I did not get the chance to post this picture before, so I thought I would in my final St. Augustine post. It is pretty cool to see. These were some of the salt water cat fish that congregated at the docks at the municipal marina in St Augustine where we stayed.
Just a few cat fish
Passing through the Bridge of Lions Friday morning May 15th heading out of St. Augustine
St. Augustine Inlet Lighthouse
Although there was quite a bit of wind, our trip Friday to our first stop along the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) was uneventful. Here are some of the sites.
This Ibis could not decide if it wanted to be white or pink
We got stuck for a few minutes at this railroad bridge while a train passed
We arrived into the Fernandina Beach area around 2 PM and anchored up a small creek just across from downtown Fernandina Beach.
This cruise ship was docked at Fernandina Beach. Like many others, it does not appear to be going anywhere in the near future.
It was a quiet night at anchor Friday into Saturday. We left around 7:30 AM continuing north.
Passing Cumberland Island, GA and the Cumberland Island Light
As we approached the St. Simon's area of Georgia, we were able to see the Golden Ray. This is a cargo ship that capsized in the St. Simon's Sound back in September 2019. The 656 foot long ship was leaving the nearby Port of Brunswhich, GA heading out to sea for Baltimore with 4,200 new cars on board when she went onto her side. It is believed that she did not have her balast tanks properly full and balanced. Now a marine salvage company is working to remove both the ship itself as well as the vehicles it was carrying. This is no small job. An environmental barrier was built around the ship to help keep oil and gas from leaking into the surrounding water. The salvage company is taking the ship apart and removing pieces via barge. Quite the operation.
Car Carrier on its side in the St. Simon's Sound
From this view you can see that the propellers and back end of the ship have been removed
By about 5:30 PM we had arrived at our anchorage for Saturday. This was a creek in Sapelo Sound, GA. We had been to this anchorage before and really enjoyed it. It is good holding and quiet alongside a small island with trees which helps block the wind. We had not been to this anchorage in warmer months and although we had no other boats; we did have a lot of company.
Green Flies: these guys were everywhere. We had to keep the boat closed and run the generator for air-conditioning.
Greenhead flies are violent eaters. Females must have a blood meal to reproduce. They are highly efficient at getting that blood meal. They swoop in and using their large, scissor like mandibles (mouth parts) they plunge them into your skin then separate the skin edges breaking the capillaries in the wound. Next they spit an anticoagulant into the wound, then insert a needle like mouth part to suck up the blood. All this takes place in a split second as their goal is to get a blood meal before being smashed or swatted. These mean spirited pests are large and not deterred by insecticides. Even spray containing DEET was not effective. Best means of protection from them..........go inside and close and lock the doors.
It was a beautiful anchorage despite the green flies
Shrimp Boat visible out over the sound from our anchorage. He is positioned and ready to leave first thing in the morning to go shrimping.
Sunday morning we left our anchorage in Georgia and made our way past Savannah. Here is a dredge we saw as we crossed the Savannah River.
We crossed into South Carolina once we came across the Savannah River. Hilton Head, SC can be seen here with its red and white lighthouse at the marina.
Just north of Hilton Head is Paris Island. Paris Island is best known for its Marine Corp Base where new recruits go through basic training. This is a picture of part of the base visible from the water.
Our stop for the night was Beaufort, SC. Below is a distance shot of the downtown marina and an Intracoastal cruise ship docked there. We anchored just south of the marina for the night.
In spite of tropical storm Arthur just off the FL/GA coast, we had a mostly sunny day to travel. There was a moderate amount of wind and we recorded winds up to 32 knots in some of the larger sounds as we traveled throughout the day on Sunday. Overall we were protected and had a good cruise to Beaufort, SC.
Our anchorage Sunday evening in Beaufort,SC
Cool clouds and a distant shower over South Carolina
Monday morning was cloudy and gray as we left our anchorage in Beaufort, SC. It did clear up later and was a sunny day by noon as we made our way toward Charleston, SC.
