Day 9...Beaufort Marina to Tom Point Creek

SATURDAY, APRIL 7, 2012

     I slept pretty well after the LOUD music stopped after one o’clock.  I guess you are wondering why I only tell you about my sleeping habits.  Gary usually goes to sleep in under 5 minutes unless he is thinking (about important stuff like buying a CD player at WalMart, getting holding tank stuff, where to stop, etc. ).  Then he’s up for hours.

     After we got up, we decided to walk to the bagel shop that sells the best New York bagels in the South.  At least that’s what the guy outside of the Palm & Moon said last night when we went by.  I liked the décor and Gary read all of the signs on the walls about bagels and the South Carolina flag.  We both thought the bagels were very good, but we’re not the New York bagel experts like our Joel.  I think I had Jamaica Me Crazy coffee.  I liked the taste, but I’m no coffee expert either.  I usually drink one cup at a time a couple of days a week.

Gary reading about the SC flag

Coffee cup chair

    

Just a few pictures I took on the way back to the marina.

Chickens in a florist window

Flowers by the waterfront park

 

   Stone seat

     After we got back to the boat we decided not to wait for slack tide since both of the boats behind us had already left.  We moved around to the fuel dock to get a little diesel and a pumpout.  I started to talk to a guy and his parents on a 46’ sport cruiser about his trip to the Bahamas. His boat was named Sweetie Pie.  His wife came back with breakfast and he said she is the sweetie.  I told him that Gary is the sweetie in our family, not me. He was already using the diesel hose and by the time he finished he had pumped 198 gallons of fuel ($896.00 worth).  Gary pumped 21.1 gallons for about $90.  That took us from a little less than half a tank to ¾ of a tank.

      We pulled away from the dock at about 10:00 a.m. heading for the bridge (that we didn’t need to open).  This boat has an airdraft of 16.5 feet and usually doesn’t have to open many bridges.  That is compared to our sailboat that had a 63-foot mast and had to open almost all of the bridges. 

     We bounced around for what seemed to be quite a while and then the water smoothed right on out.  After some beautiful houses close to Beaufort, most of the scenery today was mostly trees, marsh grass and brown water .  It kinda reminds us of Georgia again.

House on the water

Sights along the way

     

Also this one

This one too

     We hit some REALLY shallow water around Red Mark 110 just before we planned to stop.  For a while it looked like we might run aground even in this boat.  Gary has been watching Independence (our former buddy boat) for the last hour and they have hardly moved at all.  They must be having to wait for the tide to fill in that particularly shallow spot we came through earlier.  We surely would have run aground in the sailboat since it needed 5 feet of water instead of 3 ½ like the tug.  On the other hand, there have been times so far on this trip (like this morning when a big sport fish boat really bounced us around pretty bad) when we could’ve used the stability of the sailboat.

     We stopped in Tom Point Creek (still in South Carolina) at about 4:30p.m.  We’re back to the days of the anchor up, drive, stop, anchor down, eat, read and relax (take nap today) routine.

     We have gone a total of 272 miles in the 8 days we’ve traveled.  According to the chartplotter, we covered 41 miles in 6.75 hours today. 

View from the anchorage

Another picture of the anchorage

Day 8...Beaufort, S.C.

FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2012

     I had a horrible night last night.  One of the riverfront restaurants was playing music until after one this morning.  The bass was pounding so hard that it reminded me of a tooth throbbing.  It was awful.  I finally turned our little portable fan on high to create some white noise.  I guess I finally fell asleep.

     We awoke to a morning filled with dark clouds everywhere.  The day only improved marginally.  The overcast skies made the day so drab and dreary.  It was a perfect day to do laundry and use the free Internet to catch up with some of the emailing I keep putting off until later.  The temperature only rose from 53 to 55 degrees all day long. Yucky, yucky, yucky.

     I realize that I need to take my camera everywhere.  On the way to the laundry, Gary and I saw a bird walking on one of the dock lines across the water like it was on a tight rope.  I wish I had my camera.  On our shakedown cruise to Sanford, I learned that I need to take the picture when I have the chance instead of waiting until another time because there might not be another chance.  So from now on where I go my camera goes too.

     We did take a walk and ate hotdogs for lunch.  I don’t want to talk about that.  I’ll just say the hotdogs were nothing like the very affordable and very good Jag Dogs near Ortega Landing Marina in Jacksonville.

