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Brunswick, GA  and Jekyll Island

11/23/2014

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Hi Tide at Brunswick GA
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Low Tide, 8' down from the morning
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Near the Farmers Market in Brunswick
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Unusual musical instrument, made of wood and pvc plumbing pipes. The percussion sticks are missing.
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Back of the above musical instrument. Saw this and others at the Waterfront Park in Brunswick.
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Moxie in her slip at the Brunswick Landing Marina. This Marina is huge, hundreds of boats.
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Rout 17 Brunswick Bridge over the Brunswick River.
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Main Entrance into Jekyll Island State Park
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Old Jekyll Island Club House and Annex, Now a Hotel. Note the croquet court. Jekyll Island was a private club for the rich and famous from 1885 until 1942. Some members built "cottages" and would winter here and summer in Newport RI.
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The pool was a recent addition.
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Another view from the side.
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The head supervisors house.
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Huge oak trees and Spanish moss. The canopy of these trees are something else.
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Electric runabout circa 1915-1920.
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It's Christmas in Jekyll Island. Front porch of one of the cottages.
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We wont be able to visit at night, but quite a few of the trees will be lit up for Christmas.
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Another Cottage.
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Cottages of all sizes and styles
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The "Crane" cottage. Plumbing family Crane
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Some of the workers at Jekyll Island lived on site. Their homes are now small shops.
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Another Cottage. Some of the cottages are part of the Museum and others are inhabited by new owners.
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The main street of the Historical section on Jekyll Island.
We visited Jekyll Island today. It was formerly a private hunting and wintering estate for the rich and famous for people like the Morgan's, the Rockerfellow's  Goodyear's and Crane's, to mention a few.
It's heyday would have been the early twentieth century. It is now a state park, there are numerous hotels, 2 or 3 large (18 hole) golf courses, beautiful sandy beaches, bike trails and many restaurants. There is also a historical section and museum. We relly enjoyed our visit here.

Brunswick GA is a nice little town, It's downtown is having a hard time with many empty shops.
Tomorrow,  we will push on south and plan to be in St. Mary's for the Cruisers get together and pot luck diner on American Thanksgiving day. We should be in Florida the next day.
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November 23rd, 2014

11/23/2014

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South South Carolina and Northern Georgia

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Our Friends Gill and Sharleen on "First Love" at anchor in Turners Creek, the last place we anchored in South Carolina. They were going to hop "outside" the intracoastal to the Atlantic and come back in at Northern Florida, to miss the infamous winding Georgia ICW. Will see them later in the Bahamas
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Anchorage at Turners Creek, SC
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This was a cold day on the water as we pass this vintage yawl. The high was about 48F and below freezing at night.
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Fisherman off Bonaventure Cemetery, a place of interest -not far from Savannah, GA.
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Gerry huddled over the chart table, doing nightly 'homework'. As you can see, we are a bit cramped, so everything must be put away so we are in "ship shape".
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Sailor getting into the Christmas Spirit at Thurderbolt, a subberb of Savanna GA. We stayed a night here a night at an expensive marina ($2/ ft plus $10 for power)
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We stopped and anchored in this Creek which to do some shopping. Hoggan's Marina charged $10 to use their dingy dock, but the Publix supermarket was right behind their boatyard, very handy and convenient.
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Shrimp boat's are very numerous in this area.
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Livaboards on the old sailboat in front of the old fishing boat.
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The winding ICW in South Carolina and Northern Georgia. It winds and doubles back on on itself so sometimes you wonder if your making headway.
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Passing the entrance to "Moon River"
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10 more ft of waterline and 25 more HP and most everyone is passing us. We cruise at about 6.2 knots in still water but a tide can make that anywhere from 4 knots to 8 knots over the ground, depending on whether its against or with you. Most of the displacement trawlers are going at 8 knots and some of the larger sailboats are doing that as well.
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Tug pushing a barge. Sometimes it's pretty scary when the channel is narrow.
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Wild boars on one of the barrier islands, Georgia.
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We are by no means the smallest boat heading south.
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Low tide can be a bit dicey on the ICW. The tides in Georgia are 8' so low tide can cause problems to a deep draft sailboat. We draw about 5'6" and have scraped through a few a few places. The mud is very soft so no harm is done if you "touch".
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Brunswick Bridge (RT 17) as viewed from St. Simon Sound. 185 ft vertical clearance.
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First sighting of White Pelicans
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The ever present Brown Pelicans
Back on the ICW, it's a cold day. Rivers traveled : The Ashley, Stono, Wadmalaw, North Ediston, Dawho, South Ediston. Caught up with First Love, and anchored in the same spot they did along with 9 others .  Good to have south- bound  company again! Celebrated one month on water with a nice meal and some wine. The next day was even colder going through the Ashepow, and Coosaw  (Coosaw was wide enough to sail) to the Beaufort River. Had a bit of a competition with a boat from Charlottown,: PEI- Be Faithful 2. Went out for supper with Gil and Sharleen from First Love.

