Our First Post

O God, thy Sea is so great and my boat so small

 

March 31, 2023, Seapath Yacht Club, Wrightsville, North Carolina

 

 

                                                                                                      

What a difference a week makes on this amazing adventure. We had a wonderful time on the waterway this week, two game changers, first there is more water in South Carolina than we had last week, and having the experience and learning from last week made a huge difference. Every day we learn more and its makes us better. It is so rewarding to be learning so much each week, small victories, but in the end we do get better every day and that’s very fun and rewarding.  We had a small world fun experience in Georgetown which I will explain below additionally we arrived in North Carolina our 17^th state and spent the night with long time good friends Jean and Bruce Williams in their Willington NC home. Details to follow but overall, it was a great week on the ICW and so review how we got there.

 

 

 

 

Saturday March 25, 2023, Travel Day # 110 Beaufort Marina Beaufort SC, To Harborwalk Marina on the Ashley River, Charleston SC. Total Distance 72 Miles, Total Time 7 Hours

We very much enjoyed our time in Beaufort the marina was right in town, so everything was close by. We had become friendly with two other boaters and had worked out a plan to depart in the morning together. Unfortunately, the middle boat had an alternator problem and had to stay behind and get mechanical help. The current in the river was running at us, at 6 knots so it was tricky departure. The end boat left first, so we slide the middle boat down to the end of the dock and we were able to slip out and get off the dock cleanly, but it was a hairy departure. Once we got underway, we quickly caught up with Sea Grace and followed her for 2 hours. They hailed us a one point to let us know they were slowing down because one engine was over heating, and wanted to run at a lower RPM, so we passed them on the one and said our goodbyes. We stayed in touch all day and by the time we got to Charleston, they were only a few miles behind us, so things were ok for them. It was a very pretty ride mostly through a very rural areas. We only had three locations that the water was skinny which was much more enjoyable than the previous week. The ICW in South Carolina was very rural and we passed many miles with no homes or towns on them. I will include pictures that show the shoreline, but it was very pretty. We spent the morning on the Stono River and passed by Ossabaw Sound which was a large outlet to the Atlantic ocean. The ICW in this area is very close to the Atlantic and we went through several outlets and were able to see the Atlantic which is always fun. We spent over an hour rounding Edisto Island which is a National Wildlife Refuge which was beautiful. As we approached Charleston we started to see more and more homes and I’ll include some pictures, some very nice places.

We arrived in Charleston around 3 Pm and cleaned up the boat. We have spent time in Charleston and in fact have great friends that live in Charleston, O.P. and Martha Jackson who were unfortunately not in town. They were visiting another good friend, Jerry Knecht in Bali, so we decided to just spend one night in Charleston. I walked up to the local Publics and Meredith never left the boat which was unfortunate as Charleston is a wonderful city. We will be back when The Jacksons are in town!

 

 

Pictures

Dredge on the ICW

Very pretty Shoreline
 

Houses Along the Way

 

Sunday March 26, 2023, Travel Day # 111 The Harborwalk Marina Beaufort on the Ashley River, Charleston SC, To Harborwatch Marina, Georgetown SC, Total Distance 67 Miles, Total Time 7.5 Hours, We had a very easy departure on Sunday as we were the first boat on the face dock and had the current on our nose, so we were able to depart without any assistance and the Admiral was awesome, she is really doing amazing work (without a rotator cuff, not easy for sure). The first thing we had to navigate was the crossing the Ashley River, which is the inlet from the Atlantic Ocean, into Charleston which as you can imagine has a lot of commercial traffic. Fortunately, we did not have any commercial traffic when we crossed the river. A few miles into the voyage we went past Fort Sumter which was very cool. Fort Sumpter sits at the mouth of Charleston Harbor and is considered the guardian of Charleston. Fort Sumter is where the Confederacy fired on the US Garrison on April 12, 1961, which began the Civil War. The stuff we have seen on this trip is amazing, this was one of them, such a meaningful historical fort. Most of the day was traveling through once again a rural area and in many times very close to the Atlantic ocean. We traveled alone all day and did not see many other boats on the ICW. We only had two locations that we had low water and the Admiral navigated us through them both flawlessly. We did see some nice homes along the way and will include pictures. It was a clear day with light winds and was a very relaxing (I haven’t said that in a few weeks) voyage.

The small world encounter!