Bay Street

     These are a few pictures of downtown Beaufort, including the Arsenal and Visitor’s Center, that I took during our walk.

An old former bank

The Arsenal & Visitors Center

Downtown restaurant

    

     I also took some pictures of the beautiful, old historic homes on Bay Street that all face the anchorage.  

An anchorage in Beaufort

"The Anchorage"

The blue porch ceiling of "The Anchorage"

"Tabby House"
                                                      

Waterfront park

   The last pictures Gary and I took were of places in the waterfront park along the Beaufort River.  One of them is Traveller at the marina.  You can see it between two bigger boats.  There is also one of Traveller in Slip A23.

Riverwalk

Me on a park swing

 Can you find Traveller in the marina?

 



















    The full moon is beautiful tonight for our last night in Beaufort.  The loud music has started again so I know we won't be coming back here if it's near the weekend.  I can't take the lack of sleep.  We’re heading north tomorrow.  I don’t know where’re going to stop next.  We’ll let you know.

Day 7...Battery Creek to The Downtown Marina at Beaufort, South Carolina

    

THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2012

     Before 8:00 last night we got hit by a thunderstorm at anchor.  Gary estimated the wind speed to be about 40 mph.  It bounced us around pretty good for 15 to 20 minutes.  Our trusty 33-pound Bruce anchor dug in and held us right in place.  The rest of the night was peaceful.

     When we started to lift the anchor this morning at 7:28 a.m., the anchor was pretty muddy.  Gary made use of the wash down spray again. 

   

     We headed out to Beaufort. The current was our friend today. Slack tide was going to be at 8:40 a.m. so that gave us about an hour to get there.  On our way there we saw some beautiful houses near the water.

     Great timing.  At 8:48 a.m. we were pulling into a short finger pier on the inside east dock at The Downtown Marina at Beaufort.  We had no trouble at all since it was slack tide.  Gary did his usual tie up and plug in routine, while I checked us in to the marina like I normally do.  We were given a packet to Historic Beaufort with guides and information.  That will be useful I’m sure.

     We went 6 miles in a few minutes over one hour.

     What is tied up to the long wall in front of the waterside park but our “buddy boat” Independence?  After we gained access to the free marina Internet, I googled the ship.  I found out that it is one of several small ships cruising the East Coast and Southern Itineraries.  This ship carries no more than 104 passengers.  It’s 220 feet long and has a 9-foot draft.  That’s a lot for the Intracoastal.  The 2011 rates for this ship for “accommodations, delectable dining with wine, complimentary cocktail party daily, snacks and soft drinks, a naturalist and historian plus low key entertainment” is between $3595 and $6085  plus $250 taxes depending on the stateroom.  This particular one is a one-way 7-night cruise from Jacksonville to Charleston.  Fares do not include “shore tours and fees or gratuities”.  Now all we need to do is calculate how much we need to charge Allison and our three grandkids for the trip they are going to take with us up the Hudson River.  I guess we’ll give them a deep family discount.  Who said I’m not funny.  I'm sure we can work out payments in hugs and kisses.

     After we took long, hot showers and I finished the dishes, we started downtown to have lunch.  I had looked on line so we decided to eat at Q on bay overlooking the water.  It was pretty good.  

     We walked around town some more and came across St. Helena’s Episcopal Church.  The church was built in 1724.  It is one of the oldest active churches in North America.  We wandered around the surrounding cemetery taking pictures of the headstones.  The man who was mowing said that the oldest marked gravestone was for a man who died in 1724, but there are many unmarked graves.  Some of them have been dug up when they were laying water pipes.  One of the fences was very interesting.  

                

This soldier fought in the Seven Years War.      

Captain Paul Hamilton

I thought this was an interesting stone.

Another view of the stone.

An iron tassel on a fence chain

A beautiful gate

                            

Mr. Jim Ryals

Then we went inside where we met a docent named Jim Ryals.  He said he used to live in Live Oak, FL near my hometown of Madison, FL.  We also found out he served with the Navy in Vietnam before, during and after Gary did.  He was very nice. 

The inside of the church was pretty.

The organ in the church sounded wonderful.

