Week 4 Log - Georgetown, SC to Beaufort, NC

The end of week four and 26 days underway from Vero Beach finds us at Beaufort City Docks, again waiting out some nasty weather. Although spelled the same way as Beaufort, South Carolina, this one is pronounced “Bow-Fort” rather than “Bew-Fort.” We are now 202 miles from the end of the Atlantic ICW at Norfolk.

                                                                      

From Georgetown, we did a short day to the Osprey Marina near Myrtle Beach, where we did a major provisioning run to the Publix, helped out by some folks we met in Georgia who have a car there. Up early next morning for a long run to the Cape Fear River, where we enter North Carolina. We had a spanking ride up the Cape Fear against a 3-4 knot head current and stopped at a lovely little marina at Carolina Beach State Park (cheap, too)! As we rounded into the Cape Fear, we had a total WTF sighting. We passed a bowrider runabout towing a smaller jon boat. Nothing too unusual, except when we went by, we could see that the jon boat was still strapped to its trailer!

What's wrong with this picture?

Our next stop was a bit of a side trip up the Cape Fear River to Wilmington, NC where we picked up our cruising guest Marty, who will be with us the next week. Today we timed the tides just right and got a nice boost from the current all the way. Timing the tides is sort of a black art with all the different inlets and creeks contributing to the boost or head current. So far we have been pretty lucky, getting the boost at least 75% of the time. We were docked right in downtown Wilmington, and got a chance to tour the Bellamy Mansion, a very well-preserved antebellum home. After picking up Marty we continued north, with stops in Wrightsville Beach (anchor), Surf City (marina) and finally up to our current location at Beaufort. On our way to Beaufort, the ICW passes through Camp Lejeune Marine Corps base. This area is subject to periodic closures for live fire and amphibious assault exercises, and we were instructed to cool our heels for an hour or so before we could proceed through the exercise area.  We anchored and had a nice breakfast while listening to the sounds of everything from small arms to major artillery. Bella was not happy with the big booms.

Entering Camp Lejeune

Live fire exercises at the Marine Corps base

In the coming week, we hope to get all the way to Norfolk, Virginia, where we will attend a “Looper” rendezvous with lots of seminars and parties before entering the next phase of the journey, the fabled Chesapeake Bay.

Week 3 Log - Savannah GA to Georgetown, SC

Our stops this week were in Beaufort, SC (marina at Lady Island, 2 nights), Green Pond, SC (free dock), Charleston (marina, 2 nights) and thence to Georgetown. We have been staying at marinas a lot more than we planned to…but we really wanted to see and walk around Beaufort and Charleston. Both are beautiful towns with well preserved historical districts, and the people in South Carolina are so nice it’s almost scary!

                                                                  

One nice thing about chugging along at 8 knots all day is that it gives plenty of time to see the sights along the way. This week on our way to Beaufort, NC, we passed by Parris Island, which will give nightmares to many a former Marine. We decided to stay at the Lady Island marina just across the causeway from the Beaufort historic district. The marina had excellent laundry facilities, loaner bikes, and a loaner vehicle which is always a plus. 

Our loaner car provided us with a great opportunity to provision in style

A public garden in Beaufort

Turns out our loaner bike had a slow leak but this helpful gent got us back up and running in no time.

Tomato pie is a southern tradition and so when I saw one on the menujat the Lowcountry Produce Market & Cafe I knew I had to give it a try. Yum!

Many of the sidewalks throughout Beaufort are made up of Tabby, which is a concrete made from lime, sand and oyster shells.

Our next stop would be an almost free dock at B&B Seafood in Green Pond South Carolina. This is a working shrimp boat dock on a small creek and not only did they have room for us but we had 15 amp service for a few creature comforts.

Tied up at the B&B Seafood dock

The shrimp boat all lit up at night

They were closed the day we were there so we gave Tadpole a call

Our slip was on the megadock at the Charleston City marina

One of the many historic mansions on the waterfront

Enjoying some adult beverages at one of the rooftop restaurants

Battery Park in Charleston

Battery Park in Charleston

When leaving Charleston Harbor we went right past Fort Sumter where the most tragic and destructive war in our nation’s history began. We then passed through Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge on the ICW, and saw some bald eagles, as well as so many dolphins it drove our dog Bella out of her mind (she is convinced dolphins are evil and she needs to protect us from them).

The attack on Fort Sumpter marked the official beginning of the American Civil War (photo credit: https://www.wheretraveler.com)

 Wildlife along the waterway

Dolphin escort while underway

Bella is constantly on the lookout for dolphins

We had a good 65 mile run up from Charleston yesterday (the longest day of our trip so far).The end of our third week on the great loop finds us in Georgetown, South Carolina where we are waiting out some nasty weather. It’s already raining pretty hard this morning with 15-20 knot winds and they are expecting strong thunderstorms, hail, and 40+ knot gusts this afternoon. We are in a reasonably well protected slip, and we have all the lines doubled up and extra fenders out. We also took on fuel for the first time this trip while staying at the Georgetown Landing Marina. They had a very good diesel price of $2.65 per gallon, so we filled up. Our total trip mileage so far is just a little above 600 miles, and we took on 203 gallons to fill up, so we are getting about 3 MPG overall, not too bad. 