We left early out of Beaufort in order to get to certain places along the Intracoastal Waterway before low tide. There are several spots that can get shallow enough that we might not be able to get through at low tide due to our draft. There was one place in particular that is very shallow. Keith found information from a reliable source to leave the marked channel and use a different route. For those of you reading the blog that are boaters, you will appreciate this picture of our route verses the marked ICW channel.
Intracoastal off roading
Arrival at Charleston City Marina was around 2:00 PM Monday, May 18th. We were on the mega docks and our neighbor sure was "mega".
The boat just off our stern on the other side of the dock
Tuesday we met up with Lacey and Davis Toney in the evening for dinner and to see their new home. What fun and we can not wait to see them again in the fall as we head back south. We are planning to spend a few weeks in Charleston in the fall.
Dinner spot with Lacey and Davis
Wednesday morning we were awakened when the power went out around 5:00 AM. The boat behind us was pulling out and accidentally unplugged our power. Since we were up, we decided to stay up and get an early start as soon as we could see well enough to pull off the dock. So at 6:00 AM we were on our way. The forecast was for stormy weather and the skies were a weird color as we left in the morning ("red in the morning sailors take warning").
Skies as we pulled out of Charleston
Shrimper in the Charleston Harbor getting ready for the day
A mega sail boat anchored in Charleston Harbor
The 88 mile trip from Charleston to our anchorage about 30 miles south of Myrtle Beach went well aside from a storm just before we got into the anchorage. Keith does not mind thunderstorms like I do, so it was not a problem and it was passed by the time we were pulling into Bull Creek around 4:45 PM to anchor.
View looking out of Bull Creek to the ICW from our anchorage
View up Bull Creek from our anchorage
The wind finally shut off and the water was very calm up the creek
Gotta love the Spanish moss
Here are some fun Spanish moss "factoids". It is not Spanish and it is not moss. The plant is indigenous in south and central America, Mexico as well as the United States and Caribbean. Spanish moss is actually a member of the pineapple family. It was named by the French because the moss reminded them of Spanish conquistadors with their prominent beards. They therefore referred to it as Spanish Beard; and eventually the name became Spanish moss. In the early 1900's it was harvested commercially and used for the padding in car seats. In 1939 over 10,000 tons of the moss were processed. It is no longer used in this fashion today of course. As it grows on the trees, the moss does not harm the tree. It makes its own nutrients and provides a home for wildlife such as birds, insects, and reptiles.
Back to our travels... Bright and early (6:00 AM) Thursday May 21st we were pulling the anchor and heading out of Bull Creek, SC for our 99 mile final push north on the ICW to Wrightsville Beach, NC.
Coming up to the Socastee Swing Bridge. This bridge crosses the ICW connecting the county seat of Conway, SC to Myrtle Beach. It was completed in 1936.
Passing through the Socastee Bridge
Oak Island Light House. We are getting close now to Wrightsville Beach
Coming up the Cape Fear River we saw several tugs pushing barges
Some storms followed us for part of the day, but by 5 PM we were pulling in to our spot in Wrightsville Beach. We have several things to take care of here. I will also be getting off the boat and traveling to see family that I have not seen since last fall. We are hoping to be back on the water in about 7-10 days and in Ocracoke by June 1st.
2 comments:
Tim and I are still following your travels. Reading about your trip north reminds me of how much I enjoyed traveling up the ICW A couple years ago. We’re currently in Cheboygan, MI doing some much needed maintenance before we start playing. We’ll stay up north this summer and do the rivers in 2021.
Glad to hear that you are still traveling and will get to complete the rivers next year. We had planned on going back to Georgian Bay and the North Channel this summer, but with Covid-19 it wasn't possible. So we will enjoy the Outer Banks for the summer instead. Not a bad back up plan. Stay well and be safe.
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