Moving South Adventures - and the value of AIS

Mitch you need to know the MMSI# Or vessel name to follow I’m sure you know that. We(I) don’t know either.

I know the boat name but didn't want to post it with out Marks approval. I was able to follow you guys this summer knowing a couple of your boat names. These kind of trips are extremely intriguing to me. Can't wait to do some myself.
 
Yesterday was Port Royal in South Carolina to St. Augustine, FL. Long day, but great conditions in the Atlantic.

Very nice to have the boat back in FL. Running down to Fort Pierce today, then onto Miami area the next day where we will leave the boat for Christmas.

Pick it up after Christmas and head to the Keys for a few days before starting back up the west coast to Clearwater. Left Clearwater in June 2018, will make it back in January 2019.

Had not been to St. Augustine in 3-4 years, reminded how nice of a place it is. The inlet has been dredged in the last year or two, so plenty of water in and out. However channel does have some turns, marked with floating buoys. Can imagine it would difficult to find the buoys in inclement weather or dark.
 
High tide fixes a lot of challenges. Our draft is 6ft, so have to watch closely.

No issues at all on depth..

Yikes, Mark. You draw 6 feet???!!! That's a lot of boat under the water line...
 
Yikes, Mark. You draw 6 feet???!!! That's a lot of boat under the water line...

Yeah makes a person plan. Manufacturer has conflicting specs on draft.

Measured twice. First was at survey, then this fall when we were out of the water for a bottom job. Had the service guy measure while I was there.

From both, comes out to 67 or so inches. I round the 5'7 or 8 up to 6 ft for navigation purposes. Figure I keep the 4 inches in the bank for critical situations.

That is a negative on the boat. But then I have stand up room to walk around in the engine room and crew quarters. Everything about a boat is a compromise I guess.
 
Safe travels Mark and hopefully we will cross paths in the keys after New Years...

Btw Marks vessel AIS name is Mersea (previous owner name)
MMSI 367520870
 
Thank you cod - I thought I sent in the paperwork for
Transfer of the MMSI to my name. Need to check on that and correct. I know I got a confirmation on the epirb changes.

I do hope to see you over the holidays. We will be headed to Marathon next, then to tarpon point, south seas.
 
Mark, do you mind snapping a few pics along the way I too love following threads like this. Safe travels
 
Had a request to post some pictures. Back in the office with high bandwidth so have downloaded a few.

Note this segment is not the whole trip, in fact we are not back “home” with the boat yet. The closest thing we have for a “home” for the boat is Clearwater, FL. This is Charleston, SC area to Miami area.

When we bought this boat, our intention was to be nomads. Not cruise in and out of a home port all the time.

We left Clearwater in June of 2018 and with some decent weather will return to Clearwater after the first of the year in January 2019. I have not posted about the rest of the trip, started this thread commenting about the fog we ran into while in Charleston area and the value of AIS, kind of morphed from there.

Returning back from the north we decided to break the trip into segments and leave the boat along the way for breaks. We had gotten into Charleston area before Thanksgiving with the plan to move the boat to south Florida (Aventura, north side of Miami) before Christmas.

Still more miles to cover, we will be back on the boat next week. Plan is to continue down through the Keys for a few days, then back up the west coast of Florida. Boat is currently at a Marina where we kept our previous boat for a couple of years. Counted up this morning, our 23rd marina on this trip.

Leaving Charleston on the ICW headed south.
ICW%20Leaving%20Charleston.jpg


Approaching bridge on ICW just north of Port Royal, SC.

ICW%20Beaufort%20Port%20Royal%20SC.jpg


Broad River, along the north side of Hilton Head on our way into the Atlantic.
Broad%20River%20Headed%20to%20Atlantic.jpg


Tied up at St. Augustine City Marina - view of the city at night
St%20Augustine%20at%20night.jpg

Leaving the next morning, started a bit later because I didn't want to go through the inlet before sun up. Waiting on the bridge to open.
Bridge%20St%20Augustine.jpg

Fort Pierce Inlet looking out from the ICW. Was waiting by the bridge for slip assignment.
Fort%20Pierce%20Inlet.jpg

Somewhere along the South Florida Coast, Maybe Palm Beach or Boca. Running 4-5 miles off shore south.
South%20FL%20Coast.jpg

Going by Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)
Port%20Everglades%20FLL.jpg

Coming through Baker Haulover inlet
Baker%20Haulover%20Inlet.jpg

Marina we left the boat at is up inside the middle of the towers. Have to wind through a couple of canals to get to it. We kept our previous boat here for a couple of years - great place.

Aventura%20Canal%20headed%20into%20marina.jpg


Finally - done for the day. Dirty boat, wash crew came out the next morning.
Williams%20Island.jpg
 
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Thanks for sharing.. If you need someone to ride out there and hold down your bow cushion cover let me know.:D:D:D
 
for my work , I use marinetraffic.com which shows all vessels with AIS in real time on a map. I can see when my ships are transiting in from sea or sailing from the berth. you can pull it up on your phone and its another great tool along with your plotter and radar.
 
Thanks for posting, good to put a visual with these places.
Enjoy the ride home I know your much closer by now.
 
Nice seeing some real boating pictures at this time of year. Hope to see more!
 

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