Everyman a Wildcat - Almost

Yesterday while motoring up the ICW, Tom said a BIG motor yacht was headed our way.  It's AIS had popped up on our chartplotter.  He was right, it was a big yacht.  Then he said "There is another yacht behind them and you are never going to guess the name!  RockChalk."  OMG!
For those that don't know, we both graduated from Kansas State University  - KSU -KState Wildcats.  Our rivals and arch enemies are the University of Kansas - KU (why it's not UK I don't know) Jayhawks.  Their cheer involves something about Rockchalk Jayhawk.  Why?  I don't know nor do I care.  K-Staters have a return cheer that is an alternative to their cheer and something that can't be repeated here.  That one I know and get. 
Anywho....we had actually seen m/v Rockchalk before when it was in Brunswick but never met the owners.  I couldn't resist some good natured teasing.  I dove below and pulled out our big purple K-State Powercat flag.  As they passed on the waterway I waved it like crazy.  They both nearly fell out laughing!  I hailed them and we had a nice chat on 68.  They seem like good peeps....for KU peeps that is!  HA!  Tom and I have grinned and giggling about this fun teasing for over a day now.  If you want to check out their blog you can find it here Rockchalk.  Everyman a Wildcat!

Playing Chicken on the ICW

For the most part, the other boaters we have passed on the ICW have been pretty courteous.  I did have three incidents of ICW chicken the other day.  I am not stereotyping BUT.....all three were motor cruisers -not sailboats.  At least two of the three had drafts shallower than our 6 ft draft.  In all three cases it was a relatively narrow part of the ICW and I was over as far as I could safely go.  Each time the southbound cruiser passed very close on the green side  - my side (as a northbound yacht).  Two of the three finally moved over a smudge (to the middle) at the last minute.  The third time this happened the southbound vessel didn't move over at all but continued to press the limits of the green side.  I basically stopped to keep from running aground.  I didn't call them before our passing because 1.  I thought they would move over at the last minute.  2.  I didn't know the correct terminology to use.  3.  I was pretty sure that regardless of whether I knew the correct terminology or not, I would use my own special colorful sailorgirl terminology possibly setting their ears on fire and risking a reprimand from the USCG.  I didn't call them after because see #4. 

USCG ship Diligence passed us today on the Cape Fear River - awesome

The next evening the topic came up just right and I had the change to ask fellow cruiser and knowledgeable waterway man David what I should have done.  He said the correct thing to do would be to get on the VHF radio, contact that captain and then state "Captain, I am restrained by my draft and over as far as I can safely be."  He said this states clearly my draft restriction for the record and puts me second in terms of hierarchy of vessels in a right of way situation - second only behind a vessel not under control/command.....or something close to that....it was a sundowner topic people!  Give me a break.  Anyway.... I was glad to pick up this little tidbit and thought I would pass it on. 

More Southport NC and Chart Briefing with Shelly Cat

 

We ended up staying in Southport NC at Indigo Plantation Marina three nights.  We probably could have left yesterday but as we were snug warm in bed looking over various forecasts, we listening to the wind outside.  It would blow some and then a big gust would blow through.  It would die back down and then gust up again.  We pulled the covers up a bit more and opted to stay one more day.  Besides after years of being on a schedule, we aren't!

 

Later in the morning be borrowed a couple of marina bikes (ours are folded down and carefully stored onboard -ie stuffed in the aft berth- it would have taken well over an hour to get them out and put together) and rode into Southport.

We went to the FREE maritime museum.  It was ok as small town museums go but they do have a must see there.  They have a real submarine telescope.  And it's installed through the museum roof and working.  You can look through it and see the Cape Fear River, Bald Head Island, the Cape Fear Sound and Inlet, and Southport - 360.  It's so freaking kewl!

We checked out the city pier, rode around a bit and ran an errand or two.  FYI cruisers -Southport Napa Autoparts has a pretty darn good inventory of marine parts - filters, belts, hoses, shrimping boots, thru hulls, etc...

