Return to Ferngully

We have a lot of catching up to do, I'm afraid.

We left Morehead City on Wednesday the 6th. We traveled 101 miles!!!! that day, making into an anchorage in Alligator Creek. This is the place where we fouled our anchor last time, but we were prepared if it happened again. We completed the long day by starting out at 6am and anchoring around 730pm. Whew! We were tired, but felt so accomplished. Since we've been sitting in so many places, we felt we needed to get some distance under our belts. Up early the next morning, we easily pulled up anchor and headed out. The sky was full of dark clouds and we were a little nervous about heading out, but we didn't want to get stuck somewhere again! We managed to get just through the bridge there in Alligator Creek when the sky threatened to open up. We decided to drop anchor and sit it out for a few minutes then head on again. Our anchor dragged though and we didn't have time to pull it up and try again before the storm came. Dad managed to drive the boat around, while Mom and I hid below. In a break in the storm, we pulled the anchor up and circled around some more. By now the visibility was almost nonexistent. Once the rain finally let up, we took off again. We crossed the Neuse and Pamlico Rivers and even managed some sailing! :) We got to Pungo Ferry that night. We planned on anchoring out, instead of risking the abandoned marina again. Unfortunately, we thought there would be more water to anchor in, but getting there we found it was all 7feet. Looking desperately for another place, we realized we were stuck in that area. The other anchorages were miles off either side and we would never make them before dark. I looked up and said, "Look Dad! There's an anvil in the sky!" Haha

With the HUGE anvil shaped cloud coming on, we decided the only safe thing to do was to risk tying up to the dock again. The VHF was saying this coming storm was clocking 60 mph winds, hail, lightning, and flooding. We decided it was worth any risk tying up the dock. No sooner had we tied up to the dock, the sky opened. It was a magnificent storm.

The next day we wound our way through Norfolk and all the Naval ships. I was just as excited seeing them again as I was the first time around. We made it to a little anchorage just outside Rebel Marina, Terry's brother's place in Willoughby Bay. We were going to stay there for the night, then head out for the ride up the Bay the next day. We listened to the weather though and it was turning rough the next day, with gales and the wind direction was all wrong. We did not want to face all that again. The Bay can get very serious. We came to a decision to leave right then and there and spend all night crossing up the bay. We pulled out at 3 that afternoon and headed on.

Having done an overnighter in the ocean, the Bay was completely different. In the ocean, you don't really have to worry about land on either side of you, shallowing waters, and confusing lights. On the ocean, if you see a light, it's another vessel. In the Bay, it could be a vessel or lights on shore, and once it's dark your depth perception goes to zero! We had quite a different experience this time around, but managed it quite well. As Dad said, not many cruisers have pulled overnighters on the Bay. We passed a small midnight regatta with several other sailboats out in the Bay. We saw several freighters and tugs. We even got into a little rain, but we were all too excited at the prospect of getting home.

On Saturday morning, we pulled into Herrington Harbour, just as the winds were beginning to pick up. We easily tied up to the dock, feeling like downright professionals and all hugged for our return. Almost 6 months have gone by since we've last been home. Mom and I couldn't wait any longer. Dad rented a car from Enterprise, we hopped in, leaving the boat as is, and went to pick up the dogs and sleep in our own beds. We were home by the afternoon and all sleeping by 6pm, we were so tired.

It's great being home again, even though we face the dirtiest, dustiest house ever! We also still have to wrap up the boat, collect the mail, and have a million chores to do. We're happy for them though. We made the journey of a lifetime. We accomplished that which we had only dreamed about previously. As a family, we have overcome barriers and crossed mountains together and I'd have to say it's brought us closer. Even though the entire trip wasn't quite what was expected (weather, ahem) it was magnificent. Given the opportunity, I know each of us would jump for it again. This experience has been one of learning, relaxation, healing, and fun. I could not imagine having done anything more exciting.

