North & South Carolina Past and on to Stuart, FL

We spent Monday night at the Beaufort Docks in Beaufort, NC.  There was a bit of current as we came in and Martin did a great job of getting us into a finger pier. He had a more challenging morning with both wind and current but once again, handled Blossom like a pro. Thankfully so, as during the night several mega yachts pulled in and he had to thread a very expensive needle getting out. We’re getting into a routine and getting comfortable with the boat, it feels great. That night we had dinner at Beaufort Grocery (again). It’s a great little restaurant and we had lovely dinner there.

We were up early and headed SW down the inside through SC. It got quite narrow and shallow at times but we got through without any troubles. Tuesday night we stayed at Harbor Village Marina in Hampstead, NC. It’s a private marina surrounded by condos but they have a face dock for transients and will also rent our private spaces if they’re available. There isn’t anything around but you do get power, trash and internet. We went in with one of Jim’s friends, Charlie, on his boat “Tonic”.  We invited Charlie over for dinner and enjoyed hearing his stories as a captain over the past many years. 

We intended to head out early on Wednesday but a nasty rainstorm came through in the morning so we waited it out. We left around 1:00pm to get past two bridges. One only opens on the hour, so timing them both to avoid "keeping station" for lengthy time was important. We anchored just 13 miles away in Wrightsville Beach anchorage. It was a nice anchorage surrounded by homes and businesses with a bit of marsh to the south. The anchorage was crowded and I was surprised to see that we were one of only two power boats amongst the sailboats.

The ICW is very shallow through NC and subject to a lot of shoaling. There are several small inlets that come in from the ocean. Mud drifts in at the inlets and comes into the channel. Fortunately, several areas we’ve gone through, including Lockwoods Folly and Shallots Inlet were recently dredged in 2014. We still managed to brush the bottom on one occasion on route to Wrightsville Beach though.  We’re finding that that Active Captain helps a lot, especially noting hazards. The content could be old (such as shoal hazards being recently dredged) but it’s useful to know where the problem spots are. I made a couple of entries to note where we saw exceptionally shallow water or where it seems to have been dredged.

Anchorage in Wrightsville Beach

Thursday morning we got an early start, hoping to reach North Myrtle Beach before dark. We passed through some very narrow and very scenic spots including the “Rockpile” which is a very narrow stretch with rock cliffs said to extend under water. We stayed in the middle of the channel and had no problems.  We arrived at the Grande Dune Marina in N. Myrtle Beach, SC in the early evening. Grande Dune is a large, well maintained marina. The folks working there were great. We pulled out the bikes right away and found a Fresh Market a couple miles away. We did some last minute provisioning before heading out to a great dinner at the Ruth Chris Steak House right next to the marina. On Friday morning, my Mom and her friends, Marge & Dave, drove up from Murrells Inlet. We had a really nice visit with them and had breakfast at the Waterscape Restaurant next to the marina.

Waccamaw River (ICW)

We headed out about 11:30am. As I write this we are cruising down the Waccamaw River, heading toward Georgetown, SC. Our plan is continue straight on to Stuart. We’re thinking that it will take about 3 days and are hoping to arrive in Stuart Monday afternoon on the rising tide.

Happy to have put blinds in the pilot house!

Since we won’t have internet or phone service for a few days, we spent the day sending emails and doing some business housekeeping. I also had plenty of time to tidy up, tie up and put things away. We'll be doing three hour shifts for the next few days.

We’re expecting 4-5 foot seas tonight (Friday), with up to 6 further south but then diminishing to 2-4 by the time we get to Stuart. The forecast is a moving target so I’m not sure what to expect, except that I’m sure we won’t be hula hooping on the bow! This will be our longest ocean/over night passage and "biggest" seas in the 2 months we've had the boat. Jim just smiles at me when I say I'm a bit nervous. It's nice having him aboard!  

Boat Business: 

Nothing new to report and no work done. Blossom is running like a champ.