Unlooping - Days 16 - 20

The little kitten that Regina played with at City Marina is still here.

New Smyrna Beach is a bitter sweet stop.  It's been just over a month and a half since we were all here for Regina's Celebration of Life, but there was no way we could go by with seeing her cousin Laurie and her husband Woody.  Day 16 started early for me.  I got up to start reworking the trip plan to include all the changes that were made because of weather, maintenance and a too aggressive plan.  That took most of the morning and then Laurie came to pick up us.  We did a grocery run and then went over to her house to do laundry.  We had a fabulous dinner of salad, lasagna and a pistachio desert, all of which was just amazing!!  This was a good stop to catch up on things that are hard to do as we cruising.

NSB Yacht Club where we had Regina's Celebration

Day 17 started early so that we could go to a marina to get fuel.  When this was done we pulled out, circled back around the NSB harbor and continued on south.  The areas just below NSB have a lot of slow and no wake zones so the beginning of the trip was not too fast.  As we got further down Mosquito Lagoon, I was able to run faster and there very few other boats out today.  Sunday would normally be a pretty busy day on Florida waters, but the weather forecast wasn't too good for the afternoon.  Maybe all those other folks were smarter than me, but we've already lost a bunch of days and the forecast was for rain and scattered thunderstorms - nothing ominous!  Well, not so fast my friends, we hit the first rain storm at about noon and even though it was almost impossible to see, the storm didn't last all that long and it cleared up, the sun was back out and there were still no other boats out.  That lasted for about an hour.  The sky to the west had been getting darker when pretty quickly the bottom fell out.  Rain was so heavy that, in USAF terms, we were going IFR.  The radar was no help because it just showed the rain mass.  My iPad running Navionics had our course to follow.  That kept us in the channel, but now the lightening began big time.  There were strikes all around us and the thunder sometimes actually shook the boat.  When this all finally ended, we were only about 25 minutes from the Suntex Marina at Vero Beach.  Today's track and pics - https://www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1620838/

Rainbow after the day's storms.

Vero sunset

The next leg takes us on down to Stuart, Florida which is the entrance to the Okeechobee Waterway to cross the state to Fort Myers.  It's only about 50 miles down to the next marina to stage for an early morning departure on Tuesday.  I couldn't remember what this section of the waterway was like and it was a pleasant surprise with it being open allowing us to cruise without a lot of slow zones.  Getting back to Sunset Bay marina is a couple of "U" turns through some fairly shallow areas.  In fact, TowBoat US hangs out in the area just to be ready to drag boats off of the sand bars.  I knew about these areas so he didn't get any business from me!  We got to the marina and topped off the tanks to be ready for the run across the state.  As soon as that was done and we got into our slip, the rains came and lasted all afternoon.  At least we're not having to wash the boat!  Today's track and pics - https://www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1622214/

August 6 is Day 19 of the trip and it's Okeechobee crossing day.  I've heard lots of stories about how bad it can be going over the lake - it's rough, waves are huge, it's so shallow you will drag bottom, there are rocks on the bottom, etc.  Most of these things are true, at times, and others I think you would just have to use very bad judgement to experience.  I found the website where the lake levels are published daily and it also gives weather forecasts just for Lake Okeechobee.  This day had everything hoped for,  the lake is full, the weather is calm and the lake is smooth.  We left at first light and headed down the St Lucie Canal to the first of five locks and the entrance to the lake.  There were very few boats out today and we were able to go fast (18 mph) most of the way.  It was a long day and we reached Fort Myers at 5:15 just in time to get hit with non-stop rain for the rest of the evening.  Today's track and pics - https://www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1623473/

