South from Brunswick (11 Jan - 29 Jan, 2015)

With apologies to Martin Luther King:

Warm at last

Warm at Last

Thank God Almighty

I’m warm at last

 The story of our trip south from Brunswick, GA is not a story of warmth. But it is a story of the weather; cold, foggy, rainy weather. It wasn’t until 17 January, during our second day at Cocoa, Florida that it became warm enough to take off my sweatshirt and actually go barefoot. It was even later than that before we could enjoy the warmth.

Ok, I can hear some of you now. “Cold … you don’t know cold. Why in (Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Wisconsin, New York – pick one) it was so cold icicles formed on a man’s moustache. It was so cold that …

… Miley Cyrus covered her midriff and put clothes on…

...  hitchhikers were holding up pictures of thumbs!
…roosters were rushing into Kentucky Fried Chicken and begging to use the pressure cooker!  
…the optician was giving away free ice scrapers with every new pair of eyeglasses!
…you chipped a tooth on your soup!

… Playboy magazine stopped publishing because no women would take their clothes off.

… you had to carry around hammers and chisels so we could get out of our pajamas.

…when you milked the cows, you got ice cream! When you milked the brown cows – you got chocolate ice cream!

… the snowman begged you to take him inside at night

Now that you have that out of your system, I will admit that my delicate constitution has, over the years, become used to warm weather (a fact of which I am very proud). In fact, you will notice that there are very few pictures of either Ann or me in this blog. Some people refuse to be photographed in the nude. I refuse to be photographed wearing long pants or socks! In fact, most of this month was consumed in looking for the elusive 70 degree isotherm. Let me explain how it went.

As most of you know, Ann and I left our boat in Brunswick, GA and went back to Northern VA for the holidays. We had a great time with our family and friends. It was, however, cold.

As soon as we arrived back in Brunswick, I realized I had made a strategic mistake. I either did not know, or had forgotten, that southern Georgia got that cold. I don’t remember what the temperature was the day we arrived, but it was way too cold. But it would be okay, I assured myself, we would only be in Georgia for a few more days before we would be on our way south. We were going to Florida – that magic land of warm weather and bikinis; that land where even those of us with the most delicate of constitutions can find warmth. Surely the weather would improve as soon as we crossed the state line.

It didn’t.

A Kamikaze Pelican!!

At first the weather was clear, crisp and cold. We pulled out of our slip in Brunswick without a problem. It wasn’t only cold for us it was cold for the birds. Near Jekyll Island, GA we had one of our first close encounters with attack birds. There were a couple of pelicans who, for some reason, decided to do kamikaze runs on the boat. They would fly fast and low until they were about three feet away from our hull, then they would veer off in one direction or another. Eventually, until one of them decided he would rather join us than fight us, so he landed on the bow of the boat near the pilothouse and let us give him a ride to the other side of the island. He was no more than five feet from us for the whole ride, though he was in front of the glass and we were behind it.

Our plan had been to cross the Florida-Georgia line and spend the night at an anchorage we had used several times before, just outside Fernandina, Florida. We arrived in the middle of the day and decided that it was way too early (and too cold) to stop, and that we should go a little further to an anchorage on the South Amelia River just north of Jacksonville.  Now, one of the great things about anchoring is that I can cook on the grill – and I love cooking outside. In fact, one of the problems with staying at marinas is that they generally do not allow you use an open fire on your boat, so when we get to an anchorage, the first thing I want to do is grill something. That was the plan for our first night on the hook, grilled steaks. Mmmm Mmmm good! But I am telling you, it was so cold … it was so cold that the flames would have frozen on the grill. It was so cold that I didn’t want to cook out!

The fog is starting to lift at Fort George

When we awoke the next morning, it was foggy, very foggy. Still, we could see for about ½ mile or more, so we decided to push on. Well, within the hour, the fog had really rolled in. I mean it really rolled in – to the point where we really couldn’t see more than maybe 100 yards ahead. So, we looked around and found a small anchorage at Fort George where we could stay until the fog lifted. We pulled off the ICW and very carefully started down the Fort George River. But not carefully enough.  Now, in my defense, all three sets of charts that we use show that there is about 8 feet of water at the entrance to the Fort George River at low tide. Unfortunately, the charts are not always right – and they weren’t right this time. We ran aground just inside the entrance.  Luckily, the tide was rising and we just needed to wait a half-hour or so before the tide lifted the boat and we headed back down the river to the anchorage.

