Charleston SC to (almost) Norfolk VA

 Why "almost" you ask? Well, we're currently tied up at Atlantic Yacht Basin in Chesapeake VA. about 12 miles from MM 0 of the AICW in Norfolk and have been for over a week. Why so long you ask? Well, several weeks ago I was trying to find the source of a water leak that was allowing more water to collect in the bilge than I like. You see, on a boat, the water is supposed to stay outside. I had adjusted the propeller shaft packing to slow down the drip to 1 or 2 per minute. These packings need to drip a bit because the water cools the packing as the shaft turns. Thought this had solved the problem and gave myself a hardy pat on the back. A few days later there was still more water than could come from the shafts...now what? The lightbulb finally went off and I remembered there is another set of packings on our boat, the rudders. These require some cabinet disassembly in the stateroom to access and once able to get my camera down to "see" the shaft it was indeed leaking!

 This is how you access the packing from above.

You're looking at the top of the rudder post and the "access" hole to get to the packing. Repacking this is above my paygrade and requires the boat to be out of the water so that's what we're waiting for. This is a very good repair facility but also very busy. Hopefully it'll happen Monday.

Now back to our regular programing...The trip up from Charleston was very nice. It's still been more windy so we've had some delays but we've also taken some great side trips. Not being on the same "schedule" as when we did the Loop gives us more flexibility to explore. The AICW above Charleston is lined with very nice homes, most of which also have very nice docks.

We've also been trying to stop at places we didn't see last time through in 2016. One of the first was Southport NC. We stayed a couple of days to explore the town and wait out another blow. We did get to see a SpaceX rocket that had been launched from FL.

Next was a short day to Carolina Beach where we found an amazing dive bar that had a walk-in cooler to pick your beer from!

Next we were off to Swansboro, NC which is a small town with a big history. This is the town where Chris Craft built their big boats and where Chasing 80 was born. The town dock is very close to the main street with several cool shops and restaurants. While enjoying a beer on the deck of one establishment we even got to see a couple of local waterman getting into some sort of argument and almost sink each other...can I get a witness? one asked...

Our next stop was Beaufort (Bow-fort) NC. Another town that we had missed in 2016. The docks are also right in town which is easy to walk around. They had a classic boat show the weekend we were there. 

We also took our new e-scooters to a brewery a bit farther from town. 

The brewery is called Mill Whistle and has a replica of the original that blows every afternoon. The original is inside. Check out the video and turn up your volume.

 After a side trip up the Pamlico river to New Bern we traveled back to Oriental NC. This was another 3 day stay to wait out a wind storm. Once it passed we had a couple of very calm days to run out to Ocracoke on the outer banks. It's a very cool town and worth the side trip.

 Next was side trip to Washington, NC. It's another town that welcomes boaters and had docks right in the heart of town. We were tied up right next to the park which was buzzing with people all weekend.

I also got to celebrate my special birthday here. Special because it was a number change from 5 to 6...

After a fairly snotty crossing of the Albemarle Sound we spent time doing part of the Albemarle Loop. This is a program where the towns on the sound offer free docking for 2 nights and well worth a visit. The first stop after the crossing was Hertford, NC. The have just had a new drawbridge built which was beautiful but, unfortunately, not yet staffed! Jill was able to contact city hall just before they closed and get a number for someone to come open the bridge. We only spent 1 night due to more weather coming in and moved on to the Albemarle Plantation which has very nice docks in a golf community setting.

Thanks Paul for the edit!

 Next was a short trip to Edenton, NC which we were lucky to get to on another fun weekend. So here's a tidbit that I didn't know...Edenton is apparently responsible for the resurgence of vinyl records!! We just had to check out vinyl record night!

The town also has the old Roanoke River lighthouse in the city park marina.

With another front approaching we decided to skip the rest of the towns on the loop and run to the protection of Elizabeth City, NC. This town also has free docks although getting on and off the boat was a bit "interesting".

The charm of the town makes up for the challenges at the dock. This is the sign that I'm always looking for in any town!!

From E-Town it's on to the Dismal Swamp canal which is anything but dismal. We had hoped to stay at the visitors center but just like the last time through it was full. We decided to complete the trip to AYB in one long day. The distance isn't far but the slow speeds in the canal and 3 locks take up time.

They like to make sure you don't get lost...

The last lock on the Swamp route is the Deep Creek lock. The next lock on our way to AYB is in Chesapeake City and is on a every 2 hour schedule. Luckily our departure from Deep Creek would put us at the next lock at the right time...so we thought. After being lowered in the lock we waited several minutes until the lockmaster walked back to us and said "well, you might as well tie up. I can't get the gates open".

In case you want to know exactly where we were stuck...

After about an hour a couple of trucks arrived from the electric company and were able to work some magic and get the lower gates open. We were now off the pace to make the next lock and just took our time going the few miles. We were tied up by 5:30 or 11 hours after we started for a whopping 41 miles! 

Just so you don't think our time here has been waisted we have been working on other projects. Earlier in the trip we had one of our AC units kick the bucket. After a quote from a subcontractor here of $5400 (!!!) I had a friend drive me to West Marine where I picked up the same unit for $2200...that's a hell of a markup for the install. We had the old one out and new one cooling in under 3 hours.

