Home for the Holidays

We left the boat on Saturday, November 17 after arriving in Sanford on Wednesday before. We were going to drive to Eric and Shawn's on Friday but the bugs re-hatched at the Monroe Harbor Marina Wednesday night and resulted in 2 days of clean-up. We closed the boat down and got her washed and waxed before leaving, then went to Eric and Shawn's for the weekend in St. Petersburg, and flew to the Twin Cities on Monday. We loaded up Cindy's mom and drove to Boulder for Thanksgiving with Zach and Aimee and the girls. Cindy's mom made the trip just fine, but was glad to get home Saturday night. We did get to eat at a couple of our favorite barbecues, Lucky's in Lincoln on the way out, and LuLu's in Louisville. We are now home for a while but have tickets to fly back to the boat via Orlando on January 29. In the meantime, we watched the lake freeze up and now has 6-8 inches of ice. Not a lot of snow, but the skate skiing on the lake is great. The big snows will come soon enough. We are looking forwad to Christmas day in Hermantown with the little boys, Barry and Bethanie. We have had a chance to see the boys play some hockey and will see more in January before we head back south. The plan is to get to the boat the end of January, spend a week or so getting things tuned up (I have to replace the main engine alternator which isn't charging like it should) and then head for the Bahamas for the rest of the winter.

Sandcastles in St. Petersburg

Holiday Houseboat in Sanford

Holiday decorations on the Monroe Harbor docks

Dock Mascot

Anhinga catching some rays

Green Cove Springs

We have been at a free dock in Green Cove Springs the past 2 nights. An update on the gnat issue: they were a mess. Billions (I mean Billions) of them on the boat. There excrement was indigo blue, all over the boat, a lot of which we had just waxed. I couldn't find a solvent to remove the blue stains. I tried soap and water, hull cleaner, wax, acetone, xylene, alcohol, oxalic acid, nothing touched the stains without a lot of scrubbing. Fortunately the sun is bleaching them out pretty nicely overe the past 2 days. Yesterday was Saturday, and while I was changing the generator oil an filter after breakfast, Cindy said she heard music, someone playing scales. We are on this dock adjacent to the park, and the area musicians had congregated as part of a Veterans Day celebration, along with local dignitaries, and were playing patriotic themes. A presentation followed, where the mayor asked all the members of the various service branches to come forward as their service branch was recognized, and say a few words. Each of the men and women that came forward spoke for a minute or so. It was incredibly moving. Brought tears to my eyes. Then just seconds after the band played the national anthem, 5 byplanes flew over with one breaking off for the missing man formation. Their timing could not have been better. Anyway, it was a great way to spend an hour. We are heading up the river a bit today, probably not too far, but away from the dock and back at anchor where it's quieter. I have arranged fo an Enterprise rental for Friday to take us to Eric and Shawn's for the weekend.
Engine Hours 5290.0
Genset Hours 5678.8

Veteran's Day in the park

Byplanes in formation

St. John's River

We are currently anchored in a bay off the St. John's River, about 15 miles upstream from Jacksonville. We stopped at a free dock at St. Simon's Island near Brunswick and biked to a great barbecue shack for lunch and got some groceries. Met a neat disabled vet who lives on his anchored boat there. We went outside at the Brunswick channel 65 miles to Jacksonville and made camp at the free dock at Sister's Creek where we have stopped several times before. Met a really nice lady there who is the cruising editor for Chesapeake Bay Magazine. She is working fom her boat, writing for the magazine as she works her way down the ICW. She is single handing her boat, and extremely capable, but Cindy and I helped her dock in the cross wind and current at the free dock. Coming down the outside allowed us to pump out off shore 6 miles. It was a fairly flat day, so no seasickness for Cindy. Yesterday we moved up thje St. John's to our current anchorage and today will move another 10 miles or so to Green Cove Springs where there is another free dock and a NAPA store. I need an oil filter for the generator and change the oil, whick is in the plan for the afternoon. At present however, we are going nowhere. The fog is so thick I can't see the shore, so until it burns off, I am watching a replay of the Wild win last night against the Kings. It was a west coast game, so way to late for me. There was a hatch last night and this morning there are a billion gnats covering the boat. They don't bite but as thick as anything I have ever seen.
Engine Hours 5287.9
Genset Hours 5678.7 (time for oil change)

