Month: December 2015

Last night Susan and I discussed the holiday issue. She was having withdrawals from lack of holiday matter……and I hate to admit it, but so was I. One of my Grandsons face timed me yesterday and when I asked him what he wanted for Christmas, he told me he just wanted to be with me on the boat for Christmas. It brought tears to my eyes. Susan misses her kids, I miss my kids and all 7of our grandchildren. 

We decided it would be nice to find a place to try to capture some Christmas spirit. We chose Beaufort S.C. There is a marina right in the town. We can walk the town fully decorated and spend Christmas there too.

Beaufort is a good 70+ mile day and it includes three bridges that need to open. The first was 7ish miles away from Isle of Palm Marina…and it was closed from 7:00am to 9:00am. That looses two hours of daylight right off the top. Then the tides and currents were against us for the next three hours.

We crossed Charleston Harbor… Ft. Sumpter etc.

The day was small craft warnings, overcast and “upstream” all day.

At about 4:15 we were approaching Beaufort and a fog started to set in. We “felt” our way around and got to the last bridge we needed to pass before finding our marina. The bridge has a clearance of 30′ at high tide. We need 34′ to clear. As it happened, the tide was low (the tidal range here is 7 to 8 feet!) and the marker boards on the bridge showed 35′ of clearance…..we squeaked under.

The fog was rolling in by this time as we approached Beaufort Town Marina……..I’ll continue the story tomorrow. Happy Christmas Eve to all…..

 

I’m up at 5:30 every day getting ready for the days travel. Trying to squeeze in as close to 10 hours of travel a day is the goal for everyday. At 8 knots my absolute best day will only have ten hours of daylight…..that eighty miles. Period. After 10 hours it’s too dark to travel. There are numerous no wake zones (which are not charted by the way) and bridges that need to open for us to pass. The bridges can be a serious factor on the amount of distance you can make each day. Some are closed for rush hour traffic daily. Others only open on the hour and half hour, and some only open on the hour. If you don’t coordinate the bridges with your trip everyday it can cost you 1 to 2 hours of travel.

Every evening we sit and pour over charts, weather sites, and available facilities and try to decide where to next. Last night we decide to make Isle of Palms SC.

Several hours…again on the Waccamaw River. Desolate, spooky and reminded me of scenes from the movie Deliverance. The forecasted showers came and went but did not interfere with visibility too much. The currents worked for us in places and against us in others.

Susan was lucky enough to catch some dolphins playing along side us.

4:30ish we pulled into Isle of Palm Marina. Place was crowded so we got space at the fuel dock.  Can’t find a pic right now but will add one. Nice facility, great restaurant and bar on premises and decent shore facilities.

Tied up the boat and headed for the bar to take advantage of happy hour pricing…….you could have guessed it by now.

 

The weather today was calling for rain. Lots of rain. As we poured over the weather maps and it appeared that there was an opportunity at least for a short day of travel in between several bands of medium to heavy rain. We chose Bucksport S.C. for a short travel day.

We left the Little River area and made our way down along the Myrtle Beach area and headed into the Waccamaw River. This area is marshy, thickly wooded, unpopulated area and it looks eerie….. Miles and miles of it. We were in and out of rain showers the last hour or so of the trip. At mile post 377 we pulled up to Bucksport Marina….which didn’t look much better. Susan and I stopped here in 2004 when we were bringing our first boat up the intercoastal. Restaurant was closed this time and we remembered the place in a better time. Staff was nice but the place has run down over time…..

Today we traveled into South Carolina. Barely. We stopped at Myrtle Beach Yacht Club in Little River S.C. Uneventful. Marina was packed with boats and we spent the night at the fuel dock because it was so crowded. Have you ever tried to park a 70′ boat on a 70′ dock that was lying 90 degrees to your path of travel? Great bar and appetizers…….

I spoke to our friend Mervin and he was not able to reclaim his boat. The boat shifted and the engines were completely covered by water. The salvage contractor was quoting prices to raise and get the boat to a facility that could lift it out of the water of more than what he paid for the boat. And that did not include the costs to repair the damage to the hull, engines and generator……..he decided to abandon the vessel. He had salvaged what he could, put his dog in a kennel, and was flying back to Baltimore to retrieve his truck to return and pick up his dog and belongings….

It was a very sad story. To put time, money and sweat into a project and loose it all in a few minutes is crushing…

Today we plan for a 75 mile leg to Southport, N.C. Up again at 5:30 to start my routine to prepare for the day. Engine fluids, checking equipment operation, belts, bilges etc. Shortly after 7:00 we set off. Definitely warmer but still in my hoodie as we start the day. The sailboat that came in after us left 30 or 40 minutes before us in the dark. Good luck with that. I need daylight to feel comfortable on this trip. We see a group of dolphins swimming around the boat. Good omen for the day….

We see the sailboat ahead and are slowly closing the distance between us down the cut when suddenly we see his boat crosswise in the channel and apparently stopped. As we approach it appears odd.

