November 28, 2022

Lynn here today. 

After a beautiful sunset last night, we’re off to Florida, crossing the GA/FL state line at about 11:30 today. It’s 80 degrees and sunny. Time to unpack the shorts and put away the sweats. 

Sunrise looks different now. Palm trees in silhouette!

Many of you asked what it would be like living on a boat for five months so I thought I’d give you a tour today. Rod takes care of the outside – washing the boat after a day on saltwater and handling the mechanical issues which you’ve read about. That leaves me with indoor duties, cooking, cleaning, making the berth, etc. (I also get to handle the lines when we’re coming in and out of the dock.)

The boat is a 32’ Legacy which is very comfortable and beautifully appointed. The back deck has mahogany seating with upholstered backs (thank you, Jannie) and room for a table as well as our cooler for keeping Diet Coke and beer.

The lounge area has two long seating areas and a table. The helm is on the right and the navigators seat is on the left where we keep the charts while traveling.  (Both seats drop down to create twin beds, if needed.)  I really enjoy spotting the markers and keeping track of where we are on the water. 

Life jackets always close by!

In the cabin, there’s a nice galley with a microwave, freezer, refrigerator and cooktop. We haven’t cooked a lot on the boat yet but have packets of 60 second pasta and rice, shrimp and meatballs, sauces, and of course franks and beans. Mostly, I just make reservations!

We usually have a protein bar for breakfast and a sandwich for lunch after we dock, but today was special. At 9:45 Rod craved a hot dog so I thawed them out in the microwave while we were underway and we had a very,  very early lunch. Most evenings we go out to dinner and tonight in Fernandina, FL, there are lots of choices so it will be tough to decide where to go. 

Oops, CC&BW didn’t do her job today yet!

The other cool feature is the pedestal which holds all the dishes, etc. – very clever and we love showing this to folks who come aboard. 

The head (bathroom) is very comfortable with a large shower and mirror.  We packed up plastic containers with our individual bath stuff so just have to pull out the one marked “M” for Makeup, or “N” for nails. Also a large hamper behind the toilet where we can store extra sheets, etc. most marinas have laundry so when the hamper is full, we just grab a handful of quarters, a detergent pod, and restock the closet with clean clothes. 

The berth is also comfortable with an almost queen size bed and plenty of storage on either side as well as drawers underneath. More storage than I would have expected. Notice the beautiful cherry finish on the cabinets. Guinness sleeps in the shower since he hasn’t learned that he doesn’t get to stretch out on half of the bed. 

Today was a day of seeing old wooden sailing ships. Lynx passed us in St Simons and we had seen her in Chestertown last year. Today, just down the dock from us is a large reproduction of a boat that sailed around the world named the NAO Trinidad, and of course Guinness had to go aboard!

Lynx

It’s very exciting to finally be in Florida, and the warmer weather feels great!  It took us 27 days to get here…in 6 more days we’ll be in Ft Lauderdale, and 3 days after that we’ll be in Key West!

Beautiful sunset tonight!

TTFN

Sunday, November 27, 2022

Roy McAvoy, alias Tin Cup, is one of my favorite movie characters.  And one of my favorite quotes is this: “That… was a defining moment, and when a defining moment comes along, you have to define the moment…or the moment defines you.”

LOL!

Anyway, this morning we had a defining moment.  We woke at 5, thinking about the weather forecasts we had seen last night.  Not good:

• Thunderstorms possible

• 24 knot winds

• Gusts to 35

• 4-foot seas

HOWEVER, those forecasts seemed to be focused on coastal waters, not the ICW.

We feel like we have come a long way, but it’s been a slow trip…visiting friends and family, weather delays (thank-you Nicole), staying one day too many in Charleston.  We have been on the road for 25 days, and we are just over half-way to Key West.  And we are due there in 11 days.  It’s time to put the hammer down.

The trip through Georgia is a lengthy trip – about 6 hours.  You can go outside at Savannah and run all the way down to Brunswick, or even on down to the first inlet in Florida – St. Mary’s.  Given the coastal forecast, however, going outside was not an option.

