Moving on out of the ICW

Our last night on the ICW - a short one for Jens and I as we wanted to be sure to arrive at West End, Grand Bahamas during daylight.  We set out at 2 AM .... yes, 2 AM!!!   It was a beautiful, clear night with no wind and a fantastically bright moon following us from behind.  The sea was calm until we hit the Gulf Stream where it takes on a life of its own.  Swells of 4 to 5 feet and movement in all directions.  Needless to say, this sailor turned a little green again and had to lay down for a bit.  Or was I just a little tired from our early rise?  No, I'm pretty sure my stomach doesn't like the turbulent seas.   I was able to get a nice sunrise shot of our first day in open water - no sign of land in any direction!

I can imagine how difficult this crossing could be in high winds.  Not to mention rain and cold.  We had to motor all the way, but I think we have to consider ourselves lucky that our crossing was as smooth as it could be.

Our crew, Eric and Liz, also felt it.  This was the first time in any kind of waves for both of them.  Luckily it wasn't too bad, just a slight feeling of being nauseous and the more you think of it, the worse it gets.   They are both getting quite comfortable on the boat and are good at getting us anchored, moored and ready to set sail.  It's nice having the company and I have to say we have been eating some very nice meals.  Now we have to test our fishing skills.  We have lures and line and are hoping for a bit of beginner's luck and start adding fresh fish to the menu.
We reached the Grand Bahamas around 1PM - much earlier than anticipated so it gives us an afternoon of chilling out, enjoying the beautiful clear aqua coloured water and perhaps a wee nap.  LIz and Eric were in snorkelling and they have already found a treasure.  A fantastic conch shell which has since been sent back to it's ocean home.

Pelicans

Two more days on the ICW

Our second and third day on the ICW started with a deep chill in the air.  The cabin temperature was showing 0 degrees C yesterday.  Jens started up the GenSet and turned on the heating.  We didn’t really expect to have the heating on in Florida, but these cold days are not unusual in Central Florida in January.  We started out early planning to get as far South as quickly as possible.  Despite wearing plenty of layers (ski underwear, shirt, sweater, vest, jacket, wool hat, rain pants and jacket, gloves and boots) Jens was still chilly standing at the helm.  I was in the galley preparing lots of hot coffee and a hot bowl of oats to help him warm up. 

Thank to a clear skies these past few days and a tapering wind, we have been slowly reducing the amount of clothing we are wearing as the day goes on and are actually able to get a bit of sun.
We have seen many dolphins but I have yet to get a good photo … I’m just not quick enough!  And lots of pelicans of various colours.  I find the pelicans quite fascinating with their awkward but controlled flight and diving into the water to catch fish.  They almost seem to be just one small step up from prehistoric times.

Oh, and we had another casualty on board thanks to a motor boat that zoomed by without consideration for his wake.  This time it was the Bodum coffee pot.  Poo!  We’ll have to settle for instant until we can get to shore and replace it.  That was my fault.  I was getting a little too used to having calm waters and no other boat traffic and I left the pot on the counter.  Normally, I tuck it into the sink with the dish soap, handsoap and kettle.

We covered 53 nautical miles yesterday and 60 today.  We've got another half day tomorrow and will head out to Bahamas on Saturday.  The crossing should take us about 12 hours or so.  Can't wait!

Wheels on Land

Off on our shopping spree aboard our "new" bikes!

SEGWUN Takes a Mud Bath

During my last post, I may have sounded a wee bit bored.  Cruising slowly down the ICW watching the world go by.  Well, we've had a few interesting days.  The clouds were coming in and the wind was picking up as we were looking for a place to anchor on the 28th.  We went into Kilkenny Creek and found a great anchorage in a branch of the creek that goes to a dead end.  We had time for our sundowner and the rain started.  It was windy and raining the whole night long but by morning it was clearing up nicely.  As we headed out into the Sapelo Sound, we were hailed on the radio by a boat that was heading out to sea.  Many boaters going south use the ICW to avoid having to do overnight sailing out on the Atlantic.  On the ICW you can stop and anchor pretty much anywhere.  But down at this part of the ICW, there are many Sounds that give you access to the Atlantic and you can do a day journey on the Atlantic. If the weather is fine and the winds are right, it's a good option since you avoid all the winding creeks and rivers of the ICW.  So, our dear friend on the radio suggested we should go out to sea and take advantage of the "flat seas" and good wind.  It was a split second decision for us and off we headed.  The sea was not quite as flat as we were expecting, swells in the range of 4-6 feet, and the wind direction coming from southwest meant we had to tack about 9 miles out and 9 miles back.  The sea was green and I have to admit, I felt a little green as well.

