Marsh Harbor

Anchoring in 8.5 feet of water with a 1.5-2 foot possible tide feels a little crazy but we didn't feel the boat on the bottom during our stay in Marsh Harbor. We were surprised to see another "Scot Free" anchor beside us! Their last name is Scot and he is of Scottish descent. Their boat name has a tam-o-shanter perched on it. We had heard them on the SSB net several times and had VHF calls from boats thinking we were them. It was nice to finally meet.

The first night we had Roger and Francoise over for dinner and made plans for a day's visit to Hope Town.The ferry leaves early in the morning to this lovely spot. The channel into the harbor looked very scary on the charts so it was nice to see it on someone else's boat the first time.

The town is a kaleidoscope of pastel colors and white trim. Houses crowd around the large enclosed harbor with the red and white stripped lighthouse guarding it's entrance. A beautiful sight! We walked all around the area and beaches. The swimming was terrific with nice waves to play in.

We found a great to place to eat lunch and admire the view. In the afternoon we climbed up the lighthouse and took panoramic pictures from the top. It was a lovely day.
Tomorrow was Heather's birthday and Roger & Francoise invited us over to their boat to celebrate.

And they know how to celebrate... There were streamers, a sign and a marvelous birthday cake with candles. Of course this was after the wonderful dinner Francoise cooked. She makes a homemade chicken liver pate to die for and it's beautifully presented with tiny cornichons fanned out. Of course, she's french! It was one of my most memorable birthdays. A great way to turn 60!

Marsh Harbor is the largest community in the Abacos and has a small commercial airport. We decided it would be a great place to have friends down to visit. There are lots of islands easily reachable while staying in the protected inside banks. Even the most timid friend would enjoy this. We'll talk it up at home this summer and see who bites!

Friendship, Friendship...

We met a number of terrific cruising couples on our trip to the Bahamas but three of them remained friends over the next years. Doug and Sandy (left) on "Interlude" we met at Green Turtle Key and cruised with this year and next in the Bahamas. We met again our friends from the Annapolis Boat Show, Roger and Francoise (below right and in the center below left)

on "Starship Annie" and had some wonderful times here in the Bahamas and then later down the island chain for several years to come. The third couple are Bill and Jeannette on "Myasotis" (below left on the right and left) who we met here and have visited back and forth at their home and ours. They sold this "Myasotis" and have since bought another one.

We went around Whale Cay Cut with "Interlude" and anchored in Baker's Bay off the now deserted Disney Cruise Ship playground. This was a beach/bar "Pirate Lair" set up for their cruise ships but proved too difficult for them to access in all but calm weather. It was fun to explore here and enjoy the deserted beach and the atmospheric "movie set".


Next day we anchored at Fisher's Bay and had a miserable time getting the anchor to set. A helpful cruiser suggested laying much more chain to get a horizontal pull and that worked. Immediately we headed over to "Nippers", to this day the coolest beach bar we've ever seen. Multi color pastel chairs and tables on a big deck overlook a

perfect white sand beach. Two small pools are linked by a little waterfall and the BBQ is served at lunch and dinner. Of course the drinks were tall and fruity and often contained coconut cream. Painkillers, first tried in Annapolis at the Boat Show, are our favorite. Heaven! We swam in the pool and in the ocean. We drank and we ate - and laughed a lot! It was our imagined Caribbean destination to a "T".

That night we ate a great meal at the "Blue Water Grill" with Doug & Sandy. The next day we headed for Man-O-War Cay and hit a rock trying to anchor - no damage visable thank goodness. The north end of Diskie's Cay was a better spot. Man-O-War Cay is another lovely community with a number of art/crafts galleries. They

make baggage/pocketbooks of all sides and colors in quilt like patterns. We bought several for gifts. Woodworkers make boat models and half models that command some big prices. My Dad made these years ago of individual boats for sail racing trophies and proud owners. They were beautiful and so are these.

We had a fun time shopping followed by drinks on Interlude that night. Coming back in the dark we didn't tie the dinghy securely for the night. Each probably thought the other would do it. Of course those drinks might have been the culprit. In any case

the next morning it was gone! We had just watched "Interlude" pull anchor and head off back towards the U.S. but a frantic call on the VHF radio brought them back. Sandy stayed with the boat while Doug launched their dinghy and picked Scott up for a search. Luckily it wasn't too far away, bumping around on the coral and rocks. Our "Port-a-boat" is made of indistructable material so it survived. An inflatable proably would have had severe damage.

indistructable material so it survived. An inflatable proably would have had severe damage. We thanked our rescuerers profusely and then we headed off in different directions. Our next destination was Marsh Harbour. The wind was fresh and the waves choppy on the way and the harbor, very shallow and crowded. It was a challenge to find a good spot.

