20100121 Up the Ditch to St. Augustine

20100121  Up the Ditch to St. Augustine

Cathy is representing us at her parents 60^th anniversary, so on Sunday, 20100117, we rented a car and she drove back to Mt. Pleasant.  Her highlights were getting back to her own bathtub, bed and seeing her beautician on Monday.  Wednesday, she flew up to the frozen northlands (near Columbus, OH) to spend the rest of the week with her family.  Also a highlight for Cathy.

I stayed with Angel in Ft. Pierce, took a final hot shower on Sunday evening, cooked a big pot of chili, and prepared to leave early Monday morning.  Using a long spring line to a mooring pole behind Angel in her slip, I backed out slowly and when the nose cleared the slip, the spring line tightened and swung the stern to port, placing Angel in the narrow channel between docks.  Moving the transmission to forward, and quickly retrieving the spring line, we were off for a day of motoring northbound. 

Ft. Pierce is at the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) at mile marker 966.  Charleston is ICW mm 466.  I have 500 miles to travel at 5 knots.  This will take 8-9 days, weather permitting.  On Monday, 20100118, I traveled past Melborne, FL, anchoring in the lee of the approach to an automotive bridge at ICW mm 910.  Again, the Delta anchor and chain provided a good hold and great night’s sleep.  Starting early with an outside and inside temperature on 44F on Tuesday 20100119, we continued northbound.  Up the Indian River and Mosquito Coast, to New Smyrna Beach @ mm 845.  I found an anchorage among some mooring balls, south of the city.   The 65 miles progress is gratifying, but the weather forecast is deteriorating. 

To pass the time, I counted dolphin as I passed them in the ICW.  These totaled 89 during the 65 miles.  In addition, there we hundreds of pelicans and thousands of other sea birds to entertain me during my passage.  The weather warmed to 67 F, allowing me to shed the foul weather gear, back to shirt sleeves.  I slept well in the anchorage…too well.

I overslept, the warmth of the sleeping bag kept me comfortable until 7:30.  Hauling the anchor at 7:45am, I traveled north through New Smyrna Beach harbor meeting no other water traffic, making the 7:20 opening of the George Musson Bridge, with just a 5 minute wait.  My next challenge was late in the day.  After hustling all day to make bridges and keep my speed up, I reached Matanzas Inlet and Rattlesnake shoals at low tide, around 4:40pm.  This is where Angel ran hard aground during the southbound journey.  This time, using the local knowledge gained from Tow Boat US last in November, keeping Angel close to the west/red markers and slowing my speed for the 1.5 miles around the shoaling at the inlet.  IT WORKED!  I continued on, pushing to find an anchorage before sunset at 6:11pm. 

I reached Butler Beach and rounded the marker, slowing speed to ease into the branch.  Since it was now just after low tide, the sandbar here is a real hazard.  I dropped anchor at 5:50pm and prepared dinner, then going to bed early.  I was awakened at 2am by an unusual bump.  Jumping up and out into the cockpit.  I noted that my anchor was still where I set it, however, Angel had swung around on the tide and wind and was now hard aground on the sand bar.  As the morning darkness progressed, Angel heeled over on the falling tide.  At daybreak, she was laying on her starboard side with the rail in the water.  I was walking on the starboard wall to get around.   She ended up heeled over at 45 degrees! 

At 8:00am, I called Tow Boat US, requesting a tow for 11:00am at high tide.  As the tide came in, Angel righted herself and was just barely aground when Captain James arrived.  A quick pull with his tow rope pulled Angel to deep water.  He warned of impending severe weather in St Augustine, just 5 miles north.  I decided NOT to challenge mother nature, and after navigating the St. Augustine harbor, it’s tricky currents and construction barges, I pulled into the Camanchee Cove Yacht Basin and got a face dock slip at 2pm.  At 2:30pm, a hail storm hit, followed by a severe thunderstorm with torrents of rain and winds that I learned later were gusting to 60 mph.  A 30 foot cedar tree on the grounds was split and uprooted by the storm.    I was safely docked and cleaning up Angel, including discarding the rest of the chili.  It seems that at room temperature, a froth developed and LOTS of new flavors, seldom experienced in chili.  Over the side it went.  During a lull, I went up and got a shower, then stopped by the Kingfish Grill for a late lunch. 

Tomorrow, I hope to almost get out of Florida.

Jim