Squall

Well, that was crazy. During the squall we saw gusts up to 43 knots and big waves rolling into the marina. Sailboats heeling in their slips as they got hit by the wind. One boat out in the anchorage dragged several hundred yards, their anchor digging in again just before they hit another boat. They were able to get the engine running and recover, re-anchoring in the blinding rain. Big drama, but everything is ok now, winds dropping to a mere 20 knots.

Squall Line

Here comes another squall line, winds are in the 30s in the harbor during the biggest gusts.

Wind Break

When the winds pick up, it's great to be tucked in behind a couple of bigger yachts… it's easily blowing 20 knots in the harbor, but we're only seeing about 12 on our wind gauge.

Fuel and Water

They say that fuel and water don't mix, but sometimes they do. We are still finding some residual water in the Racor filter/separators, but it's a small enough amount that I can just monitor it and drain it off as needed. We have a dual filter setup which allows us to switch filters quickly even while the engine is running. It's at times like these that I'm grateful to have this setup.

Rainy Weather

We have some rainy, windy weather for the next day or so. We're hunkered down, waiting for it to pass.

Beaufort

We made it to Beaufort in time for a late lunch! We'll stay here two nights to wait out tomorrow's bad weather.

Underway

We were underway at dawn this morning, with about 110 miles to Beaufort, NC. 

Southport

We made about 85 miles today, and arrived in Southport, NC.

The Grumpy Goat

We had a fine evening with family at the Grumpy Goat on James Island. So much fun hanging out with these guys!

Engine Work

In addition to cleaning up our fuel problems, we were also able to get parts to fix our coolant leak on that starboard engine. Everything is working well now, and we're hoping this is our new normal for the trip home.

Butler’s Island

All is running well today, and we are anchored in a nice spot north of Georgetown, SC.

Moisture in Fuel

Here's an example of moisture in the fuel vs. clean fuel. These Racor
filters spin the fuel to separate out the water and collect it at the
bottom of the bowl. We'll purge this and also attempt to draw out the
water from the fuel tank today.

Fuel Problem

We believe we found the problem:  water in the fuel. We are replacing all the filters and will attempt to pump out the water tomorrow. One more day here, then hopefully on our way.

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Charleston

We're docked on the MegaDock. We have a mechanic and a diver scheduled for tomorrow. Fingers crossed our problems are easily fixed!

Good morning, Bull River

Last night, the sun went down on a peaceful anchorage, and this morning's sunrise was no different. At one moment during the night, however, it got very rough. The wind picked up and the direction of the current was holding Sensei beam on to the wind and waves, and the boat started rocking violently. This all happened about midnight, so we were up to check on things, and then it took a while to get back to sleep.

We're underway early today, motoring to Charleston.

Good night, Bull River

Storm 2

Simultaneously, the storm comes and goes.

Storm

The boat began to twitch.

Anchored

We're anchored for the night in Bull River. There's really nothing here, just a place for us to drop our anchor and rest overnight. Grilled sausage is on the menu for this evening, with mashed potatoes. 

Some Drama

Boating is just solving a series of problems to keep the boat moving ahead. Sometimes the problems are navigational, sometimes weather related, and sometimes mechanical. Right now, we're experiencing a new engine problem: the port engine won't rev up to our cruising RPM of 1600 turns. This means we won't be able to get the boat up on a plane, and so, we'll just be putting along at 8 knots until we can fix the issue. The problem came on gradually over the last several days, and we're not sure of the cause. We checked the most obvious one, a dirty fuel filter, but changing to a clean filter made no difference.

Monday we'll have a mechanic in Charleston take a look and see if we can make a fix. In the mean time, we'll be a little slower than usual as we make our way up the ICW.

Isle of Hope

One example of the waterfront homes here, next to the marina. Such a quiet place to rest for the night along the waterway.

Isle of Hope

Arrived here today.

The Marsh

Waking up this morning in a marsh, in Brunswick. Heading out right after Suzan has her coffee.

Dredging

The ICW tends to shoal constantly, so the Army Corps of Engineers is constantly busy dredging the channel to keep it deep enough for boats to pass. Here is some of the equipment we found along our path today. Even though it makes the passage tricky when they are working, we are so grateful that the keep the channel deep enough for us to get through!

St. Augustine

If you come here, you need to visit the Tini Martini Bar!

Wrecks

We see a lot of these wrecks along the ICW. After storms that push a boat ashore, the owners often abandon them. It's expensive to remove a grounded boat, so they just sit as a warning to others.

Arrived in Daytona

KSC

We're touring the Kennedy Space Center today. Lots to see!

It’s Always Something

Well, we made it to Titusville this afternoon. But the day was not without issues. I had noticed some flaky behavior with the VHF power and some crazy readings from the tank monitor. Today the VHF shutdown completely, so it was time to dig into the problem. When I started checking voltages I found a big voltage drop across the breakers for those circuits. So, it looks like a couple of bad breakers. Fortunately, the adjacent panel has several spare circuits, so I was able to just move the circuits there. Good enough until we get home.

Good morning, Fort Pierce

Heading North

Tomorrow we will leave Ft. Pierce behind and begin the journey north on the ICW. It's getting pretty warm here so it's time to move to higher latitudes.

Batteries

Today's project: replacing house and engine starting batteries. All of the old batteries started failing towards the end of our time in the Bahamas. Fortunately, we were able to jump the engine batteries from the house batteries and it was enough to get us by. We're so happy to get this problem taken care of!

A Pause

We'll be staying in Ft. Pierce for a little while to get a few projects done on the boat. Then, we'll start heading north and home.

Fort Pierce

We made it! Tied up in our slip, getting settled in. The ride was smooth for the first half, bumpy for the second half, due to the quartering sea.

Departure

We're on our way! See you on the other side… 100 miles to Fort Pierce.

Double Breasted Cay

We are anchored in Double Breasted Cay for tonight. We dinghied over to the beach and saw the largest turtle and the largest shark of the trip! Tomorrow we cross the Gulfstream.

Crab Cay

Leaving Crab Cay, heading to Grand Cay for our next anchorage.

Lobsta’s

We're grilling lobster for dinner tonight! Not the Maine kind, the spiny, southern kind. Delicious.

Cool Rig

We arrived at Crab Cay today, our overnight anchorage. We saw this unusual sailboat heading out as we came in. We saw this boat docked in Hopetown and remarked on the winged masts. Very cool to see it sailing fast!