We waited in the anchorage for a while and when the fog finally lessened (it never really lifted) we were back on the Intracoastal. We had intended to go to Marineland, a marina we had used before, but because of the delays we went to Saint Augustine instead. As we proceeded and the fog lessened, we were still not out of the woods as it started to rain – a lot; and it started to lightning – a lot. Anyway, we made it to the cold, wet mooring field in St. Augustine, had dinner and went to bed. 
 
When we woke up the following morning, the fog had caught up to us again. We started the engines and got ready to leave, but just as we did the fog became denser. Not only were boats near us covered by fog, but we could not see the shoreline at all. So we waited. And waited. The fog rolled in and rolled out – thought I am not sure it was on little cat feet. We could see the shoreline, then we couldn’t. About 11:30 AM we decided that we had to give it a shot, so we let loose the mooring ball and headed back into the ICW. Eventually, the fog cleared and toward the end of the day, just before we pulled into the Marineland Marina, we actually saw sun!

The weather was good enough that we went out for a walk on the beach. We really like Marineland because there is quite a bit to do. In good weather, you can kayak, run, bike, go to the dolphin research center, etc. After day 1, it was nice enough that we decided to go biking on day 2. There is a long (15 mile?) route along the highway that looked perfect for a ride. But when we got up, it was c-c-c-cold again. I know; I am a chicken rider. L You may find that to be a theme until we get to Palm Beach.

We stopped at New Smyrna Beach because there were not good anchorages in the area and because we hoped it might be warm enough to walk around a little and get some exercise. It wasn’t.

Next, we stopped at Cocoa, Florida. We had anchored here before, but we had never gone ashore and explored. This time we decided we would spend two days in Cocoa Village Marina  and check out the area a little. Well, the first thing that happened was that we saw Gallivant, a 56’ Jefferson Marquessa (the same kind as ours, only 4’ longer) with our friends Don and Pam. Pam was away so we just saw her for a few minutes the day we left, but we got to have drinks and spend more time with Don. Also in Cocoa, we found what seems like the biggest hardware store in the world, S.F Travis Hardware. They have seven buildings each with one or more floors. It was big.

Something else happened in Cocoa. We saw the sun and we found the 70 degree line!!!!!!! The second day we were there, we went out to explore the village that is near the marina and before we knew it we were shedding jackets and sweatshirts. It wasn’t much above 70, but we had finally made it.

After Cocoa we stayed two days on a mooring ball at Vero Beach, one of our favorite places in southern Florida (primarily because of the $13 cost for the mooring ball). We needed to wear sweatshirts most of the time, but it was still close to 70 in the afternoons. On the second day we took a 4 mile walk (read forced march) to the beach. Ann found a little shop where they served ice cream and ordered a cone. That was before she knew she would be attacked – or at least almost attacked – by a second attack bird, this time a seagull! He hovered about 3 feet over her head waiting for her to make a mistake, become less vigilant and give him a swooping angle. She, however, was determined that the gull would not get the ice cream cone so we both ended up taking BIG bites so we could finish before the bird became even more brazen.

After Vero, we traveled the 60+ miles to our preliminary destination, North Palm Beach Marina in (where else) North Palm Beach, Florida. It was nice the day we arrived. It was a little cloudy and not particularly beautiful, but nice. The second day was the best we had seen in months. It was so nice that we decided to clean the boat. It hadn’t been cleaned since thousands of birds pooped all over the deck in Brunswick. The rain, of course, had removed the worst of it, but we still needed to get down and dirty while cleaning the boat. There was a good part to it, however. Are you ready? Are you ready? We were sweating and actually got a little sun on our arms. Yessss! We had made it to the Promised Land – the 75 degree line.

In North Palm we are going to have some work done on the boat (heads and air conditioning), then head further south – all the way to Key West. And that will be the next entry.

 

ANN’S NOTES: Yes…Michael is a happy boater and I am adjusting to the warmer weather. It still has a ways to go, here in North Palm Beach in the morning it is still on the cold side. It does warm up in the early afternoon but cools off again in the evening. Plus it is windy most of the day…so in my mind the Promised Land is still further South.

The fog was pretty amazing…a pain in the derriere to navigate …but interesting to watch roll in and out with no real pattern that you could predict. The only thing you could count on was that it was cold and damp while waiting for it to clear.

Our return visits to familiar marinas, mooring field and anchorages is fun; we know where every thing is and all the worry is gone because…well…we have been there.

We have reunited with some old friends along the way and have made a few new ones. That I must say is one of the many fun things about cruising. You never know how is waiting to meet you.

Michael told you about our bird experiences. The pelican that hitched a ride with us, sitting on our kayak, was one very large bird. The wing span on Pelicans is at least five feet and they can fly just inches from the top of the water. We got to really study the pelican from large head, small eyes, to its very big webbed feet.

