Belhaven NC to Elizabeth City NC

We left Belhaven NC from Dowery Creek Marina with 5 mph winds out of the NNE. It was sunny and the temperature was 48 degrees. 

Our goal was to get past the Alligator River Swing Bridge, which was reported to be intermittently out of order. Wind is always a consideration for boaters and swing bridges will not open in high wind conditions. Today's wind's were normal and not an issue. They were blowing no greater than 10 miles per hour. 

This bridge is at the mouth of the Alligator River which leads to the crossing of the Albemarle Sound. The crossing can be rough, if weather conditions are not right. We had an easy passage with only 1 or 2 foot waves. 

Our biggest issue, during the crossing, was the never ending string of crab pots that had to be avoided.  A crab pot line around a propeller can stop a boat. 

Another adventure today was our boarding by the USCG. No, we weren't speeding. The Coast Guard boarding on the Pasquotank River was a " courtesy inspection". They checked all our documents and placards and equipment. We passed with flying colors. We received the Gold Sheet!!!

After the crossing we pulled into Pelican Marina. We will let the pictures of our assigned slip speak for themselves. 

We could only stay at Pelican Marina one night as this slip was reserved by another vessel for the following night. This was a stroke of luck for us.

The next night tornado watches and warnings turned into a tornado touch down with 70 mile an hour winds in Elizabeth City. Our decision to move to Lamb's Marinas was a good one. We hear the trawler that took our place in the slip at Pelican Marina, had its swim platform ripped off in the storm. No harm came to any people and plans are underway to repair the boat. 

Of course each marina offers it's own unique challenges. Jack had to do his first stern in docking at Lamb's Marina.

The next day we rented a car and took a day trip to Kitty Hawk N. C. to visit the Wright Brothers National Memorial that

commemorates the site of the first sustained flight in a heavier-than-air machine made by Wilbur and Orville Wright on December 17, 1903. 

Morehead City NC to Belhaven NC

After three days bad weather tied to the dock, we left Morehead City at 7:35 am. The sun is shining. The water is flat and the temperature is 48 degrees and rising. Woo Hoo, spring is back!

In Belhaven we stayed at Dowery Creek Marina. Every evening at 5:30 the Marina hosts a welcome gathering with appetizer s and/or a pot luck dinner. 

No USA Today Papers are available in town. Only local paper can be purchased. Most stores and restaurants are closed on Sunday and Monday. The days the restaurants are open, they open at 5:30. 

Myrtle Beach SC to Southport NC

Leaving Southport Marina shortly after 0800 we left the relative comfort of the ICW and turned into the Cape Fear River that was running at maximum flood tide. Because of the inrushing flood tide from the ocean, we were being pushed along at a speedy 12.5 MPH. The problem this created was the opposing wind was out of the NNE at 15-20 MPH which made for very rough choppy seas and waves of 4 to 6 feet breaking over our bow and drenching our (thankfully) fully enclosed flybridge. Combined with a  temperature of 39 degrees, Sara and I both agreed, this was not our idea of pleasure boating, After about an hour of pounding into the wind and waves, we cruised serenely back into the ICW and left the Cape Fear River Behind.

I need to backup to our trip from Georgetown SC to N. Myrtle Beach SC. I forgot to mention. "The Rock Pile".  Following is Jack's description of that passage.

Many stretches of the ICW that we have traversed so far have been through miles of marsh land, rivers, inlets, etc. with bottoms consisting of soft mud and or sand. If you run aground here, there would hopefully be no significant damage to your boat.

However, there is one small area just south of North Myrtle Beach, NC that many boaters had warned us about as long as a year ago. That area is known as The Rock Pile and it is an approximately 5 mile long stretch of the ICW between mile marker (mm) 355 and (mm) 350. In this area the Army Corps of Engineers had to blast out the channel for the ICW through solid rock. Consequently, it is extremely narrow and very unfriendly to any mariner who may have a momentary lapse  of "situational awareness" and allow his boat to drift out of the channel and into the menacing, sharp rocks lying just feet from the side of the boat. 

On April 14th, as we were approaching The Rock Pile, we made the obligitory calls on the common VHF frequency for boaters on the ICW, channel 16, stating we were about to enter this 5 mile long stretch heading north and was there any opposing "commercial traffic" (such as tug boats or barges) that may be coming the other direction that would take up the whole width of the channel. Luckily for us, on this day at this time there was not, so we proceeded slowly through the infamous Rock Pile without incident.

Charleston to Myrtle Beach

We are sitting on Ithaka's Sundeck in Lightkeepers Marina just north of Myrtle 

Beach. Jack is reading the newspaper. A special treat for him. He loves reading a daily paper from cover to cover.  Most days we don't have transportation to purchase a hard copy paper. It is a simple pleasure. But one he loves and misses. 

