Toogoodoo Creek
Written May 9, 2013
We’ve been moving right along since I last wrote when we were in the marina at Marineland.
The weather did calm down quite a bit and we departed Marineland Marine at about 1000 on Sunday heading north. We made good time and the inlet at St. Augustine was relatively calm. Because of the heavy rain for the past two days the water level everywhere was higher than normal, so even the “thin” spots were easily passable. We anchored for the night at Pine Island anchorage, a nice, quiet spot about 14 miles north of Daytona. Two sailboats joined us later in the afternoon.
We were underway from Pine Island at 0740 on Monday and again on our way north. We crossed the Florida/Georgia border just north of Fernandina Beach at 1400 and had the anchor down at Little Cumberland Island at 1735 later in the afternoon. It’s always interesting going past the Navy submarine base at Kings Bay as one never knows how aggressive the security boats will be. This time they simply came out to show their presence and watched as a sailboat and we turned northeasterly to continue up the ICW. Shortly after we encountered one of the glaring errors on the navigational charts produced by NOAA – the “magenta line” (which some cruisers follow without fail) pass on the wrong side of three strategically located red day-marks and can easily result in a boat going aground. It’s a trip for cruisers who pay closer attention to their electronic toys than to the real world! The sailboat following us by about 3/4 of a mile failed to pass on the correct side of the markers, but due to the stage of the tide and the extra water from the rain it didn’t go aground. Lucky!
This was our best day yet – 73.9 statute miles.
We anchored on Monday at Little Cumberland Island, where it is not uncommon to see wild ponies grazing on the beach. We didn’t see any that evening, but we did see one lone pony the next morning as we were getting underway.
On Tuesday we were underway at 0825 and ran until we anchored at Wahoo Creek at 1815 along with another trawler from Canada which had passed us a few hours earlier. The past few days have been great – warm temps and sun!
On Wednesday we were underway at 0740, crossed the Savannah River into South Carolina at 1540, and anchored in the Bull Island anchorage (Bull Creek) just before Calobogue Sound (Hilton Head) at 1715. There was another trawler already anchored in the creek, and two sailboats joined us later. We had a relatively early dinner and then cleared the saloon for dancing – practicing the West Coast Swing! We also had the pleasure of seeing a “dinner cruise” from Hilton Head pass up the creek and return just before sunset.
We departed Bull Creek at 0750 (the next to the last boat to depart) and cruised under sunny skies and fair winds until 1800 when we anchored in Toogoodoo Creek, south of Charleston, South Carolina, our fourth time in this anchorage!
Cruise to date: 441 SM – 567H50M
Judy and friend in Daytona
Written May 2, 2013
As we were coming under the Seabreeze bridge in Daytona on Thursday and about to turn into the anchorage, this pelican flew along our starboard side and landed on the rail. Judy was already at the bow preparing to drop the anchor, so I started taking pics as she approached the pelican. This was about as close as she got before it flew away.
We departed Daytona this morning (Saturday) expecting to tie alongside our friends Mike and Melissa’s boat at their home in Palm Coast and had lowered our mast in order to clear a 17 foot bridge on the canal leading to their house. When we turned off the ICW and checked the bridge clearance, there was only 14 feet showing on the tide board. We’ve had a lot of rain in the past few days. So, we went back to the ICW and continued north for another 7 miles and were fortunate enough to get a slip in the Marine land Marina. As we pulled into the assigned slip in a driving rain, we spotted cruising friends Randy and Cindy in the boat in the next slip. Consequently, Mike and Melissa drove to the marina and the six of us had a nice dinner together at a good restaurant a few miles away.
Weather is forecast to calm down a bit tomorrow (Sunday) so we may get out of here and on our way north.
Cruising to date: 119.1 SM – 13H05M
I had a contingency plan if you were not able to get into Marineland.
A 92 yo friend of my Dad lives on a canal free of bridges with a nice dock and no boat.
I told him we would tie you up. He said you were welcome as long as you let him look at the inside of Sanderling from the dock. He is a recent stroke victim, has full time home care, loves boats, and misses owning one.
You said you had a slip at ML so I didn’t mention it.
The water never went down – it is now over the seawall.
Sigh, take it as it comes.
Mike T.