DAY 28- July 23, 2014 (Wednesday) Charleston, SC

The Charleston Maritime Center where we are docked with the Cooper River Bridge in the background:

The name of the bridge is the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge or the New Cooper River Bridge is a 13,200 foot cable-stayed bridge. It opened in 2005 and connects Charleston with Mount Pleasant. It’s the 3rd longest cable-stayed bridge in the Western Hemisphere. It’s our northwest view from the dock.

Across the Cooper River is Mount Pleasant, home of the USS YORKTOWN Aircraft Carrier and the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum in Charleston Harbor.

Some of the churches in the “Holy City”:
St Phillip’s Church on Church St. where John C. Calhoun, VP of US 1825-1832
Is buried in the cemetery across from this church.

Huguenot Church:

We did a horse and buggy tour. Here are some of the sights:

East Bay St along the eastern most of the peninsula of Charleston which includes White Point Gardens aka The Battery. These homes once had many historical men like George Washington and John Calhoun as well as movie stars from Gone with the Wind and The Patriot.

Turning back west again:

The oldest house in Charleston. “The Pink House” and notice the stone road. The stone was imported from Europe. It’s been there since 1711.

Our carriage driver with our retired Amish plow horse, Luke, after our tour:

The College of Charleston Cistern with Trevor on the stairs. Don’t walk through the middle of the cistern otherwise you won’t graduate in 4 years, or so they say.

The Joseph Manigault House-“Charleston’s Huguenot House” 350 Meeting St. built in 1803. Federal (Adam-style) architecture which reflected the virtues of elegance & simplicity.

Here is Cooper at the submarine used in the civil war at The Charleston Museum which we were able to tour during a thunderstorm.

Back to the Riverwalk:

DAY 27- July 22, 2014 (Tuesday) Georgetown, SC to Charleston, SC (Charleston Maritime Center)

It’s hot and muggy, but the sights are amazingly unique and majestic to me. Sitting outside while cruising in the rain is cozy to me. The twisting and turning of the ICW was intense with low tide and narrow channels. At one point it went down to 3 feet deep on our depth finder. We were so afraid of running aground. We draw 3.5 feet. Of course when this happened Samantha was driving with Dawn on the lookout and Jessica talking to us on the phone. We started yelling, ” John!! We need you. What do we do!?” It seems easy until you’re at the wheel with no one around to help.
Here are some of the sights. We have natural amazingly beautiful inlets, a golf course on the water, some bridges, and my favorite- dolphins. This photo I caught looks like a baby with its mama. Watching them swim in and out of the water never gets old for me. So beautiful! 🐬🐬

The Commons Getty:

Fort Sumter in Charleston, where the American Civil War began. Confederate artillery opened fire on the Federal Fort April 12, 1861, in Charleston Harbor. Fort Sumpter surrendered only 32 hours later. Union forces tried to take it make for almost 4 years.

Love this tug boat:

Charleston Harbor:

DAY 26- July 21,2014 (Monday) Barefoot Landing Marina, SC to Georgetown, SC (Harborwalk Marina)

We stayed here last night and for the morning today. Barefoot Landing has a lake filled with catfish and turtles, as well as an alligator attraction. It has a village-style factory outlet with 15 restaurants, more than 100 shops, and entertainment. It’s only 5 miles north of Myrtle Beach.

The rain was upon us all afternoon with storms all around us. It was really neat traveling in the man made narrow 28 mile Pine Island Cut most of the time. This is part of the Grand Strand which stretches 60 miles along coast of northern part of SC. The trees are amazing and the tides are so extreme that the roots of the trees are exposed at low tide. We got some fuel at Osprey Marina, which is in the middle of the woods, yet has no Miskitos. Interesting phenomena.

The Great Pee Dee River Bridge:

We are almost all the way down the “Northern Lowcountry” which ends at Charleston (60 miles away). It’s filled with winding rivers, lined with these moss-laden trees and eroding banks which are common in the Grand Strand. Few towns are along this stretch because of preservation tracts such as the Francis Marion Forest & Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge.

And then into the Sampit River which has the view of the paper mill to the left and historic Georgetown to the right.

View pulling into the Harborwalk Marina:

It’s like a mini Charleston. It is the largest town in the Northern Lowcountry with 10,000 residents. It has working shrimp docks, historic architecture, and quaint walking streets with another history lesson at every step.

DAY 25- July 20, 2014 (Sunday) Carolina Beach mooring to No. Myrtle Beach (Barefoot Landing Marina)

Sun rising as we are leaving the mooring.

The park we went to last night:

The tides are up to 8 feet and here are a few boats during low tide just waiting for the water to rise:

Some of the beautiful sights. The inlets are natural and beautiful. Notice the dredger out there. Very unique and the plantation style homes are really different from what we have seen. They all are high off the ground with multiple floors.

Here is the Barefoot Landing Marina along the wall with an alligator lake just beyond.

