October 6, 2010

      Back on April 13th I said the big push was on.  That was an understatement on my part.  We have been on the run since April 4th when we left Miami.  We only took one day off, Saturday April 17th,  because of a cold front that was predicted to pass through the Carolina's.  Severe thunderstorms and 2 tornadoes hit the area north of us in South Carolina on that Saturday, but North Carolina had much more severe weather with many more tornadoes with wide spread destruction and some fatalities.   After the severe weather on Saturday we resumed our cruise north on Sunday through the Carolina's and into Virginia  by Thursday.  This past Friday we found ourselves south of Coinjock, Virginia at mile marker 60 on the ICW.  Then, on Saturday during our cruise north we were contacted via VHF radio by Joe & Ann on S/V Short Walk.    Although the transmission was weak we did learn that they were ahead of us and were planning to stop at Portsmouth, Virginia, just south of Hospital Point and ICW mile marker zero.  The last time we got together with Joe & Ann was back in February at the Little Farmers Cay Festival in the Bahamas.  As we approached Hospital Point we hailed Joe & Ann by radio.  Ann answered and said they had free dock space available for us and they would try to hold it for Big Run.  Long story short, we had a great dinner with Joe & Ann at a German beer garden and returned to their boat to continue with the celebrations of being reunited.  Hold on, this is where the plot thickens.  During the evening we discussed the weather,  which is always a big topic of discussion, we're boaters.   The National Weather Service was predicting a break in the weather on Sunday for the Chesapeake Bay but then it also predicted for it to get worse on Monday into Thursday as the winds would intensify from the south and generate 3-4' waves. We hate 3-4' waves with a passion.  Now remember we're boaters and we don't pass up opportunities.  So on Sunday morning at 5:50 a.m. Big Run  and Short Walk pulled away from its nice quiet free dock and headed for the Chesapeake Bay.  At 6:00 a.m. Monday, Short Walk parted company at the Bay Bridge and headed the up the bay for Worton Creek as we headed for the Chester River.  After twenty eight hours we (Big Run) again docked the boat.  That's right!  We left Portsmouth, Virginia and pushed all day and all night until we arrived back at Long Cove Marina in Rock Hall, Maryland at 9:50 a.m. Monday morning where our adventure first began on October 6, 2010.

Waccamaw River

     This is the first entry into a new catagory that we will be labeling Best Scenic Waterways.  We first saw this waterway on November 2, 2010, when all the leaves had fallen from the trees.  Today, the leaves have started to return, and the river has more appeal.  Starting at Georgetown, SC and working your way north on the ICW to Enterprise Landing, you will have gone about 26 miles of this 140 mile long river.  At the southern portion, the river is flanked with bottomland "fields" and hardwood forest.  Traveling further north, you enter into cypress swamps.  As each mile passed and the river banks got closer, the birds became more evident, from Bald Eagles to Osprey.  The river is also home to the American Black Bear and Reptilian Monsters (alligators), but we did not see either.  This is the Waccamaw River.

Solitary riverside tree in the Waccamaw River bottomlands

Hardwood forest encroaching on the river

Bottomland fields and hardwood forest in background

Osprey nest

Cypress swamp

Cypress tree with Spanish Moss

M/V Prince Washington

     This is M/V Prince Washington.  It appears to be affiliated with the South Carolina Public Schools.  I believe it would more appropriate if it were painted yellow and had a couple of red and amber lights; after all it is a "school boat"

The Big Push Is On.

     We left Miami Beach on Monday, April 4, 2011.  Today, we anchored in Beaufort, South Carolina.  In just 10 short days our "slow boat to China" has taken us 550  miles, and we have about 750 miles to go to get back to Rock Hall, MD.  Over those 10 days we have cruised for an average of 8.7 hours per day, 55 miles per day and averaged 6 miles per hour.  We plan to push all the way through to our marina, Long Cove Marina.  Our average day starts at any where from 6:30 am to 6:45 am with weighing the anchor.  Sharon will make breakfast while we are on the run, most days we skip lunch.  We will continue to run to a predetermined anchorage each day.  We have revisited some "old" anchorages and discovered some new ones and have abandoned a few because the new anchorages are better.  Since returning from the Bahamas on February 26th, we have not stayed in a marina, every night has been spent on the hook.  We think we can make it all the way with the fresh water we have on board and our food stores will last longer than that.  The big push is on.

M/V Enticer

       This is M/V Enticer of Beaufort, SC.  We spotted this beauty on the Calibogue Sound in South Carolina.  She is a 1939 85 foot Trumpy Design built by Mathis Yacht.  If you have an extra 3.3 million laying around she can be yours.

