On to Charleston

River Dunes was a welcome visit since we were able to plug the boat in and ensure we had a couple of warm nights.  Oriental is a pretty small town, but we shared a great meal at MandM's with our boat friends, other "Island Packeteers" traveling south.  After a couple days, we continued on the waterway and made our way to Beaufort, NC.  We enjoyed this little town immensely, both last Fall and this past Spring, and were happy to stop by again.  We tried the Blue Moon Bistro and were very impressed by the food and service at this chef-owned restaurant.  We both got some work done and headed out again onto the waterway a couple days later.

Our travels took us past the Marine Corps base Camp Lejeune.  All of a sudden, there was a huge helicopter 100 yards away, idling on land on the side of the waterway with a bunch of guys hanging out.  One of them, in his flight suit, walked straight into the water up to his neck!  What!  Then, he walked back out - guess he just needed to cool off?  Around the bend, we pulled into an anchorage with several other boats and dropped the hook for the night.  But, instead of being a nice quiet anchorage a military "Osprey" was doing touch and go maneuvers.  An Osprey is a plane with very large propellers on wings that tilt so that it can land and take off like a helicopter.  It was flying in, landing, hanging out, flying out, flying back in, hanging out, etc, etc, etc!  It stopped around 5pm and we figured they were done for the night, but it started up again around 9pm.  It was pretty loud and we hoped it would stop soon so we could sleep - which it eventually did.  We were familiar with the Osprey because a small squadron of them delivered President Obama to Martha's Vineyard directly over our boat in Lake Tashmoo last summer.

A more noisy "Osprey" then the bird

Up early the next morning, we continued on our way to Southport, NC.  By this time, we were traveling again with "Cutter Loose" and we anchored near one another in Dutchman's Creek.  (just south of Southport).  Again, up early and off to North Myrtle Beach and Barefoot Landing Marina.  Here there is a large outlet mall right at the docks, with a man-made lake and lots of shopping and restaurants.  We shared a great Italian meal at Umberto's.  Yum!

Off early the next morning, we enjoyed the ride through Myrtle Beach - golf heaven and beautiful homes lining the waterway.  Somewhere in here, Greg decided to re-program the "smart" regulator because he was not happy with the charge level from the engine's alternator to the batteries.  When he opened the compartment to do this, he found that saltwater had infiltrated this area (in the engine room).  The sound insulation was wet, the pads below the engine to catch any oil drips were soaked and you could see signs of salt dried on parts of the engine.  What!  The good news is that Greg has been a motor head (just like his brothers!) ever since he was a teenager, so he knows engines - which is great since Sharon is totally clueless in this department.  He finally found out that it was a tiny drip coming from a vacuum switch on a device called a "vented loop" and when the engine was revved beyond 2600 rpm's it became a quick drip.  He was able to do a temporary fix and immediately went online and located the manufacturer in Florida.  The owner is a boater and was very helpful.  He sent two new replacements for the vacuum switch that was bad (the piece of the vented loop), to arrive at the marina in Charleston in a few days, where we had plans to stay.

We navigated the Waccamaw River, which is very beautiful, and were deciding whether to stop in Georgetown or continue on.  We talked about going offshore from Georgetown to Charleston, but the weather was deteriorating and we were not comfortable with our engine situation, so we stayed inside.  Another beautiful anchorage at the South Santee River got us within a day of Charleston.

A Great Blue Heron and a Kingfisher - Ha!  What are the odds?

We got an early morning start from the Santee and motored along at a good pace keeping the engine running at 2500 rpm's, slightly slower than our normal 2700 RPMs (we didn't have the new part yet!)  We navigated the inlets and creeks as we got close to Isle of Palms and Sullivan's Island, just north of Charleston.  We were happy that we stayed inside as winds were up.  When we got to the Ben Sawyer Bridge - the last bridge that you have to wait for an opening before Charleston - the bridge tender wouldn't open due to winds that she was apparently clocking at 26 - 30 knots.  So - we hung out just north of the bridge awhile, kept calling and asking if she would open, kept getting a no, she couldn't open, and finally decided to drop the hook in a nearby creek.  That was interesting!  The currents are strong in that area with the five foot tidal range and the currents were fighting with the winds. Dream Catcher kept spinning in circles!  "Cutter Loose" was nearer the mouth of the creek and the wind was keeping it in place.  Before night fell, we decided to move Dream Catcher and went back out into the waterway and dropped the hook.  There is very little, if any, night traffic on the waterway, but we lit the cockpit up pretty brightly as a precaution. There were three other boats anchored with us, so we felt relatively safe for the night.  Plus, Greg has this cool anchor alarm app that will tell you if you are dragging anchor.  We both got a better sleep than expected.

A cool shot of ""Cutter Loose" at anchor

We saw three Bald Eagles this day!

The next morning, we had to wait until at least 9am to call the bridge since they stay closed for rush hour.  We got the same report - "No, sorry, I can't open due to high winds."  So - we relaxed, hung out, tried to get some work done and called her every hour.  Finally at 1:45pm, she called and announced, "To all the sailboats north of the Ben Sawyer Bridge, I will have an opening."  By this time, there were about 10 of us.  Of course, we had to scramble, stop what we were doing, get the anchor up in the rain and get close to the bridge opening.  Fifteen minutes later we were through the bridge and motored the last two miles up the harbor to Charleston Maritime Center.  We pulled in just at slack tide and tied up next to three more Island Packets.

After a boat wash and shower, we buddied up with Eric and Pat on "Cutter Loose" and headed into town for a long anticipated meal.  First night was a beer at Craftsman Kitchen and Tap House and then dinner at Hank's Seafood.  Second night was a treat at 167 Raw filled with oysters, crab claws and shrimp - washed down with some great beer!  Last night was a French/Sushi restaurant (crazy combination) called 39 Rue de Jean that was very good!  Only two nights left to eat our way around Charleston with friends.  It has been a blast!