Welcome to our BLOG.  On April 12, 2013, we completed the purchase of our 38 foot Lagoon catamaran, Peregrine.  We kept the name Peregrine as it had two meanings which seemed to fit us.  The first is that of the Peregrine Falcon as a sailboat does in fact fly with the wind.  The second meaning is its depiction as a wanderer, which we intend to be doing a lot of in future days.  

She was built in 2001 so she has a few miles on her.  However, the previous owner had taken good care of her and had been preparing her for long term cruising. He just finished replacing all of the electronics with new Simrad units from the radar to the Fusion Sonic Dock (for iPod).  He also recently installed a new generator, freezer and isinglass enclosure.  All of which we appreciate.  The boat was located in Baltimore, Maryland, so we elected to make our initial adventure the 1000 mile trip from there to Jupiter, Fl.  We have created this blog so that interested friends and family can follow along with our adventures.  

This is a picture of our new home away from home.  We had a similar picture posted on our refrigerator for the past 5 years and now the dream has been realized.  We can barely contain our excitement at this point. 

 

Since we have been stuck in the marina for awhile, I thought I better get started on this blogging thing.  We are already 14 days into this adventure, and just now finding the time to do this.  I have been keeping a journal, so I will copy my day to day entries from there to catch up. 

Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - Steve had his first closing today at 12:30 pm.  That is what we have been waiting for to leave for Baltimore.  We have been planning since we closed on the boat 2 weeks ago.  I cooked pistachio chicken, shrimp sauce, epicurean beef, carrot soup, chicken soup and Cuban chicken to name a few.  Hopefully with enough rice and noodles we can make all this food last us through the trip.

 

We packed the food on dry ice in our 102 qt. cooler.  Rented a Dodge SUV, which was packed to the ceiling.  Could not see out the rear-view mirror.  Pulled out of Jupiter 5:30pm headed for Baltimore.  Trip was uneventful up until 2am.  I was driving through S. Carolina doing about 70 mph when a crippled deer came running out from the median side. I slammed on breaks and swerved into the shoulder.  Missed him by inches.  YIKES!  About an hour later, I get pulled over by SC state police, giving me a warning for unlawful lane changing.  We've got no idea what he was talking about, but at 3am in morning and being in the fine state of SC, I just smiled and said "yes, officer".  Thank you very much.  WHAT A JERK!!!

 

 

Thursday, April 25th -  Arrived at the Baltimore Marine Center around noon, checked into the marina office, got our access cards for the gate, and started the long trek down pier B.  We're at the end.  We stood at the end of the dock, and there she was.  I starred at her for a moment, cried a little and stepped aboard. LET THE ADVENTURE BEGIN! 

Wednesday, May 1st -  We walked around in a fog for the first few days.  The trip up we went over 30 hours without sleep. We were spent!  So we took a lot of naps in between inventorying the boat.  Had to open every cubby and hatch to find out where everything was and just what we had on board in the way of spare parts.  We found lots of goodies.  It was like Christmas.  Sailing harnesses, a new set of hatch covers, spare parts for the generator and both engines, filter for the plumbing, etc.  They left all their dishes, pots, pans, coffee pot, flat ware and cleaning supplies.  Even with all this, Steve ended up making about 10 trips to West Marine.  They got to know him on a first name basis real quick.  Two days after our arrival, we had a couple dingy over to our boat with 2 bottles of wine. These are our neighbors at the Baltimore Marina, Tim and Tina.  They live on their boat. 

Gotta love this lifestyle. Well, we've been here 7 days.  The boat is clean and prepared.  Not sure we are, but we plan to toss the dock lines off tomorrow morning.  I sneaked a little ice cream on board for a treat on our first night out on the hook.
 

Thursday, May 2nd -  Winds coming from NE lightly.  Removed the six dock lines and jumped on board.  Uneventful! YEA. We headed down the Patapsco River toward the Chesapeake Bay (about 9 miles).

These shots give you an idea how big some of these bridges are up here.  Big enough for the big container ships to come through -impressive! 

 

Out on the bay we had to share the channel with some rather large ships!

Wow can they ever throw a wake.  We made great time the first day.  Averaged about 7.5 knots.  Made it to Solomons Island and anchored out in Mills Creek in a little cove called Bow Cove.  Quite pretty.  The geese were honking up a storm. 

Friday, May 3rd - Peaceful night.  Anchor held perfectly.  Day 2 on the water begins a bit more windy.  Winds were 20 knots.  Took a few over the bow and tossed some things around in the cabin.  Spent about 30 minutes picking up the dried spaghetti disaster.  We began to smell a strong odor coming from the battery pack in the port -berth.  "Hydrogen sulfide".  The smell of cooking batteries.  Time to go in and seek help.  Point Lookout Marina looked like a reasonable choice, so we headed inside Smith Creek on the north shore of the Potomac River.  Dodging crab pots is a way of life up here!  Completely unnerving!  They were everywhere.  We were told to tie up at the end of B dock, which left us a bit exposed, but happy to have made it in.  

Saturday, May 4th - It is 52 degrees in the cabin this morning.  So thankful for our heater.  Electricians came down with their meters and sure enough alternator/regulator malfunction in the port engine.  Fortunately, we had a spare on board.  The guys replaced it for us and only charged us for one hour ($85).  They were here at least 2 hours.  We were grateful.
 

Tuesday, May 7th -  We are still at the dock at Point Lookout Marina (Day 4).  The weather deteriorated to the point of small craft warnings, 20 knots winds with gusts to 30 knots.  The boat has been knocked around for the past 4 days at the end of this dock.  The howling winds through the rigging is very loud and gives me an uncomfortable feeling - eerie! There was another Lagoon 380 that pulled in today.  They picked up a crab pot - imagine that!  They came by to chat.  Reported that conditions were horrible.  The boat did fine, but they were beat up pretty bad.  They were glad to get off the boat. Steve has made friends with the resident dog, Tiki. What a sweetheart.  He follows Steve around, and doesn't want him to stop petting him. Cute!

 

Wednesday, May 8th - We thought we might be able to get out of here this morning, but after listening again to the NOAA marine forecast, that would not be the case.  Winds still gusting to 30 knots.  Tomorrows forecast is so much better, it will be worth the wait.  I'm not interested in getting tossed around.  We are so far behind schedule now - oh well.  Who needs a schedule anyhow? Time for journal entry.

