The following morning we head ashore to have a look around
and for Alec to get oil as he is about to do another oil change. We are back on board and he has just
finishing up when another Kiwi yacht comes in.
Later they tender over and call out “Hi Ann and Alec” ???? Oh
help the face looks familiar but can’t remember where from. They re-introduce themselves – Eric and Cathy
off “Erica” whom we met at the Mary River Marina, Maryborough, Australia in
December of 2007 – WOW – talk about a small world. They come aboard for drinks
and we swap stories of the places we have been since we last saw each other. We spend part the following day with them
visiting boat shops, but then the time comes for us both to move on.
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| Another sad sight |
As we are raising the anchor the following morning we bring
up another chain. We have a feeling it
is from one of the partly sunken yachts that is some way in front of us. Once
cleared we are over to the fuel dock, and then on our way. As we are motoring down the waterways we have
flocks of Pelicans with us this morning low flying just above the surface of
the water looking like Lancaster Bombers passing. It is fascinating watching them glide by.
Our anchorage that evening is in the White Oak River off the
quaint town of Swansboro. It is dusk
when we arrive and we don’t go ashore here.
We are up before sunrise the next morning and heading out with dolphins
all around us. Today we have a 46nm run
to Wrightsville Beach where we know there is a good sheltered anchorage as a
front will be passing through tomorrow.
The last two bridges to pass through are 5st.m. apart. The first opens on the half hour, but the
second only on the hour, so we time it to have the half hour transition between
the two. The first is a little slow to
open which leaves us under half an hour to reach the second. No problems we should make it. Alec ups the rpm once we are through and off
we head at 8kts – plenty of time!! We
have silting at small estuary entering
the waterways and the buoys have been repositioned. All goes well till I call out to Alec to move
to Starboard to round a marker, which he is a bit late to negotiate when we
come to a sudden sliding halt, ops we
have hit that sandbank. We are able to
back off, round the buoy and continue on
making the last bridge for the day. No
damage thank goodness.
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| I.C.W. Wrightsville |
We drop anchor as the rain starts, along with a number of
other yachts which are also seeking shelter from tomorrows front. The following day we have passing thunder
showers with winds gusting to 25kts.
SHAMAL sits quietly at anchor with her nose into the wind and we stay on
board and catch up with small jobs. The
following two days are spent ashore in lovely warm sunny weather. There are some supplies to pick up and we go
for long walks. Wrightsville Beach is
just east of Wilmington, and yet another holiday resort town with its high-rise
apartment blocks along a continuous white sandy beach boarding the Atlantic
Ocean.
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| Pelican Coming In |
We then move on and into the Cape Fear River. Here again we are joined by the
pelicans. One decides to hitch a ride
and comes into land on the soft Targa roof after a couple of aborted attempts
to start with. Oh help, I hope he
doesn’t poop !!! These guys are really
big !!! He only stays with us for about
five minutes – think we must have been heading in the wrong direction for him.
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| Well Hello There |
A couple of days later as we are heading towards the border
into North Carolina from Virginia, we see deer, bald eagles, and no end of
water fowl. That evening we dropped
anchor just after dark after moving from our first position as we were at a busy
entrance from the waterways to the ocean, and, a couple of casino boats plus
shrimp boats were passing a little too closely.
Just before midnight a shrimp boat passes and becomes stuck on a sand
bank. After numerous attempts to get off
he has to resign himself to the fact he will have to sit there for a couple of
hours till the tide comes in before he can return to his dock a little further upstream.
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| Early Morning Mist |
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| Turtles, Waccamaw River |
We are again waking to frost in the mornings. Now in South Carolina we enter the Waccamaw
River. It is a very pretty winding
stretch of water with lots of Cyprus trees dripping with Spanish moss. We arrive into Georgetown on a warm sunny
morning and drop anchor in Sampit Creek, have lunch then go ashore. It is
another quaint historic town with interesting shops and restaurants along the
waterfront, and, we are told by one restaurant owner that yes, you are well
into alligator waters now – we still have not seen one, but apparently they are
not seen so much during the winter months.
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| Historic Charleston |
 |
| Christmas in Charleston |
On the afternoon of the 23rd December we arrive
into Charleston Harbour. We drop anchor off
James Island. We plan to go into the
city marina in the morning and spend Christmas there. The following morning we up anchor and motor
over to the marina only to be told they can’t take us, and no you can’t take on
fuel here as they only have a fast flow pump!!!
****!!! They try to send us off to some other marina
under a fixed bridge which we could not pass under as our mast is too
high. I did try to explain this but to
no avail. Yes they had room, but I
suppose because it was Christmas Eve it was all a bit too much for them. I was really mad. We ended up anchoring off the Marina and that
is where we stayed for Christmas week. The marina staff under the bridge did
feel sorry for us and we could use their dinghy pontoon to come ashore.
