Sailing Kismet

   Seventeenth of January, the time had come to head south once more, and the weather was not cooperating so I decided that to check out the ICW, it's just a 20 mile run south from Fernandina to Mayport, and quite remote, there will be nice scenery, I told myself. This first picture is an example of some nice wild scenery a mile south of Fernandina where I first ran aground. My digital charts were not up to date, and did not keep me on the right path with adequate depth.  I came to an abrupt stop on a shoaling. I think it was the the second time aground, I decided to downloaded and pay for Navionics charts app. Then the tide pushed me off the shoal and I continued on my way. I spent the next five hours staring at my phone to ensure I was centered in the ICW path, most of it is only 100 feet wide and goes from ten feet to less than Kismet's six and a half foot draft, very rapidly!          After hours of staring at my phone and making two degree co...

 After two days anchored at Ossabaw island, I had the weather to head south for Fernandina Florida, only a 66 mile run that I would attempt to complete in daylight. I hate coming into a new port, or any port after dark. This trip adds up to averaging 6.6 knots for 10 hours, difficult! To improve my odds I would get up early and follow my GPS track out of my anchorage so no need to see much. I was up at 4am and hauling the anchor at 0515 and was sailing south by 0620. I choose this day and time because of the wind, and it delivered, and maybe a little extra.         I started out with all of my flags a flying, staysail included on a beam reach, the wind directly perpendicular to the boat. A great point of sail, it's fast, the boat can handle a lot of wind because it isn't increasing the apparent wind like sailing up wind and better than a run because the waves are not rolling you as long as there is steady pressure on the sails. There was, and then more, I r...

   I did need the rest for this next leg, it would be about 160 miles and unfortunately the motor was never shut off for 27 hours. But the morning of thirteen January brought a beautiful sunrise and nice motoring weather. Sunrise is the reward you get for standing a night watch, and when you are alone it's the only reward you will get, sleep must wait until you find the next harbor.     The selecting next harbor is not always straight forward. On the west coast there are few natural anchorages, most are harbors with maintained jetties and dredged channels. On the east coast there are many inlets that are small rivers and estuaries, few are maintained, caution is warranted. Once again Tim came through for me when he recommended an anchorage he had used a few year prior. Ossabaw Island is just south of Savannah, has a good entry and a protected anchorage. Best of all it is remote and quiet. One boat passed my anchorage in the two nights I spend there.   ...

   As the sun rose on nine January the shore of South Carolina came into view, we were just a few miles from entering Winyah Bay, and then on our way 10 miles up river to Georgetown SC, another lovely ICW town. While I am not a fan of traveling the ICW, I do appreciate that the towns along it are very boater friendly. Georgetown is no different, they even have two public docks in town that you can use for free, just no overnight stays. Simply move your boat into the canal and anchor, sometimes only a hundred feet from the dock you departed. The town has many nice restaurants and shops, a beach, two marinas and just a nice boater friendly feel. I will defiantly be stopping back. Oh, and an amazing sunrise that is probably copy write infringement on Monet!      We were in early and the docks were full so we anchored out for a while and rested. After a couple of hours I noticed one dock was free so we quickly moved the boat and were able to walk on solid ground onc...

  Dear readers, we left off upon the arrival at Beaufort NC. Tim Cote' and I stopped for a much needed rest showers and unfortunately, some repairs as well. The starter battery was fried and needed replacement. Don't worry, the engine can start from the house batteries too, you just have to make sure you don't run them down too far, we didn't.     When you sail on a boat named Kismet, I guess you should expect certain pleasant coincidences to occur, you just can't predict what they'll be. Shortly after we docked in Beaufort Tim says, hey that's a nice Cabo Rico sailboat that just went by. Ten minutes later there is a knock on the hull, a couple is standing there and asks if I bought the boat at Yankee Marina in Lancaster Virginia?  I say, yes I did. She says, hi I'm Gale Montague, I'm the broker that did the sale. Nice to meet you in person Gale, I say. You sir look familiar, do you sell boats too? Yes says Dale. Thought so I said, I looked at anothe...

Sailing Kismet Chapter One January 16, 2026       Hello, welcome to my sailing blog. Kismet is my 1988 Passport 40 cruising sailboat. I bought her in June 2025 with the intention of starting a new life afloat. Things started slowly, there was a lot of differed maintenance to catch up on and I just didn't have much free time while working full time. I expected it to take me a year to get her ship shape, but after a quite unexpected death in the family, I decided there is no time like the present. Two months later I quit my job and seven weeks later I began my journey.     Some people may remember I set out on Christmas morning with the intention of staging at Rudy Inlet in Virginia Beach and then doing an overnight around Cape Hatteras the next day. There were a string of events that ended that attempt, mostly, I was just feeling too tired to s...