Thursday, May 9th -  It was the strangest feeling last night when all of a sudden around 10pm, the winds stopped.  The howling through the rigging was silenced.  No more lapping waves against the side of the boat.  No more banging up against the dock.  PEACEFUL sleep.  5:45AM awakened by the first fishing boat leaving.  Up, drank our coffee, used the facilities and casted off the dock lines.  Finally leaving the dock at Point Lookout Marina, MD.  This picture is of "A" dock. 

Completely destroyed by hurricane Sandy.  An Osprey couple decided to build their nest right at the end.  The little chicks were getting their fannies wet during high tide.  It was a beautiful day out on the Chesapeake today.  Calm seas and much calmer winds.  (5-6knots) We crossed over into Virginia waters at Smith Point around 10:30 am. 

 

We are sharing these waters with some very large ships.  This is a north bound tanker "NYK LINE" 650 long with a beam of 100 feet.  Doing 21 mph.  The kind you want to give a very wide berth.  Like maybe a mile or two!  We can use our AIS to identify the ships and find out about them.  Pretty nosey, but kind of fun.  Luckily, we were far enough away from this big guy so we didn't have to endure the 5 - 6 foot wake!

Had a great day on the Chesapeake today - uneventful, which is always good.  Motored into Jackson Creek off the Piankatank River.  Tried the south fork, but didn't look too good.  As we were turning around in rather shallow water, I might add, we caught the port hull on a shoal.  OOPS!  Fortunately, a soft grounding and an easy back out.  North fork of Jackson Creek, much more desirable.  Just beyond the marina and behind an "already anchored" mono hull was a great spot.  Went to use the windlass to drop anchor - NO GO!  Holy crap!!  Steve's running around looking for a switch that maybe we forgot to turn on.  In the mean time, I'm using the throttles to try and hold the boat in one place.  Just a little windy - not bad.  Finally Steve noticed a breaker switch in the port berth that had been thrown - it was to the windlass!  Back in business.  Anchored up, holding good.  Life is good.

Very peaceful setting with nice older homes, large oak trees, geese and ospreys.  Light rain. Around 7pm a small pilot house mono hull sailboat came motoring past us.  Got right up between us and the shore and ran aground.  The captain was using a tiller to maneuver the boat. Freed himself without too much trouble.  Now we don't feel so bad about running aground on the other side.  Very peaceful evening.

 

Friday, May 10th -

61 degrees this morning.  Beautiful blue skies.  Osprey fishing right in front of the boat.  Picked off a good size fish - impressive.  Had to fight our way through the crab pots again, but the seas were calm and much easier to see them.  Having a little problem figuring out these sea cocks and piston handles for the heads.  Locking position seems to be different for each head.  What is with these things??? Nice calm day.  Steve at the helm, and I'm relaxing on the back seat in the cockpit looking over the  vast waters of the Chesapeake.  It's a lovely day, indeed.  Approaching Norfolk we had to wait for the Andes, a 600' tanker to make its way into the inlet.  Steve didn't feel comfortable jumping in front of him.  I can't imagine why not.  He was traveling about 15mph to our 7 mph.  We'll wait!  The lighthouse is quite impressive at the entrance to the Norfolk channel.

  It is powered by solar panels.  The seas are dead calm.  Even the seagulls are just floating around.  The sky is perfectly blue with a few puffy white clouds.  The sun is high in the sky and shimmering across the water's surface.  We stopped at the Tidewater Marina for the evening.  Steve bumped the dock (just barely) backing into a slip.  Oops!  No harm done to the boat. Just peeled back the rubber a little on the dock.  Last minute wind gust - oh well!  The Navy's presence is quite apparent here in Norfolk.

Saturday, May 11th -

We had to go through several bridges and a lock today.  It's all about the timing. The picture is of me holding the lines on the stern.  They don't actually tie you off. They just loop around their cleats.

   Some of the bridges open every hour, some every 30 minutes.  While waiting on one bridge to open, Steve was fooling around with the electronics and went a little too far over to the starboard side (our depth finder transducer is on the port side hull).  I just said something to him about being too close to the shore on that side.  He quickly reminded me that we were in 12 feet of water.  About 3 seconds later - BUMP - BUMP!  Oops! Alarms go off, the bridge tender hails us on channel 16 telling us we were too far over and watch for the cypress stumps.  I pick up the radio: "TOO LATE - WE FOUND THEM!"  Steve tried backing off of them, turning in one place - nothing would work.  We were stuck solid.  I actually tried hailing Boat US for some help.  They never answered!  The bridge finally opened, and a big trawler came through and offered us some help.  We tied off our stern - Nothing.  Finally we tied off our port bow and the other boat was able to pull us free.  Now, we get to wait for the next opening of the bridge.  Fortunately it was an every 30 minute opening. I was so nervous.  I kept checking the bilge for extra water.  Nothing.  No holes in the boat!  Yea!!  Escaped a disaster!  We made it through the rest of the bridges and the locks without a hitch. Anchored up in Blackwater Creek.  Beautiful spot just west of the ICW. Grasses all around as far as the eye could see.  Steve and I were up on the trampoline watching the stars come out around 9pm.  All of a sudden our mast was glowing in light.  Freaky.  We thought we were being abducted by aliens.  We got up to look, and saw a huge spot light pointed right at our boat.  We finally figured out that it was a tug, pushing a very large barge down the ICW. He was making sure that he had clear passage. We had forgotten to turn  our anchor light on, so I'm sure he was a bit nervous about us coming out into the channel.  We quickly got it turned on for him. 

 

Saturday, May 11th -

Ok, I know.  I already posted Saturday, May 11th.  Well, I've got my days mixed up somehow.  I'll just have to figure it out later.  For now, I am sure we motored into Coinjock Marina on Saturday after spending the night in Blackwater Creek.  Got into Coinjock early (11:30am).  Time to do some laundry, get a few groceries and have cocktails with Penny and Shell on their motor vessel "Friend Ship".   Four couples.  Then it was off for prime rib - their restaurant is apparently famous for it. 

