Georgetown, SC to Osprey to Barefoot Landing to Southport to Topsail

Day #537; Loop Miles to Date = 6,086

We've continued our march northward, and now find ourselves at Topsail Island Marina in Surf City, NC. We only spent one night in Georgetown, which was fine because we'd been there twice already. Then we enjoyed the serenity of Osprey Marina near Myrtle Beach. This is our third time here too, and 3 nights here was just about right. It is peaceful and quiet, has all the amenities that we need, and it is also in fresh water which the boat likes!

From Osprey, we ventured only about 20 miles up the waterway to check out Barefoot Landing Marina in North Myrtle Beach. This was a great one night stop...a bunch of touristy shops and some restaurants to choose from. This stop was right on the ICW, so it was really simple to get in and out.

This appeared to be a facility that refurbished buoys...out of the water, these things look immense, even though this pic might not represent it well.

 

Sandy found a carousel at Barefoot Landing...a bit reminiscent of Hampton, VA.

From Barefoot Landing we made the run up to Southport. This whole section of travel is dictated by tides and depths. Each day, we need to time our departure and travel with the tide conditions at shallow areas. Fortunately, there is a fair bit of dredging work in progress on the ICW in this area, and we found a couple of trouble spots that were already dredged or in the process of being dredged. It takes a bunch of stress out when you aren't worried too much about bouncing off the bottom every so often.

From Southport, we made our way to Topsail Island Marina in Surf City, NC. This is a very small marina (14 slips total) but we're quite glad we stopped here. It is only 2 blocks to the beach, a small grocery store closer than that, and absolutely terrific folks who run the marina. The only disappointing part of this stay is that Sandy unfortunately found herself in need of a root canal. Thankfully, she found a great local dentist, and was able to get in and get it taken care of. She is enduring a couple of days of pain, but the worst is likely behind her now. We ended up staying three nights here instead of the one that we planned, but we are so glad that we could get this problem resolved as "easily" as possible.

The beach at Surf City.

Quiet dockage at Topsail.

Everywhere we go, we dodge crab pots from time to time. When there is substantial current, sometimes they can be sneaky tough to spot. Here is an example we just encountered...these were in the marked channel and from any distance, all you can see is the eddy behind the crab pot buoy.

This one was marginally easier to spot because it was red...still a good challenge to keep track of them.

It's always a treat to see these working shrimpers out fishing...most of the time we tend to see them at the docks because they do most of their fishing off shore.

Just a plain old brown pelican at our dock at Topsail. We felt compelled to snap a pic, because we're not quite sure how much longer we will be seeing these constant companions. As we move further north, they'll eventually disappear from our daily scenery...they are certainly interesting creatures.

So...all for now. We're off tomorrow for Moorehead City (a long day) and on Friday our plan is to make it to New Bern, NC. Then we're gonna cool our heels for a month and relax!

Isle of Palms to Leland Oil to Harborwalk

Day #529; Loop Miles to Date = 5,942

Today (Tuesday) finds us at Harborwalk Marina in Georgetown, SC. Last night we stayed in McClellanville, SC at Leland Oil. Both of these are return visits for us, so we won't go into much detail about these stops right now...more in past blogs if you are interested.

Both Monday and today were beautiful travel days...today actually it got quite warm, with temperatures reaching almost 90 locally. The waterway was quiet, the winds moderate, the sky blue...all-in-all another couple of great days.

One anecdote to share that occurred during our travel day on Monday. Rob is driving, with Kikie on the seat behind him...and Sandy is back in the salon with Lola somewhere nearby. All of a sudden, in the middle of the waterway, Lola starts barking hysterically! This scares the fright out of Sandy, causing her to simultaneously scream bloody murder. At the helm, Rob is envisioning a dog bounding off the boat with Sandy close behind!!! But alas, it was just that a pelican had chosen to land on our dinghy just as Lola stepped out there, causing the above described chain of events. This all happened in about 3 seconds, and gave us both a good laugh...eventually...

On Monday, we drove for at least 5 miles without seeing a single building, and then in the middle of nowhere, there is this dwelling...and again nothing for the next few miles. The only way in here is by boat, and we could see that they appeared to have propane for an energy source. What a great retreat for someone who loves isolation, with loads of peace and quiet.

