Neptune, Prime Rib and the end of the ICW. We have been holding off on doing a lot of anchoring as we wait for warmer weather to catch up with us but as we made our way up the Pungo River it was clear to see there would be no better time or place. Finding our way into a well protected basin we quickly found ourself with four other boaters. It what can only be described as one of the most stunning sunsets that Neptune can provide it was truly the prefect ending to a great day of boating.
But what Neptune gives he also takes away! The next day we powered our way off the hook and off to a new day making our way north straight into Albemarle Sound. Now Albemarle Sound should take an hour for us to cross but our old friend Neptune god of the Sea decided we were not paying enough attention and were not paying proper respect. So he decided to give us four foot seas straight into our starboard beam. Giving us almost three hours of 30 degree pitching. Message delivered!!! So now not only do we check and recheck our course for the next day we check and recheck with NOAA for upcoming weather. When coastal cruising you learn one thing prepares you for the next thing. With the Chesapeake Bay and a run up the New Jersey coast line in our future we will put the lessons of Albemarle Sound to good use. After leaving Albemarle Sound we made a short run to Coinjock home of the greatest Prime Rib known to man. But if I'm being honest at that moment we could care less about Prime Rib we just wanted to shake off a rough day. Shower, food and sleep!
After checking in with NOAA we decided the smart thing was to get a late start as we made our to Portsmouth VA as the weather would be getting better as the day went on. So we slid off the dock around 10:00 and made way for a three day stop for the Memorial Day weekend. Along the way we got to go through a lock for the first time at the Great Bridge Lock. With great excitement the lock tender lifted us eight inches! Eight inches?!?! Are you kidding me?!?! Oh well onwards we go! As we pulled into Portsmouth we got to pass a long line of Navy war ships on the Norfolk side of the channel. Really something to see. First it does make you proud and second glad there on our side. Portsmouth has proven to be a great stop. It has given us a chance to clean and restock the boat. Portsmouth also marks the end of the ICW and the beginning of the Chesapeake Bay.
Click Here for Pix from Pungo Anchorage, Ablemarle Sound & Coinjock
We had to open several bridges on this leg and most of them timed. I want to give a big shout out to the figure eight bridge. We had terrible timing for the first two bridges today. Figure Eight Bridge tender was awesome. He personally went down under the bridge to check our clearance for us because we missed the opening by about 5 minute and we were only inches away from clearing. Then he says. "com'on down here; I won't letcha hit nothin." Started to go through slow. Almost through... "Awwww, back it up Capt. Your dag gum light is about 3" to much." I can tell you with some certainty that there aren't many tenders who would go through the trouble of coming out of their houses and do this for us. Lesson learned - Take the one hour between the bridges and time it accordingly.
A very pretty ride along a fairly populated section of the waterway. Stayed @ Swan Point Marina run by none other than Tina Turner and her mother. I would pass this one by next time....
Today we are headed to Oriental, NC. As I'm sitting here having my coffee getting ready to go and I hear gun fire (a lot of gun fire) from Camp Lejeune. We learn that they perform live fire operations drills here often firing across the ICW. A phone number is provided for you to call daily and find out if/when the waterway will be closed to boat traffic. No drills are scheduled for today, so we should be good to go. We are first greeted by several security patrol boats and if you look closely, you can see the troops performing drills along the waterway and when you look toward the other side (starboard as you head north) you can see targets and shot up tanks both along the banks of the river and farther in on the dunes. Pretty cool stuff and I'm glad that these guys are on our side!
To reach Oriental, you have the pleasure of crossing some pretty "big water" The Bougue Sound and the Neuse River. No Active Captain warnings today for shoaling, which is a nice break.
Marina is fabulous and everyone is super friendly. We walk for groceries and on the way back to the marina, we are asked twice by locals if we need a ride back to the marina. One of the ladies who offered us a ride weren't even going in the same direction we were. Oriental is a small fishing town with a few shops here and there, but largely not much going on outside the marina. Great place for a 2 day stay, clean up the boat and get our laundry done. BTW, they make killer margarita's.
Navigational notes: Snows cut can be thin on either end. Try to catch the current on the Cape Fear River or it will be slow going. No bridges.
Fun Fact: Traveled roughly 48 miles today and made only 13 miles northern progression.
