Oct 4, Stuart, FL

We're home!

We moved about 70 miles from Melbourne, Florida, past Sebastian, Vero, and Ft Pierce to Stuart.

Sunrise at Melbourne as we leave the marina.

Several porpoise find us and play in our wake. Some around Sebastian, some near Vero and some in the Indian River as we approach Stuart.

Approaching our home from the water.
KOKOMO is on the lift.

A good summer trip. About 4500 miles from Stuart and up the Intercoastal to the Chesapeake Bay and Washington, DC, then to NYC, Lake Champlain, Montreal, the St Lawrence Seaway to the 1000 Islands then the Erie Canal to the Hudson River, NYC, the Chesapeake and Intercoastal Waterway back to Stuart.

We're glad to be home!

Oct 3, Melbourne, FL

We moved about 70 miles from New Smyrna Beach, south through the Intercoastal Waterway. We went through the Mosquito Lagoon, then past Titusville, Cape Canaveral (Kennedy Space Center), Merritt Island, Cocoa and Eau Gallie to Melbourne where we are staying at the Melbourne Harbor Marina.

Not much traffic on the water today.
Here we meet a small tug near Titusville, Florida.

This small freighter is aground in very shallow water.
Probably will be here for many years.

Linda enjoys a breeze.

Approaching Melbourne Harbor Marina.

Sunset from KOKOMO II over the sailboats at Melbourne Harbor.

Wind was mostly 10 mph all day until the last hour. Then 20-25 with a two foot chop on the Intercoastal. The Melbourne Harbor Marina is in a very sheltered enclosed harbor and we are happy to be here for the night. Good power, two restaurants including a Chart House. No internet.

Oct 2, New Smyrna Beach, FL

Interesting boat next to us in the marina is built in the style of a WW II landing craft. This version for civilian use.

We talk to the crew and they are delivering the boat to Maine.
Hope the good weather continues for the rest of their trip.

We left St Augustine with rain threatening and saw a 'waterspout' just as we pulled out of the marina.

Waterspout.

Light rain continued most of the morning and then cleared off before noon. Rain all around us today.

St Augustine Lighthouse.

Headed down the Intercoastal Waterway past Ft Matanzas (1748) and Matanzas Pass (inlet) and then past Ponce de Leon Inlet at New Smyrna Beach.

Ft Matanzas from the Intercoastal.

Fort Matanzas as seen from the land.

Cyclists are having an event and keep up with us for more than 30 miles.

Large tugboat at a residential dock.
Now there is a project.

STARLIGHT PRINCESS serves lunch and dinner for tourists in Daytona.

Ponce Inlet Lighthouse.

The Grill at Riverview is the restaurant at the marina.

We are spending the night at the Riverview Hotel and Marina at the base of the bridge in New Smyrna. There is a nice restaurant here 'Grill at Riverview' with live entertainment on Fridays and Saturdays. Gators (7) play Alabama (1) at Alabama tonight on CBS at 8 pm.

Oct 1, St Augustine, FL

Today the weather is beautiful again. Clear sky and temperature in the low 70's. We moved from St Mary's, Georgia, east into the Intercoastal and then south into Florida. Then past the industrial paper plants at Fernandina Beach. There were several very shallow spots in the Intercoastal, then across the St John's River (which leads to Jacksonville) and down the coast to St Augustine, Florida.

A paper mill plant near Fernandina Beach, Florida.

Two freighters at Fernandina.

Another paper mill.

Mud flats. Very low tide.

US Warship 66 in drydock near Mayport.

St Augustine was founded as a Spanish outpost in 1565. The famous fort, Castillo de San Marcos was built in 1672.

St Augustine Inlet. Fishermen on the beach.

St Augustine Light.

Old town St Augustine as we approach.

The old Spanish fort at St Augustine is Castillo de San Marcos.

As we came past downtown area, we went under the newly remodeled 'Bridge of Lions' which had to stop traffic and open for us because it still has just 22' of clearance. The bridge has been under construction for the last four years and is finally completed. And it looks just like the old 'Bridge of Lions'. It has been completely updated at a cost of several times what a new high bridge would have cost. The old bridge does look good.

We are staying at the St Augustine Municipal Marina which is right downtown. There are several good restaurants here and this is one of our favorite stops on the entire Intercoastal Waterway.

Sept 30, St Mary's, GA

We moved from Brunswick, Georgia, past Jekyll Island and then Cumberland Island, then past the Kings Bay Submarine Base and up the St Mary's River to St Mary's, Georgia.

