January 2, 2026
Happy New Year! Since my last post in May, well, we have been busy. Yes, we missed our adventures afloat, but we have had an incredible time ashore these past 7 months.
We had left Navigator in Hilton Head back in May - because we knew the coming months would be full of events and that there simply was not enough time to bring her to Maine. And while it has been hard for us to leave her for so long she was safely tucked away in a very well protected marina. Now it is time to pick up where we left off.
We have many aspirations for Navigator and this hiatus has given us a chance to think about them more clearly. We think about cruising the parts of Lake Champlain we have not seen. Perhaps returning to Canada and doing the Trent Severn canal to Georgian Bay and the North Channel. Bill and Otto have been trying to entice us to join them on Lake Superior. Maybe continuing on the Great Loop. But we also dream about cruising the coast of Maine. Exploring the Cape and Islands. And the Bahamas remain a tantalizing destination. How to resolve all these wonderful options? We have had 8 1/2 months to mull this all over.
But ironically, our insurance renewal changed all that. The last week in October, just days before the renewal of our policy we recieved a letter from the underwriter asking us to confirm that Navigator would be in Maine for a miniumum of 6 months and a day. Huh??? This was not what we had been sold when we bound coverage back in October 2024 - we had been assured that keeping the boat on the move, even completing the Great Loop, would be OK. Obviously this was a deal breaker for us so I instructed our agent to find another carrier. The ironic part is that our new policy includes the Bahamas as part of the terrritory, which the previous policy had excluded. Suddenly a new, and very attractive option opened up for us.
So what are our plans for 2026? We are back aboard Navigator and heading south into Florida along the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway. We will progress to Key Biscayne or thereabouts, and there we will wait for a weather window to cross the Gulf Stream to Bimini. After checking through Bahamian Customs we will make our way to New Providence Ilsland (Nassau), and then to the Exumas. The Exumas, which are a long chain of delightful islands, will give us weeks of exploring, snorkeling, kayaking, relaxing. At some point, we will slowly work our way back to the States....
January 20th, 2026:
We were up at 3:00 AM in Phippsburg to 18 F and a driver waiting to take us to the Portland airport. Arrived at Savannah around 12:45pm then, after picking up a rental car, went to Costco for supplies. By 4 PM we were at Windmill Harbour and back aboard Navigator! Exciting to be back on board and finally thinking we could be moving very soon.
Spent the next 4 days focused on the boat, running errands - staying at my cousin Rob & Agneta's house. They had graciously invited us to stay the few days we would be fitting out. Those four days were spent primarily checking all the systems on Navigator. After having sat for 8 1/2 months things needed to be tested, tweaked, repaired. The biggest things were replacing the impeller on the diesel engine (planned, troubleshooting the generator (which would not start - unplanned), then troubleshooting the diesel heater (also unplanned). But every system had to be checked and tested. My check list is in a separate posting of this blog. We did also enjoy spending time with Agneta (Rob was in Knoxville doing a job), joined by Susan (another cousin) and Paul for several delightful adventures. They have quite the life in Hilton Head!
We had hoped to depart Saturday, but ended up starting on Monday. The big ice storm/snow storm that walloped the East Coast brought rain, some wind and a drop in temperature to Hilton Head (from 75 to 35 F) so even if we had been ready, I am not sure we would have wanted to leave on Saturday. We were very busy, but greatly enjoyed those 4 days. We are fortunate to have had Rob, Agneta, Susan and Paul welcome us the way they have.
We also had to coordinate with the marina about exiting. Windmill Harbour was in the middle of dredging the lock and fairway approaching the marina - which blocked the exit for all but a few hours each day. All that meant that there might be two short windows to exit the marina each day. So we got up Monday prepared to jump, or wait, depending. As luck would have it we were able to be out of the marina by 10 AM.
January 26th
Monday morning was cold (mid 40's) and windy but we were on the move, and the clouds broke up by noon. We traveled 55 miles from Hilton Head, past Savannah to Ossabaw Island where we anchored up Cane Patch Creek just before sunset. Temperature was in the upper 40's but the forecast for the morning was upper 20's! Hope our blankets are up to the task! But regardless we have made our initial progress south toward warmer weather and spend the day meandering through a beautiful stretch of the Intercoastal in South Carolina and Georgia. Winding channels surrounded by extensive salt marshes and scattered sections of forest. Tonight we are anchored in one of the side channels with a small clump of trees protecting us from the north wind.
Saw two other Helmsman trawlers, one moving north in South Carolina and one tied up at a marina at Isle of Hope, Georgia. The first we waved to as we went by but got no response (we could not see a name on her transom) - the second we identified as "Lost Arrow" from AIS. We tooted our horn as we passed, but again no response.
During the day discovered the diesel heater stopped longer working. It was giving a strange error message so my only recourse was to attempt a reset, but to no avail. So until I can figure that out, we are without the diesel heater [We do have heat still but the Heat Pumps only work when either on shore power or running the generator].
Had an email today from my college friend Miles. He 'noticed' that Navigator was moving on Marine Traffic, and wanted to know when the first installation of the blog would be coming. Either Miles doesn't have enough to keep busy, or he is keen on keeping track of our progress. Thanks, Miles, for noticing. [see separate post explaining how you to can follow our progress on the Marine Traffic app]
January 27th
Up at 7 AM with 27 F on deck and 35 in the cabin! We had been plenty warm with all our blankets but I got up and turned on the Heat Pump even before making coffee. We got underway by 7:35 and had breakfast on the go. Beautiful pale blue sky and sunshine. We immediately fell in behind a tug pushing a barge (same one we had seen the day before) but he soon turned off on a different channel. Later we caught up to a smaller tug and barge who allowed us to pass. Other than those two tugs and a Coast Guard outboard doing maintenance on some ATON's (Aids to Navigation) there was essentially no boat traffic either day.
One other significant ship traffic we encountered was the car carrier "Mignon". The ICW intersects and crosses the shipping channel running up St Simon Sound from the ocean to Brunswick, GA, where they load/unload cars. First we noticed a car carrier entering the sound, quite a bit out to sea. But as we came in sight of the Sidney Lanier Bridge we detected another car carrier exiting the harbor. A quick analysis of the AIS display showed the car carrier "Mignon" moving 15 knots - and very much on an intersecting course! So rather than running diagonally across the shipping channel, we made quick course change taking us directly across the channel so that we were out of his way before the interesection point!
Made 97.5 miles today from Cane Patch Creek to Cumberland Island. Our longest single day running with Navigator. Departed at 7:40 am and arrived at Cumberland Island at 6:35 - about 45 minutes after sunset. Fortunately we had anchored there once before and found our way in easily. Essentially 11 hours door to door.
The biggest issue was the chill. I never got much above 45 all day and while we were in the wheelhouse, it is not insulated nor are the doors equipped with weatherstripping. And while we both have some fleece and down, our clothing is aimed at the tropics, not New England. A long day, but every mile southing brings us closer to warmer weather.
January 28th
Up and underway by 8 am. Coffee and breakfast at the helm! A little warmer this morning (34F), calm and mostly clear skies. By 9:30 we crossed into Florida! With almost zero boat traffic on the Intercoastal we were able to press on at or near 10 mph all day. By late afternoon the temperature reached 58F - maybe tomorrow we will break 60F? Anchored at Pine Island on the Tol0mato River after a run of 64 miles - 215 miles in 3 days!
So far, we have had long days on the water but made a great deal of progress. Each evening, finding an anchorage right around dark, runnng the generator for a couple hours while we made dinner and planning the next day before retiring early - and keeping warm!
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