There are no pics for the day we left Beaufort because we were frozen stiff and did not even  want to get the camera out. Hilton Head, GA. would be beautiful on a nice day- but  it was cloudy and very windy. Anchored at 1pm, just before the rain started. Very noisy night because of wind , tide  and pedestrian ferries, had to pull up anchor and move in the morning because an abandoned boat broadsided us and was threatening to do worse with it’s bow sprint. At least there was no tornado's as the weather warning predicted. Did a cold motor–sail to Thunderbolt , GA,  in and out of cuts and creeks and very shallow water just before crossing the Savanna River. Lots of boat traffic in this area, sailboats in a parade with us, (we saw Dave single-handling his Hullmaster 27, from Trenton, Ont., we met him at Beaufort, SC) and commercial traffic on the larger waterways. We passed The Bonaventure Cemetery on the Wilmington River which is featured in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
We had a very tasty sea food supper at Tortula’s, across the road from the marina. The next day we anchored a bit upriver to use a ramp at Hogan’s marina, close to a grocery store a post office, and had lunch on board while there.  It is a busy place and lots of boats anchor there although the lady at the marina said it was not a ‘legal’ place to anchor?? We  traveled by the Moon River ( it is not ‘wider than a mile”-but the homes here have lots of $tyle), across the Vernon and the Big and Little Ogeechee Rivers. The tide was rising so Moxie got past ‘Hell’s Gate’ and a few other shoaly spots just fine, anchoring in a very secluded creek just as the sun was beginning to set. "Red sky at night…" for 2 nights in a row- as the day going through all the rivers close to Sapelo Sound (huge shrimp boat fleet here) was also sunny. Were with a few other boats and had low water again (tide at 1 pm), so we went a bit further than planned to take advantage of the tide noting that the current here is strong in any anchorage. Ended up at anchor in the North River, about 30 miles north of Brunswick
GA. The next day we left at high tide and got through Little Mud Creek and all the other winding rivers, creeks and cuts arriving at Brunswick Landing Marina at about 1:30 pm. Plan to rent a car
here re-provision and see some of the local sights like Jykell Island.
The weather is getting a bit milder, we spent some very cool days and cold nights on the waterway
this segment.


Nov 17/14            Opossum Pt., Broad Creek, SC (Mile 564 IWC)

Nov 18/14            Morningstar Marina, Thunderbolt , GA (Mile  585 ICW)

Nov 19/14            Anchorage, Turner’s Point, GA (Mile 585 IWC)

Nov 19/14            Anchorage, Buckhead Creek GA (Mile 608 ICW)  

Nov 20/14            Anchorage, North River, GA (Mile 651 ICW)

Nov 21/14            Brunswick Landing Marina, Brunswick, GA (Mile 680 ICW)

Gerry Note:  Was able to upload the pictures very quickly this time, less than a minute each which is why there are so many (some places it took 15 minutes a picture). WiFi at most of the Marinas is very slow and everyone is trying to get the most out of it, slowing it even more. The WiFi at Brunswick landing is the best so far, making this segment of our Blog a treat to get online. Boat is working well and again, are we ever glad to have a heater.

