Isle of Hope to Fernandina Beach -- Day 11

Hilton Head, SC to Savannah, GA -- Day 10 (25 miles)

Morning bike ride to the beach and breakfast at the bakery on Hilton Head. Finally in shorts and t-shirt. 

Departed Hilton Head at 12:15pm, arrive Isle of Hope/Savannah, GA at 1:40pm. Easy day! Goodbye South Carolina, sad to see you go.

Drinks at the Rooftop Bar atop the Bohemian Hotel.

The Olde Pink House

The Mansion at 800 Drayton

Bar along the waterfront and Eagles game.

Beaufort, SC to Hilton Head, SC -- Day 9

An easy day! Knowing that fuel prices are outrageous at Hilton Head, I added 100 gals this morning before departing. Departed Beaufort at 10:45am, arrived Harbortown Yacht Basin on Hilton Head at 11:45am. 30 miles.  Dolphins popped up almost as soon as I left the dock in Beaufort. Always see that as the sign of a good day. Dolphins along the way and lots of dolphins on my arrival. Grabbed lunch at the Bakery at Harbourtown and then had a 2-hour conference call scheduled for the afternoon. 

Top of the lighthouse for sunset. Such a pretty spot.

Beaufort South Carolina -- Day 8 of Trip South

Charleston to Beaufort, SC ("Bu-fort" as opposed to "Bo-fort, NC). Easy 68 mile run on a beautiful day. Have all the back canvas down from moonlight cruise with Lexi last night. Love feeling a little less confined. Planned 10:15am undo lines in Charleston, all lines and fenders in and stowed by 10:30am and run for a 1:00pm (slack tide) arrival at Beaufort. Arrived at Beaufort at 12:45pm. Like a good plan, although I was 15 minutes early. Average speed 30.22mph (ran 35-37 but had a few sailboat slowdowns and a ripping current running against me in Wappoo Creek no wake zone). More dolphins today including a little guy all by himself. There have been a lot of comments about the currents here at the Town Docks so I wanted to arrive at slack tide. I did and it was as easy as could be. Later as the 7-1/2 foot tidal change occurred I could see what all of the fuss was about. The marina sits out in the Beaufort River and it really moves. If your coming here, plan your arrival and departure on the slack. 

The marina is connected to the Beaufort waterfront park which has been beautifully created. Went to lunch at Plums. Fine food, but the best part is the back porch overlooking the park and the river. Plums is also a hot night scene for the younger locals. Want to hear a local band try to play your favorite songs loudly, through a poor sound system? They had heart and a good crowd.  Took a carriage ride tour of the city. Beaufort is the 2nd oldest city in South Carolina and there is a lot of history here. There have also been a number of movie shoots here including Forrest Gump, The Big Chill, Prince of Tides, Forces of Nature, Rules of Engagement, Jungle Book, White Squall, Something to Talk About, The Legend of Bagger Vance, GI Jane, and The Last Dance.

I called Trina (regular ICW cruiser) to see if she had a dinner recommendation for me here. She was in the middle of her nightly sunset celebration in Marathon, FL. She has provided a number of great recommendations along the way. None for here unfortunately. So using every internet resource possible, I ended up choosing a restaurant called Breakwaters. Wow, what a great choice. It's upscale, but my jeans and polo fit in just fine. They pride themselves on their wine list and they have done a magnificent job of choosing. There were so many wonderful sounding menu choices that I ended up getting a sampler plate so that I could try 4 dishes. Everything was perfect. This restaurant is very professionally run, it shows in the service, the choices and the quality of the food. You could drop this restaurant anywhere in the country and it would be a hit.  I spoke with the owner Donna (her husband is one of the two Executive Chefs). They moved here from Atlanta and opened the restaurant 8 years ago. About 80% of the guests are local which says a lot about a restaurant of this scale and about their survival. Her and her husband travel to Savannah a couple of times each month so they gave me some great places to go there. If the chef of a restaurant you love, tells you the place he loves... you have to go. Secret for now.  Donna also told me that their number one competitor in town (in terms of quality & dining) is a restaurant called Saltus River Grill (nice fire pit outside on the river as there). If you've got 2 nights here, make that one of them as well although there are so many choices on the Breakwaters menu you may need to eat a few nights here. My server was named Alison, great service and she is a wine lover as well so when the dinner crowd was gone she sat down with me and made some nice additional recommendations. I tried a few. She filled me in on the local bar and restaurant scene as well as telling me about a lot of great things here I want to use for an episode of the show. Sorry not telling now, it's a show secret. 

