S/V 'Faith'

C. Worthy Shipp · September 21, 2007, 04:47:55 PM

Craig - Tell me about the three master in the background of the Brunswick marina picture..
Dad
;D

s/v Faith · September 27, 2007, 09:14:26 PM

Ahoy from St. Augustine Florida!

We arrived here this afternoon and are anchored on 'salt run' right under this lighthouse.

We have done very little sailing for time (understatement) this trip. Today we decided we were going to make it here so we did a little motorsailing to help us break out from an opposing current all moring. It is pretty neat, we have actually only filled up our fuel cans once since we left from NC, and have motored very little overall.

Lets see, where did I leave off? :-\

Oh yea, Brunswick was really nice but all the more so for the hospitality of James Baldwin and his wife Mei. We really enjoyed meeting them as well as the great dinner at their home, the use of their car, and the opportunity to 'pick their brains' on the many things they learned in their travels. If you have not, do yourself a favor and visit their website.

We had a nice sail out of Brunswick Landing Marina. The wind was light (unlike when we came in) and I was able to get a couple more shots of the mystery scooner(s). I still do not have the name, but the 3 master has some interesting features as you see below.

Raised decks, with lots of brightwork;

Strange opening stern... ???

We did not go far, but found another wonderful Georga anchorage just beyond Jeckel Island, on the ICW right near a boat ramp. We both felt like a quiet anchorage and the dingy needed a scrubbing (the barnacles have built up about every 2 - 3 weeks and need to be scraped and scrubbed off of the bottom).

Anyway, I met a couple at the boat ramp (Tim and Tina I think) who had just bought a Chrysler 26' and it was anchored nearby.

(I have a picture but can not seem to get it to upload.)

From there we went down past King's Bay Georgia, and I made Rose nervous by talking about visiting the sub base.... ;) The big 'restricted area' on the chart, and the patrol boats let us know there were no marina facilities there that we could use... ;D

The anchorage at St Marys was quiet, and nice protection for the NE winds that had carried us all day at or near hull speed on just a part of the unfurled jib.

We left St. Marys and thought to stay just across the boarder into Florida at Fernanda Beach, but instead we kept going and wound up at St. Goerges creek anchored right next to the plantation maintained by the park service. Right about the boarder we saw a pair of pink Flamingos. We both thought of our friend Mona who loves the tacky plastic ones and called her to tell her how nice they were 'in person'. ;D

I would have pictures of the plantation but we experienced a 'Red Tide'

Rose and I noticed several small dead fish floating by, and shortly after we both felt a burning in our eyes and throats. I thought it might be gas from the batteries so I checked the water and it was ok.

As we listened to the news on the radio they were talking about a 'Red Tide' bloom that was covering local beaches with dead fish and causing skin infections and buring eyes and throats for many locals. We spent a restless night there coughing and left shortly after sunrise.

So, we arrived at St. Augustine and spent a quiet night in the beautiful anchorage just below the lighthouse. THis morning we dingied ashore and toured the lighthouse. I took some pictures that I will upload when I can get a better connection....

Lynx · October 01, 2007, 11:42:14 PM

Hate that red tide but a good on breese take care of most of it for me and a good rain will get rid of it until there is a long dry spell (well most of it anyway)

Hope to see you in Abacos this season.

s/v Blessed · October 04, 2007, 09:41:16 AM

Red Tide is gross. My Aunt and Uncle live in Florida and I remember going for a walk one day and my eyes were burning and it stunk!

