Florida

We are sure that you are all well acquainted with Florida, but there were a few highlights that we wanted to share. We were relieved to find that although the water levels are still fairly shallow, the ICW is dredged so you can count on your 10-15 feet of water.  We finally found some warm weather once we reached this area, so that was a real highlight.

A Bird of Paradise in the Lightner Museum courtyard.

Our favourite place was the city of St. Augustine.  Established in 1565 it is the oldest European settlement in North America.  It was established by the Spanish so was a change from the Antebellum era (we’d really had our fill by the time we left Georgia).  When entering the city by sailboat you must wait for the impressive Bridge of Lions to open.  We stayed on a mooring can at the Municipal Marina for eight days, your 7^th night is free, we are cruisers after all!  We met many cruisers heading south all along the ICW route but the group we met here are the boats we have reunited with in the Exumas. 

Tourism is probably the largest part of the economic plan for this place and they delivered. Because it was Christmas season the entire waterfront, palm trees and all, was wrapped in thousands of lights.  The old town is fascinating and just a very interesting place to wander with the oldest house dating back to 1727 (the Brits burned the town down in 1702 so it’s our fault there is nothing from the first century and a half). There is a Spanish fort built in 1672 that survived numerous attacks and the British fire, a Colonial Spanish Quarter, and a lovely park area for public gatherings called Plaza de la Constitucion.  

This is the ' Plaza' and was alive with visitors each night

Kim at the old city gates

Of course we stopped at the oldest wooden school house in the US.

Henry Flagler, who almost single handedly  developed tourism in eastern Florida, built three fascinating buildings here.  The Ponce de Leon Hotel (which was originally built as a seasonal hotel for the super rich but is now Flagler College), the Alcazar Hotel (now the Lightner Museum,) and the Memorial Presbyterian Church (built as a memorial to his daughter who died in child birth) were highlights.

The original art throughout Flagler College is stunning inside and out.

The frescoes in the student dining room are truly beautiful, apparently the food - less so!.

 The Lightner Museum, originally the Alcazar Hotel,
now houses the extensive collectables of Henry Flagler. It feels as though there was nothing he didn't collect - quite fascinating.  The entire lower level (now a cafe) was the swimming pool and the upper levels were open for guests to view the swimmers.  In the evenings the orchestra played from a raft on the pool while guests danced along the upper ballroom that appears much like a very high class running track.

The dance floor that wrapped all around the pool area.

Flagler Memorial Church - hard to believe a Presbyterian built such a fancy place.

We enjoyed a Christmas event at the St. Augustine lighthouse, which was built in 1874, and returned the next day to climb the 219 steps to the top. What a view!

The keepers house ready for Christmas with the lighthouse peeking above.

There were some beautiful stretches of uninhabited Florida that make you realise it isn’t all about restaurants and shopping..

Looking for lunch south of St. Augustine.

Neither rain, wind or cold keeps us from the beach.

And then there are our friends Cyndy and Doug Nash who came with their car to Jensen Beach  to boat sit and help provision the boat.   ‘Provision’ sounds like such an organised process, but was actually the chaos of trying to do five months of shopping in stores that you don’t know with brands you’ve never heard of – thanks to Cyndy and Doug for their patience!   In case you are ever in need of crew, they not only bring their car, but they shop, cook, clean AND bring their own wine!  However, they did not leave a contact number for this space!

Cyndy and Doug enjoying the sun.

It took a few weeks of shopping,sorting, and packing all the supplies away.

We slipped home to freeze in the dark over Christmas (power outage) and escaped to Fergus where Cathy’s family had heat and light. Our flight back to Florida was cancelled due to ice and cold, but on our second try we were happy to return to the Q and our chauffeurs (Cyndy and Doug) who were waiting at Palm Beach airport. We enjoyed a few days anchored at West Palm Beach, great cafes and shopping.  We were able to sail the outside route (the ocean for non-sailors) from Lake Worth to Fort Lauderdale and then to Miami, so escaped the endless line up of ICW bridges through south Florida.  Of course the homes and boats were large and spectacular.

The Royal Palms of West Palm Beach

Palms are everywhere !

When I get old I want a nice motor yacht like this!

But in the mean time ... this is our next boat!

 

 

 

 

 

South Carolina and Georgia

Since we have actually made it through these two states now, we can say that in terms of genuine kindness, they were our favorites.  The down to earth qualities of the people on and off the water made up for the stress incurred by incessant shoaling and lack of dredging!  Every day revolved around identifying the shallowest water we might encounter, then calculating how long it might take to arrive at that point (or points) and consider what time in the tide cycle we needed to be there, then we could calculate where we could get to before dark.  We are pleased to say that the method reduced our stress level considerably as we were pretty sure there would be adequate water and we made it all the way to Miami without the use of Tow Boat US.  However, we still managed to have more ‘white knuckle’ moments than we might have chosen.  As we moved through South Carolina we had our first view of what ‘low country’ looked like … then we worked our way through Georgia and realized that any form of land that doesn’t flood twice a day is considered a bluff!  Much of the area adjacent to the ocean is marsh land and what we hadn’t considered is that it goes on for hundreds of miles. In Georgia where the tide can run six to nine feet deep, what is land at low tide can become a shoal at high tide, so there is always the potential of running aground.

Two views of our days in these states.

