Rosalie B. wrote in
news
What got Bob's goat was that it was in the middle of the channel where
there should have been plenty of water and the depth sounder didn't
give us any warning. No one is more paranoid about depth than he is.


I drove an Endeavour 35 sloop out of the little basin at the yacht club in
Daytona Beach, followed the bouys around into the ICW to starboard to get
to the fuel dock at the marina next door. Right after I rounded up South
in the center of the channel, the boat hooked "something" like it had just
hooked a tree that nosed the old girl over and stopped her dead in her
tracks like a jet landing on a carrier snagging the cables on deck.

Florida is just terrible with a 6' keel hanging down. The keel of the Amel
Sharki 41 dragged along the bottom of Lake Worth in the middle of the
channel from one end to the other. Vary off course a little and it
grounded long before getting near the bouy line.

There aren't near enough inlets for them to escape to sea on.....


Larry
--
Democrats are raising taxes on oil companies by $16,000,000,000.
Oil companies don't pay taxes, just like every other company.
Consumers pay all taxes, corporate and individual.
What's the price of a gallon of regular going to go to to pay $16B more?

Larry wrote:

Rosalie B. wrote in
news
What got Bob's goat was that it was in the middle of the channel where
there should have been plenty of water and the depth sounder didn't
give us any warning. No one is more paranoid about depth than he is.

I drove an Endeavour 35 sloop out of the little basin at the yacht club in
Daytona Beach, followed the bouys around into the ICW to starboard to get
to the fuel dock at the marina next door. Right after I rounded up South
in the center of the channel, the boat hooked "something" like it had just
hooked a tree that nosed the old girl over and stopped her dead in her
tracks like a jet landing on a carrier snagging the cables on deck.

Florida is just terrible with a 6' keel hanging down. The keel of the Amel
Sharki 41 dragged along the bottom of Lake Worth in the middle of the
channel from one end to the other. Vary off course a little and it
grounded long before getting near the bouy line.

IT is the same way through the Georgia ICW. At low tide the daymarks
are well on dry land.

We only went through the ICW in Lake Worth once. That was enough.
Between there and Ft. Lauderdale there were over 20 bridges to be
opened.

There aren't near enough inlets for them to escape to sea on.....

On our last trip up the ICW, we went in the Hawk Channel from Marathon
to Miami. Then

Offshore from Miami to Fort Pierce.

Up the ICW to the St. Mary's River. (Usually anchor in Melbourne, and
stay in marinas in Titusville, Daytona, St. Augustine, Jax Beach - 5
days)

Offshore from the St. Mary's River to Charleston

Offshore from Charleston to Cape Fear

A short hop from Southport to Masonboro

I had just suggested to Bob that we go out Masonboro and come in at
Beaufort when we went aground.

From there - we usually go inshore stopping at Swansboro, Oriental,
Belhaven, Alligator R., Coinjock, NC (Virginia Cut - we usually go
south through the Dismal Swamp and come back through the Virginia
Cut), and Norfolk

Incidentally it is Gallant's Cut in Beaufort that is closed. I've
heard several radio conversations from trawlers that had put their
autopilots following the old channel on the chartplotter. But I
knew (from the guidebooks) that Gallant's Cut channel was closed in
2000 when we made our first trip down the ICW (and the only time that
we had anything to do with Beaufort by boat because I think the
marinas are too expensive - we anchored )
http://p.vtourist.com/953637-Beaufor...e-Beaufort.jpg

Rosalie B. wrote in
:

Up the ICW to the St. Mary's River. (Usually anchor in Melbourne, and
stay in marinas in Titusville, Daytona, St. Augustine, Jax Beach - 5
days)


Let me warn you about St Augustine, and a sailor named Jake on a steel
ketch with arthritis in particular.....(c;

We met Jake on the docks at the SA city marina. He lives near Miami,
somewhere I've forgotten, and when his wife gets fed up with him she
sends him to sea, by himself, to get rid of him. Jake is very old, but
has been at sea for decades. Seeing me programming waypoints into the
chartplotter, he asked me to help him put his waypoints into his Garmin
because his hands are so crippled up he can't reliably punch the buttons
that much. So, I followed him to his boat and entered all the points he
wanted...quite a list he had prepared.

