Oh... I also bought a new ribbed dinghy!

Haven't her out yet, either.  My grandson wants to be the first her controls!

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Sea Fever with her new hard top

One of the reasons that I haven't taken the Gulf out is that Paul planned to put on a new hard top rather than replacing the canvas. He agreed to follow thru on that plan even after selling her to me.  I didn't want to miss any opportunities he had to work on that project.

Sure came out beautiful.  Now I just need to add the cockpit surround and the windshield!  I know, I know...no excuse for not taking her out!

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The new Sea Fever at the dock- Cooper River Marina

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Time to update my S/V Sea Fever blog, as we move into the New Year!

For those who have followed this blog of my adventures on my S2 9.2C, S/V Sea Fever, over the past two years, there has been a significant change in my vessel.  I truly enjoyed all my time on my 30’ S2, but circumstances arose in late October which allowed me to ‘move up’ to the “new” S/V Sea Fever- a 1986 Gulf 32!  Good friends, Paul and Pam, had decided to move aboard their boat full-time, so have “gone to the dark (or at least twilight)-side”, buying a 42’ Present trawler, and needed to sell their Gulf.  While I had not planned to upgrade for another year or so, this opportunity would not come again…you see… I know how well Paul and Pam keep their vessels, and the types of updates and upgrades they make to them… they were previous owners of my S2!  I purchased the Gulf in early November (and sold the S2 shortly thereafter) and have been slowly getting accustomed to her and making her my own…though I have to admit that I have not yet left the dock- much to the disappointment of my many friends here at the Cooper River Marina.  This will soon change- I have promised myself.  However, I am not yet sure if I will be making the annual southern migration this year- only time will tell.

Anyway, as we leave 2013 and sail into 2014, I wanted to initiate blog of the Adventures of the ‘new’ S/V Sea Fever.  Following are some pictures to get things started.

I hope everyone has a wonderful 2014 and enjoys their time on the water as much as I know I will!

Sea Fever (Calypso) shortly before I bought her, sailing from Steamboat Creek to Charleston. (picture taken from original Sea Fever.)

Final return Leg- from Spot Adventures

The following link provides the "pings" from my "Spot" device from the last 10 or so days of our returm trip to Charleston.

http://www.findmespot.com/spotadventures/index.php/view_adventure?tripid=323124

We had a great trip on now we begin our local summer cruising!

Good night from Toogoodoo Creek

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Beaufort to Toogoodoo Creek, Sat. June 15

What a beautiful day...sunny and dry and not too hot!

Sailing was another issue...though we were able to get sails out for a while today...we fought the tide almost the entire day and the wind was from the NE...dead on our nose...except for a few brief turns at the north end of the Coosaw and on a portion of the South Edisto. We averaged less than our normal 5. knots, but made it to Toogoodoo about 4:30.

Tomorrow...Cooper River Marina...home!

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Lady Island Bridge, Beaufort, SC

We were spared any thunder storms last night in Bull Creek and woke to calm weather and reasonable temperatures.  Had a good run today even though the tides were against about half the day and the winds had shifted around to come out of the N to NE...dead on our nose most of the day...except...for a great run across Port Royal Sound where the angle was sufficient to keep us moving even against an incoming tide!

Went ashore and picked up the last few provisions for the next 2 days and had great BBQ at Sargent White's, which Tom and Sara had enjoyed on an earlier trip.  Also, Tom's grandson joined them for the 2-day run to Charleston...too bad G3 wasn't here!

Tomorrow...Toogoodoo Creek or maybe even closer to Cooper River Marina!

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Made it to Bull Creek, just south of Calibogue Sound and across from Daufuskie Island...SC

Picture is of the Isle of Hope Marina just South of the Savannah River.  We had another great day for the gennys...had them out most of the day givng us additional power and some pretty nice sailing, at times...even got up over 7 knots!! 

It is another hot one, with temps pushing 100 and the heat index even higher. We decided sailing was cooler than sitting at anchor so we passes the New River anchorage and made 9 more miles to Bull Creek. This puts us just 30 miles from Beaufort so we hope to be there by early afternoon and to go ashore one last time before getting home.

Our only issue tonight is that with the extreme heat of the last few days qnd a cold fro t coming in tomorrow, they are predicting the possibility of isolated severe weather (Thunder storms with winds over 70 mph)!! We are hoping they don't materialize but have anchored a great distance from each other in a wide creek with about 150' of chain in the water....just in case...

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Another creek another sunrise..June 13...Redbird Creek GA

We plan to weigh anchor by 8 and make our way to the Savannah River to cross back into SC by early afternoon. It will be another hot one but should still be able to get the genny out and "catch some breeze"!

