1044 Miles and Counting

St. Augustine! I just dropped the hook minutes ago, and am now anchored somewhere in the harbor in St. Augustine FL, where exactly I have no idea, but I know I am in anchorage, and out of the channel, and as tired as I am that is good enough for me. There are several other boats right around me, so I know that this is at least a reasonable spot to stop in.

I came into the channel tonight just as the sun was setting, was a gorgeous sunset, but I really had to concentrate on getting in, as it is a fairly narrow channel that is constantly changing, and I wanted to be through the breakers before the daylight disappeared. I barely accomplished that. I made the inner channel just as darkness fell, not something I recommend, but the option was to anchor out in the ocean, and with weather coming in tomorrow, that really didn't seem like an option. So in I went, sort of a "damn the torpedoes" situation, and here I am, safely at anchor.

I guess the last post was from Fernandina Beach. When I left there my goal was St. Augustine, and I thought that I would be here yesterday, but, going on the outside (the ocean) I sail, and the wind just was not cooperating. At all. Almost no wind, and what wind there was to be had was coming right from where I wanted to be. So here we go again, tacking, tacking, tacking - zig zagging all over the place just trying to get somewhere, anywhere. Had I been headed to Bermuda the winds probably would have been great, but....I was trying to get to St. Augustine.

No matter, I made it to Jacksonville yesterday afternoon, and as I turned into the channel, here comes a submarine, complete with Coast Guard escort and a tug. They passed by me fairly close, and a USCG patrol boat pulled up alongside and advised I hug the channel markers tight...and I was thinking to myself, "well no S#!! buddy, not gonna get in his way" but I kept my mouth shut, and stayed right where I was, hugging the channel markers until the sub and escorts had passed. The dolphins were out in force, surfing the bow wave of the sub, and every now and again they would become completely airborne as they played in the wave ahead of the sub. As usual my camera was not fast enough to catch the dolphins, and then the patrol boat told me to put the camera away. Not wanting to get hassled to0 much, I complied, but I did get a few pictures of the sub before that happened.

Had a great night on the anchor in the St John's river, and then got underway again this morning. When I got up this morning I made a quick breakfast and coffee, and then got to watch the dolphins around the boat as the sun came up. What a way to greet the day, hot coffee, pancakes, and dolphins right around the boat. I did the dishes really fast and then got underway, I knew I was probably in for another long day sailing. On the way out bound I passed an inbound USCG cutter, a sister ship to the one my son Mike is on. Ironically, Mike called soon after, and turns out that the cutter I saw is the one that is slated to relieve Mike's boat, which is now assuming station off of Haiti, providing support for the relief effort there. Due to OpSec reasons he didn't divulge much on what they were doing, and I will let out even less, but the Pacific patrol they were on was cancelled and his ship was rerouted through the Panama Canal and over to Haiti.

I did notice one thing while at anchor last night, you can hear the propeller noise of other ships through the hull as they pass, much like the movies of the WWII submariners depict, it is a very distinct noise that takes a bit of getting used to, I know this because the St John's river is a major shipping lane up to Jacksonville, and huge ships passed by my anchorage all night long.

Today was pretty uneventful, just lots of sailing, a good bit of sunshine, and 42.8 miles under the keel, for a 28 mile trip. So far the tally is 1044 miles since I left Solomons, and about another 800 to go, if I am to get to Key West.

Cleaning, Maintenance, a Few Helpful Hints

Ok, considering I am a diesel mechanic by trade, and it is what I do, I figured maybe I would take a minute to add a bit of technical knowledge and info to the blog. Maybe a few helpful hints to go along with the never ending monologue.

A post or 2 ago I commented on how Arden had a diesel leak on the injection pump. I may have even mentioned it more than once. Not only does a leak of this type waste precious fuel, it also creates a potential environmental mess. Under normal conditions, unlike gasoline, diesel fuel is not all that flammable, so there is not a huge risk of fire or explosion, that is why diesel is the fuel of choice. So how do you deal with with this problem once you find you are leaking fuel?

