Tag: Sailing

MM285.

Day 4 – 2 bridges. 30 miles. We got off the dock easily this morning and headed on our way by 9AM. Every stretch of the ICW has been a little different each day. Today took us through the Cape Fear River. We had the tide against us for a couple hours and it was slow going through mostly sea-like conditions in the wide and deep shipping lanes.

We then turned back up into the ICW. Lori found a website where the Corps of Engineers posts images of current depth soundings all along the ICW, which provide the latest status on shoals and problem areas. We referred to that along the way. So we knew we were in for a couple of very low stretches today. We actually bumped bottom once today! The red and orange marks in the middle of the screenshot below indicate only 4 to 5-foot depths at mean-low-tide stretching across the entire width of the ICW channel.  We draw 5 feet.  AND we were hitting this stretch at low tide.  Exciting!

We pulled into Wrightsville just in time to get hit by our first thunderstorm/deluge as we were anchoring. Not bad. I’ll take it.

We grilled on the boat and rocked out until sunset. It was another lovely night.

The next post in our ICW journey:  https://sheila365.com/2019/07/13/mm229/

(Note:  If you’d like to read the entire 2-week adventure from the beginning, THIS LINK will take you to the first post in the series.)

MM315.

Day 3 – 17 bridges (yes, 17). 58 miles. Today brought us across the South Carolina border into North Carolina.

Captain Lori picked the departure time perfectly, which isn’t easy with currents being different all along the ICW and worrying about vertical clearance under bridges, and the depth of the water along the way, given that the tide changes water depths in this area by 4 to 6-feet.

Again, we lucked out and were not hit by the storms around us. Today’s challenges were long stretches where the current was against us, which slows us down, and navigating the areas of the ICW that cross river inlets to the Atlantic Ocean. The coast guard temporarily moves the channel markers to safely navigate changing shoals in these areas. Oh, and there was that one jackhole in a fishing boat who nearly ran into us from behind at high speed as he wasn’t paying attention. Luckily he looked up at the last minute and we only got water from his boat spray in the cockpit.

We started the day running up the ICW behind Myrtle Beach. Lots of homes and boat traffic.

Civilization, bridges, and traffic from the air and from the sea… ICW kitsch… Swing bridges that opened when asked nicely… More kitsch…First channel marker in North Carolina…

It turned beachy at Shallote’s Inlet. If you look closely you can see the surf breaking on the Atlantic side… And we got to see the backside of many beach homes…Home for the night…

The next post in our ICW journey:  https://sheila365.com/2019/07/12/mm285/

(Note:  If you’d like to read the entire 2-week adventure from the beginning, THIS LINK will take you to the first post in the series.)

MM373.

Day 2 – 2 bridges. 47 miles. We had storms all around us today but were only hit by a few sprinkles. Still, we moved along at about 6 mph, looking at tide tables, currents and the waterway guide to time arrivals along the way.  We just keep following the magenta line on the charts.

We hit some of our shallowest water today, only about 6 feet deep, which is a little close for our 5-foot deep keel.

The ICW scenery changed for us today from a narrow ditch surrounded by low, grassy marshes, to a very wide and winding river surrounded by tall moss-covered cypresses and pines.

Morning scenery…

Afternoon scenery…

We are staying the night at Osprey Marina, which is fitting because we saw about a hundred ospreys today!

The next post on our ICW journey:  https://sheila365.com/2019/07/11/mm315/

(Note:  If you’d like to read the entire 2-week adventure from the beginning, THIS LINK will take you to the first post in the series.)

MM420.

Day 1 – 4 bridges. 52 miles. We decided to go 10 miles farther than we’d planned today. We are anchored in the South Santee River for the night. There is one other sloop a couple hundred feet away, which is odd since we only passed one other sailboat all day.

This is a really beautiful spot; surrounded by nature preserve on all sides. AND we, surprisingly, have two bars of cell signal!

We saw much of South Carolina’s marshy Low Country today. I logged many birds through binoculars. A Great Day!!!

