As we start the last chapter of this trip, we sit at Everglades City waiting for the wind to settle down and the waves to subside out on the Gulf. No more did the kids get in the limosene on New Years day, the sky clouded up, and a strong cold front came through with gale force winds. Since then the lows at night have been in the 30's, highs in the 50's, and winds 20 - 30 mph. Waves are reported to be 5 - 7' out in the Gulf, so we will wait for things to settle down. Maybe we can start south back towards the Keys on Saturday. 
Historic Rod and Gun Club in Everglades City. 
ODYSSEE tied up to the wall in front of Rod and Gun Club. Note old gasoline pump, price shown is 9 cents plus 4 cents tax per gallon. Remember those days?
So far we have logged 7343 miles and have about 750 left to go to get home.
Things did calm down as forcast, and we left Saturday, January 5, to head back south towards the Keys. Saturday night we anchored about 5 miles up the Little Shark River in Everglades National Park. Nothing around us except sea life, birds, and a mangrove forest. Shortly after anchoring we had a dalphin show. That night the current was so strong from the tideal flow, that our starboard propellar started to turn. Took me awhile to figure our what that funny noise was under the boat. Finally tied the shaft so it wouldn't turn and went back to bed.
Night approaches as we anchor in the Little Shark River in the Everglades.
Sunday we worked our way to the SE into the shallow waters of Florida Bay, ending the day at Lower Matecumbe Key and Caloosa Cove Marina. Monday we stopped at Lignumvitae Key State Park and then anchored for the night behind Islamorada. We dingyied into the World Wide Sportsman Store, oh my. Earnist Hemmingway's boat is inside, along with everything you need for fishing, water sports, and boating. This same store is Bass Pro Shops around the country. Tuesday we went to Travinier for lunch and anchored in Blackwater Sound.
Going through the mangroves on the ICW just before entering Biscayne Bay, south of Miami. 
The concrete of Miami ahead as we get to the north end of Biscayne Bay.
Wednesday we arrived in Miami at 2:30, and were invited to Roger and Jan Treece's home, former neighbors from Beaufort, for one of Jan's wonderful meals. Had a wonderful evening catching up. Thursday was spent reprovisioning and doing laundry.
Friday we started north up the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, getting to Boca Raton for the night. We anchored and started up the generator, and proceeded to fix dinner. About an hour later the generator stopped abrubtly. Tried to restart and it would stop immeadiatly. So down into the engine room I went to discover the generator had overheated. Found some debris in the raw water strainer, cleaned it out, and had Claria start it up again. It ran for a minute, but created so much suction from the strainer to the raw water pump that the hose collapsed. Obviously I had a blockage in the raw water intake some place. Took the intake hose apart, it was clean. Tried to blow air through the through hull fitting, could not. Removed the hose again and opened the through hull, only a trickle of water. No evidence of blockage on the inside of the through hull, must be something on the outside. It was getting late so went to bed. The next morning put on my dive gear to go under the boat and inspect the through hull. Found a shreaded plastic bag with blue tape wrapped around it that had somehow lined itself up with the inlet pipe and plugged the pipe. It was as if someone purposely put a plug in. Removed same, all is well.
Today, Saturday, January 12, we are anchored just south of Stuart, FL. Was a terrible day on the ICW, never saw so many rude boaters with big boats going way to fast making waves that wash over the concrete bulkheads. A bunch of IDIOTS!
Sunday was a better day on the ICW, the weather wasn't as nice so there weren't as many other boaters. We went 55 miles up the waterway to Sabastian, where we spent the night at Capt. Harim Marina. Monday we went north another 62 miles and anchored near Cape Canaveral. Today we are in Daytona Beach. We meet another couple who just purchased a 1973, 43' Hatteras, and are getting it ready to do the "Great Loop" trip in 2009. They were interested in seeing our boat and see some of the changes we had made.
After spending Wednesday morning riding our bicyles around Datona Beach, we motored 40 miles north up the ICW to Mantanzas Inlet where we anchored for the night. We anchored with two anchores, one up stream, the other down stream, in anticipation of strong tidal currents. We were correct in our assumption, and at 3:00 am our propellars started to turn in the strong current. This was only the second time this has happened on this trip, and takes at least 4 mph of current. It's an erry sound under the boat!
