2013-03-03; 11:36:20 EST
Member Since
2002-09-17
Posts: 4946
I am back. Actually I got home Wednesday afternoon, but have been busy catching up on email and work. It was a wonderful trip covering about 408 miles. We started from Delray Beach, FL Saturday morning and went out to the gulf stream after several hours of motoring on the ICW. Florida has a lot of draw bridges and some are "on demand" and others are on a schedule of top of the hour and bottom or the fifteen and forty five. Timing is everything. Topped off with Fuel and ice before leaving the ICW. We went out about twenty miles until we saw the water temperature increase and then we knew we were in the stream. Strong southerly winds and the gulf stream allowed us to cover 238 miles in the first 24 hours. We saw three LARGE cruise ships headed for Port Canaveral and were hoping they saw us on their radar. They all missed us. :) We had a pod of dolphins play in our bow wake in the middle of the night also. From there it went down hill. Ran into a squall Monday afternoon and not knowing our fuel situation (new sending unit had been installed prior to picking up the boat) we back tracked to St. Augustine, refueled and then started north in the ditch. (ICW) The fuel gauge show about an 1/8th of a tank, but we only took on 10 gallons with the tank holding 20 when full. We stayed at the Beech Street marina in Jacksonville, FL. Monday night after motoring in heavy rain for several hours. It was good to get off the boat for a good meal and adult beverages. Tuesday we left early and motored until we got to Jekyl Island just at dark. Our destination was only a little more than an hour ahead, but traveling the ICW in the dark is not recommended. We ran aground Tuesday at marker 62, but with persistent reverse motor power and pulling the main sail out, we were able to get free. Wednesday we arrived at St. Simons Island, Georgia and by 9:30 I was headed home. After being rocked around for five days, getting my land legs took a little time, but there really is no place like home. Captain Keller has a very nice Catalina 310 which is a nice upgrade from the R22. Rummy not available not available not available not availableSee the original archive post