Blog of Events & Happenings

We slept in today — up at 7 AM and underway an hour later.  It was 31 degrees on deck but we got the electric cable and lines onboard and were off to Myrtle Beach.  It was a 72 statue mile trip through the lower portion of the Cape Fear River, then two known shallow sections of the ICW that have taken some paint off the hulls of many boats (Lockwood’s Folley and Shallotte Inlet in NC).  Our schedule indicated going through these two areas at near low tide.  What fun!  We made it through — and I wish I could show in photos what it’s like twisting and turning through a shallow inlet from the ocean as the sands beneath the water keep changing.  A fun event.  After these events we passed through “the Rock Pile,” a section of the ICW that surprised the government developing the ICW.  This was an approximate five- mile section of the ICW that was solid rock.  The digging caused added cost and time so it has less width than the rest of the ICW and on the shoreline heavy rocks can catch a less than watchful Captain navigating this section.  As we closed in on Myrtle Beach we noticed preparations for an ICW Christmas Lighted Boat Parade in North Myrtle Beach.  Over 50 boats participated.  We moored past the parade route so we only saw a couple of boats preparing and one coming past after the parade.  We ate aboard and tried to clean the boat with no water on the docks.  But, this morning, we were delighted to find the star of the parade, the Barefoot Queen paddle boat, moored behind us.   Wonderfully decorated!  Moving on, we’re headed to Georgetown, one of our favorite spots and where we’ve spent Christmas aboard in the past.   Below are some pictures from today.

As mentioned, we’re in Beaufort NC for the Thanksgiving holiday.  Wednesday we relaxed and went to the store for last-minute items for the Thanksgiving feast.   We also enjoyed a beautiful sunset over some gorgeous sailboats.  Thursday was a special day — Carey made an exceptional dinner and the two of us enjoyed each other’s company and the food.  We also enjoyed listening to the start of a Beaufort tradition — the 5K Gobble Walk that allows young, old, and everybody in between.   And it was a good stop as the winds blew 15 to 20 knots — not a good day for traveling.  Friday arrived with light winds and plenty of sunshine, but still cold.  We got underway at 7 AM and started the 70-mile trip to Wrightsville Beach, NC.  You’ll see some of the sights along our way below.  What can’t be shown in pictures is the great navigation day we had.  We traveled the 70 miles managing 3 bridges that had to open for our air height but only opened on the hour and half-hour and two very shallow inlet areas in the ICW.  One of those we had to travel at dead low tide.  A nail-biter but we made it through.  We arrived at Wrightsville Beach at 4 PM and you see some of the lights of the evening as in the last picture.  We had our best meal of the trip so far (and most expensive) at the restaurant at the Bridge Tender Marina, where we had stopped for the night.  After dinner, back to the boat to get ready for tomorrow’s trip to Myrtle Beach and Barefoot Landing Marina.

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Monday

We were up and underway at 7:45 AM Monday for a long 80-statute mile trip to Dowry Creek Marina. We’ve stopped here often because we like it and became fond of the previous owners. Now that it is under new ownership, we wanted to see if it had changed.  We found the facilities much improved with a new restaurant and rebuilt slips.  However, the old home friendliness wasn’t as evident.  A few pictures below give you a view of the place.

One of the pictures below is of a mile marker of the ICW that starts at Norfolk (at marker 0) to somewhere in Florida at 1000+ miles.  Little known, the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) distance is measured in statute miles because it’s considered a land-based waterway, meaning the distances are most relevant to navigating within the confines of the shoreline and are best understood by users when compared to the miles they would travel on land, unlike open ocean where nautical miles are used, which are slightly longer than statute miles.

Also, the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is approximately 3,000 miles long, stretching from Boston along the Atlantic coast, around the southern tip of Florida, and then up the Gulf Coast to its final marker in Brownsville, Texas. The ICW from Norfolk, VA to Florida gets most of the advertising and attention.

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After a nice meal at the Salty Crab at Dowry Creek we enjoyed BenjOllie’s firm mattress and slept soundly.

Tuesday

Up Tuesday and underway for Beaufort, NC, a 70-statue mile trip through the Pungo River, the Pamlico River, the Neuse River, and the not-famous Adams Creek that winds you through parts of North Carolina to get you to Beaufort.  An enjoyable ride if the Neuse, notorious for rough weather, is quiet.  It was!  We tied up at Beaufort Docks, had a glass of wine on the marina, and then headed across the street to Clawson’s for Shrimp Scampi and Shrimp and Grits.  Great food.  A few pictures along the way follow.

We like Beaufort, so we are staying here for a few days to enjoy Thanksgiving. We’ll be underway Friday morning. It’s turning out we’re updating the blog every other day or so. It is working out that way, despite the lack of Wi-Fi and the general schedule.

 

 

 

We got caught in Norfolk due to very strong winds on Currituck Sound so we stayed at Ocean Yacht Marina in Portsmouth.  We wanted to move south but the weather said otherwise.  We relaxed onboard with reading, watching TV, and enjoying the sites and fine food in Portsmouth.  We also completed some necessary maintenance on the boat.  Although we did not initially think the Thyme on the River Restaurant — Cajun and Caribbean cuisine —  was going to be a positive experience, once we tasted the food, we walked away pleased

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Finally, the wind died down and on Sunday morning we we continued our trip south.  We pulled out at 8:45 AM Sunday and headed south.   An hour and a half later we arrived at the Great Bridge Lock and locked through with five other boats.  The sun was out and we passed numerous small boats, including kayaks, with dedicated…determined… fishermen along the way.

After passing through the lock we traveled 39 more miles south to CoinJock Marina in North Carolina where we had dinner at their restaurant, after a while visiting with the people at the bar.   The restaurant is known for its 34 oz prime rib.  I had pork chops and Carey had the smaller prime rib version.  One unpleasant event on this part of the trip involved a fast downeast cruiser that overtook and passed us just 20 feet on the starboard side at 20+ knots.  It rocked us and as I tried to turn into his wake to avoid heavy rolling we touched the bottom.  Luckily there was no damage and we were underway quickly after the “jerk” passed.  We moored just ahead of him in CoinJock and I enjoyed a few words with the boat’s Captain.  Luckily there are not many boaters like him on the water.  Polite boaters are safe and experienced boaters.

Other than the “jerk” we had a great day on the water and are now getting ready for a good night’s sleep and travel to Dowry Creek Marina tomorrow.

Up at 7 AM we smiled as we read the weather report — less than 5 knots of wind on a Chesapeake Bay that was flat calm.  We readied the boat and  said “See you along the way” to a retired marine family on their sailboat also getting underway this morning.  We both moored last night at Regatta Point Yacht Center.  We talked and found we are traveling a similar plan.  They’re headed to the Bahamas for the first time.  We’ve seen this before.  They’ll travel their plan and we ours, yet meet along the way. It’s one of the benefits of this kind of travel ….meeting and developing friendships.

It was a peaceful 50 nautical mile cruise to Ocean Yacht Marina in Portsmouth.  But studying the weather forecast we’re pretty sure we’ll be here until Saturday as a major wind weather event starts tonight with 35-knot gale force winds that lingers until Friday or Saturday.  Our next travel events include going through Great Bridge Lock lock and onto Currituck Sound with its narrow dredged path for boats down to Coinjoick Marina near Albemarle Sound. Good weather needed for this stretch of the ICW.  We’ll wait here until the winds die down. After dinner aboard, we’ve settled down to our nightly Jeopardy viewing.

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