April 2005
Beaufort, SC to Dowry Creek, NC
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| Date | Destination | Log |
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From 18 April to 30 April we traveled from Beaufort, SC to Dowry Creek, NC (just above Belhaven, NC), traveling 430 miles in 55.5 underway hours. We averaged 33 miles a day at 7.7 mph. 13 days total with 12 days underway and 1 day inport due heavy weather. |
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| 4/04 | Beaufort, SC | Barny and Durango arrived. We moved their gear aboard and started final preparations for the trip. Durango spent most of the afternoon walking around the boat, his new home for 6 months or so. |
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| 4/11- 4/17 | Beaufort SC | Barny and I attended the American Great Loop Cruisers Association (AGLCA) rendezvous in Beaufort, SC Monday thru Thursday. A great event .... learned lots about cruising the loop and met 130 super people. On Friday I drove the pickup back to Colonial Beach, VA and returned to Beaufort SC via AMTRK on Sunday 17 April. |
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| 4/18 | Church Creek, SC | Started the Great Loop Monday at 8 am. Traveled with Ross and Kathy on Pilgrim, making 8 knots and enjoying clear skies and light winds. Durango was suited up with a life jacket to see how he handled underway. We anchored at 2 pm in Church Creek, just below Charleston, SC. There were 8 total boats in the anchorage this evening, meaning we probably picked a good spot. After anchoring Barny took the dinghy to Pilgrim to pick up Kathy and Ross for cocktails. |
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| 4/19 |
Charleston SC |
Up early and ready to go, the starboard engine would not start. Two hours work determined algae was growing in the starboard fuel tank. Finally underway on one engine for Charleston. Halfway there we got the second engine started and moored Charleston at 2 pm. A round of fuel filter changes and a full filtering of the starboard fuel tank was started. Will finish tomorrow. | ||
| 4/20 | Price Creek, SC |
Finished the full filtering and ready to go ... pushed the start button on the engines and nothing happened. The full filtering although probably needed was not the cause of problem. Discussions with fellow cruisers determined problem was the fuel solenoid. Understanding the problem, we got it working and were underway at 1 pm. Anchored at Price Creek, 20 miles north of Charleston. Beautiful spot to anchor. |
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| 4/21 |
Up early, dinghied down Price Creek to Atlantic Ocean. Distance
between ICW on Price Creek and Atlantic Ocean beach as creek enters ocean is just 1.5 miles. Barny and Durango walked the Ocean Beach as the dinghy sat peacefully in Price Creek and the horse shoe crab waited for high tide to get back in the water. |
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| Enjoyed beautiful views on trip into George Town, after weighing anchor from Price Creek. |
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| 4/21 | George Town SC | Moored to anchor buoy in George Town after winds and poor holding ground precluded safe anchoring. Enjoyed great meal at local boardwalk eatery. | ||
| Great sail from George Town to Barefoot Landing. The Waccamaw River is wide and reasonably deep so we even let the fourth mate, Autopilot, drive for a while, while we guessed at the prices of some of the beautiful homes along the waterway. Of course, we supervised Auto while he was doing his job. Arriving at Barefoot Landing, a free dock space, we rafted next to Miss Jennette, homeport Homer Alaska, and many other boaters for the evening. After securing the boat we walked the tourist shopping mall next to the dock. | ||||
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| 4/22 | Barefoot Landing SC |
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Barefoot landing is a 500 foot floating dock on the ICW near Myrtle Beach and next to a major tourist mall. |
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| 4/23 | Pipeline Canal, Southport NC | Great steam from Barefoot landing up to Southport, with views of pontoon bridge in NC and strange colored homes. The so-called Rock Pile, a narrow rock lined stretch of water, was a piece of cake compared to shoaling at various inlets, as evidenced by some poor soul's boat you see below. Didn't like the free docks at Southport so anchored in Pipeline Canal, 1 mile south of Southport. | ||
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Pipeline Canal anchorage area surrounded by sandy beaches and trees. The entrance was very shallow so Barny manned the dinghy and sounded the water depths as Apolonia followed into the deep middle part of the anchorage area. |
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| 4/24 | Wrightsville Beach | Good and easy trip to Wrightsville Beach but sky was cloudy and winds up to 20 knots with gust to 35-40. We anchored and relaxed for the afternoon, then enjoyed a walk along the Atlantic Ocean. |
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| 4/25 | Swansboro, NC | Up early, we headed for Swansboro, NC enjoying a unique giraffe along the shore, boats waiting for a bridge opening, and many homes along the shore. The homes are less unique and there are fewer no wake zones when compared to South Carolina. We stopped at Dudley's Marina in Swansboro, cheapest fuel along the waterway. |
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| 4/26 | Beaufort, NC | Up early Barny made provisioning trip and I washed the boat. Later we fueled and headed for Beaufort, NC. I was disappointed in the many shops, most had signs that said "NO" ... no food ... no drink ... no strollers .... and no whatever else. Just had a "come only if you meet certain rules" feel that was not very friendly. But there is no doubt it is a beautiful Town. |
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At left a little store called "The Bag Lady." At right one of many river front homes. |
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| 4/27 | Oriental, NC | Up early again for a dinghy ride to Beaufort. Walked the Town with a cup of coffee, returned to the boat and headed for Oriental, just 24 miles north of Beaufort. | ||
| Oriental, a small Town focused on boating, sports a great waterfront and some local color around Town. |
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| 4/28 | Belhaven, NC | An easy trip to Belhaven followed the stay in Oriental; sometimes it's just open water and great! Once anchored we used the dinghy to get ashore for a tour of the Town. |
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| 4/29-30 | Dowry Creek, NC | Left Belhaven and moved 5 miles north to Dowry Creek, a marina run by Ted and Mary. The "beer chicken" evening pot luck is well known and on this night attended by 30 boaters. A great marina to stop for a night or two. We stayed two nights waiting for strong winds (35-40 knots) to subside prior to moving thru the Alligator River and Albemarle Sound. |
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