We were planning to stay at Fairfield Harbor until Tuesday, but when we checked the weather reports Monday morning we decided that it would be better to travel on Monday rather than on Tuesday. We set off a little late and the weather and wind were fine until we began to cross the Pamlico River. On the way across the wind began to pick up and by the time we had crossed into the Pungo River we had some uncomfortable waves. Fortunately, the turn into the Pungo put the wind and waves on ur stern and the ride was much more comfortable up to Belhaven.
We pulled into the River Forest Marina and decided with the increasing winds predicted for the next day that we would just stay put until Wednesday. We used the extra day to catch up on the blog and some chores. River Forest has a free laundry with new high-efficiency machines, so it was a good place to get that chore out of the way. Since we are headed to the AGLCA (America's Great Loop Cruisers Association) rendezvous in Norfolk the following week we saw a number of boats in the marina that night going to the same place. The marina in Norfolk could not take us until Sunday anyway, so we saw no reason to rush. Belhaven responded by treating us to a pretty sunset.
We went up the Neuse River 20 miles off of the ICW to Northwest Creek Marina in Fairfield Harbor near New Bern, NC. where Dave and Terri live. The reason for the side trip was to support Terri as she received her first Holy Communion and Confirmation in the Catholic Church, for which she had been preparing for the last two years. She and Dave were also having their marriage blessed by the Church on the same day. After the services, they took all of their guests out to a nice Italian restaurant in New Bern. Luckily the timing of this event coincided with our arrival in the area, so it worked out well for all.
This post covers multiple days while we worked our way north toward home.
We waited out the high winds in Beaufort, SC for a few days before making our way north to Charleston. I wish we could have waited out the cold! I wound up navigating from inside the cabin because it was just too cold on the flybridge. While in Charleston, we met our nephew Kevin McCaig who had just relocated to Charleston for his job. We took him to the world famous Jestines Kitchen for dinner to introduce him to Lowcountry cooking. Of course, we forgot to take any pictures with Kevin. We decided to wait out a day for wind and found an excellent Thai restaurant for lunch on King Street called Tasty Thai & Sushi.
We decided to leave Charleston for Georgetown, SC in the rain, so I spend another day navigating from inside the cabin. While on the way to Georgetown we crossed the 2000 mile mark since starting our adventure in September, logging 2053 miles when we reached Georgetown. Georgetown is a quaint town with a nice boardwalk along the waterfront and many stores, museums, restaurants, and shops along the main street. The rain let up soon after we arrived and we had a nice bright rainbow over the town.
We were planning to go from Georgetown to North Myrtle Beach the next day, but when we got up in the morning it was cold, windy, and raining, so we decided not to rush off. The rain eventually stopped, so we decided to go ahead. The wind was a little rough starting out, but as we progressed up the river and into the ICW the effects became less and I was able to navigate from the flybridge. This was the day that we had to navigate the infamous "Rock Pile" section of the ICW near Myrtle Beach. On the way down in the Fall, the water was quite high due to extensive rain the previous two or three weeks so the Rock Pile was not an issue. This time water levels were more normal so we could see rock ledges on each side of the narrow channel. Luckily there was a sports fisherman boat in front of us that just blasted through the critical Rock Pile miles, so I just followed him. We stopped for the night in North Myrtle Beach at Coquina harbor.
From North Myrtle Beach we went to Southport, NC. While it was still quite windy but the wind was not an issue in the IWC canals and cuts, but when leaving Southport the next several miles are on the Cape Fear River, which is a very large body of water and the wind and current can whip up some large waves. Since winds for the next few days were predicted to be in the 20 to 30 mph category we elected to stay put for the next four days. My brother Dave and sister-in-law Terri visited from New Bern and stayed on the boat with us until we left. While they were there we rode on the ferry to Fort Fisher and visited the aquarium there.
The night before leaving Southport we attended a weather and navigation briefing given at the marina by Hank Pomeranz of Carolina Yacht Care. It was very informative and well worth attending. We got a number of excellent tips about how to navigate shallow areas that we would be transiting in the next few days. We finally left Southport and headed up the river to our next stop at Sneads Ferry, NC. There is really nothing there but an overnight stop. The marinas in the area are very basic, to put it nicely. While we were on the way up the ICW Dave and Terri were driving home and had stopped at Wrightsville Beach on their way to New Bern and happened to be at the drawbridge there when we passed under. The bridge tender allowed them to walk out on the catwalk at the tender station, so they were right over the waterway while they took this video.
When we left Sneads Ferry near the New River Inlet we intended to stop in Moorhead City for the night but we made such good time that we were in Moorhead City by 11:30am, so we elected to push on to Fairfield Harbor near New Bern where Dave and Terri live. This was our next planned stop because Terri was being confirmed, receiving her first Holy communion, and Dave and Terri were having their marriage blessed in the Catholic Church the following weekend. This resulted in one of our longest days of the trip, logging 86 miles.
When we arrived at Thunderbolt Marina yesterday one of the first things that Jake and Kimi found out was that there was a feral cat population at the marina. This drove them crazy. When I took them for a walk we walked near a trailer that was a few inches off of the ground. Before I even realized it Kimi's head and shoulders were under the small gap and when I pulled her out with the leash I found out she had a mouthful of cat. She let go when I pulled her out but the cat's paw kept snaking out from under the trailer trying to scratch her. Later that evening while the dogs were spending some time out on the deck of the boat, Sharon noticed that Kimi was running back and forth whining. When she went out to see why she found that Jake was gone. Apparently he decided to go cat hunting on his own. Luckily he was easy to find since Sharon knew where the cats lived and we got him back in short order.
