Oct 14-22, 2015 Beaufort, NC to Beaufort, SC/Charleston & anchorages

Sunrise on the Ocean

Sunset on the Atlantic

We moved to an anchorage outside of
Beaufort, NC (pronounced Bowfort) right off the ICW and just inside the Beaufort inlet with plans to leave before dawn for our first off shore, Atlantic over night cruise.  We could see the ICW, Coast Guard Station, a freighter dock and the offshore channel to the town of Beaufort so of course there was a lot of boat traffic.  We did feel some wakes but surprisingly it wasn't as bad as we have experienced in a few other places.  Two sailboats anchored nearby and @ 5:30 AM in the dark early morning, we were not the only ones pulling up anchor.  As it happened, we followed one of the sailboats out & the other sailboat followed us, all feeling our way out in the pitch dark.  It was a comforting feeling seeing other running lights from these boats.  We were excited to get started and for the sunrise.  The ocean was running with 1-3 foot waves around dawn but gradually calmed to around 1 footers as the sun rose.  The sky was blue & the sun was shining.  To top off this great day, we were honored with a pod of dolphins swimming @ our bow, just having a great time.  I definitely didn't feel alone with them entertaining us along the way.  We used our auto pilot and alternated every 2 hours on watch duty.  We played games, read and napped as the other drove.  At night, we used our radar, auto pilot & AIS system to help identify any other boats in the area.  We did have a private 190 foot Yacht stay 6-10 miles off of our port stern for most of the night.  It was nice to have company even if most of the time, we could only see them on our AIS system. During the night, a freighter did cross our route 6 miles ahead of us and then a boat coming towards us came within ½ mile of us, close enough that I changed course so we could pass port to port staying ½ mile apart.  We could see all of the boats running lights because @ night across the horizon, one can see lights up to 10 miles away & the perception is that things appear closer than they really are.  Sunrise was beautiful and inspiring that we had made it through the night.  The biggest issue for us was not seeing right in front of us and hoping we wouldn't run into fish nets or debris.  With our electronics & visibility so good, the worry of running into other boats was minimal.  Our ride was very comfortable.  We definitely would do it again but still not up for anything like a transcontinental crossing.

Fort Sumter

Arthur Ravenel Jr Bridge

Lady Georgia

Sullivan's Island Light

Emerline

We docked in Charleston City Marina @ the Megadock with all the mega yachts, including Emerline, the 190 foot yacht that kept us company for most of the night.  We had stopped here last November & the weather now is much warmer than last year.  There was definitely excitement on the dock, Lady Georgia, a 200 foot yacht was getting all spruced up to host a rehearsal dinner that night. There were workers of all sorts all over the yacht, spit polishing everything visible.  Florist were lining the rails with over 3, 000 fresh carnations, hanging Chinese lanterns on the bridge, hoisting large floral arrangements & signs all over the decks.  A professional cleaning crew was hired by the party hosts for the Marina bathrooms, who then added fresh flowers, candles, monogrammed towels, marble soap & kleenex containers along with placing attendants in both the mens & ladies rooms. Special golf carts were leased to drive the guests who were dropped off by limos in the parking lot, down the dock to the yacht.  Butterfly ensconced shoe racks were placed @ the red carpeted elevated walkway.  All of this made quite the spectacle. And no, I did not crash the party, I know, I must be getting old.  But truthfully, I needed my cohorts and it's much harder to crash a yacht party when the guests are not mingling on the docks and these guests were not leaving the boat, the poor bored Ladies Room Attendant told me that she had seen only one guest from the party all night.  We spent our evening dining & catching up with my Aunt Carmela & Uncle Jerry and my cousin Mark (Kerie & Mathew couldn't make it). Always a pleasure to see them and they take us to the best places: we dined @ Virginia's, a small trendy bistro with great seafood.

Great Family

Beaufort, SC

We were only able to stay @ the City Marina for one night, they were booked for days.  We were lucky they fit us in for one night.  Conditions in the ocean were not good enough for us to go offshore again, so we headed south on the ICW.  Our timing was right to catch the current and tide from mid to high so we were able to pass through the shallow areas without touching bottom.  Thanks to Doug's expert planning, so thankful that he is our navigator & Captain,  just call me the Kitchen Wench!  We arrived in Beaufort (this one is pronounced Bewfort) South Carolina to the Downtown, Municipal Marina.  We had never stayed here before & they do have a strong current but luckily we were assigned the face dock & had an expert dockhand.  This marina is adjacent to their thriving downtown starting with a great public park that lines the shore including some awesome swings....There are restaurants & bars with patio's looking out to the water.  The shops are high end vs. souvenir stores. There are 2 coffee shops, a chocolate shop and an ice cream parlor, what more does one need? We borrowed the Marina's courtesy car & re-provisioned. Our second night there, we moved to the $20.00 mooring ball.