I'm afraid this post has become much longer than I expected. If you're still here thanks for sticking around. Hopefully by this time next week we'll be somewhere in Chesapeake Bay. Follow along on the tracker.

Jacksonville FL to Charleston SC 2023

 The first month of our summer trip is in the logbooks and we're about 440 miles further up the AICW than where we started from. Hardly a blazing pace but that was the idea for this trip in the first place, slow down and explore more. We have over 500 miles on the chart plotter so we have done a few side trips. Truthfully, we should be a bit farther north by now but have had several weather delays. Several places we've stopped have been worth a 1 day visit but turned into 2 or more. Okay, enough about that and on to the pictures....

Sister Kathy joined us in Jacksonville for the first leg of the trip. She had planned to travel with us to Charleston but the aforementioned weather delays had her jump ship a bit short in Hilton Head. We drank a Chasing 80 Painkiller in toast of a successful summer cruise. New Chasing 80 happy hour bell was a gift from our friends on MV OLOH and we have gladly adopted their tradition!

The next day we were off after a bottom cleaning from a local diver (water was still too cold for me). After a stop in Fernandina for a quick overnight and fuel we moved on a few miles to Cumberland Island GA. for an anchorage and tour of the island. 

The island is only accessed by boat and has fantastic scenery as well as the ruins of Dungeness which was an estate built by Thomas Carnegie back in the 1880's. 

Wild horses are seen all over the island and don't seem too concerned about visitors.

The next day we traveled to Brunswick GA where we had our first weather delay. It worked out well as we were able to attend the First Friday event in town.

On Saturday we backtracked a bit for a stop on Jekyll Island over Easter weekend. This turned out to be another weather delay as a cold front moved through the area. Jill planned an Easter Egg hunt on the boat which was a fun way to pass a cold rainy morning.

The marina has a loaner golf cart which we used to explore the island a bit each day.

Jekyll Island Club

We made a stop at the appropriately named Driftwood Beach and were reassured on our decision to stay in port.

The wind and surf made for some surreal pictures.

Once able to get underway again we traveled to Midway GA. and the Sunbury Crab docks and restaurant. This was one of those off the beaten path stops and the meal was worth the extra miles.

After what seemed to be a too short visit Kathy left us at Hilton Head just a few stops before Charleston. The next day we made a short hop up to the charming town of Port Royal SC. We got the bikes off and rode to a brewery and were lucky to find that they were having their annual Soft Shell Crab Festival.

  A couple of days later we made it to Charleston for a planned six night stop. It's a fun town to explore and we made use of our new electric scooters to cover some ground. We decided to add the scooters this year as a compliment to the bikes which are more heavy and cumbersome to unload but great for covering longer distances. We stayed at the Maritime Center this time and it's location is perfect for getting into town. 

The large freighters always amaze me as they travel right past the marina on their way up the Cooper River. One RORO came particularly close to the marina before performing a pirouette and backing into it's berth just above the Aquarium.

We had planned our stay to be in town on Saturday when they have their very large farmers and craft market. Unfortunately it was canceled due to strong storms in the area. They were also having the sailboat regatta that weekend. I imagine the sailors appreciated the fresh winds behind the front.

We left Charleston early Sunday for a very short day to Isle of Palms. Along the way we passed the USS Yorktown museum and Fort Sumpter.

 We arrived at the dock and were greeted by a very nice example of a Chesapeake Bay Buy boat. This one appears to be set up for charter and apparently Skeet shooting from the bow!

 So I'll wrap up here and hopefully get another post out on how the rest of the AICW treats us. We have a few more side trips planned. You can always keep up by using the Locate Us link to the right or following on the NEBO app. I'm also trying to keep the map of our stops updated. 

One last picture for the boater who wants the ultimate safe boat....

2023 "Plans"

 Just thought I'd get a brief note off as we prepare for our most excellent adventure this summer. 

After finally getting our roof installed last week the post hurricane repairs are complete. We buttoned up the house and returned to Chasing 80 last Thursday and spent a few days on final provisioning. Today the rental car gets returned and we'll be underway tomorrow for points north with First Mate Kathy along for the beginning of the trip.

We plan to take about a month to get from Jacksonville to Norfolk and then spend a couple of months enjoying the Chesapeake Bay including a side trip up the Potomac River to Washington DC. This should get us to about mid July. After that we'll continue north but the plans get a bit fuzzy from there. Depending on when we get to NYC we may divert up the East River and explore the Long Island Sound a bit before coming back and continuing up the Hudson River and maybe Lake Champlain. The ultimate goal will be winter storage in a heated facility along the Erie Canal around mid September. This timing will give us a bit of wiggle room before the closing of the canal on October 11. This plan should allow us to slow down, travel shorter days and explore more than we did in 2016 while doing the Great Loop.  

As always, the "locate us" link to the right will be live when we are moving and we can also be found on NEBO for those of you using the app. We look forward to meeting old and new friends along the way. For those of you familiar with the "Friend Bucket" don't worry....you're safe!