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River’s Edge Marina in St. Augustine is well protected, within walking/biking distance to the city as well as anything else you might need - restaurants, pet & grocery stores, pharmacy, wine, hair salon and much more. And if our legs gave out on the way home, we could have called on our live aboard neighbor Andrew who is a pedicab driver. Or of course, Lynne, who gave us extra mobility for city tours, shopping sprees and dinner at their beautiful new home.
We have been to St. Augustine’s before but never to the Lightner Museum, the former Alcazar Hotel built in 1888 by Henry Flagler. It was built in the Spanish Renaissance Style and on the bottom level has a swimming pool (the world’s largest at that time) with 3 storied balconies above and Tiffany stain glass windows. The pool is now used by a cafe at the deep end and special events including weddings and symphonies. It was elegant and I coming from yoga was not dressed the part nor did I have a camera so will look for a few online.
After wonderful wining and dining with Lynne & Steve, yoga and getting everything on our list done, it was time to move on. We didn’t stay the full week because it was incredibly hot up the river. From St. A’s, we made jumps to New Smyrna Beach and Eau Gallie. Next will be Vero Beach to reconnect with Windemere.
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735 miles after passing through Norfolk, Va on 10/19 we have arrived in FL. Four years ago we were in Morehead City, NC at this time. The journey has been a fast track blur so it’s time to slow it down. We are far ahead of many others making the same trip and as a result have met few. Tomorrow will bring us to St. Augustine where we will stay put for a week taking care of small repairs, oil change, haircuts, Rx refills, flu shots, provisioning and stuff before leaving the country later in the month. Friends, Lynne & Steve have relocated here and graciously have caught several packages and mail. It will be great to catch up and see their new home.
Attached are some “catch as catch can” photos along the way. Highlights were meeting up w/Rod & Susie in N. Myrtle Beach and the Bradfords & Currys in Beaufort, SC. Beautiful anchorages include Walburg Creek at St. Catherine Island, SC, Frederica Creek, SC (shore access difficult w/a missing/damaged dinghy dock), Cumberland Island, GA (this time at the south end - not as tight and protected as Plum Orchard) and Kingsley Plantation on the St. George River, FL.
Storm damage continued to be visible through SC and the northern part of GA. Dozens of boats were blown ashore, docks racked and affects of the incredibly high tidelines along the bottom of the trees, hedges and on homes especially in the Waccamaw River area.
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Mile 0 of the ICW starts in Norfolk, VA ending in Miami, FL at Mile 1095. These are statute miles and for dummies including myself, 1 nautical mile = 1.1508 statute miles. The last time we made this trip, we headed across to the Bahamas at Mile 1018 in Palm Beach. Because we don’t have a schedule or plan and weather matters, we could cross anywhere between Ft. Pierce (Mile 965) and Miami.
Currently, we are at Mile 204 passing through NC to Beaufort seeing the affects of Hurricane Florence. The marina in Belhaven, Forest River Marina, had only been open for 2 days prior to our arrival. Belhaven is completely exposed from the Outer Banks across Pamilco Sound and the Pungo River. A wooden breakwater protects the entrance to the harbor but the water flooded right over. Their dock was wiped out needing at least 24 pilings, all new decking, electrical, plumbing and new fuel pumps and lines. Houses and stores were flooded with many vacant and closed.
In Oriental, we had dinner with former Hullonians, Geri & Steve who gave more graphic details of 9’ tides above the 1-2’ norm lasting 3+ days flooding many businesses and homes including those raised above the ground, compounded by power outages lasting 10 days. My favorite coffee shop, The Bean right across from the town docks on 8’ foot pilings was sadly closed for repairs due to flooding. There were piles of insulation, sheetrock, flooring, furniture and stuff that had been striped out from many homes waiting for pickup from the FEMA crew. One elderly female resident who refused to evacuate, rolled towels and wrung them out to stop water at her door. The day we walked by, she was sitting in her yard cracking pecans that she had harvested as if nothing happened. On the bright side, we all feasted on fresh shrimp and Geri's home baked cookies aboard the Windemere while watching the sun set.
