Charleston, SC to Cumberland Island, GA - Overnight sail
We had a great time in Charleston visiting with Greg, Carol & Steve as well as touring the city, but it was time to head south.  Jan had to go back to Florida, so Carl came aboard Significant Other to help Mike get the boat south.   We decided that Sunday was the day to leave.  Weather predictions were good so we did an overnight sail from Charleston to Cumberland Island, GA.  The passage was terrific.  Pretty dark though since there was really no moon.  Winds were a little light in the beginning, but ended up having a perfect sail....and more visits from dolphins.  But as we were coming to the entrance of Cumberland Island, the winds picked up.  By the time we got anchored, the winds picked up to 25, gusting to 30 from the NE.  It was a very windy and noisy night, but we were all so tired from the overnight sail that we managed to sleep pretty good all things considered.
 

Cumberland Island, GA -- Ft. George River, FL -- St. Augustine, FL  -- Daytona Beach, FL -- Titusville, FL -- Cocoa, FL  ///  Back in the ICW
Well our intent was to head from Cumberland Island to St. Augustine on the outside.  But the winds were still 25+ and gusty.  Weather bouys said there were up to 10ft. waves outside.  None of us really wanted to get out there in that, so we decided to head down the ICW.  The high NE winds brought several things.  One was a higher surf than usual.  You could see the water was up when you looked at the markers.   But the upside was that the wind direction enabled us to be able to sail most of the way.  Something that's usually very hard to do on the ICW.  It was also nice that there was hardly any traffic because of the high winds and periodic rains.

We anchored for the night at Ft. George River -- about 1/2 way to St. Augustine.  Thhe winds were still high so we took a dingy ride towards the ocean side to check out the waves.

Channel marker -- water getting close to the top!

Ft. George River - walk along the beach; Fred, Mike & Carl

Talk about wind and rain.  We stayed at Ft. George River an additional day because it was raining buckets, lightening and high winds. Yuck.  But it was nice having a day to just relax and catch up on reading, etc.   Due to gale force winds and high water, we ended up staying put at Ft. George River for a couple days.

Its Friday, the 16th and the weather forecast was better, so we decided to take off for St. Augustine.  The wind was still 20+, but again, light traffic on the ICW and winds out of the north enabled us to sail a better part of the way which is always a treat on the ICW.   We only had about three draw bridges to go thru and a couple fixed 65 ft. bridges.  Unfortunately due to the higher than usual tide, Mike on Significant Other ended up hitting the antenna and taking off the windex on the top of his mast.  His mast is 63 ft.; thank goodness ours is only 58 ft.   So we'll be searching the marine consignment shop for a windex for Mike.  But we made it to St. Augustine  early afternoon and found an anchorage south of the Bridge of Lions.  Lots of other boats there...and again...the current was making everyone swing different ways.  But we put down two anchors, had Mike & Carl over for dinner and look forward to exploring the town tomorrow.  In the anchorage we also saw Paul & Elizabeth from Liesel who we had met at the dock in while in Charleston.  The next day was beautiful.  We first took care of business - post office and library.  Then we walked and explored the town.  Stopped by the Shrine of our Lady of La Leche and the Beacon of Faith Cross.  The cross marks the place where Christainity was first permanently established in the United States.  Walked thru the shopping district.  After buying Fred some fudge, he was willing to go thru some shops. Later we went into town with Mike and Carl for dinner.  To our suprise, it happened to be the evening they "Light up the City".  So we saw the town Christmas tree light, then all the other decorations/lights.  Beautiful!  I was only sad I forgot to bring the camera.

Got on the move again Sunday, the 18th - headed for Daytona Beach.  Found a great anchorage - although it was hard to get into - on the other side of the 65ft. bridge.  Unfortunately Significant Other had to anchor on the other side of the bridge because the tide was up and they couldn't make it under.  After their earlier experience, they didn't want to push their luck.  We were planning on touring Daytona, but ended up tearing the boat apart instead.  This was one of those not so fun days.  We were running the engine slightly harder than usual - but still within normal range.  Notiiced the bilge had gone off a total of 77 times! Yuck!  Something was clearly wrong.  First thought was the packing gland was not tight enough.  But we had been watching that, so we didn't think that was the problem.  So we started tearing into all the lockers and checking the thru hulls.  Couldn't find any visible signs of water...not that much anyway...except back by the water heater.   Then we discoverd one of our water tanks was empty.  What's up now, I thought.  There goes our tour and relaxing evening.  What we figure happened was since we were running the engine harder than usual, it caused the hot water to heat more than usual and the hot water release valve went off.    So the valve was releasing water into the bilge....eventually draining our water tank.  We're still not sure why this happened.  It definitely should not have.   We have a call into Seward and Caliber.  Figure maybe the thermostat on the water heater isn't set correctly.  It appears to be around 170 degrees and I think the diesel can run around 185 or so.  So more to follow.  In the meantime, we've made a point of turning off the water pressure so we don't loose all our fresh water.  But that wasn't all.  A closer look at the engine pointed out more problems....too many to mention.   Suffice it to say, we had a long day.

