Thursday May 17, 2018 - Layover at Bowleys, Middle River

Is it good to be home?  You bet it is.  It wasn't a great homecoming - it rained for the last 8 hours I motored from Solomons to my marina.  But, it's good to be at my destination. I have some boat work to do and Joan will drive down to pick me up this evening.  It's raining lightly all day today so it's kinda hard to do much on the outside of the boat. 

In the next week, I'll try to give some kind of trip summary, some statistics, some highlights, and some lessons learned.

I have appreciated the dedicated followers who have endured my bad grammar, bad spelling, and lack of proof reading.  Thank you for your patience. 

Wednesday May 16, 2018 - Solomons to Middle River (home)

With rain in the forecast (for the next 3 days), my plan was to go about 40 miles to Annapolis and anchor out until tomorrow.  I figured I would be able to time my return home to miss most of any storms/rain.  The wind was south at about 15 going out of the Patuxent River but died to about 10 once I got into the Bay.  That was good because there is lots of fetch with a south wind and the seas can get pretty big and rolley.  I really don't like sailing downwind so I had decided to leave the cover on the main and sail with the genoa only.  That way, if I did get any bad weather, I only had one sail to deal with.  I ran the engine the entire day.  I made fairly good time until about 11am when it started raining.  I furled the genoa and then it was motoring the remainder of the day. 

I've come to realize that when you are going from the mouth to the head of a river or tributary like the Chesapeake Bay, the tides and current are delayed as you progress.  So, if you stayed in one place and maximum ebb was at noon, you would expect maximum flood to be about 6 hours later.  But as you move up the bay, maximum ebb moves back in time so that maximum ebb might be at 2pm further north.  Well, for the 11 hours I was heading north, the current was in some state of ebb the entire time.  That meant I had between .2 and 2 knots against me all day.  I was off Poplar Island at about 2pm and considered going into the Rhode River for the night since the current would be favorable in the morning.  But, as I've said before, when you get close to home, home is like a magnet - it's pull keeps getting stronger the closer you get.  I want through the Bay Bridge at around 3pm and at that point, I was committed to getting back to the marina before dark.  There had been very little wind all day but at about 4pm, it began building from the East and made the last 10 miles one of the roughest parts of my entire trip.  And, of course, it was still raining.  I came through the cut below Hart Miller Island and was in my slip just before 7pm. 

Tuesday May 15, 2018 - Reedville to Solomons

Last night was exiting.  A thunderstorm came through and True Blue was rocking, rolling, and heeling.  But it only lasted 20 minutes and then it was just a nice steady rain for part of the night.  About an hour after I had anchored last night, a 35' sailboat came into the anchorage.  But, unlike me (close to shore and as much protection as possible), he stayed out in the middle of the fairly large bay.  In the morning, they were gone.  I suspect they drug their anchor in the storm and decided to move to another location (or left before 5am in the morning).

I left the anchorage at 6am and raised the main.  They were calling for SW 10-15 in the morning, increasing in the afternoon.  I didn't have that far to go to Solomons so I figured I'd be in ahead of the wind.  With that in mind, no reefs in the sails.  I had a nice sail out the Great Wicomoco and into the Bay.  I was about half way across the mouth of the Potomac and the wind died.  I ran the engine for about 2 hours and then it started back up - same direction.  I was near my favorite lighthouse - Point No Point.  I love the name but I'm not sure if there is a story on how it got that name.  As I approached the Patuxent River, the wind increased.  When I turned to go west into Solomons, I was reaching with 20 to 25 knot winds (no reefs).  I dropped the main half way up Mill Creek and anchored at my favorite location - just east of Pancake Point.

At about 10pm, I was texting with my new friend Doug. He said he had been reading on Facebook about lots of bad storms up my way.  It was dead calm but I checked the radar and saw weather very close by.  Before I turned on my inside chart plotter to set a track and anchor alarm, the wind went from zero to 30 (direction unknown, at that moment).  As soon as the chart plotter came up, it showed True Blue tracking straight from where I had been anchored to the shore about 300 feet away.   I ran up the steps, got my bearings (in the dark), started the engine, and was able to get the boat to move out of the mud and into the wind.   Then I began the exercise of running back and forth from the bow to the wheel, trying to bring in the anchor.  The wind would give me about 20 seconds before blowing the bow back off toward the shore.  Several times, I had to turn back into the wind with full throttle before locking the wheel.  Finally, after about 10 minutes, I had the anchor up and I was in deeper water.  I was VERY lucky I had grounded before hitting another boat or a dock.  It was pretty scary with a couple gusts easily over 40 or 50.  I decided to relocate to a spot further up Mill Creek where there is more protection from the (then) east winds.  By the time I got there (took 5 minutes), the wind was down to 10 to 15.  Fortunately, through all this, there was no rain at all.  But once I was anchored again, it began raining and rained for some time. 

Monday May 14, 2018 - Hampton to Reedille

I guess I'm a bit of a pessimist when it comes to planning for my next day's progress. I usually have a destination A and a destination B (the latter being a little stretch).  I almost always make destination and sometimes go on to destination C.  That's what happened today. I left Hampton at 6am.  I was sure I'd make it to Fishing Bay on the Piankatank River. But I was hoping to make it to Dymer Creek (above the Rappahannock). But I was happy to make it another 10 miles to Reedville on the Great Wicomico River. Not only that, I was at my anchorage (Sandy Point) and all settled by 4pm.  My plan was to be in Solomons tomorrow so I'll have to re-think that.  After tomorrow, we are supposed to have 3 days of rainy weather.

I left early this morning because I knew the current would be flooding for several hours. That made it hard getting out of the James River but that only takes an hour or so.  But then it was 6 to 7 knots going north for the next 7 hours.  I had both sails out all the way for the NE to E, 5 to 10 knot wind that helped with my speed.  Unfortunately, at around 7am, a big and thick fog bank rolled into the Bay and made the visibility between 200 300 yards until about noon. When it finally started lifting, it was kind of an odd feeling because I was not able to see land in any direction.  I almost felt more secure when I was encased in my little fog cocoon. 

As I approached the Great Wicomoco, it became sunny and turned into a really nice afternoon.  I anchored in Sandy Point Bay.  Ed and Joan had been there before. 

