In the morning Fernandina is incredibly foggy and our surroundings look majestic. As the fog rolls out, so do we, leaving the smell and a little frustration behind. We are finally leaving Florida today. When we cruise out to the markers and head north we will be in Georgia. It was always our plan to leave the ICW here and run up the outside to skip Georgia. We've been told the ICW is winding and slow through Georgia and to spend our time elsewhere. It's a bittersweet feeling as we leave the sunshine state. This milestone in our journey means we are making progress towards home. We are also leaving the state where our adventure began and that is a little sad, but, we are bringing some incredible memories with us.
Today will be the longest run we've done and likely the longest run we will do on our adventure home. It's a 6.5 hour cruise up on the coastline. The ocean looks calm and it is forecasted to stay that way. We are looking forward to the trip and to putting some nautical miles behind us. As we head out to the bigger water, the rollers started rocking Holy Cow. These slow moving, huge waves are smooth and just lazily coming at us. We take them on starboard side bow, so it's not entirely comfortable. Today will be another day of rollercoaster tummies. Gord is completely unbothered by it all.
It was Gord's plan to do two hours at 9-11 knots and then four hours on plane. Under the circumstances, he's decided to get on plane to make things a little more comfortable. I head down from the bridge to the salon to check on the kids and let them know the new plan. When I walk in the door, or stagger really, Jaxon looks up and says "Can you believe the size of those rollers coming at us? They are huge!" And large they were. Not a white cap to be seen, just glassy rollers sending Holy Cow up and down. I find Brooklyn and check on her. She's the one that would most likely suffer from motion sickness. We are up on plane, and although it's more comfortable, this will be another day where maneuvering around the boat will be quite difficult.
Jaxon moves up to the bridge because the seas are getting to him. This is so odd to us. We don't often suffer from sea sickness. He's able to take a nap. So does Gord later in the day when I take the seat at the helm. I don't exactly drive the boat. It's on autopilot. I only need to make sure we stay on course and watch to make sure we don't hit another boat. The radar shows only one boat at the very outer edge of our two mile radius so the second task isn't difficult either. The seas calm down as we approach our destination. The last part of our day is quite nice. As we approach Hilton Head, we come off plane and head towards the Calibogue Sound Entrance. This entrance is a little tricky to navigate, so I sit with Gord at the helm and refer to the Waterway Guide as Gord double and triple checks his navigation apps. When we are safely in the canal we enjoy the sights. The RBC Heritage Classic Golf Tournament was taking place and there were many boats anchored in the bay watching the event on the shore.
Gord starts looking at tides. He's learned and shared so much. In places like this that have an 8.3 foot tide the currents can be challenging. The best option is to approach canals and docks at slack tide, when the tide is almost at it's highest or at it's very lowest, although, low tides don't usually work for us because of the draft of Holy Cow. Basically the hour on either side of a high or low tide could be considered slack.
We cruise into Palmetto at low slack. The houses we pass seem as though they are miles from the canal with their endless piers leading back to the homes. In a few short hours, those bare bottom posts will be submerged with the incoming tide. When we are on the final stretch to the marina, we see off to the port side, a boat, stuck on a sand bar, waiting for high tide to float him off. It looks like he's in a cut that would be safe to travel, however, if you are not extremely careful, it's easy to make a mistake and run aground.
We arrive in Palmetto, and Allegra, the dockhand says our timing is fabulous because there's hardly any current. We tie up to the dock and plug into shore power. We have the same issue here with tripping the breaker. We tell her about our ordeal the night before and she is sympathetic. It appears we will have power this evening, but the laundry machines will remain unplugged.
The people here at Palmetto Bay Marina are really nice. The marina is under construction, but it is quite nice as well. Upon arrival, we give Holy Cow a good hose down to wash away the salt from the day at sea. Today has been another long day, but we are plugged in to power, Holy Cow is clean and we take the dogs for a bit of a walk. The way up to the Dockmaster's office is quite a hike and each ramp is a good uphill climb. When we walk the dogs, we find a really great store filled with fun souvenir items and also a couple of restaurants. We decide to take the dogs back to the boat and head up to the store and also to do appetizers at the restaurant. There's a live band and Gord loves a live band. The kids pick out their keepsakes and we head over to the restaurant.
When we head back to the boat, the ramp by the Dockmaster's office is almost flat. The 8 foot tide has completely rolled in and now it's a flat walk back to our floating dock. It's fascinating.
We have a lovely evening, but call it quits pretty early. It was a long travel day. When we wake up in the morning, the Easter Bunny had found the kids. That was super exciting. As the kids did their hunt in all the crevices of Holy Cow, Gord and I prepped for the day. It was a nice morning as we push off dock and made our way towards the ICW. The boat that was sitting on the sandbar yesterday is no longer beached so he must have successfully floated off at high tide. As we make our final turn to enter the ICW, we get another glimpse of the bay of anchored boats enjoying the golf tournament. Gord says that this location is one of his favourite stops so far. Our next destination is Beaufort, SC.
Unfortunately, there aren't any pictures worth sharing from this short visit, but you can see the travel details here.
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