03/07/2025 ICW Day 66 : Blue Water

by Brian · Published March 7, 2025 · Updated March 17, 2025

We did well planning today’s timing. We waited until the current turned in our favor, rode the tide, and got to the tumultuous “Snow’s Cut” right at slack tide. Then, a persistent Southerly brewed up, pushing us easily towards our destination.

About midway through the day, I noticed that we were suddenly in clear water again. It has been a long time since we were in that beautiful blue Florida Keys water. For some reason, the water in Northern Florida, all the way to here was mostly turbid or dark colored. It is nice to see such clean blue water again - and to be able to see the bottom. One more reason to like North Carolina.

The part of the country that we are sailing right now sticks out into the ocean, meaning that it is subject to more weather. As such, we have another storm coming in 2 more days. We do plan to meet with another kind host; we have been receiving more offers and the last meeting was so much fun, we decided to try and meet someone tomorrow also if she is available when we arrive.

Photos:

I spent a bunch of time studying and researching sailboats. It is difficult to decide what is best, as we like our kick-up centerboard and rudder and fins that keep us out of trouble, and the fact that we can push this boat around by hand. Of course, then there are the amenities and speed of a larger boat. One I had been considering was the Corsair 880 and also the smaller Pulse. Both fold up and can be carried on a trailer - though I would have to invent a pedal drive system. Here, Janet took a photo of Rick. We steered the boat over to this trimaran parked in the middle of the waterway. It is a Corsair and he spoke very fondly of it. I was hoping he would invite us aboard to check it out. He described it as “the Family Man’s Windsurfer”

This cargo ship passed pretty close! Looks far in the photo. I reminded Janet how far she has come. In 2005 when we crossed the Channel Islands by kayak, she was screaming about a cargo ship 2 miles away. Now she is placidly taking photos of a boat at 300 meters. 👍

We took a slight detour to say hello to this guy. But he just waved and sailed away. Interestingly, although he was slower than us with the light air, he was only a little slower. Meanwhile, Janet and I were both pedaling. It goes to show that weight is a big factor for boat speed. We are carrying a lot of weight (4 days food, my folding bike, 15 liters of fresh water, 2 paddle boards, etc…).

So, we decided to drop the anchor. I put it for sale on Facebook Marketplace and then hid it here. I can direct someone to get it with the GPS coordinates. It was about 4 extra pounds, but we decided that if we will sleep on the boat, we are going to tie to something on shore.