Gnats covering the boat

And the windows

Morning fog beginning to lift

Flat day on the outside, Brunswick to Jacksonville

Note our speed with the tide going up the St. John's near Jacksonville

Met this guy going out the Brunswick entrance

In a Georgia Swamp

We left our anchorage north of Beaufort and got back on the road sort of. Stopped at Beaufort, the city has installed a new free dock close to the downtown area. We have stopped in Beaufort many times, but always at a marina that was away from the old downtown area. This dock is right there. We got the bikes out and rode to a grocery store for a few things and got a little exercise, then hiked the downtown area. Lots of shops, restaurants and just a great stop. We found a thrift store and I got a new belt for $1, Cindy said the piece of rope I had been using was a little tacky. She found some vintage scarves she thinks will sell, and a couple of beer mugs. Talked to a crusty guy in an old trawler that pulled in behind us, traveling by himself. We then went down the bay 5-6 miles, up a creek into a good anchorage where we stayed a couple of nights doing chores. The tidal swing here is 8 feet plus, so the current in these creeks is impressive and have to make sure there is a good set on the anchor. Yesterday we left the creek near Beaufort and passed through Savannah, Georgia, and found a Georgia swampp to make camp in. It's beautiful, remote, and this morning I could hear the waves breaking on the coast a couple of miles away through the swamp. Will head towards Brunswick today but maybe not go to far, we have a ton of time to get to Sanford by next week.
Engine Hrs 5266.0
GenSet Hrs 5670.0

This shows the tidal swing, note the depth, 9.6

Here is the depth about 6 hours later

Waxing, always waxing

Pctures of our swamp this morning

Happy hour with our new beer mugs. Also $1 a piece

Heading for Beaufort

I have been neglectful in posting on the blog. We left our protgected anchorage on Saturday, and moved on to Southport, where we had packages at Zimmerman Marine. They were closed but had given the boxes to the marina, where we stayed one night. Cindy got a chance for a run and I got a bike ride in. The stuff we ordered was all as planned, and I got the spare raw water pump I needed. Sunday we moved to an anchorage at the top of the Waccamaw River, we had stayed before, a beautiful remote spot. The owls that night sounded like they were on steroids. Monday, we moved to Georgetown for lunch, had a great burger, then down Winyah Bay to the entrance, for a planned run on the outside on Tuesday. Fueled up at Georgetown Dry Stack Marina, they had the lowest price fuel we had seen. Tuesday we did go outside to Charleston. The forcast on 2 sites was for following seas at 2-3 feet, should be pretty pleasant. Wrong! Going out the entrance was pretty ugly. Cindy got some good video, but not fun. After turning the corner outside the entrance, it improved, but was still a pretty up and down day literally. We had won free dockage at the Krogen Rendezvoux for the Charleston Marina, convenient to downtown. They were full so that was a flop. Instead went to the St John's Yacht Harbor 4-5 miles south. We wanted to tour Charleston on Wednesday, so had to get an Uber each way to the downtown historic district. The city is full of history. We signed up for a tour of the historic district and then Fort Sumter. Our tour bus had only the two of us on it, so the tour guide was all ours. He talked non stop for over an hour and a half, telling us about who lived where, their importance to the development of the area and lots of Revolutionary and Civil War history. Then on to Fort Sumter. The National Park guy there was great in explaining the history and structures. We walked around Charleston the rest of the afternoon and found a brewhouse with good IPA's and wings, and Uber'd back to the boat. Yesterday moved on south to an isolated anchorage 15 miles north of Beaufort where we may stop today for an hour or two if it works out. Yesterday we did firm up our exit strategy for a couple of weeks from now. We will take the boat back up the St. John's River to Sanford. They have a covered slip for us for a couple of months, mid November to mid January at a great price. It's fairly close to Eric and Shawn for our visit with them the weekend before Thanksgiving. Boat is running great.
Engine Hours 5253.1
Genset Hours 5661.4

