Here is a link to a spreadsheet in XLS format which has many of the details of our cruise. This was brought up-to-date after we arrived home. It contains all the locations where we stopped, mileage between stops, hours underway, etc. It may be helpful to anyone planning a cruise along the waters we traveled. 2011 Cruise spreadsheet-final

We arrived home on Saturday, October 15, 2011. We were delayed for four days at Savannah due to high winds and rain, then made good time after departing the Isle of Hope Marina on Tuesday, October 11th.

Here’s the itinerary since arriving in Oriental, North Carolina, on September 30th.

We stayed in Oriental, ICW mile180.8, an extra day until October 2nd, 2011, waiting for higher-than-comfortable wind to lay down on Bogue Sound which runs about 25 miles from Beaufort/Morehead City to Swansboro. After departing on October 2nd we stopped for fuel at Jarretts Bay Boat Works on the way to Morehead City, then continued on through Bogue Sound (the wind was decent) to Mile Hammock Bay at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where we anchored for the night.

The next day we were underway by 0650 and after almost 10 hours underway (45 minutes or so waiting for various bridges to open) we had gone down Cape Fear River and were tied to the free dock at the Provision Company at Southport, North Carolina. Remind us never to stop there again – the food is very poor – we can’t figure out why anyone comes from any distance to eat there!

On October 4th we departed at 0710 and anchored for the night in the Wacama River anchorage at ICW mile 375, just off the Wacama River.

Over the next several daysWe stopped for the night at Graham Creek (north of Charleston) at mile 439, then at the Seabrook anchorage at Fenwick Island at mile 512, and on the night of October 7th at the Isle of Hope Marina just east of Savannah, Georgia, at mile 584. Druing the day on the 7th we read repeated weather forecasts, all predicting stormy weather for the next several days and boats were discussing what they were going to do while the storm passed. Since we had stopped at the marina in order to get fuel and spend the night, we arranged to stay several more days while the storm passed. By the end of the next day (October 8th) the marina was totally full and had boats tied to the fuel dock (a spot normally kept open for boats needing to get fuel). For the next three days we had high winds and torrential rain (one boat clocked some gusts at 55 mph).

By October 10th the wind and rain had subsided, and the forecast was decent for the next day, so on Tuesday, the 11th of October we departed at 0920 (had to wait for the tidal current to subside a bit) and started laying tracks to get home as soon as we could. We anchored that night in the North River at mile 652, then on October 12th we crossed into Florida and a few hours later anchored at South Amelia River at mile 725.8.

October 13th took us through St. Augustine and then because there are no good anchorages for a number of miles we stopped for the night at the newly opened marina at Marineland. What a nice facility it is! We’ve gone by there by boat and car for a number of years and always wondered why no one had opened a marina in the nicely protected basin just off the ICW. Well, this August someone did, and it is a great, if remote, facility. Just across the road is the dolphin research center which reopened 4-5 years ago after being abandoned for a few years. The Georgia Aquarium is involved in the education center, and kayak tours of the surrounding area are operating out of the marina. Right across route A1A is a series of beautiful beaches. Nice place to stop!

Statistics for the trip at this point:
676hours 15 minutes underway; 3848.5 nautical miles/4422.2 statute miles

We departed Marineland Marina as soon as we could see the surface of the water on October 14th at 0700 and cruised the longest distance we made on any day of our trip: 89.9 statute miles in 12 hours and 30 minutes. We anchored after sunset just south of the NASA Causeway Bridge south of Titusville, Florida, at mile 885.

On Friday, October 15, 2011 we were underway at a leisurely 0810 and at 1210 we were back in our slip at Manatee Cove Marina at Patrick Air Force Base.

Trip: 702H45M     4013.6NM/4611.9SM based on the onboard GPS.
Total engine hours: 730
Fuel consumed (approximately): 1100 gallons

These past six months have been great and the cruise was fantastic.