kadey krogen – MV Privateer

Gulf Stream crossing strategy 2021

gulf stream crossing strategy

Getting across the Gulf Stream without undue drama is often a challenge in late Fall. Our tytpical approach is to get down to Lake Worth and hang out till conditions fit our criteria. More on that later.

Privateer plans

Normally we are in no particular hurry to get across. Usually our first schedule commitment is to meet up with our sons in the Exumas for Christmas. But this year we planned a major family reunion for Thanksgiving in Spanish Wells. Still not a problem if there were no boat mechanical issues and the weather pattern was typical. Unfortunately, that is not how it worked out. We spent a week on the hard in early November dealing with a propeller vibration issue.

As the work progressed we watched the weather, hoping the boat would be ready when a weather window opened up. By the 9th we were seeing a possible window for the 12th, but at that point we had neither props or shafts installed. Since this post is about the GS and not our mechanical issues, I will skip the details and just say that the last technician left the boat at 6pm on the 11th and we departed the morning of the 12th. Our sea trial would be conducted as we motored out Lake Worth inlet.

Gulf stream crossing strategy

Back to our criteria for GS crossings. Our usual navigation approach is to cross perpendicular to the current, with constant course over ground (COG) and speed through the water (STW, while varying heading (HDG) as required to hold course and letting speed over ground (SOG) be what it will be. We let the autopilot drive the boat.

This method, sailing the shortest distance from one side of the stream to the other, is the most efficient for our boat speed of 8+ knots, versus the typical GS current of 2- 2.5 knots. Normally we cruise a bit slower for fuel efficiency, but the greater the speed differential between the boat and the current, the less effect the current has on the overall trip. With a slower boat, or significantly stronger current, the shortest time approach, holding HDG and accepting the set, might be more efficient. Back to our criteria for crossing conditions.

Weather and seas

A forecast of NE 5-10G15 and 3′ seas will keep us in port. These conditions will create a rather nasty set of steep, short period seas near the nose, often much higher than the forecast suggests. Change the wind direction to NW and we will accept a little more wind. Winds with a southerly component still seem to stir up the stream more than they would on no-current waters so even with a southerly wind we avoid anything over 20 knots.

So lets get back to this crossing. By Wednesday the forecast for Friday was looking better. We use Windy and Predict Wind for their presentation of the various GRIB models. If the GRIBS are not in agreement, we tend to place more stock in the Euro model. We rely on NOAA for a summary and Chris Parker for a sanity check. Chris’ approach is to forecast the worst conditions one would likely encounter, so if his forecast meets our criteria we are good to go. We usually start looking a week out and then watch the trends. On Tuesday, NOAA was predicting NW10-15G20 and 4-5′, a no-go, but by Wednesday had dropped back to 5-10G15, a favorable trend.

Here is what the GRIB models were forecasting, courtesy of Windy:

Windy forecast with Euro model as of Tuesday for Friday

A minor risk of squalls and maybe a thunderstorm but otherwise a great forecast. This forecast pretty much held through Friday morning and was supported by both NOAA and Chris Parker. All the forecasts suggested a NE swell at 3′ and 9 seconds, coming down to 2′ later in the day. We were a GO!

Geluf stream current forecasts

The GS forecast for current speeds also looked pretty good. We use Passage Weather for these stream forecasts. The max current of 2.5-3 knots looked to be for a fairly narrow slice of the stream, with mostly 1 to 2 knots. We have encountered as much as 4 knots but that is more typical closer to the Keys.

We cleared the break wall at Lake Worth inlet at about 8am and in less than five miles we began to pick up a little current. Luckily, the swell was already 2′ or less and just got better from then on. The following table lays out our trip with mileage, speeds courses and headings. From this data I was able to calculate the set and drift of the current. Using the Passage Weather chart I estimated the current at intervals along the route and compared them to actual performance.

Actual Set and drift

I was surprised to see that despite a maximum crab angle of 21 degrees at 1000am, our speed over ground was still pretty good at 7.9 knots. That can be explained by the NNE set during the strongest portion of the stream. All this assumes our speed through the water was in fact a steady 8.3 knots, which may have been a bit low. We had essentially flat seas and at times a bit of a tail wind which might have improved speed through the water.

