Going North....Very Slowly

We started as per plan, leaving Boca Chica for a short sail to Boot Key Harbor. Boating, however, never goes according to plan. Our GPS began blinking and disappearing. The wind was absent. So we motored to Boot Key. The following day we enjoyed a wonderful sail to Rodriguez Key where we anchored. In the morning, we watched a beautiful sunrise over a mirrored ocean, lovely, but that meant no wind and a long motor to No Name Harbor on Key Biscayne. From there, we stopped at Fort LAuderdale, to fix the ailing E-80 and enjoy our favorite port. Unfortunately, we missed the weather window and our plan to catch the Gulf Stream and sail to Beaufort SC in 2 days went out the window. The winds were 15-20 out of the NE, the direction we were trying to go and the 5-7 foot waves slowed us to the point where we realized we couldn't get there, without exhausting ourselves and our gas! So we discovered the joys of the Intercoastal Waterway and anchored our way north via Lake Woth, Fort Pierce, Cocoa, Daytona, St. Augustine, where we stopped long enough to have dinner with the Cloughs, and into a marina at Fernadina Beach. The trip from Jacksonville to Fernandina wa hair raising. The lowest tides of the year. We ran aground in the center of the channel with 100 yards of shallow water in every direction. Shortly after resuming our efforts, the depth gage read 5.8. We draw 5.8! So we turned around to wait out the tide in slightly deeper water. Finally an angel power boater came by and lead us through 5 miles of shallow water with directions and his depth sounder. We arrived at Fernadina in time for sunset.







The sail from Fernandina to Beaufort was fine. Lovely wind from the right direction.At Beaufort, SC, we spent time with Gail and Kia Malott at their home and on our boat. Unfortunately, family illness meant we left our boat at a friend's slip in Hilton Head and took a 2 week trip to Illinois.