Wednesday night we had a private chart briefing with fellow cruiser David with the help of Shelly Cat.  He invited us and the only other cruisers in the marina (Tom and Deb) for sundowners.

We heard some wonderful tales.  David grew up around the area and has basically been on the water all his life.  Previously as a shrimper and working on a towboat and now cruising.  He gave us the low down on the four capes - Canaveral, Roma, Fear and Hatteras.  Amazing and scary stuff.  He also shared his local knowledge pointing out places to anchor, good inlets, bad inlets, and places to be mindful.  It was fun, entertaining and we learned a ton!  Thanks David. 

High and Dry in Calabash Creek

We spent two nights (10-06-13 and 10-07-13) in Calabash Creek at the South Carolina/North Carolina boarder.  The weather was cloudy with some rain showers but the main reason was that we discovered that our dock neighbor John from earlier this summer in Brunswick GA and quite possibly the worlds most interesting man, was just down the way with his yacht in a marina at Myrtle Beach.  He is southbound after a good adventure up the Chesapeake. 

Emails were exchanged and soon I spied John zooming into Calabash Creek in his zippy center cockpit dinghy - it's so sweet!  We chatted away in the cockpit, getting all caught up.  When a break came in the rain, we hopped in his dinghy and made the trip a mile or so on up Calabash Creek to the town of Calabash for a late lunch.  There isn't a public dinghy dock.  The best we could do was a small floating dock tied to the pilings of the higher up fixed dock.  There was no walkway up but a small board on one of the pilings allowed us to step up the piling - so to speak- to the fixed dock so no worries.  We headed for one of the local restaurants.  $6.95 fried seafood lunch special was good.  I guess Calabash is know for their breading.  With bellies full, it was time to head back to the boat.  But we had forgotten one very important thing.....the tide.  It was going out when we came in and continued to do so.  Since we were in the dinghy, we didn't notice.  Now the floating dock was well below the fixed dock with no way to get down to the dinghy.  We searched and searched for a way.  A-ha, a ladder!  Crap, it was locked up.  No loose lines or ropes anywhere.  Finally John noticed that the piling had 2 large spikes driven into it along the side.  Tom went first and was able to lower himself down using those.  FYI - Tom is 6 ft and has much longer legs.  I wasn't able to do the same.  Then we spotted spikes on the other side but still spaced too far apart.  I ended up putting one foot on one side (on the spike) and then swinging around the piling to put my foot on the other side - basically bear hugging this piling (FACE FIRST into the piling) as I ungracefully climbed/fumbled my way down the piling.  John used the same approach as me but managed much better.  NOTE TO SELF - be more aware of the tide when docking the dinghy.    

Views Along the ICW Northbound - Mile Marker 400 to 340

This was our typical view on the run up from Georgetown to Bull creek.

The next day the waterway narrowed down and the view looked like the above.

We started seeing many, many houses, condo's, apartments, trailers, campers, etc... along the waterway.  It has been quite fascinating seeing all the different houses, boats and docks.   OMG, the docks are amazing.  They extend out from the houses, through the marsh into the ICW.  Some have to be 1/4 of a mile long - really!

We got into the Myrtle Beach area and we started seeing golf courses and brightly painted houses.  Isn't it interesting how some parts of this country have much more colorfully painted homes than other parts.

The above person/company seems to be collecting all things water related.  We saw several old buoys, a couple of boat hulls, and some sea creature statues??  We're not sure why but it was certainly something to see as we pasted by.

And then the waterway narrowed again....a lot!  Dum-dum-dum (that's dramatic music in case you were wondering)..We entered The Rockpile!  The VORTAC aviation tower at the Grand Stand Airport ICW mile marker 352 marked the start of the super-duper narrow part for us as we motored north.  As I mentioned previously in The Rockpile, we made it through with no issues. 

