Day 255

Yep! Right on schedule, the Bald Head Island Ferry’s horn blew loud and long at 6:00 am, on Sunday morning, 05/23/21, announcing its first departure of the day from Deep Point Marina. Thankfully, I was already awake and making the 52-mile trek from our slip all the way to the marina restrooms! Several hours later, at 9:00 am, Legacy left Deep Point Marina in between ferries. It was mostly cloudy, but the sun was valiantly trying to peek through, as we cruised northeasterly on the Cape Fear River. After a full year’s time, I’m finally getting this docking and casting-off thing down! I’m noticing more purpose and stability in my movements, which is always a plus, and I’m not falling all around quite as often. 🙂

Not surprisingly, the Cape Fear River is extremely wide and looks more like a lake for miles. As with many others, this river is wide, but shallow, which means its cruising channel is quite narrow. We had to pay close attention to avoid veering out of that channel and running aground. We cruised past Kure Beach, Wilmington Beach, and Carolina Beach, until we reached Carolina Beach State Park, where the AICW veers east off of the Cape Fear River and heads toward the coast again.

We passed the town of Sea Breeze, NC, and then cruised by the Carolina Beach Inlet, which leads directly out into the Atlantic Ocean, to our starboard. The waterfront homes through here boast long, and high wooden dock piers built on really tall pilings to accommodate the drastically changing tide in this area. We were coming through that day at super-low tide, so Steve’s eyes stayed glued to the depth gauge.

We passed Masonboro Island, Wilmington, and Wrightsville Beach, then Shell Island, NC. Once again, non-stop, side-by-side waterfront homes are before, during, and after Wrightsville Beach. Legacy had to idle in place for about 15 long, hot minutes, awaiting the opening of the Wrightsville Beach drawbridge. It was right at 20-feet above the water, which is 6 inches too low for us to pass underneath without damage to antennae and wind-gauge.

As we approached the Highway 1402 drawbridge, we heard on the radio that it couldn’t open at its scheduled time because “EMS was on the island” (Figure Eight Island), so the bridge must stay closed until the EMS team had crossed back over it to the mainland with their patient. Luckily for us, that bridge was plenty high enough for us to safely pass underneath even with the drawbridge down.

We started to realize that traversing the Wrightsville Beach area on a Sunday probably wasn’t the best idea, as the ICW was extremely busy on that day. All kinds of differently-sized boats flew around Legacy, coming from all different directions, at high speeds, which waked us continuously from all sides. Stressful and NOT FUN. Once we got through the busiest parts, I was able to relax and look off to our east to see endless beachfront houses and condos facing the Atlantic Ocean, all crammed in side-by-side for miles and miles. What a crowded area!

As we cruised south of Hampstead, NC, to our marina, Harbor Village, located north of Topsail Beach, the water madness lessened dramatically (and pleasantly). Just outside of Harbor Village Marina, Steve had to put Legacy into reverse to make a sharp turn. I was down on the deck and suddenly heard a loud POP! coming from the port side of the boat. Steve heard it too from up in the flybridge. Simultaneously, some jet skis were whizzing by us, jumping Legacy’s wake, so I attributed the loud pop to one of them slapping back down onto the water after being airborne. Just in case, once we got inside Harbor Village Marina, Steve went down into the engine room to check on things. Sure enough, his fears were right – instead of coming from the outside of the boat – that pop we’d heard was the port side stabilizer pin breaking yet again! UGH!! This was the third stabilizer pin to break since we acquired the boat in July of 2019. 🙁 When you can’t even put your boat in reverse while the stabilizer fins are activated, that’s just absurd. Stabilizers are great when they work, but otherwise they’re far too fragile. And every single time a pin breaks, a new one has to be ordered (not cheap…), and we have to pay a marina’s service department to install that new pin and then to synchronize that stabilizer with the other stabilizer. We’ve heard it said that once you’ve owned a boat with stabilizers, you’ll never own another one. We get it!!

We arrived at Harbor Village Marina, in Hampstead, NC, at 2:00 pm, but had to wait for about 30 minutes for the fuel dock to free up so we could pump-out before we went to our slip number A25, where we spent the night. Boating involves a lot of hurry-up-and-waiting…

Position: N 34° 23.161, W 77° 38.291

Distance traveled:  39 SM

Total distance traveled: 3468 SM

Total marina nights: 232

Total nights at anchor: 22

Locks today: 0

Locks Total:  27

Day 254

Even though the morning of Saturday, 05/22/21, started out foggy, that fog finally lifted enough for Legacy to leave her tie-up at Barefoot Marina, in Myrtle Beach, SC, at 8:45 am. As we cruised along the mirror-smooth AICW, with only a few wisps of fog here and there, the waterway narrowed quite a bit as we traveled northward. With tall trees leaning out over us on both sides of the water, this portion reminded me of the pictures I’ve seen of the Dismal Swamp (which we won’t be traveling because of shallow depths and reports of prop-damaging debris hiding in its dark brown, tannin-stained waters.)

As the morning wore on, the weather cleared nicely to sunny skies and a light breeze, as we cruised through Little River, SC, and across the state line into North Carolina. As with almost every other waterway we’ve traveled so far, we saw more lovely, waterfront homes, with piers that protrude way out into the water over the marshes. We passed the impressive Big M Casino ship in Little River, SC. Every small town needs its own floating casino… (Or not.) North of Little River, the AICW begins to widen again, as we cruised north of Bird Island, NC, south of Sunset Beach, and then north of Ocean Isle Beach, NC, where we noticed Legacy was starting to fight a little current.

