Vita, Stuck in the Mud…..Again

I can’t believe I have to repeat this post. We draw 3’ 8”, and we are not that adventurous. What the hell do people who draw 6’ do in this water-way. We've done about 100 miles in water between 6 and 8 feet, just in the last few days, and I was a nervous wreck, If we drew 6’, I’d of just stayed the hell home.

So, we are transversing a little place called Fields Cut just as you leave the Savannah River and head up into South Carolina. It is a tricky little cut with high current, and notoriously bad shoaling, and I know this! I took the entrance a little too close to the green, but managed to get into the middle of the channel without incident, then made it all the way through the cut, back and forth, hugging the outside of the corners. The exit is a tight little spot on the green side of the channel. But apparently tighter than I thought. The current was running about 3 knots, and it gave me a little spin just as I entered, shoving us into the shoal. Vita rose up above her waterline, and both Serena and I were very aware of what had happened. I quickly turned into the deep water, but to no avail, we were hard aground. The bow of the boat was about 40’ from the shore, and the depth sounder, (near the bow), told me that there was water deep enough to float us, just in front. We tried all the easy stuff to get unstuck, but we weren't going to try too hard, as we were 2 minutes shy of low tide, and could afford to wait for water levels to come back up. So there we sat sideways to the 3 knot current, with our bow poking into the tiny little channel. I was just about to crack a beer and wait an hour, when Serena says,” what if we raise the sail.” To which I almost replied, “that won’t do anything”. But as I looked up I realized that the wind was coming over the beam from down current; the exact right direction, and it just might work! Sure enough, I unfurled the yankee, and sheeted it in as tight as I could get it, while Serena took the helm and powered us into the channel, and up through the remaining part of the cut. We win!!!

We bought Tow Boat US the day we entered the US, in Oswego. Our friend Walley had told us that it was cheap insurance, and who are we to argue with the expert. Luckily, both times we have been stuck, we managed to free ourselves. And the discounts we have received in the last year from being a Tow Boat US member, have paid for the membership. We’ll get the membership again, but we are hoping to never have to use it. After all, we have a 3’ 8” draft, why would we need tow insurance?

398 Nm in 8 days. That has to be some kind of record for a Bayfield 29 in the Intracoastal Waterway. Of course that comes at the cost of 83 ½ hours of motoring. The only time we stepped foot on shore was when we stopped to get fuel, a pump out, and some water. Otherwise it has been a bag drive. However, we are only 4 weeks from home now, and we can take it a little easy. We can’t even enter the Erie Canal system until May 1^st. Tomorrow we will be at a marina. We stopped at this spot on the way down. It was cheap, and had great services. We’ll pull in and load the boat up, fuel, groceries, water, pump-out, beer, laundry, and real showers. Then we’ll go somewhere and relax for a day. Then make our way further up the coast. There is no going outside now until we get to Norfolk. We've used up all the miles that we could have done outside. And it worked out well, because the ocean has been a nightmare the whole time. One bad cold front after another. I hope it cleans up its act so we can make the 48 hr jump from Norfolk to New York.

As you can probably guess, there hasn't been much going on since the last post, except for driving the boat. Serena wrecked her back on the day of the last post. So when she woke up, she was bed-ridden for another two days. First the neck, then the back. Thank god my back has been doing better. Quiet nights with no swell has made my recovery happen pretty quick.

Highlights:

A local fisherman decided to come up and talk to me while I was driving in a winding area. Serena had to grab the helm having no idea where we were going. It seems the guy has a dream to buy a catamaran and head to the Bahamas, and he was inspired by us. We managed to stay off the shoals.

We met up with a single-hander at a fuel dock. He had just passed us a few hours earlier, and wanted to let us know that we were only the 2^nd boat he has passed in 2 years of cruising. Okay, we get it, we’re even slower.

Dolphins, pelicans, and every manor of sea bird, all day, everyday. Its like being in our own private zoo.

Almost putting Vita aground for the third time while I was trying to take a video of a pelican. We were in 5’, headed for shore. Ray (the autopilot), cannot be trusted, I mentioned that before, but for some reason I forgot.

Beautiful crystal clear, perfectly still morning. It was incredible.

Another foggy day, but no shipping channels.

The Karate Kid Pelican. Mr. Miaggies family didn’t come up with the move, they stole it from the pelicans. This dude was poised to kick some serious seagull butt.

Ta ta fer now.......