St. James Marina, Southport, North Carolina

Stayed at St. James Marina today. We spent the day with our friends Harry and Leslie. They took us into Southport where we toured around, visited a display of antique cars, had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the Cape Fear River. Came back to the boat, spent time visiting with them, going over charts for the next section of our travels. We had enjoyed meeting them in Canada, very much enjoyed seeing them again here. Tomorrow will move on to Bald Head Island.

Myself with Harry and Leslie, with the Cape Fear River in the background

St. James Marina, Southport, North Carolina

In some of the shallow areas we went through today, the crab pot floaters and the pots themselves were visible

Many houses along the stretch we passed today are on stilts.

Beautiful sunny day today after the winds and storms yesterday. We watch the news about the destruction and the deaths in many areas of the US, and consider ourselves lucky that the storms passed us by. Left early this morning, stopped at a marina about an hour north of Barefoot Landing for fuel; we had heard that they had good fuel prices, and they did. Shortly after our fuel stop, we crossed the state line into North Carolina. St. James marina is part of St. James plantation, a condominium complex that covers several acres, with four golf courses. It is a very nice place. We met Harry and Leslie Hartsell, friends that we had met while they were doing their loop last year, went out for dinner with Harry and Leslie, Gloria and Jim. Cooler this evening. We will stay here another day, probably go to Bald Head Island on Sunday.

We haven't seen rocks like this along the channel since we left Canada. The charts call this area The Rockpile, and give warnings about not going aground here. No Kidding!

Many beautiful houses along the intracoastal, many with sitting areas on the roof.

Another example of a roof top balcony

Barefoot Landing Marina, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Got up this morning to storm and tornado warnings all up the East Coast, from Florida to New York. We decided that we would stay here, tied to a secure dock, rather than try to travel. the sky was very ugly by times, and the winds got up every now and then, but that is all we got. By the sounds of the news reports, the areas just north and west of us were hit badly, with many killed yesterday and today as the storm moved across the US. We were lucky to be here. Spent much of this morning planning future stops with Jim and Gloria. This afternoon we got a taxi and went back to WalMart, picked up several more things we had decided we needed. Gloria and I went shopping again in the mall right by our dock (how handy is that?). We plan to move on up to St. James Plantation Marina just outside of Southport tomorrow.

Barefoot Landing Marina, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Wayne changed oil today, big job done. We don't think we will need to do it again before we reach home. The very nice man from the marina here drove Gloria and I to Wal Mart, where we managed to do a lot of shopping in a very short period of time. Seems like a long time since we have seen a Wal Mart. We are docked right beside a whole shopping area, so spent some time this afternoon checking out the stores. Wayne, Jim and I each managed to buy  pair of shoes. Mine were a replacement for my trusty crocs, the soles of the old ones are worn smooth.

Wayne and Jim are checking out an Allis-Chalmers tractor at an Americana display

Gloria and Jim, Jerry and Caroline with Wayne and I at the Flying Fish

A1956 Cadillac at the Americana display

Went out for happy hour with Jerry and Caroline from Sassy; they docked here this afternoon.  Somehow we went straight from Happy hour to ice cream (don't tell our children), kind of threw out our plans to cook dinner on the boat. Few rain showers today, but nice and warm, actually humid between showers. Predictions are for storms tomorrow, if the weather cooperates we plan to head north about 10 miles.

Wayne is buying sandals, this doesn't happen very often

A pond by our dock has +++ turtles in it.

Barefoot Landing Marina, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Travelled north another 50 miles today. It was cloudy this morning when we left, and we ran into rain storms a few times as we travelled. It was actually a beautiful travel day. We started the day going past marsh and what the chart says are abandoned rice fields, then as we continued north on the Waccamah River, we passed by miles of cypress swamp. Both sides of the river were lined with cypress trees, moss hanging from the branches. Every now and then we would pass by a flowering tree, and the scent was wonderful (I'm assuming that the rain highlighted the smells). After the heat and humidity of the past few days, everything was nice and fresh. Arrived at the marina and got tied up just in time, there was a big rain storm, much heavier rain than the showers we had earlier. Glad we weren't docking in that rain.
After we docked, did my reporting in: phone call to Customs and Border Protection, electronic reporting filed with the coast guard. Got a call back from the coast guard. Since we are under 300 tons, we do not need to file the electronic report with them. The man said that the rules are rather vague, and obviously they interpret them differently in Georgia, but we no longer need to report to the coast guard. Now we just have the one phone call to make when we arrive in port, much easier.

