Hi-5 Sailcat - Our Next Family Adventure...

2011-11-07 - to Fernandina Beach, FLORIDA! (mile 717)

our bird friends were back!

...Arghhh Maties!

Connor catching 'dinner'

We finally made it to Florida. We pulled anchor this morning and made it over to the dock at the marina for fuel and water. The dockmaster was telling us of all the locations we should hit along the way. The first was only a short distance away - Cumberland Island. It is supposed to be beautiful and have wild horses (If you are lucky to spot some). But, the thought of being in Florida today, made us want to push on. It was only another 30 miles. The water was a little tricky today. We had passed one boat that made a wrong turn, missing a marker, and was high and dry in the shallow water. He would have to wait about 4 hours until the tides could lift him off. The boat we were following also grounded - so we did well, I suppose, for making it all the way without incident! Connor actually took a turn at the wheel again during an especially wavy period. He handled it so well riding up and down waves keeping his heading and checking for the next marker on the GPS. Kerry was, of course, right there monitoring/guiding the whole thing...but, he was so impressed with the control Connor had at the helm. We had to get back to school, so our little captain came back in. The day was relatively short. We called ahead to the marina and reserved a spot on the dock. Now and again, its great to pull up to a dock, have a shower, do some laundry (without loading up the 'ol bike trailer) and just walk around without having to load up the dinghy. What a treat.

2011-11-06 - to Jekyll Island, GA (mile 685)

These birds follow us throughout the day. We figured that it
was due to the small fish that we stir to the surface. When
Connor came out we asked him what he thought....he said,
'Because they want to go south!'

The wind was howling last night in the anchorage. Kerry got up a few times to make sure we still had a lot of room around us, and all was well. As soon as day broke, the engines started and we were off again. We had a long day ahead of us, so we wanted to ensure lots of time. Kerry was at the helm all day and the wind and currents were strong, but in our favour all day. We zig-zagged across the Georgian 'wilderness' (nothing but Georgian marshes the whole way). But, with a north wind all day, and sails up, we did 57 miles in 7 hours. (an hour less than expected). Georgia is notorious about not upkeeping the ICW. It was shallow in areas, but we kept to the charts and off of the bottom. An hour and a half into the day, we went through Hell Gate. This is one of the most shoaled area that you need to watch where you are. We looked up the entries on 'Active Captain'. None of the entries claimed less than 7 feet of water. We showed 6.9, but we only take up to 3 feet, so we weren't as nervous about it. I just read out the depths to Kerry as he kept in the channel. No problem. The only messy moment, was when 6 sport fish boats went streaming by in a tight procession. This rocked us good, just as we were heading out St. Simons sound where the waves were already starting to pick up. We had to round a marker to head back into the channel and a large wave came across our port stern. I had hung out a bit of wash on our safety lines and, needless to say, we need to redo a few items! All in all it was an intense day. We pulled into Jekyll Island anchorage at 3:00. We wanted to get into the marina so we can enjoy Jekyll Island. (here's a bit of history) Jekyll has a fascinating history dating back to the end of the nineteenth century. The island was purchased1886 for $125,000 by some of the wealthiest men in America as a hunting resort: J.P. Morgan, Joseph Pulitzer, Marshall Field, John J. Hill, Everett Macy, William Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Richard Teller Crane. The club members commissioned a sixty room Clubhouse. The owners would usually spend a couple of winter months at Jekyll Island, arriving by yacht from New York. The Jekyll Wharf where they tied their yachts is still used by boaters, sailors, and small ship cruise lines today. Between 1886 and 1928, the owners built "cottages" along the marshy side of the island where they would be protected from the ocean. Many of these beautiful cottages (mansions) have been restored or are currently a work in progress. The largest "cottage" is almost 8,000 square feet. The Jekyll Island Clubhouse is now a romantic Victorian hotel. With the onset of the Great Depression, the Jekyll Island Club members became disenchanted with the island. They began traveling to European spas and elsewhere for their entertainment. After the 1942 season, the U. S. government asked the members not to use the island for the duration of World War II due to concerns for the security of the powerful owners. They never went back. The island was sold to the State of Georgia in 1947. The state attempted, until 1972, to operate as a hotel complex, but its efforts were unsuccessful and the buildings were closed. Today the 240 acre National Historic Landmark is often called "Millionaire's Village." We are considering getting over there tomorrow to have a quick look.

2011-11-05 - to Wahoo Creek, GA (mile 630)

...nothing but marsh!