The seagull at Vero Beach must have been an extra for the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds. He REALLY wanted my ice cream. He flew behind me until the ice cream was eaten. Michael even threw some sand at him to make him go away but I think the bird had that trick done to him in the past. He was back before Michael could pick up another handful of sand. It was sorta scary to have that pointy beak aiming for your head. Lesson learned…always eat your ice cream under an umbrella while walking on the beach so the seagulls can’t see what you are doing.

Now I need to catch you up on the wild life count..I will go back to November of 2014. I did not have my list with me in VA went the last blog went out…so here we GO…

Friday 21 Nov 2014

·         1 Pod of 2 dolphins

·         3 single dolphins

·         1 splashing on the port side of the boat

·         1 playing in our bow wake

Saturday 22 Nov 2014

·         1 single dolphin

Saturday 29 Nov 2014

·         3 Single dolphins

·         1 pod of 2 dolphins

·         1 Deer

·         2 Horses

Sunday 30 Nov 2014

·         3 single dolphins

·         4 wild horses

·         3 deer

·         3 Armadillos

·         A bunch of beach birds

Monday 1 Dec 2014 (Cumberland Island)

·         Wild horses

·         4  Armadillos

·         1 Bald eagle

·         2 Deer

Thursday 4 Dec 2014

·         2 Single dolphins

Sunday 11 Jan 2015!!!! Our Current Trip

·         3 Kamikaze brown pelicans

·         4 Single dolphins

·         1 pod of 2 dolphins

Monday 12 Jan 2015

·         The tiniest baby crab on our anchor as I pulled it up…it was the size of my pinky nail

2 Pods of 2 dolphins

Tuesday 13 Jan 2015

·         1 Pod of 2 dolphins

·         1 pod of 3 dolphins

Thursday 15 Jan 2015

·         1 single dolphin

·         2 Pods of 2 dolphins

·         1 Bald eagle sitting on marker “G69”

Friday 16 Jan 2015

·         1 Bald eagle

·         2 single dolphins

·         1 pod of 2 dolphins playing on the starboard side of our boat

·         2 pods of 3 dolphins

·         1 pod of 4 dolphins

·         A flock of very bright pink Roseate Spoonbills…maybe Flamingos…not sure…but VERY PINK

Sunday 18 Jan 2015

·         1 single dolphin

·         1 pod of 3 dolphins

·         2 mom dolphins with a baby playing in our wake…baby was learning how to control her back fin and not bump into the other dolphins…she was semi successful in that task.

Monday 19 Jan 2015

·         Crazy ice cream craving attack Sea Gull

Thursday 20 Jan 2015

·         This was Dolphin Playful Thursday on the ICW…all the dolphins that came to the boat stayed and played for a while…I have a video to prove it…

·         5 Single dolphins

·         1 pod of 2

·         4 pods of 3

Thank you for reading and following our adventures…

Traveling Soul…OUT

P.S.

Next blog we will have a surprise!!!!

 

 

 

Beaufort to Brunswick

At 0900 when we had planned to leave Fort Federica (more below), we could see the Lanier Bridge and prepared to get underway. As Ann took her place by the anchor, however, she asked where the bridge was. “What a silly question,” I thought, “she must have turned gotten turned around.” As I started to point out the bridge, I realized that it has disappeared in the fog. The good thing was that we really didn’t need to be anywhere soon. Brunswick, our next destination was only about 2 hours away. We decided, very prudently we thought, that we would wait a while and check again at noon. It is a good thing we did because we heard some boats on the radio that had deployed the first mate to the bow so he/she could see other boats approaching and could point out navigation aids. Yikes!

At noon we hadn’t heard anything on the radio for a while AND we could see the bridge so we decided it was time to go. After about an hour, the bridge disappeared again. This was not good. About 20 minutes later, the water ahead of us began to disappear as a huge fog bank began rolling in. As it approached, I swear it looked as if the fog was consuming the navigation aids, the trees on the banks and even the water itself. Now this was going to be a problem.

We slowed to idle speed (6MPH), turned on the radar, located the ship on the AIS and yes, we put Ann on the bow so she could see things twenty feet earlier than I could. We have been in a dense fog before, but this was dense enough – visibility was about 150-200 meters or so. Then we heard on the radio a securite call. Securite calls are issued when a captain wants to issue a navigational warning that may concern safety at sea, yet may not be particularly life-threatening. This particular securite warning was about a vessel called Emerald Princess. Her captain wanted everyone in receiving distance to know that she was setting to sea – about a mile from where we were. <Gulp!> Now, I know that we could not see Emerald Princess if she was 200 meters in front of us and she could not see us at the same distance. I know from my AIS that she was taking some time to set off from the dock and I could not yet see her on my radar. Still, I was picturing the Emerald Princess from the Princess Cruise Lines. She is a 952 foot long ship with 15 decks and weighs in at 113, 581 tons. Though I must admit I was wondering what the largest ship in the Princess Line was doing leaving from Brunswick, Georgia I didn’t doubt that she was.

