Sun Cat is on the move!
We left Stuart and traveled to Vero Beach where we picked up
a mooring and took the dinghy in for a nice beach walk. When we got back to the
boat we fired up the generator to charge the batteries and run the air
conditioning. It ran about 5 minutes and quit. I tested the fuel input and it
was fine. The next morning we called the Kohler service representative (Ace
Marine) and they came out to diagnose the problem. They found lots of rust in
the fresh water (antifreeze) system and determined the heat exchanger had
somewhat been compromised. A week later they reassembled the generator and we
were able to get going again. While at Vero, I was able to complete some other boat
projects, clean parts of the boat and did several beach walks and trips through
the parks.
Our next stop was the anchorage off Titusville. When we
fired up the generator it ran for two hours and quit again! Luckily the
batteries carried us through the night and he next day. Then it was on to
Daytona where we spent 2 days at Seven seas Marina. The trip from Daytona to
Titusville was especially good for wildlife as we saw many manatees and
dolphins and even saw a sea turtle.
At Daytona we got in several beach walks and enjoyed a nice
dinner with our friends Bruce and Ellie. I quickly found the generator problem-
the bolts holding one of the pulleys had come out, the belt (which drives the
(new) fresh water pump) had come off track and it was overheating. Once I
replaced the bolts it has run fine since. I don’t think it was tightened
correctly at the factory!
The next day we set out for the Pine Island anchorage about
10 miles past Daytona. It was a good run until St Augustine, passing many boats
and being passed by others. Then it was the perils of Pauline!
At St Augustine we arrived just as the bridge was opening.
We do not need it open ourselves but as we approached with a strong wind and
current behind us we found a sailboat coming the other way who was taking up
most of the channel. We did a quick 360 and started through only to find a
bigger sailboat also coming the other way. Another quick 360 and we made it
through ok. It should be noted that the
vessel traveling with the current (i.e. us) normally has the right of way.
A few miles later we got out of the channel and bumped
bottom pretty hard. Fortunately a liberal application of power got us off again;
we don’t think there was any damage. Then we had to try 3 times to get the
anchor to set in the wind and current at Pine Island. It finally dug in well
and as the wind died we wound up with a good night’s sleep.
The next stop was Fernandina Beach where we were able to
walk around town a bit and had a nice dinner with our friends Tom and Jerry.
From there we went to the anchorage at Fort Frederica for a peaceful night at
anchor.
We were fortunate to travel through the portions of the ICW
that have water depth issues on a rising tide and the following day we traveled
through Little Mud River (3.5 feet at low tide and stopped at the anchorage at
Walberg creek for the night. The next day was nice so we decided to go out at
St Catherine’s Sound and travel outside in the Ocean to Caliboge Sound which is
the southern entrance to Hilton Head. Although we like Hilton Head we continued
on to Port Royal Landing where we met up with Ray & Linda on Summertime. We
arrived just in time to take the courtesy car to West Marine and then attend
the pot luck dinner at the marina. The
next day I was able to fix (replace) my anchor light which had melted.
After a lay day we headed north with Summertime, spending a
night at the anchorage at Church Creek and then it was on to the Maritime
center at Charleston. We took a short walk around the historic part of
Charleston and then had a 5 boat looper happy hour at the marina.
The following day we headed to Osprey Marina on the south
end of Myrtle Beach where we spent another lay day waiting out bad
weather. We rented a car and made a
short tour of Myrtle Beach. We’ve been through it a number of times by boat but
had never seen the town. Of interest, they are building a huge Ferris Wheel
downtown as a tourist attraction.
A late start the next day took us about 25 miles to the
Myrtle Beach yacht club on the north end of Myrtle Beach. As a consolation for
the short day we got in a nice swim in the pool. It was noticeably cooler than
the pool in Jensen Beach however!
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| Beach at Bald Head Island |
Another early start took us up the Cape Fear River with the
current (a real time and fuel saver) and we spent the next evening as guests of
the Marines at Mile Hammock Bay anchorage. This anchorage is located at the
Marine training base at Camp LeJune and
is sometimes used for training exercises – even amid the anchored yachts!
The next stop was Morehead City where we borrowed the
courtesy car and went shopping and then had a nice dinner out with Summertime.
Then it was on to Oriental where we stayed at another upscale development
called River Dunes. We got in a nice swim in the pool and used the hot tub for
a few minutes.
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| Pool at River Dunes |
Our trip from there up the Nuese River was a bit rough but
once we got into the next canal it was fine except for a short squall that went
through with strong winds and a little rain. We then crossed Pamlico Sound and
spent the night at Belhaven. Belhaven used to be prosperous but there is little
there now. The major industry appears to be farming as the fishing and
shrimping has pretty much dried up as has the lumbering. A developer is building fairly expensive
condos on the harbor and one has to wonder if there is really a market there
for such things.
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| Alligator swimming in canal |
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| Sunset at South Lake |
Steve and Jean
1 comment:
Hey Steve and Jean,
We also know how good it feels to be on the move, congratlations.
We're presently in Antigua and moving south in a week or so and hope to say in touch.
Stew
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