As we neared Myrtle Beach we started passing some magnificent homes

Those cables over the river take golfers from one side of the river to the other in gondolas.

Sunset tonight after the rain

Jim from Crawdad walking their 2 dogs, Buddy and Booboo

Went out for dinner with Gloria and Jim from Crawdad. Magnificent sunset after the rain. We plan to stay here tomorrow anyway.

Some of the Cypress swamp we passed by

Boat Yard Marina, Georgetown, South Carolina

Left Charleston early this morning, long travel day today. We were going to Georgetown, nearly 70 miles away. Luckily the tide was with us most of the way, so we arrived around 3:30. That was the good news. The bad news is that just before we got here one engine stopped on us again. Jim and Gloria in Crawdad were great, they docked ahead of us and jumped out of the boat to help us get in, and actually Wayne did a very good job on one engine. Wayne then spent the next couple of hours in the engine room, found a lot of sludge in the newly changed filter. We have not been putting algaecide in the fuel because a mechanic said it is already in the Valve Tec fuel and so not necessary. We've been using that fuel, but think we need the algacide as well.
The trip here was good, weather was warm and sunny, light breeze. Saw an alligator floating in the water along the bank, rice fields along the shoreline, with irrigation ditches and what looks like locks to control water. Lots of marshy land again today, but also many beautiful homes along the water in places where the land was a little higher.
Once we docked in Georgetown, Wayne got to work on the engines; Gloria and I went for a walk into town. Nice town with many historic mansions along the street, small shops. Came back just in time to attend a Docktail party at the marina next door with Married with Her and Scoperta.

A house on Goat Island is trying to make people slow down, his sign says " Join Wake Watchers" 

One last view of Charleston. The big white boat is "The World", the floating condo

If all goes well, we will go to North Myrtle Beach tomorrow, our last stop in South Carolina.

This building in Georgetown was built with a cast iron facade in front

Gloria and I saw one of these in a craft store. It is a joggling board. Courting couples sit at either end, and can rock or kind of jig up and down on it, as the courtship progresses, they move closer together. By the time they get to the center, they are engaged. Once we knew what we were looking at, we saw them on  few front porches just on the main street.

Much of our trip today was past mud flats, marsh

Charleston, South Carolina

Happy Easter to all! Beautiful sunny day today. Went to church this morning at the First Presbyterian (Scots) Church, a church first built in 1731. It was partially destroyed by an earthquake in the late 1800's, rebuilt with help from churches all over the US. It is a large church, apparently was full for the 0830 service and certainly was full for the 1115 service. Very attractive building, and very friendly people. Went for a walk this afternoon around the waterfront. Charleston is built on a peninsula between the Ashley River on one side and the Cooper river on the other, with Charleston harbour out in front of the end of  peninsula. We walked around the point, admiring the historic homes along the way. Many are tall narrow buildings with great porches all along the side of the house. Many also have fences with gates or even doors around their lots, and wonderful landscaping in yards inside these fences. One house with a particularly attractive yard had a sign on the gate that said "this is a private garden. Please admire from the street" We assume they had unwanted visitors who thought they were entering a park.


 At the point looking out onto Charelston harbour is The Battery, which is a park. There are cannons, cannon balls, and several memorials in the park, one to men lost in the sinking of a battleship, another to those killed in the war of 1776, another to those lost in the Civil war.

These flowers grow on many of the fences in front of homes in Charleston. They have a very sweet scent.

Got together with Jim and Gloria for dinner. We plan to travel further north to Georgetown tomorrow.

We walked by the house of the owner of the Piggley Wiggley grocery stores; he has two pigs in front of the house, today they have their Easter bonnets on.



A memorial to the Confederate defenders of Charleston.



