Osprey Marina

Myrtle Beach, SC

33 40.853 079 02.47 W

It't one of those days so nice that I makes you want to shout. It's calm, it's dry, the temperature is 72F, the sky is cloudless and tonight there will be a brilliant full moon. It's the kind of day where it would be nice to float down a lazy river on an inner tube.

Just to cap the feeling, we pulled in to Osprey Marina for the night. Osprey Marina is famous among East Coast cruisers as one of the most pleasant of all places to say. It's quiet, friendly, and very well sheltered. If it was stormy, we'd hardly know. See the picture.

Tonight we get to visit with Ray and Pat. They are one of two pairs of our cruising friends who gave up cruising on water with a boat to cruise on land with an RV. I plan to grill them tonight for a comparison of the life styles.

Ain't Technology Wonderful

Calabash Creek, SC
33 53.32 N 078 34.19 W

On one hand, we rejoice on the marvels of modern technology. On the other hand, we lament dependence on gadgets and the loss of older skills. Let's discuss a little of each.

Rejoice first. In past years, I downloaded reports of trouble spots on the ICW. Those are places where you might run aground. The reports were all prose. They describe where the spot is using waterway names and nearby landmarks. They tell what to do, stay left, stay right, not at low tide. Struggling to precisely understand that prose and match it with what you see with your eyes and ears is very stressful. Worse, for hours in advance of reaching the trouble spot the prose preys on the mind causing worry.

Technology to the rescue. Starting this trip, I found that I can download recent survey maps directly from the Army Corps of Engineers. The one above is an example. No prose is needed. No unnecessary worry is caused because of uncertainly. The maps are crystal clear. I know exactly what to expect. Better still, I can download these maps to my laptop screen using my Driod phone as a modem.

There are several more advanced uses of this technology that even I haven't tried yet. One can get lists of GPS waypoints forming routes to travel. The lists can be uploaded to Google Earth and to Google Maps. Since my phone's version of Earth and Maps uses the built-in GPS, it shows exactly where we are. One can even upload the GPS waypoints to one's onboard chart plotter. If you're really foolish, you can slave the boat's autopilot to automatically steer that route. Google has robot cars that drive by themselves; sounds like boats are next.

On the other hand, a couple of weeks ago, I wrote that I would never attempt to navigate into Newark/Portsmouth VA at night without a chart plotter. Paper charts would not be enough if one couldn't see the buoy numbers.

I thought about that after writing the post. I could do it with a paper chart, compass, stopwatch, rulers, pencils and dividers. Have I ever practiced that in real life in a real complicated harbor area? No. Do I have the latest edition of all charts? No.

It is much easier and very seductive to say that I'll do it with GPS help only, or else stand off and wait for daylight.

A similar case comes with the exit to Little Shark River in Florida. There is a series of parallel sand bars off shore; each about 1 mile long, 200 yards apart, and each too shallow to sail over. Without a GPS chart plotter, navigation isn't accurate enough to confidently sail between the bars. The alternative is to sail about 5 miles south, then 5 miles back again, adding about two hours to the passage. With the chart plotter, we have three times navigated confidently with bars 100 yards to the left and right, but deep water under the keel.

What's my point? Simply that I find it almost impossible to not be seduced by modern technology, and to use it to extend the envelope of things I dare to do. It nags at my mind. I shouldn't do it so much, but I can't help myself.

First Dolphins

Cape Fear River, NC

34 01.02 N 077 56.44 W

We saw our first dolphins of the season this morning. They weren't out at sea, but rather in the ICW. There were two of them and they swam along side us for a while. It was a welcome sight, and symbolic of our return to subtropical regions and to the winter season to come.

We are sincerely hoping that this winter will not be a repeat of last winter's cold. According to all the folk lore and farmer's almanac type signs we've heard so far, it should be milder.

There's two ways to travel on the ICW. There's the tourist mode, where one stops frequently to take in the sights and the local color. Then there's the commuter mode when the goal is trying to get as far as possible in minimum time. This trip we're in the commuter mode. We would like to be in Georgia early next week, and we need to be in Melbourne, FL by November 12. It appears that we'll be lucky to get to Beaufort, SC by Wednesday next week.

The winds haven't been favorable to go on the outside. On the inside, the tidal currents and the drawbridge schedules have been working against us. Therefore our progress is agonizingly slow. In three days since leaving Oriental, we have traveled only about 100 miles.

If we could have gone on the outside, we would be arriving in Florida about now. What does that say? This is our 6th southward migration. The first 3 times we traveled primarily on the inside because of weather. The 4th and 5th times we were blessed with extra good luck that let us make speedy and comfortable outside passages. Counting on that luck is a sign of being spoiled.

Live Fire

Camp Lejeune, NC

34 33.08 N 077 19.44 w

Last week while visiting Hancock Marina we heard a distant booming. At first I thought it was thunder, but there were no thunderstorms around. We learned that it was bombing practice.

Today, we heard the whump whump of explosions most of the day as we approached Camp Lejeune. It is a very unselling sound. All I could think of was the Germans in Berlin listening as Russian artillery approached the city in 1945.

At one point, we had to stop. There was a sign with blinking lights that said "Do not proceed if blinking. Live fire in progress." Well, we certainly didn't want to ignore that, so we dropped anchor. Soon though, our friend Calypso came along and they heard on the radio that the marines were done with live fire for the day and departed, but they forgot to turn off the blinking lights. With trepidation, we proceeded -- it was OK.

Surprise. We departed Moorhead City at 0700 this morning. At 0800, as we passed a side creek we saw a Westsail 32 coming out of the creek toward us. It was Jeff and Wendy on Calypso. What a nice surprise. We cruised together all day.

After anchoring here, I rowed the dinghy over to borrow Jeff for some assistance. Jeff and Libby hauled me up the mast and I reattached the side stays properly. We have been cruising (but not sailing) with Amsteel ropes temporarily doing what the side stays do. We feel much better with things up properly. However, we couldn't use the tangs that came in the package that came yesterday. They were the wrong kind. Instead, I straightened the old tangs and reused them. When we get the right kind of new tangs, I'll replace them.

p.s. We're right next to a landing spot where the Marines practice with the monsterous CH-53 helicopters and the new V22 Osprey. It's like a free air show.

On The Road Again

Moorhead City, NC

34 43.19 N 076 42.57 W

We waited at Oriental Marina for our UPS package containing the parts to repair our rigging. It finally came at 1330. We left immediately. We want to press on making the best time possible southward.

Next week is Nick's graduation from infantry school at Fort Benning Georgia. We want to be there for that. If possible, we'd like to leave Tarwathie at Saint Mary's GA and drive to Fort Benning.

We may not get that far though. The winds aren't favorable for offshore passage and Saint Mary's is 500 ICW miles away. Motoring 12 hours per day that will take 9 days; about 2 days longer than we have available.

Oh well, we'll keep our fingers crossed for favorable winds. Saint Marys is only 400 miles away as the crow flies. That's only 3.5 days travel on the outside. If that doesn't happen, we'll have to find a place closer than Saint Marys.

Along the way, we hope for an evening at Osprey Marina in Myrtle Beach. Our friends Ray and Pat will be near there this week.

Anyhow, the NC weather is very pleasant this time of year. Daily temperature ranges are about 48-72F (9-22C). The sunsets have been spectacular. We're having fun.