Heading to Old Lyme 2023

      We left Annapolis for our push home (northern home) after a week. We did a few things while moored in Back Creek, Eastport. Oil changes. Bought and installed new batteries. Reinstalled our light and windex at the top of our mast (finally, should have done it in Great Bridge). Got groceries and baked goods. Went downtown a couple of times. Had breakfast out one morning and lunch another day. Chick and Ruth's Delly (correct spelling) is a tradition. It is almost as good as it was before Teddy retired and sold it. It went downhill a bit for a while but is now pretty good again. We had to go back for a repeat on the apple fritters. Their pies are made in house, too. Breakfast is good, very good but not quite as outstanding as it used to be. 

     Speaking of the batteries, we had decided to replace ours after 6 1/2 years of full-time use. They were still okay but performance had slipped a bit and changing them was a good, but expensive idea. More than $1400 expensive. We have 8, 6 volt deep discharge lead acid house batteries. They weigh around 62 pounds each and had to be carried into the dinghy, lifted from the dink onto the deck, carried into the cabin, wrestled into place and, oh by the way, the old ones had to be removed by the reverse procedure and carried to land. I cannot add up how many times I had to lift and carry the 62lbs. Back spasms and bruises are the reminders. I can remember when I could carry a battery with one hand. Without getting a sore back. Sigh. 

     We also went to US Naval Academy to view the noon formation, something we do every chance we get, although not every year. We also caught the silent drill team performance. We visited the USNA chapel and stopped by to see the John Paul Jones crypt again. We were assured by a chapel docent he was still in the crypt below the chapel. 

We also went to Potato Valley Cafe, a baked potato restaurant for lunch. Yes, that's all they serve. Quite good.  

View of us from the hill in the adjacent Ellen Moyers Park. 

     Our last day, before the rain and cold front, we went to Wild Country Seafood. It isn't much more than a glorified shack with no indoor seating but they catch their own seafood during the week and open on the weekends. The food is good and reasonably priced (for Annapolis). The oysters were huge. 

     

     As I mentioned, we stayed in Eastport a week but still had one more paid day left on our mooring when we departed. Nothing else was planned and this let us take two easy days up to Chesapeake City instead of one long day. Comfort is not our first priority but it's up pretty high on the list. It was a little lumpy heading up the Bay but not bad, 1 to 2ft on the beam. We had good current so the passage to Worton Creek was quick. We could have gone all the way to Chesapeake City but there was no rush because there was no advantage weather-wise in going offshore New Jersey before the Tuesday and Wednesday we had planned. A disadvantage was it was the weekend and locals tie up the docks there and make noise. We like Worton. Quiet and protected. Beautiful, too. 

     We got underway the next day around 0730 again because of another short day. We had a fast passage to Chesapeake City due to great current. Unfortunately we could not get to the free dock because of shoaling. Too bad. Might have spent money in town. We anchored in the basin instead and got up very early the next day (to make up for late starts the previous few days) because it would be a very long day on Delaware Bay and the ocean off New Jersey. It would also be against the strong current in the C&D Canal. Slow. It started off very cold and almost calm. No ice on deck as there was a couple of years ago but cold cold cold. The adverse current in the canal wasn't too bad and we had great current on Delaware Bay for about 3/4 of the passage, over 10kts SOG. Wow! Rounding Cape May Point was easy near high tide with the breeze behind us. Going up the east coast of New Jersey was a bit lumpy but not terrible. We stopped in Atlantic City for the night. 

      Getting up early in the cold again was not fun but it lets us arrive in the NYC area at a nearly reasonable time. Our start was almost flat calm with a slow, gentle swell from the east. About noon (halfway to NYC) ripples on the swell became waves on the swell. Only about 2ft but when a wave matches the timing with the swell it can make for an  interesting wave. Not huge. Interesting. So the last 6hrs was not great but not too terrible. Not scary just a bit uncomfortable. The lurching meant being below was something to avoid. Steering the boat was fine. We anchored around Sandy Hook at Atlantic Highlands, NJ after a 12hr passage. 