As it turned out, our Emerald Princess was not THE Emerald Princess. It was a casino boat from the Golden Isles Cruise Lines that was about 150 feet overall and about four decks high. Moreover, by the time she got underway, we had picked her up, first on radar, than as the fog lifted, visually. Still, we gave her plenty of room. In case you were wondering, no, it wasn’t really scary. But for about thirty minutes it was very nerve wracking!

Well, so much for the excitement! Before the fog and before the fake Emerald Princess we stopped at three anchorages. One was just past Savannah on the Vernon River at Beaulieu or Possum Point (it is called different things in different anchoring books). It was a mediocre anchorage without too much protection, but since the wind wasn’t blowing too hard, it wasn’t a problem. Next we stayed at Duplin Island. It has very good protection from trees from the west, but unfortunately for us, the wind was from the north. In fact, it was so strong that it was actually a bit bumpy in the anchorage the next morning! Still we may have made a discovery. The Duplin River anchorage is about ¼ mile away from the Sapelo Island ferry dock.

Some historians believe Sapelo Island was the site of San Miguel de Gualdape the first European settlement in the present day United States – though it was short-lived (1526–27). If true, it would also be the first place in the U.S. that a Catholic mass was celebrated. The island also houses the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve. Now here is the cool thing. There is a ferry from Sapelo Island to the mainland that brings visitors and tourists. Since we love anchorages that are also historical sites, next spring we are going to find out if we can show up on our dinghy (rather than the ferry) and tour the place!

After the Duplin River anchorage we headed to Fort Federica. We had been here before so didn’t go ashore; we just waited for the fog to lift. Still, Fort Frederica has a history, about which I wrote last November:

Fort Frederica itself is one of those national monuments of which very few people have ever heard. According to the National Park Service, Georgia's fate was decided in 1742 when Spanish and British forces clashed on St. Simons Island. Fort Frederica's troops defeated the Spanish, ensuring Georgia's future as a British colony. Today, the archeological remnants of Frederica are protected as a National Monument. As I am sure everyone knows, the Battle of Bloody Marsh, near Ft. Frederica, took place during the “War of Jenkins’ Ear,” which, as far as I know, is the only war named after a body part. In case you were wondering, according to Wikipedia, “Its unusual name … refers to an ear severed from Robert Jenkins, captain of a British merchant ship. The severed ear was subsequently exhibited before Parliament.  The tale of the ear's separation from Jenkins, following the boarding of his vessel by Spanish coast guards in 1731, provided the impetus to war against the Spanish Empire …”

Frederica was followed by our harrowing encounter with the fog after which we arrived at our destination Brunswick, GA.

We stayed at Brunswick through Thanksgiving. There were about 100 people at the Marina Thanksgiving celebration. The owner of the marina provided all the food, except dessert. A number of the cruisers brought a dessert to share. Ann made and brought a scrumptious apple pie. We met Jim and Paula on Sea Eagle on their way to Sanford, Florida other folks who live in and around Brunswick.

Now, according to the locals, Brunswick has not had any snow in over 28 years – and it did not snow while we were there. But it was COLD, WET and MISERABLE!!! I mean seriously cold, wet and miserable. It was so bad I was in long pants – again!!! It was so cold I actually got the coax cable out of storage and hooked up the cable TV. Man oh man, I do not want to belittle global warming, but couldn’t we have just a little bit down here in southern Georgia?

Brunswick isn’t like many of the towns and cities we normally visit. It isn’t an exclusively tourist town and it isn’t one of those dying fishing villages; it is as much an industrial center and seaport as it is anything else. It is kind of like a miniature Baltimore in that respect.  Like the islands in the area, Brunswick was initially settled in 1738 as a buffer to Spanish Florida. The Brits never did trust those Spaniards down in Florida and were always concerned that they would start coming north.

The Brunswick Excursion

If you look closely, you can see a small rafter of turkeys.

