Cruising with Steadfast

 We had a nice stay in Hilton Head, other than abnormally low tide… resulting in us sitting in the mud… resulting in AC system (which circulates seawater) sucking in and getting clogged with mud (see photo.. not us, and we were not quite this high & dry…) An hour or so in the engine room, covered in dirty stinky mud… and all was well.  Other than that… we biked to the beach for lunch, walked, toured by dinghy, and hit the grocery store.  Today was grey day for the short run to Beaufort… we left Hilton Head at high tide, and ended up following ferry through a short cut to Calibogue Sound from Broad creek… would not have done it were it not high tide, and without ferry (with local knowledge and a foot more draft than us as the channel is not marked, and not passable at low tide.  Tide variation at Hilton Head over 10 feet!.  Looking forward to 3 nights in Beaufort!  Here is today’s  Track

 As always, a great dinner at Sunbury Crab Company. We got underway just before 8:30, timing arrival at “Hell Gate” (a notorious shallow spot), about 3 hours after high tide, then took our time arriving Shelter Cove Marina in Hilton Head just after 5… could have gotten there an hour or so earlier… but low tide was at 2:30… and we wanted to arrives a couple hours after to make sure we had adequate water (see photo on green navigational marker lying on the beach as an example of how much tide there is…almost 10 feet here at Hilton Head). We’ll be here for 2 nights… looking forward to biking to the beach, etc.  Here is today’s  Track

 Nice stay in Jekyll… biking, golf cart tour, driftwood beach, etc.  We left at 7:00 AM to take advantage of tide in Jekyll Creek, and Little Mud River (aptly named).  Very nice easy trip.  Looking forward to dinner at Sunbury Crab Company.  For some reason, Nebo did not show the track very well… here is today’s  Track

 We had a nice stay in Fernandina… Blueberry scones (both mornings!), biked to Fort Cinch State park and to the Beach… for lunch.  Laundry, pump out… all’s well.  We did have some threatening skies… but no rain, and no storm.  Easy day to Jekyll… 9:30 depature, and slow cruise arrived 1:30.  Looking forward to biking around Jekyll.  Here is today’s  Track .

Great stay in St Augustine.  Breakfast at Mary’s waterfront grill (good) and then a fantastic dinner at Saint with the crew of “Miss Betty” a NT 34 we met last year… nice to catch up.   Nice easy run to Fernandina. Left just before 8, and arrived just before 3:30.  Could have been a little earlier, but slack current at Fernandina was 4:30..  so we didn’t want to arrive too early.  Beautiful day!  Here is today’s  Track

 We had a nice (but short) stay at the Halifax River Yacht Club.  Nice club house and restaurant… we’ll be back.  We woke to a cool (42 degree) morning which only warmed to 60 by afternoon… had to put on socks! (Still shorts).  Nice trip to St Augustine, we timed our arrival to coincide with slack current (I2:36 PM) and that worked well.  Once secured, we walked St Augustine, toured the distillery (always a favorite) and had dinner at our favorite polish/greek restaurant… so good.  Looking forward to dinner at “Saint” on Saturday, then on to Fernandina on Sunday.  Here is today’s  Track .

 As always… nice dinner at Hogan’s Irish Pub. (Also realized Cocoa Village is where the TV show I Dream of Jennie was set).   Another beautiful sunrise as we departed.   Nice run to Daytona Beach… calm morning, wind built in the afternoon… 20 -25 with gusts to 30 as we docked at the Halifax River Yacht Club.  This is a new stop for us (advert in MTOA), looks like a very nice club house… great price, and looking forward to dinner in the “Flag Room”!  We saw a flock of 20 - 30 Pink Flamingos… another first.  Also spotted a couple of Manatees while underway.  They seem plenty mobile to get out of the way of our slow cruise speed… like sea turtles… they dive when the realize you are around.  Here it today’s  Track

After a couple of nice/relaxing days in Fort Pierce (love the 3 free night stays at Safe Harbor Marinas), we headed out this morning.  It was a cool (50s) morning… we got underway just before 8 (see photo), and arrived just before 4.  Beautiful day, light wind, not a cloud in the sky.  Here is today’s  Track .  2 days post St Patty’s day… looking forward to dinner at Hogan’s Irish Pub!

 Nice evening on board at Sailfish Marina in Stuart.  Very leisurely morning… departed around 10:45 after a nice morning walk through the Banyan Tree Tunnel!  Short run, barely 3 hours at slower than normal cruise (plus we had some tide/current push).  Arrived Safe Harbor Harbortown (Fort Pierce FL) at about 1:45.  First stop was fuel & pumpout dock.  Pumpout went smoothly (no issues), and very pleased with fuel… our last fuel was back at this same marina on 2/15, we took on 196 gallons, having run 83.8 hours, or 2.3 gallons/hr average (across Lake Okechoobee, down the gulf coast to Key West and back up the Atlantic coast to Fort Pierce.  Here it today’s  Track

We had a nice (short) stay at Lighthouse Point Yacht Club.  Dave & Tina picked us up and we made a grocery run, then on to a great dinner with them and Lighthouse friends.  Windy today… so we stayed “inside”.  Lots of bridges to open, but longest wait was about 15 minutes… so not bad.  Palm Beach is always full of spectacular Yachts (can’t call them boats!)… but today, they were preparing for the Palm Beach Boat show… so there we more than usual, and quite the commotion as they were putting in temporarily docks, and shoe horning the boats into place.  (We would have stayed in Palm Beach… but there was no room at the inn… so on to Stuat) Here is today’s  Track

 Great night at anchor with spectacular views of the Miami skyline.  Great dinner on board (steaks on the grill, veggies, rice and a nice bottle of red wine)… Very Nice!  We left a little before 9, we went “outside” at the Port of Miami Government Cut inlet (the inlet the cruise ships from Miami use), and cruised a mile or two offshore to Hillsboro inlet… then 15 minutes or so to the Lighthouse Point Yacht Club.  Beautify day out on the ocean, 10 - 15 knot breeze on our bow, overall pretty comfortable (except for boat wakes).  Plan is dinner with friends Dave & Tina.  Here is today’s  Track