We arrived in Georgetown at 3:30 pm and went to the gas dock as we had not filled with Diesel in two weeks and they were only charging $4 a gallon, which is outstanding. As we were filling up a boat went by us with a couple in it and they swung around after passing us and asked us if we were really from Kennebunk. We said yes we are and said they we are going for a boat ride now and will stop by when we get back. We did not recognize them. Sure, enough I was down in the salon (working on this blog!) and Meredith was reading, and we hear a knock on the hull. Beth (Rolfe) Joyal introduces herself to us and we invite her on board. She was raised in Kennebunkport, and we start talking and it’s like an old home week, the people, and places. I tell her I worked for The Hussey’s and that was went it went viral. She was extremely close to The Hussey’s and goes into too way too many great stories (that I will not be sharing) about Jon, Anne, and Richard. Then she goes on about how wonderful Martha Hussey is (who is Meredith and my segregate mother), we were moments away from tears. Martha you are an amazing woman, who has impacted more people than you will ever know, and it is not just me who feels that way!   So, then Beth drops that her husband Rick grew up on Wyndegate Drive, which we say no way what house. Yup, his parents built the house that we live in and that is where he grew up. Beth then went back and got Rick (and a few drinks) and the rest as you can imagine was history. We had lots of connections and they gave us many great places to visit on our way north, recommendations that we have already incorporated into our planning.  What are the chances you pull into a marina in Georgetown South Carolina and meet the man who grew up in the house you have you have lived in for 35 years! Amazing, what wonderful people they are and I’m sure many of you know Rick and Beth and would agree they are salt of the earth folks. They have sold their home in upstate New York and live on their boat Lake Effect 4 and are staying in the Georgetown area for the next year.

The Joyals and Rogers

After Docktails we walked around Georgetown and had dinner in a great little restaurant on the river and walked home. This was a great day on The Loop, and I continue to feel one of the best parts of this trip is the people you meet and even though Rick and Beth are not on the loop it’s a perfect example of meeting great couples.

 

 

 

Track  

 

Pictures

Fort Sumter 

Houses along the way

 

Dolphin

Beatiful waterway in this section of SC

 

Monday March 27, 2023: Travel Day # 112 Harborwatch Marina Georgetown SC, To Grande Dunes Marina, Myrtle Beach SC, Total Distance 47 Miles, Total Time 5.5 Hours, We enjoyed our overnight in Georgetown very much and headed out at 8 AM an hour before the low tide so the currant was minimal. We spent most of the morning cruising through Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge which was beautiful.  The ICW in this area was very narrow, maybe ¼ to ½ mile wide and was extremely rural, no homes just beautiful shoreline. The National Refuge was pretty, and we had very little traffic all day. I will include pictures showing the ICW it was an enjoyable morning. We were headed to Myrtle Beach and planned to spend two nights, which we did. As we got closer to Myrtle Beach the rural country side gave way to a few homes on the side of the ICW nicely spaced out but as we got closer to Myrtle Beach that changed. Some very nice homes for sure but the last ten miles the houses were right next to one another, not my cup of tea. We arrived at the marina just before 2 o’clock and cleaned the boat up and washed off the salt. The Marina was in the middle of nowhere but was very well protected and that is why we chose it. The previous two nights we were on the rivers, and the currant and boat traffic had made it a pretty bouncy evening, so we were looking forward to being in a protected harbor and we slept very well both nights. After getting the boat squared away we walked 1.5 miles to Publix’s to pick up some provisions and walked back. We were back aboard around 5 PM just in time to enjoy a pleasant evening on board. The next morning, we did some projects, I worked on the Blog, and we gave Her Idea a deep cleaning (pressure wash) to get another layer of salt off the hull and decks. We then headed out for a 3 mile walk to Myrtle Beach which was very pleasant. The area that we walked to the beach were all new developments with hundreds of homes on top of each other. They were very nice and seemed well designed and constructed but I sure do favor having some yard to hang around in and  have some privacy. In the area, I was just blown away with how many people live in such a small footprint. We have never really spent time in the Carolina’s, and I am sure there are many fine neighborhoods in the area we just didn’t see them. Certainly not insulting anyone’s lifestyle as I’ll probably end up in one of those  neighborhood next!  We had dinner that evening at the Grande Hotel which we were docked at and sat in the lobby bar and had an above average meal. I’ve always been a big fan of lobby bars (people watching) but normally stay away from eating in hotel restaurants.  Just an old habit, normally the food isn’t great, and I like to get out of the hotel when I travel and check out the local fare and community. We had heard good things about the food and I’m glad we chose it; the meal was excellent.

                                                                                                                     

 

 

 

Track

 

National Wildlife Refuge

 

Swing Bridge coming up

Swing Bridge Opens for us

Walking Myrtle Beach

Jelly Fish

The Trees are just Beautiful 

 