After Thanksgiving we decided to take a week-long cruise around Brunswick to check out some of the area. We decided to go to Cumberland Island, to St. Mary’s and Jeckyll Island. Cumberland we had visited before and liked it so much, we thought it would be worth another visit. St. Mary’s is a traditional cruiser’s destination to which we had never been. The town puts on a big Thanksgiving for cruiser’s that we were going to attend before we decided to go to the marina’s instead. Jeckyll is one of Georgia’s barrier islands that has been developed as a tourist destination with a number of hotels, restaurants and at least one marina – that we planned on visiting. We figured it would take a week to do these places justice, so off we went.

Our first stop was our southern –most destination, Cumberland Island.  When we arrived there were about 15 boats there, by the time we left there were about ten. We anchored in the northern half of the anchorage which I believe gave us the best protection and the best view of the other boats arriving.

The main road on
Cumberland Island

We had visited Cumberland before and had already seen the feral horses. This time, though, we saw the full panoply of animals, several horses, four separate armadillos, a bunch of individual deer and at least two different a rafters of turkeys. (Do you like the way I snuck in “rafter of turkeys?” A rafter is a gathering of turkeys. In one rafter there were about ten, in the other there were maybe four.) We also paid more attention to the history of the island (Ann is really getting into it) and went shelling on the National Seashore. For some reason we found more and varied shells last year, but we managed to pick up a few.

After a couple of days at Cumberland Island, we went to St. Mary’s, GA. St. Mary’s traditionally puts on a huge Thanksgiving bash for all cruisers in the neighborhood. Initially we had planned to go to St. Mary’s for Thanksgiving, but changed our minds at the last minute and decided to stay at our marina in Brunswick. Anyway, besides a huge harbor that could easily hold a hundred boats at anchor, the town also has three museums, one focused on Cumberland Island, one at Orange Hall, a well-maintained 1740ish mansion built in the Greek Revival style, and the Submarine Museum. Yes, you read that right, the Submarine Museum. King’s Bay Naval Submarine Base, right next door to St. Mary’s, is the home port for all Trident submarines in the Atlantic Fleet. The town has a kind of homemade museum that consists of donated artifacts. It is interesting and kind of fun to explore.

The second floor of the submarine museum in St. Mary's

After a couple of days at St. Mary’s we started meandering back towards Brunswick, but before we did, we had to stop at Jeckyll Island, another of Georgia’s barrier islands. Jeckyll is a very developed, resort-type island with water parks (too cold to use while we were there) several hotels, a number of restaurants, a few historical sites and bike paths galore! I was able to go bike riding only one time, though, as the fog was so bad it kept us inside a lot of the time. We managed to get out a couple of times on the marina’s golf cart (substitute for a car) so we could get to the grocery store, some souvenir shops and a small museum. As I suggested above, though, the name of the game at Jeckyll was FOG. In fact, we had intended to leave on 4^th  December and ended up staying another day because of the fog!

Our Coast Guard Inspectors

The trip from Jeckyll Island to Brunswick Landing Marina was only about an hour-and-a-half, BUT on the way, we were stopped by the United States Cast Guard! Once in a while the Coast Guard will stop a boat for a simple safety inspection. In the three years we have been full-time cruisers we had never been stopped, but in Brunswick Harbor,  just as we were turning into the creek that led to the marina, we saw the flashing lights and the coast guardsmen that meant we were about to be boarded. We weren’t quite sure how they were going to get on the boat, but that is only because we had forgotten how athletic young men in their late teens/early twenties can be. Four young men jumped (literally) from their boat to ours to make sure we had all the equipment and paperwork necessary to operate a boat safely in US waters. And … we … PASSED!!! The next time the Coast Guard wants to check us out, all we have to do is show them our paperwork.

ANN’S Notes: Since we are in Virginia over the Holidays and all my notes are on the boat in Brunswick GA. I will not have my wild count in this issue. I will update you in the next blog issue.

Ann's luscious Thanksgiving Apple Pie

While we were at the marina in Jeckyll Island, we had our cruising friends, now RV land cruising friends, come visit us. It was wonderful seeing Russ and Lori again and enjoyed having lunch in a rather POSH restaurant. The food was good and pricey but the company was priceless and excellent.

Thanksgiving was fun but loud. 100 people in the same room all waiting to be fed proved to be an interesting experience. The apple pie was a first for me, I made it in a ten inch cast iron pan, it was yummy and I had to pull it off the “share” table so our table could have some. There was plenty of other sweets, so I did not feel too bad.

To close my part of the blog,I will end with a poem I saw on the cruising  Facebook page,

 

 We wish you all a Merry Christmas and have a Healthy and Blessed New Year.

Traveling Soul..

OUT..



Proof of the Canadian weather-control
experiments. Frost on our fenders in Beaufort.

