Charleston 24-29 Nov 2014

RAIN! The storm that brought all that snow to the NE was rain here. Not the best wx for sightseeing but we did get out for some meals and grocery shopping.

Lunch with Russ Roberts. Fellow Lightning sailor from SSA.

 Our Annapolis neighbors, Sara and Ken Aiken on s/v Tintean, are here at CMC. We have been hanging together and having movie nights. 

 Next to Tintean is a Farr whose in-mast furling system got stuck and the riggers are tearing the main down. The day before there was less wind, less rain, and less cold. Don't know why they waited until today to do this nasty job.

Thanksgiving in Charleston. We decided to have Shrimp and Grits at the Irish bar - Tommy Condons. Delish.  CK drove down from NC and joined us.  Then back to Daruma for football. Of course. CK had to change into his full Twelfth Man rig for the Seahawks game. They won.

GO HAWKS!!!

One of the mule stables downtown.

Friday - sunny and 50s.  CK's girlfriend Kelly is a USCG pilot and CK arranged a fly by! AWESOME! The third pass was much LOWER! How exciting. She will join us later today once she is off duty.

Here comes Kelly!

 Our plan is to head offshore tomorrow morning for a 30hr run to St. Augustine, FL. S/V Tintean will travel with us and we have been downloading wx maps and doing our chart work. Should be a good wx window. Our other chores are to check the liferaft, tighten up the lacing on the new trampoline, and install new radar reflectors so we can be seen.

 Charging up the SPOT now so you can SPOT-stalk us off-shore. On to FL.

Belhaven to Charleston

Arrrruuuuugh! The laptop just doesn't want to do wireless internet and it's such  pita to blog on the tiny ipad keyboard.
Good signal here in Charleston but
iPhones = yes. iPad = yes. Laptop = no.
Mark finally found a fix by connecting the laptop to the bullet booster with the ethernet cable (not wireless) and it works! yea!

So... what have we been up to since Belhaven? After our little wx delay we moved on to Morehead City, NC on 19 Nov. Stayed at Portside Marina and caught up on laundry. Rocky night on the floating dock with wicked wind. The next morning we had breakfast muffins delivered by Katie Contento. YUM! Her brother was at the Academy with CK and Robbie. She is still working for the NARF at Cherry Point.

a visit from Katie Contento

Another 9hr motor to Hampstead, NC - Harbor Village Marina - and a visit with our 2010 mid, CK. He is a Marine and Cobra pilot at MCAS New River.

Friday the 21st we drove to Southport and stayed at South Harbor Village Marina. It's a bit out of town but there are two on-site restaurants and Joseph's Italian Bistro was FANTASTIC. Mark especially liked the shrimp and polenta.

Still sunny and cold as we made our way past Myrtle Beach to Osprey Marina at ICW373. Just as we we docking, CK flew by in his cobra!!!! Awesome!

Myrtle Beach on the ICW

Can't say enough wonderful things about Osprey Marina. Only $1/ft, by Day 4 it drops to $.25/ft! Very well protected in a little cutout in the trees. Friendly, helpful staff, cheap fuel, clean bathrooms, laundry, and a HUGE Welcome Bag full of goodies.

entrance to Osprey Marina

Sunday's wx was projected to be the rainy nasty day so we made a short day of it and only went as far as Georgetown, SC - Hazzard Marina. What a cute little town. Shrimp cakes at the Wild Fish Grill and a big craft beer selection. Many shops and restaurants were closed on Sunday so we will definitely have to go back. About 1.25miles from the marina was a PigglyWiggly so we did some provisioning. And then it started to pour!!!

Brown's Ferry Vessel

Fog but no rain on the Monday leg to Charleston. The big push was to make the Ben Sawyer Bridge near Isle of Palms before it closed for rush-hour from 4-6pm.  The Waterway Guide reported shoaling between the 117a and the 119 just north of the bridge. Low tide, we found it! Soft grounding. Twice. It was slow going as Mark picked his way down the ditch. Made the bridge at 1520 with time to spare. Whew!

As we turned out of the ICW and up into Charleston Harbor we discovered the Bennis Reach Range light was actually in our marina! How easy. Just head for the lower red light. Sara and Ken, on s/v Tintean, were waiting for us at Charleston Maritime Center.

Art and Lou disembarked and beat the snowstorm to Boston for a Thanksgiving with Piper.

And then it started to rain. We decided to stay in Charleston thru Thankgiving waiting for a weather window to head off shore.

WX Delay in Belhaven, NC

Saturday we began our journey down the ICW from Portsmouth, VA (Mile Post 0) to Coinjock, NC (Mile 50).

ICW Mile 0

Hampton Roads. Sunrise over Ft. Monroe after an all-night sail down the Bay.

 Lots of bridge openings and one lock.  The WX was chilly but sunny and beautiful.

The Gilmerton lift bridge.

Our line-handlers, Art and Lou, in the Great Bridge Lock.

Great Bridge.

Centerville Turnpike Bridge.

Yesterday we got an early start and made it to Belhaven, NC.  Everyone here is so friendly, offering us rides to the grocery, etc. We are at the Town Dock with power and water but no wifi. My cel is getting no signal and Mark's is getting an occasional bar. Luckily there is wifi at the library.

Sunrise on the North River.

We are hunkered down at the library now as Belhaven is under a Tornado Warning! All the librarians are ready to usher us into the central hallway. Alerts are going off on phones. Kinda crazy.

Belhaven. Looking up Pamlico St. towards Main St. and City Hall. The Tavern is on the right.

The WX on the water - Pamlico Sound and Neuse Rv - is rainy and choppy so we decided to stay an extra night and see how it looks tomorrow.  If tomorrow does not improve we'll stay a third night.  I am remembering the last time I was here in 2005.  We were delivering a Navy 44 sailboat to JAX.  We overnighted in Belhaven and the WX was horrible on the way to Morehead City. Rain, almost 0 visibility, winds onshore at 70mph. Because we were on a delivery schedule we did not wait out the WX. Big mistake. At the top of Adams Cut we ran aground. TowBoat tried to free us for several hours and gave up when it became dark. We were hard aground all night with huge waves beating the boat in freezing temps. NOT FUN! Two TowBoats came out in the morning and were finally able to free us.  We sent the Navy the bill.

With this history, Mark thought it would be prudent to stay put! (Thank you, Honey!)

Once we leave town it will take a day to get to Morehead City and then another day to reach Topsail Beach.  Our 2010 mid, CK, lives nearby and we will stop in to see him.

Waiting for the WX to improve...

The Adventure Begins!

Yesterday, 12 Nov 2014, we pulled all the lines from our cozy slip in Annapolis and began our 6 month adventure to Florida and the Bahamas.

Leg One: Annapolis to Hampton, VA. Arrived this morning, 13 Nov, after a 20 hour sail down the Chesapeake Bay. Beautiful moon rise last night and saw the sun rise over Fort Monroe this morning.

This was the first trip with SPOT onboard and we seemed to have worked out the kinks.
FOLLOW our breadcrumbs!

(Please show Peggie and Julia so they will stop worrying.)