We continued along the ICW and again we timed our run with the tide & current.  We have been seeing a good number of boats heading south with us along the way.  We anchored in for the first time in Herb Creek along with one sailboat.  The next night, we anchored in Wahoo River where we anchored last December.  It's a pretty spot without any visible houses but there is a lone old fashioned street light on the shore, lighting up a small part of the woods.  During the day we did see a few small boats fishing nearby and @ night I smelled pot but didn't see anyone.  The next morning, we didn't leave till later due to the tides and who did Doug spot after hearing a big splash along the bank near our boat-but a huge Croc or Gator (I'm not sure of the difference).  He moved quick enough to make a splash but once we spotted him, he laid in the mud on the shore until the tide came in and washed him back into the water, then he did swim & we figure him to be about 8 feet long.  Gives me the shivers to think we kayaked in this same spot last December that the Gator was visiting today.  Our next stop was an anchorage in Jove Creek outside of St. Simon's Island, Georgia.  This was our first visit to this spot and it was nice: marshes all around, no visible houses, pretty strong current, view of 2 bridges and all by ourselves.  

October 9-13, 2015 Pamlico Sound, Bay & Neuse Rivers, Oriental & New Bern NC

River Dunes Marina, Oriental, NC

The weather has continued sunny and warm, so we are taking advantage of the good travel days.  We crossed the Pamlico Sound, cruised the Bay River and entered the Neuse River.  Tonight we will be staying @ River Dunes Marina where we stayed in the fall & loved.  River Dunes Marina is located a few miles east of Oriental, NC.  It is a very nice facility with pool, 2 hot tubs, a restaurant on site and a great club house.  We borrowed the courtesy car for reprovisioning & also for a stop @ the local post office to ship one of Doug's Raymarine Chartplotter's back to the factory for repair.  The courtesy cars available @ some of these Marinas are a godsend.  We met back up with Quimby & Shingebiss here, who took advantage of the courtesy bikes to go explore the neighborhood. We decided to change the venue for our cocktail hour and took our drinks up to the screened-in porch with the comfortable cushioned couches & rocking chairs, great stone fireplace & peaceful view of the boats & water.  Later after dinner, we also took advantage of the hot tub although it wasn't very hot or bubbly.

New Bern:Galley Marina

Next day dawns a bit overcast & cooler and we are off to New Bern, NC.  This is a bit of a detour but we have heard it is a great town to visit and we are going slowly in order to let Waterford catch us.  As it works out, my cousin Cindy & her husband Hans who have recently moved to North Carolina will drive a couple of hours to meet us in New Bern, since it's the weekend.  I am excited to see them, it's been 6 years since we have gotten together.  New Bern has at least 3 different Marinas to chose from and we pick Galley Store & Marina because it is located right in town. Lucky for us, we happen to arrive during MumFest so there is a lot happening right adjacent to the Marina. We didn't realize but the town's MumFest is similar to what we think of as a Fair but instead of being located at a fairgrounds, it is spread all over the downtown.  They had at least a 4 block section closed off to traffic and then other park areas also filled with tents and amusement park rides.  Ironically, the Carnival area was located in the Marina parking lot, so we were entertained by a lot of screaming as folks were turned up side down & every which way on the topsy turvy rides. There was every kind of food vendor imaginable present and every kind of craft available. It does rain on Saturday when Cindy & Hans visit but that's ok because we have a lot of catching up to do.  So we find a good pub for lunch and then walk back to the boat.  Our visit was too short when it came time to say good-bye but they have a 3 hour drive back home.  It's always nice to see family & friends.

Our duck loves Elvis

Vietnam Helicopters

founder of Pepsi Co

Sunday turns out sunny & warmer, so we walk around & check out the festivities.  We found the Farmers Market, the home of Pepsi Co. & the Tyrone Palace gardens.  New Bern has a quaint historic section with well maintained homes.  The town appears to be thriving and they go all out for this MumFest-it's nice to see their commitment to their downtown.  We were joined by KK Fluke @ the Marina, so we stopped by & introduced ourselves.  It's always a pleasure to see & meet so many fellow Krogen owners.

Tyrone Palace

We continue to miss our buddy boat pals on Waterford, as they remain in Deltaville as we move further south.  We know we'll meet again in Florida.  We move on back to the Neuse River and then into Cedar Creek off Adams Creek for the night on anchor.  Kozy Kadey is anchored there but we are not able to meet them.  Our night was filled with owls hooting, amazing stars reflecting in the water and Dolphins all around us.  I couldn't see them but I could hear them breath each time they surfaced.   We anchored here two nights awaiting our weather window to move to Beaufort, NC and then out to the ocean.

