Beautiful run up to SSI yesterday; seas were <2 ft @ ~ 8 seconds and a slight chop and sunny skies! We left at near high tide so our fairway from the marina had deep water and the AICW route back to the inlet was easily navigable. Evidently Hurricane Irma “relocated” some of the channel markers which made challenging our original southern route to the marina. Between ICW shoaling, miss-located channel markers, low tide and our recent shallow water experience, we are very cautious about water depths! Tides at FB / AI were about 3-4 ft each way. Nevertheless, we made the inlet easily and entering the ocean was calm. Run out the inlet fairway about 6 miles and hang a port turn, set the auto pilot to the SSI inlet, and sit back and enjoy the scenery. While our tracking / heading to FB / AI from St. Augustine was nearly 000’ (directly due north), our heading to to SSI was ~20’, meaning we’re starting to see the eastward curvature of the coastline. I expect that heading to become more NE as we continue up the coast until the Cape Hatteras area where we should come around to a NW heading toward Norfolk. All I know is that I love boating in the ocean. The colors, the expanse, the experience is exhilarating for me. It’s awesome to see our boat perform from the power of its engines to the sophistication of the electronics and auto pilot; it’s a blast!!

Yesterday, we had the ocean to ourselves! We saw only one cargo ship (about 6 miles away) and a shrimping boat as we entered the SSI inlet. Water is deep all the way to and around the SSI lighthouse. It became shallow on our approach to the marina but we timed our arrival to be at near equal tide (mean sea level) so we could have 1) deep water, and 2) a smooth entry through the inlet. We achieved both. After taking on only 60 gal (three-hour total cruise time; two hours at sea x 30 gal / hr burn rate) we were directed to our slip. This is where things became interesting. While we timed our approach relative to the tides correctly, I had forgotten the tide was going out. As I pulled away from the fuel dock and made my approach to the slip, I found myself being drawn toward the docks. There was very little wind that could have moved the boat the way it was being moved. I lacked enough room to spin the boat into the slip, so I bailed out to have another try. As I pulled forward, parallel to the dock but perpendicular to other boats and dock fingers, I kept getting drawn in closer and closer to the dock and boats. A couple of frantic calls from the Admiral, who was on the bow, reminding me the tide was going out, and I quickly changed propulsion control from the transmission levers to the joystick and easily pulled away from the dock. I was able to spin the boat around and got us in the slip without incident. After getting the boat secured in the slip, I was then able to witness the speed / current produced at tide change - it’s fast and strong! Harbor master said we’re in a 6 ft tide change here. I believe it by riding the up and down of it!

We’re in SSI for the weekend, heading out Monday for HHI. Going to play golf this PM at the King & Prince course on the north end of the island. In HHI, we’ll be at Harbor Town Marina, the iconic one with the lighthouse.

Good to be back in motion but also having a little time to see the sights.