Once we were within sight of West End the current was minimal so we cut the corner a bit and headed straight for Spanish Wells, arriving at about 9am on Saturday. I had been so rushed when we were leaving that I never checked on the moon phase. I was happy to see a half moon near overhead just after sunset that lasted until the early ours of the next day. Plenty of tankers and cruise ships (yes, they are back) on this route but they all played nice and dodging them gave us something to do.

Sunrise as Privateer approaches Spanish Wells

Now that we are here we appreciate how lucky we were to find any window at all. Wishing all of you will find equally pleasant weather windows.

Flopper Stoppers on Privateer

We installed flopper stoppers as part of the build and commissioning process three years ago. And never used them until just last week. Not that we haven’t rolled, we have. But were heretofore either too lazy or too late to deploy them. More on the “too late” comment later.

For those of you unfamiliar with the various stabilization options for a trawler such as ours, there are two approaches to enhanced stabilization while running, paravanes or hydraulic fins. We have hydraulic fins for stabilization while underway. They work well, as long as the hydraulic systems are operational. Paravanes also work well, but do not require hydraulics, so you might see a serious ocean crossing trawler with both for redundancy.

Paravanes and flopper stoppers look somewhat similar, so might be confused with each other. But paravanes drag a “fish” though the water that dives with speed and this creates very strong loads on the system. Paravane systems are therefore pretty beefy. You see them on commercial fishing boats everywhere.

Flopper stoppers just pull drag panels up and down while the boat is at anchor and therefore are not nearly so strong. Looking at the picture above, you can see how the system functions. Poles are deployed from either side of the superstructure, guyed from the mast above and then with lines fore and aft. The drag panels, we call them doors, are then lowered from the boat deck into the water. They function by sinking easily but providing resistance when pulled up; the “doors” open and close in opposition to each other with the roll of the boat.

Here is one of the doors. You can see it is hinged down the centerline, with cables for connection to the down line. They are about 3’x3′ and weigh about 20lbs. They can be a bit awkward to raise and lower. They can easily bang against the hull if you either are not careful, or you are already rolling. And this is what I meant about being “too late” to deploy the system.

These guy lines hold the pole out perpendicular to the boat and horizontal with the water.

Pole attaches to the side of the boat at the upper boat deck

The poles tuck up against the boat deck when folded back and then pivot out when deployed. The operation can be a little tricky. The attachment point also needs to be well reinforced. We specified the system at time of build so this area was beefed up in the mold. This can be accomplished as an aftermarket operation but requires a bit of work, with maybe some advice and councel from the builder. I know some folks have mounted their poles lower on the hull in order to make it easier to reinforce.

Note that we have a mast. We had originally specified an arch but the builder determined that the arch did not have sufficient height to enable the angles necessary to support the poles. Now that we have the mast, we sorta like the look! As an aftermarket install to a boat with an arch, a center pole for support might work well.

Our poles are carbon fiber to keep them light, but aluminum works well. They look like re-purposed spinnaker poles and that is probably what they are (were).

Deployment takes about 15 minutes if you keep all the lines attached. We are looking at adding additional lines to aide in dropping the doors over the side and may have storage bags fabricated that attach to the outside of the boat deck rails to simplify deployment and retrieval.

So, how does the system work? We are quite pleased with our first experience. We were anchored in a bay with direct wind protection but were expecting a wrap around swell with an oncoming front. When the swell arrived we did roll, but the roll max angle was lower than expected, the roll rate was much slower and the roll attenuated much faster than in the past. After an initial roll, the next roll was about 50% of the first, and so on.

This was a mild swell, visible to the eye but less than a foot in height. Plenty to roll us when abeam the swell. We were able to sleep through the night just fine.

We do have a concern about what we would do if we needed to vacate an anchorage in an emergency. Lots of gear in the water. Although we haven’t tried it, we believe we could motor short distances at low speed, to re-anchor for example, with the doors just raised out of the water. For more estensive maneuvering we could pull the doors up on deck but leave the poles extended. Not a perfect solution, but it could be done quickly.

We are headed to Cambridge Cay next and will be there for a month. With a strong North wind a pretty good swell can come in so we will deploy the system for the entire month and report back on performance.

Cambridge Cay – Exuma Land and Sea Park

We spent the month of February as volunteer mooring field hosts for the Exuma Land and Sea Park. Our primary duties were to collect mooring fees, explain the park rules and provide information on snorkelling and hiking in the park. We also cleared trails and picked up trash. And despite all the work we managed to do a fair amount of hiking and snorkelling ourselves. All in all, a very nice way to spend a month in the park.

