A farmer has to cross a river in a tiny row boat. He has a goose, a fox, and a sack of grain. He can’t leave the goose alone with the fox or with the grain. He can only fit one item in the boat with him. How does he get across the river?

I could never bear to tell the ending of our journey to Fort Lauderdale, but it has been over 16 months since the last leg of our trip, and it’s time to finish the story. I have it in my head that I have cursed Catmandu by leaving the last chapter unpublished. She hasn’t been herself since I stopped writing. Our friends, Dan and Jaye Lunsford, called it “The Curse of the Blog.” So, here’s the ending – or maybe another beginning.

* * *

When we arrived at Vero Beach City Marina in January of 2014, we rafted up with Robin’s Nest, a 25-foot derelict sailboat that looked like it would sink at any moment and drag Catmandu to the bottom. I had to climb aboard the derelict to attach lines, being careful not to step where I might fall through. I was hoping the slimy creatures hanging from the light blue hull would not jump ship and attach to Catmandu. Poor Catmandu was probably ashamed to be rafted up or associated in any way with Robin’s Nest, and we had left her there for three weeks, until we could have a three-day weekend to get her home to Fort Lauderdale.

That chance came on Valentine’s Day, a Friday night with a full moon. We made a pact not to exchange gifts, but together bought a red heart-shaped box of chocolates to bring with us, and a box of our favorite red wine. Boxes of wine are a boon for boaters, who don’t like to have glass aboard.

We drove up from Ft. Lauderdale in the afternoon, stopping first to drop off our rented car at our new slip on Isle of Venice. It seems impossible that two drivers and one car are not enough to manage a shuttle, but it’s true. We need two cars, one to leave at the takeout point and one to take us north to Vero Beach. At the end of the boat trip, we would have one car in Ft. Lauderdale and one in Vero, so we would have to go north again to retrieve the other car. (Thinking about these logistics reminds me of the word puzzle about the farmer, the goose, the grain and the fox. As far as I know, there is no way to cross that river in the tiny rowboat without endangering the grain or the goose.)

Saturday we tanked up and motored out of Vero Beach. The wind was against us in the morning, but by afternoon it was a strong and steady northwest breeze. Since we were sailing south in the wide Indian River, we could put up the genoa and sail. We sailed on a broad reach for most of the afternoon with a full genoa – and at one point, we were going 7.4 knots. For Catmandu, that’s speeding.

We spent the night in Manatee Pocket, a large anchorage that marks the beginning of the Okeechobee Waterway. It heads west to Florida’s largest lake. In Manatee Pocket, there were many boats anchored, but no manatees. The sunset was remarkable and the moon nearly full. I wished this were my life again: living aboard, sailing and anchoring in a different spot each afternoon, spending most of my time outside on the water.

Manatee Pocket just before sunset.

We started out early on Sunday. We had a long way to travel, and many bridges. For those who don’t know, bridges generally open just two times every hour, and if you’re just a minute too late, it’s a half hour wait until the next opening. We hoped to reach Loggerhead Lantana Marina, but bridges slowed us down quite a bit. We crossed Hobe Sound and came to Jupiter Inlet where we motored past the dark red tower of Jupiter Light.

Jupiter Inlet Light, and Phil.

In Lake Worth we experienced the worst “waking” incident of the whole trip. The boat traffic was amazing. There were hundreds of boats, mostly power boats moving at very high speeds. Our little sailboat was bounced around from multiple directions, and the water was choppy from boats going too fast. One large boat pulled up way too close to us on our starboard side and then took off with its three large outboard motors roaring. The wake was huge and came at us like a tidal wave. Catmandu leaned over dangerously and I saw the mast swing down toward the water. It knocked me off the seat, dumped everything off the starboard shelf onto the deck below, and – worst of all – knocked over our cooler. We lost all of our ice, which is our only refrigeration on board.

Yes, I remember the name of the boat. It was Timber. So, Timber, here’s a maritime lesson you should learn: You are responsible for your wake. If you had injured us or caused any damage, you would have to pay. Please, power boaters, be considerate of sailboats and watch your wake.

We made it to Palm Beach that night and anchored south of the city. We were one of two sailboats in the anchorage, and after the chaos of Lake Worth, we loved the solitude. We could hear live music from a city park and enjoyed the nice sunset and the almost-full moon.

Hillsboro Inlet lighthouse. We’ve climbed this one.

There were some concerns, though. The engine seemed to quit at every bridge. It started again, reluctantly, but only ran well at slow speeds. On Monday, we passed Hillsboro Inlet and were faced with four more bridges before we got to our slip in Fort Lauderdale.

In Lake Boca, the engine failed completely. While I lounged on the deck and watched the party going on all around us (poor me), Phil was below, working on the engine. He installed a new electronic ignition, but it didn’t solve the problem and 20 minutes later, it quit again. Phil got it started, and the boat limped along at low speed into the afternoon.

Phil saw two manatees at Oakland Park Bridge in the fading light. We were almost home, but had to stop for another bridge. While I was spying my own manatees off the bow, Phil saw two real manatees and pointed them out. I wasn’t quick enough to see them and mine turned out to be coconuts. The engine was barely going, fading and rallying half-heartedly as we limped along through the highly populated canal.

Just a mile or so past the bridge, the engine quit and would not start again. We raised the mainsail and I tried to sail a little while Phil worked on the engine, but the wind was nearly still and the sail useless. We dropped the anchor. We had motored and sailed the 31-year-old boat for nearly 1220 miles from Annapolis, and three miles from our final destination, she refused to go on. She was on her last legs.

I can’t say enough about the towboat drivers for TowBoatUS. From the pair of ill-fated North Carolina rescuers who towed us from their own broken boat through the Alligator-Pungo Canal in the dark, to the skilled solo captain who came to rescue us in Fort Lauderdale, these guys are good. They go the extra mile, so to speak, and I have seen them skillfully bump the sailboat gently into a slip, stern first, and never endanger a piling. It’s remarkable.

Shortly after we anchored in the waterway, a police boat came by just to be sure we weren’t staying there. The towboat came five minutes later, helped us raise the anchor and put on the tow bridle. He opened the Sunrise Bridge for us, and we were on our way. However, we had never been to the slip by water, and only by land during the day. It was full dark by then, and we didn’t know where we were going. With the tow boat driver’s local knowledge, and Phil’s GPS coordinates, we made our way to the right canal (among many canals) and overshot our slip by a few hundred yards.