Sunday May 13, 2018 - Portsmouth to Hampton

I've been to Hampton before and I really like the town and waterfront but every time I go, I sail past Fort Monroe on New Point Comfort and have always wanted to check it out (if possible).  What I didn't know was that until 2011, it was an Army base and not a place civilians like me could visit.  In 2011, it was closed down as a federal installation and was turned over to the State of Virginia.  Shortly after that, the National Parks Service took on a role.  There is a lot of very large and nice military housing that is owned by members of the public.  There is a very large hospital looking building at the south end that is a fairly high end (and popular) retirement home.  There is a light house near the south end, and, of course there is the Fort.  There is also a fairly large white sand beach on the East side (facing the Chesapeake) that is open to the public. 

Fort Monroe is the largest fort of it's kind in the US. It is HUGE!  It is in the shape of a pentagon and has a very large moat around the perimeter.  It too has a lot of very well built, brick buildings and also has some beautiful housing.  A very nice museum has been created in one of the buildings on the SW side of the grounds that tells the story of the fort.  I would highly encourage anyone who has not been there to go and spend an entire day. 

I stayed at the Old Point Comfort Marina.  It was built for use by military personnel but is now run by some municipal authority. It is a little run down but I really liked it and the wifi worked great.  The bath house was a little odd but very clean and functional.  I docked on a T head and the owner of a Watkins 33 had driven up from Atlanta to take his boat "Finally" to a yard where he was going to re-do the bottom.  His name was Paul and he had lots of very interesting stories about his time in the Air Force.

Saturday May 12, 2018 - Layover in Portsmouth

I think today has been one of the most fun days of my entire trip. I was tied up to the free (south) dock at the High Street Landing in Portsmouth.  It is a really nice park type setting.  I did some boat work early and then went to the really nice Visitor's center about 2 blocks to the north (at the north free docking area).  Then I walked over to the only place to get basic groceries in a 2 mile radius - Dollar General.  It's about 3 blocks up High Street from the boat.  I got most of what I needed (lots of snacks and milk).  I took that back to the boat and then set out to the Skipjack nautical store.  It's is about 8 blocks west on High Street.  As I told the husband and wife owners, it was 10 times better than the next best store of it's kind - and I've been looking for many years.  I'm usually lucky if I can find a good size antique store with one brass lamp.  They must have had 200 to 300.  I was like a kid in a candy store.  I'll have to return.

Then I paid the senior rate of $2.25 to take the ferry from Portsmouth to Norfolk.  The ferry landing is about 200' from where I had True Blue tied up.  For some reason, I never thought I'd like Norfolk - but I really liked it.  They have a real nice waterfront with lots of open parks.  Then I walked north to the huge facility where they have the battleship USS Wisconsin on display.  It is a pretty big deal but I passed on touring the battleship - I just have to go back here. One of the dosents suggested that I go to a little hole in the wall a couple blocks away for Pizza (Benny's).  It was fantastic and inexpensive.  Then I rode the "light rail" for about an hour - over the entire route.  I got to see the town and was getting free wifi to boot.  Did I mention that the train was included in my $2.25 (all day) fare.  I walked to the huge indoor shopping mall they have right in the center of the downtown district.  It was ALL very cool.

As a side note, it's now 8pm and the Navy (somewhere around here) plays some song like Taps (on a bugle or trumpet) every night at 8pm.  And they also play a recording of the Star Spangle Banner every morning at 8am.  I felt compelled to stand at attention this morning (but didn't).

So, I walked back to the waterfront, and caught the ferry just as it was leaving (it runs every half hour).  I left the dock and stopped at Tidewater Marina for my last refueling of the trip. It is only about 1/4 mile north.  I had planned on anchoring in Hampton tonight but decided to anchor next to Tidewater instead and it was a good choice. 

Friday May 11, 2018 -  Dismal Swamp Welcome Center to Portsmouth free dock

There was just the other sailboat (a C&C 35) and me at the Welcome Center overnight. The C&C left somewhat early and I waited till about 10am to depart. I wanted to make the 1:30pm opening of the north, Deep Creek, lock.  I was only going to Portsmouth for the night and that was only another 2 hours away.  I left the Dismal Swamp around 2:30pm and made the easiest pass through the Glimerton Bridge that I've ever made.  After that, it was an easy motor to Portsmouth.  When I arrived in the small (south) docking area, there were no other boats there. And there was a sign at the entrance stating "No docking from midnight till 6am".  I radioed the captain of the ferry that was tied up at the entrance and he told me that rule is not enforced and the have  signs on several of the pilings stating rules for overnight docking.  After I docked, two other boats came in and docked also. 

I walked to the south side of the "High Street Landing" and found a craft beer restaurant - Legends.  I went in and had one of their Porters while I looked out the wind at True Blue (which I had left unlocked). 

Thursday May 10, 2018 -  Alligator River North to Dismal Swamp Welcome Center

I was in a pretty isolated anchorage on the Little Alligator River last night.  But I was up at 5am for an early start. The wind had shifted overnight from NNE to SW.  The forecast was for SW around 10 till noon and then SW at 15 to 20 in the afternoon.  Sounded great for crossing the Albemarle.  I wanted to be in the Pasquotank river by noon when it was supposed to pick up.  It was a beautiful clear morning - at least for the first hour.  At 7:30am, a big fog bank rolled in from the west.  I was already past the tricky part of entering the Albemarle from the south so it was an easy decision to just keep going - in the fog.  It only lasted for about an hour and then it slowly began clearing.  I had a real nice broad reach across the Sound and into the Pasquotank. 

My plan was to spend the night at the free docks that Elizabeth City is known for.  But when I got there, I found only one slip filled (by a small trawler), docks that you had to back into, and a south wind that made docking very tricky.  I was in perfect position after my first try backing in but I wasn't able to be at the bow and the stern at the same time and as soon as I stopped, the bow got blown off into the next slip to the north.  It wasn't a pretty sight, I'm sure. I was able go get back out with no damage (almost lost my horse shoe buoy and it's rack, however).  On my second try, I was just starting to back in and noticed the draw bridge was opening for a south bound boat.  I quickly shifted into forward and was on my way through the bridge and northward to the Dismal Swamp.  I rushed but made the last (3:30pm) opening with time to spare.  When I got to the South Mills Lock opening, there was another sailboat waiting. They had passed me crossing the Albemarle (motoring all the way) and had been there for an hour. We got through the lock and then motored the additional 10, or so, miles to the Dismal Swamp Welcome Center. 

The Welcome Center is a great place.  It is very clean with really nice landscaping and bathrooms.  And, they had wifi.  Unfortunately, the wifi would not extend to the boat and soon after I arrived a big thunderstorm came through that kept me in the boat the rest of the evening.