The AICW runs just west of the Atlantic Ocean through here, with only a thin strip of beach between it and the big water. We could smell the ocean on that stretch! We cruised south of Shallotte and South Brunswick, NC, then north of Holden Beach. Next it was south of Sunset Harbor and just north of Oak Island, NC. The waterway north of Holden Beach is extremely busy on the weekends! In fact, this particular instance reminded me little of the 2020 Trump boat parade we’d experienced back on Kentucky Lake last summer… (okay maybe not that wild, but busy none the less!)

We saw more hurricane-damaged docks and piers, the closer we got to Southport. Not only is the ICW in this part of North Carolina very narrow, it’s also shallow. We were seeing average depths beneath our keel of only 6-9 feet. We cruised north of Caswell Beach and Fort Caswell, before reaching the town of Southport, which was dead-centered by 2020’s Hurricane Isaias, and is north of Bald Head Island and Bald Head Island Natural Area. At Southport, the AICW becomes the famous Cape Fear River for several miles until the AICW splits back off toward the east, at Carolina Beach State Park. Our marina for that night, Deep Point Marina, is located right on the Cape Fear River.

Legacy arrived at Deep Point Marina a little after 2:00 pm. We were assigned our own slip, rather than a wall-tie, into which we enjoyed a quick and easy stern entry, with quick tie-up and power connection. The bad news was that our slip was on the opposite side of the marina from the restroom facilities, which meant we had quite the hike from and to our boat, but we were only there for one night, so we sucked it up.

In no time, we discovered this “protected from wakes” marina was not totally wake-free, since the Bald Head Island Ferry has a departure and arrival station right there INSIDE the marina! Two large ferry boats leave for or return from Bald Head Island every 30 minutes. Each time a ferry left or arrived, Legacy got waked by said ferry, and we also got to hear the ferry’s loud horn blow each time it departed or arrived. YIPPEE… Those ferries ran all day long from 6:00 am through 10:00 pm… UGH! It’s funny how – in the description of the Deep Point Marina – they don’t really explain the whole ferry situation, so you don’t get the whole story until AFTER you’ve arrived and settled into your slip…

On a lighter note, I delighted in the array of wildflowers planted inside Deep Point Marina! Alysum, blanket flowers, verbena, phlox, and cone flowers abounded, and right next to the gate into the pool and restrooms, there’s a giant, thick tower of Jasmine (in full bloom during our visit, thank you very much) that uses a young Mexican palm tree as its trellis. It’s fragrance was intoxicating!

Position: N 33° 55.819, W 77° 59.763

Distance traveled:  47 SM

Total distance traveled: 3429 SM

Total marina nights: 231

Total nights at anchor: 22

Locks today: 0

Locks Total:  27

Day 253

We enjoyed beautiful, perfectly clear skies, with a light breeze kicking up when we left Harbor Walk Marina at 7:30 am on Friday, 05/21/21. We were now officially cruising on the Waccamaw River, according to our electronic charts. The Waccamaw is one of the prettiest rivers we’ve encountered on this journey, and this day’s glorious cruising weather only magnified that. We rounded a bend and spotted Blue Yonder up ahead of us again on the AICW. Turns out that they anchored nearby us last night in the Sampit River, where Harbor Walk Marina is located, in Georgetown. I didn’t even realize it until that morning, even though Steve said they waved at us last night when we were out walking. D’OH! I completely missed that. They do cruise a bit slower than us, so we knew we’d pass them again shortly. I was hoping they would also stop in Myrtle Beach, where we were going, so I could invite them for dinner or docktails, but as it turned-out, they did not.

And just like that – to quote Forest Gump – we went from palm trees to bald cypress trees along the river banks. After passing through the Samworth Wildlife Management Area to our northwest, we started to see more widely-spaced, stately waterfront homes, each with their own private dock. There is most certainly some big money on the Waccamaw!

We passed Heritage Marina on the Waccamaw, which is a pretty little marina, but totally exposed to passing boat-wakes – no protection at all. We cruised past Pawley’s Island, Woodville Acres, and Annieville, SC, all to our east.

As we passed Brookgreen Gardens to our southeast, heading into the Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge, we noticed taller marsh grasses growing along the banks of the AICW, which became more plentiful the further north we progressed. I researched online and found these grasses (which are obviously very prolific) are called Spartina Grass, or cord grass. I love its sage-blue coloring that gleams in the sunlight. Along with the Spartina grass, we were beginning to see lily pads once again.

As the Waccamaw River narrowed as we moved northward, the scenery on both sides looked just like swampland. Cypress, hardwoods, and pine trees, all draped with Spanish Moss (of course) secluded small canals that meandered from the river back into the dark overgrowth. I wished we could’ve anchored somewhere, dropped Digney and explored those canals, but there was no safe place for us to anchor in this part of the river.

We passed the Wacca Wache Marina, where some big event was obviously taking place, judging from the crowd. To seem so far out in the middle of nowhere, the Waccamaw River is surprisingly busy! But I could understand the attraction as it is such a beautiful river. We passed numerous osprey nests constructed on just about any vertical protrusion from the water; all with ospreys sitting atop them. It is obviously nesting season!

As we got closer to Southport, SC, we observed more damages suffered by Hurricane Isaias, which hit this area last year. At Enterprise Landing, we split off of the lovely Waccamaw River into an arrow-straight, man-made portion of the AICW, which heads northeast toward the Atlantic Ocean, while the Waccamaw continues to wind inland toward the northwest.

