11/23/13-11/29/13 - Thanksgiving week at Jacksonville Beach, FL

We left Fernandina at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, 11/23/13, heading for Jacksonville Beach, FL.  John's sister lives there and we planned on spending Thanksgiving with her and her family, but since we're behind schedule, we may leave before Turkey Day.  We arrived at Palm Cove Marina around one in the afternoon.  We fueled up at $3.83 per gallon, tax included.  That's the cheapest we could find for 100 miles or more.  We took 282 gallons of fuel, which works out to about 1.25 miles per gallon.  Gay picked us up at the boat and we went to her house for burgers.

On Sunday, we got a call from Ft. Pierce City Marina and were told we had a slip from 12/15/13 through 2/1/14.  That's good news.  Gay came and picked us up again and took us to the Navy Exchange for food, booze, and cigarettes.  We saved a good bit of money by going there as opposed to public shopping.  John got his hair cut there and they scalped him.  It's so bad, he looks like he's ready to go on active duty again.  It's not a high and tight but it's the next closest thing.  We're supposed to leave in the morning, but it's still blowing pretty good.

On Monday, we decided to stay through Thanksgiving since the weather is being uncooperative.  More wind and rain are supposed to move in later today.  We called Enterprise for a rental car for a couple of days so we could drive to St. Augustine and also so we wouldn't be such a burden on Gay.  They brought the car right to the marina.  John went to Gay's chiropractor because his back has been bothering him.  He has three discs out of alignment.  He felt better after his session, but unfortunately the pain came back the next day.  He thinks he needs a number of sessions before it will help.  That night we went to Poe's Tavern with Gay and Terry.  They have $1 PBR tall boys.  It was a very cool place and we liked it a lot.  Edgar Allen Poe quote:  "I don't care about the passage of time, today I'm drinking ale."

Tuesday - 11/26/13 - Even though we planned to go to St. Augustine in the rental car today, it was raining cats and dogs, so we decided to stay on the boat and catch up on some things.  Then we went shopping for the food we would need for Thanksgiving dinner.  That evening we met Gay, Terry, and Lawson (Gay's son) at Caps on the Water for dinner.  It's supposed to be bad rain and wind tonight... not again.  It's also getting colder...not again.  I thought we were in Florida!?!

Wednesday - Didn't do much today except take the rental car back and prepare shrimp pie and sausage stuffing for tomorrow's dinner.  Gay came to the boat that evening to give us her van so she wouldn't have to worry about picking us up in the morning.  While there, I fried some of the shrimp from McClellanville using Alston's secret recipe.  They were delicious.  That night the temperature went down to 29 degrees.  WTF!?!?!  This is ridiculous!!!

Thursday - Thanksgiving Day -  guess what!  It's cold!  Went to Gay's around 10:30.  Lawson drove us to "the corner" for a Thanksgiving celebration.  It's like nothing I've ever done on Thanksgiving before.  They close off several blocks of the main road, with police at each entrance.  Only the bars are open and there are at least a thousand people there.  They're wall to wall, drinking bloody Mary's, Mimosas, or beer.  It goes from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.  Everyone we talked to earlier this week said they were going.  They said it has been a tradition for about ten years. 

Thanksgiving morning at "the corner"

From l. to r. - Gay's friend Veronica, Gay, Terry, me, John (notice the coats)

Got back to Gay's about 1:30 and started preparing dinner.  While dinner was cooking, we stood around the outside heater.

 

We had a great dinner.  After dinner we built a bonfire and sat outside for about an hour until the fire went out.   We then went inside to get warm but it was 60 in Gay's house and she refused to turn the heat on, so we all sat there with coats on.  I love you girl, but your house was just too cold.  I was glad when I got back to the boat where the heater had been on all day and it was toasty warm.

 

We're leaving in the morning and heading to St. Augustine, FL.  Currently 916 miles south of the Bohemia River.