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South Carolina

11/16/2014

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A typical open swing bridge on the ICW. Sometimes you have to time your approach, as they open at specific times.
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An anchorage on Thoroughfare Creek of the Wacamaw River, SC. Upriver from Cape Fear.
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Palmento "palm" trees starting to be more present the further south we go. Typical "low country" scenery.
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Charleston Harbour Marina, across the Ashley River from Charleston.
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Patriot Point Naval museum, some 2nd world war ships including the carrier "Yorktown", a destroyer and a submarine. The carrier had a lot of vintage aircraft ranging from the 2nd war to about 10 years ago.
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We toured Fort Sumter, were the first shots in the American Civil War were fired.
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Fort Sumter National Monument at the entrance to Charleston Harbour
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Downtown Charleston
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Old Southern House in Beaufort SC
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Garden and trees in Beaufort SC
The sun was warming us up ,the wind was chilly, and the tides strong getting into Southport from the Cape Fear River. We saw a small part of Southport –dinged over to the area of Dutchman’s Park from our lovely anchorage. It was there that we talked to Art and Kate Hesse  of Patriot, from NJ, but making their home in this area  now and on their way to Florida. Crossing the border from NC to SC was not met with a ‘Welcome’ sign of any kind, but we took a few photos and noted that there was less development and more trees, it was a Saturday so lots of folks were fishing, and some did not abide by the ‘No Wake” rule.

 

 “The Strand” at Little River is a boating and vacation area, lots of marinas, seafood restaurants-this area continues to Myrtle beach and Georgetown. We took a marina do laundry and have showers, the port is also a yacht club  so we have dinner and take in the Sat night entertainment.

 

Next day we passed  the Anna and Victoria, they were going into a Marina and we were pushing on. The fancy homes are thinning out, but every now and then an upscale boating or golfing housing  development shows up- also on this stretch are fishing and hunting ‘camps’, and house boats.  This area was once all rice plantations. We anchored in the ‘boonies’, a lovely spot with one other boat, called home, and touched base with Uncle Arch and Aunt Anne (The Accidental RVers) who got to Charleston, SC  before us, so we will see them in FL.

 

Survived “the Rock Pile” ! The next day-not much traffic with us (some big cabin cruisers passing us at Georgetown), very low water at MacClellanville, and a lonely anchorage with an occasional fishing boat (this seems to be an oyster harvesting area.) There is a protected forest here as well as  a national wildlife refuge -Awendaw, SC is the nearest spot on the map.

 

By the Time We Got to 30 miles from  Charleston:

We were out of fresh produce, bread, rum, and in need of the company of others. Gerry is ¾ through Das Boot and Debbie finished reading all her books, so has opened Kindle to the downloads from the Slave South reading list from Coursera. With all this mind we started an e-mail group of other boaters, and did some planning.

  Luckily, we had great neighbours here at the dock- Gerry was able to get a drive to fill the propane tanks. The Marina at Patriot’s Point offers Water Taxis and Trolley service all day, as well as showers, laundry, and a great restaurant: ’The Fish House’. We went to the historic downtown area, bought some groceries,  and found a hardware store that had some things on our list and that  also offered free books ! After storing our stash, Gerry went on a tour of the “Yorkville’ and Debbie went back over the river to The Market. Sundowners with our new friends (the Russell cousins) at the dock was fun- they have roots in Tennessee (40 miles from Dolly Parton’s family place ) and they are very interested in Civil War history. Next day we toured Fort Sumter and went back downtown –great city! Great crab-cakes! Warm Sun! Leaving Charleston in great shape: clean boat ,clean clothes, H20 top-up, pump-out, fridge full! 