Green Turtle Key then through the "Whale"

We managed to anchor safely in White Bay, Green Turtle Key and it was lucky as a squall soon arrived in the middle of the next day that tested everyones' holding. Winds into the 40's howled through the anchorage and a few other boats began to drag. Luckily not in our direction. We turned the engine on and stood at the wheel ready to respond.





Later we met a number of cruisers in the Bay; Peter & Leslie, Bob, and Karen & Greg. But it was Doug and Sandy Cox on their Grand Banks "Interlude" that we clicked with right away. That's them with us at the top and their boat at anchor on the left.
The next few days the weather improved and we walked all over this island. This section of the Bahamas is called the Abacos. It was originally settled by indians mostly wiped out by early Spanish explorers, used by Pirates and finally settled by Loyalists fleeing from American Revolution. They brought slaves with them and tried to duplicate their plantations, but the soil and lack of rain ended that. The races are mixed and seem to get along quite well in this area of the Bahamas. Further south there are keys that are "white only", still to this day.
There was a school fair we enjoyed one afternoon with food and entertainment for the children. The library is charming and tiny, run by volunteers and had a nice book exchange.The houses look like cottages and have Victorian trimmings. They are in all the pastel shades and surrounded by small but pretty gardens. We found the grave yards interesting and very picturesque. There aren't a lot of last names here. Everyone must be fairly closely related!
After five lovely days we moved on with "Interlude" through the Whale Cay Cut on a light wind day. This is a difficult passage in any poor conditions and often strands people on one side or the other for days.

Key West to the Bahamas

We drove our rental car down to Key West for the day, leaving our boat in the Marina at Marathon. This was our first visit to this offbeat community and we loved it. We played the real tourists, taking the tour "train" around town, visiting the Winter White House, and of course joining the party at sundown.
The next day we fueled up nearby and then motored down to Duck Key. Our good friends Marty and Russ Wolf and their children were visiting Frank Wolf at his lovely home there.

It was too shallow for us to come into the marina so we anchored way off the island in eight feet of water - all alone. I found this very intimidating and especially since our dinghy motor hasn't been very reliable. Happily the Wolfs ferried us back and forth several times. We stayed there three nights visiting. The days with them were great but our nights were sometimes uncomfortable with rolly choppy conditions.

On March 27 we had a nice broad reach back to Rodriquez Key. We had Easter dinner with Diane & Mitch Korbey and their friends Gene & Shirley at their condo nearby. After a few days there we left again, this time for the overnight sail to the Bahamas. After spending some time reading the guide books and pouring over the charts we'd decided to go to the West End and the Abacos. So March 30 we left at 3:10 PM, went through the off shore reefs and entered the Gulf Stream.

We had light winds from the east and large rollers. We were able to sail until 9 PM when the wind died down . There wasn't another boat in sight that night - rather a relief for me. At 10 AM the next morning we tied up at the Old Bahama Bay Marina in the West End. My log notes that it was a gorgeous day with unbelievable (underlined) water colors. It was our first experience with customs and immigration and very pleasant.

We had a wonderful time at the marina. They had only recently opened after being destroyed by a hurricane. Everyone was so welcoming and there were complimentary cocktail parties every evening. The beach and the pool were very lovely. We met a very nice couple from New Jersey staying at the hotel, Michelle Butler and Peter Liguory. He is a District Attorney there. We hung out together and had them over for drinks.

That's them on our boat to the right. We stayed there four nights and only paid $268 - a great deal as it was a first class resort! Bahia Mar by contrast was $279 for two nights. We went into Freeport one day on the bus and had lunch in a pretty marina complex with a largely decorative lighthouse.

That's me in front of one of the casinos at the bottom. There are several shots of the sunsets at the West End here. That's "Scott Free"'s bow on the left.
We exited early on April 4th and sailed on the outside of the banks, entering at Memory Rock. It was 9 feet of water at near low tide over the entrance and then not much more than that over the banks.

It was a totally new and rather scary experience to sail fast over such shallow water. Our GPS auto pilot was also giving us occasional problems. We kept a close watch on our track. Our destination was Double Brested Key an almost deserted island northeast of us. We anchored in 10 feet with no wind and a clear sky. This was everything Scott wanted - no people, beautiful scenery, clear water (no bathing suits)...

