Charleston to Beaufort

I could stay in Charleston for a month. What a lovely city... old buildings to see, pretty streets to walk along, great restaurants , lots of history & a great place to tie up the boat

Here are some interesting things we saw............

Here are some interesting facts we learned... it is legal in Charleston to beat your wife , as long as you do it after church on Sunday & with a stick no bigger than your thumb.

Also, if you are a university student & live in a sorority house, make sure that there are no more than 7 females living there, otherwise it's classed as a brothel.

Time to move on after 4 days, so we decided to putter up the waterway to Georgetown, about 50 miles away. A nice little town with a renovated down town core full of bars & cafes, a good place to anchor ,even if it is right under the chimneys at the pulp mill.. sweet!!

On again, up the waterway through our favourite spot, the wacamaw river. Wide & deep & bordered by cedar swamps, hanging with Spanish moss, & lots of things that go splash.. alligators, turtles & birds fishing everywhere. All the waterway markers have an osprey nest on top with a mamma bird casting a very watchful eye over your boat. This is such a lovely ,unspoiled area of South Carolina, & in the past we have spent the night in creeks just off the river.. very spooky indeed. But this year ,our day ends in Myrtle beach, & what a contrast.. one minute cedar trees overhanging the waterway, next minute condo developments that are half finished, trees all gone, waterway banks eroding, .bad stuff.

We tied up for the night beside a shopping mall, & no sooner had we secured the lines than we had surprise visitors. Bruce & Peggy Anderson had heard we may be passing through so dropped by the dock "just in case" & there we were.

We had a great time with them, playing golf, waiting out a rainy day in the golf shop, eating burgers & putting our feet up in their very swish new RV. ooh-la-la. I'm jealous.

On again, up the waterway, clicking off the miles & enjoying the very bizarre sights .

Here is one encounter which came a little too close for comfort. We passed each other at a very shallow spot, with lots of sideways current & we both wanted to stay within the markers. We assured the tug skipper that we wouldn't hit him! I don't think he was worried!

We spent a very quiet night at an anchorage on the army base at Camp LeJeune. Its a popular spot, we all feel very safe especially when the fighter jets go over. The next day was interspersed with cannon fire ( the boys playing) ,rain squalls ,lightening & 3 bumps on the bottom ( 6 foot draft meets 4 foot shoal) . No harm done, just like getting stuck in a snow drift, a few wiggles & waggles & you're off.

Now we are in Beaufort, North Carolina & its blowing like stink. No tornadoes, thank goodness , we hear its been bad in Alabama.

Here is a picture of my new friend. His name is Keegan & he is travelling with his mum & dad in a 30 foot sailboat. They arrived after a 4 day passage from the Bahamas & are headed for Nova Scotia. I tell Liz to send Evan down ,but she won't bite.

Thats all for now

Chesapeake next stop,

Warm rain out

Saturday 16th April 2011

Charleston South Carolina

Well, that was an interesting night, to say the least. Our first 24 hour passage this season & a real doozy . Things never work out as you expect.

The plan ( ah, the plan!!) was to leave Jekyll Island (Georgia ) on the high tide at first light, then take the forecast E/SE wind up to Charleston. This is a nice 24 hour run & eliminates all the twists, turns, bugs & unexpected shoaling on the ICW in Georgia. This is absolutely gorgeous country , but hard to enjoy when the waterway is so poorly maintained. So, out the inlet at 8.5knots .. flying.. & set sail for South Carolina.

By evening the wind is set in from the east at 15 knots & we are on a beat, Warm Rain doing what she does best, tracking along & cutting through the waves (small ones ), but for this crew member this is a miserable way to spend the night!! It was a bumpy, bouncy, noisy ride which would have been lovely on a sunny afternoon on the Bras d'Or but not so good when you need to have a snooze at 2 am & its hard to find a spot to lay your head. A blanket & pillow in the cockpit worked best. The other crew member was happy as can be.. go figure.

However.... not all bad ,as we had a most marvellous full moon all night which made it as bright as day, and it didn't set until 1 hour before sunrise . We also had visitors along the way, a huge turtle as we were coming out the Inlet, a big shark cruising along at the side of the boat (waiting for pickings) & a little yellow bird who perched on the lifelines for a few minutes to catch his breath . Plus, we are now in Charleston!

Rob is doing some engine maintenance this morning. She deserves all the care & attention we can give her. Had a little problem on our way from St Augustine to Jekyll Island when he found water in the transmission fluid.. not good.

Rob with head in head & engine!!

Technical stuff now but it seems that there must have been a pin hole leak in the cooling unit which sits on top of the tramsmission. After digging around in the box of spare parts we found a replacement cooler. Thank you Gerry, who gave us his old Westerbeke engine & allowed us to

strip off as many parts as we possibly could. I think we have enough bits & pieces to build a new motor. The spare went on, the fluid drained & replaced 4 or 5 times to get rid of all water & all looks fine. Sigh of relief.

