Beaufort (Bo-fort) to Beaufort (Bu-fort) – Nov 12 to Nov 21 November (Day 26 through Day 38)

 

We were in Beaufort NC at an expensive marina and had seen all that we wanted to see and did everything we wanted to do. It was time to go, but the weather was not cooperating. The forecast for the week ahead had either high winds and waves out of the north or winds out of the south–we were not going to go outside for at least a week.  After expressing a lot of frustration, I relented in the face of the obvious and agreed to go inside to Southport.  The good news, according to our crowd sourced application “Active Captain”, was that the ICW had been dredged along our route, especially at the inlets which tend to shoal up after storms and hurricanes. On Nov 12, Elena called Camp Lejeune to check on the status of the their section of the ICW.  Sometimes, the Marines close down the waterway for military exercises (there were none scheduled, but we heard later that it had been closed for a week earlier in the month).    At 10am, we got underway from Beaufort Docks for the 38 miles to our overnight anchorage in Swansboro.

On Nov 13,  we left Swansboro for the short trip into our relatively short trip to our  next anchorage.  As we headed fair into the waterway, we heard a report on the radio regarding problems with the swing bridge at Onslow Beach, 5 miles ahead of us. We saw one boat heading back to Swansboro and debated doing that ourselves.  We decided to proceed on, rationalizing that if the worst came to pass, we could always anchor right in the waterway knowing that all major traffic would be blocked by the bridge.  At 1pm they had the bridge-fixers on site, and had locked the bridge in an open position allowing us to proceed onward to our next stop.

A few miles further we entered Camp Lejeune to the sound of artillery in the distance and anchored in a nice bay called Mile Hammock in company with 9 other boats.

While we were there, we observed what I assume were Marine Special Ops guys (Marine Recon) conducting diving and swimming exercises.

The next day we continued on to a Wrightsville Beach.  Along the way we saw one of our fellow travelers hard aground.  We would like to have stopped and helped, but with our six foot draft, there was not much we could do.  We later saw them again in Beaufort SC, but did not get a chance to get their story.  Maybe later as we travel south.

We ended up the day in a crowded anchorage at Wrightsville Beach with about a dozen other boats. After three hard days, in weather that was colder than expected, we decided we need a rest day and decided to take Wednesday, the 15^th, off.

During the evening of the 14^th, I noticed the wind had increased and decided to take a look around.  As I came up on deck, I saw that the docks along the shore were dangerously close. We had dragged our anchor some 100 feet from our original position and there was no guarantee that the anchor was holding if the wind increased further.  We started the engine and raised anchor to reset it.  After putting out a liberal amount of chain the anchor held through the night nicely.  The next morning many of the boats in the anchorage left for points south and we shifted our anchorage to something a bit further away from the docks.

 

On the 16^th we held early reveille, getting up at 0530 for an early departure to catch the high tide at a man-made canal called Snows Cut which connects the sound that separated the barrier island from the mainland to the Cape Fear River just downstream from Wilmington, NC. The cut has some shoaling and Elena wanted to make sure we got through uneventfully, which we did.  On the way, we spotted this bald eagle perched above us.  I guess it had gotten as far south as it wanted to go.

 

After the cut, it was a quick run to Southport running with the current, coming close aboard to a larger container ship and some tugs with barges.

 

By noon, we were moored at South Harbour Village Marina near Southport, where we had dinner at Joseph’s Italian Bistro, one of Elena’s favorite restaurants on the ICW.

 

On Saturday, the 18^th (Day 32), we were underway for a transit through the “Rock Pile” (who knew there were rocks in the Low Country of South Carolina) and the Barefoot Marina near Myrtle Beach, SC, where we were treated to an after-dinner fireworks show.  I claimed to Elena I had it arranged in advance just for her, but of course that was not true, but she was thrilled nonetheless.

 

Download and watch the fireworks

On Day 33, we proceeded through the wide and beautiful Waccamaw River, choosing to anchor in a very quiet oxbow near two other boats, instead of going into a marina in Georgetown.  Winds were absolutely calm and the reflections off the water at sunset were phenomenal.

The next day we were up early again.  As I raised the anchor, I could hear the sound of repeated gunfire, to my ears, shotguns.  Later, I confirmed that South Carolina was in the middle of duck, dove, and goose hunting seasons.  We were underway at 0630 for the run down Winyah Bay and the offshore run to Beaufort, SC.  Winds were forecasted as being out of the north at about 15.  As we entered the Atlantic through the channel on a East-southeast course, the swells from the east began to increase.  Before long we were pitching violently and taking green water over the bow with the decks awash.  Other than being uncomfortable, it was fine and before long we turned to the Southwest for our run to Port Royal Sound.  Winds were from directly astern with swells on our beam. We tried numerous sails combinations to maintain speed and a comfortable ride.  We eventually settled on a “wing and wing” combination with the genoa and the staysail, a lovely sight, but requiring careful steering, often by hand.

 

Elena and I set the watch with two-hour watches until midnight when I took it until 0400.  At sunset, we took in the staysail to allow the autopilot to steer without much attention, with just the big front sail (genoa).  At 10pm we passed through the channel going into  Charleston avoiding large ships both underway and at anchor.  About 0430, Elena awoke me to report that the wind had abated and we had slowed to a crawl.  I recommended we start the engine and we motorsailed the rest of the day.  During the morning hours the seas became confused with waves and swells out of the north and some leftover swells out of the east.  The result was a very uncomfortable ride until we turned north into Port Royal Sound.  We motorsailed up the sound and into the Beaufort River, furling the genoa before we reached the Port Royal bridge, arriving at Beaufort just before 4pm.

We had considered jumping into Charleston for a quick anchoring and getting underway the next morning for the final leg to Beaufort.  In hindsight, skipping that stop was probably a mistake.  By the time we arrived at Beaufort we were exhausted (which meant that I had to buy Elena dinner). As a result, we are seriously considering taking on the transit through Georgia in 40 mile increments, stopping at three inlets on the way for quick overnight anchorages, instead of taking it all in one shot.

Beaufort is one of our favorite stops.  We spent Thanksgiving here last year and we are here again this Thanksgiving.  We went to dinner at a favorite spot, “Old Bull Tavern” on Wednesday night for a dinner of pork belly sliders, lamb shank, and salmon with a dessert of bread pudding. that was as delicious as it was last year.

We see lots of interesting boats and meet lots of characters on our travels.  This converted sailboat with an array of solar panels has to be at the top of the list.  If we see it again, we’ll try to see if this is a really solar-powered boat (I doubt it.)

There is only one place open for Thanksgiving and we could not get reservations.  And it rained badly all day,  so we had  a comfort food dinner of roast beef and potatoes.  We  refueled on Friday, before our departure to a staging anchorage nearer the Atlantic and the first of our three offshore legs on Saturday (Nov 25).