East Coast Northbound



 

  

Going into Vero Beach marina for our first night back the the Good Old U.S. of A.

For our passage photos see the Spanish Wells and the Abacos link.



 

 We crossed from the Bahamas with three other boats, not really buddy boating but out there at the same time and we talked on the radio periodically. It's nice to know there is someone else not too far away who could render aid if needed.

We got together before we started separating as we left Vero Beach.

From left to right, George on Sunspot Baby, Sally on Seaquel, Beverly and Ray on Far and Away, Lynn on Sunspot Baby, Dennis and Carolyn on Safina, and Andy on Seaquel.



 

 While at anchor in Cocoa, FL we saw an Atlas missile launch carrying the X37B space plane into orbit.

If your used to the great Space Shuttle video coverage by the major net works, you may disappointed in this one. However, using a hand held camera from the deck of a boat it is good enough to give you the idea.

Several times as we cruised there have been scheduled launches but always before they have aborted and we didn't get to see them. We thought this was pretty neat.



 

  

This is the alternator mounting bolt that broke. Such a small thing and it changed our plans by several days. With luck it will be replaced by Thursday evening in Brunswick. GA, and we will be back to normal operating mode.



 

  

The Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine is returning to its former beauty. Compare it to the picture below taken as we came through in last November.

 

While the bridge was undergoing reconstruction there was an ugly lift bridge straddleing the opening.

 

 

Construction of a second span continues adjacent to the refurbished one.



 

  

In the St. Augustine inlet, we had to fend off an attack by Spanish Galleon flying a pirate flag trying its best to hog the center of the channel. :-)

A small power boat wake can be seen between us.



 

  

The broken bolt (see above) with the portion extracted from the cylinder head. Once we assembled the right set of tools, it came out fairly easily. That's good.



 

 Coming out of Camachee Cove at St. Augustine, we had to dodge this tug for a while. The smaller tug, the Erin P showed on AIS but they did not respond to that call. Once we were behind them, we saw the prime mover was the American. It's OK, the didn't respond to that either.

We finally figured out that they were going to tie to a series of dolphin (pilings) so we scooted by. They did get back underway after we went by because we could hear them calling bridges and other barges on the radio.



 

 It is not nice to take pleasure from someone else's misfortune. OK, so I'm not nice but we had to chuckle at the two guys on this fishing boat near Jacksonville Beach, FL. The tide was still on its way down at this point and they were going to be stuck here for another 6 hours or so.



 

 We anchored in Ft. George River and when the tidal current changed so we had wind against current, our boat was like a carnival ride. The track on our chart plotter shows the crazy path we followed. On top of it all, our anchor chain wrapped around something on the bottom and the next morning we had a dickens of a time getting it free.



 

 The American Spirit follows us out of Brunswick, GA



 

 Headed down the Ogechee River, Saturday morning on May Day.



 

 Going through Beaufort, SC we saw these ships at the docks. We wonder if they are to be part of the Civil War Naval Bombardment Reenactment scheduled for May 8 on the Neuse River near New Bern.



 

 We picked up our friend Jim who lives on the Stono river along our route. He rode with us from his dock through Charleston Harbor and to Isle of Palms Marina.



 

 Georgetown, SC is a favorite stop. The waterfront is picturesque and there are only a couple of down sides.

1. The smell of the paper mill
2. All the mud that comes up with the chain and anchor.

Despite the drawbacks, we like it here.



 

 Leaving Georgetown we were in heavy fog for over 2 hours, feeling our way along at 4 knots. Once the fog began to lift, Lynn got some nice photos.



 

 The Waccamaw River seems primitive and at times it looks like the Disney Jungle River Cruise.

We did in fact see an alligator through here, the largest of the three we have seen on our trip north.

The jungle theme continues even on the waterway aids to navigation as a bird nest makes the mark hard to read.



 

 Looking south toward Myrtle Beach from the mouth of the Little River inlet.



 

 This huge dredge was mid-channel south of Wrightsville Beach as we headed north. It took four tugs to move it.



 

 North Carolina puts mile markers at each five mile interval. This is ICW statute mile 260, almost exactly 100 miles to go to get home.



 

 Home at last. The entry to Northwest Creek Marina. Now the drudge work begins.