I SIT IN MOREHEAD CITY, NC

June 24, 2012  Dateline: Morehead City, NC USA

Rich and Carol left me and traveled back to Boonton, NJ.  I understand that they saw some interesting things along the way so I will let Rich once again bring you up to date.

When Carol and I left SALT ‘N SAND we drove to Beaufort, NC then to New Bern, NC.  The city of New Bern was founded in 1710 by a Swiss immigrant who named the area Bern after the capital of Switzerland.  The city became wealthy from agricultural products and that wealth is visible in houses like this one.

Flag Bear



Navy Bear



In 2010, the city commissioned local artists to paint some life-size fiberglass bears and place them throughout the city.  The flag bear combines the flags of the United States, North Carolina and New Bern.  The Navy bear need no further description.

The city is also the birth place of Pepsi-Cola.


Pamlico River Crab



The City of Washington, NC, which we stopped at next, placed painted fiberglass crabs throughout the downtown area.  Below are pictures of some of the more interesting ones.

George Washington Crab

Waiter Crab

Our final stop was HOME – it was a long day!

TERRORISTS IN MOREHEAD CITY

June 23, 2012  Dateline:  Morehead City, NC USA

Yesterday I traveled 100 ICW miles from Bald Head Island, NC to Morehead City, NC.  The day did not start well.  Rich was going to take me out in the ocean around Frying Pan Shoal; however the seas were not very nice so he decided to take me up the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).  Rich saw a boat named PHANTASMO heading in the same directions so he hailed him and he agreed we could follow him.  I was doing great until I turned east and the wind and current caught me and pushed me out of the channel into a shallow area known by Sea Tow as the “Parking Lot”.  When Rich called Sea Tow, they knew exactly where I was grounded and came out, pulled me off the shoal and sent me on my way. 

As I traveled up the ICW, I passed this barge in Carolina Beach selling bait.  You would pull your boat up alongside of the barge and make your bait purchase.

A little further up this section of the ICW I passed this Geo Dome house.  If you look at it from the side it almost looks like it has a face.

At the Masonboro Inlet Rich took me off the ICW and back into the ocean.  As it would turn out the route I followed, part ICW and part ocean, is the shortest route to the Beaufort inlet so the loss of an hour at the grounding didn’t matter.  The ocean had 2-3 foot waves coming from the southeast.  So the ride was not bad.  As the afternoon wore on they increased to 5-6 feet and I was riding a roller coaster.  My speed of ± 20 knots would drop to less than 19 knots when I went up the wave and over 21 knots when I came down.  Then came the Beaufort Inlet, I was taking the waves on my port side and I was really rocking and rolling.  Rich kept up my speed and we made it in.  Then came the fun part with the wind blowing at 20 mph and the current going out in the same direction as the wind; there was no way I was getting into the slip.  They finally tied me up to a bulkhead for the night.  This morning Rich moved me easily into the slip with the wind blowing against me but no current.

Yesterday afternoon, four center console offshore fishing boats tried to get into the same marina as I had.  After much waiting it took 7 men to get each boat into their slip.

This morning I overheard Rich talking to one of the captains of the center console boats.  One was a Navy boat and the other three were chartered by the Navy.  They are part of an exercise to train sailors who will be on large ships in the Straits of Hormuz on how to deal with very fast moving small boats that are going to attack them.  These men got to play Terrorist with big Navy ships.  I was told that one of the captains even dresses up in Afghan garb and puts on a long beard so he can feel the part.  The Navy boats are restricted in what they can do and where they can sail just like they would be in the Straits.  At the end of the exercise the sailors are graded on their performance.  As the Navy man said it takes more than one person to fire a gun on a Navy ship.

Rich and Carol left me again today to go home for two weeks.  Rich said that the next time they come and get me I will end my trip back in my slip at Canyon Club. Hooray!!!!!!

 

BALD HEAD ISLAND

June 21, 2012  Dateline:  Bald Head Island, NC USA

The dock at Georgetown Landing Marina was located some distance from the shore and you had to walk on a long boardwalk that spanned a marsh.  While walking along the boardwalk Carol noticed and was able to get a picture of this intruder.  The sign on the dock indicates that people on the walkway either have to be a boat owner or a guest.  I doubt that this guy was either.

After 5 days of waiting for our battery charger to be replaced, we were finally able to leave Georgetown. The trip to Bald Head Island was an easy one.  The seas were flat and the course took me some 20 miles offshore.  In the entire 70 mile offshore trip, I saw only 3 other boats.

Bald Head Island is located at the entrance to the Cape Fear Inlet. The residents of the island have banned motor vehicles from the island.  Everyone either rides a bicycle or drives a golf cart.  The only way to get to the island is by ferry from Southport, NC and as the people arrive there are carts pulled off the ferry that contain luggage for those spending some time here. Of course, there are some who only come to spend the day.

Rich and Carol rented a golf cart and drove around the island. Some of the houses on the island are very large to say the least.  This house overlooks the waves of the Atlantic Ocean as they break on Frying Pan Shoal. 

This photo shows the waves breaking over the Shoal.

