Thursday dawned and promised a beautiful day for the Annual Cruisers Thanksgiving in St. Mary’s, Georgia. This would be the eighth annual event and our second. We wouldn’t miss it for anything other than maybe a meal with family at home.

The week leading up to the big event was full of hors d’oeuvre and adult beverages. Early every evening we would meet at Seagle’s Saloon for snacks and drinks. Each evening the snacks got a little more exotic. We learned the difference between “light” hors d’oeuvres and “heavy” hors d’oeuvres. The last night of treats was preceded by a Painkiller Party. We need to be more careful.

After all this it was about time for a REAL meal! Everyone was busily readying their dishes which would accompany the turkey and ham graciously provided by the local folks while a bunch of the guys set up tables and readied things for the big meal. As 1:00 approached the line extended down the street.

Cruisers are hungry and love to eat! The meal was great and if anyone walked away hungry it was their own fault.

Friends from Marathon, Ken Parrot, “One Eyed Parrots” and Bruce and Connie, “Te Oigo”

We feel so fortunate to have met so many friends this past year and to have met many more new ones this Thanksgiving. Can’t wait until next year.

Our stay this year in St. Mary’s this year has been a lot of fun. The weather hasn’t been too bad and we’re meeting up with lots of friends we’ve met along the way and meeting new ones while here. Seagle’s is great as usually and we’re enjoying our evening meet and greets at the the Saloon.

Our biggest disappointment is in the local restaurants. Our first meal was at the Riverview Hotel next to Seagle’s (actually attached). Mary had Shrimp and Grits that were wonderful! I had a Ribeye Marsala that was good but not great. We recommend the hotel highly.

Our next stop would be Pauly’s Cafe across the street from the hotel on Osborne Street. Mary had a pasta dish that was way too spicy (and we can take spicy food) and I had the “special” Blackened Prime Rib Sandwich. Well it wasn’t special and it was more like a rib eye steak. Mediocre at best.

We had walked to the used bookstore, Read ‘em Again, and had passed a new steakhouse. The Oyster Po’Boy caught my eye. I’ve had a craving for one for quite some time. I’ve had a few along the way but they were always on soft rolls which don’t quite cut it. I wanted New Awlins style, on a crusty french roll and the Silver Star Steakhouse promised me just that. We went in and ordered. Now why we have to sit there for fifteen minutes before they figure out they don’t have any oysters is beyond me but, yup, that’s what happened. I had to pick out something else. I should have walked out but didn’t. My bad. In a major violation of my hamburger philosophy I ordered an “angus” burger. Angus makes lousy hamburgers. Not enough fat content but that wasn’t going to kill this burger, the cook did it for me. When I ordered I wanted to make sure I could get my burger cooked to order. “Of course” replied our server and I ordered mine medium. I heard her, as she placed the order, tell the cook to make sure it was medium and not cooked and further. Well it was pretty close to well done. It was dry and tasteless. I just wanted to get out of there so proceeded to eat it. The server came back and I told her that is was too well done and was very disappointed in the whole experience. Apparently a friend of the owner was behind me and alerted, my guess is the manager or owners wife. They wanted to give me another burger (I was full) or dessert or something. I wanted out. They took 10% off the bill which was probably as big an insult as the bad meal. I’ve been in the service business my whole life and one thing I’ve learned is to counter an unsatisfied customer you have to come back with an outrageous offer. 10% wasn’t quite enough.

The river-front old town of St. Mary’s is great but it is barely making it. There are no services available to boaters other than than fuel and dockage. At last count there are six restaurants within walking distance. One is above par (Riverview Hotel), one at par (Lang’s), two below par and two we haven’t tried yet. What a shame.

Well we sat for three nights near Cowan Creek with the wind blowing a steady 20 plus for most of the time. After deciding it was time to head out again, we calculated our departure time. With the currents as swift as they are we needed an ebbing current. This put our departure time at around 0300 (as in OMG that’s early!). The weather window we had been looking at was starting to shrink. Another cold front was due through the area late Friday night. Our estimate arrival time to St. Mary’s Inlet was 2100 that same day.

