carolina beach and mile hammock

it was another rainy day when we left osprey marina first thing in the morning.  we had three trouble spots with shoaling to negotiate and as tom said:  "to quote meatloaf (the singer),  two out of three ain't bad."  they were the new river inlet, shallotte inlet and lockwoods folly.  they are going to have to dredge lockwoods folly - it was pretty bad.  in fact, we later heard the coast guard on the radio saying that it was 3 feet at dead low - ugh.  but not only did we make it as far as southport, NC, we also managed to cross the cape fear river all the way to the carolina beach state park marina where we had stayed last fall and spent a fruitless afternoon looking for venous flytraps in the woods.  well, i hate to say it, but we spent another fruitless evening looking for those venous flytraps with no luck at all - i wonder if it is a myth?  we did, however, see a baby owl in a nest up in the fork of a very tall tree.  that is why the photos are so fuzzy - i zoomed in as far as the camera could go.  it just wasn't enough.

baby owl - use your imagination!

baby owl peering down at us

pitcher plant

the next morning, in light rain (again!), we resumed our journey without being really clear as to how far we were going to get.  everything is dependent on tides, currents and bridge openings and though we thought that swansboro would be a good stop for us, as luck would have it, we got delayed by the surf city swing bridge which only opens on the hour rather than both hour and half hour.  vertical clearance was only 12 feet - we had no choice but to wait.  sometimes, when the bridge is marginal, we can drop the mast and still get through.  add to that the current against us and in the end, we stopped at the mile hammock anchorage just past 1500h. the next good place to stop would have been swansboro, 15 miles away and at our speed, another three hours so we just quit.  the mile hammock anchorage is located within the military base of camp lejeune and though it is open to the public for anchoring, there is no shore access.  tom and i dropped the dinghy and went back out into the ICW to look for possible PFAs (pet-friendly areas)  - not that we need one currently, but for future reference and to exercise the dinghy.  one by one, boats started showing up at the anchorage.  when we entered, we were boat number 5.  there were 16 total before the sun set.  it really is a lovely anchorage and there is room for many boats. 

beautiful evening at mile hammock

we got up very early the next morning and were underway by 0615h in order to catch the onslow bridge 0700h opening.  everything after that was pretty much  uneventful until we reached the neuse river and just prior to that, on the adams creek canal, we saw a shrimper coming at us with her arms open.  we had heard that these boats have edged recreational boats into running aground in the shallows and though there was plenty of room, both tom and i came out to the front deck with our cameras, just in case.  there is no reason for them to be moving along like this in a narrow channel if they don't have their nets down.  in any case, i clicked away and waved at the men in the pilothouse as they went by.  no, they did not try to edge us out of the channel, and yes, she is a beautiful boat :)

the miss kelly of beaufort, NC with her arms out

the neuse river was not particularly formidable when we entered from adams creek canal, however, as we made our way north, it started to deteriorate considerably until it got to the point where tom turned off the autopilot and actually started driving to make our ride less rough.  it had been a long day and we were beyond the point of anchoring before entering the neuse river and past ducking into oriental so we just kept going and when we made a slight turn to port at maw point, the ride got considerably better and by then, it was just a matter of time before we got to our destination - dave and sandy netting's place on ball creek off the bay river.  we missed seeing them on our way south because we were committed to the SAIL rally but they came to visit us in vero beach when they drove down in their camper and we promised to visit with them "for more than just a minute" on our way north.  dave came out in the rain and wind in a boston whaler and led us in and we tied up to their dock and here we will sit "for more than just a minute" with our friends. 

in the meantime, i'm throwing in these photos of a couple of houses we saw along the way that were painted colors that i probably wouldn't choose.  unfortunately, i failed to take a photo of the lime green house, too. 

beaufort, charleston, mcclellanville and myrtle beach.