Next stop, Hemingway's. This is a tiny local bar that you will only find if you are walking along the waterfront park (backside) of all of the restaurants on the main street. Drinks are cheap. The drink of choice... jello shots for $1. Pick your color. As the bartender said, they ALL taste like vodka. The walls and ceilings are covered in dollar bills. No jello shot for me after 3 glasses of wine at Breakwaters. I settled for a Margarita. I think I've had more to drink in the past 7 days then in the past 7 months. But it's the best way to really get the flavor of a town. I guess I could just put down $5 and ask for water and it would hurt less.

Charleston Summary -- Cruise South Days 6,7

Wednesday & Thursday (Nov 17 & 18) in Charleston. Lots and lots of walking around Charleston. Such a great city.  Dinner at SNOB (Slightly North of Broad) Wednesday night. Ate here 7 years ago when cruising South and loved it. Had a salad with carmalized pear that I have been craving ever since. I looked at their menu on line and it wasn't on there, bummer. Went for dinner and one of the items on the "Specials" menu... field green salad with carmalized pear, pistachios, cranberries and blue cheese (I substitute with goat)... don't know if that was exactly the same, but it satisfied my 7 year old craving perfectly.  As far as the rest of the meal... perfect.  A great Malbec to go with it. I'm not getting in to everything I eat, we each have our own tastes. I'm just going to tell you I am a foodie and this is a great restaurant. Whatever you order there should be wonderful. Mind you, I put quality and taste first. I haven't found any secret great bargains yet, just amazing food. After dinner I had planned to go to the Rooftop Bar but when I got there, the music was over and the place was dead. Ended up at a wine bar called Social. It was a popular place. The bartender poured me large pours of a lot of different wines, trying to find one that suited my taste. A lot of of pours. Not really impressed with any of them but it was nice to taste 6 different wines before my tab even started. Ended up doing a flight but didn't drink much of it. Walked the 2 miles or so back to the marina at midnight.  I have walked miles and miles and miles of Charleston, sometimes in the wrong direction, but enjoyed every minute of it. Such a beautiful town. Every street, I look at the houses and say "I could live there". Seems I could live almost anywhere in Charleston.


Took the 11am daily City Dock van ride to West Marine to get a new Shurhold boat brush pole. Saw mine disappear off the bow of the boat the other day while getting ready to wash the boat. There was a Harris Teeter supermarket there so I did a little provisioning and then pushed my cart full of boat supplies and groceries to the drive in ATM at Bank of America. Looked like a homeless person I'm sure. The courtesy van from the marina picked me back up at 12:30... shopping complete. Thursday afternoon Lexi came over and we did a little cell phone photo shoot. I put the picture of us on Facebook... you should see it in the next issue of Marinalife Magazine. Seriously, they asked me to do something for their Member Musing's column. One of the things I have to get is a new charger for my REAL camera. I have seen so many beautiful things that I wanted to capture and a cell phone just isn't cutting it. Lexi and I took the boat up the Ashley River to the next marina to get gas as a sunset cruise. No gas at the Megadock (City Marina), just diesel. Then off to a wonderful dinner at 39 Rue de Jean. Lexi is in her 2nd year at College of Charleston and I asked her to pick someplace she really wanted to go but hadn't been to yet. She gave me a list of 5, all sounded good but we chose 39 Rue de Jean. French influence. Normally I am scared when a restaurant has so many items on the menu, how can they possibly do them all well. I have to say, I have to say they have done it. Wow, everything was so good.

