Snode Creek to Dowry Creek anchorage

The morning was cold at 12 C.  Did not want to get out of bed.  Evenually I got out, made Bacon and Eggs and departed at noon.   

I could only go 20 miles before the Pungo Alligator Canal.  The canal is 23 nm, and there are no anchorages, so once committed, there was no real turn back.

The winds were 15-20 knots.  The whole day was 13C.   

At 3pm, I decided to pull into Dowry Creek, since it was well protected from North and West.  And the nearby marina had wi-fi. The wifi was very slow but worked on the laptop.

Oriental to Snode Creek

Friday morning was stormy.  We were supposed to be out of the free dock by 8AM due to the Oriental Boat Show.

At 9:45, I left the dock to let the boat ahead of me out.  I came back in to wait for the rain and did some final shopping at the flea market.

The sky cleared about 11:30.  Radar showed no more cells.. Nobody bothered me about overstaying at the free dock.

Looked like a nice beam reach of 14 miles on the Neuse River.  The weather was warm, and I was not in any rush.  Nice sail of 4 to 6 knots - no engine.  After 14 miles, the wind shifted to the nose and increased in intensity.  It was rock and roll.  The dinghy was bouncing a lot, causing the inflatable floor to dislodge.  I slowed down Bellum, dropped the dinghy, and kicked the floor back down.  A little risky maneuver.  

At Ball Island, I came head to head with a dual barge pushed by the Tug Island Explore,r which was coming down the river taking most of the river.  I had to come to the side to let her through.

At 6PM I decided to anchor at Snode Creek.  Other than few big houses the local was fairly isolated.  A little rolly. 

Tired, had a Bushmill and made a pork tenderloin.  I turned off the BBQ and the electronic valve.  The next morning, the 20 Lb tank was empty.  It has served me since Miami. 

Swansboro to Oriental

 I got up early (again) and found Bellum had been spinning round the anchor.  When I pullled up the anchor, the chain seemed to have spun a 'lot'.  

The morning was cold again.  About 11C.

I had called Dudley's marina about how to dock for fuel, they told me there was not enough water.  

Departed slowly while trying to update my wifi applications on my way back to the channel.  Sped down the Bogue Sound in a strong face on wind towards Spooners Creek at MM 200 to get fuel.  I estimated arrival before noon and got there at 11:30.  The entrance was un-nervingly shallow with a blind turn.  Once inside the Bougue Sound, it was very well protected gated commumity with lots of boats and to my suprise there was an anchorage.  I docked by myself and called Tim and he came out and fueled the tank and Jerry can. 19.3 Gallons.  My biggest fill up.  Tim told me I could use then anchorage and if I tie my dingy "outside" the ramp, there would be no problems.  And there was a Walmart Super Center one mile away.  I was tempted but it was too early for me to close the day.  And I had too much food aboard. 

After some lingering, I departed the dock without help.  Once outside, the winds were strong and in my face.  I passed a sailboat and passed the Beaufort Channel railroad and traffic bridge and the winds calmed in the Adams Creek.

About 2 PM, my right eye became very floggy.  I tried some eye drops but it didn't help.  I notifed Norm and Jason on the chat.  I contacted my insurance broker and got the information on getting approval from Alliance Insurance about visiting a hospital.  

I was getting tired.  I was becoming a long day.  I sped to Orient in hopes to get a free dock

It was a fast and bumpy ride across the Neuse River. 

Made it into Orient and found free dock 1.  I adjusted my fenders and someone helped me tie up.  

Had a great shower and updated my blog and made leftover sausages since I did not want to BBQ at the free dock.

Wrightsville Beach to Swansboro

I departed Wrightsville Beach and headed south to Hammock Bay or further.  The weather was cold and I had several layers.

Figure 8 bridge was no problem since there was no serious winds.

It was a nice change of scenery towards Hamock bay.  I got there about 3PM and decided I had energy and time to get to Swansboro bay, another 18 miles.  

But the Onslow bridge was building a new draw bridge and they left the new bridge half way down so no sail boat could cross at 4PM.  At 4:10, the lifted the bridge but it was too late for me.  I dropped the anchor to rest and tidy up a little bit.  I then relized I had dropped the anchor between two no anchor zone that had lines on the seabed.  It seemed that I was between the two.  At 4:40, I was told the bridge would open at 5 and two other sailboats appeared.  I hauled anchor and waited for the opening.  