This boat missed the turm! Actually, upon closer inspection, it was intentional.
The fisherman was scrubbing the bottom!

10-4 good buddy!

2011-11-04 - to Herb Creek, GA (mile 584)

Lovely old homes on the water!

It was a very dramatic day! Kerry woke me up this morning a little earlier than usual. He had been already and had been monitoring the swinging boats around us. All boats were dancing around the anchorage, floating on top of their anchors and into the path of other boats. I felt like we should turn off our anchor light and throw up a disco ball! The catamaran beside us was one that was getting too close to us. He was also up in his cockpit, monitoring the situation. Later, Kerry contacted them by radio to let them know that we were also monitoring things and could move if necessary. He had told us that he had actually moved in the night to get away from another boat that was in his way but, in the process, moved to closer to us. The winds were quite high as well adding to the situation. The sun was just about to rise and we decided to start our day as soon as day broke. We plodded on towards Savannah, GA. I popped downstairs to start school, when Kerry tapped on the door to let us know that it was going to be a bit choppy and uncomfortable for the time that we were in Port Royal Sound (an area of open water). He knew this, not only from the direction of the wind and the prediction of the sea state...but, from a boat called Grace who hailed him on the radio as they were turning back?! We had met up with them along the way as we travelled around Charleston and we anchored together that night. They seemed like very nervous / cautious sailors and their boat did not have any forward protection from the elements. Kerry had noticed that the captain was all bundled up in foul weather gear at the helm as well. When you are getting waves over the bow, a windshield and enclosure sure come in handy. We realized this as we made the turn into the sound. Waves were spashing the windsheild but it wasn't really too bad. Uncomfortable, yes...but it was only for 4 miles. We could hear some boats approaching the Sound behind us and worried about what to expect. Kerry got on the radio to let them know that we were through and that it was tolerable. They seemed thankful for this advice.

The next bit of (potential) excitement is crossing the Savannah River. This river is frequented by very large container ships and crossing the river can be tricky if a ship is coming. Luckily, a ship was not in our way and we made it across. Winding through the last part of the trip today we approached an extremely large mast just in front of a building at the Thunderbolt Marina. At one point, I thought that it was just a structural featur

e of the building made to look like a mast. It just seemed far too large for a sailboat. Sure enough, as we approached the other side of the building we could see that the mast did, indeed, belong to a sailboat. The name on the boat was Mirabella V. We did a quick search and found that it was the largest sailboat in the world. Here are some round number stats: it is 246 feet long, the mast is 250 feet, the beam is ~50 feet, and it has a draft of 13 feet when keel is up (33 feet when keel is down). It was quite impressive. We finally pulled into the anchorage. It is just a small creek. A couple of other boats had already landed for the night. One of the first boats, a Canadian one, came out and waved us in! We had a nice dinner (If I can say so) and cuddled up for movie night.

2011-11-03 - to Beaufort, SC (mile 536)

We pulled anchor at 8:30am and headed towards Beaufort, SC. It was a very pleasant day overall. We even had an impromptu field trip in Charleston Harbour. As we were entering the harbour I gave a quick lesson to Connor about the civil war. He asked some great questions and, thanks to our friends at Google, I was able to answer. Then, we floated by Fort Sumter and it was there where the first shots of the civil war were fired. Connor was fascinated by this. It sure beats seeing a picture of the Fort. We have a lot of opportunities to have enhanced learning along the way. The trick is being able to recognize these opportunites and be ready to act on it . It makes teaching a lot of fun. So, on we went towards Beaufort. Kerry had timed the final bridge so that we could arrive for the 1:00 opening. As we approached, Kerry called out to the bridge captain to let him know that we were here for the next opening. The captain informed us that the next opening was at 2:00. ?? Kerry was a little angry. It was three minutes to 1:00 and was confused why we missed it? Did

they open early? We decided to relax, pull to the side of the channel and drop the anchor so that we could wait out the hour. We prepared a bit of lunch and caught up on a few chores. At 1:40 Kerry came bounding into the cockpit and said, 'They're opening the bridge!". I started the engines and Kerry went to the bow to pull our anchor as quickly as possible. Already 1 of the 2 other boats waiting were already through. I got on the radio to ask the bridge why he was opening the bridge early. He said, "Ma'am, it is 2:00". I had the engines reved and ready when Kerry gave a signal to say the anchor was up. We plowed on as quickly as we could. As we approached the bridge, I asked