Congratulations on your retirement and thank you for your service! I know, I know a few months late here but is Iraq a good excuse? Nope, didn't think so. Anyways, I remember when the countdown to cruising began and am so happy that you and Rose are livin' the dream with each other. I'm sure Peter missed yall terribly and is waiting for some sphagetti too. Cheyenne is doing well and says hello to Peter. She's an official boat dog now too:-)
The first night I got home we all went to dinner at La Hacienda for some guacamole. Don started to aske me some silly questions like how old are you? Subtract two, pick a letter A or B. Are you willing to get your hands dirty? Are you willing to accept a monthly financial responsibility? So anyways what came out of that whole thing other than a lot of laughs was a card and when I opened the card there was a key taped inside to a boat that rests at slip number 23A at Gottschalk. Amazing, I was speechless and in tears and so were a few others. Her name will be s/v Blessed as soon as I can get home and we can have an name-change ceremony. I am so blessed and humbled by all the events that took place in those two short weeks of leave. Now, it's back in Iraq and back to dreaming of sailing and being back home for good! Until then...Blessings upon you and Rose and your journey/adventure.

Love,
Kellie
s/v Blessed

AdriftAtSea · October 04, 2007, 10:24:32 AM

Kellie-

Congratulations on the new to you boat. What is she??

s/v Faith · October 04, 2007, 11:19:16 PM

The crew is together now. ;D

Sorry I have not posted any more pictures yet. We are still in St Augustine, and having a great time. My Mom drove out today from Pensacola (over 400miles) to bring us the Peterdog, so now the crew is together. ;D ;D ;D

THANKS MOM!!!!
Our friend Dennis (a Flicka Sailor) is driving down from NC with his dog Yinnie tomorrow. Yinnie is Peter's girlfriend from NC... so we will all get to enjoy seeing some more of the 'First Coast' together. St Augustine is a very 'dog friendly' city and a great place to walk around.

It was really nice to spend the evening with mom, and great to have Peter sleeping at my feet as I type this. It is supposed to rain some (more) this weekend, hopefully it won't put a damper the get-together.

_________________________________________

Kellie,

Welcome aboard! That is wonderful! Don is truly a great human being, and I am not at all surprised to hear that he has done such a wonderful thing! The boat is PERFECT for you!(a 'Westward Ho' built in Portsmouth England is a great 26' cruiser, well found, full keel, with lots of great small boat features.)

I will post more later, and hope to get to upload some pictures when I can get to a decent speed internet connection.

s/v Faith · October 08, 2007, 09:54:45 PM

8 October, 2007

New Smyrna beach, FL.

THe connection is slow, so I still can not upload pictures, but I wanted to tell you where we are and how it is going.

We are at anchor tonight, in a small back channel that leads to the inlet. Peter is doing great now that he is back aboard with us. He has even manages to claim his own Island. ;) A small island was covered with seagulls when we dingied over to it this evening.... They squaked and protested when we came up to them, Peter said they were saying it was 'seagull island' and no dogs were allowed, so he jumped from the dingy and planted his flag.... ::)

We had planned to stop at Daytona Beach, but after so much unspoiled scenery it kinda just looked like another overdeveloped beach city so we passed. Last night we anchored in 4' (at low tide) right on the ICW, in a stretch where there is not a 'designated' anchorage for at least 15 miles. Sometimes it is GOOD to be the small boat. The anchor continues to perform flawlessly... it grabs and holds immediately, and does not seem to mind short scope at all. This is a big deal, as I really am getting good sleep on the anchor where I never really did before.

I am doing this post backwards but I wanted to save this for last..... well the last 2 days in St. Augustine went well. Rose and Mom toured the Flagler College which is the original Ponce De Leon hotel and Peter and I walked the perimeter of the fort. After a really nice lunch with Dennis, Yinnie, Mom, kit, Rose Peter and I walked around the city and we all had a great time. We went and found a vet and got all Peter's stuff for the Bahamas. Mom left the next morning and Dennis and the dogs and I rode down to St. Petersburg. It was a long ride, but worth it. Dennis had some business to take care of and we went to several of his old haunts including the West Marine Clearance center.... Then we met Bruce Bingham! How cool is that? We talked to him for about an hour and a half. I told him of seeing his old Flicka 'Sabrina' at Georgetown, and asked him as many questions as I could get in. He is a really great guy and seemed really interested in SailFar.net, and said he would take a look. We talked about the idea of small boats sailing for distance being almost 'counter-culture' and he told us about a woman getting a Flicka ready for a solo-circumnavigation. Imagine my surprise when I check in here and find Godot has already posted a link to her web site.