Thursday morning we toured Fort Mantanzas, which was built by the Spanish to protect the "back door" to St. Augustine. It is now a National Monument and well preserved. Following our visit, we went to St. Augustine and stayed at the Municipal Marina which is located in front of this historic town. We rode our bikes through town, toured the Spanish fort, and enjoyed dinner ashore.
Today, Friday January 18, the weather has turned very cold and tomorrow rain is expected most of the day. We are anchored above St. George Island, 5 miles north of St. Johns River and 10 miles NE of Jacksonville. Tomorrow we will leave Florida into Georgia.
During the night heavey rains came through. By morning there was a break in the rain and we took the opportunity to tie ODYSSEE up to the park dock on St. George Island and toured Kinsley Plantation, a National Park Historic Site. As we left and headed north the wind was still blowing strong from the south. As we reached Cumberland Sound and the St. Marys River, the Navy was escorting a sub out to sea from the Kings Bay Sub Base, and we were requested to wait near Fernandina Beach for the floatilla to pass. As we waited the wind shifted to the north, it became hazy, and it started to cool down. We were also traveling with another Hatteras, "Sapelo Girl", a 41' double cabin with a canvas enclosed fly bridge drive station over the salon. As we proceeded north, the north wind continued to increase and it got colder, with a prediction of freezing temperatures by morning. We decided to abandon our anchoring plans and called Jekyll Harbor Marina for a transient slip. "Sapelo Girl" had gotten about two miles ahead of us as they started across St. Andrew Sound. The wind was now blowing 25 - 30 and the waves on the sound were 3 - 4'. We had sped up to a plane and were taking every fourth or fifth wave over the bow, but otherwise the boat was handling the sea well. It was sure nice to have a hard top over us and a windshield and wipers in front of us. At this point, "Sapelo Girl" radioed back to us that it was very rough on the Sound, and they were turning around to look for an anchorage to the south of the Sound. They were having trouble seeing and were taking some water through their canvas helm enclosure, and at 45 degrees, they were not at all comfortable. We advised them we had reservation north of the Sound at Jekyll Island and that we were going to proceed across the Sound. A couple of minutes later they passed us going south as we blasted through the waves to the north side of the sound. As expected, "ODYSSEE" did a fine job in the rough water. So we are plugged in and the heaters are running, snug as two bugs!
Sunday morning we borrowed two of the marina bicycles and went to the Jekyll Island Club Hotel for breakfast. This is a very fine, histoic hotel that was used by the residents of the island to entertain family and friends. A couple of the residents were J. C. Morgan and Goodyear. Was a fine meal. We rode back through the historic district to view some of the other fine resored properties. The wind was still blowing when we cast off from Jekyll Island. More waves and salt spray as we crossed each opening to the Atlantic. We anchored for the night in the Cresent River, about 50 miles south of Savannah. Tonight we are anchored behind Daufuskie Island near the County dock, after another day of lots of wind, big waves, and cold temperatures. Our boat is becomming a block of salt!
We are pleased to announce, that our old 1971 Hatteras, ODYSSEE, safely delivered us to our home dock at 2:20 PM on Tuesday, January 22. The old "Hat" ran every day we wanted to go someplace, with the original 8V53 Detroit Diesels purring like two big tigers! There were some days we shouldn't have gone anyplace, but the boat handled the rough situations admirably, better than the crew. We crossed our wake at the entrance to Chowan (Cowan) Creek from the ICW at MM 544.5 at 1:56 PM. What a ride! 8117 miles of some of the most beautiful waters anyone would ever want to cruise on. On arrival we were flying our AGLCA burgee from the bow, our South Carolina State courtesy flag from the top of our signal mast, and 18 other state and country courtesy flags flying in the order we passed through those regions, strung from the bow pulped rail to the cross arm on the signal mast. The AGLCA burgee and South Carolina flags were pretty ragged, having flown every day since we left on April 16.
The flags fly as we start up Chowan Creek
Historic Rod and Gun Club in Everglades City. ODYSSEE tied up to the wall in front of Rod and Gun Club. Note old gasoline pump, price shown is 9 cents plus 4 cents tax per gallon. Remember those days?So far we have logged 7343 miles and have about 750 left to go to get home.