Pictures from Georgetown SC and the Fire Damage

Riverfront undamaged by the fire

Looking back out the Sampit River from our anchorage near the recycling plant along the line of moored/anchored/abandoned boats.

Street view of the ruble from the fire.

Waterside view.  So sad.  But they were getting it cleared out when we were there so hopefully rebuilding will begin soon.

Kudzu's Bakery - fresh daily whole wheat bread to rival any grandmothers homemade bread - SOOO good.

Historic cannon....hey?  What is that cannon taking aim on?

HEY!  Not kewl Mr Cannon.  That's s/v Honey Ryder!

 

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Poor little sailboat in the foreground missing its mast is from Missouri.  s/v Honey Ryder in the distance near historic Kaminski House.

There were certainly some interesting ways that boats were rafted up/crashed together in Georgetown.

Check out this interesting boat.

Second floor or winner of the freeboard contest?

Bailng Out in Southport NC

Docks B (left) and C (right) and that is it

"Hello.  I just wanted to come over and see if there was anything you folks need.  I have a truck and I can take you anywhere you need to go like the grocery store, liquor store, Wal-Mart, Lowes....wherever you need.  Or you can just take it yourselves if you want.  I am in that boat right across the way if you need."  This is what fellow sailor David told us 15 minutes after we got docked this afternoon at Indigo Plantation Marina in Southport NC ICW mile marker #310. 

View towards the clubhouse and David's boat on dock A

We had hoped to get up to Carolina Beach NC for anchoring this evening.  We were doing great despite the overcast, windy, drizzle of a day.  Yay for cockpit enclosures!  However once we made the turn north and headed up the Cape Fear River, it got pretty bad.  The tide was going out and the wind was blowing along with it at a pretty good clip.  s/v Honey Ryder started bucking around and progress came to a near halt.  Southbound s/v Tenacious radioed us to say "it gets worse up river."  We thanked him and started looking for alternatives as in a safe anchorage where we could holed up for the rest of the day and overnight.  The problem is there aren't a lot of comfortable/safe places to anchor/hide along this stretch....for quite some distance.  There was a small creek a little way back but we took note the first time by that three sailboats were already hunkered down inside.  Dutchman's Creek was another option but Active Captain reviews of the anchorage said it was a bit of a hairy anchorage getting in and then overall ugh.  We decided to test it but found NO protection.  It would have made for an uncomfortable night.

Room for others looking to bail on an uncomfortable day

We had past three marina's, two very near the Cape Fear River.  Tom radioed the smaller to see if they had a transient slip available.  The dockmaster said they did.  He was not on site (I think he was at another marina - maybe owned by the same company?) but said he could come over in 15 mins to help us tie up if we needed.  I asked if there was any current or other things we should be concerned with while docking.  He said no so we told him we would be ok docking ourselves.

Safely tied up

We did a drive-by so we could check it out and id the slip....well sort of a cruise in, circle around and then cruise back out.  Tom thought there was plenty of room to keep circling while we prepped the boat for docking, I didn't.  But then again, I was at the helm so we I cruised right back out into the ICW.  Tom quickly prepped the fenders and lines.  By now the drizzle had turned to light rain.  We headed right back in and took the slip we thought was supposed to be ours (they weren't marked that we could see)....thinking there are at least 5 other slips along this same dock so not a big deal if it's not the exact slip he told us.  Turns out we got it right. Yay!  I helmed, Tom handled lines and we stuck the landing (docking) for a score of 9.99 (stupid Russian judge.  HA!....remember that from years gone by - watching the Olympics, it was always the Russian judge...never mind)

View from our slip back out to the ICW

Tom called the dockmaster and got us all checked in via phone.  Free wifi, showers and FREE laundry - $44 for the night!  So now we are safely tucked inside this little marina watching a few hardy boats hammer by on the ICW in the rain.  We will probably take David up on his offer to run a few errands.  He seems like an interesting guy so we don't want to miss out on that opportunity.  Laundry will be our fun activity for the evening.  Yeah, I know....but free laundry is free laundry.   