 





Sunday, May 12th -

"Happy Mother's Day".  Woke 5:30am.  Weather Report indicates winds shifting to the west then to the north.  Perfect for us to cross the Albemarle Sound.  A quick cup of coffee and we prepare Peregrine for a cast off.  Both neighbors show up to help us off the dock, as we were packed in like sardines (about 1.5 feet apart).  Current fairly strong through this narrow strip of the ICW.  There appearance was one part helpful mariner and the rest "I'm here to make sure you don't ram my boat trying to get off the docks"!  HaHa.  Seriously, we were packed.  They were actually quite helpful.  Albemarle was quite rocky, but doable.  Survived the wait for the Alligator Swing bridge to open.  That's always fun, trying to hold Peregrine in one place, fighting winds and current.  We stopped at Mile 127 (Pungo River) at 5:30 p.m. It was a long day.  Made 77 miles, the longest so far.  Dropped the anchor in a very picturesque area along with 4 other boats for the evening.  We sat out on the trampoline and watched a beautiful sunset after dinner.

  Our Sumbrella chairs worked great (compliments of the previous owners).  The red-winged black birds are calling out from the  marshes.

 



Monday, May 13th -

Slept well last night out on the hook.  Had to head into Belhaven for fuel, a few groceries and ice.  No Internet or cell phone service last night.  Completely off the grid.  It was nice.  The dock master at Belhaven doesn't come to work until around 10am.   So, we just pulled up to the dock and went to tie off.  One of the other boat owners came out to help us.  He had been living there for several months and felt like he owned the place.  He apparently  helps out around the marina.  He actually ended up offering to take me to the Piggly Wiggly on the golf cart.  Very helpful. We finally got our fuel, some much needed peanut butter (a staple on this trip), bread, butter, ice, etc.  Back to the ICW at 10:20.  Anchored out again (second night in a row) in Broad Creek.  A beautiful little cove with fine homes and lots of open natural areas lining the banks.  We crashed early (8:30pm). A few games of solitaire, and off we went. 

 

Tuesday, May 14th -

Woke to a fantastic sunrise. 



It's off to Camp LeJuene.  Left Broad Creek around 7am.  Saw our first dolphin playing around the crab pots coming out of the mouth of Broad Creek and into the Neuse River.  It was very strange entering into the grounds of Camp LeJuene.  The army was blowing something up, and they were using something mighty powerful.  It was vibrating our boat every time the explosion would occur.  Just hoping there is no "friendly fire" mishaps through here.  They actually have a basin that works perfectly for overnight anchorage - Mile Hammock Bay.  The army dug it out several years back and lets cruisers use it.  Mighty nice, we thought.  It was a little crowded and very windy.  Worried about the anchor dragging, but we did OK.  Check out our neighbor in this anchorage.  It looked like it belonged up in the north pole somewhere.

 

 

Here are a few other shots of army war games evidence.  We listened to "ospreys" (a special airplane that also can fly like a helicopter used by the military)  half the night doing practice maneuvers.  Very impressive. 







 Wednesday, May 15th -

It was so windy last night.  Steve ended up tying a rope around some of the rigging to stop the howling from the wind. It made it sound much less ominous.  We left our anchorage 7:20am.  Facing three restricted bridges today with lots of wind and current.  Oh joy!  We made our first bridge (Surf City swing bridge) right on time.  We actually had to hurry up (if there is such a thing in a sail boat).  There was a commercial vessel waiting to go north bound and the bridge tender lets them go through on demand.  We benefited from his arrival.  We slipped through about 10 minutes early.  Steve, again playing with the electronics, bumped us on the ground "outside the channel".  No harm done.  Called ahead to Joyner's Marina in Carolina Beach, NC.  Fought winds and current most all day.  Trying to get in the marina, Steve had to navigate a narrow channel lined with big "mean-looking" boulders to get inside.

  He was battling 15-20 knot winds and a wicked current.  We came in "crabbing".  It was a beautiful site - it was perfect!  Equal distance from each side lined with those mean boulders.  Reached the entrance and made a 90 degree right turn around the dock pole.  Fortunately, they assigned us to the end of a T-dock.

  Steve just gently laid Peregrine up against the dock, I jumped on to the dock and secured the lines.  Not much help in docking here.  It was Miranda's first day by herself.  She's about 20 years old (if that), and all of about 90 pounds.  She was completely overwhelmed at the fuel dock.  It all worked out.  Steve and I need the practice to handle the boat on our own anyway.  We celebrated Steve's awesome entrance with a couple of nutty buddy ice creams after dinner.  Steve actually received a "good job" from a couple of "old salts" sitting on the dock.  Two older gentlemen. They recently purchased a small mono hull over the Internet somewhere up north. They then found out that the engine didn't work, and it was not worth fixing.  So, they put a small outboard engine on the back, and plan to motor their way home to Daytona Beach, FL.  They teased, asking us if they could just attach a rope to us and we could "just drag their ass back to FL".  We all had a big laugh.

 

Thursday, May 16th -

Woke to a beautiful morning on the water.  Just still a bit breezy.  Decided to head for South Carolina.  Winds are expected to die down after midnight tonight.  It's 1:40pm and we are cruising down the ICW in calm waters. Interesting little shrimping ports, beautiful homes.  We are having a cup of Starbucks coffee and Keebler pecan sandies - life is good!  Pulled into Cricket Cove Marina, just inside the SC border around 5pm. Had to make it across the line.  Great little restaurant - Snooky's. I had crab cakes (hoping they were not from MD and its filthy water) and Steve had seared tuna.  Took our left overs back to the boat for tomorrow's lunch.  This is a shy little kitty that was (I'm guessing) the resident rat exterminator.  He/She was not much for socializing.

 

 

Friday, May 17th -

Had to wait for Brad, the dock hand this morning.  We needed to top off the fuel and get some more ice in case we end up anchoring out again tonight.  Off the docks by 8:00am.  Swing bridge right around the bend, but fortunately, it opens on demand.  Steve doing great with the boat, making her sit in one place.  A little help from the head wind and current. Today, they were in our favor.  We are getting ready to go through an area called "rock pile".  YIKES!  Do they have to call it that?  The channel is lined with rocky outcroppings, so no getting out of the channel here.  I definitely will not be taking the helm through this - not the way I snake down the ICW.