After dinner Lexi and I walked back to the marina, stopping at her house so that I could see it and meet her roommate. Such a great place and "Sami" (roommate) is sweet, funny, smiles a lot and a perfect personality fit with Lexi.  We got back to the marina at 8pm for a night cruise of Charleston Harbor. The water was so smooth and the light of the city and the almost-full moon made it possible to see for miles. We headed out for a 2-hour cruise around Charleston Harbor and up the Cooper River. A friend of Lexi's joined us. He's a boater and was eager to see how fast I could run. Conditions were so perfect and no one other than one larger container ship was in the harbor. We ran back down the Cooper River and across the harbor at 45mph. With a little country music as our soundtrack. Couldn't believe that it was the same harbor as the nasty one I came up a couple days ago. Love night boating with the moonlight. Tied up and got a ride from her friend back to the historical district so I could have a little wine and dessert at Kaminsky's. Walked back to the marina. What a perfect afternoon and evening.

Myrtle Beach, SC to Georgetown, SC (scratch that... Charleston, SC) -- Day 5 (100 miles)

Myrtle Beach, SC to Georgetown, SC (scratch that... Charleston, SC).
Tad flew out of Myrtle Beach this morning and so starts the single-handed running. Laundry before departure had me pulling out of Myrtle Beach at 11:45am for an easy 42 mile run to Georgetown. Normally I would have every marina I need booked all the way to Miami weeks before I even left, but I didn't... surprisingly (for those who know me well) I'm just doing it as I go. I went on Marinalife website late last night and booked slip at Harborwalk in Georgetown for tonight. Received email from Marinalife this morning telling me Harborwalk was full. If you're a cruising boater and don't know about Marinalife.com, you should. Check it out. Cruising concierge, discounts at marinas and on fuel... a great resource and great people. I have been a member for most of the past 10 years. Yesha at Marinalife found me an alternate marina in Georgetown but I just wasn't sure I wanted to be anywhere other than Harborwalk. The "Soaker the South Needs" was forecast to hit around 3pm... I headed off certain I would be in long before it hit. Cloudy skies made it easy to pick out marks (no sun in my eyes) and I was able to run quickly. Got to Georgetown at 1:30pm under high winds and ominous clouds. But off to the South the skies looked blue and inviting. I called Yesha and asked her to see if she could get me Charleston City Marina for the next 3 days, and just kept running South. Another 58 miles shouldn't be too bad and I could probably keep running along the edge of the storm without a care. Generally that was true.

The winds were high and the waves nasty on the Wacamaw River and Winyah Bay but I pounded on. I spotted a large, submerged, 8ft log in time to take action and radioed it back the the boats I'd passed earlier. (This part may be too descriptive for some) Normally I carry a couple empty Gatoraide bottles for a long boat delivery, but this was originally planned as only a couple of hours. No Gatorade bottles and no lunch pre-prepared. One of the challenges I found was that the winds (which were blowing 20-25) did not allow me to simply take the boat out of gear and run below for a moment, instead I had to point the boat towards a mark and leave it in gear, making minimal headway, to take a break. Otherwise the boat was quickly blown towards the side of the channel. I picked my spots very carefully through this mostly narrow run. You probably didn't need that bit of info, but it was another of the challenges for the day. About 20 miles past Georgetown, I got a call from Yesha saying that Harborwalk had a cancellation and could fit me. Oh well, I was committed to making it to Charleston and asked her to get me in there for the night. Marinalife took care of everything while I kept running and got me an inside slip at City Dock as I requested. I later found out that City Dock had been turning down people all day... Thank you Yesha!!!

So on I went. Somewhere in the middle of absolutely nowhere (Bulls Bay), my chart on the chartplotter ended it's charts. Humm, no problem, I have the next chart card I need to get me all the way to Florida... so I ran below and grabbed it, stuck it in and had absolutely no detail. Still trying to get to Charleston before the storm, I continued on with the paper charts. At the next no wake zone I called Navionics to find out what had happened. Turns out I needed to run a software update on my Raymarine Chartplotter (which requires downloading the update to my laptop and then writing it to a flash card and loading it to the chartplotter). That wasn't going to happen in those weather conditions. I had been keeping my position up to date on my paper flip charts during the whole run so I switched over and just used them. Running 35, looking at a paper chart, interesting challenge. Then came the rain. Not blinding, just enough to make me laugh at the whole situation. How many different stressers does it take before panic sets in and the person bolts for the surface? (A question for divers.)