Charleston, South Carolina

The floating condo ship

The USS Yorktown

A beautifuld day here in Charleston after yesterday's rain. We went this morning with Jim and Gloria from Crawdad to visit the Hunley, the world's first successful combat submarine. This submarine was launched in 1864 by the Confederates in the Civil War here in Charleston harbour. It's mission was to sink one of the Union ships participating in the blockade of the harbour. The sub was run by 7 men using hand cranks to turn a propeller. They managed to get to the USS Housatonic, they rammed it with the spear on the front of the sub and got some explosives onto the ship. As it happened, whether by accident or design, they hit the ship's powder magazine, and so the whole thing blew up within about 3 minutes. The Hunley never made it back to shore, it was found in the bottom of Charleston harbour in 2000, painstakingly raised and brought to a research facility here in Charleston. A university is still cleaning it and researching how it was made and particularly why it sank, you can only tour it on the weekends. I can't believe that the 7 men and the captain actually went under water in that thing.


The Submarine Clamagore(1945-1975)



On the Clamagore

The Skyhawk

After lunch, we visited the  naval and maritime museum at Patriot's Point, which is across the Cooper River from Charleston. They have a submarine and an aircraft carrier from WWII times which are open for tours. The submarine is certainly bigger than the Hunley, but still pretty tight for the number of people who lived and worked in it. The USS Yorktown, the aircraft carrier was the opposite, very large. It was commissioned in 1945, and served for many years. It's last act was to rescue the Apollo 8 capsule after its return to earth. It is amazing to stand on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier and look out over the harbour. Several planes are on display on the flight deck, they are on loan from the museum in Pensacola that we visited last fall.

Wayne and Jim inside a replica of the Hunley; not much room inside to move. Wayne is pushing the crank that turns the prop

The Hunley

Returned to Charleston peninsula by water taxi, watched a huge ship called "The World" go by. It is about the size of a big cruise ship, but it consists of condos, so it is a floating home for the condo owners. We have heard of one man who was choosing between buying his wife a castle or a condo on this boat, he bought the condo.Walked back to the marina across town, felt good to walk. Stopped for pizza, admired many of the homes along the way.

Charleston, South Carolina

We decided to spend the day touring Charleston. Started with Fort Sumter, which is located out in the harbor outside of Charleston, built upon a shoal which was enlarged to an island to hold the fort. The ride to the fort involved a half hour on a ferry. As we got on the ferry, the rain came down, and it rained fairly hard the rest of the day. Luckily we were able to walk around the fort itself between showers.


When South Carolina seceded from the union in 1860, Fort Sumter was left as a Federal fort surrounded by an area that was no longer part of the US. As tensions built, between the north and the south, the first shots of the Civil war were shot at Fort Sumter. The Confederates in the south were able to capture it when some of their cannon fire caused a fire inside the fort, and the union side did not have enough soldiers to fight both the fire and the enemy. Later in the war, it was taken back by the Federals. Only the lower parts of the fort remain, but it is interesting both to see the fort and to hear the history. The girl giving the tour emphasized that the principles that this war was fought over are really the founding principles of the United States.
Had lunch in Charleston, then checked out the Harris Teeter Gourmet grocery store, nice store, we did find a few things we don't always find in other stores. The marina has a shuttle, very nice for getting around in the rain, it is somewhat like your own taxi cab, as long as you want to go to places within downtown Charleston. The driver was saying that it has rained so hard that they have closed some streets in the city due to flooding.
Went out for dinner with Jim and Gloria at the restaurant here at the marina. Tried alligator, very tender. So far, we have had low country boil, shrimp and grits, and now alligator, all foods we tend not to see on the menu at home. Nice evening, not raining at present.



The various flags that have flown over Fort Sumter, the US flag with 33 stars, the first confederate flag "the Stars and Bars", the flag of South Carolina with a shield and palmetto tree, then the 2nd confederate flag called the Second National, and the US flag in effect after the civil war, with 35 stars, and finally in the foreground, the current US flag.

Ready for action

These birds greeted us on our arrival at Fort Sumter. We see them frequently on the water, often we're not sure if what we are seeing is a crab pot floater or a bird sitting on the water, until what we are watching flies away.



Charleston City Docks, Charleston, SC

A huge repair facility along the intra coastal

Miles of marsh along the route today.

Because of the marsh, anyone wanting a dock has to build a really, really long one.