St Lucie lock

Lake Okeechobee looks a little like the ocean

Approaching Fort Myers

Before we could leave Ft Myers, we had to put fuel in the boat.  It was raining when we arrived so doing fueling in the rain is a no go.  It takes time and water is not a good thing for diesels.  The marina opened at 8 AM and we were waiting on them so we could get under way to go to Sarasota.  The trip will take us down the Caloosahatchee River (just try to say it, doesn't have to be fast) to San Carlos Bay and then Big Pine Sound from there we go out Boca Grand Pass into the Gulf.  Just before going into the Gulf, I had this thought that I should check with the marina about Big Sarasota Pass where I planned to go back into the ICW.  Good thing I did because they told me all the markers had been removed and this was not a good place to use so we quickly re-planned to go into Venice Inlet and up the ICW to Sarasota instead.  The Gulf was supposed to be flat today but the forecast was a bit off as it was more like 1 - 2 feet.  The ride up was a bit rough and the entry at Venice could have been an attraction at the county fair!  There were boats fighting the breakers to get out as I was trying to come in and the pass was not all that wide.  The rollers grew to about 3 feet and we rocked and rolled our way in, then just as quickly, the water smoothed out behind the break water and it was done.

It's a Ft Myers morning.

From Venice up to Sarasota was just a short 17 mile run.  There was some traffic but really not too bad.  My old friend, and fraternity brother, Allen was waiting there to relieve Rob after his three weeks on-board.  I am so glad Rob was able to do this trip with me and I believe the Army man actually enjoyed being a sailor - not that there is any portion of that to say he now could tolerate Navy!  He became quite proficient at his duties as first mate so now Allen has to get up to speed quickly.  Rob's friends Mike and Mary came to pick him up at the marina and visit the boat.  Mary brought us about 4 dozen cookies and a bottle of wine!  We are set for several days!!  After touring the boat (about a 5 minute show), we all went to Columbia Restaurant for dinner.  This is an old Tampa,Ybor City, favorite and our Spanish themed dinner was excellent.  After dinner, Rob handed over his stripes to Allen and the change of duty was completed.  Blue Ayes is now going north and the Gulf crossing is coming.  Today's track and pics - https://www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1624394/

Crew change!

Unlooping - Days 11 - 15

Early departure from Georgetown

Monday, July 29 is day 11 of this unlooping trip and it called for a long outside run to go from Georgetown, SC to Hilton Head Island.  Today's run was the longest single day trip I had made since crossing the Gulf on our initial voyage.  Running down the river from Georgetown was smooth and calm.  We went back into the ocean at the same inlet that we entered yesterday and that was another easy job.  There are remains of a seawall that go about 3 miles out into the ocean that we had to get passed and then it was pretty much a straight run that was 3 to 6 miles off the coast to the Southeast Inlet leading into Hilton Head Island.  This inlet starts nearly 7 miles out from the shoreline and is lined on both sides by very shallow shoals.  This whole section was pretty rough with swells rolling perpendicular to the inbound track, but it finally ended and we got back into the ICW leading to the marina.  I had a FedEx package waiting for me that had the access card to made my DirecTV receiver onboard work again!  Happy days - I have Atlanta stations to watch instead of the over the air local digital stations!!
Today's track and pics - https://www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1613002/

Arrival at Hilton Head

I think both of these are wrong, but it sure does look scary!!

Rob always wears his Army hat so I had Britt send my USAF cap.  Mine looks more like a Captain!!

Before we leave on the next leg of our trip, we stopped at the fuel dock to fill up and see how much was really left in the tanks.  I put 119 gallons in each tank so instead of what the gauges showed there was 31 left in each side.  With that done, our run today takes us to Tybee Island to see my old friend, buddy and former client Jimmy.  We're making a whole 20 mile run from Hilton Head to get there to see him so I'm sure he knows how special he is to rate a day with less than a 100 miles for a visit!  That's sort of a joke, but it will be nice to have a short day and relax with him.  When we arrived, it took a while to get everything done and a shower was definitely necessary.  Jimmy came to pick us up about 3:30 and we went over to his house to visit for a while.  Then we took a ride around Tybee and went into town after which was dinner at 80 East.  This is an excellent restaurant in an old gas station.
Today's track and pics - https://www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1614061/

