We're so glad to be out of Georgia. Now that we're in South Carolina the landscape is much more diverse & scenic. We can make better time because the waterway runs straighter. We have our pick of hundreds of marinas, restaurants & fuel stops.
I really wanted to stop at Hilton Head Island & stay a few days at the Harbour Town Yacht Basin, which is a beautiful resort. We don't know much about golf, but I know Hilton Head is famous for golf. It just so happens that the weekend that we wanted to stay, was the weekend for the RBC Heritage PGA Tournament. This is the biggest event of the year for Hilton Head. When I called the marina for a slip, I was laughed at. Because of the golf tournament all the marinas were full at $10/ft., and I could be put on a waiting list, but no boats would be leaving. Oh well, we kept going. We didn't want to be in the middle of a crazy golf crowd anyway.
We ended up at the Downtown Marina at Beaufort, SC. We really like this town, it has a nice feel. There is a waterfront park & several restaurants. Once again, we are with Benny & Lisa from S/V Rhiannon. We used the marina courtesy car to go to the supermarket. We were reprimanded for returning the car 15 min. late, but it felt so good to be driving something other than a boat.
We went to the Ashley Marina in Charleston. We decided to stay an extra day to see the town. Charleston is beautiful, with so many historic & pretty homes, but does have a big city feel. We like the smaller towns better.
We went to the Harborwalk Marina in Georgetown. We got tied up just in time. There was a severe thunderstorm passing through with lots of lightning & pea sized hail. Nothing washes the boat better than a good downpour, but we didn't need the hail. It didn't last long & we were able to walk the town & go to dinner. This was one of our favorite stops on the way down & we enjoyed it once again. We were surprised to see several small alligators & one giant one, on the waterway between Charleston & Georgetown. I didn't think there would be alligators in this section.
Our last stop in South Carolina was Barefoot Landing Marina. It's a real tourist spot with hundreds of shops & restaurants. They have exhibits with tigers & alligators, and you can get your picture taken holding them. We didn't bother with the picture, but enjoyed watching the baby tigers play.
On to North Carolina!
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Georgia 4/16-20/13
I'm not very impressed with Georgia. There's not much to see other than miles & miles of marsh land. The ICW is very windy & shallow in spots. Marinas are few & far in between, and located miles off the ICW. We've already out run the warm weather. It's cold & the water has been rough in the open areas because it is still so windy. When the wind stops we are attacked by gnats & black flies.
It sounds bad, but we are having fun. We have stopped at some places that we bypassed on the way down. Plus we keep meeting up with Lisa & Benny, from New Hampshire, on S/V Rhiannon. Even though they travel slower than us & we haven't made any plans with them, we keep ending up in the same marinas. They have a Black Lab at home that they miss, so they really seem to enjoy seeing Hooper.
We went to Lang's Marina in St. Mary's. They have floating docks, but many of the electric boxes were broken. We were lucky to find one that worked & had 50 amps. To get from the floating dock to land you have to walk a 1/2 mile long boardwalk over marsh. It's a really small town, but we found a restaurant with excellent Greek food.
We went to Brunswick Landing Marina. It was funny to see the two women that run the marina help tie us up. They both seem a bit rough around the edges & smoke cigarettes while guiding us to the slip & helping to tie up. Later in the day I thought one was going to knock me off the dock when she went by in her golf cart. We rode our bikes to the grocery store to get supplies. It was a much further ride than the dock ladies told us & it was in a scary part of town. Just glad we got back to the boat safely & still had our groceries. Later we went out for dinner in the Historical District, which was a much nicer & safer part of town.
Our next stop was 7 miles up the Medway River to the Sunbury Crab Company Restaurant & Marina. They advertise the place by saying "Key West just got a lot closer". Well this is a far cry from Key West! It's in the middle of nowhere with nothing around but one restaurant. Again the floating dock was a real long distance from land because of the marsh. The restaurant was pretty good with a fun atmosphere. The owner likes to cater to boaters, so she bought us a round of beers, gave us koozies, and offered a free bag of ice if we needed.
We then headed 8 miles up the Savannah River & stayed right in the heart of the historic area. We stayed an extra day to go sightseeing. Al fell in love with the pecan pralines at the candy shop. The currents are really swift on the river with a 9-ft. tidal range. We were right near the shipping port, so we saw all kinds of extremely large container ships, cruise ships & tugs go by. It was a fun sight to see them, but we had no protection from their wakes, so we got beat up pretty good at the dock. We had to close our transom door to prevent the large wakes from rolling right into the cockpit.
Next up will be Beaufort, SC.
It sounds bad, but we are having fun. We have stopped at some places that we bypassed on the way down. Plus we keep meeting up with Lisa & Benny, from New Hampshire, on S/V Rhiannon. Even though they travel slower than us & we haven't made any plans with them, we keep ending up in the same marinas. They have a Black Lab at home that they miss, so they really seem to enjoy seeing Hooper.
We went to Lang's Marina in St. Mary's. They have floating docks, but many of the electric boxes were broken. We were lucky to find one that worked & had 50 amps. To get from the floating dock to land you have to walk a 1/2 mile long boardwalk over marsh. It's a really small town, but we found a restaurant with excellent Greek food.
We went to Brunswick Landing Marina. It was funny to see the two women that run the marina help tie us up. They both seem a bit rough around the edges & smoke cigarettes while guiding us to the slip & helping to tie up. Later in the day I thought one was going to knock me off the dock when she went by in her golf cart. We rode our bikes to the grocery store to get supplies. It was a much further ride than the dock ladies told us & it was in a scary part of town. Just glad we got back to the boat safely & still had our groceries. Later we went out for dinner in the Historical District, which was a much nicer & safer part of town.
