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Electrifying mosquitos is a never ending battle here in the tropics...and also quite entertaining, I must say! 😜
Guinep! Fruit of the sinus gods!
1 Week in Tallinn
September 18, 2016 Kristi writes:
We flew a long way to one of the oldest historical places in Europe. When we found out that Captain Cactus and his wife Betsy were not purchasing the Kajsamoor, we decided to make the most of the week we had reserved in Tallinn. It was definitely heart-breaking at first, but what choice did we have other than to stay positive and believe that we are on our way to something even greater?
The adventure continues and we will share more on that soon, but first, here are some of our favorite photos from our tour in Tallinn. Enjoy!
The beautiful Kajsamoor that did not work out as planned, but brought us here so we made the most of exploring her home port!
Well that's a different perspective!
Looking out over the Baltic Sea.
Had to put my toes in the Baltic! Not too cold in the shallows. Felt similar to Monterey Bay.
At the Seaplane Musueum, we explored the inside of submarine "Lembit," built in 1936.
Baffled by so many valves and lockers and hatches and pipes!
Kadriorg Palace & Art Museum.
Change of guard duty at the Office of the President.
Beautiful (and very symmetrical) Palace grounds.
More Palace grounds.
Heading into Old Town.
St. Catherine's Passage, Old Town.
Medieval walkway in Old Town.
Outside of a little artisan shop. I love the flowers in all the windows.
Hotel Telegraaf built in 1878 first as a 4-story house, later becoming a main center of communications between 1918-1992...then finally a hotel in 2007.
Random Sean Connery statue and trippy camera effect!
Patarei Merekindlus...A sea prison built in the tsar era, then a Soviet prison from 1919 to 2004. Now an abandoned battery.
More of this abandoned prison that is a monument for victims of communism and Nazism.
Sun came out long enough to put some stripe shadows across Brad's chest, not quite as many as the graffitiied prisoner next to him.
Kajsamoor no moor
September 12, 2016, Brad writes:
Greetings from Estonia! I have some bad news, and I may as well get it out of the way first. The vessel we intended to board, Kajsamoor, is not likely to become our ride back across the Atlantic, and will not become the flagship of the Caribbean Tall Ship Trader company. The story of why starts with NATO and Russia. Not kidding. Two days prior to our captain’s arrival in Estonia, he received word that the dry dock we had scheduled to lift Kajsamoor from the water for an inspection by Lloyds of London (and for any necessary touch-up work) had been commandeered by NATO as a result of ongoing tension in the Baltic Sea. Moving the vessel to any other port for a haul-out would have been paid for by the current owner as per the contract, and apparently they are not willing to foot that cost. Captain Cactus and his wife, Betsy, are not likely to try and push the issue either, thanks to finding what they believe is rot in Kajsamoor’s frame.
We were pretty crushed by this news. So many negatives came to mind first, like how we’re in Estonia and will have to pay through the nose to get back, or how the perfect dream job became yet another disappointment, or how we’re back to not having a job at all, with no guaranteed or obvious route of breaking into the industry we’ve been throwing ourselves at. The evening after we heard the news, Kristi came across a video on Facebook that compared taking risks and achieving success in life to jumping from a cliff. Sometimes your parachute doesn’t open right away, and you might get some bumps and scrapes during the fall, but if you don’t jump the the parachute of success will never open. We certainly feel like we just bounced off the cliff face again. Thankfully the ground still feels distant.
Indeed, Cactus and Betsy soon suggested that they would cover the cost of our return airfare, but their biggest aid may be by example: we get to witness others with a dream broken who are not willing to give up the fight. They’ve already got their eyes on a new tall ship for sale in Toronto that could potentially fit the bill. It is possible that we’ll get to work under Captain Cactus yet!
We haven’t been putting all our eggs into that basket, however. Kristi and I have returned a watchful eye to St. John (and the National Hurricane Center’s website), which has been our back-up plan for some time. Kristi’s experience with the island has been that finding work there is easier if you’re looking in person, so if we can find a living arrangement that is suitable, then our return trip to the western hemisphere may take us directly to the Caribbean.