     We waited until about 10am to get underway because of the current of New York Harbor through Hell Gate. It is very strong and can almost stop you if you go into it. Better to get the timing right. At times we got over 10kts SOG. The NYC passage went well with just a few spits of raindrops. Sky looked dark but not much precipitation. Cold, however. After much discussion of our options we decided to skip Port Washington and go to Oyster Bay. This meant (with another long day) we could get home before the bad weekend (and beyond) weather forecast. We borrowed someone's mooring in Oyster Bay, arriving about 1730.  

                           Manhattan

     We got an early start (again) from Oyster Bay. It was nice in Oyster Bay but as soon as we got to the Sound it was not so nice. Not terrible to start but it got worse within a couple of hours. Mostly 2ft seas (with some bigger) but right on the nose. Banging into waves slows us down a lot. We had the current with us until noon but you would not have known it by our SOG. The wind in our face slows us way down. As we got further east and north, closer to the Connecticut shore, the wind and seas eased a bit. No longer rough, just a little uncomfortable. Of course by that time the current turned against us. Sigh. Oh well. It was a slow, cold, miserable 10hr day but we are home, on a mooring at Old Lyme Marina, our northern home. Maybe we should have travelled overnight to home and not stopped at Oyster Bay. Would have been interesting anyway. And maybe smoother. Maybe. 

     Now we have to deal with the weather the next few days, get our car, visit the kids, check our mail and start our medical visits. What fun! At least I start at the Museum in a week or so. 

     

North to Annapolis 2023

      Our 2nd day in Carolina Beach started out very foggy. We had debated leaving after one night on the mooring but because of the complicated forecast and serious wind coming in a few days we decided to stay. This is what we awoke to and had the next 3 plus hours.

Not much to see here. Imagine the waterway. Staying meant one less day hiding out and hunkered down somewhere less comfortable. Also, the fog made it extremely dangerous. A boat we know left after a 2 hour delay. In my opinion they should have waited 3 hours but that puts arrival at the next anchorage late in the afternoon. Something we avoid. 

     We got underway the next day slightly later than normal due to a bridge opening schedule around 90 minutes away. We made it to the 0900 opening of the Wrightsville Beach bridge but it was a closer call than planned due to an adverse current. Then we were more than 20 minutes early (or 10 minutes late) to the Figure 8 Island bridge opening but after that we had good current the rest of the day. We got to Mile Hammock Basin before 2pm and anchored. A bit breezier than forecast but not terrible. We had gone through the nearby New River Inlet intersection about an hour before low tide. This would have been near impossible a year or so ago but we just had a brief bump as we got a little closer to the red side of the channel than we should have. All good. Mile Hammock is at Camp LeJeune, the Marine Base. Sometimes it is very noisy with Osprey flights, gunfire or things being blown up but it stayed quiet and the wind died overnight. 

     We got up very early the next morning and started the anchor raising process while it was still dark. We wanted to avoid the construction obstructions at the Onslow Beach swing bridge that could start at 0800 or even 0700 when work often starts. The day before the bridge tender told us via VHF they had not been restricting the channel width lately but he couldn't be sure. We were let through the bridge at 0650 with two other vessels. Interestingly, even though it was clear when we got up, fog formed just before we went through the bridge. At times it was quite dense but it lasted less than an hour. We were in a narrow ICW area so we could see to either side of us even though straight ahead was all gray. Getting underway early turned out not to be neccessary but it got us going before the forecast wind picked up. The rain, too. It was quite pleasant until we got near to Morehead City and Beaufort (Bo firt), NC. It got dark, cold and windy but no rain came. We had hoped to get to Oriental and a free dock there but the webcam showed the slips were taken. Would have been a nice, safe place to hide out from the Gale Watch weather forecast. Plus there are restaurants, groceries, supplies and walks to go on. Nope. Not this trip. We ended up in our usual place at Cedar Creek off of Adams Creek a few miles from the Neuse River and anchored. The predicted wind direction made this an okay spot but we were concerned with the upcoming days of bad weather that were forecast. Boredom is rarely fatal. Gale force winds can be. 

