Back in Charleston, the Grande Belle of the South

The great weather gods in the sky wanted us to feel right at home as we left Georgetown, SC Monday morning so they blanketed the harbor in dense fog - hello, we left home for a reason! But nothing was going to keep us from getting to Charleston so we headed out the channel barely able to see a few feet in front of us with Tide Hiker's fog horn sounding every two minutes (as is proper seamanship although I do have to admit the first time I heard it I jumped about 10 feet!!) The sun was just rising and cast an almost ethereal glow upon the fog ridden waterway - it truly was a beautiful sight (but then again the sight of the sun always makes my heart beat a little faster!)

As the fog started to lift, we could barely make out some of the homes along the shore making for quite a sight.

Soon enough the fog was gone, the sun was shining brightly, the waters were calmer than we've seen them in quite some time, we were on our way to Charleston - all was right with the world!! Doug and I were so busy snapping pictures for the blog and chatting about what a marvelous morning it was that we almost missed our turn off for the ICW - thanks Norm - it's good to have friends to keep you on the straight and narrow (or at least the right waterway)!

We proceeded to have one of those days on the water you dream about when you contemplate this cruising life - it was warm with the sun reflecting off the still waters, birds of all varieties dotted the shore and the sky calling out to us while the dolphins played in our bow wake and the river otters poked their noses up in greeting.

We saw so many majestic white egrets in the tops of trees, among the marshes on the shore and flying overhead that it almost became old hat.....almost!!

The swooping pelicans still make me laugh as I see them diving for fish

and congregated on an old dock or a shallow sand bar - they remind me of DeFever owners - where two or more meet, there always follows a party!!

And not to be left out were the blue herons who stand so stately amongst the marshes on the shoreline

- it's only when they open their mouth and you hear that god-awful yacking noise that you wonder how such a beautiful creature could have such a grating voice (and then you think of Fran Drescher and you understand....) The cormorants too were out in force to keep us company usually occupying the tops of navigation markers or pilings on the dock - often waving their wings to dry themselves although they think they are being fierce and intimidating!!


It was also a day of incredibly high tide so we didn't have to worry much about the water depths even in some of the shallower spots on the ICW - in fact we saw several swamped boats (one too many beers we think!)

and flooded boat ramps along the way.

We are also getting closer to the land of shrimp boats so we had plenty of them to entertain us as the birds flock to them like, well, us to cold beer!

As we glided through the last stretch before reaching Charleston harbor, the sun lit up the waters ahead of us as if someone had sprinkled hundreds of diamonds along the water's surface. Gone were the cypress trees of the Waccamaw replaced with miles of marsh and palmetto trees often forming their own little islands!!

Right before the Ben Sawyer Bridge (which is scheduled to close soon for repairs - whew made it under in time!), we were greeted by a big smiley face at one of the homes lining the waterway - that about summed up how we all felt!

Suffice it to say Gypsies and Tide Hiker had a gorgeous day on the water!!

Tide Hiker Follows Gypsies as We Approach Charleston

Can someone please tell me why the wind always starts whipping when we reach Charleston Harbor - it never fails us!! I think the wind gods know we have to go dock and therefore think it's funny we have to dock in Charleston's strong current abetted by a gusty wind - not funny dudes! Our first sight of the harbor was of big container ships inbound and outbound - Charleston is a very busy, active commercial harbor! But we also saw the gorgeous bridge that spans the Cooper River

with the USS Yorktown, an aircraft carrier built in WW II and now a museum, in the foreground, and knew we were almost home! We have come to love Charleston and never dream of passing it by on our trips north or south!

Shortly after tying Gypsies and Tide Hiker to our dock at the Charleston Maritime Center, it was time for church!!! Yes you heard right - that's what I said - although my kind of church is the Mad River Bar and Grill, an old converted Episcopalian church complete with stained glass windows and hard backed wooden pews (also home to the $4 martini at happy hour!) For Vicki and Norm, this was a new religious experience!!