A far-away view of Charleston waterfront from the harbor…

We celebrated Day 1 after we anchored with a glass of bubbles.

This is what a 63′ mast looks like when it passes under a 65′ bridge. Whoa, Nellie!  This is why we have to time our arrival at bridges to be when it is NOT high tide.

It’s beautiful here at our anchorage…

Sunset!

Next post on our ICW journey:  https://sheila365.com/2019/07/10/mm373/.

(Note:  If you’d like to read the entire 2-week adventure from the beginning, THIS LINK will take you to the first post in the series.)

MM472.

I have arrived in Charleston to help Lori bring Trident up to Norfolk. We plan to take the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, which winds its way through coastal marshes and towns, through countless bridges and locks, crazy strong currents and tidal flows, and some very shallow and narrow water passages. We hope to make 40-50 miles a day. Norfolk is at MM 0.

We had time for a short visit to the historic downtown last night, then drove to Sullivan’s Island for a delicious send-ourselves-off dinner.

The boat, a 45′ Island Packet 445…

The marina @ St. Johns Yacht Harbor…

Shadowy oaks in the Battery…

Crossing the Ravenel Bridge over the Cooper River, by car, the easy way.  🙂

The next post on our ICW journey:  https://sheila365.com/2019/07/09/mm420/

Fireworks, family, friends, and fun.

The last few weeks have flown by.  We’ve enjoyed family in Colorado, friends and family on the lake in Austin, and are looking forward to the next adventures on the horizon.

We hosted a boatload of friends and family to watch July 3rd fireworks on Lake Travis… Photo credit to Julie 🙂

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Then Monte and I headed upriver with Kurt & Kevin, to Mile Marker 47, up near the northern end of Lake Travis.

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We anchored off Grelle Park for two nights…

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Saturday, we motored farther north to around mile marker 50 before turning back and sailing down to Bar-K Park to anchor on Saturday night.

All told, we spent 4 days and 3 nights on our lovely lake.  Keeto accompanied us; a most pleasant sailing companion.

We ended the long weekend floating with Marty & Sue, and are now home doing laundry and laughing at good times had by all.

 

Fun in the sun.

We enjoyed floating and fishing with Lori and Mike and four of his grandkids today on Nirvana, anchored in our favorite cove on Lake Travis. It was a fun time. The kids were great, and they caught 4 fish between them!

We checked out Brick Oven’s Jazz night for dinner. The patio was full, though, so we had to sit inside.

Another good day!

Nice.

It was a good day on the lake. No wind. But lots of sun, it almost reached 100 degrees. Lake water temps are perfect right now, 83 degrees. We floated all day to beat the heat. Air conditioning at the slip sure helps, too.

June!

The first dip in the water marks the beginning of summer for me on Lake Travis.  I wait until after Memorial Day to jump in the lake.   That happened this past weekend, and it was marvelous.

Monte and I anchored up in a lovely cove overnight on Saturday.   Though the wind went completely calm overnight, it wasn’t too hot.   But we did battle with no-see-ums and mosquitos, a first for me in about 15 years of playing on the lake.    No matter.  It was wonderful to be there.

We enjoyed a weekend floating in a full lake on our noodles with Marty, Sue, Kurt & Kevin.   Welcome, Summer!

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Sometimes the stars align, sometimes they don’t.

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A week ago, I flew to the Bahamas to crew on Trident with Lori and Mike to bring her back to the United States.  Our destination was Charleston, and it would take about a week to make our way from Marsh Harbour, allowing a bit of time to wait on a weather window.

We pulled away from the slip less than an hour after I arrived, right on schedule.  But as soon as we did, there was a problem.  We couldn’t make more than two knots in forward, regardless of RPM.  I guess the problem had been intermittent, but deteriorating, and it was not a good situation to make a gulf stream crossing.

