poor timing

Wonderful sailing through the marshes yesterday morning on the Mackay River.  Timed my crossing of St. Simon Sound poorly, tacking into a strong west wind while fighting a strong ebb current.  Found myself losing ground and was slowly backing towards the ocean.  Quickly surrendered and started up the outboard to power to Jekyll Island.  Lesson learned on ebb tides and west winds. 

 

a challenging day

 Spent the afternoon tacking into the strong ebb tide.  A good challenge and made a lot of miles. 

some great sailing

I had a couple of days of great sailing where the winds and tides just carried me along.  Another great day of sailing today, but with opposing wind and tides.  Wide tacking to get onto Sapelo Sound, short tacks of two minutes or less on winding creeks. A lot of playing the gusts.  Challenging, but fun.  Anchored now on the Crescent River.  Anchor light photo, above, was from my anchorage last night at St. Catherine’s Island. 

 

two days in one

You’ll have to excuse the photos here, they are reverse order.  Still working on this posting from the phone thing. 

Perfect wind and tides today, sailed from Skull Creek on Hilton Head to the Herb River in Georgia.   Normally it takes two days to cover this distance, a series of creeks and rivers with continually changing tides.   But it work out perfect today. 

The last photo, which should have been first in this post, is by Webb Chiles.  Gusty in the morning, so I started off mizzen and jib, the single reefed main and then full sail. Webb came down to the docks to see me off after a nice visit with him and his wife Carol. Thanks, Webb, for an enjoyable stay.  

 

this is a test

I have had trouble posting from my phone.  I made a change in my safari settings and this is a test to see if it works. 

For information about the photo, see Webb’s journal below.

https://self-portraitinthepresentseajournal.blogspot.com/2026/02/hilton-head-island-steve-earleys-two.html?m=1

 

a beautiful morning on the Coosaw River

 Having trouble uploading videos from

My phone.  Click the link below to see

a video from this morning on the Coosaw River. 

https://youtu.be/1Mwo5LhWAk4?si=as8W9ST4_I7dhtPq

the first couple days

Some photographs from the first couple of days on the water.  Good trip so far.  Now on Rock Creek just off the Coosaw River, waiting out some morning rain.  

 

packing today

 gone tomorrow

tracking map here

a few numbers

12        The temperature (˚F) when I plan to leave

my home headed for Charleston

Yes, cold.  It is the third batch of cold air coming down to the south.  My truck and SPARTINA will both be packed the day before.  I just need to hook up the trailer to the truck and be on my way, with the heater going full blast for at least the first few minutes.

16        The number of Sounds along the ICW 

from James Island, South Carolina to 

Jacksonville, Florida

I dug back into my logbooks to find my list of Sounds that I should sail on the way south.  Some of the Sounds are broad expanses of water.  Others, such as Buttermilk Sound and Manhead Sound, are bends in the river.  They are all beautiful in their own way. 

49         The temperature (˚F) when I hope to

 rig and launch SPARTINA

On launch day the cold weather, which is forecast to reach as far south as Georgia, should be sliding back north.  It will be cold overnight (I'll be in a hotel near the ramp), but it will be comfortable by the time I rig and launch. The forecast shows temperatures from the 40s all the way up to 70 as I head south.

I've completed the trip from Charleston to Palatka three times.  I have done it in as few as 13 days, and as many as 20 days.  These times include days sailing and non-sailing days where I visit places like  Beaufort, SC, a favorite town, and Hilton Head where I see friend Webb Chiles.  I think the distance is something like 320 miles, but can't find that right now in my log. 

I can't wait to get back on the water.

 

track updated, sailor seasoned

With what is described as a "bomb cyclone" approaching the east coast and the cold temperatures that will persist afterwards, I've delayed my departure for the winter trip by a week.  When will I go?  Not this week for sure, there are forecasts for a couple nights at or below 30 degrees.  I don't have the gear for that. So it should be sometime the following week.  It just depends on tides and the temperatures.

I've updated the SPOT track with the new date range.  The tracking URL is the same as I posted a few days ago.

https://maps.findmespot.com/s/3J3R#history/assets

---------------------------------------

Joshua Colvin, who ran the Duckworks small boat supply store and also published Small Craft Advisor magazine, emailed me about a week ago.  He is publishing Substack version of Small Craft Advisor.  Josh asked me if I would fill out a questionnaire for their new column called "Seasoned Sailor."  I don't consider myself "seasoned," but with SPARTINA almost 20 years old and a lot of cruising on her, maybe I am.  So I filled out the questionnaire and Josh was kind enough to publish.

I always liked the magazine Small Craft Advisor as I considered it the new version of Small Boat Journal, a magazine that I read for years in the 80s and 90s.  The new Substack has the same feel, interesting stories about small boats and small boat sailors.  Links to the Substack Small Craft Advisor and the questionnaire are below.  Thank you, Josh, for reaching out to me.

https://smallcraftadvisor.substack.com/

https://smallcraftadvisor.substack.com/p/seasoned-sailor-steve-earley