11/21/13-11/22/13 - Fernandina Beach, FL

The weather has finally laid down, so we unhooked the mooring ball this morning and went to the dock to spend two nights.  The first day we did laundry and then ate lunch at the restaurant at the marina.  We walked the cute little town in the evening and ended up at the Palace Saloon, the oldest continuously operating bar in Florida.  The bar was established in 1880 and referred to as the "Ship Captains Bar".  Adolphus Busch, founder of Anheuser-Busch helped design the bar.  The saloon still has the elegant features from over 100 years ago.  According to local lore, it was the last bar in Florida to close on the eve of Prohibition.  The owner stored up for a last hurrah selling till midnight and grossed $60,000 in a single day.  During Prohibition, the Palace survived by selling gasoline, ice cream, special wines, 3% "near-beer", and supposedly bootleg whiskey.

John and I had a rematch of pool at the Palace.  Sorry to say, but I lost three out of three.  Damn it!  I hate to lose!

The next day, my birthday, we spent a relaxing morning on the boat and then went to town to explore.  John met some pelicans, which he wants to be reincarnated as when he dies, on the dock.  They were fairly tame, standing outside a fish house waiting for the workers to come out and throw the head, tail, and bones that were left after filleting.

John and pelicans outside fish house

We had great appetizers and drinks at the Salty Pelican.  I even ate three oysters, count 'em, three.  They weren't bad because they were broiled.  Still can't do raw, though.

Later, Gay (John's sister) and Terry (her boyfriend) drove over to help celebrate my birthday.  We went to an outside bar with a very good band and had a drink, then went to a restaurant called 29 South for dinner.  John and I thought it was pricey and not all that great.  When we left, we went back to the outdoor bar and had another drink or two.  They had a ping pong table and we played a few games.  It was a great day, night, and birthday.

Tomorrow we will be leaving for Jacksonville Beach.

We are now 888 miles south of the Bohemia River.

11/17/13 - 11/20/13 - Georgia

We left Beaufort at 10:00 a.m. heading for Georgia.  The first thing we passed was Parris Island Marine Corps base.  I couldn't get a good picture because we were too far away and it was a little  hazy.  About four hours into the trip, we entered Fields Cut where a sailboat was aground.  The water was very shallow there and the sailboat was waiting for the tide to come up so they could float off the sandbar.  He wouldn't have been aground to start with if he had paid attention to the charts and the Cruising Guide.  That's why it takes both of us to navigate the boat.  There are many areas like this along the ICW.

Sailboat aground in Fields Cut

We crossed into Georgia at 2:15 p.m.  Shortly after crossing the state line, we noticed a creek on the charts called "Runaway Negroe Creek".  I kid you not.  I cannot make something like that up.  

 

The water tank was low and the holding tank was full so we decided to go up Turner's Creek and dock at Hogan's Marina in Wilmington Island, GA.  The manager's name was Bubba (imagine that, somebody named Bubba, in the South).  He was very nice and accommodating.

 

John and I walked to the grocery store that was next to the marina and bought a few provisions.  Then went next door to the bar and grill and played some pool.  He kicked my ass, two games out of three.  I need a rematch.  A Garber hates to lose.

 

We left Hogan's the next morning heading to an anchorage that we had picked to stay for the night, but when I looked at the Cruisers' Guide, I read that we had to go through the Little Mud River, which you can only do on a high tide. The tide was good right then and wouldn't be high until afternoon the next day, so we decided to trudge on through and anchor on the other side somewhere.  We dropped the anchor behind Dolbow Island around 5:30 that night.  An eight hour travel day is not what we like to do.  That night was very windy and the boat rocked and slammed all night.  In other words, I got my ass kicked... again.  Actually we both did this time.  

 

The next morning, we got underway at 9:40 a.m.  We tried to get a berth at Jekyll island but they were full so we continued on.  



Jekyll Island Club

It was one of the roughest days yet.  We had to cross St. Andrew's Sound, which is the closest to the ocean of any sound south of Norfolk.  The five to six foot swells went on for about two and a half hours and guess what, yep, you guessed it, we both got our butts kicked, and it's getting a little old.  This makes for a very agitated captain and first mate.  John was struggling for all he was worth to keep the boat from rolling.  On the return trip, we'll have to remember not to cross St. Andrew's Sound except in good weather.  We dropped anchor off Cumberland Island that afternoon but it was still blowing a gale.  We're getting a little sick and tired of this damn wind.