I am reading a book, The Cruising Woman's Advisor by Diana Jessie. I pulled it off the share self in the marina laundry room today, while doing laundry. Almost every marina has a shelf or two of books where folks can take one leave  one to participate in a free lending library. Wouldn't you just know boat people would be readers. :-)

I must share a quote that touch my spirit by Diana Jessie. "An early cruising lesson for me was learning to live with things that I cannot control. When Mother Nature has a bad day, I have to share it. Choppy seas, too much wind, heat, cold, heavy fog, broiling sun, and salty spray all have to be reckoned with at some time. Not only was it essential for me to learn to adapt to the conditions: I had to acquire the grace to accept them. "

One of my goals for this adventure is to learn to better accept the things I cannot control but more importantly, accept them with Grace. 

Beaufort S. C. and Charleston S. C.

Shortly before entering South Carolina I added a small Marine Corps Flag to Ithaka's flag pole, where we proudly fly the American Flag. Knowing South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia are heavily populated with active duty and retired Marines, I wanted to make sure I was "flying the colors" as we  made our way up the Intracoastal Waterway to Norfolk, VA. It was a treat to cruise by Parris Island MCRD (Marine Corps Recruit Depot) where the huge white watertower was painted with the bold letters "WE MAKE MARINES". When I enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1967 and went through MCRD in San Diego, I never had the "pleasure" of having to set foot on this infamous training base for Marine recruits. It was much more pleasureable to cruise by on our trawler and wave at them in the distance.

Next stop, Beaufort S. C. (Pronounced B'you-fort) or (byew-fert)

The best way to see a town, when time is short, is to take an organized tour. We chose a carriage ride tour in Beaufort. 

More beautiful southern homes 

A beautifully developed waterfront. If you look carefully, You can see our boat in the distance. 

Pat Conroy, the writer, was raised in Beaufort and wrote many of his books in this setting. 

During our stop in Beaufort, S. C. we went into one of the quaint bookstores in the historical district. It had a whole section dedicated to the works of Pat Conroy. The majority of books written by this author revolve around his life and growing up in the low country of South Carolina, they include The Great Santini, The Prince of Tides, and many others. What caught my attention was his latest book Santini. It chronicles his dysfunctional relationship with his father and how he and his father came to terms with it before his father's passing.

This brought back many memories of THE GREAT SANTINI, because Conroy's book told the story of growing up in a house with seven siblings and having a Marine Fighter Pilot as a father. Their father called himself "THE GREAT SANTINI". I was a young Marine Second Lieutenant starting flight training in 1969 in Pensacola, FL. Don Conroy was my Commanding Officer. I did not realize at that time that this tall, imposing, hard charging Marine Officer would later be so brutely written about in his son's book.

One of my memories of Colonel Conroy that impressed me the day I checked into MATSG (Marine Air Training Support Group) was his policy of meeting and interviewing each new Marine the was starting flight training. On my day, 5 brand new Lieutenants and myself were ushered into his office. He sat us down in front of his desk and went down the line asking each of us where we were from. As we told him, about our relatively small towns, he would relay some personal bit of information that he knew from each of our home towns. He had visted each town at some time. To me, it was an impressive performance. 

It was not until well into my own Marine Aviation Career and after the book The Great Santini was written that I learned the whole story of this highly decorated Marine and his troubled family. Before leaving Beaufort, we visited the beautiful Beaufort National Cemetery, where The Great Santini, Colonel Donald C. Conroy is laid to rest.

Many books have been made into movies in this area. The Big Chill, Prince of Tides, and Forest Gump were filmed here. The story was told that Tom Hanks would come in the local Chocolate Tree Candy Store To fill up his box of chocolates for the days shoot. 

As recommended, we ate at Emily's restaurant and had the famous She-Crab Soup. Very Good. 

The way to Charleston from Beaufort is through more marshlands. The typical food of choice here is "low country boils" seafood: crab, shrimp, and oysters. 

We sometimes have a difficult time reading the numbers on the day markers that guide our way (road signs for you land lubbers), because the Osprey like to use the day markers for nesting sites along the waterway. 

As we pulled into St John's Yacht Marina, one of our boat fenders dropped into the bay. We thought it was lost and gone forever. As we tied up to the dock a couple in a dinghy pulled up behind our boat and handed our fender to the dock hand. They hollered at us, "Are you doing The Loop?" We answered yes. They said, "So are we. When we saw your AGLCA Flag. We said, we can save their fender for them." 

That is what Loopers are like. Good people helping any way they can to assist fellow loopers accomplish their dream. 

We spent Saturday touring Charleston S. C. and will move on to Georgetown S. C. on Sunday. 

This picture, taken in Charleston, is of two people made famous by traveling the loop in a trawler once know as NEXT TO ME. Everywhere we go the boat is recognized and folks commented on how much they enjoyed Catherine and Bob's daily loop blog. We are told we now own a celebrity boat. 