________________________________________________________-

We have traveled 632 miles (n) since we left just less then 2 months ago. 20 years ago today, I raised my right hand and swore in..... 8 October, 1987. The 'transition' to retirement is going well... ;D I just have to note this day, as I have each of the last 20, as a testament to the Grace of G O D. I am very thankful I am here, and not in many of the places and situations I have been in over the last 20 years. I ask for your prayers for my friends who are still there, and those who have not come home.

Faith 1st Mate · October 08, 2007, 10:44:48 PM

Hello everyone,

Since Craig has got everyone completely confused about our route, let me start with the lighthouse at St. Augustine. It was pretty neat being anchored beneath it but even better to get to tour it and climb up to the top to take some pictures and see Faith below from a birdseye view. If Craig ever gets the pictures uploaded, there is a neat one of Faith in the anchorage with all the other boats. They all look tiny bur especially Faith since she was so much smaller then most of the boats on the anchorage. I think I remember reading on one of the plaques, that the lighthouse keeper had to carry five gallons of oil up the 291 steps twice a day. Well, I was not carrying any oil, but was sore for three days from the long spiral staircase.

Going to the marina was a really good idea. The northeastern that blew was making the boats at anchor bob like corks. I'm sure we would have gotten through it okay, but it was really nice to be tied to a dock and relax for a bit. The best part though, was when Craig's mom got to the marina and brought us our baby dog Peter. We had left him with her because of the lack of good dog landing spots we read about in Georgia. It was probably a good thing to have a little time to get the hang of full-time cruising before we got him back, but man we sure missed him. We would see other people with dogs and were forever going to them, talking to them, petting their dogs, and missing Peter. It was really nice to visit with mom and look around St. Augustine, and even more because our friend Dennis drove down from NC and spent the weekend with us. We were quite the group with mom, her dog Kit, Dennis, his dog Yinnie, and Craig and I with Peter Dog. We were glad to find dog-friendly restraunts in St. Augustine and plan to use the web site Dogfriendly. Com in future places we stop.

Saturday mom left to go back home and Craig and Dennis with the two dogs, went to St. Petersburg. I cleaned up on the boat and did laundry, and then enjoyed a little solitude and relaxation. We left St. Augustine on Sunday a little later than we had hoped, due to rain. The current through the marina was running fast and we were surrounded by the powerboats of a visiting club. It was a very difficult undocking with complicated line handling. We were really relieved to get out, with the help of two power boaters handling the lines, and to get underway.

It rained off and on all day and the wind would not cooperate each time we tried to sail, so we had to motor all day. I really don't like to motor long distances, to noisy, and I'm glad we have not had to motor much this whole trip. Counting today, we have only motored approximately four or five days since we left. Saves on fuel also.

The anchorage we stayed at last night was not and anchorage it was just a little bit wider area to the side of the ICW. It had a small rocky beach. Craig took Peter ashore as soon as we got there and then again after dinner. We fell asleep early after such a long day, but Peter woke us up just before five am because he had to go to the bathroom. Craig rode him ashore, but we are going to have to figure this dingy doggy bathroom problem out. There was some hope this evening (Monday) though.

We got under way Monday, and stopped at a boat ramp dock for a short break for Peter around lunch. He is taking some meds for his ear right now that makes him thirsty, so it was no big surprise when he had to go again a little bit before we anchored. He was pacing the whole boat and Craig and I were telling him to go (potty), finally he went up to the bow and just went. We praised him and then cleaned it up, now we know he will not hurt himself by holding it in, this made us very excited as that was one of our big worries about crossing to the Bahamas with him. ;D

We kept seeing signs to watch out for the Manatee, and finally saw one today. Someone said it would look like a brown cigar, it actually looked more like a gray-floating tire to us. It moved away from us as we got closer to look at it. Also, we continue to see lots of dolphins. Craig believes they are coming in close to the boat to look at the fish. Two of them got so close, Craig was startled when they blew out air, and he got just a little bit of a splash of water on him. It was so awesome.

