April 27, 2011 Mike Hammock Bay to Morehead City

            We left our anchorage at 7am and a group of dolphins greeted us at the entrance to the channel.  They were just so special to watch and we never got tired of seeing them.

            As we began our journey northward that day we travelled through the firing range for Camp LeJeune.  There were large pieces of metal (looked like a quarter of a tank - with wheels) on both sides of the ICW. We read in our cruising guides and saw the signs that if the marines were doing target practice, they would shut down the ICW for three hours at a time.  We were fortunate that that day had not been a scheduled practice day since we were trying to reach Morehead City in order to ride out the storms which were coming our way.

            While we travelled north in southern North Carolina we noticed the ICW seemed to be close to the ocean.  We could see the oceanfront homes with the body of water between us and them along with the numerous cuts into the ocean.  It was interesting to see the waves of the ocean breaking in the cuts and we were happy to be on the inside since it was beginning to get a little windy.  Being out in the ocean was just a whole different experience. 

            We arrived at Morehead City Yacht Basin by early afternoon.  That marina had been voted the best Mid-Atlantic Marina in NC so we were anxious to try it out.  The dockhands were great and our finding out that we could use a car for two hours for the small fee of $10.00 made the marina even better.  We reserved the car for the next morning to do some grocery shopping at our favorite store, Harris Teeter.  Dinner at a nearby recommended restaurant, Floyd’s, was an easy walk from the marina.  We all ordered different meals and each one was delicious.  Chocolate cake was enjoyed by most of us at the table to finish the evening.

              Andiamo, Brunelle and Pekabu in their slips at Morehead City Yacht Basin Marina

April 26, 2011 Cape Fear, NC to Mike Hammock Bay, NC

            We left Deep Point Marina at 8:30am with a long and uncertain day ahead of us.  Deep Point Marina was the home of the ferry that transfers passengers to Bald Head Island about three miles away.  Our plan was to try to get to Mike Hammock Bay, the home of Camp LeJeune. The bay was used by the marines and our guides told us we could be disturbed by the marines if they needed the space.  The weather was the uncertain part of the day and once we reach Wrightsville Beach we would re-evaluate the plan.

            It was a scenic ride up the ICW with, at times, the ocean along with its ocean front communities clearly seen along the way.  The dolphins, along with majestic eagles and beautiful white cranes, were still with us off and on all day.

We saw a fish barge where a boat can tie up to buy fish bate.  There is a powerboat doing just that in the picture.

This house was in the middle of nowhere.  Marshes on both sides of it.  Notice the pool sliding board next to the lighthouse.  The color of everything is bright pink!

            We needed to travel through several bridge openings and one in particular was extremely accommodating by opening the bridge five minutes after his posted time in order for us to arrive.  At another bridge we did have to wait and, in doing so, we went aground and it took some effort to get off.  As we were still waiting in line a small powerboat had come up to us to make sure we were okay and we said we were.  She said she saw we were aground and came out in her boat to help us.  Real southern charm!

            We arrived at Mike Hammock Bay at 5:30pm with storms and rain showers all around us.  We seemed to be in a bubble the whole day with rain showers all around us.  Once anchored we were watching a storm offshore heading our way for the evening so we all prepared for a stormy evening.  Nothing happened!  Dan, our cruise dictator, kept us safe! We had a staff meeting via our CCYC radios and said we would try to leave at 7 in the morning if the weather was with us.  We toasted an excellent day as we listened to the surf of the nearby ocean.

April 25, 2011 Myrtle Beach, SC to Cape Fear River, NC

            Waking up at Osprey Marina we found three turtles next to Andiamo.  I grabbed a piece of bread to feed the turtles but it only resulted in a feeding frenzy for the fish that we could not see in the dark water. John proceeded to try feeding the turtles basil leaves from a plant we had on board.  They didn’t like that either but we had to enjoy just watching them.  Cedar water is very dark in color but supposed to have a healing effect to it.  Cedar water reminds me of my childhood in Browns Mills, NJ at a cedar lake I used to swim in.

                                               One of our morning turtles that visited us.

            Going up through Myrtle Beach was fun.  We saw many mansions, golf courses, and a well recommended restaurant, Gregg Normans, along the way.  The restaurant had a boat dock to tie up to but we continued travelling to keep the current in our favor.  A must for the next time!  One of the golf courses along the way had cable car lines that took the golfers up and over the ICW, a fascinating concept. 

                       This home (mansion?) had a waterfall as part of its landscape

                         Gregg Norman's Restaurant in Myrle Beach.  Note the long dock to tie up to!

                                      Golf Courses are popping up along the ICW

                   

Cable car system to transfer golfers from one side of the ICW to the other

     Following Pekabu and Brunelle up the ICW             

 

            We crossed the South Carolina and North Carolina border early afternoon.  In North Carolina we were actually travelling near the ocean and, at one time, we could see the ocean waves breaking over the beach.  It was a really neat scene and was much different from when we were actually out in the in ocean.

            We arrived at Deep Point Marina which was a relatively new marina but an excellent one.  We arrived around 5pm and we received a welcome from the boaters in the nearby slips.  Everyone was friendly and willing to make sure we are settled.  We had a spontaneous meeting with our sailing buddies aboard Andiamo to discuss the following day's travel plans.  We did toast one more great day of sailing.



