H.S. Reunion, Maryland & Wrightsville Beach by Karen Posey - June 5-9, 2015

We anchored in Wrightsville Beach Harbor on June 3, picked up a rental car on June 4, loaded our 4ft x 8ft dinghy with our “stuff” (laptops, clothes/toiletries, snacks/drinks, trash to throw out, propane tank to fill in MD…barely room for ourselves!), tied it up at a local pier, and drove to MD for my high school reunion.  Had a wonderful time at the reunion, then drove back to the boat the next day.  Of course, we took advantage of the opportunity to have a McDonald’s breakfast sandwich and other unnecessary culinary delights, knowing that the opportunity would not make itself available again for quite some time.

McDonald’s breakfast sandwich

June 10, 2015

We departed Wrightsville Beach on June 10.  While cruising along Alligator Bay near Camp Lejeune, we passed the infamous “Pink House”.  It is located on its own peninsula, with its own lighthouse.  It is noteworthy enough to be mentioned in one of the cruising guides.

“Pink House”

Also that day, we were surprised to see a fake palm tree with the American flag erected in the water, obviously at low tide, given the exposed sand bar.

Fake palm tree with the American flag on a sandbar

 We tied up for the night at a small marina in Sneads Ferry, NC that was more of a boat ramp and fuel dock for the RVers camped there.  http://www.newrivermarina.com/

Calabash River to Southport, NC to Wrightsville Beach, NC by Karen Posey - June 2, 2015

Today we passed a 315ft freighter, the Stella Nova, built by Jumbo Shipping out of Rotterdam (photo below).  To get some perspective, the catamaran that it is carrying is ~40ft in length, which is ~25% longer than our boat.  Given that the catamaran has two hulls, it has about twice the living space that we have.  Rather impressive to encounter such a huge vessel so close by.

The Stella Nova

Southport:  Free Dock!

June 4

Beautiful on the water last night. The sailboat in the third photo below is Kelly IV.  The powerboat in the first photo belongs to friends we met on the water.

MV Ocean Spirit

Wrightsville Beach Sunset

Kelly IV - taken by Ocean Spirit crew

Waccamaw River to Calabash River by Karen Posey - June 1, 2015

Cruising Behind Myrtle Beach 

We woke to a beautiful morning at our anchorage in the headwaters of the Waccamaw River.  We were the only ones in the anchorage, the water was quiet and still, and the birds were chirping.  The photo below shows the reflection of the swamp trees on the water.

Reflection of trees at sunrise

We passed some old ocean buoys along the shore of the canal near Myrtle Beach and a gondola over the canal that ferries golfers from the parking lot to the Pro Shop.

Ocean buoys

Gondolas over the canal

We entered the Rock Pile in early afternoon.  The Rock Pile, a 2.3mile sector of Pine Island Cut, SC, is a man-made canal-like section of the ICW.  It is narrow and lined with submerged rocks and a rock shelf just 1-2ft below the water’s surface at low tide.  One must stay as close to the middle of the cut as possible since the submerged rocks are not visible and hitting the rocks can create a hole in the boat (NOT a good idea!).  This makes it extremely difficult for two larger vessels to cross each other.  For that reason, when approaching the Rock Pile, one must radio that information to all other boats so that any boat traveling through the Rock Pile in the other direction can make its presence known and thus exit that stretch of waterway before another boat enters. The photo below is misleading, because there are rocks under the water that you cannot see.  Fortunately, I can report that we made it through the Rock Pile without a hitch.

The Rock Pile

Last but not least, the photo of the sign posted in the swamp that says “Wing Kings – We Deliver to the River” shows that even in rural isolated swamps, the entrepreneurial spirit thrives!

"Wing Kings – We Deliver to the River"

We will be underway for 2 more days, then anchor at Wrightsville Beach and rent a car to drive to my high school reunion this weekend.

Calabash River Anchorage north of Myrtle Beach

Minim Creek to Waccamaw River by Karen Posey - May 31, 2015

Today had its own interesting moments.  The water was smooth as glass…beautiful to look at but not great for sailing.