On Monday, we saw 4 bald eagles...what a treat! This was the only one that we could get close enough to for a decent picture. We guessed that he/she was just resting after a mid-day snack?

Sandy found the house we would buy if we ever decided to move to McClellanville, SC. Private yard, and it backed up to the river with its own private dock. Walking distance to the local Seafood Store where we bought some crab dip and some wonderful shrimp.

A lovely little church, also in McClellanville.

On Tuesday, we saw what appeared to be a huge fire from miles away...

And as we meandered along, we could tell that the waterway was leading us fairly close to it...

But once we got there, it wasn't quite as dramatic as we envisioned. Our guess is that it was a controlled burn...it was on Cat Island where the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center is located (a managed wildlife preserve now owned by the SC Department of Natural Resources).

 

McClellanville's fishing fleet by day...

And at sunset.

All for now...further northward tomorrow.

Steamboat Creek to St Johns Yacht Harbor to Isle of Palms

Day #528; Loop Miles to Date = 5,887

This morning finds us sitting at Isle of Palms Marina in SC, on an absolutely spectacular day...Happy first day of Spring, btw. We are now north of Charleston, and this trip up the ICW we blew past Charleston in our quest to reach New Bern, NC by about April 1st. (Shout outs to cousin Phyllis and sister Lisa...sorry that we did not stop this time through and that we missed seeing both of you.) We are off again this morning as soon as the tide has a chance to come in a bit more to cover some shallow areas just north of where we are. But first...time to share a couple of mini-adventures from the past few days...

Our anchorage at Steamboat Creek was once again peaceful and beautiful...

This was just as we were returning from our morning dog walk. Shortly thereafter, our mini-adventure for the day began. While we were walking the pups, another boat who anchored with us was also walking their 2 mutts. We exchanged "good mornings" and went on our way. Later as we were loading our dingy onto the boat, we noticed that one of them had taken one of their dogs back to their boat, and was now trying to paddle back to shore to retrieve his wife and other dog. Wait a sec...why is he paddling with one oar, against the current when he has a perfectly good motor attached to the back of his dinghy? The short version of the story is that 30 minutes later, we were again loading our dinghy onto our boat - after having dinghy-towed them from their boat back to shore, and then back to their boat with all crew accounted for. They would have had a really long morning if our towing service had not been readily available...but it all worked out, and as it turned out, they were able to depart the anchorage before we got out of there a bit later.

So, we followed these guys from about 2 miles back for most of the morning. After about 2 hours, we spotted some blue flashing lights up ahead, and upon closer inspection, we see that this same boat has now been boarded by the Sherriff's Department! Lady luck was not on their side this day...random draw had them being the boat that the Sherriff decided to board for a 40 minute safety inspection.

We finally caught up to them and passed them while they were undergoing the inspection.

There was even a Sherriff's chopper in the air for support. We suspect that there was some training going on, and our anchorage neighbors were just the lucky ones chosen to participate!
 

We were only briefly at St Johns Yacht Harbor, but found friendly folks, quite a few live-aboards, and a nice facility. We were tied up to an outside T-Head, and had a bit of rocking going on when we got there, but it calmed down nicely for the evening. However, the forecasted north winds arrived the next morning, and given the orientation of our docking situation, we were just getting slammed from the stern with 2-+ chop. It felt like someone was standing on our swim platform swinging a sledge hammer...shaking the whole boat every few seconds. But, due to the prevailing current, we couldn't safely get off the dock until the tide ran it's course and the current slackened and started to reverse. So, we put up with this for about 2 hours, and then finally were able to get out of there. The un-docking was non-eventful because we waited...it wasn't fun waiting, but it was the right decision at the time.

The rest of the day was nice...Charleston Harbor was a bit rough with the 15mph winds, but it was manageable.



This is as close as we got to Charleston...this is the main US Coast Guard station in Charleston Harbor, just east of the City Marina. This day found a couple of cutters at the dock, and later we heard another cutter reporting that they were out and about coming North through Elliot Cut about an hour behind us.

So now we are off to enjoy a 26 mile cruise to a 1-night stop in McClellanville...it promises to be a gorgeous day to be on the water...all for now.