Wednesday May 9, 2018 - Alligator River South to Alligator River North

It's interesting how things that seem so stressful at first can become routine - and less stressful.  The last three days have been very rough.  I've had 15 to 25 knots of wind on the nose all three days.  After watching a 38' sloop leave the anchorage this morning and then return a half hour later, I questioned whether going up the 18 mile Alligator River was a prudent thing to do.  I radioed the boat (who anchored next to me) and asked why he had returned. His response was that he didn't need to get to Norfolk until the weekend and pounding into the waves and 22+ knot winds - on the nose didn't make much sense.  I had gotten up at 5am hoping the wind had died some overnight but I could tell it hadn't.  Also, I wanted to wait around to see if TowBoat US would come for my new friend Doug.  They had said they would be there between 8 and 9am and they were there at 8:55 (from 30 miles away).  But then I watched other boats leave the anchorage - and not return.  Finally, I had had all I could take of indecision.  I listened to the NOAA weather forecast one more time.  They were calling for SW at 10 to 15 on Thursday - picking up to 15 to 25 in the afternoon.  I decided that I wanted to be able to cross the (dreaded) Albemarle Sound in 10 to 15 and not 15 to 25.  The only way to do that was to be ready to cross in the morning - which meant getting to the top of the Alligator River (where it meets the Sound). 

I decided about half way through my motor sail that I was getting used to sailing again.  Gone were the days of mezmorizing motors up the ICW rivers and canals. By the way, the Alligator River is a huge body of water - about 5 miles wide by 19 miles long.  I've been on it 5 times now and only once was it not a challenge.  I still have some canals to go (Dismal Swamp Friday and Saturday) and then it is all Chesapeake Bay sailing. 

Tuesday May 8, 2018 - Goose Creek to Alligator River (South end)

I was expecting today to be a little easier than yesterday.  Well, that didn't happen.  I left the anchorage at 6:30am and was in the Pamlico River within about 45 minutes.  I sailed for about 2 hours and then motor sailed most of the way into and up the Pungo River.  The Pungo is a long and winding river.  At least I was at a good angle for the mainsail to have a good effect (I was doing 5.5 knots motor sailing).   I had established criteria that if I was at the entrance of the Pungo/Alligator River Canal by noon, I would keep going.  I got there at 11:50am.   With my criteria met, I entered the 20 mile long canal.  This canal is two very straight sections that are 10 miles each with a 10 degree bend in the middle.  It is normally a pretty section of the ICW but today was very dreary, cold, windy, and misting.  Not much fun.  I exited the canal at 3:30 to North winds at 25.  I anchored just north of Deep Point.  There was one other boat already there but within an hour, there were 5. 

Two days ago, just before leaving Oriental, I met a young man Doug.  His boat was on the free dock just across from The Bean (coffee shop).  He had purchased his new (to him) boat off ebay and had come down a week earlier to take it home to Havre de Grace MD.  Part of my interest was that his boat was an Islander 28 - a smaller version of the Islander 30 I had for several  years.  It had been grounded for a week and the water had just come up enough that he was able to get underway.  I felt bad watching him disappear behind me as I sailed up the Neuse River.  It was pretty rough out and I had both main and jib reefed.  After a couple hours, it got even rougher and I was pretty sure he would have turned back. 

What a shock when I looked through my binoculars at the boat at the entrance to the Alligator River - it was "Original" - the Islander 28.  I called him on the radio and was happy that he responded.  However, his news was not good.  His shaft packing was leaking and he had water over the floor boards inside the boat.  His bilge pump was working and the boat was not sinking but he was not able to get to the packing to tighten it.  He had a number of other issues - only a handheld VHF (couldn't call for a tow), a dead cell phone, no lights inside the boat, etc.  He had contacted his wife (just before his phone died) to contact Tow Boat US but didn't know if they were coming.  I called Boat US on the radio and they (Ocracoke) called the unit in Bell Haven.  They will be coming 30 miles tomorrow morning to tow him back to Bell Haven.  I also texted his wife to let her know he was OK.  I wish there were more I could do but I think he has a number of issues he will need to sort out before he continues his trip north.  What's really ironic is that Doug's last name is Bell - and he is being towed back to Bell Haven.

Monday May7, 2018 - Oriental to Goose Creek

It's interesting how you can get closer to home and yet feel further away from home.  Once you leave the coast and go inland (at least in North Carolina), you begin feeling more remote and isolated.  Phones don't work, no data, etc.  And you can travel several miles without seeing a house or even another boat.  I'm anchored in a little creek off Goose Creek which is just south of the Pamlico River.  In the morning, I'll motor about 4 miles north to enter the Pamlico.  I'll cross that and enter the Pungo River.  It is a long and windy river that leads to a long canal that joins the Pungo and the Alligator River. 

I got a slow start today.  I was up early but I changed the engine oil and tightened the shaft packing again.  In the middle of that, I moved the boat from the free dock to the fuel dock -  about a 70 foot move. Then I moved back to the free dock and finished my engine work.  I met a guy from Havre de Grace while I was getting fuel.  He had just purchased an Islander 28 a week before in Oriental.  I felt bad for him - he has a long trip home and had told his wife he would be there in a little over a week.  Unfortunately, the boat was sitting in 3 feet of water with a 5 foot keel.  Today was the first time he was able to move.  And I felt really bad later because he was motoring and it was ROUGH. 

I left Oriental at around 10am and expected 10 to 15 knot winds - from the north.  The direction was correct but the speed was more like 15 to 25.  It didn't take long to realize I needed at least one reef in the main.  I ended up sailing 14 miles from Oriental to Bay River and taking 4 hours to do it.  The wind was right on the nose the entire time.  It's been a while since I sailed in conditions like this and I obviously did not have things stowed properly below - you could barely walk forward below with all the "stuff" that had relocated to the sole (floor).

I only hope that the guy with the Islander turned back to wait for another day. 

Sunday May 6, 2018 - Swansboro to Oriental NC

What would you do?  What would you do if you woke up at midnight and found the depth finder reading 5'?  AND - it was high tide in an area where the tides are just over 2' - AND your keel was 4' deep - AND it was raining.  Well, here's what I do.  First, I think about how this could happen.  I circled around the anchorage before anchoring.  I anchored at low tide.  The depth was nothing less than 7'.  Then I check to see if I've dragged the anchor.  I consider whether the depth sounder is reading properly.  The next thing I do is change into my bathing suit, put on my rain jacket, start the engine, haul up the anchor and move 100'.  Which is not as easy as it sounds in a small anchorage with tidal current flowing and in the dark.  So, when it was all said and done, the depth was 6.4 - a whopping 1.5' improvement.

