Cruising the Low Country

11/11 - This morning we raised anchor and left the Awendaw area around 8:00. It was sunny, but quite cool on the flybridge. We kept the enclosure “closed up” for the first couple of hours but, eventually, the temperature warmed and we opened it up. The norm the past few days has been cool nights and mornings, but the days have been sunny and warm. We can live with this.

We cruised passed Charleston. We decided not to stop (we didn’t stop on the way north this past spring either). Since we were in Charleston for the AGLCA rendezvous in 2009 we decided to visit Savannah instead as we pass through Georgia.

The trip was pretty easy today … we saw very few boats. Not sure where everyone is hiding out (the sailboats may all be taking the outside ocean route today). We settled on Church Creek for our anchorage tonight, arriving just before 3:00. Another peaceful anchorage.

Lots of pelicans hanging out with these fishermen

We cruised passed Isle of Palms

Lots of fishing boats out today -- It was a holiday

Cooper River Bridge (in Charleston)

Charleston Harbor

We are back in the country of very long docks

The Captain relaxing after a long day of cruising

Another nice sunset

11/12 – We were up and underway just before 9:00 this morning. Another nice day. Today we cruised to the Beaufort area. Last spring we stayed at Port Royal and took a cab into Beaufort for the day. This time we decided to anchor in Factory Creek just north of the Ladies Island Swing Bridge. Another nice anchorage. We took the dinghy down with the idea of exploring Lady’s Island. We’d heard you could dock your dinghy at the Lady’s Island Marina for $10 and then walk to many restaurants and even a grocery store. Not so – didn’t cost $10 – it was free. The dockmaster said no charge and gave us recommendations for restaurants. We ended up eating at Upper Crust Pizza. It was very good and we had plenty of leftovers for the next day.

Lady's Island Marina

Monk's Vineyard at anchor

Finally - Warm Weather

Cypress trees along the bank

11/9 and 11/10 – We headed out this morning at 8:30 with beautiful blue skies and warm weather. Gerry had on shorts and a T-shirt, but Linda was still in long pants. We had a leisurely cruise down the ICW and decided our anchorage for this evening would be Avendaw. It was a very nice place with lots of marsh grass and beautiful sunsets. It opened up to the ocean and at one point we tried to take the dinghy to the beach, but it was a bit choppy (and not quite as warm as we’d thought), so we settled on exploring the marshes and then returned to the boat. We decided to stay for 2 nights. Very relaxing place.

This truck w/trailer looked like they were driving on the water
(but they were on a flat ferry)

Shot of the shoreline

Peaceful water

More marsh grass



Anchorage at sunset (first night)



This and the next 2 pictures are sights during our dinghy ride



Sunset - the 2nd night



Osprey - A Great Marina

11/7 – It got very chilly overnight. Linda was still under the covers when Gerry decided we needed to leave to get through the “Rock Pile” (a stretch on the ICW that passes through a channel with rock ledges along both sides). So, we were up and raising anchor and underway shortly after 7:00 a.m. Our passage through this area was pretty uneventful and our only hang-up of the day was the Socastee Swing Bridge. It operates “on demand” instead of on a set schedule. Usually an “on demand” bridge will open within a few minutes of your request. However, as we got closer we saw several sailboats waiting. We called the bridge tender and he indicated he would be opening in a few minutes. Well, we arrived and when we looked back we saw about 10 other boats heading towards the bridge. The bridge tender decided to wait until all boats were close enough to go through. One of the sailboats that had been waiting before us, later said he was there well over half an hour. Oh well, it was a nice sunny day and we weren’t in a hurry.

Our destination today was the Osprey Marina. We’d heard a lot of good things about the marina and decided to stop for a couple of days. Upon arrival we topped of the fuel tanks. Osprey is known to have the lowest priced diesel in the area. We took 200+ gallons at $2.67/gal (you do the math – not cheap, but cheaper than most places we’ve seen along the way). We met a fellow looper, Joseph Kozak, at the marina. He was singlehanding a 25 ft sailboat and had completed the loop in 2005. He wrote a book entitled: America’s Great Loop: One Man’s Experiences. It’s over 600 pages – WOW – and I thought I did good with my blog.

We spent the rest of the day doing chores and watching football.

11/8 – Burrrr – it was chilly this morning – in the low 30’s and there was frost on the dock. However, once the sun came out it warmed up quickly to the low 70’s in the sun and it was a beautiful day. We spent the day cleaning both the inside and outside of the boat. This was our first real chance since leaving home to wash down the boat. It really needed it!

