We were finally able to leave Charleston on Tuesday, the 17th. It was a beautiful day, the wind had died down, and we were headed for an anchorage that I’d always wanted to try, but that, on other trips, had been either too close to or too far from where we needed to be. It was a good run, taking us through the area around the Isle of Palms, outside of Charleston, and then through a good portion of the “Low Country” before entering the Waccamaw River, one of my favorite areas to cruise.
As the cruising guide says, “The Waccamaw River is wide and deep to its banks,” and it’s also tree-lined and absolutely gorgeous. It’s not developed, so it’s serene as well as beautiful, and there’s very little boat traffic at this time of year. There are many wonderful anchorages on this river, and we dropped the hook in a small creek called Thoroughfare Creek. Here are a couple of photos of the anchorage the next morning before we pulled away.
Really gorgeous, n’est ce pas?
We had our calculator, computer chart, and cruising guide out the next day, as we tried to time the bridges and tides so as to keep Mer Sea floating and moving as we negotiated the various inlets in South Carolina. Shoaling is a constant problem through this stretch of the ICW, and there’s never enough money for dredging, so you can never be sure if you’re going to have problems or not. We were fortunate again this time, as we never really had any problems. And there are numerous bridges with restricted (on the hour or half-hour only) schedules, so we wanted to time those right as well. Just a little something to keep us from getting complacent!
We stayed in Southport, NC, which is a pretty little town, but we didn’t have time to see much of it this time around. We were still stewing about Onan, and hadn’t heard what their “proposal” would be. We were in pretty foul humor. Additionally, the HP computer was starting to act up again, so we were clearly going to have to address that issue as well. But, we did manage to have a terrible dinner at the restaurant near the marina (breaking our own rule of not eating at marina restaurants – they’re almost always over-priced and under-good!). To her credit, the waitress noticed that we’d hardly touched our dinners, and didn’t charge us for them. We left her a good tip!
Thursday, we had a beautiful day, running with the Cape Fear River, and then heading to one of our favorite anchorages, Mile Hammock Bay. Enroute, we got Mer Sea pumped out, and took on a couple of hundred gallons of diesel at a pretty reasonable price ($2.23/gal.). (Just to give you an idea of what OUR fuel bill looks like, the next time you’re complaining…) Mile Hammock Bay is actually surrounded by Marine Corps property, and we often see aerobatic maneuvers while anchored there. This time, we got there kind of late because of our two stops, so we were lucky to even find a spot to anchor! We were one of 15 boats in the small bay. And no aerobatics, but we did hear firing practice all night.
Roy still hadn’t heard from his buddies at Onan, so he initiated a call, and was promised a call back soon. In fact, they called back within the hour, and made their proposal. They agreed to take the generator out at their expense, and to give us a check for $5000.00. This was half what we’d asked for, as it will take about $10,000.00 to buy and install the new generator, even with a discounted price through American Tug, who is helping us out in whatever way they can through this whole process.
Roy wasn’t happy, especially since they’d couched the offer in “take it or leave it, one-time offer” terms. Just kind of pissed him off. And it’s not really enough money. So Roy told them that he’d let them know. There was no joy in Mudville.
Now I, on the other hand, was happy that they were offering us something, which they were under no obligation to do, and I was inclined to accept the offer. We talked about it a little, then Roy called a couple of friends whom he respects, including a lawyer, and then we agreed to sleep on it.
Friday, we headed to one of our favorite towns, Beaufort, NC (pronounced BOW-fort, not to be confused with BYEW-fort, South Carolina, which is spelled the same way!). Not only is this town charming, with lovely residential areas, but the little village is right on the water, with lots of little shops and some great restaurants. AND the marina has a courtesy car to get to the grocery store, which is a bit out of town. Additionally, our friends Paul and Michelle have a beach house close by, and can sometimes get away to spend some time there when we’re in town, so we get to see them. Unfortunately, this time that part didn’t work out, but we were happy to be there anyway. The weather was picture perfect, and I was ready to have some fun!
Around mid-day on Friday, we talked about Onan’s offer again, and agreed that we’d be better off going with “the bird in the hand.” Roy called Onan and accepted the offer, and immediately began the process of working out the logistics with both them and American Tug, through whom we’d be buying the Northern Lights generator, and also the yard where we’d have the work done in Baltimore. Whew! There was literally a physical change in his demeanor as Roy was able to give up the fighting and just work on getting something logistical worked out. I can’t wait to have this whole chapter behind us! (You probably can’t either, if you’ve been patient enough to read all this!) We went out to dinner at a little seafood place to celebrate.
Saturday was absolutely gorgeous – warmer and prettier, even, than Friday! We had a great afternoon, and a fabulous dinner that night at a little tapas restaurant in town. Beaufort, once again, was good to us. We left wanting more, which is how I like it, and saved plenty for the next time we’re in town.
We had a relatively short run on Sunday, and a couple of big bodies of water to cross, so we decided to leave early, before any wind might work itself up, and in hope of getting to our anchorage early enough to drop the dinghy and take a ride in the creek where we’d be anchoring. We try to give her at least weekly exercise, and besides, it’s fun!
