SHRIMP and quiet times

On our way out of Beaufort we needed to get diesel so we hit up the Homer T. Smith Dock. Diesel was cheap, service was awesome, and THE SHRIMP BOAT WAS IN!!! Oh my goodness, they were offloading at the dock and we got these huge, fresh, succulent shrimp for a steal! It was a bring-your-own-container operation and apparently if you stay at the marina as a transient you get an even better price, but we were happy! 

We set out on our lazy trek to northern NC with our daughter at the helm. We had some good sailing, peaceful anchorages, a great F-18 air show on the Alligator River, and delicious shrimp dinner! Tomorrow we will make our way across the Albemarle Sound.

Katreina takes us up the ICW

Fantastic sailing on the Alligator River

Shrimp!

Trent learns the important art of cleaning shrimp.

Offshore to NC

When we originally planned this cruising season, we wanted to slowly make our way up the coast, exploring new places along the way. COVID-19 and a chain of weather fronts have adjusted that plan slightly, but we are still heading to Elizabeth City, NC. We dread certain parts of the ICW and having to constantly motor so where weather allows, we make outside runs.

Our first jump was overnight from Charleston to Wrightsville Beach via the Cape Fear Inlet. Both are commercial shipping inlets so they are wide and deep! This leg started out peaceful enough, motor sailing and enjoying Mother’s Day with company on watch. Overnight, the winds picked up as forecast and then some! Trouble gybing during my watch had the Captain up with way too little sleep, then the forecast 20kt gusts came in as 30kt gusts. We rounded up, then got hammered with beams seas and those big gusts for the length of the inlet. It was brutal, but at least there wasn’t other traffic to deal with. Once we were on the Cape Fear River, a brush fire on shore ended up reducing visibility and clogging the air with smoke. Follow that with a notoriously tricky spot, Snow’s Cut, and we were more than ready to drop the hook in Wrightsville Beach for a nap! We didn’t go ashore and only stayed a night, though I would like to check it out in the future. And one weird thing we noticed on the ICW south of Wrightsville—seemed like power boats loved to do a starboard-to-starboard pass. We are not used to that! So many times it looked like they were coming straight at our bow! 

The next day we opted for a long day sail from Wrightsville Beach to Beaufort. Seas were rough to start the day (and it was cold!), but finally smoothed out so we could make better time. We dropped the hook by the Highrise Bridge just before sunset!

After a few long days, we are ready for a change of pace. We will be on the ICW for a bit now, making our way slowly through the peaceful marshes of NC.

Charleston, via boat!

We are a Citadel family, so we are no strangers to the charms of Charleston, SC. The Captain went to college there, we were married there, and we've been visiting at least every 5 years since. But this is the first time we've visited via boat! We had a pretty uneventful overnight run from Fernandina Beach, FL and decided to drop the hook at Battery Overlook. There is another anchorage closer to the Safe Harbor Marina and a dinghy dock, but with numerous reports of fouled anchors we opted for the anchorage between the USCG station and Battery Point for a few days. Boat wakes were plentiful during the day, especially on the weekend, but we always had pretty peaceful nights.

We spent the first few days making plans to see friends, beginning a galley remodel by ripping out the microwave, tightening up the bolts on our arch, and generally eating all of our fresh food in anticipation of a grocery delivery. The "seeing friends" bit is of course a little tough right now, but we made some limited contact. I chatted on the phone with one of my friends while they were ashore with a view of the boat, and we managed to have a picnic dinner near the marina with another family.

The big excitement of this stop? A DOCK!!! That's right! For the first time in over four months we tied up to a dock for the night. Before that, we'd only had a brief stop at a dock in St. Augustine to get fuel. We tied up at Safe Harbor Charleston after swinging in to the mega dock for fuel. The dockhand was awesome and got us snugged up easily despite the strong current and breeze. From there, we headed to the T-head of H dock, which was easy to get to, in a no-wake zone, and only a short walk to the bathhouse. This allowed us to walk on solid ground, chat with a few other cruisers, give the boat a thorough de-salting, dump trash, fill water, do laundry, get a big grocery delivery, fill the liquor locker, and shower ashore--all the essential cruiser chores. Is it the cheapest facility? No. Is it nice, clean, convenient, and professional? Yes! We ended up staying three nights before casting off the lines to head north.

Docked!

How did we get a pic of our friends’ dog, but not of our friends???

Visiting our wedding reception location.

A graduation celebration!

When we chose this way of life, I knew we were going to have to decide how to handle birthdays, holidays, and milestones. How do we make them special and meaningful, even when we are away from family and friends? Now, let’s throw some pandemic physical distancing into the mix. As always, a little help from our friends goes a long way!

This week, Katreina finished up her 8th grade curriculum from Oak Meadow Homeschool. In our country, completion of this grade usually warrants a ceremony and big party as students leave middle school behind and move on to high school. Well, that’s not happening for any graduates right now, but we still wanted to mark this milestone. Enter our friends, The Mooney’s, owners of the Carolina Deli in Columbia, SC! They make these AMAZING, huge cookies and brownies and as they were coming to Charleston, we ordered a special brownie for our chocolate-loving graduate!

“Lehe Paine Middle School 2020”

She was pretty surprised by this delicious, personalized treat, and I love that we were able to properly celebrate her hard work. Congrats to all of the 2020 graduates—the celebrations may be different, but that doesn’t diminish your accomplishments!

Fernandina Beach, FL

We slipped out of the St. Augustine Inlet after catching the 0700 bridge three days ago and headed offshore for a day-sail up to St. Mary’s Inlet and Fernandina Beach, FL. Our autopilot was making a clanking noise, but it was a beautiful day for some hand-steering! The inlet is wide and well-marked, and we decided to pick up a mooring at the Fernandina Harbor Marina which is just on its way back after Hurricane Matthew 4 years ago. While COVID-19 provisions kept us from fully utilizing the services, taking a mooring allowed us to check out the anchoring situation well ahead of our next visit.

High winds kept us on the boat for a few days, but that gave us a chance to fix the autopilot and replace our cracked hatch. The autopilot issue turned out to be a loose nut (love an easy fix) and the hatch lens install went fairly smoothly.

Into the lazarette for the autopilot repair!

Obviously our exploration of town was impacted by COVID-19, but we can tell this is a place worth returning to. With an easy approach from the ICW or offshore, quaint streets, historic significance, and great local food and beer, I can see this becoming a regular stop on future north/south runs.

With a decent weather window, our sights are set on South Carolina. Sorry, Georgia—the skinny water in your stretch of the ICW along with the draconian anchoring laws have us giving you a pass for now.