In the meantime, we’re in Estonia! We flew into Tallinn, the capital city, three days ago and we’ve fallen in love with it. A city with a population of four to five hundred thousand, it manages to feel small, friendly, safe and clean, and like other areas of Europe I’ve been to it manages to blend modern and ancient. As a bonus, it seems we’ve caught their indian summer, with high temperatures from the high 60s to low 70s and plenty of sun.
The “Old Town” (or Vanalinn) neighborhood is a walled area littered with old churches and cathedrals and beautiful architecture. Next door are modern malls, and these areas seem to make up the tourism hub of the city. We found an awesome view of the city from the spire of St. Olav’s Church.
We’ve walked through the port district, with a terrifying-looking defunct prison (Patarei) and a monolithic concrete maze in the shape of a squat Mayan temple (Linnahall), both relics of the USSR’s occupation of Estonia from the mid 1940’s to 1993.
We’ve wandered the Kadriorg park district, with the office and palace of the president of Estonia, and stretches of beautiful forested walkways with the most crisp and fresh air possible within a modern capital city.
Fine dining including drinks that would’ve cost $30-40 per person back in Denver has so far been more like $16-20 per person. Sesoon (http://kohviksesoon.ee/en/), Leib (http://www.leibresto.ee/en/), and Kukeke (http://www.kukeke.ee) have had outstanding food at really reasonable prices, with the main constants being friendly staff and fresh black rye bread, which is an Estonian staple.
Tomorrow, the hosts at Cactus and Betsy’s residence have offered to take us all mushroom hunting in the countryside and I can’t wait to get out of the city and see some of the rest of this beautiful place. We have yet to meet a person that doesn’t have at least a working knowledge of English and we feel so at home - except for that time when we tried the self-checkout at the grocery store and found it only used Estonian! It’s a language that doesn’t share anything except part of it’s alphabet with English and a tough one to crack when attempting to cancel a payment on one credit card to pay with another.
We’ve even gotten to cruise the bay around Tallinn after all! Cactus and Betsy have tried hard to make the best out of failure, and we’re grateful for all they’ve done for us here. Lemonade from lemons!
Next Stop, Estonia
August 24, 2016, Brad writes:
With Dr. Seuss’s book Oh, The Places You’ll Go! ringing in our ears, we’ve accepted deckhand positions together aboard the tall ship Kajsamoor! How could we say no to this beauty??
Kajsamoor means “mother of wind troll,” a character in ancient Norse mythology. She is 108 feet long, 19 feet wide, and… tall. I’m not sure how tall, but we’ll have a better idea when we start climbing those masts! She was built in Norway in 1939 as a traditional cargo ship, and is currently in use for day-sailing trips on the Baltic Sea from Tallinn, the capitol city of Estonia. It’s a bit farther north than Juneau, Alaska, and we certainly anticipate chilly weather.
Our new captain, “Cactus” Bryan, has owned and operated a charter tall ship in the US and British Virgin Islands until last year, when his vessel was struck while moored near Virgin Gorda. In the aftermath, Cactus has restarted his dream of operating a green trading vessel. While trading commodities between Guyana and the USVI, the business will also take paying students on as trainee sailers between many of the eastern Caribbean islands. The company website, http://www.caribbeantallshiptrader.com, has all the details of the new business plan and more great photographs of the ship. We’ll add more details as we learn them also.
We will be joining the Kajsamoor in Tallinn on September 10, and assisting the captain with boat preparations leading up to our embarkation date of October 1. The website above lists our path, but we’ll make our way along the northern and western borders of Europe, with a final stop in the Canary Islands before making an Atlantic crossing in November (weather permitting!) to Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, USVI, which will become the new home port for Kajsamoor. This introductory journey will take us approximately 6,500 miles.
We couldn’t be happier with the direction our work is taking us, and we’re looking forward to the adventure to come! That we’ll be together for each nautical mile makes it all the more sweet!
Nothing like getting out on a 16’ Hobie Cat for a little refresher on sailing basics. This one had a little jib sail too! Fun handling it together in the warm Florida sun!
