Seeing double! We’re docked next to our twin “Beach Cat”. Ironically, this is the same marina in Southport, NC in which we first stumbled across “Cat’s Meow II”, now our “Twin Sisters”

Traveling the ICW, you never know what you’ll see along the way – someone towing their houseboat – complete with a basement!

We had to skip Charleston this time, as all of the marinas were full. This is a photo of the Safe Harbor Charleston Marina, nicknamed the “Mega Dock” as its main face dock is really, really long. The crane to the left is now adding a mega-million mega-mega dock in front of the old one! It will be able to accommodate several up-to 400′ yachts with sufficient power to “plug-in”, so they don’t have to run their generators 24/7 (as usual). Next year, maybe they’ll let us dock on their crummy, old mini-mega dock – we can hope!

A good stop again in Hilton Head in which we learned of The Purple Cow Bakery. A determined donuter(?) who was forced to close down when her landlord doubled her rent, but continues to bake her delicious donuts & cheesecakes in a nearby restaurant after they close for the night, then sets up a meet for you to pick them up in the AM.

Our (usual) last stop in Georgia is our favorite anchorage at Plum Orchard on Cumberland Island. The antics of the hundreds of egrets, along with dozens of wood storks & rosetta spoonbills keep us entertained, especially at dusk when they all come “home” to roost, fighting over who’s tree branch is who’s! For some reason, this particular spot is extremely popular.

It was dead calm & beautiful our entire stay

And “our” wild horses often stop by to enjoy the fresh shoots at lower tides

With a few days still to go before our insurance company allows us to cross over the Georgia/Florida line & with the wind set to blow for days, we decided to check out St. Mary’s, Georgia. A lovely little waterfront town which recently replaced their town docks as they are damaged every few years by storms. Their new docks are super-strong concrete with large 2′ diameter fiberglass pilings which will hopefully last for many years. VERY friendly, with the dockmaster insisting on driving us several miles to the grocery store.

Our first-time stop at a marina in Jacksonville Beach, FL & a bike ride to our first Parlor Doughnuts. WOW! A small chain featuring amazing “layered doughnuts”. In only 4 years they’ve grown to over 20 locations. We first heard of them last March when we were looking at our new boat in Venice, FL. A new Parlor Doughnuts location was opening up, but we were a few weeks too early. Maybe the best donuts ever?? We’ll have to let you know when the box is empty!

Our November/December plans remain a bit rough, as we haven’t found a marina who has room for us & that we can afford. We’ll likely bounce around anchorage to anchorage with a few marina days here & there for our appointments & Bahamas departure prep.

Now in Beaufort, SC, we’re 2/3 of our way to Florida & it’s been our best travel year so far by far.  The weather has been great with hardly any issues!

Our Best Welcoming: A marching band upon our arrival in Beaufort, NC

Biggest Waste: The UN was meeting in NYC so for most of the day (last month), the East River was COMPLETELY shut down to all boats. We had learned of the scheduled re-opening time & had planned our day around it, but they kept delaying the re-opening. Idling in-place for over hour+ in 3 knots of swirling current was no fun. We wouldn’t minded as much if they had been actually … well … working on that peacekeeping thing …

The Cutest: The wild horses on Carrot Island off Beaufort, NC

The Most Unusual: MEAGAN is a SpaceX recovery vessel used for the Dragon spacecraft missions. Lori noticed the “X” above “Megan” & the internet told us the rest – very interesting!

The Best Donuts: Believe it or not, the ones from Neil’s Donuts in Middletown, CT which we loaded our freezer with before we departed! Two of our usual donut stops just weren’t up to par & our favorite Britt’s Donuts (in Carolina Beach, NC) isn’t opened this time of the year 😦

The Best Marinas: Safe Harbor Marinas. As we now summer at the Safe Harbor Deep River Marina, we can stay at (some) of their other marinas for free – up to 3 nights each – “when available” is the kicker, but as we’re ahead of “the pack” we’ve managed to get into a few. This has saved us over $1,000 so far, as marina transient dockage prices have jumped nearly 20% in just the past year. We anchor most nights during our spring & fall trips, but an occasional break with power, food & laundry is always welcomed.

We should arrive in Florida in about 2 weeks where dockage will be our biggest challenge ever.  With “everyone” having bought boats during COVID & crazy inflation, slips in Florida are difficult to come by & marinas which used to offer a reasonable monthly rate no longer are. Our prior Florida marina which used to be about $1,000 for a month is now over $200 a day!  Rental cars are 3x what they used to be pre-COVID.

We used to try to be at a marina in Florida for at least a month so we can deal with medical & dental appointments, along with prepping for the Bahamas.  Hey – it can’t all be easy & fun!