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| Boone Hall Plantation |
Christmas morning we wake to thick fog – a real ‘pea
soup’. We spend the day on SHAMAL. I bake some Christmas goodies in the morning
and make a nice Christmas dinner. The
temperature reaches 26 deg c. and here we are in mid winter.
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| Slave Houses Boone Hall Plantation |
We do lots of trips ashore, one to visit an old Plantation
which I had wanted to do in this area.
We went to the Boone Hall Plantation which is said to be “a must see
stop” on a trip to Charleston. It sits a
little way out of town, and once there you enter the Plantation along a driveway
nearly a mile long through an avenue of beautiful oaks dripping in Spanish
moss. A number of the old slave cabins
have been preserved which present a fascinating history. As part of this history we were invited to an
informative presentation of the life of the slaves in those early days. In the area through South Carolina, Georgia,
and into Northern Florida the slaves were known as the Gullah/ Geechee with a
unique culture which came out of Western Africa where they were brought from. The original 470 acre property was founded in
1681 and grew cotton and pecans, Today
it is one of America’s oldest still working Plantations covering an area of 738
acres growing vegetable crops and strawberries. The ground floor of the home is
open to the public for tours as the family still use the first floor. The house
was all decorated up for Christmas and each downstairs room including the
entrance hall had two big beautifully decorated Christmas trees. We were asked not to take photos inside unfortunately.
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| Boone Hall |
It is now 29th December and time to move on. Alec has visited the marina and told them WE
ARE coming in for fuel and a waste water pump out!!!! Funny now they can give us fuel!!!! We go
back to SHAMAL and up anchor – NO – we are stuck fast to something on the “B”
Bottom!!! No end of trying we just can’t
get the anchor to budge. So back to the
marina in the tender to get help. We
need a diver. The river is very murky
and the current quite strong. We are
told to wait till slack water and help will be out. It was not an easy job and
the anchor had to be unshackled from the chain.
The chain had got wrapped around another old sunken boat. Four hours later and $250 less in our pocket
we are refuelling at the marina and can’t wait to move on. It is now after 5.00pm and we don’t want to
move into the ICW at dusk, so will anchor somewhere far away from our last
anchorage as possible.
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| Beaufort S.C. |
 |
| Beaufort S.C. |
On New Year’s Eve we arrive into Beaufort, South
Carolina. (Yes another town with the
same name) As we pulled into the marina here we were given a lovely warm
welcome and given a good position to watch the fireworks that evening. The only problem we have here is their power connections are not compatible
with ours – the American 120 volt system, and we run on the European 240 volt
system. It has been a bit hit and miss
so far. In some marinas our step up step down
converter works, and others it does not.
We are so glad we fitted an extra house battery and those solar panels and
the wind generator when we first brought the boat.
Beaufort is in the heart of the Low Country – this is a
geographic and cultural region that stretches from South Carolina and into
Georgia including the Sea Islands. In
the early days it was known for its slave based agricultural wealth with the
crops rice and indigo grown which really flourished in the subtropical
climate. Today Beaufort is left with a
number of beautiful historic homes. This town being founded by the British in
1711 also has a rich history.
 |
| Thunderbolt |
Two days later and we are back on the ICW crossing sounds,
entering rivers and creeks and making our way towards the border into
Georgia. Our first stop in Georgia is
the town of Thunderbolt which sits on the outskirts of Savannah, another
historic city.
 |
| Savannah |
We spent a day exploring Savannah’s beautifully manicured
parks and squares, and take a tour through the cobblestone streets beside the
horse-drawn carriages which gives the old city a really authentic feel. And,
then of course I met Forest Gump's Father !!!!!
It was here in Chippewa Square that the famous bench scene was filmed.
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| Forest Gump's Father !! |
We continue heading south finding an anchorage each evening
just off the waterways till we reach Brunswick where once again we go into a
marina. Everyone here is lovely and so
helpful. Three lots of people work on
our power problem which they are determined to fix for us. By midnight we have power here. Marggie and Gerry, a Canadian couple on the
boat next door are lovely and give us a run down on the town. They tell us this place is like “Hotel
California” – You arrive and don’t leave !!!!!
So many we met had been here for ages. Our one night turned into 3 nights. This really turned out to be the BEST marina
we have come into in the States to date.
It is run by Cheri who can’t do enough to make everyone’s stay so
welcoming. There is free Wi Fi that
works, free water, free laundry, free pump-outs, free bikes to get into town,
and free beer ever day at the Club House, and free wine three nights a week. It is a wonder anyone ever leaves here.
 |
| Brunswick |
 |
| Brunswick |
Brunswick is a little different from other towns we have
visited. It is somewhat tired, and
really nothing to write home about, but, it’s people really have a very big
heart. Alec’s visit to the local barber
was one unforgettable experience. I
laughed till I cried. We entered his
shop which was complete with the red white and blue pole outside. It was set in a time-warp of about the 1950’s
with old bottles containing lotions and potions, scissors and razors set out on
a try looking more like a surgeons instruments, and those old fashion barber
chairs which I am sure one would now only find in antique shops. The smell was
of a rather strong sickly sweet after-shave.
