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We started on our journey
from
Manitowoc,
Wisconsin,
to the
Bahamas
to deliver a new 43' Lagoon Power Cat to its new owner by
heading south on Lake Michigan to Chicago
and taking the river system to Florida. By the time we arrived in
Peoria, Hurricane Katrina had done her damage in the south and we
determined it to be too unsafe and unpredictable to continue.
In conferring with the owner, we agreed to back-track to
Wisconsin
and take the Great Lakes east toward the coast and proceed to Florida
and the
Bahamas
that way. This story
starts with our trip to Peoria
and back.
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43' Lagoon
Power
Cat "Mystere"
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This 43’
Lagoon Power Cat built by the Beneteau Company in
Bordeaux
,
France
, has been christened “Mystere” by its owner.
The name comes from a Las Vegas show that features ballet
and balancing performances, so she will have to live up to her
name in how she performs on the water.
We can tell you she did that with grace and style!
It was the
end of August when we left
Manitowoc
and
Lake Michigan
was being kind to us with a clear day and 3-4 foot head seas.
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Day 1 - We were able to hold an
18 knot cruise all the way to
Chicago
and easily locked through at Navy Pier.
The view of the city was nothing short of spectacular but
our clear day had turned hazy so we couldn’t get the best
pictures of the skyscrapers.
With our bimini top hinged down, we easily cruised under the 54
bridges, only detained by one railroad bridge in use for about
an hour. There was a
little excitement around the fourth bridge when several
rescue-type boats sped past us to an area under the bridge ahead
of us. With the binoculars
we could see that someone was being pulled out of the water
probably having jumped or fell from the bridge…this IS Chicago!
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Ken at the helm; Chicago in the background
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Navy Pier
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Chicago Skyscrapers
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We arrived in
Joliet,
Illinois,
about dusk and tied up on the wall at the Billie
Limacher
Will
Bicentennial
Park, a welcome spot after 14 hours of cruising. A couple from the one other boat moored just ahead of us
recognized us as the “trawler dealers”. We gave them a tour
of our boat and they gave us the phone number for a good place
to order–out pizza that also delivered.
Just one day in and we are already experiencing the
friendliness of boating people.
Day 2 - After
two uneventful bridge openings in
Joliet, we were on our way to the Brandon Lock which was open and
waiting for us.
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Dresden Lock
Spring Brook Marina
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Not so with the Dresdan Lock
where we experienced a 4-hour delay with barge traffic getting
the right of way. These
delays always present an opportune time to keep your “stuff”
organized and do some cleaning and maintenance as well.
We decided to treat ourselves to a little shorter day and
make Spring Brook Marina at
Seneca
,
Illinois
our rest stop.
Power
catamarans with a 21’ beam are not your typical cruising boat
so we certainly can’t slip in unnoticed.
Very friendly boaters greeted us and were anxious to give
us a hand. We took up the
space of two slips but the nice folks at the marina only charged
us for one slip. They
weren’t full anyway.
Day 3 - It
was a pleasure cruising the Illinois River since we spend so
much time on the
Great Lakes
that we find this relaxing with interesting scenery.
Once we spotted a long line of white birds off in the
distance. The river
is wide here but with the binoculars we could determine that
they were white pelicans. Sure
thought we had to wait to get to
Florida
to see those!!
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There were only slight delays at Marseilles Lock and Starved
Rock Lock and we tied up for the night at the old abandoned
Henry Lock. It was either
being eaten alive by mosquitoes or walk as fast as you could up
to the little town there just in time to catch a bowl of
home-made soup before they locked up for the night.
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White pelicans on Illinois River
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Abandoned Henry Lock wall
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Day 4 - We arrived in Peoria
and spent an overnight with Rick, our son, and his wife Molly
and family who just moved into their new country home the week
before. We even got to watch some soccer practice since all 4 of
their kids play and Dad & Mom coach one of the teams.
We spent the next morning determining what to do in the
wake of Hurricane Katrina. As
we discussed with the owner that it could be a month or more
before we could get through
Mobile,
Alabama, the decision was made to back-track to
Manitowoc
and cruise down the east-coast waterway.
It would take a week to two weeks longer than the river
system but a far safer way to go at this point.
Day
5 - Everyone was surprised to see us come back in at Spring
Brook but they all agreed with the new plan.
Going through Joliet
where we had spent our first night, we came past “Freedom”,
an American Tug owned by Patrick and Jane Murray.