I forgot to mention the amazing dolphin show we saw yesterday as we sailed through Johnson Creek.  There must have been 30 or more moving in every direction breaking the surface in pairs or more and with many mother and calf pairs.  You could see the mothers nudging the calves in different directions and there were a few that were splashing up a storm...a truly amazing sight!!! The only problem was I was steering and adjusting the genny so had no free hand to take a picture or video clip!

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Made it to Redbird Creek by about 3:30 ...6.12.13

Had a great sail again today with gennys flying and working hard to keep us moving above a crawl as we hit a few spots with strong opposing tides. But we made the 42 miles in time to relax in the shade of our biminis...in the 100 degree heat index!!

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Sunrise New Teakettle Creek, GA 6.12.13

Another great sunrise...the pix doesn't due it justice...the sun was a bright red ball!  Just after sunset last night while the was still light, a shrimp boat made its way downstream with nets in the water, swinging from creek side between Compass Rose and Sea Fever.  I waited for a jerk on the anchor...but they cleared!

We weighed anchor at 8 on our way to Redbird Creek... a longer than normal run again, but we decided it would be cooler underway than anchored in a creek where the high creeksides may block any breeze at boat level.

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Sunset in New Teakettle Creek June 11

We made such good time that we made an additional 9 miles and stopped in  New Teakettle instead of Kilkenny Creek.  It was hot until the sun went down.

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Tuesday June 11..We left the dock at Jekyll Island and head to Kilkenny Creek

We had opposing tides at the start as we worked our way through the shallow Jekyll creek and into St Simons sound. W could see the Brumswick bridge off in the distance.

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Sunset from Jekyll Harbor Marina, June 10

A brief  thunderstorm came through shortly before sunset but cleared up for a great sunset.  In the morning we will head through Jekyll creek, Saint Simons Sound and northward to South River or further if tides and winds allow.

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Motor sailing on Cumberland River approaching St. Andrew sound

We had favorable tides and winds for the most part today and made it to the marina at Jekyll Island by about 1:15.  Seems we are getting close now.

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Last 2013 Florida sunrise...June 10..Fernandina Beach

We have been in Florida for 3 months, yesterday, and today we cross back over Cumberland Sound and the St Marys River, back into Georgia. We plan to stop at Jekyll Island marina today and hope to be in Beaufort, SC by Friday.

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Fernandia is a great place to visit..nice marina facilities, great old town charm and lots of shops

The only downside to staying in the mooring field is the smell and noise from its paper plant.

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Kingsley Creek highway and railway bridges...3 mile from Fernandina and all is well!

We made it to the moorings by about 11 and headed ashore for a walk and lunch. ...without incident!

Tomorrow we head out for Jekyl Island Marina. Unfortunately, my grandson will not be joining me there this year but I hope we will get some sailing in together this summer.

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Sunrise from (just outside) Alligator Creek

Sunday started out as a beautiful day...sun and some clouds..light winds.

We only had 9 miles to the mooring field at Fernandina...will we have more shoaling...or with the tide almost full will we make it without incident?

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and...Incident number 3!

So, on we go...much more vigilant about depths and watching any area where we think there might be more shoaling...to Alligator Creek

..Skipper Bob says to head north past R36..Chartplotters show 7-8' at low tide.  Great...NOT!!!  Compass Rose starts in, reading off depths as they go in..6'...5.5...5.1...4.8'...oh..oh...Sea Fever is going west of the marker..showes 12-15' and I will be out of the channel...Thunk (yes...again)...aground...noooo...Ok..I was going very slow..try to back off...nothing..tide is still coming in...I could wait for high tide...try again...into reverse...just a little more power...yes...free...AGAIN.... 5.1...5.8'  god enough...anchor down...fast...ah...secure for the night.  Ok Compass Rose.. now that we have that out of systems...let,s not do it again...agreed!?

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Incident number 2...Sat. June 8

We continued north, crossed the St Johns with geenys full and power up..fighting not to be dragged out to see with the outgoing tide...yes...on to Fort George Creek.  Compass Rose made the turn with Sea Fever close behind.  "Hmmm, Compass Rose, I am showing 6'...5.5'...5.2'..I am turning around"..."We are seeing 4.5'...4.2'...4'...we are coming back out too!"  Charts and cruising guides show at least 7-8' where we found less than 5. 

OK..now what?  Continue on...there is another anchorage about 4 miles north...great!

NOT...a mile or so further the ICW markers include a temporary (read needed..emergency...watch out for a shoal) green marker. Saw it and was pretty sure I was on a line from the last green to the next and didn't want to go outside the reds...hmmm..supposed to be 8' but I'm reading 6'...Compass Rose is showing less than 5'...Sea Fever does a quick 180..Compass Rose is aground..which way is the channel???  That way...ok...thunk...Sea Fever is aground...again...

