One more reason

Besides missing all our family and friends, Bob says that this is just one more reason to go home!

Sneads Ferry, NC to Norfolk, VA

We were excited to get to Sneads Ferry because we were going to pick up two grandsons, Ryan and Sammy, to ride along with us for a day. His mother then picked them up at our next stop which was Oriental, NC. Keeping two active boys occupied was a challenge, but we sure enjoyed having them along.


Sammy and Ryan on top the boat


Ryan enjoying the sun and the view


Sammy pretending to be asleep


Grandpa with "da boys"

Oriental is a charming little town. We walked to the town park to let the boys run off some energy, as they had been cooped up on the boat all day. We were very successful with that as Sammy, the younger one, almost feel asleep during dinner. I'm sure he was asleep in the car before the doors were shut!

We traveled from Oriental to Columbia, NC and ended up stopping for the night at Alligator River Marina. We had thought we would anchor out, but Bob was watching thunder storms all us on radar, and decided we would be better off tied to a dock.

After dinner, a boat came in and docked behind us and it was one we recognized. We had met the owner at the Stella Maris Marina. It was fun to catch up with him a little.

A boat had gone past the marina and ended up full aground in the ICW. It was in an area where there are no tides, (usually if you go aground on a rising tide, you can just wait a while and the water will rise and lift you back off), so he had to call Tow Boat US to come get him. The rescue boat had to come from Elizabeth City, an hour an a half away! It was well after dark when they arrived. I sure hope they had insurance with them, or I would not want to see that bill. We were very careful the next morning when we went through that area to make sure the same thing didn't happen to us. Luckily, all went well.


We passed about 6 Army Corps of Engineer barges in the ICW


Ferry in Currituck Sound

We crossed over into Virginia and passed through the lock at Great Bridge again. This time I handled the lines without Bob and he stayed in the pilot house. It went very well.


Great bridge (Cantilevered bridge)


View forward out of the lock


View aft in the lock


Festival Marketplace in Norfolk


Cruise ship by Norfolk


Barge full of containers. I just can't imagine this in rough seas.

After we passed all the industry areas and Navy areas of Norfolk, there was an announcement on the radio that told us there was a Navy Carrier coming back in from sea. Turns out it was No. 71, the Theodore Roosevelt coming back from what appeared to be a "Friends and Family" cruise. Bob said it have to be that or the Navy had "gone casual." Of course, we had to keep our distance, so I took these with the telephoto lens.


Roosevelt coming in from the sea


Hate to say it, but it needs a paint job


Notice the colorful clothes - that is the friends and family


Lest you think the ship was unprotected - the Coast Guard was there in force and ready to protect it.


Old Fort protecting the entrance to the harbor.

We anchored for the night near the Hampton entrance to the tunnel and Ft. Monroe and had some of the Mahi Mahi we had caught on the crossing back over to the US for dinner.

We are so excited to be near home and plan to make it up the bay on Sunday. Ya Hoo!

McClellanville, SC to Sneads Ferry, NC

This photo was taken of a bridge in the Myrtle Beach area. I vote it the most beautiful bridge on the ICW.

We left at 8 in the morning and headed back out the creek the marina was on into the ICW. There had been some rain during the night, but it had stopped before we left. It was still overcast most all day however.


This big Casino ship blocked traffic on the ICW to turn around to dock.

Part of the trip this day goes through the Waccamaw River. I really love this leg of the trip. The Waccamaw has nothing but tall pine and other trees lining both sides of the river and it meanders around some bends. There are occasional fishing cottages along the way. I really feel like we are on the African Queen traveling some remote part of the Amazon. The water through this area leaves a tan stain on the hull which is due to the tannin in the water. When we did the trip south last fall, the trees had already lost their leaves and it had a totally different feel.


Waccamaw River

Just before we entered the river, it seemed the flies just magically disappeared! What a relief that is. (Nope, spoke too soon – however, they do seem to be slowly reducing in number.)