“Oh, no problem,” the tow captain said, “I’ll just do a 360 here and get you back.” In the narrow canal, with mega boats on either side, he managed to make a U-turn with us in tow, return to the right slip, and nudge us into place. We could only help by attaching our lines to the pilings and pulling Catmandu, stern-first, up to the dock. We were home.

Catmandu in her new slip on Isle of Venice in Fort Lauderdale.

Except that we had left a car in Vero Beach. “Not tonight,” Phil said. “We’ll get it in the morning.” We got into the rental car and went to our apartment. Finally, our home and our boat were in the same city. With the engine out of order, our travels were over for the time being.

Don’t think Catmandu became an abandoned derelict like Robin’s Nest. Every weekend, Phil tried one repair after another, getting closer each time to solving the mystery of why the engine quit and wouldn’t start again. Personally, I think she was just tired and needed to rest. She gave all she could and nearly got us there but couldn’t go one more mile. Exhausted after 1200 miles, she deserved a quiet respite and she got it.

Meanwhile, Phil is planning weekends on the water, looking at charts of Miami and south, dreaming of a week in the Keys. We are bound to venture out soon, and so this isn’t the last blog post. I’ll never forget the trip south on the ICW, when we had to arrive somewhere down the line every day. But now, we have nowhere special to be and can truly explore the warm waterways and anchorages that surround us. Maybe we will see dolphins and even manatees. Surely we will see spectacular sunsets fringed by palm trees; we will feel warm ocean breezes and enjoy the tropical beauty of our new home. Catmandu will sail again.

EPILOGUE

June 14, 2015: Catmandu is still having trouble. We’ve been out for weekends but can’t stray far from home because the engine is unreliable. Last May, we planned a long weekend in Biscayne Bay, but around the first bridge, the engine started sputtering and we turned around. Recently, we planned to visit Lettuce Lake a few miles north and had to sail the last half mile. The engine quit and wouldn’t start again. Finally, many repairs and new parts later, we thought it was fixed and took the boat to Loggerhead Marina a few miles south of here. We were ecstatic! The boat is fixed! But coming back, just before the 17th Street Bridge, the engine quit again. We put up the sail and barely made it under the bridge. We had to drop the anchor. TowBoat came to get us.

Is it the heat? Is the boat just afraid of bridges? Or is it the Curse of the Blog? Now, we will find out.

St. Augustine to Titusville, January 6 – 7, 2014

This is Phil, and I’m taking my first turn at writing the blog! Kay has shouldered the entire burden for the whole trip so far. I sailed solo out of St. Augustine for two days in early January, so this one is up to me.

Backing up a little bit, we had run out of vacation by the end of October. I had to find a desk with internet connection to work for awhile and work until I earned more time off. I knew that Cinderella was going to stop in St. Augustine, so that is where Catmandu tied up for more than two months: St. Augustine Municipal Marina. I became a Florida resident. I got my driver’s license, registered to vote, and got Florida stickers for Catmandu and Catnip (the dinghy). Kay flew back to New Hampshire, and was unceremoniously and unfairly laid off from her job as soon as she got home.

Time passed. I rented an office in town, and became fast friends with many people through the St. Augustine Cruisers’ Net. Then, our besties Dan & Jaye Lunsford invited us to their epic 30^th anniversary party aboard the pirate ship Black Raven on January 4!

Kay and I had to go. It was a long trip from New Hampshire, but we needed to make it happen. It was the perfect opportunity to finally get ourselves south to final destination of Fort Lauderdale. Just before, Kay moved out of her condo, put it up for sale, packed up her two cats in her Saturn Ion and drove down to St. Augustine. She picked me up and then we both went to Fort Lauderdale and rented an apartment, left the cats, and drove back to St. Augustine on 1/4. We had a fantastic time on Saturday night, and spent Sunday on the mooring, recovering and getting the boat ready to sail south.

Pirate-y Aftermath!

Dan and Jaye Lunsford’s Pirate Party even made the Jacksonville.com website!

Monday morning came. I tanked up with gas and water, motor sailed south. It rained for the first three hours, but I tried to stay mostly dry. I had a big northeast wind at about 20 knots, and I was able to make better than 6 knots with the genoa fully unfurled.

Matanzas Inlet

I always check the cruising guides, like On The Water Chart Guides and the Salty Southeast Cruisers’ Net, for the latest ICW trouble spots. They had both indicated shoaling (shallow water) at the Matanzas Inlet, just 20 miles south of St. Augustine. The ICW typically shoals around the inlets due to the constant flow of water and sand between the sea and the waterway. However, I followed others’ advice of trusting the buoys as they are placed and adjusted by the Coast Guard and not the electronic chart plotter. I zigged and zagged through the inlet and did not run aground – even though my chart plotter said I was sailing on land for several hundred yards (a situation which makes a sailor’s butt pucker). The larger sailboat behind me did a 180 when they got to the inlet until they figured out that they could follow the path I had shown.

The wind was still howling at 5:30 at night, so I anchored with the 35 pound big honkin’ anchor (“BHA”) and 70 feet of chain just south of Daytona Beach. The flags were banging on the shrouds so loudly I had to take the flags down. The weather turned cold. I bunked down in the cabin next to stove while heating a big clay flowerpot to disperse the heat.

 January 7

The forecast low temperature for Daytona Beach was 41 but it was only 32 degrees when I got up in the morning. I didn’t have warm winter clothes since they were still in my storage unit in Annapolis. So, I made hot coffee and put on all the clothes I had. There were no gloves so I wore some ski socks I found on my hands. The wind was still strong and it was extremely hard getting the anchor back on the boat. The regular way to get the anchor onboard is to have your partner (Kay) motor up to the spot just above where the anchor is set. Then the bow person (me) muscles it up onto the bow. Because the anchor is straight down, it should then pop right out of its muddy set on the bottom. It is almost impossible to pull the whole sailboat up by hand by the anchor rode under 20 knot winds.

