Leg 3B ~ South for the Winter
After spending the month of October in the Chesapeake Bay we started seeing the weather change and knew it was time to head south to warmer weather and a place to leave the boat for the holiday months.
We left Cape Charles Virginia on October 18th with a steady north breeze that made our trip across the bay to Norfolk a little bumpy however we were ready for calmer ICW waters so we pushed on.
Norfolk Naval Activity
As we entered the mouth of the Elizabeth River we passed a number of naval ships that appeared to be activating we assume to support activity in the Middle East associate with the attack on Israel the week before. A tense time in the world.
We spent the first night on our ICW journey southward at a small marina in Centerville, VA. Our night was peaceful however this changed in the morning as the steady stream of southbound boats lined up for an early morning bridge opening next to where we were docked.
Southbound Armada
We woke to 20 plus sail and power vessels lined up and began to realize that we had joined the annual southbound armada, which starts in northern New England and builds through New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia all heading to warmer weather for the winter months.
In many marinas we met up with boats that make the annual trek south in October and then return in April. Most boats are heading to Florida with a number, especially the sailboats heading to the Bahamas or farther south in the Caribbean. On a number of occasions we saw the same boats multiple times as we headed south, especially trawlers traveling at similar speeds as Odysea II.
No Repeats….
Heading south we made a conscious effort to take different routes and stay in different towns or marinas from our northward ICW trip earlier in the year. Even though there were a number of favorite stops we discovered when traveling north we discovered even more on this leg of the journey.
Like a horse heading to the barn…
If you have ever ridden a horse you know what happens when you point the horse towards the barn, he takes off long before seeing the barn.
To some degree this is how we felt as we left Norfolk so we sped up and started cruising at higher speeds and longer days. From Centerville, VA to Belhaven, NC we traveled 102 NM with an average speed of 12.8 KN (117 miles at 14.7mph), which was our longest distance in a day since starting our journey back in April.
Weather watch even on the ICW….
Most of the trip on the ICW is in protected rivers or canals, which reduces concern and affect from weather, however there are a number of areas where the waters open up either in bays or wider rivers that make it necessary to pay close attention to wind and the rough water it can bring. This was the case as we were planning to leave Belhaven, NC to head to Beaufort, NC via the Pungo and then the Pamlico Rivers. Winds above 15 mph convinced us we needed to stay another night at Dowry Creek Marina.
In Beaufort, NC we stayed at Homer Smith Marina, which is close to downtown. We really enjoyed our two nights at Homer Smith and took advantage of the marina’s courtesy car and laundry.
Accidental Distress Call..
Shortly after pulling away from Beaufort we accidentally pushed our VHF’s DSC button, which initiates a distress call to surrounding boaters and the Coast Guard, at least we thought we did. This was a real learning experience as I knew little about the DSC function and even less about how to revoke a distress call. I was impressed with the helpfulness of someone working at a nearby marina who reached out to the Coast Guard to notify them of the false alarm.
The lesson was that pushing the DSC button for a short time does not necessarily initiate a distress call. You need to depress it for for five seconds or more, which takes more of an effort than just accidentally pushing the button. If a DSC call is made accidentally there is a procedure to cancel it on the radio, which I suspect is different for each model of VHF radio. I encourage everyone to research this for their particular radio.
After clearing up our DSC training we made one night stops in Hampstead, NC and then Bald Head Island, NC and then anchored in Minim Creek on the south edge of Georgetown, SC.
About 20 miles south of Minim Creek we stopped in the small town of McClellanville for fuel and lunch. This is a great little town population 600, which is steeped in history. From there we pushed on to Charleston for a couple of nights. We always enjoy our visits to Charleston and this was no different with a wonderful church experience at Grace Church Cathedral and then a wonderful brunch/lunch at Husk on Queen Street.
On the morning we were to leave Charleston there was a thick fog, which made it necessary to wait a little over an hour before we left the dock. Even then the visibility was less than a half a mile for about an hour. We took it slow and kept a close eye on our radar and AIS. Luckily there was little traffic and the biggest concern was navigation and associated markers and hazards. This did remind us that we don’t really need rush and take risks. In hindsight we probably should have waited a bit longer for the fog to completely clear.
After Charleston we made a one night stop in Port Royal, just south of Beaufort, SC before arriving in Thunderbolt, GA just south of Savannah for four days. This was another occasion where high winds nudged us to extend our stay to avoid rough weather.
One of our highlights in Thunderbolt was a game of Music Bingo at a local tavern. It was entertaining watching the crowd sing the different songs while we tried to figure out the song’s name and artist.
After Thunderbolt we made one night stops each in St. Simon Island and then at Lamb’s marina on the southeast side of Jacksonville, FL before starting out excursion up the St. Johns River. The St. Johns River is the longest river in Florida at 310 miles long and flows through a number of old Florida towns.
We anchored our first night on the river just off of Lake George in a cove that surrounds Silver Glen Springs. It was off season so there were only a few boats there that were actually anchored permanently as they sell different food and rent watercraft during the busy season.
It was amazing to snorkel up to the actual spring, which was a 20 foot diameter hole in the ground with clear, fresh water flowing out of it.
From Silver Glen we traveled further south to an oxbow lake just south of Blue Spring State Park. This park is home to another crystal clear spring and is the winter home to hundreds of manatees.
Manatees at Blue Spring
In a lagoon just outside of the park we saw approximately 15-20 manatees, some which had tracking buoys attached to them to track their movements. It was reported that last January there were upwards of 400 manatees in this lagoon.
After exploring the southern section of the St. John’s River we back tracked north and re-joined the ICW to head south. We spent one night at Palm Cove Marina on the south side of Jacksonville. From Palm Cove we traveled south to St. Augustine for two nights at the Municipal Marina. We had stayed at this marina on the way north back and we enjoyed it so we decided to repeat the stay.
After our stay in St. Augustine we finished our trip south in Daytona at Halifax Harbor where we would leave the boat for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
This was the longest leg so far having spent two months on the boat so we were ready for a break home with family.