Happy Birthday, Malcolm! April 28-30 Blog Updates

Wednesday, April 28:  Happy Birthday to our dear brother-in-law, Malcolm Leite, and Happy Anniversary to Wayne and Patti.

It was a beautiful sunny day. We got through the Barefoot Landing Bridge at 7 a.m. The next swing bridge, Little River, was waiting for a mechanic, so we pulled up to Dock Holidays Marina for a few hours to wait for it to get repaired. On the way there, we saw cable cars going over the waterway right in front of our boat.

About 10:30 a.m., the bridge was ready to open, so we pulled the lines and cast off. At 11 a.m., we crossed the South Carolina-North Carolina border. We were not going to make the 11 a.m. pontoon bridge opening, so Chuck pulled out the jib and sailed for a while.

I called my friend, Mike Loch, hoping to connect with he and his beautiful wife, Joan, for another visit on our way through, but he was in NJ. His dad fell and broke his hip. We were disappointed that we wouldn't see them, but decided to plug on and go to the Pipeline Canal anchorage in Southport.

At noon, we went through the Sunset pontoon bridge. They are building a 65 ft. bridge to replace the aging bridge.

There were too many boats bunched up and Chuck wanted to motorsail, so we lowered the rpms and stayed behind. They were dredging Lockwoods Folly Inlet MM320. It was shallow and the dredge was snaking back and forth between the temporary markers, so we called to make sure we could pass on the diamond side (diamonds are a girl’s best friend).

Around MM316 a new 65 ft. bridge is under construction.

We passed this big building with Sandy's on the roof. Since that's how our daughter's name was spelled before she became a rebellious teenager and changed it to Sandi, Chuck asked me to take a picture of it. It's still Sandy with a "Y" in his mind.

We heard from Bum’s Rest. They stopped at South Harbour Village Marina in Southport for fuel. It is right before the turn into the Pipeline Canal anchorage, which is where we planned to spend the night. It was only $1.35 a foot, so we pulled in there to join them.

I took Jazzy for a little walk. It was a nice complex with a couple of restaurants, a market/deli (which closed early in the day), laundry and showers. I threw a load of clothes in the washer.

It was Patti’s turn to cook, but it was their anniversary, so I offered to switch nights and cook instead: salad, flank steak, roasted potatoes and veggies. While I was cooking, Kathy from Shearer Adventure, stopped by to say hello. We met Kathy and Jim in Marathon, FL. They have a dachshund, Katie Bell (it's funny how cruisers with dogs remember who they are by their dogs). She saw Patti walking with Sailor and remembered we traveled together. It was great to see her. Sorry we didn't get to stop over yo boat, Kathy.

After dinner, we walked down the street to the park overlooking the anchorage. We saw 10 boats anchored there.

Thursday, April 29:  We left Southport at 6:40 a.m. The current was pushing us along, so we were motorsailing at 9.3 knots at 2800 rpms.

We entered Snow’s Cut at 8:35 a.m. and the current was going in the other direction leaving the Cape Fear River. Our speed was cut down to 4.9 knots over ground. Speed over Water was 6.8 knots. The bank is washing away from the strong current and the trees are falling down.

At 9:20 a.m., there was slack tide, so we were moving a little faster…SOG was 6.4 and SOW was 6.5. Today was a short traveling day, arriving at the anchorage in Wrightsville Beach at 10:45 a.m. We dropped anchor and put the motor in the dinghy. Chuck took me to the Dockside Restaurant dinghy dock so I wouldn’t have to walk across the bridge and I walked 10 minutes to the Harris Teeter grocery store.

I took a taxi back to the Dockside with all my groceries and called Chuck. He was in the middle of moving the boat and resetting the anchor because we were dragging and so were others around us. So I waited close to an hour with my groceries. I kept moving the bags to keep the cold stuff in the shade. Luckily, the frozen items kept the other items cold, so nothing spoiled.

