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Sea Islands 300 : 04-Grounded Near Marineland

Day 2 – Aground on the Matanzas River

Links to Chapters in the Series

Modern navigation is a true wonder. Satellite mapping and imagery, GPS, digital charts, crowd-sourced sonar bathymetry, and the shareability of the internet, all make even detailed local knowledge available to anyone. Even with all that, though, reality still imposes limits.

Doug spends many winter nights carefully plotting courses and stopovers using all available tools for the coming season. But even the best information can become stale and outdated before you have a chance to use it. A single storm can change the location of channels and shift shoals overnight. This is especially true in the shallow waters of the southern coast, where sandbars swept by strong tides can snake offshore for 10 miles, and inlets will open and close suddenly in really big storms. 

Pellicer Creek beyond the sandbar

The spot chosen to anchor for the night is a side creek just outside the ditch, just inside the Princess Place Preserve, where a string of small islands separate the ICW from a broad expanse of open water called Pellicer Creek.

Notes in the chart book from other boaters recommend it as a good anchorage, with 6 feet of water outside the channel. Tidings only draws 2 feet with the board up. Easy peezy. But just to be safe, Doug lowers the motor to idle, reducing our speed to around 1 knot. He has me steer between two islands for the open water while he watches the depthfinder.

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Sea Islands 300 : 03-Daytona to Marineland

Day 2 – The Quest and Departure

Links to Chapters in the Series

Relentless sun, a hat that blows away.

Just after daybreak. It’s almost time to shove off and I have to find a hat. It’s technically still Spring, but the sun here is blazing hot, relentless, and I don’t have a good hat. Couldn’t figure out how to pack one in the carryon for the flight. This is my quest, to be completed before breakfast. I have thirty minutes. I will fail. 

Stowage on Tidings is super tight. No room for suitcases, just one collapsable duffel. Everything I can bring for the next three weeks has to fit in a ten gallon cooler box. (And a doctor bag of tech gear, on special dispensation from the captain.) I could not figure out how to pack my favorite straw hat. Figured, “It’s Florida, right? Lots of hats down there. You know, for the tourists.”

Well, yes. But no. Ugly hats. Expensive hats. Expensive ugly hats, yes.

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Sea Islands 300 : 02-Daytona Beach

Day 1 – Cruising the Beach

Links to Chapters in the Series

The airport is only three miles from the harbor, one of the reasons we chose to connect here. Doug meets me and we hail an Uber for the short hop to the marina. It’s still mid April, but the sun is already a white hot glare off asphalt and concrete. Everything looks sun-bleached and pale.

Halifax Marina is a big municipal marina full of big boats. The GDP of a small country is tied up at the docks. He walks me down the gangway to a slip where Tidings is cheerfully holding her own.

We’ll spend the night here on the boat and get an early start in the morning. I get a quick tour of the layout and stow my duffle, then we’re off again – Doug wants to investigate all this fuss about “World Famous Daytona Beach”.

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Sea Islands 300 : 01-Overture

Low Country from Up High
to Daytona Beach

Links to Chapters in the Series

Beaufort, Port Royal Inlet, and Fripp Island from 30,000 feet.

From 30,000 feet I get a preview of what’s to come. The morning flight drops down out of the clouds, and there below is our destination: Beaufort, and a watery world of marshes, winding creeks, and inlets stretching out to the steel blue Atlantic. It’s deceiving from above as it is up close. The sun glints off obvious water and moves over what one would think is land; but the light strikes water there, too. What appears to be land ribboned with creeks is mainly water, as well. The Low Country and Sea Islands of the South. 

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Alluring Ilur

On Sunday morning, many with long drives hauled out. A few of us, locals or those staying over, headed out to take advantage of the great weather with another sail. Chris H came all the way from Pittsburg, so he was staying another day to make it worth the trip. He invited me to join him on his Vivier Ilur Clarissa. Dennis K got a ride on Randy C’s William Garden designed Eel, Winkle. Harris and Barbara led the way in their new catboat, Mariah, just delivered mid-summer.

Winkle chasing Mariah

It was a real treat for me to be able to lay in the boat and let Chris do all the work, while I enjoyed the view. It let me keep both hands on the camera for a change. And what a great day for it. Beautiful boats and beautiful weather.

All three boats danced around each other all afternoon. Sometimes coming together close enough to chat, then veering off to points on the horizon. With the chuckle of water on a lapstrake hull tapping time.

As usual, most of our views of Harris were of his transom. He can’t bear to slow down enough for us to get close.

I shot a lot of video. Something to savor over the coming winter.

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Sunset Sail on a Sakonnet 23

Between the cookout and campfires, Jim A took four of us for a sunset sail on his family’s Sakonnet 23. What a sweet boat, a real thoroughbred designed by Joel White.

The Sakonnet 23 earlier that morning – photo by T.

We motored out the little harbor, through a neck of rock jetties, just as the sun went down. Clear of the channel, we quickly raised sail and cut off the clattering outboard. Suddenly silence like a sigh of relief as she eased into a light breeze. We sauntered across the water in the twilight, taking turns at the tiller, laughing and telling stories.

Your Chronicler – photo by T.
Jim A

With the last light fading, we reluctantly turned back, only to discover the outboard motor had other ideas. Wouldn’t catch no matter how hard we yanked on it, not even a cough. It was like some jokester had poured a couple to shots of scotch in the tank. Matt tossed out the anchor so we wouldn’t drift into trouble, while we sought the magic combination of curses and hand waving to break the evil spell. This whole episode followed a dozen shared stories of near disasters, all because a motor had failed. Maybe this motor was listening and thought this was a great opportunity to tell its own story. The idea of waiting for a tow, anchored in the channel in the dark, but not our idea of humor. Motors are why we’re sailors, after all.

Eventually, jiggling the choke and throttle, it caught. Relief, anchor weighed, sails dropped, and we motored back down the channel by the light from our phones. No harm no foul, and another story to tell later.

A short video from inside the boat that evening. Lots of laughter and ribbing. A great evening. Hope we get to ride on her again, soon.