Author: ortolancat

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Dodging Dredges thru the Carolinas

With pleasant, low wind weather forecasted, we decided to “zoom” thru South Carolina, skipping favorite stops such as Charleston – we’ll catch them this fall. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to skip an abundance of dredges…

This was the first underway dredge we encountered in the narrow “Rockpile” portion of the ICW near Myrtle Beach – no big deal.

However, 15 minutes later we were surprised with rest of its parade – in the worst, narrowest area of the “Rockpile”. Every couple hundred feet were portions of rock protruding from shore which didn’t get sufficiently blasted away during the ICW’s construction. Trapped between 2 rocky outcroppings with unknown rocks under us, attempting to keep in place with 1 knot of current for 5 – 6 minutes as they slowly marched by – no fun.

This working dredge near Carolina Beach was the talk of all the cruisers, as he was (usually) blocking the only deep water & (usually) wouldn’t answer calling boats on the VHF radio. The snaking, floating pipeline was curling behind unnecessarily blocked the channel even further. A few boats went aground attempting to pass by. We left our anchorage at 7 AM near high tide & made it thru with 3′ to spare, but that’s almost aground for a 6′ draft sailboat.

This massive dredging operation off the Beaufort inlet wasn’t an issue at all, as we could keep 1/4 mile away & still be in 15’+ of water. Going the 80 miles offshore between Wrightsville Beach & Beaufort is always our preference if the weather cooperates, as it avoids sections of the ICW with another dredging operation & a bridge under construction with reduced width.

Even after 13 years, we are still amazed at the waterside construction along the ICW in South Carolina. These rows & rows go on for miles & miles & miles – they are now “filling in the blanks” with more houses & of course their own docks.

While we’ve stopped at Wacca Wache Marina for diesel a few times, we finally stayed the night. They have a very good, friendly restaurant on-site. And everyone just likes to say “Wacca Wache”.

And last, but not least, Britt’s Donuts in Carolina Beach, followed by a great dinner with cruising friends Jim & Laurie we first met 12 years ago when all had sailing catamarans. They are now “dirt dwellers” with a house in Wilmington & a family cottage in Maine, so enjoying life!

We are now 1/2 way thru North Carolina, but need to slow down as it’s getting cold! 49 degrees at night is a shock after months of the 70’s & 80’s!

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Florida & Continuing North

It was time for us to depart Abaco & head back across to the U.S. Apparently everyone else had the same idea (the AIS symbols only show about 1/2 of the boats which were underway).

Halfway across the Atlantic, our tired little friend took a much needed a rest.
Nearing Florida (with our “Q” flag raised) – note the CALM, CALM Atlantic Ocean!!
Our first order of business once in Vero Beach was to replace our genset exhaust hoses – my tape, foil & cable ties just barely held up while in the Bahamas. The new hose is at the bottom of the photo – it turns out the old hose was only rated for water (not hot exhaust water or gases) so it was literally baking apart.
We’re not in the Bahamas anymore 😦
This cute Doggie Library is located next to the Vero Beach City Marina.
Our first donuts in 4 months! From St. Augustine, we Ubered to Parlour Donuts – a new favorite mini-chain expanding in the south with flaky, layered donuts – great flavors without being too sweet.
Springtime – with osprey nests on nearly every marker.
Diane (head of table in right hand photo) & Alex (not shown) invited us to a fantastic gourmet dinner at their condo in Cocoa Beach, overlooking our Twin Sisters (circled). This dinner was years in the making as we passed each other on the Connecticut River 3 years ago, Lori kept in touch & we finally met in person – such is the cruising life! Mike & Ann (seated to the right) we met 12 years ago & frequently meet up, especially as missing cruising since selling their boat, just bought another boat!
Paddlewheel boats aren’t something we often see on the ICW, but this one was being re-located from Florida to North Carolina for the summer.
Passing a dredge is always a challenge, especially at 1′ LESS than a normal low tide. This one used boom anchors (cables I highlighted in yellow) to move back & forth. The operator told us to hug the boom by 15′, then turn sharply around to its stern – he DIDN’T warn me that we first had to go over a shallow 4′ spot (likely formed by the dredging operation, as depth immediately climbed to 13′).

We have now crossed into Georgia, hiding out for 2 days waiting the passing of a nasty front (complete with a nearby tornado warning). Every time our radio blared with an alert tone & “TORNADO WARNING! … evacuate to your basement or strong structure …”, Lori just gave me a dirty look & went back to her beading…

The upcoming week or so shows nearly perfect traveling weather, so we’ll likely “zoom” getting thru Georgia, South Carolina & into North Carolina as springtime is often volatile with nasty thunderstorms & more.