Nov 9

We had a good nights sleep, even a wind shift came through overnight.  About 04:00, the wind shifted to the NW and picked up.  It also started to rain lightly.  We were up at 06:00, and underway at first light, about 06:30.  Another sailboat and a large trawler got underway right behind us.

The first twenty miles of today are the Alligator Pungo Canal.  This canal is very straight and fairly narrow.  About midway through the canal, the trawler passed us.  It was his first trip south and we gave him a few tips on the radio about where to watch out for shallow spots in the ICW ahead.

Once we were out of the canal, we were no longer protected from the wind.  It was blowing about twenty knots with higher gusts.  The first hour out of the canal, in the Pungo River, we were bashing into a large chop with the wind on the side, so it was pretty uncomfortable.  At Belhaven, the river turns south so the wind and waves were now behind us and the ride was much nicer.  The Pungo River joins the Pamlico River and the ICW cuts across the Pamlico in a southwest direction to Goose Creek.  This put the wind on our side again.  This combined with the mixing of currents from the two rivers made for a bumpy ride for half an hour or so.

As we were crossing the Pamlico, we heard a familiar voice on the radio.  It was Toby from Cariba hailing another boat.  He didn't get a response, so we hailed him.  I was surprised to hear him, because I didn't think he and Donna were taking Cariba south this year.  Well, it turns out they are not, but he was crewing on a large motor yacht delivery.  We chatted for a few minutes and found out that they were ahead of us.  Being a large motor yacht, they go farther each day, so we probably won't see him.

Once through Goose Creek and Hobucken, we entered the Nuese River.  Again, in the open water, the wind was whipping up a good chop.  Once we turned south in the Nuese, we unfurled the main to help smooth out the ride.  We got to the Whittaker Creek Yacht Harbor about 16:00.  We fueled and then went to our slip for the night.  We stayed at this marina on our way north, because a couple who's logs we followed for years live here now.  We went over to Rob & Jo's boat, Sea Spell, and visited for an hour or so. 

GPS N 35-01.935 W 076-41.021  Nautical miles traveled today 68.  Total miles 6943.

Nov 10

We are not running extremely far today.  We are "only" going forty-three miles today to Swansboro.  We had hoped to visit with friends we met in the Bahamas last year, who live here, but found out yesterday that they are out of town.  We left the marina at 08:00, crossed the Nuese and entered Adams Creek, which turns into Core Creek.  At the southern end of Core Creek, we saw dolphins.  There are always dolphins here, predictably enough that they run sight-seeing boats up here from Beaufort to see them.  I don't think we have seen any dolphins since this point on our way north, so it was good to see them again.

On our way through Core Creek, we spoke to somebody on the radio.  Next thing we know, we were hailed by Milano Myst.  We met Milano Myst in Newport, RI a few months ago and got to know them because they to are from the Clear Lake, TX area.  They are ahead of us and plan to anchor in Swansboro.  I gave them a heads up that the Swansboro anchorage sucks, and that Dudley's Marina is a good, no-frills, but cheap marina there.

As we made our way through Bogue Sound we kept watching for our friends house.  We visited them last spring by car, and now are trying to pick the house out from the water.  We finally saw it, closer to Swansboro than we realized.  Once in Swansboro, we called the marina on the radio and were assigned a space on the dock end, right next to Milano Myst.  We visited with Carole for a little while and learned that Rob had taken their two kids out with a local fishing guide. 

We got checked in and borrowed the marina car to run to the grocery and the liquor store.  When we got back, Barb made dinner.  After dinner, we went over to Milano Myst to give them the benefit of our knowledge of the ICW, since this is their first trip through.  We spent a couple of hours catching up, swapping stories, and telling them what to expect from here south.  They are planning to make Wrightsville Beach tomorrow, same as us, so they will follow us.

GPS N 34-40.791 W 077-06.729  Nautical miles traveled today 43.  Total miles 6986.

Nov 11

Today was a fairly stressful day. We left Dudley's at 07:15 with Milano Myst right behind us.  We have several things to worry about.  A few miles south of Swansboro, the ICW goes through Camp Lejeune.  The ICW is subject to closures when they are doing live-fire practice.  We know that they have been doing this several times in the last few weeks.  There is no way to find out in advance if they are going to close the ICW.  You just have to get there, and if their big sign is flashing, you'd better stop.  We got there and found no closure.  Obstacle one cleared.