DAY 24- July 19,2014 (Saturday) Beaufort, NC to Carolina Beach, NC (Carolina Beach Mooring Field)

Leaving Beaufort. These are the town docks:

Navigation Boat for charts:

Morehead City:

Atlantic Beach Bridge:

Wilmington inlet:

Not much between the intracoastal and the ocean in some places:

Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, NC. 1941-present. 14 miles of beaches make it a major area for amphibious assault training between Morehead City and Wilmington, NC. Here is one of the training targets on the beach side:

A swing bridge and some dolphins that swam right next to us as we passed by:

We arrived late, just before dark, in Carolina Beach, NC traveling 95 miles. We moored, had us some BBQ then went into town for the big carnival and some famous Briggs donuts for dessert. We also walked the beach. Trevor even went for a swim.

DAY 23- July 18, 2014 (Friday) Beaufort, NC

A beautiful day here. We were allowed to use a car the Marina loans out to dock renters. We had a ’91 Buick wagon with wood side panels. It was so much fun. What a throw back. Two shopping carts later. We are good for another week. Next, we all went to the North Carolina Maritime Museum together. I enjoyed the evolution of different boats for different purposes. And the legend of the sand dollar. Never knew this before.

We spent the late afternoon at the inlet beach and enjoyed walking around town in the evening. Great town and friendly people.

DAY 22- July 17, 2014 (Thursday) Belhaven, NC to Beaufort, NC (Beaufort Docks)

What a glorious day.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; (‭Psalms‬ ‭103‬:‭1-2‬)
Life can be simple or complicated. Out on the water it somehow seems more simple. I can see why some sail boaters can live off the grid and go with the wind. Seemed almost better not having cell service or wifi for a while. We had sketchy on and off cell service and the wifi was down in the town late last night and this morning. The pressure was off because there was nothing we could do. Made me think it would be nice to have no cell/wifi designated days each month to regroup without the pressure to keep up, keep in touch and keep informed. Y’all understand what I’m sayin?
We had one of our best devotions this morning discussing how we each define ourselves. Here we are:

Trevor at the helm.

Some of the sights along the way. Classic stuff:

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Entering the Pamlico River or Outer Banks then the R. E. Mayo Company fish house with the bridge right next to it:

The Beaufort Inlet:

We docked at the Beaufort docks and took the dinghy back near the inlet and walked along the banks. The kids had a blast:

The sunset at the docks:

DAY 21- July 16, 2014 (Wednesday)- Coinjock, NC to Belhaven, NC (Belhaven Waterway Marina)

We had thunderstorms this morning then it rained on and off all day. We refueled and pumped out. We crossed the outskirts of part of Pamlico Sound to the Pungo River and traveled a total of 8+hours to Belhaven. We love the Marina. Really cute and homey with free laundry. This is very exciting!! The people are so nice with their southern hospitality y’all. Just as cute as pie.

I thought I’d show you our view while in some of the narrower areas. Notice the rain line ahead. It was as though the cloud above us was our companion too.

The next morning, Thursday. All sunny again.

DAY 20- July 15, 2014 (Tuesday) Norfolk, Va to Coinjock, NC (Midway Marina)

It sure is a hot steamy one today. 90’s but feels like 106 according to weather underground. From the Elizabeth River we headed right into the intracoastal littered with more military ships and aircraft carriers being worked on with huge cranes. It’s all quite a site. I have many pictures and each one shows up close how massive these vessels are. Truly amazing.

Some ships are at port being loaded up. This one is from Panama. Te amo Jackie: 😘

And the only lock we have on the intracoastal is called the Great Bridge:

And here is the Great Bridge Bridge opening for us to pass:

We arrived at the Marina and somehow missed thunderstorms with hail that was just west of us. We saw them close by, but never had to go through them. Praise The Lord!! Tomorrow is a long day close to 100 miles. It’s supposed to rain. It will be our first day of rain. We shall see. Good night y’all. 💤

DAY 19- July 14, 2014 (Monday) Norfolk, VA

Hi y’all. It sure is hot here! Bless y’er heart❤️
Here is the Waterside Marina. Loving the mermaids everywhere.

We spent the day at NAUTICUS and Naval Museum:

Jupiter, Florida!!!!

Horseshoe crabs have 10 eyes and they are as old as dinosaurs:

The highlight for us all was the ‘WISKY’ or the Battleship Wisconsin(BB-64).
887’3″long and 108’3″ wide. It’s more than 3 football fields long. It was launched December,1941 and served in WWII-2,800 men then Korea-2,560 men and finally in Desert Storm with 1,776 men. It was decommissioned 9/30/91. It has 4 levels UNDER the first of two upper decks. It was mentally challenging thinking, “could I live on here and if so how would it be? Would I feel claustrophobic or extremely hot? Or sea sick? How would it feel to sleep in 3 man bunks with 12 or more in a small room every night for up to 4 years? These men that served our country did it and were so proud to be on the best we had. The WISKY WAS THE BEST out there and only was hit once, sustaining minimal damage. Here she is:

This is for Jess:💛👭