Avoidance

Thurs-Thur, April 20-27

It was a great day to travel from Swansboro to Beaufort, NC. It was a short trip up the ICW so we tied up the boat and quickly ate sandwiches so we could walk around town. Three couples saw us dock and came by the boat--we met them all briefly at other marinas but didn't have a chance to visit with them then. We are all "loopers" so we meet and pass each other along the loop.

The marina has several courtesy cars, so we borrowed their old station wagon to go to Piggly Wiggly to get a few groceries.

We visited the maritime museum on Friday and it is great! They have found and recovered the pirate Blackbeard's ship Queen Anne's Revenge! No gold and diamonds treasure, but lots of history.

And the Beaufort area also had one of the first civil air patrol stations during WWII to locate German submarines and send the sub's position to US destroyers.

We met looper friends Dan and Jean from Time Out for dinner. We all had a good time catching up since we last saw them in Brunswick, GA!

 

We really enjoyed Beaufort, NC, but the prediction of high wind gusts and thunderstorms convinced us to move on to avoid traveling in bad weather. Saturday morning was really sunny and once we got 10 miles away from Beaufort, the winds settled down and it was a really enjoyable ride to New Bern.

We will be in New Bern for the next week to attend America's Great Loop Cruisers Association AGLCA spring  rendezvous. It is all loopers talking about looping and boats!!

Back to Work

Mon-Thurs, April 17-20, 2017

We relaxed on Easter, didn't even think about planning our next travels.

But Monday rolled around and we finished our biggest boat project ever--we installed davits to hold the dinghy on the swim platform. We have so much space on deck now!

It was raining lightly on Tuesday but we left Topsail Island for Swansboro. Plenty of sights to see along the way. We thought the pink house and lighthouse was too much until we saw the matching boat!

A boat arrived a few minutes before us and they were struggling to tie the end of the boat to the dock against the current and wind. For once we pulled in without too much trouble. The next day was sunny and nice for walking around town. Only a couple blocks of shops and a some restaurants. We saw the celebrity in town! Then stopped for a root beer float!

Another good day for traveling up the coast to Beaufort NC. Big transport ship and a great sunset.

Happy Easter

Wed-Sat, April 12-15

We had a great time visiting Myrtle Beach at Osprey Marina, but since we had to return the rental car it was time to move on. We went to Barefoot Landing, figuring there would be many restaurants. We were greeted at the dock by celebrities--fellow loopers Tim and Karen of "Let It Ride". Earlier this year they hosted a reporter from the New York Times for a week long cruise across the Okeechobee. An excellent article about America's Great Loop! 

It only took one night staying at Barefoot Landing. Too many people and extremely bright lights. So we travel just a few more hours up the ICW to St. James Plantation Harbor Marina. Way too high brow for us. Keep moving, find a place to relax for the holiday.

It was Saturday and the weather was beautiful and perfect for a boat ride. We get out early to travel up the Cape Fear River. We stayed out of the way of a really large tanker. 

And EVERYBODY that owns a boat is out for a boat ride today! One lift bridge and two swing bridges that only open at the top of the hour took a bit of waiting and circling and going down the river then coming back to the bridge. 

Nine hours later we are at Topsail Island Marina. Only 3 blocks to the beach. All we need is a few more days of warm weather! 

Sunrise at the beach......Happy Easter!

A Full Pink Moon

Tues-Tues, April 4-11, 2017

Last night's weather wasn't nearly as severe as the weather forecast predicted. It was just a relaxing evening with a little rain, lightning, and wind.

We will be in Myrtle Beach for a week, so off to Enterprise I go! A visit to West Marine to order davits for the dinghy. And then the best part of the day--we go have seafood at Driftwoods with friends Wayne and Kay Ann!  It is a great restaurant where the locals go.

The next couple days will be easy for me, but Kelly gets to spend some time with the dentist. Kelly is tough and his down time is minimal. We are back out to dinner for some great spaghetti and pizza with with Wayne and Kay Ann. Almost free--they paid.

On Sunday we drove down to Charleston for some site seeing. We start out finding great smashburgers! Visited downtown riverfront area, a good view of Fort Sumter, a park with the great pineapple fountain, and many old buildings. Lots of history in this town.

And it is a full pink moon tonight. Nice and bright, but I can't see the pink!

Keep On Moving

Fri-Mon, March 31-April 3

One of the interesting facts about this section of the Atlantic coast is the difference between high tide and low tide--almost 8 feet! It was very visible looking from our boat to the marina office.