Since there was a lot of current and wind, we opted to stay on Sheet Music and I made a light dinner.We'll note if we do this trip again to get a slip, not anchor, in Wrightsville Beach. We weren't the only one having problems. Even the taxi driver told me that his friend was towed off the bridge there twice!

Friday, April 30:  We were keeping an eye on our anchor drag alarm on the GPS below, but peeked outside at 11:30 p.m. to see a big trawler within 20 feet of us. They were moving and snaking around in different directions than us. So we had to do an anchor watch. While Chuck adjusted some lines, I slept midnight 'til 2:50 a.m. Then I relieved the captain and stayed up the rest of the night, knowing that I could sleep while we are underway. We pulled anchor at 6:30 a.m. to make the 7 a.m. Wrightsville Beach bridge opening. I made the skipper breakfast and went to bed.

I slept until 11:30 a.m. We were heading for Swan Point, but decided to continue to Swansboro instead. That way, we’ll arrive in Beaufort, NC, early tomorrow and will be able to spend some time in town. It’s a cute little town and I liked it there on the way down.

We went through Camp Lejeune and saw a helicopter taking off. It was pretty cool.

We're on a face dock and it's windy. All the fenders and batterboards are protecting the starboard side of the boat. Chuck threw an anchor over port side to pull us away from the dock.

Wayne and Patti took the courtesy car to the grocery store. Then we'll enjoy the homemade chicken soup that Patti made the other day with garlic bread.


Tomorrow:  Beaufort, NC (pronounced Bow-furt).

Happy 37th Anniversary, Wayne and Patti Bumm!

Happy Anniversary to Wayne and Patti Bumm, who celebrate 37 years of wedded bliss today.

We left Georgetown yesterday at 6:40 a.m. for North Myrtle Beach. It was cool. SOG was 7.5 knots. SOW was 6.6 knots at 3000 rpms. Winds were light, only 6 knots. It was sunny, but brisk. The air smelled awful from the paper mills.

We had reservations at Dock Holidays at $1.40/ft. plus $6 for electric. It is 6 miles north of Barefoot Landing.

We lucked out at Socastee Highway Bridge, which is suppoed to open at quarter of and quarter after the hour. We arrived at 10:55 a.m. and the bridge tender opened for us. But when we arrived at Barefoot Landing, our luck ran out. Because of high winds, the swing bridge wouldn't open. So we docked at Barefoot Landing Resort, across from Barefoot Landing, which was full. The marina only charged us $1 a foot, because there was a group of 50 trawlers there and that was the rate he gave them. Sweet.

We took the dogs for a walk around the marina. A little after three, Tom, who worked at the marina, took me to the Bi-Lo supermarket for eggs. I picked up bagels for Patti while I was there.

We need a lot of groceries, but he was kind enough to take me and was in a hurry, so I didn't want to take advantage of his good nature.

The four of us went in our dinghy across the waterway to Barefoot Landing and walked around the shops for a few hours. I bought a new pair of boat shoes at Burlington Shoes and then we went to dinner at Greg Norman's to celebrate Wayne and Patti's anniversary. Chuck and I both had prime rib. It was delicious and we have enough leftovers for lunch today.

Georgetown Tonight; Myrtle Beach Tomorrow

Sunday, April 25:  We weathered the storm in Charleston. The solar panels and bimini were tied down. The alarm which signals that the winds are more than 30 knots kept going off. I went up and glanced at it once and winds were 32.2 knots, which is about 37 mph. The wind was really howling. It sounded eerie.

We had some rain in the morning, but it was mostly wind. Chuck walked the docks, looking at other boats, while I hung out on the boat with Jazzy and read a book. While walking, his Sheet Music hat blew off  his head, but he was able to reach in the water and snatch it out. It sure is his lucky hat! He has lost it several times and keeps getting it back.

We saw several large container ships go past the marina.

We saw this pretty sunset.

Monday, April 26:  We pulled away from the dock at Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina at 7 a.m. to meet Bum's Rest on the ICW. We reached the infamous Ben Sawyer Bridge at 7:55 a.m. The first opening wasn't until 9 a.m., so we had to hang out. I took the opportunity to go down and make breakfast while we circled around.

