We left Wrightsville Beach a little later than usual to try and miss the current in the Cape Fear River. It can cut our speed way down. Going under the bridge at Carolina Beach, the fellow in the following boat told us later when he caught up to us that he kept saying to himself "don't do it" as he was sure our mast would not clear the bridge. Another sailboat held back for a couple of hours for the tide to drop as they were afraid their mast would not clear. There is a measure board on the side of each bridge that shows the clearance and this one showed it would be tight but John was confident although he later admitted his stomach jumped to his throat as we went under. We were close but made it through into Snow's cut and on to the Cape Fear River.
We arrived in Southport by noon and turned into a slip at Provision Co. It is a very funky restaurant on the harbor with only outside seating in a rustic setting so to speak. The slips are free if you have a meal at the restaurant and so we did. A burger and a beer. It was great!! There is no water or electricity but it is safe and does not require a dinghy run to shore in the a.m.
We are now back in the world of tidal currents and big tides where from the time we arrived at noon when we stepped off the boat onto the dock until 3 1/2 hrs. later when we needed a ladder to climb from Spunky's deck to the dock. I was hopeful that if we waited until 5 or so we could get Moose off for his evening constitutional. We could with a hand up from Stephen our neighbor. Then I fixed dinner and we turned in. We have a minimum of 65 miles tomorrow-75 if we can make it with the currents-and we will once again be up very early and on the way before daylight. In two days we should be in Charleston. If we had our genoa we would have gone out into the Atlantic at Cape Fear and sailed all night down to Charleston cutting the trip down by a day. We would like to make St. Mary's, GA by Thanksgiving Day which is at mile marker 712. It will be doable but could be iffy depending on wind and current. Since loosing the opportunity to go outside in the Atlantic, we will probably wait to take possession of our new genoa til we arrive in Stuart, FL where it is being made.
Things are falling into a pattern now and I am especially pleased that Spunky is running well. John used this afternoon to check the fluids in the engine and batteries. The engine is slow to start in the a.m. because diesel engines do not like cold but the temps are getting slightly warmer as we inch our way south. I can really identify with our engine.
It is 5 a.m. and we anchored last night near McClenllanville, SC in Five Fathoms Creek. We are getting ready to depart. In a few minutes we will take Moose out to a small strip of beach near the ICW. It is dark and the wind is up and the wind generator is whining. Yesterday afternoon I called a small fuel dock in McClellanville for local knowledge about the depth in the Town Creek Channel. The chart said only 2 ft. but the cruising guide said that the shrimp boats use it to go out so we believed it must be a deep channel. It turned out that we were correct and we took it out to the creek where we anchored. The channel is marked but narrow. When we left the following morning in the dark it was very foggy.
Last night we stayed in Osprey Marina in South Myrtle Beach. It was off the Wacamah River and the only place where we could stop to walk Moose. We have to get him to go on the boat. He does when he gets scared so I know he can learn that the boat deck is his"yard". The Wacamah is lined with cypress swamp. All you see along the shore are cypress trunks and tress with massive roots. It is beautiful but no landing possibilities. In order to access the marina you make a left turn into a forest of cypress tress in the middle of nowhere. It was so cool and very pretty but the ramp to the clubhouse was very steep.
Today we head for the Charleston area and hope to anchor in Stony Creek. A lot depends on the wind and tidal current as to where we will end up. We left Five Fathom Creek in very dense fog. It was a challenge to get out of Town Creek and back on the ICW. The travel was intense watching for the markers in the fog. John was at the helm and I was tracking the chart and we made it through.
Here we are in Stony Creek just past Charleston. We had a very challenging day. We were in fog like California has on the "5". It would be zero visibility for a long time and then ok. Very stressful. On the ride across the Charleston Harbor, in choppy conditions, Moose jumped down about 5 ft. to the salon and found a place on his cushion with his blanket. We think that was a forward step for him. He slept there until we slowed for the Wappow Creek Bridge and then asked to come up top.
We anchored in Stony Creek near Buzzards Roast Marina which is a large body of water and we are tuned into the weather alerts and are hearing tornado warnings with high winds and t-storms. We are on alert. John is up top watching the weather and our anchor. I am below on the computer. Our plan is to wait until morning before we decide whether to go toward Georgia or to hold here until the weather clears. The good news is that the temps are fairly warm and Spunky is running well.
Well here we are in Hilton Head. Yesterday we battled wind and current to get to Mosquito Creek by late afternoon. There is a seafood company there that has a dock that will accomodate two boats. We were too late and both spaces were taken. We anchored in the creek in front of the store but the woman who was working there (owner?) said we would have to move as she had a 60 ft. shrimp boat coming in to deliver and it would leave to go out again at 5 a.m. and we were in the way. She directed us to an anchorage around the bend which she said would be better. Well perhaps better for her but we ended up on a sand bar as the tide fell. Who knew it was there? Only the locals and we didn't get to talk to them.The tides are between 6-9ft here in SC. There we sat as the tide went out and Spunkyt listed so far over that we were standing on her side while eating dinner. Sometime after 10 p.m. the tide had risen enough that when we put out our small jib we floated off. We moved and set the anchor in the dark. Always a touchy activity since one has limited vision and space perception. We went to bed but were up at 3 a.m. repeating the anchoring as we were too close to the bank and concerned we would go aground again as the tide went out. The great part was we were able to wait for a change in tide and handle everything ourselves and we were off in the early a.m. followed by a line of 6 sailboats who may have sat out the rough winds of the day before and were headed south once again. The winds continue and we are now tied to a fuel dock this afternoon with the wind and waves pushing us hard against the dock. It sounds like someone is hitting Spunky's hull with a hammer. We took showers and now will do laundry and we plan on leaving tomorrow for Georgia. The temp only got to 62 today but the forecast is for lighter winds and warmer temps over the next few so our spirits are high. We hope to get to St. Mary's by Thanksgiving and it is looking like we may make it.
Take care everyone and please send notes.
No comments:
Post a Comment