St Augustine FL to Myrtle Beach, SC
16 March 2007 to 31 March 2007
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| Date | Location | Log and Pictures | |
| 16 Mar | St Augustine, Fl | 8 am underway from the boat yard, we made our way 4 miles to Comanche Cove Marina, also in St Augustine. We were moored by 10 am in the rain. It was a laundry and work day. I had to deal with a computer problem, but it is fixed now. Carey and I went for dinner in old town at the Columbia. The restaurant served Cuban and Spanish food. Not bad. We're home early. Tired. Ready for bed. | |
| 17 Mar | St Augustine, Fl | Up to strong winds, we decided to stay another day. I changed the oil and filters in all the engines and with Kathy and Ross we went shopping for food in the courtesy car. A good relaxing day, and I fixed a problem with our salt water wash down pump. We're on our way north tomorrow hoping that the weather will finally and quickly turn warm! Below are two pictures of the marina where we are staying, a 350 slip marina with tree lined streets and over a 100 sport fishing boats. Carey is fixing corn beef and cabbage and we've got the new 007 movie in the machine ready to watch as the Florida weather turns chilly this evening. |
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| 18 Mar | Ft George Creek, Fl |
10 am underway after buying Carey a Sunday newspaper, we made the easy 40 mile trip to Ft George Creek, with the current with us all the way. At idle RPM we were making 8 to 9 mph at some points on the trip due to the 3 knot current. We passed the St John's River at Jacksonville then traveled 5 miles further to our nice anchorage spot. Had a bit of trouble getting the anchor to hold, but we were finally settled and Phil did his evening computer email check. Today was a bit windy and cool. We're ready for the southerly winds promised tomorrow so we can get back into shorts and t-shirts. Today started out at 40 degrees and only reached 65 at mid day. |
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| 19 Mar | Drum Point Island, Ga | Underway at 9 am and anchored between Drum Point Island and Cumberland Island by 1 pm. The anchorage allowed us to visit the Cumberland Island National Seashore Park, see the wild horses in the area and walk through the first of the old oak trees covered with Spanish moss. A lovely site. The winds have died a bit and the temperature is back in the 70s. The tidal range is 7 feet so we are seeing over a 1 foot change in the water level each hour, with currents that flow up to 4 knots. Keeps us on our toes. The sand bar you see behind Apolonia in the picture at right could be driven over just 4 hours earlier. We anchored with Pilgrim and played a game of Farkel, an additive game we have come to enjoy. |
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| 20 Mar | Lanier Island, Ga |
Easy trip to St Simons Island and we're anchored off Lanier Island after 25 miles of travel. I've been worried about a very small fresh water loss in the port engine since a hose broke on the way down the waterway, and the engine overheated. Even after a certified mechanic in the Bahamas said there was no problem, the water level still went down at high speed. I finally talked to a technical expert at Caterpillar and it appears the engine may have a small crack in the exhaust manifold, leaking water only when the engine is a high temperatures near maximum RPM. Tomorrow we will pull into Brunswick Marina and have some additional tests done to check the status of the engine. Leaving the situation unresolved could cause loss of the engine so we want to ensure there is no crack in the manifold. They have an exhaust manifold if in fact there is a crack. The weather has finally warmed up again and we're enjoying great weather. |
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| 21 Mar | Brunswick, Ga Marina |
We used the alarm clock this morning to get up at 6:30. Too early. We were underway just after 7 am and were moored at Brunswick Marina, Ga by 8:30. A mechanic agreed with the Caterpillar technician and we removed the suspect exhaust manifold. It was cracked and we replaced it with a spare the boat yard had on hand. Luckily the crack was small and no damage was done to the engine. We can't be sure all is repaired ... that there is not another leak ... until we run the engine for a while, but we're fairly confident the problem is fixed. We enjoyed walking around the town and sipping Manhattans as the sun set over the marina. Tomorrow we're underway ... a one day repair. Can't beat it. |
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| 22 Mar | Kilkenny Creek, Ga |
Underway at 9:30 for a 65 mile run to Kilkenny Creek, anchoring at 4:30 pm. Ran the boat for 6 hours, half at high speed, all with no fresh water loss. It appears the only problem was the crack in the exhaust manifold. All is well. We caught up with Ross and Kathy on Pilgrim and plan a trip to Savannah for the weekend. |