So, we dropped anchor in Marsh Harbour and started to do problem determination, and then line up a mechanic.   Things work on island time in the islands – go figure.  And so responses by phone and email/texting could take a day or two.  After consults with several mechanics, a couple of whom visited the boat at anchor, and a few calls to boatyards and part suppliers, a week had flown by.  But, finally, on Monday everything came together to make a plan.  A Yanmar-certified boatyard would haul the boat out, order and install the needed parts, and do some other minor maintenance.  The crossing will have to wait.

Things didn’t turn out as originally planned, but we made the most of it.  In between Lori & Mike coordinating with mechanics, we made visits via water taxi to Hopetown on Elbow Cay, Man-o-War Cay, and a visit with old friends, Tony & Michelle, on Green Turtle Cay.

The meals are always excellent on Trident, and on our last night, we had surf, turf, and yet more turf, as we tried to eat the best of what food was left in the freezer, which had to be emptied and disposed of in preparation of hauling the boat out.

So, I flew back to Austin last night from Marsh Harbour, instead of Charleston, and am happy to be home.

I enjoyed spying some of the local bird species, logging a bunch of lifers!  I enjoyed a full moon, beautiful sunsets and sunrises, some snorkeling, and a dose of sea air.

During our week at anchor in Marsh Harbour, the boats near us were constantly changing, as they would come for a day or so and then depart.   One day we came up to the cockpit, looked around, and saw that we were anchored between S/V Northern Star and S/V Southern Cross  🙂  so I guess S/V Trident was right where she was supposed to be at that moment in time.

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Fear of abandonment.

We signed up to crew for Kurt & Kevin in the 2019 Turnback Canyon Regatta this weekend on Lake Travis.  It is an annual 2-day up-the-river-and-back-the-next-day race, approximately 25 miles each day.  The evening in between is a fun affair with lots of boats at anchor, and a festival ashore.

Unfortunately, this week’s rains have flooded the Day 1 overnight venue, so the Austin Yacht Club changed the format to be two round-trip races starting and ending at the yacht club, one race on Saturday and one on Sunday.

This morning we showed up and got off the start line with rain threatening in the distance.   The race committee eventually abandoned the race due to lightning and pounding rain.  Temperatures were in the high 50’s and low 60’s, so we were cold and wet when we pulled back up to the dock.   But we were doing so well!

A shot from the pre-start boat maneuvers…

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First raft-up.

Camelot and Nirvana rafted up last night after going for a nice long sail.  It was the first raft-up of 2019, and the first one in quite a long time before that.  It’s nice to be at anchor, and we were tucked way up in a creek where the only wakes being thrown at us came from kayaks.  Perfect.

The lake is rising and is above full, due to recent rains.  We’ll see how high it goes in the next week or so.

I kayaked up to the end of the creek that we anchored in.  Lake sailing in the Texas Hill Country doesn’t suck.

A mallard duck came out to greet me.

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Pretty view of a lovely anchorage.IMG_0321

Racing in the rain.

This was the weekend of the Governor’s Cup Regatta on Lake Travis – a two-day set of races for all classes of sailboats, including Sunfish, J-boats, centerboards, and PHRF-handicapped multi-hulls and monohulls. We showed up early at Austin Yacht Club on Saturday morning; overcast, foggy and with storms in the forecast. Our class had five Catalina 30s registered. It would have been a fun weekend of racing.

But instead of racing, we sat through lightning-laced back-to-back postponements until all races were eventually abandoned for the day at 1PM.  In the picture above you can just barely see the red & white striped AP flag ()  flying on the far right halyard of the flag pole – indicating that we were operating under a postponement at the time.

The same thing happened on Day 2, yesterday, except the N over A flags (https://i0.wp.com/www.sarasotabayyachting.org/images/N-A.gif),  indicating abandonement of all races for the regatta, were hoisted before 9AM.

It would have been nice to race, but I’ll take the rain!  The picture above is a shot of the low clouds and rain over Arkansas Bend on Saturday.  Even if there had been no rain, there was no wind.

Tiny boats.

We met up with Kurt & Barbara tonight at the lake. We watched the remote control (RC) sailboat fleet races.

We watched the youth Laser fleet practice.

And we cashed in on two-for-one burger night at the marina!