Back on the ICW, it a cold day. Rivers traveled :Ashley, Stono, Wadmalaw, North Ediston, Dawho, South Ediston. Caught up with First Love, and anchored in the same spot they did along with 9 others-good to have south- bound  company again! Celebrated one month on water with a nice meal and some wine. The next day was even colder going through the Ashepow, and Coosaw  (Coosaw was wide enough to sail) to the Beaufort River. Had a bit of a competition with a boat from Charlottown, PEI Be Faithful 2. Went out for supper with Gil and Sharleen from First Love.


Nov 8/14              Myrtle Beach Yacht Club, Little River, SC  (345 ICW)

Nov 9/14              Anchorage, Thoroughfare Creek, Waccommaw River (388 ICW)                                   ICW

Nov 10/14            Anchorage, Awendaw Creek,  (436 ICW)

Nov 11-13/14       Charleston City Resort and Marina, Patriot’s Point,    (464 ICW)                                                                  Charleston, SC (Mile 464)

Nov 14/14            Anchorage, South Edisto River, SC (Mile 509 ICW)

Nov 15/14            Beaufort Municipal Marina, Beaufort, SC  (545 ICW)



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More North Carolina

11/9/2014

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Michael on the Neuse River, NC
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A commercial fishing center between Oriental and Beaufort, NC. A single hander resting at the dock.
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Sunset at Broad Creek, Near Oriental, NC
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Dockmaster at Spooners Creek, Near Morehead City, NC
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Traffic Jam on the ditch, Camp LeJeun, NC
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Sailboat aground at stretch through Camp LeJeun, NC
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These guys are on a mission
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Shore line south of Beaufort NC
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We anchored here at Writesville Beach
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Derelict Boat and building around South Port, NC
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Welcome to South Carolina
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North Myrtle Beach SC, on the ditch.
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Little River, near Myrtle Beach SC, entrance into a huge Marina.
Off to a late start; left Belhaven, NC ( 9:30 am) waiting at one location for  pump-out at one facility and over to another for a fill up of diesel, however the new proprietors were having mechanical problems with the diesel pump, so the spare tank of fuel had to do for the day. It was a cold day starting out, we were dressed as warmly as we could but thankfully the sun was shining!
We took a jut off the Neuse River to a beautiful anchorage in Broad Creek, just north of Oriental, NC. Gorgeous sun set ! The day included motor –sailing the second half of the Pungo River going south, Pamlico Sound, the ICW to the Neuse River.
 
Motor –sailed across the Neuse River, through Adams Creek, the IWC, New Port River , an extra early start got us all the way to Morehead City. Watching the chart very closely coming through the very busy area of Beaufort-Morehead, the  RR Bridge that is usually opened except when a train passes is closed for repairs, (however it is open from 12-1 pm)- by some miracle we sailed through just at 12: 30 pm-the only boat to do so. Really impressive homes in this area, and many boaters! We saw dolphins playing along the way, and it looks and feels more ‘South’-the smell of the  Atlantic Ocean wonderful! The Marina at Spooner’s Creek is ‘up-scale’ for the same  price as average, and just a half hr. walk to the Shopping Center. Pizza for supper, and left-overs for next day.

  The scenery past Morehead City includes some impressive architecture, boat ramps and many folks out fishing. It also included “DANGER” and “Restricted” areas, helicopters,  war ships and other military boats going through Camp LeJeun

Low water levels and a schooner aground just before the Onslow River Bridge created some havoc on the ICW (240.7) at noon- a backlog of ~20 sailboats and ~10 motorboats maneuvered  around a green day-marker ( we went aground but were able to back off ) to get to the swing bridge. We missed the 1pm, but the bridge operators honored the 1:30 -opening 5 minutes later.

  Instead of anchoring at Mile Hammock Bay ( which belongs to the military) , we tried to find a spot at New River- no luck-really low water, so we took a spot on the outside dock of Swan Pt. Marina-lots of traffic: Coast Guard, fisherman, Corp of US Army Engineers barges and others., ie . rocky. Good hospitality though, as we had hot cinnamon loaf delivered to Moxie. The  next day was more of the same, warmer, with more varieties of  shore birds and  even bigger mansions.