  I'm constantly losing the channel. I'll just have to keep practicing, but NOT through the rock pile.  It's 2:15pm.  We rounded one of the many bends in the Waccamaw River.  We came across a small motor boat across from the Wachesaw Landing Marina.  There were 4-5 young ladies on board, all of which were waving there arms as if in distress.  Steve motored over their way.  "What's the problem?" I say.  "We don't know, the motor just quit."  "Do you have an anchor?" I say.  "We don't know."  "Oh, yes! We have one".  "Put it out" I tell them. "Do you have any oars?" "No, we don't think so". "Do you have a cell phone?"  "YES".  "Well, you see that marina right there across the river? CALL THEM." " Ask them to send someone over to haul you guys back over to the dock."  I tried hailing them on the radio, and didn't get a response.  Plan B is spotted.  Another small power boat, only this one had three young chaps, all tatted up.  I wave them over.  "hey fellas, there's a boat with a load of young ladies over there that needs a tow over to that marina.  Can you give them some assistance?"  "A boat load of girls?" they say.  "Hec, yea, we'll help them".  PROBLEM SOLVED! We motor on our way.  Statute Mile 384.

 

Further on down around several more bends, and we passed by a waterfront bar hosting Biker Week.  Santana was playing very loudly over the over sized speakers.  Could not help myself - started dancing a little and waving my arms.  Got a great response from the patrons.  A bunch of synchronized waves! And, one encouraging us to come join them.  We wave good bye and continue motoring on. 

 

It got a little warm today. Large trees along both banks, no open areas for the cooler breezes. Scenery was beautiful.

Made it to Georgetown Landing Marina about 5:30pm. Got a spot on the face dock between a mono hull and a sport fisherman.  Steve pulled her in perfectly.  His skills are incredible in such a short period of time.  We borrowed a couple of old rusty bikes from the marina and headed to the Food Lion.  We needed to stock up on tuna, bread, powdered milk, cookies and tea.  Stopped off at the Taco Bell on the way back to the marina and picked up a few burritos for dinner.  BONUS!  After hot showers, we feel like new people.  Steve is having to deal with his up coming real estate closing, and I can see him getting frustrated.  He feels terrible about not being there to handle things himself. Handling it long distance, and having to use other people to help, just loses that personal touch that he likes. Time to plan for tomorrow's trek.

 

Saturday, May 18th

Got another late start.  Filled the boat tanks with the jerry cans, then had the marina fill our jerry cans. Only used 2 1/2 cans (about 12-13 gallons of fuel).  Steve took the time to wash down the boat deck, as it was filled with black foot prints from our sandals.  (NOTE TO SELF: put down towel for feet when at the dock.)  Boat looks much better.  Lots of mosquitoes this morning.  Had to break out the repellent for the first time.  I filled our water bottles, made our "breakfast of champions", peanut butter and banana sandwiches.  Finished off the orange juice.  Each time we pull away from a face dock, we have to figure wind, current and other boats.  Then decide which ropes to untie first. Today we untied both swing lines, and looped both the bow and stern lines from the dock cleats back to the boat.  This way, I stay on the boat and release us from the dock while on the boat.  No help! Just me.  Worked like a charm and we were off as the current grabbed our bow and swung us out.  PERFECT!.  OOPS, I look back and see that I have left our spay nozzle on the electrical pedestal, back at the dock.  DAMN!  "Oh, the hell with it" was our response.  Then Steve remembered that we really needed it to spray off the mud from our anchor line after each anchor. So, back to the dock.  Another perfect landing, I jump on the dock, quickly tie off the stern, grab the nozzle, untie the stern and back on the boat.  I'm guessing 10- 15 seconds.  We were off again around 9:45am.  Weather is good, but wind still 10-15 knots straight out of the south.  Expecting the same for the next two days. After leaving the docks, we turn south into Minim Creek Canal entrance.  Entrance very tricky with shoaling, eddies and wind change, crab pots too!  Saw our first alligator!! YEA! We are getting closer to home.  We made good time, so passed right by two of our possibilities for anchorages for the evening.  We surveyed Price Creek.  It went all the way to the inlet, so we felt like we would be too exposed and would be subject to stronger currents during tidal changes.  We moved on to Dewees Creek where we had three choices.  We chose option 3 out of Skipper Bob's book.  It said it was the "most protected". We turned west into Dewees Creek, past Eagle Island and anchored.  A beautiful spot.

  More swamp/grasses.  Lots of birds and dolphins.  We were all alone and loving life!  We stayed up on the top of the salon for a while - concerned for the big swing during tidal change.  Steve stayed up there until around midnight and then stayed in the cockpit until 2 am.  I got up and saw that we were already starting to swing back to our original spot - tide heading back out.  No dragging.  Plenty of space for swinging.  Steve finally came to bed - 2am.  We heard all kinds of bird chatter and fish jumping.  Even a dolphin coming up for air as he worked the shoreline.  Very cool!  A beautiful evening and perfect weather.

 

Sunday, May 19th -

Perfect sunrise this morning.

 We took our time, as we do not plan to go far - only about 20 miles.  We will be stopping at St. John's Yacht Harbor just south of Charleston, SC.  There, Steve we be able to access the Internet and be prepared to check on closing documents for the Clevenger's closing on the 24th.  We plan 2 nights here.  We pushed a little hard (8 knots) this morning to catch the 11am opening of the Ben Sawyer Swing Bridge (just before Charleston).  WE MADE IT! With 4 minutes to spare!

