We mostly motored up the ICW to St. Augustine. We encountered several shallow spots and lots of "derelict" boats. We anchored just north of the Bridge of Lions. Because of COVID-19, we did not go ashore or stay more than one day.
Century Club: Eric Brinsfield
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
Number of days:
1 day
I was tired of the ICW, so we decide to try the St. Augustine Inlet to get back offshore. Most of the guides and discussions say that St. Augustine Inlet requires local knowledge or is not recommended, but we had no problem. The lowest depth was encountered was 25 feet.
We weighed anchor at 7:30 am and arrived at Fernandina Beach inside St. Mary's Inlet at 3 pm.
Monday, March 16, 2020
Number of days:
1 day
We left Titusville at 8:10 am and headed north up the ICW. I had planned to anchor in Daytona, but I did not like the look of the anchorages. So, we pushed on and anchored in the Ft. Matanzas anchorage, arriving at 7:45 am after traveling 76 nautical miles.
The trip involved a combination of sailing, motoring, and motor-sailing.
Sunday, March 15, 2020
Number of days:
1 day
We took a quick trip up the ICW from Cocoa to Titusville. We wanted to get in early enough to re-provision and do laundry. COVID-19 policies were started to be more visible when we arrived here. Dock hands were very careful and distanced.
Saturday, March 14, 2020
Number of days:
1 day
We tend to prefer sailing offshore rather than in the ICW, but with the Canaverl Barge Canal closed, we decided to try the ICW north from Ft. Pierce. Mostly motoring, we did get some sailing and motor sailing in at a few spots. We traveled 59 miles to anchor in Cocoa, which makes a short hop to Titusville.
Friday, March 13, 2020
Number of days:
1 day
From Lake Worth Inlet, we began our northerly track up the east coast by heading offshore to Ft. Pierce. After traveling about 53 nautical miles, we anchored inside Ft. Pierce Inlet near the Coast Guard station.
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Number of days:
1 day
We left Old Bahama Bay Marina at 7:30 am and headed west across the Gulf Stream. The wind was east at 8-15 knots, but did not provide us with enough wind to have a reasonable sail. We motorsailed with Genoa only at about 7.8 knots SOG. About 12:15 the Gulf Stream current was about 2.5 knots heading north, but it did not cause any problems for our track.
We reached Lake Worth Inlet at 3 pm and head up to meet friends in Old Port Cove Marina.
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Number of days:
1 day
To position ourselves for a Gulf Stream crossing to West Palm, we sailed up to West End from Lucaya. As we left the marina channel, the waves were 6-8 feet and the wind mostly on the nose, but once we turned west, we screamed along at 8-10 knots downwind. As we rounded Grand Bahamas and turned north, the wind was a beam reach to West End. The trip was about 27.7 nautical miles and a beautiful day.
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Number of days:
1 day
Our goal was to reach Lucaya in Grand Bahama before the major frontal system arrived, so we left Great Harbor at 7:05 am and headed north across the Northwest Providence Channel to Grand Bahama Yacht Club. The wind and waves increased all day, but we had to motorsail to keep up our speed. We reached the marina by 3:30 pm after 59 nautical miles.
We stayed here 4 days while the storms came through.
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Number of days:
1 day
We left Nassau at 7:00 am and headed north toward the Berry Islands. Racing the upcoming weather system, we skipped all the possible stops along the Berry's and anchored at the top in Great Harbor anchorage just north of Goat Cay. We sailed and motorsailed for the 56+ nautical mile trip.