After the fantastic trip to the Bahamas, we flew back down, 5 in total, to resume the northward trek, in anticipation of getting the boat back home to Pt. Judith by the end of June. As we all have to work (still....) we are still doing long weekends and moving the boat accordingly. This leg of the journey takes us from Ft. Lauderdale, up to Charleston, SC.
I have to say that I'm not sad leaving the slip we had at the top of the New River. docked next to the Rt. 84 overpass, the boat was an absolute MESS when we got down for the trip. Aside from the normal bird dirt, tree leaves and mystery footprints, there was a fine layer of road dirt all over the boat that turned to black streaks the instant you touched anything. 3 Hours of cleaning later, and we were all glad to cast off and head north.
A bit different from our other trips, we decided to save some fuel, and fish our way up from FLL to St. Augustine. At 10kts., we were looking at roughly 22 hrs to get to our destination. We would all fish and relax on our way during the day (except for the captain, as the Autopilot is still dead Grrr!) and then do 4 hour shifts during the evening with 2 man crews. Fair enough, but I have to tell you; its sloooow going. Now I know I wouldn't like to sail. We managed a few nice mahi, as well as an ornery Barracuda that was no fun to deal with, but other than that, it was pretty uneventful. Our new plotter is GREAT, and lets you connect your phone or iPad to it, so you can monitor the vessel wherever you are on board. Very handy when I was in the bunk and wanted a quick check.
Once the day was over, it was time for the long, nighttime slog. We had high hopes of fishing, but to be honest, It's tiring just sitting there and watching the water. It was a dark, moonless night (sounds like some film noir setting, right?) and there was nothing on the water. No commercial traffic, no boats fishing, no waves. Nothing. Eerily nothing.
Just darkness, and the light from the radar and plotter. My cousin Carmine, who was along for the trip, got his first taste of twilight boating, and while he settled into it fine, his first reaction was "When do we pull in?" If you haven't been boating in the wee hours of the morning, you may find it hard to wrap your mind around, but its disconcerting being out there. Especially 20 or so miles from shore.
Oh well, Dawn brings with it a new day, with new opportunities.
And our early am captain wanted to take a break, so I ran the boat for a while after that, hoping for something to spark my interest...
Like the chance to be boarded by Homeland Security!
As fun as it may seem (read: not fun.) This little blip on the dial actually went about as smoothly as you can hope for. It was around 7am or so, and I was at the wheel. With nothing around me, I really had no reason to be looking behind me. It wasn't until Carmine whistled at me and waved me down, that I looked over my shoulder and found these fine lads, creeping up my wake. No sirens, no lights, just a fast boat, and automatic weapons...
Without even a radio call, they sidled right up to me, and three guys hopped on board. Down below, the rest of the crew was either racked up sleeping, or having some of Arden's fantastic eggs (the eggs were so good, he got breakfast detail each morning). Now, I can't be certain, but my hunch is that we were being tracked during the evening as we lazily slid up the coastline, and someone with a government pension coming didn't like the looks of what we were doing. Really, in the end, it amounted to giving ID's, a quick check of the boat, and some nice conversation with a group of guys (kids really) that looked as bored as we did.
So, onward. We finished the last little bit of the trip, and were tucked into St. Augustine shortly after 10am. Not too shabby by all accounts.
St. Augustine municipal marina was very nice. Clean, wide docks, all the amenities you expect for a large marina, but, get this... Cheap! (comparatively...) The one downfall would be that everyone looking to get on the El Galeon tour kept walking up to our boat and asking how to get there. Sigh. Here is a picture of El Galeon taken from just past my boat. When do you think they noticed they were on the wrong dock??
Gotta say it. St. A's was fantastic. Clean, vibrant, pretty city with tons of things to do, and it didn't break the bank. I have never had an interest or need to go there before, but I'm certainly adding this to my list of places that I would return to. We had some excellent meals, so nice sightseeing, and as always, plenty of laughs.
After a fun night, although it ended on a sour note as the jerks I was with dragged their feet and I didn't get the chance to sample what looked like amazing waffles and milkshakes (I settled for popsicles at The Hyppo). We all hit the sack, exhausted, but with clean laundry, and got ready for the following days run to Charleston.
I know I'm gonna jinx myself at some point, but to date, we have had FANTASTIC luck with the weather. Another fantastic day on the water. Glassy, less than a foot seas, just fantastic. Our run to Charleston was to be a straight up delivery run. We had another 200 miles or so to cover, and a day to do it. Plus, with everything that we heard about Charleston, we all wanted to get there and have a good look around. So off we went, 27kts. we were going to just haul ass until we saw fish, or Charleston.
Well, we saw mammals.
And that was about all we saw. Again. Dead water! I am quite shocked by that. Home, in RI, there seems to always be someone plying the water, and at most times of the day/night. We have commercial traffic, tugs and barges, charter boats, and recreational boaters. I said it earlier, its a bit eerie.
Pulling into Charleston was a cinch, and the trip up the river to the MEGADOCK (saying this my best Pro-Wrestler voice) was one of the easiest ports we have been to so far.
Look! Another Boat!!
Nothing like a massive, yacht friendly marina to make you feel poor all over again. The MEGADOCK caters to all of the large boats passing through the area.
This monster was the Perini-Navi yacht Tamsen.( <---click 2007="" a="" amazing="" amp="" an="" article="" as="" at="" azores="" charleston="" circles="" cost="" estimated="" for="" freakin="" fter="" heading="" in="" inch="" is="" it="" k="" known="" life.="" link="" med.="" money="" n="" nbsp="" not="" of="" ough="" p="" professional="" s="" that="" the="" then="" to="" typo="" uilt="" was="" what="" you="">
Well, past that, Charleston was great. Plenty to see and do, as well as eat, we had a great day bopping around and feeling like Yankees. We even hit the Daughters of the Confederacy Museum, which made me feel a bit weird, almost like I was doing something wrong. Needless to say, the clientele was from a rather narrow demographic. I didn't sign the guest book. Lunch at Hyman's was very good, and speaking to the owner for a while was a delight. Very interesting place to say the least!
And, as per usual, our time goes by much too fast, and leaves our boat to enjoy the fine southern weather while we head home to toil away, in hopes of saving up enough money to feed her yet again.
Next installment, Hatteras, and our week in the Outer Banks. Stay Tuned, and thanks for reading.
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