Bald Head Island has been occupied since the early 1700’s.  The British had a fort near old Baldy Lighthouse.  The American Revolutionary soldiers attacked the fort from the water, thus the first American amphibious assault occurred right here in North Carolina.

The dock master at the Bald Head Island Marina is a sponsor of the Americas Great Loop Cruisers Association and gave me a discount on my dockage without even being asked.  It is always nice to get a discount. The marina here is large and is surrounded by homes, some rental and some private. There is a very good restaurant at the marina which has Karaoke on Thursday nights. There were many golf carts parked nearby as the restaurant was very busy.

WHAT MAKES THIS JOURNEY INTERESTING

June 18, 2012  Dateline:  Georgetown, SC USA

I sat in Georgetown, SC for the past two weeks. Rich and Carol returned last Friday and were getting ready to go on Saturday.  What they did not know was that something went wrong with my battery charger and it stopped charging the batteries so there was insufficient energy to start the engines.  Rich made a phone call to a mechanic and the process started to get me fixed.  Since my electrical system is 24 volts it is not easy to get parts. Rich and the mechanic started internet searches to find a new one.  Oh well, these little bumps in the road are what make the journey interesting.  If everything went smoothly there would be nothing to remember.  Stay tuned for developments

Rich and Carol have moved into a hotel close by as without DC power many things on me will not work.  Things that are not working on the 24 volt system include the heads and the fresh water pump. Without these they can not stay onboard.  Rich has decided that since there is little to do it would be a good time to wax me.  With the traveling schedule that he and Carol have been following, I have not been taken care of very well.  So I am glad that he has this time to take care of me.

Last week, Rich and Carol saw several of their Looper friends as they arrived in Cape May.  One of them had some pictures he took when I was going into the marina at Aberdeen, AL.  The fall colors were out and the channel was pretty narrow. We traveled between the trees.  You can see for yourself in these pictures.

Yesterday, Rich and Carol did a walking tour of Georgetown, SC.  Like many of the towns they visited, Georgetown was once very rich, today while it has a steel and paper mill but a major portion of its economy is based on tourism.  The city was founded on rice and indigo, a blue dye for cotton.  The homes in the downtown area reflect the money that these agricultural products brought to the city.  The city’s first mayor decided that the city would look good if it had oak trees lining the streets.  Each of the downtown streets, except the main street, is lined with huge beautiful old oak trees.

Indigo Society Building

FRIENDS

June 12, 2012  Dateline: Cape May, NJ USA

Forget the dateline stuff, I am still in Georgetown, SC tied at the dock waiting for Rich and Carol to come back and get me.  I am beginning to know what a puppy feels like when it left alone all day.  At least at Canyon Club when I am left alone my friends are there with me, here I don’t know anyone.  Oh well enough of my problems.  Rich asked if he could do a posting and so I agreed.

Rich here, thanks Salt ‘n Sand.  Carol and I have been asked; what is the best part of the Loop?  The answer is the people you met along the way, without a doubt.  We all have different boats, travel at different speeds and take different routes.  Sometimes routes cross each other again after many months.  Earlier this week there were 5 Looper boats in Canyon Club Marina. They arrived on different days at different times. Carol and I were there too but without our Salt ‘n Sand.  We organized a gathering around the marina pool and I thought I would comment on who attended, as well as where and when we met them.

From left to right:

·         Sid & Evelyn from SOMETHING SPECIAL: they live in Canada and we met them on the Mississippi River at Beardstown, IL in September 2011.

·         Fred & Julaine from BOREAS: they live in Michigan and we met them at Joe Wheeler State Park in Alabama, in October 2011.

·         John & Mary from MARY FRANCES IV:  they live in Michigan and we met them at Joe Wheeler State Park in Alabama, in October 2011.

·         John & Mary from PASSPORT:  they live in Illinois and we met them at Frankfort, MI on their first day on the Loop, in August 2011. 

·         Rich & Carol from SALT ‘n SAND: that’s us!!!

·         Joe & Pat from GLORY DAYS: they live in Massachusetts and we met them in August 2011 in Killbear, Ontario Canada.

It sure was nice to see them all. When they leave here, once again they will all be going in the same direction but to different destinations.

EASY DAYS FOR ME

June 3, 2012  Dateline: Georgetown, SC USA

It’s been a few easy days for me.  Yesterday, Rich and Carol continued their tour of Charleston.  For Rich it was more like when can we get back to the Moon Pie ® store? Suddenly Cindy said let’s go to the Moon Pie® store.  I understand Rich did not disagree with her and off they went. He bought at least 4 boxes of mini-Moon Pies and a Moon Pie baseball cap

Charleston has a sailing schooner named the PRIDE.  Rich got this picture of her out in the harbor under full sail, it sure is very pretty, but of course not as pretty as me.  They also saw the aircraft carrier Yorktown; she is a lot larger than I am and I bet she has a deeper draft.

The night before I left Charleston, Rich captured this sunset.

Well today I got up early and was on my way by 8 o’clock.  Rich asked the dockhand to help get me away from the slip.  I was on an inside slip against a bulkhead without a piling to separate me from the sailboat next to me and the current in the river was getting stronger.  Rich got me out without incident.
Of course, the Caterpillars had a lot to do with it.

