Charleston to Fernandina Beach

[duncan_ellison]

Planning to make this outside hop tomorrow if the forecast holds up.

I'm currently weighing up the options of making a straight shot or running the sea bouys much closer in.

The rumb line is a bit shorter, but is 25 nm or so off shore.

I hear that I may pick up a counter current here, but does anyone know how far offshore you need to be to find it ?

Duncan
S/V TALISA

[speciald@ocens.]

You should go straight to St. Mary's entrance. It would be good to schedule your entrance with the tide as it can be swift. The counetr current runs inside the stream but is not important. Just run the rum line but don't aim at the sea buoy as you may meet another boat going the other way. Watch for shrimpers; sometimes they sleep out there.

[duncan_ellison]

Thanks Speciald.

Anyone else planning to make this jump tomorrow (Tuesday) ?

I'm expecting to make this in a day / night / day - is that reasonable ?

Duncan

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by duncan_ellison

Thanks Speciald.

Anyone else planning to make this jump tomorrow (Tuesday) ?

I'm expecting to make this in a day / night / day - is that reasonable ?

Duncan

If I remember right it's usually about 35 hours.

[duncan_ellison]

... any advance on 35 hours ?

Duncan

[Vasco]

St Mary's Inlet is fairly straightforward. Even in the dark. You can go up to Cumberland Island and anchor or into Fernandina. They now have a mooring field that takes up most of the old anchorage.

[AnchorageGuy]

Originally Posted by Vasco

St Mary's Inlet is fairly straightforward. Even in the dark. You can go up to Cumberland Island and anchor or into Fernandina. They now have a mooring field that takes up most of the old anchorage.

Although the mooring field does cover the anchorage directly across from the marina, there is still lots of available anchoring space in the immediate area at Fernandina. Chuck

[duncan_ellison]

Thanks guys, great advice as usual.

Looks like I'll be underway tomorrow morning at first light. Will have quite a current to fight leaving Charleston, but only way I can see to do it and still catch the flood tide at St. Mary's.

Weather should be OK, if chilly.

Duncan
S/V TALISA

[sgtPluck]

We're planning on leaving Charleston early tomorrow too. Only trying to make it to St Simons though.
I'm not sure if we're going to make it in time for the end of that flood tide, I'm hoping at least to make it there before max ebb around 3pm.
Anyone know what St Simon's is like? Recommendations?

Thx

[duncan_ellison]

Arrived safely a few ago. Took us around 28 hours averaging 6.0 knots.

Would have been a little sooner, but we hit a wall of 'pea soup' fog close to the entrance to St Mary's channel which slowed us down quite. Managed to run the very long sequence of channel markers, but it was a little scary having super yachts on a tight delivery schedule running the other side of the 100 ft or so channel at 8 - 12 knots when you are groping you way at 3Kn.

Duncan

[sgtPluck]

Hi Duncan,
Thanks for 'lending' me your AIS last night. That big container ship was quite close to me and did not respond to repeated 'motor vessel at position X' calls, until I got the vessel name from you. I have to get AIS, receiver and transponder ideally.

We were aiming for St Simons but passed it by due to the thick fog and to the fact that we'd made good time. We decided to continue to Fernandina in the hope that the fog would have burned off when we got there - thankfully it had.

For anyone making this passage: we arrived at red 14 in the St Mary's channel around 40 minutes before high tide and it seems a good time to hit it, we got a gentle .5knt push into the inlet, then a gentle counter current going up to Fernandina.

[teejayevans]

re: AIS
It gives you their MMSI #, so if you have a VHF with DSC capability, you can call them direct. So even if they are not listening, the digital call will get their attention, even if they are not on ch 16. Although I've never tried this myself, it sounds way cool.
Tom