First and foremost, turn off your bilge pump, and if it has an automatic float switch, disconnect it. Then comes finding the leak. Sometimes they will be totally obvious, and jump right out at you, such as the one I had on Arden. Most of the time though, they are small seeps that defy discovery. A fuel leak sometimes may introduce air into the injection system, and that will cause long starts, rough running, or an engine that will not run at all. If the engine runs, here is a pretty sure fire way to find the leak.

Clean off the engine, all the fuel lines and the area under the engine. Make sure the fuel lines are clean all the way from the engine back to the tank. Next do a manual check of every fitting and hose clamp in the system. Sometimes when you put a screw driver to the clamps, or a wrench on the banjo fittings, the source of the leak will become obvious because this clamp or that fitting was obviously loose. Don't stop there though, because the vibration that caused that particular component to loosen also worked on all the others. Check them all. Once that has been done, check all the fuel hoses, the soft lines, for chaffing and wear spots. If you find a chaffed area, and it has not worn through the outer cover, isolate the hose and hold it in position with zip ties or clamps to eliminate future chaffing and rubbing. If it the chaffing has gotten too deep, replace that entire run of hose. I strongly recommend replacing the entire hose, as a union or fitting used to patch a bad spot in the hose is just one more place for a future problem to occur.

While you are checking the lines from the tank, check all fuel filter housings. Check the filter for tightness, and if the housing has a drain, check that for seeps as well. The o-rings that seal the drain cock will swell with age and leak, as will the o-ring on a filter that has been over tightened. While you are at it, go ahead and drain off any water or sediment that may have accumulated in the filter bowl, you are there, why not knock out one more maintenance issue while you are in maintenance mode.

Lastly, check all the fittings on the hard lines, the lift pump, the injection pump, and the injectors. Put a wrench on them. Try to tighten them, but don't go crazy with the torque, if they feel tight, they are, no need on stripping them or cracking a line nut by being King Kong with the wrench.

Once you are sure that all hoses, lines, fittings, and seals are good, take a clean, white, paper towel and squeeze it around every fitting and connection. Paper towels are extremely absorbent, and the fuel will stand out against the white. If you have a very slow seep, sometimes this is the only way to find it. If you can't find the leak with the engine off, start the engine and let it run, being careful to stay clear of exposed moving parts, such as water pump and alternator belts. Fuel on the engine side of the system, ie. past the lift pump, is under pressure, so not all leaks in the system will leak with the engine off. Determine what is causing the leak. Since we now know that all the fittings are tight, one of them is causing the leak, it is time to find out why. Banjo fittings have one or two sealing washers that are sometimes referred to as crush washers. If these are leaking, replace them. If no washers are available, put a piece of crocus cloth on a flat surface, and lightly run both sides of the washer across it. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't, but, as always, the best fix is to replace the bad part. If it is a hose fitting that is leaking, more than likely the hose is old, and has either softened or gotten brittle with age, and will no longer seal around the fitting. Cut the hose back, or, better yet, replace it. You can't go wrong with new hose. Ever. Pipe fittings are tapered, and up to a point, the tighter they are, the better they seal. Remove a leaking fitting, put a sealing compound such as Rector Seal or pipe dope on the threads. Do not use teflon tape, as diesel fuel can break it down. When installing a pipe fitting, make it tight, a bit more than snug, but again, don't crank down on it. Usually the fitting is brass or bronze, and the fitting is softer than the hole it goes in, and you can strip the threads off the fitting. At times a stainless steel fitting is used, and that may strip out threads of the hole if over tightened. A bit of common sense will prevail here, if the fitting still leaks after installing it, tighten it a bit more. After all this is said and done, you have probably found and fixed your leak.

Now what to do with the contaminated bilge water, old fuel, and cleaning solution that is in the bilge. One sure fire method is to use a shop vac to suck it all out, provided there is not too much of it. Put it into appropriate containers, and dispose of it properly. Most marinas or boat supply houses can direct you to where or how to get rid of this bad brew. Do not ever pump it over board, you are just asking for a fine or legal troubles, and what the heck, most of us are on the water because we love the water, so why dump that stuff into it.