Improvising, I motored up beyond where the anchor was. I put the engine in neutral, and scurried up to the bow and pulled up as much anchor chain as I could. When the anchor rode was taut again, I wrapped the chain around the cleat and scurried back to the cockpit. After the first round trip, my hands were so cold I could hardly move my fingers. I had to spend 15 minutes warming my hands each time before I tried again. It took me four tries, going back and forth, before the anchor finally broke free of the bottom. It felt like hockey season in Minnesota.

The temperature did not get above 42 degrees the whole day, but I stayed active and hydrated and made the best of sailing solo. I enjoyed unexpected inspiring views of the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse, and relaxing New Smyrna Beach. Then came the wide open waters of the Mosquito Lagoon. I saw about a dozen dolphins and a medium-sized turtle but no manatees. Fifteen miles out from my destination of the Titusville Municipal Marina, I saw the NASA Vehicle Assembly Building on Cape Canaveral getting larger and larger on the horizon.

The Haulover Canal

At the Haulover Canal, I left the Mosquito Lagoon and entered the Indian River just north of Titusville. Kay was waiting for me at the Titusville Municipal Marina, which is very close to Cape Canaveral. We tied up Catmandu in a slip around 1530 hours, had a hot Italian dinner at a local restaurant, and then Kay drove me back to our new apartment in Fort Lauderdale.

Destination: Titusville Marina, near Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center.

 “I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they’re right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.”

The Interrupted Journey – The morning I returned to work, after renting a car, flying to Boston, and taking a bus to my own frozen Saturn at the Portsmouth Transportation Center, the president of the company called me into his office. They had gotten along just fine without me during my five-week leave of absence. He said it “made no sense,” from a business standpoint, to keep me on staff. They let me go. I had spent nearly $400 to leave Phil and get home to my job and I was there for twenty minutes.

I have come to believe, like Marilyn, that it happened for a reason. It was the biggest favor they could have done for me. I was pretty sure I would eventually rejoin Phil in Florida, but my long-range plan was to save some money, get my 2013 tax refund, and then decide when to move. It would have been a six-month process and we would have been alone, 1500 miles apart. But now, I had to move quickly.

Condo for sale!

Decisions came fast: rent the condo, sell the condo, stay until Christmas, move before Christmas, get rid of furniture, get help with cleaning and painting. I had to go through every room, every closet, every box, and keep only what was dear to  me or necessary for life in a new place. (If you have not done this lately, I urge you to start. It’s not something you want to leave for your heirs after you’re gone.)

There was one decision I couldn’t make by myself. I had to be sure Phil really wanted me to come to Florida and live with him. We had talked about it while we were coming south on the ICW. But I had to be sure, because there would be no going back. When I asked, “Are you sure?”, he didn’t hesitate for a second. “Yes,” he said. “Please come to Florida.”

For the next two months, I was job hunting long-distance and trying to sell my furniture and belongings. Every day, I tried to consolidate my stuff, pack dishes, throw out clothes, and get my condo ready to sell. I had lived there for six years, but it was a large space and I had somehow filled it. In all, I gave away more than 10 “lawn and garden” bags of clothing to Goodwill. I donated three computers, three televisions, two bookcases and odds and ends of furniture to the Epilepsy Foundation. There was so much to do.

But this is a sailing blog. I was headed back to St. Augustine, and Catmandu, and Phil. I finally said goodbye to my two sons, my New Hampshire friends and my mother in Connecticut. There were tears, and sadness, but I was “advancing confidently in the direction of my dreams,” and I felt strongly that my future was with Phil.

In late December, I arrived in St. Augustine after two 12-hour days on the road with my two cats, my poor little car stuffed to the ceiling. Phil met me at the pet-friendly motel, and after a breakfast with our cruising friends, Dan and Jaye, we headed south to our new apartment in Fort Lauderdale. Yes, we left the boat behind on a mooring in St. Augustine.

It felt strange to be moving into an apartment, but with two cats and Phil’s need for reliable internet service, there was really no choice. We found a place with palm trees and swimming pools, and the January weather was hot and sunny. Phil swam on New Year’s Day.

New Year’s Eve at Fort Lauderdale Beach.

One of the local restaurants had a disco ball on a pole, set to drop at midnight. But it got stuck and finally dropped at around 12:03.

Phil swimming at our new apartment on New Year’s Day.

It would be a few weekends yet before we could get the boat down the coast. At around 6 mph, St. Augustine is 5-6 days from Fort Lauderdale. It would involve a logistics nightmare of renting cars,  dropping one car at the takeout point and driving to the put-in, then going back to get the car at the northern end of the route. Don’t worry if you didn’t follow that. It makes my head spin.

We are together, and it does feel like a dream. We’re happy. Sometime in the future, we want to be cruisers: To live on a larger boat, cruise the islands, explore the aqua Caribbean waters. It’s a good dream, and we will go confidently in that direction. But for now, we are CLODS: Cruisers Living on Dirt.

None of them knew the color of the sky.
Their eyes glanced level, and were fastened upon the waves that swept toward them.
These waves were of the hue of slate, save for the tops, which were of foaming white,
and all of the men knew the colors of the sea.
— Steven Crane, The Open Boat

It is cold. An unusual snap of winter grips North Florida but doesn’t extend to Fort Lauderdale. It’s two different climates. Ours is controlled by the Gulf Stream, warm, tropical, breezy and did I say warm? So on January 24, with the boat safely tied to a pier in Titusville, we head north for another installment of our “get the boat to Fort Lauderdale” saga. The marina had informed us that we had to move Catmandu to a different slip, so we decided to move it to a different slip 100 miles south. For me, the cold wind would be a surprise.

We rent a car in Fort Lauderdale and drive two cars north to the marina in Vero Beach. We drop the rental car there, make arrangements for a mooring, and continue 84 miles north to Titusville. We remembered to bring the boat cushions with us, because we had been sleeping on them at home. My furniture is in hiding somewhere between New Hampshire and Florida, with an expected delivery date still a week off. Sleeping on sheets on the floor gives us the world’s largest king size bed but it is a little hard on my hip bones and shoulders. On our last trip, we had borrowed the boat cushions for the apartment. So, we park the car in Titusville, load cushions and provisions onboard, and get ready to set off in the morning.

It has been a while since I’ve spent the night on Catmandu and I feel a sense of homecoming as I step into the cockpit and then down the ladder to the salon. It is cozy here, a little cave of warmth and comfort. It looks, smells, feels like home. We curl up in the v-berth and sleep.