Every day we travel throughout the mooring field to collect fees. Usually a mid-day trip and then one more before happy hour. takes about an hour a day. The field has nine balls for cruisers and three for mega yachts.

The mega yachts in the park are sort of a mixed blessing. They bring much needed revenue, paying $100-150 per night, but sometimes bring more noise and activity than some folks would like. For the most part, they behaved themselves, but we probably don’t need the jet skis.

The land is rather arid but the vegetation still manages to overgrow the trails so we spent a few days hacking back the sides of the trails and adding markers to make them easier to find.

Happy hour on the sand bar at Cambridge Cay

We are also often the social directors for the anchorage. All that means is that we announce a happy hour on the beach. Easy to get a crowd.

We maintain a 24 hour radio watch, just in case some emergency arises in the field. Mostly pretty quiet for the month but these folks had a problem with their batteries and could not start their engine. No TowBoat US down here. Or anything remotely resembling a boatyard. Luckily we carry a set of battery cables and we were able to jump start his engine with a spare battery he was carrying.

We also rescued a “dinghy in distress” trying to row back from Rocky Dundas. Took us 20 minutes just to tow them back so no telling how long it would have taken them to row against the current.

We are part of a study of fish migration sponsored by the Smithsonian. Whenever we anchor we put a sensor overboard that responds to RFIDs on tagged fish. We wont find out what fish we have tracked until the finder is returned next spring.

We spent lots of time in the water “harassing” the green turtles. After a while they just ignored us and if I was in the water I could get pretty close for a photo.

This is one of our favorite beaches on the island. Not really a blue hole as it is only 30 ft deep or so, but the colors are special. Kayaks were a perfect means of transportation because the area dries at low.

kayaks at Blue Hole Beach, Cambridge Cay

One stunning view after another. Just when you think you have seen everything in the area you get a view like this.

Spotted eagle rays came by most every day. Occasionally they would leap entirely out of the water. Pretty impressive for a beast with an 8′ wingspan.

Sting rays are everywhere and rely on their coloration to hide in the shallows. We were careful to shuffle our feet when wading. In the kayaks it was possible to go right on top of them before they would spook. This one reminds me of the F117 stealth fighter.

One of our favorite snorkelling sites is called the sea aquarium. Just a small indentation in the rocks but after years of folks feeding them, the fish are quite friendly. If you don’t feed them they finally get bored with you.

The fish will get close enough that you can even touch them.

This guy was a little less friendly.

Queen conch is endangered throughout the Bahamas due to over-harvesting, some of it legal and some not. The park is a no-take zone and has become a critical part of protection and regeneration of all sorts of marine life. These conch would be easy picking outside the park and the fact that they are even here at all suggests that the park’s efforts to protect the wildlife is working.

In our snorkeling we have seen spiny lobster, Nassau grouper, and many other species of over-harvested wildlife that are rarely seen outside the park but are doing well inside the boundaries of the park. There are a number of marine protection zones in the Bahamas besides Exuma park but Exuma park is the only one with the resources to combat poaching. Hopefully more will be done in the future.

While we are at Cambridge there is little opportunity to replenish stores. Once a week or so someone from the park staff comes by and takes Lisa in to Staniel Cay for a little grocery shopping.

Nurse sharks are constant visitors to the anchorage. They are pretty harmless. Caribbean Reef sharks come by as well and are less docile. They pretty much ignore swimmers, as long as they aren’t being fed. Unfortunately some visitors to the park dont understand this and we have had to admonish a few folk.

Most visitors cant distinguish from one shark species to another and feeding nurse sharks is a popular tourist draw at some of the local marinas. So visitors come to Cambridge and feed the sharks that come under their boat. But they are feeding Reef sharks while other boats have kids swimming near by. We have also seen Hammerhead sharks in the park and others have seen tiger sharks. Lets hope nothing happens.

The colors of sand and sea and sky in the park are just incredible. Every time we think we have found the ultimate beach, we find one more. This is on the northern tip of Obrien’s Cay, just around the corner from the sea aquarium

This is not from Cambridge, but from Hog Cay, another park mooring field. We spent a week there, hiding from a significant cold front. We were the only boat there for the entire week. Lots of current, but excellent mooring ball.

When we visited the park last year the moorings were in a state of disrepair. Joe and Nicola Ierna had just taken over as park administrators and were focusing on replacing all the gear. None too soon as we saw at least two boats break their moorings in the month we were there. For our month of volunteer work that year I dove and installed my own line to the anchor post on the bottom.

