Shrimp boat we passed

Cassie and Godiva enjoying the ride on a calm day on the Atlantic

Warship 39

Gunship checking us out and making sure we stay 2 miles from Warship 39

The day has come to cast off

After a delay of one day due to weather, we finally cast off the lines and put the pointy end of September Song South. At 0645 the time came to say goodbye and start another chapter in our lives. The day was beautiful and clear but chilly. We stayed in the pilot house where it was nice and toasty. Hopefully after the next couple of days of travel we will get into the warmer Florida weather. After another great day on the water we dropped the anchor just off Cumberland Island on the Brick Hill River at 1600. It is Sooo great to be back on the water again. We will be traveling each day for the next few days to get far enough South so we can turn off the heat. (can't wait!)

September Song (HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY) out


Sunrise as we headed out from our home dock

Private homes on small islands along the ICW

Birds, birds, birds

Best laid plans

The forecast was for winds from the cold front that passed through last night to be 20 to 25 with gusts to 35. The captain (me) made the decision to stay one more day at the dock and leave first light tomorrow. The forecast was correct. BRRRR!
"Our plan is we have no plan and we are sticking to it."
I'm sure this won't be the last weather delay but, we are together and on the boat. Life is good!

September Song (tomorrow we are outahere) out
Bob

The time has come. Yaaaa!

The time has come to cast off the lines and head South on a new adventure. The house is shut up, batteries are disconnected on the cars, the mail is being forwarded and the four of us are sitting on September Song, watching the news and waiting for the pizza to finish. Tomorrow we cast off the lines at first light and release our bond again to Terra Firma. (solid ground) It won't be quite the same without Pica but he will be with us in our memories. Keep checking in and I will try to take you with us vicariously.

September Song (can't wait) out
Bob

It's getting cold!!!

Time to get going, headed SOUTH! Can't come soon enough for me.

Another trip to Blackbeard

Todd and Brenda, boating friends of ours, were headed south Thursday and stopped at our dock for the night. The plan was to go to Blackbeard Island with them on Friday for a three day stay. Well, the plans changed with the weather we had Friday into Saturday morning (rained 3 1/2 inches and blew big time) so we didn't depart until Saturday at 3:00 PM and just as we left the sun came out. :-) Saturday night we had gumbo (the best I have ever had) on Life's 2 Short and had a great evening. Sunday morning we were greeted by Todd with warm banana bread (Brenda loves to bake on the boat) and before lunch we all went to the beach. The shelling was great after the storm Friday night and Brenda took full advantage of it. After we returned, I used Todd's surface dive compressor, donned my dive suit, and cleaned the props. On our trip to the Island I noticed the RPM we normally run at, our speed was 1 1/2 knots lower than normal. The props were covered with little barnacles. Sunday night we all had dinner on September Song. Stephanie made wonderful BBQ and French Fries and Brenda (the baker) made pecan and raspberry bars. After pigging out and sharing cruising stories we played Catchphrase until 11:00. This is the first time we played it and it was a blast.We were going to stay for another day, but the weather was going to turn ugly with winds 25 knots and temps in the upper 30's Monday night. We left early Monday morning while the tide was high and Todd and Brenda moved to the ranger station dock to hunker down. They loved Blackbeard so much they plan on staying a few more days. Any time we spend at Blackbeard is special even if we had to cut it short, and it was made extra, extra special with Todd and Brenda.