Things did calm down as forcast, and we left Saturday, January 5, to head back south towards the Keys. Saturday night we anchored about 5 miles up the Little Shark River in Everglades National Park. Nothing around us except sea life, birds, and a mangrove forest. Shortly after anchoring we had a dalphin show. That night the current was so strong from the tideal flow, that our starboard propellar started to turn. Took me awhile to figure our what that funny noise was under the boat. Finally tied the shaft so it wouldn't turn and went back to bed.
Night approaches as we anchor in the Little Shark River in the Everglades.Sunday we worked our way to the SE into the shallow waters of Florida Bay, ending the day at Lower Matecumbe Key and Caloosa Cove Marina. Monday we stopped at Lignumvitae Key State Park and then anchored for the night behind Islamorada. We dingyied into the World Wide Sportsman Store, oh my. Earnist Hemmingway's boat is inside, along with everything you need for fishing, water sports, and boating. This same store is Bass Pro Shops around the country. Tuesday we went to Travinier for lunch and anchored in Blackwater Sound.
Going through the mangroves on the ICW just before entering Biscayne Bay, south of Miami. The concrete of Miami ahead as we get to the north end of Biscayne Bay.Wednesday we arrived in Miami at 2:30, and were invited to Roger and Jan Treece's home, former neighbors from Beaufort, for one of Jan's wonderful meals. Had a wonderful evening catching up. Thursday was spent reprovisioning and doing laundry.
Friday we started north up the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, getting to Boca Raton for the night. We anchored and started up the generator, and proceeded to fix dinner. About an hour later the generator stopped abrubtly. Tried to restart and it would stop immeadiatly. So down into the engine room I went to discover the generator had overheated. Found some debris in the raw water strainer, cleaned it out, and had Claria start it up again. It ran for a minute, but created so much suction from the strainer to the raw water pump that the hose collapsed. Obviously I had a blockage in the raw water intake some place. Took the intake hose apart, it was clean. Tried to blow air through the through hull fitting, could not. Removed the hose again and opened the through hull, only a trickle of water. No evidence of blockage on the inside of the through hull, must be something on the outside. It was getting late so went to bed. The next morning put on my dive gear to go under the boat and inspect the through hull. Found a shreaded plastic bag with blue tape wrapped around it that had somehow lined itself up with the inlet pipe and plugged the pipe. It was as if someone purposely put a plug in. Removed same, all is well.
Today, Saturday, January 12, we are anchored just south of Stuart, FL. Was a terrible day on the ICW, never saw so many rude boaters with big boats going way to fast making waves that wash over the concrete bulkheads. A bunch of IDIOTS!
Sunday was a better day on the ICW, the weather wasn't as nice so there weren't as many other boaters. We went 55 miles up the waterway to Sabastian, where we spent the night at Capt. Harim Marina. Monday we went north another 62 miles and anchored near Cape Canaveral. Today we are in Daytona Beach. We meet another couple who just purchased a 1973, 43' Hatteras, and are getting it ready to do the "Great Loop" trip in 2009. They were interested in seeing our boat and see some of the changes we had made.
After spending Wednesday morning riding our bicyles around Datona Beach, we motored 40 miles north up the ICW to Mantanzas Inlet where we anchored for the night. We anchored with two anchores, one up stream, the other down stream, in anticipation of strong tidal currents. We were correct in our assumption, and at 3:00 am our propellars started to turn in the strong current. This was only the second time this has happened on this trip, and takes at least 4 mph of current. It's an erry sound under the boat!
Thursday morning we toured Fort Mantanzas, which was built by the Spanish to protect the "back door" to St. Augustine. It is now a National Monument and well preserved. Following our visit, we went to St. Augustine and stayed at the Municipal Marina which is located in front of this historic town. We rode our bikes through town, toured the Spanish fort, and enjoyed dinner ashore.
Today, Friday January 18, the weather has turned very cold and tomorrow rain is expected most of the day. We are anchored above St. George Island, 5 miles north of St. Johns River and 10 miles NE of Jacksonville. Tomorrow we will leave Florida into Georgia.