We had a wonderful stop after leaving St Augustine. A long day sail got us to Cumberland Island (just north of fernandina Beach). This is a coastal barrier island protected from development & accessible only by boat. The only people there are boaters like us who anchor in the little harbour & spend a few days exploring or park wardens or hardy souls who camp. There are interpretive programs & hiking trails & basic campsites so its popular with scouts & such.

Day sail to Fernandina

The island was once the home of the Carnegie family with a huge mansion & smaller mansions for the 13 children. (Think the Bell estate ). Also 300 servants (slaves) to maintain gardens & lifestyle which was totally self sufficient. They really did live like royalty. The mansion is gone (destroyed by fire ) but you can stll see the remains & get a taste of what life must have been like in the glittering gilded age of the early 1900's.

Cumberland Island

There is an incredible long beach with dunes & seabirds galore, lovely wooded areas with live oaks & spanish moss, plus a herd of wild horses. In the background is the smell from the pulp mill at Fernandina !!!

The next stop for us was Jekyll Island which was home to JP Morgan at one time. More developed than its neighbour but still a state park with the old mansions restored & converted to hotels (think Keltic lodge ), also golf courses & incredible long beaches.

Today we are off to the farmers market for fresh produce & also to visit the huge market where the ladies make the lovely baskets. A slice of old southern life, the old slave market. We will try to find the best pralines in town & some good old southern comfort food ... shrimps,hush puppies & grits with pecan pie to follow, oh & maybe some sticky barbecue ribs!! (reeeebs). Warm Rain is sinking lower in the water with the added ballast.

Then we will see what the next week or so brings as we move slowly north towards North Carolina. It getting cooler but we're still in shorts & t shirts.

Will post again in a week or so.

Market in Charleston

Warm Rain out.

St Augustine

Monday 4th April 2011

Almost 2 weeks since our last post. as I recall we were on the verge of heading north.. well we got lazy & decided to enjoy the good weather where we were & so today we arrived in St Augustine in north Florida. (3 hours by car, 6 days by boat )

Despite our intentions to travel up the coast this crew member decided that we should give the ICW another chance . So we have been travelling the easy route on the waterway. It really is very interesting & you get to see a side of Florida that only the boaters see.

The Intra coastal waterway is a well marked dredged channel & as long as you honour the markers its mostly fairly deep (8 to 10 feet ).. apart from the places where it isn't, & thats when the fun begins!!

Our unofficial rule has been never to travel the ICW on weekends as it can get really crazy. But sometimes thats what you have to do, & this Sunday saw us negotiating our way through Daytona Beach. Sunday in Daytona on the ICW is RACEDAY. Every hotshot is out there, girls on the bow , bikinis & drinks & testosterone !! Add to this all the family outings... small open boat ,loaded to the gunnels with mom,dad, kids, dogs, grandma & picnic gear.

Then there are the guys who are headed out to sea to FISH... fancy boat, huge wake, rods & reels big enough to land a whale, coolers & determination.

In the middle of this are the trawlers & sailboats who just want to travel carefully between the markers without hitting bottom in the shallow spots. As the skipper says, 99% easy sailing, 1% major panic.

After a morning of this madness we came to an area that is pure old Florida. Very modest homes on the edge of the waterway and everyone fishing, from the end of the dock or the bank of the waterway or from very small open boats. Floridians love to fish!!

Today we are in the marina in St Augustine. Nasty weather, rain ,thunder & lightening this morning so we'll enjoy exploring the town for a day or so & then head on up towards Georgia.

A marina is a very nice treat. Hot showers, laundry facilities, internet, a dock to get off the boat , access to grocery stores, but its like a hotel.. it costs... , sometimes lots. And sometimes its very noisy, and we really do prefer to be anchored out in a protected anchorage. Unfortunately ,they are few & far between in Florida so we anchor where we can.

We were in Titusville 2 days ago. Nice place, home to Dixie Crossroads ( Emily remembers this place). The anchorage is just to the side of the ICW beneath the high rise bridge. So there we are, sleeping under a bridge, with the Flagler railway trains going by every hour in the night sounding their whistle & the kids motorcycle racing on the bridge at 3am . Lots of fun!!

2 days before that we were in another world entirely, the only boat anchored in the Banana River , near Cape Canaveral, & we woke up the sound of canoes & kayaks from a university training program. Kids from all over the world training on the flat waters of the river.. lovely.

Tomorrow, hopefully we will play a round of golf. Maybe I can beat my PB of 94!! Ha Ha .

Will post again in a week or so.