We had to wait at the Socatee swing bridge for about 10 minutes for it to open. Legacy passed through between motor vessels Exhale and Treble in Paradise. (We had spoken with Treble in Paradise earlier and learned their plans are to cruise up to Maine, since Canada has locked us all out). As we got closer to the Myrtle Beach area, as always, the waterfront homes grew more numerous and more grand. Because of all the docks associated with these homes, we were forced to reduce our speed as we went through a very long no-wake zone. We passed the swanky Grande Dunes Marina, situated next to the fancy Marina Inn at Grande Dunes, which is quite obviously the place to be in the Myrtle Beach area. The waterfront homes in Grande Dunes are over the top!

Steve timed things so that we entered into Barefoot Marina exactly at slack tide, which means little to no current when trying to dock. Score! The ironic thing was that, when we called ahead on the phone to the harbor master for tie-up instructions (so I’d know which side of the boat to place the lines and fenders), he advised us we’d be tying up to a wall “facing into the current”. Except, since it was slack tide, there was no current, so we still didn’t know which side of the boat to ready….(?) As it turned out, we had to wait for about thirty minutes to tie up on Barefoot Marina’s wall, as five boats all arrived at the marina simultaneously! But that gave me time to observe which side of the boat to ready, so the wait was a good thing. We finally got tied and hooked up about 2:30 that afternoon. Motor vessel Exhale came in right before us and Treble In Paradise arrived right behind us.

After settling in and showering, we walked up to The Marina Bar & Grill at Barefoot Marina, which was just steps away from Legacy’s tie-up.

Position: N 33° 48.102, W 78° 44.810

Distance traveled:  51 SM

Total distance traveled: 3382 SM

Total marina nights: 230

Total nights at anchor: 22

Locks today: 0

Locks Total:  27

Day 252

At 7:15 am on Friday morning, 05/20/21 (after almost an entire month), we finally untied our lines and cruised away from the docks at Ross Marine in Charleston, SC! We enjoyed perfectly still, glass-smooth waters, even though a strong current carried us through Elliott’s Cut, part of Wappoo Creek. We headed straight east, directly into the rising sun, which was blinding. As our journey progressed, and it got later in the day, our smooth waters changed to choppy with the increasing winds. We could see 1 to 2-foot waves out in Charleston Harbor, the closer we got to the Atlantic Ocean, but the weather remained beautiful and sunny.

As we left Charleston Harbor and entered into the narrow AICW, we passed by Sullivan’s Island and saw the familiar beach, lighthouse, and Fort Moultrie from a different perspective. This portion of the waterway is obviously man-made, as it is straight as an arrow passing the Isle of Palms and connects Charleston Harbor with Copahee Sound, north of Dewee’s Island. Approaching the Isle of Palms Connector Bridge at low tide was a bit nerve-racking, as the depths beneath our keel skinnied down to less than 2-feet for a short distance. Steve mentioned that if we did happen to run aground, we could just wait for an hour or so until the tide came back in, which would float us free. Fortunately, that didn’t become necessary. As we cruised along and crossed Mark Bay, we were still very much in marsh world. Steve commented that we would be headed due east for the next several days on our way to Belhaven, NC, with very little northward movement, as hugging the coast of the Carolinas would force us to do.

During this day’s travels, we were refreshingly treated with the utmost courtesy as two large power boats voluntarily slowed down when passing us, even though we’d observed them previously plowing heavily through a long, no wake zone prior to reaching us. Those two boats were named Candide and See Life. That politeness helped to restore my faith in humanity on the water. Continuing eastward, we passed long expanses of water-front homes spaced acres apart along the marshy shoreline, for ultimate privacy. We followed a trawler named Blue Yonder, out of Stuart, FL, for quite some time on the ICW today. It was obvious we were both traveling the exact same speed.

We skirted northwest of Sewee Bay, past Bull Harbor, and Bull’s Bay, through the Francis Marion National Forest. It was here we encountered the first midges and biting horseflies of our journey. NOT FUN. As Steve helmed the boat, I lept into action, swinging our electrified bug killer (shaped like a racquetball racquet) all around the inside of the flybridge, narrowly missing Steve’s head on several occasions, but never managing to hit any flies. What in the world those insects were doing out in the middle of that large waterway, rather than over on the shoreline where they belonged, we had no idea. Because we have no screens in our flybridge windows, the flies would swoop inside the flybridge and then get trapped inside, because only SOME of our flybridge windows will open. As the flies flew around inside, they’d light on one of us and bite the crap out of us, which we felt was totally uncalled for. Here we were, innocently cruising through the water, not bothering anyone, and just enjoying nature. We did not deserve such vehemence!

We passed more Loopers aboard a boat named Oh Happy Days as we cruised through Santee Coastal Reserve on the AICW. We followed the North Santee River for several miles before entering Duck Creek, which lead us into man-made Estherville Minim Creek Canal. We entered into the Winyah Bay just before reaching Georgetown, SC. Winyah Bay is part of the beautiful Waccamaw River, which winds north-eastward beyond Georgetown. Dolphins rode our wake in several different spots and a magnificent Bald Eagle swooped down right above us today.

We arrived at Harbor Walk Marina, in Georgetown, just before 3:00 pm, and tied-up on the end of the marina’s fuel-dock, as instructed. After we showered, we walked into historic Georgetown, which is immediately adjacent to the marina, and enjoyed an early dinner at River Room restaurant, which has been a fixture in Georgetown since 1984. Steve ordered the chargrilled Yellowfin Tuna and I had black bean soup and a small plate of shrimp and grits. I let Steve try a bite of my shrimp and grits, which made us comment again on how the dish is prepared differently (but always delicious) at every single restaurant.

