Saturday April 30: Pictures from the Past!

A picture we didn't think we would see again: waiting in the car as the ferry at Cherry Point loaded!!

We rode this ferry just about every day (and back) when we spent a number of weeks with the boat either in New Bern or at Wayfarers Cove getting some work done and spending time with Wendy and Matt who were stationed at the Marine Corps Air Base at Cherry Point on the Neuse River.

This time though it was to meet friends who used to live near us in Cleveland.

Buck and Donna on the ferry.

Buck and Donna (who now live in Raleigh) agreed to meet us and spend a couple of days on the boat. The plan was to travel by boat from Morehead City to Oriental on Friday where they would pick up their car and drive home - we would continue on our travel north.

So we rented a car Thursday, drove to Oriental, picked them up and drove back to Morehead City and the boat.

It was quite windy on the ferry :-)




Let me back up a few days. We left Wrightsville Beach Tuesday early for the 50 mile trip to Swansboro. Normally we would stay at Dudley's Marina but this time decided to try Casper's. It's right downtown (well, mostly). Very windy by the time we pulled in. Lots of ospreys again in the area.

And the old tanks as we passed through Camp Lejeune are still there. Occasionally the waterway will be closed because live fire exercises are taking place on base. We work very had not to be there for those days!

The North Carolina shoreline along this area (we are traveling about a mile or so from the coastline) seem to be all sand dunes.

Seems like it would be great to be able to get out there on them. Marines only please .....

Caspers was a nice place to stay. Best part: a quick bike ride brought us to Yanna's for breakfast.

And Elvis was there to greet us once again!

Great place and the food was very good.




But Steve went a little crazy. He saw a dish on the table next to us and inquired as to what it was. Turns out it was the 'famous' fruit fritters.

In other words, take perfectly good fruit, dip it in some kind of batter, deep fry it and then sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with whipped cream and cherries!!

We ended up each eating one (bananas by the way was the fruit of choice) and giving the rest to a group of Marines. Those young guys can eat anything!!

When we woke up Wednesday morning this was the view out of our starboard window. It was a bad day for this sailboater.

Seems likely he mistook a marker and sailed right into the shallow area near the marina.

He was still there when we left - headed for Morehead City.

Not sure how they were going to get the boat off as the tide would take it up a bit but only a foot or so.


On to Morehead City. So we spent a day returning a defective water heater (which we just installed 2 months ago) and dealing with a warrantied TV from Best Buy. By far the most entertaining (and time consuming) was the TV. Two and a half years old. Warrantied for 5 years. Good so far. Dropped the TV off in Savannah as it needed to be sent off to the repair center. On the way to the repair center, the screen was cracked. Ok. Best Buy would give is a $250 credit. Works for us.

So at Morehead City, we go to the Best Buy. Now figure this out: bought a new 32" TV for $140. Bought a new mount (due to the increased size of the TV - Best Buy no longer sells 29" TVs) for $100. Bought another 5 year warranty: $30. Left the store with a $98 credit. We just didn't get it. They insisted it was correct. We took it and ran .....

Meanwhile it's now Friday and Buck and Donna are aboard. As you can see, the day started out quite cool but by early afternoon warmed up enough that Donna parted with the blanket!












Buck was the linemaster by the time we arrive at Oriental :-)

After breakfast out, Bambics departed for Raleigh and we continued our journey north. Such a great time with them :-)

Best little sign I've seen lately? It was in the little coffee shop in Oriental :-)

Monday April 25: No Fear in Cape Fear Today!

The Cape Fear River was quite tame today and definitely did not live up to it's scary name!

We just barely made it to Southport to catch the end of the incoming tide but were able to ride the tide north for most of the length of the river.

Sadly there was no time for Steve to catch one of his favorite lunch spots at the Provision Company. Not sure they were really even open yet as it was just after 11 am.