No Injuries

     When your car has a breakdown, you can pull off to the side of the road.  When your boat has a breakdown, you probably can drop anchor where you are and start repairs.  When your airplane has a breakdown, you can usually glide in for a landing on the road or a field.  But when your helicopter has a breakdown, you have to land immediately.  This helicopter was flying over the ICW when all of a sudden it turned around and made an emergency landing in what appeared to be a small clearing in front of these homes along the ICW.  This all happened less than a 1/4 mile from us.  The bewildered homeowners came out with their cameras and cell phones and started taking pictures, just as we did from the boat.  It appeared it was a safe landing and that there were no injuries.

Called It A Day

     Today was finally our day to have it happen.  We had friends tell us about it.  They have even posted pictures on their blogs.  We first spotted dolphins in Oriental, North Carolina back in November of 2010.  We have seen dolphins all the way down the coast from North Carolina to the Florida Keys.  We did not spot too many dolphins in the Bahamas.   The event was very spectacular.  It first started with 2 dolphins riding the wake at the bow of the boat.  Then, a fishing boat that had been keeping "pace" with us in a no wake zone pointed to 2 more dolphins riding the wake alongside the pilothouse.  For 5 minutes or longer we watched the 2 dolphins alongside the boat riding the wake, and it looked like they did it without a flip of their tale fin.  I guess you might say they were in a slipstream.  All while we were doing 7 miles per hour. Amazing.

      The events of the day do not stop there.  We also had an event that, well, is one that keeps you on your toes.  Late in the afternoon we were returning to an anchorage that we had used back in November when we first got together for happy hour with Joe and Ann from S/V Shortwalk, the Pine Island anchorage.  I may have made my cut a little too early, and we went aground.  This was not a typical grounding where you power through it or just a simple back up.  It probably took us 10 minutes to work ourselves out of that one.  Earlier in the day, we went to Manatee Pocket to anchor for the evening, and it was there that we had to power through a potential grounding because of skinny water that was a few inches shy of what we needed. As there was dredging work being done in the vicinity of the anchorage, it was all for nothing, and we left Manatee Pocket for Pine Island.  I guess the Manatee Pocket "grounding" was an omen.  After the grounding at Pine Island, we left with our tails between our legs and continued for another 10 miles, which brings up the 3rd event for the day.

     The final event took all day to develop and was a result of the 2 groundings for the day.  We logged 83 miles today, a new Big Run record.  Sharon and I weighed anchor at 6:50 this morning on Lake Worth.  At 7:15 this evening we dropped anchor at Sebastian inlet.  After 12 hours and 25 minutes, 83 miles, 6 bridge opening and 2 groundings we finally called it a day.

Photos of the dolphins playing in our wake.

Suntan Lotion

     Once again we find ourselves in Miami, in particular, the South Beach (SoBe) area.  After spending two weeks down in the Keys, we returned again to SoBe.  While in the Keys we found a "private" remote anchorage that we liked so much, we stayed for 8 days.  We came back to SoBe to make some final provisioning before the big push to go north.  We do plan to stop at Cape Canaveral again to see if we can catch a shuttle launch on April 19.  After that it's full steam ahead for the Chesapeake Bay and Rock Hall.

     While we were in the Keys, we ordered four 6-gallon water containers to shuttle water back to the boat.  They were shipped to the local Ace Hardware Store in SoBe.  This way we did not have to pay for shipping.  Now, when we make a trip for water, we can return to the boat with 38 gallons of water instead of 14 gallons.  It doesn't take many trips to replenish the fresh water tanks.  Of course, we never let the tanks get too low.

     We have been to SoBe so many times we are actually getting around as if we lived here.  We have learned a few new shortcuts and found some new stores that may come in handy in the future.  This anchorage and its proximity to so many resources makes this an ideal location before crossing over to the Bahamas next fall.  Today, we returned to the restaurant Rosinella on Lincoln Avenue Mall.  We had lunch there a few weeks back on our first visit to SoBe.  This time we were on a mission, to try their extra thin crust pizza.  Absolutely the best thin crust pizza I ever had.  I had a mozzarella and prosciutto pizza while Sharon had a mozzarella and basil pizza.  One of the owners, I presume, was an elderly little short woman which many of the patrons, including 3 police officers,  paid their respects to her in a proper Italian way when they entered the restaurant.

     Sharon and I had walked down to Fifth Street, first taking Washington Avenue and then Collins Avenue with a side trip through the Hisgtoric Spanish Village district and then finally down through Lummus Park until we got to Fifth Street. Once again we strolled up the beach to the Seventeenth Street lifeguard station.  And all the time we were walking on the beach, you could not smell the ocean because of the all suntan lotion.
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A few more photos of the SoBe area.
 

An early morning view of Lincoln Avenue Mall

Spanish restaurant district.

Lummus Park at the volley ball courts.

Fifth Street lifeguard station

Landscaping outside the fence of upscale condos.

 

Local jet ski stuntman who entertained us 3 or 4 times a week at our anchorage.