Waitin on a Woman

Every man has experienced this at one time or another. In my case it's usually Pam that's causing me to pace the room wondering what she could be doing when she said she was ready 10 minutes ago. This time it's hurricane Sandy that we're waiting on.
We're in Beaufort, SC. back at Port Royal Landing Marina. If you recall this is the same spot we were in this past spring riding out Tropical Storm Beryl. Hopefully Sandy will stay far enough offshore to only give us tropical storm force winds. Time will tell. In the meantime let's recap our travels of the past few days.

10/20/12 Saturday     Beaufort, NC.     So in addition to checking out some of the Beaufort history today Pam indicates that she would like to find some comfortable walking shoes. I guess our hike around D.C. convinced her that comfort over style might have some merit. It didn't take long before she found something she liked.

She's still having trouble with the comfort over style thing!

Beaufort has a rich history that pre-dates the Revolutionary War. We set off to stroll through town checking out the old homes and we weren't disappointed.

One of the morbid highlights of our walk was the old cemetery. Many old graves of war heroes,  sea captains, and local dignitaries of days gone by. A couple of the more interesting graves were of a British sailor who wanted to be buried standing up and a little girl who died at sea and was transported home and buried in a cask of rum.

Buried standing up.

Little girl buried in rum cask.

In our walk around town we saw many homes that had been occupied by current residents of the cemetery. 

One of the other interesting stops was the North Carolina Maritime Museum which has among other things a display of some of the artifacts from what is believed to be the wreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge which was the ship of the Pirate Blackbeard. The remains of the ship are located near the Beaufort inlet. Much speculation surrounds the cause of the ships grounding. Some say it was an error in navigation and others claiming Blackbeard was an excellent navigator grounded the ship on purpose. 

Following a brief time in retirement Blackbeard returned to his pirating ways and was finally caught near Ocracoke, NC. His head was cut off and hung from the bowsprit of a ship and sailed back into Beaufort harbor for all to see.

Free Museum

Our stop in this quaint, beautiful town was one that we both enjoyed and would return to if we pass this way again.

10/21/12 Sunday     Once the sun came up we pulled out of Beaufort. Our hopes to run offshore were squelched when the forecast was for winds and waves out of the East which would have been an uncomfortable ride in Tourist. Back to the ditch we went passing Camp LeJeune along the way.

 Empty tower. No live fire exercises today.

Cool boat headed North.

We were making good time until we got to the bridge at Wrightsville Beach which only opens on the hour. We missed the opening by 7 minutes and had to idle around until the next opening which definetly cut into cocktail hour. We finally got through and anchored around 5:15 p.m. Not our favorite anchorage due to the lack of respect by the local boaters towards the anchored boats but plenty of room for Tourist.

Wrightsville Beach Anchorage.

10/22/12 Monday     Another travel day so up and going by 7:10 a.m. Today we passed the "Redneck Riviera" area around Carolina Beach before picking up the out flowing tide of the Cape Fear River. After a quick trip down the river we turned back onto the ICW at Southport, NC. passing the waterside restaurants and marinas along the way.

Southport.

At times we passed inlets that led to the ocean.

Lockwood's Folly Inlet.

And windswept trees.

Windswept before Sandy's arrival.

Myrtle Beach came and went as we made our way to Osprey Marina (www.ospreymarina.com) for the

night.

Entrance to Osprey Marina.

Our arrival was late enough that we spent the night on the fuel dock which worked out for Pam who took advantage of the laundry facilities nearby.

10/23/12 Tuesday     Osprey is tucked back off the Waccamaw River which aids in a restful nights sleep. So restful that we overslept. Finally at 8:40 a.m. we departed Osprey and entered the picturesque Waccamaw River.

Morning on the Waccamaw River.

A pretty uneventful day of travel. No bridges. No knuckleheads in go fast boats buzzing past and calm seas to travel on. We ended the day early, anchored in Awendaw Creek with a view over the marsh land to the ocean.

Just some weeds separating us from the ocean.

Of course tonight when we got ready to grill we were inundated by giant moths for about an hour. We (I) persevered and got the grilling done in spite of the unwanted help.