They had spent several weeks in Manitowoc
getting a davit and dinghy from us and attending our Trawler
Fest. They are now on
their first Great Loop adventure and were also surprised to see
us back-tracking! Their
journey south could continue on since they
planned to spend extra time in
Kentucky
and
Tennessee
before they reached the Gulf.
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For a new adventure and a change of scenery, we
took the
Calumet
River
through south
Chicago, an alternate route from the
Sanitary
Canal
we cruised on the way down. This
is a longer route, but less traffic and a lot less tows.
There were plenty of bridges but we could pass under with
a foot or two of clearance.
The
dockhands were very helpful at the Riverdale Marina, moving a
small boat to another location so we could fit in an open slip.
Day 6 -
Several railroad bridges had to open for us the next morning but
all were pleasantly cooperative. It
was an odd feeling to return to
Manitowoc
but everyone there too agreed with our decision having seen a
lot of news on the Katrina disaster.
It took us a few days to get the charts and guide books
we needed for the new route but soon we were ready to set out
again.
Day 1 -
Crossing
Lake
Michigan
to Leland,
Michigan
in 3-4' waves was a pleasurable ride in the Lagoon 43 Power Cat
with a 21’ beam. She
plowed through the smaller waves and loped easily over the
higher ones at a comfortable speed of 15-16 knots.
We spent the night at the Leland Marina, eating dinner at
the seaside restaurant there and watching a beautiful sunset.
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Passing tow boat & barge in
narrow channel
Lots of bridges on Illinois River
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Mackinac Bridge
GM Headquarters in Detroit
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Day 2 - The next morning the waves had built to
5-6 feet as the wind had switched to the north but we were still
able to maintain the same speed as the day before.
Even though we’ve cruised under the Mackinac
Bridge
many times, it always leaves you in awe at the engineering feat
it took to build such a structure.
As the day progressed, the winds lessened and we cruised all the
way to
Harbor
Beach
in comfort.
Day 3 - The
next day being Sunday, we attended church at Our Lady of Lake
Huron before heading out. As
we cruised south on Lake Huron towards Port Huron, we reminisced
about the fact that we were cruising down Lake Huron in an
American Tug on our way to the Detroit Boat Show on Sept
11, 2001, when the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon
were hit. We were enjoying a beautiful day on the lake with flat
seas, unaware of what was happening to our country until we came
into a port late in the evening and put on our TV.
It was hard to continue on not knowing if the show would
even be held, but we did, keeping our radio station on all day
to learn more about the sad event.
The show was held but very subdued as all felt the
sadness.
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This
day was a relaxing ride down the St. Clare River to Lake
St. Clare and the
Detroit
River
, which forms the border between
Detroit
and
Windsor
,
Canada
. The riverside GM
headquarters in Detroit
are an impressive array of buildings as well as the many other
skyscrapers.
With the calm conditions we were
able to cruise all the way to
West Harbor
,
Ohio
at the bottom end of
Lake Erie
. Dusk was upon us as we
fueled up there and then just backed up a little and stayed for
the night on the end of the fuel dock.
Day 4 - This
day should probably go down in history as a novel event because
we cruised the entire length of Lake Erie to
Buffalo
,
New York
in 2-3 foot seas…..(the last time we crossed this lake
it was in 10-12 footers!!). There
were a lot of bridges to go under in
Buffalo
but all were high enough except one railroad bridge where we
only waited a few minutes for the opening.
A small marina on the Niagara River was a good
stopping-off point before taking on the
Erie Canal
.
Day 5 - In
the morning, we washed down the boat and did some office work
before we got underway and entered the
Erie Canal
.
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Sunrise leaving West Harbor, Ohio
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Sign marking entrance to Erie Canal
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The speed limit on the Canal is 10 mph so 8.3 knots for us
(it’s like city driving after you’ve been driving in the
open country-side). Before
long we approached Lock 35, the first of 35 total on the Canal.
There are lots of low railroad bridges and car bridges where
we have to wait for openings. This
is also the one route on the Great Loop that has the lowest
fixed bridges with a minimum of 15 feet 6 inches clearance.
Even with our bimini top and hinged radar arch down, we
are barely able to pass under them.
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Erie Canal bridges
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Small town along Erie Canal
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There are not many places
to stay on this part of the Canal so we pulled in earlier than
usual. This was not all bad since we've been
coming into ports pretty late and it felt good to get in
before dark.
Day
6 - The next day, we enjoyed the beautiful scenery as we passed
open farm fields, lush forests, and little towns along the
Erie Canal
. It’s that late in fall
that the boat traffic has diminished.