An old man in his mid to late eights was standing in front of a mirror
giving himself a shave with the old cut-throat razor. We thought he was a customer who may have
preferred to shave himself, so sat and waited for the barber to appear. When the old man had finished and wiped the
excess soap from his face with a hot towel, he told Alec to take a seat. Oh help, surely not !! Alec explained what he wanted – even though he nodded in agreement, that was
a waste of time as there is only one style that comes out of his shop and that
is HIS style. As he picked up the
scissors and proceeded to hold his scissor hand with the other hand, and I
could see Alec was in for something REALLY different. Twenty minutes later after his sides had been
trimmed, an ear nicked, his neck shaved and nicked, and the top left untouched
– still thick and bushy, our barbers work was complete. Alec paid and I was told to take my young man
into town and show him off !! It was all
quite delightful – well not the hair cut.
 |
| Degaussing Range |
Three days later we reluctantly untie our mooring lines to
leave this quaint place behind. The
winds are blowing 20kts gusting 25kts but we are in the sheltered waters of the
ICW. The following day just before we enter the State of Florida we enter Kings
Bay, the home to the US Navy’s Submarine Base and their six Trident-class
submarines. We sailed pass their “Degaussing
Range” which looks like an apparatus from some science fiction movie. It is an area where the submarine enters to
have the procedure for erasing the magnetic field from the submarine which has
been used to camouflage it against magnetic detection vessels, and enemy marine
mines – quite complex, and yes I had to look that up !!! Next we turn into a small creek and drop
anchor off Cumberland Island to visit the Dugeness Ruins. This house was first built in 1736 but later
destroyed by a fire. In the 1880’s it
was to become the home of Andrew Carnegie and his wife Lucy who had the house
re-built. Andrew died before it was completed.
He had made his fortune in the steel industry. This wonderful home was
guttered by fire around 1945 under suspicious circumstances. Today one can see the magnificent ruins but
of course you can’t go inside. Later
that afternoon we entered Florida and anchored off the town of Fernandina Beach. The following day we take the tender ashore
to explore the town. Again another town
with a rich history and some lovely old buildings.
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| Dugeness Ruins |
 |
| Fernandina Beach |
Two days later after another overnight anchored out in the
wildness, we arrive into St Augustine – the oldest continuously occupied
European established settlement in the USA.
It was founded in 1565 by a Spanish admiral, and is known for its
beautiful Spanish architecture, and has a wonderful European atmosphere as one
wanders through the historic district.
The “Bridge of Lions” which crosses the ICW here, replaced another bridge,
and this one looks as if it has come out of Venice. It is quite beautiful.
 |
| St Augustine, Florida |
SHAMAL was due for a lift-out and work doing, so we chose a
yard here in St Augustine to have the jobs done. She is now sitting on the hard in a Marina
here, but, as I write this Alec and I are in different parts of the world. First, before we left SHAMAL we did the more
important jobs spending a month working on her.
Thank goodness we got our heating problem sorted as we arrived
mid-January and it was still very cold.
We ended up buying a larger step-up step-down converter transformer
which solved that problem. I was also
invited by Seawind to do a PowerPoint presentation at the Miami Boat Show in
early February. We drove down with a
couple of other friends whom we met in the Boat Yard and had a good couple of
days there.
 |
| SHAMAL in St Augustine |
Alec’s overseas trip which he is on now, started with emails
part way through last year from a couple who were looking at buying a catamaran
and trying to decide on which model.
They asked him the pros and cons of a Seawind which he answered. The long and short of it is they ended up
choosing a Seawind and invited Alec to be their delivery skipper. As these catamarans are now made in Vietnam he flew out
there on the 22nd Feb, and I flew north back up to New York to spend
time with our daughter and her husband and the grandchildren. I flew back to New Zealand at the end of
March as I needed to renew my passport and do other jobs.
Alec has now reach Cairns in northern Queensland,
Australia. He will be leaving the boat and
its new owners there and returning to New Zealand in a few days. We hope to be back in the States around the
middle of May to complete our work on SHAMAL and continue on with our
adventures.
So to all of you who have been following our blog, thank you
for your support. To all whom we have met, and to all who have helped us along
the way, we want to thank you for making our time so special. That includes both land and water based
folks. Americans have big hearts and are
warm and generous.
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| Alec Ann Miami Boat Show |
Thank You
Love from
The Admiral and The Commander
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ReplyDeleteThanks for allowing us to share your adventures. The only thing missing is a photo of Alec's hair do!!
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