Atlantic ICW, 1250 miles from Key West to Norfolk...Check!

Well, we left Oriental at first light to be ahead of the winds that were forecast to pick up later in the morning. After a very short time in the Neuse river we were looking for a bail out marina and were tied up again by 8 am....forecasters are just as good here as in the mid-west. Another lesson learned. Other boats that left when we did and kept going said the ride was miserable until they got back into protected waters. The short video below was taken a couple of days later as we crossed the Albemarle Sound and was not half as bad as the Neuse.

Across the Albemarle we headed up the Pasquotank river to Elizabeth City NC for 2 nights. Our timing was great since we got there in time for their annual North Carolina Potato Festival!! Didn't know NC was big on potatoes but we enjoyed the party anyway. Before getting to the city we passed an interesting complex where they build blimps. Apparently the only place like it in the US.

Blimp "factory"

Sunday morning we got moving early to make the 11:00 lock opening for the Dismal Swamp Canal. It's a very interesting trip through the oldest canal in the US. The 2 locks only open 4 times a day so you have to plan your trip to make one. We were not going all the way through and tied up to a free dock along the route. This was our first lock since leaving the Ten-Tom in November.

After lifting you up the lockmaster drives up the road and opens the bridge for you also.

After the bridge you just idle along for the next few hours and try to stay exactly in the center. We felt a few "bumps" along the way but nothing major. The view doesn't change much...

It does get a bit "interesting" when you meet a boat going the other way. You just slide as close to the side as possible and hold your breath...our tall antenna twanged off the trees as this guy went by.

The water in the canal is a very dark coffee color much like the rest of North Carolina. It leaves a tan "mustache" on the bow of the boat that takes some work to remove.

We were tied up early and went for a walk along the bike path that lines the canal here. Shortly after leaving the boat we saw this sign and headed back...

Once back on the boat we were sitting on the flybridge and noticed something odd in the trees behind the boat. It was pretty eerie and quite when the sun went down.

Dream Catcher??

We were moving again about 9:30 the next morning for the 11:00 lock down and would be in the busy seaport of Norfolk VA by 1:30 that afternoon. It is amazing the difference a few miles makes along these waters. Norfolk marks the end of the AICW. We traveled the 1250 miles from Key West to here in about 2 months. I'm sure we covered a bit more ground with the side trips.

We passed through Norfolk and went across the bay to the town of Hampton for a couple of nights before starting up the Chesapeake Bay. The weather was perfect for the 2 travel days we have had on the bay so far. We first stopped in Deltaville VA for a night before coming to Solomons MD where we are spending a week. The work we had planned to have done in Annapolis fell through since the marina couldn't ensure us a slip for the Memorial Day weekend. We ended up having parts sent here to Solomons and did the work myself. Saved us a ton of money...hope it keeps working!

The Chesapeake has interesting lighthouses marking shoals well offshore so you are typically running several miles from land but trying to stay out of the way of the big container ships that run much faster than we do. Another interesting sight was a ghost ship that is used for military target practice. It was pretty cool in the hazy daylight, glad to not pass it at night.

While here we also had our first return visitor of the trip. Our friend Gretchen visited us with my sister back in Marathon but this time husband Mike was able to make the trip too. We really enjoy these visits and look forward to seeing them again soon. As much as we are enjoying what we're doing these days we really miss our great friends from back home. Sis Kathy is joining us later this week and spending some real travel time with us. That will be a blast too.

Gretchen & Mike

One last picture is one taken on a beautiful travel day on the Chesapeake. Not as exciting as the opening video....just the way we like it!!

Georgetown NC to Oriental NC

Georgetown was a very nice little town and a welcome stop after the go go go of Charleston. We spent some time just walking around the town which has many historic old homes. We all rode our bikes to the Piggly Wiggly to stock up and then to a great seafood market to pick up some fresh fish for dinner. Jill and I picked a Swordfish steak. We all made sides and Ben cooked all the fish and shrimp on Jammin Jane. I don't think anyone left hungry that night.

One thing we have noticed over the past week or two is how much the scenery is changing. We have left the palm treed behind for the Cypress and Pine of the Carolina's. Not bad scenery, just different. Reminds us some of the Louisiana bayous.

The Osprey all seem to have young in their nests which are all along the AICW. They don't seem to really care if we can't read the channel markers or not.

Next stop was Myrtle Beach where we just spent the night and moved on up the road. A couple of things of interest along the way is a stretch they call the "rockpile" where you can see the rocky ledges lurking just below the water. We were told this area claims a few boats every year...no problem for us, just stay in the middle. Another is what I am sure is the only gondola we will pass under on this trip.