But it seemed like the ICW might work:

• The route through Georgia takes a serpentine path, winding its way through rivers and creeks.  Six times, this path crosses a sound – a place where inland waters have a direct connection to the ocean.

• I knew that the sounds could be rough – they were on my last trip.  But they don’t last long.  In each case, you are exposed to open water for about 40 minutes before you enter the next protected creek or river.

• And we reasoned that the wind and waves would probably be less than forecast for the coast.

GOOD DECISION!  We left at 7AM and had a very comfortable 6-hour run.  The first hour was overcast; the second and third featured fog (thanks for Radar); the sun broke through for the latter half of the trip; and the seas were calm the entire way!  

There’s not much to see as you travel through this part of Georgia…just miles and miles and hour after hour of marshes. But we had fun watching the seabirds. They also follow the boat drafting off the air currents the boat creates.

Some rain rolled in, but only after we were already tied up, fueled up, and pumped out.

So we defined the moment!

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Some of our regular readers may remember us trying to find funny boat names. We passed this one earlier on the trip and thought it was strange to have a cat’s face in the name Sundog. They were tied up next to us last night and guess what – they have a cat on board! Next time Lynn’s cat, Kaly might join us.
PS: Don’t tell her!

Saturday, 11/28/22

This is the fourth time I’ve visited Jeff and Kathy in Palmetto Bluffs; Lynn’s second.  It’s aways a pleasure to relax and unwind here.  The house is gorgeous; the setting is gorgeous; and Jeff and Kathy are SOOO generous and hospitable.  PLUS, their boys Brian and Jeffrey were “in the house” along with Brian’s love Lexi.  We ate some great meals, watched some great football (American and FIFA), saw some alligators, and enjoyed a fire in all the fireplaces.

It was wonderful to spend Thanksgiving here, instead of some anonymous marina.

We left this morning in brilliant sunshine under Carolina-Blue skies.  We enjoyed a short, smooth run (about 3 hours) to Isle of Hope, just south of Savannah.  We crossed the Savannah River, and we could have turned right and gone up the river into downtown Savannah.  I have to confess, howeer, that I don’t really like Savannah that much.  Charleston – yes.  Savannah – meh.

Isle of Hope is charming.  Cute homes, huge Live Oaks festooned with Spanish Moss, and lots of churches.  We took a courtesy car from the marina and ran into Sandfly for supper.  Can you think of a better name for a town?

Tomorrow, the weather looks unsettled.  A thunderstorm is expected, accompanied by some exciting 30 mph wind gusts, and wave heights may be as high as 3 feet.  Nevertheless, we are going.  We will cover almost the entire coast of Georgia tomorrow in one day.  

ENOUGH WITH THE VISITING AND SIGHTSEEING.  It’s time to get to Key West.  We will be mainly in protected Intracoastal waters, and if it’s uncomfortable, we’ll seek shelter somewhere.

Off to bed.

TTFN

Wednesday, 11/23/22

Charleston was very cold (to the bitter end).  By Sunday night, we were satiated by the restaurant scene, and tired of the cold weather, so we had hot dogs and beans casserole on the boat!

On Tuesday morning, we headed south to Beaufort, SC.  That’s Bee-You-Furt in South Carolina.  Beaufort SC, like Beaufort NC, is a cute town.  We made a bad restaurant choice (raw pizza!) but we joined a DRUM CIRCLE!  Why not?  These folks were sitting in a circle under a waterfront pavilion, learning new African rhythms.  They were quite serious about it!

And here’s a new candidate for the ugly boat contest.  Yikes!  Scows Are Us!

During the trip to Beaufort, I noticed the engine hesitating at WOT (wide-open-throttle), and I suspected that I might need to change the fuel filter.  Soooo, back into the bilges.  I had a spare filter on board (of course), and it was a simple project.  Freedom was running much better today!

Rod in the bilge – don’t know how he does it!

And Guinness watching.