Thank you everyone who read our blogs and wrote us emails. I am sad to see it come to a close. Thank you to everyone who helped us out with things at home; the Thornhills for taking care of our mail, The Wilsons for taking care of the house and pool (we'll be opening shortly for your revenge), Elaina for taking care of Luigi, Heather for taking care of Jack, and Jeff Urbansky for taking care of the goons. Thank you Mike for allowing us to leave our cars with you. Thank you Jen for saving our gardens from those pesky deer. And thank you to everyone for all your support, love, and friendship. Without all of you, my family and I would never be able to heal and continue on and especially would have never been able to take this trip. With still a long way to go, I feel that we have come quite a way from just 6 months ago. I feel so blessed and so happy.

We are still getting settled back in to the house. We promise to call and to visit people once we've manged to get ourselves organized again.

Love you all! Thank you again! Without you, this would not be possible.

As always, we wish any and everyone Good weather and happy sailing!

The Hilscher Family

The Saga Continues

Well... it was no hurricane, alien abduction, or anything crazy like that.... and it wasn't anymore fires.... it's a bridge this time around. Oh jeez.

We are staying in Morehead City, NC for a few days because a bridge coming into VA is getting removed and they're closing the ICW. There isn't really a way around it and so we have to wait. Getting home is not easy, but hey! We had a great day with the sails up coming into Morehead City. And we went to a wooden boat show today and the maritime museum. We're planning to find a place with a TV for the Kentucky Derby today. We hope everyone enjoyed Gold Cup. Beautiful weather here, so we hope so there too.

Well... stay tuned for the next in the exciting adventures of the Hilschers. :P

Blazing a New Trail

Well. Only the Hilschers. Only we would get stopped along the ICW, not allowed to motor any further because of fire. Yep. Fire has stopped us on the water. South Carolina is currently under attack from a wildfire, near Myrtle Beach. They've closed off the ICW all around us and we are trapped in the middle. We have a perfect front row view of all the smoke as it covers a wide expanse, already claiming 40 houses and several miles of woods. Luckily, we were able to find a marina and are stuck here. For the first time ever, we put down in the log... weather: smoke. The sky is filled with varying colors of smoke, from black to white. The wind continues to increase, restarting fires that have been put out and spreading the fire further north and south. We're sitting here, praying the wind doesn't start to blow our way and keeps the smoke across the way. The fire hasn't stopped the golfers today, even though holes 11 and 12 are on fire. We imagine their putting birdy down for those holes and moving right on around them.

So with our good luck, we finally got showers and some decent internet.

Good weather and happy sailing! Pray for rain.

Posted some new photos, including the alligator ones. We have a couple more but I have to be very quick here today.

Moving North (and it's getting colder)

Hey ya'll!

I'm writing from the depths of the South Carolina swamps!!! You read it right!! We are no longer in Daytona or Florida for that matter! We've hit the road again and are slowly making our way north to home!

We left out of Daytona on the 16th and headed north through St. Augustine and anchored in a little isolated place. It was a beautiful day even though we fought some strong currents. Going through St. Augustine and St. Johns there are some heavy currents because of the outlets to the ocean. Coming down this winter they terrified us. This time around we were prepared. We handled them very well and were proud of ourselves for getting through them just fine. What these strong currents can do is affect your steering immensely. It can spin your boat around on you faster than a blink of the eye if you're not ready. We spent the 17th motoring further up the ICW to Fernandina Beach. We had strong winds all day and were worried about finding a good place to stay. We spent a crazy night in a very popular anchorage just outside a paper factory (Peee ewwww!) where all the boats were swinging in different directions. It was a sight!

We were supposed to leave out for SC on the 18th, but the weather was atrocious, so we spent the day sleeping, reading, and playing Monopoly. Mom kicked our butts!! Dad motored in and found some shrimp right off the boat and found a 6 pack of Kaliks! We had a wonderful meal. The 19th, it was up and adam. We motored out the St. Mary's Inlet and hit the wide open ocean. Once out of the inlet, we heard the now familiar Coast Guard voice on the VHF give warning that a Naval Vessel was incoming on the St. Mary's Inlet. We turned around and there was a submarine coming into port!!! It was so cool! But I wish we could have been a little closer.