Tybee Lighthouse

Wednesday, July 31 was day 13 of the trip.  We left Tybee at about 7:30 with our box of Krispy Kreme donuts from the marina!  How good does it get!!  We came down the Wilmington River to Wassawi Sound then into the Atlantic.  The forecast had called for light winds and 2 foot seas.  As the day began, we were catching some spray on the windows which lasted for a while until the seas went completely flat.  The majority of the day was just like that and all the way into Saint Mary's Inlet at Fernandina Beach where we turned onto the Amelia River headed to our destination.  This is going to be an effortless 115 mile run and a perfect day - wrong!!  It's day 13!!  So 2 miles away from our destination, in the middle of the channel with 10 feet of water - according to my Navonics charts - we hit the bottom and are aground.  A call to BoatUS has a tow boat coming to get us.  The tide is rising and we get eased off the shoal.  Amazingly nothing is damaged and our arrival at Amelia Island Marina is only delayed by 1½ hours.  The BoatUS captain tells me the charts have been wrong for years, but that's no help to someone who's not familiar  with the area.  Tomorrow I just have to get the rest of the way out of this area with uncharted shoals so we can get to the St John's River and continue south.  
Today's track and pics - https://www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1617277/

Tybee sunrise

Thunderbolt donuts!

On day 14, we continued the trip on south, past St Augustine and on to Hammock Beach Marina in Palm Coast, FL to see old dock mates from Chattanooga.  Barry and Fran had started the loop about a year after we had.  They were also going slowly down south, but they got caught by Hurricane Michael.  This was the storm that tore right into the panhandle of Florida and caused so much destruction.  They eventually worked their way around that and then began spending extended amounts of time at various locations and ultimately in Palm Coast.  We had a great visit and were treated to an excellent dinner of shrimp and steak.  Fran made chocolate chip cookies for desert and we all stayed up way passed our normal bedtimes talking and laughing.  It would have been nice to stay longer, but after a morning treat of almond croissants, Rob and I continued on our journey.

Today's track and pics - https://www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1617278/

There were sea birds following us along out in the ocean.

The Chattanooga boats side by side.

Departure from Hammock Beach

Day 15 was a relatively short trip to New Smyrna Beach.  We are stopping here for two days to visit with Regina and Rob's cousin Laurie and her husband Woody.  It was a cloudy, gray morning as we left and by the time we reached the north side of Daytona Beach, the rain was pouring down.  It didn't quit before we reached the City Marina in NSB so that meant docking in the rain.  All that was accomplished without much issue other than the getting quite wet part.  This is the first time in days that we have access to actual working wifi so I was finally able to update my navigation charts and download the ones needed for the remaining part of the return to Chattanooga.  Rob has an old biking friend coming by later so we'll visit with him before walking into town to find a location for dinner.  Today's track and pics - https://www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1617279/

It was wet in City Marina!

Unlooping - Days 6 - 10

Belhaven Hurricane flood levels

It was a very quiet morning after the wild late afternoon storms of the previous day.  The temperatures in the high 90's were replaces with a cool 70 degrees.  Gray clouds overhead hinted of what the night had been, but now it calm and only a light breeze remained.  Woody, Don and I were discussing our planned destinations and trying to determine who would go first.  It would be easy for me to just let the wind blow the boat off the dock and then the other guys would have lots of room to get out.  So that's what we did, I slide off the dock, backed out of the channel and went down to River Forest Marina for fuel.

The bay behind Beaufort

The trip for this day back tracked one of the worst legs that we had on the way up.  I was a bit concerned that it could be rough again.  Winds were out of the north today which gave us following seas and a really smooth ride.  We went down the Pungo River to the Pamlico River across Goose Creek to Bay River that lead into the Pamlico Sound and Nuese River.  All of the way it wasn't glass, but it was not a bit rough.  The ICW makes a turn into Adams Creek off the Nuese and goes over to Beaufort, NC - our destination for the day.  When we got to the small bay on the north side of Beaufort, the first requirement was to fuel up for the next days trip.  I pulled into Town Creek Marina to do that.  Our slip reservation was at another marina across from the fuel dock, but something was wrong and they were not answering the phone or radio.  The dock hand helping us fuel said we could probably stay right where we were for the night and so we did.  This was much better than moving again and the face dock gives us an easy out in the morning.  Not to mention, they have a really good restaurant, called City Kitchen, right here!