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| 23 Mar | Turner Creek, Ga | Easy 30 mile trip to Turner Creek just south of Thunderbolt GA where we anchored at 1 pm. Before getting underway Carey had to walk up a steep ramp as we took Sophie ashore. The 9 foot tides here made for interesting arrangements in going ashore as well as traveling the ICW. At Kilkenny we saw a massive Oak Tree with Spanish moss. Once underway Sophie found her favorite spot, including moving the pillow in place for her head. |
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| 24 Mar | Savannah Ga |
Quick trip to the grocery store by dinghy, then underway by 10 am for Savannah. Only 17 miles so it was a quick trip and we were moored at Riverstreet Marina, Savannah just after noon. The traffic on the Savannah River included large merchants instead of the normal trawlers we see on the ICW. We relaxed, cleaned the boat then went to an early dinner at the Shrimp Market. A great meal. We ended the evening with a game of Farkel with Kathy and Ross who are traveling along our track in their boat Pilgrim. |
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| 25 Mar | Savannah, Ga |
Late sleeping this morning. Near noon we went for pizza and a beer, only to find out that they don't serve alcohol until 12:30 on Sundays here. Oh well! We jumped on a tour trolley and enjoyed a ninety minute narrated tour of this great city. We saw many of the park areas, tree lined streets, and shops on Riverfront street. Carey and Kathy relaxed with a drink on a park bench after the tour and we planned our next stop in Beaufort, SC. The Riverstreet Marina where we are stopped is interesting. It is not quiet. The River is busy with large and small boats, all in a hurry to move somewhere. But it is fun being part of the area for a while. |
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| 26 Mar | Beaufort, Sc |
Easy day, underway at 9 ish traveling 48 miles to Beaufort, SC. Clouds in the sky but no rain. The temperature was about 70 degrees. We anchored at 2 pm and took the dinghy in for our mail that we had forwarded to general delivery at Beaufort. It had not arrived so we hope it will be in tomorrow morning before we have to move on north. We enjoyed the anchorage, with sights of the town and drank Manhattans as the hazy sun set. |
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| 27 Mar | Steamboat Creek, SC |
After the trip in with Sophie, we had coffee and relaxed until 10 am. I went to the post office at 10 and retrieved our mail. Underway at 11 am we made the 48 mile trip to Steamboat Creek, anchoring at 4 pm. We're just south of Charleston SC. A pleasant trip and the anchorage is great. A wide creek with over 20 feet of water with a nearby boat ramp and dinghy dock. We enjoyed a relaxing evening with a crock pot meal and a good movie. |
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| 28 Mar | Price Creek, SC | Could not move quickly this morning. The fog was dense. The sun just barely visible. The fog finally lifted at 10 am and we were underway. A 48 mile trip to Price Creek took a while as we fought the current most of the day, but we enjoyed the views of stately homes along the way. We anchored at 4, and Pilgrim arrived and anchored off our port bow about 5 pm. All four of us enjoyed an eye of round dinner prepared by Carey after anchoring. |
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| 29 Mar | George Town, SC | A 45 mile trip to George Town was completed fighting the tide all the way. Luckily there was no fog this morning so we were underway at 8 am. This is really SC low country with sea grass and mud flats. We're happy to be at a marina tonight as we had 25 knot winds and cloudy skies all day. We enjoyed the views and finally arrived at George Town at 3 pm, passing the Sail Boat Rover taking tourists out for a sail, without their sails. We finished the evening with dinner at Dog Wood Cafe with Kathy and Ross. We talked to friends Delane, Paula, Bookie and Janie by phone. They are also in George Town but at a different marina. We'll visit them Saturday evening in Myrtle Beach, at their home marina. | |
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| 30 Mar | George Town, SC |
Easy day with time for laundry, some engine maintenance and dinner out in Town. Carey made a shopping trip and we're now stocked up for the rest of the trip home. |
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| 31 Mar | Myrtle Beach Yacht Club, SC |
Underway at 8 am for our 6 hour trip to Myrtle Beach. We moored at the MB Yacht Club at 2 pm and enjoyed meeting Delane, Paula, Bookie and Janie, people we became friends with in Marsh Harbor. Myrtle Beach is where they keep there boats. They live just up the road in North Carolina. We went to dinner with Delane and Paula, and they took us to an authentic Shag Club, the first one I'd been to. It was great and we watched 40 to 70 year old couples really dancing it up. Great fun. We'll stay another day and see more of this area. |
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