Hello friends and family,

     It's November 21st and we're back on the boat, back on our way south and, at the moment, anchored on St. Pierre's Creek in South Carolina.  We've been having some very windy weather the last few days, so have been tying up to marinas more than we had planned.  However, this is a very quiet and beautiful spot for the night and the wind has calmed down.  

     Our last blog was posted October 21st from Slade Creek in North Carolina.  The next day we sailed across Pamlico Sound to Orient and up the Neuse River to New Bern.  We rented a slip at Northwest Creek Marina, did boat chores, had that dinner with friends and drove home Friday.  We babysat our granddaughter, Olivia, Saturday night and then spent most of the following week keeping appointments with doctors, dentists, hair cutters, seeing friends and grandma got to see Olivia's Halloween parade at school where she was dressed as Cinderella.  The following weekend we took Olivia to see a local Halloween play, Bunicula, about a rabbit who seemed to have some creepy eating habits.  The play was in Northport so after the play we gave Olivia the choice of going to a playground or looking at the boats at Northport village docks.  What do you think she chose?  Looking at the boats with grandpa!!  The next day we had a big birthday lobster and oyster feast for two of our grown children.  Emily was sorely missed at this celebration, unable to get away from graduate studies at Brown, but we did manage to eat her lobster in her absence.
     On Monday, November 11th, we drove back to New Bern, intending to set out Wednesday, but were delayed by that blast of arctic air from central Canada.  So we used the two days to get provisions, fuel and to settle bills for dingy repair and a new enclosure for the boat's cockpit.  So we set out Thursday, Nov. 14th, after the small craft advisories were past.  There was frost on the sail covers and steam coming off the Neuse River in the 27 degree morning air.  Only the new cockpit enclosure kept us from freezing, so we appreciated it right away.  That night we stayed on a dock in Moorehead City and walked to a hardware store, looking for micro fleece shammies for wiping the new plastic windows.  Lynn found them and turned around to speak to Sally, only to find her roaming the aisles with a gleam in her eye that only a true shopper has, seemingly excited about the hose clamps and crescent wrenches.
     November 15, we headed south on the IntraCoastal Waterway (ICW) on the way to a marina we had stayed in in 2010, Harbor Village Marina.  On the way we went aground at Brown's Inlet, hitting a sandbar at over 7 knots, ending up sitting higher than usual in water 4.5 feet deep.  Our boat needs 5' 2" deep water to float, so you can see the problem.  This spot turned out to be a frequent eater of boats and the Boat US towboat was right there, just around a corner, so we were towed off within 20 minutes.  Good thing we have the unlimited towing insurance.  Might need it again along the way.
     November 16th we continued along the way and didn't hit any sandbars, which is good.  Lynn was getting a bit annoyed at how the speed boaters ignored boating rules about how close to come, how much salt water to spray on you and whether or not to come zooming directly at your bow or to stop and fish in the middle of the channel that you can't go outside of because it's too shallow for a sailboat.  But that night we tied up to a marina in Holden Beach, almost directly under the highway bridge (see photo) and the people there were so sweet that Lynn had to apologize to himself for having bad thoughts about the North Carolina boaters.  One lady gave Sally a ride to the market in her golf cart and three good old boys just back from fishing gave three lovely black sea bass to Lynn, with instructions on how to fillet them and how to cook them with the skin and scales still on.  They were delicious!