Up early we prepared for our day. Since we hadn’t really gotten undressed since leaving Charleston (did I mention it’s been really cold) we put back on a few of the layers we did take off. We slipped into our foul weather gear and readied the boat for departure. The electric windlass effortlessly reeled in the chain until it was straight down to the anchor. Mary slowly motored over it but it wouldn’t budge. “More power” I hollered back to the helm. As the boat picked up speed the bow slowly started to be pulled down by the firmly embedded anchor until it popped free. I reeled in the remaining chain and the anchor came up with a huge chunk of mud about two square. It fell off with a huge splash. We headed off into the darkness.

The trip out was fine. It’s easy to follow the bread crumb trail on the chart plotter. We cleared the inlet as the sky began to lighten and set our course for the outer marker at the inlet. The seas were still rough and we made some adjustments to ease the pounding. The main was set with a double reef and off we went. As the day wore on the winds subsided and the seas began to calm. Shook one reef out and sat back to enjoy another sunset.

Sometime around 2100 we saw a flare about 5 miles further out than we were (we were out 15 miles). I hailed the Coast Guard to report our sighting. As I was describing our sighting we saw more flares. They seemed to be following us. I asked the Coastie to check with the Navy and see if they were out there and sure enough they were. Pretty weird stuff. Comforting though to know that we could easily talk with Charleston Sector from where we were.

At 2230 we started to make our turn into the channel. We saw two rather spectacular shooting stars (or were they?). What a strange trip. It was to get stranger. I chose to head right down the channel and split all the lights as I went. When you’ve been up for as long as we had been it’s the easiest thing to do. As we got between the breakwaters I saw what appeared to be big white crosses or what I thought were angels floating above the range markers. They were slowly drifting and it had me a little confused. I asked Mary to check it out with the binoculars and she thought she saw a ship. Hmmm, weird no running lights? Then we saw the red. Red, let’s see, that means we can see the port side. How can that be? The channel is straight! About that time we realized we were about to be run over by a container ship and it was altering course to avoid us. A rather abrupt burst of full power and a hard turn put us abeam the ship. Mary swears she could read the fine print on the fire extinguishers as it power by rather quickly. The pilot hailed us on the radio (why now and not sooner?) and told me what a dumb ass I was and that I was lucky to be alive. I thanked him for his observations and sailed on to Fernandina Beach to anchor. As we approached the anchorage the pilot boat came back with the pilot. It seems our bow navigation lights had burned out again and he couldn’t see us. I don’t think he believed me when I told him that I had trouble seeing him. Well, all’s well that ends well and we dropped the hook at 0100 on Friday morning. The winds and the front were fortunately late in arriving and we hit the sack.

Friday at noon we headed over to St. Mary’s for Thanksgiving. We’ve taken a slip (if you can call it that) for a week. The boat needs a thorough cleaning and I need to make repairs to the lights and to the anchor rollers after the beating we’ve taken.

While sitting on the hook in Port Royal Sound (Cowan Creek) waiting for the weather to break we were reflecting on the glamorous life some of you think we’re living. Consider this:

We’ve been freezing our butts off since we have no heat other than the stove. It’s way too cold for a shower.

By the time we got to St. Mary’s we had been in the same clothes for five days. It was also the same about time since our last shower.

While anchored I spent one day without getting out of bed and read a book from cover to cover. The only time on deck during the whole stay was to take Goliath out to potty.

At times the boredom is overwhelming. Nothing but sea as far as we can see. There are no other boats and very little radio traffic.

It can be depressing to realize that it took you thirty hours to cover 150 miles.

Just some random thoughts. We’re back among humanity, our cruising friends, and it all seems worth it again.

You can’t beat the security of a slip (as well as a chance to plug in the electric heater), but we saw an opportunity to scoot to Fernandina Beach and we took it. Forecasts weren’t bad for the day but the weather would deteriorate overnight. We had hoped to get further south before things got bad but the window closed sooner than later. As night fell the wind picked up to a steady 20 knots and the waves began building. We chose to head for Port Royal Inlet as an escape from the pounding. As we turned into the inlet at 10 pm the wind clocked around to the north and battered us some more. Four fours later we dropped anchor just into Cowan Creek about eight miles downstream from Beaufort, South Carolina.

Currently we are sideways to a steady 20 knots, held in place by the current and our anchor which by now must be dug in halfway to China.

We plan to leave again early Thursday with a slightly larger weather window this time.