back in beaufort where we stayed for five days in november, including the cruisers' thanksgiving at lady's island, this time we took a mooring instead of a slip.  tom wanted to go back to OLIVE THE ABOVE, an olive oil and balsamic vinegar store to have his tuscan herb olive oil bottle refilled.  me, i just wanted to find a bottle of NO NATZ.  we both got what we wanted, had some ice cream, walked on the waterfront a bit and went home. i gotta say, it was pretty buggy!  the blue angels were apparently in town and we just missed the show but that's okay since we are from annapolis and we have seen the air show many times.  we stayed home that evening and it was just as well because we got some heavy rain.  we noticed that our neighbor's hatch was open and they were gone, probably out to dinner, but by that time, it was already too late as the rain was coming down hard.  my allergies were really bad that day, too, but when i found the bottle of Dymista (combination steroid and antihistamine nasal spray) that marie had given me, it really took care of the symptoms.

we left the next day for charleston but stopped just before elliott cut at the edgewater park anchorage and spent the night.  it was very windy and rained overnight but it was a pretty good anchorage for the wind direction.  unfortunately, the next morning, i lost my reading glasses overboard.  i had them pushed up to the top of my head and they kind of slipped backwards, bounced off the rail and into the water.  i felt pretty bad because that was a pair that i had accidentally fractured when i sat on them and tom had repaired them with epoxy so that i could continue to use them.  oh well....  it had been a while since i had dropped anything overboard.

we bypassed charleston the next day, figuring we'd be back in the fall.  we had the shoaling at isle of palms timed for the rising tide.  that section is just very bad and getting worse, unfortunately.  the area north of it, though, is beautiful - wide open spaces, marsh as far as you can see.  we hit another shoal-y spot south of mcclellanville at high tide and then went into jeremy creek for the night.

mcclellanville is one of our favorite towns.  it is usually bypassed by everyone but those who "know" love the place.  all its live oaks are really old, not just the deerhead oak.  the wisteria and azaleas were out.  the noseeums were also out in full force.  and i made a new friend. 

the dolphin was looking for handouts but i'm afraid that i didn't have any fish for him.  but it sure was thrilling to be so close to one.  who doesn't love dolphins anyway?

also, the leland oil company's marina's black lab had puppies!  gruff old dwayne at the marina said "take one.  hell, take two!"  the puppies were barely two weeks old - they were nowhere near ready to leave their mommy.

we also went to the seafood market and bought some shrimp and clams.  dinner that night was pretty good :)  it rained heavily first thing in the morning which delayed our intended early departure.  in the meantime, though, disaster struck and my computer wouldn't boot up.  when i ran a diagnostic, it said it could not detect a hard drive.  oh well, dead computer.  good thing i always carry a spare!  so i set up my other one and we got going.  the bugs were REALLY BAD as we were leaving and it was all together just a grey, miserable day with intermittent heavy rain.  not to mention that we had the current against us all the way to osprey marina on the waccamaw river at myrtle beach which was our planned stop for a couple of days.  the engine oil and transmission oil needed to be changed.  we loved osprey marina when we came through in the fall.  it's our kind of place - small, quiet, inexpensive and nice people.

in any case, we fueled up (ouch) and then were told that our slip would be right there on the fuel dock.  well, that was easy!  in the meantime, i made more new friends - apparently, the turtles here at osprey are also beggars.  i can't step outside of the boat that they're not rushing over.  i had just thrown the trash, too, and tom reminded me that there was moldy bread that we had gotten rid off in it so i fished that out to have something for the turtles.  when i ran out of bread, i wondered if turtles would eat dog food and then i realized that i had given them all away at cocoa.  i have to say that as we head north, we miss consuelo more and more as we pass places like osprey where she was with us.

that evening, disaster struck again.  i was downloading software to make my computer current with the one that died and i was careless and managed to download a version that was bundled with a browser hacker.  it took me all night to clean it out and fix the damage and get my work software back up and running again.  i was so angry with myself for having wasted all that time because i was rushing to get things done and wasn't paying attention.  in any case, it all got fixed somehow.