Hard to believe we've been at this for 100 days. Seems like just yesterday and at the same time seems like this is the way it's always been. None the less - Holy Smokes!!! The trip from Myrtle Beach to Carolina Beach was fairly straight forward. The scenery was largely developed with houses, condos, restaurants & bars along each side. We passed through several inlets (Shallots & Lockwood Ferry), where the ocean was Bam! right there. Making our way up the Cape Fear River, which is a major commercial channel was interesting to say the least. We encountered tugs, ferries and a tanker along the way. The tanker took up the entire channel causing us to run outside for most of it, but hey - he was significantly bigger than we were. (Dennis here- Becky might not be telling the whole story. As the tanker was coming toward us it was making her very nervous. And when Becky gets nervous she talks. A lot! Finally unable to hold it in she yelled out CAREFUL WE DON'T GET SUCKED INTO THE JET WASH! Jet wash I thought?? So I now have Goose from Top Gun standing behind the captains chair yelling at me about Jet Wash! After I assured her that we would be ok and the tanker passed harmlessly by I looked at her and just started to laugh and with a smile she looked at me and said she can't believe she had said that out load.) Stayed for 2 nights in Carolina Beach, which is your quintessential beach town. It reminded us both a lot of Ocean Isle. About 100 yards from the boat was a municipal day dock with public access to the ocean. We spent the afternoon walking the beach and playing in the water. After we dinghied a bit farther up the cove, to a local fish shack with good food and cold beer. Remember, that taking dingy rides is one of my favorite things to do and today I got hours of it! :-)
This place is a hidden gem, the mooring field is about 2 years old, easy to reach moorings and spectacular views in a well protected cove. We will be back here again! WW: ~30
Departed Georgetown around 8:30 thinking we had about a 6 hour day ahead of us. Well the wind and tides had other ideas. We ran all day with about a 15-20 mph head wind causing us to take a little longer than anticipated. We traveled primarily on the Waccamaw River most of the way to Myrtle Beach.
This was not a problem because the ride was spectacular, and while it might be hard to believe, the scenery was yet again different from yesterday. Today, the trees turned from primarily pine to largely cypress with some pine sprinkled in for good measure. There were no banks to the river. The river's edge was just trees and swamp. We also passed several "lodges/fish camps" along the way, which we thought would be pretty cool to visit by land for a few days.
We saw some of our first rocky shorelines and first swing bridge openings.
The ride was very rural up until you reached Myrtle Beach then became pretty typical for what you'd see along a commercialized beach town. Nice, but I prefer the "crunchy" view.
Myrtle beach yacht club was a perfect stop for the night. Tucked back in a cove directly off the ICW made for easy off and easy on and the dock hands who met us were pleasant and very helpful. Best yet was the $1/ foot with our Boat US discount.
Before leaving Charleston, we made a trip back home to check on things, take care of Dr. visits and most importantly get another "friend fix". We've been spoiled for the last couple of weeks...
What a week we had too: starting off with the Taste of Beaufort entertained by our favorite Zydeco band; Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellreaisers
Super high energy entertainment! In the crowd, we met an incredible lady, 80 years young, sporting a walker and O2, lead the Mardi Gras parade and danced the night away. She reminded us once again that age and exuberance for life is a state of mind and not body.
Hard to imagine that this could be topped, Saturday was spent celebrating Paula's 50th with the crew. Never a shortage of laughs & lies and a new appreciation for "I don't like big buts".
Monday, brought a celebration of our 31st wedding anniversary. Look how far these young kids have come...
Thursday: Daytona for the day. Walking the jetty @ Ponce inlet and meandering the docks @ Halifax. Enjoyed our unplanned visit with the James', which was great fun hearing about all their adventures on the water. (Bob - let me know if you find any typo's). Made me more anxious to get moving again. Wrapping up the day getting our "Bourque fix" was dinner with Fran & Peg at The Grind. Again, no shortage of lies and laughs.
I'm not sure how we have it so good to be blessed with such a collection of awesome people in our lives, but I wouldn't trade it for the anything.
Wrapping up the week was an early morning Kayak on the Silver River on Friday before heading to St. Augustine for the weekend with the Adams' to see Jeff Beck & ZZ Top; who put on an amazing show. Jeff Beck accompanied by Jimmy Hall were a real treat to see live & ZZ Top simply rocked the house. It is true, rock-n-roll never dies!