As many of you will recall, two years ago I published a blog entry about the imminent Canadian invasion of the Bahamas. There were -- and continue to be -- a disproportionate number of sailboats, in particular, along the ICW on their way to the Bahamas. You probably don't realize how indebted to me the intelligence community really is. While I may not have prevented the invasion, my reporting appears to have delayed it (why else would they not have invaded yet?)

There has been, however, a major development. You may or may not know that during the Cold War both the United States and the Soviet Union researched the possibility of weather-control as a strategic weapon. Neither side, of course, was able to make any real progress. But it appears that the Canadians might kept working and might -- just might -- have figured out how to control the weather. Everyone believes there have just been a couple of cold snaps here in the south. But once in a while one of the meteorologists (probably Canadian) slips and reports on a "Canadian Low" sweeping across the US (and presumably, though they are far less clear about this, the Bahamas). Why would the Canadians have done this? They have unleashed cold weather on me, your intrepid intelligence analyst, in the hope of making me stay inside and not seeing all the preparations those "polite" Canadians are making.

The Canadians with their parkas and mukluks haven't scared me. I have actually worn long pants on occasion just to be able to continue reporting. And, God forgive me, I have worn socks with my sandals. I know, I know, this is an unforgiveable fashion faux pas, but I will do it to keep those far-northerners on the edge. This is quite literally (are you ready for it ... ready) a Cold War that I am fighting. Weather  -- and Canadians -- notwithstanding, we have had a pretty good time meandering south. In this entry we talk about our journey through southern South Carolina: Myrtle Beach, SC, Cha'l'ston, SC and Beaufort. Don't worry. (There is code buried deeply within that only intelligence analysts will understand.)

Myrtle Beach, NC

Until recently, you could dock at the long (1000’) pier in Myrtle Beach for free! It was free because it was assumed that you would spend your time shopping at the retail establishments right next door and eating at one of several restaurants at the mall. Guess what … we would have done exactly that!!! In fact, we had heard that the area was kind of a shopping Mecca and that there were outlet stores galore. The advertising calls it, “a factory outlet mall with over 100 brand name outlets.” Now I am no shopper, but there were some things I really wanted, like a pair of warm gloves. Ann just likes shopping – and she wanted some sheets. Well the dock is no longer free, they now charge $1.50 per foot – not that much, but certainly not free. Every time we cruised past Ann would sigh wistfully the shopping opportunities she was missing.

Since nothing is too good for my wife, this year we stopped at Myrtle Beach, made sure we had money to spend, and went ashore. I gotta tell you that the folks who called this a shopping “Mecca” have been cruising too long. Although it was organized sort of like an outlet mall, the goods they sold, for the most part, were more akin to those you would find on the boardwalk at Virginia Beach and Atlantic City than an outlet mall. There were T-shirts, sweat shirts, shot glasses, superhero dolls, ‘gator jerky, ice cream, baseball caps, key chains, coffee mugs – I think you get the picture. Moreover, there were very, very few “brand named” outlets. The “outlets” were world renowned chains like (I kid you not):

·         “Bombay Bomba”
·         “Bargain Beachwear”
·         “Broadway at the Beach”
·         “The Character Store”
·         “Surf and Sand Beach Shop”
·         “Tiki Jim’s”
·         “Mole Hole”
·         “Just Horse’n Around”
·         And that old favorite, right next to Macy's at your local mall -- “Alligator’s Adventure Outpost!”

(Ok. There were a few legitimate brand name stores like Van Heusen, Sunglass Hut, etc. But there were certainly NOT “over a hundred” of them … maybe ten?)

Old Folks at Home (first verse with a couple of mods)

Stephen Foster, 1851

Way down upon the Swanee River,
Far, far away,
There's where my heart is turning ever,
There's where the old folks stay.
All up and down the whole creation
Sadly I roam,
Still longing for the old plantation,
And for the old folks at home.

Chorus
All the world am sad and dreary,
Everywhere I roam;
Oh, brothers, how my heart grows weary,
Far from the old folks at home!

After the disappointment of Myrtle Beach, however, came one of my favorite parts of the ICW – the meandering rivers of South Carolina – the Swanee (the subject of the song) the Great Pee Dee and the Waccamaw, among others.  They are difficult to describe in that they truly meander sometimes forming an almost complete loop, by flowing back on themselves. In other instances a river will flow north, then east, then south, making an almost perfect horseshoe. All of these magnificent streams have dozens of oxbows making perfect little anchorages with small islands in the middle. “S” shapes are the order of the day and straight line courses never seen. All the while these rivers are connected with one another as they join together then flow apart. The banks are almost as surprising as they are covered with cypress trees that seem to grow straight out of the river.  AND the rivers are deep. Not ten or twenty feet deep, but sometimes they are 50 feet or more – as are the smaller tributaries that flow into them. Anyway, as you can tell, I kind of like this part of South Carolina.