If there is too much to suck up with the vac, disconnect the bilge pump hose from the through hull, if it is above the waterline. It should be, but check and make sure first. Once the hose is off the fitting, get suitably sized containers, and use the bilge pump to pump the bilge water into them. Again, dispose of this stuff correctly. When you have finished cleanup, do not forget to put the bilge hose back on the through hull, and to hook the bilge pump wiring back up correctly. No sense sinking a good clean boat.

I hope that these tips may help someone that finds themselves in the situation I was in a few days ago, with a bit of common sense, the right tools and a bit of know how, a very expensive repair can be avoided, because a slow seep will take a trained mechanic just as long to find as it would take you to find, and you don't have to pay yourself $80 an hour or more.

Fixing Things and Five Miles An Hour

It seems that as this trip goes on, I have spent alot of time repairing things. It took me forever to actually complete repairs on the windvane, which was the first thing to sustain damage on the trip. I suppose in all reality that repair took a total of 40 days, but it finally got finished, and in the end the unit sustained even more damage on the way down, so needed more work that I had originally anticipated.

Then there was the heater, which I have cleaned, babied, cursed, and cleaned again, rebuilt the pressure pump, added a secondary pressure pump, all to no avail - it still burns roughly, flaming up smoking up the cabin and covering it with soot. I think the burner is just old and needs a new jet or even just a new burner.

Then comes the stove. The cleaning jet and needle assembly stripped out a week or so ago, and even though I have gotten the bad burner working, and can cook on both burners again, it is not working as well as it could. I have found a supplier for replacement parts, but am putting off that purchase for a while.

Of course I next discovered that the injection pump on the engine - the part that feeds fuel to the cylinders and makes the engine run (on a diesel the injection pump takes the place of the carburetor, and the distributor...to totally explain would require a long post on internal combustion engines, but this was not good) - was leaking precious diesel, dumping it into the bilge, not only making a mess but also wasting money. Fortunately I was able to fix this by removing the lines, cleaning the fittings and re seating them.

Next came the raw water pump on Thursday night. I knew it had been leaking, but that stopped, and then resumed - with a vengeance. If I was not a boat mechanic, and figured out what it was, I just might have panicked and assumed that I was really really taking on water. I was, but not through a hull fitting or sea cock which could have been very bad. That problem was compounded by a bilge pump that was not working at all, and is now working at a much reduced capacity. I had parts on hand for the raw water pump, but I am definitely going to have to replace the bilge pump.

What is next? Who knows. I know whatever it may be, I have the skills to fix it, hopefully I will have the parts I need, or at least can afford them and find them nearby. So far, over all I think I have been fortunate, so many of Arden's systems are original and thus 32 years old, and have been performing pretty well.

Last night I began the Great Florida Boat Cleanup. As I am now a bit warmer, and don't think I will need the heater much more, it is time to attack all the soot that has accumulated in the boat, mainly on the overhead surfaces, but there is a bit of it on everything. In addition to that there was the diesel in the bilge, which had sloshed onto the deck boards. So last night I pumped out the bilge, it is now totally dry and clean again, and I washed down the floors so I will not be skidding around and slipping every time I go into the cabin. Later today I will begin to wash the over head (ceiling) and the bulkheads (walls). I will do a section at a time, and I figure in a few days the boat will be presentable again.

As for the Five Miles an Hour. If you went to Yahoo Maps, or to Mapquest, for directions from Solomons, MD to Fernandina Beach, FL you would be told that your journey would be 702.12 miles, and that it would take about 11 hours and 20 minutes. That is at some average highway speed, probably taking into account town, speed zones, etc and is fairly accurate. With the 2 side trips I have made, I have traveled about 927 miles in 45 days, with a few layovers, a couple of stops, and a visit or two. But the reality of it is, I am traveling at an average of 5mph, and there are times when it seems that at the end of the day, I have gone 40 or 50 miles in total, but only making 20 or 25 miles of progress south. That is the nature of sailing, and the problem with traveling in the ICW. Imagine driving to town, or the mall, or taking a trip, at 5 miles an hour. Would it drive you completely bonkers? No such thing as road rage out on the water, but, there are times when you just wish you were already there.