The Rockpile

Next stop required a short detour off the ICW and up the Cape Fear river to Wilmington NC. This is a fun town with docks right downtown and steps from many restaurants and bars. It was a great place to spend my birthday weekend.

On the way there we were lucky to have a nice push from the tides for part of the run. Anytime we move along faster than 8 mph we are really moving!!

12 MPH!!!!

This was also the day Timmy saw his first Dolphin (and giraffe). He couldn't believe how big and playful they are. He really seems to be coming out of his shell.

It was this big....

On the Cape Fear we were passed by a couple of Ospreys of a different sort. Any time we get a flyby we first wonder whats wrong with the engines until we see them.

One stop we made on my birthday pub crawl was Longstreets bar which is reported to be haunted. We didn't see any ghost but the bartender really seemed to enjoy telling the story.

The next day we left Wilmington and the other boats we had been traveling with. We are moving forward toward Annapolis where we have some work scheduled for the boat. We'll hang out there to let the gang catch up.

We passed through Camp Lejuene a couple of days later and luckily there was no mortar fire that day.

We are now in Oriental NC waiting for the winds to die down so we can head toward the Chesapeake Bay. We have some big bodies of water to cross and winds from the North or Northeast are very bad....don't ask how we know. Oriental looks like it used to be a happin' little town but most places are closed or for sale, hope they can get their mojo back.

I'll leave you with one last picture in case you thought Timmy was just telling a fish story about the giraffe....you never know what you'll see out here!!

Beaufort and Charleston South Carolina

After leaving Hilton Head we had a short 20 mile day to Beaufort SC. It was nice to be in and tied up by noon to have a chance to explore the town a bit since we were only staying one night. Along the way we passed Parris Island where all Marine recruits east of the Mississippi attend boot camp. I know we just celebrated Mothers day but the next picture was taken with dad in mind....

I mentioned in the last post that I half expected Forest Gump to be seen walking down the street. Turns out this is because the movie was filmed in this area, not the gulf coast...who knew? The picture below is the bridge that connects Beaufort with Lady's island. It is also the bridge where Forest ran across the "Mississippi" river. The plantation house was built just outside of town and torn down after filming.

We found out all these tidbits of local information by doing the tourist thing and taking the carriage ride through town. It's a great way to see the sights when you're only there for a short time.

The town is home to many stately old homes and gardens with some dating to before the revolutionary war. The town has strict building codes so any new construction must fit in. The guide said it takes up to 3 permits just to paint the house.

Beaufort is another town worthy of a few extra days to explore. We left early the next morning with a long run to Charleston. Along the way we found some high winds crossing a sound and experienced the roughest water of the trip for an hour or so. After that it was smooth sailing.

We made it in to Charleston about 3:30 and were treated to a nice view of the city as we rounded the Battery heading to our marina across the harbor.

Once headed toward the marina I was pleased to see that there would be plenty of security at the docks. I don't think we even bothered to lock the boat while we were there.

The Charleston Harbor Marina is located right next to Patriots Point which is home to the aircraft carrier Yorktown, destroyer Laffey and sub Clamagore. All WW II era ships and floating museums. We toured all three the next afternoon and could have gone longer if our knees would have held up. Lots of ladders on these ships (except the sub). The group was happy to get ice cream treats between tours.

The next day it was in to Charleston for a bus tour of the city followed by a trip to the farmers market. After that Jill and I broke off to explore some of the places we had seen on the bus. Again a very cool town and worth a few days to check out. They have some very good restaurants and I could gain some serious weight back if we stayed longer.

We are now in Georgetown SC which is the 3rd oldest town in South Carolina. The first two you ask?? Beaufort and Charleston...I wonder if Myrtle Beach is # 4, doubt it. We'll be heading there tomorrow morning for 1 night and then Wilmington NC for a few days. Not sure where after that but we'll keep you all posted with the tweets when we travel.

One last thing. There has been some concern lately that we may have sold off our cabin boy, Timmy, to pay for some extensive dock fees in the keys. Not true at all. He wasn't sure at first that he was cut out for the sea life but has finally left the galley for some time on the fly bridge. He seems to be doing well and I will be sure to include him in future blogs....Till next time.

St. Augustine to Hilton Head SC

As we continue following spring up the east coast we have finally left Florida and have begun covering some miles. Our first stop after St. Augustine was up the St. Johns river to the Ortega river just outside Jacksonville. We chose the Ortega Landing Marina because they offered 1 night free and had a pool and hot tub! It was a bit of a detour off the ICW but a nice stop.

