We’re still at anchor in Boca Raton Lake. The weather was perfect, in the 80s and sunny, so I took the day off to play. In the morning, I drove Sue to the boat ramp so she could hit the grocery stores to prep for Thanksgiving. When she came back, I dug the paddle board …
Author Archives: kurthermann
Boca Raton
We left Palm Beach Tuesday morning and headed down the ICW. We did 7 bridges on our way to Boca Raton Lake, where we plan on anchoring for 2 nights. Anchorages are getting smaller and harder to find as we make our way south. I’m worried about showing up at the anchorage I was planning …
Family meet up
Today my aunt, uncle, mother, and their friend Nancy, drove over from Ft. Myers to meet up with us and have lunch. Sue and I are always excited to be able to meet up with family and friends on our trip. It was very nice of them to drive over 2 hours each way to …
Bridges and more bridges
We left Fort Pierce and headed down the ICW instead of the ocean. We’re taking two days to get to our next stop, which is in Hypoluxo FL. The first night, we anchored in the St. Lucie River in Stuart FL. This area is called the cross roads because the Okeechobee canal intersects with the …
Fort Pierce FL
Those who follow our location know that we made it to Fort Pierce Florida. It was an uneventful trip 3 day trip from Hilton Head SC, covering 315 nautical miles. On the morning of the second day, the seas started building and it was getting uncomfortable. We were too far off shore to get updates …
Garmin
Now it’s my Garmin VHF radio that died. More specifically, it’s my cockpit radio head. I called Garmin this morning and the head is still under warranty. They’re shipping me a refurbished replacement. A VHF radio is important since it’s the only way to communicate with other ships, bridges, and the Coast Guard. Not having …
More bad weather
We stayed two nights in Charleston so we’d have heat on the boat while a cold front came through. We were also able to get a few boat chores done and have Amazon send us a couple of packages. When we left Charleston, it was warmer, but still cold, rainy, and starting to get windy. …
Charleston, SC
When we left Osprey Marina, our goal was to try and make it to Charleston SC before a major cold front and storm came through the area. Freeze warnings were issued as low tempuratures were predicted to be in the high 20s. The weather was too cold to stay on anchor, so as I was …
Knot Head
In the Dismal Swamp, at the free dock, we met the boat Knot Head. Bill, the owner, was single handing his 35 foot sailboat and asked if he could follow us. He’s from Baltimore and was trying to make it to the Bahamas. I’m a big fan of having a buddy boat, and it paid …
Myrtle Beach
We had an uneventful motor from Southport NC to Myrtle Beach SC. Along the way we crossed into South Carolina. It’s always great crossing a state line. It has been unseasonably cold the last week. Temperatures at night have been dropping into the low 40s and even the high 30s. We’ve been staying at marinas …
Southport NC
We got a slip at Southport Marina for two nights with a long list of boat projects. The new chart plotter was delivered the day before. With Sue’s help, I was able to get the chart plotter installed the day we arrived. Small hands can get into tight places. The first thing I did was …
Wrightsville Beach
We’re slowly plodding along the ICW heading south. As I write this post, we’re anchored in the town of Wrightsville Beach, NC. The night before, we anchored in Mile Hammock bay. Technically, it’s in Camp LeJeune, so we couldn’t go to shore. And, like Norfolk, it was a constant stream of helicopters. About an hour …
Garmin chart plotter
My primary navigation charts are on a Garmin 740 Chart plotter that’s mounted on my binnacle. I also have Navionics and Active Captain on my iPhone. And, my third set of charts is OpenCPN with the NOAA charts on my Surface and laptop. I also print out the NOAA charts when I enter a new …
Belhaven, NC
After leaving Elizabeth City we made our way to Belhaven NC. The town also had free docks and protected anchorage, but we decided to splurge and get a slip for the night. The nights we’re getting cold and we wanted heat. We also needed to hit the grocery store to stock up again. The marina …
Elizabeth City, NC
We limped into Elizabeth City, North Carolina from the Dismal Swamp with our clogged engine cooling strainer. The city provides free docks for visiting yachts for up to 48 hours. Enough time for us to say goodbye to our friends, clean the strainer, and get a hair cut for Sue. The day we arrived it …
Kurt & Sue Sail 