On Tuesday I will leave Fernandina Beach for St. Augustine, a hop of about 55 nautical miles. It should take a bit more than 10 hours, and I will leave at day break and hopefully be in before dusk. I am putting off leaving until Tuesday because I want a good wind, not too much wind, and seas that are subsiding. We had one heck of a front come through last night, it was not bad at anchor, but the winds were over 25 mph, and the ocean was running at 4-5 feet. It will calm a bit tomorrow, and then is supposed to be great on Tuesday. I'm on no set schedule, so Tuesday sounds good to me.

I have found a great coffee house here in Fernandina, The Amelia Island Coffee House, you buy a mug for $1.50, you get refills all day, and they have great internet. So here I am, drinking coffee, blogging, and having a great day chatting with the staff. There are also quite a few historic homes here, nothing nearly as old as some of the houses in SC or NC, but old none the less, and quite interesting. Maybe I should do a photo gallery of the various houses and buildings I have photographed so far. I'll post more when I have more....

Florida At Long Last...Ahhhhh Warm...

Yesterday was January 15th, and I suppose that makes it day 45 of this journey, and a landmark day at that - I am now in Florida. After sailing from Beaufort, SC on the morning of the 14th - down the Port Royal Sound, out of Beaufort proper, passing Port Royal, Parris Island and Hilton Head - I entered the Atlantic and turned south. We had chosen a great day to head out. The air was warm and was supposed to remain warm all day and into the night. The ocean was calm, glass like with almost no swell. The wave height was measured at one foot, but stretched out over swell it was amazingly flat. Of course that also equates to no wind, and no wind meant motoring. When I reached the ocean I was met by more dolphin, probably 50 or so of them in large pods, as usual my camera was not fast enough to catch some of the more acrobatic things they were doing, but I did see wild dolphin leaping and playing, coming clear of the water and obviously enjoying themselves and entertaining me. I think I may have even seen a whale, but not being 100% sure, I'll chalk it up as one more dolphin. I tried to get Spook out on deck to see what her reaction would be to them, but she was having none of it, she much preferred to stay below in the nest she has made on the port berth. Spook is a great boat dog, but so far not much of a sailing dog, well motoring dog anyway, but hopefully that will change as we do more sailing and less motoring.

The passage yesterday was the longest one I have done yet, both in distance and in time awake at the helm. I had reassembled the windvane, but it is of no help when motor sailing, the prop wash kicks it to one side and it does not work. I made 128 nautical miles in 22 hours, awake the entire time, assisted by lots of tea and hot coffee.

I cleared Hilton Head at 10:42 and was out of the Port Royal channel by 11:30. Turning south, I headed towards the Savanna, GA entrance marker, my first waypoint. Despite the fact there was little wind, I raised sail in an effort to catch any small breeze there might be, and off I went, Florida bound. I had been communicating with Clay and Mary all morning, and they were a good bit behind me, as they had a few things to do before getting underway and left a few hours after I did. They make better time than I do, and we knew they would catch up with me sometime during the day.

By the time I reached the Savanna entrance mark, sometime around 14:30, I could see Clay and Mary in the distance. It was here that I saw the only 2 ships I would see all day, or thankfully, all night. In 2 or 3 more hours Clay had caught up and passed me, but then throttled back to stay with me. I think they are starting to feel the expense of burning diesel, not as much as I do, but then they burn a bit more than I do as well. We motored on through the afternoon and by dusk we were not too far north of St Catherine's Sound and Brunswick, GA. There was an incredible sunset that evening, and the camera did not come close to capturing how beautiful it really was. We passed a lone shrimp boat as the sun went down, and I wondered what he thought working away, as we went past obviously on vacation.

