More southbound chugging today. We motorsailed with main and genoa all day, averaged around 7 kts and made Vero Beach 30 minutes before sunset. A bit risky as the places to anchor before Vero are pretty few and far between, but we made it in. Rafted with a Canadian couple from Ottawa on their way to the Bahamas. The municipal mooring field is very inexpensive, like 13 bucks, but they raft the boats 2 and 3 deep. Nice facilities here and a super tucked in spot. Cuttyhunk with manatees and palm trees.
Will be an easy run to Stuart tomorrow. More muni-moorings there. Seems a Florida trend for the towns to set up very cheap moorings to keep the vagrants out... Someties we're the vagrants. They are trying to outlaw anchoring. Not sure if I agree but the super cheap mooring fields with great showers, laundry and transportation, I'm a fan of.
We had some dolphins do the "playing in the bow wave" thing again today. We see dolphins every half hour, but it's really cool to have them so close to the boat. Like watching whales, it doesn't get old.
I had lots of help at the helm today. Lex stood a long watch mid day and Tyler took the wheel for an hour at the end of the day. Liza had a short trick as well. Pretty soon I'll be starting rum drinks at noon while the crew gets us where we need to go! (just kidding mom...)
More tomorrow, we haven't had a real wifi connection for a bit, so no photo uploads, but we'll find one.
A couple of updates,
We are migrating the blog to www.schnauck.com - but the old address will always work as well. Also, we ported the home/Lex cell number (781-834-2888) to google voice. So we now have 781-834-3332 and 2888 as goog numbers so we won't loose them. Three numbers (617-872-1763) now ring on one cell on the boat. We killed my cell service with AT&T and will shut the Verizon service when we cross to the Bahamas as it is astinomical for roaming. All numbers will roll to voicemail and we will be able to get messages when we have wifi in various spots.
I am going to "Jailbreak" my iPhone and buy a SIM card for it in the Bahamas when we can, so we have a cell in case of an emergency. I'll post the number when we get it.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Titusville
More chugging today although we motorsailed to get a few more tents with the west wind as we traveled the "ditch". Lots of dolphins again today and we spotted a couple of manatees, but never really got a great view for a picture. The fat seals seem to be elusive. ;-)
Titusville had a good grocery store that was super cheap - "Save-a-Lot". It's like the job lot of grocery stores. Margarete will like this - Captain Razorback for 2 bucks....
Pretty uneventful day, got diesel and water this AM and started a bit late, around 0845 and got to Tiusville at 1530 or so. We saw the folks from Duxbury at the dinghy dock when we got back from the grocery. We'll have them over for a drink later down the road.
Thanks to Karen W. by the way for the grocery bag! It gets plenty of use.
We'll shoot for an anchorage north of Vero Beach tomorrow and should be in Stewart the next day. We'll hang there for a bit before pushing down south.
Titusville had a good grocery store that was super cheap - "Save-a-Lot". It's like the job lot of grocery stores. Margarete will like this - Captain Razorback for 2 bucks....
Pretty uneventful day, got diesel and water this AM and started a bit late, around 0845 and got to Tiusville at 1530 or so. We saw the folks from Duxbury at the dinghy dock when we got back from the grocery. We'll have them over for a drink later down the road.
Thanks to Karen W. by the way for the grocery bag! It gets plenty of use.
We'll shoot for an anchorage north of Vero Beach tomorrow and should be in Stewart the next day. We'll hang there for a bit before pushing down south.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Cheap Flights to Bahamas!
Just got an email from JetBlue
$129* from Boston, MA (BOS)
to Nassau, BS (NAS)
This fare is valid for travel between Dec. 6, 2011 - Feb. 15, 2012.
Fare is valid Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays only.
Blackout dates: Dec. 16, 2011 - Jan. 3, 2012.
Valid for US-originating travel only.
*Taxes, fees and restrictions apply.
$129* from Boston, MA (BOS)
to Nassau, BS (NAS)
This fare is valid for travel between Dec. 6, 2011 - Feb. 15, 2012.
Fare is valid Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays only.
Blackout dates: Dec. 16, 2011 - Jan. 3, 2012.
Valid for US-originating travel only.
*Taxes, fees and restrictions apply.
Daytona Beach
Chugged upwind in the ICW today down to Daytona Beach. Beautiful day a touch over 80. We had a boat hail us from behind Rising Tide, and they said they lived in Duxbury, kept the boat in Cohassett, and best pals are NBYC members....small world.
