Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Beryl on the way out to sea

We waited out Beryl today. We were surprised that most of the boats at the Marina left in the morning. The rain started after 11 a.m. and didn't end until about 8 p.m. At dinner, a couple who were waiting for the rain to end heard that the Alligator Swing Bridge stopped opening because the winds were at 30 knots. They also said they heard on the VHF radio that a 55 foot boat sank on the Alligator River. The weather should improve tomorrow. We plan to leave early for Norfolk.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

This is the second Trumpy we've encountered.
Someone said they are timeshares on the water.
You buy weeks of use that include the professional
crew.

Diane, Brad and Karen, Coinjock's Restaurant and Marina

Tropical Storm Beryl was predicted to bring heavy rain and wind Wednesday afternoon, but when we checked Weatherbug early on Tuesday, there was a severe flooding warning beginning Wednesday morning. We had planned to go to Alligator River Marina which is a little more than halfway to Coinjock. With the weather now predicted to begin earlier in the morning, we decided to go 85 miles to Coinjock where we could sit out the storm on Wednesday. We left the dock at 7:20 a.m. It was a long day that started out OK, but we encountered numerous rain squalls as we crossed Albemarle Sound. Albemarle Sound is the largest open body of water going up the Intracoastal and we were hoping to avoid heavy winds. The winds were reasonable, but we had a following sea that the autopilot didn't handle that well. The limited visibility during  rain squalls and the crab pots didn't help the situation. We arrived at Coinjock at 5:10 p.m. and we were definitely ready for a break. Coinjock is renowned as one of the least expensive places on the Intracoastal to buy fuel, so we added 150 gallons. That is the second time we have put on fuel. We added 100 gallons in Charlston for a trip total to date of 250 gallons. Coinjock isn't that fancy, but it is well-kept and the store is well-stocked. Earlier on in the trip we were hard pressed to find staples like tonic and half and half. Coinjock had all the essentials including bacon and eggs. The restaurant is rustic inside, but the food was very good and reasonable. Tomorrow will be a rest day and we plan to arrive in Norfolk, which is only 50 miles away, on Thursday.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Belhaven Marina

Sunset from Belhaven

We left at 8:15 a.m. for Belhaven, NC. The wind was pretty strong which created a rocky ride up the Neuse River. Once we turned into the Bay River, the ride improved. A Monk 36 came out into the channel in front of us about half way up the Neuse River. They were familiar with the waters and we followed them into Belhaven. It made for a very easy day navigation wise. We arrived at Belhaven at 1:30 p.m. The town was pretty sleepy and nothing was open accept for the hardware store. The marina is very well maintained, but it looks like the town has seen better days. We are watching Beryl which could bring heavy rain on Wednesday. There is a floodwatch for the entire area.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Casey went home to Greensboro with Diane's car and we left for Oriental, NC at 9:30 a.m. It had rained overnight and it was very windy the day before. Thankfully the wind had shifted and the rain stopped. It was pretty calm as we left the dock. We arrived at Whitaker's Pointe Marina at 12:45 p.m. We picked the marina based on the ActiveCaptain rating. It wasn't in town, but they had a courtesy car that we used to get a few groceries and make a stop at a mini West Marine store. The town didn't have much to offer, so we were glad to be at Whitaker's. The marina sponsored a Sundowner cocktail party on the porch. We went back to the boat and had chicken stew that Diane brought. There was laundry and the restrooms and showers were about the best we've encountered. It was a great stop.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

We spent the day in Beaufort. The morning was boat clean up while Karen and Casey walked the town and shopped. Our guest Diane Kyker arrived at 3:30 p.m. We met the people next to us who also had trouble with marker 45A. We went to Queen Anne's Revenge and were joined by Jeff from C'est la Vie. We started encountering each other just north of Saint Augustine. We were sitting outside and it started to rain. Jeff was staying at his friends apartment that was upstairs from Queen Anne's Revenge, so we took our food to the apartment. Jeff's wife, Anne, joined us after she got out of work and we went through the rain to Aqua for a nightcap. Jeff told me about ActiveCaptain which has been very helpful for information.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Casey's Birthday Celebration dinner at Spouter's