In the morning, the plumber knocked on our hull about 10:00am and came aboard to start work on the pump. I showed him around, gave him the replacement pump and explained what needed to be done. I then went with Sharon to carry the dirty laundry to the laundry room. When I came back I found the plumber frantically trying to stop water from running into the boat. He was having no success stopping the flow after he had taken the old pump loose. I realized he had neglected to shut off the water hose I had hooked up to the boat to pressurize the water system last night since we had no water pump. I went out to the dock and shut off the water and the flow stopped. After bailing out the water from the pump compartment everything went smoothly from there. After the pump was installed I bailed out an additional 40 gallons of water from the bilge and we were ready.
By the time the water pump was replaced and we fueled up and pumped out it was already 2:30 pm. We headed off to Beaufort, SC and after a windy and choppy crossing of Port Royal Sound, we arrived about 6:00pm as the City marina was closing. We tied up and wound up staying for three more nights while waiting for gale force winds to die down so we could continue to Charleston. We reprovisioned using the marina's courtesy car, walked around the town, saw some pretty sunsets, and one evening had docktails with some folks we met who lived near us in Virginia. We were all stuck waiting on the wind.
We woke up in Darien, GA to find that our fresh water pump had died so we had no water for washing, brushing, or flushing. Fortunately, we had some bottled water we could use for all of those things. Unfortunately, there was no place to get the pump changed at Darien. Fortunately, I had a spare water pump aboard. Unfortunately, the original model had been discontinued and the spare was not a direct swap and I did not have the necessary fittings aboard to rework the plumbing. Fortunately, we were headed to an area near Savannah where there were a couple of boatyards with really good reputations. Unfortunately, the first one I called could not take us because they were booked solid for two weeks. Fortunately, the second place I called, Thunderbolt Marina who specializes in mega-yachts, agreed to try to work us in since our problem was relatively small. Unfortunately, they couldn't do it today. Fortunately, they could do it tomorrow. Problem solved.
We started out for Savannah and naturally reached the infamous Hell Gate, a manmade cut between the Vernon and Ogeechee Rivers in Georiga, at dead low tide. There was already a sailboat grounded in the center of the canal just at the entrance of the canal and the channel markers on each side of the canal were sitting on dry land.
We threaded our way around the grounded sailboat and very slowly proceeded through the canal, watching both depth sounders and the chart the whole way. Even though the sounders stopped reading depth at one stretch, we made it through without running aground.
Arriving at Thunderbolt we got a good look at some of the mega yachts. The yacht below had just had a paint job of the upper decks, not the hull. The paint job was five million dollars!
The yacht below was being prepared for having the hull painted. I have no idea what that would cost. They were erecting scaffolding arould the hull on floats on the water around the yacht. Amazing!
There were a number of mega yachts hauled out of the water and up on stands for refits.
After we were docked we realized that we were under one of them.
Kind of gives a unique perspective on our boat, doesn't it?
We had heard from some of the people we had met in Fort Myers that Darian, GA was a must visit. They said it was seven miles off of the ICW but the town dock was a nice floating dock (important in Georgia where the tides may be 8 to 10 feet) and it was free including electricity and water. Also, they said the town was worth a visit. So we decided to give it a try,it was about the right distance from our previous stop and we would not need fuel yet. So we made the side trek up the river to Darian for what turned out to actually be 9 miles. The dock was as reported and we tied up for the night, just above the shrimp docks. The first thing we did was buy some very nice large tail off shrimp for $10 per pound.
There was not much to see in the town.
Building Our Wings at the Darien free town dock just upstream from the shrimp docks. We were the only transient boat there, but there were a few local boats and one liveaboard there.
We did have a nice dinner at Skipper's Fish Camp, which was what made the side trip worthwhile. Well, that and the fresh shrimp!
Well, they're at it again! We arrived in Fernandina Beach, FL and they were so glad to see us that they brought out a live band and threw a street festival to welcome us.
Don't I wish.
We walked around this quaint town a lot and saw a number of the Victorian era homes and buildings for which it is known. This is the oldest operating hotel in Florida.
The Green Turtle restaurant chain is one of my son Michael's favorites, but I bet he's never seen one like this!
We were not sure what this was. Sharon went up and rang the bell, but nobody answered. We later found out that it is a private residence.
We went to Mass at St. Michael's. The original building was built in 1872 and was remodeled just last year. The priest, Fr. Jose (pronounced Joe's, not Ho-say) was from India and comes from a Christian community there established by St. Thomas, who was also the subject of today's gospel.
This man has decorated the front of his house with his artwork of shells, walking sticks, and various other handcrafted items. The red, white, and blue shells hung on strings form an American flag. He says he went to "the art school of life."
Just another Victorian home that we found interesting.
This is the St. Michael's school that was apparently closed for a number of years and has recently reopened. Parishioners say that Fr. Jose has revitalised and saved this parish.
This is an unusual looking Hampton Inn.
There was even a distillery two blocks from the marina but we did not tour it.