We got in around 1500 and found the anchorage we were shooting for to be shoaled up and too shallow. I didn't want to risk running farther south and not having a home, so we pulled into the muni- marina here. We'll top up fuel tomorrow AM and make the run to around Titusville tomorrow. Next stops will be around Vero, then Stuart where we hope to catch Good Trade and then spend some time with Randy in Hobe Sound.
We found a good pizza joint close by, topped up the tanks and hit the hay. A bit too early to bed for me, so now I'm typing at O - dark thirty....
We're to have a west wind today, so we'll hope to sail some of the ICW and save some fuel. More tomorrow. Y'all enjoy your day. ;-)
We got in around 1500 and found the anchorage we were shooting for to be shoaled up and too shallow. I didn't want to risk running farther south and not having a home, so we pulled into the muni- marina here. We'll top up fuel tomorrow AM and make the run to around Titusville tomorrow. Next stops will be around Vero, then Stuart where we hope to catch Good Trade and then spend some time with Randy in Hobe Sound.
We found a good pizza joint close by, topped up the tanks and hit the hay. A bit too early to bed for me, so now I'm typing at O - dark thirty....
We're to have a west wind today, so we'll hope to sail some of the ICW and save some fuel. More tomorrow. Y'all enjoy your day. ;-)
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Offshore Passage to St. Augustine
We left the Turkey day anchorage at 0700 bound for Beaufort (Pronounced Bew-fert - not to be confused with Bo-Fert, NC). We had to wait a bit for the bascule bridge just north of town and anchored just above it for 45 minutes or so. It's one of the bridges with a goofy schedule and doesn't open on request or every hour and half hour like many in the ICW. We pulled the hook and passed through at 0900 and tied up at a fuel dock to take on fuel and water for our run outside the ICW that would let us avoid Georgia and the super skinny water we have been hearing about since New Jersey.
I made a few new pals on the dock as the water tanks filled and managed to pull a small convoy together for the run out the Beaufort inlet and the ensuing passage to Florida. The forecast was excellent, calling for 3-4' seas out of the east and 10-15 knots out of the northeast with seas subsiding to 2-3 feet and winds decreasing to 5-10 knots by sunset.
I wish I could miss sales forecasts as often as NOAA blows their numbers and still get paid....
We had a great sail heading out of the inlet, chatted up a few boats heading our way and even had one woman call us on the radio from a passing trawler to say how great Zusammen looked under sail with our big ensign flying from the backstay. (kids and Lex were below schooling, maybe she was really commenting on the captain?)
We saw a bunch of dolphins playing in the long inlet, the kids saw a few do flips in the air which was a big hit. The seas were only around 2' inside the inlet which extends for a number of miles. As we cleared the last of the sandbars to our north (which protect the inlet from waves) the seas picked up a bit to maybe 4' but we had good wind on our stern as we turned right to 210 degrees to make St. Mary's Inlet and Fernadina Beach, Florida.
Sailing dead down wind in a cruising boat is a bit of a challenge and I always run through a barrage of tactics that really don't work to make anything easier (save rigging a preventer, which does help). Sailing wing and wing in a quartering 4' sea is noisy and a challenge to hold while steering. I chatted with a couple of the boats behind us about their plans. One was flying only a genoa and another was sailing a hotter angle, going farther offshore and planned to drop down when the wind shifted to the east in an hour or so. I stuck to the rhumb line and wrestled the downwind leg with both sails in around 15-20 knts.
We got a call from the folks running farther offshore (they were now well out of site) around 1500 and they said they were bailing out and heading into Savannah, GA. They had a LONG way to go to get back into Savannah, but they weren't in any rush. I am sure we'll see them again on the way south or down in the Bahamas.
When they bailed out, I was a little anxious as the wind was significantly higher than predicted and waves were now well over 4' regularly. Were we making the right decision? I checked the forecast again and seas and wind were still predicted to subside. Bailing to Savannah would mean entering in the dark and we would have to go back outside from there as Zusammen is too deep to travel the ICW in Georgia. We pushed on.
