Back on the Summer Wind

Hi all, well we're back on the Summer Wind and ready to continue our journey south. We had a lovely holiday with the family up north, yes that's right up north! Our first stop north was in Arlington,VA where we spent a few lovely days with the Flynn family, Dick's middle daughter. Debby did an amazing job with her running team in organizing a school fundraiser. Then we enjoyed a spectacular division final soccer game from Meghan and her team. Both of us were amazed with the talent and athleticism these young ladies were displaying on the field. Meghan's team won with help from Meghan getting 1 goal and 1 assist from a ricocheted kick off the back of her team mates head! Way to go Meghan! We had a wonderful time with the Flynns' Thanks all!
Our next stop was home in Morristown, NJ, for Thanksgiving and a few scheduled appointments. We enjoyed many fun filled activities over the holidays which included pre turkey night prep work. Thursday morning we participated at the Morristown Turkey Trot, where there were over 1200 participants! There were about 25 of us at Judy's house for dinner and it was great fun and delicious. Friday all 22 of us travelled by train, into New York City to see Mary Poppins on Broadway which was absolutely amazing. After the show we all piled into Tony DiNapoli's restaurant to pour over a great dinner.

On Saturday all the guys went to a NJ Devils hockey game while the gals and kids relaxed and hung out. YES, the Devils won!!!!!The rest of the weekend was filled with more family gatherings and great food. Thanks all for a memorable and terrific week.

After a 2 day drive back and provisioning the Summer Wind we ended up waiting out mother nature. We finally made it off the dock at Beaufort.The night before we left, we had a nice wine and cheese party aboard the Summer Wind with all the cruisers waiting to leave. Thanks,Ben, Rick and Carol, and Don and Betty.

Early Sunday morning, December 6th, we untied our lines and off we went. We ventured up the Savannah river and spent 2 glorious days on the 'free' City docks. The town was alive with holiday celebrations, many dancers, vendors and music.

Took a walk through the City Market and came upon Savannah's renowned Candy Shop Sweets, where we watched many treats being made and of course we tested a few.We even toured one of the oldest Synagogues in the Country. Congregation Mickve Israel was started with 41 settlers that came from Spain in 1733 check out their website. http://www.mickveisrael.org/.

It is now Tuesday Dec. 8 and we are anchored in the Wahoo river which is about 50 miles south of Savannah. The trip today was cold,rainy and just miserably dreary. Where is the warm weather we are supposed to be getting. Tomorrow we may be possibly stuck here for again mother nature doesn't want us in our shorts and Tees.
We will continue on in the near future.

Wrightsville Beach to Beaufort, SC

Monday November 2, we timed our departure from Wrightsville beach so that we'd be travelling with the tide heading out and down the Cape Fear River. Well it was shortly after 6 am and we started to weigh anchor. Some of the sailboats had already headed out. We were both commenting how high the tide was along the Carolina coast. Prudent timing meant the Summer Wind was travelling well over 8 knots at less then regular engine power because the tide was running out with us. Upon reaching the bottom of the Cape Fear river, several sailboats headed out into the ocean for Charleston. Later we learned that, the trip for some was hairy. Our destination today was the St. James Plantation marina. We tied up, rinsed the Summer Wind down and did of course more laundry which took over five hours because the dryer didn't work properly. Enjoyed a lovely dinner that evening at the dockside restaurant Tommy Thompson's.

We were on the fuel dock by 7:30 in the morning. We received an updated notice on diesel prices and found out the fuel had gone up a significant amount. St. Jame's marina was the cheapest diesel locally 49cents/gallon cheaper, so we decided to top up at $2.49/gallon. Georgia and Florida showed a range from $2.90-$3.30/gallon. Our destination was Barefoot Landing at Myrtle Beach and we had the tide with us most of the time. What delayed us this day was the Sunset Pontoon bridge. This is a local one lane bridge that is literally a floating bridge which only opens on the hour.A new bridge is under construction so this time next year the pontoon bridge will be no more. As we were waiting for the bridge opening, a cruiser that we had never met had called on the radio and told us how much he enjoyed our blog and was looking forward for us to catch up. How about that! Thanks Bella Luna! Unfortunately we didn't get his name or email address.
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Early in the afternoon we tied up and noticed that Sea Pearl was pulling up in front of us. We went over to Sea Pearl and introduced ourselves and explained that we had friends in common. That afternoon Joe invited us over for cocktails where we had a lovely time meeting him and Salty his dog. Barefoot Landing marina is a fun stop for us, we love to walk around the outlet shops, check out what's playing at the Alabama Theatre and of course find good Ice Cream, very successful this time!

Wednesday morning at the sound of the first revved engine we were up and started our trek again. This trip goes through the Waccamaw river which is a narrow river that winds and the banks are lined with overgrown cypress trees and pine trees that have Spanish moss hanging from the limbs. Someone we had talked to said the Waccamaw reminds them of the movie Deliverance and we both chuckled. Although we do agree there is an eerie feeling. However we enjoy seeing the small turtles that seem to line themselves along the fallen trees.

Our destination today was Georgetown,SC. Would you believe they have Christmas garland and lights adorning the streets already? We checked out the local shops, found fat/free, sugar/free ice cream, although yummy , it just wasn't ICE CREAM and also a great price for fresh shrimp. Took our purchased shrimp back to the boat and watched a 1926 beautifully restored Matthew Trumpy named Freedom pull into the dock across from us. She had been under renovations for five years and her woodwork gleams. Found out she is the sister ship to the Sequoia which was the Presidential yacht for many years.