Smooth, flat water

As we traveled the Esterville Minim Creek Canal, we came upon a floating swing bridge, with length ~150ft (the width of the canal).  It swings to allow cars to cross the canal.

Floating swing bridge

We spent most of the day traveling the cypress swamps on the Waccamaw River.  Several times we saw very small floating islands in 30ft of water, again something quite surprising and unexpected.

Small floating island

What amazed me were the cypress trees growing in the water. As you can see in the photo below, even the telephone poles were in the water!  And note that the green under the trees is lily pads (or something similar) floating in the water, not ground or grass!

Cypress trees growing in the water

Traveling through the swamps reminded me of the Pogo cartoon that was in the Sunday funny papers when I was a kid.  Some of you may recall that Pogo was an opossum that lived in the Okefenokee Swamp. (OK, I had to Google the name of the swamp.)  Perhaps Pogos’s comrades (or maybe someone who was not so lucky on the ICW) left that abandoned boat along the swamp’s edge.

Abandoned boat along the swamp’s edge

Speaking of “boats with problems”, we next encountered a HUGE barge coming toward us along the swamps of the Waccamaw.  We were quite surprised to see such a large vessel traveling such a narrow waterway.  After he passed us, he had to make a sharp turn at a bend in the river, and guess what…he went aground (photo below).  As you can see in the photo, it’s hard to believe that he could even make that turn, given his length.  We did NOT consider pulling him off!  Guess he’ll be there for a while.    :-(

Large tow and barge piloting the upper Waccamaw River

We went to bed that night thinking that tomorrow we have to navigate the dreaded Rock Pile…more on that to come.

"Horseflies?? REALLY???" Charleston, SC to Minim Creek by Karen Posey - May 30, 2015

Underway at 6:30am this morning …without coffee!!!…in order to take advantage of the tides.  We knew that we would have a touch-and-go situation while traveling through Meeting Reach.  Meeting Reach is a dredged ICW canal that separates the Isle of Palms, SC from the mainland…tricky depths as low as 6.8ft, and that’s with 3-4ft of tide.  We draw 5ft.  No nav aids to tell us where to go to avoid going aground, so we had to zigzag with a close eye on the depth sounder.  (Clearly, the dredging activities of the Army Corps Of Engineers cannot keep up with the sediment that is continually deposited as a result of the many inlets.)  A sailboat behind us actually went aground.  It was a falling tide, so she will have to wait at least 6 hours for a rising tide to be able to float off.  We would have gone back to try to pull her off, as we did with the sailboat that was aground south of Daytona, but the boat was significantly larger than ours and we were concerned about going aground ourselves.

Another photo op…an isolated house along the salt marshes north of Charleston…do you think these people get out much?

Isolated house along the salt marshes of South Carolina

At the other end of the financial spectrum, a multi-million dollar motor yacht passed us that same morning.

Motor yacht

That day also provided us with the title for this trip report…”Horseflies??  REALLY???”  Believe it or not, when you’re moving along with the wind in your face, you can still have horseflies swarming around you for hours on end!  We were swatting those suckers and being stung by them all afternoon (including one brave fly that flew up Murph’s shirt!).  Even bug repellant did not deter them. They were up to 1” long, looked more like cockroaches than flies.  I wanted to get a photo of them in the cockpit, but, of course, the little buggers are fast.  But then I opened the door to the head and saw one flying around. So I quickly closed the door, grabbed my camera, stealthily crept into the head and lay in wait for him to light so that I could get a photo.  (For those of you in the Book Club who are reading Sick Puppy, I must say that I felt like Twilly Spree, though there were no dung beetles involved.  :-)  It did finally land on the portlight (window) in the head, and I got a photo (see below).  I guess it’s a rather uneventful day when the major headline is “horsefly in the head”.  :-)

Horsefly in the head

Our neighbor in the anchorage, cruisers from Colorado

Minim Creek Anchorage Sunset

Beaufort, SC to Toogoodoo Creek to Charleston by Karen Posey - May 29, 2015

We left the marina on May 28, anchoring in Toogoodoo Creek that evening.