So we departed Belhaven a little before 8 AM to begin the run to Southport.  It was a nice morning and things seemed to be good as we left the marina.  That didn't last long!  I was having issues with Navonics and my course wasn't coming up correctly.  Rebooting and restarting wasn't working and the wind started blowing out of the west at about 15 to 20 mph.  Distractions took over and before we were 10 miles from the start point, I had found an area of shoaling.  My port side prop took the brunt of the encounter and we were stuck on the shoal.  BoatUS came quickly and did a great job getting us free, but I had bad vibration when running up the engines so they towed us back to Town Creek where we had started.  It was shortly after 2 PM when the travelift pulled the boat out.  They pulled both props and sent them to the shop to be reconditioned.  The mechanics checked the shafts and found a very slight bend in the port side, which we decided was not bad enough to address immediately.

BoatUS is a great service, but I truly hate this view!!

Two of the blades are twisted way out of tolerance.

Rob and I had to go get a hotel room while the boat was out of the water.  There aren't many choices to start with in Beaufort and all but one was full.  Our home for the next two nights was the Beaufort Hotel located, as they said, at the end of Front Street.  Now Front Street is the road right in town where everything is located.  The end of Front Street is 3 miles from downtown and there's nothing there but the hotel.  At least it had a restaurant!  We wasted the day roaming in town, had lunch, visited a museum and an 1880's pub.

On Saturday morning, I got the call to say the props were back on and the boat is ready to launch.  We got an Uber and got back to Town Creek before 10 AM.  There was no one at the marina who could drive the boat so when they set it back in the water and did the final checks, I backed it out of the well and we were off again to Southport.  This time the trip went much better.  We ran the 108 miles in about 7 ½ hours.  Boat traffic was ridiculous because it was a weekend and that slowed us down, but we got lucky with bridges and hit the openings.  At about 5:55, I pulled up to the dock at Southport.  They put us on the fuel dock so the first thing done was to get filled up for tomorrow's trip to Georgetown.  After that was a wash down to get the salt off the boat and dinner at the Frying Pan.

Southport sunset

Day 10 was Sunday and the conditions on the ocean were perfect for an outside run.  We left the marina at 7:30 AM and headed out of the Cape Fear River Channel into Long Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.  There were no outside runs on the east coast during our trip north so today is my first trip into the ocean.  This run was about 12 miles offshore past Myrtle Beach to the Georgetown Inlet.  The forecast was right on and the ride was nice.  It took about 4½ hours to cross from inlet to inlet.  The Waccamaw River up to Georgetown was smooth enough for water skiing.  We pulled into Harborwalk Marina about 1:45 PM, fueled up, pumped out and chilled out for a while until dinner time.  Tomorrow morning we leave for Hilton Head.

Nothing in sight of miles!

How do you grow a sign in a tree?

Good night Georgetown.

Tracks and photos
Day 1 - https://www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1601553/

Day 4 - https://www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1606654/

Day 6 - https://www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1606819/

Day 7 - https://www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1610061/

Day 9 - https://www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1610038/

Day 10 - https://www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1611648/

Unlooping - Days 2 - 5

Lightship Portsmouth - check out the open air helm!

The beginning of this trip hasn't happened exactly as planned or hoped, but that doesn't mean it's bad.  The broken lift bridge in Norfolk cost us two days.  Instead of traveling, we visited the Lightship Portsmouth and toured the Coast Guard Museum.  There was dinner at a German restaurant - quite good!  Then we crossed the river to go to the USS Wisconsin battleship and the Navy Museum.  You could literally spend days doing just those two things!  The weather continued to be dreadfully hot with heat indexes in the 111 degree range.  Walking outside meant that you were dripping wet and miserable.  This required breaking up destinations with stops in between like Jack Brown's Burger and Beer Shack.  This little hole in the wall, burger dive bar is a place not to be missed if you are in downtown Norfolk!

Beltline Bridge open at last

The broken bridge is a big problem and getting any information almost impossible.  A Sunday afternoon call to the USCG Norfolk finally let us know that the repairs were done and the waterway open again.  Monday morning we were out of the marina at 6:30 AM again in an attempt to get to the Great Bridge lock and bridge in time for the 8 AM opening.  I might have been able to make it if we hadn't run into a bunch of slow boaters, but that's what happened.  We got through the lock and bridge at 9 AM, Centerville highway bridge at 9:30 and North River bridge at 10 AM.  I got in front of the line and ran for the Albemarle Sound knowing that we had a rough ride ahead.