At left, one last photo of the U.S.S. Yorktown and the bridge.

Bum's Rest meeting us on the ICW.


We saw lots of dolphins today. They were everywhere! We saw them leaving the harbor and off and on all day. I still haven't caught a good picture of them!

It was a beautiful, sunny day. Mid 70s. We had a long day ahead of us. We were going 60+ miles.

As luck would have it, we made great time with the wind and current pushing us along for a good part of the day. We motorsailed most of the day. Winds were 12-17 knots with gusts up to 25 knots by the end of the day.

We thought we wouldn't arrive until 6 or 7 p.m., but at one point we were going 8 knots. We arrived about 5:30 p.m.

I made a new recipe for Swedish meatballs with wild rice, green beans and applesauce. We had pudding for dessert.

After dinner, we took a walk about four blocks up the street to buy bread and get a little exercise. Tomorrow we'll leave around 7 a.m. for Myrtle Beach.

Went to Patriot's Point Today; Waiting Out Thunderstorms Tomorrow

We pulled our anchor at 6:30 a.m. and left Edisto Island for Charleston, SC. The sun was coming up and it was a red sky. What an unusual sunrise! This photo shows Bum's Rest leaving the anchorage.

We saw lots of dolphins today. One even jumped out of the water just two feet from the bow. Chuck said if he had brakes, he would have applied them!

Winds were just 4 knots. It was overcast and sprinkling rain drops. There was no air moving today, and the bugs were out.

The current was in our favor so it gave us a boost. It was low tide going through Elliott Cut, where the current pushed us to 8 knots.

Bum's Rest is staying at Charleston City Marina. We are staying at Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina next to Patriot's Point. We wanted to tour the U.S.S. Yorktown. They wanted to be uptown.

We got fuel and pump out and moved Sheet Music over to the dock in front of the U.S.S. Yorktown, so we could take some photos. Chuck jumped in the dinghy and snapped a few pix.

Then we moved over to C dock and pulled into our slip. I took Jazzy for a walk while Chuck took a shower. Then we left her on the boat and went to Patriot's Point. We toured the aircraft carrier and the submarine. The destroyer was moved up the river for renovation.

It's been nearly 30 years since I was here. Joe was a little boy and the gentleman changing the tattered South Carolina flag on the destroyer asked him where he was from. "New Joy-zee," he replied. "Son, would you like a flag from South Carolina?," the man asked. "Yes, sir," he replied. It proudly hung in his bedroom for years, then moved as he did. It made such an impression on him, that he still has it...it's hanging in his garage.

The marina here is beautiful. There's a big hotel where a wedding was going on tonight.

I saw this huge jellyfish swimming next to our boat.

There's two washers and two dryers and individual shower roomshere. Each shower floor is tiled differently. Very pretty. Free pump out. Free cable TV. At left, one of the tiled floors...the men's bathing suit is made of tile!

We came back to the boat and I steamed some shrimp and made small Caesar salads.

Tomorrow we're hanging tight. High winds and thunderstorms predicted and radar shows a big mass of rain, so we'll hang here another day. Then, we're on to Georgetown, SC.

Some photos from Patriot's Point:

Maybe THIS anchor will hold Sheet Music.

The U.S.S. Yorktown CV-10.

One of the planes that was catapulted off the aircraft carrier using hydraulics. The catapults were later upgraded to steam.

Our marina from the U.S.S. Yorktown.

Some of the planes.

A view from the top deck.

The submarine we toured.

Some of the little sailboats for the Charleston School of Sailing.

Walking to the hotel that's part of the marina.

 A sea turtle made of tile.

Anchored in Steamboat Creek, Edisto Island, SC

Alarms went off at 5:45 a.m. so we could make the early bridge opening before commuter traffic closed it down until 9 a.m. The current was screaming through the marina. There was another sailboat about 10 ft. behind our dinghy. Wayne pushed off our stern and pulled in our bow to help us fight the current. That helped us and gave him a little more room to get Bum's Rest out. The current was pushing us sideways so Chuck had to give it throttle to get it out of the slip.The bridge opened at 6:40 a.m. and we made it through.

It was a sunny and warm day. We went 40 miles from M536 to 496.7.

We saw two dredging projects underway and passed on the side with two diamonds, indicating that was the safe side. Two circles means it's the danger side.

We arrived at Steamboat Creek anchorage at 12:30 p.m. It's 82 degrees here and sunny. I'm loving every minute of it.

It's Patti's turn to cook and the wind is whipping, so we put the motor on the dinghy.

Tomorrow we're going to Patriot's Point in Charleston, S.C. Bum's Rest is going to the City Marina, where we stayed on the way down. We'll meet up the next morning on the ICW.

Spent Night in Beaufort, SC

Thursday, April 22:  We pulled out of Thunderbolt Marina at 6:50 a.m. and circled around waiting for Bum's Rest to pull out. We received our warm Krispy Kreme donuts just before leaving, but the paper hadn't arrived yet.

Here's Patti pulling up fenders on Bum's Rest as they pull away from their dock near a mega yacht.

While waiting for Causton Bluff Highway Bridge, a double bascule, we heard form Tortuga. They are about 60 miles from us, so we were surprised to hear them on the radio.

We tried to sail a few times throughout the day, but there was absolutely no wind, not even in Port Royal Sound.

We spend the night in Downtown Marina. Dockage is $1.75 a foot and $5 for electric.

We walked around town and stopped in Lowcountry Winery where we had the wine tasting on the way down, and I bought a bottle of cranberry wine. It was so good that I couldn't resist. Chuck was in search of ice cream, so the guys walked along the waterfront and Patti and I walked to a local jewelry store where I bought a gold chain to replace the one I broke for my sailboat charm.

We caught up with the guys on the waterfront at a local tavern and had a cold beer. Then we walked back to the boats and I cooked dinner: Panko chicken tenders, baked potatoes, green beans and salad. We had pudding for dessert.

It was free movie night in the park. They were showing Forrest Gump with Tom Hanks, but we were tired and the no-see-ums were out, so we stayed in.

Tomorrow: Anchorage at Edisto Island, SC.

Enjoyed Visit to Savannah; Next Up: Beaufort, SC

Tuesday, April 20:

We pulled anchor at 6:30 a.m. for Thunderbolt. It was a 62+ mile day.

This was the sunrise this morning. The water was like glass.

We traveled through Doboy Sound to Old Teakettle Creek, through Creighton Narrows, Front River and across Sapelo Sound, thtrough Johnson Creek (we bumped going around marker 131A). Then North Dewport River into St. Catherine's Sound, past Kilkenny Creek where we stayed on the way down, and through Bear River into Florida Passage, through Vernon River, Burnside River, Skidaway Narrows, Skidaway River to Thunderbolt.

We saw a big school of dolphins at green marker 157 and a loan dolphin at R156. Winds were 8 knots. SOG was 6.5 knots at 3200 rpms. The winds in Sapelo Sound were 11 knots from the East.

I keep trying to get photos of dolphins, but they are quick and me and my camera are not!

Both sails were out at 11:35 a.m. and we motored at 2500 rpms. Winds were 9-11 knots NE. SOG was 7.5 knots. Thunderbolt is near Hogan's Marina and Turner Creek, where we stayed on the way down.

We arrived at Thunderbolt Marina at 3:15 p.m., fueled up and docked starboard to a long dock. They are floating docks! Oh, how I love floating docks. There is an eight-foot tidal change here, so no fooling around with dock lines for Chuck. That's a break.

I helped Patti dye her hair. Then she put in laundry. There was only three washers and two dryers. I'll do mine tomorrow. Chuck and I walked to Tubby's for dinner. Patti and Wayne were having leftovers. They are going out tomorrow with a friend of his.

Wednesday, April 21:
Thunderbolt Marina delivers U.S.A. Today and six warm Krispy Kreme donuts to each boat at 7 a.m. every day. What a pleasant surprise! Glad we're not staying here more than two days...those Krispy Kremes go down too easy and have waaaaaayyyy too many calories! It was nice to read a newspaper for a change. We've probably only seen a newspaper three or four times on this trip. It's been kind of nice to not know what's going on (ignorance is bliss). All our news is from my Facebook friends and Comcast when we log in to our email. LOL.

Chuck, Patti and I took a taxi into Savannah for the day. Wayne was staying at the marina while they made a minor repair to his engine. We were dropped off at City Market, where we were greeted with handfuls of caramel corn. Yum.

We took the Oglethorpe Trolley Tour. The 90-minute tour was only $15 pp and gave us a good overview of the historic city and its history. There's so much history here!

For those who haven't been to Savannah, the historic city is in wards with "squares" every few blocks. The squares are beautifully landscaped parks with monuments offering historical information. The homes, churches and businesses are all around the square. It's really neat.

After the trolley tour, Chuck went to the Maritime Museum, and Patti and I walked around some of the squares and then did some shopping. First stop: The Paula Deen store.

We walked over to the gold domed City Hall and took the elevator down to the riverwalk. We walked along the riverwalk and into some of the shops. Wayne met up with a retired electrician friend of his and his wife and called Patti to meet with her. So they they met up while I walked the riverwalk toward the maritime museum to meet up with Chuck.

It was a fun day. Chuck and I took a taxi back to the marina. I took Jazzy for a walk and did three loads of laundry. I made chicken Caesar salad for dinner. We had the leftover chocolate cheesecake from dinner the night before.

Below are more pix from Savannah, taken from the trolley tour. Then Chuck took the camera to the maritime museum.

The Waving Girl Statue honors Florence Margaret Martus, who was known by all the ship captains in the early 1900s for waving to all shipping traffic sailing into and out of Savannah. 

Below is the bench where the "Life is like a box of chocolates" scene was filmed with Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump.

Next stop: Beaufort, SC

Anchored in Sapelo Island Anchorage, Georgia

We left Jekyll Island Marina at 8:40 a.m. after I took a nice, hot shower at the bath house.

I made coffee, grilled cinnamon raisin bagels for a quick breakfast before we got into rough water. We had some fruit with it.

We went through Jekyll Creek into St. Simons Sound, then Mackay River, Buttermilk Sound, Altamaha River, North River to Duplin River. Winds were 22-25 knots all day. We had the main sail reefed for a little while, but pulled it in before going through the fixed bridge. Then the wind was in our faces most of the day.

The Duplin River anchorage is right off Doboy Sound near the Sapelo Island ferry dock.

We went past the American Spirit cruise ship, which is anchored right near us.

It was Patti's turn to cook. Spaghetti and meatballs, salad and garlic bread. Chocolate pudding for dessert. Delicious.

We came back to our boat and saw this beautiful sunset. OK, so it isn't set yet. But it was so pretty that I couldn't wait to take the shot.

Tomorrow: Thunderbolt.

Jekyll Island Marina; Tomorrow Anchorage in Duplin River

At 7 a.m., Bum's Rest called to say they were on their way. We were running a bit late this morning. Chuck had just finished dumping a jerry jug of fuel into our tank and still had both anchors out and they were dug in. So we were another 30 minutes getting them up and stayed about a half hour behind them all day.

I marked our location on the charts and went down below to make breakfast.

 We went through several more bridges today, including twin bridges, followed by a swing railroad bridge. I took this photo for grandsons Nick and Jeremy, who are into trains.

The temperature was 65 degrees. Winds were 11 knots from the North. We motored at 2900 rpms. SOG was 5.1 knots. The high temperature of the day was 73. It was a sweatshirt day...when you're moving, it's cold on the water at that temp!

We motored through the Amelia River. We saw a school of dolphins right before Fernandina Beach. We left Florida and changed chartbooks. Cumberland Sound had four sets of range markers for big ships going to King's Bay Naval Base.

Later in the day the winds increased, first to 18 knots, then as we entered St. Andrew Sound to Jekyll Sound, it was choppy with 23 knots of wind.  We crossed into the outer edge of the ocean inlet and it was rough.

Winds decreased to 19 knots, but the current was against us, so we were losing speed. At one point, SOW was 7.4 knots, but SOG was only 5.0.

We pulled into Jekyll Island Marina and fueled up the tank, the jerry jugs and pumped out. We're on a T dock right near the bridge.

We walked up to the Jekyll Island Museum, where many of the nation's wealthiest families owned vacation homes in the late 1800s.

This is the Moss Cottage.

Low tide here is really low. There's about a 5+ ft. difference in tides. These boats are sitting on the mud!

We went back to the marina, put the dogs on the boats and went to dinner at Sea Jay's here. I had the low country boil (steamed shrimp, sausage, corn-on-the-cob, red potatoes and cole slaw). Chuck had BBQ scallops. We went there in November to celebrate Chuck's birthday and enjoyed our meal.

Sheet Music is wearing a "mustache" from cruising (see all the dirt on the bottom of the bow?)

Tomorrow: An anchorage in Duplin River. Tuesday: Savannah!

Anchored in Ft. George Island, FL: Tomorrow: Jekyll Island, Ga.

We left River's Edge Marina in St. Augustine at 7:45 a.m. after a nice, hot "real" shower in the bath house. Oh, the small pleasures in life.

Temperature was 69 degrees when we left the marina, but reached 79 degrees later in the day. We went through eight bridges today. We had the head sail up for a while, but the wind was in our face most of the day, so we motored at 3000 rpms. The current was in our favor, though, pushing us along. SOW was 6-7 knots with SOG at 7.79. Winds were 14-15 knots.

At left, our view as we left St. Augustine (Flagler College buildings in the background).

We were underway about an hour and I went below and couldn't find Jazzy. We jumped up into the V-berth and was hiding under the clothes that were hanging. She limbed out and I snapped her picture.

What do you want, mommy?







This is the city marina where we stayed on the way down.

We arrived at our anchorage at Ft. George Island at 2:45 p.m. We didn't like this anchorage the last time we were here, but didn't realize that's where we were headed until we got here. There's LOTS of boat traffic until dusk and the current is strong.

It's a blowout low tide. Skipper Bob recommends anchoring just east or west of green marker 5, but we couldn't get a hold there, so we moved up to green marker 3 and tried there. Success.




It was my turn to cook dinner and we had the beef stew that I made the other night before we decided to go out to eat. Wayne wasn't planning on putting the motor on their dinghy, so we put ours on. I made a salad, cut angel food cake and strawberries, packed up the cool whip, salad dressings, some Italian bread and the stew and we took dinner over to Bum's Rest.

The no-see-ums are awful here! And no air with no power.

Tomorrow we'll cross the Florida border to Jekyll Island, Ga.

Leaving St. Augustine for Ft. George

We had a fun day in St. Augustine and are leaving in the morning for an anchorage in Ft. George.

Chuck scrubbed the bottom of the dinghy and put it back in the water. I gave Jazzy a bath. We took care of a few other chores around the boat this morning, then walked to Winn Dixie for a few groceries. Chuck walked with Patti and I and went to West Marine next door.

After putting the groceries away, we all walked up to the historic district and walked down King St. Of course, we stopped for ice cream at Kilwin's in lieu of lunch. I picked up a few sweatshirts for the ride home.

We saw this "green-house abode" on the water advertising earthball.org.













There is a lot of old architecture in this historic city. Flagler College, in particular, has some pretty buildings.

There was a pot luck dinner at the marina tonight. Patti made pasta salad and I took a few small fruit trays that I bought at Winn Dixie. The marina provided grilled pork chops and everyone brought a covered dish. It was delicious.

This is the oldest wood school house in the U.S.













Tomorrow we'll be at an anchorage in Ft. George.