Where Have We Been?
August 15, 2016 Kristi writes:
We know it’s been quiet on the blog - and we apologize. But it’s because we’ve been busy! We disembarked SV Sensei in the heart of Jacksonville on July 17th. That evening, we basked in the joys of a very air-conditioned hotel room, a bed wide enough for both of our legs to rest, and ordered enough sushi takeout to feed a family of four. It was a glorious evening… Until we realized we left the duffel bag with both life jackets (and our new EPIRBs) ON THE BOAT. Oh no!
So, the next morning we picked up our rental car and ventured south 20 minutes to the Naval Air Space where John and Lisa had docked Sensei. Luckily, we were slick enough to get on base by flashing my captain’s license to the guard on duty. He was definitely confused by my document but when he read that it was Coast Guard-issued, he finally waved us through with a, “Welcome Aboard!” We said goodbye one last time to Sensei’s owners, grabbed our gear and jumped back in the rental car, heading northwest to Tennessee.
My parents were happy to welcome us as guests while they too are in between chapters. While waiting for their new home to be built in the mountains of Jasper, TN, they are living in a one bedroom apartment in Chattanooga. Newly retired, they’re both keeping busy with hobbies and of course, Mango, who is beginning to struggle with arthritis. It’s been difficult enough to be away from my dog for so long. It’s even harder hearing she was in some pain. I was anxious to get to her on that drive.
Mango’s spirits lifted when Brad and I got there. She was a very happy girl having her whole “pack” home. But, after a few days and the excitement wore off, we could see she was still limping and favoring one hind leg. We took her to a vet who prescribed some anti-inflammatory chews to help.
Brad & I stayed with my parents for two weeks, and while we were there, we actively marketed ourselves as a desirable crew team in the charter boat industry, worked on our resumes, exercised daily and ate well. We also played lots of games with my parents, went for walks, saw movies, and even rented stand-up paddle boards on the Tennessee River. It was a ball!
We knew my parents were happy to have us there forever, but Brad and I had a strong desire to keep moving forward. Our nautical careers wouldn’t build themselves! We spent a morning getting our TWIC (Transportation Worker Identification Credentials), which will be necessary for moving forward with our captain’s licenses and upgrades.
That same day, we received an email from a captain that was interested in our Find A Crew team profiles. The opportunity he laid out blew us away. It was a paid position on a gorgeous two-masted, 108’ wooden tall ship waiting in Estonia. He needed crew to get her south to St. Thomas, USVI, where she would operate as a trade ship as well as a sailing charter throughout the Caribbean. We immediately called the captain to get more information, and ultimately decided we were interested. Over the next few days we exchanged emails, and finally he let us know that we were on his short list of crew potentials, but would not be able to let us know for sure until mid August.
There was one more thing we needed to land this position, as any merchant ship requires of crew: taking an STCW Basic Safety Training course (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers). We figured we had time to kill and might as well use it wisely, so we looked for a way to knock it out.
Conveniently, we found a course that would start in two days down at Sea School Alabama. It was only six hours away AND they offered free-housing and meals during the five day course. My parents were kind enough to let us borrow their car so we could jump on the the opportunity to get this much needed certification.
We made it the small, fishing town of Bayou La Batre, AL (pop. 2,500) on the evening of Tuesday, August 2nd, and completed our course the following Sunday. After fighting fires, practicing search and rescues, revisiting first aid & CPR, dawning emersion suits in a pool, climbing into inflatable rescue boats, & practicing various life-saving drills, we passed our final exams and were done! We enjoyed our time in the bayou. It was like being at a summer camp. Although I was sad at first that Brad & I had to sleep on opposite floors, I enjoyed the anticipation of greeting him down in the cafeteria each morning for breakfast.
When we completed our courses at Sea School, we decided to head east to Pensacola to do some scuba diving! In effort to continue being proactive with our maritime career building, Brad enrolled in SDI (Scuba Diving International)’s Open Water Diver Course (I already have mine). I got to join him for five dives and then we both went through a Nitrox diving course yesterday afternoon.