Now I had 10 miles to do against the current to get to Swansboro.  I was concerned because the anchorage in front of Casper Marina and Church Marina had strong currents and a poor holding according to the reviews.  

I passed one of the boats at Onslow Bridge who was anchoring and decided to anchor below her near the bridge.  The anchor did not hold as quickly as ussual but it did test well - eventually.  All before sunset.  Later I noticed the other boat re-anchored closer to Casper ... further from me.

I was a cold night and I put in the companion way door.  

Got up a couple of times to find we had swung 180.  There was not a lot of wind, so I wasn't too concerned.

To Wrightsville Beach

 Departed at 9am on Saturday morning.  Waited for a Commerical ship to pass before entering the channel.

The current was against me.  It was supposed to turn around at 11 ish but I had turned towards Wrightsville and it seem the current there was different.  

I did motor-sail with the jib in a run until I turned off the tributary for Wrightsville which was more trechtious and with great caution, I decided to furl the jib.   Good thing.  It  was a good run,

At MM 283, USACE and Bob423 clearly showed the channel was shoved.  I saw a sailboat Le Vent try to go through it and I tried to radio her to be careful.  She ran aground and turned around.  I went out of the challenge to the port and then cut through the channel to the other side and cleared the shoaling.  I was very obvious with Aquamap.  I guilded Le Vent through it.  Love You Aquamap.

There was shoaling in the channel at MM293.  Bob423 are the blue track.  The red track was Bellum.

It was 25miles to Wrightsville Beach and another 30 miles to Hamlock Bay. There were no real safe anchorages that I could find so I anchored at Wrightsville Beach at 2PM.  It was blowing 20 knots.  There was a great 420 regatta.

I dropped the dinghy and went to the dinghy dock and walked 4 km to the Food Lion, had a Wendy’s Bacon burger *double and bought beer and some groceries and walked back to the dinghy dock.

The next day was very windy and I was tired so I spent Sunday at anchor  did some boat repair and cleaning   Tried to lubricant the throttle and shifter below the compass but the steel screws were seized to the binnacle casting   I got two of the four screws off and then dropped one screw down the cockpit drain   Supper was Salmon

On Monday, it was windy but calmed down and I tried to get to Hammock Bay, 30 miles  North.  The Wrightsville bridge warned us we might have to wait at Figure 8 bridge will only open if the winds calmed down.  I figured it would be fine.  I went about two miles and there was a 40ish sailboat aground on the channel.  She obviously did not have Aquamap which clearly shows the proper track.  I think this might have been the same guy on the radio earlier who was at the fuel dock asking for the Figure 8 bridge phone number because his VHF was not working.  Tow boat was there  

The channel was obviously shoaling

I got to the Figure 8 bridge and the winds picked up  after 40 minutes doing circuits, I gave up and returned to Wrightsville Bridge   

The ride back had the winds in my face and was a little rough.

On the way back the grounded boat was anchored in the middle of the channel about 1000 feet north of the shoaling  

A Storm Watch was announced.  I decided to anchor anyways.  Today’s trip was from 10:30 to 3PM  

Little River to Southport at anchor at Tina’s Pocket

Got up early but it was too foggy to depart. At 8:30 I motored to the Ocean and about 10:30 the winds picked up starting in a light close hauling, changing to abeam and eventually turning off the motor.  

The winds went up to 12 knots and was quite rolley.  I was not feeling very well.  

At 3, the winds were astern and I started the motor and put the sails away.  Winds were pretty close to forecast 

I motored into Southport and decided it was too windy and shallow for me. It would have been a nice place to spend Friday night.  I motored another two miles to anchor at Tina’s Pocket, a large anchorage area near MM 305.

To Little River

 I got up early.  At night I heard the bilge pump run.  It ran twice.  I checked the shaft packing and she was leashing a lot. Tightened it and departed up the Waccamaw River to Barefoot bridge at 12:15, missing the noon opening and the next opening was at 2PM.  I kinda expected this and pulled into the free Day Dock at Barefoot.  I dropped my gargbage and tried to update my iDevices at LULU’s but the Internet was very slow.  I had lunch, pumped out the water in the dinghy and departed for the 2PM opening which was on time.  

Motor and motor sailed to the inlet at Little River and anchored near Bird Island

The next day looks like a south wind which should provide a good bear reach on the outside for 25 miles.  

Waccamaw River north of Enterprise Creek

 Departed Minim northbound.  