Pulled into St. John's Yacht Harbor around 2pm.  Very windy with ridiculously strong current.  Five guys showed up at the end of E dock to help us tie up.  Steve had to motor very close by a large sport fishing boat with a "mega" swim platform sticking out about 4 feet from the back of his boat.  He had to swing into the dock and jam it in reverse.  Incredible job!  I ran for the boat pole thinking he was going to clip that swim platform, but the dock guys waved me off, hollering "NO, he's fine!"  "Throw the lines".  So, off I run, first throwing the bow line, then the swing lines, and finally the stern line.  Peregrine was snapped into place.  Steve laid her within inches of the dock without touching it! OMG! I'm amazed.  We got settled, then ran up to the Bar and Grill at the Marina for a quick hamburger - YUMMY!  This marina actually offered a courtesy car to transients.  So, we took advantage of it.  Decided to take this opportunity to provision for the rest of the trip.  We found a Harris Teeter (like Publix)  and to our surprise, it was sitting right next door to a West Marine.  How convenient.  We were able to pick up another shackle to better secure mooring balls and grab our Florida chart book and cruising guide.  We were exhausted again.  Hot showers felt wonderful.  This marina is first class.  Bath house looks like a 5 star hotel with granite counter tops, white shutter-type doors for the showers and bathrooms, polished silver handles and nautical light fixtures.  Classy wooden benches and very nice tile work.  Spotless.  I must write a review to cruising magazine about this place.  We slept well. 

 

Monday, May 20th -

We stayed at the dock today so Steve could finish up his real estate dealings and do a little maintenance work on the boat.  We got our first "pump out" today.  Had to take a picture of the big event.  We were told the last pump out was in the fall, right before the boat was winterized, and had not been used since.  Just to be on the safe side, we decided to have them both pumped out while we are here and it would be convenient.  They have a pump out boat that comes right up to your boat - dock side, jams the suck tube down over the opening and turns it on.  I took the picture and then ran away.  Looks like Steve isn't all to happy about being there either.

We had a front row seat to watch the dolphins playing under the bridge most of the day.  What a great view to have watching the dolphins. For the past couple of nights, since being in South Carolina, we have been hearing this loud crackling noise under both our hulls.  I remembered reading something about this about a year ago.  I just so happened to have that very novel on board.  So, I reviewed this novel that I had read about a year ago: "An Embarrassment of Mangoes".  It's about a Canadian couple who decided to cruise from Canada to Grenada over a period of what had planned to be one year.  They decided to stay out an additional year.  Anyway, they had discovered one night in South Carolina that something was making an awfully loud "crackling" noise under their hull.  They searched frantically for the cause, but gave up when they realized they didn't seem to be in any eminent danger.  They found out later from the local sailors that the noise was from krill eating the "stuff" off the bottom of the boat. So, after explaining the cause to Steve, we just sat back and hollered "eat, boys, eat! Less for us to clean later!" 

Tuesday, May 21 -
Off the dock at 7am.  Headed for Beaufort, SC.  Almost to GA!  Water is like a mill pond.  It is so smooth you can see every ripple, and you can't miss the dolphin fins.  It is a bit overcast with a stormy feel. But the winds are calm for the moment.  Around statute marker 490-500, in SC, lots of baby dolphins are sited.  They looked to be only a couple of feet long.  Too cute. 
We are going through this section at dead low tide.  Very shallow with skinny channels.  I ran us up into the shallows at one point.  Depth finder dropped from 12' to 6' in a hurry.  I throttled back and yelled for Steve to come help.  Too many channel makers.  I got confused and began to site down on the wrong one, taking us across the shallows.  I was politely reminded that I must not only watch the channel markers, but also watch the contour of the bottom and get the big picture from the electronics, plus use my common sense!  OMG!  I have to use common sense, too!  Oh well, no harm done, no grounding!  Steve took control and got us back into the channel.  Heading towards Watts Cut (how funny - that's my maiden name).  When the channel marker is sitting in six inches of water it can make you a little uneasy.  Shallow is an understatement. Between 6-8 feet at best, with large ominous mud banks on either side ready to grab your hulls and pull you in.  Took this picture of a channel marker HIGH AND DRY.

  It was right around here that we went down to 5'.  Alarms went off, but we did not ground! YEA!  It's easy to see why they call the ICW "the ditch".  We passed a mono hull grounded at the entrance and another one waiting for higher tide.  Our alarms went off again, but eked by without bumping.  Depth finder was 3.9 with alarms blaring.  The two sail boats waiting to enter this area asked us to radio our depth at various points as we were coming through. They were trying to get an idea of the problems that awaited them.  Good time to have a catamaran.  We draw 3'9".  We had many stressful, shallow areas today.  But, on a good note, we seemed to have dodged a mean thunder storm, saw lots of dolphins, babies too!  We made the 4pm opening of the Lady's Island bridge! YEA! Never thought I would be so excited about making a bridge opening.  It is a big deal, especially if they only open on the hour.  It could be a bit of a pain circling in one place for 55 minutes, if you just miss the opening. We averaged 7.3 mph today. Did 66 miles. 

Tied up at the docks of Port Royal Landing Marina, Beaufort, SC, about 4:30pm.  Had a great dinner on board tonight.  Pork roast, green beans with almonds, black beans and rice, and applesauce with cinnamon.  Yummy.  A nice ending to a fairly stressful day.  It's off to Savannah tomorrow. We are still hearing the krill under the boat each evening.  Eat, boys, eat. 

Wednesday, May 22 -
Got away from the docks about 7:30am.  Easy departure.  A gentleman from another boat came out to give us a hand and bid us safe passage for the day.  He threw me the bow line and I released the looped stern line.  Off we go.  It takes me about 5 minutes to stow away the fenders, tie up all the dock lines and reattach the life lines on the side and stern exits.  It gets easier and easier.  I find myself not near as stressed out as when we first started.  I even take the time to twirl our dock lines while in the marina (sometimes).

We passed the two gentlemen we met in Joyner's Marina in Carolina Beach today.  They were still motoring south in the little mono hull with the outboard engine.  We yelled back at each other.  I teased with the rope to tow them back to Florida. We all had a big laugh and waved good bye.
More shallow water today with more alarms!  No groundings, though.  The southern part of South Carolina is quite beautiful.  Very scenic.  There's only one major problem - HORSEFLIES!  That's my new job.  Keeping the horseflies off the captain. Here's the evidence that I took my job seriously.

 

I know I must have killed several hundred over the course of the day. We finally had to close the isinglass and deal with the heat.  It wasn't that bad, we do have several openings with screens.  We also had learned to place a "white towel" using clothes pins to the blue canvas top over the helm.  This helped a great deal to reflect the heat away from the skipper's head.  Worked beautifully.  Today, Steve made the ultimate mistake.  He trusted his electronics more than the markers!  (I'm guessing this is where that "common sense" thing would come in handy).  He took the red markers to his port side, and we were red, right, returning.  The electronics was telling him the deeper water was on the right side - NOT SO!  ALARMS again!  Depth not good.  But, still no grounding - lucky dog.  Captain Steve pulls us out again.  Starboard side depth was 12' - imagine that.  "Follow the markers, captain!"  I had to go there.  No harm done.  We made it to Isle of Hope, Savannah, GA around 3pm.  Just ordered up a pizza.  Papa John's delivers!  SCORE!