Left Beaufort this morning, had planned to anchor about half way between Beaufort and Charleston but the weather forecast called for storms so decided to make it a long day and come right on through. The tide worked with us, so we actually got here faster than we had planned. The trip was through a lot of marsh, some very lonesome areas, other areas with beautiful houses and docks along the way. Passed by a restricted zone that is part of a military complex. That and the  marine recruitment centre that we passed on the way into Beaufort supply a lot of the jobs here in this part of South Carolina. The weather was great as we travelled, sunny and warm. A couple of hours after we arrived here, the storm arrived. We had hail, cracks of thunder, lots of lightening, and heavy rain. There is still the occasional flash of lightening, but the rest of the storm seem to be over. We are glad we are tied to a secure dock. Got together with Jim and Gloria for dessert (Gloria makes a great key lime pie), and to plan our touring for tomorrow. We plan to stay for a few days.

City Marina of Beaufort, Beaufort, SC

Another beautiful warm day, heard one lady in town saying that spring had come too early, it should not be this warm quite this early. I asked what summer is like here, she said very hot with very high humidity. Got the courtesy car with Jim and Gloria, went to West Marine and the grocery store, and still got back within our one hour time frame. We thought we did well. Both men got what they needed to do some work on  the boat. Wayne spent the afternoon changing fuel filters on the engine that didn't stop on us the other day, and a good thing he did. That filter was also quite dirty. When the fuel and the tanks were cleaned at Snead Island in January, they could not completely clean the bottom of the tanks because they have baffles, and they could not get down into every crack and crevice. We are assuming we are now filtering out the remains of that dirt.
Gloria and I took the car and visited the National Cemetary here in Beaufort, hundreds of graves row by row.
Got my hair cut today. Late this afternoon, Wayne and I went for another walk through the historic district. The streets have huge mature trees overhanging them, the houses are beautiful. After dinner, walked into town with Jim and Gloria for ice cream.

National Cemetary

Many of the historic homes have this double stairway up to the entrance, here and in Savannah. Apparently the men used the stairway on the left, the women the one on the right. The men could not see the women's ankles, hence separate stairways. The tour guide in Savannah said that if a man saw a woman's ankles, he would have to marry  her.



They take good care of their beautiful mature trees here.



Many of the old mansions are now used for  bed and breakfast, one is an inn, many are still private homes. We have seen several for sale.

We plan to leave in the morning, will anchor between here and Charleston, then go to Charleston on Friday.

The ramp from the land down to our floating docks is really steep at low tide, almost flat at high tide. Nine foot tides create quite a change every 6 hours or so.

City Marina of Beaufort, Beaufort, SC

Have decided to stay here another day. It is a beautiful town, and we are ready to stop and get caught up with some chores. Jim and Gloria from Crawdad arrived today, we got caught up on what we have been doing since we last saw them in Fernandina Beach.
Did laundry, went for a walk around some of the nice shopping area in town. Went out for dinner with Jim and Gloria.

Beaufort City Marina, Beaufort, SC

Spent this morning touring Beaufort. Many of the homes date back to before the civil war, and they have been beautifully maintained. The streets are shaded with overhanging tree branches, very pretty town. Visited St. Helena's Episcopal church which dates back to the 1700's. The earliest grave in the attached graveyard is from 1724. Many of the graves have the confederate flag on them, indicating that the person buried there fought for the confederates in the "American war of aggression".

One of the Confederate graves

In one place, the tree branch arching over the street is only 10 ft off the ground, there is a warning sign, but it looks as if it has been hit a few times.

The houses are beautiful, and the mature trees add so much

 

As in Savannah, many of the houses have their front door up one level, often with arches around the windows on the lower level.

This marina has a courtesy car, borrowed it this afternoon and got a few groceries, oil for the next oil change which is due soon. Went out for dinner with Jim and Kathy from Married With Her and Barb and John from Scoperta, other loopers staying here. Beautiful warm day today, cooler night. There are a few noseeums, but not nearly as many as we saw a few miles south of here.