During the night heavey rains came through. By morning there was a break in the rain and we took the opportunity to tie ODYSSEE up to the park dock on St. George Island and toured Kinsley Plantation, a National Park Historic Site. As we left and headed north the wind was still blowing strong from the south. As we reached Cumberland Sound and the St. Marys River, the Navy was escorting a sub out to sea from the Kings Bay Sub Base, and we were requested to wait near Fernandina Beach for the floatilla to pass. As we waited the wind shifted to the north, it became hazy, and it started to cool down. We were also traveling with another Hatteras, "Sapelo Girl", a 41' double cabin with a canvas enclosed fly bridge drive station over the salon. As we proceeded north, the north wind continued to increase and it got colder, with a prediction of freezing temperatures by morning. We decided to abandon our anchoring plans and called Jekyll Harbor Marina for a transient slip. "Sapelo Girl" had gotten about two miles ahead of us as they started across St. Andrew Sound. The wind was now blowing 25 - 30 and the waves on the sound were 3 - 4'. We had sped up to a plane and were taking every fourth or fifth wave over the bow, but otherwise the boat was handling the sea well. It was sure nice to have a hard top over us and a windshield and wipers in front of us. At this point, "Sapelo Girl" radioed back to us that it was very rough on the Sound, and they were turning around to look for an anchorage to the south of the Sound. They were having trouble seeing and were taking some water through their canvas helm enclosure, and at 45 degrees, they were not at all comfortable. We advised them we had reservation north of the Sound at Jekyll Island and that we were going to proceed across the Sound. A couple of minutes later they passed us going south as we blasted through the waves to the north side of the sound. As expected, "ODYSSEE" did a fine job in the rough water. So we are plugged in and the heaters are running, snug as two bugs!
Sunday morning we borrowed two of the marina bicycles and went to the Jekyll Island Club Hotel for breakfast. This is a very fine, histoic hotel that was used by the residents of the island to entertain family and friends. A couple of the residents were J. C. Morgan and Goodyear. Was a fine meal. We rode back through the historic district to view some of the other fine resored properties. The wind was still blowing when we cast off from Jekyll Island. More waves and salt spray as we crossed each opening to the Atlantic. We anchored for the night in the Cresent River, about 50 miles south of Savannah. Tonight we are anchored behind Daufuskie Island near the County dock, after another day of lots of wind, big waves, and cold temperatures. Our boat is becomming a block of salt!
We are pleased to announce, that our old 1971 Hatteras, ODYSSEE, safely delivered us to our home dock at 2:20 PM on Tuesday, January 22. The old "Hat" ran every day we wanted to go someplace, with the original 8V53 Detroit Diesels purring like two big tigers! There were some days we shouldn't have gone anyplace, but the boat handled the rough situations admirably, better than the crew. We crossed our wake at the entrance to Chowan (Cowan) Creek from the ICW at MM 544.5 at 1:56 PM. What a ride! 8117 miles of some of the most beautiful waters anyone would ever want to cruise on. On arrival we were flying our AGLCA burgee from the bow, our South Carolina State courtesy flag from the top of our signal mast, and 18 other state and country courtesy flags flying in the order we passed through those regions, strung from the bow pulped rail to the cross arm on the signal mast. The AGLCA burgee and South Carolina flags were pretty ragged, having flown every day since we left on April 16.
The flags fly as we start up Chowan Creek
ODYSSEE tied up, the journey is completeSeveral things we had along which proved to be worth their weight in gold. (1) We just about wore out our fold up bikes, we used them everywhere. (2) My "Brownie" third lung diving system paid for itself several times over. I cleaned the bottom twice, changed two sets of props under water, cleaned off black poly crab trap line from propeller shafts four times, cleaned a plastic bag off a raw water intake once, freed up a dock line off a propeller shaft once, freed up a stern anchor line off a propeller shaft once, and cut off a tow line that stretched and broke from the port propeller shaft from a 50' racing sailboat in the Erie canal when he got stuck on the bottom and we tried to pull him off above lock 19. Would have needed a diver at least 10 times had I not had the ability to fix the problem myself, plus all the lost time getting the diver to the boat. Was able to help a few other boaters as well with underwater issues. (3) Double anchor system built into the bow pulpit ready to deploy at any moment. A must in tidal streams with reversing current. (4) Lead line, allowed us to assess depth all around the boat. Used when our bow was aground, wanted to confirm there was enough water around our props to attempt to back off without damaging any running gear, used three times. (5) Long 3/4" line, other than anchor line, for use when tying off to tree or rock on shore or to use as tow rope. We had a 125' line that we used several times in Canada and used three times as a tow rope.
The boat is not for sale yet, we are having so much fun, and the boat is working so well, we are leaving to do the "Down East Loop" in early June. So, check in again in June and join us our next journey.
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