Position: N 33° 21.823, W 79° 16.898

Distance traveled:  73 SM

Total distance traveled: 3330 SM

Total marina nights: 229

Total nights at anchor: 22

Locks today: 0

Locks Total:  27

Day 229 – 251

On Tuesday morning, 04/27/21, we borrowed St. John’s Yacht Harbor’s courtesy vehicle to drive to Enterprise in Charleston to pick-up our rental car, another late model Nissan Altima. This one was a shiny bright white. We returned the courtesy car to the marina and then drove to highly-reviewed Red’s Ice House in Mount Pleasant, SC, on popular Shem Creek across Hog Island Channel from Charleston. As has been so common for us on this journey, our weather was incredibly pleasant.

My Splendide 2100 washer/dryer went on the blink, so I carried our laundry up to the machines at the marina. Luckily, while I was up there, Steve was able to speak with a Splendide technician and found out how to resolve the problem ourselves. Seems, even though the Splendide operator’s manual mentions absolutely nothing about it, our unit requires a monthly cleaning! Who knew? UGH! The technician emailed Steve the instructions, we followed them, and VOILA! our unit was running smoothly again. In case I haven’t mentioned it, I hate laundromats! That evening, we drove our rental car to Charleston Crab House for a delicious dinner.

04/28/21 dawned another glorious weather day. I found out first hand that – as reputed – St. John’s Yacht Harbor truly DOES have the nicest, cleanest marina restrooms and showers on the east coast. Later that day, as planned, we moved Legacy from her too-short slip at St. John’s to Ross Marine, farther up the Stono River, where she was scheduled for a haul-out, a new bottom paint job, and several other repairs/improvements, over the next several weeks. We had originally planned to leave at 11 am, but BOTH of our engines decided not to start for us that morning?! Gee, what a shocker – it’s a boat! We had to wait for a mechanic from recommended Zimmerman Marine to come over and help us out. Although the mechanic was able to jump-start our engines, it was not determined until later that our starter battery had died and would have to be replaced. Several hours later, we moved the boat to one of Ross Marine’s powered docks where we’d stay until it was time for Legacy’s haul-out.

After we got the boat tied-up and connected to power, we showered and drove to Wild Olive for a really nice, early dinner. Wild Olive had been recommended to us, and we enjoyed our time there. When we arrived back at Ross Marine from dinner, it was after 6:00 pm, and we found the place closed and locked-up tight, so that we couldn’t get through the gate which Legacy was behind! As the place was deserted, we were more than a little alarmed and tried calling the office number in hopes of being rerouted to an after-hours number. Getting no answer, I began punching the Ring doorbell button next to the gate. In the meantime, Steve had managed to scale the gate and jump down onto the other side of it. There was NO WAY, however, that I was going to attempt that stunt. Finally, I received a response on the Ring doorbell. We explained the problem and were given the gate-entry code. Whew! Turns out, Ross Marine thought we were spending that night in a hotel, and so didn’t know we’d need back inside. All’s well that ends well.

Early, Thursday morning, 04/29/21, we packed our rental car full of luggage and left our floating home behind as we drove to a hotel in Trussville, AL, for the night, halfway on our way home to visit family. Because Legacy was going to be out of the water, her air-conditioning (which requires circulating fresh or sea water to operate) would be out of commission that entire time. That, plus the fact that she’d be sitting about 15 feet up in the air, which involved climbing up and down a ladder to access her (I’m a major klutz, remember…), cinched our plan to use that time to drive back to Arkansas. We had to HOPE Legacy would be back in the water by the time we returned. From 04/29/21 through 05/03/21, we were off the boat and out of state from her.

Our rental car brought us safely back to Charleston on Monday, 05/03/21, where we found Legacy still out of the water, and her bottom still yet to be painted. Using our plethora of Marriott points, we booked a hotel in Mount Pleasant where we planned to stay until Ross Marine was finished with our boat and had splashed her back into the water. We ate a nice, casual dinner at another restaurant on Shem Creek, called Water’s Edge.

After spending a morning in the hotel’s complimentary guest laundry facilities (WHEE), I joined Steve for a drive into town, where he dropped me off at Michael’s and Marshall’s (I was really needing a fix!), and drove the rental car to Ross Marine to check on Legacy’s progress, of which there had been very little. As is usually the case with marine service centers, Legacy’s repairs were taking longer than originally projected. Later that afternoon, we drove to Saltwater Cowboys in Mount Pleasant, near our hotel, for dinner.

On Wednesday, 5/5 – in really windy conditions – we rode the ferry across Charleston Harbor, to visit historic Fort Sumter. We learned all about the fort’s history, which told us it is a sea fort built on an artificial (completely man-made) island protecting Charleston, SC, from naval invasion back in the early 19th century. Its origin dates to the War of 1812, when the British invaded Washington by sea. It was still incomplete in 1861 when the Battle of Fort Sumter began the American Civil War. It was severely damaged during that war, left in ruins, and although there was some rebuilding, the fort as originally conceived was never completed. Since the middle of the 20th century, Fort Sumter has been open to the public as part of Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park, operated by the National Park Service.

One of our favorite exhibits at Patriots Point (where the retired US battleship, the USS Yorktown is moored) was the Viet Nam Experience, where we spent over an hour in a realistic replica of a US military camp in Viet Nam from back in the day. I think I learned more about the Viet Nam War at that exhibit than anything I’d learned previously. It was an emotionally-moving exhibit, to say the least.

We ate lunch at the Fish House Restaurant, there at Patriot Point, before our physically-exerting walking tour of the mighty USS Yorktown, during which we walked at least 500 miles and climbed 83 sets of steep stairways/ladders, for two full hours. Although we felt certain our legs would buckle beneath us, we completed and survived our tour. We got so hot and sweaty we had to shower as soon as we got back to our hotel room! That evening we returned to Shem Creek for another great dinner at Vickery’s. Fortunately for us, there are a myriad of good restaurants in the Shem Creek area.

