December 3, 2014  Day 12 South for Winter

Barefoot Marina
North Myrtle Beach, SC

We woke as planned at 0600 to be able to leave our anchorage at 0700.  We had not planned on waking to fog!  We waited until 10:00 thinking it was some better. However, as we entered Snow’s Cut, it had not improved. We continued on for 1 ½ hours in the fog including the Cape Fear River.  Our radar was not working much to our surprise. We suspect a loose wire which we will check out before we depart again. 

By 11:30 the fog lifted as we passed Southport, NC and Joyce felt more comfortable!  We had to watch for shallow water at the inlets but got through with no problems.  We had a good current with us and finally arrived at Barefoot Marina in North Myrtle beach at 5:00 just before sunset.

Our friends, Rick and Margi, on Journey, were here to greet us and help catch our lines.  Then they had us over for dinner on their boat.  We had a great evening catching up with them!

We will stay here for another day or two before continuing south again.

December 2, 2014  Day 11 South for Winter

At anchor
Carolina Beach, NC

Another long travel day as we continued south from Swansboro, NC. Sixty-six miles and four bridges concerned us at first, but we made it through with no problem.  One of the bridges had enough clearance at low tide that we were able to go under after Bill lowered our antennas.

We did see some skinny water and had to slow down and get through these shallow areas.

We saw several dolphins today which always pleases us.  We could finally see sections of the ocean in areas of the ICW that had inlets.  There were very few boats out today and we usually had the waterway to ourselves.

We arrived at our anchorage at Carolina Beach at 3:40.  We had dinner onboard, watched some television, and prepared for our trip tomorrow. We will go to Barefoot Marina in North Myrtle Beach, SC for two or three days.  We look forward to visiting Looper friends, Rick and Margi there.

December 1, 2014  Day 10 South for Winter

Dudley’s Marina
Swansboro, NC

It is December! And yes, another good travel day – sunny sky and calm water again! We could get used to this. We left Whittaker Pointe Marina shortly after 0700 and by 0800 we were in the scenic Adams Creek.  We passed Morehead City by 1000 and were in Bogue Sound lined with homes on the west side of the ICW and with homes in the distance on the east side that faced the ocean. 

We were treated to seeing dolphins three times. We feel like we are actually getting further south each day. We also enjoy watching the pelicans swooping down for their catch.

We arrived in Swansboro, NC at 1:30 and docked at Dudley’s Marina after stopping at their fuel dock first. We are happy to find lower diesel prices than ever at $3.03/gallon!

Shortly after we got secured at our dock, our friends, Tom and Meleisa on Journey pulled in behind us. We had not seen them since last spring, so we had a good visit while we both got settled.  We will see them again in Florida in January.

Bill borrowed the courtesy car to go to the hardware store and Joyce washed the decks on the boat.  It was such a warm day and the boat needed washing!

We had pizza for dinner, did laundry and planned our route for the next few days. We have a long day tomorrow of 66 miles and four bridges we need to time for their openings.  Our destination is Carolina Beach.

November 30, 2014  Day 9 South for Winter

Whittaker Pointe Marina
Oriental, NC

Just a short post tonight.  Another good travel day – sunny sky and calm water! We left our anchorage shortly after 7:00. By 9:15 we were in the Pamlico River and by 11:15 we were in the Neuse River.  We arrived at Whittaker Pointe Marina, near Oriental at 1:15.  This is our second visit here.   As soon as we got secured and settled in we used the marina’s courtesy car to do the provisioning.  We appreciate marinas that provide transportation!

We had dinner on board and Joyce worked on downsizing the loads of laundry that seem to multiply. We will leave in the morning and go to a marina in Swansboro, NC.

November 29, 2014  Day 8 South for Winter

At anchor
Pungo River, NC

We got underway at 0700 and headed back down the Alligator River. The water was like glass!  We arrived at the Alligator River Bridge at 0800 and were granted an immediate bridge opening. Two hours later we were in the Alligator River–Pungo River Canal, a narrow canal that is marshy and sparsely lined with trees.  We had the water to ourselves!  We saw one sailboat heading north and one or two fishing boats today.   This canal leads to the Pungo River on the south end. We chose an anchorage in Pungo Creek at 1510 and ended our travels for the day.

After we anchored we put up our little Christmas tree.  We found a spot on the sundeck and will enjoy the lights! We had a quick dinner of leftovers and relaxed for the evening.

We have another full day of travel tomorrow as we head to a marina in Oriental, NC

November 25-28, 2014  Days 4-7  South for Winter

At anchor
Alligator River, NC

Tuesday and Wednesday were fairly quiet ones for us at Atlantic Yacht Basin. The frozen water pipes had not been repaired, so on Wednesday we were able to move the boat to the north end of the dock where the pipes were fine.  We needed to do laundry and to fill our water tank before leaving.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving and had a great turkey dinner with all the trimmings.  We enjoyed talking with family members and we watched a favorite movie in the evening.

We finally departed Atlantic Yacht Basin early this morning. With ice on the dock and on the decks of our boat, it was definitely time to leave.  We traveled 8 ½ hours which was a long day but productive. We timed two bridges perfectly that had to open for us in Virginia.  We had a bright sunny day which kept the fly bridge warm. We crossed the Albemarle Sound with no problems. The waves were only 1½ ft. and we did not see a single boat on the sound!  We played Christmas music all afternoon and that helped make the day go by faster. Joyce even got out all the Christmas decorations while we were underway.

We are finally in North Carolina so we feel we are making progress. We hope to reach an anchorage near Belhaven tomorrow which will be another long travel day of about 60 miles.

 

 

 

November 22-24, 2014  Days 1-3  South for Winter

Atlantic Yacht Basin
Chesapeake, VA

After six weeks and two days we finally got underway and said goodbye to Poquoson, VA on November 22. While there, we had a wonderful time visiting family and friends.  We took care of numerous Dr. appointments and shopping. Bill also helped his brother restore a 1968 Owens boat by doing all the electrical work. We also got a few projects done on our boat.  Joyce was happy to celebrate her birthday earlier this month with many family members present!  Add attending a Seafood Festival, Christmas bazaars, art shows, sharing many meals with family and friends, and we kept quite busy.  We also took time to vote in the mid term elections. Nice to do it in person and not absentee this time!

It eventually started getting much colder and when the marina staff turned off the water until April, we thought this was a good hint for us to think about leaving!

Our first day of travel was smooth as we retraced our route south toward Norfolk. We saw two aircraft carriers, the George W. Bush and the Theodore Roosevelt, docked at the Norfolk Air Station, as we passed by on the Elizabeth River.  We stopped for fuel at Top Rack Marina. With their diesel price at $3.049, we could not pass up the chance to fill all three tanks.  As soon as we left there we heard a familiar voice on the radio. Jerry and Wendy Taylor, our delivery captains/instructors, were not far behind us on Aurora. They were headed to Atlantic Yacht Basin and we made a last minute decision to join them. We had intended on tying up at a nearby free dock, but with the temperatures dipping overnight we decided an electrical hookup was more important.

That was Saturday and today is Monday, and we are still here. We looked at the weather forecast which included wind and rain over the next few days, and decided to wait it out here. When we leave we will anchor quite a bit and we know the anchorages are not protected.  We also wanted to be at a marina on Wednesday and Thursday so Joyce can prepare a full Thanksgiving dinner.

So, we plan to leave Chesapeake, VA on Friday.  Our trip south will happen!  We will post again when we depart. In the meantime, we wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!