An hour later it dawned on me as I went through Isle of Palms that Joe Armand had told me about the Navionics chart app for my phone and I used it to run up Charleston Harbor. Thank you Joe! Got in to City Marina in Charleston at 4:30pm. So my easy day turned in to a 100 mile (exactly) run. Georgetown will have to wait for another time.

Went out for some Charleston bbq and Lexi came to meet me. So great to see her. Haven't seen her since last April. Tomorrow she's giving me a tour around Charleston and coming over to walk the mile of megayachts at the marina. Worth the longer day to get to spend some extra time with her. By the way, for you Haven Harbour friends, I got to see Dave & Jackie of Haven Charters tonight. They are on their way to Key West with their boat. Jackie's mom & dad brought it to Charleston while Dave & Jackie finished up the charter season. They drove down in a rental car to meet up with their boat and just got here a few hours before I arrived. Jackie saw me pulling in to the marina (Dave and I had talked last week so I knew they might be here). They hope to head out and run offshore for a couple of days down to St. Augustine before heading on to Key West. Always nice to see people you know along the way South. I'm taking a couple of days here in Charleston before continuing South on Friday.

It was 70 degrees at 10pm, and the "soaker" has yet to turn in to much of anything but high winds.

Southport, NC to Myrtle Beach SC -- Day 4 (50 miles)

A relatively easy day. 9:45am departure, 1:45pm arrival in Myrtle Beach at the Marina at Grand Dunes. Far enough down Myrtle Beach to be past all of the no wake zones. The Sunset Beach pontoon bridge was reportedly no longer in service so I wouldn't have to factor it in the schedule... not true... it's still operational in terms of openings until about Christmas. They are dismantling it presently. Had to wait 45 minutes for the next opening. Ironically, I checked email while floating there waiting and there was an update email from Waterway Guide. It said "just heard this morning that the Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge is still on hourly opening schedule"... had to laugh. I emailed back and said "yes it is, and I'm stuck waiting for it". 

Among the notable features of Myrtle Beach is a 3-mile long stretch known as the "Rock Pile". The channel is narrow and cut through the large boulders at points so you can see the tops of the rocks just a foot outside the channel.  This is not an area where you want to meet someone large coming the other way.  Most large vessels make a "Securite" announcement before entering the Rock Pile form the North or South so that other vessels know.  For me, the 3 miles takes less than 5 minutes to transit but for a sailboat or trawler traveling 6 knots, this can be a 1/2 hour of anxiety. Today, the water level was so high that you couldn't see the tops of the boulders. I think I prefer seeing them, to knowing they are there just below the surface.  A little video of the run through the Rock Pile.

 

A lot of people go outside (ocean) to skip Myrtle Beach because of the long slow passage, but in the end, it was nice to slow down the pace a little after the past 3 days. Marina at Grand Dunes is a nice marina with a secluded basin off the ICW channel and out of the passing wakes. They greet you with a bottle of wine and offer a special price on a dinner for two at the Ruths Chris restaurant on site. After washing down the boat, we took advantage of the dinner special and some prime beef. After dinner an $18 cab ride took us to Broadway on the Boardwalk, a massive complex of shopping, dining and entertainment. It was off season and late so many of the businesses were closed but I imagine this is a very busy place in season.  We found a bar and watched the first half of the Eagles blow-out of the Redskins. Tad flies out of Myrtle Beach in the morning so I'm single-handed from here. He's done a great job, has taken a ton of photos on his cell phone and even managed to start a new song. It's been nice having someone help me through the past 530 miles. More dolphins today. 

Tad shot this video with his cell phone during the first 5 days and 530 miles of the trip South (including the bay). He edited it on some free software and did a great job with the music as well. You get a little feel for running 35 mph in the 3-4 footers coming down the Chesapeake but that was just the beginning... they grew and grew. No video of those 8 footers, just holding on. Thanks Tad, nice job!