The Rockpile

Today we continued north on the ICW through a stretch known as "the Rockpile" aka the long, straight, stretch along Myrtle Beach.  This section of the ICW is notorious.  It's very narrow and has "rocky outcropping that abut the narrow channel".  We have been told and the various guidebooks say "stay in the middle."  D-uh!  The difficulty comes when another boat comes along and it's in the middle as well and you need to pass. You can't both be in the middle.  With most boats/yachts you can squeeze by but apparently barges transit this stretch as well.  No room for both a barge and a yacht. We were lucky in the fact that there was no barge traffic to contend with today.  We did pass several southbound boats - one of which waved  (they all do) and then called out "you're going the wrong way!"  Thanks s/v Wren from Annapolis - so we've been told!!!  Tom did a terrific job getting us through "The Rockpile."  I kept my "are we still in the middle?" comments to a minimum.  Some experienced cruisers (no names -Jaye) find this sections pretty.  I suspect these same cruisers find it fascinating to pass under, through, and around bridges as well (freaks!).  Oh yeah....there are a bunch of bridges along this stretch too.  Oh joy!  Most are 63-65ft (s/v Tammy Ann there are some 64 ft bridges girl) however there are a couple swing bridges thrown in for fun.  In fact, the Little River Swing Bride (7ft clearance) was quite an interesting time today with a big yacht southbound waiting on the other side, us and two local Sea Ray boats (25'ish & 30'ish) + two knot current pushing us northbound towards the unopened - not going to open for 5 mins even though I told you on the radio a little bit ago that I would hold it open for you (so we sped up when he originally told us that!) bridge!
Anyway....we did it.  The Rockpile is behind us.  Now where do I get my damned badge/sticker/pin?  Actually, it wasn't bad at all.

Bull Creek Anchorage

10-06-13
We spent last night anchored in Bull Creek just below ICW mile marker #380.  Hands down one of our favorite anchorages to date.  There were two local fishing skiffs silently fishing as we past by.  They simply waved.  We anchored just up from them in 14 ft of water off a small sandy beach along the shore.  Soon after we anchored another small local boat arrived with a vociferous group of three.   They were just blowing off steam on a Saturday evening and stayed only a short time.  The sun set, the other two boats left and we had the whole river to ourselves....except the animals in the woods on both sides of the creek.  We could hear all the woodland creatures- it was great.  With no light pollution, we could see no less than one million stars.  Magical!  After dinner we sat in the cockpit quietly taking it all in.  We could hear several different owls hooting throughout the night.  Some had the same "hoot, hoot" call each time, while others mixed it up "hoot hoot - de doot".  Really!  A couple of times we heard something rather large diving into the water getting some other living thing, most likely a fish.  We didn't see any pelicans earlier in the day.  I don't know if owls hunt fish like that or not but that would be my first thought.  It was a loud kurrrplunk so whatever it was, it was big.  We did see tons and tons of turtles throughout the day sunning themselves on fallen trees, stumps and rocks as we cruised along.  The smell of fresh pine trees all day was almost overpowering at times.

