Tag: Trawler Aground

Sapelo Island to Cumberland Island

Orange in the AM

Sunrises in the low lands of Georgia are amazing.

Sunrise over Sapelo Island, GA

Get Up You Lazy Captain!

If you read the last post, I wrote about how 50 NM / day can be done but you have to get an early start. Well, I didn’t.

9:20AM Weighing of the Anchor

Tortoise and the Hare

Right of the bat I had a much faster boat pass me by. I’m sure he gets his 50NM in before noon.

Raised Salon Cruiser

Anyone Home?

I found this home on a small island interesting as I passed.

  • House on a Small Island
  • House Close Up

ATONs

ATONs (Aids TO Navigation) or buoys if you will, are important things to pay attention to on the ICW.

deadhead sticking up behind a buoy.

World is Ablaze

As I was approaching Brunswick, GA it looked like the world was burning.

No idea what was burning but there was a lot of smoke

Traffic

I hailed this tug & barge on the VHF and let him know that I would push over to the edge of the channel as soon as I rounded a narrow bend in the river.

  • Tug & Barge
  • T&B Close Up

The Unexpected

Next came something I did not expect. When I first saw it I had no idea what it was. I spy’d it with my binoculars but I still could not identify it.

What is that?

Turns out this is the underside of the 656 foot long Korean RoRo cargo ship called “Golden Ray” that capsized in Cumberland Sound on September 8th, 2019. While 4 of the 24 crew members were missing 3 were later rescued and even the 4th was pulled out alive. They were trapped with a fire that was roasting them alive while they were stuffing their pockets with ice to stay cool.

Slow as She Shallows

I was making my way down Jekyll Creek just off Jekyll Island. I found shallows.

Note the slow speed for shallow water

Foreboding

As I glanced up at the sky I could see that it was getting lower and darker.

A darkened sky ahead

Time to stop being a lazy captain and check the weather.

Gale Warning starting at … Well NOW
Offshore Weather Front

You Ain’t Be Around if You Ain’t Been Aground

I was happy that my anchorage was quickly approaching. However, before I could get to my chosen anchor location I came around a turn in the bend to find this trawler aground.

Like I always say, “If you want to know where it’s shallow… it’s where the birds are standing”

Have You Been Paying Attention?

Have you have been paying attention? Did you read my last blog post about how I plan on making 50NM legs like this leg shown below?

W03L017 Crescent River Anch – Delaroche Creek Anch

Well I got a late start, I ran into shallow water, Gale Warnings, slowed for all kinds of things like trawlers aground. When did I get to my anchorage? In the dark with gale warnings. OK, It may have been gale warnings out on the ocean but only strong gusty winds where I was anchoring. That said, I’m in the Georgia low lands. Nothing sticks up high enough to buffer the winds. I did not snap a pic while anchored because it was just black out. Anchoring did not go smoothly. I had a strong wind perpendicular to a strong current and I was challenged to find a spot that did not have the wind swinging Simple Life onto the creek bank. It’s going to be a long night on anchor. Now where did I put those IPAs?

D9 Brewing Company Hakuna Matata Tropical IPA

Robinson Creek Anchorage

Making our way North our next anchorage, a little creek called Robinson Creek. This spot lies just North of Comanche Cove Marina in St. Augustine, FL. We stopped at Camanchee Cove for a few days on the way down.

Robinson Creek
Robinson Creek Anchorage

Our route would look something like this.

Route 3 Oak Hill - Robinson Creek
Route from Oak Hill to Robinson Creek

On our way there we passed through Daytona Beach and the airport had lots of planes flying overhead.

 

There were other hazards to watch for like this sunken sailboat. Just look for the mast 😉

Sunken Sailboat Daytona
Sunken Sailboat near Daytona Beach

As we traveled I trawled a fishing line from outside the pilothouse door. I heard the drag on my reel start zzz-zing and reeled in a what I would later identify as a “Ladyfish”. I quick fish app check and this is an unregulated species with poor edibility.

Ladyfish
Fish Id app

in New Smyrna Beach we had to pass under a few low bridges.  Our 22’ air draft it made for a tight squeeze. Luckily the bridge is a bit taller in the middle than what is reflected by the height board.

New Smyrna N Causeway Bridge_7968
New Smyrna North Causeway Bridge on the ICW

 

As we approached a bend in the ICW we saw two boats blocking our path to the North. One looks like they have thrown out an anchor to stop from getting pushed further ashore or a possible kedging off attempt. The other was in the process of being pulled off by TowBoatUS. We contacted the Towboat Captain on VHF and treaded water for about 20 minutes until the first boat was pulled clear and we could continue. The trick needed to pass was to hug the reds as close as 10′ abeam. Seems odd that the deeper water would be on the inside of the bend but was where you needed to be. This is location is right near Fort Matanzas South of St. Augustine, FL

The song playing in the pilothouse is “Devil’s Dance Floor” by Flogging Molly. A great Celtic band out of LA.

 

Anchored to a cloud
Lying STBD Side
Fort Matanzas Anchorage Near the Shoal

Every captain knows when you traverse the ICW, the shallow channel depths mean that you could run aground if you drift out of the channel. For this reason oncoming boats must stay “Right of Center”. This fellow captain seemed oblivious to that rule judging by the wave he gave after forcing us out of the channel. We were riding the right edge of the channel and had no choice but to either hold our ground and use sound signals (1 short blast for a 1-whistle pass – port to port) or simply move over. If you don’t know to stay right of center you wont know your sound signals either 😉

As we approached St. Augustine we saw a large trawler aground.

Trawler Aground_8030
Large trawler aground just South of St Augustine, FL

We passed the magnificent schooner Freedom

Freedom

The night ended with a warm orange-pink sunset.

Robinson Creek_Sunset
Sunset at anchor in Robinson Creek