Off we went, past Fort Sumter, past the sunken rock jetty, and then turned north. Rich set my autopilot, moved the throttles forward, and away we went.  The sea was flat and I enjoyed myself once again.  We arrived at Winyah Bay and there were some commercial fishing boats fishing in the channel of course.  Since these boats were draggers I stopped and waited until they were out of the way because neither Rich nor I knew where their nets were.  The dolphin and birds seemed to know because they were swimming and flying behind the fishing boats picking up the leftovers.

Georgetown, SC is about 17 miles up the Winyah Bay so it was a long ride up to the marina.  The good news is that the bay is wide and the channel well marked so I didn’t have to slow down.  The bay is tidal and where the marina is located and the current is very strong.  Rich came in to the marina and filled me with some diesel then he had to move me down the dock towards another boat with the current pushing me.  The owner of the other boat must have been nervous because he came out to watch the move.  Well I showed him how it is done and slide right back to where I needed to be, a touch of the Caterpillars in forward and I stopped exactly where I was supposed to.

Rich and Carol tied me up real good and put out my inflatable fenders so that they could leave me for two weeks.

CHARLESTON, SC

June 2, 2012  Dateline:  Charleston, SC USA

Charleston, SC was the richest city in United States prior to the Civil War.  The largest portion of the population consisted of the slaves and their rich owners.  The very rich had plantations in the low country islands and came to Charleston to escape the heat and insects that harassed them in the summer on the plantations.  They built cottages that today are considered to be mansions.  Houses were built sideways on the streets so that their windows would face the open water which ensured that they would receive a breeze from the ocean.  That breeze did two things for them, first it cooled their houses and secondly it also kept the flying insects at bay.  The war sapped all of the economic wealth out of the city, thus from the cessation of armed hostility between the Union and the Confederacy until the 1940’s Charleston all but died.  There was no attraction to immigrants as there was in the northern cities of New York and Philadelphia so the city’s population stagnated while the north grew.  Someone decided that tourism would be a good business and the city could capitalize on its beautiful houses and all of the old buildings that remained after the Civil War.  In fact the City was so poor that in the late 1880s when it was hit by an earthquake buildings were repaired rather than being simply torn down.  Repair was cheaper at the time.  Now any structure that is at least 75 years old cannot be demolished and must be kept in good repair.

There are two groups of people in Charleston that live near the Battery;  S O Bs and S N O Bs.  The S O Bs live South Of Broad Street.  These are the very wealthiest people in Charleston.  The other group is those who live Slightly North Of Broad.  These people are not exactly poor but they are less wealthy than the SOBs. 

Every wonder where the name for the little delicious round fried ball of corn meal came from.  Since the kitchens were located outside of the main house and the slaves had to carry food from the outside kitchen to the main house, the master’s dogs would harass them.  They made these round balls and threw them to the dogs saying “Hush Puppy” and so the name stuck to the balls of fried corn meal.

Tomorrow we will be up early again to head for Georgetown, SC. The route will be 69 miles and will be out into the ocean.  I will enjoy that because I can run fast and don’t have to worry about shallow waters.

THE WAR OF NORTHERN AGGRESSION STARTED HERE

June 1, 2012  Dateline Charleston, SC USA

Rich and Carol got me up early yesterday and I was on my way by 6:45 AM.  I was close between two other boats and their captains helped Rich get me out from between them.  The trip of some 67 miles was along the Intercoastal Waterway and was a slow one for nearly 7 hours, less than 10 miles an hour.  Rich could have made me go faster but I think he was concerned about the narrow channels and the surprise shoaling that occurs in the channel.

Cindy and Matt along with their bulldogs, Lucy and Eva, drove ahead on land.  As Cindy and Matt drove over the James Island Parkway Bridge in Charleston I went under it. How is that for timing?

Along the way I saw these Coasties repairing a channel marker.  Later in the day they flew passed me and didn’t seem to worry about their wake.  Oh well, I guess it is do as I say not as I do.

The tide here is nearly 7 feet so periodically I would imagine that during the course of a day this boat actually floats.

Carol has been trying to get pictures of dolphins with no success.  Well she tried again and here is what she got. She doesn’t realize that dolphins hide from me and the sound of my engines.  Notice the ripples in the water ahead of my bow, they were made by dolphins.

In Charleston, Cindy told Rich that there was a Moon Pie ® retail store in the city.  She knew exactly where it was located so it was one of the first places that they went to.  Moon Pie ® now has a cardboard carry box that contains two full size Moon Pies ® and two bottles of Royal Crown Cola, how good can it get!

This afternoon, they all went to Fort Sumter where the War of Northern Aggression commenced.  Considering that South Carolina attacked the Union I wonder who the real aggressor was.  Above the Fort there are 5 flags flying, two that represented the union before and later in the War; two that represent the official Confederacy flags and the one in the middle is the state flag of South Carolina.

The USS Yorktown is also a museum located in Charleston, they did not have time to visit it but it sure makes for a pretty picture.  

The end of another day!!