Rain falls during the night, and the face-chilling drizzle continues into the daylight as we carry our steaming coffee cups up to the cockpit. I have to go back down to grab a foul-weather jacket. Our “foulies” are both warm and waterproof. With no help from dockhands, we cast off lines and back out of the slip, round the point to the east and turn south into the ICW.

The water is slate-gray and choppy, and the sky is overcast. The standing joke – “I think it’s getting brighter!” – really works today as the rain lets up and the clouds separate, revealing patches of blue. We can sail here! Phil pulls out the genoa and we motorsail most of the day, speeding along at over 5 knots (a real speed-fest for Catmandu!).

Pelicans are everywhere!

Coming to the first bridge of the day, we experience what a cold front really is, as the wall of wind comes in from the west and suddenly spins the boat around. As we wait for the bridge opening, we feel the air get noticeably colder and the bank of clouds to the west overtakes our patches of blue.

Dominating the landscape as we head south is the huge Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center. It is by far the largest thing on the horizon for many miles. It was built in the late sixties to house the Saturn 5 rocket used in Apollo missions, and is today the largest 1-story building in the world. Just to give a sense of the hugeness, in the picture below, note that the stars in the US flag are each 6 feet tall.

The Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center.

Our anchorage for the night is in Melbourne, and we find a spot on the west side of the ICW. The skies cleared and we enjoy drinks in the cockpit as the sun sets and the moon rises. We put out the BBQ grill and make a late dinner. I think this is the life; I want to be on the water as the sun sets and fall asleep in the gentle rocking motion of a boat at anchor. This feels like home.

We are seeing manatee warning signs, but no manatees.

The next day is bright, clear and warmer. We set out early and make boat breakfast on the way. We have to make it to Vero Beach in time to get the car, drive back to Titusville and drive home to Fort Lauderdale – a very long trek at the end of the day.

We have traveled 1,000 miles on the ICW. Note the color of the water.

We begin notice changes in the water. The deep gray-blue changes here and there to a lighter blue, and we start to notice an aqua hue. Then a light green color shows up in swirls and eddies. I am staring at the water, fascinated by the colors.

A cold front blows in and changes the water to green.

What causes the color of the sea? It could be depth, or shells on the bottom, or the color of the sand. Maybe it is as changeable as the sky, reflecting the gray of rain or the clear blue of cloudless days. I prefer the aqua of the Caribbean, and remember swimming off of Cable Beach in the light blue-green water where we could look down and clearly see our feet.

I don’t want a scientific explanation. That might ruin the fascination. Let the colors of the ocean be ever-changing and mysterious.

Where we love is home – home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.   – Oliver Wendell Holmes

I am home now in New Hampshire. I realize I have missed my favorite season here, when the air gets crisp and cold, and trees put on their fiery display. The view off my deck is of October gone, and winter coming on.

My deck. Note the unnecessary wasp spray in the lounge chair. At 28 degrees this morning, wasps are fast asleep somewhere else.

Once we made the decision to make it to St. Augustine, we felt better about the whole trip. We would end up where we wanted to be, and there was no stopping us. We arrived in Brunswick, GA after two nights at anchor and checked into Hidden Harbor Marina, managed by friends of Phil’s. The next morning, we were off at 8am to start two marathon days that would bring us to Florida by Halloween night.

We stopped for fuel at Jekyll Island. As we were filling up, Phil cracked a joke and the dock attendant promptly dropped his iPhone into the water. “Dang it,” he said. “That’s the third one I’ve dropped here.” The dock hand told us we had just traversed the dangerously low passage into Jekyll Island at the most risky time, low and falling tide. We had gone slowly, picking our way through the shallow channel but never touching bottom. Others would have waited for higher water, but our 4.5-foot draft hasn’t slowed us down at all (well, except for the one night on the mud flats of Rock Creek).

Phil took my picture, in my usual docking position on the bow, handling the bow line.

During fueling, I wait on the bow to handle the bow line. My job is to get the line from the dock hand, take it off the cleat, wrap it neatly and make my way back to the cockpit, picking up the fenders as I go.

We crossed St. Andrew Sound and into the Cumberland River. We crossed the state line into Florida before noon, and motored past the last of the deserted creeks into more populous areas. On Wednesday night, we anchored at the Amelia River and were attacked without mercy by swarms of little gnats – “No see-ems” that left us itchy and drove us inside. Phil put a mesh screen on the forward hatch. We left early the next day, knowing it would be a 10-hour day that would bring us to St. Augustine. It would be the last cruising day of our trip.

I took the helm on the Guana River, which was narrow but not terribly shallow. The homes were getting larger and more beautiful by the mile. Soon we were passing mansions served by private, two-story docks with spiral staircases.

Along the Guana River, the large houses were beautifully landscaped, and even the docks showed a level of affluence we hadn’t seen farther north.

A two-story dock adorned with a large fish. The docks and piers were getting more elaborate.

After the St. Johns River, I began to recognize the names of bridges. I lived in Mayport when my ex-husband was in the Navy years ago. We passed under Beach Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue.  As I was driving, I was watching the chart plotter when we entered a narrow channel. I noticed that the chart showed our position on dry land. Then I was really confused. “Phil, this shows the water ends up here!”

“What? Oh, no! I think we sailed off the end of the chart,” he said. “Did we pass Jacksonville?”

“Yes, back on the St. Johns River.” Our chart chip had run out. Luckily, Phil had the next chip and quickly installed it. Back on the water, we continued into the hot afternoon. Just past the St. Augustine airport, Catmandu’s engine started slowing down and revving up. It nearly quit several times, but always recovered. We started making plans for what we would do if it stopped. Just a few more miles to go! Phil knows this Atomic 4 intimately. “Dirty fuel filters or water in the gasoline,” he guessed. “Or, sticky valves. I’ll give it some Marvel’s Mystery Oil.”

The mystery oil made the engine run a little better, and we kept on. We had to slow down to keep the engine happy, and I let Phil drive so he could monitor the ailing motor. I kept thinking, don’t quit now! We are so close!

