Charleston

After Jo has been researching quite a lot about shipping everything back to England it all has seemed to come together today as one of the companies rang back and is coming over to give us an estimate on what we would need.

He came and told us all of the information we needed to know and answered any questions what we had.

Now we just have to sort through everything and decided what  wants  taking  back and put it all into boxes.

We haven't got anything else planned to do for the rest of our day which is quite good in a way as it is too hot to do anything.

 

Alex Penney

Change of Pace…

After much deliberating, Kevin and I have decided to pursuit new career opportunities in the UK and call a slightly earlier end to our travels. We have a fantastic adventure which we will always treasure and memories which will last a lifetime. However, we both feel the need for a change of pace, now that time out of the rat race has given us both the opportunity to decide what we want to do next.

We will be completing our travels in New York after sailing in under the Statue of Liberty with Alex, Donna and Mark and we cannot think of a better end to our trip than to end on such a high.

Therefore, we are putting Invincible up for sale for someone to get more use out of her than we will be able to do. If her new owners have half the fun we have had they will be pleased that they too took the leap.

Charleston

After a late start to the day we all went and had showers before we headed into downtown Charleston we were waiting for the marina courtesy van when the broker Peter called who had a few things to sort out and offered to take us in.

He drove us around the peninsular showing us the residential area and where he used to live explaining how it had changed over time, he couldn’t quite drop us off near to where everything was as there had been a gas leak and some of the roads had been closed which caused loads of traffic jams all along the smaller streets.

We eventually made our way to where all of the restaurants were situated and choose to eat in a smoke house which brewed its own beer. Dad and I shared some chicken wings which were very tasty and then came our main course Dad had smoked ribs which he really enjoyed and Jo and I had a pizza each Jo had smoked vegetable and I had smoked bacon, we could see them making the pizza and putting them into the ovens right near to where we were sat.

After our lunch we went for more of a look around of Charleston so we headed toward the water front where the was a huge fountain with lots of children playing in it.

This sign made us all laugh

Also along the pier were a few swing benches so we all had a seat and a few minutes sat there swinging.

Me and Dad

At the end of the pier we could see over Cooper river.

Jo and I

We then had a quick walk through the park and went back on to the main street and had one last drink in a cafe bar before we got the marina van back.

But on the way back Jo and I had noticed that we had missed the main shopping street so we quite disappointed we hadn’t found that.

We got back to the boat and just was relaxing and as it was getting dark we heard a few shouts and when we went to go and see what it was a huge fish had jumped out of the water, we are not sure what it was but it was about six foot long, but hopefully it didn’t die as Dad managed to push it back in to the water after it flapped around and grunted for a little bit.

After that nothing else eventful happened and we just watched the day the earth stood still and went to bed.

 

Alex Penney

Charleston

As the decision had been made to sell the boat here in Charleston there was then quite a lot of plans to be changed and new things to research and other things to sort out.

First of all there was a yacht broker to be found that we were going to sell Invincible with, and that was going to be Charleston yacht sales.

So we went in to the office to talk to them about selling the boat and sorted most things out and in the same afternoon Peter cam around and took pictures of the boat, so we had to do a frantic clean of the boat to get he looking nice for all the photographs.

The day past very quickly and was soon getting quite late, so we went and had showers and ready for some tea out we went to the office to see if there was any other restaurants nearby but it turned out there wasn’t so we ate in the same place as last night. But we didn’t mind as the food there was very nice.

I ended the night by watching pursuit of happiness which i had never seen but thought it was a really good film.

 

Alex Penney

Isle of Hope sail to Charleston

We set off from the Isle of Hope marina surrounded by dolphins coming right up behind the boat and went down the I.C.W and headed for the Atlantic on our way out we saw two fighter jets.

Isle of Hope marina

We soon got out of the channel and what we thought was the sea but it was still only about six metres deep three miles offshore.

We decided to get the fishing rods out to see if we could catch anything but on the first bite we got was on my line and my reeling wasn’t fast enough and it got away, unfortunately we didn’t get anymore catches after that.

Me fishing

But Dad and Jo did see a loggerhead turtle whilst we were on our journey and it was about a metre long but i missed it.

We also managed to get the sails up which is quite rare for around here as there isn’t much wind and mostly motoring along the rivers and canals.

We approached an inlet which looked like it had appropriate shelter of where we could anchor off for the night. It was just off Spit island.

When we got there it was just in time to watch the sunset.

The sunset

We all enjoyed our night eating our tea outside under all the stars and the full moon and in almost silence apart from the noise of the water and the occasionally pesky insect.