The next Sound to get back into the ICW was very narrow showing depths of 4-5 feet on the plotter.  We didn't want to risk it, so we continued south and came into St. Simons Sound, just as the sun was setting.  Getting back on to the ICW route took us to Jekyll Creek, approaching low tide, and pitch black.  Well, it was a difficult navigation and we grounded the boat a couple of times before we gave up and decided to sit tight near the side of the creek for the night and do it during daylight.  We anchored but not being happy with it, we decided sometime around 11PM to move the boat a little further back, where we thought it would be more out of the way.  In some ways this was a good thing as a few large barges came through during the night and we would have risked being in their way.  However, somewhere around 3AM, we woke up to a strange feeling.  The boat was leaning heavily to the right.  The tide was now going out again and we were stuck in the mud.  As the tide continued to go out, we were sitting with a 20 degree list.  The keel was planted completely in the mud.  We could have jumped out and walked around the boat.

What to do!  Wait for the tide to come in as there really is nothing else you can do with a beached boat.  It's a bit awkward to get around with such an angle; and a bit worrying.   In comes the tide as we hold our breath; and up comes SEGWUN.  We thought we might have to have it towed out because we felt we were firmly stuck in the mud.  Lucky for us, we got out and continued along without any problems.  Phew!

Our next stop was for water.  We should have topped up our water tank when we took on fuel in Charleston, but we thought we were doing so well on managing our water supply.  I think the top half of the tank is bigger than the bottom half because all of a sudden we had no water left.  Yikes!  We're stuck in the mud and we have no water.  Well, the really funny part is that while we were trying to sleep sitting stuck in the mud we kept hearing what we thought were helicopters over head.  They would come and then go and then come back again.  It finally dawned on Jens that it was not coming from outside of the boat but from the water pump trying to pump water that wasn't there.  Ok, now we know what that sound is.

Fernandina Beach Anchorage

Well, here we are now, safe and sound in Daytona at the Aquamarine Marina.  We've got a list of maintenance and odd jobs to do before we head home on December 12th.

We've spent a couple of lazy days cruising the ICW.  The wind has been almost non-existent which is fine since the channel is quite narrow and we motor all the way.  We anchored at Charleston and woke up in the morning to see that two sail boats had sunk in the bay during the night.  We asked at the Marina and they weren't surprised.  It seems there are several abandoned boats moored there and the ones that are still floating are occupied by homeless people.  Seems rather sad when you see multi million dollar boats at the marina.  We headed out and spent the night anchored at the mouth of Alligator Creek.  No alligators to be seen here either.

We're now on Lady's Island, Beaufort, South Carolina - hanging out at the MacDonald's taking advantage of a little free wifi.  We stopped in here to replenish our food supplies.  The last stop at the grocery store was in Elizabeth City about 10 days ago. 

We see a lot of pelicans around.  They are strange looking birds, particularly in flight - all bill and wings with a small body.

A lot of our friends were curious to know how we would make out living together in such small quarters. Jens and I have lived somewhat separate lives since we've been married and have gone from living in two different countries to living on a 44 foot sailboat.  I am happy to report we have had no real arguments but also caution that we have only been on the boat for 20 days.  Soon to be hitting the 3 week mark (this is the length of time that Francis estimated I would last).

US Thanksgiving - beer and football.  We've arrived to Georgetown, South Carolina.  It's Thanksgiving and we're happy to have found a local pub open with power and internet.  For some reason the computer will not charge on the boat.  Jens has a couple of ideas to find a solution for that.  We've spent the last few nights at anchor and are making good time.  This morning we were on our way at 6:30 AM.  The wind came up quite strong the night before together with rain.  So, we took out the enclosure for the binimi and started putting together the puzzle.  We already had the tops up but there are 5 additional pieces to zip together.

Early morning with the full enclosure

It fully encloses the cockpit keeping us warm and dry.  The rain was followed by a cold front so we were happy to have taken the trouble to put it up.  After a windy night at an anchorage that Jens was not too sure of (would we drift or would the anchor hold?) we were up early and decided to head out.  There was a swing bridge about five miles up that would only operate when the winds were below 15 knots.  Luckily the winds had died down and off we went.

Swing Bridge at Little River, SC

US Thanksgiving November 24 - Georgetown, SC

We covered 66 miles during this leg of the journey and are now anchored at Carolina Beach, NC.  We left early to try to get some distance covered since they are calling for some days with rain and wind.  We saw a lot of dolphins today.  Photographer Ev was not quite quick enough with the camera; I'll try to get some better shots next time.  We'll head out early again tomorrow.    Thanks to our friends for following along - welcome John.  Nice to see you.  It's been a while!

