Travels of The Rose

Underway on St. Catherines Sound, GA

Doing as I was told..............................

The Rose departed Telemar Bay Marina in Indian Harbour Beach, FL on 4/13/09 and is underway on the ICW approaching, (4/24/09) the Neuse River in NC. This is our 10th trip, and for the summer we will enjoy our ultimate destination, Greenwich Bay North on Narragansett Bay where we will spend time with our family and friends.

This winter’s hospitalization has reinforced our need to solidify ties and reexamine priorities. My recuperation precluded cruising this winter, but the flip side is that our appreciation for The Rose, her safety and comforts along with new destinations has strengthened.

We were fortunate that friends stepped up to help with handling The Rose while I was recuperating. I have a tendency to underestimate, (really?) my limitations so the assistance was timely and welcome.

While recuperating at our condominium, we drove down and met with Joan & Bruce, (Forever 39) Neil & Sheila, (Silver Queen) and Randy & Barbara, (Lazy Dolphin) at Vero Beach Municipal Marina. The evening was spent sipping wine, enjoying dinner and chatting with our fellow owners at a local waterfront restaurant.

We left Melbourne on April 13th and had help aboard to Charleston where we spent two nights at Isle of Palms Marina visiting with Bill & Robin Evans who live nearby. Not only did Bill cruise with us from Melbourne to Charleston, but Robin fed us when we arrived and gave us the use of her car for the stay. They are good friends and gracious hosts! IOP is a smaller marina where service and staff resemble a yacht club rather than a run of the mill marina. Another favorite stop is established!

In between, we made our usual stop at Brunswick Landing Marina and spent time with Joe & Punk Pica on Carolyn Ann, more friendly members of the Mirage family. Brunswick, GA is and has been one of our favorite destinations ever since we spent our 1st winter there in 2004-05. We had dinner at a new place for us, 4th of May, which is across the street from BLM. Good down home cooking including meatloaf, chicken fried steak, okra and tomato pie!

One night, (Thursday, 4/23) we anchored in Mile Hammock Bay. This is a protected and well-used anchorage right off the ICW. Unfortunately, it is directly adjacent to, and part of Camp Lejune. We anchored accompanied by the sounds of artillery and adjacent to an abandoned ship that is used for boarding practice. The helicopters finally quit around midnight and ultimately we slept well. The next morning we left at 6:25 after I had reset the inverter/charger and did my usual engine room check. For the past several days the inverter/charger has been acting wierd, not fully charged. I've done this procedure plenty of times so it went smooothly and quickly. Once underway Connie immediately noticed a strong vibration in the port shaft. I did a second engine room check and sure enough, the port engine and shaft were wobbly. I initially assumed we’d have to pull into Morehead City for a diver and perhaps an engine alignment. After some consideration, we decided to back down a bit with the props in reverse. Whatever was wrapped around the prop/shaft was dislodged and we were as good as new. That's a trick I stumbled on 3 years ago on the New Jersey ICW.

Whew!

We are enjoying the ICW and wherever our travels bring us.
Safe cruising to all of our boating family.