I'm starting to wonder if I'm being a less diligent seaman.  First, I misread the weather and was surprised that it rained ALL night (starting at about 8pm).  Yes, the rain came from an odd direction but was something I had seen 2 or 3 days ago and thought had moved further off the coast.  Second, running aground yesterday morning.  And now, anchoring in a less than favorable spot.  In any event, I'm going to try and do better - starting NOW.

I left the anchorage at around 6:30am. It had stopped raining but started back up within an hour.   It is nice at times like this to have a dodger, a bimini and a connector to connect the two.  At least when it's not windy, you are able to stay fairly dry.  But canvas can only tolerate so much and then it begins to leak.  And, after 4 hours of straight rain, that's what it did.  It seems kind of odd wearing a rain coat to keep you dry under your bimini etc.  Fortunately, it stopped right around the time when I got to Morehead City and Beaufort.  It was a good feeling to turn that corner in Morehead and be heading inland (and not up the coast).  I got into Oriental about 3pm and was surprised at how full the harbor was with anchored boats.  It was a bad sign because that meant the 4 free docks were likely full. But when I motored in to check.  It was a very pleasant surprise to fine one of the 4 open - and I snapped it right up.

Saturday May 5, 2018 - Wrightsville Beach to Bogue Inlet (Swansboro NC).

I got off to a bad start today but I recovered.  The bad start was a grounding within 10 minutes of leaving my anchorage.  I needed to make a right turn to go through a channel that returned to the ICW.  I have several poor excuses for my mistake:

1.       I was used to being in the ICW where you keep red on your left (when traveling north)

2.      I didn't see any green day marker - the bright green squares were in line with my line of sight so that they were basically invisible from my viewing position.

3.      The green day mark on the chart plotter was in a shoally area and not easy to see (well, I didn't notice it until after I had hit bottom).

4.      And, most significant was that it appeared from my Garmin chart that I was right in the middle of the channel.  The point where I reversed my direction is where I hit bottom.  I then spun around and went back to go around red "14" (the PROPER way).

So, once I was got off and went back, I realized that the red 14 was NOT an ICW marker.  That means Red Right Returning.  And, I noticed the Green 15 - both in the channel and on the chart plotter.  Well, fortunatly, it was an easy fix and I, as far as I know, I had no audience.  So my pride wasn't hurt too bad. I was glad I corrected things fairly quickly since I was in somewhat of a hurry to make the 8am bridge opening about a mile away. 

The rest of the day went pretty well.  It was a 50 mile day which is pretty good.  There were 3 timed bridges and one delayed me by about 45 minutes.   As I arrived in the Bouge Inlet area, it was low tide which, in the past 2 weeks has been a no no for traveling.  But I'm now north of most of the big problem areas.  That means less effort to time my travels and hopefully no more groundings (due to tides).

Friday May 4, 2018 - Little River Inlet to Wrightsville Beach, NC

That's right, only two more states to go (VA and MD).  Well, I still have a lot to do in NC.    My plan was to get to Southport today.  I left a little early (dead low tide at Little River) and made fairly good time (using the genoa to squeeze every ounce possible out of the wind).  That put me in Southport 10 minutes before noon.  I had thought that I might just keep going if I got there before noon because shortly after that, the Cape Fear River would start ebbing and it has lots of bad current.  But when I rechecked, I found it wasn't scheduled to begin ebbing until 1pm.  So I kept going.  As soon as I got into the Cape Fear River, my speed went from almost 6 knots to 7.5 knots.  I averaged 7 knots over the entire 8 miles.  Then, the current through Snows Cut (just 1.5 miles) had just started flooding.  And that meant doing 7 to over 8 knots (a lttle scary).  With all this speed, I figured I'd just keep going.  It was another 10 miles to Wrightsville Beach and I averaged 7 knots over that stretch.  So, I ended up going an additional 20 miles and was anchored at 3:30pm. Overall, it was a 57 mile day. 

I plan on slowing down a little.  Beaufort is almost 70 miles north - too much for one day.  So I'll stop about half way tomorrow (in an anchorage called Miles Hammaker).  Also, there may be some bad weather tomorrow and there is supposed to be some on Sunday. 

The wind today was SSW at about 5 to 10 - until I got to about 5 miles south of Wrightsville Beach.  Then, it picked up to SSE at 20 - which is making for a very bumpy anchorage (sure reminds me of those days in the Exumas). 

Thursday May 3, 2018 - Osprey Marina to Calabash Creek (Little River Inlet)

When I was heading south, early last November, I probably swore I'd never anchor in Calabash Creek again.  And now, 6 months later, here I am - anchored in Calabash Creek.  My dislike for this anchorage is twofold. First, it's an inlet with lots of wicked current, lots of shoals, and lots of boat traffic.  Second, this is where I picked up my only crab pot ever.  I drug it for almost a mile (doing 2 knots max) before diving down and cutting it loose.  And why am I here again?  I left Osprey Marina at 9am.  I wanted to go through the "Rock Pile" at high tide and take advantage of some of the favorable current.  I didn't want to keep going (to the Southport area) because it would have been almost 8pm, at best.  That would have been cutting things a little close.   No, I don't like this anchorage.  But it's about all there is and it will give me plenty of time to plan for tomorrow. 

I had a good ride north - through Myrtle Beach.  Unfortunately, places like this tend to harbor power boaters who are clueless about "slow passes" to keep from rocking the boats around them.  I had a few of them but I'm getting used to it.

When I got to Osprey, I met a fellow cruiser (Bruce) who has a C&C 34.  I like C&Cs.  Anyway, he is currently dealing with a fuel issue.  Somehow, after several years of no problems, his diesel has lots of grime in it.  In the last 2 weeks, he has changed fuel filters 2 or 3 times. He was planning on replacing the fuel tank but a mechanic at the marina talked him out of it and suggested some modifications that would add more filtration.  He got 4 new filters and left the dock about 30 minutes before me this morning - but came right back because he was not able to get his engine to rev over 2,200 rpm (it should go to 3,600).  I think he is going to replace the tank.  I did learn several things from his misfortune that I'll try to remember - for example, keeping a spare bottle of fuel to fill the fuel filter when changing filters.  He also has a Yanmar engine and was telling me that he had starting issues that ended up being the slave solenoid.  His symptoms were very similar to the one's I've had (and continue to have).