In the morning we decided to go up the I.C.W for the rest of our journey we kept our eyes out for otters because they are meant to live around the area of Charleston but we never saw any and we were disappointed, but we did see lots more dolphins and a lot of pelicans.

We then had to wait for the Elliot cut swing bridge to open so we dropped the anchor and waited for a little while but it was soon open and we were approaching Charleston.

From first views it looked very nice and when we were coming in to the marina there was boats everywhere.

We moored up along the mega dock (which every time you walk down it seems to get longer each time!)

Once we settled down we went and found the nearest restaurant as we were all starving and not long after we had eaten we were back to the boat and fast asleep in bed.

 

Alex Penney

Isle of Hope Marina

Today Jo and I set off for our shopping trip we had previously seen that there was a big mall near to where we were staying so we decided that there would be a good place to head to.

When we got there it was around dinner time so we stopped of before our shopping begun to get some dinner we both had a wrap from the food court and set off ready to shop.

We headed straight for Macy’s because Jo had seen they had some nice suits to buy on the internet.

We wondered into the huge shop not knowing where to start as we walked around a few of the corners we found the right section and as well as there being lots of suits to choose from there were a lot of suits in the petite section for Jo.

After we spent a while looking through some of the suits the pile had grown quite a lot and it was getting hard to carry so that  is when Jo started to try on, from the first lot we didn’t find any which were right, so straight back out again to choose some more to try on that time we were successful and we found 4 and later on picked up an additional one making 5 one for everyday of the week.

Next job was to find tops to wear this one also took some time and lots of trying on until we found a few that we liked.

We looked for some shoes to match but didn’t find any appropriate ones they were all summer shoes which wouldn’t be quite right in English weather.

We then decided that we didn’t want to carry all of Jo’s new clothes around with us whilst doing the rest of our shopping so took them back to the car to then go back to Macy’s. This time it was for me because i had seen they had a choice of jeans. I saw some very nice Levi jeans which was very confusing with the sizing but after trying them on i got the right ones.

We were a bit exhausted after all of that shopping so we stopped for a smoothie which we both enjoyed.

We then did a last look around for some shoes but yet again they were mostly sandals and open toed so no luck there.

When we got back to the marina we were surprised at the time because we didn’t think we had been that long and dad was amazed at how much Jo had got.

Meanwhile whilst we were out shopping dad stayed on the boat just tidying up.

Afterwards as we still had the hire car we thought we would make use out of it and would go out for tea at a nice grill that we had seen a little up the road from where we was at the marina.

It turned out to be extremely nice for appetizers dad had blackened tuna bites and Jo and I shared the peel and eat shrimps which are caught locally, the main course was just as good we all chose of the specials as they all sounded so nice, I had tilapia, dad had flounder and Jo had seafood pasta but she got given so much they gave us a box to take it home in and we planned on having it for our dinner tomorrow along with some of the dough balls which they gave us to start with.

Isle of Hope Marina

Today is Sean’s last day in America as he flies home today.

Jo has hired a car and is driving him down to Orlando airport from here which is going to take most of the day.

Dad and I are now giving the boat a good clean because it is surprising how dirty it can get and very quickly too.

We have done the laundry and just getting everything tidied away before Jo gets back.

As we have the hire car i think we might be driving to a nice restaurant tonight for some tea.

 

Alex Penney

Savannah

We all got up early and set off to catch the bus. We knew that it would take us into the centre and that would be where all the main attractions were.

When we got there we were at the bottom of River street which is one of the main streets in Savannah which runs along side of the water.

SS Savannah

Boy playing the ukulele

We noticed throughout the day that there were a lot of signs up and around Savannah discouraging panhandling.

We saw a very nice restaurant called Huey’s so we all went in for some brunch.

  Where Dad and Sean had egg Benedict which Sean had never had before but really enjoyed it, Jo and I had Pain Perdue which i found really nice especially with lots of syrup on. After having a few more coffees and lemonades we set off on a walk down Bull street which is where most of the squares are situated and it has been voted one of the top ten walking streets in America.

It was very picturesque with lots of monuments of people who had died in wars mainly fighting against us surrounded by very nice houses.

  But the best square of all that is situated in Savannah is that which featured in Forest Gump.

But unfortunately they had taken the bench away and put it into a museum but they hadn’t  replaced it so we had to improvise and just sit on the wall.

We then went up to the city market which used to be the place where slaves were bought and sold but now it is full of bars, restaurants and shops, we spotted a very nice sweet shop so we went inside to have a look around also to cool off as it was very hot and we all tried the ice cream which was delicious.

We then headed back to River street which was quite busy at that time because there was a protest happening about Obama.