Happy Destiny a Tartan 4300 was still behind around 4 miles and chugging along at about the same pace. The wind started to move a bit east and we were more happily sailing on a broad reach. I chatted with Happy Destiny some about arrival times, and even though we had been told we could get into Fernadina Beach at night, we both decided to push for the next Class A inlet, the St. John's River. The inlet to inlet distance was 117 miles as opposed to 98 or so. The extra miles would get us in around or just after sunrise and with the seas now more like 4-6' with an occasional rogue bigger, I felt much better about getting in to a new inlet with a fair tide and current, in daylight. Additionally we would have a huge lift from a 3knt+ current in the inlet at St. John's river that would carry quite a bit south in the ICW and allow us to get all the way to St. Augustine if the crew could manage the extra distance. We agreed to chat every hour with Happy Destiny, welcome conversation on lonely watches.
We altered course a few degrees to the east and sailed on. As the sun was setting we were still making over six knots and having a nice sail but the sea was rolling us quite a bit, and nobody felt much like dinner. Liza was the first to crash and Tyler was a champ staying up with me and then Lex though the first night watches. Some great conversations were had during the wee hours with the boy staring up at the stars in the cockpit while I was driving.
For anybody that hasn't been offshore (this is really near-shore, but out of sight of land and lights) at night in a boat, you should put it on your bucket list. You'll never see more stars.
Lex and I stood the last hour of dark together as the radar filled up with targets as we approached St. John's River inlet. We sailed around a bunch of shrimpers (I think they were shrimping...) and finally made it to the jetties. The current was tearing and we blew in at almost 10 knots. Happy Destiny and Pura Vida were not far behind.
After Liza had presents and some birthday goofing around while underway, we all decided to press on to St. Augustine. We didn't complain about the motoring as we were all pretty tired of the quartering sea outside and the flat calm of the ICW was actually very welcome.
The kids ooohed and ahhhed at the houses in Florida along the ICW. The morning was sunny and warm and you could feel a significant change in the humidity. All great stuff!
Liza's new penguin watch from G&P
Making cupcakes with leftover batter (rum cake was requested)
John making candles from toothpicks as we couldn't locate the real things
Cool aircraft carrier we saw in Beaufort, SC
A little chilly leaving Charleston
Parting shot of the 'Battery' in Charleston
Pelicans
Great paint job on this sport fish
I made a few new pals on the dock as the water tanks filled and managed to pull a small convoy together for the run out the Beaufort inlet and the ensuing passage to Florida. The forecast was excellent, calling for 3-4' seas out of the east and 10-15 knots out of the northeast with seas subsiding to 2-3 feet and winds decreasing to 5-10 knots by sunset.
I wish I could miss sales forecasts as often as NOAA blows their numbers and still get paid....
We had a great sail heading out of the inlet, chatted up a few boats heading our way and even had one woman call us on the radio from a passing trawler to say how great Zusammen looked under sail with our big ensign flying from the backstay. (kids and Lex were below schooling, maybe she was really commenting on the captain?)
We saw a bunch of dolphins playing in the long inlet, the kids saw a few do flips in the air which was a big hit. The seas were only around 2' inside the inlet which extends for a number of miles. As we cleared the last of the sandbars to our north (which protect the inlet from waves) the seas picked up a bit to maybe 4' but we had good wind on our stern as we turned right to 210 degrees to make St. Mary's Inlet and Fernadina Beach, Florida.
Sailing dead down wind in a cruising boat is a bit of a challenge and I always run through a barrage of tactics that really don't work to make anything easier (save rigging a preventer, which does help). Sailing wing and wing in a quartering 4' sea is noisy and a challenge to hold while steering. I chatted with a couple of the boats behind us about their plans. One was flying only a genoa and another was sailing a hotter angle, going farther offshore and planned to drop down when the wind shifted to the east in an hour or so. I stuck to the rhumb line and wrestled the downwind leg with both sails in around 15-20 knts.
We got a call from the folks running farther offshore (they were now well out of site) around 1500 and they said they were bailing out and heading into Savannah, GA. They had a LONG way to go to get back into Savannah, but they weren't in any rush. I am sure we'll see them again on the way south or down in the Bahamas.
When they bailed out, I was a little anxious as the wind was significantly higher than predicted and waves were now well over 4' regularly. Were we making the right decision? I checked the forecast again and seas and wind were still predicted to subside. Bailing to Savannah would mean entering in the dark and we would have to go back outside from there as Zusammen is too deep to travel the ICW in Georgia. We pushed on.