I got a call, later in the day, from Wayne Campbell.  He was happy to report that he was safe in Georgetown SC.  He was happy because 5 minutes before he got to the anchorage, he got an engine overheating alarm that ended up being failed bearings in the engine cooling water pump.  He had already identified a local (Georgetown) company that would be able to order a new pump. 

Wednesday May 2, 2018 - Butler Island to Osprey Marina

As usual, I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep so got up around 6am.  I wasn't planning on leaving the anchorage till 7:30 (slack current that would be pushing me from behind).  I made the mistake of leaving at 7 and fought the current for 3 of the 4 hours it took to get to the marina.  I did, however, want to get there as early as possible.  I think leaving an hour early probably got me there 15 minutes earlier. 

I sure do like the Osprey Marina. I think it's my favorite anywhere.  It's very inexpensive and has really nice floating docks, really nice bathrooms, a really nice staff, free donuts and coffee in the morning, and on and on. 

When I got here, I checked in and sat in the (really nice) lounge to update all my devices using their wifi.  Then I came back and did some boat cleanup.  My anchor locker has been in need of a major cleaning and organizing - so that was first.  Cleaning the topsides was next.  Tomorrow morning, the whole boat will get a good fresh water hose down. 

The weather today was fantastic.  Another day of perfect weather.  How much longer can this last??

Tuesday May 1, 2018 - Cape Island to Butler Island

My plan was to stop at or before Georgetown SC.  I stopped at Georgetown going south and Joan and I visited there when she came down.  I really liked it but I wasn't sure I wanted to revisit it - it is 1.5 miles off the ICW and I would need to re-deploy my dinghy (now snuggled up on the foredeck).  I ended up making good time so I decided to go on past Georgetown to an anchorage on the west side of Butler Island. It is about 10 miles north of Georgetown and about 20 miles south of Osprey Marina where I planned on staying tomorrow.  It seemed like a fairly long day but I only travelled 38 nautical miles.  I had planned on the wind helping me but it didn't pick up till right when I dropped anchor.

I spend the remainder of the afternoon doing boat work.  I needed to adjust the shaft packing and do some other routine engine checks etc.  Butler Island is a big anchorage and two large trollers and two large sailboats came in later in the afternoon.  It was a very nice and peaceful evening and overnight.

Monday April 30, 2018 - S. Charleston to S. Cape Island

I know, who ever heard of Cape Island.  I never did.  And it's not even a "Cape".   More on that later.

I was up and impatient to go this morning but I had decided I would leave at 7:40am in order to get to Elliot's Cut at 9am.  Nine am was just after slack current and I wanted to have just a little current with me.  I had about 10 miles to go to get to the cut.  Shortly after leaving my anchorage, a large sailing catamaran passed me.  Then about an hour later, two trollers passed me.  When they approached the cut, the began talking on the radio about their strategies for entering the cut.  One of them confirmed that slack was at 8:45am.  As they went through, I monitored their AIS signals and it appeared they were maintaining their speed - great.  I was about 5 minutes behind the cat when I entered the cut (at exactly 9am).  Remember, there was supposed to be a little current WITH me.  If I had gotten there any later, the current would still have been WITH me but stronger.  So what happened?  The current was 2 knots - AGAINST ME!

It was a little upsetting but at least True Blue can handle a 2 knot head current.  I just gave it a little more gas and motored through going 4 knots. 

After that, it was waiting 15 minutes for the Wapoo bridge to open and in another 20 minutes, I was in Charleston Harbor.   Charleston is a really pretty city from the water.  I thought about stopping but I've been there with Joan and didn't feel any real need to go again by myself.  It took about an hour to cross the harbor.  At noon, I stopped for fuel about 10 miles north at the Isle of Palms Marina - it was very convenient.  I continued another 10 miles into a shoaly area and started hearing reports of boats running aground.  I decided to take a break and pulled off and anchored from 2pm till 4pm.  Then I continued another 10 miles to where I am now.  It was only a 40 mile day but I'm only a day away from Georgetown NC.

Sunday April 29, 2018 - Beaufort SC to S. Charlestown

Today I planned on making some good progress - and I did.  I motor sailed (mostly just motored) about 50 miles and I'm now anchored about 10 miles below Charlestown.  It was a pretty uneventful day - no groundings although there were some numbers in the high 4s.  The wind was from the North most of the day and was fairly strong (15 to 20) at times.  Right now, it is dead calm (8:40pm).  Tomorrow I'll be giving a pass through Elliot's Cut one more try.  It is a section of the ICW that is about 1/4 mile long with current that sometimes reaches 6 knots.  I thought I had it timed perfectly when I came south and ended up bucking a 4 knot current.  I chose my anchorage for tonight to "stage" for tomorrows second attempt.

Saturday April 28, 2018 - Layover in Beaufort SC

I'd say the weather the last 3 or 4 days has been the best weather I've had on my entire trip.  Days around 80,  cloudless, nights around 60, low humidity, nice breezes in the afternoon, calm at night - PERFECT by MY criteria.  Also, when I've wanted to move, the wind has been behind me.  So that's another plus.

This morning, I got up and treated myself to a nice breakfast.  I was cleaning out the fridge because I was making a grocery run today. At around 9am, I dropped my mooring and motored in to the "day dock" next to the marina.  I went to the marina office, checked out their "loaner" car and went to the Bi-Low grocery store about 3 miles away.  They had lots of things I needed that were BOGO "with card" so I naturally asked what I needed to do to get that "card".  They told me they would just give me the discount. It never hurts to ask! 

I moved the boat back to a mooring at around 2pm and spent the remainder of the afternoon there.  At about the same time, my new friend Wayne arrived and took a mooring next to me.  At around 4, he dinghied over we chatted for a while.  He was going bar hopping this evening and that really wasn't something I felt much like doing, so I stayed behind to plan my next two days on the move.

Thursday April 26, 2018 - Savannah to Hilton Head

Like yesterday, I had planned on getting up early to catch the high (6:20am) tide to take me over all the shoals in the first 2 to 3 hours of the day.  But late last night, I was reviewing my route in more detail and noticed a bridge about 4 miles north that has very restrictive opening times in the morning.  Based on that and wanting to do some engine checks before leaving, I decided to hold off leaving until after noon.  It was a beautiful morning - full sunshine and NO wind (the last two days have been west at 15 to 20).  I did my engine checks (I have a very small fuel leak I'm keeping my eye on). 