City Dock of Beaufort, Beaufort, South Carolina

Had a visit last night about 10 pm from US Customs and Border Protection Agency. Two agents apparently regularly walk the docks in Savannah, and they just wanted to see our documentation. Turns out that when we entered the US at Drummond Island, they did not actually issue us a cruising permit. They gave us a paper signed by a supervisor and a number, but neither was sufficient for the agents last night. They also said that we needed to check in at every stop. The people at Drummond Island had said rather vaguely that they thought we needed to check in at each sector, but they could tell us nothing about the sectors. I checked their web site and could find nothing about foreign vessels reporting after the initial entry into the US. We had also called the coast guard asking for more information about reporting, and they said there was no need. Therefore we had not reported to anyone since last August. Two agents came by again at 1 am, knocked on the boat and got us out of bed. They needed more info, which we gave them. We were then to call the supervisor at 8 this morning. He directed us to come into the office, which required a taxi ride to the edge of town. He gave us a proper cruising permit, told us that we do need to report in at each stop, plus we need to report to the Coast Guard at each stop in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. He also gave us a verbal warning for not reporting in. The penalty could have been $5,000 for the first infraction, and $10,000 for each subsequent one, so given all of our stops since we have entered the US last August would surely have bankrupted us. In any case, he gave us a verbal warning and documenttion of that, so if anyone asks, it has been dealt with. He also said that he had been in touch with the people at Drummond Island to let them know that they had not done things properly. Throughout, the Border Protection people were very polite and professional.
We left Savannah at 11:30, much later than we had planned. Travelled much of the day with dolphins, blew out ofthe bakc of pelicans. Arrived at Beaufort (pronounced Bewfort) late this afternoon. Wind was gusting as we docked, and the fast tidal current was going full stream. As I went to throw the rope to the dock attendant, one of the cushions off the seat on the back deck went flying out of the back of the boat and floating off around another boat on the next dock in the marina. Once we got docked, we went looking, actually found the cushion tucked in beside a cruise boat way on the other side of the marina. We were able to fish it out, only a little the worse for wear. We were lucky!

A marine recruiting centre on the Beaufort River 

After we docked, spent about an hour figuring out all of the new reporting we need to do, guess we'll get used to it. We plan to stay here at least a day to tour the town.

Savannah City Docks, Savannah, Georgia

We went on an historical tour of Savannah today, very interesting. In 1733, James Oglethorpe and 144 "sober, moral and industrious" settlers arrived from England to set up a colony here. James Oglethorpe organized his colony on a model from Peking; he created a series of town squares, then built around them. This was to create a sense of community, and to encourage people to look after one another in their small communities. In Mr. Oglethorpe's time, slavery was not allowed in Georgia. That changed after he left. He also did nto allow Roman Catholics to live here. At that time, Florida was held by the Spanish and so was largely Catholic. The historic part of the city is still set around these beautiful squares. As we toured we saw people walking in them, children playing, and in a couple of cases, weddings taking place. Apparently for $150 one can rent a square for an event. Savannah's historic district is large and well maintained. In the war of Independence, General Sherman arrived to conquer the city. The city was handed over intact; General Sherman had been destroying everything in his path, but the story is that he thought Savannah so beautiful that he spared it. One of the houses that we saw on the tour was offered to (and used by) General Sherman for his headquarters so that he wouldn't harm it.

Most of these old houses have the front door on the 2nd level; that is because the ladies and gentlemen wanted to be away from the horse traffic on the street. The kitchens and servant quarters would have been on the ground level. Also note the balcony. There are no doors onto it, because houses were taxed on the number of doors. Instead, the windows are large enough that one can step out.



Our Tour bus



Tree hanging with Spanish moss. Apparently this is the source of the term "don't let the bedbugs bite". The early settlers used Spanish moss to stuff their mattresses; however the moss is full of small bugs that bite, so those mattresses could get itchy. Apparently Henry Ford once had the idea to use Spanish moss to stuff the seats of his cars, but after several customers complained, he had to give up on that plan.

The Waving Girl. Florence Martus was the sister of a lighthouse keeper at the entrance to Savannah, and she waved at each arriving ship to welcome them. Men on the ships started  waving back, tooting horns etc to acknowledge the welcome. She became a Savannah legend, and this statue was built in her honour. There is also a story that she had a lover who left on a ship and she was waiting to greet him on his return, but that is unsubstantiated.

In 1996, the Olympic Yachting events for the Atlanta games were held here in Savannah.

Predictions were for gale force winds and storms today; in the end we had some clouds and wind, but that was all. The street by the docks is busy again tonight with lots of people and entertainment. All of the restaurants seem to be full. Several wedding parties down here taking pictures. We will probably move on north tomorrow.