Having said
that, we expected the weather to be on the cool side but we
seemed to be cruising at the same pace of a very warm
weather system. The
daytime temperatures have been ranging from 88 to 92.
In
Pittsford
,
New York
, we tied up at a city wall drawing a lot of attention from
shoppers. There were just some small runabouts docked
there so we looked gigantic among them. Our nephew who
lives in nearby
Rochester
picked us up and we shared a nice dinner and evening with him
and his family.
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Day 7 - The next day it took us
11 hours to get to Baldwinsville, New York as we navigated
through locks 33 to 24 - lots of handling lines and waiting as
water gets pumped in and out of the lock. The average drop
is 20 feet on this section of the canal. We've been
locking through with one other boat, a 36' Tiara that 3 fellows
are delivering for the owner from
Michigan
to
Florida
. After picking our spot on the city wall for
the evening, we invited them over for a relaxing cocktail to
unwind after a day of cruising and locking through.
It was great
getting to know them. One of the guys (and his wife)
sailed around the world in a 40' sailboat, another has
his captain's license and has done the east coast part of the
Great Loop, and the 3rd has done the Great Loop with
another guy and was the former owner of a 32' Grand Banks we are
now brokering for the current owner from Milwaukee.....small
world!!
Day 8 -
Another 11-hour day brings us to
Ilion
,
New York
, passing through Locks 23 through 19.
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Mystere at Pittsford, New York
Ain't Misbehavin' and crew
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Mystere in lock
Crossing Oneida Lake
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Just before we reached
Oneida Lake
, we spotted a blue 42’ Nordic Tug and realized it was
“Heart Tug”! We sold
this boat to a very nice couple from
Minnesota
and we currently have it in our brokerage listings.
They have decided to go back to their love of sailing.
It’s always good to see a reminder of home.
Even though this is a big body of water and winds had
kicked up a 3-4 foot chop, we were able to cruise at 20
knots across
Oneida Lake
.
Soon we were back
on the canal and going through more locks.
The fall hours just took effect that day and
all locks closed at 5 pm. It was probably a good thing...we were
all getting tired. We ate burgers at the Dockside Cafe
there. A game of 500 Rummy was just enough to wind down the
day.
Day 9 -
You're probably getting as tired reading about the Locks as
we were doing them but Locks 18 through 8 are now at least 35-40
foot drop taking even longer to empty.
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We end up at the Schenectady
Yacht Club in
Schenectady
,
New York
. We always seem to be the biggest boat in the marina, but
again, they found a place for us on their fuel-dock wall and
welcomed both boats for the overnight. The nice guys on
the Tiara invited us to join them for dinner; since they had
a marinating pork loin to cook, but the trade-off was we needed
to eat in our boat because we have the bigger dining area.
Sounded like a great deal for us! The meal also consisted of
garlic-seasoned mashed potatoes, a vegetable and a
bottle of home-made wine. We provided the cookies after dinner.
Great camaraderie and lots of boating stories shared!! (Maybe it
didn't hurt that just yesterday we had shared a plate I made of
melted chocolate with peanuts mixed in and allowed to set
in fridge.....pretty yummy stuff!!)
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Gate closing on lock behind
Ain't Misbehavin'
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Dinner with Michigan friends
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Saugerties, New York
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Day 10 - We hit the Grand Finale
today as we completed Locks 7 to 1 by noon and entered the
Hudson River, still in
New York
state. The scenery along the river was beautiful varying
from high cliffs to green flatlands. Our destination was
the Saugerties Marina which we approached amid stares and
doubting Thomas's whether this big boat would fit anywhere here.
We saw an empty wall and Ken turned this big cat on a dime and
we backed slowly into place!
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We did look
kind of comical surrounded by little 15-25' runabouts! Another
nephew, who lives less than 10 minutes away, picked us up and we spent
a nice afternoon and evening with him and his wife and four
children. It pays off to have such a big family!! Returning to
the boat that evening, they all thought we chose a good life's
work after the dairy farm!
Day 11 -
Leaving Saugerties early in the morning, we pulled into
Kingston
for fuel. Cruising the Hudson River at 20 knots (24 mph)
versus the 10 mph speed limit on the
Erie Canal
is a significant change in miles covered in a day.
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Hudson River, New York
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West Point Academy
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Cruising past the very impressive buildings of the
West Point
Academy
was especially meaningful to us.
