Off we go again!

We’re still here! We’re stuck in a vortex! Didn’t I think we’d be outta here by now? Yes. Didn’t I think we’d probably be basking in the warm sun diving for lobster to put on the barbie? Yes. Didn’t I think I’d be swimming every morning around the boat after I had my coffee? Yes.

Then why am I freezing here in Florida? It was so beautiful and warm when we first got here in late November.

Having returned from spending 3 weeks of wonderful quality fun…a joyful, huggable, warm/fuzzy, laugh-filled, emotional time with our fabulous family out west, celebrating with our Christmas dears and ringing in the New Years’ cheers, we thought we’d be on our way. Apparently not.

Pictures included are of our son-in-law Greg who took the above picture of the other kids: Kim, our soon-to-be-daughter-in-law, our son Skip, daughter Lacey and son Kevin....below pics: grandbaby-girl Ella, grandson Austin, and soon-to-be grandson Kai...all at Shaver Lake, CA.

Threw in the picture of the beer. Niiiiccce.

There are a few reasons we’re later than usual.

I had a dermatology checkup back in Fresno where our doctors are. In the sun a lot, you know, so I’m trying to keep track of things before they get out of hand. I was given some lotion to apply twice a day to get rid of bad skin cells, and by the time we returned to the boat I looked like I had leprosy and my lips were so blistered I could hardly talk! Ouch! So we put off moving on for a few days.

Then…the weather wasn’t great for moving on. Big winds… and then it got terribly cold for Florida, in the low 30s, and since we don’t have heating when we’re ‘on the road’, only when we’re in a marina, we decided we didn’t want to freeze each night. So we’d wait that out. They said the coldest it’s been in 7 years. Great.

Then…Randy got a chest cold. Down for the count.

So, what they say about the best-laid plans?….’tis true. They often go awry.

The plan right now, this second, is to head out on Sunday, January 25. Weather is getting warmer by the day and next week looks good. Our escape is imminent! I started getting concerned about our length of time here in Florida. Florida has a 90 day rule, I believe it is, in that if you stay more than 90 days you get to pay them money! I guess they figure you’re homesteading or something so they’re going to tax you! Like the omnipresent Tax Man in the old film Popeye…always knocking on your door.

The Tax Man: You just docked?

Popeye: I has.

The Tax Man: Ah ha, let's see here, that'll be 25¢ docking tax.

Popeye: What for?

The Tax Man: Where's your sea craft?

Popeye: It ain't no sea craft, it's me dinghy and it's under the wharf.

The Tax Man: Ah ha. ahh-ha. This your goods?

Popeye: They is.

The Tax Man: Yeah. You're new in town right?

Popeye: If you call this a town, yes.

The Tax Man: Well, first of all, there's 17¢ new-in-town tax, and there's 45¢ rowboat-under-the-wharf tax, and one dollar leaving-your-junk-lying-around-the-wharf tax, so all together, you owe the Commodore $1.87.

Popeye: Uh, who's this Commodore?

The Tax Man: Is that the nature of question? There's a nickel question tax.

No escape if you stay toooo long. Good grief. We’ll be gone in plenty of time, but seriously…this tax stuff is ridiculous, even WITH representation.

In the meantime, we’ve enjoyed our stay here at Harbortown Marina. Haven’t done too much but we did rent a car before we left for California and toured the Kennedy Space Center; unbelievably neat. Saw the gantries that hold the space shuttle (love that word…gantry), saw the HUGE engines from the Apollo flight. Unbelievable. They have a wonderful complex there. I learned something I never thought about: Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center are 2 different things. Cape Canaveral had the Apollo launches and some of the earlier launches. Kennedy has the shuttle launches. Just last week we witnessed an NRO (National Reconnaissance Organization) spy satellite launch from Cape Canaveral. Really cool. It was delayed so I got on their website where they had a webcam with live action from command control. As we waited on the deck of our boat to see the launch we could watch what was going on prior to that on the computer. Really interesting and spectacular to see in the middle of the night.

We drove out to Port Canaveral one Sunday for a late afternoon lunch. And as we're sitting enjoying our wine, we got to see the cruise ships leave. First Carnival Cruise Line, nice, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, very nice, then the Disney Cruise Line, super duper nice! That was fun. I never realized Canaveral was a big port of call for cruise ships.

We drove across Florida to Largo to see the Island Packet plant…where they made our boat. We had a great tour. It’s so interesting and reassuring to see how well made these boats are. We didn’t get to Disneyworld or Epcot Center, etc. We weren’t sure we wanted to spend the money or deal with the crowds; perhaps another day. What we DID try to do before we left was an airboat tour around the swamps with our friends Jack and Marianne. You know…see some alligators and manatees. (Jack and Marianne were next to us in Deltaville. We have run into them along the way here and there.) But it ended up being way too cold and windy to be out on the water in an airboat. We wanted to be in our shorts and flip flops and would have had to wear our ski hats, gloves and heavy coats! NOT what we had in mind.

We did have a great late lunch with Jack and Marianne before they took off for points south. Dixie Crossroads. Apparently a very famous fish restaurant in Titusville. You could tell they served a lot of patrons as their waiting area was huge! Because of our timing we got right in, and out come hushpuppies; those wonderful hushpuppies. But get this! This time they’re covered in powdered sugar! Oh good grief. Warm with powdered sugar. And they keep bringing you more. It’s so not fair that this stuff puts on pounds.

We all ordered their rock shrimp with drawn butter and the best coleslaw ever. I’m telling you people…you gotta experience this great stuff out here! Unbelievably good.

Did I tell you how much we’re enjoying our bikes? We’ve particularly ridden them here in Florida as well as in Charleston. They are so fun. Really makes you feel like a kid again. I could ride forever, except my rear-end starts getting really sore. Now operator error can be a problem. Remember the old man on Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In? He would ride his bike, I think it was actually a trike, and then just stop and fall over…that would be me. Twice. “Mommy, why is that lady lying on the sidewalk laughing with her bike beside her?” Can you just picture it? Lord. Randy’s no help. He just laughs at me. But twice should be enough. Each time I’ve done it…only twice remember…I have stopped and put my foot out to brace myself and the ground is on a slant…unfortunately a downward slant. So there I go in slow motion. Awwww yeah...not an attractive site.

We’re going to ride our bikes one more time before we put them away for this leg of the trip. We’ll go visit our favorite pub and then hit the store for some essentials. Never know what kind of stores will be available for awhile.