We spotted St. Augustine light after crossing under the Vilano Beach Bridge and crossed the St. Augustine inlet. I called the Bridge of Lions, so afraid I would slip up and call it by our nickname, the Bridge of Loins. It opened and we motored into our new home in slip 67 of the Municipal Marina. On the dock, there was a Cruisers’ Happy Hour. After tying up, we walked over to the party with our box of wine. We were welcomed like old friends, and met some new friends. One of the cruisers said, “St. Aug gives you a big hug when you arrive here.” We felt as if we had arrived at our home.

The view from our new home.

It was Halloween, and several boats had decorated for the occasion.

St. Augustine is a wonderful town, the oldest in the country. It is steeped in history. On our dock is a pirate ship, the Black Raven, and pirates walk by us on the pier, sporting tri-corner hats and long curved swords. It’s not because it’s Halloween. They dress like this all the time.

The Black Raven, crewed by pirates.

We played the part of tourists for the next two days, visiting the St. Augustine light and taking the Red Train tour around town. We climbed to the top of the light, all 219 steps. Here is Phil at the top.

My captain, at the top of St. Augustine Light.

I had rented a car to drive to Savannah on Sunday, so I could catch a plane to another plane to a bus to home. It would be an ordeal, but I travel well and don’t mind. We had one last night at Maria’s on the waterfront, where we fed the catfish and watched a giant Great Blue Heron on the nearby marker. I didn’t want to think about leaving the next day. I wanted to stay.

Our sunset view of boats on their moorings. There was a rainbow in the sky as we watched the sun descend.

The next day, Phil got up with me at 5:30 and walked me to the rental car. We kissed goodbye and I drove away. I’ll be back one day, but I don’t know when. I’ve been there, in my thoughts, ever since. This is not the last blog, just the last one for a while. I blinked back a few tears on my way to Savannah, but Phil didn’t see them.

Now, I am home, sitting at my dining room table. In spite of two purring cats by my feet, it is lonely here. For five weeks, I lived on a 27-foot sailboat with a wonderful man. We traveled 900 miles in 33 days. Catmandu was my home, for a brief, special time.

Home is where the heart is. I left mine in St. Augustine.

 “What mystery is the sea, whose stirrings speak of a hidden soul beneath.”

— Herman Melville

Lone pelican on a piling at sunset.

 

Our days in Georgia are spent motoring through winding creeks, watching the depth. Phil is singing Country Western songs: “Shoaling, shoaling, shoaling (Rawhide)” and “Back in the Channel Again.” The weather has finally turned warmer and we have sun every day. Our first stop after our night aground is Skull Creek Marina, where we share the dock with big awkward pelicans and one Great Blue Heron who wasn’t afraid to perch about six feet away in the dusk.

Birds perched, one to a piling, at Skull Creek Marina.

Queen Bess Creek is our anchorage for the following evening, and presents us with an incredible sunset. We sit in the cockpit watching the sun go down.

A watercolor sunset, Queen Bess Creek, Georgia.

We have less than a week left of our time together, and only two days until we get to our agreed-upon stopping place, Brunswick, GA.

“I feel so badly that we didn’t get you to Florida,” I say quietly. “I still think we could have made it.”

I can see he is thinking. “How many miles is it from Brunswick to St. Augustine?”

We go below and check the chart book. “It’s a hundred and ten,” I say. “Two long days.”

The wheels start to turn. Then the wheels come off of Plan C, and suddenly Plan B is a possibility. We will be in Brunswick on Tuesday. We can be in St. Augustine by Thursday night. Phil’s face lights up.

“We can do it!” He is so excited, I can’t bear to remind him that I just bought a non-refundable ticket home from Savannah. I’ll worry about that later. We are happy.

The next day, a dolphin breaches right off our port bow and lingers alongside us. It’s a good omen. We pull into our anchorage at Queens Island, in view of the red and white striped Sapelo Island Lighthouse. Dolphins are swimming around the mouth of the creek, and Phil catches a fin in a photo. Finally, some evidence. And another sunset to remember.

Sunset from our anchorage at Queen’s Island, Georgia. Here, we had night visitors.

The night is warm and clear. Since there’s no moon, the stars are brilliant and the Milky Way is visible above us. Phil lies on his back in the cockpit looking for shooting stars, but my attention is drawn to the water. I hear soft rippling sounds, as if someone is dangling her feet in the water. I peer into the dark ripples, but can’t see anything. Then, from just a few feet away, I hear a loud huff. It scares me; it is strangely human, as if someone is letting out an exasperated sigh.

“What is that?” I whisper. We are quiet for a while, listening. Another huff, farther off, breaks the silence.

“Dolphins breathing!” Phil whispers, and we hear another one. They are all around us in the dark water, and as I scan the surface, I see a reflection of our cockpit lantern in a round circle. An eye. They are watching us, too. Like so many moments of this adventure I’m on, this is an experience I will never forget. We sit for a long time under the stars, listening to the breathing of dolphins.

“There are two types of cruisers on the Intracoastal Waterway – Those who have run aground, and those who will.” – Attributed to Mark Doyle, author, On the Water Chartguides

Leaving Charleston, we find fewer and fewer grand homes along the waterfront, and a gradual return to wild places. I am becoming more confident in steering and can help spell Phil for a few hours at a time. I have the GPS chart plottter, the charts, and a quick yell (such as, “It’s getting shallow here!”) will bring him to my side.

We plan to anchor at Rock Creek, 47 miles south of Charleston. Thankfully, I am not the one driving as we turn off the ICW and enter the creek. Our cruising guide cautions us to watch for shoaling and a shallow place near the trees, so we plan to drop the anchor in 18 feet of water just short of the trees. Like a dog who circles before lying down in the grass, we need to circle our anchor spot to be sure we have sufficient depth when the current swings us around. “She swings like a monkey,” Phil says.

We are just making the first turn when the depth sounder switches from 18 feet to 5 feet. Phil reacts quickly, slowing the boat, but before we can reverse, the depth sounder registers a 3, and the boat comes to a full and sudden stop. Oops.

Catmandu needs 4.5 feet to float, so we were hard aground. Phil puts the engine in reverse and tries to wiggle us out, but she won’t budge. The next plan is to “kedge,” a new word for me. He explains that he can put the heavy anchor in the dinghy, row out to deeper water and drop it in. Then, with a line running back to the boat, he can “kedge” us off the mud by pulling the boat toward the anchor.