South Carolina cotton fields.
There are still acres upon acres.

After Georgetown, however, all that changes. We go from the magnificent meandering rivers of the low country of South Carolina to the shoaling creeks and canals north of Charleston. This time through we only saw one grounded sailboat and only touched the bottom once ourselves, but this stretch of the ICW is terrible. We work to avoid the worst of it by timing our departure to take advantage of high tide. But it is difficult because the stretch is so long. In our case, because current s can be very strong in Charleston Harbor, we wanted to get to our marina at slack tide (roughly low or high tide). Since the time between a low tide and high tide in this neck of the woods is roughly six hours – about the amount of time it takes us to traverse the distance – that meant we were going to see low tide somewhere.

Charleston

We did not, however, go aground, and we successfully arrived in Cha’l’ston (aka Charleston) at slack tide. This year we decided to stay at the Charleston Maritime Center. The bad thing about this marina is that it is very rolly. Whenever a big ship goes by (often) or something else happened, every boat in the marina rolled a little a lot. The good thing about the marina is that it was within walking distance of downtown and all the eating and shopping opportunities that Charleston represents.

Anyway, then we arrived in at the marina on 5 November and two days later our friends, Dave and Joan Wolf, arrived to take advantage of the long Veterans Day Holiday. We had all been to Charleston before so we tried to visit some out of the way places and do some out of the way things. We had already been to Fort Sumter so this time we visited Fort Moultrie.

Fort Moultrie is a series of citadels on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, built to protect the city of Charleston. The first fort was instrumental in one of the first Colonial victories over the British. On June 28, 1776 Admiral Sir Peter Parker (yes, Spiderman fans, that was really his name) attacked the still unnamed and only partially built fort with nine British warships. The fort had been constructed primarily of palmetto logs, which did not crack under bombardment but rather absorbed the shot; cannonballs reportedly even bounced off the walls of the structure. William Moultrie, commander of the 2nd South Carolina Regiment, and his four hundred men fought a day-long battle that ended with the heavily damaged British ships being driven from the area. This victory galvanized the Patriots' cause for independence. inspired the flag and nickname of South Carolina, "The Palmetto State". It is named for the commander in the Battle of Sullivan's Island, General William Moultrie.


A top-down view of Fort Moultrie

It was Fort Moultrie’s defenders who manned parts of Fort Sumter during the bombardment that began the Civil War and Confederate artillerists who manned Fort Sumter during its subsequent bombardment by Union forces. After the War the fort was part of the United States’ Coastal Defenses. Indeed, during WWII it provided a headquarters for the management of all shipping coming into and exiting Charleston Harbor.

Today, the fort is managed by the National Park Service as a National Monument. It is unique in that it celebrates the fort as a mainstay of the nation’s coastal defenses from 1776 through 1947.There are exhibits of each of the major periods of Fort Moultrie’s life, including the command and control bunker that was used during WWII. All in all, a very interesting site.

We also went shopping – several different places. First, of course, we had to go to the downtown mall that has a Fresh Produce Store. No, for those of you of the male persuasion, Fresh Produce is not something you eat, it is a line of clothing. Apparently the women on our boat are produced-deprived, and in all of Virginia, Maryland and DC they have no Fresh Produce stores as we had to go to one in downtown Charleston. We also went shopping at the City Market. If you haven’t been there, it is s trip. You should go. But if you really want a treat, go to the Farmer’s Market at Marion Square.  It is held every Saturday and has all sorts of cool stuff.

We also ate well. We went to a small Italian restaurant downtown called Bocci’s. We had been there before with our friends Andy and Sharon aboard Finally Fun and of course we had to go to a restaurant in a chain called Bubba Gump’s.  You see, Bubba Gump’s gives away a glass if you have one of their special drinks and Ann likes the glasses. (I wouldn’t say it if it weren’t true) so obviously we had to go to Bubba’s. )

We did some other things, too. We visited some antique stores, primarily for Dave and Joan. We visited the Boone Hall Plantation and, of course, we used  Dave and Joan’s car to go to Harris Teeter’s (a very good grocery store) to re-provision. We also had some electrical work done and got the battery for our generator replaced.

Beaufort, SC

We spent Saturday night on the hook at the South Edisto River. From there, it was on to Lady’s Island Marina in beautiful Beaufort, SC. (In case you didn’t know, the South Carolina “Beaufort” is pronounced “Byoufort” as in beautiful while the North Carolina “Beaufort” is pronounced “Bofort” as in bow and arrow. ) Our initial intention was only to spend a couple of days, but once again the cold weather pinned us in Beaufort for two extra days.

