January 6, 2023
Hell Gate can be challenging because of (lack of) depth. We made it with no issues.
Last anchorage for a while. We love this spot off of Bear Island.
January 5, 2023
Fog. Again. At least this time it only lasted until 8:30 or so. Although we usually eat breakfast when we’re on the way, today we ate at anchor which allowed time for the fog to lift.
Skies were clear until we got to St. Simon Sound – we had patches of fog with sunny spots in between them. The water was like glass, too.
I stood on the bow to keep an eye out for crab pots and channel markers since John was using our Garmin and we could see through the fog patches.
This fog was surreally beautiful.
We traveled a good 54 miles yesterday, even though the fog slowed us down a few times.
We anchored in a wide open space just off the ICW. There are few trees here so we have an incredible view of the sky. We anchored just as the sun was setting and the moon was rising.
We’ll have to go through Hell Gate tomorrow, so we have to make sure we catch a higher tide. We’re planning to anchor in South Carolina tomorrow.
January 4, 2023
NO fog this morning! We also had electricity enough to use the coffee pot and the toaster, which is a a treat.
We crossed into Georgia pretty quickly after leaving the marina; this feels like progress as we have been traveling north in Florida since the 28th.
Although we have had lots of fog on this part of the trip, the water has been pretty smooth. During our crossing of the Cumberland Sound, the wind was against the tide so we had some choppy water. I had forgotten how uncomfortable this feels (but my stomach reminded me).
As soon as we were out of the Sound, the water calmed down again. We were making great time with plans to go between 50 and 60 miles. Crossing St. Andrews Sound was easy – we were definitely on a roll!
In the last few days, there’s often been an “and then… moment.” Our “and then moment” today was when we turned into the Jekyll River and started hearing thunder. The forecasted cold front was closing in; the Coast Guard was issuing high wind alerts along the entire area from Charleston Harbor to Fernandina Beach.
We did a quick turnaround so we could get to an anchorage to wait out the front. As I got the anchor ready to drop, John looked for enough depth for Lailia.
We watched the front head right over us – as bad as it looked, there wasn’t a lot of wind and the rain was steady but not torrential most importantly, though, there was no lightning, which is always a good thing!
There was enough rain to discourage us from hauling the anchor again, especially since the front was moving in the direction we were. We settled in, ate, and finished watching Wednesday. It’s frustrating that we only traveled half as far as we had hoped but being safe is our priority.
We’ll head out as soon as we can tomorrow morning and get as far as possible.
One wonderful thing about this anchorage – at about midnight, there were owls calling.
January 3, 2023
Determined to not repeat last night’s low tide escapade, we hauled anchor before 8:00 AM even though there was a bit of fog. I stood on the Lailia’s bow to look out for crab pots and any other potential hazards until the fog broke up.
We never knew that fogbows existed until yesterday and now we have seen quite a few. Maybe that’s 2023 letting us know adventures are still not over.
Fortunately, the fog lifted pretty early and we had an easy trip today.
At one point we had such strong currents that we were flying along at close to 10 knots. In general, we are pretty happy when we get 7 knots, so this was great.
Although we usually grab a mooring ball at Fernandina Beach, today we wanted to fill our water tank and grab some fuel. The dockhands at this marina are really great – after we fueled, they walked us back to our spot.
Last night’s misadventure left behind a little souvenir – a line showing where Lailia was resting on the mud last night. Since that wasn’t our favorite moment of the trip, John scrubbed it off.
We haven’t seen our friends Steph and Rick in probably 28 years; they just moved to Fernandina Beach, though, so we spent some time trying to catch up. If our last trip north through Florida’s theme was breweries, this trip’s theme has been family and friends.
Tomorrow we have to cross Cumberland, St. Andrew’s and St. Simon’s Sounds, big bodies of water that have the potential to be sporty if the wind is up. There’s also a big front moving in from the west that will bring some nasty rain and wind. It’s good that we had a good day today to give us a bit of a break.
January 2, 2023
In 352 days of our year of adventure we have not had to deal with the kind of fog that surrounded us for most of the day. This heavy sea fog made the day incredibly stressful and frustrating, as we only had a few hours of clear travel.
Skies were clear when we woke up this morning and headed out.
Within minutes of leaving the fog started rolling in but we could see the sun, so it seemed as if the fog would quickly burn off.
For a moment, the fog was pretty cool – we could see a fogbow (aka white rainbow) as the sun hit the moisture. Visibility wasn’t great, but we could still see.
The fog kept building and was so dense we struggled to see. We had to cross the ICW to get to a safe anchorage (out of the channel). It’s really disorienting to loose all visibility. Strong currents can also move us off of a course. We crept across the channel and anchored.
Normal fog burns off pretty quickly. Yesterday the morning fog was gone by 9:30 so we thought we could eat our breakfast and be off – but that did not happen.
Five hours later, the fog began breaking up enough that we could see the Vilano Bridge. Fifteen minutes after we hauled our anchor we were back in dense fog.
