Wilmington, NC

April 19, 2015

We saw Jim and Mimi off early yesterday morning.  I just had to borrow this pic from Mimi's blog (as I am apt to do, thanks Mimi for giving me access to your pics!) as it clearly shows our emotions at seeing our buddies off.

We decided to stay one extra day at the marina in Carolina Beach.  The morning turned out lovely, perfect for one last walk on the beach. The afternoon was forecasted to storm.  By then we were all tucked in, snug as two bugs in a rug, with pretty good t.v. access.  Jeff had his choice of baseball, hockey or golf to watch.  A happy guy! I had a couple of movies on the 'puter that were calling out to me.  So after our walk on the beach we settled in, cuddled on the couch, to weather out the storm.


By this morning all had cleared.  The water was calm and the sky was blue with cotton candy clouds.  We headed up the Cape Fear river enjoying the boost the current was giving us.  At one point we saw over ten knots.  Not too shabby.  Jeff busied himself with chores while I drove.  It's a pretty busy port, Wilmington.

We radioed ahead and the old bridge that we required to lift opened without a hitch. The folks at the marina said sometimes the bridge keeper dozes off and you have to park the boat and climb up to rap on the window to wake him.  Today he was alert and ready for us.

With mixed emotions we watched as Gran Vida was hauled, power washed and blocked.  Her bottom was in amazingly good shape!  Not a blister or soft spot in sight and pretty clean. The remainder of the day was spent spit-shining, organizing and packing.  Jeff had to get his head around "summerizing" (if that's the right word) instead of "winterizing" the engine.

So here concludes this chapter of our Great Loop Adventure.  We've had more fun and laughs than we could even begin to count.  We've been scared a couple of times. We've seen sights, met awesome people and been challenged more than we expected.  We've learned a few good life lessons about ourselves, what it takes to make things "click" and have narrowed our focus to what's really important in life. Schmaltzy stuff, eh?  But heartfelt.

Thanks for following along on our adventure.  If you find yourself in the Penetanguishene area come say hello.  We'd love to see you!

Stay tuned for chapter two, fall of 2015.  Bahamas, watch out!

And that's all I have to say about that.

Cape Fear, North Carolina

Tides are something that we were
once worried about but now have
become part of our daily planning.

A cold, wet front has settled into the area.  We stayed at the free dock in Myrtle Beach for several days, getting chores and shopping done.  I went for long walks in the light rain as Jeff changed the oil and completed various task to get the boat ready for her summer nap (ever since I fell in the open engine hatch, way back on the Tenn-Tom, he kicks me out of the boat when he's got it all opened up.  Can't say I blame him! hehe).

We cast off around 8:00 a.m. and moseyed on up to Cape Fear, North Carolina. Yet another State.  The last one in this chapter of our Great Loop Adventure.   We had selected a marina right at the point where Perfect Balance was going to continue up North and we were going to turn West, inland a bit.  More evenings of pot-luck dinners, socializing and cards with the Mitchell's were enjoyed.


Finally the rain stopped and the sun came out.  It had been about five days since we'd seen it.  We could hear the roar of the ocean from our slip at Joyner Marina so we knew we must be close.  A little investigation lead the way to the walking path, which lead to a long board walk perched over the sand dunes, which lead straight to the beach.  We enjoyed a long walk on beach and then out for our "last supper" with Jim and Mimi before we part ways.

Today begins the beginning of the end of our trip.  Tomorrow morning after a good pump-out, probably several pump-outs with bleachy water being swished through the tanks, we'll close up the head and turn our bow West to head up the Cape Fear River towards Wilmington, NC.  where we're getting hauled out.  While we're excited about getting home and seeing family and friends, and also Jeff's new job, it's a little bitter sweet watching the Mitchells head off to finish their loop.  Bye-bye guys.  Stay safe.  We'll be following your blog every step of the way.

Myrtle Beach, Continued

We're still here at our lovely free dock under the overpass.  This is a great place!  Close to everything, nice new dock but best of all, free!  We decided to rent a car and spread our wealth around Myrtle Beach, seeing as they are nice enough to provide this dock.

Myrtle Beach is known for it's golf courses, so we dug the clubs out from under the V-berth, loaded them into the car and all climbed aboard, just as the rain began.  Harumph.  We drove around town hoping it would stop, to no avail.  We ended up going shopping for the supplies we need to put the boat away for the summer and spent the evening on Perfect Balance, sharing a pot-luck dinner and playing cards.  Unfortunately, my memory is a little foggy on who won.  You might have to check out Perfect Balance's blog for details:  mvperfectbalance.blogspot.com

We had hoped to get our round of golf in the next morning; however, we woke to soft rain which continued well into the morning.  So a plan B was in order.  We decided to take a drive to Wilmington, NC to check out the place we were planning to store our boat.  It turned out that we had made a great decision.  The place looks great, the folks are very friendly and professional, and it is far enough from the shore to make it much safer in a hurricane.  We were delighted with it.

By the time we got back to Myrtle Beach the rain had stopped and we were able to get nine holes in at a local par three.  Jeff and I had played this course before so we were familiar with it but unfortunately the course had fallen into disrepair and the greens were just terrible.  We're not all that serious about our golf and we managed to have fun anyway.

We have been busily getting all our ducks in a row for our return home, booking our flights, arranging housing for when we get there, making plans for the boat, etc etc. We heard there is still ICE on the bay! Yikes!  We're crossing our fingers that it will be gone by the time we get there.

