s/v Rachel: Catching Up

Location: Stuart, Florida

Position: 27 11.513 N 080 16.093 W

You're probably wondering where we are and what we've been up to for the last 5-6 weeks. Here's a quick synopsis.

we don't ever see our boat from this angle, taken
from new hi-rise bridge in Beaufort, NC

This is what happens when you anchor
in too shallow water

We left Broad Creek (near Oriental, NC) after several fun and work filled days with friends and scurried down to Isle of Palms, SC (just north of Charleston) to spend about 10 days visiting friends. We were able to stay at their dock as their boat was in the yard getting work done. We took this opportunity fix some leaks (re-bedding and re-gasketing hatches, stanchions, and lockers) to stem the tide of water we took on every time it rained. Unfortunately it involved removing the dinghy davits so it was a bit complicated and time consuming. Luckily we had great success and now are dry and snug in inclement weather. While there, we also rented a car and drove up to visit Mark's mom in Greensboro, NC. Nice visit, but too short for all of us.

Hurricane damage to shrimp boat
in Little River, SC

Next we stopped at John's and James Islands in SC (just south of Charleston) to visit more cruising friends for a few days.

Morning fog on the Waccamaw River, SC

Unfortunately this 2 week hiatus left us with encroaching autumn weather. Lovely days but cold nights, down into the low 40s F. This made for cold mornings as we were hauling anchor at 7am just after first light and anchoring just before sunset. We made tracks for Vero Beach, FL because we decided to try and make it there for Thanksgiving. After 7 pretty long days on the water we arrived. It was a great trip and we had a wonderful time despite the cold and the long days.

South Island floating swing bridge SC

Sign for bridge it swings out across the river,
we had to wait for it

We attended the annual cruiser Thanksgiving pot luck dinner, along with about 150 other cruisers. Great fun, food, camaraderie and music. As always when we stop in Vero we had more boat jobs, a couple of trips up the mast, a visit from a couple of amateur radio club members to get Mark off on the right foot for our ham radio installation, and, of course, shopping and more happy hours with friends both old and new.

We left Vero yesterday and spent the night in Ft. Pierce after having lunch with yet more old friends. Today we made a leisiurly trip to Stuart, except for all the huge wakes from the weekend yahoos (grumble grumble). From here we'll jump off into new territory – the Okeechobee Waterway and Florida's West coast.

Ashepoo River

A bald eagle welcoming us
to the anchorage SC

Even though it sounds like all we've been doing is boat jobs and more boat jobs, we've been having a lot of fun, too. Reconnecting with old friends has been wonderful, as expected. And the new boat has been great, too. So far this trip we've done many things we weren't able to do on our old Rachel with her 6' draft. Those of you who have traveled the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AICW) will know what we mean when we say we've done McClellanville, Hell Gate, Ashepoo / Coosaw Cutoff, and Little Mud River all at or within an hour of low tide. For you non-cruisers, these are infamous shallow spots where people regularly run aground. We've even spent the night anchored in less than 4' of water!