     It was already windy when we arrived on Friday afternoon. Overnight it started raining and did not stop until mid-morning on Sunday. The wind also increased with the rain, in the 20kt range with higher gusts. When the rain finally stopped the wind actually increased, with gusts that were on the sporty side. Very sporty. Attention grabbing. 1ft waves, too, even without fetch. Although it was noisy, we slept okay. We were reasonably confident in our anchor system holding us in place. After a few days of wind you figure you are dug in and will continue to hold. Hope anyway. It all held. On Monday, it was mostly sunny and the wind was under 20 but not by much. If the direction was behind us (southish) we might have departed but it was exactly, precisely, smack-dab and perfectly on target to be the worst possible direction for the upcoming passage. On the nose. We know from experience how bad it could be on the Neuse. Several experiences. From this very spot. Decided not to depart. Wiser? Or just older? Later reports said it was over 4ft seas. No thanks. 

     Tuesday we got underway before 0700 and had some difficulty raising the anchor. It was well dug in (this is good) and very heavy with a lot of mud stuck to it. Yuck! Very light north wind and very cold to start. Blue skies make it seem nicer, however. The Neuse was not quite as nice as it should have been because even though the wind was lightish it was still from the north to northeast, a bad direction. We had around 1ft seas. On the nose. Not uncomfortable but we were slowed down a little. We can only imagine the seas on the Neuse the previous few days with the 20-30kt winds. I saw a 4 1/2ft wave report near shore but they were likely higher in the open areas we were crossing this day. We anchored up the Pungo River in a swampy area near the Pungo-Alligator Canal. It was a beautiful, cloudless day that eventually approached being warm. 

     Clouds were on the horizon, however. We had been following bridge issue information for Gilmerton, a few days away, but suddenly the nearer Great Bridge Lock closed due to a power failure. Not being able use that route for sure, we had to look into going the Dismal Swamp Canal route. This will make for longer days because we cannot do it more leisurely like we normally would, taking extra stops. Taking extra days would mean getting into the weekend closed periods of the Gilmerton Bridge near Portsmouth, VA. The N&S #7 railroad bascule bridge seems to also be having problems with its operations so our worries were building. We also have a marina reservation up the road. 

     We got up very early to get underway before sunrise. 

Gilmerton Bridge at sunrise. Been underway for a while.

Besides being beautiful this got us ahead of all the anchored boats near us and the powerboats at the various Belhaven marinas. None passed us while we were in the narrow Pungo-Alligator Canal. The Alligator River Swing Bridge made us wait a few minutes to let a group of those powerboats catch up to us to make a single opening. 

     After the bridge, it was decision time. The usual route or the Dismal Swamp route? A final check on the Great Bridge Lock situation said we could not take the chance so we went to Route 2, the Great Dismal. The only real problem is it is farther to the Elizabeth City stop, about 10 hours, vs. our first stop on the Virginia Cut route (about 7 hours). The days after that are not too bad lengthwise. We got to Elizabeth City about 1600 but had to wait until 1630 for the bascule bridge to open. We tied up at a free dock provided by Middle Atlantic Christian University. Free showers, water and dumpsters included. Nice deal. The other free dock in town is nice, too, but showers are $5. We decided we could not make the next morning's first lock opening at 0830 because it is 18 miles away and would take almost 3 hours from our predawn departure time of 0615. Our 0715 departure got us to the lock at 0945 which meant more than an hour of waiting for the 1100 opening. In the past the South Mills Lock has opened early for us due to the lack of other traffic. Not today. The lock operator seemed to think we boaters mess up his day by requiring him to do his job. Seems it has always been the attitude of the personnel of this lock even though they have changed over the years. The lockmaster at Deep Creek, our next lock, may have been the best anywhere. He was helpful, courteous and friendly and had lots of knowledge about the canal and the Great Dismal. Unfortunately, he died at a very young age a few years ago. 