When we got done with that, Jake invited Lloyd, who was delivering the
Endeavour with me back home, and I to have dinner at that great little
restaurant where you can feed the catfish out the window over the ICW,
great fun. After dinner, we made our first mistake. Jake wanted us to
follow him to "a few" of his favorite bars in St Augustine. Noone he
knew, and he knew ALL OF THEM, warned us we were following a gigawatt
dynamo! Man, what a night! Jake had every barmaid in town cuddled up to
his innocent-LOOKING, crinkled face covered with that white beard! I
vowed to start growing one in the morning.

I don't remember what time we got back to the boat, but I know it was not
long before the sun came up. Jake bid us good night and thanked us for a
great time. He looked the same as when we got up from the dinner table!
Lloyd and I crawled on our hands and knees back to the boat and poured
our dead bodies into the racks, begging for mercy. Needless to say, we
were quite late getting off the dock to putter up the ICW to Mayport
before putting to sea. I waved to the people who waved at me, but I felt
just awful and got seasick as soon as we cleared land. We'd both met our
match at bar hopping.

Watch out for old Jake! If he wants you to go with him, BOW OUT! YOU
CAN'T! IT'S DANGEROUS! WARNING!! WARNING!!


Larry
--
Democrats are raising taxes on oil companies by $16,000,000,000.
Oil companies don't pay taxes, just like every other company.
Consumers pay all taxes, corporate and individual.
What's the price of a gallon of regular going to go to to pay $16B more?

Larry wrote:

Rosalie B. wrote in
:

Up the ICW to the St. Mary's River. (Usually anchor in Melbourne, and
stay in marinas in Titusville, Daytona, St. Augustine, Jax Beach - 5
days)

The problem with Jax Beach may be that they've turned all the marinas
into condos and there aren't any anymore.

Let me warn you about St Augustine, and a sailor named Jake on a steel
ketch with arthritis in particular.....(c;

LOL. I don't care for the city marina - if I can get a slip there I
usually go to Oyster Creek. We anchored out on our first trip. When
we go to St. A we usually meet up with Norm of Bandersnatch for drinks
or dinner if we can, but our drinks are non-alcoholic.

We met Jake on the docks at the SA city marina. He lives near Miami,
somewhere I've forgotten, and when his wife gets fed up with him she
sends him to sea, by himself, to get rid of him. Jake is very old, but
has been at sea for decades. Seeing me programming waypoints into the
chartplotter, he asked me to help him put his waypoints into his Garmin
because his hands are so crippled up he can't reliably punch the buttons
that much. So, I followed him to his boat and entered all the points he
wanted...quite a list he had prepared.

When we got done with that, Jake invited Lloyd, who was delivering the
Endeavour with me back home, and I to have dinner at that great little
restaurant where you can feed the catfish out the window over the ICW,
great fun. After dinner, we made our first mistake. Jake wanted us to
follow him to "a few" of his favorite bars in St Augustine. Noone he
knew, and he knew ALL OF THEM, warned us we were following a gigawatt
dynamo! Man, what a night! Jake had every barmaid in town cuddled up to
his innocent-LOOKING, crinkled face covered with that white beard! I
vowed to start growing one in the morning.

I don't remember what time we got back to the boat, but I know it was not
long before the sun came up. Jake bid us good night and thanked us for a
great time. He looked the same as when we got up from the dinner table!
Lloyd and I crawled on our hands and knees back to the boat and poured
our dead bodies into the racks, begging for mercy. Needless to say, we
were quite late getting off the dock to putter up the ICW to Mayport
before putting to sea. I waved to the people who waved at me, but I felt
just awful and got seasick as soon as we cleared land. We'd both met our
match at bar hopping.