Free anchorage and free internet at Swansboro, N.C.  

Captain Jens making a small repair on the mast before we head out of Oriental Marina today.

November 20th:  We've arrived to Oriental, NC.  We decided to stay at a Marina tonight after four days without shore services.  During my last post, we were at the library in Elizabeth City.  We headed over to the visitor centre hoping to find a pay phone.  We had been told about a grocery store in town that offered a pick up and drop off service for boaters.  There were two nice ladies at the visitor centre and no pay phone.  They offered us to use their phone so we called the grocery store and as luck would have the driver had left for the day.  Elizabeth City is the "harbour of hospitality" and they sure do live up to their name.  The kind lady at the visitor centre offered to drive us to the grocery store which is about a mile and half away.  We said we could walk, but she said "no one walks in this town".  Mabel is a 71 year old volunteer for the visitor centre and talked a mile a minute the whole way there.  She offered to drive us back when we were finished shopping - just give her a call.  Being our independent selves, we decided we would walk back.   We hadn't shopped for about 10 days, and were a bit loaded down (a case of beer neatly stacked in Jens backpack, a box of wine plus milk, juice, and other groceries).  Walking for about 10 minutes and wondering if this was such a great idea, when thankfully a young fellow stopped and offered us a lift back to the docks.  We jumped in, happy for the lift.
Friday night in Elizabeth City turned out to be great fun.  Mabel told us about a show at the local restaurant / wine bar.  Paradox was playing .. it turned out to be two doctors (pair of docs ... get it?) playing some great music.  They played from 7 till 10PM and promptly at 10, the restaurant closed and we all cleared out.  Maxwell and Jen from SY Anastasia joined us as well.

Leaving the Elizabeth City Docks

Ok - now back to the Great Dismal Swamp Canal.  Yes, it was a bit dismal, but only because the first day we had cold rain, frost overnight and the second day, sunny but still bitterly cold at about 0 degrees C.  It is said to have the best drinking water in the world even though it is the colour of strong tea. I think I'll just take their word for it.  There were some really pretty parts, but the last bit I was sure the trees were in a competition for the ugliest tree in the world award.

After the great night at Elizabeth City, we headed for Little Alligator River.  Didn't see any alligators - they must have gone south for the winter.  We found a nice quiet spot to anchor - no city lights, no noise; but lots of mosquitos.  We left our door open a little too long and Jens and I shared the evening with about 1,000 of the locals.  By morning they were all bloated from their fine dining experience and we were both a little spotty.

A beautiful sunset that evening.  Here you see Anastasia and another boat that anchored at Tuckahoe Point together with us.  

A nice shot of Anastasia.  We hope to meet up with them further along our journey, but for now they are heading out to the Atlantic.

We travelled about 67 miles today.  Got into the marina just at sunset and docked at the Oriental Marina.  We'll probably be out of email / internet connection for the next few days.  Stay tuned.

Port Winch

Last night (Nov 15) we spent our first night at anchorage.  Which basically means we weren’t moored up in a marina and didn’t have to pay anyone to stay the night.  It also means that we don’t have access to internet, water or electricity.  The water and electricity is fine since we have enough water on board and plenty of power.  But it is a bit of an adjustment not having internet access 24/7. 

It was a beautiful day of sailing.  They were calling for rain and rough seas, but we had a beautiful sunny day with good winds for sailing.  We didn’t get down to Norfolk as quickly as we expected so we headed in to Chrisman’s Creek.  Most of the area is protected for wildlife.  There are a lot of shoals and very shallow areas.  We managed to ground the ship twice, but luckily Captains Jens was quick and got us out.  We were just about to give up when a nice couple in a fishing trawler stopped their trip to guide us in to a spot where we could anchor.  The water became very still as the wind died down at sunset and it was a quiet night aboard SEGWUN.

Wednesday, November 16^th.

We have arrived to Norfolk where we see the full force of the US Navy.  I couldn’t count how many helicopters, TomCats, planes, Hovercraft and Navy ships we saw.   At one point we felt a helicopter was inspecting us.  It seemed to be coming very close to us.  I think maybe the Danish flag caught their eye and made them curious.  

We are now entering the Intra (not Inter as I previously called it) Coastal Waterway or ICW as it is more commonly known.  We have a very helpful booklet given to us by Ed at Gratitude and written by Captain Vincent Trovato.  It says the ICW is a series of canals, creeks, rivers and sounds that are sometimes too wide to see the other side.  Some refer to it as a ditch but it is said to be a beautiful waterway constructed many years ago so vessels could safely travel down the coast. 