 

We had read that Cumberland Island had armadillos and wild horses.  They also claim to be one of the most undeveloped places in the country.  It is also where John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Carolyn Bessette were married in a secret ceremony in 1996.  The ceremony took place in the Brack Chapel of the First African Baptist Church, one of the few remaining buildings on the island.  We would like to have taken the dinghy ashore to explore, but it was too choppy. Maybe on the return trip.  Since we were unable to leave the boat for the third day in a row, John decided that I needed to learn the phonetic alphabet.  After several tries, I got as far as F - - Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, and F*ck U.

 

We spent another rough night at anchor, so the next morning we decided to head to a marina.  We arrived at Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, FL before noon.  John didn't feel comfortable trying to dock the boat under the very windy conditions so we picked up a mooring ball.  That was quite a challenge.  John was on the bow and I was at the controls.  Every time we'd get close to getting the line off the ball, the wind would get us and push us away.  It took five or six tries before we got it.  It was another windy day and we were stuck on the boat again.  My birthday is in two days and all I want is a bed that doesn't move!!!!!

 

888 miles south of the Bohemia River.

 

P.S.  If you read this blog, please give feedback.  Thanks. 

 

11/14/13-11/17/13 - Beaufort

Left Charleston at 10:00 a.m. after four days.  Only planned on being there for two days, but the weather wasn't good enough to leave as planned.  We're heading for Beaufort, SC.  It was a beautiful travel day and we arrived at the anchorage about 5:00 p.m.  We anchored for the night and had dinner on board.

The next day, Friday (11/15), we took the dinghy into town and had a late lunch.  Beaufort, which is a National Historic Landmark District, is probably one of the prettiest towns you'll ever see.  Without a doubt, it has the best waterfront park that I've ever seen, with the type of swings that people would have on their front porch lining the river walk, as well as tables and chairs for people to sit and enjoy a snack or meal. 

A number of movies have been filmed here, such as Forrest Gump, The Big Chill, The Great Santini, and Prince of Tides, to name a few.  You can take a horse drawn buggy ride to view these movie sites and/or the historic district.  We chose to walk.

Prince of Tides was filmed at this house.

Now you know I have to give some Civil War history of the town.  Oops, I mean War of Northern Aggression.  (Sorry John)  The town fell to the Union Army early in the war and a lot of its residents left their homes and fled the town.  The slaves ran rampant for a while, ransacking the vacant homes and acting like they owned the place, until the Union finally put a stop to it.  And, to add insult to injury, unbeknownst to the homeowners that fled, the Union created a tax on the town's properties and most of the now vacant homes were sold at tax sale.  Some of the original homeowners were able to get their homes back after the war, but not without a lot of hassle and red tape.

On Saturday, John was ready to take the dinghy to town, but I was lollygagging.  It's a good thing though because when I was finally ready, John noticed that the bilge pump kept coming on.  He went into the engine room and discovered that our sea strainer closure bolt broke.  This was periodically creating minor flooding in the engine room and could have potentially sunk the boat if left unattended.  John was able to fix it with an old bolt that we had on board.  Thank goodness for lollygagging.  LOL

Eventually we took the dinghy to town.  While I did laundry, John rented a bike and rode to the pharmacy to refill a prescription.  We were told the pharmacy was only a mile or so from the historic district.  Not!!  He did a half marathon to get there and says he's now ready for the Ironman competition.  On the way to the pharmacy he passed a cemetery that he described as a mini Arlington.  We later found out that it is the Beaufort National Cemetery, which is the only national cemetery with Confederate soldiers who have been laid to rest (199 of 14,000).  I just wish we had a picture of it to post here.

We had an early dinner and came back to the boat in time to watch college football.  Figured if we anchored for free, we could afford to eat out.  There were a number of young Marine basic training graduates in town with their families and girlfriends.  Brought back memories of when my son, Doug, graduated from Parris Island. 

The anchorage from the shore.

 

We'll be leaving in the morning and heading to Georgia.  Currently 727 miles south of the Bohemia River.

11/10/13-11/13/13 - Charleston

We left McClellanville a little before 9:00 a.m. on Sunday bound for Charleston.  There were no problems travelling and we arrived at Charleston in about four and a half hours.  We got a transient berth at the Harborage Marina on the Ashley River.  It was too far to walk to town and I wished we could have stayed on the other side of Charleston so we could walk to everything.  In the end, I was glad we were where we were.