The sailboat hails us and informs us that he is hard aground and is asking for a tow off the bottom…..that’s ok. I’ve had training for this, I can help. THIS WAS MY FIRST BIG MISTAKE OF THE DAY.

 

Before I really analyzed the situation, we approached the sailboat to take a line. I twisted the boat around in front of the sailboat, took the line and started forward. Nothing, I mean we weren’t moving…we were grounded on the same sandbar. So, two decent sized boats laying crosswise in the channel motionless and  to make matters worse, we were blocking the view of the temporary channel markers from the south bound traffic.

This was Browns Inlet. A direct connection of the Atlantic Ocean to the intercostal waterway. Storms wash sand in and out of these openings and drastically change the shape of the channel. The Coast Guard created an “s” shaped channel to the west side waterway which our sailboat friend missed and so did I because I was going to help me out.

The tide was rising and has a range of almost 3 feet so we knew we just needed to wait it out and ok it took 3 hours before we could work ourselves off so Southport was out of the question and we had to settle for Wrightsville Beach and the Dockside Marina. I don’t recommend the marina….. Their shore facilities are locked when the bar is closed…

 

 

We left Oriental and headed to Swansboro around 8:00. Our friend Mervin left about an hour ahead of us as he was attempting to set up to go offshore the next day. The day was present but chilly. As we approached Morehead City, I received a radio call from Mervin. He had run aground on a flat where several channels converged. It was a very confusing area to attempt to read. Lots of ship traffic.

The tide was coming in and he was able to get off before we reached him. He decided to follow us for awhile.

The ride down the coast was pleasant. Sun shining and temps were beginning to go up.

When we reached Swansboro we approached our chosen Marina for the evening, Caspers Marina and Melvin headed further south to find an anchorage.

Swansboro is another water town. Nice restaurants and shops along the waterfront. Visited the Icehouse Bar and Grille and one other one but we stayed too long at the first bar for me to remember the second bars name…..Susan was the first to the bar….ok she had stepped away for a moment…..

And she found a friend when we were leaving…

Nice town to visit. You can walk everywhere.

When we returned to the boat, we met a new arrival on a sailboat headed to a warm area to do some maintenance on his boat. He was sharing a radio conversation he was listening to between the Coast Guard and a boater who had run aground and was taking on water. It was a single handed fellow traveling with his dog……. we knew immediately who it was. It was Mervin. He struck something underwater that ripped a hole in the bottom of the boat. He was working with TowBoat to try to get it into the marina so he could make repairs. He would keep us informed. The best news is that he and his dog were rescued safely.

 

 

Today we make Oriental N.C.

Oriental Marina and Inn – decent facilities and a great restaurant. Shopping and drinking establishment are located within walking distance.

Ever since we bought this boat in April, I really wanted a chance to show my father. I owe my love for boating to my father. I remember always being around boats when I was growing up. Dad always had a sailboat. As the years pasted, the boats got bigger and bigger. Every weekend (at least it seemed) we were on the boat. Sailing, racing, painting, varnishing, polishing…. the experience was different each week.

Even when we weren’t on the boat we were involved in something nautical…..like “looking” at boats. I really like that. Dad and I walked the docks at marinas and he would tell me about the different features and histories about the sailboats we would see.

My brother Marvin worked with me (no he worked… I couldn’t keep up with him) on repairing, upgrading a lot on our “new” boat for the last 5 months. It was the first time I have really spent time with him in years. We decided I had to show Dad the boat on our way south. That’s why we had to stop at Oriental.

and our buddy Melvin showed up 30 minutes after we landed……

Forecast for the day was for increasing winds from the SSW which would be uncomfortable for a trip to Oriental, N.C. Heavy fog settled in after sunrise which would delay our departure. We decided to sit it out. Another day driving a golf cart!!! We found all the bars in Belhaven and several great places to eat. If you ever visit, check out the Tavern.

Today was beautiful. We decide to push the envelope to run 70 plus miles to Belhaven, N.C. It is quiet and calm  at 7:00 am and push hard to get to and through Albermarle Sound. The wind picks up as we reach the Sound. By the end of the 13 mile crossing the winds have increased to 20-25 knots from the NE. The last miles miles are bumpy but we clear into the Aligator River. Overall an unevental day as we make Forest River Marina by sunset.

As we pull up to our dock, we see Melvin who had beat us by about 30 minutes……. time for a short reunion and a beer to swap the days stories.

Great destination. Marina is clean and friendly. Had loaner golf carts so we could visit the town and make a provisioning stop at Food Lion. 

We almost had the marina to ourselves…..

nice sunset…….

We highly recommend a visit to Belhaven and particularly the River Forrest Marina!!!

Ok, an extra day at Coinjock. Winds blowing hard out of the west. The Albermarle Sound crossing will be extremely uncomfortable. We will wait it out. Tomorrow looks much kinder so today we hung new blinds in the salon, clean up the boat exterior, replace a lock cylinder in the salon door….. Always something to do.