Today, we had a short trip (about two hours, to Hilton Head, and then on to Palmetto Bluff, where my brother-in-law and sister-in-law Jeff and Cathy, have built a beautiful house.  Our entire trip schedule was built around being here for Thanksgiving, and I am feeling so much more relaxed.  Kathy’s kids are here, seven people in all, plus three dogs.  And everybody gets along!

Tonight is Buck-A-Shuck night at the club,  And tomorrow is Turkey Day!  Amazing.

TTFN

Rod & Lynn & Guinness

Sunday 11/20/22

The title of this post sounds like something cooked up by Doctor Marcia Fieldstone (Sleepless in Seattle), doesn’t it?

It’s 51 degrees here under a gray overcast sky.  No sun at all today, and the wind has a raw, wet feel to it.

The only thing that makes me feel warmer is knowing that it is 20 degrees colder at home.

I’m sure all of you know Charleston, and you know it is one of the best places in the US!  It sits on a peninsula, flanked by the Ashley and Cooper Rivers.  It has a rich history, and very strict codes about preservation and restoration.  As a consequence, it has a charming authenticity.  And an authentic charm.

We are staying in Charleston for four nights – to visit friends and to enjoy the vibrant restaurant scene.  

We had dinner Friday night at The Grocery – excellent!  The chef is a genius with sauces and vegetables.  We ordered the mushrooms and the cabbage for appetizers, and they were amazing.

Then yesterday (Saturday) we:

– Took a carriage ride around town.  It’s a great way to see the sights and learn some history.

I was surprised to see that the carriages left directly from in-town stables. We could visit the horses in their stalls, and see that they were well fed and well groomed. These are massive horses, most of them 17 hands high. We learned that they are former work horses from Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin . Some of them were Amish farm horses, some were logging horses, etc. They are here as part of a retirement plan: they are treated well, and when they’re not pulling carriages they live on a rural farm. At the end of the day they are fed oats, and are treated to a Guinness, which helps to aid their digestion!

Guinness at 2 1/2 hands compared to the horse’s 17 hands!

We did NOT see Rainbow Row or The Battery, because our carriage was assigned a different route.  In order to avoid congestion, the carriages are assigned routes randomly at departure.  But we saw the center of town including churches and other historical sights.  We’ll save the Battery for Monday.

– Shopped the City Market, Charleston’s 4-block-long open-air shed offering everything you do not need.

– Had lunch at 82 Queen outdoors in a sunny garden (with propane heaters).  Perfect. 

Here are some beautiful churches and homes we passed on our ride:

j

Notice the front door which leads to the open porch (called a piazza) facing south. In the summer heat, people would take off their heavy outer garments here to cool down. If the door was open, they welcomed visitors. If the door was closed and someone was passing on the street, they were to keep their eyes down to avoid seeing a woman’s ankles. If this occurred, they were honor bound to propose to her.

Last night we Uber’d over to Isle of Palms for supper with my cousins Stan and Susan.  Wonderful people.  Always a pleasure to see them!

Today, we are meeting friends of Lynn for brunch at Sweetwater.  Then we may curl up with a good book.  Tomorrow is expected to be slightly warmer, so we plan to take a walking tour of the lower part of the peninsula.

Friday, November 18, 2022

Ever since Nicole blew through, the temperature has dropped by an order of magnitude.  34 degrees this morning, but it’s sunny and warmer here this afternoon in Charleston.

Here’s how we got here:

Traveling south from the Cape Fear River, you pass through North Myrtle Beach and Myrtle Beach, and there is a LOT of development along the ICW.  Miles and mile of waterfront homes.  Many of them quite grand.  All of them have boats out front on lifts.  And there are extensive No Wake zones.

Then, finally, the ICW merges with the Waccamaw River, which is hardly developed at all.  Mile after mile of trees and Spanish moss.  You can travel much faster, and the water was calm.

When you reach a point roughly even with the town on the Atlantic Coast named Murrell’s Inlet, you arrive at a place on the Waccamaw River called Wacca Wache Landing.  The Waccamaw Indians named this area, and I’ve been told that the name is difficult to translate, but that it means something like “Hokey Pokey.”  Not sure I believe it.  