John's best friend from middle school, Kenny, and his son, Kaleb, came to the boat to visit.  We went to dinner with them at Carolina Seafood.  While at dinner, the marina called and said that our boat had been hit and there was some damage.  They got all the insurance information from the other boat and since it was so late, they said they would see us in the morning to explain everything.  Not the kind of phone call  you like to get.  Needless to say, it kind of ruined our first night in Charleston.

The next day (Monday), we talked to the dockmaster and he explained how a sailboat was coming into his slip and overshot it, so he was turning around to go back out and try again when another boat was coming in.  The current there runs 2-4 knots and his boat got away from him.  His anchor punched a hole in our bow pulpit and scraped a few places on the port side.  John called the man and advised that we were going to call his insurance company.  He was very apologetic.  We called the insurance company and they said they would call us back later that day, so we went to town.  Why wait around, right???

We caught the marina's shuttle van to downtown and met Gay (John's sister) and Terry (her boyfriend) for a short time.  We got a text from Pat and Jack, who asked if we wanted to meet them for drinks.  Of course, we're always up for that.  In the meantime, we received about four phone calls from Progressive Insurance about our boat.  The first one was from Maryland, the second was from Virginia, the third from North Carolia (they're getting closer), and finally the fourth was from an adjuster in the Charleston area.  He said he would be at the boat at 8:00 a.m. the next morning.

On Tuesday, bright and early, the adjuster came to the boat right on time.  He surveyed the damage for about ten minutes, said he was going to his car to do an estimate, and returned a half hour later with a check for $2,646.77.  How's that for service?  We were quite amazed at how easy it all was.  He said if we get to where we are going and have the boat fixed and it costs more than he estimated, call Progressive and they will send us a check for the difference.  I would definitely deal with this insurance company again.

We had only planned on being in Charleston for two nights, but the weather was predicting gale force winds, so we decided to stay an extra two nights until it blew out.  Good decision.  And, as stated at the beginning of this post, glad we were on the Ashley River side of Charleston.  We rocked and rolled, but nothing like they did on the other side.  Pat and Jack are on that side and they said they were up all night.

On Wednesday, we awoke to a very cold and windy day.  We took the marina van to West Marine (couldn't miss going to West Marine in Charleston, could we?) and bought a Florida cruising guide since ours only covers the Chesapeake Bay to Jacksonville, FL. 

Later that afternoon, we went downtown and toured the Old Customs House/Provost Dungeon.  A very good tour that I would recommend.  The building was the social center of the city when it was built.  The second floor was very elegant and many influential meetings were held there.  In 1791, Charleston entertained George Washington there with an elaborate ball.

Second floor of old Customs House

 



The Provost Dungeon located in the cellar was originally used to store goods waiting to be shipped or delivered.  But when the city fell to the British, they took over the Customs House and used it as a jail.  They also took control of the finest homes and buildings for their headquarters and then arrested their owners and threw them in the dungeon.  Some died there of disease before the British evacuated the city.

The walls and ceilings are very unique.  The tour guide told us that they would stack sand bags in a mound and then lay brick over them.  When the mortar dried, they would remove the sand bags and the bricks would remain in place.  They've been there for well over 200 years.

The Dungeon

 

Later that night, we met Pat and Jack to listen to music at a place called Queology.  A young man named Kevin Church was playing. He was very good and we didn't leave until 11:30 p.m.

 

We'll be leaving in the morning, heading to Beaufort, SC.  We are now 672 miles from the Bohemia River.

11/5/13-11/10/13 McClellanville, SC

Left Thoroughfare Creek at 9:10 a.m. heading for McClellanville, SC, home of John's ancestors.  We saw three eagles on the way.

Eagle on the Waccamaw River

Arrived in McClellanville at 2:00 p.m. and docked at Leland Oil Co. (the only marina in town).  John's cousin, Alston, picked us up at the dock and took us to his shrimp boat where we cleaned about 30 lbs. of shrimp.  He offered to cook some up right on the boat using his secret recipe, which of course, we took him up on.  As John and I cleaned shrimp, Alston made preparations for cooking them.  He went to the galley, got a pot, took it down to the fish hole and got a pot full of crushed ice.  He went back into the galley and came out with a half gallon of rum and some cans of Coke, and proceeded to explain that this was his secret ingredient to making the best fried shrimp - - Rum and Coke.  I don't know if it was the rum and Coke or the fresh shrimp, but they were the best fried shrimp we'd ever eaten.  He gave us the rest of the shrimp to take back to the boat for our freezer, but he kept the Rum and Coke.  Jim Blackstone - - you might even like these shrimp.

