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I write the first part of this log about 8 miles off the coast of North Carolina some 11 miles south of the Cape Fear River’s mouth and the same distance from Bald Head Island, our destination for tonight. We should reach it by about 1430. It is Sunday, June 22, 2003, and we’ll be about 310 statute miles from the leg destination of Norfolk when we tie up.

Today is the kind of day that we have imagined for so long. It is the first run on the open ocean. The sky is cloudless, the water sapphire blue, temp is about 80, no humidity, and enough breeze to make us comfortable wherever we are. Seas are about 2’ with a long period and Celebrate seems to be celebrating her liberation from the confines of the shallow, narrow, and congested Intracoastal Waterway. She glides smoothly through the water as if she were one with it. Effortless, soft motion that puts everything right with the world. The boat and the lifestyle are everything we hoped for.

So, what’s been happening?

On Monday evening, June 16, we flew back into town (JAX). We had celebrated Fathers’ Day in Williamsburg with ‘old’ Chuck and then Andrea celebrated Ian’s 30th birthday while Chuck drove to Annapolis for some Bridges business.

Tuesday, June 17, saw a lot of work done as mentioned in the last log entry. We did a taxi run to the supermarket. Andrea stayed to get a pedicure and walked back to the boat about 2 hours later with even more stuff in hand. Chuck taxied back and loaded many bags into the larder. At 4 p.m. things were all done, and we slipped the lines to get some northing before calling it a day. Wound up at 7 p.m. in Fernandina Beach, FL, at anchor. Looks like a place to explore, but not this trip. Discovered that the plow anchor had jammed in the bow pulpit so we used the danforth anchor instead.

Wednesday, June 18 dawned overcast and threatening. We got under way by 745 a.m. and crossed the FL/GA line northbound by 8:10! Passed Cumberland Is., Jekyll Is., and stopped at noon at St. Simons Is. for fuel. A great surprise. We had used 482 gallons in the 66 engine hours we were running for a total consumption of 7.3 gph including the generator. It was much better than the 10 gph we have ‘budgeted’ and via email, David Marlow suggested we should do a bit better when we spend more time in deeper water. We also found a mechanic with a big sledge hammer and two swats later the plow was free. We marked the chain so as not to overrun the pulpit again. Resuming our journey, threatening clouds turned to rain. We repaired to the pilothouse and ran from there for the next 4 hours until anchoring in Crescent Creek, somewhere up some river somewhere in GA. The pilothouse turns out to be a great place to run in bad weather. The reverse shear of the 3 windshields hardly got wet despite some pretty heavy rain.

We got going by 645 a.m. on Thursday, 6/19, and made it to Hilton Head by 3:30 in the afternoon. Andrea had done some sleuthing on the internet and discovered we would be welcome at the South Carolina Yacht Club, complimentary to Annapolis Yacht Club members! It is in Windmill Harbor, an amazing marina and residential community reached by going through what might be one of the smallest locks in the zip code. 19 feet of width into which we threaded our 17’ beam plus fenders. We did no damage to boat or lock – twins and thruster come through again. A two-hose wash detail put the boat in ‘showcase’ condition – it took a while, but was worth it after several days of accumulated salt, spray, and whatever. Andrea ran for almost an hour. Outstanding dinner at SCYC was a treat!

After an early morning run, we waited until the locks opened at 8 a.m. on Friday, 6/20, and we were outta there., heading for Charleston. As is common throughout the low country of Georgia and South Carolina, shrimp boats of all size and condition are patrolling each and every waterway. We give them a wide berth. Everything was on track for an arrival around 5 p.m. until we hit the Limehouse swing bridge about 8 miles from our destination at exactly 4:30 p.m. Unfortunately, the bridge operates on a restricted schedule during rush hour. The bridge tender informed us to cool our jets because he would not open until 6:30 p.m., and he didn’t. We made it to the anchorage by 7:45 p.m. It took us until 8 to anchor. We thought the plow wouldn’t set because the bottom wasn’t good holding. Finally pulled it up to discover a truck-sized inner tube filled with sand adorning the anchor. That dispensed, we locked on to the planet with no problem.