I set the tiller lock, sometimes it will hold Arden on course for very long periods of time, and went below to get the stove going and make some coffee and heat up a bit of dinner. I had to go up every few minutes to check on the heading (I am definitely going to get a cheap compass to install on the chart table so I don't have to be on deck to check bearing) and then back down below to fix coffee and sandwiches. PB&J on homemade bread is a great cruising food.
As night fell the wind picked up a bit, and I was able to gain another half knot or so, and was averaging 5.5 knots. Clay and I obviously were holding the same course, he was motoring only, and around 23:30 I caught up to him, and then passed him briefly, until he throttled up and passed again. I think Clay likes being in the lead, it doesn't so much matter to me, but his boat will go about 2 knots faster than Arden, and I am now in fuel conservation mode.

Sometime around 2am I noticed I was taking on water and turned on the bilge pump. I began investigating where the water was coming from, my first inclination was that the seal on the raw water pump was leaking again, and I was right. It wasn't leaking too bad, but a constant flow over hours of motoring had filled up the space below the deck, and it had started to come up onto the floor. The bilge pump kept up with it for a bit, and then it quit. I went down below again, and found that the bilge pump wires had broken, and once getting that fixed, that the check valve in the hose or the vacuum breaker had gotten clogged, and my electric bilge was useless. So I pumped it out by hand, and then figured it would at least be morning before I would need to do it again.

The rest of the night was fairly uneventful, it was dark, not alot to see other than the lights of Gemini up ahead, so I read, drank coffee and tended sail. As the night went on the wind picked up slowly, and by 04:30 I was making pretty good time. We reached the channel to St. Mary's around 05:30, we were now in Florida waters! Despite the fact that we had changed plans yesterday around noon and were planning on making it to St. Augustine, Clay turned in to the channel and I followed. I raised them on the radio, and they pretty much said fatigue had started to set in and they had decided to pull in to Fernandina Beach. FL to stop and rest. With the leak I had going, I wasn't going to argue, I think I would have been able to make it to St. Augustine, but I would have had to pump the bilge again, and the water pump did need to be fixed as well.

Going down the channel into the St Mary's river I was on a beam reach, the wind coming directly from the starboard side, and I really began to run. Arden sails so well on a beam or broad reach, and I was making over 7 knots with the engine running, and over taking Clay again. I passed Clay, and then cut the engine, and sailed the rest of the way in. The water front at Fernandina Beach is very industrial, and not all that scenic from what I can tell. We took Gemini and Arden through the mooring field that belongs to the marina, and anchored. By the time I got my anchor set, Clay and Mary had disappeared below, and I figured they were down for a nap.

I did not feel I had that luxury, as I had a bad bilge pump and a leaking engine, so I went to work fixing those problems. Not too big a task really, and in about 2 hours I had everything fixed and back together, and had started to clean up the boat. After a couple hours of that I looked out to see Gemini motoring past, so I gave them a call. Clay and Mary figured I was asleep, and were going to head down the ICW to Jacksonville. They have bit of a schedule to keep, meeting friends in Miami at the 1st of February, so I bid them goodbye, thanked them for all they had done, and wished them a safe voyage. My sailing partners were gone.

Spook and I did a little bit of walk about in Fernandina Beach, a nice enough little town with a nice downtown and marina, and a historic district that makes up most of the downtown area. We stopped in the hardware store, which was quite pricey but had a very friendly staff, and got the lowdown on where the gas station, the grocery and the nearest burger place was. I was completely over dressed for the weather, and got quite warm with a sweater and jacket on long johns on.

So it is now Saturday morning, a warm rainy day in Florida, I think it was 60 degrees when I got up this morning. Sure beats waking up in a cabin that is just a few degrees warmer than freezing. I need to take Spook in for a walk, then it is time to find a coffee shop and publish this blog, and catch up on all the news.

