Home Again

It was a long trip but we arrived home yesterday afternoon. This will be the last blog entry until we start again,

A Day Longer Than Necessary

We had a good day toward Swansboro until we got to the Oslow Beach Bridge when we found that the marines had arbitrarily without notice closed the bridge for 90 minites after allowing a bride opening 15 minutes before. Anyway we are in Swanboro and expect to be home tomorrow afternoon. Some pictures (1) There are hundreds of osprey nests and in the spring they are all occupied with mom and dad and baby chicks (2) we know we are close to home when we pass this awfull house.

A Long Day to Safe Harbor

Wednesday was a long day from Georgetown to Southport. 93 miles fighting the tide current most of the way. We left Georgetown at 7AM in fairly high wind conditions and then had an uneventful but very tiring day arriving in Southport at 6:45 PM, The winds were high but did not cause a problem. We will stay here at South Harbor Village Marina on Thursday as the forecast is for very servere weather here and the whole NC coast. Making progress though; could be home by Saturday evening or Sunday morning.

Repaired and off to Georgetown

Monday morning started with prompt attention to the steering project (about time). By 1330 we were ready for a sea trial both to check the steering and to be sure that the slightly damaged prop would not cause a vibration problem. All was well; the steering works as it should and there was no damaging prop vibration. Off this morning to Georgetown. Very fast passage.
Some pictures: The repaired steering and the afternoon excitement. A 120 ft sailboat in foreclosure and being towed in storage in the boatyard. Two tow boats and a dozen hands on the dock to drag it in. Used to be a beautiful boat.Needs work now and will not get it in storage.

Mini Van Retrival; a long day

On Friday Dixie and I left in a rental car at 4AM. We drove to Vero Beach, got the minivan, returned the rental car at Melbourne Airport and started back to Charleston arriving at 9:30 PM, a long and tiring day Glad we did it though since the car is now 2/3's home and we have wheels for the long Easter Holiday. Did some tourist things in Charleston on Saturday. Making some forward progress.

A Long Weekend

Between prior committments and absent sick employees the steering is not quite repaired. Will be finished Monday AM. Then a sea trial. We hope to leave Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning. Story goes on.

Some Good News

The boat was pulled today and the rudder is not damaged. As the picture shows evn from 25 feet away it was obvious the rudder was OK.

A Trip to the Yard

We have been boating for 36 years and have never been towed to a yard. A first time for everything. It was a good day weatherwise for a 5 hour tow. Here we are. We will be pulled tomorrow morning to inspect for hull/rudder damage. Hopefully there is none. A couple of pictures: (1) Being towed (2) Th welcome signat the yard. The story continues.

Biding Time

We are going to be towed to the boat yard tomorrow.The weather forecast for yesterday was terrible but while it was windy none of the tornados and TS's appeared around Charleston. The whole storm system moved north and did much damage to NC. The weather was fine today but the ICW and Charleston Harbor are clogged with boats today. We will be pulled to chech rudder alignment on Tuesday morning. On it goes.

Incident Report

This is the incident report I sent to BoatUS

Grounding of the DIXIE IV

On Thursday, April 14, 2011 the DIXIE IV got underway at 0635 heading north on the ICW from the Isle of Palms Marina, ICW MM 458, with the owners, Chester and Anne Marks, operating the vessel. Visibility at the marina was clear. Dense fog suddenly closed in about 1.5 miles north of the marina. The intent was to turn and return to the marina but the vessel ran hard aground on the west side of the ICW between markers 111 and 110. As it grounded a loud noise from the stern was heard. The tide was falling. A call to TowBoatUS dispatch resulted in a tow boat arriving about 0750. By then, the rapidly falling tide made it impossible to pull the boat off. It was obvious that we were going to have to wait for the next high tide which was timed for 1737. Concerned about possible rolling over as the water dropped the crew, including two cats, were taken to the marina by the tow boat. About 1400 a more powerful Tow BoatUs vessel came back to take us to the boat, which did not roll over. The boat was ungrounded about 1430, but as was feared, the rudder would not operate and was stuck in the extreme starboard position. With difficulty, the towboat towed the vessel back to the marina where it was successfully tied up. Arrangements were made for a technician from City Boat Yard to come assess the steering situation.

At 1345 on Friday, April 15, 2011, the technician arrived and quickly determined that the rudder had been pushed hard to starboard overriding the rudder stop which was almost pulled out of the fiberglass base. The hydraulic cylinder shaft was bent 45 degrees and moved slightly to the starboard side ripping out 3 of the 5 bolts holding it down. The technician was able to release the rudder from the starboard stop and we were able to return the rudder to the center position. The technician felt, and the owners agreed, that it was impractical, even dangerous, to move the boat under its own power with the damage that was apparent. The technician felt that the (1)rudder had to be pulled to check alignment,(2) The rudder stop support be re-fiberglassed and(3) the hydraulic cylinder be replaced and its mounting re-enforced. When the system is further examined, more may be required.