The new mooring gear is beefy, to say the least. Mega yachts lay on the same size gear as the cruiser boats so we can feel pretty safe. The down line is now all chain and the pendant is 1.5″ nylon. Also, the ball itself is not part of the system, a significant improvement over the old design.

Speaks for itself. Another day well spent at Cambridge. We were sad to leave but will likely return next year.

This was our second year to volunteer at Cambridge and it was equally rewarding. We met hundreds of cruisers passing through, collected neary $10,000 in mooring and anchoring fees, and did a bit to clean up our little part of the park. And managed to have some fun doing it.

Having visited the park a number of times over the last few years, we are excited about the revitalized efforts to improve the park now that Joe and Nicola, along with Brent the warden, are on board. The new moorings, the increased policing, the upgrade of the facilities, all are much needed and much appreciated. We are blessed to have them running the park and equally blessed to call them friends.

Canaveral to Key West

We made it to Key West, a milestone of sorts. We are here for a month or so and will celebrate Christmas with our two sons. Then it is off to the Bahamas.

The leg from Canaveral to Key West was relaxed as we had time to kill before our slip reservation at Boca Chica Marina near Key West. Our first night out promised to be lumpy with strong winds out of the North so we chose Suntex Marina (formerly Loggerhead) in Vero Beach. We had never been there and were somewhat concerned about the channel as there were numerous Active Captain comments about hard obstructions in or near the channel. All I can say is that we had no issues and I would estimate at least 6′ at low tide. Once inside, the marina was very nice and totally protected.

We followed up with some locals regarding the channel and one fellow provided us a set of soundings that he had taken with his dinghy. Those soundings did show some shoal area encroaching on a portion of the channel, not quite reaching the centerline. I am sure those write-ups in AC were true, in that the boats hit something, but maybe not so accurate in that whetever they hit, it was not on centerline. We left the next morning following our breadrumbs from the day before without any problems.

The charts show just a few pilings but there are actually 8-10 on each side of the channel so it isnt that hard to stay centered. If anyone wants a copy of the soundings for the channel, send me an email.

A note on Active Captain. I read the reviews and check the hazzard comments on my route, but often the hazzards just arent there. All I can figure is that the authors just werent where they thought they were when they encountered the problem. As best I can tell, nobody reviews the data and once a hazard is logged, it stays on the charts forever, despite numerous comments that the hazard just isnt there. More on this later.

Our next stop was Peck Lake. This is another interesting spot becasue the charts show the area to be 3-5′ deep when there is a large area 10′ or greater. But the only way to figure out just how large the area is requires probing with your hull. Not my favorite. In this case, the AC comments are helpful as they describe where the “gate” is as you leave the ICW and enter the anchorage.

For us it was fairly easy because there were just a few boats there. We picked a spot with plenty of swing room and felt a good set on the anchor. By the way, you know how a dog circles his spot before lying down? I understand that is to insure he doesnt cover a gopher hole or whatever. Well the same sort of move works with a boat. If we arent sure we will have minimum depth throughout our predicted swing we will circle our spot to confirm, doggy style.

It looked like a fine evening, until the bugs arrived. And did they ever. By morning we were covered in bugs that looked sort of like mosquitoes but didn’t bite. They just left stains everywhere. And they stayed with us for days. What a mess.

Our next stop was Lake Worth to an anchorage just south of the inlet. There are three options for anchoring here. Just south of the inlet, at the northern most AC symbol, you can anchor just south of the channel. It is close if you want to enter or leave in the dark. But the current is strong and it is quite deep at 20′ or so. The next spot, just south of the large spoil area, is close to the inlet but somewhat crowded with a mix of moored and anchored boats. Further south, roughly east of Rybovich Marina, is 1.7 miles from the inlet but wide open. We chose this spot and had a pleasant night.

We left the next morning just before sunrise. There is added light from land so not so hard to leave in the dark and run along the docks to the inlet. Lucky for us, the weather was perfect for an outside run to Miami, skipping the most concentrated series of bridges along the Florida coast.