The First Day of Summer surprised us with 60 degree temps. A front had passed and cleared all the heat and humidity out. Off we went past Ft. Sumter, and north through the narrow marsh flats of South Carolina. At times the ditch was flanked by 2-4 miles of continuous grassy savannah and, we learned, about 2 billion greenhead flies. Fortunately, only 1 billion made it aboard. Since it was cool, we closed the doors and captured them all. Chuck discovered that the hand-held Oreck vacuum really sucks. And that’s a good thing in this case. The stretch from the Isle of Palms to Georgetown could be boring to many, but our appreciation of the outdoors left no ‘when are we going to get there’ feelings. We arrived in Georgetown at 3:30 in the afternoon and dropped Andrea off for a 40 minute run. Chuck just anchored out and got some chores done. We both had worked out with our weights earlier in the day. Departed Georgetown and headed up the Waccamaw River to a quiet anchorage in Bull Creek, about a mile off the ICW, by 7 p.m.. We relaxed in the cockpit (back porch) and enjoyed the pristine surroundings of the lush cypress swamps lining both shores. Andrea cooked a fabulous pork loin for dinner.

Sunday, June 22, dawned about as pretty as a summer day can be. Clear, cool, and cloudless. The beautiful Waccamaw is thought by many to be the prettiest stretch of the whole ICW. We agree. Unfortunately, it turns into a ditch that runs behind Myrtle Beach. Some nice residential areas, golf courses, and marinas, but also a ton of McDonalds, outlet stores, etc. We may as well have been cruising the Ritchie Highway. As you know from the introduction, we left the ICW in favor of the Atlantic Ocean around 12:30 pm.

Approach to Bald Head Is via the mouth of the Cape Fear River was a breeze, and by 2:45 pm we were secure in the protected harbor there. Biked our way all over Bald Head Is which likes to bill itself as a Martha’s Vineyard South. No cars or other motor driven vehicles are permitted anywhere – just bikes, golf carts, and feet. It is quiet, classy, and worth a return trip.

On Monday, 6/22 the weather was just as nice as the day before, so north we headed. At Wrightsvile Beach we again exited the ICW in favor of the calm, clear, beautifully blue Atlantic for a 65 mile run to Beaufort, NC. Ran up to 9 miles off shore, and passed the Camp Lejune area. Interestingly there were two chopper carriers and a couple of landing craft anchored out a couple miles – seemingly engaged in training. Got to Beaufort about 6:30 pm and anchored. A surprising number of other boats for this time of year were there, too. Andrea used the quiet time to catch up on email, surfing, and other wonderful things that happen in this wireless age.

We knew that Tuesday, 6/24 was going to be a long day, and it was. We left Beaufort at 7:45 am and it took us until 7:20 pm to run 90 nm (~105 sm) to the Alligator River. A lot of it was against the tide. In a boat this slow – 9kts – a 1kt current against you is an 11% difference in the distance you can run. In 100 miles, that’s the difference between covering it in 11hrs/6min vs 12hrs/30min. Little things count! Anchored again, and enjoyed a great grilled salmon dinner. The freezer is really working great and keeps a steady 10°F, and we are feeling pretty good about keeping meats, fish, poultry, and frozen pizza there.

We called Wednesday, 6/25, the “Home Run Cruise” because we would end the day in Norfolk, VA, Andrea’s home for years and years. Lots of friends and familiar sights and sounds. We got going by 7:00 am and by noon had reached Coinjock – the 50 mile mark on the ICW. The ICW is measured on the charts every five statute miles making it a bit easier to do some plotting and planning as you go. Leaving Coinjock and crossing Currituck sound we enjoyed the close pass at high speed of a 60 foot sportfisherman named “Prizefighter.” This guy won the Jerk-of-the-Week award, never slowing and nearly swamping a small sailboat. If you see this boat stay clear! Approaching Norfolk our anxiety grew as the critical timing of hitting six drawbridges and one lock. All worked fine and we timed everything just right until arriving at 4:30 at the “Steel Bridge” for its advertised 5:00 opening. NOT. They are now restricted until 600 pm, so we anchored and got some chores done. Finally through, we welcomed the sight of the downtown Norfolk waterfront, eased out of the channel on the Portsmouth side and anchored for the night. Home Run!

Thursday,6/26 could hardly count as a day of boating as we traveled only 20 minutes to fuel up in Portsmouth, and another 20 minutes back to the Waterside Marina and tied up. Having run at a nominal 9.3 kts at 2000 rpm our fuel consumption jumped to 8.9 gph. That’s a 21% increase in consumption for an 8% increase in speed. We’ll have to think about that tradeoff with diesel being priced the way it currently is. (We did get the Portsmouth load at 96.9¢ a gallon – a far cry from the $1.43 for our initial load in Palmetto.)

We spent the day cleaning a few weeks accumulation up and made plans for a few days of Partying. Ian visited at the end of the day – our first social visit and it was fitting. He seemed to approve of the boat. Our long weekend was delightful. Two “Open Boat” parties (check the Photo Gallery), and Andrea got in a day at the beach with some of her buddies.  Somehow, reconnecting with old friends seemed the perfect way to start a journey where most things and people we encounter will be unfamiliar.

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