Riddle me this...... Who will our kids be going to see 20 years from now that are as legendary as these guys? Justin Bieber????
With the week done. We head back to Charleston, catch some more time with Mr. & Mrs. Middleton, turn the key and head to Georgetown, SC
Navigation notes: Ben Sawyer Bridge to Isle of Palms. MM 121 - 116 need to be passed a couple hours either side of low tide.
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Left Charleston around 10:30am trying to time our passage between Ben Sawyer Bridge and Isle of Palm, where significant shoaling has been reported, trying to give ourselves some extra water yet arrive in Georgetown at a reasonable hour. The tides right now are not very cooperative, with low tide @ 9:30am and high tide @ 3:38.
The view leaving Charleston was pretty spectacular - looking back from the water to the Battery and Waterfront Park area and passing Ft. Sumter.
Making our way into Cooper River from Charleston Harbor, brought some pretty thin water with our depth finder reading 4.7 and 5.0 several times. This was with almost 2 feet of help from the tide. Slow and steady was the word of the hour.
Once past Isle of Palm, we had lots of water and made for one of the most enjoyable and relaxing days on the water. The scenery also seemed different today. The tall sweet grass has been replaced by shorter types of seagrass and the pine and palm trees have been replaced by Pine with a few deciduous trees sprinkled in. The elevation across the horizon is being determined by the height of the trees popping up here and there in the expansive marshes. Several places along the way today were completely lined in pines, which was just gorgeous. We had lots of dolphin company on today's trip, which was a pleasant surprise, it had been a while since we've seen them while underway - even a few taking advantage of our wake.
Georgetown, SC is a cute little fishing town, the marinas are mainly along Front Street, the main street in historic Georgetown, surrounded by fabulous neighborhoods and tree covered streets. It reminded us both a lot of Vero Beach. There are several paper mills in town with one being at the top of the harbor. Fortunately, while we were here, there was no smell.
In the category of necessity is the mother of invention. Check out this short video of how we fueled up in Georgetown.
Shortly after our arrival, a gentleman came up and asked us how long we've had our North Pacific and had we ever met Trevor. This surprised us both, since most people ask us what it is instead. He said his name was Tom Coleman and my jaw damn near dropped to the ground. You see, when we went to Annapolis and "discovered" North Pacific and decided to buy the GS, it was Tom & Beth's boat that was at the show. We spent hours on their boat and ultimately it was after talking with Tom, Beth & Trevor - GS was conceived. What a small world once again.
" To our family. It is great to gather with you once again in this time of celebration. To our friends you are the family we choose and we choose you! It means everything to have you join us tonite! To Andrew and Jessica having someone to share life's good times is just fun. Having someone to share life's challenges is a blessing. We are all thrilled that you have found both in each other. " Needless to say it was not just another week on the the Gypsy Soul. Our daughter has a new last name and Becky and I have a new member of our family. Welcome aboard Andrew!!! And once again our family and friends ruled the day! We are still living living in the glow of the week and it is because of ya'll!
What a week we had.
Starting the week off with an amazing lobster & clam feast courtesy of the Adams'
A.W. Shucks
Holy City Brewery
Walking food tour of Charleston on Wednesday with John,Paula,Gary,Kathy,Emily & Joe. That wrapped up at Holy City Brewery and Taco's at Taco Boy where they have the most amazing pineapple infused Tequila
Roof of the 225 Grill was the scene of the festivities for Thursday where we picked up Jeff & Barbara, Valerie & Alex, Denise & Dale and Felicia & Stewart.
Friday brought a celebration of the nifty 50 club.....
and the rehearsal dinner @ Waters Edge with the Middleton's & Bridal Party followed by more celebrating on the roof of the Vendue. Joining the celebration today were Fran & Peg, Collette & Will, Rich & Linda, Jim & Sue and Erin & Mick.
Now that the gangs all here - How about a wedding!
Saturday morning brought torrential rain and high winds until about 1pm when the rain stopped and a little bit of sun made its way to us. As the bride & groom made their way to the "get away car", there was a bolt of lightening, a crack of thunder and the skies opened up once again. Perfect ending to a perfect day. Beautiful ceremony, and an amazing good time with friends and family (new and old)