We have anchored here a few times. Well protected but can be busy with tour boats, jet skis and the like. Better on weekdays. There are a couple of No Anchor spots as well. Under current Florida anchoring laws there are very few places you cannot anchor. These are some of them. The houses here are all million dollar plus and the rumor is, a few have enough political pull to prevent boats from disturbing their views. Whatever, still plenty of places to anchor that are out of the way of traffic and protected. Last year we anchored between San Marino and Di Lido, this year just SE of Palm. A good place to wait on a hop east to the Bahamas or, in our case, south to the Keys.

Our plan was to stay inside Biscayne Bay to Anglefish Creek, then go out to Hawk Channel for the rest of the trip to Key West.

Anglefish Creek is one of the last places a boat drawing 5′ or more can exit to Hawk Channel. The ICW continues but there are large portions where the depth is less than 5′, especially at anything but high tide. But reading the AC comments about the creek suggests there are areas of less than 5′ in the channel as well as hidden obstructions. Here is another example where blind allegiance to AC comments will keep you from going places that are safe.

Since we had a few days to kill, waiting on weather, I took the dinghy out and sounded the entire creek. I also talked with numerous boats passing through the creek in both directions. From my readings the lowest points are at the entrance and exit from the creek. On the Biscayne Bay side, the lowest point is 7′ MLLW and on the Hawk channel side, 6’3′. And I could not find any obstruction between marks 1 and 3 as AC described. I did chat with the author of the AC obstruction comment and I am sure he really did hit something at that point, but my guess is, it was some sort of partially sunk log that had since drifted off.

Our first time in Hawk Channel. My two comments; the barrier reef does cut the swell from the east, but doesn’t really help with the wind driven wave. And the number of crab floats will keep you paying close attention to your path through the mine field.

There are not a lot of anchorages with much protection from anything above 15 knots from the east so a run down Hawk channel requires a bit of weather planning. There are only a few bridges that will allow a cross over to the other side of the Keys in order to get out of wind or wave. We anchored one night on the far side of Channel Five Bridge and then went to a marina in Marathon to avoid a cold front.

WE spent a few days at Marathon Marina and Resort, just inside the channel into Boot Key Harbor. A very nice marina that is cruiser friendly and has decent rates for extended stays. Marathon served our purposes well but we had a hard time appreciating the attraction to the mooring field in Boot Key Harbor. Hundreds of boats here, many for the season. Nice weather, good protection and cheap rates, but not particularly attractive. And it is hard to fall in love with the town of Marathon itself.

We did enjoy a tour of the Turtle Hospital in Marathon, which is a real working turtle rehabilitation facility. Tours are a little pricey at $25 or so, but since the proceeds are important to funding their work, then maybe not so bad. We also checked out the bars in the area and give two thumbs up to the french fries at Burdine’s.

We next headed to Boca Chica and our marina for a month. Boca Chica is home to Key West Naval station airfield and an MWR marina. The marina was a mess after the last hurricane, with many boats sunk in their slips, but now it is up and running and nearly full. Not all repairs are complete but it is in pretty good shape. Tiki bar, small restaurant, beach, etc. And $1/ft. But only for military.

We are about seven miles from old town Key West, so having a car is helpful. We have been doing the tourist things in town, and it is a touristy town, but it is also a town with plenty of legitimate history if you look past the Tee shirt shops on Duval street. Maybe a dedicated blog post on Key West in the future.

The boys are both here for Christmas so their christmas present was a day of deep sea fishing. Fishing is a big deal here, with hundreds of charter boats available so choosing one boat was a challenge. We did a lot of internet searching but finally settled on a boat we had seen arriving at the dock by our happy hour bar. Among the six boats at the dock, this boat had the most fish. We chatted up the captain and liked him and hired he and his deck hand for the day before christmas. The boat name was Triple Time and I would recommend it. An older boat but a great crew. And of the returning boats, we had the biggest catch.

We caught all five tuna in about an hour. None before or after. Other boats that missed the window got nothing. Our captain said he had been doing this for 40 years so I am guessing our success was not just luck. The biggest tune weighed in at 25 lbs. We are still eating it.

We would have had one more tuna but a shark beat us to it.

The Trip South, from Norfolk to Port Canaveral

We have had enough weather surprises, mostly disappointments on this trip south, when actual conditions were worse than forecast. Nice to get a pleasant surprise now and then as we did for the trip from Savannah to Cape Canaveral. Overnight we had 10 knots from behind, a 2′ swell and 90% illumination all night. It just does not get any better than that.

