Saturday March 27 - Tuesday March30, Ft Pierce and Stuart

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On our way to Ft Pierce, there are many ospreys nesting on top of the day markers. Sometimes we can hear babies. 

We did an extra 20 miles again today getting us closer to Stuart in hopes of seeing our niece and family before they head home. We tried a new anchorage for us which was in the inlet channel. There are many other boats there as well so we thought it was worth a try. 

Sunset in Ft Pierce

Western sky

And the moon rise in the eastern sky. 

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Sunday March 28

It was a sleepless night as we were up most of the night worrying about the current and anchor. The current started to rip through about midnight. And that was the end of sleep for some of us. We started the coffee pot at 5:30 and were under way by moonlight. 

Break of Dawn

Sunrise on the east 

And moon set in the west! 

This is as we go by the Pierce City Marina which we bypassed this year. It looked pretty full of boats. The moon above it was beautiful. 

On our way to Stuart. 

Photo below is going south on the ICW taken by fellow cruiser Paul Lawrence a couple of days ago. 

Passing through the Roosevelt Bridges. All 3 of them at one time. We had to wait for the one to open along with "millions" of other boats, large and small.

We arrived at our anchorage in the St Lucie River behind Becky and Charles home at 11:30 and got to spend several hours with the little family. 

We get to meet Brooks O'Hara for the 1st time! 

We had not seen Adeline Rose since she was 2-3 months old and it was great to see Erin and Brian!

Sampson (Becky and Charles grand dog) and Bella

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Monday March 29

Sunrise in St Lucie River, Stuart

While cruising the last couple of years we have made some great friends. No photos 🤷🏼‍♀️ but we met and had lunch with friends living in the Melbourne area who drive here to meet up for lunch and then with other friends staying in Ft Pierce. We also had some great family time and great meals with our sister and brother in law in the evenings after their work. And yes, everyone has been vaccinated and we wore masks while going places. 

Their home on the St Lucie River 

Sunset drive back to Summer Breeze after dinner.  

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Thursday -Saturday, March 25-27, St Augustine to Cocoa Beach

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Thursday March 25

A foggy start to the day in St Augustine. We opted to sit and enjoy our coffee instead of piloting through pea soup. It only delayed us for an hour.

The LB Knox Bridge, south of Flagler Beach has only one side operational which makes for a very narrow passage. It is definitely lower than our air draft. 

Bella has always been afraid when going under bridges (???🐶???) and this one made her very nervous.

Daytona Night Lights at anchorage

Just passed through here.

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Friday March 26

Daytona Sunrise

Still blowing and gusting with white caps in the ICW. 

We had planned on stopping in Titusville as we do every time but we got there early today. We just found out that my niece and little family will be in Stuart for the weekend and we would love to see them. So we opted for about 20 extra miles arriving at an anchorage next to the Merritt Island Bridge at Cocoa and Merritt Island. If we do that again tomorrow then it will get us in Stuart earlier in the day on Sunday.

Cocoa Sunset

And the sunset got better....

... and better!

The bridge and land next to it offered us some good wind protection though the winds have been dying down at  night.

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Saturday March 27

Cocoa Sunrise

On our way to Wabasso but we hope to push it to Ft Pierce area which gives us a shorter and earlier arrival at my sister’s on the St Lucie River. 

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Tuesday, March 23, Cumberland Island, GA to St Augustine FL

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Tuesday, March 23

No wind today!

We have finally arrived in Florida. It took us only 2 weeks!

Crossing the St Mary's River over to the Amelia River behind Amelia Island was a bit rough and we could see the seas offshore! It would not be a fun day out there so we continue on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). 

Passing through the Fernandina area, there are a lot of large boats, ships and lots of industrial stuff. 

It was nice to get past all these big guys. The weather was nicer today with no wind in the morning but picking up quickly in the afternoon.

Bella's favorite place to sit though we don't let her stay long there. 

She was taking a break from her "captain's" chair.

We arrived in St Augustine about 4:30 and the wind was blowing like crazy. That was fun trying to pick up our mooring ball with high winds and some wave action. 

We are here for 2 nights enjoying some of our favorite restaurants and walks. There are a lot of people here and the seafood restaurant we went to (Harry's) was full but not as crowded as last year as they were monitoring how many people could enter the check in and bar area. 

St Augustine at night.

Miles from Cumberland Island, GA to St Augustine FL: 67 (9 hours today)

Friday - Monday, March 19 - 22, Jekyll Island and finally, Cumberland Island

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Friday, March 19

There was still plenty of wind overnight offering us some gentle rocking with the waves hitting the hull. It was nice to know that we were secure tied to a dock. It was a beautiful day to enjoy a beach walk and lunch out dining outdoors and a DQ treat on the walk home.

One of our dock neighbors here. There are many live aboard at this marina and most have dogs and there are a couple of cats. 