He would have stayed there for days, but the weather was changing. Small craft warnings were posted for the next day. So we sailed on to Green Turtle Key and into the almost land locked White Bay through a narrow, shallow channel - with white knuckles. It was quite difficult finding a safe spot to anchor as the Bay was packed but finally we succeeded.

Back to St. Augustine & Sean's Visit

Scott flew back to St. Augustine February 21st, a week before I did. I had to teach skiing through Washington's Birthday week and he had a lot of work he wanted to do on the boat. The biggest project was rebedding the master stateroom windows. St. Augustine Marine is a good place to do work and very protected but it's quite away from the town and shopping. When I joined him we walked around in the evening admiring the beautiful historical buildings and lively street life. We saw a classical music concert by the St. Augustine Symphony in a historic market building.

My first cousin Joanie (that's her at the wheel above) and her husband Kent (with Scott working with the sails) came over from Tampa for a weekend visit. They really enjoyed staying on the boat. We were only sorry it had to stay in the boat yard the whole time. It was great to head out the creek to the ICW and finally start south again on March 7th.

Our youngest son Sean was coming down for his spring break in just a few days. We stopped at the Halifax Harbor marina in Daytona Beach for a few days and drove to Celebration for a lunch with Eileen and Dick, friends who sailed their Nauticat 43 to Europe a few years before. On our next day motoring south we hit a sandbar at "34" Red just after the Cornarda Bridge. We backed off of it OK but couldn't find a way through. Sea Tow on our VHF recommended we take the Sheephead Cut Channel instead of the ICW and that worked.

We anchored in 9 ft. of water off the channel between "54" and "56" at mile 889 that night. On March 10 we woke to clear cold weather with the wind at our backs. We touched bottom again with much shoaling between "79" and "81" but chugged through. We pulled into Melbourne Harbor Marina in with lots of sun, picked up a rental and drove down to Ft. Lauderdale to pick him up.

Our first day together was in the 70's with lots of sun. We touched bottom once very soon after leaving and then had no problems until getting to Ft. Pierce. There we hit again on the shallow bar between the anchorage North of North bascule bridge and the ICW. Sean and Scott took the dinghy into shore and walked around a bit. The next morning we were off early, later having problems with the engine. After changing the fuel filters we were able to continue.

At lunch we pulled off the channel and took a break, swimming and eating a nice lunch. We anchored that night at the north end of Lake Worth. That afternoon we went through 6-7 opening bridges with tons of other boats. It was frightening at times waiting in front of the bridge with huge power boats crowding on every side (and a lot of idiots at the helms).
The next day we took a taxi into Palm Beach and had lunch with Mitchel and Uncle Dan.
Trying to find a bus for the trip back we met a nice couple who drove us all the way to our dinghy landing. We were glad to see our dinghy and engine unharmed. We were nervous because there were notices all over area regarding theft problems. Unfortunately there wasn't any other place to go.
On March 15 we went out the inlet and sailed off shore down to Ft. Lauderdale. It was a calm lovely day. That afternoon when Sean was seated up on the bow sprit, the pin on the anchor broke and it and hundreds of feet of chain fell unchecked. We were incredibly lucky it all missed Sean! What a frightening experience. Luckily we have a windless so we could recover quickly. The GPS also went on the fritz several times and Scott hooked up the portable GPS as back up.
It was lovely to pull into the beautiful and hugely expensive

Marina Del Mar right near the inlet entrance. This is where famous detective Travis Magee parked "Busted Flush", his beloved power boat. The author lived here himself on his trawler and there's a memorial plaque on his slip. It was the most expensive marina we've ever stayed at but the beach was right across the street and there was a nice pool as well.

Further south from there is a fixed 58' bridge. So we headed out the inlet and down the coast. It was a rough day with 4 - 6 foot waves, heavy rain early and 20 knots of wind, no problem really but right on the nose, so uncomfortable. We were afraid it would get worse, but it didn't! Sean and Scott tried fishing - no catching. The scene coming in the Miami inlet was really strange. A big luxury powerboat was up on the rocks right at the entrance. I hope they fired that captain!
It is very confusing as you enter Miami.

When you join the ICW there are two bridge going north and a myriad of channels and markers. We planned to anchor up behind Miami Beach off Sunset Island but the channel leading there was very unclear and shallow. When we finally had our destination in sight a dinghy roared up. The anchorage ahead was full and crisscrossed with anchor lines. It appeared to be a


permenant community. The "helpful" cruiser Rick led us a half mile away to a spot in the middle of nowhere. He pointed out the way to a dinghy landing and supermarket though and we stayed three nights there. Sean had a good friend in Miami that he called and spent a full day/evening with. We were a bit nervous about his making it back to our boat in the dark with the dinghy but it all worked out. Scott and I went into Miami to get mail and boat parts - had lunch too.