There was a free bus, tram and ferry service in Savannah so we decided that we would go along River street on the streetcar as they call it here.

Dotty the tram

We looked around a few of the shops which have really funny t-shirts for sale. We then saw a restaurant called the shrimp factory which sounded like the perfect place to eat considering the local speciality is shrimp. Jo and I had shrimp and scallop tortellini, Dad had half a pound of shrimp and Sean stuck with a chicken sandwich which turned out to be a chicken burger.

We went for a walk along the the river and we saw a statue of something so we went to look what it was and it turned out to be the Olympic flame it was there because Savannah hosted the sailing section of the Olympics in 1996.

Olympic flame

We then continued our shopping but still not buying anything we then went for one last drink in a bar which ended up being more than one because we got trapped inside as a big storm  had occurred outside.

When it was just a bit of drizzle we went and got a taxi back because we had missed the last bus back to the Isle of Hope as they weren’t very frequent anyway.

When we got back we watched a few more Simpsons episodes with some snacks and drinks and then decided to go to bed.

 

Alex Penney

Jekyll Island to Isle of Hope Marina

We set off in the morning back down the I.C.W where we had entered Jekyll island but this time we were going out down the channel and in to the Atlantic.

As we headed out there was slight spots of rain coming down this was then followed by a huge squall which reduced visibility so we were all on the look out for the channel marker buoys as we had to avoid a big reef which was near to the channel.

When all of that was out of the way and the weather had cleared up it was already time for the night watches to begin.

Whilst Dad and I were on watch we reached speeds of 7.3 knots  whilst under sail.

Then we arrived at the tricky bit. It was still dark but we needed to go up the channel to get to where we were going. But hardly any of the channel markers had any lights on so Dad and Jo had the job of having to navigate through all of that only to find when we reached the bridge it was not open until the morning so we had to drop the anchor and wait till it was time to lift the bridge.

We eventually reached the Isle of Hope marina which is very nice.

We settled down and all had some breakfast before going off in the courtesy car to go and get some food shopping. However the map they had given us was all the wrong way and was very detailed but eventually we found Wal-mart and inside was a subway so we all had a sub for our dinner which we all enjoyed then we worked our way around the huge Wal-mart getting everything we needed including a Simpsons DVD which when we got back to the boat we all enjoyed watching.

At Wal-mart we also bought some of the enormous steaks that they had and Sean and I had never tried them before and we had heard they were very nice so we enjoyed eating them.

After sailing everybody was tired so we had an early night.

 

Alex Penney

Cumberland Island to Jekyll Island

We had an early start for our sail to Jekyll island it was a very hot day with not a lot of wind however, the tide was with us as we headed up the I.C.W where again we saw the huge houses along the side all with their own motor boats and jetties.

Along the way we passed a submarine base and we were carefully watched by a small boat as we went past.

Submarine

After that we started to approach the end of Cumberland island and we were all quite disappointed that we didn’t see much wildlife when we was there and then Sean noticed that there was a wild horse stood on the beach.

Wild horse on the beach

We weren’t keen on the next kind of wildlife that came to visit us. There were lots of large flies that kept coming on to the boat not only were they extremely annoying they could bite too.

We then arrived at Jekyll island marina where we got moored up and checked in. We organized to use the courtesy car they had so we could pick up some shopping.

Along the way we had a de-tour to go and see they famous Jekyll Island Club and all of the holiday cottages that surrounded it.

Jekyll Island Club Hotel

We also walked around all of the holiday cottages that were there, which were owned by many of Americas rich like the Rockefellers and many other wealthy families at that time.

 

When we got back we were all very hot so we decided to go to the pool which looked so nice, the rest of our afternoon was spent cooling off there.

Next to the pool was a restaurant called Seajay’s which seemed to be okay from the outside so we decided we would go in there for some tea. But when we got our food we knew straight away it had all come out of a packet it was very obvious as it was so bad. All of the sauces where in pre-packaged pots, they gave us mash potato which was clearly out of a box and coleslaw which was out of a tub. Even though the local speciality was shrimps we could tell that the ones we had received were from a frozen packet and the same with the meat.  It was the worst food any of us had had whilst being in America. When we said something to the waitress she didn’t seem surprised at all and gave us it at half price which was alright as it was over priced as well!

When we got back to the boat we were all disappointed with our meal but we were cheered up by a lady called Lynn who we met. She was passing and said how she was thinking of buying a catamaran so we showed her round and she really liked Invincible. Afterwards she brought her dog along Charley and she showed us the Charley show which was very amusing as he could do a wide variety of tricks, she next invited us to go and look to see if she had caught anything in her crab pots which she had caught a few crabs, but we didn’t think they were that big to eat but she seemed pleased with them.