     Since it has been at least 6 or 7 years since we took the Dismal Swamp Canal route, some info: George Washington was involved in the surveying of the canal, mostly hand dug by slaves. Today's name doesn't make sense because a dismal is a swamp so the name means 'swamp swamp'. The older name is the Great Dismal which makes more sense. Back to our travels... 

     The passage up the canal was slow and we bumped the bottom, or the logs at the bottom, frequently.  We only hit one tree overhead. Not me. This time. The new (to us) guy at the lock seemed helpful and nice at first contact. A bit chatty but we discussed our previous visits and our deaĺings with the late Robert Peek. We spent the night at Elizabeth's Dock outside the Deep Creek Lock. We have tied up here several times in the past but it has been improved since our last visit. Nice. We went out for a great pizza and some grocery shopping and were ready at 0830 for the first lock opening. 

 Elizabeth's Dock, Deep Creek, Chesapeake, VA. 

  Deep Creek Lock. Lowered down to river level. 

     After clearing the lock we went back to the 'regular' ICW and turned SOUTH. What??!!??? We actually needed some fuel and the marina was only a mile or so in the wrong direction. No problem. Then it was a trip through Portsmouth and Norfolk, VA. The first bridge encounter had some equipment attached to it making the clearance 10 ft less. Oops. But, fortunately the platform was narrow and only blocked a small part of the overhead and we made it through okay. The next bridge was the dreaded Gilmerton Lift Bridge with the associated Norfolk and Southern #7 railroad bridge. Luckily they were both open as we approached and the bridge tender was nice enough to hold it open a couple of extra minutes to let us through. Very nice. The Norfolk and Western railroad bridge was closed as we approached even though we had never seen it closed before. We only had a minor slowdown as it opened before we got to it. Lucky again. If we didn't have some light rain showers it would have been a very lucky day. We ended up at our planned stop at Hampton City Marina. Had to pay for the tie up because we did not have a free coupon this year. Oh, well. Cleaned out our head, got water, did deck cleaning, laundry and took showers. All set for our push home and entering the Chesapeake Bay from Hampton Roads. All set except for maybe future shore showers for us somewhere.

     Leaving Hampton Roads and entering the Chesapeake Bay was easy this year. Very calm and not cold. It was all gray with thick overcast, fog ahead of us and gray oily seas. Oily seas do not have oil. They are calm with left over energy from past winds. Makes for easy, slow movement. Smooth and shiny. Gray because of the overcast. Later, a little breeze picked up and seas built to 4 or 5. Inches. We anchored in Cockrell Creek in Reedville, VA. Near the Memorial Chimney. 

     We got underway just before sunrise with blue skies and a light SW breeze. Nice. Seas were almost flat, a few ripples. We had the current with us when we crossed into Maryland and started across the mouth of the Potomac River. The current only got better and our arrival time to Solomons was before noon. It was so nice we decided to continue on to Annapolis. Of course it got cloudy within an hour or so and the seas built up. To 8-10 inches. And behind us. At times our speed over the ground (SOG) reached 8.5kts. Very fast. Combining two day-passages into one passage let us beat an increase in the wind and a switch to a slightly worse direction. It would not have been bad but our last day before Annapolis was great and we took advantage of it. Well after we decided to continue to Naptown they posted Small Craft Advisories for the next day, probably for gusts, not sustained winds. We arrived to a City mooring in Back Creek. Eastport, MD at about 1630 so not too late of a day. 10 hours. Not too bad but only because of having great current with us. The current cut roughly 2 1/2 hours off the trip. 

