Winter 2014-15 Bahamas Trip

Bahamas Trip Winter 2015 -- 1 to 31 May 2015

1 May 15 - St James Plantation Marina, Southport, NC

Up at 7 and underway by 7:30 to make it through some shoal areas and get to Wrightsville Beach, the day started great. About 11 AM NOAA posted a severe weather warning and to avoid a risk of bad weather on the Cape Fear River, we stopped at noon at St James Plantation Marina. We've been here once before as they were building the place. It is really progressing. A nice community with a marina as the center piece, with homes and condos around the marina. A nice restaurant and shopping facility are on the premises. We love it. We had a great lunch and the restaurant and Maddy had a great run on the expansive grass area. We watched the storm start to develp but did not experience the worst of what NOAA predicted. No problems. We enjoyed the stop. Tomorroww we're off for Dudley's marina in Swansboro NC. Our plan now is to get to Colonial Beach on the 9th if the weather holds.

Waterway moving north

Shrimp boats moored at Holden Beach, NC

View of St James Plantation Marina from our boat

An yet another view

2 May 15 - New River Marina, NC

Up at 6:30 we were underway by 7:20 AM and headed for Swansboro, NC. Not to be as we fought the tides, weekend traffic and a lot of no wake zones. We revised our plans and stopped at New River Marina. We have stopped here 6 of our 10 trips up and down the waterway. We like it. It's not much -- just a bulkhead just off the ICW with cheap fuel and one 30 amp cord for the first boat that ties up. We pulled in and got the 30 amp socket and fueled up for $2.38 per gallon, best price on the waterway. There is a little store. It is basically a camp ground with friendly people. They had just upgraded their dock so the area is improving. We had traveled 71 miles today so it was a good one. We will make Oriental tomorrow night and be just 180 miles from Norfolk. Carey is fixing dinner onboard this evening and we got to watch a Corp of Engineers boat tie up astern of us after we refueled.

Wrightsville Beach area

Apolonia at New River Marina dock

View of the RV park area around Marina

Corp of Engineers Boat arriving astern

3 May 15 - Oriental Marina and Inn, NC

Up to sunshine and 70 degree temperatures. Lovely day to be on the water. We started our 65 mile trip to Oriental. Beautiful weather and the boat ran perfectly. Once at Oriental Marina we decided it is now a top pick for us for stops. Friendly, professional and excellent facilities. Tiki bar 32 steps from boat. Restaurant 53 steps from boat and Maddy has her run of plenty of grass just 10 steps from the boat. Amazing.

Low country grass

The red marker to round

Pretty sailboat

Run down area on waterway

Carey relaxing

View of slips

Where do we go?

My drink is coming

More views of marina

4 May 15 - Dowry Creek Marina, NC

We left Oriental about 10:30 AM and moved 50 miles north to Dowry Creek Marina. We always stop here as we just love Mary who runs the place. We had happy hour with the locals and other boaters moving through the area then returned to the boat getting ready for an 80 mile day tomorrow to CoinJock Marina. We are ~260 miles from Colonial Beach and if the weather holds will pull in there on Friday.

5 May 15 - CoinJock, NC

Fifty miles from Norfolk and in the best spot to have Prime Rib, which is what Carey and I did at the local restaurant. We had a pleasant but long 84 mile run from Dowry Creek Marina today. It was beautiful weather today and we found another cheap fuel stop at Alligator River Marina where we topped off for $2.44 per gallon. So far we have found very nice prices on diesel for the trip. This stop paid for the two Prime Rib Dinners we had tonight when compared to prices at nearby Marinas. Coinjock was packed. I think they could have put up a 35 foot boat on their docks after we landed. We were the last to arrive and we were the smallest boat. You'll see some of the pictures below. I missed taking pictures of the other 7 boats tied to their very long face dock. The beauty of the dock was a 91' Burger that was immaculate. The Captain and his crew of 2 were taking the boat to its owners in Maine. The Captain has held the job for 22 years and you could tell the pride he had in the boat. I've never seen a boat of any age more immaculate. Tomorrow we're off for Norfolk, then with continued weather luck we'll be in Port Kinsale on Thursday night to visit Ross and Kathy Jebson, old friends we've traveled with on the water. There are a lot of boats moving on the water!

Nancy from Buffalo - Patti Woodside ??

6 May 15 - Scott's Creek Marina, Portsmouth, VA

We slept in this morning at Coinjock and when we finally got underway we were the last boat away from the pier. We put the throttles at 10 mph and headed north to Norfolk, VA. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed the trip. At 1 PM we passed through the Great Bridge Lock then entered the waterways of Norfolk and its commercial activities. We decided to stop at a new marina to us ... Scott's Creek Marina ... directly next to Portsmouth hospital. It is inexpensive and a nice place to just stop. It is sort of out of the way from main stream Portsmouth, but has a bunch of nice boating people. Carey fixed a superb Pork Chop Dinner with mashed potatoes, vegetables and salad. Just can't bet it. We'll be in bed early tonight and on our way early in the morning for the Port Kinsale on the Potomac River.

7 May 15 - Port Kinsale Marina, VA

Underway at 7:30 AM we left Norfolk and headed towards the Potomac River. At first, the Chesapeake showed 1-3 foot seas then it showed us a flat mirror of water as we moved north. We made the 85 nautical mile trip in under 8 hours and it was simply beautiful! We arrived on the Potomac at Port Kinsale by 4PM. Ross and Kathy caught our lines and the four of us enjoyed catching up on what had happened during the last year since we've visited. We went to a local Mexican restaurant in the area for a great meal. A very nice end to the trip we took to the Bahamas. Tomorrow we'll find a place to get some fuel then head home to Colonial Beach.

8 May 15 - Colonial Beach, VA

We relaxed with coffee and an extra visit with Ross and Kathy. Finally underway about 10 AM we headed for White Point Marina where we fueled up, again a good price of $2.44 per gallon. We then turned the engines on and headed for Colonial Beach and the end of the Bahamas trip. Once in Colonial Beach we met up with Ted, Debbie, Diane and Peggy for drinks and food. After dinner Carey and I decided the trip was not quit over so we stayed on the boat. Tomorrow we'll worry about getting to the house and opening it up for the summer. It has been a fantastic trip and now we'll just have to plan the next one.

Apolonia