Watch out for old Jake! If he wants you to go with him, BOW OUT! YOU
CAN'T! IT'S DANGEROUS! WARNING!! WARNING!!


Larry

* Rosalie B. wrote, On 8/6/2007 9:12 AM:
... in
2000 when we made our first trip down the ICW (and the only time that
we had anything to do with Beaufort by boat because I think the
marinas are too expensive - we anchored )
http://p.vtourist.com/953637-Beaufor...e-Beaufort.jpg


Its funny how impressions can be different. We were there at the same
time (we met in the Dismal Swamp) and remember Beaufort, NC as one of
the highlites of our trip. A nice museum, a good bookstore, several
good shops, good restaurants, entertainment, all across the street.
An island with wild horses is a short dinghy ride away. The marina
had a courtesy car for going to the market. I was starting to check
out local real estate! Of course we may have been biased because our
then 5 year old met up with some of her friends from Elizabeth City.
And, our previous stop was Belhaven, were the marina seemed like
something out of the Addams Family.

Jeff wrote:

* Rosalie B. wrote, On 8/6/2007 9:12 AM:
... in
2000 when we made our first trip down the ICW (and the only time that
we had anything to do with Beaufort by boat because I think the
marinas are too expensive - we anchored )
http://p.vtourist.com/953637-Beaufor...e-Beaufort.jpg


Its funny how impressions can be different. We were there at the same
time (we met in the Dismal Swamp) and remember Beaufort, NC as one of

Yes I remember you - I have a pictures of you and your boat.
http://p.vtourist.com/807785-Bob_tal...State_Park.jpg

At that time we were still trying to anchor out much of the time. But
after that trip we mostly gave up anchoring and went into marinas
because we could eat dinner out. Exceptions being GA and the river
around Melbourne. My information at the time was that the marinas in
Morehead City were cheaper. Also Bob was not at all interested (i.e.
he absolutely refused to do it) in anchoring with two anchors which
was the information I had about anchoring there because of the
current. We anchored in Town Creek instead

the highlites of our trip. A nice museum, a good bookstore, several
good shops, good restaurants, entertainment, all across the street.

A lot of people really love Beaufort. So we did Beaufort later by car
when we were staying in a condo on Atlantic Beach. We drove out to
the NPS Cape Lookout lighthouse site (it was too rough and cold to do
the boat trip at that time (March) although the wind surfers were
having a good time.
http://p.vtourist.com/2002275-Kite_b...ntic_Beach.jpg
The museum was nice.

We tried to do the historic houses tour but the flyer provided was far
inferior to the one given out by the other Beaufort (SC) and the
people in the visitor's center/historical society were less friendly.
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/4a9c6/c92c3/8/ I just wasn't all
that thrilled with Beaufort.

An island with wild horses is a short dinghy ride away. The marina
had a courtesy car for going to the market. I was starting to check
out local real estate! Of course we may have been biased because our
then 5 year old met up with some of her friends from Elizabeth City.
And, our previous stop was Belhaven, were the marina seemed like
something out of the Addams Family.

..Which marina was that? We went to Robb's (which has gone out of
business) because it was cheap and available. We've also been to
Dowry Creek - never been to River Forest except to eat dinner once
when it was my birthday and no other restaurants were open.

We almost always go to Oriental between Belhaven and the next place

* Rosalie B. wrote, On 8/8/2007 10:13 AM:
Its funny how impressions can be different. We were there at the same
time (we met in the Dismal Swamp) and remember Beaufort, NC as one of

Yes I remember you - I have a pictures of you and your boat.
http://p.vtourist.com/807785-Bob_tal...State_Park.jpg

My wife claims I normally look better than that picture!


At that time we were still trying to anchor out much of the time. But
after that trip we mostly gave up anchoring and went into marinas
because we could eat dinner out.