Lets back up a bit. Our near term destination for this leg was to get to Key West in time to host our two sons for Christmas. We had five weeks, more than enough time to take it easy and maybe add a few side trips. our plan was to travel offshore whenever weather permitted, limiting it to one overnight at a time. Once we arrived in Florida we no longer had to worry too much about weather as we could always run inside, but we really wanted to avoid the leg between Lake Worth and Miami as the number of bridges can really get to be a pain in the neck.

From Mobjack we we next stopped at Atlantic Yacht Basin. Decent fuel prices, no current, friendly folk. Our favorite activity here is to tour the covered docks. Some beautiful older boats, including a spectacular Trumpy, in pristine condition.

Coinjock may become a tradition. A short run from AYB so we arrived early, which is good here, and enjoyed our prime rib. Coinjock dock hands are famous for stacking boats tightly here, often with overhang fore and aft, so getting here early makes arrival and tie up easier. Best you not be watching as they bring boats in behind you. And also best if you let some of the boats depart first.

From Coinjock we took the “road (somewhat) less traveled” down Pamlico Sound, stopping in Manteo and Ocracoke. Overall, this route is shorter than the ICW, less crowded and with fewer hazzards. The only drawback is that Pamlico Sound can get rather nasty in any significant winds. A 20 knot wind can set up a rather nasty 3 foot, 3 second wave pattern than is uncomfortable even for us. Our route is in blue, the ICW in green.

Manteo has a nice small marina, some anchoring opportunities and plenty of land adventure opportunities. The entrance channel is a little tricky, but holds aout 7′ at low tide at the worst spot. Note that sustained east or west winds can lower or raise depths by a foot or two. We rented bikes and went to Ft Raleigh, checked out the Lost Colony and the Alligator River National Wildlife Sanctuary Visitor Center. Oddly, while the actual sanctuary is on the peninsula astride the Alligator River, the Visitor Center is on Roanoke Island. Not sure why except maybe Roanoke is the closest civilization. The town of Manteo is pretty touristy, but still interesting. Enough locals live here to keep most shops and restaurants open even so late in the season.

Brings back memories of me as a kid. Outboards used to be hard to start

Ocracoke is sort of the gateway to the Outer Banks, with large ferries arriving every half hour in season. When we got there, in early November, the ferries were hourly but disgorged fewer travellers, mostly fishermen towing their center console boats from the mainland.

The channel to the basin is well marked and deep but there was some confusion due to recent dredging and changes in bouy locations. As we approached I watched a few ferries come and go on AIS and then adjusted my plotted route to overlay their tracks. That worked out pretty well as some of the route cuts across what the chart shows as shoal, and on the wrong side of a charted red buoy. As it turned out, you can ignore the charts and follow your eyeballs and do just fine. In most of the channel there is plenty of room to pass a ferry going the other way, but there are a few choke points so most cruisers either follow a ferry in or wait till the outgoing ferry exits. You can look up the ferry schedules on line and use that unfo to plan your trip in.

Once inside the basin there is a large area for anchoring and a few marinas. We docked at the NPS docks, which are very nice, and cheap for us. With a NPS pass, the dockage was $37 per night, including power. Unfortunately, quite a bit of dock space is not taken up by a new fast ferry dock located between the two floating docks, preventing access to any of this dock space.

This time of year, many stores and restaurants are closed but there are enough things open to satisfy your urge for fried whatever. We again rented bikes and went out to the shore. Pretty spectacular beaches with hardly any people. We walked a mile or so on one beach and never saw another person. Nice time to visit.

From Pamlico sound we rejoined the ICW and went to Morehead City Yacht Basin, which has become our staging point for running offshore. But this year the weather didn’t play nice so we stayed inside from Morehead City to Bald head. Not many good anchoring spots on this leg if you want to do it with one stop enroute so we booked a slip at Topsail Island Marina in Surf City. So, we are about 10 miles out from the marina, it is 3:30pm and we get a call from the marina on VHF. They tell us they are quite sorry but they had double booked our slip and it was now occupied. too bad, so sorry, good luck finding somewhere else to go. As the Seinfeld skit goes, they new how to take a reservation, they just didn’t know how to keep a reservation.

This put us in a bit of a bind. We called a few other marinas in the general area, but no luck. Searching the charts I found an anchorage that might work if we could get there before dark as we would have to clear the Surf City Bridge and it was on an hourly schedule. We went to mak speed, which for us is not much over 9 knots, and made the 5pm bridge with a few minutes to spare. Another 15 minutes to the anchorage and we had the anchor set by sundown. Not sure what we would have done if that had not worked out. Another boat in a similar situation as ours, who didnt make the bridge, anchored out in the ICW overnight. I cant imagine that working out well. Cruisers own the days on the ICW, tugs and barges own the night.

