Time to move

Calypso has been docked for over a week now at Hampton Yacht Club and I am afraid that if we stay much longer, we will be permanently attached.  This was a planned stop so that I could fly to Atlanta to take my mother for a hot air balloon ride to celebrate her 86th birthday.  This was on her bucket list, but I assured her I was not going to help her do everything on her list as I want her to have lots of reasons to keep living.  We have enjoyed our time in Hampton, visiting with old friends, reprovisioning, and completing lots of boat chores.  Many, many thanks to our good friends, Tom and Judy, for loaning us a car for the duration of our visit.  They will be shocked when they see how many miles we put on  that car.  I fly back to Hampton tomorrow and off we go! Stay tuned for the next chapter in Calypso's journey.

First leg completed!

A home in River Dunes Plantation

A barge slips by us in the Chesapeake-Albemarle canal

An interesting planter

NS - generous sponsor of our retirement

Keep the coal moving - keep the pension coming

          

                         Always a thrill to cruise by Norfolk Naval Base                                

On the 22nd day of our Great Loop cruise, we completed the first leg of this adventure when we arrived at the Hampton Yacht Club in Hampton, VA.  The plan is to stay here for about a week while we catch up with old friends and while I take a short trip down to Atlanta to take my mother on a hot air balloon ride for her 86th birthday.  It was with mixed feelings that we ended our Atlantic ICW portion of this trip.  In some ways, it was a great way to begin because our familiarity with the ICW made us very comfortable.  On the other hand, that same familiarity tended to make the trip boring at times.  We did discover four new anchorages and three new marinas on this trip.  Our worst day was last Saturday when we crossed Albemarle Sound (NC).  In 8 or 10 crossings of the Albemarle, I think we have only had one that was pleasant.  I am always amazed that we have the technology to put people on the moon, but NOAA cannot predict or even report the weather accurately.  We were "supposed" to have E 10-15, but instead we had NE 20-25 - BIG DIFFERENCE!  Then, to make it even more exciting when you are crashing through the waves with water coming over the pilothouse, someone has decided to put lots of crabtraps in the channel - but, we made it safely!  When we leave Hampton, we will spend a few weeks on the Chesapeake Bay before heading north to New Jersey and New York.

Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina...



A Floating School Bus!

"Make sure we're in forward - not reverse"

Little River swing bridge

A Pirate turns 60!

Mark does laundry again!

Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina ...well, if the wind weren't blowing so strong that might be true.  The weather might not stop postal deliveries, but a forecast of 25-30 kts with gusts to 35 might stop prudent mariners, such as ourselves.  Fortunately, we found a lovely marina in which to enjoy our first lay-day since leaving Punta Gorda almost 3 wks ago.  We are at River Dunes Plantation in eastern NC (which is not close to anything).  This is a beautiful residential development designed to look like an antebellum plantation. All of the buildings are built to look old.  It's a great place to sit out a blow.  We are taking the courtesy car to the little village of Oriental, NC to have dinner with friends from VA, Greg and Judy, who are there on their boat.  We been hopscotching up the ICW with Greg and Judy (Magic II) since Eau Gallie, FL and we last had dinner with them in Daytona Beach, FL.  We're hoping for lighter winds tomorrow so we can push on.






It's a little chilly in North Carolina today



Cumberland Island pony

Charleston's Battery

McClellanville SC Shrimp Fleet

Rush hour in McClellanville, SC

In just over 2 wks we have traveled from sunny, warm SW FL to cold, windy NC. We've made it through the marshes of GA, the SC lowcountry, and now have the big open sounds of NC ahead of us.  Last Friday we enjoyed visiting McClellanville, SC.  This is a charming little fishing village that was directly in the path of Hurricane Hugo.  We had a delicious lunch at the one restaurant in town - fried green tomatoes and fried shrimp.  Then we walked over to the shrimp docks and bought fresh shrimp to steam for dinner that night.  When we left Sat. morning, we inched our way along in the fog until the sun burned through .  Yesterday we were in Myrtle Beach for Mark's birthday dinner at Ruth's Chris - yes, he turns 60 tomorrow!  Tonight we are at a marina near Southport, NC and plan to head across the Cape Fear River in the morning if the wind will cooperate.  One of the nice things about an extended cruise is that there are usually no deadlines to meet - move when you want to.

Mud, mud - everywhere

Now, let's see - which side does red go on?  We are happy to report that we are past Georgia and safely docked in Beaufort, SC (actually - Lady's Island).  Now, don't get me wrong - we were both born in GA, grew up there, went to college there, married there, and have many happy memories, but the shallow spots on the ICW make the passage through GA a nail-biting experience.  We delayed our departure from Jekyll Harbor Marina on Monday morning to arrive at Little Mud River on mid-tide rising that afternoon.  Our normal cruising routine is to leave early in the morning and arrive at our destination as early in the afternoon as possible.  We were both climbing the walls Monday morning, waiting until our planned departure time.  Then, one of the most amazing things happened - Mark volunteered to do a load of laundry.  Even more amazing, he did so without any assistance from me and did it perfectly.  After almost 39 yrs of marriage, it is good  to learn that he has this skill.  On Tuesday we were able to make it through Hell Gate and Fields Cut both in the afternoon and arrived at our anchorage in the Wright River (about one mile north of the Savannah River) around 6 pm.  We have never looked at this as a viable anchorage, but it was a most pleasant evening.  Today was a relatively short day as we were docked by noon -  went ashore for lunch and made a provisioning trip to Publix.  Our perfect weather is taking a hiatus as a low pressure system is going to stall over the coast for the next few days.  However, we have a windshield and wipers, so we can deal with it!  We're moving on to the Sullivan's Island area north of Charleston tomorrow.

Thanks for the boost!

Wow, what a day!  In all our trips on the ICW we have never had the current with us as much as today.  I am still perplexed as to how the current could be boosting us both before and after an inlet, but I am definitely not complaining.  We left Daytona Beach at 0'dark thirty this AM and planned to make St. Augustine.  Well, we blew through there around lunch time and made it to Jax Beach.  This will be our 7th night onboard and so far things couldn't have gone better.  Of course, that is about to change as we are approaching the notoriously shallow GA ICW.  There are 3 big trouble spots there that require passage at mid-tide rising and of course, the tides for the next several days are the exact opposite of what we need.  If the weather cooperates, we may be able to go outside for a portion of the GA coast.   On the positive side, we will be seeing Mark's sister, who lives on St. Simons Island.



Crossing Lake Okeechobee on Tuesday

Exiting St. Lucie lock

Looking for dinner

Ponce Lighthouse - first of many I hope to see on this trip

Fort Mantanzas - between Daytona Beach and St. Augustine

Castillo de San Marcos - St. Augustine, FL



Finally underway!

No picture today, but I can report that we are now 2 days into the Great Loop. After what seemed like weeks and weeks of preparation, we cast off our dock lines after church on Easter Sunday. We spent our first night at anchor in Glover Bight, near Ft Myers. Ten hours and two locks later, we are at the Moore Haven town dock - ready to cross Lake Okechobee tomorrow. Those of you who know of my special relationship with dolphins will be pleased to know that God sent us lots of dolphins these past two days to give us a great send-off. Other wildlife spotted today included an alligator and a manatee.