We’re anxious to get going. We’ll anchor at night as we head again down the Intracoastal Waterway to Lake Worth. Anchoring out is a bit more rugged in that we can’t use our lights or run our water as we would if we were in a marina. We have some LED lights that we’ll use at anchor so we don’t need to use the energy normal lights take. There will be no heater, but we can turn a clay flower pot upside down on the stove which actually gives out quite a bit of heat. We’ll take navy showers and quick wash any dishes. Our solar panels and our big battery bank keep us in good shape. We’ll be running our engine a lot along the way which will keep the batteries purring. The waterway isn’t conducive to good sailing. We purchased an internet booster antenna which should help us pick up internet sources along the way, but we won’t have TV for a long while! I’ll have to search for my American Idol episodes on You Tube. Yes...I like American Idol. =)

Back to the basics. We’re ready!

Trip to Cape Canaveral, FL

Second thing I know for sure (check previous post for the 1st thing I know for sure)…I love our boat! This will be evident as I explain our trip from Charleston.

We arrived at Cape Canaveral inlet, our destination, September 21... in the morning …8:15am after 2 days at sea. A beautiful, crisp morning. We two, extremely tired sailors were greeted by the coast guard and thought...oh great!...a CG inspection now?! When our boat is a mess and we are both dead tired? But, no...they wanted to let us know a nuclear submarine was leaving the area and they needed us to move 1000 yards south to get out of the way. Cool! We can do that. That was exciting to see.
(If you click on these pictures to enlarge you can see the guys on the sub)

Our trip here was out of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. When we left Charleston on Wednesday morning, about 7:15am, it was freezing, and there were some big winds, but we were ready to go. I had on a t-shirt, a turtle neck, another long sleeve shirt, my hooded sweatshirt, and my foul weather jacket, as well as my pajama bottoms, my khakis, and Randy's sweats....and my woolen ski hat! This is NOT the kind of weather we want to sail in. We are used to cold sailing being from the California bay area, but not C-O-L-D sailing! It had to be in the low 30s. The wind made the seas coming out of Charleston really choppy. But Kwanesum was amazing.

I loved how Kwanesum responded to the seas. Hence the number 2 thing I know for sure…I love our boat. She works the waves really well and smoothly. Like a surfer choosing his path. No pounding. And the auto helm was amazing. Held us right on course with not a falter. Love it! One of the things great about sailing is the response of a boat to natural elements.

We turned south out of the channel down the Atlantic and the seas calmed down. Our goal was to head to about 20 miles off shore.

Our friends from Deltaville, Jack and Marianne on GravyBoat, who spent that last week in Charleston, were going to head out that morning as well. We hailed them in the morning but they missed our call. They decided to leave later and let the winds calm down. Their destination was St Augustine where Marianne’s brother has a home. We do hope to catch up with them in the Caribbean or sooner. They have sailed many years in the Caribbean and were anxious to get where it’s warm! And that’s what we want, too! Warm sun and water we can swim in.

I was still really cold. It’s hard to warm up once you get that cold. We decided to motor-sail the entire way. Running the engine with the main sail up. Randy tested the wind with just sails but it was not enough for us to make good time. Ours is a heavy boat. We just wanted to get there. Plus our auto helm takes power. Running the engine keeps it powered up. We were doing 6-7 knots while motor-sailing. The engine just purred like a kitten. We were so proud of our boat. We do have an advantage in this kind of weather over others in that we are used to being miserable while sailing. =) We've sailed in rough, cold seas like this a zillion times out in northern CA, so this was just par for the course for us. We knew it wouldn't last forever.

We did 3 hour shifts which worked well. As the sun started setting the seas started getting larger. The weather was perfect...clear skies, but the winds picked up to 20+ knots and the seas responded to that. The course we were on had the seas hitting us sideways, which isn't the most comfortable way to go! But again, Kwanesum rode them like a surfing champ.

Ellen, however, didn't ride them as well. After a while, I went below to try to sleep and the creepy, crawlie, stomach stuff got a hold of me. Darn it! I hate when that happens. I do take Bonine and it works really well for me but when the seas are big and I’m down below…the 2 don’t always add up correctly for me. But it passes.

By now things were shifting off the starboard shelves, too. Books I had secured, but obviously not well enough. Kind of a mess down below. I did my thing in the head over the not-so-porcelan bowl and tried to sleep a little more, telling Randy I needed a little more time before my shift. He's amazing...just kept going out there even though he was freezing, too. Thank heaven for our dodger and bimini set up. This is the canvas covering the opening of the companion way (stairs down into the boat) and over the cockpit. It was perfect, in that we'd check the helm and the seas and the instruments, making sure all was well, then tuck in under the dodger to stay warm and out of the wind and seas. We had a kitchen timer we put on 20 minute intervals, then do our checking. It was a good system for us.

The seas calmed down and we moved along. It started getting warmer, too, which was a great relief. Still we had all our gear on, but it was a more comfortable temperature. During the day, the seas remained calmer. We found we had a hard time getting our sleep in. It's hard to relax long enough to really sleep. We cat napped often when we could.

That evening I had the 6:00 – 9:00pm shift and it was magical. The seas weren't bad at all. The weather was warm enough that I could enjoy sitting at the helm. I lay on my back across the helm and watched the stars for a long time. Do you know how bright the stars are when there is no light around from any source? It's wonderful. When Randy came on at 9:00pm I just sat out there with him and dozed until my next shift. Of course the seas picked up again, so we were riding the wild ride once more. This time I handled it well...my stomach handled it well. Kwanesum was a crusty old sea salt by the time she got into the marina. It’s amazing to see all the salt that accumulates on the boat after a bout at sea.

We are tucked in now very comfortably at the Harbortown Canaveral Marina at Merritt Island, FL. Near Cape Canaveral. If we had gotten here a little earlier we could have witnessed the shuttle launch! We're hoping to catch the landing. Not much around here, but just a bike ride to many stores. And the price is really reasonable. Considerably more reasonable than City Marina in Charleston. It gets chilly at night but much warmer than Charleston. We’ve had some beautiful warm sunny days.

When we got here we checked in at the marina office and then had a yummy hamburger at the restaurant here. It was perfect! Neither one of us ate much on the way, though we had plenty to keep us going. We came back to the boat and went to sleep for 4 hours. Ahhhhhh.

We got our bikes out and found lots to explore. We have also, of course, found a sports bar that serves my Shock Top beer and great bar food. What waistline? The burger here at the restaurant is a top runner for best burger in the area. For Thanksgiving, we were missing our family so we decided to make a picnic and ride to the beach. We rode our bikes to Cocoa Beach. I made fried chicken and macaroni salad and off we went. About an hour bike ride to get there. It was a beautiful day and a nice beach. A little trivia here...Cocoa Beach was the place where astronaut Larry Hagman lived in My Dream of Jeannie! (I didn't remember that. Randy gets the credit. Why would he remember that?)