Happy Destiny a Tartan 4300 was still behind around 4 miles and chugging along at about the same pace. The wind started to move a bit east and we were more happily sailing on a broad reach. I chatted with Happy Destiny some about arrival times, and even though we had been told we could get into Fernadina Beach at night, we both decided to push for the next Class A inlet, the St. John's River. The inlet to inlet distance was 117 miles as opposed to 98 or so. The extra miles would get us in around or just after sunrise and with the seas now more like 4-6' with an occasional rogue bigger, I felt much better about getting in to a new inlet with a fair tide and current, in daylight. Additionally we would have a huge lift from a 3knt+ current in the inlet at St. John's river that would carry quite a bit south in the ICW and allow us to get all the way to St. Augustine if the crew could manage the extra distance. We agreed to chat every hour with Happy Destiny, welcome conversation on lonely watches.
We altered course a few degrees to the east and sailed on. As the sun was setting we were still making over six knots and having a nice sail but the sea was rolling us quite a bit, and nobody felt much like dinner. Liza was the first to crash and Tyler was a champ staying up with me and then Lex though the first night watches. Some great conversations were had during the wee hours with the boy staring up at the stars in the cockpit while I was driving.
For anybody that hasn't been offshore (this is really near-shore, but out of sight of land and lights) at night in a boat, you should put it on your bucket list. You'll never see more stars.
Lex and I stood the last hour of dark together as the radar filled up with targets as we approached St. John's River inlet. We sailed around a bunch of shrimpers (I think they were shrimping...) and finally made it to the jetties. The current was tearing and we blew in at almost 10 knots. Happy Destiny and Pura Vida were not far behind.
After Liza had presents and some birthday goofing around while underway, we all decided to press on to St. Augustine. We didn't complain about the motoring as we were all pretty tired of the quartering sea outside and the flat calm of the ICW was actually very welcome.
The kids ooohed and ahhhed at the houses in Florida along the ICW. The morning was sunny and warm and you could feel a significant change in the humidity. All great stuff!
Liza's new penguin watch from G&P
Making cupcakes with leftover batter (rum cake was requested)
John making candles from toothpicks as we couldn't locate the real things
Cool aircraft carrier we saw in Beaufort, SC
A little chilly leaving Charleston
Parting shot of the 'Battery' in Charleston
Pelicans
Great paint job on this sport fish
Friday, November 25, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving! (yesterday)
We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving yesterday! We finally left Charleston, which definitely gave us a reason to be thankful. (I am also very thankful for my family and friends and being able to take this incredible trip) We traveled down the ICW, as the wave height was too big to get outside. I cooked a Thanksgiving feast, which everyone seemed to enjoy, even a pecan pie! My turkey came out surprisingly well, I was a little nervous about the roasting capabilities of my oven.
We anchored just south of Brickyard Creek, a very quiet spot with 2 or 3 houses nearby. We were quite near the channel and the boat was hit by sticks every now and again, moving with the current, which was a bit disconcerting. It was a beautiful night, very clear and calm. This morning we left at 7 to make a swing bridge that opens on the hour. When we got close, we realized that it doesn't open for rush hour, 7-9, so now we are sitting at anchor waiting. Its a lovely morning, very sunny, a bit cold though. We're hoping it will be the last morning of jackets. We're going offshore today at Beaufort, and planning to come in again at Fernandina Beach Inlet. It was 20 degrees warmer there this monring.
Liza just woke up, came running thru the boat saying "I'm 9!!" We told her not until tomorrow, to which she replied, "but it was tomorrow yesterday!" Poor Lize, what a disappointment!
We anchored just south of Brickyard Creek, a very quiet spot with 2 or 3 houses nearby. We were quite near the channel and the boat was hit by sticks every now and again, moving with the current, which was a bit disconcerting. It was a beautiful night, very clear and calm. This morning we left at 7 to make a swing bridge that opens on the hour. When we got close, we realized that it doesn't open for rush hour, 7-9, so now we are sitting at anchor waiting. Its a lovely morning, very sunny, a bit cold though. We're hoping it will be the last morning of jackets. We're going offshore today at Beaufort, and planning to come in again at Fernandina Beach Inlet. It was 20 degrees warmer there this monring.
Liza just woke up, came running thru the boat saying "I'm 9!!" We told her not until tomorrow, to which she replied, "but it was tomorrow yesterday!" Poor Lize, what a disappointment!
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