Floating Bait Shop in an ocean inlet

We stopped for the night at a little marina that has just a few transient slips called Blue Water Point Marina at Oak Island, NC. The Atlantic Ocean was just across the street from the marina. We enjoyed a great fish dinner at their restaurant and headed back to the boat exhausted. We had traveled 112 miles. I think that is just about as far as we have gone in one day.


Our first sunset in a while at Blue Water Point Marina


People fishing near a ocean inlet


We woke Wednesday to blue skies and sun for the first day in eleven! I hope this continues for the rest of the trip. It was a calm pleasant day. Every now and then you see something totally out of character on the ICW. Well, today had the following surprises – photos below.


Some things you just have to take a photo of to prove you saw it - this is it.


I'm speechless


Sunset at Sneads Ferry

Brunswick GA to McClellanville, SC

Bob returned on Friday afternoon and we rushed to get everything done so we could go to Ocean Petroleum before they closed at 5. This is where we fueled up on the way south, nice to have tanks large enough that we only need to fuel up twice, once heading to the Bahamas and once on the way back north.

We ended up going back to the Brunswick marina and staying Friday night since it was so late in the day. It gave us a chance to check out a restaurant we had been told by several people was great. The restaurant was called Cargos Portside Grill. We decided to walk the three blocks for dinner there. It was every bit as good as predicted. We loved it and recommend it any boaters reading this that are following us up the ditch if you stop in Brunswick.

Saturday we finally left Brunswick. It is nice to see the scenery change again. A whole week in one location is tough to handle. After all, what’s the point of having a boat if the scenery doesn’t change!

A large boat called “Murphy’s Law” passed us in the ICW and Bob decided to follow it as it had a deeper draft than we did, so if it ran aground, we would have some advance warning. Well, we came to the conclusion that it might not be the wisest idea to follow a boat called “Murphy’s Law!” Luckily, all went well.


Murphy's Law passing us.

We are now in the 7th day with no sun. Bob assured me there still was a sun as he saw it while flying back across country. I was having doubts. This has been a heck of a nor’easter for most of the southeast US. All this rain is making us wonder if we shouldn’t load the animals two by two onto the boat.


Notice those pesky flies that have been going along for the ride!


These little crabs tried to hitch a ride too, but I coaxed them back into the water. They apparently walked across our spring lines into the boat.

The next day we passed Charleston and dodged ferries and cruise ships entering the harbor. One of these trips we will stop and spend some time visiting Charleston.

This can often be a rough crossing because it is open to th the Atlantic there, but luckily is was a pretty calm day of which we were glad.


Carnival Cruise Ship coming back to Charleston


Ferry to Ft. Sumpter


View of Charleston

We ended the day in McClellanville, SC where my son Mike and his family met us. We had dinner at a nice little local restaurant. Since they had a car, we were able to see a little of the town, which was a very quaint, well-maintained town. Peaceful place under tall and beautiful live oak trees that had been there for at least a century. It was great to see some of the family again. Riley is now as tall as his grandmother on his way to being a giant. Casey graduates from high school this year and we plan to drive back for that in a couple of weeks.


Just as we were near McClellanville, a dolphin and it's baby came by to play beside the boat. I tried to get a good photo, but missed each time. This was the best I could do.

Weather permitting, Bob now estimates our return home next Sunday.

Brunswick

We planned to make it to Savannah where I would stay with the boat while Bob went off for a consulting job, but due to delays in Palm Coast, we ended up staying in Brunswick instead. While Bob was gone, that Nor’easter went through the Southeast. We had a bucket in the dinghy that was full by the end of the week. It held about 13 inches. I think there was actually more than that, as the bimini cover shielded the bucket somewhat. There was quite a bit of lightning and thunder all week as well. It is always good to be close to all those sailing masts that are higher than we are in a thunder storm.

