Beaufort, NC to Belhaven, NC

May 23, 2020 - May 27, 2020

We left the dock with the help of a very experienced dock hand without a scrape.  The current in the Beaufort Docks Marina can make getting in and out of a slip quite a challenge.  We had an uneventful trip, mostly on the Neuse River and the Pongo River and anchored in Goose Creek.  We were happy to be on the move once again and making good progress.  

When we went out to the cockpit in the morning we found masses of dead may flies everywhere.  I’m sure glad I put the screen over the companionway hatch last night! 

Yes, those are all may flies!
I appreciate insects and their importance in our
 ecologic system, but I don’t like them in my space.

While we were in the Pongo River and Alligator River Canal I made pizza for lunch and Bob changed the anchor swivel back to the original one.  Things got very exciting after that.  I was at the helm and a horrid noise came from below.  Soon we lost propulsion and had to anchor to keep the boat from going aground (we went aground anyway as the wind caused us to drift).  Thinking the noise could be caused by debris caught in the prop I put on my wet suit and swam over to the side of the boat to feel the prop for obstructions (I sure hoped there were no snakes nearby).  Finding no obstruction we called Tow Boat US on the VHF (no cell service in the canal).  We were having difficulty raising them and a near by sailboat hearing our dilemma relayed our information to the Tow Boat US operator in Bel Haven.  Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers! While we were waiting I went in the water again and tied the anchor securely with a line to prevent it from falling off as we had the idea that the problem may be a broken prop shaft. After an hour or so the tow boat arrived and towed us to the River Forest Boat Yard in Belhaven.  It was 5:00 pm by the time we were docked and the incident occurred just after lunch.  Bob and Axson (manager and son of the owner of the boatyard) discussed the incident and we all supposed it was a broken prop shaft, but the boat had to be hauled out and inspected to be sure. By this time Bob and I were exhausted, but we had to figure out what we would do while the boat was on the hard.  I researched places to stay and found Between Main and Water B & B that had a small efficiency cottage and would accept Lola. I also reserved a car from Enterprise in a nearby town.

One of us had to be at the helm keeping 
Rainy Days directly behind the tow boa.t

Monday, of course, was Memorial Day and we didn’t really expect much to happen, but shortly after lunch Axson and his crew hauled the boat out and put it on jack stands on land.  He quickly determined that the problem was a broken prop shaft and proceeded to remove it.  Nothing is ever easy with boat repairs and about four hours later the shaft was removed.  Sure enough the shaft was split in two in what Bob determined was a classic fatigue fracture. We spent the night on the boat and prepared to move into the cottage on Tuesday afternoon.

Getting Rainy Days onto the travel lift
took four guys guiding her.

Tuesday was a busy day.  I talked to Enterprise and they agreed to come and pick me up even though their location was 30 miles away.  While waiting for the car to pick me up I packed and firmed up the plans with the B & B for our stay. I returned with the car by 1:15, fixed lunch and started loading up the car.  We moved into the cottage at 3:15. After moving everything in we took great showers in the huge, beautifully tiled rain shower and settled in.  Lola was completely freaked out and ran from hiding place to hiding place until later that night after we went to bed when she came out and explored her new habitat. 

The cottage we rented is on the second
floor of this out building.

 It started to rain early on Wednesday.  Bob had asked the boat yard to clean and paint the hull below the water line and clean and wax the hull above the water line.  The weather may  complicate this process, but we fully expect to be in Belhaven for at least a week.  


Stay safe and thanks for reading my blog

Wrightsville Beach, NC to Beaufort, NC

May 17, 2020 - May 22, 2020

We were expecting lots of rain on Sunday because of the approaching tropical storm but it was bright and sunny when we got up.  Our stay over day at Wrightsville Beach was consumed with typical chores.  We used the loaner car to grocery shop then did laundry, vacuumed, and emptied the solids container.  By the time we finished it still hadn’t started to rain, but the wind was quite strong.  We closed up the enclosure in the cockpit to protect it from getting too wet if it does start raining.