     
     We went back to the boat for our usual afternoon relaxing time.  When we got there it was low tide and the ramp that goes to the dock was almost straight up and down.  I made Gary let me hold on to him so I wouldn’t fall since I’m known for my grace.

     After we got back the rain started so I decided to start typing.  I am the world’s slowest typist.   Good thing I am persistent.

     We did Skype with some friends, Jim, Donna and their sweet dog Annie.  They made it to their Bahamas destination of Man o’ War Marina in the Abacos.  We’re glad they made it safely.  They started to the Bahamas the same day we headed North.  We’ve been there with them several times when we had the sailboat.  We always traveled well together.  This year we have a different destination.  We know they’ll have a good time in their “home away from home”.       

Day 6...Herb River to Battery Creek

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

     As I read about what we’re doing I’m sure it seems very dull.  Anchor up, drive, stop, anchor down, eat, read and relax.  Then do the same thing the next day.  We promise you we will get off the boat soon.  We plan to spend a few days each in Beaufort (pronounced Bewfort) and Charleston, South Carolina. 

     Sometimes boring isn’t too bad when it comes to trips.  No excitement like the time you were aground for 10 hours, or the time the macerator quit on the way to the Exumas or the time when the seas were so lumpy that almost everyone onboard was sick.  See what I mean.  Sometimes boring can be good.

    Well I typed this before we left this morning and boy was I wrong.  Get ready for an exciting day.

     The day started as usual.  We pulled anchor at about 7:30 a.m. after a very restful night with NO BUGS.  It was a nice quiet anchorage.  Everything was pretty uneventful with the tide against us again about 50% of the day.

     We crossed the Savannah River and entered South Carolina at 8:54 a.m.  We saw the cruiser Independence again. It was coming from Savannah and going north ahead of us in the Intracoastal.

     Almost immediately we began to notice that this part of South Carolina is much more populated than the part of Georgia we just left.  We passed Daufuskie Island on our starboard (right) side.  Since there is no bridge to the island, I imagine personal boats and ferries are the way to travel.  I took the picture below to show you how the tide is here. 

     

     As we entered Calibogue Sound headed to Hilton Head, we couldn’t believe our eyes.  Remember we have only been seeing one or two boats at the time since we left Fernandina.  We thought we were in a traffic jam crossing the sound.  There were sightseeing boats, ferryboats, ski boats, parasailing boats, sailboats and a few other trawlers.  A sailboat in front of us looked gorgeous with its sails full catching the afternoon breeze.  Independence was already there of course anchored off Hilton Head Island.  It was only a little rollie on the water mostly from the other boats’ wakes. 

Kayaks 

Two

No three parasailers

Sailing at its best

     At the head of Calibogue Sound, we saw an eagle diving for fish.  He caught one too before he flew away for dinner.

Ready, set, go!

Home for dinner.

     

     We crossed Port Royal Sound on our way to Parris Island.  These pictures of Parris Island should bring back memories for our sons-in-law since both of them were Marines.

     We decided to stop just short of Beaufort and go in at slack tide in the morning.  We anchored near a fleet of docked shrimp boats.  As we were sitting in our anchorage several (or the same one several times) C-130s flew directly over our boat.  Gary said he was glad this wasn’t the sailboat or they (it) might’ve taken a couple of feet off of the mast.   Gosh, I guess we survived the excitement.  

The view from our anchorage.

Day 5...Cattle Pen Creek to Herb River

TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2012

     After we went to bed last night we continued to battle the “no see ums” until I got the fan and aimed it toward the bed.  It seemed to blow them away before they could bite us.  Sleep at last.  They began to attack again as we prepared to leave about 8:00 a.m.  It took us longer to weigh anchor than usual because of all the sticky mud that was attached.  The chain and anchor were covered in it.  Thankfully Gary had installed a wash-down system on the bow or it would’ve been really messy.

    After the bumpy ride yesterday the trip down St. Catherines Sound and through Hell’s Gate in Ossabaw Sound was as smooth as glass.

See smooth as glass   

     As usual with the current against us about 75% of the time we averaged about 5mph at 1500 rpms.  We could bump up the rpms to go faster but we don’t want to use more fuel and we have time to go slow.  We don’t mind being passed because we think of the fuel we’re saving as some boats speed by us throwing huge wakes.  At the slower speed we use less than a gallon of diesel an hour.  At this speed we could cover over 50 miles in a 10 hour day.  We can always go faster and longer if we need to. 

