Sunset over the Atlantic the first day of our Crossing4/30/09 We awoke our last morning at Folly Beach in time to see Teamwork headed out to go fishing at 6:00 AM. I think they were surprised when we were up and waving good bye to them. (Note: Teamwork sent us an email with a picture showing us all of the Mahi Mahi they caught today…maybe we should have gone fishing, oh well we will visit Folly Beach again and maybe get to go fishing then.)
Because the Folly River is so shallow we had to wait for the tide to come up before we could leave. At 11:20 we felt the water would be deep enough to make it down the river and it was, we had no problems. The current in the Stono River was in our favor so it was a nice trip up the Stono. We saw dolphins and LOTS of pelicans and birds in the marshes along the way.
There was traffic in Charleston Harbor but compared to the weekend it was quiet.
It was nice day on the water. We decided we had time to make it to Graham Creek, which has always been a good anchorage for us. The anchor was down at 6:50. The wind and current played against each other all night so it was a little noisy but our anchor held well.
5/1/09 The Waccamaw River in the fall is beautiful with all of the fall colors and one of our favorite places along the waterway. In the spring however it is hard to enjoy the beauty of the river because the May Flies are BITING!!! In NC they call them Deer Flies, but they are mean!!! I stayed inside the salon behind the screen, but poor Wayne was at their mercy. The cockpit floor and windshield looked like a war zone where he had killed so many flies. He had welts on his back where he had been bitten. We were later told that Deep Woods Off would keep them away, so I have added it to our provisioning list for our next cruise!
On the plus side the dolphins in the area are abundant and several pods played with the boat along the way. Wayne also spotted three different alligators. Each alligator was sitting at a cut where a little stream met the river, trying to catch their next meal in the current. This is also a popular nesting area for the osprey. We saw lots of osprey and nests, as well as cormorants, a hawk, and other birds.
Wayne’s cousin, Bryan, and his family live in Murrells Inlet, SC not far from the Wacca Wache Marina, and when we can coordinate it, we stop to visit them. We had called and found out they would be home. They invited us over for dinner. We decided to anchor in Cow House Creek across from the Wacca Wache Marina. The anchorage guide showed it to be good holding and away from most of the current. Wayne decided to add a trip line to the anchor because of all the logs and limbs we saw in the water. A trip line is a line you tie to the anchor with a float on it. If your anchor is snagged under something can pull on the trip line to help you get the anchor out from whatever it is snagged on.
When we set the anchor is was secure. I sprayed the flies that were still alive and swarming in the cockpit with Ant and Roach Killer which is the only spray I had, it worked. We put the dinghy down and headed for shore. A friend of Bryan’s let us use his the end of his slip to tie up the dinghy. We walked over the Bryan’s house, he had offered us a ride but it was good to stretch our legs for the half mile walk. It was nice to catch up with Bryan, Sam and Olivia over a dinner of Shrimp and Mahi Mahi. Yummy.
We got back to the boat just as it was getting dark. Wayne went to bed early and I stayed up a little while to read. Not long after I went to bed I heard a TERRIBLE noise! When Wayne went out to see what was going on he discovered we had drug into the trees on the shoreline. We had to get out of the tree. When we started the engines the starboard engine turned off, that was not good. Wayne went to the windlass to try to raise the anchor while I tried to drive the boat. The anchor would not come all of the way up, that was not good. We got the boat away from the tree and back in the middle of the creek. It was after 10:00 PM. We decided to go slowly over to the marina and try to tie up to the face dock. We were happy to see a light on in the powerboat Seaquine that was on the face dock. I called out that we needed help. John, a boat captain, who was moving Seaquine north for the owner, came to our aide. Wayne guidrd the boat into the dock with only the port engine, while fighting the current and John helped tie us safely to the dock. The tree had broken a wind generator blade and our solar night light, and that was all the damage we could see. The in-water issues would have to wait until morning.
5/2/09 Neither of us slept well wondering what we would find in the morning. As soon as there was enough light Wayne put on his wet suit and snorkel gear and got in the water to take a look. It was very difficult to see in the water in the Waccamaw River with its rusty brown color. This color is caused by all the rotting leaves and trees that fall into the river. Wayne found that the trip line had snagged around the starboard sail drive, which evidently caused the anchor to trip and the boat to drag. The anchor was hung up in the trip line. When we had started the engines the trip line became tightly wrapped around the saildrive shaft. The propeller looked fine, which was good. Wayne was able to cut the trip line and bring in the anchor. However, the line wrapped around the sail drive was going to take a lot of work free, we needed a diver. We called Bryan who thankfully had a friend, Tommy who is a diver. Tommy was willing to come out at 8:30 on a Saturday morning. Bryan came down to the dock to give us some moral support. Tommy worked for over 30 minutes in the water and was able to free the rope. He checked out both propellers and thankfully there was no damage. We were lucky that there was no other damage. If this had to happen, it could not have happened at a better place, since Bryan was there and could find us help. Thanks, Bryan!!