     We plan to spend about a week in Annapolis. Depends on the weather forecast for the push to home. Relax. Maintenance. Groceries. Restaurants. Fuel. New stuff, maybe. 

     

Northbound 2023

      We left Marathon in the hoped for benign conditions. Near calm. Sunny. The downside was it became very hot. Uncomfortably hot. Blazing hot. We ended up at Tarpon Basin at Key Largo, a regular stopping place. From there it was another hot day to Miami. A strong breeze on the stern picked up towards the end of our passage. Got choppy but still okay because of the direction (behind us). The Marine Stadium Basin anchorage at Virginia Key was crowded and very breezy but it was fine for us. Good holding. 

             Miami from Virginia Key. 

     From Miami we must go outside into the ocean because of a @##$&$@$ bridge in the Miami area that was allowed to be built lower than the ICW standard 65ft. Someone paid off? Uh, this is Florida. Anyway, the forecast was for a brief drop in the winds and for once, the forecast was correct. 6" seas max. for the passage to Port Everglades Inlet (Ft. Lauderdale) and the wind did not start to pick up (on the nose) until we were about to exit the ocean towards the Waterway. Small Craft Advisories (SCA) started about then and continued for a few days. That's why we take the inland route when neccessary even though the ocean route is nicer and shorter. It would be good to have that option through Miami but...        that @#$%#$ bridge.

     North winds on the ocean when northbound are no fun at all. Remember we got beat up pretty badly last spring attempting to go to Charleston directly from St. Augustine. Anyway, we anchored for the night in Lake Boca, Boca Raton. A nice spot if a bit crowded. Spring break crowds? Maybe. After the big rat 🐁 we had a windy, rainy day going through all the bridges in the entire Boca, Delray, Palm Beach and Jupiter areas. It is impossible for a sailboat to make all the scheduled openings for the bascule bridges but we did all right. Only one long delay. We ended up in a wide spot in the road in Hobe Sound, Jupiter, FL. I had to make an urgent replacement of one of our raw water cooling pump impellers. This is a lot of fun in a very hot engine compartment after a long travelling day. Sigh. 

     The ICW from Jupiter is narrow so the wind direction and strength is not an issue but once we got to the St. Lucie Inlet area a lot more fetch made the waterway lumpy in the strong breeze. Fetch is the distance the wind blows without trees or other obstructions to block it or slow it down. It's why the wind is stronger on the ocean. From St. Lucie it was choppy all the way to Ft.. Pierce but north of Jensen Beach we put out our genoa and our speed really picked up. A lot. 😁 Fun. ⛵

     We stopped in Ft. Pierce to get fuel and picked up Mike Guay for the rest of the ride to Vero Beach. We got a mooring at the city marina for a few days to get supplies but ended up staying longer waiting out some inclement weather. We prefer clement weather. 

     We got groceries, went to the farmers market, met up with Mike and Carol Guay a few times and went out to a couple of restaurants with them. We also topped off our water and went for some walks. The weather turned out not to be as bad as forecast (less rain) but still was very breezy. It would have been rough on the Indian River. We could have left several days before we did but we would have had to hide out from some of the winds and there are few places better than where we were in Vero. We've been burned in the past with bad experiences pushing on into marginal conditions. Perhaps we are wiser now. Perhaps just older. 

     We left Vero after 5 nights on the mooring. Another catamaran was rafted with us but he wanted to depart the same time as us so no issues. Heading up the Indian River was easy. The north wind was light to begin with and never got too strong with less than 6 inch wavelets. We were a little slower than last year due to the wind direction and an adverse current until Sebastian Inlet so we got to the NASA Causeway bascule bridge 15 minutes later than planned. This only gave a 15 minute cushion before the closure for rush hour traffic. We made it through, however, and anchored just to the north and east of the causeway. 

