I’m running a few weeks behind on my post but I promise I will be catching up and continuing soon.

My boat insurance requires the boat to be North of Florida before June 1st, the official start of Hurricane Season. Cody and my Grandson Tim are both on Spring break from College this week and have offered to fly down and help sail the boat North. They both arrived Saturday evening and we prepared the boat for a Monday departure. We left the Hammock Beach Marina at 11:55 am and headed North on the ICW to St. Augustine. After passing through one fixed Bridge and two Bascule Bridges, we headed out the St. Augustine Inlet around 3:40 pm and set a course North along the coast. It was a beautiful day with a light breeze so we set the sails and made excellent time. By midnight, we were passing by St. Simons Island, GA.

Saturday the 23^rd our friends Barbara and Gordon, on their journey back to Vermont in their motor home, stopped for a weekend visit. Scott and Donna Hood, Vermont friends whom recently purchased a home in nearby Flagler Beach, came over to join us for cocktails.

On Saturday, April 30th, my Son’s family flew in for a long weekend. Demian and Amy checked into the Resort while James and Julia elected to stay with Grampa on the boat. I had been looking forward to this visit for some time. Demian lives in Arlington, VA. and I hadn’t seen them since Thanksgiving.

Hank, Nathan and Murphy left Monday the 11th and my Brother Lynn arrived the next day. On the weekend, Lynn and I took a road trip across the State to Cape Coral to spend Easter at my Brother and Sister-in-law, Al & Cindy’s place. It was a fun weekend and before leaving the area, Lynn and I visited the Thomas Edison & Henry Ford Estates and Museum in nearby Fort Meyers.

Today Hank’s son Nathan and his dog Murphy came to spend a week on the boat with us. I had briefly seen Nathan last November after nearly 40 years of being out of touch so I was excited about seeing him and having them on board.

On Saturday morning Hank, Cody and I left the St. Augustine Marina and headed South 23 nm to my new Winter digs at Hammock Beach Marina and Resort. It felt good having a place I could settle into for a couple of months. The Resort offered a lot to do with new things to explore. Cody is leaving on Sunday.

Now that I had arrived in Florida, I needed to start planning where and how I would spend my time here. I was able to reserve a slip at the St. Augustine Municipal Marina for one week. This would give me a chance to relax and re-provision the boat before moving further South. St. Augustine is a fun City with numerous restaurants and things to do and the Marina is right in the center of it all. On Saturday morning we woke to the sound of a band playing so we walked up the street just in time to watch the St. Patricks Day Parade. St. Augustine boast that it is the first and oldest St. Patricks Day Parade in the World with their first being held in 1601.

Rick and Cody leave on Monday and my good friend Hank Sloan was flying in on the same day to spend three weeks on the boat with me. Back in November, Hank and I had hatch a plan to sail to the Bahamas together. I had intended to start my journey down to Florida in early January to have the boat pre-positioned in Southern Florida before Hank arrived. My late February departure set me behind almost two months, and after careful consideration of other factors, I concluded the Bahama trip would need to be postponed for another year. It was a disappointment for both of us but we were eager to make the best of it. After several days of exploring St. Augustine, Hank and I were ready to move on. After checking out of the marina, we headed South down the ICW. It was close to 5:00 pm before I started looking for an anchorage to spend the night. Finding nothing that would qualify as a safe anchorage, I called the near by Hammock Beach Marina and Resort and was able to get a slip for the night. This is a nice, large Resort bordering the ICW on their West side and the Atlantic Ocean on the East side. With two Golf courses, several fine restaurants, nine swimming pools, miles of biking and hiking trails and beautiful beaches, this Resort had a lot to offer. We enjoyed our stay so much we decided to stay two additional nights. This gave me a chance to study the ICW South of us and it became apparent that there were several bridges that could be a problem for us to clear under. I decided I should look for a Marina close by to spend the rest of the Winter so we headed back North 23 nm to St. Augustine, with nearly a dozen marinas to choose from. It was an easy trip back and gave Hank another experience of helping me move the boat. Back in St. Augustine, we found the Municipal Marina did not have any available slips but could offer us a mooring. The Marina put us on their waiting list for a slip and after four days on their mooring, they were able to accommodate us in the marina for up to a week but for no longer as they were fully booked. Checking with all the other area marinas, met us with similar responses, no one could accommodate us for the two months I needed. I called Neil, the Harbormaster at Hammock Beach Marina and asked if he could accommodate me for two months. Neil said all of their slips were leased out but he would make some calls to see if any slip holders were planning to be away during the times I needed. Over the next couple of days, Neil and I spoke often as he continued to work to find me a spot. Finally, Neil agreed to make a spot for me on the outer dock, along the ICW. This was the same spot we stayed in before and was actually my preference as it gave me great water views and was close to the Marina office and pool.

