Position: N 32°48.251 W 079°45.407
We spent 2 days and 3 nights on the South River it was like going back in time – there are almost no houses, so you get a sense of what it must have been like hundreds of years ago. Quiet. No Internet. Barely a cell phone signal. And very few other boats. We had this magical place pretty much to ourselves, and we soaked it up. We stopped here to wait out some high winds, and even though it was windy and cold, we really enjoyed it.
The last week since then has been pretty much more of the same. Cold nights and mornings, then almost every day has been sunny. We’ve been bundled up but still enjoying the sun on our backs and faces. The night time temperatures have been too cold for us to even think about going out in the ocean and sailing overnight. Neither of us is thrilled with the thought of doing watches at the helm in almost freezing temperatures and 20 to 30 knot winds. Brrr! So here we are replaying last years southbound trip, long days on the ICW, lovely varied scenery, lots of wildlife to observe, and other southbound vessels to chat with on the VHF.
Dolphins are now an everyday sight along with geese, pelicans, and numerous wading birds. Today we spotted an alligator and a kingfisher. We usually keep our binoculars and bird book handy for quick identification of unknown birds. And today we also saw our first Spanish Moss this trip hanging from the trees. This, as well as the ubiquitous palm trees, will now also be a daily sight.
We did have a lovely respite. Just before Wrightsville Beach Mark’s son’s grandfather met us on the waterway in his skiff where we did a "drive-by" pick up of Jeseph, Tiger Lily (Mark’s son and granddaughter) and a friend. We lost almost no time and even made the next bridge opening as scheduled! They travelled with us for the rest of the day and spent a blustery night aboard. We had a great time and hopefully they will be able to join us again for a longer visit.
We’ve made great time with 5 hops from South River, NC – Mile Hammock Bay, NC (in the Camp LeJeune Marine Corp camp) – Carolina Beach, NC – Little River, SC ( where we spent a lovely evening with friends) – Georgetown, SC and today’s destination of Isle of Palms, SC just outside Charleston.
We have some friends here and they have fixed us up with a slip for a few days. We’ll get a few jobs done, visit, and hopefully get to explore Charleston a bit before heading further south. Charleston is one of our favorite spots.
Slowly getting warmer.