Bewfort South Carolina

OK, I know that I misspelled Beaufort in the title, but, I am trying to emphasise that the folks here in Beaufort do not live in Bowfort, and they will let you know that in a heart beat. They are quick to let you know that Bowfort is in NC, and Bewfort is where we are in SC. Did ya know that a whole bunch of Forrest Gump was filmed here? Or that the seeds of Secession were sown here, more so than in Charleston? Or that 24 years ago I stepped off a train here, and got on a bus on my way to Parris Island, which by the way, I will be passing in the morning.


This town has a ton of history, and at least in the downtown historic district, seems to have many more large, fancy southern houses than does Charleston. I hope to have battery enough on the laptop to get pictures loaded on this post, if there are no pictures when this publishes, it is because I ran out of battery, and didn't get them loaded in time.

I am anchored off of the Beaufort City Marina, and have been in and out of their docks to walk Spook, do laundry, shower, and just be a tourist. Lots of walking, yesterday it was about 4 miles or more, just ambling around, looking at history, taking pictures, and then making my way out to the Piggly Wiggly for a few food items - need more butter to make more cookies.

Again I have been impressed with southern hospitality. The dock master didn't mind me tying up to the fuel dock, they aren't busy now, so as long as I was not hanging out 24/7 he didn't mind. I got the code for the showers, the laundry was open to the public, and Spook had a great chance to run and get her walk in. Really nice facility here, but my gosh the tidal current here is something else.

Had a bit of trouble with the outboard again last night, I knew my Manteo outboard fix was kind of a temperary patch, so now I have to formulate a more long term fix, and get it all back together again. I've been rowing my butt off against this current, I almost need to time my trips to shore with the tides, and man I am getting a work out. I have all the parts ready to put back on the windvane, so it all gets mounted today in preparation to getting underway tomorrow or in the next day or 2. I may go down stream just a bit farther to Port Royal, but whether I do or I don't, once leave Port Royal Sound, I will be Florida bound - on the outside. Right now as it stands the winds are slight and will be tomorrow, and the seas are calm. North East winds Friday, and East winds on Sat, so the seas will be building - 2-3 foot on Friday and 3-4 feet or so on Saturday.

Clay and Mary caught up with me late yesterday afternoon, I got here right around noon, they arrived just after 4. We had breakfast together this morning, and Clay is trying to get his auto helm fixed so they can go out. I think we will go out around the same time, safety in numbers kind of thing, and it is reassuring to know that there is another boat nearby if you have troubles. I will be fairly close to the coast, so hopefully (crossing fingers) I will have cell signal.

So before I lose battery power, I am going to be underway again shortly, I will make a flurry of phone calls before I head out, to let those that need to know that I am indeed on the way.

The pictures shown here have been loaded after the fact, in another coffee shop, after a long day of working on the boat.

Boat Bread, Moving On...

I left Charleston yesterday on a low tide, hoping to get a boost up Wapoo Creek and get to the fuel dock a bit faster than I would have without the assist. That was a great strategy on the surface, but once I got to the fuel dock at Ross Marine it kind of backfired just a bit - the current was so strong that Arden would not maneuver at the dock, in fact just she just about got stuck between 2 docks. The weekend security guy there, David, gave me a hand, and we were able to warp Arden in along the dock with alot of effort, the current was pushing against the keel, and it was alot of force to overcome. I had the boat in reverse, and both of us on the dock trying to pull the stern around, and there was one point where I just didn't think we were going to be able to do it. After all of that work, I fueled up, took 37.7 gallons of diesel, and then David looked at the tide and said, " I guess you're stuck here for a bit, just hang out until the tide changes." So I did. Grand total passage for the day - 6.88 Nautical miles, and I was stuck.