tom got the maintenance on the engine done today but we decided to stay one more day as the weather was not going to be the best for traveling.  okay by me - i like here at osprey.

skidaway island and isle of hope, GA.

the delegal creek marina is in a lovely spot on skidaway island, a gated community. it is small and quiet, has all the amenities a cruiser would need including the use of a golf cart, and a great view of the surrounding marshes.  the only snag is that if you draw more than 3 feet, you have to wait for at least mid-tide.  but it is a great place for staging for the hell gate trouble spot on the ICW.  once we got through the channel, the dockmaster, billy, helped us get situated and the big clean up began.  my friend and former classmate, cynthia, arrived with flowers and lunch and it was a grand reunion - 33 years since she and i had seen each other!

she took us on a tour of the island and we had her over for dinner that evening - corned beef and cabbage (corned beef brisket went on sale after st. patty's day last month!)

the next day, tom and i spent the day at home working quietly at our computers while the barn swallows flew around us eating up noseeums and the dolphins splashed and played in the creek.  in the late afternoon, cynthia took us over to savannah for a tour.  i had never been to savannah and the last time tom was there was a  very long time ago.  it really is a lovely city, made even lovelier by apparently a lot of funding help from SCAD (savannah college of art and design) infused into the city.  downtown savannah is a fun place with lots of shops and places to eat and we could have eaten anywhere but we ended up, of all places, at FIVE GUYS because cynthia loves their peanuts!  tom has no problem with their burgers and i certainly have no problem with their bacon cheese dogs.  but,  the really amusing thing was the old-time music that they had blasting out of their speakers - my sharona by the knack. if anything reminded me of medical school, it had to be that song which was played CONSTANTLY ad nauseum when i was rotating in bay, laguna (rural) during my clinical clerkship - how appropriate was that?  haha...

we had a great time getting caught up while walking/driving around but we had to leave skidaway island the next day because of the tides.  we did not, however,  go far - only to the isle of hope marina.  we had to get out of delegal creek or be stuck there for a while and the tides were not favorable for negotiating the next ICW trouble spot at fields cut north of the savannah river.  more importantly, cynthia's husband, edgar, who is also my former classmate, was arriving from NJ and we had to wait and see him, too.  as soon as his plane landed, they drove directly to the marina to pick us up for dinner at  pearl's saltwater grille.  dinner was excellent and conversation even better.  it is good to see old friends - we remind each other of the things that we had forgotten - of simpler times when our chief concerns were a lot different from what they are now.  it is always an education to compare eras. 

we got dropped off at home before the rain came.  i failed to mention that before they arrived, tom and i took a little walk.  the isle of hope marina is right on the ICW and it was fun to see the parade of snowbirds going by, quite a few of the boats looking mighty familiar, all of us members of the same grand exodus.  we walked along the road that hugged the shore and enjoyed the view - the stately and gracious homes, the live oaks, the spanish moss - the atmosphere of the south.  we had georgia on our minds.

artsy fartsy gate

see the bluebird?

cumberland island, GA

from fernandina beach, FL, we crossed the st. mary's river and then we were in georgia.  we only had to travel seven miles to the anchorage, dropped the dinghy and went ashore. tom flashed his senior citizen national parks pass at the ranger and then we were free to wander around.  since we'd been at cumberland island before, we passed on the places we had been to and took a walking trail north then went out on the beach and walked along it on the way back.  it was nice to be back among the live oaks and spanish moss.  the beach was mostly deserted, just the way we like it.  the sand was hard packed and there wasn't much in the way of shelling.  the atlantic can be brutal that way.  it was also warmer than it had been when we were there last december. 

on the way back to the ranger station and our dinghy, we encountered an armadillo who didn't seem to know we were there - so engrossed in foraging.