The sky is clearing - we hope.

Approaching the docks at Jekyll Island Resort, a crab boat cuts in front of us.

Jekyll Island Resort.

Cumberland Island once belonged to the Carnegie Family and heirs Thomas and Lucy Carnegie build a mansion called 'Dungeness' in 1885 (designed by Peabody and Stearns of Boston) and then several more mansions for family members. The property was acquired by the US National Park service and is now a Cumberland Island National Seashore, (a National Park) and available for tours and camping. There are a herd of wild horses here.

Linda spots a wild horse at Cumberland Island.
We have been looking for them for several years. A rare sight.

Tug pushing a barge in the Intercoastal.

Porpoise play in our wake again.
Great to have them with us.

Kings Bay Submarine Base.

Submarine at the dock as we pass by.

St Mary's is a small town first settled by the Spanish soon after St Augustine, Florida, and then re-settled in the mid 1700's by the British. Now it is a staging center for trips to Cumberland Island National Seashore.

Lang's Marina.

Downtown St Mary's, Georgia.

St Mary's has a beautiful park an the waterfront.

Lang's Marina as we leave St Mary's in the morning.

Here Georgia is on the north side of the river and Florida is on the south side of the river. We are docked in St Mary's at Lang's Marina right at the downtown landing. Lang's Marina is the only marina in town.

Sept 29, Brunswick, GA

We have been watching 'tropical depression 16' which is just below Cuba. It is looking like it will make tropical storm status soon and become the 'named' storm Nicole. Tropical storm status means winds of 40 mph or greater. The storm track is forecast to be 50-100 miles offshore as it passes north Florida and the Georgia coast. We are cautious however, and we know the weather is sometimes unpredictable. So, we are interested in being in a harbor sheltered on all four sides, just in case. We move down the Georgia coast from Isle of Hope, Georgia, just south of Savannah, to Brunswick, Georgia, a distance of 90 miles.

We start out from Isle of Hope about 7 am with a threatening sky.

Very rural with almost no development along the shore.

Our day did have one interesting event. One of the commercial shrimp boats, a 65 footer named SEA FOX was trawling just outside the Doboy Inlet between Savannah and Brunswick in Georgia and gave the Coast Guard a 'MAYDAY' while we were only a few miles away. The captain said they were taking on water and in danger of sinking and needed some pumps - ASAP. Coast Guard from Charleston and the Sea FOX captain went back and forth for a half hour before the Coast Guard finally responded with a helicopter and sent a small rescue boat from the south to the scene.

Coast Guard coming to the rescue.
We hope.

Shrimper like the one sinking.

Final report we had was the captain telling the Coast Guard that the water was above the engines in the hold and that they were still trying to get their trawl gear back in the boat. He was also talking to another commercial shrimper nearby that was trying to help. We lost contact after two hours and are still wondering what happened to the boat and the three man crew.

We arrived in Brunswick about 4 pm after a long day on the water. We had almost no wind or rain. Just overcast and threatening to rain all day.

I-95 highway bridge crosses the Brunswick River, leading to Brunswick, Georgia.

Shrimper sunk in the Brunswick harbor.

Freighter SIDER PINK unloads in Brunswick harbor.

Fleet of shrimpers in Brunswick.

Approaching Brunswick Harbor Marina.
Large yacht on left is SASSY, a 100 foot Hargrave, from Mt Pleasant, Michigan.

We are staying at the Brunswick Harbor Marina which is well protected from the wind on all sides. We are making good progress and are now at the Intercoastal Waterway mile marker 690, only 27 miles from the Georgia/Florida border.

Sept 28, Isle of Hope, GA

We moved from Beaufort, SC to a small town called Isle of Hope, which is just south of Savannah, Georgia. Beautiful day on the water with clear skies and no wind. Nice change from Yesterday's storms.

Parris Island Marine training center.

Shrimper WILD HOGG trawls and attracts the birds.

Beautiful homes on Hilton Head Island as we motor along.

Haig Point Light.

We are staying at the Isle of Hope Marina where we are using their 'loaner car' for a trip to town for dinner and re-provisioning.

Approaching Isle of Hope Marina.

Large power catamaran AMITY.
Beautiful.

We like staying here at Isle of Hope Marina. Convenient, friendly, new floating docks, good power and a loaner car. Internet did not work for us in the slip. Must have been too far from the router.