Tommy, Casey and Katrina

Left Dudley's Marina at 8 a.m. Beware of Marker 45A. Even though I had the marker on my right, we still hit the mud. We believe Mr. Dudley, who was having his breakfast, came on the radio and talked us back into the channel. There is a warning on ActiveCaptain about the shoaling at 45A and from now on before heading out the next day, I'll check ActiveCaptain for any advisories that have been posted along our route. The day was windy, but sunny. After the morning experience, I talked to the Beaufort dock master and asked if there was anything I should be on the lookout for as we began our approach. He was very helpful and took any uncertainty out of our entry into the channel. We arrived at 11:30 a.m. It was nice to have the rest of the day to enjoy downtown Beaufort. We had lunch at Clawson's on Front Street and then enjoyed an afternoon visit from Kent and Laura's daughter and Casey's roommate, Katrina, and her boyfriend Tommy. They left around 6 p.m. and we then celebrated Casey's birthday at Spouter's Inn on the waterfront. There was a band playing at one of the restaurants on the wharf which made it very festive.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

A working Marina, but a welcome stop

Karen, Casey and Brad before dinner on the boat

Left the dock at 9 a.m. for Dudley's Marina and arrived at Dudley's Marina at 4 p.m. There isn't much between Wrightsville Beach and Beaufort, NC. Dudley's had some good reviews for price and friendliness. $27 for the night. Two annoying swing bridges cost us 1 hour and 20 minutes. We counted 8 cars going over one bridge during our wait. We passed a military operation and had a helicopter land on shore near us. The sand cloud engulfed the boat. First day that we had  more sand than salt. Dinner and a movie and then on to Beaufort in the morning.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Kiki at watch

We left Southport at 8:10 a.m. and arrived at the Wrightsville Yacht Club at 11 a.m. The weather was perfect. This is a pretty area. It was nice to have the day to shop for groceries, do laundry and sit by the pool. The bow thruster stopped working the third day into our trip and a mechanic who was working on a boat next to ours at the dock offered to take a look at it. He chased the problem down to the switch which I was able to get at the West Marine located next to the grocery store. We now have a bow thruster again. Woo hoo. I was prepared to go without it, but it sure is nice to have when docking. We walked to the beach in the evening and ate at a Mexican Restaurant that was packed. The food far exceeded our expectations.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012



Shallote Inlet

We left at 9:25 a.m. It was a sunny day with moderate winds. We passed Shallote Inlet and Lockwoods Folly Inlet. Both inlets were striking surrounded by sandy shores and breaking waves where they met the ocean. Kiki, the dog, received a much needed bath on the aft deck while underway. We arrived at Southport at 2:25 p.m. We find that cruising five or six hours is much more enjoyable. We walked into town which had an automotive store where we found a replacement for the spreader light that wasn't working. I bought two. Turns out the sealed beam lights are actually tractor lights. Southport is a nice marina and we walked a short distance to FishyFishy, a restaurant on the water. It was our waitress's first night and we found out that she shared Casey's birthday coming up Monday and that they both studied in Florence, Italy at the same school.

Monday, May 21, 2012

We left Georgetown, SC at 8:30 a.m. and had a very beautiful cruise to North Myrtle Beach. There had been flooding in South Carolina, so some of the trees at the edge of the waterway were under water. The edges of the banks were all tree-lined and the houses were modest, but generally well-kept. We stopped at 2:25 p.m. at the Barefoot Marina in North Myrtle Beach. We walked to shops across the river and returned to the boat for a delicious dinner. It was a very pleasant day and a picture-perfect evening for dinner on the bridge.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