Don’t get me wrong…we had a fine visit in Wacca Wache, and we had a great meal at the marina’s restaurant.  But there’s nothing else to do.  It’s simply a convenient midway stop between Southport and Charleston.  

Leaving Wacca Wache, you continue to follow the Waccamaw River for two more hours, emerging at Georgetown, SC, built at the junction of the Pee Dee and Sampit rivers.  From then on it is 4 hours of winding creeks and rivers.  Some houses, but very few.  Mostly marshes and marshes and marshes… Many of the houses have extremely long piers (we’re talking like ¼ mile) that span the marshes to reach deep water.   

The house is at the far right and the end of their dock is at the far left!

Then suddenly, you are in Isle of Palms, and things look a lot more upscale, as witnessed by these two boats. (ugly boat contest – vote for one.)

Half an hour later, you’re motoring into Charleston Harbor, past the battery and up the Ashley River to our marina.

After Wacca Wache, Charleston seems like a BIG CITY!  Tall buildings; jets and helicopters overhead; and hundreds of boats.

We are tied up at Charleston City Marina.  It’s about as close as you can get to the action.  We are tied up next to another yacht named Freedom.  Make that a 130’ yacht named Freedom.  That makes her 4x the size of MY Freedom.  The marina office has started to refer to us as “Big Freedom” and “Little Freedom.”  (although the dock hands said “Fast Freedom” and “Slow Freedom” since we cruise quite a bit faster. )

I’ve seen “Big Freedom” before: once in Key West and once in Nantucket.  She is absolutely pristine.  Her varnish looks like plastic or poured glass.  Oh, well.  At least we are here, too.  

And we’re looking forward to four nights of fine food and city living!

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Today was SUUUUCH an easy day.  And it worked out so well.

First of all, the winds and waves dropped by half.  We had always intended to stay a couple of days at my sister’s place on Carolina Beach… but it worked out so perfectly….While we were there, the winds were gusty and the waves were rough, and then it rained all day yesterday.

But when we woke up today, it was gorgeous.  Lynn thinks I am a brilliant planner.  I think maybe sometimes you just get lucky.

And I am feeling a lot better after our R&R time in Carolina Beach.  Yesterday I booked a massage.  Lynn didn’t really know it, but I was still in a lot of pain after wrestling with that water pump back in Solomons Island.  I couldn’t roll over in bed, or reach out to pick something up without pain.  So, I booked a 60-minute “get-out-the-knots” deep tissue massage, and it really helped.

And – this morning – we knew we didn’t plan to travel very far – just a few hours down the coast to Southport.  As a consequence, we actually got to go out to breakfast.  Usually, breakfast consists of a protein bar and a cup of coffee, but today, we got to have the COMBO at the Gulfstream Diner:  Two pancakes; two eggs over easy; bacon, corned beef hash; grits; and rye toast.  YOWZA! (Only one of us ordered the Combo).

Then we loaded up all our gear and Uber’d over to the boat.

The route to Southport takes you down and across the mouth of the Cape Fear River, and every other time I have crossed it, it has been ROUGH.  But today was a dream.

We’d spent enough time in CB, so this move to Southport is a chance to see someplace new, and it shortens tomorrow’s trip by an hour or more.

Unexpectedly, we stumbled on a GREAT Italian restaurant here in Southport – Joseph’s.  Great food; great beverages. And leftovers for tomorrow night.

Tomorrow, we’re off to an exotic place called Wacca Wache.  (kidding) WW is kind of parallell to Murrell’s Inlet, but it’s inland – on the ICW – and there is VERY little there.  FUN!

TTFN

November 14, 2022

Hurricane Nicole has blown through, but the entire mid-Atlantic coast continues to experience brisk wind and sea conditions, so we have been choosing our travel windows with care.

As we reported in our last post, we decided to leave Belhaven on Saturday morning, and the decision turned out to be a good one. We set out for Beaufort NC (we pronounce that Bow-furt, y’all in Nowth Cowolina). (it’s pernounced Bew-furt in Sath Cowalina).