Kerry what time it was. He looked at his watch and then realized that his watch battery had stopped. It went from tense, to confused, to laughing at ourselves. We waved at the bridge captain and thanked him for being patient. (Kerry picked up a new watch battery in town later that day.) We grabbed some fuel at the marina and then headed for the free public dock. This is a great thing as we can stay here for the day and then head out to the anchorage at night. It sure beats loading up the dinghy. We walked about the town and it didn't take us long to locate the park at the waterfront. It also didn't take Connor too long to introduce himself to other kids and initiate a game of tag. Dylan was loving the special needs swing and didn't get out of it for the next hour. Connor continued on for about 2.5 hours. I had to reluctantly pull him away as the sun was setting and we needed to get back and anchor before sunset. Kerry had actually gone back to the boat in that time so that he could hop on the bike again and head for the grocery store for another stock up. As we were minutes. How could I resist. He played for another 15 minutes, but I really needed to get back. I could see the sun quickly slipping away. When we got back to the boat, Kerry was just finishing putting it all on the boat. We started the engines and slipped away from the dock - dropping our hook in the anchorage. It was supposed to be a windy night so we found a nice area with lots of swinging room!

walking back Connor noticed a football game going on with some kids. He begged to join in for a few

2011-11-02 - to Tom Point Creek, SC (Mile 497)

2011-11-01 - to Dewees Creek, SC (mile 455)

Another great day today. We got off the dock this morning at Georgetown at 8:30 and were heading now towards Charleston, SC. We anchored just north of there at Dewees Creek by 3:30pm.

2011-10-31 - in Georgetown, SC

We stayed today in Georgetown. It was Halloween after all, and we couldn't miss out on the fun of the night. But first, the crew of Hi-5 had some business to take care of...Laundry. We unloaded the bikes and trailer from the boat first thing in the morning. Careful, repositioning of laundry bags both on the trailer and on Kerry's back made it possible to travel the several blocks to the local laundromat. It is always a little challenging to know where the local laundromat is whenever we stop. We do have guide books (Skipper Bob's, etc.) that mention locations on the way...but, some end up being relocated or closed, so this adds a level of complexity to it all. We are finding that Googlemaps is a great way to get a feel for the layout of the town. Often, the stores are labeled and walking routes and times or public transit information is given. So. we got that chore out of the way. When we got back I spent the next while with the boys getting their costumes ready for the night. Kerry went on his bike to scout out a store for groceries with success. From 4pm on Connor was asking...'can we go now...can we go now...'. He was very excited. Finally, the time came to get off the boat. The sun was becoming dim as we made it to the houses near the waterfront. Dylan just squealed with excitement as we carried his chair up to the doors. When they opened the door, well, you could clearly see that he was having a great time. Connor (who was playing a great part as a wizard) was asked by a lady to zap the bags under her eyes. He thought that was great. The level of participation of the houses was not as high as we expected but both boys had a great time as we travelled the darks streets of this historic town. When Connor exclaimed at the end that it was a great night! - that made it a great ending for me. Happy Halloween!!

2011-10-30 - to Georgetown, SC (mile 403)

This morning it was very cold. We cranked on the propane heater just to take some of the chill out. The mist rose off of the water. It was quite pretty. We weren't in a great rush this morning as we were only going to Georgetown at mile 403. We spent most of the morning catching up on school work (even though it was Sunday...) Connor has been interested in learning more math instead of other subjects for the last week or so. I tend to jump on his interest as this makes my job as his 'teacher' easier. He pushes me to drill him on the multiplication tables which is refreshing. He also had a lot of questions about the universe and the big bang theory - with a quick google search we had a some material to quench his interest. The day was short and we pulled into Georgetown after 3 hours on the water. Georgetown does have a very busy anchorage with a lot of local boats on mooring balls. They did have a few town docks that you could pull up to and stay as you visit the city. They did say 'no overnight mooring', but it was so quiet in town. The town stays closed for Sunday with exception to a couple of restaurants and one gift store. It was deserted. We decided to chance it on the dock for the night. It is so nice to be attached to land. Tomorrow we will try to find more groceries and get a bit of laundry done in town. Also, it is Halloween, of course, and we will not deny the kids the chance at dressing up and candy! This was the reason we stopped here - Georgetown is a lovely stop over with beautiful older homes near the water.