     Our passage to Daytona was simple and easy. Mostly calm until Daytona. We saw many manatee in the Haulover Canal, made it through the George Musson bascule bridge without much delay and stopped for fuel in Daytona before anchoring in our usual spot just south of Memorial Bridge. 

     Our trip to St. Augustine was smooth except for a few moments in the mud on the side of the channel. Sigh. Met up with friends Bob & Jane for dinner. Sleeping was rough on the mooring due to wind and current but it faded before midnight and all was quiet. We got underway before 0700 and headed out into the ocean. 

Light winds but a swell from the SE at 2-3ft. or so. Not uncomfortable and not a cloud in the sky, either. We turned into the St. Marys Entrance channel and it got lumpier for nearly all of the hour it took to get inland. It was slow because of the current ebbing against us. This negated the fast passage we had at sea. We anchored at Cumberland Island, Georgia. Wild deer and horses were sighted near the shoreline. 

     We left Cumberland Island about low tide which meant going aground in the middle of the channel a little before the Cumberland Dividings area. Soft mud so we got right out and went to the extreme right (green) side of the channel to get through. By the time we got to Jekyll Creek the water was higher and we got through that shallow area okay. We stopped early in the afternoon in the Frederica River along St. Simon's Island so we would have good cell coverage to watch a basketball game. Priorities. 

   Photo of us by a passing vessel. St. Simon Sound.

     While anchored in the Frederica we endured a heavy thunderstorm and a UConn WBB loss. First one at this NCAA stage since 2005. Simply outplayed. ☹ 

     We got underway and headed south on the Frederica. The north entrance has a shoal we've hit before so we went the long way around. Poor choice. We went aground briefly in the Fred (and that's hard to do) and the long way added nearly an hour to our passage. The shallow areas on the ICW require close attention by two people making it a stressful morning. The tide was rising so we made it through all the troublesome spots. We anchored in Lincoln Creek off of Kilkenny Creek. Not sure if this former regular spot is legal anymore. It's legal if there are no shellfish beds on the bottom. No idea. Sure was buggy 'tho. Georgia. Sigh. 

     From Kilkenny the former shallow areas were fine for us as the tide was rising. The Hell Gate passage was not fine but it was about 2ft. above low water so the low spot was about 9ft. Phew. We tied up at Thunderbolt Marina for fuel and to have our windlass checked by a mechanic. They never got back to us with options, information or a repair schedule so we left first thing in the morning. We did go out to eat again at Tubby's. Good, but not as great as the past. We topped off our water and got showers and did some laundry so not entirely a waste of money. The mechanic did get back to me with info about a day later. 

     We went through several low water areas at or near low tide as we finished with Georgia and entered South Carolina. Slowed down at those spots but made it through rather easily. But carefully. We ended up at Factory Creek in Beaufort, SC. (Bew fert) We anchored there because the nearby marina said they were full. Saw an open spot on their docks but...                    It rained the last hour or so of our passage but not too hard. The forecast was for storms a couple of hours after our arrival which is why we looked for a slip. We've anchored in this spot many times but it's deep and narrow with limited swing room. It got breezy overnight but we looked fine at 0300 when I got up to do some checking. In the morning it looked like we may have dragged some but we were not any longer. All was fine. We picked up the anchor a few minutes late in hopes the wind would drop a little. It wasn't too bad but in fact it later picked way more than forecast and was a bit choppy down the Coosaw River. Normally we would take the Ashepoo-Coosaw cutoff to go between those two rivers. However, we got there close to dead low tide and there were dredges and other equipment working on the passageway making it difficult at best to get through there. Impossible at low tide. So instead we went down the Coosaw River to St. Helena Sound, around Combahee Shoal and up the Ashepoo River to Fenwick Cut. A 90 minute long cut (opposite of a short cut) that got us around the troublesome area. It also got us to two other shallow areas much later in the tide cycle (deeper water) and we had no further trouble. Well, except for getting briefly confused by buoys not matching the charts. Luckily no bad results other than stormy weather aboard our boat. We ended up anchored in Church Creek maybe ten miles before Charleston. A few days later we heard of a power boat that had both his props damaged in the Ashepoo-Coosaw cutoff. 