Before this trip we always anchored out. However, a major reason for
the trip was to see all the small towns that I had sailed or driven by
in the past. Now, we look for moorings so we can be close in without
the heat and noise of the docks. Launch service is nice, but rowing
is my primary exercise!

Exceptions being GA and the river
around Melbourne. My information at the time was that the marinas in
Morehead City were cheaper. Also Bob was not at all interested (i.e.
he absolutely refused to do it) in anchoring with two anchors which
was the information I had about anchoring there because of the
current. We anchored in Town Creek instead

Double anchoring (two off the bow) is so easy once you get used to it
- just set one, then drive over to the side and let out a Fortress.
Even an oversized one is light, and contrary to myth, they only need a
small amount of chain. A Delta (or other plow style) with chain plus
a large Fortress is going to let you get a good night's sleep in
almost any normal situation.

....
An island with wild horses is a short dinghy ride away. The marina
had a courtesy car for going to the market. I was starting to check
out local real estate! Of course we may have been biased because our
then 5 year old met up with some of her friends from Elizabeth City.
And, our previous stop was Belhaven, were the marina seemed like
something out of the Addams Family.

.Which marina was that? We went to Robb's (which has gone out of
business) because it was cheap and available. We've also been to
Dowry Creek - never been to River Forest except to eat dinner once
when it was my birthday and no other restaurants were open.

River Forest, I think. It had the feel of the opening scenes of a
horror movie. Dowry Creek, a few miles away, is a delightful stop.

We almost always go to Oriental between Belhaven and the next place

Yes, I forgot, we stayed in Oriental with friends we fortuitously met
at the marina.

Jeff wrote:

* Rosalie B. wrote, On 8/8/2007 10:13 AM:
Its funny how impressions can be different. We were there at the same
time (we met in the Dismal Swamp) and remember Beaufort, NC as one of

Yes I remember you - I have a pictures of you and your boat.
http://p.vtourist.com/807785-Bob_tal...State_Park.jpg

My wife claims I normally look better than that picture!

Blame the photographerg

snip. Also Bob was not at all interested (i.e.
he absolutely refused to do it) in anchoring with two anchors which
was the information I had about anchoring there because of the
current. We anchored in Town Creek instead

Double anchoring (two off the bow) is so easy once you get used to it
- just set one, then drive over to the side and let out a Fortress.
Even an oversized one is light, and contrary to myth, they only need a
small amount of chain. A Delta (or other plow style) with chain plus
a large Fortress is going to let you get a good night's sleep in
almost any normal situation.

I do not know why Bob does not want to double anchor, but he doesn't,
and I haven't been interested enough to push him to the wall which
would be what would be necessary to find out WHY he doesn't want to.
It isn't one of the battles I want to fight.

We don't have a Fortress. We have only ever used one anchor and that
is the 55 lb SuperMax. We do have a Danforth on the stern, and a 45
lb CQR on the bow in addition to the SuperMax, but have never used
them. The only time that I can remember that we dragged with that
anchor was in Florida Bay where we anchored for lunch one time.

snip
And, our previous stop was Belhaven, were the marina seemed like
something out of the Addams Family.

.Which marina was that? We went to Robb's (which has gone out of
business) because it was cheap and available. We've also been to
Dowry Creek - never been to River Forest except to eat dinner once
when it was my birthday and no other restaurants were open.

River Forest, I think. It had the feel of the opening scenes of a
horror movie. Dowry Creek, a few miles away, is a delightful stop.

I have never been to River Forest which is too exposed to wind and
wakes IMHO. Some people think it is wonderful. Robbs got a lot of
bad press, but it is closed now and last time we were in Belhaven we
went to the Belhaven Waterway Marina which is new since 2000.

We almost always go to Oriental between Belhaven and the next place

Yes, I forgot, we stayed in Oriental with friends we fortuitously met
at the marina.