More pics from the ICW

We stayed in Oriental, NC November 12 - 15 due to high winds and "frog chokin' " downpours. (Heard that term from a local weatherman.) Since then, we have moved south quickly, braving some pretty cold temps. We are now at Southport, NC which is just about 30 miles north of the South Carolina border. We're coming home November 20 - 29 for a WOT Board Meeting and Thanksgiving. Then we'll continue south. Below are some photos of the past week.

Our dock in Oriental. The marina was part of a hotel, Tiki Bar and restaurant complex.

A beautiful southern mansion in Oriental, complete with gas lamps.

Shrimp boats and sailboats in the fog at Oriental.

Early morning sunrise on the ICW. On our way to Swansboro we saw our first dolphins! Wanted to get a picture of them, but they moved too fast.

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Bill bundled up, braving the freezing cold temps. It's especially cold when you consider the wind factor. Today, as we were sailing the Cape Fear River, we had gusts up to 35 knots! But we were still able to sail with the jib for a while.

Part of the "boat parade" traveling down the ICW. When we got to the bridge just before Wrightsville Beach we must have had about 15 boats stacked up. We played musical chairs, going in circles waiting for the bridge to open (only opened on the top of the hour). It was pretty dicey because the channel wasn't very wide and quickly dropped off to 3 foot of water. One of the boats ended up going aground. Thanks to the driving ability of our trusty captain, we made it through just fine.



Barb and Rich Hampel, from s/v Aquila joined us for dinner one night. Rich had us sample scotch from Scotland that had a very strange taste. He said it was the peat. Blech! But I did like his Lemoncello. Needless to say, a good time was had by all.


An overview pic of the marina at Wrightsville Beach. Our boat is the second one on the outer dock.

Traveling down the intercoastal

Since leaving Solomons, we have traveled quite a few miles...290 to be specific. Most days, we make 35 - 50 miles, which is a comfortable amount. We get up early, eat breakfast and try to be "on the road" by 7:30 or so. We usually make it into port by 3 pm or so. That gives us time to relax, unwind, have dinner and prepare the course for the next day. Then off to bed and up early the next day to start over again.

The scenery has been beautiful, with all the trees changing color. We usually travel with about 10 boats or so, although they change all the time. Some take different routes or, in the case of power boats, they outpace us quite quickly. Haven't really met anyone that we are traveling with consistently, but that's ok. Not a lot of time for socializing anyway.

As of today, Thursday, Nov. 13, we are in Oriental, NC (milemarker 181 on the intercoastal)waiting out rain and thunderstorms which are predicted to last until Saturday.

Since I have a halfway decent connection, I thought I'd upload some photos to share some of the trip with y'all (getting into the spirit of the south).





Love this photo of Bill. He donned his scuba gear while we were still at Solomons to clean the bottom of the boat. The propeller was covered with barnacles but he was able to scrap them off pretty easily. You gotta admire him . Een though it was a warm and sunny day, the water was only about 60 degrees. Yikes! He said the scuba gear kept him warm, but he didn't have the hood for his head -- we'll pick that up from home when we return for Thanksgiving.



This is another photo from Solomons. We went sailing one Sunday with April and Kevin and went right through these boats, lining up to race. It was pretty cold that day...but you know sailors, they are a hardy bunch!



Our boat in Deltaville, VA. It was a small marina with lots of covered slips for power boats. Reminded me of Indian Lake.



Sailing alongside a large containership into Norfolk, VA. This port is FAR busier than New York City. Giant containerships are lined up one right after another. Add in the activity at the naval base and you've got yourself one busy port. Listening on the VHF was like being in the middle of O'Hara airport!



Offloading equipment surrounds another big ship. Up close, the cranes look like something out of Star Wars.

A beautiful Carolina morning lights up the deck at Bellhaven Marina office. This marina was my favorite so far. VERY homey. They even had a hot tub, but we didn't use it. I'd gotten very sick with cold/sinus symptoms that day.

Watched a beautiful sunset from the gazebo at Bellhaven.

Great shot taken by Bill from Bellhaven.

When it stops raining, I'll take some pics of Oriental, NC and post them. Until then, enjoy!

I'm havin' a moment!

In May of 2007 I was in Deltaville, VA for a weekend to scout out marinas for our trip. Now, we are here on our own boat. You can't imagine how good that feels. To sit here, sipping a beer and looking at the same creek as a year and a half ago. At that time, I didn't know if we'd really take this trip or not. But we did. And it feels like a great accomplishment. Ok, I'll say it....I'm proud of us. We worked hard, saved up, prepared our personal and professional lives as well as the boat then set off into the sunset. So far, we have 1,300 miles under our keel, since leaving Sandusky July 10. It just feels great...so I'm gonna savor this moment while it lasts.

The Boat is Fixed!

The transmission finally returned yesterday and was promptly installed. The weather today was yucky so we filled water tanks, got groceries and prepared the boat to MOVE!!!! We plan to set sail early tomorrow morning (Nov. 7) to head south. We hope to get to the Intercoastal in 2 days then head down to North Carolina. We'll probably need to leave the boat somewhere in NC when we return home for Thanksgiving (Nov. 20 -29). We'll keep you posted!

Solomons has been a lovely place to stay, although we were here much longer than anticipated (26 days!). April and Kevin have been wonderful hosts...inviting us to dinners at their house, taking us sailing and out to local restaurants. Really have appreciated their hospitality and hope to return the favor some day down the road.

Welp, gotta run...hope to have some travel pics for you to enjoy next time.