Trip South Day 3 -- Beaufort, NC to Southport, NC (100 miles)

Late start after late night last night. Should have been a fairly easy run in comparison to the past few days... but running the inside of North Carolina has it's own challenges. Wide sounds of very shallow water with a skinny channel requires paying attention. Running fast in to the sun adds to the challenges. Lots and lots of slow-down passes for sailboats. I think most of the population of Canada was sailing slowly through North Carolina today. Add plenty of Sunday boaters out in little boats fishing along the channel and I felt like the day would never end. Very busy waterways here. Missed the Onslow Beach swing bridge opening by 15 minutes because of all of the sailboats and had to sit and wait for 45 minutes for the next opening. 

First dolphin encounter of the trip. They were everywhere around us. Tough to get pictures though.

All told, it took 5 hours to run the 100 miles and pulled in right at last light (said it was a late start). Southport Marina stayed open for an extra 1/2 hour to get me in and fueled before they left for the day. 

Dinner at The Pharmacy.

Trip South Day 2 -- Great Bridge, VA to Beaufort, NC (195 miles)

7:55am departure for a beautiful day of cruising! Rivers, sounds and land cuts. Averaged 24.8mph after 8 hours of running (including 4 bridges requiring openings, a fuel-stop, many slow-down passes of sailboats, a tug pushing a barge through a land cut, and even a dredge in a land cut). We lunched on another section of that Bobbie sub while underway. A lot of miles today, but far easier than the day before and we were tucked in to a slip and enjoying a drink before the sun set.

Town Dock in Beaufort, NC. This was one of my favorite stops last time. On arrival, they give you a wooden nickel (2 actually) which buys you a free beer in the local bar overlooking the harbor. I'm glad they give you two, because inevitably, one ends up in your pocket as a souvenir.

Sunset over Morehead City (the sister city to Beaufort)

I've got two "must do" things if you get to Beaufort, NC (pronounced Bo-fort), don't mix it up with Beaufort, SC (pronounced Bu-fort), they don't want to be called "Bu-fort". Just remember "Bo No" for "Bo-fort NOrth Carolina). Now, to the two must do things... 

Dinner at the Beaufort Grocery Co. 

Excellent food. Anything you order here should be wonderful. I could have made a meal just from the Saganaki, a great cabernet and a baguette, but I ate far, far more than that. Saganaki is Kasseri cheese (Greek sheeps cheese) flamed in brandy with a lemon squeezed on top. Something like baked brie. If you've got more than one night in Beaufort, try out the Blue Moon Bistro next door, I hear it's every bit as good.

You can leave this step out...

After dinner, I wanted to check out a bar Christian (my Mercruiser mechanic, and friend from Haven Harbour) had told me about. He said it was in Morehead City just a block or so from the waterfront. We got a cab and headed over the bridge ($12 ride) to Morehead City (the sister city of Beaufort). I couldn't remember the name of the bar but in talking to people, I thought the "Ice House" sounded like what Christian had described to me.  It wasn't.  It was dead and Morehead City did not seem like the place I wanted to be. I called Christian.  He said "it's called The Backstreet Bar" and went on to describe precisely where it was in Morehead City.  Listening to his description of the location, I said, "are you sure you weren't in Beaufort?" and he replied "I've never been to Beaufort".  I checked the internet on my cell phone.  It's called the Backstreet Pub, and guess where it is??? One block from my boat, back in Beaufort. So back in a cab for another $12 ride over the bridge to where we began in the first place.

Backstreet Pub has been called the friendliest, funkiest little bar from Maine to Venezuela. Housed in a tiny, century-old former bakery, it is famous among sailors who cruise the ICW and who have covered the walls with nautical memorabilia. It's also a local hangout for fishermen and writers, waitresses and tugboat captains, retired spies, deep sea divers and just about anyone looking for a cold beer, cheap wine (I couldn't drink it personally) and some decent conversation.

