Elizabeth City, the Rose Buddies, and the Dismal Swamp

At the start of the Dismal Swamp sits Elizabeth City, NC, a town that now proudly calls itself the "Harbor of Hospitality," and for good reason. We arrived to tie up to a free dock, then hustled over for the "Rose Buddies" welcome reception (see the pix of the Rose Buddies plaque for the history). We were feted with free wine and cheese and, because they were also welcoming another town we were fed a free dinner of pulled pork sandwiches, mashies with fixins, and lots of other good stuff. I was given a rose (see pix), and then we were invited to partake of movie night. (There's a picture of this, too - it was an old black and white starring Andy Griffith as "Lonesome Roads" - now I know why Keith Olberman calls Glen Beck by that name). A lovely night!

This morning we headed into the Dismal Swamp - the oldest canal in the Americas, started by George Washington and others as a business investment well before he became President. It's beautiful, especially today when we were the only boat transiting. Very contemplative (see pix of Bill sitting forward just enjoying watching the world go by - or maybe napping).

There are 2 locks (duck soup, even easier than the ones on the French canals), and at the second one our lock tender treated us to a concert on the conch (see pix). Yes, he plays the shells, and not only makes different notes, but he played jazz! Very cool! In the middle of the swamp is a welcome center that is now a state park. Note the pix of the exotic moth. (One of the volunteers told me its name - starts with a 'c' - but I can't remember it.

Tonight we're in Portsmouth, VA, heading to see friends in Cape Charles tomorrow.

Oriental for Memorial Day

We left Swansboro thinking we would end up in Morehead City or Beaufort - two of our favorite NC towns. We had hoped we could work our way up the Core Banks to visit our old neighbors in Sea Level. Unfortunately it seems there has been a lot of shoaling on that route, so we made a quick decision to skip our old familiar haunts in favor of Oriental, a town we had visited before, but wanted to get to know better.

We arrived in early afternoon at Deaton's Marine, and had our first opportunity (?) to parallel park. With just about as much space between boats as between cars, we maneuvered our boat into its slip, and only heard one soft 'clunk' (but no damage!) We called our friends from NJ, Ron and Louise (Nock) Stevens. They were out, so we left a message and took our bikes into town. A long iced tea break at M&M's Cafe, and we were ready for a long ride, so we set out to see if we could remember where their house was. We remembered that it was on the water (see picture of dock from their deck), but the house had changed so much (a huge redo project) we didn't recognize it. But we had no sooner passed the house than Louise called! We spent that evening with them and their friend Lisa at a new development / marina north of town called River Dunes. Louise works there part time, but also takes care of their ponies. Great food, great conversation (fortunately we're all on a similar page when it comes to politics) and a beautiful night!

On Sunday, Bill met Ron and Louise at The Bean for early coffee. Later, Bill and I rode into town to partake of M&M's steamed jumbo crabs. We biked to Louise and Ron's for another delicious dinner (see photo of the 4 of us, taken by Lisa, that will give you some idea of the feast we had). All in all, an absolutely perfect holiday weekend! Thanks, Louise and Ron!

Monday morning we headed for Belle Haven. Not much of a town, and completely deserted on the holiday. We anchored in a wide open area and bounced all night, even after resetting the anchor. Took off at sunrise (see photo) headed for Elizabeth City and the Dismal Swamp.

Wrightsville Beach and Swansboro, NC

Bridge delays, strong currents and wind on our nose made for two long cruising days. First, we headed from Barefoot Landing (Myrtle Beach) to Wrightsville Beach. We thought we were terribly clever to wait for the tides to be just right, but very soon ran into a pontoon bridge that couldn't open at low tide. We dropped the hook and waited for 1 1/2 hours, but felt marginally better than the boat we had tied up next to at Barefoot Landing. They had left the dock 2 hours before we did, and we met them at that same bridge! We persevered and made it to a nice anchorage at Wrightsville Beach by about 7:30 that night. Currents were strong, but we tried a new anchor arrangement with a bridle to keep the two hulls straight, and slept well. The next day we found ourselves doing a near 360, so we reset and spent one more night. After clouds and some rain, the sunset was pretty great (see the picture with the large house outlined in red).

The next day, we headed for Swansboro and very nearly didn't make it. We were held up at 3 different bridges, fought the current and about a 20 knot headwind all the way, and got seriously wet in multiple rain storms. Finally made it to Swansboro, where we've been ensconced for the past 2 days. Note yet another sunset shot, but this time showing the pink of sunset and a nearly full moon rising. In fact, there are two of the same shot, one with the camera (lighter one) and one from my phone. The other picture shows our dock neighbor - a Corps of Engineers dredging vessel. Watching them dock so easily within about 5 feet of our bow without so much as a ripple made us envious! One day our docking skills will be just as good (I hope.)

In Swansboro we found a bike shop with folding bikes, so we now have two, and have been riding everywhere. Yesterday was gorgeous, so we took the dinghy out to the nearest sandbar and pretended we were back at our house in Sea Level and waded in the warm seawater. Mindy got a haircut and a bath today (poor old girl) and we got to the laundromat, so there's nothing left to do here. (!) Tomorrow we head through Morehead and Beaufort up to Oriental, on the Pamlico Sound. More thunderstorms predicted for the next several days, so it will probably be another wet day. Oh well.....

