I’ve been thinking that postings of late are lacking in the proper cruising excitement that readers hope to find; and while I’m tempted to greatly embellish or just downright tell a tall tale, I can’t bring myself to do it. Please content yourselves with lots of photos and know that if anything remotely interesting happens, I will write about it!

We’ve started using Navionics on our iPad now. We’d been using Garmin Blue Charts as a backup to the Navionics we have on our old E120 chartplotter because it shows all the ActiveCaptain hazards, anchorages and marinas. It also has a sonar setting that shows depth contour lines and is generally more detailed and up-to-date than the Garmin charts. Garmin, while very pretty, is not known for updating often or well. On Ortolan, we had a touchscreen Garmin chartplotter with Sirius XM radio; one of the fancier pieces of equipment on that cat.

So the newer version of Navionics that runs on the iPad (but not on the old E120s at each helm) is the Captain’s new best friend. It’s got color, dots that show the shallower water (you define the depth) and shows you the deepest water path through the channel/ICW. Traveling through the southern half of South Carolina and all of Georgia requires luck, nerves of steel, accurate electronic charts, oh and a boat that only needs 3ft of depth! 🙂

We used to stop at Osprey Marina for diesel and extremely competitive (if not THE lowest) fuel prices; dockage was a good deal too. Over the years we watched Bucksport Marina come alive and become a bit more substantial; and then we stopped this past Spring to check them out.  Easy to stop, friendly service and competitive fuel price. Twenty-five minutes and off we go, down the scenic Waccamaw with a favorable current.

Our next travel day would include the Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge stretch that lies south of Georgetown as you travel toward Charleston.

 

 

 

As we approached the two guys below I could have gotten a better shot but the distance was too great, even with cropping, so just pretend he’s got a water jet shooting him up a few feet.

The night before going into the Ashley River Marina in Charleston, the anchorage in Dewees Creek was simply idyllic. Our first time using the creek; two thumbs up!

Last fall we pulled into Ashley and met Richard and Jan, owners of PDQ34 Soul Sauce. Lovely people who live nearby, with a long cruising history, more recently local cruising on their PDQ. We’d reserved a few nights at St John’s Yacht Harbor as they offer a two-hour courtesy car and lower dockage rates (being farther from town). Wanting to meet up with Soul Sauce, we let them know our plans. By fantastic coincidence, friends on m/v Kemo Sabe who own the slip opposite theirs, were leaving the day we planned to arrive and said we could rent their slip for a very reasonable amount. Hard to say no to that. Felt bad cancelling with SJYH though.

Not a coincidence though was that we each planned our arrival and departure around the time of slack current; this makes for much less drama and therefore no excitement. We waved to Kemo Sabe (pretty sure I’d read reviews they’d written in ActiveCaptain) as they headed off. Richard and Jan got more experience in the helping cast off and catch your lines department; not that they need it, but was nice they were there for the exchange.

Tucking into a slip during windy/rainy times has pros and cons; the downside being it’s unpleasant to walk around in the rain but if very windy then I feel safer and can enjoy some hobby time. We prefer to travel on non-rainy, low wind at our backs days as we (mostly Russ) are exposed to the elements up on the flybridge, with sun protection but only minimal wind thanks to our low front wind screen. We move right along during nice weather and hunker down when we don’t like the conditions. Being able to do 80+ mile days is helpful when we want to move along.

After Charleston, a stretch of lovely days would enable us to enjoy traveling to Brunswick, GA. Deeper draft boats became scarce, but they should have stuck with us as we had higher tide through nearly all the shallow spots.

Tried out another new-to-us anchorage and it’s a keeper. Morning offered up this pretty red glow that perhaps warned of lousy weather to come, but not today.

Delayed leaving this peaceful spot until 8:30 so that the tide would be up a bit in the Little Mud River- another stretch where if you draw more than 4 ft you want some tide assist. We went through two hours after low tide and saw no less than 8 ft- but the moon cycle is providing at least a foot more water than typical.

We’ve seen goats and horses along the ICW but cows are a first!

Brunswick Landing Marina (BLM) is very popular for re-fueling and as a former naval hurricane hole, is a perfect spot to leave your boat for extended periods of time or just make it your year-round home base. Slips were in short supply as many boats hadn’t headed off yet and I’m guessing a few had come up before Irma. But while our slip had no protection from southerly winds, most of the strong stuff expected would be from the West to North.