     November 17 we moved on southward, into the Waccamaw River area, a real wilderness.  Several days of wind gusting to 30 knots was forecast, so we anchored in what was described in one of the most widely owned and used books, Skipper Bob's Anchorages, as extremely good wind protection, very good holding (the anchor holding on to the bottom).  This small creek behind Richard Island is called Cow House Creek.  It was just as described, very quiet.  Could hardly tell it was blowing all that much.  But the weather turned out better than predicted, so, on the 18th, we moved on 20 miles to a dock in Georgetown, Harborwalk Marina, which had excellent protection from the northerlies that were blowing.  On the way, we were boarded by 5 young Coast Guard officers.  They were friendly, but inspected the entire boat, including all of the bilge spaces under the floor.  It seemed that they were practicing for characters who might have illegal stuff under the floorboards.  But we passed all the requirements for a boat of our size (life preservers, fire extinguishers....) (see photo).
     When we got to Georgetown, we hired a diver to check out the bottom of the boat for any damage from that hard grounding in North Carolina.  He reported extensive gouging on the keel metal.  So the next day, we had the boat lifted out of the water at a nearby boatyard, Hazard Marina, in what is called a short haul, see photo.  We saw that there was no damage at all, aside from some paint scraped off the front of the keel.   The good old boys in the yard decided that Captain Lynn is a bit paranoid, kidding I hope.  Better safe than sorry when it comes to boat safety and seaworthiness.  Also, at Hazard Marina, we met a true old salty sailor the locals introduced as Mad Dog.  He had a beard down to the middle of his chest and immediately grabbed Lynn and started telling his tales of the sea, including running from women, several times, to New Bedford.?.  It was hard to get away, a bit like the poem, The Rhyme of The Ancient Mariner, but we managed.
    On the 20th, we tried to go outside into the ocean to sail, but it was, again, blowing too hard, so we went back to the ICW.  Again, we tried to anchor, this time in Dewes Creek, which was described as having excellent wind protection and holding, but turned out to have no wind protection at all.  So we went on a couple of miles and stayed on a dock at Palm Island Marina.  There we decided to give ourselves a treat and go out to dinner. We mostly have been cooking on the boat. We had a delicious Southern meal of blackened Maui Maui, collard greens and cheesy grits, along with a meeting of the Executive Board of Southern Belle (the Captain and the Boss).  Issues having to do with fears and frustrations and cold, blustery weather were addressed and everyone felt better.
     The next day we motored passed Charleston and on to St Pierce creek. It was another very quiet anchorage. Along the way we have seen many Dolphins, but by the time I get the camera out they are gone. However, it is so exciting to see them!! We also have seen many pelicans. I love watching them, especially when they go SPLAT in the water trying to get a fish. I have also  enjoyed seeing the Spanish moss hanging on the trees which are turning fall colors and are so beautiful, being out here has really brought us closer to nature.
    We are now anchored at Bulls creek, another nice anchorage. We are about 20 miles from Savanna, Georgia, where we will go tomorrow. We plan to stay at  a marina there and have dinner with a couple we met from a friend of ours in New York.
    Well, this is our journey so far. I am very excited to be here, Nov 21, 2010 was when I flew home last time and we had to end our first journey.

Lynn and Sally


   

October 21, 2013

Hello to friends and family.

     We are anchored in Slade Creek in North Carolina which is mile 140 of the ICW (Intercostal Waterway) in a very quiet place.  We were the only boat anchored here till just a few minutes ago; now there are 2 boats!  But it's still the quietest place we've ever seen.  Every day has been a new adventure since we left Annapolis.
     Oct 14th - We sailed to Solomon's Island (which is still in Virginia) and anchored.  There were many boats at this anchorage, but we found a spot next to a Tanaya 37 which is a traditional ocean boat, with pointy bow and stern and lots of beautiful woodwork.  As we pulled up, I noticed the guy had a t-shirt on with MEMPHIS written on the front.  We chatted and he told me he had gone to high school and college in Memphis and he knew all about the barbecue there (The Rondevue and Gridley's), small world.  That night the wind died down while we were sleeping and our boat and his boat bumped.  Lynn heard a knocking on our hatch where we were sleeping and he crawled out the hatch to see what had happened.  The guy said let's just raft up for the night so Lynn put out our fenders and lines and that is what we did.  He even apologized to Lynn for waking him up, Southern hospitality!  "No problem, because I'm not awake," Lynn told him.  The next morning we pulled up anchor and left.  They were sailing North to New York and of course we are going South!
     Oct 15th - sailed to Pittman's Cove.  I actually put us aground but Captain Lynn was able to get us off, thank goodness.  If we had to call Boat US I would have never lived this down.  That night, we anchored in a small cove in front of some beautiful houses.
     Oct 16th - The next day we sailed to Norfolk, Va.  We saw many huge Navy ships and huge dock cranes that looked like yellow robots.  We anchored next to the Highway Bridge at Mill Creek.  Lynn rowed the dingy to shore to try and get some fresh fish for dinner and some toilet paper but what he brought back was shrimp with the heads on and scallops wrapped in bacon!  The fellow on the dock negotiated a price and then drove home to get them out of his freezer.  A nice guy, very interesting stories and a thick southern accent.
     Oct 17th - Was truly a day of adventures! We stopped at a dock again in search of toilet paper.  The store had  maybe 5 items but we were able to get 8 rolls of toilet paper for only $14.30 !!  The most expensive toilet paper I've ever heard of.  But we needed it.  We then started our passage through the Dismal Swamp Canal but because of stopping for the toilet paper we were behind most of the other boats.  As we were nearing the lock the lock master radioed, "Southern Belle we will wait for you to get here before closing the lock.  You got 20 seconds..."  New boat speed record.  We wondered how he knew our name but as we pulled up to the lock we saw some boats tied up we had done our overnight sail with down the New Jersey Coast. It was nice to see familiar faces.  We didn't have time to get out our lines and fenders before entering the lock but it turned out that didn't matter as the electrical functioning on the locks  broke and they had to call a mechanic!!  Many of us thought we might be there overnight!
     The locks were finally fixed after about 2 hours and we proceeded to the bridge.  However, we had not heard the announcement to turn off your motor and close your raw water intake valve as there was so much green algae in the water.  So as we were going to the bridge our raw water intake plugged up which meant we had to turn off our motor and Lynn had to go down below to fix it.  I was left on deck to try and steer without the motor, so we didn't bump into any greenery.  The current completely turned us around and we were headed back towards the lock.  Needless to say I had a moment of sheer PANIC!  However Lynn unplugged the raw water intake quickly and we were able to turn on the motor and turn around to head back to the bridge, but now all the other boats had gone through the bridge and it was not opening for another hour and a half - UGH!  We tied up to a wall right near the bridge and, while we were waiting, I cranked Lynn up the mast so he could fix our steaming light, and when he came down he still had time to go get some much needed Southern beer at the gas station.  At the gas station, Lynn had some fun conversation with some good old boys sitting on a bench watching the world go by.  When we finally did get through the bridge, my stomach was in knots again as it was just a few hours before dark and no one wants to be going through the Dismal Swamp canal in the DARK!!!  We also now had passed from Virginia to North Carolina.  While we were  motoring along the Dismal Swamp Canal our keel hit submerged logs 6 times making a thud, but who is counting!!!!  We also saw our mast hit the top of trees knocking branches on the deck of the boat!  We had to steer watching the trees above us as well as the water around us.  Just before I was going to have another panic attack as it was nearing darkness, we spotted another sail boat tied to small dock so we asked them if we could raft up.  They were Canadians and very nice and said "tie up and come have cocktails with us" which we did.  As we were having our drinks and hor d'oeuvres, a Cataraman passed with just 2 women (a mother and daughter) on board .  They said "you stopped; we are going to keep on going"!
     Oct 18/19th - These 2 days were a lot less "nerve wracking"! We motored down the Pasquotank River and went to Elizabeth City where we were able to stay on the FREE town dock.  The people there were very friendly but it was homecoming weekend and, after the high school marching band paraded by, the old town around the docks was very quiet.  Most stores seemed to be closed.
     Oct 20th - We sailed through Albermarle Sound to the Alligator River.  We stayed at the Alligator River Marina which is one of my favorite Marina's as it is very relaxed and "down Home".  This is also the place where we found (in 2010) the little rubber alligator that rides with us on Southern Belle (a favorite of our granddaughter Olivia).  We had a great meal in the restaurant, cheeseburgers, fried corn fritters, fried onion rings and green beans (had to put something healthy in the mix).  So now we are on our way to New Bern, North Carolina where we will meet our friends Paul and Susie for dinner.  We met them the first time we tried to do this voyage in 2010.  They were aground and we helped pull them off (this is how former therapists make friends) and then we sailed with them till we got to Georgia where they kept their boat.  On Friday, Oct 25th we are going to leave our boat in New Bern and drive home for a family and friend visit.


Love Sally and Lynn

October 13, 2013


     Greetings to everyone from Spa Creek, Annapolis, Maryland.  We hope things are going well for all of you.  We have been on anchor here for  two weeks, arriving from Swan Creek on September 27th.  We were going to visit St. Michael's further down the Eastern Shore, but decided to come to Annapolis wary to make sure we got a good spot before the crowds of power boats and sail boats arrived for the power boat show followed by the sail boat show.  Also, we wanted to keep company with several of the sailing buddies we had met way back when in Atlantic Highlands, to enjoy their company, in addition to the other nice parts of cruising.
     We sailed into Annapolis' outer harbor, dropped sails and circled for 30 minutes until the Spa Creek bascule bridge opened and we proceeded through the very narrow opening and west about .9 mile to drop anchor right next to a park and surrounded by cute houses looking over the water.  The protection here from the gusty winds that have been blowing for days is excellent, though we did put out two anchors one windy night, only to have them get tangled up, causing the boat to drag.  I got out in the dingy and pulled the secondary anchor, got covered with rank bottom mud and found it wrapped twice around the primary anchor chain.  Our boat was nowhere near the spot where I originally dropped the anchor.  We're on just our primary anchor now, which seems to be working fine.
     The weather when we first sailed in here was blue skies and warm, temperature in the 80's.  Then Tropical Storm Karen, in the Gulf of Mexico, made landfall, weakened and travelled eastward across Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia to the Atlantic coast, made it's way north and parked just east of the Chesapeake Bay.  From this parking spot, Karen's remnant has been sending heavy rains and gusty winds since Wednesday, Oct. 9th.  Just in time to soak the sail boat show.  Not the power boat show.  Just the sailors.  I heard several people say they'd heard the weatherman say over 5 inches of rain so far.  So each morning we get up, dress warmly, put on foul weather jackets and I go out to prepare the dingy.  I pump out the 50 gallons of water from the rains, add some air to the leaky right pontoon, wipe down the tubes and seat and start the outboard, which has been running well, thank goodness.  Sally comes out and gets into the dingy, moving carefully always and we motor the mile to the dingy dock next to the boat show.  We join in with the other sailors in their yellow or red foul weather gear and spend the boat show days looking at stuff, conversing with the proprietors and other sailors, adding to our store of valuable information about weather, the Bahamas, gear of all sorts - and listening to and telling sailing stories.  We were standing in line for the weather seminar yesterday and this older gent behind us started telling stories of his one trip to the Bahamas, admitting he was beyond his level of skill and preparation and regaling us with a collection of terrible experiences with large waves, strong winds, awful harbors.  All very scary and discouraging to those sailors out for a first or almost first time, hoping for warm sun, lovely harbors, nice sailing and lots of fun.
      Later yesterday, we were talking to a guy about his wifi antenna and he talked about being on anchor on a key in the Abacos (northern Bahamas), relaxing in the sun, his wife working on line on the boat.  He made it sound like you want it to be, nice and warm.  There are all sorts of characters in this sailing scene and wildly contrasting opinions about how things are, so we have to sort through that in addition to running the boat and navigating our way south, down the coast.  So far, we're doing well.  Haven't hit anything.  Keeping warm, mostly.  Are saving our running aground for later, in the Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW).  Just kidding, sort of.  But with the government shut down, I wouldn't think that the dredging of the ICW's shallow spots, already inadequately funded, is going to get any better.
     Sally had a very nice visit back on Long Island with her sister and with our older daughter's family, Brooke, Ben, Olivia and Amelia. Amelia who is 4 months old just started to roll over while Grandma was visiting.  Grandma also got to go to a swim and dancing class with Olivia, reminding her of Brooke and Emily's dancing classes and Derek, Emily and Brooke's swimming classes when they were growing up, very nostalgic and wonderful to enjoy being a grandma!! Lynn spent last weekend visiting psychologist friends and their teenage children and had a very nice time there.  For me (Lynn) it was a reminder of how much I love psychological ideas and clinical work and why I'm only able to describe this cruising trip as "taking a break," rather than as "retirement."
     It has been fun and stress-relieving and the other sailors we've met have been really wonderful people, sharing information, beer and some of the gear that cruisers need.  And it does feel good to not have to keep an appointment schedule, to take as long as I want at what I'm doing.  There are, of course, parts of cruising in which time counts, such as getting up early to start a long day of traveling.  That goes with traveling slowly and trying to get somewhere.  It does serve as a kind of antidote to the hurry of modern life.  Gotta go.  Hope all is well with you and your loved ones.  Lynn and Sally of Southern Belle