Ken has been serving on Congressman Petri's Congressional
Committee for Academy Appointments for some twenty years and he
has visited this academy as well as the
Naval
Academy
in
Annapolis
which we will be cruising past while on the
Chesapeake
.
Entering
New York City
via the
Hudson River
is nothing short of spectacular. The bridges and buildings are
indescribable as they go on and on. We tried to pull in at a
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marina on the
New York
side. They were full but
they gave us the names of two other marinas to try.
We ended up on the
New Jersey
side at Liberty Landing Marina and we could see the Liberty Lady
in the distance. Usually docks at a marina go from A to D
or maybe even F but we are on K and we're maybe 2/3 of the way
to the end....it's bigger than big!! So are the
prices...we're paying $3.00 a foot whereas most marinas are at a
buck a foot at the most!!
New York
,
New York
!!
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Day 12 - We stayed "put"
here for an extra day since our next leg of the trip is on the
ocean and there are thunderstorms in the forecast and the winds
are not good today but will be switching to west winds tomorrow
which is perfect. We took a water taxi across the
Hudson
to Ground Zero.
It's a very sobering place to be.
You can walk the streets around the area and look down on what's left
and what is being re-built. There are memorial
billboards listing all the victims plus drawings of what
will be built in its place.
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Water taxi to Ground Zero
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Lots of tourists are milling
around in the area and taking pictures of the billboards as
I did. All the windows have been replaced in the
surrounding buildings which had all been blown out. Looking up
at one very tall building on the adjacent street, we were
told that this building is only half as tall as the
Twin
Towers
. That really put it in perspective for us. Everybody who is
criticizing the war in
Iraq
ought to come here for a day. Later in the day, Ken got a nice
long bike ride in and I did some waxing on the boat. We want it
ready to handle the salt water we will be in from now on.
Day 13 - At
daybreak, with the sun barely throwing a pink glow in the
eastern sky, we crossed the large bay between
New Jersey
and
New York
and it was already busy with water taxis buzzing around like
flies. The night lights are still on so it’s an amazing site.
The Statue of Liberty holds her beacon of light for all
to see.
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Ground Zero
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Statue of Liberty at dawn
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It turns out the decision to hold off yesterday was a good one.
As we cruised out into the
Atlantic Ocean
there was just a 1-2 foot chop and swells maybe to threes. We
followed the 150-mile coast-line down Sandy Hook and the coast
of
New Jersey
. It's lined with homes, condos, and hotels. Not more than
a mile or two altogether of undeveloped shoreline. We had a
good view of the
Trump
Castle
as we cruised past
Atlantic City
.
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Atlantic City - Home of Trump Castle
Chesapeake Marina & Inn
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One of the times we took the Grand Banks to
Norfolk
for our friends from Martha's Vineyard, we met in
Atlantic City
and had dinner at the casino. It’s always fun to reminisce
about places you have been before.
The
southern most tip of
New Jersey
is
Cape May
and it was good place to stop for fuel. It's a beautiful area to
stay, not so commercialized as some others. But today we
continued on to get across
Delaware Bay
. This is a huge body of water and can get very rough if winds
are pushing from the northwest. We have a west wind, but still
never more than 2-3 footers. This was easy going for the
catamaran. At the northern end of the Bay we turned into the
C & D
Canal
(
Chesapeake
and
Delaware
), which will take us to the
Chesapeake
. There's a nice restaurant/ marina at the foot of the bridge
that has always been the place to overnight. Not this
time...there's yellow caution tape strung along the piers and we
find out it’s been closed. We head across the canal and stay
at the Chesapeake Marina & Inn. It's very nice and clean.
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Now starts the ritual of cleaning
the salt off the boat after every day on the water. There was
enough wind today to throw the water spray on every inch of the
boat! If you run your hand along the railing, you will pick
up white powdery, sticky stuff. It does hose off pretty
good though and I really don't mind doing it. It feels good to
do something physical after a long day of cruising, studying
charts, figuring out our course and time to go, etc. We were
treated to some great seafood in the restaurant at the marina.
If you are ever going to eat seafood, this area of the
country is the place! A
live 3-piece band playing on the deck outside entertained us
with some great songs. Life is good!!
Day 14 - The
Chesapeake
is a much larger body of water than it ever appears to be on a
map of the
United States
. Once you’re out to the buoyed
channel you are out of site of land for most of the day. You
have to watch your charts and be sure to identify the numbered
buoys when you want to head to a port so you know it’s the
right one. The first day we cruised in light waves half way down
the
Chesapeake
to Solomons on the west
shore
of
Maryland
.