It is now August 15th, and we have some news to share… But that will have to wait for the next blog post! We both overdid it this past weekend and are now sick with head colds. Tonight we rest up and overdose on zinc lozenges. Tomorrow we hope to wake up healthy, get out to the beach, soak up some vitamin D, and do some Hobie cat sailin’!
Until next time...
We move to a new anchorage every night. A typical night consists of prepping dinner in the cockpit, cooking (and sweating) in the hot galley, and taking in the sunset😊🌅⛵<\p>
This is Ferd the Bird, a regular at the Downtown Marina in Charleston. 🐟
Changing Course
07/09/2016 Kristi writes:
We’ve been in a constant learning environment aboard SV Sensei over the last three weeks. When we left finally left Jacksonville after the hiccup with the propellor, we hoped nothing else would interrupt the big northbound plan to reach Lake Erie by mid August.
We had been making way along the ICW until early July when we saw an ideal weather window to make a significant jump north. The captain, John, was beginning to feel crunched for time and this 150 nautical mile stretch from the Port Royal Sound, SC to Cape Fear, NC would definitely put us ahead by a few days. My first instinct as a crew member that had not yet sailed this boat outside of inland waters was to question it being a wise idea to take Sensei out on a 24 hour, overnight passage. We had not even had the main sail up yet, only the jib a handful of times (motor sailing). I would have liked to spread her wings on a shorter run to see how well we all work together under full sail and test the state of her standing and running rigging. I was pretty much shot down by the excitement of the rest of the crew who were all eager to get on the outside and go sailing.
I was eager to go sailing and make some headway too, so I joined in on the excitement and let go of a decent amount of worry after Brad & I agreed that we would go get personal EPIRBs prior to this offshore venture. EPIRBs (Electronic Personal Radio Beacons) were an investment we had discussed getting more than once. We were after the ACR brand’s ResQLink device: buoyant and small enough to stow in the zipper pocket of our lifejackets, with a 66-channel GPS receiver and automatic strobe (when activated). In an emergency situation, whether you stay with the boat or drift away from it, you will be found. The West Marine store in Beaufort, SC, just so happened to have two ResQLink’s left in stock, and they each came with a $50 rebate. Score!
At 6:45 am on the morning of July 3rd, we woke up ready to get underway. Unfortunately, electrical problems slowed our embark time. During pre-checks, the red and green (port and starboard) steaming lights on the bow were found to be dysfunctional. Two hours later, John identified the loose connection and Brad helped him repair it.
At 10:30 am, weather conditions were still looking good for the next 24 hours. NOAA forecasted seas 2-4 feet, winds out of the south blowing 10-15 knots, and a slight chance of thunderstorms, primarily subject to inland waterways. So, we pulled up anchor and started making way. Motoring into the wind, we didn’t clear the 3 mile channel marker of the Port Royal Sound until almost 2 pm. Half an hour later, we got the sails up and pointed our nose for Cape Fear, still another 24 hours away. Something about that length of time still didn’t sit well, and neither did I in the lumpy seas we headed into. Our point of sail was a rolling, broad reach off the starboard stern. A couple hours into our run, seas began to build under sustained 15-25 knot winds. Both sails had to be reefed significantly to reduce the area for wind to catch. Soon we were surfing 6-8 feet waves, the bow sometimes burying in the steep seas. My muscles tensed and whole body braced for hours. At one point we considered it might be dinner time but the last thing anyone (and their stomachs) wanted to do was go down below and spend any time in a rocking, stuffy galley. We stayed put in the cockpit and lived off a tin of Pringles. I tried not to drink a drop more than the water I needed to stay hydrated, just to avoid having to go below and use the head. These were not ideal sailing conditions.
Brad on the other hand, did not seem to mind as much as the rest of the crew. Although he got a little seasick from working down below at the start of the cruise (when we were beating into the wind and waves), after that passed he was enjoying the ride. He really wanted to stick to the plan and make it worthwhile. While I admired his determination and passion to keep on going, the bottom line wasn’t about comfort or progress anymore, it was about safety.