The morning of Thursday, 5/6, was beautiful, with bright sunshine and very low humidity. I stood down in the open air parking garage of our hotel, waiting for Steve, inhaling the marvelous fragrance of fully-blooming ligustrum bushes just adjacent to where I was standing. After driving back over to Ross Marine for another check on Legacy’s progress, we found our way to Drayton Hall, as previously recommended to us by our friend Waine Ratliff. Drayton Hall is a beautiful estate built on Charleston’s Ashley River in the mid-1700s by wealthy John Drayton, and later enhanced by John’s son, Charles Drayton. The gorgeous, massive Live Oaks on the property are described as “modern”, having not been planted on the estate until the late 1800s, so the views seen by the home’s original inhabitants were mainly just grazing and growing fields. In my opinion, though, the Live Oaks are what make the whole place! As we explored the lush grounds, we saw our very first alligator of this whole trip in a pond at Drayton Hall!

On Friday, 5/7, we basked in another glorious weather day as we drove over to Sullivan’s Island for lunch at a popular restaurant called The Obstinate Daughter. We discovered that the parking on Sullivan’s Island is scarce – we had to drive around for almost 20 minutes before we finally found a space, and then had to walk several blocks from our car to our destination. At the Obstinate Daughter (aka OD), Steve had their shrimp roll and I had their famous Frogmore Stew. As we awaited our food and enjoyed afternoon cocktails, we observed from the crowds that OD is most definitely the place to be on Sullivan’s Island. In fact, we were in a beautiful place filled with beautiful people. It was at this point it dawned on me that teen-aged girls and young women are all very much wearing hot pants again! Isn’t it amazing how fashions come and go? Oh, and the sound-track playing at OD was obviously selected especially for me, as it was all 70s disco music, which is right up my alley. I was doing the Freak, The Rock, and the Hustle right there in my bar stool throughout our meal. 😉

That same afternoon, we toured Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island, which is a series of fortifications also built to protect the city of Charleston in the early 19th century. The first fort (formerly called Fort Sullivan) built of palmetto logs, inspired the flag and nickname of South Carolina, as “The Palmetto State”. The fort was renamed for the US patriot commander in the Battle of Sullivan’s Island, General William Moultrie. Moultrie, who lived from 1730 until 1805, was a South Carolina planter and politician who became a general in the American Revolutionary War. As colonel leading a state militia, in 1776 he prevented the British from taking Charleston, and Fort Moultrie was named in his honor. After independence, Moultrie advanced as a politician; he was elected by the legislature twice within a decade as Governor of South Carolina.

After our tour of Fort Moultrie, we walked over to the beautiful and historic Stella Maris (meaning star of the sea), which is the second oldest Catholic Church in the Charleston area. It’s parish originated in the 1830s and still worships to this day. After the church, we walked to Sullivan’s Island’s highly-touted beach and were underwhelmed. (But we always remind ourselves that we’re beach snobs, and are partial to the gleaming white sands of the Florida panhandle.) We returned from Sullivan’s Island to Shem Creek for another delicious dinner at Shem Creek Crab House.

On Saturday, 5/8, we drove back to Ross Marine to check on Legacy (still in her above-ground status) and I even climbed up the tall ladder to board and retrieve some important items, since it appeared we were going to be in the hotel longer than first expected. Amazingly, I made it up and back down the ladder without falling and breaking an appendage or two. Score! We then left Ross Marine to drive out to Johns Island and see the famous Angel Oak, as highly recommended by my dear friend, Darla Mancini. The truly astonishing work of nature I saw when we arrived rendered me simultaneously tearful and speechless. (The first not being that unusual, but the second being rare, indeed.) There were couples, groups, and families, admiring the majestic tree, which is a Live Oak tree that is old and large enough that its massive branches hang down to touch the ground. Once those limbs touch earth, the tree goes from being a Live Oak to an Angel Oak. (Once I understood this, I realized that we had already seen Angel Oaks in places like Beaufort, SC.) The Angel Oak on Johns Island is more than 400 years in age, and is highly revered by the residents of Charleston and the surrounding area. I could’ve stayed there underneath that incredible tree for the remainder of that day, but I cut Steve some slack and we left after about an hour.

After our moving experience with the tree, we drove to historic downtown Charleston and stopped at Henry’s Vintage Rooftop for day drinks. I enjoyed a tart Lowcounty Limeade, which very much invoked the southern lifestyle, as I sipped. As we’d done on our last visit to Charleston, eight years earlier, we walked around historic downtown Charleston, returned to Henry’s for another drink, then ate an early dinner at TBONZ, before returning to our hotel.

On Sunday, 5/9, we checked on Legacy again, then ate an early dinner at Tavern & Table on Shem Creek, which is quite the place to be for the younger set on the weekends. Everyone was obviously there to see and to be seen. The crowds “cruise” back and forth along the narrow creek in everything from kayaks to 4-engine power boats, checking each other out. It reminded me of MUCH younger days, when I used to cruise “the strip” at University and Asher Avenues in Little Rock, AR, as a teenager. Ah, memories…

On 5/11, we walked around White Point Garden down on the Battery in historic Charleston. It dawned on us that, of all the beautiful old Live Oak trees growing in that area, not a single one has any Spanish Moss hanging from its branches. Custodians must obviously keep the moss off of these trees (which we had to admit looked a lot healthier and lush, sans moss), but we could find no information on why or how that’s done…(?) Also in White Point Garden, high up in several of the trees, there is an active Night Heron rookery, which we thought was especially cool. We stood and watched the adult herons with their babies for several minutes. We ate lunch at US Navy Fleet Landing restaurant at Port Charleston, where we both enjoyed the Tuesday Blue Plate special, which was shrimp cakes, broccoli casserole, and red rice. Yummy!

