Owen Symington

Our first stop in Florida. The weather has turned cooler with North winds. Short trip to Fernandina where we will spend the next five days. Slowing down as we have the whole month of December in Florida.

Winds were consistently 10-15kts SW, building waves with a short period. Made for a very long bumpy ride all day and night. Sailed for about an hour coming out of Charleston but then beating into it, slowed by the waves would have taken us three days to get here. Around 5am wind and waves started settling down and wind shifted to a beam. We were able to motor sail and made good time (7kts) for the last few hours so made our goal of coming in the entrance to St. Mary’s at slack tide. Clear skies all day and night so the sunset, stars, moon rise (around 2:30AM) and sunrise were all spectacular. Not much sleep. Absolutely gorgeous anchorage in the Cumberland Sound and a beautiful hot day. Looking forward to exploring the island tomorrow.

Another windy day, had some current assist today and timed it well to pass Isle of Palm shoaling area at high tide. Very sporty coming across Charleston Harbor to the Ashley River with choppy seas and high winds. Docked in high winds and a strong current on the “Mega Dock” amongst super yachts. Had dinner and drinks in the French Quarter.

Cooler weather but sunny. Windy with between 10-17kts but no room for sailing in the ICW. Some very shallow and narrow spots along the route. Saw some dolphins. Winds were strong enough to build up waves within the stretch of the ICW just before our anchorage. Awendaw Anchorage is just off the ICW in a wide cut through low lying grasslands. Fairly strong tidal current. Good holding. Clear sunny skies but only 4C this morning.

Nice stretch of the ICW as it’s deeper and wider through the Maccamaw River. The water was full of floating Water Hyacinths. They look like small branches and occasionally you can see blooms on them. Georgetown is a quaint village with a main street full of shops and restaurants and a boardwalk along the water. Harborwalk marina docks and facilitate very nice and staff are helpful. Were docked right in front of a high end hotel, The George where we had a great dinner last night. Have been looking for alligators but still haven’t seen any.

Easy motor along the ICW, only one bridge to request opening. Little boat traffic. Lots of homes and docks along the way. Anchored just off the ICW behind Oat Island. No wind. Sunny warm day. Nice to have Lynn aboard.

Started out cloudy and very gusty winds, max 25kts gust with 10kts average on the beam. Winds decreased as day went on. Motored down the ICW, passed inlets with significant shoaling. Two swing bridges opened as we approached, very little boat traffic today. Will stay here for two nights, Lynn flying in tomorrow to spend a few days on the boat with us 😊

Short trip to knock off some miles toward Myrtle Beach, not great weather with rain and high winds forecast but for the couple hours we were underway wind direction & current cooperated and little rain. Nice marina. Really like the town, we had a quick walk around in the rain. Great burger at Oliver’s, bought some great cheese at the Southport Cheese Shoppe (thanks Sherry & Nicole) and had a great cocktail at Fishy Fishy.

After a leisurely morning at anchor we left for a short trip down the ICW to Carolina Beach. This stretch of the ICW has several inlets from the ocean with areas of shoaling caused by the currents. Following the charts carefully takes a lot of concentration so it was nice to have a very short 11nm tip today. Stopped at Carolina Beach YC for fuel and a pump out. Pump out is out of service and won’t be repaired this season. So we continued on to the Town of Carolina Beach Marina, guided in by the Harbor master, Larry - pump out is self serve and free. We had reserved a mooring ball but due to a mix up none were available so Larry gave us a slip at the Marina for tonight. We took a walk on the beach and the board walk. Beautiful warm late afternoon. Stopped for a bite to eat at Sunny Daze Smokehouse with a view of the ocean. Good pulled pork and brisket. Then icecream at Beach Bunny.

About 10kts wind behind us. Current both with and against us at different times in the tide. Another day of playing keep the boat in the narrow channel and avoid the areas that shoal. Thank goodness for Bob423 and his wonderful tracks that he shares with all boaters. Thanks Bob!!