About 7AM, just as we left the Belhaven breakwater, we encountered one of the biggest dolphin pods I have ever seen. Lynn estimates we had 40 animals breaking all around the boat, feeding on baitfish at the mouth of the harbor.

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It is a 65-mile trip to Beaufort; about 5 hours considering no-wake zones, etc. We had very pleasant sea and wind conditions, and we were tucked into Town Creek marina in Beaufort shortly after noon. We had considered staying at Beaufort City Dock – right in the heart of the restaurant action – but we couldn’t get dockage space…not enough people were moving yet. It’s just as well, because the current runs very strong across those docks, and I didn’t really feel like banging the boat up.

Sea conditions worsened as the afternoon progressed, and the boats that arrived after us – mostly sailboats – complained about a very uncomfortable trip!

On Saturday evening, we had a great meal at City Kitchen right at the marina, and got to bed early. No more ants or flies!

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We had originally planned to stay in Beaufort for two days – it’s a cute town. But we had lost 4 days to Nicole, and I wanted to get back on schedule, so that we didn’t have to alter our marina reservations all the way to Key West. So, on Sunday we set off (7AM again) to travel 95 miles to Carolina Beach, completely bypassing an intermediate stop near New River.

When you leave Beaufort heading south, you have to decide if you want to travel inside (ICW) or outside (Atlantic Ocean). Both have their + and -. The ICW is more confining; you have slower traffic to contend with; and you encounter some NoWake zones in populated areas. The ocean has none of those problems, but once you are out there, there are no safe inlets for 80 miles, so if sea conditions are worse than predicted, you are in for a very uncomfortable or even dangerous trip.

Given how unsettled the winds are in Nicole’s aftermath, we chose the ICW. Again, a good decision.

At the beginning of each travel day, one of the first orders of business is to sort out all the sail vs. power. The sailboats start out very early in the day, because they need at least twice as long to cover the same distance. But they will be moving slowly all day, and you must pass them at some point. One of the reasons it’s good to leave early is that it limits the number of sailboats who get started ahead of you. 

Within the first hour we found ourselves in a little “convoy” of power boats. Nirvana, a 45′ power cat, took the lead, followed by Freedom, followed by Peaches II, a gorgeous 45′ Vicem. This stretch of the ICW is basically a straight run down the North Carolina coast, just inside of a long barrier island that stretches for 100 miles. 

It turned out to be a glorious day: bright sunshine, Carolina blue skies, flat seas, and scores of seabirds hunting in the water between the boats. The pictures don’t do it justice since we zoomed in for clarity.

Here’ s Nirvana in the lead – and birds following her:

And Peaches II behind us. More birds – like something from a Hitchcock movie! This shot also gives you a sense of what it looks like when we are barreling down the ICW!

Nirvana did a good job in the lead, slowing cautiously in areas where shoaling was reported, and putting the hammer down when we got an opportunity to run at speed. Nirvana dropped off in Wrightsville, and Peaches asked us to lead the way, because they were concerned about the depths.

We led them as far as Carolina Beach, where we said good-bye and pulled in for fuel and dockage. Unfortunately, before we even left the fuel dock, we heard Peaches calling TowBoatUS for help; they were aground on a sandbar near Southport. What amiserable ending to a brilliant day.

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We’re now holed up at my sister’s place in Carolina Beach: right on the ocean.  Here’s a shot from her deck.

You can’t see it clearly because the dunes block the view of the water’s edge, but the waves are POUNDING the shore today, and there are white caps to the horizon.  I am SO happy we are not traveling today.  In fact, the forecast calls for strong winds today and tomorrow, so we are content to hold up here.  We had always planned to stay here for a few days, so we’ll be back on schedule.  

We’ll leave on Wednesday for Southport.  It’s a little farther down the coast, and it positions us for a long run on Thursday to a place called Wacca Wache.  More on that later.