Throughout the evening, he entertained us with his Low Country wit.  It was one of the best nights we've had since leaving the Bohemia River.  A few of his quotes were:  "My mom is the only person I know that graduated from hospice."  After eating his shrimp, he said, "with that behind ya, you can walk through Hell and back."  He also told us of a recent boarding by the Coast Guard.  When asked where his head was (which the boat doesn't have because he removed it some time ago due to all the regulations), he told them "we go to the bathroom the same place the porpoises do."

Alston cooking shrimp in the galley of his shrimp boat, Regulus

Shrimp boats on Jeremy Creek, McClellanville, SC

Alston's boat, is on the far left.

The local Jeremy Creek dolphin.  They say he's all but tame.

  

On Wednesday, John's aunt and two cousins took us to lunch at T.W. Graham and Sons restaurant (formerly John's great, great grandfather's store).  Thanks Lolo for buying.  His cousin, El, took us to his ancestors graveyard, many of which have CSA (Confederate States of America for you Yankees that don't know that) markers on them.

John by his great, great grandfather, Thomas William Graham's grave.  Note the CSA marker beside the headstone.  He enlisted at the very end of the war at the age of 16.

CSA marker.  There were many in this cemetery.

 

John in front of great, great grandfather's store.

 

Thursday morning, John went shrimping with Alston.  They were gone for 14 hours and he was bone tired when they got back.  They caught about 400 lbs. of shrimp (before heading).  Alston wanted to give us some more, but our freezer is already full with mostly shrimp.  What a problem to have.  The striker, Pickett,  could head shrimp five to one over John.  Pickett used his thumbs and forefingers of both hands and just plucked the heads off, two at a time.  John had to use both hands to head one shrimp.

 

John ready to go shrimping

John on the shrimp boat at 5:30 a.m.

 

On Friday we hung around the marina doing laundry.  John's cousin, Tommy, came to the boat that afternoon and told us he would take us out to the Cape Romain lighthouses.  Tommy is restoring the lights and has keys to both of them.  John's sister, Gay, came in that night.  She is going to the lighthouses with us.

 

Tommy picked us up Saturday morning at 10:30 so we could catch the tide at the island.  The weather was pretty cold and windy.  It was a 40 minute ride in an open john boat.  When we got to the island, Tommy took the boat part way through the mash so we wouldn't have to walk too far in the water and mud to get to dry, hard land.  Don't you know, I hadn't taken four steps from the boat when my feet got stuck in the mud.  When I tried to walk, my body moved, but my feet didn't.  Needless to say, as my body moved forward and my feet stayed stuck, I went face down in the marsh.  Well, my face didn't actually go in the water, but I was wet up to my waist and my forearms up to my elbows.  I was covered in pluff mud from my lower thighs down to my feet.  AND IT WAS COLD!!  I sat on a log, pulled off my gloves, boots and socks.  I wrung out the gloves and left them on the log to dry.  I poured the water out of my boots, wrung out my socks, and put them back on.  I thought I was going to freeze to death.  Did I say "IT WAS COLD??!!"  When we got back to the dock, I went straight to the laundry room and stripped.  John brought me clean, dry clothes and guarded the door as I changed.  Did I mention that it was cold?  Everything from head to foot went into the washer.

Muddy Miss Deb

 



Tommy did a great job giving us the history of the waters and islands in the area, as well as the lights.  The smaller light was built in 1827, but it wasn't very efficient.  The taller light was built in the 1850's.  They were de-commissioned in the 1950's, but vandals and time have taken their toll on them.  Tommy Graham has spent his own time and money restoring them for the past few years, but there's still a lot of work to be done.

The older light

The newer light

Tommy Graham, keeper of the lights

 



Our last night in McClellanville, we went to the local oyster roast which benefited the Village Museum.  The soups were delicious and John and his sister, Gay, said the oysters were very, very good.  I'll have to take their word for that. Based on John's face, I'd say he was enjoying them.