I keep changing my plans.  It's now 1pm.  My plan now is to leave the anchorage at 2:30, stop for fuel and water 3 miles north of here, cross the Savannah River and head north about 20 miles to anchor just south of the Port Royal Sound Inlet.  I was planning on going to Beaufort (SC) the same day and stay for a day or two but now I'm thinking about going outside at Port Royal Inlet and returning into Charleston.  I'll wait till tomorrow to see if the weather still looks as good as it does now (S-10).  If it does, I'll leave around 6pm and do an over nighter that will put me into Charleston at daybreak.  Why would I do this?  To save fuel, engine hours, and time.  Also, True Blue IS a SAILboat.

I did some boat work, waiting to leave today.  There are lots of dauphins in this area.  On my trip, I've seen lots of dauphins but I've found it very hard to photograph or film them.  They surface quickly, take a quick breath, and then disappear again.  It's hard to tell where they will resurface.  However, I'll often be below and hear them breathing.  They have a very distinctive sound when they surface and exhale.  It's one of the things I really like about cruising - being so "in touch" with nature. 

Wednesday April 25, 2018 - Crescent River to Savannah

My plan yesterday was to leave at about 2pm.  There were lots of shoals (Little and Big Mud Rivers to name a few).  Low tide was around noon so I figured I'd leave after that and, at least be on a rising tide, if I were to run into trouble.  But late last night, I looked again at the charts and realized that most of the shallow areas were in the first 2 hours of my trip.  That meant that I could leave early and catch most of the high (albeit falling) tide to get through those areas.  Then, I'd be in deeper water for the low tide at noon. So that's what I did and it worked perfectly - with one minor exception.  I needed to get through "Hell Gate".  Hell Gate crosses a marshy area in the center of the Ossabaw Sound/inlet.  It is a trouble spot (as the name implies??).  Low tide there was at around noon.  No problem - I'd just stop for a couple hours - just before I got there and wait for low tide to pass.  So, I anchored in Tom's Creek and waited.  It worked fine - I went through Hell Gate at 3pm and continued on to Savannah.  I ended up anchoring on the East side of Dutch Island, on the East side of Savannah. I got in at 5:30pm which made for a long day.  For much of the day, I was motor sailing since the wind was from the west.  But with all the windiness of the ICW in Georgia, it meant a lot of sail trimming.  But it did usually ad 1 to 2 knots to my speed.  But 11 hours of constant sail trimming, motoring, watching for shoals, etc. makes for a long and tiring (50 mile) day. 

I showered, ate, made a few phone calls and was out like a light before 10pm.

Tuesday April 24, 2018 - Fort Frederica to Crescent River

This part of Georgia is somewhat desolate.  I'm between Brunswick near the southern border and Savannah near the northern border.  There are lots of inlets, lots of current, lots of meandering to the ICW, 6 to 8 foot tides, and lots of shoaling.  I've decided I'm only moving when the tides are rising and for an hour or two after high tides.  The tide cycle is normally about 12 hours.  That means from low tide till high tide is about 6 hours.  So, if I leave an hour after low tide (when it is rising), I'll have about 6 or 7 hours to travel without the "fear" of running aground with the tide falling and leaving me stranded.  If I would run aground when the tide is rising, there is a fair chance the rising tide would help get me off so I could continue on my way.  The fact that I ran aground 3 times just south of Fernandina a week ago has given me a new respect for the shoaling in this area - and Georgia is supposed to be worse than northern Florida. 

So, the bottom line is I'm sitting here waiting for low tide at around 11:30am today.  I'll cross the Altamaha Sound about 5 miles north of here and then  the Doboy Sound another 10 miles north of there.  Then I'll go another 10 miles north to the Crescent River where I'll anchor for the night.  That's the plan, anyway.

Monday April 23, 2018 - Layover at Fort Frederica

Today began at about 3am when the thunderstorms and driving rain began.  I got up and turned on my anchor alarm and activated the tracking on my inside chart plotter.  I went back to bed but didn't get much sleep.  Everytime the wind would blow and the boat would heel to 10 to 15 degrees, I'd check my track.  I never did drag but my anchor alarm did sound at around 7am when the wind shifted and caused my distance to go over the alarm setpoint.  At around 10am, the rain stopped and for several hours, things dried out a little.  I ran the generator and took a cockpit shower (the wind had subsided).  It rained again for an hour in the early afternoon.  After it stopped and dried out again, my new friend Wayne paddled over for a visit.  The sun had come out briefly and it warmed up quickly.   We visited for a couple hours and then the weather began to threaten again.  Isolated thunderstorms were going around us to the north and the south - with some sprinkles and wind but no direct hits.  The rest of the evening and overnight was pretty benign and I got a good night's sleep (after falling asleep in the quarterberth at around 8pm). 

Sunday April 22, 2018 - Layover at Fort Frederica

Ahhh. A day of R & R (rest and relaxation).  I fixed a nice breakfast and did some piddling around the boat.  I was a little close to the boat next to me (a 50' steel hull boat that reminds me of Al Capron's Salty Spray).  So I relocated to give us both a little more room - for the eventual weather.  At around 11am, I saw Wayne in his cockpit and hollered over.  He had his dinghy in the water (I had put mine on the foredeck yesterday morning before leaving Brunswick).  I told him we could use my motor on his dinghy if he wanted to go over to the dock to see Fort Frederica.  The fort is a National Monument.  I had read a little about it that didn't sound too good but there was no plan B so Wayne and I both dinghied over.  I was really glad I went because it was a really nice Monument.  It is probably 100 acres in size.  There is little remaining of the original town and the fort.  Much of what is known about it is from archeological diggings.  But they have a very nice visitors center with a great 30 minute movie.  I'm embarrassed to say I've never had much of an interest in history so I'm pretty ignorant about the wars that took place in the 1700s. So this was a great history lesson for me.  And the grounds are really pretty with all the huge live oak trees with LOTS of hanging Spanish moss.

The forecast for today was for some bad weather but it's actually been pretty nice so far (it's 6pm now).  The forecast for tomorrow is for T-Storms so I think it will be another day of R&R.