We woke up to Tropical Storm warnings for Alberto. A number of boats heading north were waiting for the storm to move out of the area. The wind was blowing a pretty steady 20 knots and I was concerned about getting out of our slip. The wind wanted to blow us into an 85 foot private yacht on our starboard side. After reviewing the storm track and talking to the marina staff, we decided to head for Georgetown, SC. 'We had a window of about a half hour where there wouldn't be much current, since high tide was at 8:30 a.m. The marina had a skiff docked behind us that was in our way. One of the dockhands took the skiff and kept it between me and the 85 foot yacht. We were able to clear the yacht and the end of the dock without assistance, but it was nice to have help, just in case. We were on our way at 8:40 a.m. As we crossed Charlston Harbor, we had a very rocky ride until we turned north by Fort Sumter. We took down the flags because the incessant flapping was annoying and we were afraid they would just be shredded anyway. As the day progressed the sun came out and the winds started to subside by early afternoon. Around 1 p.m. I called the Georgetown Marina to reserve a slip for the night and asked about their wind. Only 10 knots out of the north. We arrived at 5 p.m. and walked into Georgetown. We met a local who were on their evening walk. They gave us a brief historical overview of the town. They said Georgetown had more revolutionary era homes still in existence than Charlston or Williamsburg. It was a very quaint town, but as has been our experience, southern towns are pretty dead on Sunday nights. There was a very good restaurant open on the town wharf where we had an excellent meal.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

We awoke to a cold, rainy morning in Charlston, SC. We took a carriage tour of old town homes and businesses and enjoyed a pint at the Mary Darcy Pub while we waited for our tour to begin. After the tour we returned to the boat where we were joined by Karen's cousin Mary and her husband Mike for a drink before we went into town for dinner. We had dinner at Hank's which is a local favorite. We had a great evening that included delicious local oysters and clams.

Friday, May 18, 2012

 We woke up glad to have a day off from running the boat. Our daughter, Casey, flew in from Greensboro in the afternoon. This was our first time getting ready for guests. Karen changed the bedding, did the laundry and cleaned the inside of the boat and Brad cleaned the outside. Casey arrived around 4 p.m. and after a snack, we went into Charleston for a walk and dinner at Leaf's. One of Casey's clients in Greensboro told her to try the restaurant run by her son. The meal was great and we enjoyed meeting the owner who was pleased to have us stop by on his mother's recommendation.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Jeff and Anne on C'est la Vie
We first saw them in North Florida and
would cross paths numerous times
until we met them on land in Beaufort, NC
 which was their final destination

Charleston City Marina

We left at 8:30 a.m. for Charleston, SC. It was mostly overcast throughout the day and as we got closer to Charlston, it looked like we might go through a thunderstorm. The storm was just west of Charleston, so we moved down below. The storm stayed west and we were able to dock without getting wet. The marina had a shuttle service to Charlston, so we did some walking in town and found a restaurant that was located in a former church. Needing spiritual guidance, we decided to check it out. It was happy hour and the bar was staffed by volunteers from a local food shelf. The prices and ambience were great, but the food wasn't spectacular.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Beaufort, SC Town Docks

Isle of Hope had a loaner car that we used to go to the grocery store. We left the dock at 9:20 a.m. for a pleasant cruise to Beaufort, SC. We arrived at 4 p.m. and enjoyed walking around town. We picked up fresh Georgia peaches and tomatoes at a Farmer's Market. We had a great meal at Panini's located on the waterfront promenade that is part of downtown.