Notice how in the picture the light is shining down on us - like the star of Bethlehem, the sun directed us to this bar - we had no choice!! The musicians playing at happy hour were ones we had heard before the last time through with Bob and Stephanie and like the last time, they soon drove us out...although VIcki was fascinated by his instrument which was called a harp guitar (not too original I think!)

But no worries, we were off to TBonz for some home made potato chips smothered in melted blue cheese - have I mentioned I love Charleston??? Finally while Vicki headed back to the boat for her Dancing with the Stars fix, Norm, Doug and I shouldered on and hit Wings for you guessed it, some wings! Since this was dinner we got the platter of 25 so you can get 5 different flavors - YUM! Well for any of you going to a Wings, beware of the Red Dragon Thai teryaki wings - they are deadly hot (and it's not the first one that gets you - it sneaks up on you and the heat compounds so about mid-way through the second wing, you think your mouth is going to fall off - or at least you hope it does!! Yes I am speaking from experience - bartender, keep the beers coming!!)

The next day we got to meet up with Bart and Ellie Franey (of Dewlap) who live in Charleston - another reason we would never pass by without stopping (although Bart did finally cut his hair - Doug was so disappointed!!) They had some friends with them, Dorcas and Chris Sommerhoff, who have a 43 foot DeFever currently being worked on in Myrtle Beach so after the requisite boat tours (we DeFever owners love to show off our boats), we had quite the gang for a late lunch at the Noisy Oyster!

The afternoon was largely taken up by provisioning at the local Harris Teeter which is not too far from our marina - but too far to carry large quantities of provisions, especially when much of it consists of beer and wine!! So not to be thwarted, Doug and Vicki just pushed our grocery carts along the streets of Charleston down the docks and to our boats where we off-loaded groceries - you really should have seen some of the stares we got - too funny.

Of course we returned the carts so really what was the problem??? Thanks to Stephanie and Bob for inventing this brilliant approach to boat re-provisioning sans car!

Today it's fairly overcast (again!) but we plan to make the best of it - we are taking the water ferry across the harbor to Bart's marina where Norm and Vicki want to scope things out (for a possible future extended stay maybe??) and get to have lunch with Bart again! It really is so much fun meeting up with old friends as you travel from port to port! Doug and I believe that a trip to church later on this afternoon will be called for - we've been bad, very bad and thus must do penance!

We plan to head out tomorrow for Beaufort, SC (pronounced Bew'-fort and not to be confused with Boe'-fort, NC) and push hard south - we are meeting up with September Song at least in St Augustine for Thanksgiving (if not sooner in Fernandina Beach, FL) so we have a deadline!! Unfortunately that means we will probably have to split up with Tide Hiker who is on a somewhat more relaxed timetable (but not before one more rip roaring afternoon!) We can't wait to see the September Song crew since we haven't seen them in almost two months - wow how time flies!!

Click here to see our location at the Charleston Maritime Center.
Click here to see all the places we have stopped in the ICW this Fall.

Catching Up to Tide Hiker

We left Wrightsville Beach Saturday morning despite the still 15-20 knot winds - we just couldn't sit there any longer - we'd had enough of Ida!! So off we went and actually the trip down to Myrtle Beach wasn't too bad. In the ICW we were fairly protected from the winds and it was only at several of the inlets that open up to the ocean that we felt the real gusts of the wind - looking out the inlets to the ocean beyond we were really glad we were in the "Ditch" as the waves out in the ocean were huge!! The trip through this section of the ICW normally is pretty shallow and narrow but two of the worst spots historically were dredged at the beginning of this year so they weren't too bad - a couple extra feet of depth makes all the difference in the world to your sphincter (we call particularly hairy moments on the water "sphincter moments")!! We rode a great current down through Carolina Beach

Approaching Carolina Beach

which looks like a fairly cute beach town with lots of gingerbread colored houses

Carolina Beach Houses

and several colorful marinas (although we've never stopped here) - along the way we passed the igloo house,

The Igloo House

the blue bus to nowhere

The Blue Bus to Nowhere

and tons of pelicans. sea gulls, ducks and herons who kept us company. The current turned against us in Snow's Cut (we dropped from 9.5 to 5.0 knots in a heart beat!) and we encountered the earth ball house boat again that had last caused us problems under the Wrightsville Beach bridge - he seemed to be anchored right in the middle of the cut - huh???

