Mer Sea

Well, we didn’t meet up with Paul and Michelle after all. Wilma and her concurrent winds and the cold front that passed by at the same time kept us in Oriental instead of moving on to Beaufort. It was rainy and windy and no weather to be leaving the dock in, so we called Paul and Michelle and told them we’d catch them another time. We hated it, but it was the right “boating” decision.

 

We finally were able to leave Oriental, and we scooted on ahead to the anchorage that we’d planned for after Beaufort. We did stop in Beaufort to get pumped out (always a joy!) and to pick up our mail, which was awaiting our arrival. It’s great to be able to count on things like our mail being taken care of the way it is by our friends at the Pak Mail at home. One phone call or email, and our mail is on its way to meet us at a marina.

 

This part of the ICW runs close to the Atlantic, just separated by a narrow strip of beach, and is peppered with inlets that cause significant currents, tides, and shoaling. For us, the biggest of this big three is shoaling, because the bottom is constantly shifting, and you never know when you might hit (literally) a shallow spot that is uncharted. It makes for stressful going, and constant vigilance of the depth monitor. We’ll be going along, and suddenly Roy will start calling out decreasing numbers: “six-six, six-three, six feet, five-eight, five-seven…where’s my water??!!” and I try to look at the computer chart that has an icon of our boat on it and make a suggestion for which way he might go to find deeper water, but usually it’s anyone’s guess. Usually we’re right in the channel, and there’s simply been shoaling, and you literally have to “feel” your way through. Whew! I thought this was supposed to be relaxing! At least it’s mostly sand or mud on the bottom, so if there is contact made, it’s more pride than boat that gets injured.

 

We made our way to a popular anchorage, according to the cruising guide, and, sure enough, ended up being one of 21 boats in this small bay. Fortunately, we were early arrivals, and so chose our spot and let others figure out how to anchor around us. This spot is within the confines of Camp LeJeune, and we were treated to a spectacular display of Osprey aircraft maneuvers right overhead until just after dark. It was pretty exciting!

 

The next morning we headed out before most of the other boats in the bay, and made it through a notoriously tricky spot, the Little River inlet, unscathed. About fifteen minutes behind us, four sailboats, including our friends on Diva, found themselves aground. We felt terrible, but there was really nothing we could do to help them without going aground ourselves, so we pressed on and monitored their progress on the radio. What finally happened is that the Coast Guard, which categorically will not assist you unless it’s life-threatening, sent four boats to the spot basically to direct traffic until the boats could get towed out of the way. Inadvertently, they created enough wake with their boats that our friends were able to ride it off the obstruction. What a relief for them, and for us as well, when we realized the bullet we had dodged!

 

We anchored that afternoon at Wrightsville Beach, which has a lovely anchorage and a convenient dinghy dock. We dinghied ashore and had lunch, and then walked around the town, ending up on the beach, which was beautiful! It was still a bit cool, so we weren’t tempted to swim, but it was lovely looking out at the ocean and actually being on the beach. We realized that, in all this time, this was the first time we’d walked to the beach – I guess because we’re mostly inland. If it had been warmer, I’d have lobbied for a day at the beach, but that will have to be another trip…

 

Southport, NC was our next stop, and we planned to stay a couple of days. The cruising guide spoke highly of this small town, and we did find it to be lovely in many ways. The houses, as with many of these small southern towns, are pretty well restored and surrounded by live oaks, and it makes for a charming, unique, southern flavor. I really enjoy strolling around these towns and looking at all the lovely old houses. Southport has another unique feature that we enjoyed: there’s a long boardwalk from the street, over a long stretch of marsh, to the water’s edge, where you can look out at the ICW and watch the boat traffic. It’s very well done, and I especially enjoyed seeing the little birds (wrens, I think) flitting in among the marsh grasses as we walked by. Lots of wildlife in them thar salt marshes…

 

We’d planned to anchor out the next two nights, but when we got to the first anchorage we decided we didn’t like the looks of it (the deep part was too narrow for comfort) so just pushed on to the next night’s spot, since there wasn’t really any place suitable in between. If we keep this up, we’ll be in Florida before we know it!!

 

Our next port of call was Georgetown, SC, another spot that the cruising guide touts as being worthwhile. The town is lovely, and the highlight for us was the old Episcopal church, beautifully preserved, probably the oldest Episcopal church in SC. It was a bonus that there was a guide there who was able to give us some history and answer our questions about the church.

 

That evening was Halloween, and we saw very few trick-or-treaters in the residential part of town we walked through to get downtown for a restaurant meal. BUT, when we got downtown, the cops and fire department had streets blocked off and the town was FULL of ghosts and goblins going around to the stores and restaurants for treats. It was lots of fun to see, and we were glad that the town had provided a safe and fun way for the kids to have their fun.