I guess it is suiting that I started this post talking about a lighthouse because as I typed this, the tide has turned and out the companionway I can see the New Smyrna Beach lighthouse a couple miles away. We have finally gotten far enough south that the red tide is behind us and our eyes are not burning any more. It is cooler now and there is a light breeze blowing so I will say goodnight.

dsnyder · October 10, 2007, 08:07:49 AM

Hey Craig, Rose, and Peter!
Glad to hear that the crew is all together again. Preferring not to clog up your journal with personal notes, I don't reply often. But, rest assured that I read it every couple days, looking for updates and envying you your freedom. You surely are blessed.
All is well back at New River. The RPYC is hosting a membership drive cook-out on the 20th. Other than that, the next big event is the Turkey Trot race next month.
Keep up the great log entries. You know that I'm living vicariously through you until my girls are grown and out of the house. With luck, I'll print out your log and follow you then. We can link up on some tropical beach and have a cool drink!

Stay safe.
Don

s/v Faith · October 10, 2007, 05:40:47 PM

10 October, 2007

Hello from the Titusville, FL anchorage.

We are having a great time. THe Titusville anchorage is nice, the municipal marina has raised it's prices though for the dingy dock.... at $10 to land and $5 each for showers :P

We had a nice sail from our anchorage yesterday, and were reminded that we are on the 'space coast' when the oil rig we saw in the distance turned out to be the shuttle on the launch pad as we got closer! It was really neat to see, more so then I expected. We can see the launch assembly building from here at the anchorage, and there is an Atlas launch scheduled for ~8 or 9 tonight!

We will spend a second night here to watch it, and understand that the view from the boat should be a good one.

Will type more later....

______________________________________________________

Thanks Don, glad to hear all is going well with the club. I knew it was in good hands, and hope the cookout goes well. Not gonna say I wish we were there, but it sure would be nice to have you all here with us. :D ;D ;) :) ;) :D ;D

psyche · October 11, 2007, 03:39:06 PM

Rose and Craig,
I'm glad to hear you have all the family together now that Peter is with you. You are almost under the rocket it Titusvile. You should feel the thrust from the rocket when it blasts off because I can see it from my dock in Georgia as it streaks skyward. As you are finding the ICW is thin water in much of Lower Florida. Even though you see a wide expanse of water often the channel is a narrow dug trough with the spoils tossed to the sides. I enjoy reading your commentary because it brings back fond memories from when I made the trip up the ICW from Florida. Dan

s/v Faith · October 11, 2007, 09:44:55 PM

Hello from Patrick Airforce base on the Banana river, FL. 11 Oct 07

Dan, you were absolutely right! The launch was amazing! I don't know, but I think the launch pad was something like 15 miles away, but the anchorage lit up like it was day. The Atlas rocket burns a mixture of liquid O2, and kerosene, and moments after the launch the acrid smell of kerosene was everywhere. The launch was reported to be successful, and there is another military communications satellite in orbit.

The wind was light today, so we motorsailed most of the day. The channels are pretty narrow here, but it is a little bit easier with a 4' draft as you can get a little out of the center without trouble.

Patrick AFB has a nice marina, and a good commissary (the Airforce always does). We walked there today and did some more provisioning. We plan to spend more time in less populated areas, so we are really stocking up. Hope to take care of some errands tomorrow and do some light boat maintenance. The cool front that is coming through has brought some north winds, so there will not be a good wx window for a couple days anyway. We have about a hundred miles to Lake Worth, where we plan to cross from and it will be a few days before we get there anyways.

Lynx · October 12, 2007, 05:28:59 AM

Great on your crossing date. My only objection is that you will cross over before me me by 2 weeks.

