Titusville to Fort Pierce

Well we had a change of plans (what a surprise!!) and due to changing weather conditions we opted to run down inside to Lake Worth instead. I hope every one had a Great Thanksgiving...as you can see from the following pictures we did not lack any food or beverage.

Even the Admiral had a chance to don her party scarf and sit with the captain for a few bits of Ham and Turkey!!

After everyone had their fill it was time to enjoy some port with desert!!

Late morning the next day it was time to leave Titusville after a quick visit with our old friend Jon Keyes who was visiting his father in Sebastian. Our original intention was to jump outside at Port Canaveral about 18 miles down from Titusville and run outside overnight to Lake Worth but changing weather conditions and a non working auto pilot did not make hand steering all night seem all that appealing (at least to the first mate!!) Our friends John and Barbara on "Sam the Skull" agreed and decided to remain inside with us also. "Sam the Skull" is a PDQ (pretty darn quick) catamaran that hails from Scotland. The name comes from a song entitled Sam the Skull ( I'm a cat, I'm a cat, I'm a Glasgow cat and my name is Sam the Skull...) anyways from the following pictures you can see that when conditions are in their favor they had no trouble going by "Echo".

Along the way we saw many nice houses including this estate which also gave me my first "dolphin" photo...

We are currently anchored in Fort Pierce in a place called Farber Cove awaiting passage of the latest cold front...while here we enjoyed an evening of fine dining aboard "Sam the Skull" along with a rousing hand of euchre (the girls won!!) to top off the evening.

Tomorrow we will head off to Lake Worth where we will hopefully be able to make a short overnight hop to Miami where we can get caught up with some mail and get the auto pilot fixed (fingers crossed!!)

New Smyrna Beach to Tittusville

Happy Thanksgiving to All!! We are in Tittusville, FL rafted up to our friends John and Barbara on "Sam the Skull" getting ready to celebrate the Thanksgiving Day feast with a group from the Marina...

We moved down to Tittusville on Monday after celebrating our friend Michelle's Big 40 on Echo Sunday Afternoon!! We invited John and Barbara to come up and join in the celebration...a good time was had by all as we "splurged" and made Margaritas in the blender!!

We had to say good-bye (for now) to our friends Mark and Michelle on "Reach" it is always sad to part ways with good friends even when you know that you will see them in a harbor down the way.

We headed off to Tittusville, inside the "ditch" about 30 miles south... forewarned that the "potty police" were boarding boats...as our friends Dave and Kathy on "Pacifica" were boarded while they were anchored in New Smyrna. Their heads were closed but not locked so they only received an $88.00 ticket instead of the normal $250.00 fine. So the day we left we made sure we had the lock in place and lo and behold it wasn't long before the boat in front of us received a boarding and we were soon to follow...

The rest of trip was not very exciting as we did not see any manatees (too cold I'm told) we did see plenty of dolphins as they were busy feeding but they proved too elusive to capture on film!! We did see this lone pelican drying out on the rocks just past the Haulover canal.

We reached Tittusville where we have had the use of a car with various trips to Super Walmart, Home Depot, Winn Dixie, and the laundry mat. All of this is very tiring to the Admiral who need plenty of beauty rest to keep up with everyone at happy hours....

We have been having many "discussions" on what and where we are heading....as the primary goal has been to get south where it is warmer (not yet achieved that one as the further south we head the colder it gets!!!) and work through the kinks on the boat....the latest one being our out of production auto pilot (WP300CX by Simrad/Navico) stopped working as it needs a new belt that is no longer available....all though they make an upgrade to the "clutch" and all you need to do is have a "technician" install it....so we have that on order and hope it will catch up to us in Miami where we can find someone to "install" it for us, meanwhile our friends on "Sam the Skull" have loaned us their "old" Autohelm from their "Johari" days to get us by until the Simrad one is back up and running. So the latest plan is to get to Miami and wait for a good weather window to cross over to the Bahamas....we hope to be in the Bahamas for Christmas, from the Bahamas the plan is to head through the Windward Passage to Jamaica and from Jamaica over the NW Caribbean hopefully by March....that is the plan of the moment keeping in mind that it is subject to change at any time....we will keep you updated!!! We plan to head off tomorrow from Tittusville out Port Canaveral down to Lake Worth hoping to get in by Saturday early afternoon where we can wait out the next batch of nasty weather headed our way....hopefully it will be warmer in Lake Worth!! I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday and we wish our nephew Zachary a very happy 18Th Birthday!!