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This is a natural inlet of
the
Patuxent
River
and it's loaded with marinas on both sides. Of the 16
marinas, there are only three with diesel fuel so we picked
Spring Cove Marina. It's very nice but still pricier at
$1.65 a foot than we are used to in the
Midwest
. Navigable ports on the
Chesapeake
are quite far apart so you have to watch your fuel and pick your
stops accordingly. We also needed to get in earlier to catch
stores open for re-stocking groceries.
We walked to a nearby restaurant and I was treated to
some of the best crab I have ever had.
Day 15 - The
next morning, we walked to a mini-mall for breakfast at a Roy
Rogers. Something other than cereal was a treat. We
usually want to leave at daybreak to take advantage of calm
waters as much as possible so we have cereal while we're
underway. The weather forecast was in our favor. Northeast winds
were forecast as 10-15 knots and would be pushing us down the
bay! As we got
closer to
Norfolk
,
Virginia
, we started to see land on both sides since the Chesapeake Bay
narrows into the
Elizabeth
River
with
Norfolk
on the east shore and
Portsmouth
on the west.
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Baltimore bridges
Spring Cove Marina
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We went past many, many Navy
ships, some in dry dock, and all being guarded by patrol
boats with a visible gun on its bow.
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Navy ships at Norfolk
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Homeland Security at work!
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We stayed at the
Portsmouth
Boating
Center
. The friendly owner, Mike, said he was off at 7 and will
give us and another couple from
Canada
, also there by boat, a ride into town for dinner at Brutti's.
The owner of Brutti's, Charlie, came by our table when we were
near finished and said he'll chauffeur us back (we were going to
take a cab) and then he brought out a fancy complimentary
dessert for us to share. Both guys were very talkative, giving
us mini tours of the town with lots of history and how they came
into the businesses they now own. They were very interesting
characters and it was so nice to experience friends that help
each other out and us as well.
Day 16 - We
left at daybreak since we knew we would have lots of bridges
where we would wait for openings. Some open on demand with one
long and one short horn blast or a call on the VHF radio. Others
in a big metropolis like this open on the hour or half-hour and
there are usually signs on the bridge telling you that. We were
lucky with the first two, but then were told we would have to
wait for a tow coming up behind us. The tows have the
right of way and are accommodated ahead of pleasure craft.
The first wait was 15 minutes or so but then the next was
a 40-minute wait. While we're “treading water”, we were
hailed on our VHF radio by Ain't Misbehaving.....that's the boat
with the 3 guys from
Michigan
. They heard us talking to the bridge tenders and we discovered
that we're only a bridge apart. We really didn't think we'd get
back together since they have to stop for fuel twice as often as
we do and they had gone into Annapolis when we went on to
Solomons. Just a note - they have twin gas engines and burn 40
gal/hr at 20 knots (24 mph) and we've been averaging 18
gals/hr at 20 knots. Quite a difference!! We averaged 5 gph
doing the
Erie Canal
at 10 mph but then it takes more than twice as long so it's
still similar economy.
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Great Bridge Lock
Interesting swing bridge in ICW
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The Intercoastal Waterway (ICW)
to
Florida
starts in
Norfolk
at Mile 0 so from here down we know in miles where we are. We
will enter the state of
Florida
at Mile 717. Ain’t Misbehaving joined us in the Great
Bridge Lock at Mile 11 where we have an hour wait.
Just to give you an idea, this lock is 600 ft long and 72
feet wide. We have been in some smaller ones where we seem to
take up half the width. All the locks have lines hanging
down at intervals so someone on the bow (that's usually me)
takes one and someone on the stern (that's Ken) takes the other,
then you feed it out or pull it in depending if you are
going up or down. The lines spend a good part of their
time in the water so they get pretty yucky!! I wear rubber
gloves and keep a wet cloth handy to clean up after.
A good stopping place for the night was
Coinjock
,
North Carolina
at Mile 50. Not as far as we were used to going in a day but the
next place was too far to get in before dark and we don't like
going into a place we have not been before in the dark. After
de-salting the boat, I got in my 4-mile walk down a road lined
with water canals. Ken took a long bike ride, too. Then we were
ready for a nice dinner at the Coinjock Restaurant, which is
noted for its 32 oz.
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Prime Rib you can cut with a fork.
