That's a sentence I never thought I'd be writing.Until I actually visited the Dismal Swamp. Those of you who have been following the blog for a while probably remember how much we loved those lazy days sailing down the swamp. It was so easy. These past few days on the ICW (intra coastal waterway) have been a challenge. The wind has made our travels rocky & anchoring difficult but the navigation has been stressful too. For experienced sailors this is no big deal & they may giggle when they read it, but for newbies like us, it's SCAREY!!! Parts of the ICW are like a busy interstate in a foreign country. There are so many markers designating different ways to go...it's very confusing. One wrong move & we're out in the Atlantic, which with the 20-30mph winds we've had would be extremely unpleasant. Another wrong move we could be literally up a creek too shallow for our boat & we'd be aground. The past 2 days we have had to time our arrival to certain rivers perfectly with high tide or we would go aground. All boaters go aground at some point & if they haven't, they're lying. We have twice already. Often it's no big deal as long as it happens at low tide...just wait for high tide & you'll float off the sandbar. In the rough seas we've been in though, it could damage our boat. So we made it. We timed things perfect. And by the time we got anchored we were 2 giant stress balls. Tomorrow should be equally challenging as we head for Cumberland Island, Georgia. This part of the ICW is so littered with markers it's difficult to actually see the channel on the chart. Oh yeah, it's also frequented by nuclear submarines. There is a very strict marine protocol for them we need to heed to. Good times. Why we need nuclear submarine traffic in the ICW during peak cruising time is beyond my understanding.
Sorry no pictures the past few days. I can not figure out how to download them from the iPhone to the blog. Stay tuned ! I promise a photo album when we get to St Augustine on Monday & I can use my computer again.
Love you. We are really missing our family & friends these days!
XXXOOO
Love, Michelle & Scott
1 comment:
You two are so courageous!! (Scott, Tony is passing around your "werewolf" picture... :>) You are investing" white knuckle" learning time now so you can EVEN MORE appreciate and enjoy lazy days of relaxed sailing through islands drinking little rum drinks! XO
Post a Comment