Not a great picture of our extra help.

10/24/12 Wednesday     Another restful night of sleep on the hook. Today we head into Charleston. Along the way we passed a catamaran sailboat anchored outside the channel that had passed us late yesterday afternoon. It was still early in the day and we figured they were still sleeping. About an hour later we heard a call from the cat to TowBoat US stating that they were aground and needed assistance to get free. Pam & I both wondered where they were going yesterday when they passed us because the next anchorage was a couple hours down the ICW and it would have been dark when they arrived.

After getting through a shallow area above the Ben Sawer Bridge we enterd Charleston Harbor and headed to the City Marina.

Charleston City Marina

Unfortunately our camera doesn't do justice to the beauty of Charleston's waterfront with it's stately old homes looking out over the harbor.

Charleston's Waterfront.

Our arrival was at a slack tide period which made docking a lot less stressful since the current rips through here when it's running. This time we weren't on the Mega Dock but just beyond in a slip that had some exposure to the harbor. Not my favorite spot. Fortunately conditions were pretty good so all was well.

Pam had been checking on restaurants around Charleston and landed on 39 Rue de Jean, a French restaurant just north of the downtown area. After doing a little housekeeping and maybe a nap we hopped a ride on the marina's free van to downtown where we started with cocktails at a rooftop bar.

 

Looking out over the harbor.

Next we found a little place on a corner that served our needs before walking  to the restaurant. (Remember Pam's new walking shoes?) We both appreciated getting a table and being able to sit down. Our waitress was well versed concerning the menu and pronunciation of the entree's which of course I was prepared to put my own twist on. I had the Coq Au Vin which turned out to be a chicken in some kind of sauce and Pam had French Onion Soup and a salad. Both were delicious. We followed up with coffee and the waitress surprised us with a chocolate desert compliments of the house! Lets just say it was to die for! Sorry no pictures. We were too busy eating.

Afterward we strolled partway back towards Bay St. before jumping in the back of a bicycle taxi for the remainder of the trek. I finished the night off with a cigar at one of the smoke shops along the sidewalk listening to passersby either complain about the smell or stop and enjoy the aroma.

Here are a few scenes from Charleston that we saw.

By the time we got back to Tourist neither one of us had trouble sleeping.

10/25/12 Thursday     Our original plan was to stay in Charleston two nights and then continue south. That was before Sandy started showing her hand. After watching and reading the forecasts for her projected path we decided to leave a day early and get into Port Royal Landing Marina (www.portroyallandingmarina.com)
near Beaufort, SC. to ride out the storm. After paying the bill we took off and headed for Elliott Cut and the ICW. The tide was going out which made the going slow through this narrow trench.

Wappoo Creek Draw Bridge over Elliott Cut.

Once through the cut the waterway opens up allowing our speed to pick up enough to make one think that they are making progress. Conditions were good as we passed this small ship repair yard along the banks below Charleston.

Small shipyard along ICW.

Around noon the winds picked up from the East which for the most part didn't disrupt our smooth ride. That is until we passed through the lower end of the Ashepoo-Coosaw Cut-off (the shallowest spot of the day) and entered the Coosaw River where we started taking 3 footers on the beam. Of course this is the time when Pam was below making lunch for me. Fortunately we only had a short distance to travel before turning and running with the wind. And run we did. Tourist doesn't handle following seas very well at trawler speed so the twin Cummins diesels got to strut their stuff until we turned off the river a few miles later. What a difference in the ride speed and a few gallons of fuel makes!
From here it was only a short ride into Beaufort where the wind which was now gusting to 25 mph brought an audience out on the dock as we made our approach. Pam had the lines and fenders ready and I drove Tourist into the dock like I knew what I was doing! Luck counts!

10/26/12 Friday      The wind is blowing between 15 & 25 mph from the North which makes the water at the dock a little lumpy but Tourist and crew are doing fine. Pam was able to find a hair salon so we took the loaner truck to town. While she was getting the treatment I found a barbershop and got my locks cut also. After mandatory stops at grocery, liquor, and West Marine stores we headed back to the boat to spend an uneventful afternoon listening to weather reports and court tv.