside route up the florida coast to Fort Pierce Inlet. We meet a yacht going south out in the ocean.
We continue up the ICW and pick up a mooring at Vero Beach for the night. Since we want to go through the Haulover Canal to see the manatees that live there, we have decided to continue up through the ICW.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)