Luckily there was a marked anchorage close by for us to wait it out. About 40 minutes later the fog lifted and we were treated to yet another fogbow.
In six hours we had gone maybe 4 miles; although it was 2:00 we had another 3 hours of sunlight. Clearly, we weren’t going to get as far as Alligator Pass but we hoped to get another few hours of northward movement in.
Within another hour or so, we could see the fog banks building up ahead. It moved in so quickly! There are no marked anchorages on this stretch of the ICW so we found a spot that we could get out of the channel and anchor. (We actually made the decision to turn around to get to that spot because there wasn’t enough depth to anchor ahead of us).
This anchorage was actually kind of eerily beautiful – very calm water and lots of trees. The day was so frustrating that we were asleep by 8:15 – there was no need to make this day any longer.
Somewhere around 11:15 I woke up to hear Lailia creaking. John, who has been woken up countless times for noises that I “think” I heard, was a bit grumpy until he realized that what we were hearing was Lailia slowly tilting…as the tide ebbed, we were aground and leaning to our port.
With an hour before full low, John and I kind of turned 90 degrees in our bed (so our feet were against the cabinets) and listened to things slide across Lailia. John got up to secure our watermaker in the cockpit and went to rest on the settee in the main salon while I finished reading a book. Oddly, neither of us was anxious – we were more annoyed. We did get dressed, though, in case we needed to make a quick exit, but even that wasn’t a big deal.
As the tide came back in, we began to get back to normal and headed back to sleep. We have to get out of this spot tomorrow before the tide recedes again so we’re planning on an early departure.
Bright spots of today include learning that there really are things called fogbows and also that I have grown comfortable enough with Lailia that my anxiety wasn’t triggered by Lailia leaning.
January 1, 2023
St. Augustine was rocking last night – lots of lights and sounds as people celebrated New Years Eve. At midnight a ship blasted its horn to let us know we’d crossed into 2023.
Our first morning of 2023 was eerie – foggy and calm. When I went on deck to try to get some photos a discarded New Years balloon came floating by like a sci-fi creature or maybe it was 2022 heading out to sea. We didn’t have a net to catch it, although I wish we did to keep it out of the food chain.
We’ve been following our friend Robert’s adventures as he travels (and hikes) through the United States (you should follow his blog at https://robertthenomad.com/). Our paths finally crossed in St. Augustine.
We walked over the Bridge of Lions and had lunch and shared stories about the adventures of provisioning well and metering our power usage. There aren’t many folks who relish living a roving, minimalist life so when we get together we know we’re in good company.
After lunch, Robert went back to his camp site and John went to catch the end of the Eagles’game so I wandered a bit along the seawall.
Castillo de San Marcos is on the northern end of the sea wall. There were no less than about a million people there but I did manage to get a moment where I could imagine what it looked liked a few hundred years ago.
On the south end of the sea wall is a National Guard station. There are fewer people here and more birds, which is just what I like!
We’re planning to get an early-ish start to the day tomorrow as we head north. Our goal is to get to Alligator Pass (cool name) and anchor.
December 31, 2022
There’s a well-known stretch of the Matanzas River that’s notorious for shoaling that was on our way to St. Augustine. We’ve transversed this area together three times already while John single-handed the area another time when he brought Lailia to Charleston in 2019.
As we crossed this section today we encountered some traffic (in both directions) and a low tide. Folks were also communicating on VHF really well about the conditions they encountered, including a boat that ran aground just off the track. They were enjoying french toast as they were waiting for the tide to rise and float them off. They also had a dolphin show, so they had some entertainment during their brunch. We’ve had to wait to float off twice over the past year, but never during daylight hours and never with dolphins, just saying…
Once we passed the shoaled stretch we’d hear from boaters heading south asking about the conditions and for any advice we could provide. There’s such a sense of community with boaters.
Although this is the fourth time we have stayed in the St. Augustine Municipal Marina it’s the first time we’ve grabbed a mooring ball here. We’re on the north side of the Bridge of Lions but still really close to the marina itself.
We usually see dolphins near the marina – there’s some current there and I guess there’s a lot of feeder fish there. Dolphins were feeding right in the basin this afternoon with lots of splashing and blowing.
John and I decided to grab an early diinner/late lunch and ate at our favorite pizza place, grabbed some Ben and Jerry’s and then walked to Dog Rose, one the local breweries. Dog Rose is a little off the tourist path and closer to some old residences. We got to peek in a few courtyards along the way…
We’ve seen this mooring field when it’s been really choppy and windblown but we have gotten really lucky. The water is calm and there’s not too much wind hitting us, so our dinghy rides are fun.
There are so many people here for New Years Eve. The weather is mild and there’s a lot to do here even when it’s not a holiday. Tonight, there seem to be many tourist-type watercraft cruising around the mooring field and then waiting to go through the bridge. While I was watching a “pirate ship” and a schooner line up to go through, I was a little surprised by the appearance of yet another boat jumping in line. We are close to the river walk and Castillo de San Marcos, so maybe that’s why we have so much traffic?