We haven’t had the female perspective in the blog for quite some time, so here we go. Our stay in the Great Dismal Swamp was a short one. We were in the outside row of rafted boats so we needed to be the first out to let the others go.

It was early in the morning, probably too early because we had an hour plus wait for an opening at the next bridge/lock. We rafted with another boat while waiting. Rafting is a good way to meet your neighbors.

The next destination was Elizabeth City, NC. This is probably the most cruiser friendly town we’ve ever been in and they call themselves “The Harbor of Hospitality”. There was a welcoming bridge tender, free docks and volunteers came to the docks to assist with docking. Even the mayor helped out! The town is known for it’s Rose Buddies who hold a wine and cheese reception for the cruisers. Apparently it was started by a group of local men, all of whom are now dead. The city has carried on the tradition and we were entertained by none other than the mayor and second generation Rose Buddies.

While the city was friendly, the weather was not. We had wind and rain for the entire four day stay. When the weather turned, there was a mass exodus from the town docks! We motored down the Pasquotank River to Albermarle Sound, then along the Alligator River and finally anchored for the evening just north of the entrance to the Alligator River / Pungo River Canal. We had sun and 70 degrees so we motor sailed there and were happy campers. The trip across Pamlico Sound through the various rivers was quite exhilarating. We sailed for awhile but the final leg pointed us into the wind so we stowed the sails and later anchored in a very peaceful Campbell Creek for the night. The trip up the Neuse River past Oriental went by quickly and soon we were anchored in Cedar Creek poised to go offshore the next morning.

We met up with our Dismal Swamp/Elizabeth City friends from s/v Angel at Cedar Creek and made arrangements to head out to sea with them on 11/10/08. Our plans were to exit the ICW at Beaufort, NC and reenter it at the Little River Inlet in South Carolina. Angel’s plans were to go all the way to Charleston and beyond. We wondered if we should press on as well. We started out at 6:30 am and it was sunny and warm with nice breezes. We had a pod of Atlantic Spotted Dolphins run with us for about 20 minutes. There were at least 8 of them zooming along right next to the bow, crisscrossing, jumping, and flapping their tails. It was quite a show. They seemed to be having so much fun. We had missed the dolphins up north and were so delighted by their return. Goliath didn’t know what to make of those guys.

There was a full moon and fair weather on the ocean until about midnight when the breezes increased and a chill came. John and I took shifts at the helm. He actually slept this time while I piloted the boat. Could he be trusting my judgement a bit more? I was at the helm when the moon set and the seas turned dark. It was a very lonely time. The full moon had illuminated everything and kept me company. Now I was alone and not liking it too much. The lack of light made it seem all the more cold and even 6 layers of clothing was not enough. I was happy when John came out for his shift. I shivered and slept until we arrived at the Little River Inlet at about 7:30 on 11/11/08. These inlets are rather intimidating as they wind their way through shoals to the sea but Little River had been dredged last spring and the trip in was fine.

We were glad to get off the windy, cold ocean and onto the calmer waters of the ICW. I assumed we would anchor the boat right away and get some undisturbed sleep. But NOOOOO, John had other ideas. We motored down the ICW for the rest of the day!! It was worth it though because we found a lovely, quite, isolated anchorage at Bull Creek. The ICW in this area cuts through a swampy, forested area (the Waccamaw River) with many quiet back creeks and few indications of intrusion by man.

On 11/12 we started out fairly early again. As we motored, some locals in an old power boat gave us the one finger solute as they zipped by! Was that banjo music I just heard? Maybe the isolated water of South Carolina isn’t the best place for Yankees from Wisconsin to be after all.

The trip from Bull Creek to our next anchorage at Whiteside Creek was a bit white knuckled. The water was quite shallow for most of the trip. We were surprised to encounter our traveling buddies on Angel at anchor in Whiteside Creek. Because of the winds and chill on the Atlantic, they had changed their plans and came back inside to the ICW at Winyah Inlet and we had caught up to them. We felt better about our decision to come back inside. The next morning we awoke early in order to catch the 9:00 am bridge opening outside of Charleston. There was fog, but we thought it would be alright to start out.

Moonset at 0700. No fog. We awake to gunfire. It’s duck season all around us.