Saturday April 21, 2018 - Brunswick to Frederica River

As much as I liked the town of Brunswick - and could have easily stayed a couple more days, weather is coming Monday and I didn't want to spend the $200 it would have cost to stay till Tuesday.  I like the marina too but not THAT much.  I left the marina in 20+ knots of wind and I think some of the cruisers thought I was a little nuts.  I met several people and none were leaving until the weather had passed.  In retrospect, leaving was the right thing to do although I was pretty nervous about getting past the St. Simon Sound Inlet.  The Brunswick River runs about 5 miles East to the Sound before you can make the turn north onto the ICW.  With the wind from the East, I figured it would be very rough near the inlet entrance.  I really had everything tied down for a rough ride - including a double reef in the main sail.  Fortunately, the wind was out of the NE so it wasn't coming straight into the inlet.  It was windy but the waves were never more than 2 feet.  I've had much worse on the Chesapeake.  It was another 5 miles before turning into the Frederica River and to my anchorage across from Fort Frederica.  It was a short day on the water but I was glad to have it over.

Shortly after anchoring, another solo cruiser, Wayne, paddled his dinghy over to say hello.  I had passed about 45 minutes before.  I don't pass many boats so that was unusual.  He was a really nice guy and since I had started a pot of chili, I invited him to stay for dinner.  I felt kind of bad because the chili was a mix and wasn't very tasty.

Friday April 20, 2018 - Layover in Brunswick

I really like the town of Brunswick GA.  Joan and I had visited here several years ago.  And Phil and Ollie and I had stopped here with the Pintita 4 years ago (on the Pintita's trip back from the Caribbean).

I had lots of boat work to do today but got most of it done early in the morning.  At around 1pm, I walked into town and had lunch at "The Island Jerk".  Then I walked through a really great antique mall in downtown. Lastly, I walked to a really nice hardware store where I got a few supplies. At 5pm, I went to a great "Cruisers Party".  The marina supplies free beer and many of the cruisers brought finger food. 

Thursday April 19, 2018 - Fernandina FL to Brunswick GA

The town of Fernandina is about a mile south of the St. Mary's River - a fairly big inlet into the Atlantic Ocean.  The river divides Florida from Georgia.  I had thought about leaving later in the afternoon for St. Catherine's Island but my friend and fellow cruiser Keith suggested I not anchor there tonight because there was supposed to be a strong North wind that would make the anchorage and travel north the next day very rough.  So I decided to leave earlier and ride the current north from the inlet.  It worked out pretty well.  The wind was from the west and I used the jib when I could to help my speed.  Until later in the day, I made between 6 and 7.5 knots most of the time.  Considering I didn't leave Fernandina until 10:30am, I did well to make it the 36 miles to Brunswick by 5:30pm.  Of course, nothing is easy and the last mile before I made it to the Brunswick River, the depths were getting VERY shallow (like around 5 feet - two hours below low tide).  The tides in GA are 8 feet.  If I had been there an hour later, I wouldn't have made it.  I came into the Brunswick City Marina at 5:30.  It is a really nice marina with floating docks.

Wednesday April 18, 2018 - Layover in Fernandina

I took the dinghy in to the Fernandina Marina around 11am.  My friend Wolfgang keeps his Pacific Seacraft 34 in one of the slips.  The marina continues to have a fair amount of damage from hurricane Mathew.  But the biggest issue is silt.  At low tide, about 60 percent of the slips are sitting in mud.  One cruiser I met later in Brunswick had left his dinghy tied up the dinghy dock and when he returned, it was sitting on mud.  They had to wait 5 hours before the tide came in so they could get back to their boat. 

Wolfgang and I went to lunch at the Salty Pelican. It is a pretty cool restaurant, very close to the water.  After lunch, Wolfgang went back to his boat "Yankee" to finish some boat work he had started in the morning.  I spent 2 or 3 hours walking around the town.  Did I already say "I love the town of Fernandina"? 

Salty Pelican Restaurant

Tuesday April 17, 2018 - Pine Island to Fernandina Beach

Shortly after I was anchored, I got a text from Bruce.  I called him and described my day.  He thought a good description would be the "Day from Hell".  That may be a bit of an overstatement but it's not that far off. 

I had a good start - leaving Pine Island at around 8am.  I wanted to time my pass through the San Pablo Bridge (17 miles north) so the current would be slack (none).  That worked out pretty well - I was a little early but there was barely any current.  After I went through the bridge, I anchored on the east side of the ICW.  I knew I had a loose zinc on the prop shaft and I wanted to remove it.  This had been on my mind a lot because I was concerned it might wear on either the shaft or the strut (or both).  Where I anchored was just south of the St. Johns river/inlet so I figured the water would be fairly clear - WRONG.  The outside temperature was pretty cool but the water was fairly warm.  I had some trouble getting the zinc off but finally got it.  BTW, I had installed a new zinc just before leaving the Bahamas - I should have removed the old one then.  After taking a warm shower, I was on my way again. 

Crossing the St. John's river was a bit of a challenge with the 3 knot current but soon I was on the north side and headed north for Fernandina.  My plan was to anchor in a creek just south of the town.  About 7 miles north is the Nassau Sound/inlet.  It is where the Nassau and Amelia Rivers meet and flow into the ocean.   I was crossing the point where they meet and was aware of the shoal.  I stayed what I thought was a good distance below it.  But as I crossed over what was supposed to be 12' of water, the depth went from 15' to less than 4' in just a few seconds.  This is where my bad day started.  Of course, I was doing 5 knots and when I hit, the bow went down 2 or 3 feet.  Of course, it was sand so it wasn't sudden or damaging (I hope) and much to my surprise, the bow came back up and the boat resumed it's speed.  It had to have been a very narrow sand bar that I just plowed through. 

About 5 minutes later, I appoached a J120 that was hard aground in the center of the ICW.  He radioed me and warned me to keep to the far west side of the channel.  I thanked him and proceeded.  About a half mile north, I was cruising along again - in 10' of water and suddenly, another hard bump - that I again plowed through.  I had read about this area and thought  I was heeding the advice other cruisers have given about the area.  It was near low tide and the tide was still falling so I was a nervous wreck after this second bump.  I proceeded very cautiously for the next 10 miles.  There were several areas where the depth was right around 4' and I dropped my speed down to a crawl.  I watched the depth gauge like a hawk.  As I passed the creek where I had planned to anchor for the night, it looked all shoaled over so I just kept going. 

Then, when I got to about a mile below Fernandina, I came to an area where the Coast Guard had placed several temporary buoy's marking shoals that move around frequently.  As I approached the area, I thought I was in the perfect position and ran aground for the third time.  But this time, it was not a bump.  This time I slowed to a STOP.  For 20 minutes, I tried everything.  It was low tide so I knew it would only be a matter of time before I'd be lifted off.  On the down side, the wind was pushing me toward the shallow side of the ICW.  Finally, after 6 or 7 attempts at spinning right and left, I began to move back to where I had come from and was off.  I went about 300' back and moved over to very close to the west shore - where there was 10' of water.  I proceeded through all the temporary buoy's and had no issues after that. 

