Oriental to Charleston, SC

We made it to  South Carolina on November 5, but you wouldn't know it by the weather. Here is a synopsis of our journey. Let it be noted that transiting the Intercoastal waterway is work. Each night we study our route: we have to check bridges, tides, currents, shoals and maps. We have not anchored as much as we hoped because of the cold, I like our boat heater over the little portable oneand generator plus we have to find enough water to anchor in (depth), current that isn't too swift and one that has a place to land Oliver. The last one is the hardest. It drives us crazy to pay some of the prices, but...... This is a tiring journey.

Anyway, we went from Oriental on a Friday, the 2nd of November to Swansboro. It was a long run, but we left a day after the crowd at River  Dunes marina, so we wanted to get some miles in. It was a cute town . I saw the town early in the morning walking Ollie and nothing was open.That is a good way to save money. Onward we went to Wrightsville. Had a bunch of shallow areas to watch and bridges. There is a good anchorage by the beach, but a beach in my winter clothes is just wrong. Any way, we made it to the bridge and had to wait 45 minutes for an opening. It was a busy Saturday on the waterway and as we neared  Wrightsville Beach,  low tide was coming in. As many of us waited for the bridge trying to stay out of the fisherman's way 3 of us went bump. We grounded hard, which means we couldn't get off and had to call Tow Boat US. Luckily we have insurance. It was a 30 minute wait for help and the tide kept going down. We missed the 4:00 bridge opening. Needless to say after the 5:00 opening, we pulled onto a marina's face wall, on the canal and plugged in, walked Ollie had dinner and went to bed. Oh, I forgot the wine. Another sailboat was still trying to be pulled off the shoal as we went for a walk with Oliver.  Said a special prayer for them and after dinner we saw they were off. The shoal there is so bad, the locals have a fake palm tree on it. It is quite the party place. It is probably fun watching all of the crazy Yankees run aground.

The next morning, bundled in our winter clothes, we left for Southport. Pulling out, we saw S/V Moondance with Skip and Harriet who had anchored and we waved them on. We followed them to Southport. There was quite a long line of boats navigating with us that day and the next few, All sailing vessels: Silhouette (Bob and Pam from River Dunes), Excalibur, Fantabulous with names I cannot remember being overwhelmed. It was an easier transit following experienced sailors with the route. When we got to Southport, we were 2nd in line to go in, but we were not called by the dock master in order. as we waited, our engine decided it had had enough and decided to overheat. Dale  ran downstairs to the engine, steam billowed put and I was at the helm trying to keep us in the channel. I had since done a donut. At one point he ran up to get the anchor windlass ready so we wouldn't crash into shore. I am watching the thermostat get a touch better and letting him know what I see. Panic was the operative word, so I radioed in that we needed to dock, but they were so busy, our cries went unheeded. Dale finally got the engine to cool enough and we limped in as the last boat. I took a long walk into town later that day which helped. It was a Sunday so most things were closed, but I met really nice people. So far, November was not going well we arranged with all the sailboats to leave the next day for Myrtle Beach.

On November 5, we all left following the momma duck. Dale had worked on the engine and double checked everything that morning. By 7:30 we all got in line and left. We had a boat with a tall mast that had to slowly go under bridges that  are 65 feet.  We all made it, thanks to charts, instruments and our leaders on Excalibur and Moondance. We needed a day of calm especially because we were going through a section called the Rock Pile where you cannot deviate or you hit rocks, not sand. This is not a good thing. We also had more currents, especially at inlets from the ocean to deal with.

We are at Grande Dunes in Myrtle Beach, two nights as today was rainy, cold and a good day to relax. Poor Ollie cuddles in a blanket in the cockpit in the mornings. It is weird seeing palm trees, dolphins and pelicans when we are freezing our $&$&@' off.  When things are bad, we will see a pod of dolphins swim with us, see a beautiful bird or meet great people and we think, this is okay.