     We saw a lot if dolphins today, but none of them rode our tug’s bow wake like they did on our sailboats.  It was always fun to have them ride with us.  I guess they don’t like the shape or speed of the tug.

     It started raining lightly just before we decided to stop in the Herb River near Savannah.  We stopped early (3:00 p.m.) so we could take a nap if we want to after losing sleep last night.  I have a book that I want to finish before we go to bed.  Hopefully we’ll have a restful night at anchor since there is a nice breeze to keep the bugs away.  Today we traveled 41 miles in just under 7 hours. 

View from the Herb River Anchorage

Day 4...Frederica River to Cattle Pen Creek

   I couldn’t connect to the Internet last night so here is the Day 4 information.  

 MONDAY,  APRIL 2, 2012

     Gary and I rested comfortably for most of the night in the anchorage near St. Simons.  We pulled up the anchor about 7:25 a.m. and started our slow journey northward.  We’ll still be traveling in Georgia for at least one more day.  With the current against us most of the day, we were only able to make about 5 mph.

     Around the Doboy Sound we encounter the Intracoastal cruise ship Independence.  It looked like it had made a stop at Sapelo Island. It takes a skilled Captain to maneuver such a large ship (maybe 200 feet long) in such tight quarters. It headed north in front of us at a much higher rate of speed than we can manage. 

Intracoastal cruise ship Independence

     As we continued, we bumped across Sapelo Sound with about 3 foot waves on our stern.  I took a few pictures to show the waves but as usual they never look the same in pictures.  We rolled much more than on the 42’ sailboat we previously owned, but the crossing was very manageable. 

                                                   

     I spent most of my day using a decorative ropework design called French whipping to cover a piece of a old deck chair that Gary is going to make into the arm of our pilothouse seat.  I will hopefully finish it soon.  A more immediate need is for holeless screens so I am going to continue mending our door screens tomorrow.  What is so bad is that no matter how many holes I fix, the sand gnats are so tiny that they can just come through the mesh in the screens.

The cord is actually black not gray.

     We stopped for the night in an anchorage called Cattle Pen Creek at 3:48 p.m.  (When the time is precise, I looked at a clock, but when it isn’t I’m taking a close guess.) It’ll be fine for the night. (I spoke too soon since the bugs had not come out yet.) The anchorage is pretty narrow and really, really, really buggy.  We are just the life of the party.  We’re going to eat, read, rest fight off the MILLIONS of sand gnats (That’s what we’ve always called them, but they have other names in other areas.) that have arrived and try to watch Dancing with the Stars on TV if we can find the correct channel.         We traveled almost 8 ½ hours today covering 48.1 miles.

Sunset from the buggy anchorage

Day 3...AIYB to Frederica River

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

     After we got up this morning Gary worked on the stern shower for about an hour.  I told him I really needed hot water so I could take a shower on the back deck without freezing in the cold water.  Our tiny bathroom is one of those that when you take a shower in it everything gets wet.  He finished that job in record time. 

     We started to pull our dinghy up over the side of the boat, but it was much heavier than usual.  By then we realized there was at least 3 inches of rainwater collected in the bottom from all of the rain we had yesterday.  Gary tipped it up and pulled the plug to get the water to drain out.  While he was checking to see if there was more water coming out, he saw a manatee on it’s back drinking the water.  It seemed to be a big one with a tail at least 2 ½ feet wide.  It didn’t hang around long after the dinghy water ran out.  Seeing the manatee was a great start to our day.

Manatee drinking the dinghy water

     We finished getting ready and left the dock at about 9:15 a.m.  Nothing exciting to report passing Fernandina Harbor and only 5 or 6 horses near the shore at Cumberland Island. The current was about 50-50 today.  Sometimes it was with us and sometime it was against us.  The average speed up to now has been 6.2 mph so better than average for us.

     After we took the shortcut across St. Andrews Sound we passed Jeckyll Harbor Marina and then Morningstar Marina at St. Simons Island.  We went into the north end of the Frederica River and continued southward almost to the bridge where we anchored (dodging crab trap buoys) for the night at 5:37 p.m.  We traveled almost 8 hours today and covered 47.1 miles.  Another night of reading and relaxing.

The view from our anchorage in the river