Charleston, SC

                                    

We arrived in Charleston, before noon today, having spent last night a frustrating 12nm north waiting for high tide.  There was a particularly bad patch just before we entered the James River so we anchored at 1020 hours yesterday morning with me wishing we had tried to negotiate the bad stuff.  NOW, I am really glad we didn't.  This couple we met about a week ago tried to come down that stretch and had to get towed off when they went aground.  The tow boat pulled them so hard that their steering gave out,  something went wrong with the hydraulics, so once they were off the sandbar, they had to be towed the 10 miles into Charleston and now they have to hauled out.  Whew, glad we waited. 

They were conducting dredging operations in the channel, where the really bad stuff is. It was wild coming up to the thing.  The driver was going back and forth across the channel sucking up the sand, remember this is in the very shallow part.  The guy on deck motions us to come forward and get as close to him as possible. As Barry is inching forward (I always get him to navigate the really tricky bits) the dredge swings across in front of us, Barry just had to keep going and the dredge swung back so we could get by him. I swear we were within 5 ft of the machine, talk about nerve wracking. 

Here are some random shots taken in the last few days. 

                                A place all by itself, out in the middle of a swampy grassland.  

                         A crazy looking craft, Barry figured they built docks??

   A cormorant drying his wings, they have no waterproofing like ducks so they stretch them out to dry 

                                  This is what it is all about for these guys!

Georgetown, South Carolina

We stopped for a day and a half at this lovely town.  The county once was the rice capital of North America. With 6 rivers in the area and a tidal flow up the rivers, rice was a commodity that could be easily grown. 

It is the south so slaves were the work force of the area before the Civil War.  The county was covered in cypress swamps so the land had to be cleared and then levelled and channels built in the fields so that they could be flooded.  A system of flood gates would be built next to the river access where they could control the water that entered, if salt water got into the crop it would be ruined.  It often took 15 years from the time land was acquired until a crop could be harvested.  Plantations owners would house the slaves on their property and have a home there, a home in Georgetown where they would conduct their business, and a vacation home on Pawley's Island.  After the Civil War, the rice continued to be grown, profits diminishing because they had to pay their labour force.  The crop was being more widely planted in the U.S. and once mechanization reached the industry the Carolina rice industry was doomed.  The fields here were too wet, so that machines could not do the harvesting.  By the 1930's rice was no longer grown here on a commercial basis.  Lumbering and steel manufacturing replaced rice as the dominate industries in the area. Georgetown count was the second richest county in the country at one time. 

We visited the Kaminski house, which was given to the city of Georgetown in the 1950's, with all the furniture intact.  The former owners toured the world and there are exquisite examples of antique furnishings throughout the house. The Kaminski family immigrated to this area to escape the Prussian conscription and made a very good living as a merchant in town. He was Jewish and she was Episcipalian so her family was not happy with the marriage. 

The guest bedroom. 

I just loved this outfit, the styling the colour and the shoes and purse which is hard for you to see. 

This piece of furniture was for the ladies when making their tea.  The boxy area at the top contained jars of tea and you would blend the different types to suit your palette, then it would be wheeled to the next lady. A kettle was by the fireplace to fill your cup after you had finished blending, my Great Aunt Laura would have loved this item. 

This is the library with a picture of Henry Kaminski, he was in the reserves between the wars and volunteered for WWII when he was in his forties. He actually was the officer is charge the day Pearl Harbour was bombed.  He was portrayed in the movie Tora Tora Tora, on the telephone trying to let everyone know what was going on! 

We visited the Maritime Museum and were very interested in the pictures and models of the paddle wheelers that plied these rivers carrying people and cargo. There was a story of one African American steam boat captain that took a stern wheeler that was fighting for the Confederate Army and piloted it out the river, through the Union blockade, with families and other slaves onboard, and surrendered to the enemy.  He ended up as the captain of the vessel, which was eventually sunk during the fighting. 