The lights in St. Augustine do make this a beautiful place to spend a few nights.
We will be here until January 2 so today we can grab lunch with Robert, a friend who is traveling nearby.
Here’s looking back on 2022 with happiness and looking towards 2023 with anticipation…
December 30, 2022
Good thing we had a shorter trip today: we had two mechanical issues that required immediate intervention while we were moving. Once again, John is Mr. Fix-It Wizard but it has been a really long, trying day.
The George Musson Bridge opens on the hour and half hour. It’s just past the marina and we didn’t time it just right, so when we arrived we had to wait about 20 minutes. Normally John is able to sort of keep Lailia in place by alternating between forward and reverse, except today we “lost reverse.” As John went below to diagnose the issue, I had to circle Lailia while keeping her in the channel as we waited for the bridge to open.
Boat repairs are never really easy – things aren’t easily accessible. John knew what had to happen but he couldn’t remove a rusted screw, so he fashioned a fix using a pair of vise grips which he wired in place due to boat vibrations that could loosen them. Of course he had to do this on his hands and knees because this part of the transmission is really low and only accessed through a teeny panel.
A few hours later, an alarm went off. Lailia’s engine was overheating. John shut off the engine and had me take the helm – as if it’s actually possible to steer much when there’s no power. We were in a narrow channel of deep enough water and might have been okay until we got waked by a large powerboat which changed Lailia’s trajectory – we got turned sideways. John was down below changing the alternator/water pump belt as we started floating sideways around a channel marker and potentially into shallow water.
John managed to change the belt quickly and Poseidon kept us off the channel marker. I never want Lailia to get damaged and I especially don’t want to be at the helm if something nasty happens.
After a long, slow-moving day, we got to the Palm Coast Marina. We were given our slip assignment, a slip that’s adjacent to the fuel dock…where a boat was getting fuel. This time John got to make the loop as we went back into the ICW and circled around to give the marina time to clear the fuel dock.
We’re docked for the night in this tiny little marina. We’ve fueled up, done some laundry and disposed of our trash.
There’s some street noise here but our sound machine will take care of that. We have a shorter ride of 25 miles to St. Augustine tomorrow.
December 29, 2022
It was really quiet with no waves or wind in this nice little anchorage at Cocoa – even though we were near a bridge (and probably a train, too). We had a great night’s sleep before an early start for New Smyrna Beach, which is 51 miles from Cocoa.
Most ICW bridges are at least 64′ from the water line and Lailia only needs 53′ to clear. At this point in our adventure, we have lost count of the number of bridges we’ve crossed under – but every now and then I have to remind myself that it’s an optical illusion that we won’t clear the bridge.
I still kind of enjoy watching bridges open for us – especially when they’re “on demand” and we don’t have to wait a long time for an opening.
We have been in proximity to the NASA Vehicle Assembly Building all day. This is the largest single story building in the world and with the flatness of the area, it’s been visible for hours. Going north, our last view of it is when we head into the Haulover Canal.
We saw manatees the last two times we were in Haulover, but the cold front that dropped down last week must have made the area less hospitable to them – hopefully they have found warm water and are doing ok
Ospreys are everywhere – on channel markers, in trees, even on a few boat masts – although we didn’t see any nests yet. In the summer almost every channel marker has a giant nest squished between the signs.
The best reason to stop at the New Smyrna City Marina is we get to see John’s brother, Warren, and his sister-in-law, Linda. We always seem to share a lot of laughs. A huge bonus of our trip is that we’ve spent time with them three times this year. When John was searching for a boat in Florida a few years ago and found Lailia, Warren was with him so he’s a part of Lailia’s history.
After dinner (and before we hit the delicious ice cream parlor) Linda and Warren took us for a quick drive to see some Christmas lights. This house had synchronized music to their light show.
Even the marina restroom had some holiday decorations.
Instead of trying to travel 68 miles from New Smyrna Beach to St. Augustine tomorrow, we plan to go about 43 miles tomorrow to spend the night in a marina in Palm Coast, a new stop for us.
December 28, 2022
Today was just an ordinary travel day although it’s bittersweet: we are heading north. Although we got a late start we traveled 54 miles and anchored before dark.
Prior to leaving the marina, we stopped at the fuel dock to fill our water tank (we have been very carefully conserving water while we were on the mooring ball). John noticed that our alternator wasn’t charging our battery (!!). Fortunately the fuse light indicated the fuse was bad – a quick fuse replacement remedied the situation. (John has spent a lot of time with that alternator this year, I think it missed his attention).
Tomorrow we’ll get up early and head to New Smyrna Beach. We get to go through Haulover Canal (hoping to see manatees and dolphins again) and see John’s brother and sister-in-law when we arrive at the marina – two good things in a single day!
Life on Lailia 