Jacksonville FL to Charleston SC 2023

 The first month of our summer trip is in the logbooks and we're about 440 miles further up the AICW than where we started from. Hardly a blazing pace but that was the idea for this trip in the first place, slow down and explore more. We have over 500 miles on the chart plotter so we have done a few side trips. Truthfully, we should be a bit farther north by now but have had several weather delays. Several places we've stopped have been worth a 1 day visit but turned into 2 or more. Okay, enough about that and on to the pictures....

Sister Kathy joined us in Jacksonville for the first leg of the trip. She had planned to travel with us to Charleston but the aforementioned weather delays had her jump ship a bit short in Hilton Head. We drank a Chasing 80 Painkiller in toast of a successful summer cruise. New Chasing 80 happy hour bell was a gift from our friends on MV OLOH and we have gladly adopted their tradition!

The next day we were off after a bottom cleaning from a local diver (water was still too cold for me). After a stop in Fernandina for a quick overnight and fuel we moved on a few miles to Cumberland Island GA. for an anchorage and tour of the island. 

The island is only accessed by boat and has fantastic scenery as well as the ruins of Dungeness which was an estate built by Thomas Carnegie back in the 1880's. 

Wild horses are seen all over the island and don't seem too concerned about visitors.

The next day we traveled to Brunswick GA where we had our first weather delay. It worked out well as we were able to attend the First Friday event in town.

On Saturday we backtracked a bit for a stop on Jekyll Island over Easter weekend. This turned out to be another weather delay as a cold front moved through the area. Jill planned an Easter Egg hunt on the boat which was a fun way to pass a cold rainy morning.

The marina has a loaner golf cart which we used to explore the island a bit each day.

Jekyll Island Club

We made a stop at the appropriately named Driftwood Beach and were reassured on our decision to stay in port.

The wind and surf made for some surreal pictures.

Once able to get underway again we traveled to Midway GA. and the Sunbury Crab docks and restaurant. This was one of those off the beaten path stops and the meal was worth the extra miles.

After what seemed to be a too short visit Kathy left us at Hilton Head just a few stops before Charleston. The next day we made a short hop up to the charming town of Port Royal SC. We got the bikes off and rode to a brewery and were lucky to find that they were having their annual Soft Shell Crab Festival.

  A couple of days later we made it to Charleston for a planned six night stop. It's a fun town to explore and we made use of our new electric scooters to cover some ground. We decided to add the scooters this year as a compliment to the bikes which are more heavy and cumbersome to unload but great for covering longer distances. We stayed at the Maritime Center this time and it's location is perfect for getting into town. 

The large freighters always amaze me as they travel right past the marina on their way up the Cooper River. One RORO came particularly close to the marina before performing a pirouette and backing into it's berth just above the Aquarium.

We had planned our stay to be in town on Saturday when they have their very large farmers and craft market. Unfortunately it was canceled due to strong storms in the area. They were also having the sailboat regatta that weekend. I imagine the sailors appreciated the fresh winds behind the front.

We left Charleston early Sunday for a very short day to Isle of Palms. Along the way we passed the USS Yorktown museum and Fort Sumpter.

 We arrived at the dock and were greeted by a very nice example of a Chesapeake Bay Buy boat. This one appears to be set up for charter and apparently Skeet shooting from the bow!

 So I'll wrap up here and hopefully get another post out on how the rest of the AICW treats us. We have a few more side trips planned. You can always keep up by using the Locate Us link to the right or following on the NEBO app. I'm also trying to keep the map of our stops updated. 

One last picture for the boater who wants the ultimate safe boat....

2023 "Plans"

 Just thought I'd get a brief note off as we prepare for our most excellent adventure this summer. 

After finally getting our roof installed last week the post hurricane repairs are complete. We buttoned up the house and returned to Chasing 80 last Thursday and spent a few days on final provisioning. Today the rental car gets returned and we'll be underway tomorrow for points north with First Mate Kathy along for the beginning of the trip.

We plan to take about a month to get from Jacksonville to Norfolk and then spend a couple of months enjoying the Chesapeake Bay including a side trip up the Potomac River to Washington DC. This should get us to about mid July. After that we'll continue north but the plans get a bit fuzzy from there. Depending on when we get to NYC we may divert up the East River and explore the Long Island Sound a bit before coming back and continuing up the Hudson River and maybe Lake Champlain. The ultimate goal will be winter storage in a heated facility along the Erie Canal around mid September. This timing will give us a bit of wiggle room before the closing of the canal on October 11. This plan should allow us to slow down, travel shorter days and explore more than we did in 2016 while doing the Great Loop.  

