Titusville - at last

Sunrise over Daytona - we do get up early sometimes...

When we were in the Skull Creek marina, we backed out and the current was so strong we flipped our dinghy and backed into a line on our dinghy. We thought we were in the clear when the diver took the last of the rope off the prop and we motored strongly afterwards with no ill effects. The next day was uneventful as we motored to Ft Matanzas and anchored out. However, the next day we started hearing a rattling when the rpm's went above 2200. We thought perhaps there as something still on the prop so we went through a backing up routing several times but the rattling was still there above 2200 rpm. We motored to our Daytona anchorage and had no ill effects as long as the rpm's were low. Today we motored for Titusville and the top rpm without a rattle gradually grew less. As we enter Titusville, we couldn't get above 1800 without the dreaded sound.

So now we think that either we still have something on the prop or the cutlass bearing has deteriorated, allowing the shaft to wobble and produce the noise. Strangely, it doesn't produce any noise in reverse, even at 3000 rpm (as we tried to spin off anything on the prop). We have a diver coming Saturday to look at the prop and the cutlass bearing and we'll take it from there. In addition to that we have to get the rear oil seal on the engine replaced, a separate issue. It will be a busy couple of weeks.

Titusville is full!

I guess the word has gotten out about Titusville. It's busier than I've ever seen it. In fact, it's almost full. Usually C dock is almost empty but not anymore. The new management has taken great steps to make the marina one of the best on the east coast. All the docks have key card gates for security, the WiFi is first rate and suitable for streaming Netflix, no problem there. There's a dog park for pet lovers right next door and lots of trails for running and walking. Downtown is within walking distance and Enterprise is nearby with their $10/day weekend rate. Tonight we had Papa John's pizza delivered to the boat, great service.

Now I have to schedule the repairs on the boat in time for us to leave for the holidays up north. We'll see how that goes after the diver comes Saturday morning.

Daytona - at anchor at the Bethune Park anchorage

Nice anchorage, nice docks for Hoolie

It's only 35 Nm from Ft Mantanzas to our anchorage in Daytona at the Bethune Park anchorage. It's easy to enter, easy to anchor with lots of room and there's a free dinghy dock for Hoolie relief. It has all the requirements for having a dog on board. We've used the anchorage for the last three years and it's perfect for us. We used to continue onward to Rockhouse Creek but at the height of the migration south, it can get crowded. There is no possibility of this anchorage getting crowded. Along the way we discovered that the Ft Mantanzas shallows has a buoy off station, R80B is far to the east of its charted position. Boats that try to honor the buoy (pass it to starboard going south) have gone aground! I put an update to Active Captain and a note to Cruisernet on the problem. All you have to do is follow the green buoys for 8.7 MLW all the way. The catamaran behind me went aground when it went towards R80B.

Along the way, why all the large screens?

Well, we've developed some problems aboard Fleetwing. We have a new oil leak that needs to be addressed. The engine has 4200 hours on it and the seals are starting to seep. On top of that, just today we developed a rattling sound when the engine is rev'ed to above 2100. We're wondering if that's due to the worn cutlass bearing from wrapping the dinghy line around the prop? So now we have two concerns and we're limping into Titusville hoping to get both addressed before we return in January for our trip to Key West. Boating is always an adventure.

The weather continues to be outstanding and we are on our last leg to Titusville. We got a call from them this morning asking if we were still coming and we replied, "Of course". I think the word has gotten out about Titusville and the value it has for the cruising community. They said they had twice the business they had last year.

A Daytona sunset't need that level of support!

We talked long distance today with our Volvo mechanic, Brian McDonnell about our rattling and leak. He is an outstanding resource and runs McDonnell Marine which has the largest inventory in the northeast of Volvo parts. Their staff travels all over the east coast to fix Volvos. I hope I don't need that level of support.

We'll leave early Thursday to allow for lots of time to reach Titusville, 42 Nm south. We can't go at our usual 7.3 kts with the rattle so it will take longer than usual.

Ft Mantanzas - at anchor

Ft Mantanzas - It's a national monument, free tours

Our neighbor who we were tied to wanted to leave at first light, an earlier start than what we're used to but since we were on the outside, we obliged. Along the way the devastation from Matthew was apparent all along the ICW. Mostly it took the form of torn up docks and walkways to the docks. The houses seemed okay and the boats must have been stored elsewhere. There is a lot of cleanup work to do still. The free docks where we stayed was piled high with grasses. Interestingly, they were not allowed to just put the grasses back into the creek where they came from. They had to be carted off somewhere else. As a result, the docks were piled high and only about half the width of the dock was available for a walkway.

Typical scene along the way, lots of this type of dock damage

We've taken to running the heater in the cockpit to keep the windows clear, it's better than raising the window which lets a lot of cold air in. We need our 3000 watt Prosine inverter for that but it works well and the batteries are still being charged by the 100 amp alternator. We like our comforts.