Next was the Onslow Beach Bridge.  It opens on the hour and half-hour, and we slowed to time our approach so that we didn't have to hover too long to pass through.  The bridge operator warned us that the bridge opens very slowly, and not to jump the gun on passing.  As the bridge started to open, I started to ease forward, and the bridge tender again warned me that it opened slowly.  I thanked him for the advice and said I thought I had it timed ok.  We passed through with no problem, followed by Milano Myst and a trawler.  After we were through, the bridge tender hailed me on the radio.  That has never happened before.  I answered, and he apologized for possibly offending me by telling me I may be jumping the gun.  He explained that yesterday a boat hit the bridge, resulting in damage to the boat and two hours of paperwork, so he was a little cautious.  I thanked him for watching out for us, and assured him no offense was taken.

We had two spots to watch out for where shoaling has made the ICW very shallow.  These two spots were based on reports from Skipper Bob who publishes books on transiting the ICW.  We carefully approached these spots and got through with no problems.  We also heard three other boats ahead of us talking about where they were all aground.  Where they were was not in the Skipper Bob list.  Based on their input, when we got there, we avoided the shallow spot.  We did find one spot on our own, where the depth got to six and half feet.  Made us nervous, but we only need five and a half.

We also had three more bridges to navigate.  We got to the Surf City Bridge, which only opens on the hour, a little before noon.  There was not much current or wind, so hovering around waiting about fifteen minutes was not a problem.  We got to the Figure Eight Bridge at 14:30.  It opens on the hour and half-hour, so we got right through.  The next bridge is at Wrightsville Beach.  It is 4.3 nautical miles from Figure Eight, and it only opens on the hour.  So, we can either run full out and probably not make the 15:00 opening, or idle our way there to make the 16:00 opening.  As we left Figure Eight, we realized we had a good current running with us.  We floored it and were about a half mile away as the bridge opened.  Thankfully, there were so many boats waiting to pass, that by the time the crowd cleared, we were there.  We were the last two boats through.

Just on the other side of the bridge there are several marinas, and the turn into Mott's Channel, which leads to the anchorage.  The congestion here was incredible, but we poked our way through it without hitting anybody or getting hit, although at one point Milano Myst's bow was only a couple feet from our stern.  Milano Myst went into one of the marinas, and we went through Mott's Creek to the anchorage.  The anchorage was very full. We found a spot and dropped the hook.  On the first try, we didn't set and were getting too close to shore, so I hauled the anchor in and we tried again.  This time when we were set, we decided we were too close to another a boat.  So, we hoisted the anchor again and moved to a different spot.  Again this time, the anchor didn't bite right away.  I was getting tired of this, so we moved to the other side of the harbor, which is not as desirable a place to anchor because here you are affected by the current as well as the wind.  We got set and the Captain was ready for a beverage.

We relaxed for awhile, and then Barb made dinner.  We were in bed by 22:00, even though we had TV reception. 

GPS N 34-12.181 W 077-48.204  Nautical miles traveled today 49.  Total miles 7035.

Nov 12

We were up at 06:00, preparing to depart at 07:00.  During the night a front came through, changing the wind direction to NW and picking it up to about twenty knots.  It has also been raining since about 04:00.  We're going anyway, since we have no time to spare.  We left the anchorage to the south via Shinn Creek.  We passed one potentially shallow spot with no problem.  At Carolina Beach, we turned west through Snow's Cut and then entered the Cape Fear River and headed south.  The wind has been blowing a steady twenty with gusts over thirty knots.  This is making the water quite choppy, and when the gusts hit us on the beam, we are heeling over ten to fifteen degrees with no sail out.

Eventually, we turned back west into the ICW.  The wind kept being annoying, but the water was smoother once we were out of the open waters of the river.  The only timing issue we have today is the Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge.  What is a pontoon bridge you ask?   It is a building and road on a barge basically.  When it opens on the hour, this whole chunk of road floats to the side, pulled by cables.  The chart plotter's calculations put us there at 14:06 at best.  Knowing that it takes several minutes to open this bridge, I hoped I might make it.  I called the bridge tender and said I would be there about five minutes after the hour.  He said to bring it on and we would see what happened.  As we came around the corner and could see the bridge a mile ahead with the binoculars, we saw cars pass over it at two minutes past the hour.  Then we saw the procedure to open it start.  We were still coming full speed, and go there just as the boats were passing through.  We came in behind the last boat and got through.  This sure beats waiting for an hour.