After that we took off ourselves to master the ICW. Made it to Georgetown without incident on the 7th/ From there we went to McClellanville and the 9th onto Charleston. We stayed at the Charleston Harbor Marina on Patriots Point. It was a lovely marina and the people were really nice. The big megadocks in Charleston were by a highway, very busy and did not have great "Oliver" space. We were going to rent a car so it was across the river from downtown in Mt. Pleasant, but beautiful and more peaceful. We spent 5 days there and ran into Brian and Judy on Sweet Escape again. Judy and I did some quick catching up as they were leaving sooner than us. Next to our marina was the USS Yorktown, which was to host the Carrier Classic college basketball game between Ohio State and Marquette. Unfortunately they did not plan on such cold nights and the condensation on the floor was too dangerous for the kids to play. The other very exciting thing while we were there was that Ollie saw a dolphin up close and personal. One swam by our dock when he was on it and came up right next to him. He jumped, but was thrilled and watched it swim around. Everyday, he looked for that dolphin.

Here are some of the many pictures we took. Unfortunately the order isn't  always correct, but we are done fooling with them. Happy Thanksgiving to all. I sure will miss church and the family dinner.

cruising along the ICW

Oliver happy to be docked for the night.

Sunset in Swansboro

Many times we see dolphins swimming with us.

Coming up to a bridge that has to open for us.

Interesting house along the way.

Southport at dock

Lots of birds along the way too.

oops

near Myrtle Beach

Golfers in cable cars going over us.

Ollie in his blanket since it is sooo cold.

Spanish moss on trees

McClellanville

boat with shark jaws next to us

Marsh everywhere

Charleston in the distance

Oliver and Patty checking out the sights

1000 year old oak tree

church from the 1700s

must be Mytle Beach

Charleston from our dock

Carrier classic

Ravenel Bridge, longest cable bridge

flying over our boat for the game

Charleston at sunset



USS Yorktown, see the bleachers?

Dale in winter clothes on the ICW, this is wrong!

I will have more Charleston pictures later. From there, we did anchor out at Fishing Creek and run the dog to a ramp nearby that night of the 14th. We are now in Georgia and will post more later.  

Norfolk to River Dunes

10/30 , Happy Halloween everyone. This is the decoration I brought for this holiday.

Who would have thought such a powerful storm would hit this late in the hurricane season! We were so blessed to have made it as far as we did. River Dunes, NC is a lovely place to be stuck. It is just north of Oriental. We have the Pamlico Sound and barrier islands to our East that helped protect us from the ocean. Just to our East a large Sailing vessel used in movies and tours went down with 2 lives lost. Waves were 15-20 feet. We experienced high water levels that the floating docks handled well and howling wind which almost knocked me over. Oliver donned his life jacket to walk down the docks through it all to do his business. He was a trooper. The harbor has had dinners for us and I actually did some laundry before it all began. Many of us used the courtesy car for grocery runs before it hit. We were snug in our boat except for the dog shore trips. We tried to time them by the winds and rain. Now we are just experiencing wind and cold temps, so we are looking at Thursday or Friday to leave. Here is the update I am finally getting to with sporadic wifi. 

On October 16 we left Norfolk. It had to be timed so we made bridge openings. We had 5-6 boats traveling south with us. We went under one bridge that masts just made it under. We were so intent watching boats that we missed the turn to the Dismal Swamp. We spent the night at Great bridge and the next day turned around the 3 miles and found the turn off to Deep Creek. 

Deep Creek Lock, 8 feet up, 13 boats all in together.

MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk ( a little late)

Dismal Swamp sign we missed the 1st time. 

Dismal Swamp welcome.

Ollie tied up at Welcome Center wall. Boats raft off each other. 

We had "get togethers" each night. We met the Mark and Diane Doyle that write Waterway planning books, and others to help us "new" cruisers out. We met lots of knowledgeable people and 2 new dog friends for Oliver, Bailey and Murphy.

Moondance, Skip and Harriet's boat going down the swamp.

The next stop on the 20th and 21st was Elizabeth City. They have Rose Buddies and a wine and cheese reception often for boaters. However, not on weekends, so we had our own with friends we had met . We did meet a Calvin College alum, a Coast Guard rescue helicopter pilot and another coast guard sailor and friends from Sweet Escape, Brian and Judy from Wisconsin.