Birthday in Georgetown

We spent October 4th in Georgetown SC.  My birthday!  It's a funky little town that many experienced cruisers recommended.  Unfortunately the town had a bad fire along the historic riverfront two weeks ago.  Four old buildings burned down, 8 or 9 families were mis-placed and 130 people are out of work because of it.  But the good news is no one was killed.  When we cruised by that area on our way in, a crew was already razing the burnt remains of the buildings so they can build back which is great news.  We anchored at the long end of a bunch of moored boats, some which looked as tho the owners had forgotten them.  *FYI - turns out the recycling plant at the end - near our anchorage runs 24/7!  AND most of the bulk shipment of stuff to be recycled must come in via truck in the middle of the night.  It was SO loud.  Like emptying the trash after a really great party x 1000 type of loud.
Anyway, we launched the dinghy and Tom treated me to a late lunch ashore at Wild Fish.  I had the fried flounder tacos.  Tom had angry ahi tacos.  Delish on both accounts.  I learned later from my friend Emily that Oct 4th is national taco day.  I did not know that until now.  I am not sure decides those things but...ok.
We walked around the main waterfront street checking it all out.  We happened to find Kudzu's bakery.  Omg!  It was late in the afternoon so all they had left in the way of fresh baked bread was French baguettes.  We bought one along with to very reasonably priced wines ($7 & $9). We were so tempted as they had some amazing pre-cooked, pre-made ready to bake items on the freezer cases - bacon wrapped scallops, spectacular looking chicken pot pies, a wonderful variety of exotically stuff ravioli and.....croissants (butter, cheese and CHOCOLATE) that were calling my name!  The prices were again surprisingly reasonable.  But we were good and stuck to the baguette and wines.
Tom cooked a late birthday dinner onboard s/v Honey Ryder of steaks with green beans.  A divine smoked Gouda fit perfectly with the baguette as appetizer and dessert - the baguette was that yummy and cheese is my desert island food so it's always good.  It was a wonderful birthday.  Absolutely perfect aboard bday.  Hopefully the first of many abroad!
FYI - The wooden Boat Show scheduled for Georgetown towards the end of this month is still on.  If you are in the area, you should stop by.

Winyah Bay Anchorage

10-04-13
FYI for you fellow cruisers.  We anchored in Winyah Bay - west channel, right downstream from where the ICW joins here for the run up to Georgetown.  It was very, very buggy last night.  This morning this stretch has been the autobahn for small local fishing boats.  No less than a dozen have zoomed by wakes and all.  It was a little alarming to come up into the cockpit, see the fog all around and hear a little skiff zooming closer and closer but not see it until it popped out of the fog passing close by our boat.

Underway Pics - Bass Creek to Charleston

Below are random pics taken along the ICW.

Dinghy racing in Beaufort SC.

Pink tug?  Looks pink to me.

Linksters enjoying some golf on a course along the ICW.

Wappoo River Bridge -The current runs fast through here.  The bridge only opens on the hour and half hour.  You have to time it just right and mind the current while waiting.  It's also very narrow along this stretch.  AND even when the crossing bars finally go down to stop the traffic, it takes FOREVER for the bridge to finally start to open!  Seriously FOREVER....or at least it seems like it while you are waiting and trying to hold your place while current rips along.  *Let's not forget my love of bridges - NOT!  Luckily, we were the only ones going waiting to go through at the time.  We've been told by locals that on weekends and holidays it's an out of control cluster in this area.

Charleston aka Chuck Town waterfront. 

Coasties on a big Coastie ship.  Impressive! 

However on closer inspection through the binocs, this ship looks a little worn out.  I worry about the USCG.  They are SO important.  But, no politics here today.  There are other blogs for that. 

Finally, College of Charleston has an awesome sailing team.  Generally ranked in the top five in the nation (although I haven't looked yet this year). 

They were all coming back in along the breakwater dock where we were tied up.  It looked so kewl seeing them all sailing in so I decided to snap a few pics. 

I overheard (quietly) the following from two girls in this one boat.....crew girl -"OMG, she's taking a picture."  skipper girl - "Where? oh."  Crew girl - "Darn, our jib isn't full.  That looks bad."  Skipper girl - "Quick, see if you can get it full."  All this in hush tones but I could still hear as they were only 10 ft across the dock from us.  Too funny.