We finished up site seeing in Beaufort by visiting the National Cemetery. Many Union and Confederate soldiers from the Civil War are buried there. We also drove through the historic section of Beaufort looking at the old homes that have been restored. 

Back to the boat to get ready to leave Lady's Island Marina early Saturday morning.

Our plan was to just go halfway to Charleston to anchor out and enjoy the nice weather. But the more we studied the weather and the storms heading to the east coast, we decided to pass by Charleston. Right before getting to Charleston the waterway goes through a narrow pass called Elliot's Cut--a swift current over 12 mph. What a ride!

I took a few pictures passing by Charleston. We will be back by car next week for site seeing.

We went up Inlet Creek to anchor after reading a review on Active Captain by a fellow looper that we met in Clearwater! It was a good anchorage after a long day.

We were up early and pulled into the ICW behind 2 other looper boats. It wasn't too long til a big go-fast boat blew by us and rocked 'n rolled all of us! By afternoon the other boats were out of sight. They were traveling at a faster speed and left us in their dust! So we had a good day of cruising and scenery.

But we still made it to Harborwalk Marina in Georgetown to find a restaurant open for Sunday supper.

Early to bed so we can get going before the bad weather catches us tomorrow.

And right on time Monday morning, friends Wayne and Kay Ann arrive to ride with us from Georgetown to Myrtle Beach. It was a great morning ride--sunny and warm.  Great friends and great conversation!! 

The gentle breezes turned a little stronger with even stronger gusts and rain and lightning. Glad we are tied to a dock at Osprey Marina!

Flying Time

Thurs-Wed, March 20-26, 2017

This past week has been flying by!! 

Friends Dan and Jean on Time Out arrived at Brunswick Landing Marina so we visited over dinner. But the next day we left -- we were ready for new opportunities. We passed by the old lighthouse at Doboy Sound.

We made a long run to Walburg Creek and anchored out. We waited until noon Saturday to slowly make our way to Hell Gate. Look it up, that is the official name on the chart! At the wrong time this short channel is very narrow and can have a swift current. We planned well and went through with no problems. After that another relaxing night on the hook.

A few days in Savannah to see the sights although we did get lost trying to find the Tybee Island Lighthouse. But we found it and the old Cockspur Lighthouse.

It was a beautiful day for cruising on Tuesday, lots of sunshine with the temperature in the 80s. And before we know it, we crossed from Georgia to South Carolina. We dropped the anchor in Port Royal Sound for another relaxing evening. 

We were only 1 hour from Lady's Island Marina near Beaufort, SC. They have a courtesy car so trips to the grocery store will be easier. 

I googled what to see in Beaufort and near the top of the list was the Kazoobie Kazoos factory. It was a fun tour and we got to make our own kazoo! 

Next was local seafood and we really enjoyed eating fish and oysters then buying crab for dinner! 

Time 'n Tide

Sun-Wed, March 19-22, 2017

We slowly made our way out of Florida. There is no perfect way to time the tides, but we did really well the last part of the St. Johns River. The outgoing tide pulled us down river over 9 mph! Really fast for our old boat!! 

We pulled into a free dock-Jim King State Park on Sisters Creek. Fantastic floating dock, no piling to try to not hit! And guess who catches our dock line--Christy from Folly Girl! We met them at Ft. Pierce! Then Lorenzo and Lois show up! He was the one that told us about this free dock and many other helpful hints about transiting up the East Coast.

The next day we departed Jim King Park and headed north. We pulled into the channel in front of a tug boat but it did not have any barges. Well it didn't take us too long to run into mud. The tug went on by and provided just enough wake for the boat to back off the mud. We followed the tug for several hours til it looked like it stopped. We slowed down, then stopped, then turned circles until the tug got out of the mud and moved forward. That happened two more times, and we were all in the channel!!! This part of the ICW needs dredged. But there is never enough money allocated to dredging all parts of the ICW. Maybe we should have timed it to wait for a rising tide.

This part of the ICW got hit pretty bad last year by Hurricane Matthew. This marina in Fernandina Beach is still closed although cleanup and repairs are in progress.

St. Andrew Sound looked like a big body of water, but again we had to follow the markers to stay in deep water.

We managed to put 60 miles of water behind us today. Even if it was 20 degrees colder (like it is supposed to be tomorrow), it would still be paradise here at Brunswick Landing Marina with FREE beer and wine. Oh, and free washers and dryers! Self serve though.