We stopped by St Augustine for fuel. They are functional except for the moorings which still needed inspection. There were a lot of anchored boats. We arrived at the  Bridge of Lions at noon, not a good time since it does not open at noon, otherwise it's every 1/2 hour.

On the way to Ft Mantanzas we had a dolphin race along side Fleetwing, the second time we've seen that. Ann took a video.  This time there was only one, Hoolie kept a close eye on him, no boarding!!

We plan on anchoring out at Daytona as our last stop before Titusville. It's another anchorage with Hoolie relief nearby, this time via a town dock. Then it's our home away from home in Titusville.

Jacksonville Free Docks - Fendered to a boat at the dock

Fernandina is closed!

The Jekyll Island anchorage was calm as usual and we rose to another perfect day. We headed towards Fernandina which was on the way to the Jacksonville free docks. Fernandina was devastated. We saw a 1/2 dozen boats up on land and there were probably more that have already been recovered. The town marina was closed. No fuel, no transient docks, no dinghy docks, nothing. We heard that it wouldn't' be until April at the earliest until it's reopened according to the local newspaper. You can anchor, or course, but you have no shore access. The moorings are not open either.

No dinghy dock either

Onward we went. The shallows south of Fernandina are no longer a problem. Taylor Engineering with a contract from the Army Corps of Engineers did a depth survey of the shallows and found a 9 MLW path. They published a set of waypoints which I put into a GPX file labeled BFernRed on GPX Routes on my website at fleetwing.blogspot.com. Why sweat the shallows when you have a known good route through the problems? At some point in time, I'm told the Coast Guard will reposition the buoys so we will all be taking the route at sometime in the future. If you have BFernRed then you can take that route now. The rest of the shallow spots are about the same as before Matthew, just follow my posts on Active Captain or in my book.

One of a half dozen boat still up on land at Fernandina

When we reached the Jacksonville free dock we found it full! There were eight boats already docked. We were able to tie up to one of the boats already there so we are secure for the night. The boat between us and the dock will be leaving at first light so we will be leaving at first light too, around 7:15 am, another early start. That should put us into Ft Mantanzas with time to spare and two days away from Titusville!

Secure for the night

Jekyll Island Anchorage - On the hook

Good looking area for a Hoolie walk

We left at first light in order to have good water at both Mud River and Jekyll Island. We saw one depth down to 4.3 MLW just before the southern exit of Mud River. We had enough tide for that not to be a problem. More details are on my Active Captain post.

The nearby Jekyll Harbor Marina has nice grounds

We made good time and reached Jekyll Island by 1:00 pm and entered the passage with a 5.3 ft tide which was fortunate, we needed it. In the spring of 2016 I mapped out a route that resulted in a minimum of 5.7 MLW but when I took the same route today the least depth I saw was only 3.1 MLW! What a change from the spring! Not being satisfied with that reading, we anchored just south of the bridge and I took the dinghy north to make more readings. I noticed a sailboat with a 5.5 ft draft that was hard aground by G19. On one side of the grounded sailboat I measured 3 ft and on the other side I got a reading of only 1.5 ft. He was not going anywhere soon. So I did a bunch of soundings between G17 and G19 which was the shallowest I saw in my afternoon run, the 3.1 MLW. I found that the deepest water follows the green side shore (outside of turn) and then sweeps across about halfway to G19 to pass G19 by 80 ft. The minimum on that path is 4.0 MLW, still not wonderful but much better than 3.1 MLW.

Once past G19, the best water is again on the green side by 100 to 200 ft off the red markers towards the green side. You will notice the land curves away and the current and channel follows. You have to resist the temptation to head directly for the bridge once you clear R20 and R20A, resist that temptation and curve around to the green side, it's much deeper, 6 to 6.5 MLW.

It's calm, it's quiet and there's shore access via a dinghy dock - what's not to like

The weather is nothing short of wonderful for traveling. This anchorage is still one of the undiscovered along the ICW. The charts scare most people away, they show only 4 ft at low tide but the charts are wrong. We know it and we've entered the info into Active Captain but many still don't use the anchorage. It's 10 to 12 MLW on a line 20 degrees magnetic from R24. There is a public dinghy dock which we enjoy for Hoolie relief so it is very convenient for us. The holding is outstanding, drop the anchor and forget it.

On Monday we plan on docking at the town free docks by Sister's Creek if there is room. That would position us well for our run to the anchorage at Ft Mantanzas. It's another little used anchorage since the approach is not documented on charts but we know how to get in and have posted the directions on Active Captain.

Crescent River - at anchor

At anchor in Crescent River

After the events of yesterday, we were looking for a more relaxing day. It started off nice with calm winds and full sunshine. The first test of the day was at Hell Gate which is very shallow at low tide. We had 7 ft of tide so I was not expecting any problems and besides, we found 5.1 MLW in the spring. On this pass through we did not see the same depths. The first turn going south was not a problem with a 5.3 MLW depth but I did increase the stand off from G89 from 80 ft to 120 ft to get the additional depth.

