Arrived in Fernandina Beach, Florida!

Saturday February 6^th

We have been here in Fernadina Beach, FL since Tuesday mid day after a successful overnight on the Atlantic.  Here is the rest of the story!


We left Charleston, SC on Monday (Feb. 1st) at about 8am.  It was a bit overcast but fair weather was expected. The winds were blowing out of the SW which helped us get out of Charleston ok – but it meant that we were going to have wind in our face all day (and for that matter night too!) But for the most part they were going to be light (about 7 kts) so it was a do-able motor run. We expected the run from Charleston to Fernadina Beach (which is about 150 nm) to take us about 25 to 30 hrs depending on how fast we could move (6 kts or 5 kts) but the weather window for light winds and calm seas (less than 2 ft) was holding so we were looking forward to the crossing. Going this way saves us 6 days (the ICW through SC and GA is about 213 km doing only about 35 km a day).
About 4 hrs outside of Charleston, we had some problems!!! All of a sudden the motor sounded really bad and we had white smoke coming out of the exhaust as the engine overheat alarm began to sound! Quickly we shut the engine down and began to see what was wrong. Down below I could hear the sound of water coming in to the boat!!! When I opened the engine compartment I saw that the cap to the seawater strainer (which catches any debris that comes in to the raw water supply to cool the engine) had popped open and the water was gushing in – thus not getting to the engine to cool it!! We closed the sea cock quickly to stop the water and pulled out some sail to give us some steerage (albeit in the wrong direction but at least headed back to land – we were about 15nm out!) It took me about 2 ½ hrs to jury rig a fix. I used stainless steel wire to replace the bolt that had failed on one side of the cap. It seemed to work fine (after one more adjustment and another 1/2hr of work!). It was now about 4pm and if we decided to go directly to the nearest inlet (N. Edisto) we would be coming in in the dark – not something you want to do in an unfamiliar harbor. So we decided to stay out and continue our route!! WOW! But wait – the excitement was not over!!!
At about 6:30 pm we saw a very large boat with lights all over the side at about 9nm away from us. It looked like a cruise ship that was sitting outside Savannah waiting to come in to port because it did not move from being directly in front of us on the radar. At about 2 nm from this ship, which still seemed to be presenting a side to us and not moving, I then made radio contact with the captain of the ship. After a long discussion with a very heavily Italian accented captain we thought we both understood each others intentions. First of all this was a tanker and the red light I was seeing meant that he was facing into our path!!! He said he was, in fact, underway (which just did not seem to be so based on my radar!) and that he knew our position, course and speed and that he would keep track of us and that we were OK and to hold our course. (I do not have AIS so this all had to be done the old fashioned way – by communication!) The only disconcerting thing was at about 1 nm we saw both his green and red lights which meant we were directly in front of him-crossing his bow! We were very relieved to pass by quickly and know we were well away from him.
Now for some sleep. It had calmed down a lot, so at about 9pm Joan took the first watch (our tanker friend out of the picture) and Gracie and I retired to the main cabin for some sleep! At midnight, we switched and Joan slept below until 3am. We then sat up together for about an other hour and then Joan took another watch and I sleep then vise versa for an hour each. It was a fairly cold night and the stars on the Atlantic were unbelievably beautiful. The seas became like glass from about 4am to sun rise at 7am.
Our final challenge happened at about 11am for the last two hours of the trip into the St. Mary's inlet to get to Fernandina Beach – pea soup FOG!! This proved to be more annoying than anything – having lots of experience in dealing with fog from Long Island Sound and Maine. We missed seeing all the wonderful sights of coming into St. Mary's inlet – Ft Clinch, etc.
We decide to pick up a mooring at Fernandina Harbor Marina to be closer in to get Gracie ashore and we were expecting winds in the upcoming days and our engine would be down for some time while we fixed the sea strainer! We went ashore Tuesday afternoon – Gracie having been 30+ hours without relief (she had sod available all the time but just won't use it!! - but she never once complained!) and had a celebratory beer, seltzer and pulled pork on homemade chips!! (Sorry Rebecca but we deserved it!)
I was able to locate and order the parts I needed to fix the sea strainer Tuesday late afternoon. It would be Thursday before they would arrive so Wednesday was see the town day and enjoy. Gracie, Joan and I saw all the sights of Fernandina Beach FL and relaxed. Showers were also on the list of things to do!!
The parts arrived Thursday late afternoon. We had just come ashore in a torrential downpour having held off as long as we could for doggie relief so we wouldn't have to do the trip again to get the parts and just as we walked up the dock – the UPS guy arrived!! What great timing!!
We spent yesterday working on the repair – about 3 hrs to get the old latch removed from the strainer and then about 1 ½ hrs to get the new one installed!! Small parts in even smaller places to work and you don't want to drop anything in the bilge!
We were going to leave this morning to head towards St. Augustine but the wind has been blowing 20-25kts and is expected to continue for the next 5 days like this so we have given up on the mooring and are taking refuge in the safety and convenience of the marina. We got a special deal because we can get on an inside dock because of our shallow draft so the price is pretty reasonable!! So here we are for a while!!

                      Sunset in Charleston, SC the night before the "big voyage"!

                 Sunset on the Atlantic - somewhere around Hilton Head, SC

           Sunrise on the Atlantic - about 5 hrs away from St. Mary's inlet

     At the helm in the morning!  Note provisions!! - blankets, dog, crackers, PB and J's at the ready - and wool hat having replaced baseball cap!

   Gracie monitors VHF radio transmissions!!

   Check out how flat the seas became!

      Whit, however, had time to land "Walter" on the trip.

    Jury rigged raw water strainer!

   Our boat on the mooring in front of Fernandina Harbor Marina (below)

                    
                       Raw water strainer - with new latch installed.  Looks easy - eh?

         Here we are now, on the inside for a few days!

        Why we are hunkered down!