armadillo video


we went back to the boat for lunch just as love and luck (less), one of the boats that was with us in the SAIL rally, showed up.  they and another boat, suenos (formerly ryajen but had a name change in key largo), had been shadowing us since cocoa.  i swear, we will never lose these people hahaha....  well, folks are making their way north now that spring has sprung. 

after lunch, we got back on the dinghy with the plan to explore the north part of cumberland island.  we put 25 miles on the dinghy that afternoon.  i don't think we have to worry about carbon build-up on the outboard now.  it needed the exercise anyway.  i don't think the marshes we went through have seen much in the way of people.  we also had to pick our way back when the tide went out.  we are back in the land of the serious tide swings.

even though i had to work that night, it was very pleasant being anchored - the night was pitch black so that the stars were clear and bright.  there was no road noise or ANY noise of any kind, just the sound of the atlantic surf crashing on the ocean side of the island.  unfortunately, though, i was having an issue with the internet signal - it always happens, of course, when i need to play catch-up at work and am in a hurry.  i ended up creating a hotspot with my iPad and tethering it to the laptop and that worked out okay.  it is ALWAYS something...

we got up early the next morning and after checking weather, decided that we would go on the outside that day and make some miles.  upon getting out into the ocean, however, it was a bit rolly.  it "looked" flat but it certainly didn't feel that way and a little later, some fog rolled in, however, it wasn't that bad and we just kept going.  the original plan was to go back on the inside at st. simon's sound but when we reached there, we changed our minds and pushed on for doboy sound, and with that move, we were essentially bypassing two of the ICW trouble spots where one would have to wait for high tide to negotiate the shallower areas.  after studying and calculating, the time spent cruising would have been the same but the distance covered would be much more.  as i said earlier, it wasn't exactly pleasant on the outside, but on the other hand, it wasn't that bad or even dangerous .  we lost internet signal on the atlantic side of cumberland island and then it returned as we approached st. simon's sound.  some day soon, i hope, the whole earth will be one big hotspot and no one will ever lose communication again.  still having to work for a living while cruising sucks.  on the other hand, it's better than not cruising at all, but it sure would be easier if i didn't have to fight with the internet all the time! 

we made it in through doboy sound okay despite the fact that some channel markers were missing.  from there, it was just a short cruise inland and we were back on the ICW.  we anchored amidst the marshes in new teakettle creek, a lovely desolate place with no shore access.  the only problem with the marshes at night....  no see-ums!  now that it is warmer, we've been noticing them.  i suppose that together with the bruises on my legs and arms from banging into things on the boat, the insect bites are part and parcel of the whole experience (sigh).  i can't say how many different kinds of bottles of bug juice i have on the boat.  should i have bought that bottle of NO NATZ that i saw over at fernandina beach?  i hate to use the deadly stuff after a shower.  it would be one thing if i was out in the woods camping but this is my home!  in any case, they are gone in the morning but then again, this raises the question - where do they go???  if they manage to get through the screens and into your home at night, where do they go during the day?  grrr.....  i hate the little buggers :( 

we got up at o'dark early the next morning and got going as soon as we could see to time high tide at the hell gate shoal, as well as at the entrance to the delegal creek marina to visit some classmates of mine from medical school - cynthia and edgar - who live on skidaway island, GA.  i hadn't seen them since graduation in 1981!   what a welcome - a bouquet of yellow tulips  AND a sushi lunch!  at least we got the boat cleaned up before cynthia arrived haha...  delegal creek marina is situated in an absolutely lovely spot with marsh all around.  we are here for a few days. 

the parallel trail on cumberland island

gnarly

the wind direction sculpts this trees

the beach on cumberland island

the wild horses of cumberland island

armadillo

tiny little bird

mosaic in fernandina beach

i think they need to move this red marker!

the entrance at doboy sound

sunset at new teakettle creek

fernandina beach, FL.