Around 4pm, Captain John made the call to change course and head into Charleston, which was the nearest and safest harbor to navigate into. This would cut our trip from 150 nautical miles to roughly 85, but still, we wouldn’t arrive until well after midnight at the 5-6 knot pace we were sailing.
At 7 pm, a beautiful sunset distracted me from the building waves for about 45 minutes. We even spotted a Loggerhead Turtle (we later found out to be South Carolina’s state reptile) swimming at the surface. As the sun sank below dramatic coastal thunderheads, a dark sky prompted the start of fireworks shows along the coast. Everyone sat quietly for several minutes as we took in the tiny bursts of lights that twinkled along the horizon.
As predicted, at 12 am we started our 4th of July holiday nearing the channel into Charleston. Wind had conveniently picked up to 25-30 knots, creating waves reaching 10 feet. When we turned into the wind (and waves) to bring down the mainsail, there was difficulty stowing it because the batons got hung up 2/3 of the way down in the lazy jacks. The loose sail acted like a parachute and made it tough to steer. We had less than 3 miles to push along the channel to be in a safe harbor. It was the final stretch! We battled a fierce current and seemed to be going nowhere when suddenly, the engine died.
Remaining calm, John quickly consulted us all and we agreed that it was time to radio the Coast Guard. The engine would not restart so we dropped anchor at the edge of the channel and stayed in the cockpit, awaiting assistance.
The USCG arrived at approximately 2:30 am. When they asked us to raise the anchor so we could be towed, the windlass became non-functional and the anchor would not budge. John did not want to cut his anchor line, so Coast Guard spent the next two hours attempting to de-anchor us, to no avail, only creating a more dangerous situation.
While I was grateful that John took charge in heavy seas; handling anchor lines, tow-lines and bridles in the strong and determined capacity of a retired Navy Officer, I was getting frustrated that our captain was holding our safety second to retrieving his expensive anchor. We were all exhausted and could not continue running on pure adrenaline much longer. With morning light approaching, it was clear the odds of someone getting hurt were increasing by the second. Finally, John let go of his $4500 anchor plus over a hundred feet of chain. Cutting that line was not easy on him or Lisa, but it had to be done.
At 7 am, Boat Tow USA dropped us dockside at the Downtown Charleston Marina. Being a holiday, there were no mooring balls available so the MegaDock (for mega yachts) was our only option. The boat looked about as tired as we did, with sails not quite stowed and the cockpit in disarray. We would worry about that after we all got some rest.
Later in the day after we had all napped, it was time to sit down for a crew meeting over chicken noodle soup. We discussed how all of us gave the best we could amidst the various challenging circumstances that day, but eventually it was out of our hands. God clearly had something else in mind for the course of this trip. The culmination of everything that happened led John & Lisa to determine the boat was not ready to continue the journey north, and neither were they. The financial blow from losing their anchor was not the only reason. Our trip had also opened their eyes to a laundry list of little repairs and refits that needed to be taken care of prior to an ocean-going passage.
And so, John & Lisa made plans to turn Sensei around and head back to Jacksonville via the ICW, where they could focus on the necessary boat work. They welcomed us to come along and make the best of this trip. We’ve decided to go south with them for the remainder of the journey, unless we begin to feel we are no longer in a learning environment, then it will be time to move on.
The skills and knowledge we’ve acquired aboard Sensei have been countless, but perhaps one of the biggest take-home lessons so far has been to be open, flexible, and willing to let God steer this journey we are on. Being open to a change of course means allowing new doors to open for us. Now that our time aboard Sensei is being cut short, Brad & I are excited to figure out what adventures and opportunities lie ahead!
"November Mike November gave me the good weather news | Told me I was going on an easy downwind cruise | Well I guess he got it wrong this time and that's hard to excuse | 'Cause I'm tossing up my cookies, my body's one big bruise | I got the three days our forty-five knot wind blues..." -Eileen Queen, from her CD No Significant Features
Provisioning for our first jump offshore!