We made arrangements with a local restaurant, Scatori’s, to pick us up for an early dinner. They are located next to a nice grocery store, so the restaurant picks you up, you eat dinner, walk next door to provision and then they bring you back to the marina. The food was wonderful and the staff very friendly and helpful. It was a great evening out after a day of working on the boat. Tomorrow we head out with plans to anchor in different spots the next few days. We spend way too much money when we’re at marinas.

One of the big casino boats in Myrtle Beach.  Thought the
name was clever: Aquasino

The channel into Osprey Marina

Facilities at Osprey

The sailboat - Compromise.  The owner has
lived on her for many years.  It's a 25 foot Cal.

Monk's Vineyard at the Marina



Making a Run for the Border

The morning started out chilly – in the low 40’s. We went for breakfast at P.J.’s which was right across the street from the marina. We were back at the boat and untying lines by 9:00. We had a couple of options today: make a long run to Osprey Marina, make a medium run to Myrtle Beach to a marina or make a short run to the Calabash anchorage. We decided on the shorter run to an anchorage since we had spent the last night at a marina and plan on staying at the Osprey Marina in a day or two. (We are trying to keep our ratio of anchoring/marinas higher on the anchoring side.)

We thought the run would be pretty straightforward, with no bridges to worry about. We were told that the Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge had finally been replaced by the new 65 ft highway bridge. However, shortly after we got underway we heard chatter on the radio and discovered that this was, in fact, not quite true. While the new bridge appears to be completed, it is not yet open and the Pontoon Bridge is still operating across the ICW. Fortunately, we were able to adjust our travel time to arrive within 10 minutes of the scheduled 1:00 p.m. opening.

A half hour after the bridge, we arrived at Calabash Creek. The creek entrance is right at the North Carolina, South Carolina border. The spot where we anchored is in South Carolina. If you continue up the creek to Calabash, you are back in North Carolina. The entrance was a little tricky and we almost ran aground, but the Captain backed up and we were able to sound our way into deeper water. We were one of three boats in the anchorage when we arrived. By the time the sun was setting there were well over a dozen, plus we had watched two sailboats run aground. One of them required the help of both SeaTow and TowBoat US to push/pull them off.

We spent a quiet night on the boat and turned in early. Tonight we “fall back” so we changed our clock before going to bed. It is supposed to get in the 30’s tonight.

Leaving the marina - beautiful blue sky, but oh soooo chilly

Since it was the weekend, the inlets were full of fishing boats

The Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge -- still operational
We read on Active Captain tonight that the new bridge will
be operational on November 10.

This picture shows a grounded sailboat being helped by
two towboats.  Also, the casino boat is going by in the background

The anchorage at sunset.  There is another Monk trawler
in front of us

A Day in Southport, NC

11/5 - We woke this morning to nippy temperatures, but beautiful blue sky. We were up and underway by 8:00. Our destination today was Southport, NC. Last spring when we passed by, we thought it looked like a nice stopover for the day, so we called and made slip reservations. The run was short, less than 4 hours, and pretty uneventful.

Leaving Wrightsville Beach anchorage.  No problems this time !!

We passed by Carolina State Park.  It is newly renovated, but there were no boats in any of the slips 



Monk's Vineyard at the marina (in the middle)

 After checking into the marina, we walked across the street for a quick lunch as we had not had breakfast this morning. After lunch, we spent a couple of hours doing chores and then headed out to explore the town. There were many eclectic shops and the people were very friendly. We spent several hours just roaming around. As night fell, we decided to eat dinner at Fishy Fishy Café. Great views and good food. It was a very pleasant day in Southport. Below is a collection of photos taken during our wanderings.



The restaurant where we ate -- right on the water

A beautiful sunset to end the day

Looking for the Carolina Sunshine

11/3 - We woke this morning to the sound of the couple across the dock preparing to leave. Soon there were many more voices than two and some of them were quite loud. We peeked out to see what was going on. The boat leaving was quite a large sailboat, but it did not have bow thrusters and the strong wind was blowing it against the dock. They had to maneuver in a small area and were having difficulty turning around to head out of the marina. The marina staff jumped in a small tender and attached a line to the bow of the sailboat and helped pull them around and then down the fairway of the marina.

Since we were up, we prepared to leave too. Fortunately, we were on the opposite side and the wind was blowing us out a bit instead of into the dock. Gerry backed the boat down the dock, with the dock master holding one of our lines in case we needed assistance. We managed to depart without much trouble at all. Once out of the marina and on the ICW we passed by our friends house (Rick and Betsy). Right about that time, they called us on the radio and wished us a safe trip – they had been watching us as we headed down the ICW.