Sunrise, within thirty minutes visibility was 100 feet!

Unfortunately, the fog thickened as we left the anchorage and we turned around and re-anchored. We waited for a couple of hours amid a blanket of no-see-ems and fog! With no wind, the no-see-ems were pesky. We were entertained by a small group of Bottlenose Dolphins feeding and breaking the silence with blowing as they surfaced. By 9:30 am we were able to take off for Charleston again. This time we made it. The trip to Charleston was uneventful except for the bridge opening. The bridge tender gave John a hard time when he requested an opening but not as hard a time as she gave a boat behind us. The boater behind us wanted to make our bridge opening, and when told he couldn’t, he asked if openings were scheduled or if they were on “demand”. Wrong choice of words because the bridge tender let the sailor know in no uncertain terms that no one demanded anything of her. Openings were upon request, request of her!!! From the tone of her voice you could almost see her head and index finger waving from side to side. Apparently she held him up for quite some time because as we arrived at the Mega Dock at Charleston City Marina, we heard the sailor calling the Coast Guard, of all people, for assistance at the bridge! Now that’s a first. The entrance to Charleston was not quite as friendly as Elizabeth City, but the City Marina is very nice, especially in the high winds that we have experienced. The showers here were a most welcome sight. I had never gone so long without a shower. it had been too cold on board, so I kept waiting and waiting for the right conditions. Oh I love the shore showers!! We are clean and it is warm enough for shorts. What else could a cruiser ask for?

It is three nights here in Charleston and counting, waiting for a break in the high winds. We’ve done laundry, gotten groceries, been to West Marine, cleaned the boat inside & out, and received our mail. We need to move on.

The decision was made. We were going to give the Great Dismal Swamp route if the ICW a shot. Reports of shallow water had always kept my thoughts on the other route, which is no picnic either, but the leaves were changing and it was just such a pretty day. We turned right after the bridge on we were on our way.

Several miles into the canal we got to the first lock. Four boats were anchored waiting for the next opening. The Marylee and one other joined them to make six that would lock through. As we started the process more boats showed up until we had thirteen boats in the lock.

After we were lifted about six feet the doors opened wide and we all left in single file. After awhile we spread out some and slowly we proceeded south. It was beautiful. The trees with their changing colors lined the edges and hung over the top. Leaves fluttered from the tree tops and floated on the dark brown water. The breeze blew in the tree tops but barely managed to reach water level.

By three o’clock we slowed to dock at the North Carolina Welcome Center along US Highway 17. This truly a unique site. Servicing both cars and boats at one stop. We are docked at the free dock along with about sixteen other boats. We are rafted four deep and almost completely block the canal.

The trip out from the Solomons was gorgeous. Blue skies and favorable winds. We unfurled the jib and had a nice motorsail almost all the way to Indian River at Fleets Bay. Fishing Bay had been our original destination but we started to run out of light. A short trip into the river led us to Pitman’s Cove about a mile in. Very secluded and protected this cove is a very beautiful stop. A few photos of our surroundings.

Halloween night was so peaceful and beautiful. Early the next morning we headed to Portsmouth. We got in a half day of sailing before the wind shifted and then finally died. We arrived at the Norfolk channel in a dead calm. Motoring to Portsmouth turned into a real challenge. We encountered not one but two container ships in the channel, each with tug escorts and being maneuvered into their docks. Finally we managed to dock at the free town docks and have dinner at Roger Brown’s Sports Bar where we watched the first half of the Texas Tech and Texas game. Too bad we didn’t stay to see the thrilling conclusion to Tech’s victory. Go Red Raiders.

Well we finally managed to leave our second home of Solomons, Maryland. We stayed approximately two and half weeks. It was quite a fruitful visit as we were able to go to the St. Mary’s Oyster Festival, drive back to Annapolis for the Chris Botti concert, install a new electric head and install a new 100 amp alternator. We even got in a day of sailing on cousin Cheryl’s Aquarius 23. Here we are “wing on wing”.

A very happy Cheryl (before we hit that bridge, no serious damage). As we made our way back to her dock we were escorted by Henry and Gert, the local swans.

The leaves were changing and there was a definite chill in the air. It was time to get moving so we finally scraped the frost off the boat and hoisted anchor and headed for Portsmouth, VA.