As the weather had become chilly and with no real heating on my narrowboat, the cruising season had come to an end. I should have gone back to work over the winter to earn some much needed cash. With this in mind I returned to my mothers house and thought about what I could do over the winter months.

I was about to contact a previous employer when I glanced upon an advert on Crewseekers. Crewseekers is a website where boat owners advertise crew vacancies on their boats. They are travelling somewhere and need assistance to sail their boat, sometimes a short trip, sometimes a long trip. I saw an advert which sounded familiar, a trip on a new HH55 catamaran.

The new HH series of catamarans are a bit special. Made entirely of carbon fibre they are incredibly light and strong, and therefore fast ! You normally have a luxury boat which is packed of heavy appliances and utilities and is a cruiser, or a fast boat which has most of the luxury items missing !

The HH catamarans are both luxurious and fast. They use the latest design techniques with C shaped daggerboards, T shaped rudders, lightweight carbon fibre hulls,etc,etc.

The advert was from a guy who advertised for a position before when the boat was being built in China. Unfortunately the boat got delayed and other things transpired against us so we never met up. He had already had a season on his boat and sailed around parts of the Caribbean. He had moved his boat up the east coast of the States to avoid the hurricane season. To comply with your insurance companies terms and conditions your boat needs to be out of the designated hurricane area. Because of this most boats head up to the inland waters ways of the east coast.

The boat had been moored in a marina in Edgewater, Maryland, just south of Annapolis. It had recently appeared in the Annapolis boat show. I flew into Washington and met the owner and another crew member in the airport. We travelled to the boat and got settled in, there was still a few jobs to be done and there was a guy onboard completing the last few winter jobs.

View from our mooring –

I witnessed some great sunsets from the marina –

After a few days we set sail and left the safety of Edgewater, our next planned stop was to be Savannah Georgia – some 650 nautical miles away.

There were some grand houses on the way out of the river. I’m sure some very influential people from Washington live around here !

After3/4 says at sea we approached Savannah Georgia. The trip had been trouble free and even coming around the Cape Hatteras headland was uneventful. The Cape Hatteras headland is known for its treacherous waters and being a bit unpredictable. In fact its known as the ‘Graveyard Of The Atlantic’ and over 600 ships have been wrecked here. Imagine our surprise when we approached and just carried on sailing with no noticeable difference in sea or wind conditions. Phew – what a relief !

The city of Savannah laid over to the left of the river –

It took us some time trying to find a place in a marina that could take us. Most places seemed to cater for smaller river type boats than large sailing yachts. We finally managed to find a place at a golf resort on the Savannah river. The river is actually the boundary between South Carolina and Georgia. To be honest it might have been better to find a place on the Wilmington river slightly further south as there seemed to be more marinas there.

This is The Westin Savannah Harbour Golf Resort and Spa. Apparently quite well known in golfing circles a lot of players practice and stay there on the lead up to tournaments at Augusta. As we were moored outside we had access to all the facilities, the mens changing area had saunas, spa, showers, free soaps and shower gel, everything ! And when you were all, finished you made a call to a driver who would come and pick you up and drive you back to the hotel complex.

To get from the golf complex to the center of Savannah we had to catch a river ferry to get us to the other side. These left regularly and operated up to about midnight.

Water fountains in the centre of Savannah-

The is the well known Marshall House hotel, one of the oldest hotels in Savannah. Originally built in 1851 by Mary Marshall it served as a hospital for soldiers toward the end of the civil war and during two yellow fever epidemics. It has been a hotel on and off up until 1957 and then reopened after renovation since 1999.

Apparently this church appears in the opening scenes of Forrest Gump. Not sure how true this is as I haven’t re-watched the film recently !

Typical type of house in and around the streets of central Savannah –

Proud to have the flag flying over their porch –

Just when you think you’ve found the perfect house someone creates a subway car par in front of it……

Some of the tree lined avenues are AMAZING ! They are apparently oak trees I was told but completely different to UK oak trees.

The old Chatham County Courthouse in the centre of Savannah, built in 1889 and used until the 1970s when a new courthouse was built.

I enjoyed our few days in Savannah, fortunately it coincided with a college football match, a marathon event and live outdoor music at the weekend ! Savannah is one of only 3 places in the States that has an ‘Open Container Policy’. This means you are allowed to drink and carry a beer around with you ! The other two places are New Orleans and Beale Street in Memphis. The weather was great, met some new friends, enjoyed Savannahs outdoor lifestyle but had to move on.

We left Savannah and headed further south to Ft Lauderdale with a quick stop in Cape Canaveral.

Cape Canaveral seemed to be a place where the cruise ships stopped to change passengers and re-stock their supplies. There were many in port and in the evening one of the biggest ships left. This was the ‘Anthem of the Seas’ leaving at night-

We spent a couple of nights in Cape Canaveral and witnessed some spectacular lightning storms. Always a worry when you are on a sailing boat with a big mast and lightning is striking above you !!

We sailed south towards Ft Lauderdale and as it was so soon after that years boat show we had great difficulty in reserving a space. We persisted with many phone calls and finally found someone who could give us a berth for a few days.

Approaching the entrance to Ft Lauderdale-

Waiting for the main bridge to open –

From memory the bridge opens on the hour every hour during the day.

Ft Lauderdale

I went for a walk over the bridge and as I was coming back alarm bells were ringing and flashing lights started.

The traffic is stopped and the bridge opens for the larger ships, quite impressive when you are close up !

View from the bridge –

After a few days spent in Ft Lauderdale getting some repairs carried out it was time to leave the USA. We re-provisioned the boat, filled up with fuel and completed custom and immigration clearance.

Bye bye Florida and USA, next stop the Bimini Islands, Florida.

This trip started at the end of October 2019 – I’m a bit late updating my blog !! The next update will include the Biminj Islands, Cuba and Grand Cayman.