2011-10-29 - to Throughfare Creek, SC (mile 389)

This morning we had planned to leave the docks at Barefoot Landing. Connor was, as always, reluctant to leave. He had a lot of fun here and didn't want to go. We explained that if he wanted to swim with the sharks and the swimming pigs....we had to get a move on. He seemed to get it. We did need a few groceries, so I had planned to jump on the bike with trailer to pick up a few. When we were putting the trailer together Kerry had noticed that the wheel axels had rusted and we couldn't get the wheels on. That is the thing with salt water is that it just eats away at anything that is steel. I ended up grabbing a bag and headed to the store. When I was finished I had far more than what I could ever imagine would fit in my bag...and, on my bike. An employee at the store offerred to run me back. It wasn't far at all....so, I was thankful for the offer. After that, we threw our lines. It was just a few hours today. We had an anchorage picked out off of the Waccamaw River. There was one other boat in the anchorage as we pulled in, so we kept on heading up the creek until we found an area that was suitable to drop the hook. It was so quiet and serene. After dinner we went outside and found ourselves listening to the owls and playing with our echos. It was very special.

2011-10-28 - in Myrtle Beach, SC

Today was MagiQuest day. Connor had been looking forward to this day for months before we even left on the trip. His friend Ben had gone and just loved it. Needless to say, it didn't disappoint. We took a taxi to Broadway on the Beach. When you enter MagiQuest a lady dressed up as an 'elf' explains the whole thing. Connor listened intently. He picked out his wand and topper for the wand and began his instruction. They made him point the wand at a treasure chest across the room and it opened. I loved his face when he looked at me and then the wand in amazement. This was going to be a very special day. He left for his adventure and we headed out to check out the complex. It didn't take long for us to end up in Margaritaville....having a 'five o'clock somewhere' drink! After his 90 minute quest we picked him up and took in a few more sights. I asked him if he wanted to go back or another round. He stood up and hugged me - no words were said. By the time the day was finished....he got two rounds of Magiquest complete with a deluxe wand and a holster. He thanked us repeatedly for the day. He had a great time.

2011-10-27 - to Myrtle Beach, SC (mile 354)

Floating dock showing the low tide

Lovin' the carousel

We left the anchorage in goodime this morning -8:00am. We were trying to head to Myrtle Beach today as Connor has been talking non-stop about Magiquest - a Wizard and Wand amusement at Broadway on the Beach in Myrtle Beach. When we (mistakenly) told him that it could be the next day, he couldn't contain himself. A few days ago we thought that it may be a week away, but the currents had been in our favour and we were making great time. It was a 10-hour day ahead of us and, because we did a 10-hour day the day before, we didn't know that it would be possible - especially with the shifting of currents. We plodded on for the full 10 hours. I took the wheel for a bit while Kerry had a very quick shut-eye. The tides were very low later in the day. Many of the boats at the private docks were low in the water or on the sand. On the radio we could hear marinas turning people away because of the exceptionally low water. We had to not only watch our position on the GPS, but also use the visual cues in the water to watch for shifting sand bars. Just before Myrtle Beach, is a place called Rockpile. It is called this because of all the exposed rock in this area. With the low tide, we could clearly see why it was named this way. Again, we kept in the centre and plodded on. We finally pulled into Barefoot Landing, Myrtle Beach at 6:00pm. We did a quick clean up and jumped to shore. Barefoot Landing. This is a several acre park with shops and amusements. Connor tried the mirror house and laser challenge and Dylan insisted that we didn't leave until he got a ride on the carousel (twice). We hobbled back to the boat at 10pm....tucked everyone in and called it a night. Tomorrow, will be another busy day!

2011-10-26 - Carolina Beach, NC (mile 295)

School is interrupted to watch dolphins playing in the morning.

Dolphins!

2011-10-25 - to Swansboro, NC (mile 229)

Happy Birthday, Mom!! We left the anchorage today at 10:15am. We ended up pulling into Moorehead City for gas, water, etc. for about 45 minutes mid day. I ran out to the corner store to grab some quick supplies while Kerry filled and emptied tanks. We even both squeezed in a shower while we were there - how perfect was that! The neat part of our day was that we saw DOLPHINS for the first time. We all sat out on the back and watched as 5 - 10 swam near the boat. Kerry even saw one make a big jump out of the water. It was very cool! We baked a cake and it was complete by the time we pulled into the anchorage. This was a very small, out of the way, anchorage that Kerry had found. As we pulled in he noticed another large jelly fish and Connor scrambled again to see it as he has seen several different kinds so far this trip. As the sun set we watched pelicans fly and swoop clumsily into the water after their dinner. It was another great day!