 

 Thursday, May 23 -

Away from the dock early - 6:15am.  Able to catch the Skidaway Narrows bridge for its 7:00am opening.  Nine minutes to spare.  We were very apprehensive approaching Hell Gate today, but found it to be easier than what we went through yesterday.  We approached it at dead high tide.  Entrance depth read 9' at dead high tide.  This area has a 6' tidal swing.  I'm going to say that high tide was a wise choice for this area.  It has been a beautiful morning with a cool breeze, lots of sunshine, more dolphin and plenty of deep water.  Life is good!

We started looking for a place to anchor out around 3pm.  Our #1 choice (I always have 2-3) was the Darian River.  It had a channel, was plenty wide for good swing room. Skipper Bob warns to use your anchor light because shrimp boats use this river going to their docks in the evening.  Steve was uncomfortable anchoring so close to a well trafficked channel, so we went a little further down the ICW (2 miles) to the South River.  Another recommended spot from Skipper Bob with good swing room and no cautions (i.e. use two anchors, trip line, etc.). We tried two different places to drop the anchor.  Neither worked.  The wind was pushing us one direction and the current was pushing us in the opposite direction. Both of which were rather brisk, I might add.  It had the anchor line going under the boat.  Not comfortable.  We knew we would not sleep, so it was back to motor up the Darian River about 8 miles to the city docks.  Seems this fine little town allows boats to tie up overnight at their city docks for free.  It's about a 75' dock, and there was only one other sailboat at the far end - PERFECT.  Steve lands the boat perfectly.  It was an easy jump off the boat with a quick tie off.  Whew!  I smell fried shrimp dinner in our future.  Local seafood restaurant just under the fixed bridge in front of us. It's always a good sign to see about 10  shrimping boats tied up around the "fresh seafood" restaurant. We ordered up that good old southern fried shrimp, cheesy grits and buttered cabbage (they called it "steamed" cabbage.  My friend, I'm here to tell you, it was swimming in butter! Maybe this makes them feel like they are eating healthy).  It was to die for!!!  While waiting for our take out order, I had a lovely conversation with a gentleman named Ed that worked for Homeland Security.  He talked about retirement, and I was there to encourage him to go for it!  Maybe that's why we could not get anchored and had to motor 8 miles to the docks.  It's all about the signs.

It  was a somewhat stressful night. I woke up to the boat swinging way too much away from the dock and being snapped back. I got up and walked up and down the dock around 12:30 am trying to figure a better way to tighten the lines.  There were not enough cleats.  What do you want for "FREE" docks.  We only had three small cleats, and the current was ripping.  I had to wake Steve to come help.  He looped our spring line back to the boat in two places and added a port bow line to pull us in.  That did the trick.  The current was so strong it was making a wake off our bows.  Back to bed, but not very restful sleep. 

 

But a beautiful morning sunrise to greet us before take off.

 

Friday, May 24th-

Up at 5:30am.  Got an early start (as soon as we could see the channel markers).  It was 8 miles back to the ICW.  Right turn, and heading south again.  

We are going to try and get through the mouth of Jekyll Creek and stay at Jekyll Island Marina on the other side of the fixed bridge tonight.  It gets quite shallow, and warnings suggest you don't go through unless you are in an incoming tide half way through.
Oh well, we arrive at almost dead low tide, so it's off to the Brunswick Landing Marina. This bridge is the Sidney Lanier fixed bridge.  It crosses the Brunswick River and has 1036' horizontal clearance and 185' vertical clearance.  I think we can make it! Just on the other side is our right turn up the East River to the Brunswick Landing Marina.

  Not too much of a disappointment to have to change our plans and stay here.  We have friends that we met last April in Hope Town that stay in this marina when they are not in the Bahamas.  They just got back 2 days ago - how convenient.  I hailed the marina on #16 and a very "big personality" named Sherry hails back.  I mention our friends names and get the VIP treatment.  Perfect slip - straight in.  Our friends, Bill and Margaret came walking up about 20 minutes after our arrival.  It was so good to see familiar faces.  They came aboard and we shared adventure stories - great fun!  Margaret was kind enough to take me to the grocery store for more provisions,  Probably didn't have to go, but it's a good thing to go when you have the chance.  Your next chance may be many days away.  They invited us down to Dock 8 for cocktail hour, but Steve and I were so exhausted after our experience last night that we were falling asleep in the showers.  We decided to just walk down and say our good nights and good byes and not stay.  They understood.  We left the A/C running all night (first time).  We slept like babies.  Got up about 6:20am.  Drank our coffee, used the facilities, and on our way back to the boat, Bill comes walking up to say one last good bye and help us off the dock.  First, it's time to share one last cup of coffee in the cockpit.  Margaret joins us for send off. 

Saturday, May 25th -
Off we go - Florida bound today!  Margaret, Bill, Sherry and another gentleman tossing us lines as Steve backs Peregrine from her slip.  We are all waving with well wishes and safe passage. We are hoping to see them soon - in the Bahamas.  A little bumpy in St. Simon's Sound, but Peregrine handled nicely.  By 1:20pm we are docked at the Fernandina Harbor Marina.  Just inside the Florida State line.  Roger, one of the dock hands suggest the 4th Street Deli for lunch.  Cheep and great salads, sandwiches and soups.  We are all over that!  Secure the boat and off we go.  A chamber of commerce day for sure.  I spot a post office directly across from the 4th street deli, which is perfect since I forgot to hand in my pass card for the bath house at Brunswick Marina .  Oops, it's Saturday, they are closed.  I'll mail it back when I get home. 
We had a wonderful afternoon, relaxing, cleaning up around the boat, talking to other boaters.  Met a very nice lady, who was recently diagnosed with ITP (idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura - a platelet problem for those not in the medical field).  The shocking part of this story is that this lady is a hematologist (the type of physician that would normally treat this disorder).  Very ironic.  Very sad.  She seemed to be taking it in stride, and looked forward for remission so she could purchase a trawler and get traveling.  She had two great standard poodles, Sunny and Luke.  Sorry I don't have a picture.
We saved room for ice cream after dinner.  Fernandina Beach has a wonderful fudge/ice cream store about 2 blocks from the marina.  It was packed - a very popular place indeed.  Waffle cones jammed packed with cookies and cream for me and kalua and cappuccino for Steve.  What a way to top off the evening.  Sunset was spectacular.