Sunrise this morning at our anchorage above Beaufort

US Customs House at Charleston

Great wings and an IPA flight at Charleston

Uber equivalent downtown Charleston

Fort Sumter

Beautiful old churches in Charleston

The doors on this church were immense

Neighbor at the St Johns marina

Stange speed limit on a road near the marina

Typical SC home

Waiting on Weather

Presently we are anchored in a very protected little bay of the ICW, waiting on weather to pass. There is a sizable storm moving up the coast, fast moving, but is going to make today crappy. Initially we were going to go to Southport today and pick up our packages we had delivered to Zimmerman Marine, but due to the weather, no one is leaving so there are no slips available. I called the folks at Zimmerman and they will leave our stuff at the marina and we can pick them up tomorrow, Saturday, because Zimmerman will be closed. We anchored at Swansboro, and left there yesterday morning, and dealt with the North Carolina bridges. Their timing is not always the greatest, so we end up waiting for them to open, usually on the hour or half hour. Swansboro got pounded by Hurricane Florence. When we went north last spring, we ate at the Ice House. It no longer exists. We watched the huge backhoe razing the remnants. The shrimp docks are also gone, and Casper's Marina has no planking on their docks. En route yesterday we ran into a boat named Adirondack, owned by Jeff Janacek. He is the guy whom we chartered from 15 years ago in Bayfield and the Apostle Islands. He told me he now has 50,000 miles on his boat since he got it. We talked on the radio for 20  minutes. I just spoke with the dockmaster at Southport ann they will hold a slip for us for tomorrow so we can get our packages and take a day off the boat, get a bike ride in and Cindy a run, then maybe eat out tomorrow night. There is a pretty good seafood spot there. All in all, things are working out pretty well with this weather glitch.
Engine Hours
Genset Hours

Lots of homes with tarps on the roof after the hurricane

The remains of the shrimp docks in Swansboro

Caspers Marina with no boards on the docks.
They said it would be several months before they are up and running

The red roofed building is what is left of the Ice House restaurant

More Maintenance

We continue to experience maintenance issues. It seems like something new every day. The other day I had to replace the main engine water pump. This morning I turned on the generator which we needed for heat, it was cold again. It ran great for 5 minutes then overheated. I knew the impeller was overdue for changing and suspected that was the issue, so opened things up and replaced it. It was toasted with missing pieces, and that is an issue. They flow downstream and plug the heat exchanger. We moved on after a night at a gorgeous anchorage at the south end of the Alligator - Pungo Canal and the house batteries charged up off the main engine. We moved 50 miles or so and are now just shy of Oriental, NC, 20 miles or so north of Beaufort, at another pretty anchorage. We pulled over enroute at R.E. Mayo Seafood and picked up shrimp off the boat there. Grilled them tonight and then tackeled the generator issue. I managed to get the hoses off and plucked all the little chunks of broken impeller out of the heat exchanger and the generator is charging things up as I post this. All is working as it should. Tomorrow will move past Beaufort if things go well and get to Southport Thursday or Friday to pick up the new "spare" water pump and a small Amazon order.
Engine Hours 5204.9
Genset Hours 5645.7

Sunrise this morning

Supper tonight, salad with fresh alfalfa sprouts Cindy grew

Shrimp on the barbee

Sorting fish at RE Mayo

Straightening Nets

Sailboat anchored behind us - I thought the picture was cool

At the seafood dock, he is straightening his nets. I felt at home!

look at the size of the shrimp!

Anchored near Elizabeth City

We are currently anchored near Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River, behind Goose Island. it's remote and pretty much alone. A sailboat is anchored a quarter mile away. we left Wormley Creek on Friday. I make an engine room inspection every hour or so, and on the second check, motoring across the south end of the Chesapeake Bay, I noted the raw water pump was dripping and spitting raw water (sea water) from the housing. That's not supposed to happen. As long as it was pumping, the engine stays cool, but with time, the leaking saltwater will corrode the bearings whick allow water into the engine oil, which will trash the engine. I wrapped a "Depends" under the leak to keep things from getting messy and we pulled over a couple of hours later as we enter the intercoastal waterway at Portsmouth. There is a free dock there near a boatyard if I needed them. I had a spare pump, so switched them out and the leak was solved, but by this time it was 3:00 so we stayed the night there, found a brewpub with a good IPA, then watched the Wild beat Dallas. Yesterday we went through the Dismal Swamp. This is an alternate ICW route that is a dredged channel 30 miles long connecting Portsmouth with Elizabeth City on Albemarle Sound. It was dug by hand about 1805, so it's been here a while. Transitting the canal involves going through 2 locks, one up on the north end and one down on the south end. The canal itself goes through wilderness area for the  most part. It is pretty but shallow and we needed to dodge some logs in places. Two other trawlers came through with us, the locks only operate four times a day so the boats end up together. The canal had large patches of duckweed, which plugs up the raw water strainer, overheating the engine, so when we anchored last night, I had to clean the strainer. We had wanted to cross Albemarle Sound today but it is bowing 25-35 mph out of the NW and it would be a pretty rough trip. We will wait until tomorrow when it is supposed to be flat. We may move down 4-5 miles to a free dock at Elizabeth City this afternoon to get a hike or a bike ride in.
Engine Hours 5187.8
Genset Hours 5640.0

At anchor on the Pasquotank last night, Goose Island

Duckweed

Low end of the lock

The boat behind us, showing the 6 foot or so rise in water level

Now up and ready to exit

Narrow Dismal Swamp canal

The Deep Creek Bridge, just south of the first lock