last post for a while

This is a picture of a fountain we saw while walking around North Palm Beach.
Okay, this is it!!! It looks like we will have a good weather window to leave tomorrow. We will leave at 1600. We plan on spending Christmas Eve crossing the Gulf Stream. Who could ask for a more exciting Christmas Eve? The weather here has been warm. Everything on the boat seems to be working fine. We are well provisioned and we can't think of anything else we need before we cross.

MERRY CHRISTMAS
&
HAPPY NEW YEAR
BOB & SUE
BUTORFLEOGE

Start Time: 0700
End Time:1200
Cruise From: ST. Lucie River in Stuart FL
Cruise To: Lake Worth
Weather/Sea Conditions: warm / partly cloudy

Captain's Log: Lots of bridges but an easy trip. We got here at noon and went into Lake Worth to get more supplies. We have the water line lower in the water again. Tomorrow we plan on going to Singer Island for the day. We will be getting our diving stuff tomorrow when we get to Singer Island. It is a five mile trip but it will put us close to the inlet. That is right, close to the inlet which means we will be going out and heading over to the Bahamas on Friday. After Friday we will not be posting daily captain's logs. We will be keeping the logs and when we get to a W-Fy place, we will post them. We have some underwater cameras and hope to get some real neat pictures of us diving the reefs. Keep watching this site because we don't know when we will be able to post.

Getting close

Start Time: 0900
End Time:1600
Cruise From: Vero Beach
Cruise To: ST. Lucie River in Stuart FL
Weather/Sea Conditions: Beautiful (warm) with an occasional cloud

Captain's Log: Motored to FT. Pierce to get fuel and water. We fueled up and got 28.25 gallons of fuel. With the boat US discount, we got the fuel $3.15. Not bad!!! The original price is $3.25 per gallon. We then motored to Stuart on the ST. Lucie River.
Tomorrow Lake Worth then wait for the weather window to head over to the Bahamas.

Start Time: 0715
End Time:1630
Cruise From:Titusville
Cruise To: Vero Beach
Weather/Sea Conditions: warm/cloudy and intermittent rain

Captain's Log: We could not leave until after 0715 due to the bridge restrictions. We had to be at the bridge at 0730. Very smooth trip. We were able to do a 70+ mile day.

WE MADE IT!!!

Now to get ready to cross over. We are waiting for a good weather window. It looks like Monday or Tuesday.

BAHAMAS HERE WE COME

click on the smiley face and watch the hands.

Titusville, FL

Date:12-13-07
Start Time: 0830
End Time:1415
Cruise From:Daytona / Port Orange, Seven seas marina
Cruise To: Titusville
Weather/Sea Conditions: great!!! Beautiful and warm

Captain's Log: At buoy "68A" outside Daytona, we bumped but came right off the shoal. We were in the middle of the channel but we needed to stay closer to the red. Daggertt Island is where "68A" is. Do not favor the middle or the green. Favor the R"68A". We saw numerous dolphins and 3 manatees. The reason we anchored so early in the day was, they were working on the swing bridge at Titusville and had it closed until 1530. This would not have given us enough time to get to the next anchorage.
Tomorrow we hope to be in Vero Beach! YEAH!!!

In Daytona , FL

Date:12-12-07
Start Time: 00900
End Time:1645
Cruise From: ST. Augustine, FL
Cruise To: Daytona / Port Orange, Seven seas marina
Weather/Sea Conditions: great!!! Could not have asked for better weather

Captain's Log: This part of the trip went great. We tried to anchor at Daytona Beach but the water was too low getting in to the anchorage. We are staying at the Seven Seas Marina. It was getting too late to try another anchorage. We needed fuel anyway. The cost for the dock is $0.80 per foot and $4.00 for the electric. We got fuel, 22.7 gallons. Bridge passing is real easy down here. They seem to try to accommodate the boats. We saw a lot of playful dolphins today.

ST. Augustine, FL

Well here we are in ST. Augustine Beach. We moved about 2 miles from North ST. Augustine to get close to the dinghy dock. We moved about 2 miles to get about 1/2 a mile from where we were. We dinghied into town and walked around town. Well we walked about 5 blocks from the marina to a true value hardware store. We needed a few small items and was able to get them there. For 10.00 dollars, we were able to use the dinghy dock, take showers and do laundry. The shower room was very clean. It felt good taking a long shower with out the worry of using too much water and with the knowledge that we were not going to run out of hot water. Tomorrow, we plan on going into the marina and get the laundry done. Anyone who has ever been to St. Augustine will recognize the fort in the picture. The Castillo de San Marcos.

Finally out of there

Date:12-09-07
Start Time: 0745
End Time:1730
Cruise From: Cumberland Island, GA
Cruise To: North St. Augustine Beach
Weather/Sea Conditions:Beautiful/warm/sunny 69degrees
Captain's Log: We finally got out of there. It was a nice place to be fogged in. We had a wonderful adventure today. The McCormick bridge was very slow to open. There were strong currents. At 2900 rpms, we could only do 4.3 knots against the current. Going through the bridge was very tricky. We made it with very little room for the current to move us. Other than that, it was a very comfortable trip. We saw dolphins and eagles. Oh yea, and a whole bunch of pelicans. We got fuel and water at Fernandina beach. We also saw David's boat "the answer my friend" and the boat seemed to be in great shape. It was afloat on the anchor.

