And we are off!

Beaufort, SC is one of our favotite ports. With either a night at the city docks, or an anchorage next door, you are in the heart of the city. There are nice shops, tours to take, good restaurants, a nice coffee shop along their beautiful new riverwalk, and small town charm, including a Halloween Trick or Treat evening where hundreds of children in costume trick or trated their way through town and ended the evening watching an outdoor playing of "Casper The Friendly Ghost outdoors on the riverwalk. If you stay at the marina, they provide a courtesy can for grocery shopping. Another benefit is that we have severazl friends nearby, including Luke and Jan Sand who we will "buddy boat" with on our way back to Boca Chica in Key West. Last night we had dinner at their house on Dawtaw Island and planned our course, checked the wind and tides, decided on the initial rendez vous site, with lots of flexibility for unexpected changes in weather and wind. Earlier in the day, Jan andCookie had shopped and stocked the boats. We leave in the morning at first light for the next stop about 325 miles (and 2 days) south in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Ready to Sail South

We transited from Charleston to Beaufort, South Carolina, arriving at dusk and anchored in the Beaufort River just south of the city docks. The river was crowded with boats poised go south an dwe anchored a little further into the channel that we'd have liked. NO matter, or so we thought, no one will pass by before morning, and we planned to tie up to the city marina and stretch our legs ashore for the first time in 5 days. So, of course at 6:45 am, in the dark, the heavy thrum of a straining engine gets louder and louder. One hundred yards away is the beginning of the largest parade of vessels we've ever seen on the inland water way. An ocean going tug floats past pulling some sort of structure that looks like a3 story hotel with all lights blazing, behind that, a second, smaller barge marches by. The second grouping consisted of an other ocean going tug, pulling a huge barge with a steam shovel on board, connected to a SECOND, smaller tug, which in turn was connected to another vessel, that started as a barge, but diminished to a snakelike tail of several hudred yards, supported in the center by a THIRD tug. The initial tugs were sporting lights, white over white over red.....which indicates tug in tow with poor ability to manuever.....not what you wat to see when your boat is too far into the channel.

Storm in Charleston Harbor

One of the beauties of cruising is that life is still unfolding with new "firsts", not all of them positive. In Charleston, we had our first close up and personal storm at anchor. Just at sunset, the sky darkened and vicious black clouds bubbled skyward. Lightening flashed everywhere, from cloud to cloud and sky to earth and water. We sat through it, Cookie with a flashlight and fire extinguisher within reach, and Rick, keys in the ignition, standing on the top stairs in the companionway, watching for boats dragging anchor in high winds that were predicted, but thankfully never materialized. Still, it was enough of a blood stirring adventure to add to our growing collection of crusiing firsts.

Southbound Again Beaufort, NC to Charleston

It's the end of October and time to return to the south. As with the migrating birds, the chill at night in North Carolina tells us it is time to return to more temperate climes, and we hope to keep the warm weather with us as we return to Key West this fall. Ryan and Sabrina see us off in Oriental.
So, we motor through the cut from the Neuse River to Beaufort, NC and stop there at the City Docks, a marina way overpriced, but oh so nice to visit for a last bit of fuel, water, electricity, wi-fi, and peaceful views of the watery landscape.





Since the weather is never perfect and we have long given up being purists, we decide that getting to Charleston by dark the following night and avoiding a 48 hour punishment to our bodies that would accompany the sail only transit, we motor sailed in 5-10 knot winds, arriving in Charleston 32 hours later in gorgeous, sunny weather. Along the way we were accompanied by our usual visitors, a playful group of dolphins, and a few jelly fish.















We entered Charleston waters with a closeup encounter with a small fishing boat whose ventures must have been successful if the site ot dozens of birds riding homeward on the boat was any indication. We also happened upon a Sunday race, with spinakers flying, and a struggling sailboat, seeking to lash sails to the boom in the channel entrance. That reminded us why we are no longer sailing purists and have our mainsail inside the mast.

















Fort Sumter, with its Civil War history, as always, is a first site on entering the harbor.

Cruise to Bath, NC

We set sail the 13th of October for Bath, NC, The perfect winds, which have eluded us for most of our cruising, pushed us gently from Oriental to Bath Creek, where the town claims to be the oldest in North Carolina. High banked and about a 1/2 mile wide, the creek narrows at the entrance to the Pamlico River and stopped, for us, at the highway bridge, in town. We enjoyed a lovely sunset in peaceful waters here.

Cookie's sister, Cynthia and husband Jim, met us there and we spent 2 days at the Bath Motel and Marina, a three room resort with one of the three rooms occupied by the handy man, who did a mediocre job of cleaning the restrooms. But the owner was cheerful and nice and included in the $1 a foot cost was a free mug advertising the Bath Motel and Marina and historic Bath. We had a great time exploring Bath, with a informative visitor's center and 3 homes from the 1700s available for tour,and the tales of colonial history and Blackbeard, the town's most famous resident. Having company aboard also meant having a car available and we visited other towns.


We saw Cypress Landing, a nice community with a great marina just 4 inches too shallow. Our boat would need boots to tiptoe through the muddy bottoms there. We saw Washington, a potentially lovely town with a nice riverfront, a few good restaurants, and manyt sad empty storefront windows. We happened upon a lovely, wine/cheese, bookstore where we met the owner and learned of his "other place" in Bellhaven. So the next day, we drove to Bellhaven for a fabulous lunch at the Wine, Words, and Back Bay Cafe, a combination wine shop, bookstore and gourmet restaurant. If you get to Bellhaven, it's worth a stop, homemade bread and soups, so good you can taste the garden and a crab quiche that melts in your mouth.


We returned to Washington for dinner at Pias for an equally good dinner, with Manchego encrusted grouper. There we joined friends oif Cynthia and Jimmy's for the evening.

The next day was a 6 hour sail, flying downwind on a broad reach to Broad Creek, a lovely anchorage, (except for the mosquitos)with lots of room and a view of forests and the winking lights from a few elegant houses on the shores around us. We completed the journey back to Oriental with a screaming jib only race up the Neuse River with 15-22 mph winds. Happy to tell you, we blew past the other boats, including those which were motor sailing.

Relaunch in Oriental

At last, our return to cruising at the beginning of October. We relaunched October 7th, with a new bottom job, a replaced nipple on the shaft seal cooling water connection (like I know what I am talking about.) all I know is that "the idiots used brass instead of bronze and it stuck out to far...a disaster waiting to happen". We also had some stays rebedded where a leak had developed and the hull was waxed. Then Rick and Cookie spent 3 days reassembling all the parts that had been disassembled for "hurricaine season." All this took place at Deaton's Yacht Service, lovely, friendly people, and highly recommended.

Honor Thy Father.......

This summer was a most difficult season. As we age, so do those we love. And we are now in the winter of our lives, that last quarter when friends and family begin to leave us. In January, we learned of Rick's brother's terminal cancer, and in June, my father began his final descent toward the end. We made multiple trips to Illinois to see both. In August, I lost my father. He was a good man, a gentleman of the old school, who even when he lost almost everything else, tried hard not to be a bother to anyone and to be polite always. I never heard him say an unkind word to anyone. He was, in addition, both a brilliant and humble man. These are the things I learned from my father: to be excruciatingly fair; to be kind to others; to be honest, always; to never spend more than you have and to save for the future; to take responsibility for yourself and your community; that knowledge and education are priceless; that sacrificing for those you love brings its own reward; and that family is most important, above all. I may not always have met his standards, but I thank him for setting them.