Thanks to our friends Shirley and Mac, we had a car to drive Bob to and from the Savannah airport and for me to use to shop during the week. I didn’t do much Monday and Tuesday as the rain was relentless, but it improved a bit on Wednesday and Thursday, so I ventured out.

Several trips were made to the Boater's World in Brunswick that is going out of business. We got a lot of stuff, like foul weather jackets we have been needing (especially in this heavy rain), for a song. I also picked up one of those Soda Club cabonator machines. This will allow us to make any kind of cabonated drink with tap water and not have to store cans and bottles, or run out when we are in the out islands of the Bahamas next year. Pretty neat!

I went out for drinks and dinner with Judy and Sterling on Sterling's Lady that were holed up in the marina near us. Enjoyed meeting them and getting off the boat. They took us to the Elk's Club in town and won $37 on a type of card game.

Thursday morning, Brenda and Grant met me for breakfast. We met them last year in the Bahamas. They are Canadian from Vancouver on a boat named Belizza. They had traveled the Virgin Islands this year and left their boat in the Caribbean and were heading to Washington DC by car. It was so nice to get caught up with them and hear about this year's adventure.

One place I visited was St. Simons Island. It is a lovely area, similar to Skidaway Island where our friends, Mark and Shirley live near Savannah. I checked out Fort Frederica and the St. Simons Lighthouse. I thought I might try and climb the lighthouse, but determined that my knee was not going to cooperate, plus It was pretty overcast, so I reasoned that the view would not be superb, so you have to settle for photos of the lighthouse taken from ground level.


St. Simons Lighthouse


Gazebo on Lighthouse grounds


"Lover's Oak" in Brunswick

Thursday night we did get a break in the clouds long enough to see a bit of a sunset – the first all week.


Goodnight from Brunswick Georgia

Palm Coast Florida to Brunswick Georgia

While we were getting some engine maintenance done,Bob hired a couple of divers to check the hull for growth. Here is one in the murky water by the dock.


Notice who's supervising with coffee cup in hand.

We left Palm Coast on a beautiful day. The cruising was calm and peaceful – well sort of. Being a weekend, all the pleasure cruisers were out and we spent the day dodging all the little fishing boats, being waked by the express cruisers, and keeping our eyes open for Sea Doos, canoes, etc. So much for a pleasant calm cruise.

We had been using the air conditioning at the dock and soon found out that we needed to keep the boat closed due to all the large black flies that are everywhere at present. So we closed up the boat and killed those left in the boat.

We arrived about 5 at Fernandina Beach Marina. Luckily the bugs seem to have left us when we arrived there. Another cruiser asked if we had heard about the bad weather coming. We will be looking into that.

Saturday night we walked into town and had dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant, Genaros. Next time we come, it will be time to branch out and try one of the other nice restaurants in the area.

The next day we passed St. Augustine. They are making progress on their bridge reconstruction.


Approaching St. Augustine


Sometime in the future it will be a beautiful bridge again


View of the old fort of St. Augustine


First sign of clouds from the Nor'easter coming

We also saw this cute dock that was made to look like a Steamboat.


It ought to have navigational lights!


Deqaussing Facility for submarines at Kings Bay Naval Base in Georgia

We left at 8 on Sunday with plans to stop at Brunswick, where I will be for the week while Bob flies out for a consulting job. Another boater we met, keeps their car at the marina and have left the keys for us. I will have to take Bob to the airport, but will then have the use of the car to go shopping and exploring the area. What fun!


Shrimp boat passing under the Brunswick Bridge


View of the bridge from the dock - barely visible due to overcast clouds

As we were approaching Brunswick, we encountered heavy rain – free boat wash. (Actually, we got a week of rain, there shouldn't be any salt left of the boat.) Luckily it stopped before we arrived; I just had to deal with wet lines at the dock.