The 22nd we moved on across the Albemarle following Moondance. Shoals are a problem so we followed those with experience. They continued on, but we stopped at the Alligator River Marina. We would have liked to anchor somewhere, but there were not spots we could find to get Ollie off. Lots of swamp land here. At the marina we had a lovely dinner at the diner and Wanda was a gracious hostess. Her son runs the docks and was excellent getting us in. 

Alligator River Marina light

Looking out at Alligator River in the early morning. 

Alligator River/Pungo River Canal- no place to take Ollie

ICW mile marker

The next night, because of swamps, we stopped at Dowry Creek Marina. We were also told of bears and wolves. I was worried about alligators, but was told there were not any here.

From there we headed down the Pungo River on the 24th, across the Pamlico River to Goose Creek. past Hobucken to Gale Creek and the Pamlico Sound and the Neuse River.

Hobucken fishing/shrimp boats on Goose creek.

We pulled into River Dunes in the afternoon of the 24th. More and more boats pulled in the next 2 days to get ready for Sandy.

River Dunes, one space left.

Oriental, NC from the car

Oriental

Oliver in Oriental before Sandy

Dale double checking lines before we walk Oliver during Sandy.

We are all safe and thank everyone for their prayers.

Getting ready for "Sandy"

We will do a post about where we have been, but we have been busy getting the boat ready for hurricane Sandy. We are currently at River Dunes, North Carolina which is 5 miles or so north of Oriental. We are in a protected harbor away from a direct ocean hit. There are many boats here that will ride out the storm with us.  Oliver is going to be in for a shock when we have to take him out, but we will use caution. Everyone say a prayer.

ICW Mile Marker 0, we made it!

October 4 we left Annapolis and crossed the Chesapeake Bay for Cambridge off the Choptank river. This is the town James Michner used when he wrote Chesapeake. Harriet Tubman was born south of town. We came it late, got diesel and pump outs and stayed at the Municipal that night. October 5, we moved over to the city free docks in the creek, so we could walk to town and see the sights. Normally free docks do not have electrical service or water. It was quiet and lovely there. We only had 2 other boats tied up with us. We had a yummy seafood dinner (crabs for me) from Snapper"s.

 

Oliver in Cambridge free dock

 

Cambridge

 

October 6-9 was spent anchored back on the West side of the Chesapeake at Solomon's It was mostly rainy and cold while we were there. We anchored across from a Holiday Inn that had a dinghy dock we could use to get Ollie ashore. It was quiet and beautiful and a good place to rest and try to stay warm. I even did some baking. The oven warms up the boat nicely.

Solomons view anchored.

Anchored, another view

"so tired from all those dinghy rides"

October 10 we took off for Deltaville, Virginia. We planned to stay at Regatta Point Yacht Center that the Dozier's own who write all the Waterway Planning guides we use and Skipper Bob. We again arrived after 5:00 but there was staff waiting for us. While there they had a wine and cheese party for all boaters. They also had 3 courtesy cars so we made a grocery run and West Marine. The 11th Oliver woke up and would not put any weight on his rear right leg. We took it easy for a couple of days and it is much better. We ended staying an extra 2 days, but what a lovely place to get stuck. We were near Stingray Point where supposedly John Smith was stung by a stingray and Pocahontas nursed him back to health.

Oliver at Regatta, leg almost back to normal.

The 14th we headed south hoping to make Hampton. It was another long day,  but we made it to Old Point Comfort. It used to be an army post, but is now open to the public.

Wolf Trap light

One of many schooners we saw

Old Point Comfort light

 

The 15th we made it through Norfolk Harbor to Norfolk. Saw many dolphins and pelicans, so we are getting farther south. We past the navy ships going out in the morning, went past many more and motored into Waterside Marina. We had storms coming so we opted for docks versus dropping anchor.

Back of USS Wisconsin

Waterside marina

Mermaids are all over.

Dale and Ollie touring Norfolk

front of USS Wisconsin.

The USS Wisconsin can be toured now. It part of Halsey's 3rd fleet and has seen 3 wars. It is 880 feet long, beam (width) 108 and draft 36 feet.For comparison, we are 39.3feet, by 13'1'' and draw 5 1/2. The guns are amazing and nicknamed "quad 40's.

Navy boat being worked on across from our marina

WE plan to take off tomorrow to start down the Intercoastal Waterway. Love to all.