BEAUFORT, NC (pronounced Bow Fert)

Who would guess that we would stay not only at Beaufort, SC and Beaufort, NC! Both are charming little towns that we will repeat.
Yesterday we pulled out of Myrtle Beach @ 6:30 AM. We were about to enter the dreaded "ROCK PILE". It is a 5 mile stretch along the ICW that has submerged rock ledges on both sides of the channel. There is very little passing room for oncoming boats. Before entering that section, one is supposed to issue a "Securite" warning over the radio for any concerned vessels. By leaving early, we did not encounter anyone...a good thing! We cruised to Wrightsville Beach , arriving late afternoon. We were not happy with our marina. After we docked on the face dock, they proceeded to pack boats on it stem to stern. It could have been a nightmare departing in the AM. We expressed our concern to the dockmaster and he became quite surly....we'll never stop at that place again.
This AM, we departed early again and arrived at Beaufort, NC about 4:30. It was a long day, but we were rewarded by a cute town, a great marina, and friendly people. We will stay here until Saturday. We're going to explore and have fun tomorrow.

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH

We are currently at Barefoot Resort and Marina. We arrived Sunday and will leave in the AM. We extended our time here because we like it so much! It is bikeable to the grocery store, restaurants,beach, House of Blues, etc.There was a band sunday afternoon by the pool and fireworks last night. We will definitely return here.
We had to cross over a swing bridge to get to everything off the property. The bridge tender guy became our new best friend. This evening, we were biking across the bridge, he stopped us and asked if we were headed to a happy hour. We said yes. He told us where to find the very best one. We chatted quite a while with the guy. Tomorrow, we'll say hello when we pass through his bridge.

GEORGETOWN, SC

I am happy to report that we departed Charleston @ 6:30AM unscathed. Just for extra insurance, we had dock hand Bubba Gump on  standby.

Another great cruising day with just a slight glitch. We had reserved a slip at Harborwalk Marina in Georgetown, SC. Not only did we have to deal with a hugely crabby dockmaster, but he tried to have us shoehorn into a slip that looked to be a disaster. So....we used Ernie and Camille's axiom of "leave early, arrive early...which allows for options". We told Captain Crabby we would look elsewhere. We turned right around and headed back out to sea. We ended up at Georgetown Landing Marina and are happy as clams.

We did our usual walk into town and saw the sights. It, too, is just a fantastic stop! Beautiful old houses, old oaks lining the streets and a great place to stop for a beer. BTW, for those of you observant ones, yes, John is wearing the same outfit as yesterday...we are official "BOAT TRASH".

 

CHARMING CHARLESTON

After leaving Beaufort @ first light (6AM) to have the tide in our favor, we arrived Charleston about 2:30PM. We had another glorious day on the water through SC marshland....no issues with boat or

 depth :-) One highlight is that we got Dorsey to pee on her potty mat 2x while underway. That is a good thing . That way she can travel more comfortably.

Our marina is just off Charleston Harbor. We are on the inside of a linear dock just inside the breakwater. It is extremely rough on the other side. We are rocking and rolling way more than usual We have every fender we own in use. We're a bit concerned about getting off the dock in the AM...mega current here pushing us into the dock.

Today we took the Resort/Marina Trolley into the historic district. We enjoyed a Grayline bus tour that gave us a great overview of Charleston. We walked around afterwards and had lunch at Hyman's Seafood...evidently, a well known Charleston establishment. They had the very best hush puppies I have eaten in my life. Yum...we'll go back just for those!!!There are pictures on the wall and brass name plates on the tables with the names of all the celebs that have eaten there. The Beach Boys and Neil Armstrong "ate where we ate".

We head North tomorrow very early again...that is if we can get off this dock without taking out a few yachts along the way :-(

Goodbye, Hilton Head...Chesapeake here we come!

We left about 12:30PM....had to wait for the tide to rise. We have never seen such tide ranges as they have here. We had a gorgeous, uneventful day on the water, arriving in beautiful Beaufort, SC about 4PM. We docked right in the center of town, walked around a bit, and enjoyed a burger and brew. Unfortunately, we are only here one night this time, but will DEFINITELY be back! Next time, we'll spend a week.There is so much to see and do here.

Beautiful Beaufort!

A sad day for baby sister KNOTUGAL. We put her on a truck to send her up to Annapolis. We are trying to sell her, and the market for her kind is up there. She brought us many hours of great pleasure. She taught us all we know. We will miss her!

                                               HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC

Sorry, no picture........we've used up all our data minutes . We arrived Friday and had to contend with torential rain saturday. I'll tell you, it poured nonstop for almost 24 hours. If this had been in Houston, it would have been a major weather event. There was no flooding here...just a very dreary day . We stayed onboard, only leaving to walk Dorsey :-( Anyhow, we do enjoy HH. It is a beautiful spot to be. We're settled in at the Shelter Cove Marina. Tomorrow we will see John's mom and look after her the next 2 weeks before heading back to TX. We will leave Knotugal here until June when we head up the East Coast. So........until then, our blog will be suspended. Check back in June!