CapnK · October 15, 2007, 06:42:48 AM

A couple of pictures from a few weeks ago that I neglected to post in a timely manner, so they are out of order for the continuing narrative in this thread. ;)

Here's "Faith". With what appears to be a plethora of aft rail-hung motors for her crew to choose from. :D (Actually, there's just one motor there, and the grill, IIRC, posing like one... ;) )

Here's Craig, looking smug like a bug in a rug. So would I, if I was a southbound transient bound for the islands... :D ("Faith" is in the background, viewed over the foredeck of my neighbors boat...)

s/v Faith · October 15, 2007, 11:03:30 AM

Thanks for posting that picture Kurt, I don't think I took any at Georgetown Landing.

Ahoy from Vero Beach! Today is 15 October, and we were going to get underway this AM, but I wanted to apply a coat of anti-fouing to the outboard lower unit before I got going and upon reading the can it has to dry a minimum of 24 hours before being put back in the water. I should have taken a picture of how barnacle encrusted it was when I took it out.... it was bad.

The winds are still NE, so we have a couple days wait for a weather window to be able to cross anyway. Vero Beach is a nice little town. We are on a mooring near the municipal marina, anchoring is ILLEGAL within the township of Vero Beach. I used to read about the legal battles and get really angry at the FL towns. Having seen the problem first hand I can appreciate it a little better. Many of the anchorages look like 'WaterWorld' sets. Sail boats that have either been so neglected, or so modified for living aboard that they could never go anywhere are lived aboard, and then left to sink once they go too far down hill. I would not want one in my back yard either.... I hope that some sanity will prevail, but I don't know what the answer will be. We like to anchor, and do more often then not...

The Patrick AFB stay was nice. The marina is a Yacht Club marina there, and we were extended reciprical privileges for our Ragged Point Yacht Club membership, as both clubs are affiliated with the US Naval Sailing Association. They had a 'retiree appreciation night' while we were there, with dancing and drawings for prizes. We did not go up as we were pretty tired, but listened from the cockpit and they sounded like they were having a great time. The Saturday morning that we left they were having their regatta, and had a great breakfast spread laid out. In talking with the marina manager, she said the marina/yacht club made lots of money for the Morale and Recreation fund of the base, and everyone really seemed to be happy with the arrangement. I hope someday our old marina at Camp Lejeune will come up with an arrangement like this.

Sailing out the Banana River was tense, but not as bad as sailing in. We had less then a foot under the keel for more then an hour with less then 4-6" allot of that time. Again... as so often on this trip we were thankful to be on a small boat. ;D

Night before last we stopped at the 'Jones Fruit Dock' just a few miles north of here. There we met Richard Jones and his wife Mary. They don't sell fruit there anymore, but keep to dock to help people passing through. They charge $10 a night, and it was worth it to meet this wonderful couple. Richard's father bought the land in 1889, he farmed it and planted the original orange orchard in 1910. Richard replanted it when he got home from the war and tended it ever since until a couple years ago when a hurricane flooded his trees. He talked about some of the boats that had come through over the years, and told us about his service in WWII. He saw action in many battles, and stood inspection for General Patton. He was in the battle for Sicily, which I was particularly interested in since my grandfather, Bill Snee was also involved in it. We sat of the dock and talked with them into the night.

Things are going well, we will continue to keep this updated as we can but hope to cross to the Bahamas soon and may not get to log in as often. If we get a break in the weather, we may just go out the nearest inlet rather then heading to Lake Worth.

On edit; I can not beleive I left this out. When we were at Manatee Cove (Patrick AFB) the manager (Sandy) was so kind as to lend us her car so we could go get groceries. We continue to be humbled and impressed byt the kindness we recieve. Yesterday I walked across the highrise bridge to get some gear oil for the lower unit of the outboard. It turned out to be about 5 miles to the store, and I bought some grocereis in town also. I was walking back when a van stopped and offerd me a ride. It was not a random act, but a young girl and her dad, David and Katie off of 'Second Wind' a sailboat in the marina. Rose had been talking to them, and they set off to find me to spare me the return trip.

Thanks!

CapnK · October 15, 2007, 12:57:41 PM

Boat people = salt of the ~~earth~~ sea.