  The sun was warming us up but the wind was chilly, and the tides strong getting into Southport from the Cape Fear River. We saw a small part of Southport, dingied over to the area of Dutchman’s Creek Park, which is quite ‘resort’ like. Talked to Art and Kate Hesse  of Patriot, from NJ, but making their home in this area and on their way to Florida. Crossing the border from NC to SC was not met with a ‘Welcome’ sign of any kind, but we took a few photos and noted that there was less development and more trees, it was a Saturday so lots of folks were fishing, and some did not abide by the ‘No Wake” rule. “The Strand” at Little River is a boating and vacation area, lots of marinas, seafood restaurants-this area continues to Myrtle beach and Georgetown. We took a marina do laundry and have showers. 

Gerry Notes:
Moxie is running well, we burn about 1/2 a US gallon an hour.  Get's a bit dicey with the holding tank
and we need to pump-out every 3rd day or so.  We do about 30-40 miles a day, starting early and trying to get to our destination by early to mid afternoon.  99% of the big power boats, the fast trawlers  and sport fishing boats are very courteous and do a "slow pass" as to not knock us over with their big wakes.  As for the local power boaters, they all wave as they go past you at full speed, thakfully most of them are 25' or under. There seems to be a lot of plywood and paint wasted on the "NO WAKE" signs. We are trying to get to Charleston by the 11th and stop for 2-3 days to "smell the roses". Seem to have lost contact with some of the cruiser's we met earlier on especially the ones from the Chesapeake and the Dismal Swamp.



Nov 1-2/ 14          Belhaven Waterways Marina, NC (Mile 135 IWC)

Nov 3/14              Anchorage, Broad Creek, NC (Mile 173 ICW)

Nov 4/14              Spooner’s Creek Marina, Morehead City, NC (210 IWC)

Nov 5/14              Swan Point Marina, New River, NC (247 ICW)

Nov 6/14              Anchorage, Wrightsville Beach, NC (283 ICW)

Nov 7/14              Anchorage, Pipeline Canal, Southport, NC (311ICW)

Nov 8/14              Myrtle Beach Yacht Club, Little River, SC  (345 ICW)

 


 

 

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November 08th, 2014

11/8/2014

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Picture
Coming into the visitor's center, Dismal Swamp
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10 boats rafting up at the Dismal swamp Visitor's Center.
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At Elizabeth City, NC
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Where The Alligator River/Pungo River Canal starts. This place was really dismal.
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Where we waited out a north blow for 2 nights.
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Michael, the 88 year old sailor in Belhaven.
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Gone to carolina

11/2/2014

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Picture
Deep Creek lock, North end of the Great Dismal Swamp Canal, 10 boats locked through together.
Getting past the urban industrial  areas and into the “Great Dismal Swamp’ was a nice change, it was a lovely day and the trees were spectacular – pines, junipers, sycamores, oaks and  cedars, some turning colour and dropping their leaves, nuts and needles on our boat. An entertaining lock master, and a parade of boats that became a congenial group to be with for the rest of the trip past the Welcome Center (where we stayed the night) to Elizabeth City. The “Rose Buddies"  were in Liz City to meet us and helpful hosts. Our group of nine boats tied up at the FREE Public Dock. We had ‘wine and cheese’ with the city’s  sailing enthusiasts and  then dinner with 5 other couples who we hope to see again soon.

The next morning we got up early to get past the Alligator River Canal-it was windy and choppy. Not very pretty and noisy at times with military fighter  fighter jets practicing. We got as far as we could Tuckahoe Pt. with a few other boats anchored within sight. This area was "dismal", most of the land being at sea level and the trees and other vegetation dying off. We can't help but wonder that global warming and the consequential rise in sea levels are having an effect here.