That’s one big steak!?! We eat with the
Michigan
boys who are down to two, Dan & John. Neal left them
in
Annapolis
to fly back home for previous commitments. We pass on the steak
(John went for it and wasn't disappointed) but Ken & I have,
you guessed it, seafood.....a great platter of sautéed
scallops, shrimp, & crab. Ken's finally taking my advice
about eating seafood here and he's not disappointed either!!
Day 17 - We watched the sunrise as we leave
Coinjock on a short jaunt to
Albemarle Sound
which is 14 miles across. The sounds are open to
the ocean and can get very knarly! We were lucky the first
few hours as winds are light but they did pick up and we were
getting splashed pretty well by the salt water! Again we’re
impressed by the stability of the catamaran in choppy waters. We
knew we were getting a lot more comfortable ride than our
friends in the Tiara. We also cruised across
Pamlico Sound
. These are the two
largest sounds on the ICW route south. The
Neuse
River
, also quite wide and rough, brought us into
Morehead City
,
North Carolina
, at Mile 205. We have a guidebook that lists the marinas in the
area and if they have diesel fuel (not all do) so we pick
Portside Marina. As we approach the entrance we have to pass a
tugboat pushing against a large Navy ship causing extreme
turbulence behind it. We carried a little extra speed as we
moved through the turbulence toward the fuel dock but then the
wind, current, and continued turbulence from the tugboat gave
Ken a real test of his boat handling skills. I had to quickly
switch our lines and fenders (3 lines and 4 fenders) to the port
side since we knew there would be no turning around in here. As
we eased up to the dock an excited dockhand is telling Ken what
a great job he did bringing the boat in. He has seen other
outcomes in the past. While
we are refueling, the big Navy ship pulls out with the help of
the tugboat pushing it into a sharp left turn. The dockhand says
the ship had brought some troops back from
Iraq
and was heading out with reinforcements. We waved to the guys on
deck. It gave me the goose-bumps! Ain't
Misbehaving cruises in, missing all the commotion, and are glad
they were spared. Sometimes it's not good being in the lead!
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I worked on getting the boat free
of salt and bugs. Ken took a bike ride to check out the area and
comes back saying there's nothing much within reasonable walking
distance. We dined on the boat from my "doggie
bags"...don't feel sorry for us, this stuff tastes great
warmed up in the microwave. Ken beat me in another game of 500
Rummy...he's married to the 3 Aces!!
Day 18 - Now
we see how the rich folks live or at least where they spend
their money. In this section, the ICW is close to the
coast so on our left we can see the big homes (mansions) facing
the
Atlantic Ocean
, and on our right a continuous stream of homes with long piers
and big decks facing the ICW.
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Tugboat & navy ship leaving
|
Coastal homes in North Carolina
|
Only a small percentage of the
piers actually have boats on them...I'm thinking some spent so
much money on the home that they can't afford the boat yet.
Needless to say, we have to honor the "no wake" rule
for tedious miles and miles. We pulled into Mrytle Beach Yacht
Club at Mile 346 at dusk so we did cover 141 miles and are now
in
South Carolina
. We walked across a busy highway to a little bar & grill
kind of place for dinner.
Day 19 - After making use of
the convenient laundry facilities in the morning, we get
underway. Before long we are on
the
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Waccamaw
River
which is considered the most scenic part of the ICW with cypress
trees lining the banks. It is very peaceful and a refreshing
change from the mansions and piers although we still get our
share of those as we get closer to
Georgetown
,
South Carolina
, our stop that night at Mile 402. It is the 3rd oldest city in
South Carolina
founded in 1730. I read that they have restored their historic
downtown and give tours, but it's not in our itinerary...we've
got a boat to deliver!! We
stayed at the Harborwalk Marina and within walking distance
there is a nice stretch of boardwalk lined with shops and
restaurants. We picked an open-air bar & grill and enjoyed
chatting with the locals.
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Mystere at Myrtle Beach Yacht Club
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Barge loaded with 3 semi-trucks
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Day 20 - It rained intermittently
all night and the morning was still overcast. Before long we
caught up to Ain't Misbehaving. They
also stayed in
Georgetown
but at a different marina (remember, they pull in more
often for fuel). Soon it starts raining and we moved to our
inside steering helm and a windshield wiper. Ain't Misbehaving
asked if we'd take the lead because they are on their
bridge looking through plastic without wipers. We're glad to oblige,
but spotting buoys in these conditions becomes far more
difficult. It takes diligent attention to the charts and gps
chartplotter. We pass through several sounds and numerous rivers
as we wind our way past
Charleston
,
South Carolina
, which can be a good place for Great Loopers to stay for a
week or more to enjoy the city offerings. Great Loopers are
those who generally do this trip at a much more leisurely
pace taking several months to go south down the river
system in fall, winter in Florida, and cruise their way up
the east coast in spring back to the Great Lakes.