I am getting a little worried, but Phil is not at all, and goes about readying the anchor, climbing into the dinghy and rowing away. He drops the big anchor and then rows the dinghy back to the boat, carrying the line. Wrapping it around the winch, he starts to pull. As the line tightens, he pulls harder. I wish I could help, but all I can manage is to look more and more worried. The boat doesn’t budge.

If you’re going to run aground, it’s best to do so in a rising tide. Eventually, the water will come back and float your boat. It’s 5 o’clock, and the tide is falling. The water is rushing out of the creek all around us and the boat is starting to make strange creaking noises. I must have looked panicked, because Phil says suddenly, “It’s going to be all right.”

In my mind, the boat was about to settle into the mud on its side, and nothing would keep the water from rushing in. Having seen “The Guardian” the night before, I am imagining a red Coast Guard rescue copter lowering a basket for us, and the rest of our trip cancelled as Catmandu becomes salvage. Well, it wasn’t quite that bad, but I’ve never been on a boat that was slowly settling on the bottom, and I begin to notice that we are not quite upright.

“What’s going to happen?” I ask.

“We will probably heel (lean) to starboard as the tide goes out,” Phil explains, “but when it starts to come back in after 7pm, we’ll gradually be upright again.”

I do have faith in his experience and ability, and he knows the boat well from 13 years of ownership. But I am looking around for help, and spot a small shrimping boat a few hundred yards away. “Can they help us?” I ask.

“There’s nothing they can do. We are stuck.” he says. “We might as well have a drink.”

I have to laugh at that. He has a way of making everything okay. The boat is heeling badly, but Phil seems able to walk around the tilted deck, take pictures of the sunset, and descend the crooked ladder to make gin and tonics. We sit on the deck (on the high side) and look down into the dinghy. “Maybe we should sleep in the dinghy tonight.” At least the dinghy will be level.

I am upright; the mast is not.

As we are drinking and trying to balance on the high side of the cockpit, Phil tells me he once tried to anchor in Cocktail Cove on the coast of Maine and couldn’t get the anchor to hold after three tries. On the fourth try, he hooked the anchor in 11 feet of water. From fatigue after a long day of fighting the coastal Maine waters, he considered it a good anchorage and went to bed. The tide in that area was nine feet. By the time morning came, the boat was on its side, the fresh water tank was emptying out of the galley faucet, and they were walking on the bulkheads to get around. Using the head was out of the question. They waited for the incoming tide, and the boat floated free and upright.

Sunset, from the crooked Catmandu. The backstay, at the top of the photo, should be vertical.

“Let’s have dinner, and watch a movie,” Phil suggests. I think he’s enjoying this. I need to have a little faith, relax, and go along. So I get out the iPhone and take a few pictures. When we carefully pick our way down the tilted stairs, I settle into the settee and lean back. It’s like being in the dentist’s chair.

Looking, a little askance, at the sunset.

Looking forward, through the dodger.

Phil checks the tilt-o-meter: 34 degrees! He offers to cook dinner, but I don’t see how. The stove is tilted beyond its gimbel, and the dinner plan was tacos! I can just see tomatoes and lettuce shreds dropping everywhere from tilted bowls, and hot taco fillings spilling in our laps. “Okay, but not tacos!” He fries up a couple of veggie italians and we eat them in bread.

As we settle down into the settee, Phil rigs a bungie cord to hold the laptop on the table, and we lie back, literally on our backs. He looks over at me and smiles. “Living the dream!” he says. My laughter probably sounds a little hysterical.

Phil, atilt.

As we are watching Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man’s Chest, the boat is making creaking and groaning noises. The yacht lamp is lit, and leans at an angle over the computer. By the time he gets up to make Jiffy Pop, the boat is starting to right itself. We set the alarm for midnight so we can adjust the anchor when high tide comes.

The yacht lamp, and the fruit hammock, are hanging straight up and down.

“Hello! Are you okay in there?” Someone hails us from outside. Phil climbs out into the tilted cockpit to find the shrimp boat just off the stern. They understand that there is nothing they can do to help, but they offer us their leftover ice. They had been on a “shrimping date,” and saw our plight. “You’re on the edge of a mud flat,” the man says. “When you go out, be sure to back out.” Phil explains that he has a kedge anchor out, and the man says, “Oh, okay. You know what you’re doing.” (I’m glad to hear it.)

At midnight, we get up and hope the boat is floating free. Phil gets out on deck first. I hear him say, “Oh!” Right behind him, I climb into the cockpit and gasp. Over the stern rail, in the light of our little hanging lantern, I see grass. Grass? Yes, marsh grass. We have not only floated free, but we have floated into the marsh grass on the opposite shore. Luckily, the anchor is holding and we are afloat. All we have to do is get to the middle and adjust the anchor. I’m driving, and Phil pulls the anchor and drops it again in a better spot.

We go to bed. The next morning is cold but bright. We can’t wait to get out of there. On the way, I see what a brilliant, beautiful sunrise we have. Phil is looking at it, too. “Did you ever see the Poseidon Adventure?” he asks. Oh, yes.

There’s got to be a morning after.

“It’s lovely to live on a raft. We had the sky up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and discuss about whether they was made or only just happened.”– Mark Twain.

We are not going to make it to our destination. The miles flow by pleasantly and we finally have sunshine, clear skies and cool breezes. There are dolphins, eagles and vast acres of marshlands. On our way south to Charleston, we meander through marsh grasses as high as a person. There are no houses for miles and the waterway branches out into wandering creeks on either side. We pull in to Georgetown for gas and see a bald eagle on the marker. He is not as much of a tease as the dolphins, so here is his portrait.

A bald eagle perches on the marker just outside Georgetown, SC.

Later, We drop our anchor in 12 feet of water in a small inlet just off the waterway. There are no lights around. Phil checks us in on Facebook “in the middle of nowhere.”

“It’s not really the middle of nowhere,” he comments. “But you can see the edge from here.” We are the only humans for miles. The stars are brilliant and close. Before the moon rises, the Big Dipper seems to reach down to us alone.

Our original plan was to take Catmandu from Annapolis to Ft. Lauderdale in 5 weeks. It was an ambitious plan that would have required long hours and perfect weather. Friends from Annapolis are wintering in St. Augustine, so that became Plan B. But as the days wind down, and we have yet to reach Georgia, Plan B looks unlikely, too. We are looking for a stopping place where Phil can work for a couple of weeks and I can get to an airport to fly home–maybe Savannah; maybe Jekyll Island.