We strolled around town and took in the beautiful homes that have been exquisitely restored or maintained.  The gardens really appealed to me, the bottom picture is off a black oak, the growth on the branches has just came back to life because of the recent rains.  We were told that it can die off and come back to life four or five times a year depending on the amount of rain.  The streets are wide and stately with trees overhanging them. Barry wondered aloud how many times the power goes out when it storms because in one spot we saw the power lines bowing to a dangerous degree due to tree branches leaning on them.  

Did I tell you how friendly everyone is here?  Everyone greets you, the shop keepers ask where you are from, and yesterday this elderly gentleman saw us walking back from the grocery store and turned around, held up traffic while we got in his truck and regaled us with tales as he drove us back to our dinghy, how lovely!  

If you live around here and enjoy hunting and fishing you have a boat like this with a very flat bottom.  They go zipping by us with great regularity full of fellows in camouflage gear.  We saw one guy, drive into the reeds by the bank and clamour ashore and then walk down the bank with his shotgun or rifle over his shoulder.  If I were a duck I would avoid this area.  This morning I saw a golden eagle perched in a tree and several blue jays fluttering across the ICW. There are lots of cormorants and herons here as well. I have only seen two ducks and they (very smartly) were in a conservation area. 

We are currently anchored at the confluence of several waterways in a spot called Five Fathom Creek.  We did not go very far today but the next stretch requires us to have mid to high tide so we will leave as soon as it is light enough to see in the morning. We should be in Charleston tomorrow night. 

Sailing Info.

We are using "The Intracoastal Waterway, Norfolk to Miami, A Cockpit Cruising Handbook" by Jan and Bill Moeller. It is a small guide with few pictures and has references to bridges, anchorages and marinas by the mile number along the waterway. We just purchased the Waterway Guide, Atlantic ICW, Intracostal Waterway, Norfolk VA to Jacksonville Fl, published by Waterway Guide Media.  It is a great guide, with introductions to cities along the way, plus it is updated yearly about conditions on the waterway.  It is sponsored by Marinas, etc. but also mentions anchorages and their pluses and minuses. 

Georgetown     33*21.8 N  X  79*16.9 W

Anchored just outside the channel opposite Harbourview Marina, very good holding in soft mud

Boats were on moorings so we were lucky to find a spot open with room between. 

Take care on position of anchor it can shallow up quickly. Did a 180 with the tide.

Docked the dinghy at the city docks, Marina were kind enough to let us use the laundry, great stop. 

Groceries about a 2 mile walk from harbour, someone stopped on street to give us a ride back.

Five Fathom Creek    33*03.95 N  X  79*24.9 W

Anchored in 5m of water, very good holding, little protection

Anchorage is mentioned to be further up the creek but it was shallowing quickly so we turned around and anchored I the main channel off to the side. 

Lots of fishing trawlers, shrimpers?? working these waters. No info on services, settlement within dinghy distance

Anchored to wait for high tide on nest stretch of ICW

Dewees Creek    33*50.0 N  X  79*45.0 W

Anchored in 7m at mid to low tide. Excellent holding, no protection, open to ocean from east.

Very fast current, no services, lots of birds. 

Anchored to wait for high tide on nest stretch of ICW

Entering South Carolina

K We have been making steady progress south and although I am still wearing my fleece pants, it has been warming up during the days. This section of the ICW parallels the Atlantic Ocean.

               These are newer cookie cutter homes with the very popular "widow's walk". 

                                           A widow's walk with outdoor stairs

                                              The traditional widow's walk. 

 We have had occaisions where there are houses on the west side of the ICW and on the east side there was a sand bank, a swampy bit of water and then rows and rows of homes packed together facing the ocean. In some places the houses on the ICW have docks that are almost as wide as the "ditch". 

   An opening to the Atlantic, we are now in the area where there are tidal issues to deal with.  The currents rush in and out of these openings so you will have the current against you approaching the opening and once you cross it the tide with be with you!  Going across the openings you have to adjust for the push or pull of the current and crab sideways across the opening.  Since it is so shallow and sandy in most of this area, shoaling is a big issue, so one must be extremely diligent in paying attention to where you are and not necessarily believing the water depths published on the chart. 