Compass Rose rocked and revved and off they went after about 5 minutes..well 3.5' vs 5'...Sea Fever not so much...2 power boats tried to pull me off...no go... but tide was coming in and after about 40 minutes of pushing and revving the engine...Free..again...

that was number 2....there is more...

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As I said...incidents...so...Number 1

The waterway guide and other cruiser sources have commented on the extent of shoaling in this area of the ICW.  We were aware and thought we were prepared and alert...not enough, it turns out...

About 25 miles into the trip, making good headway along the Tolomota River Sea Fever moved to starboard to let  an impatient power boat by..watching the depth 11...13...12...seems fine...and for any crab pot bouys...strange but just passed some that I would not have expected.  Thunk...dead stop..."Compass Rose"..not sure what is going on but I just came to a dead stop...oops...4.5'...how did that happen..I am still near the middle of the channel and it has been over 10' the entire way?...hmmm. ok...power up...no go...then a power boat went by and "waked me"...thank you...this time..free again!

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ok...yesterday...how to begin???

Sea Fever and Compass Rose dropped the moorings as planned at about 7:45 Saturday, in time to make the 8:00 opening of  the Bridge of Lions.  Got a better pix of the Spanish Galleon on the city dock as I approached the opening bridge.  Tide was still coming in so we had to push thru it until we made it past the St. Augustine inlet. After that, and for much of the day, we had a favorable tide and helpful winds....that is the good news...

We had planned on a long day..St Augustine to Fort George creek, about 5 miles north of the St Johns River (a total of 43 miles).

But there were "incidents" along the way!

St. Augustine sunrise, Sat. June 8

Seems like a beautiful day here..so far at least!

Sea Fever and Compass Rose plan to drop mooring lines in time to make the 8:00 passage through the Bridge of Lions. So far the is a light breeze from the SW, which predicted to hold thru the day.  Not sure if it will be enough to give much of a push...we will be going against the tide as we leave the mooring field and the again about half an hour after we get  north of the St Augustine inlet.

Our big issue will be when the St John river tides begin to effect us and if the will be in our favor.  On the way down we had to drop the hook for about 45 minutes to allow to tide to subside a bit inorder to make it thru the Atlantic Beach bridge.

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Not a great pix...but...

Tied to the St Augustine City Marina dock as part of the city's 450th anniversary, is the Spanish "El Galeon", a replica of a 17th century Spanish galleon. I'll try to get better shots as we sail by her tomorrow when we head under the Bridge of Lions.

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Tide line...as we got closer to St Augustine the tide was changing leaving a very distinct dividing line.

Very dark water versus much lighter water...once we crossed the line, we were in much more favorable currents pulling us the rest of the way to the mooring field.

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Sea Fever and Compass Rose before casting off from Marineland

We left Marineland about 8:45 this morning, heading for St. Augustine on what we thought was going to be a downwind run the entire way...with 10-15 mph winds gusting over 20.  However....shortly after leaving the marina it seems there was a wind shift and we were headed much more into it than we had expected.  Starting out with fully gennys and fighting the tide we made the Crescent Beach bridge (about 10 miles) running about 5 knots.  After passing thru the bridge we only pulled out a minimal sail but with a shift in the tide we were able to maintain over 5 knots.  Then furled the sails as we headed far to close to the wind.

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Sunrise at Marineland

Yes, the sun did rise and the clouds are gone, at least for now.  Wind is down to 10-15 mph, so we should be heading toward St Augustine by about 8 to get there by noon.  Winds are from the SW so we should be able to get some power from the head sail.

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Link to updated "SPOT" adventure pings...

I have updated my spot adventure log with all the pings I sent between Lake Sylvia (Fort Lauderdale) and Marineland Marina.  If you click on the following link you can see the locations in either map or satalitte view..

http://www.findmespot.com/spotadventures/index.php/view_adventure?tripid=322745

Some of the wildlife we've passed the last couple of days.

Yep...we are getting some of the outer bands of Andrea

So far it sounds as though the worst will go thru tonight so we are looking to make it to St Augustine tomorrow..but will make that decision tomorrow morning.

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Well...Tropical Storm Andrea will miss us but we are feeling the effects!

We checked the weather early this morning and with the predicted winds ranging to 35 in St. Augustine...our next stop...we decided we would be more comfortable here in Marineland than on a mooring ball.

Lucky we did because the weather hit by 9 or so right when we would have been in the thick of it.  Rains have been heavy off and on with gusts over about 20.

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Sunrise in Daytona, Wed. June 5

Sea Fever and Compass Rose hoisted anchors and made it to the Memorial Bridge in time for the 8:15 a.m. opening...headed for Marineland marina.

