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November 26, 2009 9:32 AM
Posted By Robin & Jim
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After our nice little pause in Palm Coast, we decided that we were ready to just get down to the Keys and settle for a while. We have a big list of projects that we're anxious to start, so we left Palm Coast early on Saturday morning (after a very nice send-off from a few friends there) and ran to Titusville, near the Space Center.
White pelicans are unusual, but there's a colony just north of Titusville and I finally had a chance to shoot a few photos of them in the fading afternoon light.
It was a long day down to Titusville and another one down to Fort Pierce, and it was dark by the time we got the anchor down both nights. We've been spoiled by our meandering pace so far this trip, so we weren't used to running long days! The next day we had a shorter run to N. Palm Beach to visit our DeFever friends Hank and Nancy for an evening.
Tuesday morning was another early one - we left just after sunrise, through our last bridge, and out into the ocean for an 85 mile run down to Key Biscayne. The ocean was a little lumpy all day, but it was a decent ride and we were treated to the Goodyear Blimp right overhead for a while. We dropped the anchor just outside of No Name Harbor after dark, and we got to see Miami light up as the sun was setting. Nature still has the best light show.
Some weather systems were moving in on Thursday and would persist for a while, so we decided to make the long run to Marathon in one shot yesterday (Wednesday). We knew we would have some lumpy conditions for a few hours in the morning and we expected some rain and cloud cover - an advantage for the later afternoon when we're pointing directly west and trying to dodge crab pots.
We left in the dark through the narrow Cape Florida channel, and the shallow water and brisk wind directly on our nose gave us a lively ride for a while, until we could get to deeper water and turn southwards. The dawn sky was fiery red with billowing clouds, but our ride was too lively to try to get a photograph.
The seas settled down nicely for most of the later morning and early afternoon, though we had a few rain showers - some quite hard - to rinse the salt spray off the boat. We kept watch on the weather radar online as well as with the boat's radar, and we could see squalls well to the west and north of us. Unfortunately, we coudn't avoid the last squall line - though we could see that most of it would pass while we were out in Hawk Channel, before we made the approach to the marina. We named this simply "The Ugly".
This photo was taken about 10 minutes before the leading edge hit us - the temperature dropped by 10 or more degrees and the wind piped up at 5pm to 30-35 knots sustained. We were in touch with friends at the marina, so they confirmed that the worst of the front had already passed. We got into the marina after dark, but also after the storm - winds were 10 knots and we just had a bit of spitting rain. We were tired but glad to be settled, and Heidi and Peter were waiting to catch our lines and feed us a nice lasagna dinner - perfect!
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November 20, 2009 8:30 AM
Posted By Robin & Jim
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We've been paused in Palm Coast, Florida for a week to visit friends and to bring our car down to the Keys so it will be waiting for us when we arrive there in another week or so.
Earlier this week the Space Shuttle Atlantis was scheduled to launch. Our local friends suggested driving over to the beach to see it, and we were really glad we did! It's just a thrill - so exciting to see such great human accomplishment.
It was a perfectly clear day, and we could see the separation of the two solid rocket boosters from the main shuttle.
It was over all too quickly, but left us feeling excited and very glad we took the time to go where we could see it best. Godspeed Atlantis!
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November 14, 2009 5:03 PM
Posted By Robin & Jim
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We stopped in a few places in the tidal marshes of Georgia, including St. Simons Island to visit our friends Grady and Dottie, and Grady pointed out that we are actually west of Pittsburgh here on the Georgia coast. The shape of the land acts as a funnel for the incoming tide - which explains why the tides in Georgia are so great (9' or so).
We anchored in a number of little salt marsh creeks and since we've been running for shorter days I've sometimes had the chance to put my kayak in the water and go exploring in the tidal shallows.
The marsh grass is simply beautiful - tan at the base, then gold, then green, then tipped with gold again. It's no surprise that this area is known as the "Golden Isles".
The marsh is full of birds - herons, egrets, hawks, redwing blackbirds, and little sanderlings and plovers skittering around at low tide. We'll occasionally hear a dolphin blow nearby and we see their fins as they cruise around, and the shallows are full of tiny translucent shrimp and interesting fish.
Our next stop was Cumberland Island National Park, just across the St. Marys River from the north end of Florida. Cumberland is a barrier island with a variety of ecosystems: salt marsh, maritime forest, intertidal dunes, and beach. The island has a rich history starting with early Spanish explorers in the 1500's, and eventually becoming a winter resort for the ultra-weathy like the Carnegie family. The biggest mansion is in ruins, but there are other smaller family mansions on the island that have been preserved to some extent.
We loved the variety of the landscape and nature, particularly the maritime forest with live oaks that have grown gnarled and windswept, with masses of saw palmettos on the ground.
We saw wild turkeys foraging along the shoreline and the edge of the woods...
Sanderlings, semipalmated plovers, and red knots on the beach...
And a big flock of royal terns.
The dunes were also quite beautiful with berries and plant life, and sun-bleached tree trunks..
We only spent two days exploring, but we'll definitely be back for more!
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November 9, 2009 7:09 PM
Posted By Robin & Jim
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We left Georgetown and headed to Charleston - another wonderful place to stop and explore. We decided to try the Maritime Center marina on the Cooper River side since it's closer to the historic downtown, groceries, etc.
We got to watch a crane dredge working along the marina bulkhead the whole time we were there. When it was close to the basin opening, we'd get rocked a bit by the wake from the huge (40' or bigger) scoop hitting the water.
Our first day was cool and cloudy so we went to the post office and grocery store, then we spent the rest of the day at the aquarium. We love aquariums - with all the diving we've done, we know the names of so many of the fish and critters. The aquarium did a good job of showing the regional ecosystems, so that helped us understand more about the areas we've been traveling through on the waterway.
The next day we walked around the historic downtown, with the market and the vendors that sell the regional baskets made from sweetgrass.
We took one of the horse-drawn carriage tours - it's a great way to learn about some of Charleston's rich history and see some of the gorgeous homes.
A Charleston traffic jam...
The palmetto palm is a classic symbol of South Carolina...
This plaque located on the tip of Charleston, at the convergence of the Ashley and Cooper Rivers at the Battery, shows some of the significant historical events and places. Our short little visit barely scratched the surface of all that's here.
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November 6, 2009 4:03 PM
Posted By Robin & Jim
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Since we're able to take our time this trip, we decided to stop somewhere new and do a bit of exploring. We've always heard nice things about Georgetown so we thought we'd give it a try.
The area has a rich history as a thriving seaport - with indigo and rice as its primary export, and later lumber and steel wire after slavery was abolished. There is a small Rice Museum that does a great job of explaining the history and technology of rice production in the mid-1800s, and how the region was able to recover after the Civil War (or The War of Northern Aggression, as it's known here in the south). Very impressive!
We found the town to be a well-kept secret - it was warm and lovely and down-to-earth. Everything is so clean and neat, and the homes and streets looked like the Chamber of Commerce had just made a sweep through - gardens well tended and lawns just so, nice shops and little restaurants - more of a real community without being too touristy.
Of course we had to stop at a shop named after Jim - Sweetie's Chocolates... and he's wearing his Halloween "costume" - a t-shirt that says "I Am the Treat".
Since we were in town for Halloween, we were lucky enough to catch the annual Mutt Strutt - dog costume parade. The morning started off rainy, but it stopped just in time and mother nature put a rainbow up over the street.
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