We passed through Camp Lejuene the other day and we stopped for 90 minutes while they conducted  a live firing exercise. There was a lot of BOOMING, and rat a tat tatting, and then they stopped and we got to transit the firing range. 

         This target looks pretty beat up, I would not care to walk in those dunes. 

We stopped in Southport, NC for our weekly laundry run and hot running showers.  After we tied up the fellow informed us that the water was off and we could not shower or do the laundry, that was the bad news, the good news was we got to stay for free:)  It ended up being a lovely stop, we walked along the waterfront and saw the very well kept historic homes there, mostly built in the late 1800's. 

One house had the most marvellous display of blow up Christmas decorations, I had ever seen. 

With true southern style, the waterfront park had swinging benches and the museums had rocking chairs out front. 

We just past through the Myrtle Beach area, it apparently has 120 golf courses in the area.  

We would be in trouble on this course, way toooooo close to the water. 

This gondola style lift is to take the duffers from one side of the ICW where they park their cars to the other side, where the golf course it.  There were signs for the shark exhibit in an aquarium so probably more than just the golf course to travel back and forth across for!!

Sailing Info.

We are using "The Intracoastal Waterway, Norfolk to Miami, A Cockpit Cruising Handbook" by Jan and Bill Moeller. It is a small guide with few pictures and has references to bridges, anchorages and marinas by the mile number along the waterway. We just purchased the Waterway Guide, Atlantic ICW, Intracostal Waterway, Norfolk VA to Jacksonville Fl, published by Waterway Guide Media.  It is a great guide, with introductions to cities along the way, plus it is updated yearly about conditions on the waterway.  It is sponsored by Marinas, etc. But also mentions anchorages and their pluses and minuses. 

Southport Marina    33*55.1 N  X  78*01.7 W

Very helpful with docking, nice facilities

Water was off in showers and laundry so we got to stay for free, otherwise $2.00/ft

Hank a retired meteorologist gives a free info. session every night during the boat migration season, he gives a weather forecast and a handout on all the bad spots from Southport to Savannahon the ICW It was super.  He also runs a yacht care business and drives cruisers around for $15 a round trip. 

Calabash Creek    33*52.4N  X  78*34.2  W

Anchored in 4 m of water at half tide. Good holding, good protection

No services nearby

Do not anchor at south entrance to the creek, shoaling badly. 

Prince Creek off the Waccamaw Rivee  33*35.8 N  X 79*04.95

Anchored in 7m of water in small creek with strong current

Very Good holding and great protection

Short scoped ourselves a little because the creek was very narrow, no problem, did swing close to east bank but did not go aground.  More water on the east side. 

Christmas Baking

I have discovered in the past few years that Barry is not really keen on Christmas.  When I suggested it was time to bake my Christmas cakes this year, he commented that we could just buy them.  I was affronted, I don't think any mass produced cake can compete with my mother's recipie. Then yesterday I decided to make the traditional shortbread cookies I always bake.  Trying to get Barry into the swing of things, I asked which cookie cutter I should use the most and he just grunted, when I pushed he said the smallest. When the cookies were cut I asked him to help cut the cherries. He said forget the cherries, don't you just pick them off and throw them away, no, I replied, do you. He reluctantly admitted that he ate the cherries. By the time I got to the end of the dough I decided to bake Barry his own special Christmas cookie.

North Carolina

'It

We have been travelling down the ditch for a week now, it has been a very leisurely trip. We have been averaging 20 miles a day to keep within the parameters set by our insurance company. It is restful but also I am itching to make some real distance south, we usually stop shortly after noon and I am reluctant to tackle some tasks on the boat, I can't varnish because it needs 24 hours to dry and I don't think I have the sandpaper necessary to try and bring the fibreglass on the deck back to it's glory. I need a really fine grit to take off blemishes before waxing.  (That might be a big excuse because I dislike the fibreglass work) 

The country we have been travelling through is swampy, with very shallow water surrounding the ditch so you have to pay attention so you don't wander off the path and go aground. 