It's been nice travel days for the most part since we left McClellenville on Friday. A total of 140 miles over the past few days and we are now in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, having crossed the South Carolina border this morning.

After contacting Sailor Dave, we were headed Saturday for Georgetown - a reasonable hour + drive for them from Myrtle Beach.

It was Vivian's birthday so they agreed to join us for dinner to celebrate and BONUS at the last minute decided to stay overnight on the boat!


Best part though? Vivian's birthday present was two of the cutest kittens EVER! And I am such a sucker for kittens .... I think going back to when I was a kid.

We had lots of barn cats but I was never allowed to have a 'house' cat. Of course I could have a cat in the house but it still had to live in the barn.

Scarred for life :-)

Sailor Dave and Vivian

Steve cooked a great salmon with dill sauce dinner along with kale salad and spaghetti squash. He even made a birthday cake complete with candles.

It had been a while since we'd seen these two so it was great catching up.

The kittens (Rosie - black and white and Guy - orange) were also very good at keeping us entertained ;-)



After a nice breakfast out and a visit to the Rice Museum, Dave and Vivian and kittens headed back to Myrtle Beach. We decided to stay another day in Georgetown.

I had a great Chinese restaurant picked out but sadly it had gone out of business. So we went to McDonalds since it was right there and it was way past lunch time. What else were we to do, right?




Georgetown has quite the history. We learned some of it at the rice museum. The rice plantations used the fresh water of the Great Pee Dee and Waccamaw Rivers to cultivate and raise rice. Sold it all over the world. Of course after the Civil War, it was no longer productive to grow rice and the newly mechanized machines used in rice production could not be used.

The soil was so soft that it could not support the weight of the machines. There are still a couple of plantations that grow rice though. We were able to purchase a couple of pounds of the aromatic rice (smells like popcorn!). Good stuff.

The main street is very much like it was back in the late 1800's. The city has made very successful efforts to revitalize the downtown.

Travel yesterday was on the Waccamaw River for a long day. The plan was to stop for the day at Osprey Marina but it was so early that we continued on.

The current was with us so why not!

The sides of the river are lined with cypress trees - many of which are home to the osprey which apparently love this area! If you look really hard there is an osprey in it's nest at the very top of the tree that is draped in Spanish moss.

This osprey was guarding the entrance to Osprey Marina. Wonder if it's really stuffed .....

It was great finally seeing the lighthouse that indicated we were almost at our marina for the night.

New rule: never travel around the Myrtle Beach area on a nice Sunday afternoon!

Beautiful sunrise .... we left at 6:30 this morning. Again our lives these days are controlled by the tides and currents.

It was another nice day to travel - especially AFTER the waterway turned north instead of due east!

Although we've seen many dolphins in the days past, none were interested enough to ride the bow wave or tag along in our wake - until today!

Mostly they seemed to be just interested in finding something to eat.

I don't blame them but it's still always fun when they hang around with us.

Land of the sunken shrimp boats. We've been watching this one on the left for several years now.

The one right is a new one though. Don't recall seeing it before.



One last fun picture: a school outing North Carolina style!!

Thursday April 21: McClellenville SC

After a great breakfast yesterday morning at the Seacow Eatery, we left Edisto Island and continued our travels north.

Although the current was with us on the way out of Store Creek, we fought the current the rest of the day on the South Edisto and finally called it a day at the anchorage at Church Creek - off of the Wadmalaw River.

Lots of no-see-ums as it was quite calm by then. Sunset was very nice even though we could not enjoy it from the flybridge.


Another early morning leave planned as we were looking to ride the currents today - particularly the swift flowing cut connecting the Stono River with the waters of the Port of Charleston where the currents can flow up to 3 mph against us.

Planned to leave early but the fog had other notions! So we waited.

A sailboat further in the anchorage left and we left shortly after.

It still wasn't totally clear but certainly enough that we were good to go.

In the end it turned out to be a really nice day with little wind.