     The next morning was very cold but with very little wind it didn't feel bad. Very pretty, also. There was sea smoke coming up the creek and some on the ICW. 30 or 40 minutes later visibility dropped to near zero. Fog. Well technically it was still sea smoke. Dense sea smoke. Not fog. Still for 10 minutes we slowed to crawl and sounded our fog signal. No such thing as a sea smoke signal. It is very rare for sea smoke to be so dense and so high off the surface. Sea smoke happens when the water temperature is higher than the air temp. The rest of the long day went nicely. We timed our bridge openings well and only the area near Isle of Palms at Charleston was particularly shallow. Made it though there just fine and the other area near McClellenville that is bad was reached near high tide. All good. We ended up at Duck Creek off of Minim Creek which is kinda near Quarantine, SC. Kinda. There was another cruising boat there. First time we were not alone here but Carol says she remembers a small boat here once. Maybe.

     We got underway later than normal. Because we could. Short day planned. The trip up Winyah Bay and the Waccamaw River is really pretty and easy. Ok, we once had a really rough Winyah Bay day but, hey, nothing's perfect. The only issue was the current. We went against it all day. It happens. Mostly under 6kts the whole time. We stopped at Wacca Wache Marina for fuel. They have become the cheapest on the ICW recently. Under $4/gal. for the first time in a long time. ($3.65) After fueling up we crossed the ditch and went into our frequent stop, Cow House Creek.

     It got breezy while here which made for some noise at night as the boat swings but it wasn't too bad. Our bridle makes a sound while it stretches, the chain drags across the bottom and halyards can clatter if we don't point into the wind. All minor (usually) background sounds. We got underway even later than the previous day because we had an even shorter day ahead. A gale warning was in effect so we wanted to get to the protection of our planned stop at Osprey Marina but check-in time was a consideration. The Waccamaw River, as I mentioned, may be the prettiest stretch on the ICW. It was gusty but not as bad as forecast and it doesn't much matter anyway. The river is tree lined, narrow and curvy enough to prevent any fetch. It was a short and pleasant passage. Only 90 minutes.  We tied up at Osprey Marina which is an extremely protected marina. Surrounded by tall trees. The gale never arrived although there were some wind gusts we barely noticed. The only downside was the doubling of their price per foot for transients since we were here last spring. Up to $2/ft. now. Sigh. 😞 We did some boat work, computer work, grocery shopping and visited a now local former co-worker of Carol's with serious health problems. 

     We got underway earlier than planned (of course) and had an easy, short day. Cleared all the fixed bridges easily and the swing bridges opened in a timely manner for us. The ICW is the back side of Myrtle Beach. Lot's of construction and new (ugly) houses. We ended up at Calabash Creek right on the SC/NC border, a frequent stop for us. We stop here because we can no longer anchor in the Southport area due to shoaling and the marinas are expensive. It could be a very long, tiring day to Carolina Beach or two short days. Two short days are more comfortable. Hmmm, I wonder why we choose the second option. Going through Shallotte Inlet and Lockwoods Folly Inlet the second day was fairly close to high tide and the channel was straight forward. Easy. For a change. The passage up the Cape Fear River had some chop but not too rough. It was slow with the current against us but with the breeze behind us. That's what makes the chop. We tied up to a Carolina Beach town mooring for $30 per night. Another major price increase. 20 to 30. Inflation is not 100% (Osprey Marina) or even 50% (Carolina Beach).

     We will stay two nights and then move farther north. Bad weather is coming and we will be stuck somewhere for several days. An extra day here means one day less hiding out somewhere norther than here. Because this edition of the blog is getting rather long, I will post it and resume reporting our travels in the next post. Annapolis probably. TTFN from Carolina Beach, NC.