We got to Cricket Cove Marina a few minutes after 15:00 and got tied up.  Our friends Tom & Michelle Becker, who we know as the duo Latitude, live near here, and they are going to come visit.  Tom & Michelle got there about 17:30 and came to the boat.  We showed them around and then went to dinner at Baker St. Grill, here at the marina.  The restaurant was almost empty, so we didn't feel bad about staying well after we finished eating while we chatted.  Before they left, they gave us one of their new CD's, and a copy of Kelly McGuire's new CD which has a song on it that Kelly said he was inspired to write after we left to chase our dream.  It was great to catch up with them and hear some stories about what we missed in Key West at the annual Parrothead gathering this year.

GPS N 35-51.833 W 078-37.251  Nautical miles traveled today 52.  Total miles 7087.

Nov 13

We have a relatively unstructured day today.  We have three bridges to open, but they all are "on demand" which means we don't have to time anything perfectly.  We are anchoring out tonight, so there is no rush to get there, other than to be in before dark.  So, we didn't set an alarm (yes sometimes we really do still use an alarm).  I still woke up before 06:00 (and before first light), but tried to go back to sleep.  A few minutes later, the first nut-case who thinks fishing at dawn in the cold is a good idea roared by.  That got me up.  Cricket Cove Marina is very nice, but shallow and geared towards small powerboats.  Thus, transient sailboats are always put on the face dock which is subject to wakes from the power boaters who can't read the "NO WAKE" signs posted all along this section of the ICW.

We got up, showered, and then waited until a little after 08:00 to get a bag of ice before we left.  We were underway at 08:20, headed for the Little River Swing Bridge, just a little over two miles away.  This bridge is just around a corner, so when you hail the bridge tender, he asks if there is anybody else behind you.  Well, I had seen another sailboat about half a mile behind us so I said yes.  He asked me to slow down so we could both go through in one opening.  Then when the second boat hailed the bridge, the bridge tender asked the same question, and they said yes, there was another sailboat about half a mile behind them.  So we had to wait another five minutes.  In case you have forgotten from my previous logs, keeping a sailboat sitting still is virtually impossible unless there is no wind and current, conditions that rarely happen.  So we hovered and waited.  Eventually we got through and were off to the next bridge.  We were faster than the other three boats, but faster is a relative term in the world of sailboats.  By the time we reached the Barefoot Landing Swing Bridge, we were again at least half a mile ahead of the next boat.  We got the same deal and had to wait.  This time, we waited for the original two and one more sailboat that came from somewhere.  So, we waited for another fifteen or twenty minutes.  From here, the Socastee Swing Bridge is fifteen miles away.  I figure I can get enough ahead of the other boats in two and a half hours that I won't have to wait.  A sailboat that had been docked just south of the Barefoot Landing Bridge had started south while we were waiting.  Within a few miles, we passed that boat and were first in line again.  When we got a few miles from Socastee, I figured I would have to let boat number two catch up, so I slowed a bit.  We came around the corner before the bridge and found another sailboat already waiting.  I'm not sure where he came from today, but we passed him yesterday at the pontoon bridge.  This is a small, steel, no frills looking boat.  The boat behind us caught up, and then the next one hailed the bridge to say he was a mile away.  So, again we waited until four of us went through together.  So much for opening "on demand".

There are no more obstacles for the last half of the trip, so we moved along at the front of the pack and left them behind.  You may wonder why race to the next stop, but it means I have been secure and had my first drink before they get there.  Seriously, sometimes it matters who gets the best spot in a marina or an anchorage when you get there first.

This day of the trip has my favorite and least favorite scenery of the trip.  From Little River south through Myrtle Beach, there is development after development along the waterway.  Most are non-descript condo buildings.  There are rows after rows of docks designed for small powerboats, and 80% of them don't have boats in them.  Also, the waterway through this area is referred to as The Rock Pile.  That is because the channel is quite narrow, and the edge is defined by a rock ledge on either side, so a mistake would not be a simple soft grounding.  Once south of the Socastee bridge though, the scenery changes.  The man-made ditch becomes the Wacaamaw River. It winds around as you would expect a river to do, through woods with the occasional house instead of the straight canal with a house and dock every hundred feet.  It's much nicer.