John at Oyster Roast

 

We are 637 miles from the Bohemia River.  Tomorrow, we're off to Charleston.



11/4/13

We left Barefoot Landing at 8:30 a.m. and traveled down the Waccamaw.  This is without a doubt the prettiest part of the ICW that we've seen yet. We travelled 33 miles today (a short day overall). 

Turtles sunning themselves on the ICW

We anchored in Thoroughfare Creek off of Sandy Island and took the dinghy to the island to do some exploring.  Took lots of pictures, which is all you're going to get from us today.

Sandy Island

Bonnie Blue at anchor

Which way do we go?

Naturally, John takes the path less travelled

Just a pretty picture

Miss Deb "up a tree"

11/2/13 and 11/3/13

We left Southport, NC at 9:10 a.m. and crossed into South Carolina at exactly 12:44 p.m.  There were goats on one of the islands, which apparently is very common, with some of the islands actually named Goat Island.

We almost ran aground at Shallotte Inlet in North Carolina.  The water was very shallow and we heard several radio calls from boats behind us that did run aground.  Boat US was very busy.  It was the first real nerve wracking day.  After Shallotte Inlet, we had to travel through the "Rock Pile" for about ten miles.  They call it that because of the rocky ledges jutting out to the channel, but they're under water and you can't see them.  You have to be very careful not to leave the channel in this stretch of water.

 

The Rock Pile

Luckily, shortly after the Rock Pile we stopped at Barefoot Landing Marina in North Myrtle Beach, SC (567 miles from the Bohemia River).  As soon as we tied up, we headed to the nearest bar.  Now I know y'all think we were going there for a drink, but we were really going to watch the Gamecocks play Mississippi State, which SC won by the way. 

 

 

Oh yeah, we did have a drink or two, also.

 



The next day, we met Maury and Carol on "Osprey", a 46-foot Regal.  They live in Ocean Pines, near Ocean City, MD.  They've been taking their boat south for the past six winters.  They had their car here and were kind enough to take us to the grocery store and the drug store, and waited while we had two prescriptions refilled.  Later we went shopping for some Christmas presents and went to a wine tasting.  For $3 you get to taste seven wines.  Our server gave a good pour and let us taste about a dozen wines.  We left with a wine smoothie and nice buzz for under $10.

10/30/13

I forgot to post a picture of our next boat.  Now all we need to do is hit the lottery so we can afford the fuel. 

Lady Deborah in Oriental, NC

After leaving Mile Hammock Bay, we could still hear the "Jarheads" blowing shit up.  We finally got out of range of their noise around 9:30 a.m.  On the way to Southport, we had to wait for a couple of bridges to open.  We just couldn't seem to get the timing right.  It was a total of 57 miles from Mile Hammock Bay to Southport.  We stayed at Southport Marina for three days getting work done on the boat that our marinas back home "screwed up".  If you ever think about having work done by BOE Marine in Stevensville, MD, I would highly recommend against it. 

The ICW in North Carolina is lined with houses, mostly large.  There certainly are no economic hard times here.



A sampling of homes on the ICW in North Carolina.  Most have their own docks with travel lifts for their boats.

While in Southport, we saw Fort Johnston, which dates back to Revolutionary times.  It was a Confederate fort during the War of Northern Aggression and John's great, great grandfather was actually stationed there.  He was captured during one of the Union assaults and sent to a prisoner of war camp in Elmira, NY, where he spent three years, which had a death rate as high as the famed Andersonville Prison in Georgia.  The only thing left of Fort Johnston today is the Officers' Quarters. 

We found a local fish house and bought two pounds of fresh shrimp that spent the previous night in the Atlantic.  The town is lovely with beautiful homes throughout.  A two-bedroom, 1 1/2 bath home here goes for $299,000.  Apparently this is a retirement community that has a climate similar to northern Florida due to the close proximity of the Gulf Stream.  The residents claim that their winters are actually warmer than northern Florida.

Miss Deb on "Thor".

As you can see from the above picture, the residents of Southport are prepared in the event those Damn Yankees come calling again.

It's a pretty slow lifestyle, as this local resident indicates.

Gotta love a Pelican.

Leaving here and heading to Barefoot Landing, SC.

Note:  Click on the location below to see where we are.