Waiting for the RR bridge

The St. Johns river above Jacksonville is a busy shipping port with container ships as well as military and cruise ships docking there. In the picture below we are about to pass a docked container ship on the left as a RORO vehicle carrying ship is inbound.

It was just after passing these ships that the boat started with a terrible vibration and the engines began loosing power. After backing down to idle speed and turning off the engine synchronizer I was able to isolate the issue to the port engine only about the time the engine shut down completely. A quick trip to the engine room showed that the fuel filter on the port engine had clogged and the engine was starving for fuel. I changed the main filter while underway but the secondary would require us being tied to a dock. Jill had already found a free dock a few miles away by the time I returned and we limped in in one engine with no further issues. Secondary filter was changed out and fuel selector switched to the auxiliary 50 gallon tank and in 20 minutes we were back in business.
Now for confession time...my goal had been to get to Brunswick GA where fuel was $1.75 and let the level get too low in the main tank. It only had 25 gallons left  in it and we started sucking up the "sludge" that lives on the bottom of the tank. Lesson learned and no damage done to anything but my pride....flew a bit too close to the sun.

We tied up that night to our last Florida stop, Fernandina Beach. It's a very nice little town and we will stop again when we have more time to spend there. It is home to what they claim is the oldest saloon in Florida, the Palace Saloon. I think we have been in 3 or 4 oldest bars in Florida....

Early the next day we crossed the border into Georgia. We knew after attending the fall AGLCA rendezvous that the AICW through Georgia and South Carolina had strong currents and big tide changes. The area also has shallow spots and requires careful planning to be at problem areas close to high tide. We've had no issues so far....fingers crossed.

Once in Georgia you are greeted by Cumberland Island with it's famous wild horses to the right,

  
and Kings Bay Submarine base to the left. Kings Bay is the home to the Atlantic Trident submarine fleet. The first picture is the degaussing bay where they "de-magnetize" the ships...some sort of magic trick.

Degussing bay

As we were nearing the northern tip of Cumberland Island I leaned out of the fly bridge a bit to get a picture of the lighthouse. I was greeted by an ear piercing scream and thought the boat was blowing up!! Turns out it was just a couple of friendly pilots buzzing is in their A-10's...now I know why they were so feared in the Gulf Wars...you never hear them coming. I imagine the pilots had a big grin as they used us for "target practice".

Our first stop in Georgia was Brunswick. It's another nice small southern town that's trying to recover from industry moving elsewhere. They have a very nice marina with FREE beer in the clubhouse 24/7 and a FREE wine party 3 nights a week. This was a nice spot to spend a few nights and we are beginning to meet up with other loopers we haven't seen since the keys.

Brunswick was a very busy sea port not too long ago and even built 99 of the Liberty Ships used in WW II. Hopefully they will continue to recover. One word of caution if you visit...don't go on Sunday. Even the CVS is closed!!!

Below are two pictures taken from our boat in Brunswick. They show the  tide difference pretty well.

High Tide

Low Tide

 After Brunswick we anchored out for a night before going to Isle of Hope marina outside of Savannah. Along the way we saw another eagle as well as an important reminder on staying in the charted channel. If you look closely you can see they are using their time well while waiting for the tide.

Isle of Hope is another place where we could have spent more time. I kept expecting Forrest Gump to walk down the street. This is also the first place we had seen a courtesy car since the panhandle of FL/AL. We didn't go into Savannah while here but drove down from Hilton Head while we had a car rented.

Early the next day we left for Hilton Head. Along the way we passed our friends on Moni Jean who were getting some work done on the boat near Savannah. They started the loop from the same place we did and are running a similar schedule. We seem to hop scotch among looper friends as we head along the way.

We are now in Hilton Head and have been for almost a week. This isn't really our kind of place but the marina was offering a terrific discount for loopers and we had some work to get done. A rental car allowed me to get the supplies for an oil change (16 gallons) as well as an afternoon in Savannah. Jill has been getting some top coats on the varnish which was starting to look a bit dull. Savannah is another town worthy of a longer stop...

We'll be heading on tomorrow for a stop in Beaufort SC before continuing on to Charleston for the weekend. After that we'll be moving along at a more steady pace as we head toward the Chesapeake about late May. We need to be above Norfolk by June 1 for insurance reasons. Don't think we'll make Annapolis by the 25th but who knows. We are now traveling with our friends on Knot Sew Easy and Jammin' Jane so you never know where we may end up.

About the only thing worthy of a picture here in Hilton Head has been the sunsets so I'll leave you with one of the better ones.