Georgetown, SC to Myrtle Beach (Barefoot Landing)

Left at a leisurely pace after a Sunday breakfast of pancakes and sausage. Filled the tank on the way out of Georgetown, and hoped to time the tides right, but failed miserably. A long, long day, made worse by our first thunderstorm (note our brave captain out in the elements!)

Good news is, we discovered we can handle a thunderstorm with no problem, at least in the intracoastal waterway (ICW). We were surrounded by small boats loaded with young people who continued to party through the storm, so it never seemed like anything more than an inconvenience. Also good news is that the rain gave us a great chance to wash down the boat! It is now sparkling clean (except for the ubiquitous dog hair) and ready for a jaunt tomorrow to Wrightsville Beach or thereabouts. Into North Carolina!

Georgetown, SC

Another 65-mile day, arrived in Georgetown at about 4:30, just as it was starting to rain. We fought deer flies (or yellow flies) all the way up the "ditch" (the intracoastal waterway, which we're following north). This is the second cruising day we've "enjoyed" their company. The first, on the way to Charleston from Beaufort, we killed at least 67 of them (Beth killed 66 of those, Bill killed a few more but didn't keep count.) Today, Bill was our dragon slayer, since my arm felt like it was going to fall off from all that killing two days ago. Amazingly, they seem to disappear just as we arrive at our destination. How do they know?

We were preparing to anchor, and spending a fair amount of time trying to set it in a place where we wouldn't be in the way of private moorings or other boats, but would have enough room to swing at the tide change. After 3 attempts, a man called out from one of the bars on shore that we could tie up at the mooring right behind us. Hallelujah! Needless to say, once on the mooring we dinghied into the bar - the Big Tuna - to say thanks. It was a great, very jumpin' place on an early Saturday evening, and we had some terrific food (calamari and seared ahi tuna) and a couple of beers for a grand total of under $30. It's later now - just about 9 PM, and the whole wharf is active. Lots of live music, lots of people having a good time. Definitely a partying town!

Charleston, SC

Just left Charleston this morning, headed for Georgetown. Arrived in Charleston Thursday afternoon, 5/20. Had planned to stay at the Dolphin Cove Marina for only $1 per foot, but realized (thankfully, in time) that they were up a river that was spanned by a 56' fixed bridge - too low for our 62' mast. We ended up tying up at the city marina mega dock. Great services, but expensive at $2 per foot plus power. Got a ride from the marina van into the city market area, and had an appetiser dinner at Bubba Gumps. Walked back to the marina, and admired the gorgeous architecture and lovely gardens behind wrought iron fences. Note the picture of the entryway, with marble leading to brick steps with greenery growing on the step risers. Also note the blue flowers - if anyone knows what it is, please let us know. They looked fake, but were very real.

Strolled past the battery and checked out the Carolina Yacht Club, to find that we could use one of their moorings for free! Friday morning we moved there, and although it was shallow, our boat was OK there. Perfect location! We lunched on oysters at a raw bar called Amen Street, then met Bill's friend Geoff, who took Bill to the Dolphin Cove Marina to collect some mail we had forwarded there. Turns out it was lucky we didn't stay there - it was in the middle of nowhere! With Geoff's local knowledge of Charleston, we visited one of several rooftop bars for a great view of the city. Headed back to the boat just after 7 PM.

This morning we left at about 7:30, trying to make the tides work for us on the way to Georgetown. More later!

Back underway, and enjoying Beaufort, SC

After about 3 weeks back in NJ, we came back to Brunswick, GA on May 8, where Deeper Season was waiting for us at the Brunswick Landing Marina. We spent several days there, taking advantage of the free laundry to wash all the sheets and towels, and using a couple of loaner bikes from the marina to explore the town and get ourselves fully provisioned. On Thursday, May 13, we motored to the fuel dock to fill up for an early morning departure. That night we biked to the Oyster Shak, and had a feast of raw and steamed oysters on the half shell, oyster stew, and yummy local peel-and-eat shrimp. A great way to say goodbye to Brunswick!

At 5:05 AM, an hour before sunup, we got underway on Friday, May 14, and headed about 100 miles north on the outside, to HIlton Head, SC. A good wind from the southwest helped us along, and we arrived at Palmetto Bay Marina at 6 PM. The next morning, we decided to move on to Beaufort, SC, since we've been to Hilton Head numerous times (by car) but had never seen Beaufort. We found a very affordable marina on Lady's Island, just a short dinghy ride into town. Beaufort is lovely! A really clean, very well maintained town with a wonderful waterfront, great restaurants, and loads of beautiful old homes dating back to Revolutionary and Civil War days. We got lucky and were able to buy a used folding bike for $30, and spent most of today running errands. Our plan is to motor over to the town marina (just the other side of a swing bridge) for a fill up tomorrow, then leave early Thursday morning (5/20) headed for Charleston.

Just now it's Sailor Jerry time (spiced rum and coke with lime) while we enjoy the breeze and perfect temperatures!