Tad and I looked around. It was a tiny place, which I calculated was no more that 14' wide and 40' long (including the bar itself and everything). There was a fire in the fireplace and a cozy warmth to the place but I couldn't see why Christian called it the "coolest bar I've ever been to".  The front door handle was a large cleat, the back door had a hatchet in it as a handle. The old brick walls were covered in life-rings and other nautical memorabilia. There was great music coming from someplace, but there had to me more to it... I asked the bartender. She told me that there was a courtyard out back (but there was a wedding reception going on it). And of course there was upstairs. An upstairs? Where, up that crazy little, metal spiral staircase? Yes.

I'm sure those stairs wouldn't meet any sort of building codes these days, steep and narrow, yet so perfect for this place. As we climbed the staircase it became evident that the great music we had been hearing was a band playing in the small confines above. The Casserole (a blend of blue-grass, rock, country and a little reggae) was rocking the place. They were great and there was a wonderful energy to the place. More life-rings, low ceilings, wide-planked wood floors and a bookcase as a backdrop to the band. I felt like I had just crawled up in to my neighbors garage attic to hang out with my closest friends in high school and jam to some great tunes. It was intimate. Everyone was stomping and cheering and you could feel the floor flexing to the rhythms. The bride & groom came up from the reception below and joined in the dancing. We were suddenly as much a part of the wedding celebration as if an invited guest.

I talked with the band during a break and they gave me a cd. Future Making Waves music? I'm thinking you'll probably be hearing them.

Trip South Day 1 - Rock Hall, MD to Great Bridge, VA (182.5 miles)

In the week proceeding departure I had spent a lot of time working out the numbers to see if I could run from Rock Hall to Norfolk without refueling. Refueling mid-trip would require a 30 minute detour from the route to go in to Deltaville, VA, refuel (30 minutes) and then 30 minutes back out to the route.  A 1-1/2 hour process. However, if we arrived in Norfolk after 2:30pm, we would fall victim to bridge restrictions that are in place from 3:30pm to 7pm for rush hour.  And there really aren't marina choices once you start the whole series of bridges. So make it by 2:30 or forget it and spend the night in Norfolk.  With that in mind, a 1-1/2 hour re-fuel delay could be costly to our overall progress.

Those who really know me, know that I am a serious planner (at least when it comes to boating and fun). I was teased for years by my good friend (and long time dive buddy) Blair as being someone who is overly safety conscious and overly prepared... "you've got back-ups to your back-ups" he would often tease. So what I was planning to do flew in the face of that reputation.  The math showed that if I ran my normal cruise speed of 36-37 mph and burned my average fuel consumption rate of 42.5 gals/hr at that speed that I would use 197 gallons to get to Norfolk. I hold 236 gallons, so I would get to the fuel dock at Norfolk with 39 gallons to spare. Not a big reserve, not my typical safety reserve for a long cruise, but a reserve. Now running 36-37 mph cruise depends a little on conditions and ethanol is no help. Ethanol tends to knock about 5% off my cruise speed while still burning 42.5/gals hour.  I determined that 32.5mph average was my bottom line minimum to make it to Norfolk. If I averaged that speed overall, I would pull in to Norfolk with 14 gallons in my tanks. None of this was adding up to what I teach about having 1/3 (78 gallons) in reserve. This would not be an example I would use in class. That's tight, with no real room for error.  The plan... start running and monitor the average speed and fuel consumption after 4 hours, if I was concerned, turn in and refuel at Deltaville. If I didn't turn in to Deltaville I was committed to Norfolk because there isn't really any place in between.

We pulled out at 8:15am. It was a beautiful cold, clear morning. We headed down under the bay bridge and everything was running perfectly. We were running 36 and burning 42. Perfect. As the fuel would run down, we should get lighter and run a little faster. Off to a great start... Tad took this photo with his cell phone as we crossed under the twin spans of the bridge. One span on each side of me.