Wayne rinsed the deck to remove the leaves and twigs. We filled up the water tank and got diesel and were on our way by 10:30.
Today we continued to see osprey nests, lots of birds, and turtles. We were surprised to see 6 juvenile mallard ducks swimming along.
The waterway was crowded with small boat traffic. It was a beautiful warm day and everyone wanted to be out enjoying it. All of this traffic made it a difficult day moving up the ICW. After today I would really like to see a national law that says you have to pass a safety course and get a license before being allowed to drive a boat. I am truly amazed that more people are not killed along the waterway.
We made it to Calabash Creek to spend the night. The shoaling in Calabash Creek where you anchor seems to be worse. Our first cruise 4 or 5 boats could anchor with no problem. Tonight there were only two of us. A third boat tried to anchor but there was not enough good water.
5/3/09 The South Carolina – North Carolina boarder is within sight of Calabash Creek. We got an early start to make the opening of the Sunset Beach Bridge, and we were back in NC by 7:30. It was a very windy day. We timed the Cape Fear River so we were not fighting the current and made good time. We arrived at the turn for the Carolina Beach anchorage by 2:00, and instead of stopping, we kept going. The small boat traffic was not quite as bad today. We have decided that we will not go on the ICW in this area on Saturday and Sunday during the spring. In the fall it was ok because it was cold, so there was less traffic.
Our next anchoring option was Wrightsville Beach. When we tried to anchor we were not happy because of the fetch (waves) from the wind. Even though we got the anchor to set well, we did not like the wind and waves that we were getting. So we called Seapath Marina and stayed at the dock. It blew 25 MPH the better part of the night, it was not comfortable at the dock, but at least we would not drag or have another boat drag into us.
5/4/09 The current going by Seapath Marina is strong. We decided to wait until a dock hand could help us leave the dock. I took advantage of the washing machine at the marina and did a load of laundry. At 7:45 a dock hand helped us get off the dock, it was worth the wait. He knew the currents and what the boat would do, so we had a smooth departure. Mondays are so much better on the waterway. We had three bridges to transit today but it was a nice trip up the waterway. It was a short day but with the predicted winds and rain, we knew we would have a good anchorage at Mile Hammock. After we dropped the hook, another boat from New Bern (Non Linear) came in and we chatted via VFF. They were heading south while we were heading north.
5/5/09 The Onslow Beach Bridge is close to Mile Hammock. It only opens on the hour between 7AM and 7PM. If you get there before 7:00AM then the bridge opens on demand. We were underway by 6:15 and the bridge opened for us and another boat at 6:53. The weather was a little overcast and he had small showers throughout the day but nothing that slowed us down. The current was in our favor and pushing us along until we reached Beaufort. When we made the turn to go up Adams Creek, we no longer had the current but it was still not bad. We stopped by Bock Marine for Kenny to look at our exhaust. Our exhaust currently vents to the inside, we would like it changed to the outside. Kenny said he could do the work, so we will schedule it for later this summer when we do the haul out to do our yearly saildrive maintenance.
We were finished at Bock Marine by 1:00. Our original plan was to anchor at Cedar Creek for the night, but we got to Cedar Creek a little after 2:00 and it seemed too early to stop. So we kept going. When we got out onto the Neuse River the wind was behind us, we put up the mainsail and were doing over 7 knots. I called Bud at Northwest Creek Marina to let him know we would be coming in but it would be after he left. He said I could give him a call when we got to the 1N marker. My estimate at that time, was that we might get here around 6:00. Well, the wind was pushing us along and we were making great time. I hailed Northwest Creek Marina to let them know we would be in not long after 5:00. Bud said that our friend Len would be waiting for us. We pulled into the marina at 5:15 and Len tied us up. Cruise number two had ended and we had come full circle after over 6 months and 2175 miles.
Note: We will be spending our “off season” at Northwest Creek Marina and traveling to see family and friends. Of course we will also be working on the to-do list we have been making for the last 6 months. I do not plan on updating the blog very often, but will let you know when I have posted more pictures.
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