Oriental, NC to New Symnera Beach, FL via St. Marys, GA

Sorry it has been awhile...poor Internet connections and a computer glitch!! We seem to be OK at the moment so I will do my best to update to present time!!

We made a short run from Campbell Creek to Oriental, NC where we got a weather report that sounded perfect ( beware of perfect weather reports!!) to make a jump from Oriental to Fernandina Beach, FL via the Beaufort inlet. We arrived in Oriental where we filled up fuel and water, did a much needed oil change and hit the grocery store. We were able to get under way early the next morning for the 20 mile run to the Beaufort inlet....there were a whole line of boats looking to make the jump and put some distance under their keels....speaking of distance under the keel we only draw 5' w/the center board up but we did manage to have a quick rub while en route to the inlet....in the bright early morning sunlight range markers look suspiciously like ICW markers!!! No problem it only slowed us down for about 10 minutes as the captain has a sweet touch on the wheel and quick wits about him...the funnier thing was all of the boats behind us were headed to the same spot and you should have seen them scatter when we went aground!! No other problems than that....and we exited the Beaufort inlet at around noon with a weather forecast for the next couple of days for winds to be North to North West 10-15k with maybe the occasional gust to 20k sounded perfect.....

The next morning dawned nice as the wind finally kicked in as we had to motor most of the previous afternoon and evening to get around Frying Pan Shoals. The wind finally filled in around 3:00 am as expected out of the North/ NW. The temperature was not too bad and everything seemed to be working well....the Shepard's pie did much better than the soup on the previous trip!! With roughly 150 miles to go we were all ready figuring on an awkward arrival time to St. Marys/Fernandina Inlet probably around Midnight of the following evening. This is where you should knock on wood or give the wind/water gods a nod as if it seems too good to be true it usually is....It is always surprising to me how quickly the weather can change. ..

We spent the night dodging squalls and battling winds that were gusting up to 30k and building seas. We had been in contact with two other boats, "It's About Time" and "Pioneer" who were also making the same passage. We were in VHF contact with them throughout the night. Early the next morning they received a poor forecast from their weather router, Chris Parker, who advised that they head for the nearest port as conditions were going to deteriorate throughout the day and upcoming evening. We were about 90 miles from our destination still looking at an awkward arrival time so we got the charts and chart books out and decided the prudent thing to do would be to put into Port Royal Sound/ Hilton Head, SC. To do this we actually needed to head a bit north as we were south of the inlet...but the description of the entrance described it as an "all" weather entrance. We tightened up the sails and made for Port Royal in steady 30k winds and building seas, the entrance to Port Royal was well marked as there are shoals on both sides. We fired up the motor (fingers crossed) and ran her for all she was worth as the first 5 miles were straight into the wind with the current just starting to turn in our favor. I give the captain props as he was as calm and cool as a cucumber (the first mate was a bit more nervous and the admiral was sound asleep!!). After the first 5 miles we were able to fall off and put up a little main and actually sail a bit. We decided to head for Cowen Creek as the other 2 boats had radioed us and invited us for a dinner the next day. Our only disappointment was we were hoping to catch up with our friends on "Reach" as they had made it into St. Marys/Fernandina earlier that morning..we were hoping to spend our 26Th wedding anniversary with them catching up and drinking champagne....oh well we had a very nice couple of days in Cowen Creek/Hilton Head, SC.

While we had a few days to kill until the next weather window we decided it would be a good time to get one of our many projects out of the way. Putting a ceiling on the side of the VBirth with the Alder strips we had varnished and stowed for just this down time...