The next several days were a whirlwind of heavy rain, and long road-trips to and from Conway, Arkansas, to watch our oldest grandchild, Brayden, graduate from high school. We returned to Charleston on Sunday, 5/16, and learned from Ross Marine on 05/17, that they were finally splashing our boat back into the water on 05/18 at 1:00 pm. Hooray! We could finally get out of the hotel and back into our floating home. Unfortunately, we learned that some of the repairs/improvements we’d requested be completed by Ross Marine while they had Legacy out of the water did not happen, due to some major ball-dropping with the staff, which was disappointing, to say the least. We did, however, get the really important stuff done and didn’t want to delay moving back aboard any longer, so we decided to wait and just have the rest of the items done later at a different company. Such is owning a boat…

Position: N 32° 46.365, W 80° 03.802

Distance traveled:  5 SM

Total distance traveled: 3257 SM

Total marina nights: 228

Total nights at anchor: 22

Locks today: 0

Locks Total:  27

Day 228

We left our wall tie-up at Safe Harbor Beaufort Marina in Beaufort, SC, on Monday, 04/26/21, at 8:00 am. Water was mirror-smooth, with 100% clear blue skies, and only a slight breeze. We traveled north on the Beaufort River on this gorgeous day, passing Merritt Field, which is the Marine Corp Air Station, to our west. That’s where all those Blue Angel jets had been coming from. Not surprisingly, we were still surrounded by marsh, marsh and more marsh! Eventually, we transitioned onto the Coosaw River (yet another, big wide river), heading eastward, north of St. Helena Island.

Around 9:45 am, we found ourselves cruising through a very narrow and shallow cut connecting Coosaw River to Rock Creek. Steve already knew about the shallowness here, but was still a bit anxious and steering by hand to avoid running aground. Depths were only 7-feet or less underneath our keel. We found ourselves with more seagull groupies trailing behind us as we stirred up the fish in these shallow waters. The weather was just perfect so that we thoroughly enjoyed our cruise, especially once we got back into deeper waters.

Soon, we were back in another shallow waterway called Walls Cut. In addition to skinny waters, we encountered some current, which slowed us from traveling almost 9 knots an hour down to under 7 knots an hour. Our path continued on the Ashepoo River, to the South Edisto River, to the ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge on northern Edisto Island. This is an extremely isolated area with only a handful of houses in the middle of nowhere. Further north, we cruised on the Wadmalaw River, north of Wadmalaw Island, which is north of Seabrook and Kiawah Islands, SC. The Wadmalaw River gets really wide in places and looks more like a lake.

The closer we moved to Charleston, the waterfront homes increased in number and in size. The houses are set way back from the river, behind great swaths of marshland. Passing south of the Links of Stono Ferry golf course and homes, Wadmalaw Island to our south becomes John’s Island, and the river narrows considerably. The Stono River runs eastward, along the north side of John’s Island, which is west of Charleston, and boasts an eclectic mix of waterfront homes. The marshy areas here were filled with large, bright white egrets, fishing. As we cruised, I surmised that the Stono River looks like a river should (other than being flanked on both sides by so much marshland) – not too narrow, but also not too wide.

We arrived at St. John’s Yacht Harbor, just south of Charleston, at 3:00 pm that afternoon, and were assigned to slip number C17. The tie-up was a little challenging, since the dock finger was too short for our boat and was missing cleats, but we prevailed, and Legacy stayed safely put.

Position: N 32° 45.285, W 80° 00.715

Distance traveled:  64 SM

Total distance traveled: 3253 SM

Total marina nights: 205

Total nights at anchor: 22

Locks today: 0

Locks Total:  27

Day 225 – 227

Friday, 04/23/21, dawned sunny, with clear blue skies, although with a chilly nip in the air. Steve and I took the Grayline Bus Tour of old town, Beaufort, SC, and learned a lot. Our tour guide was excellent and even dressed in Civil War period costume. He shared many fascinating historical details and even sang to us at one point, in a wonderful voice! There was supposed to be a total of three couples on this tour, but we wound up being the only couple who showed up, so we got a private tour!

The most interesting thing we learned from our tour guide was about The Port Royal Experiment, which took place in Beaufort, SC, back in the 1860s. The Port Royal Experiment was a program begun during the American Civil War in which former slaves successfully worked on the land abandoned by planters. In 1861, the Union captured the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina and their main harbor, Port Royal. The white residents fled, leaving behind 10,000 black slaves. Several private Northern charity organizations stepped in to help the former slaves to become self-sufficient. The result was a model of what Reconstruction could have been. The African-Americans demonstrated their ability to work the land efficiently and live independently of white control. They assigned themselves daily tasks for cotton growing and spent their extra time cultivating their own crops, fishing and hunting. By selling their surplus crops, the locals acquired small amounts of property. Among the Northerners who arrived as teachers were Mary Lambert Allen and her husband, William Francis Allen, from West Newton, MA. Detailed descriptions of their daily life are provided in Allen’s diaries. Admiration for the hard work ethic of the former slaves is mentioned, as well as the urgent need for a basic education of which they had been deprived. In 1862, General Ormsby M. Mitchel helped African Americans to found the town of Mitchelville on Hilton Head Island, SC, and life ran smoothly for all concerned. All total, just under 200 plantations were involved in the experiment and all prospered. However, in 1865, President Andrew Johnson ended the experiment, returning the land to its previous white owners, and the African-Americans were forced to either evacuate the area, or take jobs working for the new land owners. 🙁

We also learned about prominent American politician, publisher, businessman, and maritime pilot, Robert Smalls. Smalls was born into slavery in Beaufort, SC, but freed himself, his crew, and their families during the American Civil War by commandeering a Confederate transport ship, CSS Planter, in Charleston Harbor on May 13, 1862, and sailing it from Confederate-controlled waters of the harbor to the US blockade that surrounded it. He then piloted the ship to the Union-controlled enclave in the Beaufort-Port Royal-Hilton Head area, where it became a Union warship. His example and persuasion helped convince President Abraham Lincoln to accept African-American soldiers into the Union Army. After the Civil War ended, Smalls returned to Beaufort and became a politician, winning election as a Republican to the South Carolina Legislature and the United States House of Representatives during the Reconstruction Era.

