Working – working hard – at getting back to Little River, SC!!

Again, I apologize for the long pause in posting! This time it is actually because we have been busier working on our trip back than anything else. The weather has again been playing a major part in the trip planning and execution and because of the weather we have had extra route planning. I trust this will become clear as I update our travels – following.

We left Titusville after spending an extra day there because of a band of thunderstorms that was passing through northern Florida. Our next stop (Saturday 3/26) was Daytona, FL and this time, rather than anchor under the bridge (which was kind of a lousy place) we found that we could get into the Halifax River Yacht Club because of our membership in our home yacht club – Shennecossett – in Groton, CT. The Halifax River Yacht Club was founded in 1896 and say of themselves: “Our present clubhouse and docks still remain on their original site where they were first built over 100 years ago. We are the only yacht club on the eastern seacoast to have this distinction. Our club and organization is one of the few, if not the only, to be in continuous operation in the Halifax area since its inception." You can check out their web page which is pretty cool at http://www.hryc.com/. Everyone at this club was so friendly and they treated us as if we were royalty!

Next stop was Saint Augustine. We arrived and planned to stay there and extra day, in part, to hold for high winds as well as because the city is so cool! However, different from our trip down it we toured the city walking in shorts and t-shirts rather than pants and sweatshirts like on our way down about two months earlier.

We left Saint Augustine making our way to just beyond the St Johns river in Jacksonville to our little free dock on Sisters Creek on Wednesday 3/30 and then on to Fernandina Beach the next day hoping to stage another overnight out on the Atlantic up to Charleston, NC. However, due to weather (between dodging major thunderstorms coming east over the nothern part of Florida and Georgia and high winds of course) it looked like we would not get a weather window to do that crossing for at least a week and a half. So we decided to continue up the ICW through Georgia and southern South Carolina, a part of the ICW we had not seen yet. And so we have been crawling along!

First stop in Georgia was Brunswick, then the Duplin River (at Sapelo Island), then Savannah where we played tourists for two days. Leaving Georgia we then stopped in Beaufort, and to where we are now – the middle of nowhere anchored in Steamboat Creek on our way to Charleston, SC today.

I will be back with more on all this as well as pictures later. It is 7am and we need to get off and running – 15-20 knot winds today to battle with!!

Here are the pics!!
                       The Halifax River Yacht Club - Daytona, FL
                                      Coming in

        See us on the dock! - hint - look for the wind generator!

         Upstairs in the HRYC building -the interior

  

 Downstairs they have a Tiki Bar - where we ordered burgers and sat outside with Gracie.

    

Somewhere along the way to St Augustine - thought about stopping to get some fish!

    Evening view from our boat in St. Augustine, FL

    Bridge of Lions in St Augustine - opening for our trip north Wed. 3/30

   Stopping again at Sisters Creek.  Free dock just north of Jacksonville, FL

Evening falls with clouds on the horizon in Fernandina Beach, FL  - our last day in Florida

We have left Florida and have now entered Georgia (below) - Friday April fools!

 Arriving in Brusnwick, GA.  Our marina is just up past this bridge.

 We were on dock 1 right in front of the marina office (blue roof).  Thunder storms predicted.

 After Brunswick we anchored off Sapelo Island in the Duplin River.  All by ourselves!  A look at the ferry dock
   from our anchorage.  We dingy in to shore for Gracie at the ferry dock.

    What we looked like from the ferry dock.

 On the ICW as we approach Savannah, GA - we knew we were not in Kansas any more.

 We went dockside again so we could spend an extra day being tourists in Savannah.

 Gracie is keeping quiet about the tourist thing!

 In Savannah we took an open air trolley that allowed us on and off all day as well as describing all the sights.

    Savannah is just beautiful!

   And has lots of history!

 Gracie loved it too!!

B

 After Savannah we went to Beaufort, SC (pronounced "Byoo fert" as in beautiful).  We took a mooring here
   and spent two days due to high winds.

 On the way now to Charleston, SC - we stopped at Steamboat River and anchored off the fishing/boat launch. (Gracie helps us find all these cool places!)  It has calmed down from the 20 kt winds of the day.