We had a warm up coming down the Currituck Sound heading south with stiff winds from the west.  It was a little bumpy, but not bad.  The Island Pilot tow boat was in front as we entered Coinjock canal so I passed him and continued to the North River with was calm and smooth.  This was just a teaser before the Sound.  As we got out of the river, seas grew to 2 to 3 feet with west wind blowing at about 25 mph - now it was sporty!!  Seas were breaking over top so everything had to be closed up and it was toasty inside.  I cranked the generator and turned on the bridge AC which helped a lot with cooling, but not the bumps.  It took about an hour to cross and I just knew it was going to get better when we hit the Alligator River.  Not so fast!!  Now we were going due west, straight into the wind, the seas seemed like they grew and all of the spray was straight onto the windshield.  It felt like flying IFR and that the river would never end!!

There's a 28 mile long canal that connects the Alligator and Pungo Rivers.  When we entered that there was finally a break in the wind and waves.  I ran through there at about 20 mph trying to get to our destination at Belhaven, NC before 6 PM.  The Pungo was rough and we continued to get rocked.  Thankfully, only about 10 miles to the Belhaven Marina.  Greg, the harbor master met us as we pulled in about 5:30.  On this day, we covered 138 miles in 10.5 hours.  The winds blew all night, but at least this location is somewhat protected.  Dinner was at Spoon River which is an excellent restaurant.  The owner is Teresa and she could drop this place in Atlanta and be a success!  Food and service are 5 Star!!

Contains absolutely no calories!!

Day 5 was supposed to be the run on south to Beaufort, NC.  However, weather interfered with that plan.  Small craft warnings were issued for the Neuse River and Pamlico Sound so we sitting it out today and going tomorrow.  Winds have not let up all day, the boat is rocking and I'm sure this was the right decision.  So  this is a laundry and grocery day.  The restaurant open for dinner tonight is Fish Hook's Cafe.

Cozy at Belhaven Marina

Unlooping - T minus 1 thru Day 1

My new first mate, Rob, arrived early in the morning on the 17th and I drove into DC to pick him up at Reagan National Airport.  It's been about 40 years since I drove in DC rush hour traffic and I must say - no more!  None of the roads are the same, drivers are insane and nothing moves.  We finally made it out of the craziness about 3 hours after I started the trip and then we went to pick up some basics and food.

After getting back to the marina, we got everything unloaded and put away.  Then I had to continue working on getting a new boat insurance policy.  I've been insured by the same company since I bought the boat, but now that I have to move it through Southern waters in hurricane season, they refused to cover me.  Fortunately. I have a great agent who jumped right on the problem and got me new coverage.  Amy, at Herrington Harbour South, printed emails for me, scanned forms and emailed the completed ones for me to make all of this work.  Don't know what I would have done without her!!

Thursday was training day for Rob and a chance for me to run the boat for the first time in a long time.  Tom, Fred and another Jim joined us for the trip as coaches.  Fred showed me how to do things with my chart plotter that I had never figured out.  Rob got coaching from everyone on docking, un-docking and fueling.  We did side ties and backed into a slip just for practice.  The best part was the run across the Chesapeake Bay to Tilghman Island for lunch at The Bridge/Characters.  I'm sure Rob was on overload by the time we got back into our slip at the end of the day!

Very early Friday morning, we got up and got moving.  It was 6:37 AM when we pulled out of the slip.  We had a couple of interesting moments as we were leaving.  First, the engine sync switch had gotten clicked off so the port engine didn't have the right rpm.  Figured that out and then pushed up the power, but maxed at 2000 rpm??  The switch right beside the sync had also been bumped and that one limits rpm.  OK - figured out both and we're off - well not quite.  Fred had set a series of way points in the plotter to take us to Norfolk in the most direct path,  So who would have guessed that the first point outside the marina would be #2??  We got passed the first buoy heading south, I pick what I think is the second way point and we immediately go into a 180 degree turn!!  After selecting point #3, we continued in the right direction after doing a 360 degree high speed circle.  Wheeeeeee!!!