Thursday November 4th the captain had an interesting task of swinging the boat sideways and backing out of the slip. We were in a U shaped basin with boats in the front, side and an end of a finger pier jutting out behind. He backed out clearly without hitting anything. It was very impressive! Our destination today was Charleston City Marina. The day was long travelling but the wild life and scenery on the trip kept us entertained. Late afternoon the Captain upon arrival at the marina had to use his skills again, the current was running one direction and the wind was blowing opposite. It made for an interesting docking situation but the captain made it look elementary. After signing in at the dock office we came upon Mike, a cruiser we had met a couple of years ago. He remembered us well and invited us in to see his new Great Harbor 37. It was a very pretty boat with a galley that impressed me most because there was a full size fridge, just think of all the Publix trips!! The marina is also the home of our MTOA friends Bob and Helen. They had called to see if we needed anything and this time we needed to find a Quest for Dick's routine blood work. Bob offered to drive us and we took him up on his generous offer. Not only that we told him about our coffee pot, and he tried to help us hunt one down, unfortunately to no avail. Thanks Bob! We stayed two nights in Charleston so we were able to meet up with Joe and Renee. They came to our boat with their friends Howard and Lea and we all went to a lovely Italian dinner together. Thanks all we had a great time in Charleston!

Saturday November 5th we rose early in anticipation to head out. Unfortunately the current was running tremendously so we had to wait a few hours for it to settle because the captain needed to do a 180 degree turn to head out of the marina. That day we went to one of our favorite anchorages Tom Point Creek. It's a very quiet, secluded anchorage that we both enjoy. During the night we couldn't even tell if we were on a boat, there was no rocking or swaying. Watch the video below, note the current running against the boat, this is indicative in the Carolina's and sometimes Georgia.
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Sunday November 6th we weighed anchor and headed out for our last stop for a few weeks. Our destination today was the Lady's Island Marina in Beaufort,SC where we'll be leaving the Summer Wind over the holidays. One of the things we did first upon arrival was check the weather online. We knew Hurricane Ida was making her way somewhere up the Gulf Coast. It's a good thing this was our last travel day because Ida was making treks and our marina was booked solid. Out came the bikes for a quick small reprovisioning at Publix. We also gave the Summer Wind a much needed cleaning on her decks and bimini. Not all was work, our friends Eileen and E.Don from Shangri-la took refuge at Lady's Island. So we've spent a few days reuniting with them. We also had a great time aboard Shangri-la with Chris and Ginny from Ginny C.

Summer Wind is the sister ship to Shangri-la

Today is Thursday, we're still feeling the remnants from IDA the wind is howling and the rain at times for the past couple of days had been very heavy. We're getting things prepared for our drive back to New Jersey tomorrow. Our trip home will be highlighted with a stop in Arlington for a couple of days to visit with the Flynn's, Dick's middle daughter.

This is Dick and Elle wishing all a wonderful Thanksgiving! See you in December.

"NORTH CAROLINA''

Tuesday October 27th, our day began early with fog, cold, and again mass exodus. Early morning was the 'window' of opportunity to go down the Albermarle Sound. We had thought we could possibly go to Manteo, NC, unfortunately by the time we reached the mouth of the sound , yep, the wind had kicked up 10-15 knots and there were gusts above and the sound wasn't very friendly. We had 2-4 foot seas on our forward starboard quarter, if we took the turn east to get to Manteo they would have been beam seas and that would have definitely been a very rough ride. As it was the captain was always reassuring, saying 'only one more hour'. The sound would be narrowing down and we'd be in the Lee of the land. Later we headed down the Alligator/Pungo canal and slowly made our way to Dowry Creek Marina. It was a very long day travelling, but we wanted to be in a marina for the night because the forecast was thunderstorms and high winds. We spent two days in Dowry Creek with many other cruisers. Dowry Creek is a great marina that has a loaner car which enabled us to do a basic reprovisioning and fill our empty propane tanks. The marina also has a wonderful captain's lounge for cruisers to hang out together, a good way to wait out the weather.

Thursday October 29th as the beautiful sun was rising we untied our lines from the dock and headed out. Our journey today took us across the Pamlico River which was very calm and up the Neuse river. The Neuse was a little choppy, but nothing that gave us great concern. Our destination was Adam's creek which is a great anchorage. That evening we shared the anchorage with many sailboats. Our night there was worrisome. Michelle had told us about Barry's race event and it wasn't until early morning that we were reassured everyone was alright.

Friday October 30th, we weighed anchor and started our trek down Adam's Creek. As the morning wore on we were able to take off our jackets and then change from sweats to shorts and tees!!! Our destination today was Spooner's Creek an anchorage that we enjoy because we're surrounded by beautiful homes and we're only 3 blocks away to the local Super Walmart! Our coffee pot had broken so we were on the hunt for one that fits on the boat, it had to be less then 12 inches tall. No luck, oh well, guess the percolator will still have to do!

Saturday October 31st, Happy Halloween! Our destination that day was Mile Hammock Bay. Its a wonderful anchorage at the Camp Lejeune marine base. The marines allow cruisers to anchor there if they are not doing any training. Well, lo and behold we shared our anchorage with Ginny C among many (20) other boats.

Early the next morning we rose shortly after 6 because of time change, and noticed that we were close to the last to leave. Weren't we supposed to get an extra hour sleep? Our stop today was a jam packed anchorage in Wrightsville Beach. After dropping the dinghy down to go ashore, where we found most of the shops closed for the season, especially our favorite ice cream store. We took a leisurely stroll along the shore and enjoyed watching the surfers trying to catch a wave. They were all dressed in wet suits which told us the water was definitely cold. The temperature was dropping so we swiftly headed back aboard the Summer Wind and watched more sailboats jockeying for a spot to drop an anchor.

Our next trip down the Cape Fear river.

to be cont'd.