 

On to Charleston, where we decided to stay at a different marina from that where we’d stayed before, this time on the Cooper River. This one is associated with the Hilton, and we were able to partake of any of the amenities that the hotel guests enjoyed. For us, that was primarily the shuttle to the grocery store and downtown, although we did toy with the idea of the jacuzzi…But then we discovered that we’d reached the land of GNATS!!!! Of course, we’re surrounded in this part of South Carolina by marshes, and, apparently, twice a year, there is an explosion of gnats (the biting kind, maybe no-see-ums, I don’t know, but I do see ‘um, and they’re VICIOUS!) They swarm around your face and any exposed skin whenever you’re outside, and love to get in your hair, and they fly right through the screens on the boat, where they seem to spend most of their time trying to get out (they congregate on the windows and the skylight), and they plum take the pleasure out of being outside!

 

The weather has finally gotten really beautiful, and fortunately, the gnats don’t seem to be a problem downtown, so we did have a lovely day walking all over the downtown area, culminating in a delicious dinner at Slightly North of Broad (S.N.O.B.), which is a FABULOUS restaurant!! I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Charleston. We also met some fellow boaters at an open air bar with a great view of Charleston Harbor. Turns out that this one couple lives in Sandy Springs, and is on their way to Boca Grande, where they’re quite involved with the school, and so know Frank and Kim and family. Also customers of Newlin’s, I understand. We saw them again at dinner, and will look them up when we get to Punta Gorda. Small world, n’est-ce pas???

 

When we left Charleston, we’d decided to anchor a few miles off the ICW for a couple of days and enjoy the beautiful weather and also kill some time, since we seemed to be getting ahead of ourselves. This turned out to be one of the best decisions of the trip! The little creek we chose (with the help of “Skipper Bob,” who publishes books describing many great anchorages along the ICW) is called St. Pierre Creek, and it’s off the South Edisto River, and a total of about five miles off the ICW. It’s quiet and secluded, with only a few docks and a few local fishermen going by in boats, and it’s deep and wide – pretty much a perfect anchorage. While we were there we took the dinghy out for a ride up the creek and met up with a couple of pairs of dolphins who were feeding around us. We were really enjoying ourselves. We’d learned that we simply didn’t go outside without insect repellent, and that took care of the gnats.

 

We also learned while we were there that our insurance company is serious about us not going south of Savannah before Nov. 16, unless we want to pay $50/day extra!! No thank you! So I was in the process of re-doing our itinerary, when Roy said something about another boat approaching ours. Turns out that this was a gentleman who lives on the creek, in fact, he pointed out his dock “right over there” (one of the two docks we could see from where we were anchored), and we chatted a bit about what we were doing and our boat (he’s toying with the idea of getting a trawler himself). Then he says, “If y’all are going to be around tomorrow, I’m having some friends over at noon for Bloody Marys and an oyster roast. It’s kind of gotten out of hand…if you’re going to be around, you’d be welcome to come.” I said, “I guess it has gotten out of hand, if you’re inviting total strangers!!! We’d love to come, thank you!!”

 

Well, we took Mer Sea over to his dock at noon, and he and a friend were there to take our lines and help us get settled at the dock. Then we gave him a tour, and we all went up to the house. WHAT a beautiful place he has there! And this was a BIG oyster roast – 10 bushels of oysters and a complete meal in addition with venison in a delicious sauce, grits (the best I’ve ever had, bar none!!!), greens, cole slaw, bread, lemon squares…I’m probably forgetting something, but it was all delicious. Even the Bloody Marys, which I haven’t had in years, were fantastic! There must have been two hundred people there – it was all outside, the weather was beautiful, and the guests were all interesting and interested in what we were doing. Many of them are from old Edisto Island families and are involved in trying to preserve the island against developers. It was interesting talking to them, and Roy and I must have given about ten boat tours between us. It was all great fun. The house itself was originally the kitchen (the kitchen!!!) of the “big house” and it had been moved to its current location and had some additions, and then Jenks and Alicia restored it. It is truly stunning, and a stunning setting as well!

 

The kindness and hospitality that we enjoyed truly typifies “Southern Hospitality,” and then some. We are overwhelmed that someone would just motor out to us and invite us to a party – and SUCH a party! It was an experience that we will never forget – and a meal I’ll remember for a long time, as well!!

 

Now we’re in Beaufort, SC, which is a lovely little town. Unfortunately, the gnats are still with us, but we just have to cope. I don’t seem to be able to get a strong enough internet connection to post to the website, but we can retrieve emails, etc., at least. From here, we’ll kind of tread water, so to speak, and kill time before going to Savannah, where our friend Christa is going to visit us! We’re looking forward to that! Afterwards, we’ll push hard to make it to Vero Beach in time to drive to Dad and Joy’s for Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to you, as well!