We didn’t mind, though. In the first place we had some extra time before we needed to be in Brunswick, GA and in the second place, Lady’s Island Marina has what are probably the friendliest folks we have met in a marina. When we arrived at the marina, there were three men ready to catch our lines: TJ, the official dock master; Steve, formerly of the Capital Yacht Club in DC (whose boat name we never got), and Steve, of Steve and Nancy (whose boat name we also never got). Anyway, in addition to those folks who were very friendly and a great deal of fun, we also met Captain Mark and Brenda Covington of the 46’ Jefferson, Sea Angel. We got a look at Sea Angel and it is a wonderful boat being very well cared for by Mark and Brenda.

In addition to eating, drinking and making merry with our new friends, we also borrowed TJ’s car to go to the grocery store, walked Ann’s bike to a near-by bicycle shop, ate out at a Mexican restaurant, and took a ride in and around Lady’s Island. In a weird coincidence, Joan Conover, a friend of ours from the Hampton, VA area (boat name: Growltiger – to understand, you have to read the poem, “Growltiger’s Last Stand” by T.S. Eliot) sent us a house listing from one of her friends. I had just ridden by that house the day before.

Ann also got to see her friend Elaine. Elaine and Ann had been friends for almost twenty years. They met in northern VA when they were both travel agents. Elaine later moved to Beaufort, SC to be nearer her mother. Sadly, two days after Ann saw her very sick friend Elaine passed away from cancer.  She will be remembered and missed. Every time we pass through Beaufort, we’ll say a prayer.

After Beaufort, it was on to Brunswick. But for that, you have to wait (with baited breath, I hope) until the next blog entry.

Ann’s Notes:  I must admit that the weather has been mostly on the chilly side. Normally that would be ok with me except when I am pulling up Big Bertha (our anchor) and my fingers are numb. Plus I need to hose the mud off of her before securing her to the bow sprit. The usual sailing gloves I use have open fingers with all the padding to protect the palm of the hand. Great gloves for the Bahamas…not so much in the cold, wind and rain. When we arrived in Beaufort we went to the hardware store and bought a pair of utility rubber gloves and they seem to help. Once I add a glove liner it will be perfect. I think by the time I get my perfect cold weather glove settled, we will be back in warm waters and the sailing glover will be in order.

The driveway at Boone Hall Plantation.
 Classic plantation view

Michael and I did have a wonderful visit with Dave and Joan. Having a car makes all the difference when exploring the area. The Boone Hall Plantation was very interesting. They have an avenue of 200 year old Live Oak trees that is just breath taking. They also had some slave quarters still standing, the slaves that lived in these quarters were the house slaves and had a much different life than the slaves that worked the cotton and rice fields. Nevertheless it was one of the best displays and commentary of slavery in the south. On the plantation during the winter months they had a large brick-making operation. Most of the bricks that made Fort Sumter came from Boone Hall. You can still see the hand prints in some of the bricks.

Our stay in Beaufort SC was bittersweet for me. I knew before hand that Elaine was very sick. Since she told me all the places the cancer had attacked I knew she did not have much time. However she wanted to fight it and made all the plans to do so. She just ran out of breath and time. I was blessed that her mom brought her to the marina so we could see each other. We sat in her car, as she could not walk far and be away from her oxygen supply. We shared pictures, laughed a lot and had a great conversation. Elaine was a wonderful spirit, a joy to be around. She just ran out of breath and time. I will miss her earthly presence but know she is watching over me always. I will stay in contact with her mom. She also is a friend.

Now for the much awaited Wild life count…

Wednesday 5 Nov 2014

·         5 Single Dolphins
·         1 Single very playful dolphin
·         1 Very Big Boy playing in our bow wake
·         3 Pods of 2 dolphins

Friday 14 Nov 2014
·         4 single dolphins
·         1 pod of 2 dolphins
·         1 single playing in our wake
·         1 pod of 2 very big boys playing in our wake

Saturday 15 Nov 2014

·         1 dolphin playing on the side of the boat
·         1 pod of 2 dolphins
·         1 single dolphin playing in our bow wake
·         1 pod of 3 dolphins

Monday 17 Nov 2014

·         2  Single dolphins playing in the marina fareway…checking out boats

Thursday 20 Nov 2014

·         2 Single dolphins
·         2 pods of 2 dolphins
·         2 very playful dolphins in our bow wake
·         And one very special Mom and her baby playing in the bow wake

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Traveling Soul…OUT