We got a good hard rain during the night.  So much rain came down that the water in the dinghy was ankle deep and needed to be bailed, which is always my job (I like the job, too).  We had planned to leave in time to catch the 9:00 am opening of the Wrightsville Swing Bridge but the fuel dock didn’t open until nine and we definitely needed fuel since our next stop will be six days away. The day went fairly well with the weather turning from sunny to cloudy and back again, but no rain. I was fixing lunch in the cabin and right after I filled my cup with tea the boat hit a sand bar with such force that the tea flew off the counter and onto me and I was flung against the hand rail in the galley.  Bob used his mad ungrounding skills and got us off after some confusion about the steering (he couldn’t steer but realized he had the auto pilot still on).  Again I was ready to call Tow Boat US.  A river surveyor happened to be near us and he called and gave Bob instructions on how to find the deep water.  Thank goodness!  The rest of the day went well and we passed by the last ocean inlet at New River that we have to deal with on this trip.  We anchored in Mile Hammock Bay by 4:00 pm.  According to Bob’s records this is the eighth time we have anchored here. The Bay is part of Camp Lejeune, the marine training base in NC. Lola rushed out to the cabin top to have a better view of the birds and we relaxed in the cockpit with our happy hour drinks.

As expected it started to rain during the night and was raining steadily when we got up at 6:00 am.  Checking my weather AP it looked like the worst rain would be in the morning and we would get a reprieve at noon for a few hours.  We decided to leave instead of waiting it out in Mile Hammock Bay. The visibility was impaired by the rain on the front window (no windshield wipers on a sailboat) so we slowed our speed to about 4 knots.  Because of our slow progress we knew we wouldn’t make it to our intended anchorage and called ahead to Beaufort Docks Marina to get a slip for the night (we later decided we didn’t want to face the rain predicted for Wednesday and decided to stay two nights). The ICW was pretty tame for most of the day with great channel markers and good depth.  It was just frustrating and stressful peering through the front window covered with rain drops. We docked at the marina just after 3:00 pm, registered, closed up the whole enclosure, and settled in for the night.  I made pizza for dinner (if only I had a brick pizza oven) and it was great.

Of course I had to bail the ankle deep water out of the
dinghy before we were on our way this morning.
 

The next morning it was still raining.  When it slowed down a bit we got showers and wondered what we were going to do for the day.  After bailing the dinghy, AGAIN, I sat in the cockpit with Lola for awhile. Our boat neighbors had two terriers and one stared at Lola the whole time she was outside. The owner told me that the dog used to have a cat friend that he played with. I don’t think Lola wanted to make friends. We ordered lunch from Beaufort Grocery Co.  We had eaten there on earlier visits and were loved it. Their desserts are particularly delicious.  This time Bob had a brisket and provolone sandwich and I had a shrimp Cobb salad.  Again we were very impressed with the quality.  After that we borrowed the marina car and stopped at the Food Lion for a few groceries and the ABC store for some much needed Tito’s vodka.  After the huge lunch we had we really didn’t need dinner so we just relaxed, listening to the rain on the cabin top.  After checking the weather we decided to stay another day rather than slog it out in the pouring rain and high winds that were predicted for tomorrow.  

Facing another rainy day I decided to complete some cleaning jobs I’d been wanting to do and make a couple more face masks. The weather prediction looked bad for another day and we paid for our fourth night here in Beaufort.  We ordered dinner on line from a restaurant right at the end of our pier and I picked it up at 5:00pm. 

When we woke up on Friday morning the sun was actually peeking through the clouds and as the day progressed it got sunnier and sunnier.After bailing out the dinghy, AGAIN, I did laundry and we walked around town taking some photographs. We even stopped into some just opened shops (wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing) and purchased a few items. We made preparations to leave the next morning by filling the water tanks and having the marina top off our diesel tank. The weather prediction calls for 50% chance of rain tomorrow, but with little accumulation so we hope the trip won't be too messy.