Toogoodoo Creek Anchorage

Due to the adverse current we made slow passage on May 29.  We stopped for fuel and water at the Charleston Marina and anchored in the harbor there for the night.  There were quite a few very large yachts at the marina.

Charleston harbor and marina

We also passed an interesting towboat on the Stono River near Charleston.  He had run aground in a shallow spot at the edge of the channel.

Towboat on the Stono River

Climbing Heights and Other Tasks by Karen Posey - May 23-27, 2015

The title of this trip report is “One Can Have As Many Adventures On Land As On The Water”.  Subtitle is “If You’re Going To Brag, You Should Balance That With A Little Self-Deprecation As Well”.

Murph did return to the boat from Columbus, OH on May 23 as planned.  However, the train to

Savannah was late and so he missed the 6:30am bus from Savannah to Beaufort.  The next bus was not leaving until 7:30pm, so he decided to hitchhike (one of the few disadvantages of cruising, i.e., no car). He made and held out a sign that said “BFT”.   Fortunately, after approximately an hour, he was given a ride by 2 young marines who were headed for the Marine Air Station just outside of Beaufort (yea, Marines!).  When they arrived at the marina, they came aboard the boat and we enjoyed an hour of conversation and coffee on a beautiful sunny morning.  Great young men!

OK, here comes the self-deprecating part (though mild, I must say).  I had a document on my laptop that I wanted to print, but of course, no room for a printer onboard.  So I stored the document on a flash drive, we borrowed a car from the dock master (this was on May 23), and drove to Staples to have them print the document.  It was a loaner car that the marina owner had bought to replace the one that broke down when we were on the bridge 2 weeks earlier.  We hated to borrow it because we didn’t want to abuse the privilege, but it was available, so we did.

Later that day (May 23), I realized that I did not have the flash drive.  I called Staples and, of course, they had it.  Now this would not be a big deal, but again, NO CAR.  :-(   The next day, with great hesitation, we asked to borrow the car again so that we could retrieve the flash drive. While there, we also purchased a box of sheet protectors.

Later that day (May 24), guess what we realized.  You got it…we did not have the sheet protectors. I called Staples the next morning (May 25) and asked if they had the sheet protectors.  Of course, they did.  There was no way we were going to ask to borrow the car again.  So I asked the customer service rep if she could simply return them for me and credit my VISA.  She was kind enough to do so.  I then told her the story of the flash drive as well.  I suggested that they position someone at the exit to the store and whenever old people leave, they should ask them, “Do you have everything??”

OK, here comes the braggin’ part. Please pardon my self-promotion, but given my fear of heights, I

Murph climbing the mast

Murph climbing the mast

Murph climbing the mast

had to share this.  One of the many boat repairs that we have been dealing with since Murph returned is repairing the anchor light.  Murph devised an ingenious fix and climbed to the top of the mast, which is 45ft above the water, this morning to make the repair (photos attached).  One of the “fun” parts about the climbing task is the amount of exercise you get, and it is surprising how much you sway back and forth as the wind blows.

I told Murph  that I would like to climb the mast as well.  He actually had another repair to make that required a climber.  (The task was to untangle the lazy jacks, which create a cradle that the mainsail drops into when it is lowered.).  So I harnessed up and climbed up as high as the spreaders (approximately 2/3 of the way to the top of the mast), where I was able to accomplish the task.

Karen Climbing the Mast!

Karen Climbing the Mast!

Karen Climbing the Mast!

I had hoped to continue climbing to the top, just for the feeling of accomplishment, but the height and the swaying were beginning to get to me a bit and my arms were TIRED, so down I went.  I guess I’ll have to work out more with those weights before I attempt this again. 

View looking down from top of mast

We still have MANY repairs to make before we can get underway, so expect to be here at the marina for 2 more days.  As they say, “Cruising is working on your boat in exotic places.”