South Beach is a fun place. We enjoyed the architecture and the food. Our original plan was to leave from here and head over to the Bahamas. Unfortunately Sean had "misplaced" his passport so a change of plans was necessary. We decided to head down to the Keys. We left at dawn, were turned back from the main channel due to big ship traffic and at first didn't understand what we should do next. Happily a fellow boat told us to use the other, Commercial route. It was a nice sailing day. We stopped at lunch near a reef and snorkeled. That night we anchored at Rodriquez Key just south of Key Largo. It was a long wet dinghy ride into shore for a brief visit. Next day it was sunny and breezy. We averaged 7-8 knots with first reefs in the main and jib, both close hauled. Fun! We tied up at Burdine's Marina at Marathon Key at 3:50 PM.


The next day we drove Sean back to the airport. It was a great visit with him and we were really sorry to see him leave!

Norfork to St. Augustine

Heather in front of a aircraft carrier in Norfork

Traveling on the Intercoastal Waterway is a challenge, particularly when you have a six and a half foot draft and a mast that is 63' high. The bridge clearance is only guaranteed as 65'. You never feel comfortable looking up at one as you pass under. We had a list of all fixed bridges with notes from a cruiser friend on actual clearances and ways to measure it. This mostly involved the water height against the boards in the channel under the bridge. We had a cruising guide for the Waterway, MapTech guides for the Central and South Eastern Coast, and a strip map for the ICW. Of course we also had electronic charts. We used all of them!

A little out of focus, but you can see the ICW channel
markers, both permanent and temporary. That's a
Osprey nest on top of the post - that's very common.

There are hundreds of opening bridges of all types and with different opening schedules. We needed to figure out the distance and speed necessary to arrive at the next bridge at opening time. Currents and lots of boats made the small area before the bridge treacherous.
We returned to Norfork after Josh and Michal had Arielle and we'd had some time visiting them. It was 10/29 when we started motoring south again. We had one lock and a number of opening bridges to go through before reaching the Midway Marina at Coinjock (mile 50 marker - Norfork is Mile 1) where we spent the first night. They had one long dock and it was crowded.

We were lectured on the necessity of giving actual boat length in these situations, not registered length. The difference for us is 6-7 feet. It was a tight fit! The photo above shows the Coinjock Marina across the narrow canal. Next day was cloudy and the weather was deteriorating, so we gave up our plan to go up the Ablemare Sound to Elizabeth City and instead continued south, anchoring at mile 104.8 on the Alligator River off Tuckahoe Point. Nice spot - Scott went swimming the next morning to check on the prop and rudder - all was well so far.

We anchored in Belhaven, NC for the following night (that's the undeveloped part of the Belhaven waterfront although old brick chimneys show that this was once more industrial) and Oriental Harbor the next. The latter was so packed we had to anchor right at the entrance. The days were warm and sunny and we were sailing for hours some days.

Rural waterfront along the ICW

Numbered channel markers show the limits of the ICW; red on one side and green on the other. Most have osprey nests balanced on top. Temporary markers often show shallowing spots and are floating buoys. In one picture above here, rather blurry I'm afraid, you can see both kinds of red markers. In the other picture you can see the osprey on top of a green marker.
Our next main stop was in Beaufort. We stayed at the Merchant City Yacht Basin, actually on the Morehead City side of the channel. They had courtesy cars available and we really needed one to do some provisioning and shopping for boat parts - and they had free laundry! Somethings is always breaking on the boat!

Osprey and nest atop one of the green ICW markers

It was a difficult exit from the Marina the next morning 11/3 with strong current and wind. This was an unusally memorable day. First we were traveling that day through Camp LeJeune. As we approached the borders of the base, several fast boats raced towards us. Two veered off into a small anchorage on our right and proceeded to rain machine gun fire on the cruisers within. WOW!! We stopped dead. One boat remained in front of us with soldiers. It was really scary, but when there weren't any screams etc., we started to hope it was a training exercise (and the cruisers had been warned). Scott called on the VHF and after a while the soldiers motioned us on (but didn't talk to us). Yes SIR! Not far down the channel, after passing the Camp border we made a wrong turn into a side channel and more soldiers came after us to warn us and point out the right direction. Thank you SIR!