We pass mile 500 on the ICW, traveling in a 27-foot sailboat. (And we still like each other).

We are seeing dolphins every day, even in unlikely places that seem too narrow and shallow. These dolphins are gray, not black as the ones farther north. They surface and then disappear, too elusive for pictures.

There have been some wonderful surprises on this trip. One surprise is the number of unspoiled wild places. Living in New England, I thought these were rare treasures in the world. But traveling by water through the Carolinas gives me hope that we still have some of the natural world left, unspoiled by traffic, industry, and strip malls. We travel through days of marshlands where birds and dolphins make their homes, unbothered by humans.

Unspoiled.

We reach Charleston Harbor early in the afternoon on Wednesday, October 23. The wind forecast was 5-10mph, so we were surprised by the white caps, heavy winds and wild water that greeted us in the harbor. Catmandu bobbed and splashed into the waves, occasionally soaking us with cold salty water. I can’t help but laugh; it seems so deliberate. Cut it out, Catmandu!

Charleston, from Charleston Harbor.

When we arrive at the marina, Bob and Lester greet us at the dock. He heard our radio call. Our friend and writer, Jaye Lunsford (Life Afloat) is right: Cruisers form fast friendships quickly. Bob is on a layover, waiting for boat parts and visiting family. We hope to see the Bonnie K down the line.

Palm trees in downtown Charleston.

Charleston is a good place to settle down for a day. Phil puts in a work day while I take the courtesy van to a supermarket. I do laundry and talk to locals. At night we hear strange clicking noises around the boat. It sounds like the popping of small-scale bubble wrap. Phil posts a link on Facebook: “We have been hearing the sounds of snapping shrimp through the hull of Catmandu since arriving in Charleston. Sounds like Rice Krispies® and we are in the bowl of cereal.”

http://www.beaufortcountylibrary.org/htdocs-sirsi/snap.htm.

The view from our restaurant in Charleston, where we treat ourselves to dinner.

It’s dark morning in Charleston and I am awake. I look up through the forward hatch and see the bright half moon directly overhead. I hear the crackling of popping shrimp all around the boat. They will snap this way until daybreak and then we will be on our way, destination unknown.

Leaving Charleston through the Ladies Island Bridge.

Saturday, October 19: Birds and Bridges

Yesterday, we left Morehead City and motored through Bogue Sound. The waterway is really narrow there, even though the sound is wide. It is literally 1 foot deep on either side of the dredged channel.

We passed a motor yacht going the other direction, and watched it run aground just after we passed. A sailboat behind us stopped to help, but couldn’t drag them off the shoal. Poor captain had to sit and wait (maybe 5 or 6 hours) for high tide to float his boat. We heard him say on the radio that his depth gauge read 1.5 feet. He probably needed 5 feet to float.

When we arrived at Surf City, I called the bridge myself. I believe it’s not safe to be on a boat and not be able to use the radio. Calling the bridge is a good way to get over my radio shyness.

“Surf City Bridge, Surf City Bridge, southbound sailing vessel Catmandu.”

“Go ahay-ed cap’n.” Captain? Oh, me!

“Requesting southbound passage at your 11 o’clock opening. Over. ”

“Okay cap’n. See you at 11.”

It’s polite to acknowledge the bridge tender’s service. “Thank you for the opening. Catmandu out.”

“Safe trip, cap’n.”

We made it to Wrightsville Beach Bridge just as it was closing. It’s an hour wait, so we were disappointed to have to circle around waiting for 3 o’clock to come. But we did see this cute little palm tree, a lone palm on a little sandy island:

It’s a little scrawny, but it’s our first real palm tree sighting.

We made a long day of it, and anchored for the night at Camp Lejeune. An osprey flew by several times, doing “touch and go” landings. You thought I was talking about birds again? This was an osprey helicopter-airplane, which can land like a helicopter and fly like a plane.

There, at Mile Hammock Bay, as we were anchoring, I saw two dolphins wander into the anchorage while two more waited outside in the channel. They were pretty far away, but I attempted a photo again. Now I think I will give up.

.There are two dolphins swimming just in front of the sailboat in Mile Hammock Bay. Really. Dolphins.

For those who thought I’d return to work all tanned and blond, there is little chance of that. Today we have our “foulies” on and motor through hours of rain and drizzle. We are really close to the Atlantic Ocean now, and can smell the beach. We are just inside the Outer Banks, and the landscape is marsh grass, sand and dunes.

The Pink House, a landmark on this section of the ICW.

We are seeing lots of Great Egrets in the tall marsh grasses at the water’s edge. These lanky white birds must be the top of the food chain. They are easily spotted and slow to take off — good prey if they had predators. We see Great Blue Herons too, sometimes perched in trees.

Great Egrets in the marsh grasses.

The gulls are everywhere. Laughing gulls are my favorite but they can get really loud. One of our neighbors at Belhaven scared us half to death when he stepped out of his boat with a rifle and shot at them. It did shut them up for a time. Phil likes to yell back at them, “Stop laughing at me! I’m sensitive!”

We notice that gulls sit on pilings one bird to a perch, and only one. It’s the same with navigation aids and mile markers. “Mile marker 270,” I announce. “With a cormorant on top!”

Pelicans and cormorants on pilings, one bird only.

Sunday, October 20: No Fear

Last night, we came through a narrow, very deep passage called “Snow’s Cut.” A huge motor yacht came toward us going very fast and sending up huge waves in its wake. It did not slow down to pass us, and six-foot waves towered over our cockpit as it went by. To the delight of passengers having drinks on the top deck, Phil made the sign of the cross as Catmandu bobbed and tipped into the waves. That was scarier than the Cape Fear River, which we were taught to fear.

Poor broken sailboat. Probably got waked by a giant motor yacht.

We left the Carolina Beach State Park Marina and headed down the Cape Fear River. The river is fast, deep and busy. We timed our departure to be with the tide, but not too close to the maximum current. It was a wild ride, but not because of the river. The boat traffic was daunting. We were waked several times by giant motor yachts, but made it safely into the ICW and went calmly on our way.