The Earth Ball

And then we got out onto the Cape Fear River which was nasty in the full on wind - luckily once we got out into the middle of the River we had the wind and current both behind us so it wasn't as bad as it could have been but there were still lots of white caps and the wind was whipping. We've seen worse!!!

The Cape Fear River

Passing Southport, NC we caught up to the Army Corps of Engineers workboat Snell that we had heard on the radio earlier - they were out picking up fallen trees, logs and other debris in the ICW in the wake of Ida. We gave them a big wave and thank you as we passed them by!!

The Snell

The last obstacle before Myrtle Beach was the Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge which is the only pontoon bridge on the Atlantic ICW - it only opens on the hour (because it is old, tired and in need of lots of work!!) and unfortunately we missed the opening by 10 minutes so we had 50 minutes to hang out and contemplate life before the next opening....

Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge

They are building a 65 foot bridge to replace this one which will be great when it's done but for now there is just the added complication of lots of work boats and barges there! But then we passed into South Carolina (yippee another state down!!) and it was on to Myrtle Beach, home of one of our favorite bars Key West Crazy on the Little River!!!

Key West Crazy from the ICW

The alternator that Doug had installed while we were in Wrightsville Beach worked great - the only problem was that we weren't charging our batteries the whole trip so we had to run our generator for awhile to stay reasonably charged. Things that make you go hmmmm....Doug initially thought that it was a regulator that wasn't working properly so when we got into our slip at Lightkeepers Marina in Myrtle Beach, Doug headed down into the dungeon (or engine room) to replace the regulator. Turns out that wasn't it which we found out the next day - but have no fear, Doug figured it out and it turned out to be a blown fuse which he replaced in Georgetown so Gypsies is completely happy once more and we are good to go!!!

Anyways...after the regulator switch, we were off to Key West Crazy for a night of fun and games - it's a three mile walk from the marina but we had an absolutely amazing sunset to take our minds off the walk!!

Sunset in N. Myrtle Beach

Turns out there was a great band playing called Tammy's Tangent believe it or not (you can't make this stuff up!)

Tammy's Tangent

We had a wonderful dinner even though the owner/chef Mike wasn't around as we listened to the band and made up stories for the incredible cast of characters that were frequenting the bar that night. What an incredible mix of people - bikers, blue hairs, dirt bags, and sailors (oops sorry that's a Michael McCloud song...but it seems appropriate as there was truly a very interesting assemblage of people there that night!) Anyways, knowing we had to be up at 6:00 am for an early trip to Georgetown the next day, we dragged ourselves away earlier than we wanted...if you're ever in North Myrtle Beach you really should check out this place - it's a riot!

We actually woke the next morning to something we hadn't seen in a long time - the sun!!! and not too much wind either!!! Somehow it is always easier to get motivated when it's sunny out - so we didn't even grumble too much when the alarm went off (although Bootsie refused to leave her cocoon under the covers because it was still pretty cold out (she wound up staying there all day))! Heading out of the marina we saw this half sunken boat which caused us to think the captain should have followed our example and left before that last beer at KWC the night before!!!

One Too Many Beers at Key West Crazy

We immediately came upon the Little River Bridge which the bridge tender had open for us before we were even upon him - too cool a way to start the day!!! The Myrtle Beach stretch of the ICW is called the Rockpile because it is a narrow ditch lined with coquina rock on either side which makes for an interesting passage usually but we had such a high tide, that we had no issues at all - it was actually fairly fun to see all the houses, some magnificent

and some not so much, although they were often very colorful!!

Ducks Swimming Along in the Rock Pile

Pelican Taking a Rest on the Pilings

Pelicans on the Dock

We even encountered a courteous Sea Ray owner who actually slowed down as he approached us in the Rockpile and didn't floor it again until he was well past us - because we have never before seen such a thing, we are giving him the place of honor in our blog today!!!

The World's Only Courteous Sea Ray Owner!

We passed a great sign showing the mileage to NY vs Miami - glad we are heading south!!