Tuesday, May 15th, 2012




Saint Simon Sounded headed the wrong way

We left Jekyll Island at 7:10 a.m. The next decent stop was reported to be Isle of Hope outside of Savannah. We followed a boat from the marina through marker 19 that was reported to have shoaling into the channel. We were close to high tide and we had no problems, but it was very narrow. This would be the first of many small creeks and passages that we traversed through Georgia. As we entered Saint Simon Sound, we continued to follow the boat in front of us. I was following the dotted line on the chart, but didn't realize that the boat in front of us actually went to Brunswick instead of following the Intracoastal. It took as 45 minutes to figure out that we weren't on the Intracoastal. The error occurred for a couple of reasons. I assumed the boat we were following was headed northbound on the Intracoastal, the electronic chart I was following had a dotted line that continued in the direction of the boat we were following and we were at the top of a new chart page. When we turned the page, the configuration of the next page was close enough to the Intracoastal that we thought we were on the Intracoastal. In fact, there is a small notation at the top of each chart page that indicates the Intracoastal channel. I don't think I'll ever miss that again. The error made a long day even longer. Between the horse flies that stalked us and the challenging creeks and back waters, we were exhausted by the end of the day. The horseflies were so bad, we moved inside. We arrived at Isle of Hope at 7:30 p.m. We had hamburgers on the grill and were glad to turn in early.

Monday, May 14, 2012

A number of people suggested we stop at Jekyll Island. We left Fernandina Beach at 8:40 a.m. and arrived at Jekyll Island at 12 noon. We should have gone for a bike ride as soon as we arrived, but there were thunderstorms looming. We decided to to wait, but it didn't actually start raining until 4:30 p.m. We were glad to be at the dock when the storm hit. We were bounced around quite a bit with lightning and thunder all around us. Checking the weather report after the storm showed gusts up to 40 mph.

As the rain was stopping, we took a bike ride to the resort. There were bike trails throughout the island, but we missed seeing them because of the storm. We stopped at the restaurant at the dock for an unimpressive dinner/snack.

Sunday, May 13

Decided to spend the day in Fernandina Beach. We went for a bike ride, went out to lunch, checked charts and Karen did the laundry. We met a couple doing the loop who are on their way through Lake Champlain. They plan to be in Burlington, VT on July 4th which is about the time we plan to get there.

Saturday, May 12

One of the many dolphin that enjoyed a ride in our wake

Left the dock at 8:20 a.m. and arrived at Fernandina Beach Municipal Marina at 4 p.m. The winds were 15 to 20, but otherwise a nice day. Northern Florida is very rural along the waterway with pockets of upscale housing communities. The chart on the plotter ended at Nassau Sound. It took a few minutes to figure out the actual channel on the paper charts, but we were able to continue the old fashioned way by reading the red and green markers.

Friday, May 11

Left at 8:45 a.m. Arrived at Saint Augustine Municipal Marina at 3:50 p.m. Travelled through Mantaza's Bay. Mantaza's Bay was a low area with beautiful houses. It looked more like a New England tidal area. It was good to be at the dock on the early side. Enjoyed walking around Saint Augustine and the A1A Aleworks which featured locally brewed beers and great food.

May 10, 2012

Left Cocoa Village Marina at 8:30 a.m. Arrived at Halifax Harbor Marina in Daytona Beach at 4:45 p.m. Officially beginning our as yet unexplored waterways. It was in the 70's and sunny. Passed Cape Canaveral and went through some very remote areas.

May 9, 2012

Left Melbourne Harbor at 9:20 a.m. Arrived at Cocoa Village marina at 11:50 a.m. Good weather. Cocoa Village is quaint and local. We saw "old friends" Patti and Frank playing their "Americana" music at Murdoch's. Casey passed her North Carolina message therapy boards today.

We woke up to a beautiful sunrise in Manatee Pocket in Port Salerno. Left Pirates Cove Marina at 8:40 a.m. The highlight of the day was a pod of four dolphin who played in our wake as we left John's Island in Vero Beach. The small islands all along the intracoastal on either side up to Sebastian were pretty amazing. We arrived at Melbourne Harbor at 4:30 p.m. We went to Meg O'Malley's for dinner and enjoyed their version of open mike night for Irish music.

First Day

We left the dock at 12:08 p.m. Arrived at Pirates Cove Marina in about four hours. Beautiful weather and uneventful. Still figuring out where to put everything and looking forward to getting into the groove. Kiki the sailor dog is just happy to be with us.