As always, the "locate us" link to the right will be live when we are moving and we can also be found on NEBO for those of you using the app. We look forward to meeting old and new friends along the way. For those of you familiar with the "Friend Bucket" don't worry....you're safe! 

 

2022 Wrap Up (Part 2)

 Ready to press on? Me too.

So we returned to Ft. Myers and Legacy Harbour in early April and contemplated the next move for Chasing 80. We had begun to form a plan for 2023 but nothing solid yet. 

Meanwhile there were still house projects awaiting. Happy with the way the palms turned out we began to focus on the larger area. This would require much more time. All the rocks had to be removed by hand, bucket by bucket before the old cloth could be removed and replaced with new.

Next the stumps from the old trees were ground out and we started designing the new layout. The installation would wait until fall when the weather begins to cool.

Boat plans began to come together too. Since we plan on cruising the Chesapeake (and beyond) next year we decide to move Chasing 80 from Ft. Myers to a spot on the east coast where we'd have a better start for next spring (more Dumb Luck). Finding a warm weather spot for winter is a problem if you wait too long and we had. Jill kept calling marinas further and further north until she was able to secure a spot in Hilton Head for the season. 

We left Ft Myers in late June and started east toward Lake Okeechobee and the east coast. Many people don't realize how rural Florida is once you get 20 or 30 miles from the coasts. As you travel the Caloosahatchee River toward the lake it is mostly farms and ranches. In fact, this trip we passed an honest to goodness cattle drive along the river complete with cowboys (crackers?). Thanks to Paul on Firefly for adding music to the below clip for your enjoyment. Bonus points if you can name the songs roots.

 We spent the next few weeks slowly moving up the east coast of Florida taking our time and stopping at a few new spots. This would likely be our last trip in this area on Chasing 80. Of course our frequent passenger, Kathy, was along for part of the trip. Along the way we happened to run into some boaters we didn't know. As we discussed our respective travels they stated that they had just canceled a winter reservation at Lambs Yacht Center in Jacksonville. This was a marina that we had been trying to get into. Jill was on the phone the next morning and secured us a nice covered slip for the winter. Lambs is more of a working yard without many amenities but is perfect for us. It's a much closer drive for our visits also. We have some projects planned (as always) and intend to visit at least monthly to get some work done and explore the area.

One adjustment we had to make on Chasing 80 was to shorten her. The marina owners were worried that we were too close to the roof (about 5') in case there would happen to be surge from any tropical activity this year!?! These docks had just been rebuilt after Irma took them out in 2017. Our worry was that the roof would hold the boat down if the water got too high and flood her from the thru hull fittings above the normal waterline. So we adjusted to low profile mode...last seen passing through downtown Chicago in 2016.

The next project was an update of the forward head. After we replaced the aft head a couple of years ago with a Marine Elegance I've known that this was in my future. It's so much better and more house like than the typical marine head. Flooring update was part of the project also.

Old head and vinyl removed

New head and flooring.

It turned out very nice, too nice in fact. We had enough flooring to replace the old vinyl in the aft head. Another time...

We were home around early August and kept busy staying cool in the pool.

Hurricane(s)

Things were going pretty smoothly as far a hurricane season went. After the early PTC Alex that I joked about a couple of posts back things had been more quite than the experts had predicted. That didn't last. About mid September I began to see a few people eyeing a low pressure system way out in the Atlantic. The amateur forecasters seemed more concerned than the pros...this got my attention. There was certainly no talk about anything brewing on the local news. As I watched this area move west to an area prime for development we began to make plans to head to the boat. I'm not worried about our house from flooding but sure didn't want to be here if the power was out for a week or two.

The 5 day forecast sealed our plans and we started putting up the hurricane shutters and packing the car on Friday...5 days before arrival. Neighbors looked at me like I was crazy. There was still not much talk on the news. People have complained lately that there wasn't enough warning to evacuate. I present the 5 day forecast...

Many folks don't seem to be willing to learn about the weather and make their own plans based on research. This is crazy to me if you plan on living in Florida or anywhere along threatened areas. Just wait till the local government orders evacuation? Not good planning. We were back on the boat 4 days before Ian hit the Ft. Myers area. Now...maybe this wasn't the best plan since the storm followed us but it was a much weaker storm. We had wind and rain but not as much surge as feared. OK, I'm off the self reliance soapbox.