It feels so good to be in Florida! We're getting closer to the warm sunny beaches of the Bahamas. It’s definitely warmer here. We saw one little gator and the tails of some manatees since we’ve been here. I’m hoping to see more of them before we leave.

We are going to rent a car and go see the sites… and tour the Island Packet factory in Largo. Maybe even venture to Disney World! We plan to fly to California for Christmas on December 17, returning December 31. We will see what the next plans are when we return!

Charleston, SC

OK…there are 2 things I know for sure:
1) Charleston, SC is a splendid, charming town.
2) We have the greatest boat! (see next blog post)

Our stay in Charleston was enchanting. We immediately took to the town…you know that good feeling you get, or don’t get, when you stop somewhere new? Charleston definitely elicited a charismatic feeling. My kind of town…Charleston is.

We learned of pluff mud, saw dolphins play with their fish catch, mailed in our absentee ballots, shooed away the grackles, tasted gator tails, boiled peanuts, hush puppies, fried green tomatoes, rode our bikes to the Citadel and watched the dress parade, took a cupcake decorating class (well, Randy didn’t), discovered our favorite pub after testing quite a few, found our favorite deli, had a perfect martini, had a great soup by a perfect bonfire by the water, walked, walked, walked and rode our bikes everywhere! What we didn't do? LEARN THE SHAG!

Pluff Mud: This dark, soft mud was all around the marina at low tide. It’s a lowcountry term. Apparently it’s famous in this area for being great soil to grow rice in. Carolina Gold. But the modern machinery can’t manage this soft mud as it was earlier harvested only by slaves. It looks like chocolate whipped cream! But doesn’t smell as nice. Great word, pluff.

Grackles: These are the big blackbirds that started visiting all the boats early every morning and at sunset. Unwanted visitors! Just like the movie, The Birds! They made a mess on all the boats so we tried to shoo them off best we could.

Gator tails: Loved them! And, no, they don’t taste like chicken. We had them as an hors d'oeuvres. They tasted more like beef than chicken.

Boiled Peanuts: We liked these, too! Not everyone does. They’re certainly different than roasted peanuts but they’re served warm and they pop out of their shells like edamame. The shells being soft. Yummy!

Hush Puppies: Delicious. We tasted a lot of these foods I mention here at Hymans Restaurant which is renowned in Charleston. Always long lines at Hymans. We were dining with new friends and one of the owners brought these out to taste. These are golden-brown puffs supposedly invented to stop the barking puppies at an outdoor feast. They’re made by putting corn-bread batter into deep fat…’bout the shape of a donut hole. (Hyman's also make a great bloody mary, though I've never had one for dinner before. Of course I had to try it. Delicious. But I like them better in the morning. Weird having one for dinner. But I guess it's what they do! Apparently it's one of their specialties.)

Fried Green Tomatoes: I loved the book and the movie and now I’ve tasted them. And of course they’re delicious.

The Citadel: Randy and I were fortunate enough to have a wonderful tour of the Citadel at the invitation of our friend Speedy, a retired Brigadier General, and the General who replaced him, who was also a graduate of the Citadel. A very special evening. We wanted to see their dress parade so rode our bikes a week later to the Friday afternoon ceremony. Terrific. Particularly the drum and pipes band. There’s nothing like bag pipes. Thanks Speedy!

Decorating cupcakes: A wonderful kitchen store, Charleston Cooks, held the class one Saturday morning. Rode my bike in and had a blast! I can be the cruising cupcake maker.

The Blind Tiger: Best pub, best hamburger we found, tried Shock Top beer, food was always good. Love finding the best burger and new beers.

Wentworth Station: Best deli, best BLT. This deli was suggested by the bike shop we frequented when we asked where to get a good sandwich. And they were right. Went there many times.

Charleston Place: Best martini. Perfectly chilled, perfectly timed. I’m sure it was shaken, not stirred.

The Perfect Bonfire: Through our new friends Larry and Dona Jean on Amilado at City Marina, we met some very nice folks who live on the outskirts of Charleston and invited us to their home. I am embarassed that we failed to get their card and have forgotten their names! (On this cruising life, boaters have cards made up like business cards with all their information on them. It's a great way to stay in touch.) Their house is on a pretty waterway on which we took a cocktail cruise and came back to a warm bonfire, wonderful soup and fresh caught shrimp off the BBQ. Oh my.

The Shag: I have heard about this dance many times and want to experience this for sure! Another reason I have to get back to Charleston. Stay tuned for further news on this one. How fun to dance the Shag with the Ran-ster! I must learn this dance. And I think the Charleston dance was invented in Charleston. Is this place great or what?

We did not get to experience as many restaurants in Charleston as we thought we would. So many there… so little time. We need to watch our pennies, not to mention our waist lines. Waist line watching is NOT easy! I'm actually failing at that but hoping to snap out of it soon!

At this time we plan to get back to Charleston and leave our boat during hurricane season (must be above 32º latitude). We’ll be able to do more discriminating tasting at that time. We met some wonderful friends in Larry and Dona Jean who were just 2 boats down from us on the dock. We will be able to enjoy them again , too.

Our youngest son Skip is getting married in April so the plan is to park the boat in the Bahamas and fly back to CA for a few weeks to celebrate that wonderful event! We did not want to rush our Bahama experience so we have decided to not rush to the Caribbean but return to Charleston by the end of the cruising season in June. We will then catch a sailing rally called the Caribbean 1500 that will take us directly to the Caribbean in November 2009. Again the insurance companies dictate our time. But…not a bad life, eh?

Carolina Beach, NC to Charleston, SC

When you last tuned in, Randy and Ellen, et al, were in Carolina Beach, NC. Joyner Marina. Nice marina, but the weather was lousy. Really windy. We rocked back and forth like a cradle. Good for sleeping, ‘cept the noise of the wind. (BTW….notice the picture of the creepy piece of whatever it was that was attached to our propeller shaft! Uglyyyyyyyyy!!!)

Our friends and buddy-boaters, Double Dutch, Painkiller and Smoooth Move, anchored around the corner. They would dinghy on over to our dock and walk on the beach. Now, mind you…my idea of a walk on the beach is barefooted in my shorts with the beautiful sky showing a shining sun. Ahhhh. Not there…not during our stay. We did walk on the beach, but wore our foul weather gear, hats pulled down over our ears, with rain pounding sideways and the wind pushing you back. “I realize this is exercise, but this is ridiculous!” Skye, the wonder dog, loved it…herding us all together.