Got  a lot of motor sailing in closed haul and with the current I regularly did over 7 knots SOG.  I went by Georgetown but didn’t stop. 

I decided to furl the jib to go through the 

Ocean Highway (Lafayette) Bridge

Chicken shit

I keep motor sailing to 

Wacca Wache Marina and bought 17.78 gallon of diesel including refilling the Jerry can.  

I motored another 5 miles to anchor at MM 375. There are no more anchorages for another 30 miles. 

Minim creek

 I departed at 9:30 aiming to get to Georgetown 42 nm which was ambitious.  I ended up at Minim creek - about 10 miles short.  .  Very isolated. Did not put out anchor light.  It was that isolated and a little challenging to get in. 

I did refuel from the Jerry Can while underway  

Church Creek to Isle of Palm

 I got up early and departed at 8 AM to catch to slack water at Elliot Cut which was about 10 AM.  

The currents were in my favour and then against me and I made it to Elliot Cut at 10:20 which was fine and easy.  But I missed the opening of the Wappoo Creek bridge by 10 minutes.  I decide to anchor at Wappoo creek for 40 minutes to rest and have lunch.  I did a lunch anchorage and did not seriously tested it.  When I did weigh anchor, it was heavy.  I had snagged a 44 LB original Ronna in excellent condition.

I went out and did Wappoo creek bridge and motored in very shallow channel and almost missed the bypass at MM 460.5 and I turned back to do the loop.  I had also accidentally turned off USACE charts.  

I motored further and for 15 minutes motor sailed until the winds died,  The channel was fairly straight and the winds were a beam from the ocean,  

At 3 PM I decided to call it quits and entered White Creek at MM 451.  We had stayed here with the Rally, but I did not remember much of it. It looked like the safest anchorage round.  Like the whole area around Charleston, the tides are 5-6 feet.  But in the creek, there seems to be no change of currents, which is one of my fears.

As I anchored, MY Radar, ACCUWEATHER and the VHF announced Thunderstrom Watch… Not warnings.

Norm suggested I tie down the solar panels  I used stretch wrap to tie them down

Also I broke my prescription  glasses

Beaufort to Church Creek

 I got up early at 8 to try to catch the current so it would favour me.  It did work for a while but with such a long run, parts of the trip would be fighting the current.  

My plan was to anchor at Stream boat landing   I arrived at 3 and decided to go further and I ended up at Church Creek at 5pm   

I hat put out my jib and at MM 491 was a barge that appeared to be approaching so I sailed to past port to port   It looked like she was not giving me much space and I steered to the starboard ending up in a dead end and had to tack to avoid grounding   It turned out the barge was anchored!

Got to Church Creek at 5 with 9.5 hours on the Yanmar,  The day was overcast   The anchorage was buggy with these small gnat type bugs that I’ve been seeing recently.

Hilton Head to Beaufort SC

I got a lazy start but only got 20 miles to do. 

Departure is at 11ish and arrival at 15:30 at the free dock.  

 I was going to try to fit in between two boats, but it was tight, and then I remembered I had the dinghy behind me.

I had to back in as two powerboats departed on the other side of the dock.  I came in reverse, and a powerboat helped tie my mid-ship line.  I docked her.

Walked through town, but I’ve seen Beaufort before, and I ended up doing groceries at Food Lion and restocking the bar, including Bushmill, Canadian Supiiour Whisky, Remy Marin, and Sambuca.  Avoiding the USA products!

Walked back to the boat, doing 7km by foot, and my left leg was really bothering me.  

I got some help leaving the dock and decided to cross the Lady Island bridge, which was willing to open on my demand. This would save me from requesting an opening at rush hour tomorrow, and the anchorage on the North side was better.

Supper was the Catfish and lobster cake and shrimp I bought at Food Lion. 

Hilton Head - SCYC

On Thursday morning, I got started at 10,30 and weighed anchor in contra wind current.

Motored 2 1/2 hours upcurrent to get to SCYC.

Locked through, fueled up and pump-out and docked at SCYC.  54 dollars for 13 gallons with a consumption of 2 1/2 liters per hour versus an average of 2 litres per hour.

SCYC is a recipatory Yacht Club in a very gated community of gorgeous houses.  The club is fancy, and as a guest member, I find it inexpensive for food and beverages.  The dock was $50 for the second night.  The first was free

Did laundry, worked on the blog and other Internet-related work.