You all know how destructive Ian was to SW Florida so I won't go into that. Dumb Luck that we moved. 

Our friend Bryan on Kismet was in Punta Gorda to check on their boat before the storm and ended up in a shelter for the storm. Thankfully their boat was OK and he stayed at our house for a few days which put us at ease. The amazing thing is our house never lost power. 

Thanks Bryan!

The house had plenty of wind damage but nothing structural. Remember that new roof and screens I mentioned in the last post? Yeah...we'll be doing that again.

Needless to say it's a long slow process cleaning up after a storm like this. We took our time only working a few hours a day due to the heat. We got home 3 days after the storm and things like gas stations and grocery stores were already open. Most businesses not effected by flooding were reopening as soon as power was restored and they could restock. It feels like things came back quicker than after Irma 5 years prior.

Thankfully we had the house pretty much back to normal before our next trip to the boat in early November...for Nichole. This was a much weaker storm but had more impact on the boat. During the height of the storms winds and rain I began to smell smoke, fiberglass smoke! This smell is a boaters worst nightmare. A fire on a boat burns hot and spreads quickly. In a covered slip it can spread from boat to boat driven by the wind. Once we determined it wasn't us burning I began walking the dock looking for the source. Luckily the heavy rain lifted for a moment and I could see it was a boat anchored far enough away to not concern us. I still feel bad for those affected.

We were again lucky that the surge wasn't as bad as it could have been. We came nowhere near the roof although we did get our feet wet.

We took advantage of our time stuck on the boat and replaced the flooring in the aft head. Came out very nice.

Back home it had cooled off enough to resume the landscape project. We decided on 3 triple Christmas palms and our neighbors jumped in to help get them out of our truck and dig the holes! 

Again, the rocks went back bucket by bucket to insure proper placement. A long project but we are very happy with the results.

So there you have our year in review over 2 posts. It really was a pretty eventful year! The "plan" is to begin heading up the east coast around April 1 and be in the Chesapeake by early May. Hopefully I'll have much more interesting things to blog about next year. But not too interesting...boring boating!  I still need to update our map (to the right) which doesn't yet have our 2021 stops! Baby steps.

2022 Wrap Up (on time)

 You may have guessed that 2022 was a bit of a quite year as far as boating goes hence the lack of posts. You'd be correct. We only took 2 trips and never left the state of Florida. I'll do my best to catch you all up on the drama and excitement of the past year+. Soooo I left off last October.......

PROJECTS

One of the first things we did upon returning to the house was update the master bath. This is one of the very few things we didn't like in the house. A bit too formal for our tastes.

Before

Jill did some searching and came up with something more suitable and a bit nautical.

After

Next on the list was to tackle some landscaping projects. Over the past couple of years we had lost all of our Queen palm in the back to "butt rot". The area looked really sad and naked without the palms. We were told that the only palms we could replace them with immediately were the Christmas palm which won't get the rot. We decided to start on the smaller section to be sure we got what we were looking for.

Before

After

After

We also added a new roof and had the Lani repainted and rescreened but more on that later....

Just so you don't think we neglected Chasing 80, we finally got around to installing the inverter that we had been carrying around for 2 years. Once back at Legacy Harbour I talked to my friend Ben from Panbo about helping with the install. Actually Ben did the install and I handed tools...

First goal was to improve the battery bank. I decided to go with a single bank of 12-6v batteries to replace the 4 8-D's that were split into 3 banks. This should give us enough power to run the boat overnight and still have enough left to start the engines. There is always the generator with it's own battery as a backup if needed.

New Batteries & Box

The project took some time as Ben was working me in between other jobs and some pieces to the project were a bit hard to get but it turned out great and is working as expected.

Mid-Project

 Once the project was completed we prepared to head out and give the new system a full test. The "plan" was to head to the Keys for a month and then the Bahamas for 2 months or so. The first part worked out well...

We first stopped in Marathon for a long weekend and caught up with our friends Tim & AJ (and Jasper of course) on OLOH. Marathon Marina is a great stop with even better sunsets.

We next motored to Stock Island to settle in for a month of the KW vibe and catch up with more boating friends. Especially Moni & Rick on Best Mate. Many boaters and islanders felt that this season was much more windy than past years and I felt it too. Part 2 of the "plan" was beginning to be questionable.

