Charleston, SC part 2

December 2, 2018 - December 9, 2018

Our first day in Charleston was a complete wash out.  It rained all Saturday night and all day Sunday.  It really poured with thunder and lightening as well.  During a brief let up we walked to the marina entrance and looked around.  We found a convenience store, a restaurant, and a wine and liquor store.  The marina provides a shuttle downtown which we want to use once it stops raining.

 I took this picture when it stopped raining.

On Monday morning it continued to rain, but only lightly.  We were able to fill our water tanks, get the dinghy off the fore deck and onto the dock, and hang our icicle christmas lights.  We, also, tracked down a leak in the water system that was causing our pump to run more than necessary and the water tanks to empty too quickly.  Once Bob tightened a few connections under the floor it seemed to be fixed.  We are both tired of the dampness that the rain brought with it. When the sun came out we opened the hatches and ran the fan in our heating system continuously to dry things out.  We walked to the restaurant for lunch. Neither of us were very impressed with the quality of the food so we won’t be going there very often. 

The lights add a festive air to the boat.

 Isn’t my yellow bike the cutest!

On Tuesday we rented a car to drive to Folly Beach Walmart to purchase bikes to use around town this winter.  After completing our purchase we found we couldn't get them into the car (we had originally thought they would be in boxes to be put together by us).  A man in a car next to us suggested that we buy a bike rack to transport the bikes and that’s what we did. While Bob was inside buying the bike rack several people offered their help- southern friendliness. I’m so excited to start biking around town.

Next problem was where to keep them so they wouldn’t wind up in the harbor.

Our first outing on the bikes was on Wednesday.  We rode to the Charleston City Market which is a long building housing various local vendors in the French Quarter.  You can find jewelry, scarves, designer clothing, wood carving, sweet grass baskets (a traditional craft of the Gullah people), and much more.  

 I love walking through the market looking at all the unique wares.

After perusing the offerings we walked to NewYork City Pizzeria for lunch.  It’s great to find a place that serves great pizza by the slice and good salads. I’m sure we will go there often.  Back at the boat bob slipped as he was entering the cockpit and smashed the screen of his iPhone.  We will have to find a place that makes iPhone repairs.

Early on Thursday morning we took an Uber to Mt. Pleasant to the iPhone repair store.  While the phone was being repaired we did some shopping at 

Walmart (in the same shopping center).  We purchased a new crock pot and enough food to sustain Bob while I am away next week visiting Claire (my children’s grandmother) and my son’s family.

We took another bike ride downtown on Friday to a to a restaurant we had visited before. It was a beautiful sunny day, but rain is predicted for the weekend.

Her's some amusing signs I found hanging in a
restaurant in Folly Beach on Tuesday.

Early Saturday morning we took the shuttle downtown to visit the Christmas market.  The sky was overcast and we had to bundle up against the cold northerly wind.  We bought vegetables and tomato sauce and looked at all of the unique items for sale by local artists and craftsmen.  Next on our agenda was to take the shuttle to West Marine.  The shuttle goes to the West Marine every day at 11:00 am and picks the riders up at 12:30.  That gave us just enough time to get the wire Bob needed to fix our electrical problem, buy some cat food and have lunch at the nearby deli.  It started raining just as we returned to the boat and didn’t stop until Sunday afternoon.  At high tide on Sunday morning there was coastal flooding downtown and at the marina office.  

Sunday afternoon I prepared for my trip to Sarasota and Houston.  My next blog will be about that trip.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Southport, NC to Charleston, SC

November 26, 2018 - December 1, 2018

Monday morning we left Southport at 7:15 am in order to hit the most troublesome sections of the ICW at rising and high tide.  Our trouble spots were Lockwoods Folly Inlet, Shallot Inlet, and Little River Inlet.  These are all inlets from the ocean with treacherous currents that can cause shoaling in the channel. With Bob at the helm and me manning the binoculars and the charts we made it through without hitting bottom once.  We also, had to traverse the worst section of the Rock Pile, which is a section of the ICW with rock ledges on each side of the channel caused by blasting through granite.  We made it to Barefoot Landing Marina at 3:00 pm unscathed.