Titusville to Palm Coast Florida

We arrived in Palm Coast at the marina on May 11. Our hope was to have the heat exchangers cleaned on the engines by a mechanic that had done work on our boat last fall. Al is a great mechanic. It turned out that the heat exchangers were dirtier than we had expected and they have to go to Daytona Beach to be cleaned. We got them back on Friday and Al installed them late into the evening for us so we could leave on Saturday the 16th.

Tuesday and Wednesday we had quite a bit of rain and thunder. It is good to be in a marina in a thunderstorm as there at lot of taller poles that attract and divert the lightning around us.


View of canal in the rain


Pretty Penny at the dock in Palm Coast

Palm Coast is a nice marina with very friendly management. I did 5 loads of laundry – just about anything washable on the boat got a bath. Bob gave the boat its first really good bath in months too, and we had nice long showers at the marina. We went out to eat three nights at the European Village, a nearby defunct hotel with restaurants and shops on the ground level around a courtyard. There are several restaurants to chose from. Although we like Bahamian food, it was nice to have a great Italian meal for a change!

Moving north on the 16th.

Lake Worth to Titusville, Florida

Haulover Canal Bridge we "just" fit under with the antennas down

Bob got me up early on Saturday in Lake Worth to start our trip north. (My alarm clock is the engines starting!) Again we were anchored by Jack Nicklaus's house and his boat "Sea Bear" as were on our way south in the fall. It appeared that Tiger Wood's boat, "Privacy", that had been docked nearby was out at sea. We could have dropped the dinghy and gone shopping at a Publix a block away, but had decided to wait till we got to Vero Beach Saturday and go shopping there.

We stopped Saturday night at Vero Beach Municipal Marina. We had stopped there on the way south and liked the fact that there was a shuttle bus to take you to the grocery store and other shopping. My records showed that it ran 7 to 6 Monday through Saturday. Well, we arrived at the bus stop at 3, only to find out that the schedule had changed and had stopped for the day. It is about a 2-3 mile hike to the stores.

A nice man named Charles, with his dog "Snoopy" offered to drive us to the grocery. We told him we would catch a cab back. We wanted to crab a bite at a great deli called "Too Jay's" along with going to the liquor store, grocery, (me to a Chico's nearby as I was feeling shopping deprived). Well at 5 we were done shopping and called a cab. After waiting an hour and a half and calling the cab company 3 times, they finally admitted that they had no one coming to get us. So we started our long hike back to the boat. Luckily, Bob had brought his big backpack and a rolling cart to carry all the groceries. The walk included hiking over a tall bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway (nice view, steep climb). Needless to say, we were exhausted when we finally got back to the boat. After we unloaded the groceries on the boat, we headed straight for the showers at the marina. It was my first "long" shower in 6 months! What a treat.

Chatting at the marina with some other boaters, they said - "why didn't you call Klub Car to bring you back?" Of course we said - "What is Klub Car?" It turns out it is a very reliable local service that charges a flat rate of about $9 to go just most of the local shopping areas! Well darn, sure with we'd known about that! (For our friends following behind us - make note of the Klub Car - marina has the phone number.)


Charming boat on the ICW

Sunday morning we woke early again and were underway by 7 to head for an anchorage at Titusville, FL. We passed Cape Canaveral and had a great spot to see the launch to happen Monday, however, Bob wanted to move on north to Palm Coast where we had arranged to meet with a mechanic to do some maintenance on the engine's heat exchangers that seemed to be running hotter than Bob liked. I figured I should be able to still see it on the ICW when it did launch. We did encounter more southbound traffic in the morning than we had seen on Sunday. We believe they were folks heading to watch the shuttle launch.


Hazy view of the NASA Vertical Assembly Building taken with telephoto lens from the ICW


Although it was cloudy and we were quite a distance, I was able to see the shuttle and get a couple of photos of the launch from where we were in the ICW.


Best shot of the shuttle lift off from the ICW

We stopped for the night at Palm Coast Marina where we will be for a couple of days to have some maintenance done on the engines.