Beaufort at Mile 204 has 4+ boats ashore along Bird Shoal and Carrot Island that give an ominous feeling. The marina where we stayed was sparsely occupied with about a dozen large yachts on the outer docks being moved by crew. What was missing was the smaller owner captained cruising boats. There were a handful but not what we remembered from years past and the restaurants along the waterfront were pretty empty. It’s still early and we are guessing that people are holding back given the destruction of Florence followed by Michael in this area.
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Time to make some distance and duck into the ICW before strong southernly winds blow up the Chesapeake. Jackson Creek in Deltaville proved to be a well protected anchorage along the way where we again crossed paths with Craig, Amy & their black lab Willow on Robin. Folks at Fishing Bay Yacht Club were extremely friendly and allow usage of their dinghy docks and heated bathhouse complete with showers to cruisers. An early start, bridge openings, 1 lock, 3 states (MD, VA, NC) and 80 miles later, we were tied up and sitting having dinner at Coinjock Marina Restaurant.
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Backtracking a bit, Cambridge was an interesting city that has been making a comeback for over 15 years. A local chef and entrepreneur has opened up about a half dozen restaurants to help create jobs and revitalize the city. Shops, museums, galleries and antique stores fill many of the brick buildings while the beautiful waterfront supports the crabbing industry, boat restorations and marinas. A street festival for beer and hot sauce tasting and oysters was going on when we arrived. Although missed, part of the festival included a muskrat skinning contest. We stayed at the bulkhead that was well protected and in the center of everything.
Next stop was Spring Cove Marina at Solomons Island where we visited with Roger & Anne who have been held up with repairs needed on their boat before they can continue south to join us in the Bahamas. George came down from DC today for lunch so it has been a good stop to catch up with friends along with some of the necessities - laundry, food shopping and showers.
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Back to the eastern shore and a peaceful night at the head of San Domingo Creek backdoor to St. Michael’s where we toured the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, shops and then said our goodbyes to Jim & Natalie. In search of soup or chowder for dinner, a merchant recommended a market that sold homemade soup sealed in a plastic bag - hmmm. When Peter asked what we bought, we said dinner - soup in a bag and wine in a box! Sounds awful but it was a wonderful meal.
Continuing the slow poke, we went up the Choptank to Oxford Harbor and then continued to Cambridge tying up to the bulkhead for a couple nights to wait out another blow.
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Coming back to the western shore, we found city moorings right next to the city docks, the boat show and the US Naval Academy. This is where the Brewster stayed for 4 nights (Windemere moved over to a slip on Back Creek) to wait for Diane and ride out Michael, now a tropic storm but still packing strong winds. The moorings are 500 lb. helix moorings which are screwed into the bottom and spec'd for 55’ boats. The winds were to come from the NW giving us protection from the city with no fetch. We didn't get much more than 35 knots and the only noticeable effect was the increase of wind driven tide by about a foot.
This was a good block of time to explore the city streets, stores, restaurants, a disappointing boat show and the US Naval Academy.
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We never saw much of the eastern shore on our last trip down the Chesapeake due to strong southernly winds so we are spending more time exploring some of the rivers on this side.
Chestertown 24 miles up the Chester River has served as Kent County’s seat of government since 1706 and has one of the largest collections of 18th & 19th century buildings in MD second to Annapolis. The city is also home to Washington College founded in 1782. The college owns several of the old buildings and property along the shore including the Hodson Boathouse which is a beautiful state of the art boathouse for rowing and sailing programs. We “lucked out” and arrived on the last day of the Annual Harry Potter Fest with activities throughout the streets. There were so many people that we returned the following day to get a better look at the architecture and stores.