Shallow Existence Sort of Day

9-30-13
Under our keel that is and we are better for it.  I thought the state of Georgia was King of the ICW thin water but with today's skinny water, it seems South Carolina may have taken the lead.  Never fear Georgia, you will still reign in the area of no-see-ems and mozzies.
First up this morning was the Ashepoo Coosaw ICW cut.  This stretch is a mess. Here's the poo on Ashepoo.  We went through 1 1/2 hours before low tide and saw numbers shallower than the chart - that was BEFORE low tide folks.  *Yeah, yeah....we should have done this on a rising tide - not possible given high tide was at something like 5:17 AM.  Anyway, I was at the helm and it is SHALLOW!!  And it's tense your shoulders shallow for quite a stretch.  I saw a depth as low as 3.9 feet!  Yes, we draw 6 ft but our depth sounder has a 3 ft offset.  So - 9 inches!  9 inches 1 1/2 hour before low tide!!  One would need to plan a picnic (as in you are going to ground and have to wait for high tide) if you were going through at low tide.  OR if say you are a 42ft southbound sailboat loaded up for the Bahamas season with enough wine and rum to sink Nelson's navy!....not to name names but (wink wink B&C).  Oh and to the jackwagon that placed the crab pot right smack in the middle of the south exit / northbound entrance to Ashepoo Coosaw Cut.....ha, ha, very funny.
There were several other thin stretches that has kept the day interesting.  Actually, it's exhausting.  But we are taking it slow in the skinny water and have not touched ground yet (knock on wood/fiberglass). On the plus side, we spotted our 6th bald eagle of the trip this morning and have been visited by many dolphins today as well.  Traffic has been minimal, with mainly locals and a few    motor cruisers heading south.  I see however that the winds may be shifting around to the east and south later this week.  Woo hoo, finally!   I guess that means more of you are finally southbound.

Adjusting to Life Underway

9-27-13

We have been adjusting to life underway/at anchor and enjoying it.  Today we tried out another shower system.  We hung our solar shower through the overhead hatch and used it in combination with the aft shower hose.  Just trying out various methods.  While s/v Honey Ryder has large water tanks, we still need to be very careful about our water usage so we can stay out of marina's longer.  Showers aboard mean hosing down just enough to get almost wet and then shutting the water off, lathering up and then hosing off quickly with minimal water used.  Next it was time to open Salon Caliber -aka hair cut day.  Previous hair cuts as liveaboards have been successful but those were always at the top of our dock, a stable platform with plenty of room.  Salon Caliber opened in our sun room aka cockpit enclosure (good thing too as the NE wind was blowing.  If we had not had the enclosure, I think we would have ended up with new, modern looking side cuts complements of the wind.)  Both trims turned out ok if you don't look too closely!

View of the beautiful day out our sky light in the cockpit

It's a beautiful day with sunny skies.  Not too hot and not too cool.  Just right!
Next we dinghy'd into Palmetto Bay Marina in Broad Creek on Hilton Head.  We were able to tie up the dinghy No Charge.  Then we hiked approx. 2 miles to the Publix grocery store.  It was time to get some basic fresh provisions such as milk, eggs, bread, fruits, veggies, etc...  With fully loaded backpacks and a shopping bag each, we slowly made our way back to the marina, stopping twice to rest on convenient park benches along the walking trail that parallels a busy cross island thoroughfare. 
Note on this anchorage - We are just around the first bend on the south side of the creek before the bridge.  Both Skipper Bob and Active Captain recommend this anchorage.  Neither mentioned that there is a small mooring field.  We found at least one mooring submerged during rising tide.  As I have mentioned before on this blog, we are still learning about anchoring with tidal swing.  Previously we have always swung out into whatever creek and then around when the tide changes.  Here on Broad Creek we found that we instead swung towards the creek bank and around.  I don't know if this is a function of being closer to the shoreline vs mid creek or not.  We did ok the first night.  However the next morning at low tide we did actually ground ourselves.  Nothing too bad - soft mud.  In fact, the only way I knew was that we weren't swing the rest of the way around like the other boats.  Uh-oh.  A quick check of the depth meter confirmed.  Tom raised 10-15 ft of the anchor and it was just enough to float us again and we swung on around with the tide.  It is also worth noting that there is a fair amount of traffic on this river - ferries, tourist boats and kayakers.  Some coming relatively close to our boat.  We had some small wakes and lots of chances to  Smile for the camera!