About 16:00 we arrived at Butler Island, a little north of Georgetown, SC.  Last year we anchored in Georgetown, and were less than impressed.  Georgetown is supposed to be a nice little town, but we have never gone ashore.  Instead, we have just spent the night with the noise of a steel plant and the worry of less than perfect holding.  On our way north this year Bobby and Francie on Barefootin' showed us this anchorage and it was good then.  We anchored with one small trawler, and before dark, the small sailboat we passed back at the bridge came in.  We relaxed over a couple of beverages and had another great meal that was spawned by leftovers.

Later, while watching TV, I heard a noise like the anchor chain hitting the boat.  I went out with the flashlight to make sure we were still secure.  We were, and I don't know what made the noise, but I was amazed at what I saw.  The wind is dead calm, and the water surface is like glass.  I can see the reflection of the stars in the water, and the reflection of an airplane passing over at thirty thousand feet.  There is a glow in the distance from city lights, which slightly illuminates the few wispy clouds in the sky, and those clouds are clearly reflected in the water also.  In the woods surrounding us, I can hear at least half a dozen hoot owls calling out.  In addition to the owls, there are two other birds adding their verses to the night song from either side of the anchorage.  I stood out there for several minutes, even though it was chilly and just enjoyed the scene.  It made the stress of moving eight days in a row much better.

GPS N 33-25.651 W 079-12.164  Nautical miles traveled today 48.  Total miles 7135.

Nov 14

We had a nice quiet night.  The wind stayed calm and we simply swung around once with the current change.  We were up at dawn, even without an alarm clock.  The small sailboat that shared the anchorage with us left before us, and we were underway at 07:00.  We don't have any timing obstacles like bridges today, just a few shallow areas to be aware of.  We are leaving just a little after high tide, so we had a favorable current south through the end of the Wacaamaw River and the beginning of Winyah Bay.  Our first hour was spent at almost nine knots.  We then turned south through a series of man-made canals and rivers.  Other than a few places where we saw depths of eight or nine feet, the trip was pretty unremarkable.  Unlike further north, there are very few homes right on the water in this stretch, mostly because there is a broad marshy area alongside the waterway.  In some cases the homeowners have built docks on the waterway, and have raised wooden walkways that are a quarter mile or more long.

We did have a couple of interesting occurrences though.  The first was early in the morning when we heard several people we know on the VHF radio.  What made this interesting though, was that we knew that these people were way out of the normal VHF range.  I tried to hail them and did not get a response, so I know it was unusual propagation.  Later several other boats mentioned they also had heard the odd radio traffic.

The other unusual thing was that we encountered a barge in the waterway.  I know I have said it before, but commercial traffic in the Atlantic waterway is very uncommon.  In four trips between Norfolk and Charleston now, we have seen as many barges as you would see in thirty minutes in the Gulf Coast ICW.  What made this even more unusual was that the barge was going slower than the sailboats.  As each of the sailboats caught up to the barge, the barge captain told us each to pass him to port and have a nice day.

A little after 14:00, we arrived at Isle Of Palms.  This is the barrier island to the northeast of Charleston.  We have friends here, Jim and Betsy on Smiles, whom we met in the Bahamas.  They have a home here and keep there boat in a dockominium.  A dockominium is a marina where each slip is privately owned and there is a management company, just like a condominium.  Jim & Betsy's next door slip neighbor is unoccupied, and Jim asked the guy if we could use it for a couple of days.  We stopped at the public marina's fuel dock and filled up, and then moved to the slip next to Smiles.  Jim took our lines and welcomed us.

At 17:30, Jim & Betsy took us to Delaney's Pub on Sullivan Island to meet Bobby & Francie from Barefootin' for drinks and dinner.  We ate and visited for a couple of hours and then went back to the boat.  I'm looking forward to no schedule tomorrow.

GPS N 32-48.295 W 079-45.338  Nautical miles traveled today 53.  Total miles 7188.