It was a hot, calm day.  We ran down the bay almost alone at around 17 mph.  When we reached the north side of Norfolk, there were radio calls from US Navy Warship 51 to various vessels.  That ship was coming into the harbor just ahead of us.  I found another Navy ship on AIS we started watching all of the to get him docked activity.  All of this was pretty interesting, except this big boy was taking his half out of the middle of the waterway and I'm supposed to stay away from him.  We get all the way over next to the red buoys and slowing moving past.  All the while, the guns crews on the Navy ship are watching us like there is a rouge Army guy on board (who was wearing a West Point hat)!!  We were lucky to survive that encounter.

The rest of the ride down the channel was basically uneventful until we reached the first ICW bridge.  This one is a railroad lift bridge with a clearance of 6 feet above the water.  Now it's supposed to be open, but it's not.  I can squeeze under a 15 foot high bridge so there's no way we're going here.  I call the phone number and ask about when the span will open.  The RR guy on the phone says "I hate to tell you this but it's broken and will not open until 7 AM Monday morning".  Days 2 and 3 are going to be spent here waiting for a bridge repair.  At least, Norfolk has a lot of things to do until the adventure continues.

Unlooping - Preparing for the Return Trip

Last picture of us together on our boat.  Taken in Norfolk, VA - April 2017.

Completing the Great Loop is something that I have wanted to do for many years.  Our plan, in fact, took many years just to develop, but I have had to make the decision that the best thing to do, for now, is return to Chattanooga.  The river will give me a place to practice running the boat by myself and give me time to focus on all the other things that keep me close to home.  Someday, I hope to be able to throw off the lines and begin the trip again.

I’ve seen the boat twice in the last 14 months. Both times it was sitting on the dirt in a storage yard. The first time was last October when I went back to assist my friend Tom with winterizing. Blue Ayes has always been a “southern” boat. This was the first time she has ever been removed from the water and flushed with antifreeze. That process was something else!  It took 100 gallons of antifreeze to do it the engines, generator, heads and air-conditioning units. The fresh water system, including all the water lines, was blown out with compressed air so that nothing was left.  Everything that could freeze or mildew had to be removed and since we had been living aboard, that was a lot of stuff!

Sitting on the hard - Herrington Harbor North

My second visit was at the beginning of April when I went back to start loading things back on board, do some cleaning and organizing. In the process of doing that, I discovered a few things that needed professional attention. Those as well as waxing and detailing have been completed. Almost everything that was unloaded is back on-board except for our dingy which I hauled back to Marietta to lighten the load for the return trip.  Tom and I worked on a plan for the return - a very aggressive plan - which would get the trip done in 22 days.  I doubt that this will be achieved, but it's a plan!

The rest of April, May and June were spent getting ready for Regina’s celebration of life and dealing with all the other things that must be done. The slide show that I put together of the event had me searching through the house for old pictures during which I found things that had put away since we left Maryland 29 years ago! Some of these discoveries made me laugh, some cry and many were “why did we ever pack this”!  

We had the celebration at the yacht club in New Smyrna Beach, Florida on the day that would have been Regina’s 60th birthday. Her cousin, Laurie, worked for three months to make sure that this was a special day. All of us found things to be displayed and Laurie created amazing sets for the favorites of Regina’s life. It was a very tough day, but I think it was exactly the party that Regina wanted. Many friends present, beautiful setting, sunny day, great food and drink and wonderful shared memories.

I have returned to Maryland to get ready for the return and the boat is finally back in the water.  There were a few surprises after getting here.  A couple of bilge blower fittings were broken and had to be replaced, the rear enclosure curtains needed new elastic straps, the compass had to be replaced and my DirecTV access card had expired!  Now that's serious.  Getting a replacement is going to be tricky!

Regina's brother, Rob, is going to start the trip with me.  He arrives on the 17th to start learning to be a boater.  Hopefully, not too big a challenge for an Army guy.  I'm sure he is going to have a whole new appreciation for "swabbies" before he's done.  The scheduled departure from Herrington Harbor South is Friday, July 19.  Stay tuned to see when Blue Ayes makes it to Chattanooga!

PS - sorry about the crazy font display, I've redone this a dozen times and it will not stay as selected???????