We had passed this meadow filled with
black eyed susans the day before,
but with the torrential rain I
wasn't able to get a photo.

As you can see the meadow is actually the
front yard of this stately river front home.
It's so much prettier than a manicured
 lawn and eco friendly, too!

Stay safe and thank you for reading my blog.

___________

Beaufort, SC to Wrightsville Beach, NC

May 11, 2020 - May 16, 2020

Bob got up in the middle of the night and redid our schedule so I was surprised at 6:15 am when he told me we had to leave by 7:30 am or earlier.  The original plan was for us to have a leisurely morning and leave at 9:30 am.  When he explained his reasoning it made perfect sense.  We quickly took showers, emptied the trash, bought ice, untied the dock lines and were off at 7:15 am.  We had an easy day of it passing through trouble spots at high or close to high tide and made 61 miles to our anchorage on Stono River.  Bob grilled steaks and I fixed corn on the cob! Wonderful! 

I enjoy reading boat names.  I liked this one.
Do you think the owners of "Play'N Hooky"
were school teachers?

Our anchorage was right in front of this house.

Our main trouble spot on Tuesday was Elliot Cut which is a narrow channel dug between two rivers with a tremendous current except at slack tide.  We left at 7:15 to get to the cut as the tide finished going out and was ready to change and start coming in.  It was perfect timing.  Unfortunately the bridge on the other side of the cut did not open until 9:30 am.  We anchored near by and had breakfast and waited for the bridge to open. We passed by Charleston and Isle of Palms, two of our frequently visited spots. Since our day was so long yesterday we decided to cut our day short and were anchored in Whiteside Creek by 1:00 pm.  We had a little trouble getting the anchor to hold (we are particularly anxious about this because of dragging) but finally found a good  spot and relaxed for the afternoon.  

It seemed odd not to stop in Charleston.
This was our view from the harbor.

A few clouds make a great sunset.

Wednesday we traveled past McClellanville on the narrow and shallow Jeremy creek.  We crossed the South Santee and the North Santee Rivers and along a canal to Winyah Bay.  We passed Georgetown and up the Waccamaw River to one of our favorite anchorages behind Butler Island.  The anchorage was beautiful with Cypress trees and so much wildlife.

Lola and I stayed on the cabin top watching and listening to the birds for a while.  It was a calming stop!

Of course, I was able to capture
a beautiful sunset.

Our goal for Thursday was to traverse the Waccamaw River until we branched off to a canal on the ICW.  The Waccamaw River is one of the most beautiful Rivers on the ICW. It winds through banks lined with cypress trees standing in the water some draped with Spanish moss.  We were west of Myrtle Beach for the several hours where the canal dug for the ICW is lined with spacious homes most with infinity pools.  We stopped around 1:30 at Barefoot Landing Marina for the night. 

Our goal for Friday was a marina in Southport.  We usually stay a few days at the Southport Municipal Marina, but it was full.  We had heard a couple on s/v Lucille who’s home port was Rockhall MD on the VHF calling bridges just behind us.  We had even passed under opening bridges in tandem a couple of times.  They docked right behind us in Southport and we finally got to meet them a chat for awhile sharing stories and strategies for the next few days.  It was refreshing to talk to other people (we practiced social distancing, of course) especially since we weren't going to be able to visit any of our favorite restaurants in Southport.

We got a late start on Saturday morning to take advantage of a rising tide on the Cape Fear River.  Since the river has a two to three knot current it was a wise move and our destination was only four hours away.  Cape Fear River was busy with pleasure boats, but it was wide enough to give all boaters plenty of room.  That was not the case when we left the river and entered the canal of the ICW.  It was pure chaos with jet skis, small boats, large boats, kayaks, and standup paddle boards everywhere.  We vowed never to travel this bit of the ICW on a weekend  again (it was that crazy).  We arrived at the Seapath Marina in Wrightsville Beach early afternoon.  We registered and got the lay of the land. When asked about shower facilities the dock hand told us they were being renovated. So no showers here.  I’m thankful we took the time to shower in Southport.  