Because of the wind and weather, we stayed a few days at Carolina Beach and then scooted up to Southport, NC to plan our route out the Cape Fear Inlet to the Atlantic…goal: Charleston, SC. I’m sure Carolina Beach is a nice area…certainly nice homes where we were, but the weather made it miserable, well almost miserable. We were able to dinghy over to “town.” Not much of a town. Sort of like Pismo Beach in the late 60s. Maybe not even that good. Pismo Beach was fun! We did find The Dive where we had beer and good conversation. Those times are really fun.

While we were at Carolina Beach we were able to catch up with one of Ellen’s dear friends she hadn’t seen in years. How odd that we both were now on the East Coast! Mary Ann Miller and her beau Bryan live in Wilmington, NC now. They came over to the boat one evening bearing ingredients for Blue Sapphire martinis …along with flowers and fresh basil for the boat. And…a wonderful bottle of Pinot Noir. Excellent! Though it was cold and windy, the martinis made for great fun and catching-up conversation before we jumped in their car and found a place down the road for dinner. What a great evening. We are actually hoping to catch up with them again out here on the coast before we get too far away.

Now we had to plan our departure to Southport. Because of the wind and the big current where we were docked at the Joyner Marina, Randy and I had to plot our exit from our slip very carefully. We thought if we got up early….really early…the wind wouldn’t be so bad and Kwanesum would slip out of this sideways-current/sideways-wind berth. We listened all night long to see if the wind would stop, and it kinda did…for a minute. “Well, let’s get this over with.”

We got up at dark and went out to survey the situation. Ugh…how are we going to manage this without damaging the boat somehow? We decided to physically pull her back a little, outside the pilings that defined our berth. At least that way she would be in the fairway, somewhat, as a head start. She’s heavy! Empty, she’s 23,000 lbs! But we got her where we wanted her. When in reverse, Kwanesum tends to pull to the port (left), which is not unusual for a heavy, full keel boat, with a regular prop. [Full keel: A keel that runs the length of the boat. Full keels have a shallower draft than fin keels.] It’s called “prop walk.” I do NOT like prop walk. Our other boat in CA had a fin keel and a folding prop and backed like a champ threading a needle. [Fin Keel: A keel that is narrow and deeper than a full keel. It looks like a fish's fin extending below the boat, and the boat usually has a rudder mounted some distance aft, often on an additional keel-like extension called a skeg.] Not so, sweet Kwanesum.

It all worked well, though… our plan. Thank heaven. Her prop walk was in the direction the current and wind were pushing anyway. We eased her back, working the lines along the cleats of the dock and she went right back into the fairway. Yes! Now we just had to see where we were going and it was pitch dark. The plan was to go to the fuel dock and wait there until morning light and the rest of the crew were ready to go. We didn’t have far to go so I stood on the bow and motioned which way to go. It worked. We could relax now and have our coffee and wait for daylight. Stress is gone.

The trip to Southport, NC was short and fairly uneventful. We were there before noon, the point being that it was at the top of the Cape Fear Inlet we would be taking to get out to the Atlantic for our trip to Charleston the next morning. This would give us a head start. I’m at the helm and it all went well…until we got to our docking spot. “We’ll pull into the Provision Co berths. They provide free docking for the night if you eat there.” “Roger that, Ran, just show me where to go.” “OK…pull in here…this looks wide enough. We’ll tie up on the starboard(right) side so just pull over to drop me on the dock.” “Roger that, Ran.” “Good job, El, just a little closer and I can step off. Just a little closer…closer…uhhhh….why don’t you back up and try again.” “Roger that, Ran.” Remember that prop walk I told you about? Well…I prop walked before I got past the port pilings. “Whoa....Nellie!! Dammit! I liked that BBQ! Why do we have that BBQ hanging on the side of the stern rail anyway, Ran? It’s in the way! Ooooo….shoot.” (…or a facsimile thereof). “No problem, El. We’ll just tie up on the port side. I can work on that big dent in the BBQ later.” I have the greatest husband in the world! =) There is still a big learning curve in getting to know how Kwanesum moves. Duh…I guess so, El! The BBQ was put back into shape and I don’t think I damaged the stern rail. It looks ok, right Ran?

The rest of the crew took up the other docking spots by the restaurant. We all helped each other as it was kinda tricky, despite Ellen’s helmanship. The tide change was huge and we had to account for that. Ours was not a floating dock. Placing lines and fenders for that large tide change required mucho planning and vigilance. All said and done…it’s time for a beer…and a sandwich. Great spot. Reminded me of some of the fun spots in Cabo San Lucas, actually. My kind of place.

The town of Southport was darling. The town is old and Southern. Very careful restoration was noticeable and very pleasing. A nice place to walk. Not all the towns we have visited have had their wonderful homes restored and well cared for. A lot of antique stores there, which drove me crazy. I love antique stores but don’t have a home for antiques anymore. Once in a while I’ll look anyway in case there’s something that would look fab on the boat.

Up at the crack of dawn and we’re ready to go out to the Atlantic! Yay! Ran and I have been looking forward to sailing on the ocean instead of just motoring through the ICW. Painkiller, the power boat, was going outside for awhile and then back into the ICW to finish their trek to Charleston. Double Dutch, Smoooth Move and Kwanesum would do the Atlantic over night. Hoping to sail. It was a beautiful day.

But no wind. Where is the wind when you want it!? Not at Carolina Beach when you’re in dock and you DON'T want it! But it was such a beautiful day it was ok. We motor-sailed doing about 51/2 knots to keep everyone at the same pace….at course 230º South to Charleston. Dolphins swam by…the ocean changed to a beautiful aqua color. It was great. Lots of shrimp boats about. Randy was in heaven and much more relaxed. Going down the ICW calls for a lot of focused diligence, which makes your shoulders tense when you’re at the helm. This felt like freedom. Kwanesum could spread her wings.

The sun set as the full moon rose. What a site that was. We had Double Dutch in front of us and Smoooth Move behind. As it got dark our radar was truly a gift. We could keep an “eye” on both boats as well as other traffic. Our running lights aglow, as we’re still motor-sailing. We tried to sail a couple of times as we were making too good of time, but our heavy boat just flapped in the non-wind. Makes it very uncomfortable. We will need to get a lighter sail like a gennaker (a light sail for using downwind...a cross between a genoa and a spinnaker) for such times as these. We just didn’t want to spend money on that one yet.

It was interesting traveling at night. It was still fairly warm which was very nice. The stars were out…though the moonlight kept them from showing their true colors. I was looking forward to seeing phosphorescence in the water at night where things glow…like dolphins passing by. But, alas, it was not to be on this night. Too much moonlight.

I had the helm a lot during the day. Unfortunately our auto helm was giving us a bit of a problem so we had to actually steer ourselves quite a bit. For any length of time this can be tiring, but we were so “up” and glad to be on the Atlantic that it was not bad at all. I look at it as exercise. It’s much harder when your sailing with little wind…the boat is harder to keep on track, but when motor-sailing it’s not too bad. Toward the evening Randy took over. I was ready to relieve him when 3 or 4 hours had passed, as that was our plan. But he was enjoying it. Therefore…I went below and went to sleep. We tried the auto helm switch one more time, and it turned on. Hooray!

Randy ‘roused me at midnight and I took over my shift. Staying awake and alert is the tricky part at that time of night. But adrenaline takes over. I had a Red Bull and some chocolate and that kept me going. I loved watching the radar and seeing if I could see the blips on the screen in the ocean around us with the binoculars. We had a lot more company out there at that time than I thought we’d see. Could see Double Dutch really well, but had a hard time finding Lonnie on Smoooth Move.

I noticed Double Dutch turned off her running light and slowed almost to a stop. I hailed Theo on the radio to see if he was ok and he was. He just decided to sail for awhile. Their boat is much lighter than ours so it sails more smoothly in light winds. Not so the Kwan-ster. I slowed the engine, which I didn’t want to do. We need to keep the rpms up to a certain level. Randy popped his head up. “What’s going on?” Shoot…I didn’t want to wake him but I had a feeling he was sleeping with one ear open. You can definitely hear changes in the engine. He said he was awake, anyway, (he only slept 2 hours!) so he told me to go down to sleep. I was glad to do that but didn’t feel I was pulling my weight in the deal. But Randy was so stoked to be outside sailing that he was actually enjoying it all very much…no sleep and all.

As I lay down below and just sort of catnapped…I, too, was wired up…specially after Red Bull and chocolate…I heard the engines go off. We are sailing! Woohoo! Finally enough wind to sail. Nice. It’s so wonderfully quiet when you sail. It’s so pure. I like that.

As we got closer to Charleston, Lonnie had to call Boat US to be towed. Boat US is for boats like AAA is for cars. He had been having trouble with his exhaust taking on a lot of water and because he was single-handing it was really hard on him. Boat US didn’t respond, so he hailed the Coast Guard. Mind you, this is about 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning. Ran and I listened in to the calls. The Coast Guard was great and responded quickly and efficiently to him, even giving him suggestions of what to try. He had tried them all, however. They got a hold of Boat US who then hailed Lonnie and lined him up to be towed into Charleston.

It’s morning and we’re almost there. You get to the mouth of the inlet and feel like you’re there but it takes a long time to get into the port. Lots of traffic coming out the channel from Charleston…including a couple of ships and a shrimp boat…with his nets…right in the channel! Sheesh! You have to watch them as they’re dragging big ole honkin’ nets off the back. Would be ugly to get messed up with that. It was odd to us that they would be allowed to do that in the shipping channels.

I hailed the Charleston City Marina as we were getting nearer to our destination. I wanted to let them know of our arrival and find out where they wanted to put us. Ran and I decided to go into a marina and stay for a month here in Charleston. We can’t go past Savannah River, GA until the end of November due to our insurance restrictions. That’s not too much farther down. We get a better price if we stay for a month and we wanted to see a lot of Charleston anyway. It’s a grand town. And Fort Sumter is here and the Citadel. And the Hunley…the old submarine. We were guided into our berth past the MegaDock. Woohoo! Now there’s some boats that take a little fuel. Fascinating to me who these people are that can own such monsters. And I know these are just babies compared to what we’ll see in the Bahamas and beyond. But there are some 150’ yachts in here. Nice! We were greeted by two handsome young men that helped us tie up at our berth. They handed us a bag of information and made us feel right at home. Our neighboring boats came over and invited us for cocktails. How great is this life!

And of course Skipper Meetings on our boat and Painkiller! Love those Skipper Meetings! Painkiller, Double Dutch and Smoooth Move all anchored out near us. Lots of current here so they each had to put out 2 anchors. They were able to easily dinghy into the docks to do laundry and walk to town, etc. We even had Painkillers one evening on our boat in honor of Al’s (Painkiller) birthday. Then Al, Monica, Ran and I walked the MegaDock after dark to check out the big fellas. It really was pretty as they all had their lights on and we could peek in their ports to see what they looked like.

So…here we are in Charleston. Working on our second week. Our co-horts have since gone on farther south. We will catch up with Double Dutch and Painkiller in the Bahamas, we hope. Lonnie on Smoooth Move stayed and sold his boat on eBay. He had had enough of that boat. Randy just dinghyed over this morning to help him weigh his anchors (bringing them up after such a long time and lots of wind and current is not easy) and take his boat over to the marina where the new owner will take possession. Lonnie is going on to Florida and back to school where he’s working on his masters in writing. He’s glad to be rid of that boat.

I’ll fill you in on our fun stay in Charleston in the next installment. I love this town! You MUST see it if you haven’t already.

Bye, Mon & Al! See you in the Bahamas! (below)

À tout à l’heure….

A collage of the ICW this far

Cruising down the ICW

THIS BLOG POST WILL BE A 2 PARTER...IT'S KINDA LONG....the editor.


Greetings from the ICW….position>>>heading to Camp LeJeune from Beaufort, NC, to stop for the night. We will anchor out there. We’ve come over 200 miles since I last reported in.

Our daily rhythm is beginning to fall into place, but it is taking some adjusting. This is different than just being on the boat in the Deltaville Marina. We are constantly on the move and need to be heedful of where we are, where we’re headed and if we’re safe. Now that’s a good idea, eh? (We’re traveling with some Canadians. =) More on that in a bit.) It’s a good kind of stress but it’s stress none-the-less. Fellow travelers have said this all takes a while to get used to. And that’s ok. We have time. And we love it!

Charting our course is like a game …I like it. Like Myst….trying to figure how to get from one place to the next using all the clues….cool….ok back to what I was talking about. We start with a Skipper’s Meeting every evening at 5pm. While sipping our favorite adult beverages and having snacks, we decide on our destination for the next day, how far we want to go and where we will anchor for the night, or tie up to a free dock. We don’t tend to go into marinas as they’re more expensive and more trouble. Anchoring out is free! Free is good!

The “waypoints” are entered in the GPS on the chart plotter at our helm. The person not at the helm follows with the paper charts to make sure we’re going along correctly, and watches for the red and green markers along the way to be sure the boat is in the ICW channel. It can be shallow along here so we need to be vigilant. Our “draft” (the term for the length of the keel) is only 4 feet which is excellent for this kind of travel. Our fellow travelers have deeper drafts so they have to watch even more carefully. Through these ICW channels we are motoring the whole time. We do put sails up to increase our speed and to balance the boat, but the engine stays on. Our boat carries 75 gallons of diesel fuel so we can go along way before needing to refuel.

I’m sitting down below at the chart table as we travel today, working on this blog entry. I’m way past due. I’ve been waiting for the internet sources but they have been infrequent through here. By the end of the day, I’m so pooped I don’t feel like sitting at the computer. But, wait, Ellen….here’s an idea…try typing some of this up while you’re traveling and not at the helm! Taa daa! I may be slow…but I eventually come around to correct thinking. So now when we get to an internet source I can upload the blog entry. Brilliance doesn’t always come easily. I intend to get an internet booster antenna but haven’t decided which one I want to pay for yet. It’s too bad I didn’t make that decision already as I could have used it through here.

Now…to the flashback sequence….how we got to this point in our travel. We left Portsmouth/Norfolk at 11:45am on Tuesday, September 30. We timed our departure to reach the first lock on the Dismal Swamp Canal by 3:00pm, which was the later of the two openings. The lock only opens twice now to conserve water. They had a peat fire here on the Dismal a month or so ago and a large amount of water had to be used for that. (Peat fires burn very slowly. They’re hard to put out.) Our plan is to go through the lock and tie up at the dock just past for the night.

Several bridges had to be dealt with before we reached the sharp 90º turn into the Dismal Swamp. (Sounds ominous!) This part of the Elizabeth River, leaving Norfolk, is very industrial and full of military ships. Tugs working all around us pushing barges here and there. I like tugs. They have all sizes. While in Portsmouth we got to watch 3 tugs maneuver a huge military warship, turning it completely 180º to get it onto a dry dock pad. Really interesting to see and listen as they tooted their horns to each other. Just a side item bit of info for ya.

The first bridge we came to is “always open.” Not. It was a railroad bridge and I’ll be darned if a train didn’t come just at the time we were ready to go through. Down came the bridge. OK….we’ll circle, circle until it opens again. “Hope this isn’t a bad omen, Ran!” It wasn’t. The rest of the way was perfect. We called into the bridges ahead if we needed them to open or followed other boats and then skedaddled through. Just past the Highway 64 bridge we made our right angle turn into the Dismal Swamp. It’s so beautiful! “Ran! We’re finally going through the Swamp we’ve heard so much about.”

The Dismal Swamp is the beginning of the IntraCoastal Waterway, at least as far as it’s defined. There is a waterway that begins up the coast near Maine, but Mile Zero of the ICW is at Norfolk, VA. George Washington and Patrick Henry thought a canal was needed for effective transportation of goods so that the country could grow and prosper. Construction began in 1793, dug by hand, from both ends. This area turned out to be a haven for runaway slaves. HB Stowe and Longfellow both wrote of the Swamp. The completed canal finally opened in 1805. It is the oldest operating artificial waterway in the US. Edgar Allen Poe wrote The Raven during one of his stays at the Halfway House on the Swamp. James Adams’ Floating Theatre was on the canal, which was the idea for Edna Ferber’s “Showboat.” Is this cool or what? I love it!

We got to Deep Creek Lock about an hour before the 3pm opening. There were 4 other boats waiting, too. Just before 3:00 the lockmaster hailed us to see if there were any boats behind us, and then turned on the green light. We all entered the lock, preparing to hold to the starboard side. The lock tender, Robert, was unbelievably nice. This is the first time I have traversed a lock. Randy had done one up in Seattle. Lock Tender Robert walked down the dock and took our lines, hooking them to the side of the lock. In this lock we prepared for 8 feet of water to raise us up. Robert had his dog UHaul or Uturn (I can’t remember which) as his assistant. Dogs with Jobs. Dogs love to have jobs…and they’re good at it! After transiting through, we tied up on the 100ft dock just south of the lock, with an offer of coffee in the morning from the lock tender. Can’t beat that! One boat continued south, but 4 of us stayed. And this is where we met our new friends.

Theo and Marion, and their trusty dog Skye, are on s/v Double Dutch. (s/v = sailing vessel) They are from Canada, but originally from Holland. So they have nifty accents. Skye is part husky and part border collie, so she’s not Dutch, but she should have her pedigree known, too…and loves us all. Always lots of kisses from Skye.

Lonnie is from la la land. =) He’s on s/v Smoooth Move. He hates that extra “o” in the name but he bought the boat on e-Bay and he doesn’t believe in renaming boats. Lonnie is originally from Iowa, but…he’s been sailing for 30 years…and looks like the salty sailor: long ponytail, funky hat….some teeth. He’s great, with super stories! He’s been there…and done that…in Key West, the Bahamas, at Le Select in St Barts with Jimmy Buffett…. He’s writing a book about buying a boat on e-Bay. Well, there ya go!

Sue and Vick and Beauregard (dog, too) are from Washington, NC. They are on s/v Sandpiper, a cute little 27 foot Island Packet. They’re just putzing around the ICW for a few weeks. We had great conversations in their tiny cockpit with Theo and Marion, drinking our beverages during a pouring rain. Great time. (blog continues below)

continued...

...the saga continues....

Up early and over to the lock tender’s hut the next morning for the promised coffee! UHaul, or UTurn, greeted us and the coffee was poured all around. Robert even microwaved us some little breakfast biscuits. How’s that for service? A morning spent with nice people and listening to really great stories from the lock tender on some experiences he’s had…quite the tales…started our next leg down the Dismal Swamp.

We left Sue and Vick at the dock to continue on their travels, which took them back through the lock, and continued on with Double Dutch and Smoooth Move down the Dismal. After coffee and stories, Lock Tender Robert and UTurn/UHaul had to jump into the pickup and drive down to open up the Deep Creek Bridge for us as we departed.

Our next stop was the Great Dismal Swamp Canal Visitor’s Center where we would tie up for the night. This Visitor’s Center is right off Highway 17 and accommodates both boats and cars! I think it’s the only one in the country that does that. We had a lot of people from their cars come down to talk to us. This area was also the site of a Civil War battle in which Confederate soldiers prevented the Yankees from blowing up the locks. So much history out here!

Later in the evening we were approached by an Island Packet 445 coming down the Swamp. As there was no room left on the dock, they “rafted up” with us. This means they tie directly to our boat, side to side. This is done quite often in crowded areas. If they need to get off their boat they must walk across our deck. The etiquette is not to walk through the cockpit but across the foredeck. And here we met Marthalou and R.T. How’s that for some southern names? And their accent suited them perfectly. They were bringing their boat down from the Richmond area to Oriental, NC for the winter, traveling with their friends Chess and Karen. They use it as a floating condo. Nice, nice people. By the time we left them I was talking just like Marthalou! Y’all!

The next morning we were all up early and ready to go at daybreak, wiping the dew off the boat and enjoying the mist on the water. It’s so pretty. I wish you could all experience this. We were headed for Elizabeth City. We’re now in North Carolina! We had to traverse another lock, this time going down 8 feet. And this lock tender wasn’t as nice or efficient! Oh well, I guess they can’t all be Roberts. He wasn’t even monitoring his VHF radio so we had to figure out what he wanted us to do. The other boats filed in, preparing to tie up on the starboard side. We were prepared for that, too. Then suddenly the lock tender motions with his arms to go to the other side! Like the guys do at the airport, but without the flashlights. “Ran! Does he want us to wait out here on that side or does he want us to go in on that side? What do you think?!” “Hell if I know!” Pretty soon we’re so close we can hear him shouting. He wants us to tie port to. Good grief. Why don’t you use your damn radio, mister? I pulled Kwanesum over and Randy frantically switched all the lines and fenders to the port side. A Chinese fire drill for sure. (Can I say that anymore?) As the water comes in, you need to tend the lines to keep them taut. Much harder for Lonnie who’s single-handing. We were all on our way again in no time. Well, maybe not in no time, but we finally got underway.

As we arrived in Elizabeth City, all the boats decided to tie up at the same spot, the city docks. We fit in nicely except for s/v Gift of the Magi, which is Marthalou and R.T.’s boat. Too big! But there was room around the corner. We had lots of help tying up from gentlemen standing along the dock. Randy jumped off to thank them and low and behold one is the mayor! Great service there in E City. He invited us all to a wine and cheese reception at 4:30pm put on by the Rose Buddies just for us. Apparently it is a tradition in this town started by a gentleman in honor of his wife. He loved roses and had them growing everywhere in his yard. When he saw boats come in he would pick the roses and come down to the dock to welcome the boats with a reception. After his death, the town continues the tradition in his honor. It was very special. It reminds us all to stop and smell the roses.

"As the gateway to the Outer Banks, Elizabeth City stirs memories of the time when Blackbeard sailed the waters, trains were still a way of life and Wilbur and Orville stopped for provisions on their way to Kitty Hawk," mentions a brochure we found. We did not experience these stirred memories but perhaps they're there somewhere. We did however enjoy the little part of the town we were in at the water side in the little time we were there.

This is when we made the decision to travel on with Double Dutch and Smoooth Move. (you’re right, Lonnie…putting that extra ‘o’ in there is a pain in the neck!) We had our first Skipper’s meeting and decided to leave at 0’dark-thirty in the morning, heading to mile 102.2 where we would anchor at Deep Point off the Alligator River. At this point a power boat came in and it was people Theo and Marion (Double Dutch) had met in Norfolk. We invited them over and met our second pair of Canadians, Monica and Al on Painkiller. Skipper’s meeting’s over. Let’s just have fun! It is so damn fun just sitting and talking with these people.

We woke to a gorgeous morning and headed out, waving goodbye to Monica and Al. We decided to take a short cut across the Albemarle Sound. In doing so, we played ‘find the opening’ amongst all the crab pots! We knew this would happen and it’s not too bad, but they were everywhere. It seems as if they can put crab pots wherever they damn well please. And they can tag them with whatever kind of buoy they want…whatever color. Some of them look like recycled milk bottles. I don’t think this would fly in California. They would have some kind of regulation on this. At times…regulation can be a good thing. We’re zig zagging our way through.

Along the way, we saw the blimp hanger the mayor told us about. It is leftover from World War II and apparently this is where they make 99% of the blimps today. Just not the Goodyear blimp. And by golly we did see Snoopy on the Met Life blimp as we sailed by.

As we were trucking down the river who should drive up but Painkiller! They were going to stay in E City a couple of days, but the day was so beautiful and they saw all they wanted to see there in 3 hours, so they decided to follow us. Good deal! Now there were 4 of us buddy-boating.

We crossed the Albemarle, then the Neuse River and turned into the Alligator River. We turned into Little Alligator River and found our anchorage for the night. Ran and I have not anchored much…not a lot of anchoring in the SF Bay… so we are still pretty new at the procedure, but we did well! We’re still getting used to handling Kwanesum anyway, as she’s a much heavier boat with a full keel, which is harder to maneuver and turn on a dime. Thus…the bow thrusters. Bow thrusters are my friend. Good, good bow thrusters.

Captains meeting….5pm! All headed to the power boat tiki bar.

It was such a beautiful night. A zillion stars everywhere. Because we are not used to anchoring, Ran and I were up several times during the night to check on everything. Every little noise would prompt us to check. At one time, around midnight we heard a steady noise and it was a tug pushing a barge…really pretty to see during the night. Kind of an odd thing to say about a tug pushing a barge, but it was neat. And again…the stars were amazing. Up at dawn to get going and another tug and barge passed by. Beautiful mornings and the tug and barge just added that extra touch. OK…you had to be there, but it was neat.

The next point of travel decided by the Skipper’s Meeting would be mile 157.3 on the ICW, the docks of the RE Mayo Shrimp Company in Hobocken, NC. Went through the Pungo River into Goose Creek. The docks here at our stop are….old. Very old. There are 3 old shrimp boats tied up to the docks but plenty of room for us, too. But be careful when you get off the boat. The docks are indeed precarious. Skipper’s Meeting on Double Dutch tonight. Bring the mosquito spray…they’re on a roll. This is a narrow canal, mind you, and during the evening…the tugs come by with their barges. It is a sight to see. The next decided point of travel would be Beaufort, NC.

We woke up to fog. Well there you go! I’ve done fog before…big, tule fog. No problem. We try to wipe off our dodger because of all the dew on it…so we can see. We’re ready…everybody ready? Let’s go. Randy and Ellen…you lead today. OK, no problem. I get behind the helm and off we go. I’m watching the chart plotter and there’s a little fishing boat right in the channel! Well, come on…why are you in the channel?! Sheesh! And they’re crab pots. Crap…I hate dodging the crab pots. Specially before I’ve had my coffee. Pretty soon I hear Theo yelling…”Ellen! This way!” I was so worried about the fisherman and the crab pots I was heading the wrong direction! Even though I had the chart plotter telling me exactly where to go. Ugh. OK…I’m back on track. Then…after Randy wiped off the dodger window a zillion times he said “Why don’t we just unzip it and put it up out of the way?!” duh…..now there’s a good idea! That way we can see! Yay! That would be a great idea!