Wednesday March 29, 2023, Travel Day # 113, Grande Dunes Marina: Myrtle Beach SC, to Morning Star Marina Southport NC, Total Distance 50 Miles, Total Time 6 Hours.  We had another great night sleep, no rocking boat, and no traffic, and woke to a beautiful morning but a bit brisk, it was 48 when we got out of bed.  The sun is now rising at 7 AM, and that is about when we get up, it’s so nice to have it light out. We normally try to depart at 8 AM. As you can imagine we have this down to a pretty good routine, we each have our chores, and we have a checklist we go over to make sure everything is covered. I review the route and the weather first thing with coffee and then we go about our business. The 50-mile journey today included going down an 8-mile stretch called the Rock Pile. This is the first area that we have been on where the ICW is not muddy or sandy, but rocky.  The rest of the day was spent on a more rural section once we got outside of Myrtle Beach. I will include pictures and show the shoreline, but the ICW is much wider after the Rock Pile, and it was a pleasant day cruising.  As we were exiting the Rockpile a tug with a barge appeared around the corner southbound coming at us at 6 knots.  I radioed the captain and said, ‘how do you want me to pass you”? His response “you can’t pass me, and I am using the entire channel and I’M not moving an inch”.  I said Captain I’m in 5 feet of water and I have no place to go. Then he informs me that directly behind him is another tug who was towing 1200 feet of pipe that they use to dredge the river and that tow had two side pushers alongside the pipes. I said to the Captain what am I to do? He said you can only do one thing, beach your boat, turn 90 degrees, and ease up on the bank and that will keep your running gear clear and in plenty of water.. I’m thinking beach the boat…… Oh MY…  Well, that is exactly what I had to do, I turned 90 degrees and gently eased the bow at idle speed onto the shoal. Not 5 minutes later the tugs and barges came by us with maybe 15 feet clearance. Fortunately, it was just low tide and so we just hung out for an hour, waiting for the tide to come in. A center console with an outboard came back and offered to help. Meredith threw him a stern line and he gentle pulled us off with no difficulty and away we went. No damage to the running gear, no leaks and the bilge is dry.

The weather was great as it warmed up all morning, which always makes for a pleasant day. This section of the ICW is very close and parallels the Atlantic Ocean. We cruised by several inlets to the Atlantic and had the currant running in our favor at times and a few hours later we would be bucking the currant. On this particular section we had the current on the nose, so it took us an extra 1 hour plus to do the 50 miles journey. We are used to the effects of the currants now and you just go with the flow. For a majority of the trip, we were going by beaches on the eastern side of the ICW which was very pretty and remote. We never saw any people on the ICW side of the beaches, I’m sure they were all on the Ocean side, but it sure seemed like a nice place to get away from it all. We arrived in Southport at 3 PM quickly washed the boat down and walked into town by 4 PM. Southport is a very cool village several stores and a few restaurants and bars, but it was wise to only spend one night in town. There wasn’t a lot to do or see, but it’s a very quant town, I took a bunch of pictures.

One thing that the AGLCA (American Great Loop Cruisers Association) has are Harbor Hosts in most locations. These are folks who mostly have completed the loop and want to stay involved with Loopers. They help us out when we need local advice and are a great resource if you need to get some boat service done. Often they will drive you to a store if you need to go someplace. At any rate the Harbor Host in Southport Robert and Kay Creech from C-Life live right across from the marina. They are well known to invite all Loopers up on their porch for a sit down. When we were walking back from town, we saw them on their porch and went up and had a wonderful hour catching up. It was a wonderful way to end the day.

Track

 

Pictures

 

Atlantic Ocean Inlet

Houses on the Way

Southport

 

 

Thursday March 30, 2023, Travel Day # 114, Morning Star Marina Southport NC, To Seapath Yacht Club, Wrightsville NC, Total Distance 26 Miles, Total Time 3.5 Hours.  Thursday morning, we woke to no winds which was a great thing as our first portion of the journey was to cross Cape Fear River which is a major waterway into Wilmington North Carolina. Wilmington is another major port with a lot of commercial traffic and so sharing the waterway with large ships sure keeps one on their toes. We had an uneventful crossing, and the winds stayed calm all day. It was a 9 mile trip northbound on the Cape Fear River. We departed Cape Fear River and entered Snows Cut which is a four-mile connector from the Cape Fear River to the ICW. Snows Cut is a narrow passage which has minimal places where you can pass another boat. Therefore, one needs to announce on Channel 16 (the VHF radio) that you are entering the waterway to advise any other travelers in the Cut to be prepared, sure didn't want a repeat of the rockpile! Luckily we had only one boat that we met who was Southbound and we were able to pass each other in a section that we had plenty of width and depth. Once through Snows Cut we had a pleasant hour and a half cruise on the ICW on our way to Wrightsville NC. We are staying at the Seapath Yacht Club and arrived just after 11am and was able to wash down the boat and do a few projects.

The reason we chose Wrightsville was to meet up with long time friends Jean and Bruce Williams who live in Wilmington. Jean and Bruce picked us up from the boat at 2 PM and showed us the town. Wilmington is a very charming city with a very deep southern history. The historic district was very nice and unfortunately I left my camera on the boat so I didn’t get any pictures. We had a drink on the River in a great little pub and went back to their home for Dinner and night sleep in a bed that didn’t rock all night. We had a wonderful two days with Jean and Bruce and we were able to shop on the way back to the boat to pick up some supplies. It is always nice to have a car when provisioning the boat as we can pick up the heavier items. We were back on the boat late afternoon, and I worked on the blog and hopefully will get it published tonight.

The Williams and The Rogers

 

We continue north in the morning if the weather holds up, as we are expecting high winds and rain so TBD if tomorrow is a travel day. I know this is a shortened post as we have been moving a lot this week and will be moving most every day this coming week once the front comes through tomorrow, the weather looks pretty good. 

Ships going up the Cape Fear River, Southport 

 Traveling Northbound on Cape Fear River

Entering Snows Cut

Beaches on the ICW

Inlet to the Atlantic Ocean

Homes Along the Way 

Sunset

Cheers