we did not make it to cumberland island from ortega as originally planned since the weather was not going to cooperate.  instead, we got as far as fernandina beach which is right at the border of florida and georgia, stopped at the fernandina harbor marina to fuel up and then took a mooring for the night.  in the meantime, some local liveaboard friends of tom's, charlie and bobby, formed a welcoming committee and presented us with a six-pack of heineken when we dinghied into town and then we all went to the salty pelican restaurant for a bite.  tom and i got back to the boat just in time before the thunderstorm rolled in, too.  after that little squall, we dinghied back into town to walk around.  we completely missed fernandina beach on the way south when we cruised from cumberland island straight to st. augustine.  at the time, it was very foggy so we could hardly see anything as we cruised by. in any case, as it turns out, fernandina beach on amelia island is a very cute little town with lots of places to eat and lots of little shops to poke into.  it was also hopping with people - saturday night, i guess.  it rained again while we were in town so we ducked into a gift shop where i found an adorable little beagle stuffed toy which i absolutely HAD to buy.  i set it up where consuelo used to hang out to survey her domain and it was the first thing i saw the next morning when i stepped into the salon.  it made me smile. 

we still miss her very much.  it is especially noticeable when we anchor or take a mooring and know that we have to drop the dinghy.  consuelo loved the dinghy. 

it is still very windy today and it looks like we may stay on this mooring an extra day even though cumberland island is only about seven miles away.  it's just not as protected a harbor and we really are not in any hurry anyway.  it doesn't look like the wind is going to be dropping until late this afternoon.  we will see.  i am really looking forward to going back to cumberland island even though it will be different without consuelo.  we had a lot of fun there last time. 

sunrise on the st. john's river

daytona beach, st. augustine, ortega landing and green cove springs.

we left cocoa on march 30, 2015.  it was good to be on the move again.  we had planned on spending the night anchored around new smyrna beach but we made good time and did not stop until we got to daytona beach and anchored just south of daytona beach memorial bridge.  it was a bit different, not having to drop the dinghy and not getting off the boat at all.  certainly less work but... well, we had a routine and now that routine is gone.  for now anyway.  still, it is an adjustment.  we still keep forgetting that there are certain things we don't have to do anymore.  quite frankly, we would rather do them just the same.  in any case, i forgot to mention that we passed the island just south of the haulover canal that had all the roseate spoonbills.  they weren't there when we headed south but they were certainly there as we headed north.  we were not close but you could see a lot of pink things in the trees and flying around in the sky!

the next morning, we left early for st. augustine.  nothing was keeping us in daytona.  the only comment i can make about the anchorage was that i miss the peace and quiet and beauty of little bay and the wide expanse of the southern chesapeake with all its little nooks and crannies.  seems to me that a lot of these anchorages along the iCW involve proximity to bridges with the accompanying road noise and oh, by the way, i don't think i've heard quite so many trains as i have since coming to florida!  there was a lot of critter action on this leg though - lots and lots of dolphin, osprey fishing and a pelican that got hooked by a fisherman casting from underneath one of the bridges - the fisherman reeled in the line and the pelican was moving backwards.  unfortunately, we did not get to see the end of that story.

st. augustine, as always, is a great place to stop.  we took a mooring at the municipal marina and dinghied in to the marina office to register and then went into town, had ice cream and  then we finally got to tour the castillo de san marcos.  we got in for free with tom's senior citizen national parks pass.  we tried to go in last december but we had consuelo with us at the time and she wasn't allowed so we passed on it then.  the next day, we met up with our friend, linda, who also happened to be celebrating a birthday.  she drove us around to see all the marinas along the san sebastian river, as well as the one across the bridge of lions on anastasia island before taking us to publix for provisoning.  yes, we are weird in what we like to visit but linda didn't seem to mind and then we all had dinner at barley republic in downtown st. augustine to celebrate her birthday.  it was a fun day for all. 