Our next stop was 7 miles up the Medway River to the Sunbury Crab Company Restaurant & Marina. They advertise the place by saying "Key West just got a lot closer". Well this is a far cry from Key West! It's in the middle of nowhere with nothing around but one restaurant. Again the floating dock was a real long distance from land because of the marsh. The restaurant was pretty good with a fun atmosphere. The owner likes to cater to boaters, so she bought us a round of beers, gave us koozies, and offered a free bag of ice if we needed.
We then headed 8 miles up the Savannah River & stayed right in the heart of the historic area. We stayed an extra day to go sightseeing. Al fell in love with the pecan pralines at the candy shop. The currents are really swift on the river with a 9-ft. tidal range. We were right near the shipping port, so we saw all kinds of extremely large container ships, cruise ships & tugs go by. It was a fun sight to see them, but we had no protection from their wakes, so we got beat up pretty good at the dock. We had to close our transom door to prevent the large wakes from rolling right into the cockpit.
Next up will be Beaufort, SC.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Leaving Florida
We left Florida today & crossed the border into Georgia. We're traveling a little slower heading home than when we came down. We are reluctant to leave the nice weather. We are stopping at some of the places we bypassed on the way down like, Vero Beach, New Smyrna Beach & Palm Coast.
The weather isn't always sunny in Florida, as you can see in the pictures. We had an evening of severe thunderstorms & a tornado watch. Luckily there were no tornadoes, but there was plenty of rain, wind, thunder & lightning. We got so much rain that we had a major leak in the salon. Al ripped down the headliner trying to find the leak. He thinks it's coming from up on the flybridge by the speaker. No big deal, he'll just reseal it when it dries out. The problem is that he doesn't know how to reinstall the headliner. So not only to we have water dripping down on our dining table, we also have a 10 ft. piece of vinyl hanging down. I try not to get mad, I don't cry, I don't say anything, I just go to bed. I know that Al is aggravated too & probably wishing we were in our house & not on the boat. The morning brings sunshine & somehow Al now knows how to reinstall the headliner. It looks like last night never happened & we don't hate the boat anymore. We then continue on our way north.
We pulled into St. Mary's, Georgia on the St. Mary's River. St. Mary's is one of the oldest cities in the U.S. It's the site of an old Indian Village. We stayed at Lang's Marina.
We plan to go to Brunswick, Georgia tomorrow.
The weather isn't always sunny in Florida, as you can see in the pictures. We had an evening of severe thunderstorms & a tornado watch. Luckily there were no tornadoes, but there was plenty of rain, wind, thunder & lightning. We got so much rain that we had a major leak in the salon. Al ripped down the headliner trying to find the leak. He thinks it's coming from up on the flybridge by the speaker. No big deal, he'll just reseal it when it dries out. The problem is that he doesn't know how to reinstall the headliner. So not only to we have water dripping down on our dining table, we also have a 10 ft. piece of vinyl hanging down. I try not to get mad, I don't cry, I don't say anything, I just go to bed. I know that Al is aggravated too & probably wishing we were in our house & not on the boat. The morning brings sunshine & somehow Al now knows how to reinstall the headliner. It looks like last night never happened & we don't hate the boat anymore. We then continue on our way north.
We pulled into St. Mary's, Georgia on the St. Mary's River. St. Mary's is one of the oldest cities in the U.S. It's the site of an old Indian Village. We stayed at Lang's Marina.
We plan to go to Brunswick, Georgia tomorrow.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Okeechobee
What a pleasure to be on the Okeechobee Waterway. It's almost too easy. The canal is narrow, deep & calm. No more worrying about the wind & waves. No more slamming into rough water & rolling side to side for hours. We have several locks to go through, but that's no big deal. Plus it's all fresh water, so the boat isn't covered in salt anymore. We will go through 3 locks that bring us up about 13 ft. to the level of the lake. As we cruise the waterway we see horses, cows & baby pigs along the banks, alligators in the water & hundreds of mullet jumping clear out of the water. We even went through a lock with an alligator. At night hundreds of small bugs land on the boat, they're dead by morning, but leave bright blue stains all over the boat. Other boaters tell us the stains wear off eventually. There are lots of bugs at night, but strangely they don't bite.
We first stayed at the Labelle City Dock. It's a free dock with free water & electric. We had to do a stern-in Mediterranean mooring. We have the anchor out in the canal, the stern is tied to the dock & it looks like a jungle right next to us.
We next went to Clewiston & stayed at Roland & Maryann Martin's Marina. The lock at Clewiston was open because the water levels in the lake have been so high & we could go right through.
We then traveled across Lake Okeechobee & stayed at the campground just west of the St. Lucie lock. It's real nice with a park like setting & only $24 for the night with electric & water. We saw an alligator cruising in the water right behind the boat.
Next we'll go through the St. Lucie lock. That will bring us down 13 ft. to sea level & we'll be back in saltwater. We'll head east until we get to Stuart, then we'll start to head north & slowly head home. We want to make stops at all the places we missed on the way down.
We first stayed at the Labelle City Dock. It's a free dock with free water & electric. We had to do a stern-in Mediterranean mooring. We have the anchor out in the canal, the stern is tied to the dock & it looks like a jungle right next to us.
We next went to Clewiston & stayed at Roland & Maryann Martin's Marina. The lock at Clewiston was open because the water levels in the lake have been so high & we could go right through.
We then traveled across Lake Okeechobee & stayed at the campground just west of the St. Lucie lock. It's real nice with a park like setting & only $24 for the night with electric & water. We saw an alligator cruising in the water right behind the boat.
Next we'll go through the St. Lucie lock. That will bring us down 13 ft. to sea level & we'll be back in saltwater. We'll head east until we get to Stuart, then we'll start to head north & slowly head home. We want to make stops at all the places we missed on the way down.
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