Mile Hammock Bay NC to Awendaw Creek SC

Saturday we woke up to a windy 43 degrees.  Bill got up a 6am and started the generator so that we could get some heat going.   The ride to the beach for Roxie wasn't terrible, but man that sand was COLD on my bare feet!  After getting back to the boat and the dingy back up top, we pulled anchor and started out.  I wend down into the galley to make breakfast and while finishing up, there was a horrible sound!  Appears as we were traveling in the channel we came upon an inlet from the ocean.  The current going out the inlet was so strong, it caught Bill off guard and pulled the boat into a floating channel marker.  Yikes!  

We made it to Southport without further incident around 4pm, about a 9hr ride.  We had reservations at Morningstar Southport Marina....but getting in was a bit of a challenge.  Cheers takes 5ft of water and we were coming in at low tide....especially low with the full moon. The marina was showing 4.8ft to the soft mud bottom.  We pushed it around like a shovel in the snow.  We finally got in and it was worth the trouble.  It's a nice marina with a gated dog park and walking distance to several fisheries and restaurants.  Fresh seafood!

We had dinner at Provisions.....1/2lb steamed shrimp, crab cake, onion rings and corn of the cob!  Delish!  

 Walk to dinner...

Sunday morning was clear and 55 degrees.  Before heading out Roxie and I took a nice long walk while Bill did his engine checks and made breakfast!  

We pulled out of the marina around 9:30 headed to Myrtle Beach.  We secured a dock at Myrtle Beach Yacht Club for 2 nights.  The weather has been perfect and our stay there was relaxing.  We had dinner Monday night at Clarks Seafood and chop house.  Bill and I had Firecracker shrimp for an appetizer and shared a delish pan seared halibut dinner.  

Tuesday morning 10/22 we departed MBYC and made our way to Georgetown where we anchored after an 8 hour ride.  We had anchored here on our way up north in the spring and found it to be a great place to stay with a city boat ramp and the historic area of town just a short ride away.  There was also  Piggly Wiggly!
 

We stayed at Georgetown 2 nights and left Thursday morning.   We had a great ride, sunny and warm.  There were so may different kinds of birds on this leg and were back in dolphin waters!   We anchored in Awendaw Creek after a 35 mile run for the night.  There is a boat ramp a short ride away for Roxie.  We had stayed here on our way up north this spring and there was nothing but water and sea grass as far as the eye could see.  Now there is construction...it looks like they are building up the grass land for a future building site.  

View from the port side of Cheers

View from the Starboard side of Cheers

 

Friday morning we left the anchorage for another 35 mile ride to Charleston, SC where we have a dock reserved for the weekend.   Looking forward to it! 

 

 

Columbia NC to Mile Hammock Bay NC

Tuesday 10/15, we woke to 48 degrees!  It's time to get going south!  We left Coinjock making our way to Alligator River Marina in North Carolina.  The ride was great....nice and warm in the pilot house!

Alligator River Marina is an isolated marina/truck stop/restaurant.  We were the 2nd of 3 boats by the end of the day.  Bill took the opportunity rinse off some of the salt spray on the deck and windshield.  

Bill stumbled upon a stowaway!   

Wednesday morning we were the last boat to leave the marina.  Bill had to move our little buddy to the dock because he was still on the boat.  We had a 5 hour ride to Belhaven NC, where we stayed on the town dock.  The town is small, but really cute with several restaurants and pubs.  Roxie loved the mowed field just off of the dock!

The next morning was pretty chilly and wind was in the forecast.  We had a 7 hour ride to Oriental, NC where we have a reservation at the marina.  

Cursing the intercostal in NC!

Coming into Oriental.  We stayed at the Oriental Marina and Inn.  They only have a couple of slips and we managed to score one of them.  Just off the dock is the pool and bar tiki bar.  Another cute place with provisions close by. 

Friday morning we left Oriental for a 65 mile ride to Mile Hammock Bay NC, where we anchored in the bay just off of Camp Lejeune.  There were 8 boats already anchored, but there was plenty of room.  After getting anchored, the next order of business was to get the dingy down and get Roxie to the beach and she was ready to go!   

We got the dingy down in the water without any issues, but Bill found that the battery was dead.  After messing around with that, he discovered that the batter switch was turned off....so no batter issue after all.  Lol!  We got loaded up into the dingy and started to drive away when Bill noticed the steering was frozen!  We couldn't turn! Lol!   

We got back to the boat after a bit by using the paddle as a rudder and after some manhandling and WD40, he was able to loosen up the steering.  All this time Roxie waited patiently in the dingy.  The old boat saying is true, you got to use all the accessories on your boat or they will break. Lol!

Anyway, we finally got Roxie to the beach and all was good in her world again.  On the way back from the beach, in the distance we saw what looked like huge drones and they were coming our way.  Once they were closer they were actually military helicopters called Osprey, which we learned later. 

The Osprey flew over the bay a couple of times then landed just behind the trees on the base.  A few minutes later they were back up in the air and flying around again.  They looked super cool and you could definitely hear and feel their power!

Practice was still going on when we went to bed at 9:30....when the boat was not vibrating from the power of the Ospreys, the shrimp were snapping below the boat.  😊

P.S.  We saw our first dolphin and pelicans on this leg of the trip.......were getting closer!

What an anchorage!

What a sunset!

Moving on tomorrow!

Solomon MD to Columbia NC

Saturday morning 10/12, 9am sharp, the rendezvous ended with the traditional horn solute just before we all departed Calvert's in a long line of Krogens headed back out onto Chesapeake Bay.  We made our way to Deltaville and anchored for the night.  

The next morning made our way on a bit of a choppy Chesapeake to Norfolk VA. 

We had planned on anchoring in Norfolk but conditions were so good we decided to keep going to the  Great Bridge Lock where we stayed the night on the free wall.  

    

The next morning we moved over to the other side of the canal for fuel at AYB.  We took 600 gallons of fuel at $3.05 a gallon. Ouch!  

We had another great ride to Coinjock Marine, getting in at 5:30, we were the last boat to tie up.  

We had dinner at the Coinjock Restaurant, which is famous for their prime rib.  We got the 32oz serving so we could have leftovers.  It certainly didn't disappoint!  Scrumptious! 

Looking forward to moving on tomorrow!

      

Herrington Harbor North to The Kadey-Krogen Rendezvous in Solomon MD

We departed Herrington Harbor Saturday 10/05 making our way to Calvert's Marina for the annual KK owners gathering.  There were 32 boats in attendance, all being called into the docks one by one so that all the boats were docked side by side with our sterns facing the dock.  

The meeting was chocked full of presenters, boat craws (those who are willing to open their boats for tours), new friends, food, drinks and fun!

What a great week!