September Song (wishing we could have stayed longer) out

View of the Island from the creek

Life's 2 short in the creek headed for the anchorage

A bald eagle waiting for a fish to come by

Life's 2 Short winding through Blackbeard Creek to the anchorage

Todd and Brenda shelling on the beach

Life's 2 Short anchored behind us. Notice the sand dune and the ocean and beach behind it

Sad day

We are saddened to tell you that Pica, our cat (actually we were his people and dogs) died today. Pica was 18 years old and was named Pica because Stephanie got him from a printer. He was a great cat with a personality that was unique. He loved to travel with us on September Song, wander the docks and make new friends, walk the rails, (that made made Mom crazy) and just hang out with the girls. The only time he didn't like it on the boat was when it got rough, then he would puke. When he lived in Florida he would love to find his way to the roof (made Mom crazy again) and then call for help to get down. He would show his love by sneaking from around a corner and putting his teeth on you. You knew when he was ready to attack when he would get a look on his face and his eyes would glass over, then he would attack. At first it was scary, but after you got to know him it would just startle you. He also liked to walk on your key board when you were working on the computer and push on Mom's pen when she was working crossword puzzles (made us crazy) until you payed attention to him. One thing he loved to do was to sit by the ponds outside our front door and watch the fish and the waterfalls. We thought this would be a good place to lay him to rest.

We will miss him, especially when we cast off the lines for our next trip.

September Song (missing being made crazy) out

Bob

Enjoying a calm evening on he swim platform with me and the girls

Sacked out while under way

On the front porch when Flat Stanley arrived

Helping mom at the computer

Pica enjoying the ride in Moms lap

What a ham

Pica enjoyed our travels

We will miss you Pica

Blackbeard getaway

We decided because it was going to be a beautiful next four days and the tides would be in our favor to transit Blackbeard Creek (can only go in and out at high tide) we would go to one of our favorite places and anchor out. Tom and Karla, friends of ours, wanted us to show them the way in and spend two of the four days with us, so we led them into our secret paridise. We don't tell many people about it. Blackbeard on a scale of 1 to 10 is an 11. It takes us about two hours to get to the creek entrance, then another hour to navigate a nine mile creek that twists and turns through gorgeous marsh lands and tons of wild life. The anchorage is behind a sand dune that is the only thing between you and the Atlantic. The beach is nine miles of unspoiled soft sand with lots of shelling and no one else there but you. At night the stars are the brightest you have ever seen because there are no lights, and because you are so close to the ocean you can hear the waves washing on the beach. It is a place like no other. During the day we cross the dune and walk, play, and just plain enjoy. There are also lots of creeks to explore in Half Note. When you are there it seems that there is no one else in the world. We looked for Blackbeard.s treasure, but no luck.

September Song (totally relaxed) out


Entrance to Blackbeard Creek

Dolphins playing in our bow wake

Beautiful marsh lands along the ICW (IntraCoastal Waterway)

Wildlife along the way

Our private nine mile beach. This is the way it is most of the time

Cassie hunting minnows

The kids playing in the surf

Some one must have spent the night

Cassie and Godiva with their new friend Sam

Part of the nine mile beach at Blackbeard Island

Tom And Karla winding their way through Blackbeard Creek to the anchorage

The nine mile creek we navigate behind the island to the anchorage

Thing, things, things to do

We crossed our wake Sunday September 21st at about 2:30 in the rain. During the whole trip we never traveled in rain and never turned the wipers on once or had to travel from the pilot house until the last day. How fitting. We have been working on catching up on all the maintenance on September Song for the last week including cleaning her inside and out. We should be done by Wednesday so the decision was made with unanimous support to take off for Blackbeard Island, our favorite anchorage, and spend a few days playing on the 9 mile long beach which we usually have all to ourselves, do some exploring of the creeks in Half Note, and just enjoying the beautiful weather. The weather is going to be clear with temps in the mid 60's at night and low 80's during the day. I will take lots of pictures of our secret Paradise on the Georgia Coast.

All work and no play, well, we have been working hard!

September Song (headed out Friday AM) out
Bob


Notice the trip log 3635 nautical miles (4180 statute miles). The little black boat is September Song at her home port on the North Newport river.

September Song at her home dock.

The engine room where I spent two days changing fuel filters, cleaning strainers, changing zincs, etc, etc. By the way the John Deere engines names are Mildred and Ethel.