 We are debating about staying in Wrightsville beach until the predicted tropical storm passes through.  We’ll see what happens.

Thank you for reading my blog.

St. Augustine, FL to Beaufort, SC

May 5, 2020 - May 10, 2020

We love St. Augustine and it seemed odd to be leaving after spending only one night  and taking no trips into town.  But our health and safety come before fun.  Our trip on Tuesday turned out to be longer than we expected. Our planned anchorage for the night turned out to be much shallower than indicated on the charts and we went aground.  It was dead low tide so we waited for about 45 minutes and then were able to get going again.  Apparently it was a full moon tide and was almost one foot lower than usual.  We continued on north and grabbed a mooring ball in Fernandina Beach. It was 5:00pm before we were settled.  Fortunately we had some left over pasta and sauce which made for a quick and easy meal. The tidal current in this mooring field was extremely strong and when the current changed during the night the mooring ball kept hitting the bow hull with a loud bump disturbing our sleep.

Since we went farther than expected yesterday our trip to Jekyl Island Marina was shorter than originally planned; which was a good thing as we had some important boat chores to complete (changing the engine oil and emptying the solids container of our composting toilet).  During this process Bob also found a crack in one of the fittings on the hot water tank (it’s always something) and had to replace it.  The restaurant on the marina property was serving take out so we ordered our lunch and ate it on the restaurant porch before we started our chores. I had a delicious shrimp salad salad (kind of like a Cobb salad, but with shrimp salad instead of grilled chicken). We got to take real showers and settled down for the night. 

s/v Rainy Days docked at Jeckyl Island Marina

With a boat neighbor’s help with our lines we left Jekyll Island at 6:30 am.  We had two problem spots to deal with and scheduled the trip around the tides.  We hit Little Mud River at mid tide and falling and made it through nicely. Johnson Creek was the next trouble spot and with the full moon tides it was more shallow than usual with mud flats and sand bars galore.  We went aground briefly but got off  quickly.  When the tide was with us we were doing over eight knots and decided to go all the way to Kilkenny Creek for the night.  We arrived just after five and anchored. 

The mud flats at this point reached almost
to the red channel marker.

We thought our anchor had dug in, but in the morning we were  surprised to see we were right up against the spartina grass and badly aground.  It was almost high tide and Bob worked the boat back and forth until we broke free.  Phew. I was getting ready to call “Tow Boat US”. Our last day in Georgia was complicated by Hell Gate.  We wanted to pass through that area at mid and rising tide so we didn’t leave our anchorage until 8:30 am.  We had time for a great breakfast of egg, cheese, and bacon burritos.  It was my watch when we went through Hell Gate and because it was high tide I sailed through unscathed.  The lowest water I saw was 15 feet, but with a ten foot tidal range it would certainly be a problem at low tide.  We crossed the Savanna River at at 2:00pm and Bob had to fight a strong tide pushing us down river the whole way across.  We anchored in New River in South Carolina and were happy to be done with Georgia.  As we were anchoring the wind picked up quite a bit and was opposed to the tidal current creating a situation where the anchor was under the boat, but we are sure it was well dug in tonight.

Just south of the Savannah River
are many elegant houses.

I haven’t said much about Lola this trip, but she has been a real trooper.  She spends the day in the cockpit with us alternately sleeping and keeping watch.  She dislikes power boats and gives them the evil eye everytime they pass by rocking us with their wake.  She caught her first green head fly while we were in Georgia and managed to swat many of the flies away before they entered the boat. What a great 1st mate!  

Lola is glaring at a noisy motor boat as it wakes our boat.
She has her ears back! Look out!