About 2
in the afternoon, it cleared up and we went back up on the
bridge. Passing through the Beaufort area we again
encountered many homes on the
waterfront with long piers and, you guessed it, no wake zones.
We made Hilton Head,
South Carolina
, at Mile 570 our evening destination and as we navigated
into the
Harbour
Town
Yacht
Basin
we could tell that we were now in with the "big boys".
In fact our 43 footer even looks small, but we do spot another
Lagoon backed into a slip there. We couldn't catch the name from
the boat, but it's always exciting to see one of your
"sisters". This is
Hilton Head Island
, the famous PGA Golf tournament location! But they really
don't have anything over us since our home base,
Manitowoc
,
Wisconsin
was also home to the PGA in 2004! Hilton Head is the largest
barrier island along the
Atlantic
Coast
and has strict housing and commercial regulations to maintain
its prestigious atmosphere. Even its Wal-Mart is hidden behind
lush foliage and a discreet sign. We shared dinner at
the Crazy Crab with the boys from
Michigan
, kind of celebrating our likely last evening together since we'll
be parting ways soon as they are delivering their boat to a
place on the St Mary’s River.
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Day 21 - Morning dawns with clear blue
skies and sunshine and a very warm breeze for so early in the
day. Temperatures soar to 95 again.
Our jackets were gathering
dust in the closet! Very
soon after leaving Hilton Head, we crossed into the state of
Georgia
. There are no "Welcome to..." signs on the ICW like
there are on the highways. Wonder why nobody thought of that!?!
We cruised past
Savannah
not seeing more than a cluster of tall buildings in the
distance. Making our way down the coast of
Georgia
is like driving down a mountain with all the switchbacks, only
flat. There are no houses or piers here either so we can
run at 20 knots.
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Ain't Misbehavin' entering Hilton Head
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Egrets on ICW in Georgia
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We saw a lot of egrets, an
occasional fishing boat, and dozens of crab pots.
Actually, you only see the float on the crab pot which is
attached to a wire mesh box sitting on the bottom. The
most exciting sight is always the porpoises as they
gracefully arch out of the water, sometimes single and sometimes
in pairs. We wish we could
watch them swim under the water, too. On a different trip, I
mentioned to a dockhand that we had seen a lot of dolphins
and he corrected me and said these were porpoises and the
dolphins were out in the ocean. They look the same to me.
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Towards the southern border of
Georgia
, we cruised through some places we have been to on another
trip with our good friends from Martha's Vineyard, John &
Jane Wilber, who made this trip down to Key Largo and back
each year for 13 years in their 36'
Grand Banks
trawler, DIXIE W VI. It cruised at 8 knots, so they made a
lot more stops and took over 3 months each way. It was very
nostalgic going through places like
Jekyll
Island
and
Fernandina
Beach
. We have a lot of fond memories of our time spent with them on
several different cruises. But that’s another story.
Late in the
afternoon we crossed the St. Mary's River at Mile 705 which marks
the boundary between
Georgia
and
Florida
. The best stop for the night is
Jacksonville Beach
at Mile 748. Ponce de Leon landed here in the 1500's in
search of the Fountain of Youth. It's been a popular resort
community ever since. After re-fueling, we did the same routine
of Ken taking a bike ride to scout out the area and get some
exercise. I get mine washing down the boat. It was still a
very humid 92 degrees for this late in the day.
Day 22 - The ICW straightens out down the coast of
Florida
and we made good time except in the areas around the major ports
which will probably sound more familiar to most of you like
St Augustine
and
Daytona Beach
.
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Famous St. Augustine Lighthouse
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Minimal wake sign
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We again enjoyed the porpoises, some of them even
playing in our wake. But they move so fast it is impossible to
get a picture of them. On the contrary, some of their friends in
the water apparently don't move so fast. A new entity has been
added to our trip....signs marking no wake zones protecting the
manatees. As I'm sure some of you have heard, this has been a
very controversial issue for Floridians affecting the
tourist industry on the one hand the wildlife preserve on the
other.
At Mile 878,
Titusville
is our evening destination. We can see the
Kennedy
Space
Center
off in the distance as
Cape Canaveral
, a very broad stretch of land runs from Mile 878 to 943.
