Making Memories: Exploring the Waters from Fort Lauderdale to Hilton Head on an Explorer Yacht

Arrival Hilton Head, just after the storm blew through, 400NM in 42 Hours, 4L/NM of fuel burn.

Thursday was a good day; our youngest son flew down from South Carolina to join us on our way north. Over time, our crew requirement has reduced from 4 to 2 as systems have become reliable and we better understand how she works, but another willing hand … oh yes!

Departing the New River at Fort Lauderdale

Arrival Fort Lauderdale, we were deadship when discharged from the transport in Port Everglades. Anticipating trouble, we had arranged for Sea Tow to take us up through the narrow New River to our shipyard at Yacht Management on State Road 84, coincidentally also the base for the local Sea Tow franchise. We were glad of that opportunity and the time to understand better how the local navigation worked. Outbound, we opted to take on eight bridges, 4 of which open on request, 2 with sufficient air clearance, one a railway bridge that is normally open, and one that's actually a tunnel, so I guess it does not count. Bridges are manned, and the staff is helpful (and good at spotting a novice); being Southerners, they are so very polite. The New River is narrow in parts, with many switchbacks. In one location at Little Florida, colloquially known as "The Wobbles," it's best to announce your intention on Channel 9 before entering. You will be met by very large and expensive toys coming the other way, between very large and costly moored toys; your choice is what you want to hit first. With fenders out and a little patience, we made it safely. If we were to repeat our departure, it would be easier on an incoming tide as when outgoing, the first 2 knots of way offer basically zero steerage, so we sped down the river at a healthy lick. Still, there is always the bow thruster.

Fort Lauderdale to Cape Canaveral.

Departing Fort Lauderdale, we headed out through the commercial approach, leading us 5 or 6 miles off the coast. The Gulf Stream runs close to shore in the Florida Channel. We headed for deep water and picked up a handy 1.5/2kN current flowing North. That accompanied us to just south of Cape Canaveral as we stayed offshore of the 60m contour. The weather was calm, with seas on the stern quarter and wind on the Stbd beam. Dropping to one engine @80% load, storing the stabilizers, and feathering the port engine prop, we maintained above 10.5KN SOG through the afternoon and into the next morning, before finally losing the "Gulf Stream Assist" as it headed east of us. At that point, our speed fell to about 8.5KN, which suits a mid-morning arrival at Hilton Head. Watches we set at 4 on 4 off, split between my Ukrainian friend Valeriy and a father/son tag team. We have the HVAC off, so we have all decamped to sleep on the flybridge, with Rhys opting for a hammock that can be strung athwartship locally.

Cape Canaveral to Hilton Head

Our transit north past Cape Canaveral was in the early hours. It was surprisingly busy, with four large cruise ships headed inbound and two in transit south for Miami, lit up for Christmas with all rainbow colors. Plus, two smaller RoRo are going quickly north. The inbound vessels were unpredictable, alternatively going slow ahead to the west or simply drifting to wait for their arrival slots. COLREGS notwithstanding, we merely swung east of the pack and motored due North, with discretion being the wiser choice.

9 hot cups of tea (my remnant Britishness), a bunch of grapes, half a Polish sausage, and (Rhys) pot noodle later, it's 10.30 day 2, and all is well. 11.00, and we were ambushed by a pod of 7 adult dolphins waiting to play on our (small) bow wave. This was the first of 5 pods that greeted our transit between here and Savannah. I never tire of their gracious frolics; they are sooo fast. By 14.00, we were opposite Daytona Beach and reached a 24-hour mark since exiting the New River at Fort Lauderdale. A run rate of 250NM daily on a single engine at 80% load in good weather. I'm pretty happy with that; it's 170NM to go, so it looks like early morning for Hilton Head. Maybe we should slow down a bit tonight?

One of several pods of Dolphins that sought us out for their general entertainment.

Arrival Hilton Head Island

Dawn saw us at the entrance channel for the Savannah River, greeted by a final pod of Dolphins. In the previous hours, we had collected two tired passengers in the form of yellow finches that stayed in the instrument mast, hopefully until we neared land again. We also caught a Mahi Mahi and two rather annoyed medium-sized Barracudas now residing in the refrigerator. Nothing small bites a large hook at nearly 9 knots, so it's lucky us, not-so-lucky fish.

The intercoastal waterway and the general area of the barrier islands are known for their tides and shallow waters. Lucky for us, at 78 feet in length but a modest 4.5 feet draft, we can fit into most places. Doing so slowly is advisable in case an immediate reverse is called for!

By midday, we arrived at our destination, Shelter Cover Marina, Hilton Head Island, along the Broad River, in an absolute gully washer of a thunderstorm. Hey ho, welcome to our new home for this week.

Chris Leigh-Jones