We got to meet the owners of Kemo Sabe, and they both are Buffalo, NY natives. 🙂 but not living in that frigid northland anymore!

And what did I tell you about distilleries and craft breweries? This will give downtown Brunswick a much-needed boost; plus a craft brewery will be opening across the street. What’s not to love? Oh right, no donuts. 😦

The Farmer and the Larder is changing course, but one of the owners is opening a restaurant across the street; we look forward to checking out Strong Roots in the spring.

Downtown was very quiet for a Saturday, but we learned from a shop owner that the BIG Florida/Georgia football game was this afternoon, so that’s where everyone was. Georgia won.

 

But the loading dock south of us was the intended destination, whew.

Tuesday and Wednesday nights would find us nine miles from Brunswick, at Jekyll Harbor Marina. Loaner bikes and a golf cart; everyone is happy. We needed to be stationary on Nov 1 to accomplish a long list of to-dos in changing our domicile from CT to FL. The “stay or go” decision hinged on Florida’s healthcare and those costs/subsidies weren’t available until Nov 1. Once we saw the numbers, it was full speed ahead to tackle the loonnngggg list, that we’d only begin to check-off on Nov 1.

Tuesday, after we arrived- that was Halloween but sure didn’t look or feel like it- got the golf cart for a shopping/grocery run then biked the southern part of the island in the afternoon.

Yes! A beach. First one in months.

 

 

The squirrels left out the remains of daily snacking- gave us a never-before look at the inside of a pine cone that’s been stripped.

This info panel contained several pieces of interesting historical information from the year I was born.

 

Over the past few years we would focus on comments from Bob423 as they were precise and concise. Not that we usually had to worry but it’s good to be prepared. Then Russ discovered not only does Bob423 have a blog, he also produces a guidebook. So I’ve added a link to his blog from ours.

Normally, Bob423 is ahead of us and most snowbirds, but not this year. We are a week ahead of last year and Bob423 is a bit behind thanks to weather. So when Russ said that he’d be catching up to us today and anchoring off the marina, I joked that he’d come by at 4:23.  What is the likelihood that we’d see him come past at 4:23? not sure, but doubt me not when I say that after I took the photo the wall clock said 4:23.

 

Thursday we would continue south and cross the FL/GA line: Anything Goes, It’z Just What We Do, Round Here- oh wait not that- the actual state line 🙂

Morning fog showed signs of lifting, but whether it did or not, we had to get going with a long day ahead.  Next stop, Pine Island- north of St. Augustine.

Belhaven offers several options for visiting boats: marina dockage, town docks with power and water, free town docks or anchoring. Easy in and out and a wooden breakwater that does a reasonably good job but not perfect since it’s not solid nor very high.

This visit we used the town docks at $1 per foot.  Immense quantities of water were required to wash all the green goo off poor Twins; thus we (Russ actually) spent the late afternoon hours and some the next morning, getting the boat, the dinghy, etc all clean again.

That was Wed Oct 11. The day before, when we left Atlantic Yacht Basin in Chesapeake VA, was Oct 10, the 7^th anniversary of the beginning of our nomadic wanderings. Can you believe it? Seven years. Truly fortunate souls we are. And how to celebrate that, albeit two days late? Dinner at Spoon River on Thursday would do just splendidly!

That afternoon we walked through the couple blocks that comprise downtown; a variety of friendly shops, eateries, Chamber of Commerce, the Belhaven Memorial Museum (open 1pm-5pm) and the well-stocked ACE Hardware/Hand Picked Sister where one can purchase hardware, clothing, gift items, local wines and pillows! I found a dark charcoal gray short-sleeved top that I had to have to update my “wardrobe”. 🙂

Every other time we’d stopped in Belhaven, the museum visit just didn’t happen; this time we made it happen. Housed in the upper level of the former historic town hall, the current museum builds upon the original collection of Mary Eva Blount Way, or “Miss Eva”, who was an extremely avid collector. (1869-1962)

Her love of unique items began with a treasured collection of buttons, given to her by her mother-in-law. Apparently word spread that she loved to collect, and friends and neighbors began to bring her treasures from their own lives and travels. And the collections grew and grew.

She began to showcase her collections in her home in 1940 in an effort to aid the American Red Cross. By this time her collection had grown to more than 10,000 items. Lordy, how do you even count all that?

When she died in 1962, concerned citizens of Belhaven purchased the entire collection which included a fascinating array of unique and priceless artifacts from the county, throughout North Carolina and afar.  The Belhaven Memorial Museum officially opened in April 1965. Items range in time from the early 1800s to the 1960s; most portray life in and around Beaufort County, NC.

