Big Pine Key, Fl

The trip to Miami was fairly quick. Bear in mind we had traveled over 2,000 miles at that point so a 15 mile trip was a flash. The water was flat, the air clear and the views of South Beach were 'marvelous'.

A nice view of the Cape Florida Light House.

Sun showers. Fortunately, we were able to skirt around this rain without getting wet.

The water became progressively flatter. By the time we reached Little Palm Island, off Big Pine Key, the water was glassy, the boat was running better than ever, the A/C worked fine. I should have phoned and ordered a lottery ticket.

The final approach to our house in Big Pine Key, Fl was within sight. After traveling 2,150 miles over a 45 day period and having very memorable experiences and some not so memorable it was very comforting to know Sue and I could take the next day off .... after we unloaded the boat.

Pompano Beach, Fl

Arriving at Sands Marina and Hotel in Pompano we were met by Mark and Joyce Caulfield for a few drinks and ended up traveling around the corner to stay the night at their house.

After a short stay at the Caulfield's, Sue and I were planning on spending the night with John and Vicky Stafford, also of Pompano, only to get held up by a low bridge. We returned the boat to the Caulfield's dock and rode to the Stafford's. John and Vicky arranged a small gathering of good friends at their house that night. Thank you John and Vic. At this point in our trip it felt nice to see familiar faces and have some good laughs.

Sue and I traveled south on the intracoastal to Port Everglades. Being a Sunday, the speed zones were everywhere, so we elected to run outside and take the ocean route to Miami. Fortunately the seas were flat allowing us to maintain good speed.

Vero Beach, Fl

Jupiter Light

New Smyrna, Fl

Arrived in New Smyrna around 2:00 in the afternoon after calling Tom and Judy Gibbs to see if they wanted to meet us for lunch. We pulled into the New Smyrna Yacht Club, met the Gibb's, had lunch, and were invited to stay with Tom and Judy for the night.

Judy and I sitting on the beach side deck. Tom and Judy have completed a major remodel transforming an old house into a very open layout. Excellent job. Party central !!

Tom seeing us off.

On the way south to Sebastian a few dolphins took a liking to Sue and ended up staying with us for a few miles. They followed unusually close jumping now and then almost hitting the boat.

St Simons, GA - St Augustine, Fl

Leaving Savannah, GA after a very fun Labor Day weekend.

The trips to St Simons and St Augustine occurred at low tide making it hard to navigate. It was important to stay within the channel which was very narrow making it difficult to pass another vessel and many times less than 8' deep ! Being from the Keys I'm used to skinny water but at least in the Keys you can see how shallow it is, not so in these waters making an accurate depth sounder at these shallow depths very valuable. Wish I had one !! The tide remained low, the banks were muddy until we reached St. Augustine and like a miracle the Florida that I thought I would see appeared. The water was much cleaner, visibility returned and I began to feel comfortable again.

Fort Matanzas- St. Augustine

Savannah, GA

Marty and I arriving in Savannah, GA. from Charleston, SC. We stayed at the Westin in Savannah, the only hotel that had a marina.

A look at the pool deck at the hotel. That thing in the background is a ship. A very common site.

One of the many squares in Savannah. Lots of history. TONS of history.

The Girl Scouts of America had their beginning in Savannah. A troop from West Palm Beach touring and learning their history.

Finally ... the beer fest. Special thanks to Sue for getting me home after sampling many (too many) homebrews.

Charleston, SC

Paula & Marty Connolly met us in Charleston, SC

Beaufort Boaters Prepare For Weekend Weather

Marty Connolly and I brought the boat from Charleston, SC to Savannah, GA on Sept 2. At a stop in Beaufort, SC we were interviewed by local NBC TV and shown on the 6:00 PM news that evening. View the link below.


Beaufort Boaters Prepare For Weekend Weather

Georgetown, SC

Southport, NC

Beaufort, NC

Coinjock-Bellhaven-Oriental, NC

After leaving Portsmouth we arrived at the Coinjock Marina (about 50 miles) at 2:30 PM. A little town in NC along the intracoastal with a population of about 50. Nice restaurant, nice people but we knew all of them within 3 hours. Had a mechanic make some small repairs to get the fresh water system functional, nothing major.

Crossing Albemarle sound. During the last few days numerous people have told us how Albemarle Sound can be very nasty. I guess we got lucky because the sound was flat as a pancake when Sue and I made the crossing.

Beautiful canal systems through NC. The water is very coffee colored from the excessive amounts of tanic acid from the floral growth.

Backup Auto-Pilot

Left Coinjock, NC and traveled to Belhaven, NC. Another one-horse town along the intracoastal. Sue and I took a little stroll down main street at 5:00 in search of a restaurant or diner of some type and found this abandoned town quite eerie. We were the only people or cars on the street. Felt like an abandoned movie set.

Ate dinner, getting a beer was out of the question, swat mosquitos and retired early in anticipation of casting off in the early AM.

Continued to travel south and decided to stop at Oriental Marina Oriental, NC. What a nice place. There were people, restaurants, a swimming pool, tiki bars, gift shops and many other signs of life. Most of the people here are local to NC and Oriental Marina had been designated as the marina of choice for the summer and became a hangout for local boaters wanting a two or three nite mini-vacation.

Portsmouth, VA

Common sights in Norfolk, Va. (across the river from Portsmouth, Va.)

Tangier Island, VA

Approaching Tangier Island, Va

Sunset over Tangier I. (A quaint place with pop. 550!) Crabbers moved from Wales in the 1700's and their descendants are still there.

Mr. Parke, owner of Parke's Marina & lifelong resident of Tangier, Island, VA

Tangier crabber's shacks

Kent Island, MD

Lory, Trevor,and Dave Brandt in Kent Island w/ their new boat! Inspired by adventures on Evidently Knot.

St. Michael's Lighthouse MD

Abandoned artillary target practice ship on the Chesapeake near Tangier Island, VA

Washington, DC

Scenes in DC touring with friends Joe Fadlovich & Joan Wallin

to view more of the blog click on "older posts" below: