Holden Beach 7-10 Apr

    We reserved a spot at the Holden Beach town dock for the weekend as there was a cold front coming through with forecasted rain and strong northerly winds. Trying to motor up the Cape Fear River, which comes after Holden Beach, in strong northerly winds is not a good idea. 

   We still have the problem that you can only stay at the town dock for 72 hours and the wind won't die town until next Tuesday so we will have to anchor somewhere before the Cape Fear River on Monday night.

 

   Friday afternoon and the bad weather is not here yet. We went walking on the beach, down to the eastern end of the island at the Lockwood Folly inlet. There is a mailbox at the end tip of the island where you can leave messages - like a message in a bottle.

   Friday evening was the town Easter Egg hunt right at the park where the town dock is.  The forecast had been for rain starting at 6pm, but it held off just long enough to complete the egg hunt. It started raining about 9pm.

  It then rained for the next 24 hours. Fortunately we had enough books and games to entertain ourselves.

   Best of all, the town dock has electric power so we were plugged in with the heater on. Temperatures were around 40degrees each night, so the heat was greatly welcomed. 

   We were able to walk the beach Sunday and Monday morning. Interestingly, there were not as many shells on the beach as we normally find. Holden Beach is one of the best places on the coast for shells, but not so many this visit. 

  It was time to hit the road on Monday as I time was up. 

Waccamaw to Holden Beach 6-7 Apr

 

   Calm morning and we're off our anchorage and proceeding up the Waccamaw River.  This is one of the prettiest sections of the ICW. Its along a winding river - not a canal - through a nature reserve area so no almost no houses along the way. Often we see bald eagles along this stretch but none so far this trip. Lots of ospreys though.

   Through the Socastee swing bridge without any delays. Next section takes us through Myrtle Beach.

  We stopped for diesel at Wacca Wache without any difficulties or delays. Diesel prices have come down steadily since we left in January and we just paid less than we did in Great Bridge back in January. Off course it was $5 gallon in Florida while we were down there. 

  Well, all was going fine until we made the turn into the Calabash anchorage area and with the exceptionally low tides at a springtime full moon, it was too shallow to get into the creek. We backed out and went to plan B.

   We transited down the Little River to the inlet where there is a place to pull off the channel and anchor just before the exit, just behind Bird Island.

  We are anchored and Sue is enjoying the view looking out into the ocean. Conditions are fairly calm here and it should be a quiet night.

   Another pretty, full moon night. The wind came up against the current through the inlet and make it a bit rolly for a few hours but by midnight the wind and seas calmed down and it was very quiet and comfortable. 

   All set for the night and we broke out the dominos. This is the first relaxing night we have had in awhile with time to play without being exhausted. Sue won the dominos game.

   Its a short transit from our anchorage to Holden Beach and we were here and moored before noon.

   There is some bad weather coming in for the next couple days so we are here until Monday, the 10th. Fortunately, we have power which means heat, because it is going to be in the 40s at night and cold and rainy during the day.  Perhaps we have been in too much of a hurry to get further north?

Offshore, Fernandina to Georgetown, SC 4-5 Apr

 

   Sunrise 4 Apr and we are heading out the St Mary's Inlet bound for sea and a 38hr transit up to South Carolina. We'll either pull in to Charleston or if the weather is still good and we're making good progress we'll go all the way to Georgetown. 

   We had a choice to leave a day earlier in some stronger winds where we could sail in 4-6ft seas or wait till the 4th when there was little wind and calm seas. The crew voted to wait, so we're motoring.

   Not much to do when you're motoring in the ocean. Check the horizon every 15mins or so. Check the bilge every couple hours or so. Get some rest when you can as we'll be going all night long. 

   Our visitor for the day. This butter butt warbler stayed with us the entire day. Not sure what he was doing 20miles offshore but he was probably glad to have a place to rest for the day. The challenge was to keep him out of the boat below so he wouldn't mess on things.

   Interestingly, the next day we had a different bird, but another warbler, visit us for a few hours, still about 20 miles offshore.

   Our other visitors were dolphins off Georgia, several times during the day. They would come over and play in the bow wave for an hour or so then go back to feeding. Its interesting how having dolphins around always makes you feel better and safer. Not too scientific but its a fact.

   Sunset on day one. We are making good time and will pass by Savannah about 10pm. Should be off Charleston about noon tomorrow. We'll plan to continue on to Georgetown as long as we can get there before sunset tomorrow. 

  Notice the ocean conditions. Sue, and Rivah, are very happy. Using up some diesel fuel but making this offshore run cuts about 5 days off the time it would take to travel through the meandering grasslands of Georgia and southern South Carolina. Not to mention there are several very shallow spots in the ICW thru Georgia where you can't transit at low tide. We avoid all that by going offshore.

   Hard to get a good moon photo from a moving boat but it was a full moon for our transit and you can see the moonlight reflected in the ocean. 

   Again, the crew is very happy with the sea conditions.

  Sunrise on the 5th. Sea is still dead flat. The moon is setting off in the west. We didn't see any traffic all night long. Several boats anchored off Savannah and a couple transiting but we never were close enough to see them.

   Passing by Charleston about 10am. Murphy's Law - the one merchant ship we have seen so far was coming out of Charleston at the exact time we were crossing the channel.  The advantage of having AIS (Automatic Identification System) is that we can see on our chartplotter where we will cross paths and he can see the same information. The system said he would pass just under a half mile in front of us - which is too close. So we slowed down some and let him pass at a safer distance. 

   Later on the 5th and we actually have all the sails out with a little bit of wind behind us. We could sail at about 4-5mph with these winds but that wouldn't get us into Georgetown before dark. So, we have the engine running as well and making good time. We'll arrive at the inlet before 3pm.

   That will enable us to transit up the Waccamaw River to our desired anchorage area and set us up to transit to Little River the next day.

   We're here - passing the Georgetown, Winyah Bay lighthouse. Making good time up the river with a following current.  This transit has gone amazingly well with the weather, sea conditions and currents all in our favor. Sometimes it all works out - particularly if you are not in a hurry and can pick the best window.

 

  We made it!  Anchored by Butler Island in the Waccamaw River just before sunset. Winds are calm and temperature balmy. 

   Tomorrow we transit up the Waccamaw River, stop for diesel at Wacca Wache, the proceed on up to the Calabash 4-corners at Little River Inlet to anchor. Then its one short day to Holden Beach.

Fernandina 28 May - 3 Apr

    We left St Augustine on the 27th and transited up towards Fernandina, stopping for the night at Sister's Creek in the Jacksonville area.

   This is a free dock that is very popular with ICW transiters. On the way down it was full. In researching the dock and noted several boaters had commented on mooring on the inside of the dock - that there was plenty of water at the end of the dock. We decided to check it out and yes, there was over 10ft of water. There are cleats for only 1 boat to tie up so we slipped in and took the spot. It enabled a easy departure in the morning.

   The next day we transited up to Fernandina and anchored in the creek off the town marina, in the same area we had anchored on the way down. It is a bit exposed and there is a reversing current here like St Augustine but not so rough. There was a lot more room to swing around without hitting neighboring boats here.

   We got a good boat washing while at Fernandina. It rained hard for a couple hours, then was over. Sure is nice to have a full enclosure when its pouring rain. Even if we don't use the cockpit in the rain, it keeps the cockpit relatively dry. 

   With no reason to hurry on north, we spent several days at Fernandina, doing our daily walks. One nice walk is to the old lighthouse which is open for visitors (not to climb) on Saturdays.

   There are several breweries in Fernandina. Our favorites are First Love and the Amelia Island Brewery. In addition to beer, First Love has one of the best hamburgers and fries in town. 

   Its a couple days later - stopping by the Amelia Island Brewery. We tried several of the dark beers. The best was the Coffee Porter. 

   Before heading offshore for South Carolina we need to complete our housekeeping. The dinghy is the workhorse when you are living "on the hook" at anchorage. Returning to the boat after completing the laundry ashore, grocery shopping, and filling the water jugs. 

   Notice the white cabling - we learned on the way down when our gas tank was stolen out of the dinghy at Fernandina that everything needs to be locked up. Standard practice everywhere now. 

   Walking around Fernandina, we noticed this place, The Patio, where they had 3 tables with propane ambiance grills. On our last day we decided to stop and have lunch there. The food was excellent and the ambiance great. 

  A bit cloudy for our last day in Fernandina but the forecasted weather for our transit to South Carolina tomorrow looks great.

St Augustine - 22-27 Mar

 

   Underway for St Augustine, passing once again through the George Musson bridge. Good news is we have the current with us and we should be able to make it all the way to St Augustine today.

   Here is the mooring field at St Augustine. We learned last visit that there is a small area at the end of the field before the shallow water where you can anchor so we headed there. We stayed at anchor a couple days as the wind kept building. Because of the strong currents here, when the wind is against the current you start swinging in circles which can pull your anchor out of the bottom. After a couple days it appeared we had dragged some and we getting too close to the other anchored boats so we grabbed a mooring ball for the next few days, which also gets us shower and laundry privileges. Hot showers tonight.

   Hanging out in St Augustine lets us visit with my nephew Johnathon and his son Crewe. He is a great joy.

   Johnathon introduced us to a couple breweries in St Augustine. Our standard order is a stout for Sue and an IPA for Mark.  

   We've always walked past the Alligator Farm in ST Augustine and never visited it, so this was our chance. It was actually pretty interesting. In addition to the alligators and crocodiles, the various birds are fascinating including the cranes and snowy egrets that roost in the trees. 

   Your ticket is good for the whole day so we toured around, then left for lunch at the nearby taco joint, then returned to see more of the wildlife. Then it was time for a beer at the nearby Old Coast Ales brewery.

   Our mooring ball was over in the north field off from the old fort. This is the first time we have been in the north field and with the winds coming from the south it was very calm conditions. I imagine this field would be rough in a northerly wind.

New Smyrna 18 - 21 Mar

 

   Early morning and we're underway from Halifax marina before the wind comes up, heading back to New Smyrna. 

   We don't have anymore commitments now before returning to Yorktown so we'll just hangout in Florida where its warm for awhile longer visiting friends. 

   We are anchored just off the town docks in New Smyrna, and we get up each morning and walk over to the oceanside, get a coffee at 7/11 and sit by the shore. Today someone is sailing south down the coast in some blustery conditions. Looks pretty rough out there today, our crew would not be happy. Good day to sit shoreside and watch the waves break in.

   Here's and interesting sea creature we haven't seen before. Its called a Praying Mantis Shrimp. I got caught it at the town dock while fishing for fish. I expect it would taste like lobster or shrimp but, noone wanted to take it and eat it.

   I thought it was supposed to be warm in Florida in March. Well, maybe most days. Still a lot warmer than Virginia where we hear it is still snowing in the mountains.

Daytona Beach - St Patrick's Day 17 Mar

    When we arrived at Daytona on the 10th it was the last couple days of Bikeweek. Lots of people and Harley's and incredible noise 24hrs a day.

   Now on our last day at Daytona its St Patrick's Day and main street is in party mode.

   Getting into the party mood. 

   No, Rivah didn't drink too much green beer. She just laid down next to Sue's beer.

   I think this is a Scottish group, not Irish but the music sort of fit in.

   Now the Irish dancers were more authentic.  

New York City, Carnegie Hall - 12-15 Mar

 

      We're off for New York City to see our granddaughter, Ella, play at Carnegie Hall with her high school band.  It was a rainy drive to the airport and after we boarded we had to sit for a couple hours waiting for weather to clear over Jacksonville, but we were eventually on our way. 

   Here in the Big Apple, and its cold, especially since we just came from Florida, not Yorktown. Our hotel is just a couple blocks from Penn Station.

   We're staying at the Yotel near Time Square. Its a modern, automated hotel concept with small rooms, but all the room and amenities that you need. It was very clean and completely acceptable.

   The great feature of New York City is you can find small shops and eateries that meet any desire that you have. We saw a kebab place just around the corner and stopped there for dinner. It was a Turkish place with several different Mediterranean dishes. I thought the prices were a little high (although it is Manhattan) until I saw how much food we got. Since we hadn't eaten breakfast and you get no food on the plane, we were ready for a big meal.

   The next day we were going to try to meet with Ella, who's school group were touring Rockefeller Center and the "Top or the Rock", so after waking up and watching the Today show on TV from our hotel bed, we then walked over to Rockefeller Center and watched them broadcasting the show from the sidewalk. 

   When we got to the Top of the Rock, there was Ella and her friends. 

   It was cold down at street level and really freezing in the 30 mph winds at the top of the building. We didn't spend much time outside.

   It was pretty neat seeing the sights you normally only see on TV like the skating rink at Rockefeller Center. 

   We then had all afternoon to sightsee before being at Ella's concert that night at 8pm. We decided to walk down to the 9/11 Ground Zero. Last time we were in NYC in 2003 there was still a smoldering hole there. Today the new World Trade Center tower has been built and there are memorial pools at the bases of the old twin towers. It is very respectfully redone.

   Did I say it was cold?  Yes, it was cold, snowing and blowing. I had packed my winter raincoat from Brussels and at the last minute threw in my gloves and ear muffs. Good move!

  Sue meanwhile, had only packed a thin raincoat. Fortunately she had been knitting hats along the trip and brought one of them with her. Good move!

   Now we know why we live in Virginia and go to Florida for the winter. 

   For dinner we had decided to eat at a Japanese hibachi restaurant. We didn't realize we would have our own brazier to cook on. What a great choice, enabling us to warm back up. 

    Here we are at Carnegie Hall waiting for the concert to start. What a great experience for Ella and her friends.

   What a great concert. All the different high school bands, orchestras and choirs were outstanding (which is why they are invited to Carnegie Hall). 

   All too soon it was time to pack up and head to the airport the next day, but still time to walk to Time Square and get an authentic New York hotdog.  It was expensive, but actually a very good hotdog. The spicy onions were the secret ingredient. 

And then, we were winging our way back to sunny and warm Florida. We waved goodbye to Ms Liberty as we passed by.