Wrightsville Beach, NC to Charleston, SC

10 Nov 2010  Wrightsville Beach to Southport, NC
We spent a second day in WB and walked up to the grocery store.  On the way we found a great "locals" place and stopped for lunch.  Sweet & Savory Bakeshop & Cafe is definitely worth a return trip!  Headed down to Southport to explore the town - something we've not done in years past.

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A few sights along the way....

Queue for Figure Eight Island Swing Bridge

Yard Art

Re-connected with Joy & Chuck Fletcher on Sea Nest, a 47' DeFever.  Found a great little restaurant for dinner, Fishy Fishy Cafe, on the waterfront.  Joy fixed us the best She-Crab soup I've ever had the next day for lunch!


12 Nov 2010 Southport, NC to Barefoot Landing, SC
Passed through the Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge for the last time.  A new high rise bridge has been completed to replace it.

Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge with high rise bridge in background

We stopped at Barefoot Landing for 2 nights.  Great happy hour at The Flying Fish.  Shay & Elizabeth Glass, new DeFever owners spent most of Saturday going over things we did on our boat.


14 Nov 2010  Barefoot Landing to Thoroughfare Creek, SC
I'm always struck by the natural beauty of the Waccamaw River everytime we pass through this area.  The waterway is lined with cypress trees.

We anchored off the river in a creek that is quite popular with the locals on weekends.  There's a neat sand dune that kids and dogs love.

Sand dune - Thoroughfare Creek anchorage

We watched 2 Canadian sailboats with 4 young children between them romp on the dune after anchoring.

Sailboats - Thoroughfare Creek

Canadian kids cavort on the dune

Beautiful sunset...

Sunset in Thoroughfare Creek

Anchorage off the Waccamaw River in Thoroughfare Creek

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16 Nov 2010  Thoroughfare Creek to Five Fathom Creek, SC
We ended up anchoring at Five Fathom Creek, just off McClellanville as one heads to sea.  The holding is excellent here; at max ebb or flood about 1kt of current runs through here.  We're anchored where the green arrow is.




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16 Nov 2010  Five Fathom Creek to Isle of Palms, SC 
We elected to stop at Isle of Palms to position ourselves to arrive in Charleston at slack water.  We're never stopped here before so this is another first.  We walked over to the beach and enjoyed a yummy chocolate dessert from the Morgan Creek Grill. 



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17 Nov 2010  Isle of Palms to Charleston, SC
We timed our arrival into the City Marina at slack water.  Here's a photo of our approach into The Magadock.

The Megadock - Charleston City marina

The Megadock is 1500 feet long.  The city marina has 19,000 linear feet of dock space across 40 acres.  It is a good walk out to the main drag.  We're here for 10 days, visiting friends and relatives.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Coinjock to Wrightsville Beach, NC

2 Nov 2010  Coinjock to Pungo River anchorage, NC
After looking at the long range weather forecast we (Summer Wind and ourselves) decided to bypass the Outer Banks.  The forecast suggested we'd be sitting and waiting on the weather.  We headed out onto the Albemarle Sound.  Somewhere close to the middle, our stabilizers were turned on to prevent us from rolling.  The weather forecast had suggested we would not have flat water.  We traveled just short of 10 hours and anchored for the evening.

Sunset in Pungo River anchorage

3 Nov 2010  Pungo River to Long Creek, NC
Opted to anchor short of crossing the top edge of Pamlico Sound due to the weather.  Summer Wind rafted with us and treated us to great chili for dinner.

4 Nov 2010 Long Creek to Cedar Creek, NC
Departed in the fog with less than a 1/4 mile visibility.  The fog cleared as we neared the Pamlico.  It was a short day across the edge of Pamlico Sound and up the Neuse River.  We were ahead of the rough weather and small craft warnings predicted.  Summer Wind rafted with us but after a few good wakes we all concurred that it wasn't desirable.

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 5 Nov 2010  Cedar Creek to Morehead City, NC
Another short day - we moored in a slip belonging to Shay Glass (Escape); a new DeFever owner we met at the Southern Rendezvous in St Augustine.  Since we'll be here for a couple days, light grocery shopping and laundry are in the equation.  58 degrees here and sunny.  The Morehead City Yacht Basin is well protected; nice place to stop.

7 Nov 2010  Morehead City to Mile Hammock Bay, NC
Tried several good restaurants here; Floyds stands out.  Best collard greens I've ever eaten (I've only had them twice).  Linked up with Robin & Jim Roberts (Adventures) before we left.  We arrived at Mile Hammock Bay shortly after noon and were surprised at the number of boats already anchored.  Mile Hammock Bay is located within the confines of  Camp Lejeune.

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Home of Marine Expeditionary Forces in Readiness, Camp Lejeune is the largest Marine Corps Base on the East Coast.  To help prepare warfighters for combat and humanitarian missions abroad, Camp Lejeune takes advantage of 156,000 acres, 11 miles of beach capable of supporting amphibious operations, 32 gun positions, 48 tactical landing zones, three state-of-the-art training facilities for Military Operations in Urban Terrain and 80 live fire ranges to include the Greater Sandy Run Training Area.  Fortunately for us, it was a quiet evening.  By sunset 25 boats were anchored in the basin.

Sunset at Mile Hammock Bay

8 Nov 2010  Mile Hammock Bay to Wrightsville Beach, NC
With the exception of 3 boats, the anchorage had emptied out by 0745.  We caught up with 2 waves of sailboats at the bridges.  Beautiful day; windy but sunny.  Anchored in Wrightsville Beach and went ashore for lunch and a New York Times.

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Ft Monroe, VA to Coinjock, NC

31 October 2010- Ft Monroe to Great Bridge, VA
Normally our stay at the Ft Monroe anchorage is uneventful. This time we had 15-20 kt winds from the west. The boat pitched and rolled all night - no one got any sleep. You could hear the waves under the hull - it was like listening to the waves as they hit the beach.

I was happy to get underway.  We took on 375 gallons of diesel fuel in Portsmouth.  By noon we were ready to put on our shorts.  There's one lock in Great Bridge but it is really an easy one.  When we passed through the lock we got the last spot on the wall at Great Bridge. There were 2 other Defevers there; aCapella (Jeff & Karen Siegel of Active Captain), and Claire de Lune. John Peach, Palette, was also moored. We watched the American Cruise Ship, Independence, pass through the lock. 

Cruise Ship Independence

Coinjock Marina

1 November 2010 - Great Bridge, VA to Coinjock, NC
Needless to say we both got a well deserved good nights sleep. We cleared the bridge beyond our mooring at 1000. This part of the ICW deserves the name you often hear given - The Ditch. There are lots of stumps in the water on both sides.  We decided to stop in Coinjock at the Midway marina where friends, Dick & Elle Lassman are staying aboard Summer Wind.  We've never stopped here before, normally we anchor a little farther south.  Coinjock is just a bump on the road.  You can see it from the highway bridge when you travel to the Outer Banks.  It is a very popular stop for boats that do not want to anchor.  Weather permitting, we will set out for Manteo (on Roanoke Island in the Outer Banks) tomorrow.  This be be a first for us.