As the night was drawing in we all sat on the back of the boat and played dominos which was enjoyed mostly by me as i won!

 

Alex Penney

Sail from Fernandina beach to Cumberland Island

In the morning Jo and I had one last quick shop around Fernandina beach and picked up a few t-shirts before we set off sail to go to Cumberland island.

Fernandina Beach main street

On our way we saw what we think is a Bubba Gump shrimp boat.

The sail to Cumberland island was not very far and in no time at all we were there moored up on the dock and going for a look around on the island where apparently there was supposed to be loads and loads of wildlife to see but unfortunately we did not see a lot all we saw were some very small tree frogs.

But we did manage to get to the beach just before it started to rain.

What we did see of the island was very nice but we got absolutely drenched by the down pour of rain on the way back and typically just as we got back to the boat it had stopped.

We spent the night on anchor looking at the beautiful island and listening to all of the creatures we could hear and looking at all of the magnificent stars we could see.

 

Alex Penney

Sail from St Augustine to Fernandina Beach, Amelia Island

First of all we would all like to say Happy Birthday to Sean!

We set off from St Augustine and went down the I.C.W.

Me at the helm

I was amazed at all of the huge houses which were along side of the I.C.W all with their own jetties for their boats but this was my favourite one:

It was like a mansion it was enormous!

We all enjoyed how easy it was to motor down the I.C.W mostly we all read our books, Sean watched a DVD and it was all very leisurely apart from all of the motor boats that kept speeding past us and causing a huge amount of wake when it was supposed to be a no wake zone to help protect the manatee’s.

We soon arrived a Fernandina Harbour Marina which looked like it was very nice. So once everything was sorted we went and had a look around the small town and went into the palace bar for a drink which was very old in its decoration but was still nice and we went for tea and had been recommended to go and eat at an Irish bar called O’Kanes were the fish and chips were very nice indeed.

 

Alex Penney

St Augustine

When we arrived in St Augustine from the boat we could see the fort and not long after there was a canon fired and it was almost as if they were firing at us!

So we all were intrigued to go and see what it was like.

Castillo de San Marcos Fort

The fort is over 300 years old and has been through many battles but this does not stop the park rangers from shouting at people for leaning on the walls. The walls are made from Coquina which is shells possibly oyster shells we think and they have been compressed together to from a solid brick which when shot at the canon ball is just absorbed by the wall.

There also were many canons and other types of weapons and ammunition all around the fort.

Dad

Also looking around the British quarters were interesting to see how crammed in they actually were for one bunk bed four men were expected to share two in each bed.

British quarters

From the top of the fort it was really nice but very hot there was a good point to it though and that was there were really good views of the surrounding area of St Augustine's.

Top of the fort

View from the top of the fort

For our dinner we came across an English restaurant so we decided to go in and see what it was like.

Sean in the English restaurant

It was very traditional and reminded us all of a typical English pub in how it was decorated.

We then had a quick shop around to get a few presents and other items for ourselves and we came across a very nice shop which sold homemade fudge, ice cream and chocolate and just the smell as you walked past was enough to tempt you to go inside. We ended up buying a block of rocky road fudge which was very tasty but you could only eat a small amount at once as it was slightly sickly.

As we knew we would be sailing tomorrow we all thought it would be best if we were to celebrate Sean’s birthday a night earlier.

We spotted a very nice restaurant called O.C Whites and we all really enjoyed out meals as they were delicious!

 

Alex Penney

Setting off sail to St Augustine from Cocoa Village Marina

We set off at 11.15am heading into the I.C.W this was Sean and mine first time sailing this.

Not long after we set off we spotted manatees and dolphins.

Manatee

We then approached the first lifting bridge that Sean and I was going to go through.

 NASA Canal Barge Bridge

Shortly after we reached a lock which is the first one for Invincible which then meant we left the I.C.W and we entered the Atlantic. That is where a few of the cruise boats were my favourite one was the Mickey mouse one.

Port Canaveral lock

Whilst we were in the lock there was a manatee in there with us.

We eventually got through and out of the marina area and into the Atlantic where we had to go the long way around because there was a reef which made it very shallow but it gave us a good view of Cape Canaveral where we could see all of the launch pads and buildings which belong to NASA.

Along the way there was a possible sighting of the north Atlantic right whale which is the most endangered large whale in the world.

We then got the main sail up and the Genoa up just as the night watches began first on was Dad and I we spent most of our time watching the weather, as there was a lot of lightning which was hitting the land and we were hoping that it wouldn’t reach us. Thankfully when it did get out to see it had dispersed and was nothing more than a little bit of rain, which passed over us with nothing more then a few specks.