Early set off and back on the ICW, (Alligator River-Pungo River Canal). This is a stretch about 20 miles long and 300 ft wide, and 12 to 15 ft deep. There was a steady stream of southbound boat traffic, mostly us 5-6 knot sailboats. When a big fast power cruiser came up, we would slow to about 3 knots and they  pass at 6-7 knots, as not to bowel us over with their big wakes. Most happily, we made it to Belhaven and luckily nabbed a spot at a marina just as the wind was picking up- here for ‘ a big  NW blow. (30-35 knts) Met up with some previous acquaintances from other ports- Michael, from Wind  in The Willows (had tea with him) and John and Eva from Anna and Victoria  out of Marblehead, MA., along with a few others. The night was very noisy, and the boat is still bobbing up and down at the dock. The high temp today was around 50 F and its going down to 35 tonight. Have our heater on as we write this.  We used some time to read up on the trip the Lundins took last year- Jane’s blog and her log are very helpful –we can relate to “Slogging South” right about now!
Tomorrow, we will try to get as far as the "Oriental City" area.
PS It's very slow uploading pictures to the blog. takes 5-15 minutes or so per picture at this marina wi fi spot. Will put a few pictures up when things improve.

So far this is how it has gone:



MOXIE LOG

 

DATE:                 PORT:

Oct 14-20/14        Crown Marine, Deltaville, VA                    

Oct 21/14             Anchorage, Reedville, VA

Oct 22/14             Buzzard’s Point Marina, Reedville, VA

Oct 23-24/14        Anchorage, Jackson’s Creek, VA

Oct 25/14             Anchorage, Sarah Creek, VA

Oct 26/14             Town Marina- Norfolk, VA

Oct -27-28/14       Ocean Marine Yacht, Portsmouth, VA

Oct 29/14             Great Dismal Swamp Welcome Center, VA

Oct 30 /14            Elizabeth City, NC

Oct 31/14             Anchorage, Tuckahoe Pt., NC (Mile 104.4 IWC)

Nov 1-2/ 14          Belhaven Waterways Marina, NC (Mile 135 IWC)

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Testing our wings

11/2/2014

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"Wolf Trap" Lighthouse in Chesapeake Bay
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George Washington Highway Bridge, Yorktown VA
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Norfolk VA Navy Base
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Norfolk VA
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Ocean Marina, Portsmouth VA, "across river from Norfolk"
We left Jackson's Creek Friday Oct 24th and motor sailed down to the York River and up a long ship channel to Yorktown. We spent the night in Sara Creek at anchor, a lovely spot lined with taste-full new and old houses.  Next day we went to Yorktown , (very gusty) did the tourist thing, (Yorktown Museum), it was Sunday so lots of folks chatting us up at the dock. Yorktown was the site of a decisive battle in the American Revolutionary War, and there is a major historical museum there, which we visited.
 
Getting to Portsmouth the next day was motoring again, we were part of a parade of boats going that way ( a few CAN), the view from ‘the grey mile’ was awesome, miles and miles of industrial and military might. The Ocean Marine Yacht facility in Portsmouth, is hosting 40 of the boats participating in a Portsmouth to St. Thomas ,(BVI) ORC Rally, so it is colorful and busy here.  We went to a movie (the Judge) at the Commodore, an  old  style cinema theater attraction that has a dining room set up instead of seats. The next morning we took taxis to main shopping centers, got our flu-shots (at Target) and  that afternoon did a 3 hr.  walk around the “ Olde Towne”, on a hot day-happy to sit here an extra night and have the luxury of laundry and showers.

A lot of that time was spent tracking down a particular cell phone package including the sim card.
It's very frustrating trying to use a credit card online with some of the providers because their data bases don't except Canadian provinces or Canadian postal codes, so the transaction is rejected by the credit cards. In the end bought a prepaid credit card from a drugstore to complete the cell phone transaction.
The boat is working well, sometimes we feel pretty puny next to some of the bigger sailboats and power trawlers going south, but everyone is very friendly regardless. There are quite a few smaller boats too, some smaller than us.

Next stop, The Dismal Swamp and North Carolina.

 

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    Sailing to the Bahamas the fall of 2014 on the 32' Mirage sloop "Moxie"

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