The project came out very nice and it was a perfect calm place to work on it...although our neighbors gave us a funny look when Dave brought out his compressor and nail gun!! After a few days of respite and being able to not only get caught up on some projects and much needed rest we once again got a weather forecast that sounded too good to be true so we made a short over night run down to St. Mary's/Fernandina Beach, Fl. with only a couple of problems....The auto pilot decided it wasn't going to work the entire time and the engine wasn't going to run on starboard tack and once again we sailed so fast we got to our destination in the predawn hours!! Once again the captain had no problems getting us in, in the dark under sail. Once we were in through the breakwaters the engine decided he would run and we headed up the St. Marys River to the anchorage where we were looking forward to meeting up with our friends on Reach.

We had a great couple of dinners aboard not only Reach but their friends Keith and Jamie on board "Kookaburra". St. Marys is a very boater friendly place. They have a welcome center with volunteers to drive you to do your laundry, grocery shopping, and any other errands you may have. They also put on a Thanksgiving Feast for all of the anchor boats in the harbor. Below are pictures of the Welcome Center along with one of the town which is on the St. Marys River.

After we had done some provisioning we headed off to hopefully much warmer conditions...New Smyrna Beach, FL..........

Elizabeth City to Oriental

We are in the anchorage in Oriental, NC...the "Sailing Capitol" of the USA!! We had a pretty "boring" run down the ICW from Elizabeth City. Elizabeth City is a very cool place as they have free slips available on a first come first serve basis. We had waited out weather at the last lock on the Dismal Swamp and the day we left we did not expect to get a spot in Elizabeth City as the Harbor Master said all of the spots were full...we left anyways figuring we would anchor and hopefully be able to lauch the dinghy to get some much needed laundry done....well when we arrived (along w/a couple of other boats) we were able to squeek along side the wall and get all of our laundry done without having to launch said dinghy!! For those of you who don't know about Elizabeth City it is home to the "Rose Buddies". They meet and greet each boat and once day offer a free wine/cheese party along with a rose (for the firstmate) each night in season. Each party includes a factoid about Elizabeth City...our being that all blimps with the exception of the Good Year Blimp are made in Elizabeth City.

Here is where they are housed and built..wish the day was nicer but it was still very overcast and kind of early in the morning when we left. Also while we were in Elizabeth City we visited their Dinner Theater, for $6.00 per person you get a movie in a beautiful theater (first run) we saw Pride and Glory. Dinner and drinks - which of course are extra include anything from a steak dinner to chili dogs!! We splurged with a couple of other boats and had a great time. The next morning we moved on to cross the Albarmale Sound and get to the start of the Alligator River Canal.

We ran the Alligator River Canal which was about a 50 mile run in pretty good time considering we lost our engine when we came out of the canal and into the Pamlico River. We were pretty hard over as of course we were beating to weather so we think we sucked up some air. The engine shut itself down and refused to run until we had beat ourselves up the Goose Neck Creek - a very tight channel in winds on the nose of about 15-20K once again we are very glad to have a boat that is easy to sail. Once we had the anchorage in site the engine decided it would run long enough to get the anchor down. We went through all of the systems and checked our fuel and could find no obvious problem. Just to be safe our old friends, Mark and Alison, on "Angel" "loaned" us 5 gallons of fuel with a promise of a cold beer in the Bahamas. We never saw one alligator in the "Alligator River" only this Eagle taking a much needed rest!!

After arriving in Oriental today, Dave did an oil , we lauched the dinghy and went to shore to get some provisions as we are thinking of moving onto Beaufort, NC and jump outside to Charleston, SC as the weather looks good for this run, no chicken soup this time but we will try a Shepard's pie instead, hopefully we will be able to spend more that 1/2 a day somewhere and get some "nice" pictures downloaded to the blog!! Will keep you posted...more later!!