Sign Along the ICW

Then it was time for our favorite stretch of the ICW - the Waccamaw River!!!

Along the Waccamaw

Black Mangroves in the Waccamaw

Boat in the Waccamaw

Blue Heron Wading in the Shallow Water of the Waccamaw

Pelican in Flight

Tree in the Waccamaw

Trees in the Waccamaw

The Waccamaw is truly a special place lined on either side with towering cypress trees draped in Spanish moss with osprey nests atop the trees or nestled above the channel markers.

Osprey Nest in the Top of Tall Cypress

Some of the Markers are Hard to Read in the Waccamaw

Osprey Nest

When we passed through here this summer on our trip north, each nest was filled with baby osprey - now the nests lay empty awaiting the next mating season, some of them so overgrown you can barely see the navigation marker. The River was wonderfully calm and there was plenty of wildlife to keep our cameras clicking and our mouths open!!! We picked up lots more current down the Waccamaw so were in Georgetown before we knew it and were greeted on our way up the channel by Norm and Vicki on Tide Hiker!!

Approaching Georgetwn

We were at a different marina as theirs was supposedly full for the night (NOT) - but no worries - after getting Gypsies safely tied up, we headed over beers in hand to say hello! Now the best part was that it was not only sunny in Georgetown but it was also warm - I'm talking full fledged shorts weather - yippee!!!!! SO with white legs showing we interrupted Norm's boat cleaning afternoon chores (which Gypsies is desperately in need of - but we have our priorities straight and enjoying the warmth with a few cold beers takes precedence!)

The Gang Showing Off Their White Legs

When we drank Norm out of cold beer (sorry about that Norm!!) we headed back to Gypsies to change for a late afternoon spent over at the Roost watching some football. While the sun was warm while it lasted, the chill set in as it started to sink!! Vicki and Norm joined us over at Buzz's Roost for wings and cold beers - what a great way to spend an afternoon (although we did have to move in from the outer deck to inside due to the vulture sized mosquitos that were dive bombing us - who ever heard of mosquitos in November (the mosquitos in Maine start hibernating in August due to the cold!!!)

The Gang at Buzz's Roost

We all headed back to the boats for an early evening given the 7:00 am planned departure for Charleston to try and avoid getting in at mid-tide (Charleston's current is horrific and makes docking there always a challenge - we're wimps - we like to minimize the challenge!) I had hoped to watch the Pats/Colts game since we had cable at the dock but alas it wasn't working so I settled for watching the gamecast on my computer on ESPN.com - well that got old soon enough and when I went to sleep we had the game firmly in control at 24-14 at halftime. Imagine my disgust when I woke up at 2:16 am, checked the score and found out we lost by 1 point - I really hate Indy (sorry Denise!) Oh well, what can you do??

We woke this am to huge fog - what are we back in Maine??? But we headed out anyways - heh, we're Mainiacs and used to a little fog!! The fog lasted through the Winyah Bay until the sun broke through and burned it off but we got some great pictures of the harbor and sunrise through an almost ethereal fog!! Right now it is unbelievably calm, sunny and beautiful out here on the waterway - one of those top ten days - what you dream about when you think of living this life!!! I'll save all the pictures of today's steam for our next blog because there will be tons of them!! For now we are headed to Charleston and looking forward to spending several days - now we can play without worrying about having to wake up early to steam the next morning - watch out Charleston!! I hear church calling.....(for those of you that have forgotten or not read our prior Charleston blogs and are thinking have I lost my mind - church is also a bar)!!!!!

Click here to see our location at Lightkeepers Marina in N. Myrtle Beach.

Click here to see our location at Harborwalk Marina in Georgetown.

Still Waiting on Ida to Exhaust Herself...and New Winter Plans!

The good news is that our new alternator came in - despite the fact that we are out on anchor in Wrightsville Beach, Seapath Yacht Club was nice enough to allow us to have the alternator shipped to them so we just had to dinghy in to get it. That shouldn't have been a big deal but we have been dealing with the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida (I've rarely seen barometric pressure that low!) which has brought us virtually non-stop rain and 20-30 knots of wind.

