Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Offshore Hilton Head to Brunswick GA

...87 nm in 12 hours, fast...
We headed out to sea for an offshore run from Hilton Head to St. Simons Sounds to stop up at Brunswick Landing Marina to see Nina and Bob, one of our buddy boats from last year. We made this run in 12 hours sue to west winds 10-15 and our trusty yanmar motor. Yes we could have sailed at 4 knots all day and all night long, but with a boat that burns 0.75 gallons of fuel an hour this 12 hour motor run costs us 9 gallons of fuel or $18 plus we averaged 7.5 knots for 12 hours and covered 87 nm! We like the speed. When we are on a run, we like to knock it out and we like to keep the boat moving as fast as we can making the time at sea as short as possible. We are not out for a day sail, we are on a trip and we want to run the legs as fast as we can, so we do. When get to destinations like the Bahamas, or Biscayne Bay, or the Keys or the West Coast of Florida, we will sail all we want, but for now, lets move when we can and lets move as fast as we can. That is how we run this.

Here are some photos of the offshore leg

Container Ship arriving Tybee Sound

These are tractor trailer boxes, 40 feet long 8 feet wide

Look at that bow wave, it is as large as a box, 8 feet

Red left leaving, this is a sand bar with breakers on a calm day

Yup, another ship

Once at sea, full sail set and motor sailing at 7.5 knots

This is 10 knots of wind, calm seas

Beautiful main sail shape

Beautiful main sail

calm seas

Boat is healing and moving well

Prepare for night fall, radar up, table and night lights

Red lights on all instruments

Look, list a little bit of horizon left to see

There it is....total darkness, and we are going 7.5 knots full speed ahead


We ran into the St. Simons inlet at 7pm to 8:30 pm in total darkness as we worked our radar and navigation systems. Once there, we dropped anchor off the marina at 8:30pm. We went to bed at midnight and then moved to the docks at 10am. There we washed the boat, waterproofed the canvas, waxed the topsides and attended a 5pm cocktail party hosted by the Marina. Brunswick Landing Marina is amazing, they have hit a homerun for cruisers. We love it there. Sadly, we where there 24 hours and left the next day for sea again making a run to Fernandina Beach FL. When the weather is good you go for it....and we are....


The famous Active Captain team and the owners of Brunswick Landing Marina

Hayden and Radeen in a 1957 Chevy pizza parlor seat

Next stop.....now after a fly by of Brunswick Landing and a quick anchor in Fernandina Beach FL.....St Augustine, FL where we will take a day off from running south. Oh the busy life if a cruising boater. No schedule and no where to be, just move when the weather is good, stay put when it is bad. Thanks for sailing along..

4 comments:

GregK said...

Hey.. you got your 57Chevy! Sweet!

I gotta tell you... run all day - arrive at dark. Dropping anchor, bed at midnight. Waxing topsides.... etc etc. I need some rest just reading this.

When you get a second... One of my hydraulic legs is slipping on the party bus. I just had the solenoid shipped to me and need someone to swap it out for me so that my hands don't get dirty. Got a spare minute or two?

Reuben said...

Wow
coming into Brunswick at night must have been exciting...glad you made it OK...
did you have a chance to see Bob and Nina?
Are you going off shore or via the ICW to Vero Beach?
Wish we were with you still
--Reuben

Galileo said...

Hello Raydeen & Hayden,

Looks like you had a nice ride down to Vero. Have a good Thanksgiving.

Saw where you may be considering Green Cove Springs for storage. As an an alternative I would suggest in-water storage at Harbour Isle Marina on Hutchinson Island east of Ft. Pierce. There are three (3) of us in there presently, a 40, a 485 (Malagna) and Galileo. Perfect hurricane hole.

If you need to take boat out of water for work Cracker Boys Yard is right across the ICW on mainland side.

Just got back from Galileo. Had new sails, Lazy Jacks, Stack Pack, and Whisker Pole installed by Mack Sails. Great outfit to work with. Checked things out on 4 day cruise back and forth to Manatee Pocket. Everything worked great.

Back here now in Maryland for holidays. Our plan is to go to Ababcos in late February for two (2) months.


Gerry & Larry
Galileo

Galileo said...

Raydeen & Hayden,

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving in Vero.

Say hello to Caroline and Sam of Malagna for us while your are anchored off Harbour Isle and check on Galileo while your are there.

Gerry & Larry
Galileo