Staging Provisions in our guest room - Food for 7 months."How will this all of this fit on board?"
Gail shoe-horning everything in
Provisions stowed and location logged
Charts stowed under the quarter-berth cushions
Storm cell on the Chesapeake Bay(A two-month drought preceded our departure. We had torrential downpours the day we left.)
Mile marker zero, Hospital Point, Portsmouth, VA
Turn-off for the Great Dismal Swamp Canal
Deep Creek Lock, Great Dismal Swamp Canal
The Great Dismal Swamp Canal (Really quite beautiful)
Tannin water over the swim platform
Remains of the original bulkheads
Welcome to North Carolina
Duckweed on the water
Drawbridge before South Mills Lock (Southen end of The Great Dismal Swamp Canal)
Cyprus roots
Light rolling morning fog behind Goat Island
Leaving Elizabeth City, heading down the Pasquotank River just before dawn
A dirigible factory off the Pasquotank River
Anchorage at the base of the Alligator River (We could hear red wolves at dusk)
Our first sand dunes inside the Atlantic coast in North Carolina
U.S. Marine patrol boat by Camp LeJeune, NC
Tug and barge passing the morning chain of southbound boats, NC
Dredge, NC
The black diamonds indicate the side to pass on.
Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge, NC
Shrimping from a skiff, NC (not to be confused with the big shrimp boats)
A swing bridge, SC
Gail at the helm, SC
In a cyprus swamp again, SC
An old bulkhead showing with the low tide, SC
Anchored in Jericho Creek, SC (Absolutely lovely)
Studying ahead for the next day's sights, SC
Sunset on Jericho Creek, SC
Heading out in the pre-dawn fog, SC
Winyah Bay, SC
An old fire tower in the marsh, SC
100 meter personal dock (the house is visible way in the background), SC
Clammers, SC
Cabbage Palmettos (a symbol of South Carolina and on the SC flag)
Boats in our salt marsh creek anchorage, SC (Taken pre-dawn just as we're pulling anchor)
Fort Sumter off our port side, Charleston Harbor, SC
Another beautiful sunset at anchor, South Edisto River, SC
Followed by another beautiful sunrise
Ashepoo River, SC
A good sized buck swiming across our path, Asheepo - Coosaw Cutoff, SC (Note the wake he's putting off.)
When you have real tides, post ATONs can look a bit strange, SC
Going through Lady's Island Bridge, Beaufort, SC
Beaufort, SC (taken from Lady's Island Bridge which was in the previous picture)
Downtown Marina, Beaufort, SC (Alisios is on the inside of the outermoust dock, though you can't see her in the photo.)
Trawling for shrimp on Port Royal Sound, SC (Note the birds lined up on his rigging waiting for the nets to be hauled in.)
Same boat as before (I tried to silhouette her in the reflection of the morning sun and missed by a about 2 seconds.)
Georgia salt marshes
Matthew at the helm, looking a bit disheveled, GA
Double bascule drawbridge, GA
s/v Agape going through Hell Gate, GA
Alisios mortor-sailing across Sapelo Sound, GA
GA
The morning of an incoming cold front, GA
Pelican sunrise, GA
Fernandina Beach, FL (Our first view of Florida - Not what we expected.)
Shrimp boats at dock, Fernandina Beach, FL
A sunken sailboat / A reminder to be diligent, FL
FL
Matthew and Joe by Joe's pool in Port Orange, FL
Matthew - Daytona Beach, FL
Pelicans resting on a sand bar by Daytona Beach, FL
Birds roosting in the early morning, FL
A para-plane above our boat while at anchor, FL
Manatee in the basin of the Titusville Municiple Marina, FL
Dolphins herding mullet in the Indian River, Titusville FL
Smithsonian Marine Station, Fort Pierce, FL
Hugh, Gail, and r/v Sunburst
Jupiter Inlet Light, FL
Into big buildings and lots of draw bridges, Southern FL
Big waterfront houses, Southern FL
This one's for sale!
Mega-yachts, Southern FL
To get an idea of the size of this yacht, note the person walking along the boom.)
Sometimes the yacht's almost the size of the home, Southern FL
Testing Alisios' mast height on the 17th Street Bridge, FL
Our several calculations told us we were just under 55'. But you don't know for sure until you try.
Fwhew . . . A couple feet to spare
Free and clear
Fort Lauderdale Inlet commercial port, FL
Freighter heading into the Atlantic, Fort Lauderdale Inlet, FL
Highrises lining the ICW, southern FL(It feels a little strange to motor through these.)
Pretty anchorage near Bakers Haulover Inlet, 10 miles north of Miami, FL (We ended up spending quite some time here waiting for a weather window.)
Newly spliced dingy anchor line
Moondink pulled out of the water to minimize growth(This seemingly bright idea nearly chaffed through a $100 halyard.)
Approaching our first Miami anchorage off Biscayne Bay, FL
Alisios at Sunset Lake, our second (and longest) Miami, FL anchorage
Gail, Miami, FL
Matthew steering Moondink, Miami, FL
Moondink tied up to a canal bulkhead, Miami, FL
Anchored off Miami Beach at night waiting to attempt a crossing, Miami, FL (Attempt aborted - too rough)
The small beach at Oleta River State Park, North Miami, FL
s/v Buckshot lit up for Christmas under a full moon Oleta River State Park, North Miami, FL
No Name Harbor on a Saturday, Key Biscayne, FL (A chaotic hive of weekend boaters - quite the human zoo.)
s/v Serinity sits calmly at anchor after we helped them down their blown out Genoa jib sail