OK we admit it.  These pictures are staged. Like I said, we're not all that serious about our golf.

Myrtle Beach, SC

Happy birthday to Jeff!  Happy birthday to Jeff!  Today we moved on up the coast to Myrtle Beach.  The terrain of low, grassy islands has given way to spanish moss laden forests.  Very pretty and sometimes a little eery looking.

We made it to Myrtle Beach and boated past many familiar sights. Jeff has visited Myrtle Beach many times for family and golfing fun.  I've been here once just a couple of years ago on a road trip, back when we were in the planning stages for this trip.  It was fun to see all the familiar sights and marinas from the water this time.

Lo and behold!  Myrtle Beach has a very nice free dock and there was just enough room (barely) for two more boats to squeeze in.  We made it in time for Jeff to watch the end of the Masters' golf tournament -- his birthday wish. Later we enjoyed his chosen birthday dinner of BBQ steaks, garlic mashed potatoes and ceasar salad aboard Perfect Balance.  Mimi was kind enough to bake a cake for Jeff, and it was yummy!  Thanks Mimi!!  Mmmm, nothing like chocolate cake with a great big glass of milk.

After dinner we had a short walk to stretch our legs and enjoy the night air.  We were so tired by that point we could barely keep our eyes open but it would take more than that to stop the die-hard euchre tournament.  We managed one of our three nightly games but had to throw in the towel and head to bed.  To be continued tonight.....

                                                   

Georgetown, South Carolina

We are continuing to work our way North on the ICW, only this time with a definite goal in mind. We've received a few comments from people wondering why we're moving so fast up the coast, it is, afterall, only early April.  At this point we're ready to announce that Jeff has accepted a job at home in Penetanguishene and we're putting our Looping adventure on hold for a little while.  He will be the Harbour Master for the Historic Port of Penetanguishene.  It is a seasonal position beginning April 25 and going until the end of October, which leaves us perfectly poised to head South for the winter again next year and continue our journey! Watch out Bahamas, here we come!  We're going to put Gran Vida up on the hard in North Carolina for the summer, go home and since our house is rented out and we have great tenants, probably pick up another boat to spend the summer on in Canada.

In the meantime we have a week or so to loop our hearts out. 









 Presently we are anchored in downtown Georgetown, SC., hanging out and enjoying time with our buddies, Jim and Mimi from Perfect Balance.  Georgetown is a nice little town.  We anchored in a channel in about six feet of water, with the town on one side and grassy islands on the other.  Around the corner you could see the heart of this town, with several large factories working away.  

It is Jeff's birthday today (Happy birthday, Jeffy!!) so to begin the celebration we went into town, tied up at the free dinghy dock, and set out to enjoy a few local establishments.  We enjoyed a nice evening out with lots of fun, games and laughter.  Yes, Jim and I even let Jeff and Mimi win at euchre.  A great time was had by all!



The plan for today is to push on towards Myrtle Beach.

Charleston Continued

It was with heavy hearts that we saw Jim and Mimi off.  Like typical loopers, their plans had them

moving on today, while we weren't sure what we were doing, staying in Charleston for a bit or moving on North.  Bye-bye Jim and Mimi.  It has been a BLAST travelling with you!  We hope to either catch up soon on the loop or see you in Ontario, whichever way our plans work out.

Jeff and I took the water taxi over to Charleston again and did something I've always wanted to do but never have.  We signed up for a horse drawn carriage ride. When we heard the price of a private tour, both being frugal by nature, we opted for the group tour.  Along the way we learned that we weren't even actually on a "horse" drawn carriage tour, these babies were actually mules.  So, instead of a horse drawn carriage tour we ended up with a cheap-ass ride but, nevertheless, it was awesome!  There's just something relaxing about moving slowly through such a beautiful historic town while listening to the clop clop of hoofs.  Very enjoyable.  We also learned that all their mules come from my the mennonites around my home town, Waterloo Ontario.

It turns out we stayed in Charleston only one more day.  With a few decisions made, the next morning I reprovisioned while Jeff got the boat ready and we shoved off, heading North.  We put in a long day of travel, with the current pushing us an extra knot or two all day, and caught up with Jim and Mimi again, anchored in Georgetown.  Both being exhausted, we said our good nights to Perfect Balance over the radio, had a quick bite and an early night.  Tomorrow, we'll check out Georgetown, SC.  Below are some of the pictures from our day in Charleston:

Charleston, SC. Day One

We weighed anchor early and started to putt slowly through the fog towards Charleston. We arrived at our decided upon marina around midday.  This marina, Charleston Harbour Marina, is huge!  It's attached to a hotel and we have use of the pool, hot tub and the free shuttle into town.  We plan to spend a few days here checking things out. 

We spent the afternoon and evening hanging out at the resort, with enough fun and laughs to give us sore cheeks once again.

The next day we took the shuttle into Charleston and walked for hours around the beautiful city.  The shuttle bus dropped us off at the huge crafters' market so that's where we started our tour.  Then we walked all through a beautiful old neighbourhood with many houses and churches dating back a couple of centuries.

I should also add as a footnote that yes, we're docked in North Charleston and there have been vigils and peaceful protests going on regarding the Saturday's shooting of a black man, Walter Scott, by a police officer.  I had a great conversation on the city bus about it with a local young man.  Rest in peace, Walter Scott.