There was a 2 ft chop for the first hour of running. Two hours in as we passed by the Patuxent River the waves had grown to 3 footers and I had dropped off to 34 mph. By the Potomac River we were in 3-4 footers with lots of spray all the way over the hardtop. It was getting tougher to read the water through the spray covered eisenglass but my new wiper blades were doing the trick on the windshield so I would duck down and peak through the windshield when I needed better visibility. All of the time, I'm running the numbers over and over again, time, speed, distance... fuel. I was still running around 34 and burning 40 gph so I was still within the range necessary to make it.  All of the sudden there was a weird noise coming from the stern, was it a drive issue?... I looked back but the boat was running fine, then we saw it... one of the tie-down straps had come off and the dinghy was partially off the swim platform hitting the waves. I slowed and tried to keep the motion in the waves to a minimum as Tad re-secured the dinghy and added an additional strap. The break from the pounding was welcome and we took a few minutes to hit the head and try and eat something.  Tad's friend owns Capriotti's Sandwich Shop in Delaware so Tad had brought a 3ft long "Bobbie" sub.  It's turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. Perfect lunch break rolling around in the waves off Virgina. Having spent 15 minutes with the dinghy and food, I was stressed a little about those Norfolk bridges and our arrival time as well as all of those TSDF calculations. A would have to make the Deltaville go-no-go decision shortly and I just wasn't sure I was comfortable about it. The conditions were messing with my ideal plans. We calculated the remaining miles, estimated the remaining fuel (in spite of an onboard computer, I know that the fuel tank levels are not properly calibrated and mean very little). When my Starboard tank reads "0", I should have about 15 gallons left in it.  Port will have slightly more (that tank is slightly bigger since the generator draws from it). Every which way I tested the numbers, it looked like we would still make it with roughly 30 gallons total to spare. It was time to make the decision... no fuel stop.

Humm, how many extra miles were we running up and down waves total? Would it make any difference? It was certainly knocking my speed down. I tried not to worry, just keep calculating. The computer tells me how many miles it calculates I have left in fuel. Since it thinks I will run out 30 gallons before I do, I just keep watching that number and comparing it to the miles left. We should enter Norfolk Harbor on "0".

We entered Norfolk Harbor and the Starboard tank said "0". "That should mean minimum 15 gallons per side" I told Tad. We should be fine. Several Canadian warships were anchored in the harbor and I would have to go between them to get to the ICW. I stayed my 500 yards away and started to cut between. All of the sudden a large Apache attack helicopter lifted off the back of one of the ships and headed straight for us just 50-75 ft off the water. Just before reaching me, he climbed slightly and went right over us and off to shore. There were helicopters flying everywhere and of course the many US warships in port. Norfolk is amazing and a bit intimidating to cruise through.

I pointed out Tidewater Marina, our originally planned fuel stop and the start of the ICW. Tad said "you're going to stop for fuel aren't you?".  It was 2:00pm, we had averaged 29.7 mph for the 170 miles of the bay. I estimated a little under 30 gallons of fuel left. If we didn't stop yet, we could still make it through most of the bridges and to the Great Bridge lock before the rush hour closures began. We would stop for fuel after the lock at mile 12.8 of the ICW. "No I said, we're going to continue. I think we're ok on fuel".  We needed to make the 3:00pm opening of the "Steel" bridge to stay on track. We continued on through the long "no wake zone" that starts the ICW. The railroad bridge in Norfolk which is usually left open, was closed for a long freight train to cross over. We missed the "Steel" bridge opening by 20 minutes because of the train and now had to sit for 40 minutes waiting for the next opening. Tad pulled out some pub cheese and crackers he had brought and we snacked and talked about the run down the bay.  I started turning off one engine at a time for a while. Alternating between them, to conserve fuel while we waited. There was just enough of a current and wind that I needed to maintain some maneuverability. Putting down the anchor, in a channel did not seem an option that made sense.

We got through the bridge at 4:00pm, the last opening before rush hour, and raced on to try and make the 4:30 lock at Great Bridge. I will admit, I was now starting to wonder about the fuel situation. We were the last boat to pull in to a very full lock. It turned out that the water level was so high that they had not been able to lock anybody through for the past 2-1/2 hours. As soon as we were in and tied, I cut the engines. Guess we could have stopped for fuel in Norfolk after-all and it would have made no difference to our schedule. That would have been nice. The new fuel stop and stop for the night would now be Atlantic Yacht Basin on the other side of the lock and bridge. Shortly after we were in the lock they were able to lock everybody through.