Took a shot of Rick and Betsy's house as we passed by.
Thanks again for your hospitality!

Boats waiting at the Surf City Swing Bridge

The pink house.  We took a shot of this house last spring;
however, this time our friends provided as with a little local knowledge.
Seems the owner of this house also owns several X-rated
establishments in the area ..... hummmmm .........

Today’s trip was complicated by 3 bridges we needed to have opened – one of which opened on the hour and half-hour, and two that opened only on the hour. When you’re a slow boat it’s tricky making the bridges at the right time. If you’re too late, then you have to maneuver around until the next opening. We timed the first opening about perfect – only had to wait a few minutes. For the next two we decided to take a chance and hope we could sneak under them. They are listed at 20 feet. We need 19 ½ feet to clear. That’s way too close for comfort. Fortunately, it was low tide so that gave us a few feet more of clearance. We cleared both bridges without having to wait for an opening. At one bridge we had 25 feet of clearance and at the Wrightsville Beach Bridge we had 21 feet.

Our destination for the evening was the Wrightsville Beach anchorage. Gerry said this was kind of like getting back on the horse after you’ve fallen off. For those of you that followed our blog on the Great Loop, you may remember that we ran aground earlier this spring going into the Wrightsville Beach anchorage. Then, we later thought we were dragging the anchor and tried to start the engine so we could move – but the engine wouldn’t start. It wasn’t until the next morning that Gerry figured out what was wrong. Even with all the bad luck last time, we decided this was the best anchorage for tonight.

11/4 – The forecast for today was 100% chance of rain with some wind. A good day to stay put. We puttered around on the boat. Gerry did a few things in the bilge; Linda read, made bread and worked on the Bahamas provisioning list, all while listening to the rain and the wind howl outside the boat. All in all a pretty relaxing day.

Boats in the anchorage in the early morning

Chilly Breezy Days

10/31 – We decided to stay another day at River Dunes. It was Sunday and we felt lazy. We checked out the courtesy car again (this one was also a Yukon XT, but a newer model). We drove the other direction and looked for a bigger hardware store than the one in Oriental. The good news – we found one; the bad news – it was closed on Sunday. We had lunch at a local restaurant and stopped at the Food Lion for a few items. Back at the boat we watched a little football and Gerry worked on routes for the next few days.

Gerry and the courtesy car -- much nicer and bigger than what most marinas offer

11/1 – We were up early this morning and underway by 8:30. The weather forecast for the next few days is pretty much the same – winds at 15-20 and a chance of rain. We had one stretch of open water today on the Neuse River that was a bit uncomfortable, but it was only for an hour or two. We took a couple of waves broadside that sent things flying, but for the most part the ride was okay. All in all, we were glad to get back into the protection of the ICW.

We planned to stay in Morehead City for the night and, after reviewing the guidebooks and Active Captain decided we’d try to stay at the free dock at the Muddy Duck Tavern. If you had dinner, the dock was free. Well, we found the restaurant and secured the boat to the dock ….. but the restaurant was closed on Monday. No one was around anywhere, so we just decided we’d stay (afterall, we had planned on eating).

Approaching Beaufort

Parked in front of the Ruddy Duck (our free dock for the night)

Looking down the ICW at sunset

11/2 – We were up early this morning as it was very windy last night and the lines kept stretching making a lot of noise. Linda made Gerry a good breakfast this morning because …. It was his birthday!! After breakfast we untied the lines and headed down the ICW. It was cloudy and quite windy, but the ICW was protected and the ride was comfortable. We had a pretty easy trip arriving at the Swan Point marina around 3:00. Gold Looper friends, Rick and Betsy, live in the area and had arranged to pick us up and take us out to dinner. It was great seeing them again and we had a most enjoyable dinner and had fun catching up on each other’s adventures the past several months. They had just signed the papers on a new boat and were very excited about the prospect of cruising on a bigger boat. They did the Loop on a Glacier Bay 26. That is a pretty small boat to live on for a year. Their new boat is an Endeavour Cat 36. We visited with them for awhile at their condo which is right on the waterway. They have a beautiful home with a fantastic view. Thanks Rick and Betsy for a fun evening.

Approaching Cedar Point Highway Bridge

Passing by Camp Lejeune as we headed down the ICW

An Osprey VTOL (vertical take off and landing) hovering over Camp Lejeune

Boats going through the Onslow Beach Swing Bridge

Monk's Vineyard at the dock at Swan Point Marina

Out to dinner with Rick and Betsy