At places the ICW is very narrow as in the top picture and other spots it is wide open.  It has been sunny and warm with very little wind for the past 4 days. There are anchorage spots in the book and we just pull off the channel and drop our anchor in about 3 meters of water. 

I couldn't quite figure this out when we came upon it.  I thought some poor sailboat had lost half of it's mast, but was unsure how they would get below with a deck like this.  All was explained a little further on. 

Yesterday we pulled into a marina at Belhaven, NC, laundry was piling up and our fridge was looking bare. We went to the local restaurant for a buffet lunch and got a taste of southern cooking.  There was fried chicken, lightly battered shrimp, potatoes, sweet potatoes, potato salad, dumplings with rutabaga, cornbread and big flat green beans. We both ate enough that supper did not occur.  The marina had a courtesy vehicle and we had enormous fun tootling around town. 

At one spot we saw a field of white stuff and Barry said it must be cotton.  When I asked the Marina owner why it had not been picked he said that it had been too wet in the area to get it off the field. 

This picture reminds me of standing beside my first rice paddy in Bali and I thnk there is a very similar one of me beside a field of potatoes in PEI. We have been enjoying the shirt sleeve weather!

Sailing Info.

We are using "The Intracoastal Waterway, Norfolk to Miami, A Cockpit Cruising Handbook" by Jan and Bill Moeller. It is a small guide with few pictures and has references to bridges, anchorages and marinas by the mile number along the waterway. 

We have been going slowly along this stretch because our insurance company will not allow us to go south of Cape Hatteras until Dec. 1 due to possibilities of hurricanes. 

Mile 56.6 just inside of Buck Island   36*16.2 N  X  75*57.5 W

Calm flat anchorage, good protection, 

Anchored in 3m with very good holding

No services

Mile 81.9  Entrance to Little Alligator River  36*56.1 N  X  76*00.9 W

Calm flat anchorage, open to winds from NE

Anchored in 3m with very good holding

No services, lots of duck blinds in area

Mile 102.2 Opposite Green Marker 43    35*40.5 N  X  76*03.4 W 

Calm flat anchorage, open to winds from SE

Anchored in 3m with good holding

No services

Mile 127.5 Entrance to Pungo River   35*33.2 N  X  76*28.2 W

Flat anchorage, due to no wind, would be exposed from 2 directions, quite open.

Anchored in 4m with very good holding

No services but houses within 1/2 mile, lots of small boat traffic, fishermen

River Forest Marina in Belhaven, NC   35*31.9 N  X  76*36.8 W

Very helpful instructions on entering, tied up to pilings on all four corners

1.50/ft. with free laundry and courtesy golf cart to get groceries, clean big showers

Fuel available, restaurants close by, a very nice stop. 

Mile 140.4 Slade Creek  35*17.6N  X  76*36.6 W

Calm flat anchorage, good all around protectin, could move further up the creek if windy. 

Anchored in 3m with good holding

No services

The ICW

We have left Norfolk and are on our way down the ICW, the Intrecostal Waterway affectionately known as "The Ditch".  This waterway officially stretches from Massachusetts to Florida, but when most people refer to the ICW, they are talking about the part from Norfolk VA to Miami, FL. The picture is where Mile Zero is and the end is at Mile 1,095 in Miami.  The Army Corp. of Engineers made the waterway.  In some areas it just needs to dredge, in order to deepen the path, but in others like the Dismal Swamp, and the Virginia Cut, they dug a ditch to connect already existing waterways. There will be a lot of motoring along the ICW, but we will get to see an area of the U.S. that few get to see. We are thinking we will probably travel most of it's length, there is only one bridge in Florida we can't get under, the others are either tall enough or they open. They can either pivot, swing or just go up in the middle, there are 130 bridges and I think we have encountered every kind so far. The main highway bridges only open on the hour or half hour, some open on demand, and we have gone through one lock.  

                       Look closely, you will see the ice that formed overnight!!

Our insurance company is a little off the mark, it won't let us go below Cape Hatteras, in North Carolina, until Dec. 1. We are about 100 miles north of their now and today we woke up to ice on the waterway, and the temperature was 4 degrees Celcius in the cabin. Surely hurricanes won't appear when the air temperature is at the freezing mark!!! There was a big system that came through from the north and the cold air is here for a few days,  Barry checked the weather and on Thursday it is supposed to be 70 degrees Farenheit or about 19 C., a southerly must be headed this way.  

