We were ready to start our cruse! We had returned the Enterprise Rental Car. We started Aisling Ghael's engines at 11:00am and motored to the gas/pump out dock. Paid the marina for our 5 week stay. By 12:00 noon we were underway! We saw a dolphin as we left. We took that as a good omen.
Ready to begin cruising
We ate lunch of humus and chips or carrots, hard salami and Monterey Jack cheese. We cruised to a mooring ball at Titusville. Very nice to be cruising and moving! Went 20 miles.
Day 2: Friday, March 16
Sunny 58°F Light winds. Engine on at 10:35 Odometer 1037. Saw many dolphins throughout the day and also saw the back of a manatee. By 5:00 pm we were docked at Halifax Harbor Marina near Daytona. Went 46 miles on the ICW (IntraCoastal Waterway).
Day 3: Saturday, March 17
61°F Sunny, No Wind. Went 66 miles to St. Augustine Municipal Mooring field. Temperature 72°F. We took our the puppies in the dinghy to shore and walked around some. St. Augustine is the oldest European settled city in North America. When we were here in December of 1989 on our sailboat, Cynosure, Emily, Eric, Jeff and Barbie enjoyed going to a re-enactment village and also playing Putt-Putt Golf. It was much warmer and more busy this visit. The Putt-Putt Golf was more elaborate than we had remembered. The municipal marina had sustained some hurricane damage and had a few less slips. The mooring field was filled with boats. Went 53 miles on ICW.
St Augustine at town mooring ball
St. Augustine Bridge of Lions
Day 4: Sunday, March 18
63°F and sunny
We took the dinghy ashore @ 7:45. Dogs walked well. We walked around the outside of a Fort. We were on our way by 9:00. We were at Jacksonville Beach Marina by 12:45. Got a pump out that cost us $15.00! All other pump outs had been free. We walked to West Marine. We were told it was "just over the bridge". When you are driving you do not realize how far something is. We first had to walk about 1/4 of mile before we could get on the bridge. Then we walked over the bridge and down the other side. We still had about a mile before we got to West Marine. Jeff got the part he needed. We then stopped at Publix Grocery store and picked up a few items. Barbie had her back pack. Jeff did not. Barbie's back pack was stuffed and Jeff carried the beer back in his hands. Went 31 miles on ICW.
Jacksonville Beach Marina
Day 5: Monday, March 19
Started out raining with thunder and lightning. The rain stopped by 10:00 am. We were on our way at 10:15. Temperature was 69°F with light wind and mostly sunny.
Made lunch underway: Jeff had hot dog, potato chips, humus, water, 1/2 apple and chocolates from Lucky's. Barbie had salad, humus and carrots, 1/2 apple, Lucky's chocolates and water. First time we used the stove while underway. The weather turned cloudy by 2:15. Had no problem going through St. Andrew's Sound. By 5:30 we were tied up at Jekyll Marina in Georgia. Went 62 miles on ICW.
Jekyll Island Marina
Day 6: Tuesday, March 20
The forecast is for windy weather for the next two days. We will stay in Jekyll. It is snowing in Baltimore. Barbie did three loads of laundry. They only have one machine and it is a small stacking washer and drier machine. In order to get to it you have to walk through the people dining on the porch of the building. The marina heads are also the same direction. Had supper at the marina restaurant.
Jekyll Island golf car trip to town
Day 7: Wednesday, March 21
25 - 30 mile an hour winds most of the day. The wind was on our port side pushing us onto the dock. The boat was rocking a lot. Barbie spent most of the day sleeping avoiding sea sickness. At 4:30 we took a marina courtesy golf cart to Jekyll Island Village. It was the first time Barbie had ever driven a golf cart. We had a good time. There were many tourist shops. We bought beer at the liquor store and 2 onions, a corn bread mix, a pound cake mix, milk, butter and two slices of cheesecake.
Jekyll Island Marina
Jeff engineered the oven so it can be used at the same time as the induction stove top. We had corn bread, ground beef with rice and peas. This was the first time using the oven.
Day 8: Thursday, March 22
We have been cruising for one week. We are enjoying ourselves. The puppies are doing OK. Greta does NOT like using the turf on the boat. Hans has adapted well. 55°F. We had a lovely anchorage in Walburg Creek in 16 feet of water. Went 59 miles.
Day 9: March 23
It was 47° F this morning but we had slept very warm. Weather and wind looked like it might be favorable to go out in the ocean. It would save 20 miles and 2 hours of travel. As we went out at St. Catherine Sound, we got into chop and motion. By the time we were in the ocean we were banging and quivering. Barbie hoped the boat would stay together! Jeff took over steering and she went below to comfort Hans and Greta and try NOT to get sea sick. She got sea sick anyway and felt AWFUL! Jeff plotted a course to the next inlet and we anchored at Bull Creek. We had a supper of canned beans with left over rice and ground beef plus frozen green beans on the side. We enjoyed the supper. Went 61 miles part in the Atlantic Ocean and most on the ICW.
Bull Creek sunset
Day 10: March 24
Very light wind and partly to mostly cloudy. The temperature was 53° F when we got underway at 8:30. We saw dolphins which we always take as a good sign. We went through Beaufort, SC and anchored in Church Creek near Charleston, SC We went 77 miles today on ICW.
Day 11: March 25
When we woke up and looked around we realized we were in a different location than we had anchored the night before! Our anchor had dragged about a half mile! Luckily we did NOT drag into any other boats or objects or the ground. We stopped for fuel at St. John's Harbor and the dogs enjoyed going ashore. We were lucky that we had a slack tide since getting into this marina would have been a difficult docking maneuver. We anchored for the night in 17 feet of water and saw dolphins in the anchorage. Went 37 miles today on ICW.
South Carolina low country where we went aground
Day 12: March 26
We got underway at 8:45 with the temperature of 44° F By 9:45 the depth alarm went off. Barbie tried to figure out which way to steer and suddenly could NO LONGER STEER! Jeff went to the bow and put the anchor in, but it DID NOT GO DOWN! We were very concerned and confused until we realized that we had GONE AGROUND! We've gone aground in our sailboat, but would ALWAYS know since the keel would hit and we would suddenly stop! With the multi hull there really isn't a deep keel and we never felt when we went aground.
Once we realized we were aground we waited 2 hours for the tide to come up. We were able to get off and on our way. However within about 15 minutes the starboard engine alarm for over heating went off! We were able to continue 25 miles to Georgetown, SC. We contacted a mechanic who agreed to look at the engine the next day. As we continued toward Georgetown and Harbor Walk Marina Jeff was pumping the starboard engine bilge every 10 min. This slowed down once we were in the marina, but continued through the night every hour.
Going aground filed the strainer and engine with mud and shells
Shaft seal was leaking badly -- temporary fix with inner tube
Propeller shaft coupler -- missing rubber cushions
The next day Jeff searched YouTube and got the idea of using a bicycle inner tube to stop the leak. We happened to have several extra 12 inch inner tubes for our fold up bikes. The inner tube made it so the bilge only had to be pumped every 4 or 5 hours. Went 33 miles on ICW.