It was up early again on Tuesday to head for Georgetown.  Our original plan was to anchor out, but the weather was predicted to be below freezing tonight so we changed plans and reserved a spot at Georgetown Landing Marina.  It was cold all day and Bob and I were both bundled up, but the chill got to us anyway.  The first half of the day we were fighting an opposing tide which slowed us down significantly.  By the time we got into the Waccamaw River the tide had turned and we were moving along between 7.5 and 9.5 mph.  The Waccamaw River is an easy section of the ICW.  It winds around just enough to keep it interesting at the helm, and is wide and deep, hence, no chance of going aground.  We arrived at the marina at 3:00 pm and after docking and getting settled we walked to, you guessed it, a pizzeria for dinner.

When we woke up the temperature outside was 35 degrees, but we were snug and warm inside the boat with our heater running.  Around mid-morning we walked to the historic section of Georgetown which consisted of five or six blocks along Front Street lined with historic homes, shops, and restaurants.  One block closer to the water was the Harbor Walk.  

 The town clock can be seen from all over the historic districts.
This view is through a live oak, one of the many lining Front Street.

We stopped into the Coffee Break Cafe to warm up with a cup of coffee.

 Harbor walk is lined with restaurants.

One of the restaurants is Big Tuna.  It gets 4.5 stars on Trip Advisor.

These shrimp boats are docked at the historic shrimp pier.

After, touring the town we had a fantastic lunch at Atlantic House Restaurant that served only Atlantic seaboard fresh seafood. Bob had fried oysters from Oriental, NC and I had shrimp salad.  Both were outstanding.

On Thursday morning we cast off at 8:00 am in order to be at mid and rising tide when traversing some of the ICW that have particularly shallow areas.  With a tidal range of 6 feet MLW (mean low water, which means the average depth at low tide) of 5 feet can be easy to get through at high tide.  That’s why Bob is so careful about tides. We made it through without any mishaps and tied up at Isle of Palms Marina at 4:00 pm.  Isle of Palms is almost like home to us as we stayed here for a month our first year of cruising when our engine conked out. It’s a great marina with a good restaurant, a small market, and great shower facilities.  We got settled in and had a light dinner on board.

We started out Friday morning by getting a ride to the Harris Teeters for provisioning.  The marina provided this complimentary service.  By the time we got back to the boat and stowed all the groceries it was time for lunch.  We walked to the restaurant on site and had some great hamburgers.  After lunch we walked to the beach.

It was warm enough to walk along the beach and look for shells.

Two shrimp boats were working the ocean just off shore
to the delight of brown pelicans and seagulls.

Saturday we waited until 11:45 to leave for our winter slip in Charleston City Marina.  Since the current in the marina is notoriously strong we wanted to dock at slack tide (the point where the high tide crests).  It poured for most of the trip and when we entered Charleston harbor the visibility was low and I had to be on the lookout for ships and other boats.  Even though we have an AIS receiver not all boats have a transponder so some boats do not show up on our chart plotter.  This experience solidified our need to have a transponder, too. We arrived before slack tide and docked at the Mega Dock for about a half hour before moving into our slip.  Bob’s expert boat handling and the help of an experienced dock hand made our docking go smoothly.  After getting all the lines out and hooking up to shore power we decided to bring the dinghy up onto the foredeck (not an easy task).  I bailed out the rainwater, hooked up the halyard to the dinghy, and guided the dinghy into place with only a small amount of yelling back and forth between Bob and I.  Like I said it’s not an easy task.  We were glad to be settled in our spot for the winter.

My next blog will begin to chronicle our stay in Charleston.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Belhaven, NC to Beaufort, NC

November 11, 2018 - November 17, 2018

The weekend was predicted to be cold so we stayed put in Belhaven, NC to take advantage of our heater that we can only use when we are plugged in to shore power.  On Saturday we watched Penn State beat Wisconsin and then went out to dinner at The Tavern at Jack’s Neck.  Apparently Belhaven used to be called Jack’s Neck.  the restaurant interior was beautiful with wood everywhere and several alcoves and levels to make the dinner more intimate.  The food was excellent as well.  On Sunday we relaxed, watched NFL football, and prepared for our departure on Monday.