Thunderbolt to Windmill Harbour to Lady's Island to Steamboat Creek

Day #525; Loop Miles to Date = 5,844

Spoiler alert...this is gonna be a bit of a short and dull blog post...no pics to share. We've been on the move this week, leaving the Savannah area on Tuesday and making 3 stops in 4 days. And the march will continue tomorrow. Thankfully, the weather has cooperated nicely, although we did spend an extra day at Windmill Harbour allowing the winds to subside before continuing on. And tonight we are at anchor, so no Wi-Fi to carry pictures out with this post. 

Windmill Harbour was a great stop in Hilton Head. We were actually glad to spend an extra night here as it was really peaceful and very nice. The marina actually has it's own lock at its entrance, so all current and tide issues are non-existent once inside the marina. The winds were whipping at 15-20 mph for a couple of days...and this was the perfect hidey hole to wait it out.

Lady's Island Marina in Beaufort, SC is one that we have visited before, and it was a nice stop once again. Some absolutely terrific folks are here...both as resident boaters and marina managers. They have a courtesy car too, so we were able to run a couple of errands with no problem. We could easily have stayed here for a spell, but we decided to continue our trek after a one-night stay.

And then today, we motored 43 miles or so to an anchorage at Steamboat Creek. In this stretch of the ICW there are basically no marinas to choose from, and only a precious few anchorages that are good for dog walking. We have used this anchorage twice before, and it has again not disappointed. Tonight, the winds are completely calm, the night sky is moonless, and the stars indescribably beautiful. It couldn't be a nicer night to be on the hook.

Another feature of this stretch of travel is that there is a combination of sounds/inlets to cross and shallow areas to plan for. Each day, we must assess the tides, and time our travel to ensure that we hit the shallow spots at a time when there is sufficient depth to take the stress out of our day. And, the winds need to cooperate so that we don't hit any of the crossings in the wrong wind conditions. This week treated us well in both regards...fingers crossed that the weather holds for this next week of travel as well.

All for now...thanks for reading...

Brunswick to Hidden Harbour Marina to Kilkenny to Thunderbolt

Day #518; Loop Miles to Date = 5,754

Ok...just a quick post to update our progress...we have been on the move. On Monday we left Brunswick, but only went about 15 miles to Hidden Harbour Marina...a great little stop. Wonderful folks, quiet and peaceful, and located well for us to stage our next day of travel which included the shallow spot at Mud River. We had to time this segment with a high tide condition, and thus leaving at first light allowed us to pass this obstacle with no issues. We had a long day (60 miles) to get to Kilkenny, but the currents were favorable, and the weather great. We only spent one night at Hidden Harbour, and one at Kilkenny, and then we were off to Thunderbolt, GA (Savannah) on Thursday. Again, we had to leave at first light in order to time the tides at Hell Gate, one of the shallowest parts of the whole ICW. At low tide, this spot can be only about 2' deep, and we need 4'...so, getting there with a favorable tide is required. We timed it just right, and arrived with a +4' tide condition, giving us a minimum of 6' at the shallowest spot...so no trouble here.

So, now we are in the Savannah area for a few days...Rob is off to our niece Lara's wedding this weekend, and Sandy is minding the boat and the pups. The weather is a whole lot warmer in Savannah than where Rob is headed!

 

St Simons Lighthouse from the water...we had visited here just a few days ago on land. As you can see, this travel day was a bit gray and breezy.

But later on, at Hidden Harbour, it turned into a lovely afternoon. Very peaceful.

At Thunderbolt, there is a huge boatyard next door to the marina...this 2 masted sailing yacht is perhaps the largest we have seen. Just for perspective, you can see a couple of guys standing on the dock in the very lower left hand corner. And, the sailboat in the lift is probably a 50-footer.

At first light on Thursday, on leaving Kilkenny, we had a spectacular sunrise as we were getting underway...enjoy!

Jekyll Island to Brunswick, GA

Day #513; Loop Miles to Date = 5,647

On Thursday we took off from Jekyll Island to go all the way to Brunswick...only about 9 miles, but the Brunswick Landing Marina was a better spot for us to spend a couple of days exploring the area. 

Brunswick surprisingly has a fairly robust port...here we are passing a massive car carrier coming into Brunswick. This beast is 2 football fields long.

