RIVER DUNES

Last night we stayed at River Dunes. A charming resort housing comunnity just north of Oriental, NC. We stayed here before. It is really deluxe...nice pool, good laundry facility (I did 3 loads) and fabulous walking areas. I am posting a picture of a barge that went by. The neat thing about it, was on the top of its load, an American Flag was posted. Really cool!

Notice the Flag on the front end.

DAMN THE PADDLEBOARDERS!

Started out the morning trying to pull off the face dock of our marina in a 3 knot current, while watching out for small fishing boats and swarms of paddleboarders. It sure did get the adrenalin going. The problem is, the PB's are hard to see when they are hidden by big boats, and just as you want to pull out, from nowhere they appear and are dangerously in the way. Our other annoyance today was waiting for 2 bridges that only open in the hour. It is hard to time that, so we did a lot of donuts while waiting. We didn't travel that far (54 miles) but it took 7 hours. There were several shallow areas with shoals, so it was slow going. Tonight we are in Swansboro, NC at Caspers. It is an old, quaint town dating back to the late 1800's. We took Dorsey for a long walk throughout the neighborhood. All in all a nice day, peppered with a bit of angst :-)

A VERY LONG DAY

Because we got off to a late start, now we are playing hurry and catch up....which we didn't intend to do. We left at 6:30 AM and arrived Wrightsville Beach, NC at 5:30PM. About an hour before we got in, we hit a sand bar near the Masonboro inlet. It was a minor thing that we we able to get back into deeper water with our bow and stern thrusters, but not something you need at the end of a long day. We are on a face dock with a great view of the ICW. There is a lot of boat traffic, so it is interesting. We sat and had a beer on the aft deck to unwind. After dinner, we took a mile walk to the grocery store...good exercise.


colorful cottages



MYRTLE BEACH

Nice short trip up to Myrtle Beach today. We are staying at the Osprey Marina tonight. Some friends that we met in Marathon last Winter, are here, so we spent the afternoon catching up and went out for pizza.

EARLY START



SUNRISE IN CHARLESTON, SC

 We were "up and atem" at 5:30AM today. We had 78 miles to make and had to time some shallow areas. It was a relaxing day of easy cruising in beautiful wetlands singing along to tunes on the SIRRIUS radio. Tonight we are tied up on the face dock of Heritage Plantation Marina (just south of Myrtle Beach on Pawleys Island) on the Waccamaw River. Not much here, but we have a great view! Used the crock pot to make a pot roast with vegetables. It smelled good all day :-)


CAPTAIN AND HIS CAT



JUST SOUTH OF CHARLESTON, SC on the STONO RIVER

Had a good day. Not much to report, other than hundreds of mosquito boats(under 24') everywhere. They were all loaded with babes in bikinis, guys with their shirts off and beer in hand. They must have been involved in some big poker run. All they did was burn as much gas as they could, running up and down the ICW. Geez, I just reread what I wrote. I'm starting to sound like some old person :-( We got into the St. John's Yacht Harbor about 3PM. It's a nice marina with a cute bar/restaurant that we will check out in a bit. Right now we are getting caught up on stuff (boat chores).

WINDMILL HARBOUR MARINA, HILTON HEAD, SC

We just love this marina. It has become our favorite. The above pictures are the view we have off the back of the boat. There are many things that make for a good marina.....superb security, good dog walking areas, gorgeous surroundings, friendly, helpful staff, good docks, good power,situated behind a lock which maintains constant water level (that way we don't have to carry Dorsey up a very steep ramp) , pool,plenty of garbage cans,overall pristine cleanliness,pretty places for walking. I could go on and on. Although, we are anxious to head North, we have enjoyed our stay here! We are hoping to head to Beaufort, SC later this afternoon. The mechanic is here now putting in the new bow thruster part.