Beaufort NC

The past week has brought us thru some beautiful and varied sections of south and North Carolina. We spent 5 nights in Charleston due to stormy weather. A cold front stalled nearby bringing Gale winds and temps going from record hi's to record lo's. Charleston is a magnificent small city, and being there for all the spring flowers was an added bonus. We finally headed out Wed AM as winds were predicted to calm slightly only to spend all day waiting at the first bridge for the winds to fall below 25 mph so they could open. Finally passed thru at 6 pm and anchored for the night close by. (the following day would have been the same as the bridge opened only once)

We have been trying to make about 50 mi a day which is much easier this time of year with the added daylight. The salt marshes of Low country fell behind as we traveled up the Waccama River. Tall trees line the shores and each bend brings another nest of young osprey to keep us entertained. Very little sign of man encroaching on this wilderness.

The beginning of the week was slow going as we were fighting headwinds and currents most of the time so it was a welcome change on Fri to catch favorable currents all day giving us a record 75 mile day. As the ICW passes thru the Myrtle Beach area it is called the ditch, very narrow
canal with not much to offer and it was good to have this pass quickly as we anchored at Calabash and went ashore for their famous fried seafood.

Many cruisers we met were staying put for Memorial weekend due to heavy boat traffic. We felt we wanted to keep moving and have braved all the crazy vacationers out for their first summer weekend. Especially wild was snows cut with it's 3 kt current after fighting the same current for 12 miles up the Cape Fear River with every fisherman returning from a day out on the Atlantic.

Fair winds and open waters have allowed us to sail much of the past 2 days. We arrived in Beaufort (Bo fort) NC early afternoon Memorial Day and spent the rest of the day biking about. Our next stop is a short hop to Oriental to pick up mail.

Also on Cumerland Is, SC

Amelia River, FL Oyster beds

Cumberland Is Beach

Wild horse Cumerland Is, SC

North thru low country Georgia and S. Carolina

The past week has brought us thru dramatically varied sections of the waterway. Our final day thru Floridas first coast was spent mostly in narrow rivers and landcuts that were much more developed than the stretch thru central Florida. As we enterd the low country of Georgia and then South Carolina the vistas open out to huge expanses of salt marsh that stretch for miles in every direction. We travel from river to river thru many wide open sounds never quite sure what the currents will do next. The tides here are about 7 to 8 ft and greatly affect our speed.

On mothers day we spent a day exploring Cumberland Island, Ga. The record hi temps of lo 90's made it a little warm for hiking but the beach was by far the finest we have seen the whole trip. At low tide I paced off 220 yards of flat clean beach. This National Park is home to a herd of wild horses(see attached pic) but they were rather elusive during our stay.

The weather the first part of the week was hot with lite winds. Glad we were on the water where we stayed comfortable. Sunday was the first time we have used our sun awning since making it. Monday evening brought a cold front and the weather was cloudy and cooler for a couple of days. Stiff north winds made crossing the open sounds slow work. The past couple of days have been warm with a shower each afternoon.

We have been traveling with 2 other boats the past few days and have had Dinners together. Both couples are returning from the Bahamas and regalied us with many interesting stories and lots of useful info to prepare us for our next journey. Scott and Kitty aboard Tamure have sailed around the world twice (second time with 2 children) and had great stories to tell.

We are currently anchored in Charelston SC harbor. Noisy and busy but we wanted to explore the city and this is the nearest anchorage. We shopped today as it has been almost 2 weeks since leaving Jensen Beach and fresh food was starting to dwindle. Freezer section I built into our fridge/icebox has worked great, we ate the last of our frozen venision today.

Northbound thru Florida

After spending the month of April ashore in Jensen Beach we are back on the water and heading north. We had a great stay, Kate and Alli came down together for a week after Easter, It was good to have the family together, we took a couple of daysails and spent time at the beaches. The weather has been great with most days in the lo to mid 80’s and only a couple of days that got uncomfortably warm.
We left for this leg of our journey Monday morning and have had 3 perfect sailing days, yesterday(Thurs) the only day we spent under power. With blue skies, temps in mid 80’s and winds southerly at 10-15 kts we have covered 220 miles mainly under sail. This portion of the ICW is quite scenic with mainly wide open waters(even if most are only a few feet deep) and much deserted shoreline. Birds abound, Tuesday evening we anchored in a deserted cove and were entertained by a family of young osprey learning to fly. Wednesday as we passed thru the Haulover Canal (a short cut thru Merrit Island near the Kennedy Space Center) we saw 2 large alligators, a huge Manatee, and a group of Dolphins all within a 500 ft stretch. Didn’t get any pictures though as we were passing thru a drawbridge and couldn’t stop. A little further on we had a manta ray leap in the air close by.
We are currently anchored in St. Augistine where we plan on a couple days playing tourist. today we are meeting one of Chris' college roomates for lunch.