We have arranged for the boat to be towed to the City Boat Yard on Monday, April 18. The boat is scheduled to be pulled Tuesday morning, April 19.

As of 1647 on Friday, April 15, 2011, this is where we are. Any questions or comments may be directed to CD Marks at email cmarks2@suddenlink.net or cell phone 252-671-7321.

Not a Good Day

Thursday was not a good day for the DIXIE IV. We got underway early and ran into dense fog about 20 minutes later and in trying to turn around we ran hard aground in a falling tide. TowBoat US was unable to pull us off in a falling tide so we left the boat, because we were concerned that it would roll over, with the cats and were taken to the marina by the tow boat. We went back to the boat with a more powerful tow boat about 2PM and we were pulled off. It turned out that the steering system is damaged and the rudder cannot be moved. We were towed to the Isle of Pals Marina and a boat yard technician is coming today to try to identify what the problem is and whether we need to have the boat pulled for repair. This is an ongoing story. We subscribe to an unlimited towing service from BoatUS and boat insurance will pay for grounding repairs but its still a bad situation. More on this as it evolves.

A Fast Day to Isle of Palms

We got underway early without a problem. Actually a fast trip of 80 miles since the tide current was with us most of the day. Moored at Isle of Palms Marina about 15 miles north of Charleston.

A couple of pictures: Samson andDelilah maintaining a active watch on the ICW, and a classic wood hull yacht, built in 1939 and sold for $56,000. As the paid captain said, since then millions of dollars have been spent on the boat. Its a charter operation now: $22,000 per week not including fuel, dockage,food, or liquor.

A Collision In the Marina

The wind is blowing and the incoming tide is flowing hard. The marina was, in our opinion, putting boats in places that were not appropriate. The real excitement was when a single engine trawler tried to back in on the inside of our dock. He lost control and hit the new trawler docked across from us on the next dock. Bounced off it at least five times and destroyed the dinghy hoist. Thousands of dollars of damage. Several other boats had great difficulty docking. The picture is the boat that was hit. The rub rail is ruined. Life sometimes is not easy on the ICW. This is why insurance companies exist.

Another Lay Day

Another weather day. The forecast looks OK to leave Beaufort tomorrow for Isle ofPalms north of Charleston.

There is pretty waterfront park in Beaufort. This picture was taken there.

Weather Caught With Us

We had planned to get to Isle of Palms north of Charleston today but fog interferred. We took a lay day in Beaufort today.If the approaching cold front is not too bad we will leave for Charleston tomorrow, otherwise another day in Beaufort.

The picture is the sun rising through the fog as we left Walburg Creek yesterday.

Made It To Beaufort, SC

We went outside from Walburg Creek to Beaufort. As is the normal circumstances the weather forecast was written by an idiot. No mention of a NE swell, or a NNE wind of 20 knots ( as opposed to a forecast of light and variable 5 knots or less). Less then a comfortable trip but here we are. Moving along to Charleston tomorrow. On we go.

A Lot of Miles in OneDay

On Saturday we left Fernandia Beach and went outside about 6 miles offshore and traveled up to Walburg Creek just south of the GA-SC border. This allowed us to bypass about a 100 miles of the worst of the ICW passage. It was calm out and the trip was uneventful. We did notice thousands of jellyfish, first time we had seen them in the ocean in very large numbers. Today we will go outside again to Port Royal Sound and anchor at Beaufort for the night. That will put us half way home.

Moving along

Making good time north. We reached Fenandina Beach Friday evening and are leaving this AM for Walburg Creek in north GA. Hope to be home in a week.

Underway for home

I have been more than negligent about keeping up the blog. No excuse just lazy. Anyway we are underway for home. We left Vero Beach w/o a problem this morning and anchored at Titusville at 1600. Things happened during my "blackout" including Julies new baby boy. I will try to add some pictures and commentary about some of this but not tonight; on to Palm Coast tomorrow.

A Christmas visit by Julie, Tracy and Iris

Julie, Tracy and Iris were supposed to arrive on Christmas Day but the severe storm that lead to thousands of cancelled flights delayed them for two days. The good news was they were delayed before they were trapped in a snow bound airport and they missed two of the three coldest days in recorded weather history in central Florida. We had a terrific visit; Iris is growing both physically and mentally at a terrific pace. They left Saturday morning, New Year's day, and had a good trip home. Some pictures: (1) All of us on the beach on New Year's Eve(2) Nana reading to Iris on the boat (3) Iris and Tracy in the fire truck at the Children's Museum in Jensen Beach. A nice visit.