Fellow loopers Brenda and Bruce (B-Side), KT and Deborah (Mountain Wave), and Gordon (Adagio) enjoying a wonderful dinner at Root in Georgetown

Fresh shrimp right at the dock at Independent Seafood in Georgetown

At this price we grabbed a pound to cook right away and one to freeze for later. So delicious! 

On the loop you follow spring all the way up and the azaleas were in full bloom here in Georgetown

Lots of history here

Next week we will pick up our next guest crew, Martin, in Wilmington, NC and try to make New Bern/Beaufort/Morehead City North Carolina by weeks end.

WEEK 2 LOG – St. Augustine FL to Savannah GA

Still chugging north up the ICW and having a great time of it. After leaving St. Augustine and the last of our cruising guests behind, Jayne, Bella (the dog) and I have been getting into our cruising groove that should see us in Norfolk by the first week of May. Our stops from St. Augustine have been Jacksonville (free dock), Cumberland Island (anchor), Brunswick, Georgia (marina), Wahoo River (anchor), and finally to Thunderbolt, Georgia, where we will stay at a marina. After this our next stop will be Beaufort South Carolina, and we can cross Georgia off our list!

The Georgia ICW doesn’t get much love from the cruising community. Big tides, strong currents, shallow spots, and not a lot of services along the way. But in exchange you get some beautiful wilderness cruising. We draw less than 3 feet of water and have protected running gear, so we didn’t have much heartburn along the way. The hardest part was finding an anchorage where we could take the dog ashore, as much of the shoreline is mud flats and salt marsh with no solid ground.

Wahoo River Anchorage

                                                                         

Wahoo River sunset

                                                                    

Cumberland Island was the real high point of this last week…we hiked about 6 miles around the south end from Sea Camp through the abandoned mansion and saw wild horses, and then went up the Brickhill River to Plum Orchard Landing for the night and did another 5 miles across the island to the beach in the morning. After spending two nights at anchor at Cumberland, we departed our anchorage bound for Thunderbolt marina where we met up with several looper boats. 

Duck House Trail on Cumberland Island

Pine forest at Cumberland Island

The iconic oak trees of Cumberland Island

Dinner in Thunderbolt with fellow loopers Sonia and Gregg (Golden Daze), Gordon (Adagio), and Brenda and Bruce (B-Side)

All our looper boats in a row at Thunderbolt Marina

By the end next week we should be in Charleston, SC. We have never been there and have heard lots of great things, so we may spend a day or two.

WEEK 1 LOG - Vero Beach to St. Augustine

The BellaGatto shoved off for the first leg of the 6000-mile Great Loop journey on April 1, saying goodbye to Vero Beach Municipal Marina after almost two years. This first week we are keeping the pace slow, cruising through familiar waters visiting some old favorite spots, and having some guests on board to see us along our way.

This week on our way slowly north along the Florida ICW, we made stops in Satellite Beach (free dock), Titusville (marina), Ponce Inlet (anchor), Daytona Beach (marina), Matanzas Inlet (anchor) and ending the week in St. Augustine (marina). 

Wildlife sightings along the way included lots of dolphins, manatees, white pelicans, roseate spoonbills, eagles, wood storks, skimmers and many other shore birds. The Haulover Canal (the connection between the Indian River and the Mosquito Lagoon) had at least 30 or 40 manatees. The best manatee encounter though was in the Titusville municipal marina where several of them gathered to catch the drips from a leaky hose bib.

Manatees at Haulover Canal

Ponce Inlet lighthouse

The weirdest thing happened at Matanzas Inlet….we were anchored by Fort Matanzas when a huge swarm of flying ants descended on the boat, almost covering the decks. Jayne got the ones in the cabin and the pilothouse by sucking them up with the trusty Dyson vacuum cleaner, but thousands more got crushed on to our freshly washed non-skid. It will take a clean scrub down today in St. Augustine to get them all off. The unspoiled nature at this anchorage is amazing!

BellaGatto anchored in front of Fort Matanzas

Shore leave at sunset

Matanzas Inlet at low tide

By the end of next week we hope to be around Savanna, Georgia, probably at the town of Thunderbolt. Now that we don’t have guests aboard, we will likely anchor out more and make fewer marina stops. Possible stops include Sisters Creek, Fernandina, Cumberland Island, Brunswick, Darien, and then Savanna.

So Far so Good!