At the marina last night, we met Bob, on the Bonnie Kay. He is single-handing a trip to the Bahamas and has a very cute barking dog named Lester. He apologized for all the noise. We would hear him on the radio calling tow boat, but he was at the Calabash River anchorage, along with Lester, when we arrived tonight. I think whenever we hear a barking dog on this trip, we will be saying, “Shut up, Lester.”

The way is shallow and very near the beach. At one spot, a Sea Tow boat is directing boats around a shallow shoal. We see 4-foot depths and steer around them to find the deepest passage. Later on, I am napping in the cockpit when Phil wakes me up. “What are those?” he asks.

Lying on the beach are four large animals. At first, I thought, “Camels?” They are shaggy and have long curved horns that point backwards. “Llamas?” Here is a picture:

North Carolina’s feral goats. And, note the dolphins in the foreground.

I think maybe they are goats, so I look up “wild goats of North Carolina” and there are herds of feral goats here. The website explains how people want to protect the goats, and the state wants to relocate them.

http://sunsetbeachncandbeyond.com/channels/activerain/topics/feral_goats

Our anchorage on the Calabash River is small, wild and incredibly beautiful. The boat faces the sunset, and Phil points out a sun dog. It’s a tiny segment of rainbow at the same altitude as the sun, made by reflection off of ice crystals. I love that he knows these things. We watch the sunset, drinking the last of our rum. It is movie night tonight and we look forward to Matt Damon and Jiffy Pop. We are south of the border, in South Carolina. Check off another state.

Our private, secluded anchorage on the Calabash River, South of the Border.

With Catmandu running perfectly, we leave Belhaven and the good people at Dowry Creek Marina. Last night, we celebrated Catmandu’s repair with our friend, Jean-Luc, and a bottle of Plantation Rum. We finished the rum, had dinner and wine with Jean-Luc, and came back to Catmandu very, very happy. So happy, we decided to do this “selfie” photo. Okay, it may not have been our wisest decision.

Our “Selfie” – Celebrating Catmandu’s Recovery

We cast off our lines early in the morning and head out into the Pungo River and then into the Pamlico River. Here the water opens up and there is enough wind to sail. The sun hasn’t been out for days, but the wind is good and it’s not raining. I am amazed by the huge expanses of water in the State of North Carolina. We are seeing a different view of this state, and it is not the I-95 view. It is natural, wild, and undeveloped.

Our friends on Cinderella had left Belhaven ahead of us to make a boat repair appointment in Oriental. They texted one word along the way: “Dolphins!” Motor-sailing through the Pamlico River, my eyes are on the water, looking for those dorsal fins and puffs of water vapor that herald these marine mammals with the cheerful smiles. As we make our way into Goose Creek, the boat traffic picks up and we pass tugboats, barges, and fishing vessels. The Hobucken Coast Guard station, midway down the creek, is a tiny station with one small boat, surrounded by huge commercial vessels.

Blue Fishing Boat in Goose Creek

The U.S. Coast Guard Station at Hobucken, NC, in Goose Creek.

We had heard calls on the radio last night from Hobucken Coast Guard for a lost vessel called Blue Moon II. The sailing vessel had reported being lost, and the Coast Guard was asking for help in finding her. I can’t imagine how anyone could get lost with all of the markers in the waterways, canals and rivers. Still, I feel sad for these navigators who have lost their way.

After Goose Creek, we entered Bay River, the exact area where Jaye on Cinderella had seen dolphins. I spend the afternoon scanning the gray water for dorsal fins, but they aren’t there. It’s a little disappointing, but it is a nice day and we are putting miles behind us. Late in the afternoon, the sun almost comes out.

The sun comes out, finally, on the Bay River.

Bay River flows into the Neuse River, but don’t picture narrow winding channels. Both of these waterways are huge, with distant shores and plenty of deep water. So, we are surprised when we spot a sailboat coming across our path. Phil says, “They will pass behind us,” but they keep on coming. To be safe, Phil changes course slightly. The vessel makes a sudden sharp turn to starboard, again on a collision course with us. It suddenly turns again and passes closely behind us. Then we notice the name: It’s Blue Moon II. I think it must be captained by ghosts. Or zombies.

We pull into Oriental, NC for the night. There is a restaurant at the marina, a tiki bar and a pool. Paradise! Our friends Dan and Jaye join us at the tiki bar after dinner, and the first thing they ask is, “Did you see dolphins?” In spite of the fact that we looked all day, no, there were no dolphins. We get a better description of what she saw: a pair of jumping, spinning healthy-looking mammals, putting on a Sea World show. I’m a little jealous.

Kay and Phil, at a little coffee shop called “The Bean,” in Oriental, the sailing capital of North Carolina.

The sun has been very rare on this trip so far. Jaye tells us that the cloudy skies and drizzle have caused the locals to call this the NENE, Never Ending Nor-Easter. But the morning sun is bright and we are anxious to leave on this beautiful morning. We are headed to Morehead City, just 20 miles away. It will be a good chance to rest, provision, and maybe have some pizza.

Our friends and mentors, Dan and Jaye Lunsford, saying goodbye in Oriental. They get around on these handy scooters, compact enough to carry on Cinderella.

We head out of Oriental and soon enter the Adams Creek canal. As we come out of the canal and into the Newport River, Phil spots fins. “Dolphins! Look!” he says, and I can’t see them at first. Then, they are all around the boat, first four, then six, moving through the water. It is so unexpected, I don’t have the camera ready. I watch them go past, and one turns its head to me, right next to the boat. Phil has cut the engine so I could get pictures, but this is all I can get:

Here, there be dolphins. Really.

Phil marked the spot with the GPS, and used charting software to make this map. Here is where we saw our first dolphins:

I am sorry I have no photos to show. The camera, and the photographer, are not good enough to catch them as they rise in the waves and dive down again. Dolphins are quick, and they are the same color as the water. Their sleek backs curve up and down, synchronized with their mates. They seem to travel in pairs or pods, hardly ever alone. They are smaller than I imagined. One even coughed nearby and sent up a little plume of vapor. I saw the face of one, and the backs of many more.

It’s funny that they appear in an unlikely place, in fairly shallow water, at a time when my eyes are not scanning the waves for a glimpse of them.

Now, I think maybe dolphins are like love: You can only find them when you aren’t looking.