After our tour, we stopped for some ice cream and fudge, and walked around town for a bit. Always have to buy ice cream and or fudge on the Loop, since stores can be found at almost every single stop. In between taking pictures, I exclaimed over and over about the incredible weather we seem to have pretty much wherever we stop. We walked to Hemingway’s dive bar and sat outside in the dappled shade for afternoon beverages.

As previously planned, we met Scott and Shelley Johnson, as well as Kevin Parsell, for dinner at Panini Waterfront restaurant across from Beaufort Harbor. We were able to score an outside table in a perfect location, and even though the evening was chilly, we were dressed for it so we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Even the Noseeums were almost non-existent, which is always a plus!

Saturday, 04/24/21, was a true rain event, and kept us inside the boat, doing boat chores, working on this blog, and planning future routes. We took advantage of a break in the rain at 3:30 pm, grabbed our umbrellas, and walked to another one of the many marina-side restaurants, Hearth Wood Fired Pizza for an early dinner. We made it back onboard Legacy just in time, as the bottom fell-out for the remainder of the evening, with pouring rain, and lightning and thunder crashing all around us.

Though the rain had stopped by Sunday morning, 04/25/21, the skies were still overcast and the sun only teased us all morning. We walked over to the Q on Bay for lunch, and Steve realized we certainly weren’t in Texas anymore, when he bit into his barbecued brisket, and exclaimed that it should be illegal to prepare brisket in an oven, rather than a smoker!

We walked some more around historic Beaufort and I took a zillion pictures of countless beautiful homes and surrounding scenery. To our delight, the sun finally broke through the clouds, and the weather turned out to be fabulous for the rest of the afternoon. I was fortunate enough on that late afternoon to score a pedicure appointment at the Nail Bar in historic downtown Beaufort!

After yesterday’s rain, the Noseeums were biting our scalps again, but not too badly. The Jasmine and Ligustrum were in full bloom while we were in Beaufort, so the air was actually heady with fragrance. The Blue Angels were prolific while we were in Beaufort and buzzed the town constantly. (I just THOUGHT the planes were loud at Stock Island!) Though hard on the ears, those powerful jets are a joy to watch flying in perfect formation and so low to the ground. Steve tried on several occasions to get a good video of the flying wonders as they zoomed over our heads. Our tour guide told us a funny story about Barbra Streisand – while she was filming her movie, Prince of Tides, in Beaufort, back in 1991 – she actually phoned the commander of the Marine Corp Air Station in Beaufort and asked him to please have his airmen stop flying while she was trying to film! Needless to say, she was not granted her request, and rumor has it the commander actually instructed his pilots to pour a little extra power to their engines that day. 🙂

That evening, we walked to Luther’s Rare And Well Done for happy hour drinks and eats. We were really fortunate to have so many attractions right there within walking distance of the marina and our boat during our stay in Beaufort. No need for a courtesy vehicle, car rental, or Uber rides!

As we’ve been on this journey, there have been a handful of stops that have made a stronger impression on us than others. Beaufort, SC, was definitely one of them. During one of our walks, I found THE cutest little restored house that is now being used as a month-to-month vacation rental. That house, and the town of Beaufort, SC, is yet another perfect girls’ trip destination!

Position: N 32° 25.768, W 80° 40.428

Total marina nights: 204

Total nights at anchor: 22

Locks today: 0

Locks Total:  27

Day 224

Since Thursday, 4/22/21, would be a short travel day, we didn’t throw off our lines from Skull Creek Marina until almost 11:00 am. Our cruising weather was sunny and pleasant as we traveled northeast up the Broad River, past Parris Island (where Marines are made), into the Beaufort River, past Port Royal, to Safe Harbor Beaufort Marina, just adjacent to Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park, on the south end of Old Town Beaufort, SC, and west of the US Hwy. 21/Woods Memorial Bridge.

No sooner had we arrived at the marina, at 2:00 pm, and gotten all tied-up, did Steve discover Legacy was taking on water somewhere, as the bilge pump was continuously running?! We called nearby Marsh Harbor Boatworks to get the problem found and resolved, as Beaufort Marina was not full-service. At Marsh Harbor’s request, we untied Legacy from her wall at Beaufort Marina and cruised her about a mile up river to Marsh Harbor, so they could check us out. Turned out to be a loose packing gland that had slowly been leaking and allowing seawater into the bilge, which was NOT a good thing. The problem was temporarily fixed until Legacy’s upcoming, scheduled haul-out in Charleston, SC, where we could get both packing glands completely replaced, if need be. We kept Beaufort Marina informed of our status, so they’d hold our place on the wall open until we returned, which we were able to do within about three hours, thankfully.