Leaving Florida Entering Georgia

I am not sure going north is the right way go. Temperatures in the 40's and 50's is not what I had in mind. 

Our last stop in Fl. Was at Fernandina. A quaint old town on Amelia Island. Lots of charming old homes. 

Our entrance into the Fernandina Marina was our first really big docking challenge. The water was normally quite shallow and we arrived at low tide. The winds that day were 20 miles per hour steady gusting to 30. Jack did a great job docking the boat with almost no water, high winds, and a wild current. We touched bottom twice that day. I haven't tried docking, since we left Harbor Isle Marina. I think I might start with undocking the boat, before I try docking the boat. Docking is a big job with new wind, tide, current challenge each time. 

As you can see, not every boat in the marina looks like ITHAKA. Two young guys were our neighbors one night. This is their fishing boat. 

"The Loop" takes a lot of body and mind energy. We feel it is worth every bit of energy and we are up to every challenge. There is nothing like this experience. Some moments (marina showers) are like being 12 years old again and back at Girl Scout Camp. Who gets to be 12 again? It is a treat! Some moments are like living the scene from Titanic where they stand on the bow of the boat as "King of the World"!

 

Because we touched bottom coming into Fernandina, we were advised to find safe water and open ITHAKA up to her top speed and check for vibrations. We normally travel at about 9 to 10 miles per hour. Top speed this day was 28.2 miles per hour. Quite an accomplishment for a trawler. Jack was a glow!!!

This vibration test may have given us a false sense of what slow feels like. As we passed by Jacksonville and were moving through a very confusing signage area around the navy ship yards we were too busy (checking GPS, checking paper charts, looking ahead for on coming vessels, looking behind for upcoming vessels, listening for sounds, paying attention to the smells, watching for crab pots, looking for channel markers, etc., etc., etc.,) to notice the slow, minimum wake sign.  Sooooo, on our port side we noticed an approaching small boat with four Florida State Water Police with their blue lights flashing. We thought maybe they were wanting to board us for an inspection. As they flopped their boarding fenders over the side of their boat, I went down to the sun-deck. They yelled "slow it down." I was humble, apologetic, and tried to look as much like their mother as I could. Jack cut our speed way back and they waved us on. Dodged that bullet... 

After a beautiful day on the water, we docked at Morningside Marina at St. Simons Island. 

A tour of the island  the next day took us to some historically significant homes and taught us some local history.

One stop on the tour was Christ Church. 

This church is recognized for the burial plot of Henry Lord Page King of the prominent King family. The story is told that a slave named Neptune Small was the "man servant" for the youngest son of the King family of St. Simon Island. He accompanied Henry Lord Page King, know as Lordie during several major civil war battles. During the Battle of Fredricksburg, in 1862, Lordie was killed. Neptune searched all night for his master and finally found him. Because slaves were not allowed to have horses, Neptune bult a wood coffin for his master and pushed or pulled the coffin by hand cart the 500 miles back to Georgia where he could be buried in the family cemetary.

For his actions, the King family gave Neptune a piece of property on their plantation. He built his home and lived there with his family until 1907. He continued to work for the King family after the civil war as a free man. 

Another interesting story was the historical landing at Dunbar Creek in St. Simons, GA. It was the site of the 1850 mass suicide of 20 slaves who just arrived from Nigeria and were sold into slavery. A proud people from the Igbo Tribe, including their Chief. They made a suicide pact to keep them from living a life in chains. Following their Chief, who chanted, "The sea brought me and the sea will bring me home. " They all ran into Dunbar Creek chained together instead of walking onto the bank into a life of slavery. 

Our next planned stopped was Sudbury Crab Company Marina, a little over half way to Savannah. But, we met the crew of the Motor Vessel "Last Resort" Don and his wife. They are the Ontario Harbor Hosts.They planned to travel from St. Simon to Savannah in one long day (91 miles). It was a glorious, perfect day to be on the water, so we changed our float plan and also went on to Isle of Hope Marina in Savannah.

  

The next day we toured Savannah. This included lunch at Paula Deans' Restaurant (yummy) and an overview of the city.  Jack took pictures of this 10,000 square foot home built in 1819. It had running water and flushing toilets 15 years before the White House and 100 years before other homes.  It was built by a 24 year old architect. Revolutionary War General LaFayette was a guest in the home and delivered a speech from the balcony of the guest bedroom, qualifying the home as a national historic site.

A bike ride around the Isle of Hope and a few more pictures, while we wait for a good weather window to move on to Beaufort S. C.

Wisteria: A vigorous, twining vines that bloom in spring with huge, cascading flower clusters. Lavender/purple color.  

Another rainy day in Georgia...