No dragging of the anchor last night! We left our anchorage at 6:45 and motored about 35 miles.  Both the Calibogue and the Port Royal Sound were rocky due to opposing current and wind, but other than that it was a pleasant trip to Beaufort SC.  Since we needed to buy groceries and do laundry we decided to stay over at the Lady’s Island Marina for two days.  It will be nice to be in one place as this constant moving is getting exhausting.  It’s a lovely marina just across the Beaufort River from downtown.  Publix is in walking distance as well as some sandwich shops and restaurants that are open for take out.  

The sunset on Saturday night was gorgeous!

Mother’s day was busy.  We borrowed the courtesy car from the marina and bought groceries and new line for the fenders (we lost one between the bridge and Lady's

’s Island Marina) at West Marine. After stowing all of the groceries it was time for lunch and I whipped up some comfort food - tomato soup and grilled ham and cheese sandwiches.  Since Lady's Island Marina did not have fuel we opted to transfer the auxiliary tank fuel into the main tank and empty all of our Jerry Jugs of Diesel fuel into the auxiliary tank so we could keep going until our stop at Barefoot landing Marina (three days away).  I heard from all of my children and enjoyed our lengthy phone calls catching up on what’s been happening.  After doing some cleaning, I relaxed for the rest of Mother’s Day.  Tomorrow we resume our trek up the ICW.

Grocery shopping has sure changed!
I'm glad to see so many protections
in place for the employees.

Stay safe and thank you for reading my blog.

Vero Beach, FL to St. Augustine, FL

May 1, 2020 - May 4, 2020

We left the marina at 8:45 on Friday morning with a boat neighbor’s help with our dock lines.  It was smooth going with light winds, sunny skies, and a cool breeze.  We made it to Coconut Bay (28 miles away) by 1:00pm and anchored.  We waited until stopping to have lunch which consisted of reheated left over pizza from Geogios in Vero Beach.  What a treat!  I’ve got to figure out what cheeses they use on their pizza.  Whatever it is, it is a delicious combination.

Rising early we weighed anchor by 7:00 am.  It was a chilly morning with a temperature of 59 degrees.  It was the first time we had our fleece jackets out in a very long time.  We motored into the wind for a little over 50 miles on the Indian River and anchored for the night at Titusville.  Except for the chill it was an easy day with no bridge holdups or groundings.  The scenery along the sides went from grand houses to scruffy pines and palm trees.  Traveling on a river is much more interesting than crossing the ocean since there is so much more to see. Bob brushed off his grilling skills and cooked some delicious pork chops for dinner.  One of the advantages of anchoring out is being able to use the grill.

On Sunday we traveled from Titusville to Daytona Beach which is a very busy and crowded section of the ICW.  Jet skis and small boats buzzed around us like wasps.  Both big and small fishing boats were out everywhere especially in the Hauloverer Canal and Mosquito Lagoon.  It was a tiring and frustrating day with all the boat traffic.  No one seemed to be taking any precautions for the coronavirus either.  Something tells me there will be another surge of infections in a couple of weeks, but I hope not.

On Monday we set out early once again.  Our plan was to anchor North of St. Augustine, but after traveling many miles decided to go the easy route and take a mooring ball in St. Augustine after re fueling, filling the water tanks, and buying ice.  I hailed our friends, Judy and Stephen on s/v Bantana (they wintered in St. Augustine) once we settled in.  Low and behold it was Stephen’s birthday and we were invited to take part in a surprise dingy parade to help him celebrate.  Unfortunately, our dinghy was not ready for use so we couldn’t participate, but it was good to hear our friend’s voices once again.  Now that we are back in the states we can keep in touch with them.  One interesting occurrence today was the loss of my "Rainy Days" hat.  A few miles after the loss a boat full of young people pulled alongside and said they had retrieved my hat and wanted to return it .  I stuck the boat hook out and one of the guys put the hat on the hook.  I was so excited about getting the hat back.  This is the second time the hat has gone into the water and been retrieved.  It must have nine lives like a cat!!!!!

Sorry, no pictures this time.  I’ll try to do better with my next blog.

Thank you for reading my blog.