Brunswick Landing is a nice stop...we were here last year on our way north. It is a large facility, with great people...free laundry, decent Wi-Fi, easy dog walking, a number of good restaurants within walking distance...a good spot for us for a couple of days. We rented a car for a few days, because we really wanted to spend some time on St. Simons Island. We promised ourselves that we would stop here on one of our trips past, and this worked out perfectly. On Friday, we checked out the downtown shopping district, waterfront park, and just walked around a bunch enjoying the day.

St Simons Island Lighthouse

A local artist has evidently carved life sized figures into the trunks of trees in about 7 or 8 locations scattered around the island. This was the one example we stumbled on near the visitors center.

On Saturday, we accomplished our primary reason for wanting to visit St Simons...we returned to the spot where we were married many moons ago - The Lovely Lane Chapel. We had not been back here since our wedding, and it was great to spend some time just peacefully wandering the grounds and visiting the Chapel on a beautiful day.

We also went looking for the grave site of Eugenia Price (famous author) who is buried in the Christ Church Episcopal Cemetery, but had no luck finding it. Unfortunately, we were not there during hours when a docent would have been available to help us, but we gave it a try anyway. Another beautiful spot. And then right down the road a ways is the Fort Frederica National Monument. We watched a brief video, soaking in some history from the time when this fort and town were contested by the British and Spanish. It dovetailed nicely with some of the learning's that we acquired when we toured the fort in St Augustine recently. All in all, it was a great day!

So...we are here for another day (or perhaps 2) and then we'll head north. We have a couple of 1 night stops, and then plan to be in Savannah by Thursday. All for now...thanks for reading...

Yet another nice sunset...this at the Brunswick Marina.

Sunset at Jekyll Island

Day #510; Loop Miles to Date = 5,638

On Wednesday evening, we looked west at about an hour before sunset, and thought that maybe we were in for a nice sunset...and we weren't disappointed. This was one of the prettiest we have seen on our trip - so here you go...enjoy!

 

 

Ortega River to Sisters Creek to Jekyll Island

Day #510; Loop Miles to Date = 5,638

After 2 weeks respite at Ortega River Marina, we continued our trek northward. Ortega River is a great stop for a lot of reasons...for those of you doing trip planning, put this one on your radar for a nice friendly, quiet, convenient stop...and they have great Wi-Fi!

On Tuesday, we were just transiting the St Johns River back to the free dock at Sisters Creek on the other side of Jacksonville. An easy day, once again passing by downtown Jacksonville, and past the port activity.

 

Once again, we had to wait for a train to cross the FEC Bridge in downtown JAX. In the downtown skyline in the background, you can see the Wells Fargo Building on the right side. Our Sister-in-Law Donna works here and saw us on the way by!

Nice looking Coast Guard Boat at the pier in JAX.

This is our 3rd stop here at Sisters Creek. This free dock is offered by the city of JAX. On this night, we had the whole place to ourselves. A very serene evening enjoyed here.

On Wednesday (Happy Birthday to Sandy!) we had a longish day (55miles) to travel up to Jekyll Island. It was yet another gorgeous day to be on the water. A nice breeze, mid-70's, and hardly any traffic on the waterways. We exited Florida for the last time on this trip, but are hoping that the weather we had today is following us as we go north.



The degaussing facility at the Kings Bay Submarine Base. Simply put, they drive the subs into this station to reduce the magnetic signature that the subs acquire after a period of use.

A shrimper working the channel just off the ICW.

A large dredge operation in process just off the Submarine Base.

We passed by Cumberland Island for the 3rd time, and this is the 1st time that we have seen any of the wild horses that populate the island. We wish we could have gotten closer, but this was the best we could do. It was great to see them grazing so peacefully.

And now just for grins, an assortment of channel markers that we encountered on our cruise to Jekyll Island. We see many different shapes and sizes...these just happen to be a few that we saw today...

 

This can buoy was just after we turned northwest after transiting St Andrews Sound. It is leaning this far over because of the strong current at this particular time. And yes...we were going into the current at this point...fortunately only for a few miles. It was running about 2.5 knots against us...it definitely felt like we were driving uphill.

Stay tuned for a bonus posting of some pictures of our sunset from Wednesday night...