After waiting for almost two weeks for a weather window out of Charleston, we settled for a few cold days with almost no wind forecast. Our thinking was that it was better than cold with a headwind.
In preparation for the cold, we bought a small propane heater for the cockpit and a couple extra canisters of propane. Each canister was supposed to last 6 hours on the low setting which is about what we got out of them.
Our Mr. Heater propane heater kept us warm through the coldest part of the night.
After walking down to Starbucks for an early breakfast, we left Charleston Harbour Marina at 7:10AM. They had really packed us in tightly in a corner between a couple other boats so it was a challenge getting out! Thankfully, we made it without hitting any other boats. It was 35 degrees when we left, but with the adrenaline we got from leaving the harbor, we hardly felt the cold.
Leaving Charleston Harbor. A little jealous of the warm cruise ship passengers
The first four hours we could see the South Carolina coast but after that we were far enough out that all we could see was water. Some time during the night we got out to 30 nautical miles from shore.
We arrived at the St John’s river inlet about 9:30AM the next day, Friday, December 7th. We had planned to stop in Jacksonville Beach for the night, but since it was so early we decided to keep going.
ICW was calm enough that we could grill sausages without losing them overboard
At 2:30 we stopped for gas and a slip and some much needed rest at the Camachee Island marina in St. Augustine. When we arrived they had parked boats on the fuel dock and had to move three big boats so we could get fuel. It was still a tight fit.
Fuel dock at the Camachee Island Marina
The weather will be bad on Sunday thanks to tropical storm Diego, and then a South wind is predicted all next week, so we are considering putting in a few more days on the ICW.