Storm was brewing in the Gulf of Mexico with possibilities of becoming a named storm...just like last year on our way to Marineland!

We had a pretty good trip with the tides with us more than they were against us, and with enough wind from the NE to get in  some sail time.  Made it to the dock a bit after 2.

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This storm rolled in before we planned to head ashore.

It is loud with thunder and lightening and a lot of heavy rain but luckily not a lot of heavy winds.  It has been raining hard for about 40 minutes now and the skies are finally starting to lighten a bit as the rain tapers off. Not sure how many of these will run thru here this afternoon...we plan to go ashore...but..?

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Had to share a narrow ICW passage with this monster as we approached Halifax Harbor

We made the short run to Daytona in about 2.5 hours (had to fight the tide the entire way). Stopped at Halifax Harbor Marina to top off fuel and water and get a pump out. Then moved back out the the nice anchorage just south of the marina.

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Lots of wildlife "working" the creek this morning

Watched several birds feeding along the shore and saw an osprey carrying away a good sized fish that it had caught while enjoying my coffee.  We weighed anchor at 9 ...Rockhouse creek to Daytona.

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More threatening weather as we settle in for the night

Compass Rose hosted a happy hour with Sea Fever and our friends, Jim and Keron, on the other S2 9.2 C Mustang II.  As we made it back to our own boats the skies really darken with thunder rolling in the distance.  So far...just a gentle rain...

Tomorrow...  Halifax Harbor in Daytona.

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By the time we reached the northern end of mosquito lagoon we got...

A slight wind shift, an increasing favorable tide and more wind...we wound up making over 6 and as much as 7 knots all the way to through the  bridge at New Smyrna.  Had to furl sails to make it thru the bascule bridge on the north side of town but made it to the Rockhouse Creek anchorage by a bit after 2!

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Haulover canal bridge closing just after Sea Fever cleared

We dropped the. mooring lines at 8 heading for Rockhouse Creek at the Ponce de Leon inlet.  Mostly sunny but barely any breeze. Made it thru the haulover canal from the Indian River to Mosquito lagoon and are now getting an off and on breeze.  Gives Sea Fever and extra half knot and is helping to cool me off!

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Sunday after noon in Titusville

Got to the city mooring field i  early afternoon and headed ashore to pay for the mooring, hit the tiki bar for happy hour and pick up a pizza to ahare with fellow cruisers on another S2 9.2C, who we met in Vero Beach. Storms wer threatening from all sides but luckily we only had some light showers and no heavy winds like hit just inland of us.

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Sunday...Palm Shores to Titusville

Passed Kennedy Space Center...nothing on the launch pad this time.  Last year we watched a  3 am launch and in March we we able to see...and hear.. a mid afternoon rocket take off.

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Barely got back to the cockpit after securing the anchor when the rain hit!

Perfect timing!

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Vero Beach to Palm Shores.... under sail all the way!! Sat June 1

Dropped the mooring lines at 8 and by the time we made it around the corner into the ICW Sea Fever and Compass Rose were motor sailing under full gennys!  Throttled back to about 2/3s and held the wind all the way...40 nm!

Great sail - making an average of 5.5 knots and a maximum of 6.7!!

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Vero Beach mooring field...Friday 5/31

With winds predicted at 25-30 for most of today Sea Fever and Compass Rose decided on a leisurely day in the mooring field with a side bus trip to the mall.  Winds the next few days are supposed to be under 20 mph so we plan to head out at 8 Sat morning for Melbourne or a bit further north..

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Vero Beach Sunrise

We decided to stay at the   Vero Beach city mooring field for 3 nights. This gives us a chance to get all our laundry done (Tuesday) plus take advantage of the free bus service to get in a Walmart trip (yesterday), and a West Marine and Publix run today.

Next stop...Indiatlantic East of Melbourne....tomorrow...maybe.

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Tuesday, May 28...Fort Pierce inlet going from Jensen Beach to Vero Beach

Tuesday was another breezy day with winds in the upper teens, mostly from the ESE.  We left Jensen Beach with 2-3' chop...had to move fast to get the anchor up to prevent blowing back into other boats in the anchorage...

But..what a day... Tides were with us most of the day and with gennys out about 1/3 we were charging along at over 6 knots almost the entire way tk Vero!

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Monday May 27 we made it to Jensen Beach

We were able to motor sail. most of the way, including through St. Lucie inlet. It was another "lumpy" ride with a combination of 15+ mph winds and the heavy boat traffic the last day of the holiday weekend.

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Memorial Day Entrepeneur

As we were traveling between the 2 Jupiter inlet bridges I saw this snack shop on floats serving all the boaters, jet skiers, kayakers or paddleboards, that stopped.

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