While Hank and I were back enjoying our time in busy St. Augustine, I received a text from Cody asking if he could fly back down for a weekend visit. I was elated, Cody has helped me move the boat multiple times and is always a joy to have on board.

We pulled up anchor and were under way at 8:00 am. This section of the ICW passes through Beaufort, SC and across Port Royal Sound then onto Skull Creek and through Hilton Head. Skull Creek runs into Calibogue Sound where the ICW turns onto the Cooper River then off and onto Ramshorn Creek. From Ramshorn Creek, the ICW runs into the New River then into a land cut called Walls Cut that connects to the Wright River and follows through to another cut called Fields Cut which connects to the Savannah River. Here we crossed the Savannah River and entered Elba Cut. I list each of these connecting waterways to illustrate our convoluted path and how difficult it would be to follow this section of the ICW without a good chart and careful planning. It would be all too easy to turn down the wrong river and find yourself lost or in trouble. About this time, as our cruise progressed, I started thinking; just one more bridge and only three miles from tonights marina. We were approaching the Causton Bluff-Sam Varnedoe Double Bascule Bridge, so I called the Bridge Tender on the VHF radio to ask for an opening. The Bridge Tender responded with his heavy Southern accent, “sorry capt., the Bridge is broke, don’t know when it’ll be fixed. Could be three days, could be three weeks”. I briefly considered turning back three miles to the last anchorage we had passed, but I quickly understood there was only one good option; to head down the Savannah River and go offshore direct to St. Augustine. I turned the helm over to Rick to navigate down the river as I plotted our new course. I calculated it was only 134 nm to St. Augustine Inlet, just a quick overnight passage. It was around 4:30 pm, just as we were leaving the Savannah River, when the Fog swept in and engulfed us. I turned on the Navigation lights and radar and set the auto pilot on our new course. We were in 3′ seas every 6 seconds, a little uncomfortable so I set the mizzen sail to help steady the boat. It soon became a rhythm we adjusted to and we all settled in for a meal of Fish sticks and rice and an evening passage at sea. We set ourselves up for each to take a three hour watch at the helm through the night. On my watch, around 1:30 am, I noticed lightning off to the Southwest and the weather radar indicated a storm was moving in our direction. I knew it was possible to encounter high winds as the storm passes through, so I woke up Cody to take over the helm while I went above and dropped the mizzen sail. The storm quickly passed with little notice other than some distant lighting and a short downpour. The following morning around 11:30 am, we entered St. Augustine Inlet and arranged for a mooring at the Municipal Marina. We made it to Florida !

We left Charleston Harbor Marina at 8:30 am. The weather forecast predicted 4′ – 5′ seas offshore so we continue South along the calm ICW. We have one bascule Bridge and three fixed Bridges to pass through today. We make it through all the bridges with no problems but we arrive at the Ashepoo Coosaw Land-cut about two hours before low tide and saw 5′ on our depth gauge as we passed through. With our 4′ 9″ draft, we just made it, passing through a half hour later would have hung us up for sure. We arrived at the small anchorage on Brickyard Creek shortly before dark. This stretch of the ICW, through the low country of South Carolina and Georgia, winds and twist from one river or creek to the next. We traveled through a dozen or more connecting rivers and several land cuts today, a total of 55.2nm.

Our anchorage in Awendaw Creek is only a short 28nm North of today’s destination in Charleston. We have the Isle of Palm’s bridge to pass under that must be timed for a mid to low tide so we delay our departure until 11:00 am. We clear the bridge with no problem and as we get closer to Charleston, we encounter the heavy traffic of weekend boaters. Our last bridge today is the Ben Sawyer Memorial swing bridge which, on weekends, opens only on the hour. We arrived at the bridge at 3:20 pm, right at low tide in a very narrow channel with the wind on our port beam. It was a real challenge to maintain our position in line and not be driven onto the shallow banks while waiting the 40 minutes for the bridge to open. While we waited, we were briefly entertained by a Northern Mocking Bird that delighted itself in mimicking the beeping sound of our AIS alarm which went off each time another boat drifted too close to our boat. Once through this last bridge, we entered Charleston’s large harbor and began our search for a marina. After several phone calls, we reserved a slip for two nights at the Charleston Harbor Marina and Resort which sits on the East side of the Cooper River next to the Patriot Point Naval and Maritime Museum. On Sunday morning, Rick and I took an Uber into town for Brunch at Poogan’s Porch, an 1888 Victorian townhouse serving traditional Southern cooking. After studying the menu, my curiosity finally got the best of me, I had to try the Fried Chicken & Waffles. I was surprised, despite my initial skepticism, it was actually quite good. After Brunch, the two of us wondered through the historic streets of lovely Charleston. Cody arrived at the boat on Sunday evening to join us as crew.