Day 1 : NOBO Fort Lauderdale to Cape Canaveral : 150nm
Fll to cape Canaveral. With Jamie Mitche onboard as my second crew member. We threw lines at 7am for a 150 mile voyage to the cape.
Started off with a bit of chop out of the south but soon smoothed out and with the golf stream giving us a nice push, we were making 24 kt at 2125 rpm!
The day went on without incident save for a small thunderstorm cell just south of the cape inlet. We had to pull back to 12 kt as our viz dropped to less than 1/4 mile. During low viz times such as in storms or fog, we sound the horn every minute to warm nearby boat traffic of our whereabouts.
But soon the storm passed and we landed at cape marine staying the night at the fuel dock.
This place is a great fuel stop for all you frugalists yachts out there $3 /gallon diesel And $175/ night transient … a steal!
We watched the sunset from Rustys over fresh fish dinner.
DAY 2: Cape Canaveral to St Simons Island GA 175nm
(FYI fernandina beach docks were wiped out by hurricane irma.)
Our day 2 run was a run from cape Canaveral to st Simons with approximately 165 nm from inlet to inlet… a good days run. The seas were kind to us and provided a calm glassy day without incident
The inlet entering st Simons is can all-weather wide, well marked one, but be sure to enter at the entrance buoy and follow the channel markers the entire way in as there are extremely shallow shoals that surround.
Once you pass the inlet, be sure to pay attention to your charts as the markers can get confusing. here is a place where the intercoastal waterway meets the river, so your buoys will switch from RRR (red right returning) to ICW (Northbound green to port)… but this is only for a few hundred yards of adjusting before returning to the tried and true RRR.
Entering the river be sure to hug the green “259” to starboard. Then Follow 1-3-5-7 green markers to your port favoring the port side as in low water you’ll see your depth come up to 6 feet.
Past the gentle river curve, the bottom drops out again to a nice deep entrance to the marina and long welcoming fuel-face dock.
After your tied and fueled, be sure to stop in the Country kitchen marina restaurant. The name doesn’t do her justice. If gourmet local-sourced southern delicacies are for you, you have reached the Mecca. Giant u-peel shrimp, chicken and sausage gumbo, lobster nachos, and swordfish over farm greens are some of the menu highlights. My choice was the Shrimp and cheese grits layered with andouille-bacon creole sauce and HOT DAMN have I never had better cheese grits in my life!
WILL BE BACK next time to try the dirty oysters.. shucked and dressed in caviar and spicy creme-fresh. 😀