Craig and Rose - Many blessings to y'all, Peter, and Faith as you take off. I'm sure you're going to have great fun, and will look forward to hearing about it whenever you post.

When you run into Connie/"Pixie", be careful. She drinks a lot, and tends to tell stories about you afterwards, making up things that didn't happen...

Kinda like Frank. And Smollett.

Thx for the letter & such. I 'experimented' on the wireless card, there wasn't much to see. ;) Boat changes - Katie now has a nav table w/Capt's chair belowdecks (to starboard - the galley migrated forward, and the berth there is to port, extendable), and the welding shop has her order for the new mast support I showed you drawings of. She's getting there. :)

Beam reaches! :)

AdriftAtSea · October 15, 2007, 02:14:20 PM

Hmm... CapnK.... you seem to say that all the people who've visited you are both drunks and tell tall tales about you... yet they all seem to say much the same thing.... so maybe there is some truth to the stories... ;)

s/v Faith · October 17, 2007, 06:31:39 PM

17 October 07

Ahoy from Lake Worth FL!

FL! We awoke this AM at the anchorage right at the 'Manatee pocket' just off of the St. Lucie inlet, right off of the public boat launch. The cruising guides talk about this place like it is a great stop.... the problem is the entire shore line is either public homes or $100 a night marinas (many of which 'do not accept sail boats').

We left there early, and today will be called ' The Day of the Bridges ' There were something like half a dozen lift bridges today, and we were balancing their schedules against the currents all day. We got to Lake Worth, and immedately went out the inlet as a 'dry run' for the crossing to the Bahamas.

Peter's pet import certificate arrived at St. Augustine, so I called and had it faxed to a local copy place.

The stores are laid up, the tanks are half full (for trim) and the boat is as ready as it is going to be.,,, Lord willing our next post will be from the Bahamas.

Gotta go, thanks to everyone who helped get us here and to this point. G O D Bless you all!!!

CharlieJ · October 17, 2007, 08:28:03 PM

MUCH better you should jump outside at Lake Worth. My old log book shows DOZENS of timed bridges 'twixt there and Miami Took us forever and we waited for NUMEROUS bridges. Plus it's a concrete canyon of condos and high rises on both side from just south of there to Miami. NOT a pleasant cruise.

If I EVER past hat way again it'll most definitely be on the outside

s/v Faith · October 17, 2007, 08:48:27 PM

Charlie,

No, we ARE going OUTSIDE... all the way to West End, Bahamas. ;D The weather window is open, so we plan to go in a coupel hours. My next post should be from the Abaco's.
:D

Quote from: s/v Faith on October 17, 2007, 06:31:39 PM
17 October 07

Ahoy from Lake Worth FL!

FL! We awoke this AM at the anchorage right at the 'Manatee pocket' just off of the St. Lucie inlet, right off of the public boat launch. The cruising guides talk about this place like it is a great stop.... the problem is the entire shore line is either public homes or $100 a night marinas (many of which 'do not accept sail boats').

We left there early, and today will be called ' The Day of the Bridges ' There were something like half a dozen lift bridges today, and we were balancing their schedules against the currents all day. We got to Lake Worth, and immedately went out the inlet as a 'dry run' for the crossing to the Bahamas.

Peter's pet import certificate arrived at St. Augustine, so I called and had it faxed to a local copy place.

The stores are laid up, the tanks are half full (for trim) and the boat is as ready as it is going to be.,,, Lord willing our next post will be from the Bahamas.

Gotta go, thanks to everyone who helped get us here and to this point. G O D Bless you all!!!

QuoteMUCH better you should jump outside at Lake Worth. My old log book shows DOZENS of timed bridges 'twixt there and Miami Took us forever and we waited for NUMEROUS bridges. Plus it's a concrete canyon of condos and high rises on both side from just south of there to Miami. NOT a pleasant cruise.

If I EVER past hat way again it'll most definitely be on the outside

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S/V 'Faith'