 This is looking out over the mooring field at Fernandina Harbor Marina. 

 

We found this scene while walking back from the 4th street deli.  This little gal was taking a snooze while her owner played for coin.  Too cute.

 

Sunday, May 26th -

Woke before the alarm - 5:45am.  Time to get moving, as we have 61 miles to get to St. Augustine.  We need to get through the Bridge of Lions by 4:30 at the latest.  It does not open at 5pm, so we would have to wait until the 5:30 opening if we missed it.  Got away from the dock a little after 7am.  No problems even though we were wedged between two other boats.  We have mastered the art of looping our final line to be freed while I'm on the boat. The water is calm, the air temp is 70 degrees, the sun is coming up.  We have blue skies.  Again, life is good.

 This is the same mooring field, looking west in the morning.  The sun had all the boats lighted up.  Very nice.  There is quite a bit of vegetation floating  in the water.  Almost impossible to avoid.  Steve a little concerned about sucking it up into the filters.  Had a good day running.  Lots of dolphins again.  Made the 3:30pm opening of the Bridge of Lions.  Marina is directly to the south of this bridge.  We had to circle around and wait for them to find us a spot even though I had made reservations, they forgot that our beam was 21.5', so needed a wider spot.  We finally get our assigned spot and motor in.  We have to pull into the marina, turn right, go past this mega yacht, make another 90 degree turn to the left, then go down to the slip and make another 90 degree turn into a double slip with another good sized mono hull already in one side.  This would have been like threading a needle with 2 -3 feet between us.  Now add a ripping current and 15 knot wind.  NOT going to happen.  Captain Steve exercised his "captain's authority" and said "NO WAY, my friend." This was far too tight for the amount of wind and current. The poor dude on the mono hull was running for his fenders!  He was ever so grateful that Steve would not proceed.  We did a quick 180 degree turn, exited the tight squeeze, and headed straight for the face dock.  Us, and the mega yachts.  Oh well, we would have gladly stuck Peregrine in one of the double slips to either side of the selected slip, because they had no other boats in them.  We were told they were reserved.  So, we settled in on the face dock.  Had our showers and were getting ready to eat dinner when a knock comes on the hull.  Seems the new arrival (about a 90' mega yacht) wants to change places with us because the 100 amp service won't work on his power pedestal.  (We only use 30 amp). I'm thinking that there is no way we are pulling away from this dock again - not with this wind and current.  He offered to pull his boat out and "his people" would help us walk our boat forward.  We agreed.  I have to admit the man's docking abilities in the mega boat was just this side of amazing.  The whole marina was applauding.  The most amazing part is that he had no bow thrusters on that thing.  He later insisted we take a bottle of wine for our trouble.  We did not want to accept, but when we saw the name "Ass Kisser", we could not resist. 
Went into town for ice cream cones again.  Very nice, but too many people.  Hitting the sac early tonight - very tired.  This is a pic of the pirate ship the town takes people out on with fake fighting and cannon firing.  Pretty impressive. 

 

That's the Bridge of Lions in the background.  Nice backdrop for the evening. 

 

Monday, May 27th (Memorial Day)-

(Day 31) on the boat.  Slept well tied to the docks in St. Augustine.  No one in front of us - an easy slip away.  Left the docks around 7:30a.m.  Absolutely beautiful day.  70 degrees, light winds and calm waters.  It's good to be back in Florida.  Continuing to see dolphins this morning.  A beautiful site no matter how many we see.  This area of the ICW is quite beautiful. 

We had a little problem with the police pulling smaller boats over "in the middle of the channel".  Steve thought he had enough room to pass them on the their starboard side, but by the time they drifted further to the west, it forced us over too far - GROUNDED!  However, it was a soft ground, and Steve was able to get us off without too much trouble.  Imagine that!  The police being an impedance to the channel.  In retrospect, if we would have observed the wind a little more carefully, we should have anticipated their drift to the west.  We just thought that since we were much larger than them, and needed to stay in the deeper part of the channel, that they would have been kind enough to motor off to the other side - NOT SO. 

Made it to the face dock of Loggerhead Marina in Daytona Beach about 3:30pm.  Fairly windy.  It had us pinned up against the dock rather tightly. We had to shove Peregrine off the dock to place the fenders sideways for better cushion.  Captain Steve has re-worked all the lines the dock hands did.  Peregrine in much better shape now.  Fuel has been poured into the tanks from the jerry cans, water tanks are filled.  Ready to shower up and relax for the evening.  Live music coming from the restaurant.  Not bad.  We enjoyed a nice dinner at the restaurant and plan for an early night again.  We have 67 miles and several draw bridges tomorrow.  We have to get through the Memorial Bridge before 7:45am or wait until the 8:15 opening.  Fortunately, that should not be too difficult since we are staring at the bridge from the dock.

 

Tuesday, May 28th -

(Day 32)

Off the dock around 6:30am. We are through the two "on request" bridges and heading southbound for Cocoa Beach.  It is 7:00a.m and the sun is already above the condos to the east.  A little breezy today, otherwise another beautiful day on the ICW.  Peanut butter and banana sandwiches "again" for breakfast.  Steve's dying for eggs and bacon.  Soon come. 