The 2-1/2 hour lock back-up had now changed a lot of peoples plans. No one would be able to get through and make it through the remaining 2 bridges before dark so everyone was suddenly going to stay the night at Atlantic (and of course re-fuel for the next day). We were the last in and the last out of the lock. That meant we were the last boat in a long line of boats wanting to fuel. I had called ahead for a slip reservation at 3pm when I knew we wouldn't make it any further. But I wanted fuel desperately.  We floated with both engines off, and idled, usually with one engine, waiting for a spot to open at the dock. Seemed everyone was taking on a lot of fuel. The sun set, and we waited. Finally, after over an hour, we were able to get in and fuel. I filled both tanks. We had gotten to Great Bridge with exactly 12 gallons left between the two tanks. So all of my calculations had proved correct, but wow had I pushed it. After 6 years with this boat, I know the performance numbers intimately, I felt certain we would make it. But it is certainly not a lesson in the proper procedures.

On reflection, would I try again to run from Rock Hall to Norfolk without refueling? Yes. Especially if the conditions were right. But if the conditions were as they had been today, no... Too much stress. If we had run out of fuel in 8 footers, the situation could have been bad. I always felt we would have at least 30 gallons to spare (which translates to 5 hours or 25 miles at minimal speed), that was our cushion. Not much, but had that fuel gauge gone to "0" before we entered Norfolk harbor, I would have called BoatUS to bring us fuel and been able to continue towards Norfolk at enough speed to maintain steerage and headway as we waited. That was my back-up plan.  Would I pass on by the refueling option at Tidewater in Norfolk next time? No way. I count this run as a test and a success. No need to try again, I might fail next time.

After refueling, we were finally in a slip at Atlantic Yacht Basin at 7pm. The place is a really a working boatyard, not much of a marina. We were tucked up a working slip-way with a bunch of derelict boats. Let's be clear, this is not a destination marina. But after the day we had, it was nice to be tied to land. In the dark we gave the boat a wash down to get off all of the salt spray from the bay and walked over the bridge to Kelly's sports bar for a decent dinner.  182 miles today in some rough conditions. Thats a fair days work. Tad sure got an introduction to distance cruising. 

Day before departure -- Thursday 11/11/10

This was originally going to be my departure date. I love numbers and math and there was something appealing about leaving on 11/11. But the marine forecast and my list of "to do" items made it impractical. I've spent much of the time since returning from the Lauderdale Boat Show trying to get everything ready to run South. It's Spring commissioning all over again for the start of the Winter season. Paint bottom, paint outdrives, wax whole boat, change oil and drive fluid, change zincs. Long cold days trying to get it all perfect. My trim senders also needed replacement and some 4 hours of work to do it. Installing a dinghy davit system on the swim platform and new Formula pop-up cleats on the swim platform were the final tasks and completed the afternoon before departure. The boat was relaunched and towed to the fuel dock (no fuel in it).  No time for trials to make sure everything was working, we'd find out underway but I had faith that it was all done right.

Making Waves singer/songwriter and friend Tad Jones arrived in the afternoon and was quickly put to work taking things off the boat or putting things on. In the final light of the day, the dinghy was put in it's new davit system. The systems is designed for easy launch and retrieval... easy launch seemed to be the operative statement. It was so easy to launch that we feared it would launch itself during the trip. You can see the system at http://hurleymarine.com/. A series of tie-down straps and some lashing seemed to resolve it. Tad stated that it would have been nice to try the system out underway briefly before a long cruise. Yes, that would have been nice. Tad will be helping for the first 4 days and some of the longest days of running. The plan is to get from Rock Hall to Myrtle Beach (530 miles) so that Tad could fly out of Myrtle Beach next Tuesday morning.

A final meal at Harbor Shack and then more off-loading of non-essential "stuff". The only thing that wasn't going to get done, provisioning. Thankfully, I had water and Coke and Tad brought some snack items for us so provisioning would have to wait until a future stop.

Some how, my night turned in to 2am before final going to sleep. Not exactly the good-nights rest I planned to get before running 175+ miles on day one, but the endurance element as a certain appeal to me anyway.