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Saturday - Sunday, March 20 - 21

A coastal gale. 

Windy, cold, rainy. And then more windy! 

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Monday March 22

10:20 AM: We left the marina at low tide though with plenty of water on the south end of the creek. We hoped to take the western route as it would be calmer but we needed several hours of tide coming in to cross a shallow area. So off we go towards St Andrews Sound with a North wind at 20+ mph.  Yeah! 😳

I know! These photos don't look bad. It is really hard to capture wave height in a photo so trust me.

It started off with 2’ seas but ended up with 3-4’s. We’ve transited it worse than this before and we've transited when in perfect conditions. Not this time. 

Yes, it was bad but could've been much worse. Bella even survived without incident. 🤢  

We later heard on the radio that the seas were 5’+ after we crossed and on the news that gusts were up to 40. 

The Cumberland Island lighthouse 

(still in the St Andrews Sound)

As we enter the river behind Cumberland Island, it was very calm and we spotted 4 of the wild horses grazing on the low land there. 

And lucky us! The Coast Guard offered us a “courtesy”inspection and the real fun part was that it was while in the St Mary’s River with 20+ mph winds and hefty gusts. Lots of wind and current! We got a glowing report from them.

Not a great photo but you can see the small Coast Guard boat on the port side as they disembark us from the swim platform. Unfortunately a large wave hit them and they got soaked. 

After we anchored, the winds calmed down quite a bit. It is still a bit cold and windy and will miss going ashore this time. We will plan on exploring Cumberland on our return trip.

On to St Augustine tomorrow!

Miles today: Jekyll to Cumberland Islands: 27

Total miles: 210.6

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March 15 -18: Dafuskie to Jekyll Island, Batten Down the Hatches!

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Monday March 15

View of Hilton Head Harbor Town and lighthouse from our anchorage.

Today we batten the hatches and stay put in Bull Creek behind Dafuskie Island and just across from Hilton Head. The wind gusts were in the mid 30s which is really blowing! The wind really likes to use our high profile with the isinglass as a sail so we opted to stay put one more day. It is too windy to go ashore so we watched movies and read our books. 

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Tuesday March 16

We weighed anchor at 7:30 AM with calm winds and water which means lots of gnats until we were under way. The sunrise reflections were amazing.

Went through Walks Cut and Fields Cut at mid tide with lots of water under us.  We waited for the Savannah Barge Ferry to come through first which is met at one of the curves into the cut. 

Crossing the Savannah River is always fun as we are on the lookout for anyone screaming down the river, like this big guy.

Sights along the way through Georgia. 

The winds picked up quite a bit all afternoon and were of course, against us slowing us down.  10 1/2 hrs later and 71.97 miles later we got to Crescent River at 6pm. 

Pollen is everywhere on the boat. EVERYWHERE.

Fabulous sunset tonight. The sunset just kept getting better and better by the minute. 

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Wednesday March 17

Anchor up at 8:30 as we have a shorter trip to Jekyll Island. It is a calm morning which means the gnats were bothersome until we got moving again. The autopilot remote failed and he couldn’t get it to work the whole trip and we are in Georgia where the ICW is very winding.

We again got lucky with the tide timing at Little Mud River and actually had plenty of water. Last time we were here, we plowed through mud. 

St Simon Sound was very calm and the huge Sea Ray car cargo is still there being chewed down by the giant chain saw. 

We got to Jekyll Island with a pretty high tide as well which is good but the tide is really weird there as it changes direction right where the Marina is. No one seems to know which tide station is right for the marina. This is the 1st time we had trouble docking there because (and we know better) we were approaching the dock with the tide, per our dock hands request. On the 3rd try, captain Bruce did it his way and we were safely tucked in in a short time. We booked 2 nights here for the upcoming storm but discovered that there is another bad storm following so we are now staying here until Monday morning. We like Jekyll Island anyway! We get to take nice walks, there are some great restaurants and there is a Dairy Queen within walking distance!

One of our favorite restaurants here is at the marina, Zachary's Riverhouse. We have always had a great meal and they let us bring in our bottle of wine ($10 corkage fee) which is great as their wine list could use improving. Unfortunately our meal was the 1st we had that was not to standard but we had a nice time anyway. 

Off to dinner with sunset views

Miles: 39.4

Total miles: 183.6

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Thursday March 18

Azaleas in full bloom here.

We are tied up to the dock in anticipation of the severe weather. We watched the morning news and saw the tornado damage so far. In the morning we went for a long walk to the resort, did a bit of laundry and Bruce fixed the autopilot. He has no idea how but it is working now.  

Couples having a game of croquet (I assume) at the Jekyll Island Resort.

It was a very nice day until about 2:00 when the temperature started to drop and the wind started to howl.

We had some rain and a lot of wind and the boat is still a bit choppy even at the dock as we say goodnight. 

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