I have been fighting a UTI for several days now.  Thought I had it under control by drinking a ton of water and a quart of "concentrated - no sugar added" cranberry juice.  I must have made 10 trips to the head before noon today.  OMG!  Gave up and placed a call to my good pal, Megan in the ER for and Rx of Bactrim.  Fortunately, our destination in Cocoa has a Publix within a bus ride of the marina.  It was very windy this afternoon, with wind gusts to 23 mph out of the east.  Trying to dock us on the face dock was even a little difficult.  The dock's face is directly toward the wind.  So, as soon as Steve swung Peregrine around and put her port to dock, the wind just shoved her sideways up against the wood pilings.  A few wood splinters on the boat - not bad.  We put out the same set up that we had in St. Augustine with 4 fenders (2 at each position - sideways).  It looked like she might burst one of the fenders, so Steve pulled out a bigger fender and replaced the smaller one.  Worked much better.  While Steve was back at the dock trying to get Peregrine settled in safely, I took off on my bus adventure to Publix to retrieve my Bactrim.  This shady character at the bus stop kept bothering me for bus money.  Kept wanting me to use his bus card and give him my $1.25 cash for the bus - WHAT?? I finally looked at him right in the eye and told him that I was SICK, TIRED AND ONLY HAD ENOUGH MONEY FOR THE BUS AND MY MEDICINE AND THAT HE BETTER JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" That seemed to do the trick.  He was quiet and quite polite after that.  Bus came, I got on, but didn't know where to put the money. OMG! I need to ride public transportation more often.  The driver was kind enough and discrete enough to quickly point to where I needed to place the money.  Over the bridge we go, toward Cocoa Beach.  Second stop was mine. Publix just a short walk away.  Retrieved the Bactrim and Pyridium (more cranberry juice also) and back to the bus stop. Only this time I had to wait at the one across the street.  I had to clarify that with the bus driver before I got off.  He must have thought I was an idiot. Back at the bus stop for my return ride, and I cannot figure out which stop I'm at by the names on the schedule, so I have no idea what time the bus is coming.  Is that rain I smell.  So, I sit and wait, and pray that it doesn't start pouring.  It only drizzled a little.  Twenty minutes goes by, and there's the bus.  I was very glad to see the marina come into view.  Fortunately, someone else on the bus was getting off at my stop, because he was smart enough to know that you have to pull the "stop required" handle.  Otherwise, the bus will not stop!  Good Heavens!  No telling where I would have ended up. 

Shower felt great.  We ate Cuban Chicken and rice on the boat.  It was fantastic.  Like comfort food.  I blew off the rule about not drinking while on antibiotics.  How do you sit on your boat in a marina and not have a little glass of wine with dinner?  Impossible. 

Time for bed.  Peregrine was rocking, but not too bad.  Perfect for sleep, actually.  The breeze was blowing briskly through our hatch - very nice. 

 

Wednesday, May 29th -

(Day 33)

Very restful sleep.  We had to really think about the best way to get Peregrine off that dock as the wind had her pinned tightly.  Steve's final decision was to loop the spring line and the bow line.  I got on the boat.  He worked with the engines a little bit trying to make sure it was going to work the way we thought.  As the stern began to move out, I pulled the spring line, then ran to the bow.  as the bow  began to finally back away (against the wind), I quickly retrieved my looped line.  Captain Steve did great.  We had a pretty good day today.  Lots of rain storms, though.  Gusts up to 30 mph hitting our port side as the storms raced across the water.  A little lightening, but not too close.  We did both grab our rubber soled shoes. We pulled into Vero Beach Municipal Marina about 3:30pm.  Fuel, final pump-out, and it was off to our slip.  Another "thread the needle" situation.  Steve can't see the starboard sugar scoop, so he bumped one of the dock pilings.  Not too hard - again, no harm done.  Except for his ego.  Turning on a dime and backing a 21.5' wide boat into a 25' wide slip with boats all around you, sticking out beyond their slips - not an easy task.  It was a nice slip, right in front of the office. 

Hooked to shore power, on goes the A/C.  Not hard to get used to that!  Time for reflection on the past 33 days.  So, it's grab and growl night on the food for dinner.  All the left overs are brought out, add a little wine and cheese, and throw in a Bactrim for Susan.  A perfect evening. We feel like we are already home.  We have visited our friends, Margaret and Bill here in this same marina last December as they were on their way to the Bahamas.

Thursday, May 30th -
(Day 34)
Slept well last night.  Had the A/C going all night long.  The boat was very still last night, being in the slip and up a protected cove.  Almost too still.  I think I missed the rocking of the last few nights.  We had to catch the 8:10am bus (that actually came at 8:00) this morning.  Needed some distilled water for the batteries.  Very simple this time. Picked us up right in front of the marina and dropped us off right across the street from Publix.   No shady characters! Besides, Steve was with me this time.
Off the dock by 9:30am.  Steve did an awesome job wriggling Peregrine out of  her tight spot.  Not even a close call this time.  It's homeward bound today.  Mostly familiar waters as we get closer.  The ran squalls started in the late morning and continued through the St. Lucie Inlet.  We were pounded with steady 20+mph winds most of the day.  One gust right at the St Lucie Inlet registered 32mph.  This, added on top of strong inbound current, shoals that were now difficult to see because of the chopped up water, pouring down rain and other boats!  It was definitely all eyes on deck today.
We finally got to our destination - so we thought.  We called Martin, because none of the 5 canals we were looking at looked familiar.  "Which canal is yours?" I say.  Martin replies with "there should only be three canals. Can you see the Hobe Sound bridge?"  OOPS! we had not gone far enough.  So, making another U-turn, we head just a little further south.  As soon as we spot the bridge, it all became familiar to us.  We had been down his canal multiple times in his sailboat.  Did I mention the width clearance down Martin and Lynn's canal is fairly skinny.  I believe it only has 25' clearance down the middle.  Boats on either side most all the way down. You literally have to weave your way down through there.  We've seen Martin do this with his boat (which is wider than ours), so here we go.  Poor Steve.  One last challenge.  It was a perfect slip through and a good landing at the dock.  Martin was standing at the dock waiting and waving us on.  We had made it!  We were alive, Peregrine was in one piece!  We did it! 

Our arrival home is bitter sweet.  It always feels good to be back in the comforts of home, but I must say there is something about being out on the water, day after day, that is very appealing to Steve and I both.  We look forward to hauling Peregrine out of the water, cleaning her up and heading to the islands.  We hope you have enjoyed reading about our ICW adventure.  We sure had fun experiencing it.  We hope that each and every one of you will allow yourselves the awesome privilege to step off the grid and take the plunge into your dream, whatever it may be.  It is worth it!