Once we were safely tied-up in our original spot at Beaufort Marina, we got settled in, showered, and then walked into town (which was conveniently just steps from our marina) for an early dinner at Saltus. As we were leaving the marina, we looked down and saw Scott and Shelley Johnson, on Mona Gee, leaving the dock in their dinghy, to head back out to their mooring ball out in Beaufort Harbor, where Mona Gee was waiting for them. Turns out they were staying in Beaufort for a few days, too, so we suggested getting together for drinks and dinner, later in our stay there. Months and months earlier, when we were coming through the locks on the TennTombigbee Waterway, we had locked through with a boat named Safe Haven, which was being single-handed, but we never got to meet its captain. Well, in addition to their faithful dog, Buddy, Scott and Shelley had a friend in their dinghy with them that afternoon that turned out to be Kevin Parsell, the actual captain of Safe Harbor! Kevin said he remembered coming through the TennTom locks with our boat. Safe Haven and Mona Gee had been traveling together for awhile, and Safe Haven was also on a mooring out in Beaufort Harbor.

Position: N 32° 25.768, W 80° 40.428

Distance traveled:  18 SM

Total distance traveled: 3188 SM

Total marina nights: 201

Total nights at anchor: 22

Locks today: 0

Locks Total:  27

Day 223

On Wednesday morning, the weather was glorious with bright sunshine and perfect temperatures – just a bit on the blustery side, which meant NO BUGS! 🙂 Since Skull Island Marina is out from the other attractions on Hilton Head, we took an Uber to Harbour Town, on another part of the island, which we’d read online was a good place to spend an afternoon. As usual, we had to wait awhile for our Uber driver to arrive, but it was all good. Our driver turned out to be very personable and driving a high-end SUV, so we rode in style that morning!

Since it was lunchtime, we headed for The Crazy Crab for our midday meal. Our table inside the restaurant was surrounded by older, northeastern-accented guests who were discussing their various retirement situations. Steve chides me because I’m bad to eavesdrop on other tables, but I am very discreet at it, and I end up learning a lot of information! 😉 One thing we picked-up on rather quickly is that Hilton Head Island is very golf-oriented, so if you’re not a golfer, it might not be the top place to visit. We concluded that it is ideal for the golfer arriving by boat…

After lunch, we walked all through Harbour Town, which is a conglomeration of shops, restaurants, and bars, positioned right on a gorgeous marina, The Harbour Town Yacht Basin, and surrounded by condominiums and luxurious vacation rentals. A truly beautiful place! Steve had tried to reserve a transient slip for Legacy in Harbour Town Yacht Basin, but they were already full. The Lighthouse Museum is located right next to Harbour Town. We toured the museum and climbed all the way to the top for a lovely view of the surrounding area and beyond. We learned that Charles Elbert Fraser is the real estate developer responsible for envisioning, designing, and creating The Sea Pines Resort, back in the 1970s, which is where Harbour Town and the lighthouse are located. His visionary talents (not to mention his financial backing) helped transform South Carolina’s Hilton Head Island from a sparsely populated sea island into a world-class resort. There are many tributes to Charles and his family in the museum and elsewhere around the island.

Before catching our Uber back to Skull Creek, we stopped at Harborside for some frozen drinks, as the afternoon was heating up. While we sipped our refreshments, we noted that – ever since we left the state of FL – our heads had been constantly rained down upon by Live Oak pollen, which was pretty much everywhere. (I love to LOOK at Live Oak trees, but not necessarily to WEAR them…)

Position: N 32° 14.773, W 80° 44.859

Total marina nights: 200

Total nights at anchor: 22

Day 222

We left Thunderbolt Marina, near Savannah, GA, for Hilton Head, SC, on Tuesday, 04/20/21, at 10:30 am and headed up the Wilmington River toward its connection with the Savannah River, passing the impressive J.S. Chatry dredge boat along the way. Farther up the Wilmington River, we passed right by the notoriously haunted Bonaventure Cemetery right before reaching the south channel of the Savannah River. We’d heard some pretty outrageous tales about that cemetery from one of our Uber drivers, but never had the time to stop there. Next time!

When we took a turn to our port into Field’s Cut, the wind gusts suddenly increased to 25 knots, which put an end to our peaceful cruising for the morning. Field’s Cut connects with the Wright River, where we turned to starboard and headed toward the Turtle Island Wildlife Management Area, north of Tybee Island. We’d just crossed the stateline from GA into SC, and we were completely surrounded by marsh, marsh, and more marsh. The further along we proceeded, the more the winds increased, which had not been predicted, so was a bit unsettling. I felt very glad that today was a short travel day!

We turned to our port, northward into Walls Cut, and then to port again into Ramshorn Creek, which led us right into the Cooper River, passing Daufuskie Island, SC, to our east. It was nice being on narrower rivers for a change, where we can see both riverbanks up close and personally. Ironically, at this point, all there was to see was marshland!

Eventually, we began cruising just west of Hilton Head Island, on the Calibogue Sound, where the water was much rougher. Suddenly – in addition to marsh – we were seeing multitudes of luxurious Hilton Head waterfront homes. While I was gawking at the homes, we turned onto Skull Creek on the north end of Hilton Head Island, heading for today’s destination of Skull Creek Marina, which we reached at approximately 1:50 pm. We were treated to a nice and easy port tie-up on a wall in a really pretty area. There were huge boats all around us, backed by impressive condominium complexes.

Once we were all checked into the marina, we walked to highly-touted Hudson’s Seafood Company for an early dinner. The food was delicious, but we opted to call an Uber for the trip home, as the walk there had been more than long enough for my poor, tired feet! We did notice on our long walk, that the housing communities on Hilton Head look very similar to those we’ve seen in Sandestin, FL. Nice, upscale, impeccably landscaped (with palm trees, of course) and very golf-oriented.

Position: N 32° 14.773, W 80° 44.859

Distance traveled:  29 SM

Total distance traveled: 3170 SM

Total marina nights: 200

Total nights at anchor: 22

Locks today: 0

Locks Total:  27