We’ll have some maneuvering to do as it is said to be a bit shallow in areas and there are many bridges that we have to pass under – a lot of them draw bridges. 

See you all next time.  First Mate Eve has to go to the galley and rustle up some dinner for the Captain. 

November 17^th

We have entered the IWC and are following the Great Dismal Swamp Canal.   The weather turned extremely cold last night.  A cold wind from the North together with rain had us wearing our cold weather gear all day.  We went under four bridges (two drawbridges) and we had to wait for a lock, so it was pretty slow going.   There were 5 sailboats and 4 catamarans anchored in Norfolk, NC heading to the ICW.  Three of us took the Great Dismal Swamp Canal – the others took the Albemarle & Chesapeake Canal.  We’re now moored at the North Carolina Visitor Center for the night and are warming up in their centre catching up on email.  They have a very old computer here and I was not able to upload the postings to our blog.  

We met a young couple on the ship Anastasia who are also heading south.  They're spending the winter in the Bahamas and have been living aboard for the past three years.  Maxwell and Jen gave us some helpful hints such as "stock up on beer before leaving US shores because it is very expensive in the Caribbean and the Bahamas".  I think we still have some storage space on the boat to accommodate that.  We were also advised to fill the fridge and freezer to the max as food can be expensive and it can sometimes be difficult to get want you want.

November 18th

Today we woke up to a heavy layer of frost on the boat.  It was 0 Celcius in the cabin.  But, the good news is that there was not a cloud in the sky.  We are through the Great Dismal Swamp and are now moored in Elizabeth City.  We headed into town and stopped at the local library to use their free wifi before heading out to restock our food supply. 

Picture(s) of the Day - Sunday, November 13, 2011

The Bay Bridge, Maryland

Sunset coming into Solomons, Maryland

We left Osprey Point around 7:30AM on Sunday morning.  We knew it wasn’t the perfect day for sailing.  Fairly good winds at around 20 knots but coming from the south.  And of course, we’re traveling south so we were into the wind the entire day.  We didn’t raise the sails but chose to motor for the day.  If we had sailed, we would have been tacking all day long and probably only gone half as far.  Since our objective is to get to Florida, and warmer weather, as soon as possible, we started the engine and put her on auto pilot.  We made it to Solomons just at dusk.  Found a place to stay for the night in a nice sheltered port.  The wind is expected to stay the same for tomorrow with some expected showers.  We plan to get to Norfolk by Tuesday evening. 

Our first night without internet and without shore power.  We’re running off the battery and using candles to keep the cabin warm.  I think it will be an early night and probably and early start tomorrow.  We’ll try to get as far as we can before the forecasted rain begins.  

November 11, Remembrance Day.  We spent the day in the historic town of Annapolis, now probably best known for it's Naval Academy.   Hey sailor!
We stopped in to get the emergency beacon registered with the ship's information so we can send the number to the Danish Coast Guard.  The SEGWUN is registered as a Danish ship, hailing from Aarhus, Denmark.
Hard Bean Coffee was where we had lunch, grilled cheese sandwich and a coffee.  We made one last stop at West Marine where I think we should own shares of by now!!! and a last stop at WalMart to pick up a few essentials such as a dust buster ... gotta keep our new home clean.  

Driving back to Rock Hall, there are some very picturesque towns.  It is a really pretty part of the country.  So many beautiful country roads banked by trees turning with the fall colours.  

These pictures are taken in a town near Rock Hall called Chestertown.  A very impressive church with the large white columns and the top one is a Government office.  

Still checking with the weather - should be another gusty day tomorrow, but we are pretty confident that we will set sail on Sunday with our first stop being the Solomons.  

Today we were able to take SEGWUN out for a short sail.  Jens got to see the new sails, feel how the boat handles and get a little more comfortable with all the rigging.  

Jens at the helm.  The weather has turned a little grey and a little misty with a breeze at about 5 knots.  

 Some shots of the sails as you can see them from the deck.  We have new main and head sails.  As you can see, we are flying the visit flag of USA since we are registered as a Danish boat and fly the Danish flag aft.

This is me at the helm.  We have automatic pilot,  so I can spend my time daydreaming.

John and Jens.  John has been a great help to us in anticipating all of our needs and helping us to get everything we need.  He has really been a great help with his vast knowledge and experience.

This afternoon, the wind has come up quite a bit, gusting at around 40 knots.  We've come across a small problem with the refrigeration unit - we're not sure if it's a small problem or not, but we'll have it checked out on Saturday to be sure.  Our departure is now set for Sunday, which works out well since they are calling for high winds for the next few days.

Rock Hall, Maryland - the SEGWUN at Osprey Point Marina