Our Neighbors in Wrightsville Beach During Ida

On Wednesday Doug and I kept waiting for the rains to let up enough that we could dinghy in to pick up the alternator (even the pelicans were trying to hide from the storm by gathering in the lee of Gypsies!)

The Pelicans in Gypsies' Lee

and by Thursday we were still waiting - finally we just sucked it up, threw on our full foul weather gear and headed over to the marina - we could barely make out the channel to get in. What a truly miserable, wet, cold (you get the picture) albeit fairly short trip!!! Doug then spent Thursday afternoon installing the alternator and we are now good to go....YIPPEE!!!

Now for the bad news, we woke up this morning and it is still blowing 20-30 knots and drizzling - OK it's not the cats and dogs rain of the past several days but it's pretty horrid and cold - besides we have to cross the Cape Fear River (the name seems to say it all!) which would be incredibly ugly in 30 knots of wind!! So we're sitting here in Wrightsville Beach on the hook twiddling our thumbs and listening to the bowling alley sounds of the wind whipped waves crashing against our hull with our boat kitties cuddled around us grinning from ear to ear - they love this!!

Puss Cuddles Up to Mom!

Bootsie Tries to Stay Awake

Our track on our GPS unit looks like a kaleidescope since we've been turning around at the whim of the wind so much!

Our Anchor Track on the GPS at 1/8th of a mile Range

We are getting really, really antsy to be gone though!! We just spoke with Norm and Vicki on Tide Hiker and have plans to meet up with them in a couple days in Georgetown, SC - tomorrow Myrtle Beach and Sunday to Georgetown - then on to Charleston the next day!! At least those are the current plans and hopefully Mother Nature will cooperate - based on our radar view and the internet weather reports, we seem to be on the downside of Ida so we're crossing our fingers that tomorrow looks better! I think it would take a blizzard or other equally horrific weather event to keep us here again tomorrow - we want to be under way and making tracks!

But it's not like we have been total and complete sloths while we have been here - we firmed up our plans for this coming winter! We had tentatively booked a slip for four months in Marathon back at Docksides where we had spent about a month last year but have been worrying a little that we would end up finding jobs in Key West which would be a pain without a car. We just got back in touch with our friends Brett and Jill on Muircu (I'll admit up front, they are snailbotters, rag baggers, wind whiffers...but we love them anyways!) and they mentioned they were planning on spending the winter in a new marina/resort complex on Stock Island right outside of Key West. We called to check it out since it is not yet in any of the guidebooks and it looked great - it has a restaurant/tiki bar, private beach (this especially caught Sun Pig's attention), infinity pool and health club (you can see my priority ranking!) and oh yeah, it's about 5 1/2 miles to Schooner Wharf and 6 miles to Hogs Breath in KW!!! We had earlier checked out prices at the other KW marinas and they were about 3x the price of a slip in Marathon so we were a little skeptical but when we called, Angelo quoted us a price that was only $50 more than Marathon and his included cable so it was really a wash. So while we will miss Marathon and seeing Florida Straits play every Sunday, we are headed to Key West Harbor Yacht Club for the winter!!!! Be careful the information you communicate Brett, you guys now have company for the winter!!!

We are pretty excited about our new plans - if we can't be cruising the Exumas with September Song, Sea Pearl and the gang, I guess a winter in Key West is not such a bad second option!!! Besides getting jobs somewhere, we hope to be able to get over to the Dry Tortugas for a long weekend here and there - we're at a great launching point. AND did we mention we're only about 6 miles from Hogs, Schooners and Irish Kevins??? So we get to see a lot of Scott and Dave as well as Michael McCloud and Bil Krauss who we saw play in Georgetown, SC with Stephanie and Bob on our trip north this year (he starts playing a five month gig at Irish Kevins just about the time we'll get there!) Watch out Michelle - the boat people are really coming to town and they aren't leaving any time soon! For all our cruising friends who swing through the Keys this winter, we'd love to see you - check out our new marina home and maybe we can get a group together for a run to the Dry Tortugas before you head off to the Bahamas or for other far flung ports!!

Click here to see our anchorage in Wrightsville Beach.