As it turned out, this was a very nice anchorage and we will use it again, I am sure.

Next day we went to Bald Head marina. Well protected and well situated for an offshore run. We rented bicycles and toured the island. From there we made an offshore hop to Savannah, stopping at Thunderbolt marina. The Krispy Cream donuts remain a big hit. We spent a day doing the tourist things, parks, old homes, restaurants, etc. before heading offshore again to Port Canaveral.

One of the many parks in downtown Savannah

As I mentioned ealier, the trp from Savannah to Port Canaveral was about as good as it gets. Calm seas, clear skies and full moon all night. We spent a few nights at Ocean Club marina and took a side trip to tour NASA’s Cape Kennedy site. Expensive at $50/pp ut worth it. takes a full day to see everything. We went on Thanksgiving day and that was a good choice as the place was nearly empty. Maybe 200 people for a place that is set up to handle thousands. Perfect.

this is a working shuttle landing simulator. I crashed repeatedly. Must be losing my touch

Our next leg is from Port Canaveral to Key West and will be the subject of my next blog entry.

The Potomac and Washington DC

Linciln, we could use someone like him just now

We left Mobjack and headed up the Potomac River, destination Washington DC. There are not that many protected anchorages on the river so settled weather makes the trip easier. We could do it in two long days but decided on two medium days and then a shorter hop in to DC on the third.

Our first night was spent at this anchorage in Breton Bay. Protection from most any direction can be found on one shore or the other. we had 15G20kn from the south and were quite comfortable.

Fairfiew Beach anchorage

This turned out to be a nice spot for our second night but it took a while to get a good anchor set. We first tried a few hundred yards east, just above the eastern AC marker. We were apparently on top of an oyster bed as the anchor dragged noisily across the bottom with the chain jumping on the roller. We kept moving west and tried three more times before finding classic Chesapeake mud. Feeling a little cautious, I put out much more chin than needed for conditions and paid the price in the morning washing all the mud off. Less than a knot of current.

The trip up the Potomac was mostly pleasant. Deep water, well marked and very little traffic. But the floating debris was a challenge. Large areas completely full of tree branches, large limbs and an occasional dead head. We hit a few that we never saw. No damge but it forced us to be on guard for the entire trip.

In DC we stayed at Capital Yacht Club. In the picture it is the large marina in the center. To the east is the former Gangplank Marina, now called the Wharf or Wharf Gangplank. To the west, empty in this photo, is the other half of the Wharf marina and is a new addition to the waterfront. The former Gangplank marina is now mostly local boats and the transients are put in the new Wharf Marina.

Between the two options, Capital Yacht Club is a much better deal. Cheaper, friendlier, quieter and good security. That said, a little harder to find a slip on short notice. We were on a Tee head and had very little trouble with being waked. The ferry traffic was constant but they stayed well clear and were slow. The noise came from the helicopters flying the low level route up the river. In my flying days I used to run these very routes. Max altitude is 200 feet. I must have made the trip a dozen times. We called it “training”. If we could have sold tickets I would be rich.

We were treated to quite a sight one morning. This is the Draken, a Viking replica ship on world tour. A friend of ours was crew on the Draken for her maiden crossing of the Atlantic so it was a treat to see her. The Draken was in Mystic when we were there this summer but all closed up. In DC we were able to tour her. A fascinating juxtapositioning of the traditional Viking sailing vessel and modern technology; a wood planked hull with radar and a sat phone. But the safety devices take nothing from the challenges and hardships involved in sailing such a vessel across the atlantic.

I used to live and work in Southeast DC. Lisa is quick to remind me just how long ago that was. Regardless, the waterfront has changed. Now the waterfront is all high rise condos, expensive restaurants and hotels. Incongruously, the small fish market has changed little from when I lived there.

Getting around has improved significantly since my days. A free shuttle gets you from the wharf to the Smithsonian, Uber and Lyft are everywhere and the subway is great. All in all, a great city to visit. Surprise of the trip? A tour of the Library of Congress. Much more than a library, so check it out if you are in town

Privateer plans

Gulf stream crossing strategy

Weather and seas

Geluf stream current forecasts

Actual Set and drift

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