Bill: Clear and 70
04/14/2011, Off the Mighty Wacamaw River

We had a short run today, about 35 miles to a place that had been marked on our chart since November of 2009. So here we are anchored of Sandy Island on Thoroughfare creek. This is a Nature Conservancy project... and we can see why. as we sit here now we can here the nocturnal bird Chuck Will's Widow calling on shore. The call is like the name. This bird is similar to the more well known but also rarely heard Whip-o-will.

To our north is a sand bank about 20 feet tall, we rowed the dingy over and climbed the bank to find a little lake on the other side of this Sandy Island. The spot is well used, apparently it is a college age hangout on the weekend. Although there is not much trash, the trails and woods are well worn by visitors. Luckily for us there are only two other boats here. One looks like it has been here a while (A steel sailboat converted to a Trawler) and trawler from Essex CT.

Note: entry for 4-13-11 was miss-posted... and it now there!

33 30.902'n 079 08.617'w

Comments [1]

Bill
04/14/2011, Calbash Creek SC

Having generated hot water by running the engine, a bath was made for use when we arrived. For those who know that Isobel was taking swimming lessons... what she is doing now is blowing bubbles in the water.

Comments [2]

04/13/2011, Southern NC

I have used this analogy before... picture pulling onto the interstate highway and driving somewhere at 6.5 miles per hour! that is what motoring on the ICW is like. Parts of it are interesting or beautiful... Southern NC and the Myrtle beach area is a real ditch with only a few pretty spots...

So we have to find some kind of entertainment... playing on the squishy dingy is one option that we all enjoy...

Comments [0]

Sunny and 71
04/11/2011, Wrightsville Beach, NC

As we arrived at the beach we were still dressed in what we thought was appropriate clothing. It was sunny, 70 and a sea breeze. The little girl had cordoroy pants, a turtle neck and a fleece. She was running ahead of us... as we crested the top of the walkway we found thousands of people in bikinis and shorts doing all those things we would normally do if it was 15 degrees warmer: surfing, playing catch and laying in the sun... A well tanned guy with rippling muscles walked past us and said, "She looks like she is going skiing!!!"

I took off here fleece, not because it was too hot, so that she wouldn't get it wet. Isobel didn't slow down until she was in the water, charging right into the waves. I had to grab a hand as the first one washed in an knocked her down. Didn't faze her a bit! If I had been more enthusiastic about getting my clothes wet, she would have gone further in...

Comments [0]

Bill, 73 and sunny
04/09/2011, Wrightsville Beach, NC

We motor-sailed a lot. Between two bridges we couldn't make it to the next opening, so we sailed with the Genoa... still arriving too early.

After waking up with the Marines (didn't see anyone) we headed south while all the other boats in the anchorage headed north. the day was long with the real "ditch" of the ICW showing its self. We arrived around 3 pm and took on some fuel and water... then scooted around to the anchorage which is well protected from everything except the wakes of passing ski boats and recreational fishing boats.

For the first time in a while we mixed up a rum drink and sat in the cockpit and let the sun bake us. The little girl slept until 5 pm... she always naps better on the boat.

Wrightsville Beach is another community which seems to have a very good vibe. We hope to go to the beach tomorrow!

Comments [0]

04/08/2011, camp LeJune, NC

Bill and Isobel prepare the boat to get underway... who knows what they are working on, but you can see it takes all of both of them to get it in order.

I figure it is remarkable that we are out of Oriental, NC!! We ran 60 miles down the ICW as the wind was not favorable to go off shore. For those of you who think differently, the ICW is much more stressful than offshore... There is shoaling at almost every inlet and there were a couple that took us a couple tries to get past... probing for a deep spot with our bow! The charts are useless and the buoys and marks might have been handy a couple years ago. For one inlet we had 5 way-points out of a book that lead us on a zig zag course and past the shoals... crazy! At least the Marines were happy to have us anchor here... or at least they haven't kicked us out yet. There are 8 other boats in here with us...

We did pass Sea Turtle headed north near Swansboro. They are from Charlotte VT and friends of my brother. We have seen them before on lake Champlain, in Oriental and hope to see them again...

34 33.095'n 077 19.523'w

Comments [2]

Bill
04/04/2011, South River, NC

This is what it looked like inside South River. Note the clouds... must relate to the high winds. Also, if you look at the bottome right corner of the image, you will see a haze. That is dirt in the air blown off feilds that are south of South River. At first we thought there was a fire.

Now we didn't take any photos during our little passage so...

Image: Gale: Force-8, 34-40 (39-46 mph) Knot winds, Moderately high waves of greater length; edges of crests begin to break into spindrift; foam is blown in well-marked streaks.

Although the Nuese river was not big enough to generate 18-25' waves, everything else was present!

We had planned on moving to South River... the Captain not being of sound mind or body thought he would start a wiring project... by the time the boat next to us started to drag anchor and the baby went to sleep it was blowing 30 knots in the Oriental anchorage. Having a deep draft boat we were anchored out where the south wind blew in the harbor opening...

So we pulled the anchor and headed out to sail to South River. First the dingy flipped... repeatedly! Lara was able to tie it close on the leeward side mid-ship cleat. Then the Engine stopped!! We were at the end of the chanel and rolled out the Genoa... well, some genoa. Off we galloped doing 7 knots on a beam reach with 30% of the Genoa out!.

With spindrift whipping across the deck and the tops of 8' waves breaking off as they were sliced by the bow it was a wet ride. The dodger protected the girls while Bill, dressed in jeans, got soaked. Thankfully it was warm and we knew that our destination was less than an hour away..

Once inside South River we anchored with lots of protection. Of course, what had not been stowed was on the sole of the cabin... and that is when we realized we had left the saloon hatch cracked open!! Yes, a lot of salty water had soaked our cushions that we had spent so much time this winter uncovering them, washing them and cramming them back into the covers.

Anyway, we are here and it is very nice. We are in a pretty secure place given the forecast for tomorrow's cold front it wind to 60 knots!

34 56.921'n 076 34.202'w

Comments [3]

Bill
03/31/2011, Oriental, NC

Here we are tied up to the Town Dock in Oriental. You can check us at at the harbor cam

Isobel started to get sick in last Thursday... and now Papa has now found out why Isobel would lie in Lara's whimpering "mama, mama, mama". Glad to feel a little better today... yesterday i spent the afternoon laying on the settee whimpering.....

NOTE that I have added some posts and photos retroactively back to the 21st...

Comments [1]

03/29/2011, Oriental, NC

Since she was six months old she could palm this ball. Now she has a pretty good shot, her dribble is is being hampered by the lack of a flat court...

Comments [0]

03/28/2011, the neuse River, NC

One of the "little extras" that we had made while at Sailcraft was a clear hatch-board. Wow! On days like this when it is cold and raining, those below can check on those in the cockpit. And those in the cockpit do not feel as isolated.

The next few days have been cold also.... so it has been nice to have the light and view while keeping out the NC spring chill...

Comments [0]