Steppin’ out
07/02/16 Brad writes:
We arrived in the Beaufort, South Carolina downtown marina two days ago, which gave us all a much needed shoreside retreat. We used a mooring ball near the marina because it’s more cost effective at $20 per day vs ~$60-80 per day to tie off to the dock. This has been a typical amount, and usually provides amenities like access to a laundry room (which are then coin fed), air conditioned bathrooms with hot showers, and a theoretical wi-fi internet connection (which didn’t reach our mooring position). Mooring balls are also generally much less likely to drag while under strain from wind or current, so there’s a security benefit also.
Anyway, time to do laundry, take hot showers, complete a few boat projects, clean out holding tanks, buy diesel fuel, top off batteries, top off water tanks, buy groceries, stash groceries in various nooks all over the boat, and eat some local food at a nearby restaurant (Plum’s had awesome low country boil!), all while traveling back and forth to the dock on a dinghy. It sounds silly that we didn’t get much sightseeing done over the course of two days in a cool old town with history back to the 1700s, but we got so busy getting ready for our next big challenge that seeing the sights had to take a backseat. The buildings and houses we did get to see were incredible, and many in the downtown area predate the Civil War. John informed us that the Union quickly overran the city near the start of the war, so there were no large battles or naval bombardments to destroy the now-antiquities. At least we did see more dolphins in the river while working up on the bow.
Sorry, “working”. The manatee count still stands at zero.
Prior to arriving in Beaufort, we had already been eyeing the Port Royal Sound as a strong candidate exit from the Intracoastal Waterway into the Atlantic Ocean. Many of the other sounds we had crossed had potentially dangerous shoals and breakers extending far into the ocean. Port Royal Sound has a good reputation for being straightforward, and would allow us to skip ahead up the coast past poorly maintained canals near Charleston. The weather window was the last part of the puzzle, and we agonized over the coastal forecast for probably four days prior to today. Each day, a slightly different wrinkle would appear and make us revisit our plans, which went from go to no-go and finally back to go yesterday. Currently, the forecast for tomorrow suggests 10-20 knot winds mostly from the south southwest, which will give us points of sail from a broad reach to running. Storm chances are small. Waves (seas) are predicted to be 2-4 ft (Lisa says “double it”). Sooooo, we’re off early tomorrow morning!! First off-shore sailing! First Atlantic Ocean sailing! First overnight sailing! First time on watch! We’re ready and excited to get underway, and Kristi and Lisa have been busy working on quick meals for the trip while I recaulked the hatch above our V-berth and John cleared and tied things down to the deck. We took a break for burritos and beer in the cockpit:
Tonight we’re anchored in a good staging area near the sound. We’ll get the next update out sometime after we arrive in the Cape Fear River on July 4, and we hope everyone is having a great Independence Day weekend!
Another storm rolled in today after we set the anchor at Cowen Creek, SC.
Goodbye Georgia, Hello Carolinas
6/29/16 Kristi writes:
Yesterday we left Georgia waters behind and made it into South Carolina, still traveling along the ICW. We’ve lost track of how many dolphins we’ve seen on this trip, and yesterday we had record sightings, with one even breaching out of the water repeatedly just ahead of us!
After covering 32 miles in 7 hours yesterday, we nestled in to a remote anchorage right off the ICW, just southwest of Hilton Head Island. This anchorage marked 200 miles since we started in Jacksonville. As of today it’s been 1 week that we’ve been making way, and it’s pretty exciting to see how far we’ve come.
Last night we sat through a wild thunderstorm. We closed all the hatches as the storm rolled in and zipped ourselves into the cockpit for an awesome lightning show. I haven’t seen a storm like that since living in Kansas. This was a little different than watching from inside the garage like my family used to do. This storm had lightning striking in every direction around us and I couldn’t help but squeal when they got a little close! Not to worry too much though, Brad and I did our research and read that if the boat did get struck by lightning, the most damage it would do is kill the electronics (not us). The best way to avoid this would be to anchor, turn off the boat (both of which we did) and disconnect all electronics. Good to know.