We did have some calm days and were able to have a few dinghy adventures. Not far from the marina is a very nice sandbar where we were able to enjoy a nice afternoon.

Towards the end of our month we began to see a favorable forecast to allow us to visit somewhere I've always wanted to go by boat, The Dry Tortugas. They are about 70 miles west of Key West and only accessible by boat or seaplane. There is also no reliable contact back to the islands or weather updates. The forecast was for light winds and seas for an entire weekend....

The Incident

We left Stock Island early and took the southern route while Best Mate took the northern route. They arrived just a bit ahead of us and headed for the preferred anchorage south of the Fort. As we approached the anchorage it appeared a bit crowded for my taste (apparently everyone had the same idea) so we went back to a secondary anchorage west of the Fort and had the area to ourselves (dumb luck). We quickly dropped the dinghy and headed over to the Fort to check in and visit the other boats.

West Anchorage

You can see in the above picture the boats in the main anchorage south of and closer to the Fort. After our visit we headed back to Chasing 80 for dinner and drinks. With the nice forecast I just left the dinghy tied with a short painter and enjoyed the view. 

After dinner we sat on deck and watched the sunset. A crabber came in and anchored toward sunset. I didn't think those guys ever stopped working (maybe a clue?).

After a beautiful sunset I had a nightcap on deck under a canopy of stars not seen in areas with light pollution. Stunning. After a long day on the water it's early to bed to prepare for tomorrow's adventures- a tour of the Fort and snorkeling was in our "plans".

Around midnight I awoke to the sound of water or possibly the dinghy slapping the back of the boat, odd. I quickly went upstairs and opened the door to look at the Fort...it was missing! After clearing the cobwebs from my head I realized that we had swung 180 degrees and the Fort was now on the other side of the boat and the winds were howling! The next step was to head to the flybridge and turn on the chart plotter to see if we were dragging anchor. Luckily the anchor had reset and we were showing 0.0 mph so I was able to take a breath and reassess the situation. The wind was blowing a steady 30-40 mph from the north with the boat pointing into the wind however it was also snap rolling side to side and would continue to do so for the next 5 hours! Everything on the flybridge that wasn't bolted down was sliding around and the fridge door opened sending the contents across the deck which also began rolling around. It was like playing twister trying to hold things in place and catch rolling cans...I lost that game. Jill was playing the same game down below with the same results. On the front deck I saw that the chairs had blown into the railings but not over the side. It was too dangerous to try to save them now. Amazingly the dinghy was still tied behind the boat and didn't seem to be in danger. 

At some point I remembered to turn on the VHF to hear how the other boats were doing. The radio was alive with chatter and the main anchorage was a real shitshow!!  Several boats had drug anchors and were running into others like bumper cars. One boat was banging up against the pilings at the Fort and the owner was in the water trying to fend it off (amazed he survived). There was a Mayday from a boat that was fishing south of the area and was swamped by waves coming over the bow (and no working bilge pumps). Luckily a sailboat with an antenna high up on the mast was able to contact CG Key West and advise them. This boat also had a weather station that confirmed the 40+ mph winds with higher gusts. An employee at the Fort actually went out in a center console and found the boat in trouble and assisted them back to the harbor. As I said before, this went on for hours. The inside of our boat had things flying around that had never moved in almost 10 years. Captain Morgan took a serious Humpty Dumpty...Thankfully Jill put him back together again.

One thing that surprised us was that during this entire event it never rained. It was entirely a wind storm and entirely not in the forecast!! At sunrise the winds and waves had subsided. Boats from the main anchorage began to move out and anchor near us for more room. I made the decision to head back to KW and lick my wounds. I'd had enough adventure. Back at Stock Island we headed straight for the bar and a few rum and Cokes to honor Captain Morgan who was on life support by now. Sadly around 7 everyone at the bar began getting severe weather alerts...for the Dry Tortugas... These were actual storms with wind and lightning. Those that stayed said it was even worse than the night before but shorter. Dumb Luck. 

So after what will now and forever be called "The Incident" we decided to not push our luck with the Bahamas and just head back to Ft Myers...maybe sell the boat...(Got over that thought pretty quick). We made one last stop in Marathon and had a lovely sandbar Saturday with OLOH before heading north.

Well this post has become longer that expected so it seems its a good time to cut it off and come back with Part 2 later. Frankly I'm exhausted after reliving "The Incident"...I need a nap! Don't worry, Part 2 is pretty exciting too. I miss boring boating.....