        Picture from Andiamo following Pekabu through a swing bridge in SC with Brunelle in the lead.

                     

April 24, 2011 Awendaw Creek, SC to Myrtle Beach, SC

            We woke up early to leave at 7am and to head north.  The Easter sunrise was magnificent on the horizon as the ocean was a mere half mile away.  Martha passed us wearing her Easter bonnet.  It was a big flower on her blue sun hat.  It looked great and made us all laugh. 

            The swamps of South Carolina made us use our screens to keep the various flies and flying bugs out of Andiamo.  The fly swatter was still handy for anything that made its way in. John would get to wash the bug bodies off the boat rather than the salt! We enjoyed the beauty of the ICW as we had travelled that part out in the ocean while we were going south.  We saw our first alligator, on the ICW, swimming close to shore.  We did not take any pictures because the water was dark but we knew that it was definitely an alligator. The outline of the body along the top of the water was unmistakable. We noticed some eagles in the various trees along the waterway.  We were winding along the “S” curves of the various rivers and Brunelle’s engine just stopped but they had their jib up so Martha was able to keep sailing but at a much slower rate of speed.  Dan was quick to realize that it was the electric fuel filter and he had a spare on board but it was going to take a dock slip to change it out.  We already had reservation at the Osprey Marina so we gave Brunelle a tow the last few miles and the winds became non-existence.  Pekabu went ahead to get settled and to come back out to the ICW with their dinghy to help guide Brunelle into her slip at the fuel dock.  The team effort all worked!

            We arrived at Osprey Marina and Kathy was quick to defrost six steaks from their freezer and she grilled them on our boat.  We added the remainder of the meal and Brunelle came with dessert and it turned out to be an Easter dinner we would all remember.  We toasted another successful day and then, after everyone left, we crashed.

April 23, 2011 Charleston,SC to Awendaw Creek, SC

            Our trip into town via the marina courtesy van left at 8:45am for a 9:30 boat ride to Fort Sumter.  We arrived at Liberty Square, purchased our tickets, and viewed the great exhibits at the museum prior to our boarding the ferry.  The National Park Service did an excellent job in communicating the significance of Fort Sumter and its history while we took the 30 minute ride to the fort and, then, once again after we had arrived at the fort.  We walked around and were amazed as we looked at the original cannons and bricks.  It took a total of 31 years to build the fort in the 1800’s. Once back in Charleston we called the van and it came and picked us up to head back to the marina to prepare for our departure.

   Inside the fort

                                  

                                                         An Original Cannon

                                            Flags flying over the fort

            The winds were higher than expected or predicted so we decided to go north on the ICW rather than going out for the overnight ocean trip.  We traveled up the ICW on a beautiful sunny 80 degree day with a light breeze.  Spring had arrived and it seemed like every boat was out enjoying the perfect weather.  John and I felt like we were back home on the South River on just another Sunday!  We saw some beautiful homes along the water, along with marshes in other areas.  We were anchored on the Awendaw Creek at mile marker 435.7 just off the ICW.  It had relatively deep water for that area as we had 35 feet in the approach but found 13 feet to anchor.  It seemed very quiet but the crab pots were there so I was sure we would hear the crabbers in the morning.  We would be pulling up our anchor at 7 in the morning to head north.  We ended another terrific day listening to Martha's horn blowing at sunset! 

April 22, 2011 Charleston, SC

            We took the 10 am shuttle into town from the marina.  We asked the driver to leave us off at the well known market in town.  It was several blocks long with a variety of vendors selling their goods.  It was one of the better markets that we had seen on our journey. We found a great kitchen store and asked the cashier for a lunch recommendation.  She told us her favorite place was right next store, The Slightly North of Broad, and that we should get reservations.  So next door we went!  They gave us a time of 11:45.  We walked down a few blocks to see the charming architecture of Charleston but the rains came so we dodged the drops by going from building to building.  We went into the restaurant to sit and wait for our seating.  We had a fabulous lunch and we were thrilled to have had reservations.  The line was so long that it went outside the restaurant by the time we had finished. 

                                        John standing outside of "The Slightly North of Broad" restaurant

                  

View of inside

View of a dressed up man handling the flags on a building

 

 Unique building in Charleston  

              

Yes, we are always eating!!!

April 21, 2011 Mosquito Creek to Charleston

 

            We left B&B quickly as the flying bugs and mosquitoes made it uncomfortable.  That was the first time on the trip we had experienced bugs.  We actually found a baby crab on our deck which had come up with the bow line.  We went through the many rivers and cuts to Charleston and our aim was to get to the one bridge opening just prior to Charleston by 4pm or we would have had to wait until after evening rush hour.  Luckily we make it at 2pm and arrived at Charleston City marina by 2:30.  We were on the mega dock which meant it was very long but the dock hands were extremely nice and all three boats came in with ease.  We received a nice welcome package via a golf cart ride to the office.

            The storms finally founds us. We had been lucky to miss them all, and it rained and hailed and we had thunder and lightning.  We were thrilled that we arrived early and were all tied up safely.  John and I enjoyed a quiet dinner for two aboard Andiamo!