After that I thought all was golden but was surprised to see 3.7 MLW on the way south between R90 and G91 in the middle of the channel. A new shoal? I didn't have time to see if I could go around it. It was centered in the channel. So for me it's back to waiting for tide to navigate Hell Gate.

Enjoying a sunset form the cockpit is one of the great pleasures of cruising

We reached the turn off for the Wahoo Creek anchorage and decided to press onward to the Crescent River anchorage which we had never used before. It has even more room than the Wahoo anchorage and also has shore access for pets, at both low and high tide. I think we'll make this anchorage our regular stop from now on between Savannah and Jekyll Island. We are well positioned for Mud River and we'll have at least a 5 ft tide in going through.

We had a great visit tonight from the crew of Lani, a catamaran. It's great fun meeting people along the ICW, it's one of the great treasures of cruising. We hope to reach the Jekyll Island anchorage Sunday night. It's one of our favorites since it's well protected and has a public dinghy dock for Hoolie.

Hinckley Yacht Services at Savannah - At their dock, a long day, many errors

This boat goes for about four Fleetwings

We got up in good cheer intending to reach Kilkenny Marina which would have put us a day ahead of schedule but it was not to be. Our slip at Skull Creek Marina was buried deep into the slips. The long face dock with fuel was wiped out by Matthew, it's all in pieces now. The current was pushing us into the slip at a 1.5 kt rate so we opt'ed to back out and once we had steerage, just to continue backing out all the way rather than trying to make a quick turn in a 1.5 kt current in a narrow fairway. So far so good, it was an okay plan. The backing out part worked just fine. The problem came in that we had to rev the engine so much to make headway in reverse against a 1.5 kt current that the dinghy got caught sideways behind the boat and flipped over. Still not a big problem since it floated fine that way.

What's left of the fuel dock at Skull Creek Marina

What was not so fine was that once we made it out of the marina and prepared to flip the dinghy upright by hauling it with the motor hoist, I noticed that one of the two oars was hanging on by a thread. So I was carefully trying to reach the oar which, naturally, was at the farther point from my reach and in the process the oar let go and started to float away. At least it floated so we turned the boat around and did a man overboard drill which we flunked. After three tries we couldn't get close enough to snag the oar until we put Fleetwing into reverse and backed up to the oar. Got the oar!

However, in the process of doing that, there was a line off the aft of the dinghy (not the painter) that we had used to tie the dinghy to a dock that found its way to the propeller! Not a nice sound! I do not have "spurs" on the prop but it still cut the line and we had propulsion but all was not right. There was a vibration and our top speed was cut by a knot.

Finally we decided to motor on at a reduced speed to Hinckley Yacht Services in Savannah where we've always had excellent service in the past. Dustin, the yard manager, made room for us and even had a diver waiting for our arrival. Ann docked Fleetwing in a 1.5 kt current (a Captain Ron maneuver for those who know the film except those on the dock didn't flee) and the diver had the rest of the aft line from the dinghy off the prop in less than five minutes, just outstanding service. If you even need anything done right on your boat, come here.

So today was a learning exercise. We've been in boating since 1985 but we still have a lot to learn:
Problem 1: Flipped over the dinghy
Error 1: I should have put out enough line so the dinghy could trail along side the boat and not be stuck directly behind sideways.
Problem 2: An oar came loose and floated away
Error 2: I knew that one oar was not securely fastened, I should have fixed that  before it became a problem. Oars should stay with the dinghy even when it's upside down
Problem 3: Wrapped one of the aft dinghy lines around the prop while backing up to retrieve the oar.
Error 3:I saw the line in the water but it didn't register due to sensory overload from backing up and tracking the oar. Besides, are those extra lines really necessary?? A second besides, they should at least all be floating lines. On the dinghy only the painter was floating, the aft lines were not. Those extra lines are no longer on the dinghy!!
Problem 4:  Although we could still motor, part of the dinghy line was still wrapped around the prop and when the diver cut it off, it was apparent that it had melted part of the shaft bushing, not good.
Error 4: I motored about 20 miles to Hinckley and probably made the problem worse compared to stopping at Skull Creek and having the line removed before extended motoring could damage the shaft bushing which is a plastic sleeve.

The diver confirmed that the prop was okay but thought he felt a slight wobble in the shaft. We took Fleetwing out for a test run after removing the line and Ann ran it through a series of rpm's while I was down below feeling the shaft for any vibration (there wasn't any) and ensuring I could see water entering the shaft bushing for adequate cooling. There was no water leakage and the shaft felt cool. After all that excitement, we're going to move on Saturday and plan on anchoring at Wahoo Creek. I hope tomorrow will be less exciting...