I got in at around 6:30pm.  It was another day that I was glad to have behind me.

Journey at anchor

Monday April 16, 2018 - Palm Coast to Pine Island

I'm sure glad this day is "over".  I fought the current and the wind ALL day long.  I think there might have been 3 or 4 miles south of St. Augustine where the current was pushing me a little - the rest of the time, I was doing between 2.5 and 4.5 knots.  So, where is Pine Island?  It's a little island with several anchorages.  It's about 12 miles north of St. Augustine and about 20 miles south of Jacksonville.  It pretty much out in the middle of know where.  The charts show several good anchorages but when I got here, what was showing on the charts as 11 and 12 feet of water was between 5 and 7'.  And that was near the southern mouth of the horseshoe.  The northern entrance is nearly impossible to navigate into and out of.  The WNW wind was pushing me into the shallow water so I quickly spun around and stayed near the entrance (where there are lots of white caps).

Around 2pm, I had thought about anchoring about 5 miles south of here.  I was getting tired of motoring into a 3 knot current.  There is a shoal that extends south near the center of the ICW for about 1/2 mile (so the charts say).  Active Captain shows the area as a good anchorage.  My plan was to wait out the tide and move on once it went slack.  As I approached the area on the west side of the ICW, I began thinking the anchorage didn't look that great.  So I veered east to get back on the east side of the main channel.  Just after I changed course, the depth went from 11 to 7 to 5 to 4 to BUMP.  The shoal that the charts show extending south a half mile now extends south 3/4 mile.  Of course, as luck would have it, the tide was falling.  I needed to act quickly.  Also, I was pointing east and the 20 knot wind was pushing me east.  I wasn't sure how much more shallow the depth would get before it began getting deeper again.  It felt like plowing forward was not an option.  I tried spinning right - in the direction of the current and to what I assumed was deeper water.  The boat would not spin.  I tried spinning left and made a little headway.  I had the throttle wide open and was barely turning.  The wind was hitting the bow and keeping me from turning.  I had the wheel against the left stop.  My progress had stopped.  I decided to try decreasing my turn - if the prop wash hits a rudder that is perpendicular to the centerline of the boat, I figured it would not generate much forward thrust.  As I turned the wheel from center to left, I began making headway.  Then I began to turn - I was OFF.  All this was in less than 2 minutes.  I motored back south for a quarter mile and then slowly cut across to the east side of the ICW.  This time, I never saw less than 9 feet. 

The high today was about 65.  With the 20 to 30 knot winds, that made the wind chill around 50.  Needless to say, I had on my light weight foul weather gear all day.  The low tonight is supposed to get down to 48.

That sleeping bag is sure going to feel good tonight!

Sunday April 15, 2018 - Layover in Palm Coast

The Palm Coast Marina is in a very non commercial area - with one exception.  About a 10 minute walk from the marina is a large complex called the European Courtyard.  It is like a mini Epcot Center.  It has 4 or 5 nice restaurants and 10 or 15 other shops.  It is a little unusual but very nice.  One of the restaurants is a fairly upscale Indian place.  After scoping it out yesterday, I decided to try their lunch buffet today.  A fairly major storm was on the way so I went early and at three meals in one sitting. It was excellent but I suffered on the walk back from overeating. 

This morning, I did wash and sat in the lounge and had morning coffee with the local cruisers.  It's funny - they are all from the "No Frills" side of the marina.  Nice bunch anyway.  I like this place. 

At about 4pm, the first wave of the storm hit. It didn't last long but the squall line had lots of rain and gusts up to around 50 knots.  I was glad I had added that second spring line.  The second batch is supposed to come through at around 8pm.

European Village

Visited all but Rum Cay and Andros

Friday April 14, 2018 - Daytona to Palm Coast

I was up early but so were all the other cruisers.  I think I was the last boat headed north to leave the Daytona area.  Of course, I took the time to get the dinghy on deck and lash it down (about an hour).  I think I was underway around 7:30am.  I had a SSE wind between 10 and 15 most of the morning but I was fighting the current.  The net effect was around 4.5 to 5 knots most of the 20 miles it took to get to Palm Coast.  A single hander I had talked to in Solomons MD had told me about the Palm Coast Marina when I ran into him just north of there last December.  He told me they had a few $20 slips.  I had called then and they were booked up.  But today, when I called, they had one available.  They call them "No Frills" slips - because they have neither water or electric.  I'm used to being on my own for electric and I had enough water so it sounded good. 

The Palm Coast Marina is about 200 feet up a canal that goes west of the ICW so it is very handy.  I had a little trouble finding my slip (ended up turning into a very narrow fairway for small power boats).  Once I got turned around and headed for the slip, I didn't have the right lines set up and ended up being very thankful for the 4 live aboards that helped me get into the slip without banging into anything.  It is a nice marina and well worth the price. 

Friday April 13, 2018 - New Smyrna to Daytona

I was in no rush this morning since my plan was to go to an anchorage not far to the north of New Smyrna.  I wanted to be there for low tide which was at 1:30pm.  I figured I'd get there a little early to get a spot left by another anchoring cruiser.  When I did get there, I found only two boats anchored (In Rockhouse Creek).  I'm not sure why they call this creek Rockhouse since there are no houses and no rocks - that I saw.  But, at low tide, there are lots of sand bars that become exposed and several very nice white sand beaches that the local power boaters take advantage of for laying in the sun.  I took the dinghy to one of the beaches.  The dinghy had been in the water for almost two weeks so I took the motor off, stood it on it's side and scrubbed the bottom.  In that much time, small barnacles will start to form all over the bottom and it will get a good start on some nice slime that makes a mess of the deck when you put it on the foredeck of True Blue.  It worked out pretty well. 

When I got back to the boat, I dove on the prop because my speed seemed lower than what I thought it should be.  Everything  was fine except that my old zinc was loose on the prop shaft.  I'll need to go back down with an allen wrench and remove it soon.

I was soon underway again and motor/sailed the remaining 12 miles.  I arrived at my anchorage, just north of the Seabreeze/Oakridge Bridge (at the north end of Daytona) . 

           George Musson Bascule Bridge

Checking the windex while motoring?