i decided to post a photo of a mooring for those who don't know what it is.  some marinas have mooring fields where anchors are sort of permanently sunk and marked by floats to which are attached lines that you can pick up with a boat hook and attach your boat to.  it's much cheaper than getting a slip but you still have marina privileges like use of the dinghy dock, laundry, showers, lounges and wifi password.  no electricity, of course, but you can come in and fill up water tanks or get a pumpout.  here are photos of a mooring. 

the next day, we left early for the st. john's river with every intention of going to green cove springs.  at least this time we were able to look around the tolomato river as on our way south, all we saw was very thick fog!  tom had mentioned that it was going to be a very long day but before we got to the st. john's, i asked him how come we didn't just stop in jacksonville and then rent a car to drive to green cove springs?  he looked at me for a bit and then said: the same reason we didn't just drive up there from cocoa while we had mikey's car, i didn't think of it!  haha....  one gets so focused on the end point sometimes and forgets that there are different ways to get there.  i didn't think of it either until tom had mentioned biking three miles to get to st. brendan's isle.  well, three miles is nothing for me and tom always insists that it's because i have a regular bicycle instead of the fancy folding one that he has and he was not looking forward to those three miles.  not to mention that we would likely be anchored, meaning  that we would have to dinghy both bikes in as well - a royal production.  so i said, well, use my bike then!  and he said, but both of us have to go.  i rolled my eyeballs and said, you ride my bike and i will ride yours!  no response....  in any case, i thought about it for a while and then said what i did about renting a car.  a little later, tom started making phone calls. 

once we got to the st. john's river, the current just about killed us - we fought it all the way past downtown jacksonville until we got to the ortega river and into the marina at ortega landing which is a VERY NICE marina and within walking distance to a publix and west marine.  of course, it is 25 miles up the st. john's river and completely out of the way whether you are going north or south on the ICW.  but we were going to st. brendan's isle at green cove springs to pick up mail and take care of florida residency and driver's licenses and stuff so we had to take that detour. 

enterprise car rentals picked us up the next morning and brought us to their office and then we had a car, drove to green cove springs and finally saw our address - 411 walnut street.  we picked up mail and were reminded that it was good friday and that offices might be closed - oh no!  well, the court was closed but we already took care of that stuff by mail from cocoa and it was just the driver's licenses to do and that office was open, thank goodness!  things can get a bit complicated when you live on a boat and don't really have a fixed physical address but st. brendan's isle helps with all that stuff and makes it easier.  green cove springs is a nice little town with very friendly and helpful people and tom and i both got our florida driver's licenses with not too much hassle. after that, we drove around looking at marinas and boatyards again and then went grocery shopping, picked up some chicken wings for lunch and parked in sight of the river on our way back to ortega. i looked at my new license and noticed that the address on it was tom's annapolis house in MD and i mentioned this to him.  a little later, he called st. brendan's isle.  i mean, it was odd.  at first, we thought it was just the way they did things for people like us, but things just didn't seem right and sure enough, they weren't.  scott of st. brendan's isle ran over to the county office and talked to some people and we drove back there and met up with him.  it's a good thing we hadn't driven all the way back to the marina yet.  anyway, it all got straightened out eventually and off we went again, back to the marina where tom dropped me and the groceries off and took the car back to the enterprise office. 


as i was walking back to the boat, there was a manatee at the marina that was enjoying another boat's A/C water discharge, letting it massage its face and chest.  it was so cute, waving its flippers in the air in ecstasy. 

so, anyway, mission at green cove springs is accomplished, and in the morning, we will leave for cumberland island but plan to stop at fernandina beach along the way to fuel up.  well, we got to see some of the st. john's and we really hope to come back this way at some point and go all the way to sanford like we had originally planned.  ortega landing and green cove springs were really nice little stops but tomorrow, georgia will be on our minds. 

more photos from st. augustine visit:

el galeon

sunset at the st. augustine mooring field

sunrise in st. augustine