Actually I hung out for 2 tide changes, I stayed on the dock overnight, plugged in, and set about making dinner, and then I started to bake some bread. I didn't have the recipe on hand, since I had no internet, so I called Ali and asked her to look it up and read it to me. I have no idea what I was thinking when I saved my recipes in Internet Explorer, fat Lot of good they do there when I have no net. Ali went to the website I get my recipes from, and I jotted down all the info and directions as she read them off to me. She laughed at me the entire time I was writing it all down, but we finally got all of it transferred and translated, and I started on baking bread. It didn't turn out too bad, kind of ugly but very tasty - due to the cold the dough did not rise as much as it could have - even with the electric heater going it was still a bit cool onboard. The heat didn't help the bread dough much, but I would have just about frozen had I not been plugged in to the dock. When I woke up this morning it was 19 degrees out on deck. I waited until daybreak, and then started to get ready to go, as the tide was changing and going to be running the way I needed it to in order to get off the dock. The forecast called for a good warm up as the day progressed, topping out at 43, so I bundled up and got underway. It was so cold out early this morning that the froth and foam left from the wake of a passing boat froze on the surface as I passed by, it was really neat to see, but really underscored just how cold it was.

I made 40.3 NM today, I didn't push too hard, and I had a few good currents along the way. Down below Charleston alot of the ICW follows creeks, streams and inlets, very winding, and lots and lots of time in the salt marsh. I did see quite a few dolphin today though, probably 5 or 6 pods of them, but I wasn't able to catch many pictures of them as the waterways were pretty narrow mostly, so I couldn't break away from the helm to snap photos. I also saw 2 river otters, and a bald eagle, lots of water fowl, and alot of really interesting stuff along the banks and in the marsh as I motored by.

I was passed by the USCG tug ANVIL and its barge around 2, it was a buoy tending rig out of Charleston, and little did I know it, but they were headed out to replace a marker that had been knocked down just ahead of where they had passed me. I got to see them set up and put in the piling, and as I lost sight of them I suppose they were putting on the marker and lights and all the things that turn a naked piling into a channel marker.

Around 4:30 I arrived at statute mile 424 on the ICW, a nice little creek about 10 miles north of Beaufort, that turned out to be a really good anchorage. (I have internet, so it is actually a great anchorage) I was able to run Spook in to the public boat ramp so she could make a head call, and it was secluded enough that I was able to let her run around for a bit and work off some of that energy. I also met a local guy on one of the docks that had just returned from a year and a half down in the Keys. We chatted for a while, and he gave me lots of points of interest (mostly bars, liquor stores and groceries) to check out not only in the Keys, but also along the entire route down. Needless to say, I know I won't remember it all, but I do have his number if I need to know where to get beer or food when I am down that way. Night has fallen and I am all buttoned up on the boat with the stove going, brewing up yet another batch of tea. Tomorrow I will have a short run to Beaufort, and then on Thursday or Friday it looks like I am going to head out and make a 113 mile dash across the coast of Georgia and tuck in at St. Mary's Florida.

I am updating the Sunrise Sunset album, so be sure to check out the progress Arden has made through the Google Earth map.

Cookies and Cold

Ok, so I am feeling a bit less than adventurous right now, this morning it was 19 degrees out when I got up, colder here in Charleston than in Manteo, Elizabeth City, or Chesapeake. I did break down last night and tie up to a dock and plugged the boat in, I had electric heat for a change, and even then, it kept the cabin warm, well 60 degrees, but definitely it was warmer than I would have been out on the anchor. I actually think I have dragged the cold with me, considering where I came from is warmer by a few degrees than where I am at.


Yesterday I obviously did not leave Charleston, it was too cold to think of being out in that wind, and so I spent the majority of the day on the boat trying my best to stay warm. One thing I did to add more heat to the cabin was fire up the oven, and since I had the oven going, I decided I'd make use of those extra BTU's and bake some cookies. I am not a really experienced cook, and have never professed to be a baker, so I chose a simple recipe that was about on a par with my skill level, and made sugar cookies. They were not bad. In fact, they might have actually been good, but they didn't last long enough to make that determination. I split the batch and gave a bunch to Clay and Mary, and the ones I kept were gone before night fall. I have found that sugar cookies go very well with a hot cup of tea, hot chocolate as well.




And so begins another day of trying to stay warm, but, the weather is supposed to break and we are scheduled to start our climb out of these very low temps in the next day or so. I hope all goes the way the forecasters say it will, because I really need to get this boat and me on down south before the next freeze settles in.

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients.
Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks