Dolphins and Swansboro

Sept 28 and 29 we traveled to Swansboro and Oriental. On the way to Swansboro 3 dolphins swam off our stern quarter for 20-30 minutes. We were traveling 9 mph and they had no trouble keeping up with us. It was a great site to see. As we proceed further along the NC coast it becomes progressively more pleasant with less coastal development.



Swansboro is a real small town with much character. We took a long walk to Piggly Wiggly and Walgreens for some necessities, but the town itself is very compact and well preserved. Believe it or not the picture is sunrise not sunset. We do get up early on this trip.



Oriental, so far sems like it will be a neat spot to spend some time. The marina is very protected and right "downtown", at least as much as there is a downtown. We will do some exploring today after tending to much needed laundry.

Continuing North

Sept 26 and 27 saw us travel to Little River, SC then on to Wrightsville Beach, NC. The trip up the Waccamaw river was probably the most scenic so far with almost no development and nearly virgin forest. Debby befriended the dockmistress at Coquina Yacht Club with one of her signature rum punches. As a result we got her life's story which was quite long as she is 72 years old.

The trip to Wrightsville was an eye opener in that the transition from SC to NC was like night and day. Once in NC the waterway was lined with homes and docks protruding into the ICW. Being Saturday with warm, calm weather everyone was out in their boats. With adverse wind and tidal current along with a clueless dock hand our arrival at Dockside Marina/Restaurant was very sporty. Fortunately, both ego and boat survived unharmed. (Getting out tomorrow may be a different story.) This is a very lively spot for Saturday night, but they need to work on the marina side of their business.

At Long Last..........

(We are playing catch up with these pictures which show 1) Debby at Thunderbolt, GA 2) Jim and brother-in-law Terrel at karioke night at the American Legion in Ponte Vedra 3) damage to the dock at Eau Gallie YC during Fay 4) Swing bridge in operation 5) Friday nigth dock party with locals at Titusville Municipal Marina 6) Jim returning from boat inspection during Fay)

We are nearly 6 weeks into this trip, and just now finding time to set up our blog so those interested can follow along. It is a rainy, windy day in Georgetown, SC, so we have once again delayed movement North to wait out the inclement weather. That has been the story of this planned trip to the Chesapeake from the beginning. We spent 4 days being beaten against pilings at Eau Gallie Yacht Club in Melbourne during Tropical Storm Fay. Then by the time we got to Jekyl Island, GA it looked like Hanna was going to hit us so we retreated back to Jacksonville for safe harbor. We spent a week there on our second visit and did a side trip down the St. Johns as far as The Florida Yacht Club. We also got to spend some more quality time with Debby's family and my sister and brother-in-law visiting from San Francisco. We were there for an extended period as we wanted to see what course Ike would take and I needed to go back to Ft. Lauderdale for 2 days of business meetings.

We resumed the journey on Sept 14 with Brunswick, GA the first stop. Unfortunately, the entire town shuts down Sunday and Monday, so no restaurants were open, and Debby could not get her Brunswick stew!

Sept 15 found us off to an anchorage on the Crescent River. It was a pleasant days travel, but the guide books mislead us on anchorage sites so it took a while to find a suitable site. the spot we found was very serene, and we spent a pleasant night on the hook.

Sept 16 took us to Savannah. This is the day the Love Bugs came out in force. We have discovered they love white and everything on the boat is white, so we were plagued by them the whole day. We toured Savannah on the 17th then toured nearby Thunderbolt (the town where we were docked) by bike on the 18th. We stayed the extra day as a party was being held at "Tubby's" down the street from the marina.

Sept 19 on to Beaufort, SC. Toured Beaufort by bike and found it to be a great little town with a lot of history. Dinner at Emily's was great.

Sept 20 traveled to Charleston, SC. Did the tourist thing on the 21st complete with carriage tour. Met our old neighbors the Bushes for dinner at Magnolias. Spent the 22nd walking the town and touring several fo the old homes. Lunch at 82 Queen which had in my opinion THE BEST She Crab soup. (Debby disputes that claim). We are on a quest to fine the best. (She thinks Emily's was better).

Sept 23 on the water again headed for Georgetown, SC. It is a smaller version of Beaufort, but not quite as nice. Toured by bike which did not take long on the 24th.