Windemere was up in the Sassafras River by this time so we went back down towards the mouth of the Chester River to Queenstown to position for a rendezvous the next day in Rock Hall. After buying a dozen blue crabs from a local fisherman and a fair amount of picking, we had dinner, lunch and more dinner for several days.
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Travel up the Delaware w/SW winds and waves against the tide was lumpy at the mouth but evened out further up as the tides changed in our favor. Gray skies, murky water and very little traffic. The only big ships seen were anchored up by the C & D Canal. 14 miles down the canal, we arrived in Chesapeake City early enough to take advantage of the free town dock. In the past, we anchored out but there is 150’ of dockage that was open with only one other boat so why not have the luxury of stepping out to walk the dog. CC is quaint and beautiful but with a noticeable number of store frontages empty and others with limited hours and closed.
Getting ready to leave the next morning, we happened to notice a very large limb pinned to the stern of the boat by the tide, a harbinger of more to come. With all the rains, the Conowingo Dam on the Susquehanna River had to release a ton of water causing debris to be washed down including tires, limbs and large tree trunks. Others have seen refrigerators and parts of boats and things. All the rivers are contributing to these floating mine fields. 4 years ago, Chesapeake Bay was turned up with lots of chop from heavy south winds but so far on this trip, the bay has been flat making it easier to navigate through this stuff and a real pleasure to cruise.
Next stop the Sassafras River to a quiet anchorage behind Knights Island right next to Mt. Harmon Plantation. They have dinghy dock access and miles of trails that can be hiked around the property. The river is heavily treed with beautiful homes tucked in. Eagles everywhere. Fall hasn’t quite come here yet but must be beautiful when it does.
Moving down to Rock Hall Harbor, we found a spot along the bulkhead next to Kent County Park. Again a free town dock, there is one utility post for power that we don’t need and left for someone else. There also looks to be restrooms including showers next to a small community pool but need further investigation. This is not a good spot with any kind of south wind but we plan to stay one more night because there are strong northerly winds blowing through today. Tomorrow will probably find us poking up the Chester River before heading for the western shore and Annapolis.
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NW winds, following seas and good sized waves carried us to Atlantic City in no time. Arriving by 2 p.m., we had picked up the rpms cruising/surfing at 11-13+ kts. Nina, fuel concerns and no particular schedule argued for staying the night. We anchored in a quiet cove on the north side of the river across from bright lights of the strip, with access to a sand spit where many black skimmers rested. That was until Nina sprinted like a caged animal scattering them to the wind while making friends with local kids in need of a dog fix. She misses her grandkids.
Fuel prices were significantly higher here than in Cape May 30+ miles down the line so we crunched the numbers and decided to open both tanks and make a run the next day. This was hard for Harry who likes to keep the tanks half full but in hindsight it was a good exercise. We hadn’t fueled up since Old Saybrook, CT making the total mileage to Cape May 230+ miles. We carry 180 gal. in 2 tanks that is not all usable to avoid sucking off the bottom and bleeding tanks, but we had been cruising in difficult seas and winds and weren’t quite sure what our “burn rate” was. Sunday provided more favorable seas with NE winds and was an easy run down to Cape May giving us a better idea of burn rate average in variable conditions going forward.
Utsch’s Marina and Cape May is not a one night stand. It is a wonderful opportunity to meet fellow cruisers heading south as well as great dining, beaches, gingerbread houses, shopping, provisioning, showers, laundry, and the best birding on the east coast this time of year. Harry got me a rental bike the following day and not able to find an organized birding event online, I headed off at 6:30 a.m. to the South Cape May Meadows where I had birded before. I thought I would be by myself missing my friend Ellen until I biked into the parking lot and saw several cars and recognized Pete Dunne, the self acclaimed ambassador of NJ Audubon Assoc. and one of the most amazing birders I have met. Timing is everything. Today was my lucky day and his Monday morning bird walk! 26 of us headed off including 6 leaders for an extraordinary morning. Sorry, photos are all about the birds!