Then it was time for a change over in night watch where Jo and Sean who decided to have a look up at the stars as the clouds had cleared and they saw a shooting star.

They also saw the sunrise on one of their watches.

Sunrise

They were also visited by a little sparrow who just had a rest on the guard rails and shortly after flew off again.

Sparrow

Soon St Augustine's was in sight and not long after we were there pulling up into the channel, however, we had missed the bridge opening so we dropped the anchor but 5 minutes later we had to lift it up again as the bridge was opening but it didn’t give us much time to get through as it sounded the horn whilst we were still in the middle of the first bridge. Later on we were informed that they are restoring the old bridge so had to build a new one for the time being which will later on be knocked down which seems pointless really.

After getting some fuel we went and moored up and we were welcomed with a down pour of rain and heavy lightning and thunder.

When it stopped raining we all went and got a shower before we went to explore the town of St Augustine’s.

Our first impressions of it was that it was very nice it has a lot of small shops and art galleries which all have really nice items in them.

Sean in St Augustine

For our tea we went out to a seafood restaurant where Dad and I shared a seafood platter and it was our first time of trying snow crab.

Our seafood platter

Soon after we went back to the boat and straight to bed as everybody was very tired from staying up on the night watches and doing some sailing.

 

Alex Penney

Cocoa Village Marina – Cocoa, Florida

 

Today was a day to get the final jobs sorted out before we were to set off.

We had a quick drive to Wal-mart to pick up a few bits and when we were there the ice cream was very tempting so we decided to buy some but as we got back to the boat it had all melted in the heat and it was pouring out over the sides, so we had to eat a whole tub between us. Although it was very yummy we all now know why everybody has freezer boxes in their cars.

Jo then had to go and drop the car off which was just in time as we had a bit of difficulty trying to fill the car with petrol, as you have to lift a little lever under the pump.

Jo and I walked up to Hatleys to pick up the fixed battery charger and when we got there we were glad to be in the air conditioning as it was really hot and I slightly burnt my shoulders.

Dad and Sean went to Travis’ to get an American gas bottle as nowhere will fill our European gas bottle. After many trips forwards and back we finally got it all sorted.

 

Alex Penney

Universal Studios – Orlando, Florida

 

Today was an early start eating some breakfast and then setting off to go to universal studios. Jo was the most excited of us all to get there.

Sean & I just arriving at Universal Studios

When we did arrive  it was very busy and there was a lot of tour groups everywhere. But when we paid for our tickets and we were eventually in we went straight to the new Simpsons ride which was very good and totally unexpected for what happens and fortunately we only had to wait 5 minutes in the queue compared to the end of the day where people were waiting 50 minutes.

We then raced to get in to the next showing of terminator 2 3D  which we all really enjoyed as it was quite unusual because it involved some actors which then merged into the 3-D film.

We had a walk around and chose to go onto Twister which was a bit of a let down really but that is comparing it to the Simpsons ride.

But we next queued for quite a while wandering in and out of many rooms for the Mummy ride, when we eventually got on to it was very good. But Simpsons was still our favourite!

We were all getting hungry by this point so we saw a nice Irish bar to eat in and Dad, Sean and I had a burger and Jo had fish & chips.

We continued on to Jaws.

Dad, Me & Sean

Which i got absolutely soaked on as the shark jumped out of the water right in front of where i was sat on the boat.

We next went to queue up for the Men in Black ride which was really interesting as we each had a little laser gun which was to shoot at any aliens we saw during the ride. Sean got the most points on this ride by shooting the most aliens.

Then we passed the kwik-e-mart so we decided to have a look inside and it was filled with lots of Simpsons souvenirs.

At this point we were all very hot so we stopped for a very large ice cream cone before continuing to queue up to go and watch Shrek 4-D which was the longest queue by far.

The new ride which they are building at the moment "Hollywood Rip Ride Rock It looks extremely good and apparently it has the largest vertical fall on it.

We all really enjoyed our day out at universal studios but after all of that walking around and quite a lot of standing we were quite glad to sit down in the car.

Overall the best ride was the Simpsons ride so we would highly recommend going on this one.

For tea we decided to go out to the pizza place as Dad had previously seen they do very very large pizzas.

Sean with large pizza

Dad, Sean and I started with chicken wings and Jo had a caser salad. When the 24 inch pizza came we were amazed.

It took a lot  of eating but we still didn’t manage to eat it all. So we had to take the remaining two slices back to the boat with us.

 

Alex Penney