Took off the next day - the 19th - for Titusville.  We didn't push the engine as hard so we did have less problems than yesterday, but still noticing some leaks on the engine.  We just need to make it to Vero Beach where Caliber is sending someone to do warranty work.  Later our friends, Paul & Elizabeth from Liesel pulled in.  We had them over for drinks along with Mike & Carl.  Its amazing how often we keep running into the same people.  Its great!  We all decided to tour the Kennedy Space Center tomorrow.

To get closer to the Space Center, the three of us pulled up anchor early in the morning and headed for Cocoa.  It only took a couple hours and we arrived, anchored, called a cab and we were off to do the tourist thing.  Spent the morning at the Kennedy Space Center - took in a couple exhibits and an omnimax film, then got on a bus to the Apollo/Saturn Center.  Before we knew it, it was almost closing time.

Mike, Fred, Carl, Paul & Elizabeth -- patiently waiting for the cab

The shuttle Explorer

Thrusters from the Apollo space rocket
 

Vero Beach, FL - 11/21/01
Traveled from Cocoa to Vero Beach with Liesel & Significant Other.   Pulled into the City Marina and picked up a mooring for $8/day.  Not a bad deal - they raft boats - guess that's how they keep the price so low.  We were glad to be here.  Grand Harbor - the marina we're leaving our boat for thee month of December is only two miles from here.  After securing our lines, we noticed the boat Alize was right behind us - it was Bob and Joanne who we originally met in April at an Offshore Passagemaker Seminar.  What a small world!   Then we found out that tomorrow is the annual Thanksgiving celebration for cruisers.  So all three of us signed up.  That evening, Paul and Elizabeth invited us along with  Mike & Carl over for drinks.  More fun was had!

Thanksgiving day!  There were over 150 cruisers at the dinner.  They catered in turkey, dressing, potatoes and bread.  Then everyone brought a dish to share.  The day started with a book/equipment/video exchange, then cocktail hour with dinner following an hour later.  It was so much fun running into old friends and meeting new ones.   The only odd part was that it was 80 degrees and we were wearing shorts.  We had a great time and will  definitely keep this in mind for next year!  Fred and I ate so much we had to go for a walk.  So off to the beach.

Thanksgiving - cruiser's style!
 

The next day was our last day with Significant Other as their leaving their boat in Ft. Lauderdale for December.  We had such fun traveling south with them and will certainly miss them.  But hopefully we'll be able to hook up with them for the trip across the gulf stream to the Bahamas.

The rest of our time in Vero Beach found Fred working on the watermaker while I was trying my best to find things to do "off the boat".  One rainy day I went to the mall with  Joanne (from Alize) and Alex (from Wild Oats).   It was so wierd being in a mall.  But we had a great time.  The rest of the time was spent polishing the stainless, cleaning the boat and having warranty work done on the diesel.

Facilities we found at the City Marina in Vero Beach:
* Laundry - they have one right at the marina.  New machines - $1.50 for wash; $1.00 for dryer
* Internet hookup - the marina does have a line -- $3.15 service fee
* Grocery - Publix, Sam's, Winn Dixie - all accessible via bus
* Church - Holy Cross - Iris Lane & South A1A - Mass times:  4pm & 5:30pm Saturday; 7:30am, 9:00am, 10:45am and 12:15pm Sunday.
      Within walking distance from the City Marina.
* Transportation - Indian River Transit (IRT) service.  Free bus service available on weekdays only.  Otherwise A-line bus service
      is available for $5/trip.  Two Enterprise rent a car close by - has $9.99 weekend special for compact car.  National available
      for one-way rental - but have to pick up car at the Melbourne Airport.  Greyhound bus service will take you to airport.
* Other stores - Lowes, Home Depo, Target, Walmart, Sams Club and a mall !!!
* Library and Post Office - all accessible via bus