Our introduction to South Carolina was in North Myrtle Beach … through dozens of high end golf resorts for the crowd from the north.   We met some of the local folks at ‘Cap’n Poos’ where everyone meets for trivia night twice a week.  Our waitress and the bartender were just lovely - Kim was addressed as ‘Honey’ and I was ‘Babydoll’.  Our dinner was local flounder, enough for 3 meals each, and home made wedge fries that were literally seven inches long. I shudder to think of how much fertilizer was used on those spuds. South Carolina (along with Florida) is bridge country.  On the day after “Cap’n Poos’ we went under 11 bridges, three of which were too low for our mast. Many of these bascule bridges only opened at specific times. This was another critical item added into the planning mix - the ‘speed up or we’ll have to wait another  half hour (or hour) for the next bridge opening’.  It didn’t take long to realize we were surrounded by all the classic sights and sounds of the south.  Miles of Cypress trees with their lanky roots crawling out of the water, dolphins, pelicans, white egrets, many types of sea birds that mob and scream as the crab fishermen check their crab pots, and shrimp boats with their nets extended (you try  to give them a wide berth in case they snag your rigging!) 

This trawler overtook us in the inlet to Charleston with it's outriggers deployed.

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 We stopped in Georgetown SC and learned a great deal about the rice and indigo plantations that we saw as we travelled on the ICW.  We had a good southern meal at ‘Aunny’s Down Home Cookin’ – fried chicken with stewed collards and yellow rice, ribs and grits.  We paid a visit to the fishermans  market and picked up fresh caught shrimp and grouper to feed us for a few days, mmm. 

This all sounds so romantic … but the shallow water and the night time temps of 0C to 3C, kept us in the real world.  It would be amazing to have seen these areas in early September when you didn’t need long johns and gloves.  The water depths continued to be less than 10 feet with shifting sand bars and surprise shoal spots due to large submerged trees that wander about with the currents. We would have liked to spend more time sailing off shore but apparently this year had very poor weather conditions for travelling the outside route. We did have a weather window open for our trip from Georgetown to Charleston and headed out to the ocean.  We left at first light to the radio warning from the Coast Guard that a boat had lost one of their engines on a log on the ICW, so felt our choice was a good one. The tide was going out as we exited the inlet providing a healthy one and a half knot boost but there was also a strong 15 knot wind and large swell against us. This resulted in our first ‘rage’ (for those of you who have sailed down here, you are laughing now!) and we had thought we were so smart leaving with the current behind us. We hoisted the sails with one reef and close reached out between the channel buoys. The result was very short and steep six foot waves frequently burying the bow as we battled the wind and swells.  Kim did a fine job on the helm for the half hour out to the ocean, and after that we had following seas and wind for a great sail to Charleston. The US air force sent a welcome fly by when we arrived outside Charleston. The military jet plane flew lower than any of the traffic at the Island Airport as it literally dive bombed us for a full minute and only turned inland when it was directly over us. I suppose we should be glad we were able to aid in the training of US pilots.

Charleston is a place well worth visiting, unfortunately we had only four days this time but we’ll definitely be returning.  Founded in 1670 it is steeped in American history. It was the site of the first shot fired in the Civil War and of course the site of many battles.   After the war the area was too economically depressed to demolish and rebuild homes that were heavily damaged. This actually worked out well as the homes from this period have now been beautifully restored. Charleston is now a national historical city and there is much to learn from an extended visit. The restaurant listing is most impressive with a very wide choice of cuisines, Cajun being a highlight of course.

  

Beaufort (Bee-U-fert) not Bow-fort of North Carolina fame, is another place worth visiting.  You must say the name of the city correctly or the locals are terribly offended.  Like Charleston it is a gem of restored antebellum plantation houses that are open for touring  (antebellum meaning  ‘before the war’ … the American civil war in this case).

These tombstones were used as operating tables during the Civil War

St. Helena's church with trees we have forgotten the name of covered with Spanish Moss

A number of these homes were the locations of movies such as The Big Chill and Prince of Tides.  The live oak trees are fascinating in size and shape and St. Helena’s Church grave yard has tombstones that were used as operating tables for soldiers during the war.  We also found some very funky jewellery and butter flavoured olive oil that Cathy is now addicted to, so we may be returning sooner than planned!

Live Oaks will typically overhang drive ways and roads creating very interesting canopies

A typical Antebellum home with large covered porch and many windows for air flow

Our travels through coastal Georgia made it seem that the state is more water than land.  Large rivers, choppy sounds, and low grass lands that flood at high tide make it difficult to find a channel to follow through this area.  These conditions also make for picturesque scenery and a huge amount of bird and sea life.  The people were very trusting and always ready to lend a hand or just stop and chat.

The "Pink" house is a well known landmark in Savannah

Our favourite place by far was the city of Savannah.  We actually tied up just outside Savannah in a place called Thunderbolt. We stayed at Hinkley Boat Yard where the staff immediately asked if we needed transportation and offered us their truck free of charge, “just leave the keys under the front door mat when you’re done”.  We took public transit into Savannah for two days and toured several historic residences. The city was planned 1733 as a collection of 24 squares, with each square containing residential and public buildings. Each square has a green space with mature live oaks, a park, and most are beautifully landscaped.  Even in November the foliage was beautiful and we finally found 80 degrees F.

 American Thanksgiving was celebrated in St. Simon’s, Georgia, home of world class golfing for some.  Unfortunately a cold front moved in with temperatures of 36 F, heavy rain, and several days of winds of 25+knots.  We considered trying to move at least a short distance during this time and called the Jekyll Island Marina to ask what the conditions were like on the sound. The owner said “Honey, it’s blowin’ a hooley out here, y’all should just stay where y’ are”.  Only in the south will you hear that. Next stop Florida!