We had two sailboats behind us.  One was from Galesville, where we have the boat maintenance done and kept our boat there for several years.  The second boat was from Newark, DE where I grew up.  The boat owner went to Christiana H S and graduated in ’68.  I went to the same HS and graduated in ’69.  Small world!

Early Monday morning we helped the boat behind us push off and then we had room to take off, too.  It was a narrow channel, but Bob’s expert boat handling got us out without incident.  We are always thankful for our full cockpit enclosure on these cold mornings.  While other sailors are bundled up in their foul weather gear we are comfortable with a light fleece jacket.  Later in the day on the Nuese River the wind picked up and we had a choppy ride.  The waves were hitting us from the port stern which caused the boat to roll sideways.  I didn’t get sick, but I wasn’t a happy sailor.  We anchored just off the ICW in Adams Creek.  Later that night the wind picked up bringing heavy rains and lightening.  At about 3am my phone alerted us to a tornado warning that was on until 5am and to take shelter immediately.  Needless to say we didn’t get much sleep after that.  In the morning all was calm, but Bob discovered that we had dragged anchor about 500 ft. putting us in shallow water.  We moved the boat into deeper water and anchored again.  It is fortunate that we didn’t have a worse outcome from dragging.  We waited for the Beaufort Docks Marina to contact us to let us know that our slip was available.  We left the anchorage at 9:30 am and were docked in Beaufort by 12:15.  After checking in we enjoyed the daily special (meatloaf, coleslaw, string beans) at the Dockside Restaurant. Yummy! 

The town built a boardwalk at the water front that is lined with 

restaurants and shops and, of course, the Beaufort Docks Marina.

Rainy Days is safely tied up at the marina for a few days.

My phone was whacked out and I couldn’t use the hot spot to get WiFi so I walked to a coffee and wine bar to use their WiFi.  I needed to make flight reservations to visit Claire (my children’s grandmother and a dear friend) and her husband Fred in Sarasota, FL.  I decided to combine  the trip with a trip to Houston to visit my son’s family and be there for my grandson’s 5th birthday.  Using the WiFi with a glass of chardonnay was much less frustrating than fighting with the WiFi on the boat.  I did finally fix my phone though - yes, I just had to turn it off and turn it back on again to get it back to normal.

Beaufort reminds us of a little Annapolis with its history and focus on boating.  Bob has challenged me to visit all of the shops in town in one afternoon.

Shops and restaurants line the main street (Front Street)
which is parallel to the water front.

We went to a new restaurant on the boardwalk and had great pizza.
 You can see the brick oven in this photo.

I love to photograph flags.

Thursday was a bust.  it poured down rain from early morning until the afternoon.  It let up just long enough for me to do two loads of laundry at the laundry mat.

The laundry mat is conveniently located across Front street
from the marina and at the back of the General Store (white building).

On Friday we borrowed the loaner car and drove to the Verizon in Moorehead City to change our carrier. We just weren’t getting the coverage we needed in the more rural areas that we travel through.  Hopefully, this switch will solve that problem, and with Bob’s former military discount it won’t cost us much more than T-Mobile.   We walked around town a bit enjoying the bright sunshine and cool temperature.

Provisioning was the main task for Saturday.  We stopped at the town’s farmer’s market hoping to find some fresh produce, but the market was mostly crafts at this time of year.  We borrowed the loaner car and got our groceries at the local Food Lion.  In the afternoon we listened to Penn State football.  

Thank you for reading my blog.

Beaufort, NC to Southport, NC

November 18, 2018 - November 25, 2018

Early Sunday (11/18) morning we cast off and headed south on the ICW.  The weather was beautiful and by the time we anchored in Mile Hammock Bay (near Camp Lejeune) I was wearing shorts.  Since we have the full cockpit enclosure up the sun warms us up nicely even if the air is chilly.  Along the way today we saw evidence of the destruction of Hurricane Florence mostly in blue tarps covering roof damage and missing siding.  