The ocean passage went very well! This was our 4th time out in the ocean and we seem to have gotten the hang of it. We were much less worried and more relaxed throughout the day and night. We had fairly good winds and were able to carry some sail. Venture Forth, another boat making the same passage, radioed over every once in awhile to check on us. He had radar and would be warning us if anything came up on it. Of course we appreciated this, but also kept a good eye out for ourselves.

I decided before we left St. Mary's I wanted to see a submarine, a whale, and a turtle. Well, as you know, I got the sub checked off! Along the way we saw several turtles!! They were soo amazing and such graceful swimmers. We also had several dolphin, both bottlenose and spotted, find our boat great fun. We had one do a Flipper style jump out of the water a couple times, while we cheered him on. Another one decided to swim sideways directly on our bow. He was so close I was a little worried, but dolphins are so intelligent, he knew exactly where he was. We also saw several schools (about 20-30) stingrays go past our boat. They would flock together then quickly disperse as the boat got closer. We never did see a whale, but we were so excited to see all the wildlife we did.

Coming into Charleston Inlet was a little blustery, but we managed to turn the corner and get through the Ben Sawyer bridge before she closed it. If we hadn't made it, we would have had to wait 2 hours! And that is no fun! We got very lucky.

We were going to putter up the ICW for the day, but thought the weather was going to be bad again, so we opted to anchor and get some much needed sleep. The weather turned out to be gorgeous (silly weathermen) but at least we were rested. Yesterday, we plunked up the ICW towards Thoroughfare Creek (a place we stayed before with the duck hunters). Along the way we saw 3 alligators!!!! Two were sunning themselves on the banks and the third was swimming alongside the boat! How cool!!!! That had been on my list of things I wanted to see! YAY!!!!!

Today we are once again headed up the ICW. We are stopped in a marina right now refueling, as yesterday we ran out of fuel in the middle of the channel. It was a little crazy at first trying to figure out what went wrong, refilling the tanks with our jerry cans, throwing the anchor down, and letting people know around us that we were ok. It was a little hectic, but we managed just fine. Thank goodness there is a place to refuel so close by. I believe we'll head up somewhere around Myrtle Beach today and continue to Wilmington tomorrow. We hope to get in touch with some friends that live there.

Love you all!

Good weather and happy sailing!

Taking Up Residency

Hello out there! We're still hanging out in Daytona. The trip isn't officially over yet, but we are getting to a close. At the moment, we are in search of a weather window to leave. We must go out to the Atlantic around Georgia because of too shallow waters, but the weather is not cooperative. The winds today are 25-30 gusting upwards of 50!!! I don't think it would be a good day to leave and unfortunately our next few days look much the same. We may have a window coming up the end of this week. :) VA here we come!

I apologize for lack of photos. The only new ones we have that are not yet posted are from our tour of St. Augustine, but the internet has been most uncooperative as well. Grrrr... it's a sensitive point on this boat. Photos will have to come later. Other than those, we have not been anywhere to take any. Sorry folks!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Good weather and happy sailing!

St. Augustine

We took a day trip up to St. Augustine and walked the sights. It was a cloudy day but cool. We wandered the main streets and saw all of the old Spanish buildings, the first school house in America, and tons of beautiful architecture. We passed by Flagler College and went to the Fort. It was a wonderful day. We went to this little resutarant that Mom says reminded her of Spain. We ordered tapas and tasted wine.

Other than our little day trip, we've been hanging out in Daytona still. We are looking for a window to leave, but the weathermen keep talking about the dreaded g-word... gale! We are destined for gale storms through Monday. We've visited the beach often, perused all the used books stores and even Barnes and Nobel, visited Wal-Mart, Target, and the flea market (thanks to Kaitlynn). :) It was full of fun stuff.

We are looking forward to coming home.

Good weather and happy sailing to all!