Cruising Update

We've had a great time since we left the anchorage. We left our quiet dragonfly laden cove on the morning of the 19th, and headed north to Osprey Marina in Myrtle Beach - a protected harbor off the ICW and very quaint.  So far, Osprey Marina is the only one we've been to that gives you a "goody bag" when you check in.  Crackers, jelly, pecan rolls, honey buns, maps, key rings, note pads, etc, etc.
We slept soundly and awoke to songs of various birds in the surrounding trees.

The next morning we would have lots of bridges to pass under.  Low tide is our best friend at these times!  So far there has only been one bridge that our antenna touched.  Good thing it's flexible.

Are we going to make it???

Myrtle Beach along the ICW offers lots to see.  Extraordinary homes, golf courses, and even cable cars over the waterway!

Our next destination was Bald Head Island, in the Southport Channel, NC which according to Active Captain is a "must-see", and it proved to be.  This island is only approachable by boat.  Most vehicles here are golf carts.  Reminds me of the Bahamas....  We stayed for a night at the Bald Head Island Marina and the next morning decided to tour the island in a rented golf cart and do some provisioning.  We first stopped to explore the lighthouse which has been almost totally restored.  This is the only lighthouse I've seen that has wooden steps.  All the others have had metal steps.  It's a good workout to get to the top. Thank goodness coming down is easier!

The golf cart was absolutely worth renting. Under tree canopies we traveled across the island to East Beach.  This beach will absolutely blow your shoes off!  The sand is incredibly fine and the beach and dunes  are amazing.  We stopped on our way back from the beach at the market, which had everything we needed, loaded up the cart and headed back to the boat.  Absolutely HAD to stop at the sail shop where we picked up a couple of souvenirs before we headed out.

Our next destination was the Seapath Yacht Club in Wrightsville Beach, NC.  The scenes along the way were interesting but not especially spectacular.  Nice place just off the ICW.  Easy in, easy out.

We left the next morning to travel another 50 miles or so and decided to target Dudley's Marina for our next stopping point.  There really aren't many anchorages on this northbound trek up the ICW, so we are pretty much forced to find a marina.  Dudley's turned out to be interesting.  The wind kicked up a bunch and we were assigned a slip where the wind was blowing us off the dock, making it a little tricky. Throwing lines to dock hands against the blow without losing the lines in the water is the goal. All went well there and with a little help from our bow thruster, we were safe & sound in port.  The adjacent boat's owners said they had been tied up there for two days waiting for the wind to lay down.

Some of the sights we saw along the way......

Statue competition among neighbors?

Osprey nests are built on almost every channel marker.  It's almost time for these babies to hatch!

This was an interesting place for a nest...

Pink?

Here come the Marines!

Anyone looking for a little getaway?

We left Dudley's this morning and after a 5 hour run we were able to unfurl the sails and feel the power of the wind.  First time we've had both sails up and we were totally pleased.  I sailed her across the first half of the Neuse River and Jeff sailed the rest.  We both agree she handles incredibly well!

We arrived at Oriental Marina at 1:30 - an hour ahead of schedule (traveling at 8 knots is way cool compared to our old 5 or 6) and are settled in at slip #9 where the tiki bar is directly in front of us.  We'll be here for two days waiting for a new VHF handheld and chart plotter which are both acting up and need to be exchanged. Our good friends at St. Bart's Yachts in Charleston are on the ball with arranging the details of shipping them to us.  Life is good.

In the meantime as I write this, Jeff is installing normal size drink holders in the cockpit  (did I mention previously that the only thing that will fit in the current ones are cans of Red Bull and French beer?) and changing the oil.  Never a lack of anything to do for that boy!

More when we have WiFi again.