It's Halloween and a few boats are decorated. This pumkin is on a trawler next to us and we hit them up for a flashlight so we could unlock our boat and a little candy. Had a terrific Charleston dining experince at the Slightly North of Broad (SNOB) resturant. We have by no means tried them all, but it's our favorite so far.

Went to Harris Teeter today and came back in the van with the cook for one of the Mega Yachts in the marina. She had two full carts of groceries which should hold this boat of 5 crew and 7 guests for about two days.

Tomorrow we go biking and will try the Southend Brewery for lunch.

Charleston Harbor

We arrived in Charleston Harbor this afternoon after a long day on the waterway. We are anchored out just across from the City Marina where we check in tomorrow morning early. We are looking forward to the city and the great places to eat.

We watched this dude parallel park in the spot between the sail and powerboat while eating dinner. Talk about some serious thrusters. We could hear them working from across the Ashley River.

We have been traveling and in radio contact for a number of days with another sailboat named Gigi's Island. Get to meet them in person tomorrow at the City Marina.

Frost on the Green Pumkin

Pretty cold here in Myrtle Beach this morning. That's frost on the sailcover and the ramps up to the bathrooms were very slippery! We are comfortable with the heat, television, and computer all on and using shore power.

Tonight we will be in Georgetown. Maybe another marina night since it will be very cold one more night.

Another Marina Night

Today started out a little rough. We were anchored in Calabash Creek and it was in the 30's this morning when we woke up. So I did what we usuallly do when it's this cold at anchor and started a fire in the woodstove. BIG MISTAKE! The tide was coming in and the boat was stern-to-the-wind. So the wind blew over the enclosure and right down into the stove chimney. The boat quickly filled up with heavy smoke and we still have a slight odor.

Today featured bright clear skies, high winds, and cold temperatures, with so we headed into the Osprey Marina for a quiet and warm (electric heat) tie-up.

Easy Day

We left St James late and arrived in Calabash Creek (just north of Myrtle Beach) early. We just barely have an internet connection so no pictures.

After a very fast trip down the Cape Fear River (over 10 knots at times) we arrived at St. James Plantation Marina at about 1:00. Great spot with all the amenities you could ask for the terrific price of $1.05 per foot. We are going to try the resturant tonight. It's our first night at a dock since leaving last Monday and seems just about the right time to do it - laundry, clean the boat, a couple of very long hot showers!

Carol is enjoying the deck overlooking the boat basin.

The Morning After

We had quite a bit of excitement last night in the anchorage at Wrightsville Beach. Lots of boats came in to ride out the dirty weather. We had some. We woke up about 2:oo am to lots of noise and unsusual motion. A severe squall was moving through and winds were gusting to the mid 50's. I turned on the chart plotter to see if we were moving and we were not. I then started the engine so I could take some strain off the ground tackle if needed. No sooner had I done this and another sailboat drifted into view.
We spent probably 20 minutes (seemed like several hours) dodging both the Catalina 38 and the catamaran in the foreground of this picture.
Of course we were constrained by our 90 chain teather, but we were able to at least tack the boat and avoid collisions on a number of occasions. One time the dinghy behind the Catalina acted as a fender.

There will be lots of people napping in the anchorage today!

This post will be brief. We are in Wrightsville beach and will stay here the next two days since the weather is supposed to turn nasty. Walked on the beach today and did a little grocery shopping.

Here is a bonus post. The steak and Pinot Noir lived up to expectations. Here is a shot of our after dinner view. Just getting into practice for the Key West sunsets.

Today brings to Topsail Beach. We took some time to sort out a problem with the waterheater. Turns out we have to motor at a higher RPM to get the engine water to flow through the waterheater. This gives us a little more speed and uses a lot more fuel. But running out of hot water in the middle of a shower is no fun. Today was another sunny crisp day on the waterway with north winds behind us most of the time. We really lucked out with the currents today and saw speeds between 6.5 and 7.5 nautical miles per hour most of the time. Lots of fish are being caught in the inlets we pass. Tonight we feast on steak and a nice pinot noir.

Today was a beautiful day on the waterway. Unfortunately we were completely out of phase with the tidal currents flowing into the inlets and made very slow progress ending in Swansboro NC. The picture is of a commercial fishing operation in Swansboro. Took on some diesel fuel in Swansboro for "only" $2.79 per gallon. Saw more dolphins today but the camera wasn't on deck. Will concentrate on that tomorrow.

A crisp start to our trip South

We left Blackbeard Sailing Club this morning at 7:45 with the temps in the high 40's. Enjoyed the enclosure and motor sailed to Adams creek in a little over 2 1/2 hours. The pace slowed down considerablely as bucked the current in Adams Creek. Anchored in Taylors' Creek Beaufort around 2:30 for a pleasant afternoon and peaceful evening. Sailed with the dolphins and watched wild ponies on Carrot Island during dinner.