Free of charge, the museum relies on contributions from families and businesses.

Hair accessories made from human hair seem a bit squirmy. I know, what about a wig made from real hair? Somehow that doesn’t seem as weird. Maybe using hair as a decoration is what makes me feel uncomfortable with it.

Dinner at Spoon River, where we were remembered, greeted warmly, seated in the window table we love and served amazing creations!

Bread and a large quantity of lightly herbed butter is brought immediately. My favorite entree, Shrimp and Grits is no longer on the dinner menu, only offered at Sunday Brunch. However; I made a plea to bring it back to both the waitress (who seconded that notion) and the sous chef.

Next stop, Beaufort, NC. (did you say BEAUX? Not BEW)  where we spent two nights at Homer Smith’s Docks and Marina waiting for the near-perfect day to head offshore down to Wrightsville Beach.

Classic yacht sighting along the way.

Tripletail was available and Tony promised we’d love it. Velvety smooth and mild like sole but a bit thicker; he was right. We selected one that looked like four meals worth and it was. The below photo isn’t great but you can sorta see the three “tails.”  I also added three pounds of fresh caught shrimp to the Engel freezer.

Another first, the Beaufort Grocery- wow just wow and that was only lunch. We arrived just before 1 pm on Saturday, no wait yet but things picked up while we ate. Seated promptly, our server was friendly and patient with us newbies. She gave us a verbal explanation of the day’s specials; which included some wines by the glass. I wanted white (instead of my typical cocktail) and we were offered tastings of both red and white since Russ wanted red.  How great is that?

The owners, one of whom graduated from the CIA in Hyde Park, NY established the restaurant in 1991 where the Owens Grocery Store operated for many years. So that explains the name. Charles serves as executive chef and Wendy his wife manages the front and doubles as Pastry Chef. Trip Advisor reviews claimed a delicious Bourbon Pecan Pie. I went for it and due to its extreme size, was able to enjoy it over several days.  Ignoring the scale at the next Publix may be advisable.

Beaufort Grocery is well-known for several unique menu items and while we couldn’t try all, I think we got two of three: Sweet potato chips and gougeres, leaving the flaming Saganaki to simply be admired when neighboring tables ordered the cheese appetizer that I will order next time!

This year we are about one week ahead of last year, which is good except for warmer temps mean more insects and bugs. The really good thing is that more cruisers are behind us than “with” us, allowing easier travel (passing and being passed takes time) and no problem being where we want to be. A good amount of buffer days is beneficial for when one needs to hunker down for weather, take more time to sight-see or spend more time attached to a dock. 🙂

Sunday was a lovely day to be offshore and several others thought so too; power boats not sail. Dolphins popped up from time to time but the biggest surprise was the one who swan at our bow (s) for several minutes; seemed like longer but the camera time doesn’t lie.

 

 

The beaches: Wrightsville and Carolina. Can you say “dining and donuts”?  You know we can. We can also say “unplanned get together with friends!”

Our go-to dining spot in Wrightsville Beach is Tower 7 that just happens to sit one block from the dinghy docks. The menu revamped, and my favorite choice eliminated but the Pulled Pork Grilled Cheese was very satisfying; way more pork than cheese.

Carolina Beach is very close to Wrightsville but we needed a donut fix and a place to wait out a couple of rainy/windy days.

The southern end dinghy dock was still under reconstruction so we tied up (oh I can’t say where) and walked to take care of a things- all food and drink related now that I think about it. The important stop was Wake ‘n Bake Donuts (Britts isn’t open off-season) and the last stop was lunch.

Cruising friends who we last saw in Maine during the “RV” year sold their sail cat and found a remarkable home just outside the historic district in Wilmington, NC which is up the Cape Fear River a 30 minute drive to Carolina Beach.  Summer at the Maine lake cottage, winter in NC; I’m becoming envious.

So you know the power of Facebook, right?  Jim and Laurie- and if you are counting, this is Laurie #3!! -posted that they were driving down like now and I replied that we’d be waiting for them in Carolina Beach, but not really thinking we’d get to see them, as who the heck wants to drive even more after days of driving and then unpacking a Uhaul?!?!

I was impressed that our waiter knew exactly how to make a NY Sour and he assured me the bartender would craft one worthy of my high expectations.

And so we continue down the ICW; dining, drinking and searching for donuts.