Following a catamaran through an opening
bridge on the ICW

Next, we ran into a fishing net and managed to set ourselves free after some work (we and the fisherman both apologized, but the net was across the channel), then we heard the calls for help from a older couple just off the channel who had run aground. We managed to tow them off. At 4:45 we tied up at a lovely slip in the Beach House Marina in Surf City. A classic wooden schooner beside us made for a lovely sunset view!
We had a 8 AM bridge opening the next morning but missed the 10 AM one down the way and then as a consequence missed the 11 AM. Each time that meant waiting in front of the bridge for an hour for the next opening - all making the day a lot longer. Lots of bridges this morning. We entered the Cape Fear River at 2 PM with winds up to 34 knots, cloudy but no thunder storms. It was great to tie up to the outside dock at the South Harbor Village Marina near Southport at mile 310 at 4:45PM.



It was a late start the next day but we were through the Pontoon Bridge at mile 337 by 2 PM and anchored at 6 PM in a bight near Enterprise Landing. We had passed the rockpile and the busy free dock at Barefoot Landing but decided to keep on going and make up some time lost earlier that day. We motored in the dark near the end but the bight was obvious thank goodness.  The next morning we left early with mists surrounding us. At 10:30 AM we toured Georgetown Harbor but it was too crowded. We managed to find a place on the other side of the center island. It was a pretty spot if you didn't look at the giant factory in one section of the view. We walked around the town and had lunch, bought groceries. We were invited over to "Idle Ours", Jack and Sandy, for drinks that night.

The next day was sunny and warm. We found lots of shallow spots along the way. We trailed mud at times. I noted especially Red "92"! We anchored off the City Marina in Charleston, S.C. and the next morning went into the city to have breakfast at Poogan's Porch and walk around the city. We left anchor at 11:15 AM 11/8 and anchored in the South Edisto River about mile 504 up around the bend from the ICW in a lovely 12 foot spot.

One of the many parks in Savannah, Georgia

The next morning we weighed anchor at 6:40 AM before the sun rose. It was cold but sunny and very breezy. We sailed for part of the way, and bumped the bottom once. By 1:15 AM we were anchored in Beaufort, S.C. (pronounced Bewfort not Bowfort, as in N.C.) and walked all over the town admiring the beautiful homes.
As usual we were up and off early as the high tide was early too. November 10 was a sunny windy cold day. We bumped at the beginning and end of Fields Cut, also at the end of Walls Cut, on the left side. Then we hit hard at Red markers "2" and "4" on the right. But we managed to back off and kept on going!

Next thrill was running out of gas just before the bridge in a narrow cut of the Wilmington River at mile 578, the end of Range "B". Luckily we had enough room and depth to anchor. Scott just had to change tanks. We have two. Now he is careful to monitor them! Not far beyond was our day's destination, Bahia Blue Marina in Thunderbolt. We had two days to explore Savannah, Georgia!

Downtown Brunswick, Georgia

We hired a taxi to take us into the city and fell in love - with the city. Our taxi driver recommended a fantastic restaurant where we enjoyed a memorable meal in the evening. We walked all over and explored the multitude of beautiful squares, all surrounded by fabulous homes. Scott fantasized about living there and poured over the real estate books! We also walked around Thunderbolt and found a great fish market.

All too soon we were off again 11/13 from 7:15 AM to 12:30 PM, anchoring in Walberg Creek. These short days were due to the tides. We could only travel at half tide through high to half tide again. It was overcast, chilly and windy. We woke up that night to wind in the 30 knot range and swift currents. It was really noisy in the boat!
The next day it was the same so we took the alternate route through Walberg Creek as it was a rising tide and held our breath at the shallow junction back with the ICW. At 10 AM we entered Sapello Sound at mile 640 with confused seas and at 3:30 PM were tied up at the Golden Isles Marina with wind gusting to 35 knots.
We stayed for two nights here. They had a friendly bar and restaurant and loaned us bikes for a fun day exploring St. Simon's island. They also let us use their courtesy car to see Brunswick and shop.

Scott on the dock at St. Augustine Marine, FL

On 11/16 we headed south again and were glad we had waited an extra day at the Golden Isle when we saw the confused seas in St. Andrew's Sound. We stopped early and anchored at Cumberland Island about 1.5 nm off the ICW. This is a beautiful spot and it was great to walk around the island and see the historical sites.
11/17 was a beautiful sunny warm day and we were grateful. We were able to motor sail for part of the time and anchored late at mile 765, Pine Island with five other boats.
This next and last day, November 18, of 2004's cruise ended in St. Augustine, Florida. We had quite a time getting there as we followed some other boats in the harbor, instead of the ICW channel, and ran aground. Luckily we were able to motor off and with some advice from the tow company, find our way back. We pulled into the St. Augustine Marina in the San Sebastian River and settled "Scott Free" in for the winter!