Mystic, CT to Dismal Swamp

Well we made it to the Dismal Swamp located in VA and NC as it is raining today it is pretty dismal!! OK here we go.. As you can see the day we left it was pretty cold as we said good-bye to family and friends. We powered out of the Mystic River and as the railroad bridge closed behind us we wondered when we would be back this way again (and were we crazy to leave in the threat of snow flurries!!!)

Once we cleared the mooring field in Noank harbor we rolled out the jib and sailed through Wiccapisset and headed around Montauk. The seas were lumpy and the wind was howling but it was behind us....As we rounded Montauk and started down the coast of Long Island we readied the boat for night watches. OK lets say that I did prepare a few meals so that it would be easy to prepare dinner but I can tell you that a fully loaded container of chicken soup trying to be loaded into a pot while the boat is rolling from side to side is not recommended (at least by someone who is a bit out of practise) and I am sure to be cleaning up chicken soup out of crevices for months to come. The captain did have a hot meal but the first mate ended up with a bout of sea sickness and the "admiral" was wondering why her house was rolling from side to side and bits were crashing about inside. We cranked through the night. Watches were a bit out of whack as it was our first passage in a long time. We started out with 2 hour shifts and that was about all you could handle in the cold. It was cold but the night sky was spectacular!! We had one mishap in the night...Dave rescued our lazy jacks as they had come loose and were trying to rid themselves overboard.

Morning dawned....

And no matter how many times I tried to tell myself that the sky was only a little bit pink it soon became evident that it was anything but "Blood" red. We checked the weather, grib files, etc closely for the week leading up to departure and no where did it say that we would be getting strong W SW winds...we did expect some but they were supposed to light...soooo we had planned for them ... we sailed west while we could and figured if the W SW winds came they would be light and we could make up our southing. OK lets just say there are some things you should never do...count on forecasters being right (unless it is Herb) and think that you have made/making great time and might be in , after 2 nights instead of 3....the weather/wind gods don't like that!!

After the sun came up the winds filled in...you guessed it from the W SW and guess what they were not light they were 20-25k with gusts to 30k...that's OK we told ourselves they are supposed to go back to the west and then NW....right!! During the day we had some visitors...I saw a pod of about 100 dolphins...and this always brings a smile to your face even when you are still feeling not so good!! The other visitors were not so welcome...birds...I don't care if they are supposed to bring good luck, bad luck or indifferent luck I don't like them (probably saw " The Birds" one too many times) especially when they land on you!! No pictures as I was busy trying to shoo them away and Dave was catching some much needed shut eye. Well it was Halloween after all so I guess we were in need of some spookiness. We never saw the NW winds so we ended up double reefing the mainsail and slowing the boat up so we could wait the wind to come around to the NE/N. We are here to say that Echo can not only get up and move....she screams!!

Tilley made sure the drogue was ready...but we never needed it!! On Saturday evening the wind/seas finally died down so we decided to power for "awhile" to make up some westing. We had a few "moments" with the motor. During the night we had a close encounter with a freighter and had to take her out of gear and lo and behold we had no gears...it had slipped out...no problem as Dave was able to fix. Our next problem came when we finally shut down late Sunday morning...we discovered that the alternator arm had snapped a bolt..once again Dave solved the problem in record time. Have I said Echo can sail ...well when the wind finally came up out of the NE we unrolled the jib and took off...surfing down the waves and headed towards the Chesapeake Bay!! As you can see it is still cold!!

We sailed all the way into the Bay and through (over) the Bay/Tunnel bridge. We sailed up the channel sharing it with the likes of Freighters and Tugs!!

In fact we sailed the whole channel right up to about a mile from our anchorage in Hampton Roads/Mill creek.We arrived at 8:30pm!! We were glad to have the anchor down and a glass of red wine!!

The next day we headed off towards the dismal swamp.... Where we ended up with a Free Dock (we like free...thanks Skipper Bob) we were able to squeeze Echo along side!! We headed off the next morning to the next "free" dock where we will wait out some weather headed our way!!

Dave had a little help helming the boat!! More later....