On Monday we left our anchorage at 7:15 in heavy rain that had started early in the morning.  We wanted to make sure we got past New River Inlet at mid and falling tide.  It’s nice to get what we thought was the only tough spot done early.  We had three opening bridges to contend with today, and Bob timed our travel so we wouldn’t have to wait too long for openings.  It is stressful to circle around in front of a bridge with other boats lined up for the opening as well. Between the Figure Eight Bridge and Wrightsville Beach Bridge we went aground briefly at an inlet, but Bob was able to power through the shallow section. After traversing a part of the ICW with incredible mansions lining the west side, we arrived in Wrightsville Beach.  It is a beautiful area, and we are hoping our favorite restaurants here have not been damaged by Florence.

Since our reservation in Southport doesn’t start until Wednesday, November, 21 we enjoyed a stopover day in Wrightsville. Our favorite Mexican restaurant, Tower 7, was open and the food was a delicious as we remembered.

The beach was deserted except for this lone fisherman.

Of course, when I saw this shop advertising
 hurricane sale bargains I had to check it out.  

This view of Wrightsville beach shows the fishing pier.

We left Wrightsville Beach at 7:15 on Wednesday morning headed for Southport, NC.  With a favorable tide helping us on the Cape Fear River we arrived by 11:00am.  The bright sunshine and cool breeze made it perfect for a walk over to Fishy Fishy for lunch.  On our way back to the boat we stopped to admire an American Tug and were invited aboard for a tour. It has a beautiful roomy layout with a great galley.  

That afternoon I made a pumpkin pie (sugar free, of course) and Bob made cranberry relish in preparation for our Thanksgiving “feast”.  While I was baking the pie the propane tank ran out and Bob had to switch to the spare. Thanksgiving was great; good food, nice weather, and lots of football. 

On Friday morning we walked to the outpatient clinic at the local hospital (about 1 mile) for Bob to have his eye examined.  Since there were no eye doctor’s offices open until Monday the hospital was our only recourse.  Bob was seen quickly and diagnosed with an eye infection and prescribed drops to clear it up.  We then walked a half mile further to the pharmacy, had lunch at a pizzeria, and then walked to Walmart to buy our needed groceries.  By the time the Uber driver dropped us off at the marina it was 3:00 pm.  In the pouring rain on Saturday we took an Uber to Oak Island hardware to get our propane tank refilled.  Then we watched college football.  Penn State handily beat Maryland in their final regular season game.

Sunday we were busy all day with the chores to get ready to head out on Monday - laundry, changing engine oil and filter, cleaning our composting toilet, cleaning the water filters, and the cleaning interior of the boat.  It was another exhausting day, but I did take time to walk to the Christmas store to buy some decorations for the boat.

My next blog post will be about the final leg of our journey and will be posted from Charleston, SC our final destination for the season.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Hampton, VA to Belhaven, NC

November 4, 2018 - November 10, 2018

Sunday was a restful day.  The only things on the agenda - cleaning the boat interior, filling the water tanks, and getting groceries.  Right after a mediocre brunch at the Grey Goose Restaurant we took an Uber to the local Food Lion and found everything on our list.  After stowing all the groceries I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather (sunny and cool) and take a walk.  I crossed one of the many bridges in town admiring the changing colors of the leaves. On my way back to the boat I stopped into a gallery which displayed and sold art from 65 local artists.  Back on the boat I watched the last quarter of the Ravens vs. Steelers game. The final score was 20-26 with the steelers on top.

On Monday we left for Great Bridge, VA at 9:15.  We weren’t in a rush because we thought it would be a short day.  We didn’t reach mile 0 of the ICW (intracoastal waterway) until noon and we still had 15 statute miles to go.  With waiting for bridges and locks to open we didn’t tie up at the Great Bridge free dock until 3:30.  The seas were smooth and Lola spent most of the day out in the cockpit with the rest of us.  She was a little restless and needed attention at first, but soon settled down and even took a nap.  