It was another beautiful day, and our big rivers were absolutely placid. We had a bit of trouble setting the anchor once we got to Dowry Creek, but finally got her hooked! We dropped the dink and took a ride up the creek. Beautiful. Isolated and serene. Here I am on top of Mer Sea enjoying the view. (Note the water reflecting off the shiny hull that has recently been polished!)
We had a lovely, quiet evening, and I was even able to grill a steak on top, since the wind had let down. Definitely the kind of anchoring experience we like!
We had one last big sound to cross the next day, and this is one that often gives people trouble. Albemarle Sound is wide open and shallow, a winning combination in any sort of wind. What you can get is considerable wave action and a rough ride, so you want to plan your crossing carefully. We crossed about midday, and it was beautiful. Two hours later, when we were sitting at the dock in Coinjock, however, the wind was whipping up again, and we felt we’d dodged another bullet!
Coinjock has two marinas, and we stayed at the one that was new to us this time. The docks are just literally built along the side of the canal, so it makes for easy in and out, and great viewing of the boats going by. We were enjoying a beer on top, and the parade of boats, when I noticed a familiar boat name and hailing port: Spindle, out of Northeast Harbor, Maine. This is a boat belonging to good friends of my grandmother’s, who spend the summers and winters in the same little villages that she used to (and that my brother still does). I raced down to the pilothouse and called Spindle on the radio, but only the captain was on board - the Millikens are in Connecticut, I was told. Oh well, it was still fun to see her. Small world!
The restaurant at this marina (I know, I know, breaking the rules again!) has a reputation both among boaters and, apparently, locals, for being really good, so we decided to go ahead and give it a try. In this case, the reputation was well deserved! Roy and I both had excellent meals, and at quite reasonable prices as well. And with plenty to take home and have for dinner again the next night, so we were well pleased!
The next morning we crossed Currituck Sound, sort of a “sleeper,” and it was a bit bumpy. This body of water is really shallow (better stay in the channel!) and there was more wind than we’d expected. We were fine, however, just had to pay more attention than we’d anticipated. The biggest challenge on the way to Norfolk by this route (the Dismal Swamp being the other) is the number of bridges with restricted openings: six bridges total, and one lock. All within an eighteen mile stretch of waterway. Sometimes it’s hard to go either slow enough or fast enough to get there on the hour or half hour, depending on the schedule. And then, during rush hour, some of them don’t open at all, so you really have to do the math and time your arrivals.
We did, and were on the “home stretch,” with one more bridge in sight, when we were boarded by the Coast Guard! These boys in their bright orange pontoon boats with machine guns mounted on the bow, pulled up alongside Roy’s pilothouse door, and requested permission to board, and before we knew what was happening, they’d hopped into the cockpit, and were entering the boat. One of them stayed with us in the pilothouse while the other searched the boat. An “inspection” they called it. For Homeland Security. Because of all the “assets” in Norfolk. Now doesn’t that just make you feel so safe? I feel better already.
In fact, they were very polite and respectful, and they were gone in about fifteen minutes. Get over it, Leslie! We pulled into Waterside Marina in Norfolk and got tied up. We love this marina – it’s well run, and walking distance to all that downtown has to offer. And very reasonably priced, too. A winning combination! Roy rinsed off the boat and I cleaned up the inside, and we went on top to have a beer and watch the goings-on in the very busy Norfolk harbor. We had our leftovers from Coinjock for dinner, and hit the hay.
The next day I took the opportunity to do some web site maintenance, as well as contacting HP about the misbehaving computer. Those idiots give you different answers depending on who happens to answer your call. And, I’m sorry, but I can’t understand most of them through their thick Indian accents. It just irks me, that I have a brand new computer, which I was calling about at two weeks, and I’m continuing to have problems with after I’ve already uninstalled and reinstalled the operating system and all my programs. And now this guy I’m speaking to, whom I can hardly understand, is keeping me on the phone for a LONG time (using up my cell phone minutes), and having me do the same (long) test I did when I called at two weeks. Since it takes 90 minutes, he said he’d call me back when he expected it to be finished. Well, he didn’t.
When I called them back, I got a different person, someone I could actually understand, who said that if I’d already uninstalled and reinstalled the operating system, that was the “fix” of last resort, and the next thing would be to send them the computer for repairs. So I didn’t really have to do that stupid, long test after all! Oh well. So now HP is sending a box to Baltimore, which I’ll put the HP in (after deleting all “sensitive” content) and ship off (at their expense) and they’ll (hopefully) fix it, and ship it back to us in Cape May, NJ. Hopefully. In the meantime, we’ll have the Acer computer we bought in Columbus as a backup – and will be able to hook up to the internet only if we can find wifi or go to a library. But maybe we’ll finally solve these problems with the HP. Keep your fingers crossed!!
In the afternoon, we went to a great movie, Fracture, which I heartily recommend. It’s really well done, and Anthony Hopkins is in his element. He certainly does a fantastic “diabolical.” We both got our hair cut after the movie, and, later that evening, went back downtown (it’s only about a ten minute walk) to a wonderful restaurant we’d discovered last year. It didn’t disappoint.
Now we’re ready to set out for Baltimore and our adventures there. Stay tuned for updates! We expect to leave there with a new, working generator, and a computer in the process of being fixed.