We cant believe it!! We are finally going to cut the lines and live the dream lol!! At least Byrons dream...we shall see...
So Monday morning we had to get propane and off we go again. Cathy and Lola were there to give us a great send off.
It was very lumpy that day and it settled once we went through Adams Creek. We made it as far as Beaufort. The Anchorage was absolutely beautiful.
Early the next morning we had plans to go back into the Atlantic to make better time....however we had a problem!!! As we were travelling out of Beaufort, North Carolina we hit something. We are not sure what it was but it shook the boat and we had very limited steerage. We got out of the channel and anchored to assess the situation. Byron took a cool dip and discovered our rudder sustained severe damage😫😫😫.
We were devastated as it would take at least 3 weeks for a new one. We had to make a decision to stay there and wait, go back to New Bern where we knew people and a Boatyard that did great work or carry on and get as far as we can. We decided to limp along with limited steerage and constant hand steering. Slow and steady we went.
We stayed in a beautiful anchorage called Mile Hammock Bay with 7-8 boats that were also going south. The next morning we left and set out for Carolina Beach. It was a busy day with boats passing us continuously. It was like a parade of boats all heading south for the winter.
Carolina Beach was beautiful. We stayed 2 nights; One night at anchor and the second one on a mooring ball. That night there was lightening all night; but all in the distance thank god. Talk about luck 🧐🧐. However with the thunderstorm came cold weather; yes even cold for a Newfoundlander!!! One morning it was 4 C.
Moving on down the Intercoastal waterway (ICW) there were old colonial houses with docks hundreds of feet long and there were areas with marsh lands and beautiful old oak trees with Spanish moss. I had never seen that before except in scary movies🤪🤪. Amazing sights for sure!!
We then stayed in St. James Plantation Marina. This was like a resort with beautiful homes and condos around the marina. We had a great night sleep there and Duke was happy to access land. While there a well known boat to Byron (Sanddollar) came into the marina and Byron went to introduce himself to the new owner Dave. Byron had installed all the electronics on the boat for the original owner!!! It is a small world.
Just like that we left North Carolina and now we are in South Carolina. While I am not steering much because it takes muscle power and sugar, Byron is getting some muscles!! I can't wait to see him by the time he is finished in Florida and our friend Auto is at the helm again lol 🤪🤪😡.
The next night we stayed in Osprey Marina in Myrtle Beach. They were sweet. They even had a welcoming gift of stationary and food!!
We then anchored in 2 beautiful anchorages; McClellanville (Awendaw Creek) and Steamboat Creek. Both were beautiful but Steamboat Creek had easy access for Duke to go ashore and there were so many dolphins swimming around.
Next stop Beaufort, South Carolina!!!
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