We have visited the Center back in the 70's so we know it's
changed tremendously since then and we would really like to
revisit it sometime again. We ate at a little outdoor patio
place serving sandwiches about 10 blocks into town. They
were doing some karaoke so Ken even got to sing a number of
songs. He always gets compliments on his good voice and
people think he must do it for a living. I haven't seen any
money from it yet though! It was a pleasant evening for walking
but the temperature only cooled to 85 degrees.
Day 23 - The sun rose between clouds with a forecast of
scattered showers, but no thunderstorms & lightning
predicted.
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Sunrise on the ICW
Approaching rain shower
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We did encounter a few light
rains, only one heavy enough to send us inside for a very short
time. We never spotted any
lightning though which would have driven us into a port for
safety.
Another day
of cruising slow versus fast as we navigate between places like
Cocoa
, Melborne,
Vero Beach
, and Stuart. Many, many beautiful homes along the ICW and often
we can see the ones lining the coast as well. We checked into
running outside the last two days, but there were always
thunderstorms out over the ocean so we played it safe and stayed
in the "ditch" as it is often called. North Palm
Beach at Mile 1014 is located on
Lake Worth
and the Lake Worth Inlet is our passageway to the Atlantic Ocean
and the
Bahamas
. We choose Old Port Cove Marina to spend the night. Quite a few
people on our dock are living aboard their boats and as we
describe our plans, we keep hearing the fact that it's not good
for crossing now. Northeast winds have been blowing and they are
the worse because they meet with the Gulf Stream, which we have
to cross through on our way to the
Bahamas
, and they cause major wave conditions.
We know we won’t be heading out the next day for sure.
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As I was washing down the boat
our neighbor says, "Don't work so hard...you'll never get
all the salt off...it's in the air!" Course, he was
sort of kidding, but the air is so muggy that it probably does
pick up some salt from the mist blowing off the water.
Day 24 - The next morning being a Sunday, we took
a taxi to St Paul of the Cross Church and the second
reading for today starts with something like 'Don't be filled
with anxiety but be at peace. Just ask God for what you need.'
So we ask for winds to die down and turn to the south east. We
know God can do it, but as we also know, He may be on a
different time frame than we are! We walked halfway back from church
to a mall that has a House of Pancakes.....we needed the break
in air-conditioning because it was 90 degrees (heat index of
112). Then we walked the rest of the way back to the marina
and I think Ken's internal temperature was reaching the boiling
point. We spent the day listening to the VHF radio weather
forecasts, the TV weather channel, website weather sites, and
more of the locals. It's looking unfavorable for several days.
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Day 25 - The next day, the weather was the
same...hot, humid, intermittent rain showers, and lots of wind.
There was a band of tropical storms still coming across the
Bahamas
toward
Florida
. Everyone says when it blows like this, it lasts for 1-2 weeks.
We discussed all this with the owner and determined that he will
have his captain fly over the next day and stay with the boat
until the weather is safe to make the 75-mile crossing to Ocean
Reef Marina on
Grand Bahama
Island
. We then booked a flight with Midwest out of
Fort Lauderdale
for the day after tomorrow. It
just didn't make sense for us to wait for the weather to change. We
ended our day taking a taxi to Duffy's Sports Bar to eat &
watch the Packers on Monday night football. This is the next
generation of sports bars in that it has a separate room from
the normal bar and dining area called the Theater. It has two
opposing high definition screens that almost cover an entire
wall which make you feel like you are right there on the field.
There are many more screens hanging from the ceiling, a
half-circle center bar, and tables surrounding it. It was worth
going there just to see this. Too bad for the Pack though, as
Farve was making a strong comeback toward the end of the game
but there wasn’t enough time to actually pull off a victory.
It rained on and off all night and the flags continued
to fly straight out.
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Old Port Cove Marina at
North Palm Beach, FL
Strong winds & rain at North Palm Beach
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Captain Les & Karen saying good-bye
Written by
Karen Schuler,
Trawlers Midwest Inc
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Day 26 - We spent the day with
the new Captain going over all the systems on the boat and where
things were located. It
was three days later before Captain Les was able to cruise
Mystere to her new home in the
Bahamas
.
As this adventure came to
an end, we looked back on the great experience we had in
cruising through or past 14 states in many different
weather and wave conditions. It was challenging at times and peaceful
at times. God has created a beautiful country for us to enjoy in
so many different ways and we are grateful for what we've seen
and the freedoms we have to be able to do this. And as
always, it is the variety of people we encounter along the way
that make a trip like this so memorable.
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