Happy Halloween from our duck
to all of you!

September 30-Oct 8, 2015 A Hurricane Scare in Virginia

While we were in Deltaville, we had Northeast winds that were pretty strong and along with the super moon caused some low level flooding. The winds calmed down & we left Deltaville finally, after being there for 10 days.  We were hoping to start cruising with Waterford, but they still had to remain in Deltaville for a repair.  We had plans to meet the next day in Hampton, VA.

There were still residual waves from all the winds, about 2-4's but they were on our stern, so it was ok. The toughest part was that we were running against the current with these waves so @ times our speed was 4.9 knots instead of our usual fast (haha) 7.2 kts. We were hoping to get settled in Hampton and wait for Waterford to join us and then rent a car to tour nearby Williamsburg but the forecast began warning of a tropical storm in the south, which was thought may turn into a hurricane and head northwest.  We need to take this seriously and plan ahead.  This is our first experience with a possible hurricane.  We anchored for the night in Hampton and made alternate plans.  We looked at our options, finding the most protected spot we could reach before the storm made it's way north.

Atlantic Yacht Basin

We are docked @ the
purple pin on the left

The next morning, we had decided to pull up anchor, get through Norfolk, lock through Great Bridge Lock where it's not tidal and is protected against wave action.  Atlantic Yacht Basin Marina is immediately south of the lock & bridge and was a reasonable one day travel distance.  When we arrived, we bought fuel for the great price of $1.93/gallon before taxes.  Didn't ever think we'd see it below $2.00. Along with the cheaper diesel prices, if you buy @ least 200 gallons, you get dockage for $1.00/foot.  A great deal since we didn't know how long we would need to stay.  Their face dock was full so we were docked "in the back where there's no electricity or water" so says Ed, one of the dock hands. There were already a few boats docked back behind their metal buildings, which are covered boat slips.  We were docked on one of the runs that led under the roof but we stopped right @ the edge of the roof.  There were some big beautiful boats stored in the covered slips.  In front of us, was a Krogen, a Fleming & a vintage Chris Craft. We felt we were in good company.  We also were able to plug in which made life much easier.  Meanwhile the Tropical storm, Joaquin did become a hurricane and was forecast to come ashore in our vicinity.  We knew we were safe from wave action, high tide flooding and moderate winds.  Hurricane force winds would be a different story, we saw a lot of objects that could cause major damage & who knew if these old metal buildings & roofs would hold up.  It was a bit tense for two days and the rains & winds from a nor'easter storm separate from the hurricane added to that tension making it dreary & dismal. Luckily, as time went on and the Hurricane pounded the Central Bahama's for 2 full days, the tract changed and Joaquin moved out to sea.  YAHOO, What a relief! The Nor'easter storm hung around so it continued to rain & blow for days but we could handle that.  We were able to walk to stores & restaurants close by.  Doug's wonderful nephew John, came by and brought his son Noah one night, took us out to dinner two night's and I cooked him dinner one night.   We ended up staying for a total of 6 nights due to the weather.

When the weather finally cleared, we along with quite a few other boats left and headed south.  We weren't sure how much debris we would encounter from high water on the North Landing River but we didn't see much our first day out.  We arrived @ Coinjock, a new stop for us.  Some of the boaters we became friendly with @ AYB, told us we had to stop there for the Prime Rib and it was a fair distance to travel our first sunny day.  We had met some friendly boaters @ AYB while weathered in: Onward, Quimby, Shingebiss & Mandalay.  We also reconnected with Windward who we met @ Deltaville.  All but Windward joined us @ Coinjock.

From Coinjock, we continued south on the ICW, enjoying a sunny day, crossing the Albamarle Sound with barely a whisper of wind & wave.  We saw quite a few boats traveling our direction, with sport fishing boats passing us & we passing sailing vessels.  We even saw boats traveling north! We joined Quimby & Shingebiss @ Tuckahoe anchorage.  A nice calm spot within sight of the ICW but far enough not to feel the wakes.  Bev & Emmy invited Liz, Steve, Doug & I over for cocktails.  Steve & Liz graciously picked us up in their dinghy.  It's wonderful to spend time with experienced boaters who love to share their stories & laugh a lot.

As we travel south, the boats we know come & go due to so many options of places to stop. Calls come on the VHF radio from boats we have met along the way, even from up in Maine, thanks to AIS.  Automated Identification System (AIS)  uses GPS (global positioning system) so boats equipped with this system send & receive signals that gives boat name, position, heading & speed for collision avoidance and is helpful in finding fellow cruisers. We cruised the Pongo River as the sun warmed our souls. After such a long stretch of wind, rain & gray skies, it's such a treat to have beautiful weather.  We anchored in Slade on the Allison Creek.  It was a serene, quiet spot.