Now we’re fumbling our way through the fog when Randy says, “I think I see a boat coming straight for us.” Oh, jeez. OK. I’m really putting my Porterville fog eyes to work here which is actually good training. Tule fog is a great training ground for future ship’s captains. I see the boat. It’s Painkiller! They had left earlier, but because they don’t have radar and there was lots of fog, they thought they’d stop and let Randy and Ellen lead since they have radar. Only problem is…Randy and Ellen forgot they had radar and hadn’t been using it! Hello?! Randy and Ellen?! Anybody home?!? We happen to have a super great radar that overlays onto our GPS. But if the brain doesn’t remember that……it’s useless.

Ahem…. After turning on our expensive and wonderful radar…we trucked on down the waterway…headed to Beaufort, NC.

Arrived at Beaufort and tried to figure out where we’re going to be for the night. Oops! It’s getting shallow! We are at Town Creek Marina and wanted to anchor out there, but there are a lot of shoals in that area. We got on the wrong side. The dock master hailed us on the VHF radio and we got back on track. Thought we might go into a berth but the space was too tight. It’s hard to maneuver Kwanesum in tight spaces. So we decided to go back and anchor where everyone else was…but there’s not a lot of room and a lot of depth. Crap. We aren’t great at this anyway, and now we have to decide where to fit in amongst the boats so there’s enough room to swing around. Our technique is still being polished. We found a spot. Let’s drop the anchor. “Ellen…move it back. Reverse. OK. I think we’re good. Get me a beer.” (note from Ellen: we’ll get better at this as we go. Practice makes perfect.) Phew. Wine for me…beer for the Ran-man.

Weather’s not great, but it’s a nice anchorage. We can dinghy to the other side and go into their old town near the water. Very nice. Ran and I go in and walk to town, have some lunch…buy a couple of rugs for the boat and pick up some beer at a store. Back in the dinghy…back to the boat. Good day.

Skipper’s Meeting at the tiki bar. Love that tiki bar on Painkiller. No…wait….I think we were at Double Dutch…oh well…doesn’t matter. It’s always good. Next point of travel, Camp LeJeune, NC. It’s a marine base. You can’t go ashore, but you’re allowed to anchor in this one spot at Mile Hammock Bay. (Skye however was granted permission to go in and do her thing. Skye is special…and we know that.)

We’re in…anchored…we’re getting better at this…and the military are running some exercises. I love it. I just love our military. They have neato boats they’re running around in all around us…after dark, even…without lights. Cool. And the helicopters are flying right over our boats. It all makes my heart pound with pride. I applauded when they went by us. They appreciated it.

Skipper’s meeting….I forget where….point of travel will be mile 295.1, Carolina Beach, NC.

This was quite a day. As we go down the ICW it becomes more of a challenge. A lot of shoaling has taken place. We are following several books that have details of what to expect and what to avoid. We try out best to follow their suggestions and keep in the deeper part of the channels. It doesn’t always work. The first to go aground was Double Dutch. They have a 7 foot draft, which is pretty deep. They got in trouble. Painkiller being a power boat, was able to turn around, go back, and pull them off. Excellent. Otherwise they would have to wait for the tide to rise. Really, really nice of them to turn around, come back, and do that.

We travel on and Smoooth Move gets in trouble. Lonnie turns the boat and powers it forward and gets off. Excellent. Moving on down…being really vigilant of the buoys and the depth…Lonnie goes aground again. He, too, has a deep draft. We are just ahead of him and slow down…back up a bit…try to help. We’ve caught something in our prop. Crap, crap, crap! I hate when that happens. Lonnie turns his boat and gets off. Excellent.

We continue motoring on, feeling the boat shake knowing something must be caught somewhere on the prop or rudder. Not good…but it seems ok. We wait for the bridge to open. This is our second or third bridge we have dealt with this leg, and it gets old. These bridges only open on the hour! Some open on the half hour and the hour, but this one only on the hour! Ugh…. Means you have to putz around and wait and hope you don’t get into some honking current that sends you where you don’t want to be! Double Dutch got into trouble waiting for one bridge. The current caught them and they had to put their anchor out to stop them before they started under the bridge before it opened! Mast would have been gone for sure. But Theo got his anchor out pronto and held fast. Phew! They were ok.

Bridge is finally open and we all file through. We feel this thing we’re caught on. Boat is shaking. OK…just get through the bridge, Kwanesum! Ran powers up and whatever it was seemed to fall off and we smoothly powered through. All righty! Good girl, Kwanesum. All is ok and we’re going on. Coming up on a spot the book said to be vigilant. Stay to the red side, it said…more depth there. We do…we go aground. And we just have a 4 foot draft! Good grief. Randy turns the boat…turns on the bow thruster….we’re off. No harm, no foul. We’re on our way again. Love those thrusters!

We arrive at Mile 295.1 Carolina Beach. It was very beautiful along the way despite the stress of watching our depth the whole time. There are some beautiful houses. Some big boats! Mostly fishing boats. We’re really glad to be here. Ran and I decide to go into a marina. We need fuel, water, provisions and need to do laundry. The others anchor out just around the corner. Randy also wants to have someone dive on our boat to see if something is on our propeller or rudder. It’s time to stop anyway. It’s good to have electricity you don’t have to worry about. When we’re at anchor we have electricity but you have to be careful how much you use and it’s all 12 volt. We have small inverters we can plug in to but they don’t like it when the power isn’t up at a certain level. The solar panels we have really keep the power up. But it goes fast when you use it. So it’s nice not to worry about it for a couple of days.

The diver found the culprit today. A big ole piece of plastic. All twisted around. I’m so glad we stopped and checked this. Kwanesum is glad, too.

There’s a weather front here now. We traveled during a little rain yesterday, so it’s good to stop for a few days. And there’s internet here. Good deal. I slept in. Nice.

Skipper’s Meeting…where are we going next? (By now, I forget where we had these meetings. =) We rotate boats. It’s just too fun.)

Well…the sail boats want to go outside to the Atlantic for this stint to Charleston, SC. The ICW gets even shallower from this point on. It’s just too stressful and difficult for the sailboats…we want to go outside. It would be an overnight sail, but that’s ok. We’ve actually wanted to do this anyway. Seems like the best thing is to go out at Cape Fear Inlet and back in at Charleston. Because of the weather that’s hanging around it looks like we won’t leave until Tuesday. Today is Friday. But we can rest here and prepare. It will be a different journey. So we’ll need to prepare the boat for that. We will need to travel straight through for 30 hours or so, so different shifts at the helm will be in order. Let’s do it. I’ve been waiting for this.

Ran and I have a dear friend that is now in Wilmington, NC and we are looking forward to meeting up with her tomorrow.

We’ll leave you here and keep you posted on the next leg of the trip. Stay tuned!