And the currents were definitely going our way! Traveling at 10.1 mph and about to enter the Charleston Harbor with currents between 1 and 2 mph more!

Charleston is a very busy place with huge marinas and huge boats.

We've stopped here most time on the way by but today just drove on by. We were headed to McClellenville - about 40 miles beyond Charleston.

Tides and current in our favor!

The homes along the waterfront are really amazing - as are the homes scattered throughout the city.

And of course there is always Fort Sumter - place where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.

For more info: Fort Sumter


It was a long day and with the late fog delayed start, we didn't reach McClellenville until almost 5 pm. Later than we normally like to travel.

Funny thing when we pulled in? Here was Mary Lee - Sailor Dave's boat!! We first met Dave when we were in Baltimore for two months as Steve was recovering from his broken shoulder.

We've been fortunate to be able to see him occasionally as we traveled north/south along the coast throughout the years.

An email, then phone conversation. He and Vivian are living in Myrtle Beach - a short hour drive from Georgetown. They were available Friday night and could drive down to meet us for dinner on the boat!

It will be great catching up - can't wait to see them.

How fortunate we have been to be able to have friends that will make time in their schedule as we travel along ....

Wednesday April 20: South of Charleston

"The Plan" went quite well!

We left Isle of Hope Sunday morning with favorable currents and sunny weather - albeit a bit cooler than we'd like. But the winds have finally died down.

Destination was Beaufort SC so a very manageable 55 miles.

Port Royal Sound - which can be quite nasty as it is a very large body of water - was well behaved :-)

The longer travel days find each of us sometimes napping a bit in the afternoon. More often it's me but occasionally Steve will take a quick nap as well. Works well as we travel along :-)




Lots of areas that are pretty open with an 8 or 9 foot tide, so the shoreline changes as we travel. It was a challenge just finding our way through the maze of waterways north of Savannah.

So many rivers and cutoffs and cut throughs. Let's hear it for the GPS and chart plotter!

It was a very quick stay at Beaufort - Lady's Marina. Nice place and we'll definitely go back there.

Very easy bike ride to just about anything - including a Great Clips! I was really in need of a hair cut!!

The current was going our way early Monday morning so we were up and out by 7 am.





The best part about getting up and just heading out is definitely breakfast on the flybridge!!

Once we are underway, Steve will make some type of sandwich (easier to eat) - usually eggs and seafood or in this case eggs and peameal bacon!! He was cleaning out the freezer and found the last of the peameal that he made in Banana Bay. Nice way to start the morning :-)

It wasn't long after leaving that we crossed over to the South Edisto River, leaving the ICW as we were bound for Jim and Linda's home on Store Creek. It's a very small creek. With lots of shoaling that isn't marked on the chart.

So Jim made this very easy; call when you go through Fenwick cut and I'll meet you.

Sounds like a great plan! How often do you have your own pilot boat through the shallow areas?!!

He met us at the entrance to Pierre Creek on the North Edisto River and we followed in his wake all the way up Store Creek.

As you can see it was just above low time and the mud banks were very visible!

Linda met us at their dock and helped us to get tied up and plugged in.

Their boat, Symmetry, is currently stored in New York awaiting their return.

We first met Jim and Linda in Michigan as we were traveling on the Loop and spent several weeks traveling both on Lake Michigan and the inland rivers.

Wonderful couple - we hope to see them up north this summer.

They live in a beautiful area of South Carolina in a home that overlooks the marshes in this area.

Ever changing as the tide comes and goes twice a day.

This is the first place we ever saw a wood stork. Really huge - and very unique birds.

Steve, Linda and Jim

Lunch at the beach one day. It was a nice day.




It wasn't all play as Steve and Jim knocked off a couple of projects on the list.

Here they were replacing a link on the anchor chain. Also completed: fix a leak in the deck and finish fixing the water pump that we've been having trouble with.

Couldn't have been a better visit - we'll be back :-)