Friday, November 11, 2022

Thanks to Hurricane Nicole, we’ve been here 4 days longer than we expected.  We arrived on Monday; planned to leave Tuesday, but once everyone became aware of Nicole’s approach, the entire southbound snowbird diaspora hunkered down wherever they were.  All boats, great and small.

Here we are, docked across from Indulgence, a 101’ Berger.  Our boat is not small by normal standards, but it is dwarfed by Indulgence, which is about 4 stories high. (We’re the one on the right!)

This me…chatting with the chef, Chris.

Do you have a cup of Grey Poupon?

So now that Nicole has passed, everyone has to get moving again.  Kinda like I-95.  When the first cars stop for an accident, everybody behind them stops.  So, the marinas all down the coast are full.  And nobody can move until everybody moves.

Nevertheless, Nicole is gone, and we have cabin fever.  We have managed to make some adjustments to our schedule, and we are MOVIN’ ON.

I know from your blog comments that several of you were concerned for our safety (and concerned about Guinness) during the storm, but in fact, we never even experienced a storm.  It was windy, but we never got the gale force winds that they felt along the coast.  As most of you know, the storm tracked well inland, and we were in the ideal spot – not directly on the coast, but close enough to the coast to avoid the storm track.  Here is a photo of the storm track with wind intensity color coded.  Or perhaps it’s a photo of my pancreas.  Not sure.

A little bit of rain, but no thunder or lightning.  An opportunity to read and plan and relax.  

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Not to say we’re bored, but when we find things like this interesting…

Tomorrow, we head for Morehead City, on the coast, just at the bottom of the Outer Banks.  Then we’ll take the ICW all the way to Carolina Beach.  We will eliminate a few “nice to/ not need to” stops at Bald Head Island and Southport, and that puts us back on schedule.  We’ll visit those towns on the way back.

Belhaven has not been a bad place to hole up. It has everything we need in terms of shopping, and we’ve had a great meal every place we went:

• Best corned beef hash [O’Neal’s]

• Best pizza (yes, truly!)  [The Tavern at Jack’s Point]

• Best chilis rellenos  [El Mariachi]

• Best Pork Chop   [Spoon River]

All good.  Except for the plagues…

Wednesday, ants.  We must have carried them in on our shoes.  Got rid of them, we think.

Thursday, flies.  Not biters, but very annoying.  Closed up the boat and trapped them on flypaper.  Unfortunately, it trapped Guinness, too.  Had to scrub him with Spray Nine.  That stuff will clean anything!

Almost ready to go…

Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Yesterday (Monday) was a BLAST!  Our decision to leave David and Linda on Sunday and head south really paid off.  We left Coinjock at 6:30 on Monday morning and flew across Albemarle Sound.  The water was so smooth it was like a mirror.  Like Budduh!   And I mean the dairy spread, not the Hindu god. Eighty degrees under clear skies; like summer.

We rolled into Belhaven, NC around noon and tucked in for a three-day stay.  We are laying low until Nicole blows past.  We are anxious to move on south, of course, and we are watching the weather apps closely to determine when it is safe to move.

Here’s a map of where we are. You can see Coinjock which is inland from Corolla On the Outer Banks. Follow south to Belhaven and then on to Beaufort, NC., inland from the very end of the Outer Banks.

The boxes on the map tell us which page in the Chart Book we are following – it’s always fun to turn a page!

In the meantime, we are tied up in a well-protected marina with a pretty view to the southwest.

We rented a golf cart and seized the opportunity to reprovision at the Food Lion.  I am getting addicted to golf carts!

Last night we ate at a restaurant called Spoon River.  A spectacular venue and terrific food – the type of place you’d expect to find in Charleston.  

Beautifully decorated, crazy lighting, and fabulous food.

Then, we were up at 5AM to watch the Lunar eclipse – the second one we’ve seen together.  Also spectacular!

Taken with an iPhone!

So far, today has been a BLAST of a different sort – we are feeling the first of the gale-force winds that were predicted.  

Tonight, we’re off to El Mariachi!  YUM!