We really enjoyed our time at the Rebel Marina and would recommend it to anyone in the area.  We paid $1/ft/ night and they had a great kitchen area.  I took advantage of it and baked my Christmas cakes using their propane for the 3 hour cooking time needed.  It is a small Marina, family run, they don't advertise, word of mouth makes it certain they only get the type of people they want in their.  We used their courtesy car to get boat bits and groceries and they even had a loaner GPS to help negotiate the freeways. 

Sailing Info.

We are using "The Intracoastal Waterway, Norfolk to Miami, A Cockpit Cruising Handbook" by Jan and Bill Moeller. It is a small guide with few pictures and has references to bridges, anchorages and marinas by the mile number along the waterway. 

Portsmouth   36*50.1 N  X  76*17.8 W

We tied up for free at the High Landing, no reservations, first come, first serve. 

Ferry service across to Norfolk stops here. 

Grocery store about 3km away. 

Great Bridge Town Dock  36*43.2 N  X  76*14.4 W

We tied up for free. Garbage disposal available.

24 hour mooring allowed. Fuel and groceries within 1/2 mile. 

Mile 28.8 below Red Marker 42  36*36.4 N  X  76*03.4 W

Anchored just outside the channel. Great holding, no wind

No services, out in the middle of nowhere. 

Norfolk, Virginia

We are tied up at Rebel Marina, just inside the north entrance to Norfolk, VA.  Friends that we had met 9 years ago in Mexico, Carole and Pat MacIntosh, were on an East Coast visit and we decided to meet up.  What a great time we had, they had rented a car and we spent two and half days exploring the area and having the best of times.  Driving on the freeways and through the tunnels was old hat for these Californians and we zipped around with ease. 

 Newport News is a shipbuilding area on the south side of the Chesapeake, there was an aircraft carrier under construction. 

 The arch in the pictures is where troops returning from WWI were greeted as they disembarked from the troop carriers.  Just off the point was where the iron clads of the Confederate army engaged in battle with the sail powered ships of the Union side during the Civil War. The Confederates claimed victory when the wind died and the Union ship could not manoeuvre.  A few years ago they recovered the ram from the iron clad ship.  

Our visit to the USS Wisconsin was very informative, the tour was given by a former Petty Officer and the stories these guys told were great.  We paid for the deluxe tour and were in the tactical room and heard what a naval engagement would sound like.  I could not imagine having to work in the crowded, dark, claustrophobic conditions in that room.

 The Wisconsin was commissioned to serve in WWII, then was in service in the Korean War, it was mothballed In the 60's and then brought back into service for the first war on Iraq.  It fired some of the first missiles of the war.  

It's huge 16 inch guns were some of the biggest naval guns ever.  There was 660 pounds of explosive that were packed in the guns when they fired their rounds. We saw the crew quarters as well as got to sit in the Captain's Cabin, both of them.  One was for when they were in port and the other was for when they were underway or engaged and there was a third spot he could sleep if they were on exercises or engaged in battle. 

I thought I had it bad on Cat's-Paw IV, the amount of room I have to store my clothes, the poor enlisted men just get a space under their bunks and then a small locker to hang up their dress uniforms. I imagine that privacy was a closely guarded commodity on a war ship!!

Yesterday was Carole's birthday and we spent the day strolling around historic Norfolk admiring the beautiful architecture.

 We had a wonderful birthday lunch at a former carriage house, the food was great but the desserts were fantastic. We each had one and then shared around, the German chocolate cake with Pecan and coconut icing was deemed the favourite although the Key Lime pie was an extremely close second.  

We will stay at the marina until Friday and then make our way slowly south so as not violate our insurance policy which does not want us to pass Cape Hatteras until Dec. 1, when the threat of hurricanes in thought to be over. 

       They have a mermaid thing in Norfolk, there are great sculptures all around the area.