Found the pool and went for a swim

Had their buffet on Friday and departed on Saturday.

Wally’s Leg to Ossabawanfursur Islanden

 I got up and reviewed the day’s sailing and realized that Hell’s Gate was 8 miles away and if I left right away, I could get there soon after high tide.  I departed without breakfast and went through with 8 1/2 feet and no relavent winds.

Hell’s Gate

About 4 miles afterwards, I anchored, had lunch and retighten the shaft packing.  

Headed further north to marker 40 which was showing badly, but with Aquamap with USACE surveys and BOB423 tracks, it was a breeze.

Marker 40 shoaling

I departed towards Windmill Harbour, ending up anchoring at Cedar Cove anchorage on Cooper River, 8 miles from SCYC.

Overall, I did 42 miles in 10 hours including an hour break.

Supper of Sausage with spaghetti and garlic

To Brunswick- OUTSIDE (Jekyle Island anchorage)

I got back to the boat from Keith's about 1 AM and was concerned about the length of my trip back north.  I studied the charts and listened to podcasts until 3AM before falling asleep. 

Got up at 8:30, made a hearty breakfast of Ramen and Sausages, pulled up the dinghy, checked the transmission oil level and set off to Brunswick. 

I had created a route on Aquamap and used Autorouting on Raymarine and headed out.  I soon realized the auto route was taking me outside to the Atlantic.  The winds were light and somewhat southernly so I decided to go for it.  I was shorter and easier - 23 miles straight on the Ocean.  It was easy and I did motor sail as the winds picked up and I entered the inlet to Brunswick. Upon arriving on the ICW, I furled the jib and tried to contact Brunswick Landing Marina to determine the hours of the fuel dock. It turns out there was a 60 foot boat pumping 500 gallons and it was going to take some time. I decided to anchor nearby at Jekyle Island. and return tomorrow.

To Fernandina Beach

 I departed St Augustine to Fernandina Beach.  Keith and a Canadian on a Trawler helped me depart as the winds were pushing me on to the dock.  

I overshot the anchorage and backed up to anchor.  About an half hour later,Keith anchored east of me. Keith and I  went into town, walked around and had Raw Oysters and Shimp and Grits at the Crab Trap.  Food was excellent, service was good, but the waiter had some rough edges.

On Saturday, we took two dinghies to the dock, walked around, had Ice Cream and coffee. We each went on our way, Keith checked out a book store and I eventually ended up a distillery tasting and a Winn Dixie grocery store, doing groceries and walking back to the dinghy.

I went to Keith;s boat for drinks and investigated why he could not see AIS on his chart plotter.  In fact, no NMEA data could be seen on his Axiom 7.  Network seemed to be wired correctly.  

Keith had purchased a pound of shrimps which he steamed with Old Bay Seasoning.

To Little Sister creek

 I timed my departure through the "Bridge of Lions", not Lion Bridge as I first called it and was corrected by the bridge master. Crossed the bridge at 9AM.  

Easy motor run, arriving at free dock at Little Sister Creek at 3PM.  I had to dock single-handedly.  Conditions were not as bad as the last time I docked here ... with lots of help.

Walked a little and stayed for an extra day.

I had to tighten the shaft packing again.  I also changed the transmission oil at the same time.

Had some cocktails and went to Keith's boat to look at his charts and introduced him to use Aquamap.

I came back to Bellum to update this blog and made a late supper of Ramen with yesterday's sausage.  Same as my brunch earlier today.

Spent two nights here resting….

To St Augustine

 I weighed anchor at 8:10 and headed north to St. Augustine.  

I got some motor sailing in.  Arrived and anchored south of St Augustine mooring field.  

Tuesday morning I tried calling in for a mooring ball, but Nick was not too cooperative, saying check-in was at 11 AM.  

The winds shifted and had to re-anchor.  I did not want to wait until 11 to get a mooring ball, so I dinghyed into St Augustine Marine Marina, got rid of my garbage, updated some iPad movies and walked to Sailors Exchange to look for more junk for the boat.  Got a new Hella anchor lite and another new RAM 3 mike for the cockpit.  This one worked.  Had a tour of the town, had a shower and returned to BELLUM to find that she was again close to the same neighbour's boat.  I re-anchored.

Made some sausages and potatoes and onions.

The next morning I departed north.  Again, the boats swung too close, but I was leaving anyway.