The cats have an easy time of it while we are underway.

Next stop - Coinjock Marina which is basically a series of boats tied up at a bulkhead on the ICW.  The Coinjock dock hands are experts at getting as many boats tied up as possible leaving no more that 12 inches between boats. We took much needed showers and had a great dinner at the restaurant.  We decided to forego their famous prime rib and went with seafood.

We left Coinjock at 7:00 am.  The weather was sunny and mild with very little wind.  We were moving along so well we decided to go all the way to right outside of the Alligator River/ Pongo River Canal.  It was a long day, but very low stress.  We anchored along with 11 other boats at around 3:30 pm. The best advantages for anchoring out are; it’s free, we can grill, and the sunsets are amazing.

You can see the heavy clouds moving in that brought rain in the morning.

Lola celebrated her first birthday on 11/7.

We entered the Alligator River/ Pongo River canal at 7:30 am.  The 25 mile long canal was an easy trip and we tied up at the Belhaven Marina by lunch time.  We walked downtown to the Gingerbread Bakery for lunch.  It was a quaint spot with delicious reasonably priced food. 

The Marina office and facilities are pictured.
This marina has the best shower facilities of any
marina we have experienced.

Belhaven  (Beautiful Harbor) is a historic town which calls itself the "The Birthplace of the ICW". In 1928 with the completion of the Alligator River/ Pongo River Canal the ICW was complete and was dedicated in Belhaven.

One of the historic buildings in the town.

In the next two days I visited every shop in town.  They ranged from antiques to high end clothing stores. 

The most interesting spot was a shop with individual boutiques.

 Every nook was filled with unique merchandise.

 Antiques were mixed with new merchandise in this room.

We will be staying in Belhaven until Monday because of the cold (below freezing) weather that is due on Saturday night.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Annapolis, MD to Hampton, VA

October 28, 2018 - November 3, 2018

The C&C rendezvous was quite a success.  Sailors brought their boats from as far away as North Carolina, drove in from Canada, and flew in from Minnesota.  We toured each other’s boats, admiring all of the updates and custom additions gleaning ideas for our own boats, shared meals, and lots of conversation.  Bob and I are the only live-aboard cruisers in the group, but many of the couples are looking forward to the cruising lifestyle in the future.  Sunday was the last day of the get together and involved visiting back and forth and saying good-by.  

Four C&C boats are tied up in slips.

Annapolis will always feel like home.

We left Annapolis at 10:30 after breakfast at City Dock Coffee.  It was windy and overcast, but our plan was to go only as far a Galesville where we dropped anchor at 1:30.  Lola seems to be getting more used to the movement of the boat while we are underway, but did not join us in the cockpit.  That night the temperature went down to 43 degrees and the boat was at 56 degrees when we woke up.  Bob got up first and lit the propane fireplace to take the chill off, such a gentleman!

The sun was shining brightly when we left Galesville  at 7:30 am, but the boat had not warmed up much. Our trip to Solomon’s was uneventful and when we tied up at Zanhizer’s H dock at 2:00pm the cockpit was toasty warm. Lola had joined us in the cockpit for most of the trip which is a good sign that she will be a stellar boat cat.  Bob continues to revise our trip plan as we go along. Originally, he had planned seven stops between Annaolis and Norfolk. He has eliminated the Eastern Shore stops narrowing it down to five stops.

We left Zanhizer’s at sunrise heading for Fishing Bay, but the wind and waves kicked up negatively effecting our speed.  We stopped for the night about 15 miles short of our goal in Wicomico River.  We left the next morning at sunrise hoping to make it half way to Hampton.  Our speed was good and the seas were manageable so we decided to go all of the way to Hampton.  The wind and waves increased in the afternoon slowing us down a bit and we didn’t dock at the Downtown Pier until 5:15.  Fortunately, the Bull Island Brewing Company was just a few feet away from where we were docked and we had a light dinner there.  

Hampton, VA is the longest continuously occupied English speaking community in America even though it was burned to the ground in both the Revolutionary and the Civil wars.  We went out to lunch on Friday and visited a unique antique shop.

