Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Tow Boat US

It was a  cold morning - about 50 degrees when we left at 6:30 am. This is our last day of this leg and we are headed to Southport, NC where we will leave Loon until Randy can get back to finish the final leg home. We achieved a milestone today as we crossed into NC at 10:52 am. It's been a great trip with lots of interesting places and people along the way.  With only 85 miles to go, Randy and Loon have traveled 1,861 miles since beginning the trip from Aqua Harbor Marina in Iuka, MS on December 3, 2012.  We had to add a little excitement to the last part of the trip.  About eight miles from Southport we were in a narrow channel and ran aground.  The tide was coming in and we considered waiting but were anxious to get to our destination of Southport so we called Tow Boat US and they were there in about 30 minutes and easily pulled us into deeper water. Southport Marina is a beautiful spot with the downtown area easily within walking distance. As we were deciding where to eat dinner, another boater came by and introduced himself as "Sailor Joe" and told us where he was going for dinner and seemed to want some company.  So we met "Sailor Joe" at Fishy Fishy and had a good meal as he enjoyed telling us about his adventures while sailing alone from Portsmouth VA to Ft Lauderdale every winter for 19 years!
Almost Home!

















Monday, April 22, 2013

Bucksport Marina

Thankfully the wind had calmed down during the night and we were able to leave on schedule this morning. Clear skies but cold so forced to stay inside to drive today. We traveled 70 miles and stayed at Bucksport Marina in Conway, SC.






Saturday, April 20, 2013

Charleston, SC

Heading to Charleston today for the weekend! This will be a nice break since we haven't had  much free time since this trip is a mission to get Loon to Atlantic Beach. Our friends, Emily and Philip Warr, live there and Connie and Mick Heavener are coming for the weekend.  Its not unusual for the water depth to fluctuate. You can see from pictures taken, today we experienced a high of 75.2 feet and a low of 1.8 feet! A little concerning considering we draw 3.5 feet so we probably have dredged the area for the boats behind us! Crossing Charleston Harbor was very rough with wind in the mid 20's but once we crossed we had a very nice dock at Tolers Cove Marina where we stayed for 3 nights.   We had our first guests on board with Connie, Mick, Erin, Emily, Cate, and McLaine. We had dinner at Emily's and Pat stayed on dry land at their house for the weekend and Randy and Grady went back and stayed on the boat.  We had a wonderful dinner in downtown Charleston Saturday night at the Charleston Grille. Luckily our plan was to leave Monday morning because the wind was so strong Sunday it would have been impossible to leave.



















Friday, April 19, 2013

Port Royal, SC

We got an early start and had a short travel day in order to spend time in Port Royal, SC this afternoon.   The current was very strong when we were docking and Randy had to turn the boat  around in a tight area. This was the hardest situation we've had to dock in but Randy handled it great. There was a sailboat docked behind us and it did give the man on the boat a little scare!We really liked Port Royal Landing Marina and it will be on our list to visit when we are back in this area. The marina had bikes and a courtesy car so we were able to run some errands. Randy took the bike and rode to the nearest BB&T where he worked for awhile and then came back and washed the boat.  After a couple of days of heavy salt spray Loon really needed a bath. They had a nice outdoor restaurant where we had dinner with Grady under the table. We've found that marinas are very dog friendly places and Grady has been less trouble on the boat than at home.




Thursday, April 18, 2013

Night at Anchor

After a great night at anchor we left at 7:30 this am and traveled 95 miles arriving at 6:30. We anchored again in a quiet beautiful cove near Savannah.  The weather is perfect in the low 70's and light breeze. Today's travels included crossing several inlets and water was choppy with 3 foot seas. Technology is so wonderful - We enjoyed FaceTime with Scott and Hunter tonight!  Being at anchor rather than at a marina has its perks. It's amazing the number of stars you can see without all the lights and was truly beautiful.








Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Coast Guard Inspection

Left St Augustine at 7 am with temps in the 60's and a few miles out ran into heavy fog . We could still see the markers and with our navigation equipment there were no problems. By 9:30 the sun was out and low 70's. We had a long travel day planned in order to stay on track for arrival in Charleston Friday.  We were slowed down for about 45 minutes when stopped by the Coast Guard for a full inspection. Three guys boarded the boat and we had one document that was missing but other than that all was good. We had fairly rough water for the last hour but nothing serious and anchored in a cove where it was very calm with dolphin all around and a beautiful night. We had a long day and traveled 88 miles and are FINALLY out of Florida and in Georgia!







Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Calm after the storm

After severe thunderstorms and a tornado warning while docked last night, this morning was definitely the calm after the storm with sunshine, light wind, and water as slick as glass. We left at 7 am and traveled 67 miles to Rivers Edge Marina in St Augustine. Unfortunately we didn't have time to explore St Augustine but did go to Ale Works for dinner which was a great place recommended by a friend, Joyce Bush.  We've passed under many bridges in Florida, most of which we could pass under with our 20' clearance without having the bridge to open. It's been very impressive to see the styles and variety of bridges and this one was very special with murals on the bridge pilings.









Monday, April 15, 2013

Shrimp

We left this morning at 7 am after an interesting night.  Since the temperature was so comfortable we turned off the AC and slept with the windows open but had a hard time sleeping due to an unusual crackling sound. Randy thoroughly investigated inside and out including the engine room but couldn't tell where it was coming from. After we had decided there was nothing else to do, we tried to get back to sleep. Then Pat had the idea of the Internet having the answer to EVERYTHING and googled "crackling sound from bottom of boat" and found numerous listings.  Some described it as the sound of milk being poured on Rice Krispies or an electrical short circuit. Needless to say, not a comforting sound on a boat in the middle of the night! There were many postings from boaters who said the problem was a type of shrimp knocking against the bottom of the boat.  There was even a You Tube video of the sound and we could confirm that's what we were hearing. It was about 2 am by now but we were able to go back to sleep once we knew the boat wasn't about to sink.  Traveling the ICW today in wide areas with light boat traffic and great weather. Heading to New Smyrna Beach.




Sunday, April 14, 2013

Last Lock

After an eventful day of travel (weather delay leaving RDU, missed flight out of Baltimore, late luggage and a flight attendant who acted as if Grady was a terrorist) we arrived in Stuart, Florida and found Loon back in the water, in good shape and ready to go!  We traveled 60 miles today which included the last of the locks and lots of bridges. We had some rain and clouds earlier but finished the day in sunshine. We anchored tonight at Wabasso, FL instead of a marina and the weather is great for sitting on the deck for a glass of wine and grilling  steak. Would like to send a thank you out to Sue, Verne and Zach  Sisson for their help. They have provided room and board every time we fly out of RDU, kept our car and shuttled us to and from the airport.