Armadillo and horses.

We did not get out of here yet. The fog was just too thick. We took a dinghy ride to Cumberland Island. We took a walk and got some pictures of the animals we saw. Hopefully the fog will not be here tomorrow. The horses are wild horses and can be traced back to the Spanish breed left here way back when.

stuck here

We are still fogged in! The fog is so thick that you can barely see from one end of the boat to the other. It is 1130 and it is still foggy. Hopefully we will be able to leave tomorrow. The fog did not stop the shrimp fishermen. Sue took this picture while there was enough visibility to take the picture. We tried to catch the shrimp using our casting net but the current was so strong, the net closed before it got 1/2 way down in the water. No shrimp for the captains today.

fog, fog and more fog

Date:12-07-07
Start Time:
End Time:
Cruise From: Cumberland Island, Georgia
Cruise To:
Weather/Sea Conditions: Foggy


Captain's Log: It was too foggy to leave today. We waited for the fog to lift but when it was still foggy at noon, we decided to stay put.

Georgia's ICW has to many shoaling areas!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Date:12-06-07
Start Time: 0645
End Time:1605
Cruise From:New Teakettle Creek, Georgia
Cruise To: Cumberland Island, Georgia
Weather/Sea Conditions: Windy /waves were choppy It was warm in the cockpit.

Captain's Log: Little mud river is only 5.0 feet at low tide. We left as soon as we could see the day markers. Hopefully this will give us a little water under us. High tide was at @0530. Jekyll creek was shallow but we went slow and made it with very little water under us. (VERY LITTLE) At Delaroache creek we attempted to anchor. The chart shows 10' to 15' feet. It was only 3.4 feet. As we tried to get out of the creek, the wind kept blowing us on the shoals. Sue opened the cockpit windows to let the wind pass through us. This enabled us to get some control of the boat and we got out of there. While passing R "60" We hit bottom again. The whole area is shoaled to less than 5' . Sue opened the cockpit up again and we were able to get out of the problem. Another boat was hard aground and on anchor waiting for the tide to come up. We are anchored in 26' of water. We let 200' of chain and about 6' of rode. Tomorrow; Florida. We are at s/m 711 and Florida is at s/m 716.

feeling our way through Georgia

Date:12-05-07
Start Time: 0645
End Time:1645
Cruise From: Herb River, GA
Cruise To: New Teakettle Creek, Georgia
Weather/Sea Conditions: 10 To 13 Knot winds with gusts to 18. Sunny with a temperature in the cockpit of 68 degrees

Captain's Log: WE left early so we could catch high tide at Hell's Gate. We got caught at Skidway Narrow Bridge. Had to wait one hour for an opening. Needles to say, we got to Hell's Gate at low tide. It shoals to 5 feet. Now there is a spot that is 5.3 feet. It was a little tricky but we got through. Bouy number "167" G near Teakettle Creek is missing. There were quite a few close/tight spots in this area! We see a lot of dolphins swimming around the boat. While we are at anchor this evening, we saw a bunch of dolphins playing around the boat. It was real kewl!!!!!

We made it to Georgia

We saw a lot of these cute creatures !!!

Date:12-04-07
Start Time: 0715
End Time:1530
Cruise From:Beaufort, SC
Cruise To: Herb River, GA
Weather/Sea Conditions:
Started out cloudy, turned sunny around noon. It was breezy and cool but at the end of the day it was 68 degrees in the cockpit.

Captain's Log: When we got to Fields Cut it was m-low tide. We dropped the anchor and waited for about 1 1/2 hours, until the tide came up three feet. (note: they have a 6 to 8 foot tide) The cut went real smooth. It was a little tricky crossing the Savannah River. Thankfully we were close to high tide. Two big tankers came by when we started to cross. This was our welcome to Georgia moment. All in all, it was a great passage!!!

staying put

WE are getting fuel in this picture. We just got a chance to scan it. We were in Oriental Harbor NC. See if you can find the boat!

With the forecast of 30 knot winds, we decided to stay on anchor. We moved the boat away from all the other boats. We set the anchor at 200 feet in 20 feet of water. This way we won't hit anybody. It looks like we will leave early tomorrow at day break.

December 02, 2007

There is a long story behind this picture. Short story: We walked until we could walk no more. We got lost and took a cab back to the boat.
Date:12-01-07
Start Time: 0745
End Time:1600
Cruise From: Church Creek, SC m/m 487
Cruise To: Beaufort, SC
Weather: Over cast but nice. It gets a little warm with the windows closed

Captain's Log:We came across a few shoaling places. It got a little tight in a few spots. We marked the chart with yellow highlighter! We don't want to forget these spots. Going to dinghy in to Beaufort once the boat settles in it's anchorage. The boat ran like a champ. We did a 48 mile day.

December 01, 2007

Is this a beautiful sunset or what?
Taken at Awendaw Creek

Date:12-01-07
Start Time: 0745
End Time:1600
Cruise From:Awendaw Creek , SC
Cruise To: Church Creek, SC m/m 487
Weather/Sea Conditions: Sunny, warm 80 Degrees in the cockpit. 68 degrees outside the cockpit
Captain's Log: There were a few tight spots but no problems. Whenever we come to an inlet, the water level shoals. We have to be very careful in these areas. It was a very pleasant day. It got so hot in the cockpit that we had to open the windows. We saw more dolphins.