Today we made it to Cowen Creek, a tributary just north of the Port Royal Sound. Another storm started building as we came into the anchorage. Thankfully we got everything secured before the storm came through. It’s currently passing over us while we stay hunkered down in the salon, enjoying a late lunch. It’s cooled off enough with this rain that we’ve decided to make tonight’s dinner out of fresh baked bread and the “Traveler’s Stew” MRE given to us by Mom & Dad Marquart. Yum!
Tomorrow morning we will have a short, 8 mile ride up the river to reach the Downtown Marina of Beaufort, SC. After several days of free anchorages and “roughing it,” we are excited to pick up a mooring for the shared cost of $20/night, which includes use of AC showers & laundry facilities (woohoo!), complimentary wifi (saves on cellular data usage) and gated entry (very safe) right “in the heart of one of South Carolina’s oldest and most beautiful cities.” It’s time to get off the boat, stretch our legs, and hopefully find some good local seafood. It’s shrimping season here in the south, so I am on a mission. 🍤
While sitting comfortably in Beaufort, we plan to wait for a weather window so we can take a break from the meandering rivers of the ICW and finally get to sailing up the Atlantic east coast! We are all itching to let these sails out and we’ve heard that the Port Royal Sound outside of Beaufort is our ticket…so stay tuned!
“To reach a port we must sail - sail, not tie at anchor - sail, not drift.“ - Franklin D. Roosevelt
Kilkenny Plantation livin'
06/27/16
Brad writes:
The morning after the anchorage at Crescent River, everyone agreed that it was a rough night for sleep. Mostly this is due to the persistent heat from the day before and the lack of wind following an early evening storm, which made for stuffy conditions below deck. The heat index had been well over 100, with abundant sun and high humidity. Sleeping in sweat is challenging for those of us used to air conditioning and humidity below 50%!
Thankfully, the day’s passage on the 26th turned out to be the coldest so far, as the day remained cloudy into the afternoon and we had rainstorms all around us. The steady winds of 12-18 knots eventually allowed for some motorsailing, which simply means using the sails and the engine at the same time to make way. On our boat, this has so far meant putting up the jib sail (the front one) only, since it is very simple to furl and unfurl. On the ICW, the conditions or traffic can change quickly and the bordering shores and shoals limit coarse changes, so being able to dump the sail quickly is useful. With the jib alone, we’ve been able to increase our speed 1-2 knots, or reduce throttle and sip diesel. Plus it’s great fun to monitor the wind and try to tune the sail!
In the middle of St Catherine’s Sound we passed a horseshoe crab swimming upside down at the surface! We learned that this is common practice, and that these crabs are harvested on the east coast for their blood, which contains an enzyme that is useful for detecting certain bacterial toxins. Those things are bizarre, but the fossil record indicates their species has been alive for 450 million years, so they must be doing something right.
In the afternoon we anchored in an ICW tributary called Kilkenny Creek, and next the the village of Kilkenny Plantation. We dinghied in to the marina (one of two businesses in town) and started doing laundry while eating ice cream and drinking Coors. The village centered around an old white plantation house that still had holes going through it from Civil War naval artillery. Later, Henry Ford had taken an interest in the house and spruced it up by installing trap doors over each hole in the house. It is currently unoccupied, and owned by the same family that runs the marina. The rest of the village consists of a handful of windy streets, small well kept houses and trailers, old growth trees draped with Spanish moss, and the other business in town, Marker 107. Marker 107 is a restaurant that is closely tied to the shrimping vessel Grey Ghost, and is unfortunately only open from Wednesday to Saturday. Two trawling doors adorn the gate leading to the restaurant, and a large screened in porch faced the creek to the east. We really wish we would have had the opportunity to eat there, as it looked like a special place! The town was rustic and the marina crew was friendly; we’re glad we took the time to go off course to see this sleepy gem. A great night of sleep helped cement our fond memories.
Currently we are motoring against the wind and with the tide toward our next intended anchorage in the town of Montgomery, GA, which is on the outskirts of Savannah and near the end of our time in Georgia. This will once again be a simple overnight stop, but a two-day stopover Beaufort, SC is calling later this week.
A little teamwork really gets the boat goin! 💨⛵️☀️ #7knots #sailing #icw #svsensei #crew #delmarquart