The tree lined streets contain small local restaurants and shops.

This antique shop also had a wide variety of local craftsmen's wares.

On Saturday, we walked around town a bit and I visited the History Museum and the 98 year old Carousel.

This creative mural was on a building on Wine Street.

The museum was very informative with displays tracing the early colonization thru the present.  

 Blackbeard, the famous pirate, was convicted, hanged,
and beheaded in Hampton.  His head was placed on a
spike and displayed on a point of land at the head of
 the Hampton River to warn off other pirates.

The carousel operated at the Buckroe Amusement Park from
1920 - 1985 when it was dismantled and stored until renovation could begin.

The renovated carousel was reassembled in an
enclosed pavilion where it now operates.
The carousel contains 42 oil paintings, 30 mirrors,
a Bruder Band Organ, 48 hand carved wooden horses,
and two hand carved wooden chariots.

The rest of Saturday was spent enjoying college football games. Go Penn State!

Thank you for reading my blog.

Final Days in Baltimore and Trip to Annapolis

October 2, 2018 - October 27, 2018

We were in a  holding pattern concerning our departure for Charleston, SC where we will stay from 12/1/18 to 3/31/19.  I continued my physical therapy and dealt with insurance issues.  Our latest run in with Allstate has caused us to rethink our plan to negotiate on our own.  We have enlisted the help of a law firm.  

One of our neighbors in the marina left for their winter berth last week and had a short haul to clean the barnacles off their props.  When Bob saw the extensive growth on their props he decided to hire a diver to clean our prop before we leave.  Divers are busy this time of year and we couldn’t get an appointment until 10/24/18.  Our new departure date will be Thursday 10/25/18.

The fun part of this delay is that I have been able to spend more time with Jess - sewing and going out to lunch on the last two Saturdays.  She is managing a huge concert for Peabody involving over 500 performers.  It is the Bernstein Mass which Leonard Bernstein created for the opening of the Kennedy Center in 1971. The performers are from Baltimore City Schools, Morgan State University, New Psalmist Baptist Church Choir, and Peabody Conservatory.  This concert is a gargantuan task and I am looking forward to attending it on 10/26/18.

We left Baltimore on 10/24/18 at 8:00 AM.  The weather was cool, but with our full cockpit enclosure we were well protected from the elements.  We arrived in Annapolis in time for lunch at Pip’s dogs on Dock Street. I always have the Almost Chicago Dog that is loaded with all kinds of yummy condiments.  We are in Annapolis for the C&C rendezvous which is a gathering of C&C boat owners in the area.

I researched public transportation from Annapolis to Baltimore so I could attend the "Mass" and found a commuter bus that would leave Church Circle (within walking distance of City Dock) at 3:17 on Friday afternoon.  On Friday C&C boats and their owners began to fill up the slips at City Dock.  We met up with many of them and the planned cover dish for the evening was moved from the dock to our boat because of the predicted N’oreaster that was moving into the area.  So while I was in Baltimore at the Bernstein Mass Bob was hosting 12-15 people for a cover dish dinner on our boat.  With the full enclosure everyone was well protected from the rain.

s/v Rainy Days cockpit full of C&C owners

My bus trip went smoothly and I met Joe (my son-in-law) at the Brew House for dinner before leaving for the "Mass" that Jessica had produced for Peabody Conservatory.  It was held in the New Psalmist Baptist Church which has a seating capacity of 4000 and the house was almost full. I really didn’t know what to expect, but the impact of the Mass was incredible.  With the multitude of performers and genres (from marching bands to opera) and the powerful message of the music I was overwhelmed and inspired.  The work to produce such a spectacular show was incredible.  I am very proud of Jessica to say the least. 

It was such a thought provoking and inspiring performance,
I'm so glad I could attend.

After the show I spent the night at Jess and Joe’s and returned to Annapolis via light rail and Uber by 11:00 on Saturday.

The rendezvous was in full swing with pain killers flowing.  I spent the afternoon and evening on one of the boats making friends with all of the C&C owners.  Great times.

Thank you for reading my blog.