ON THE DOCK ALREADY!

Well, after our published intention of being yachties,  the very next night we ended up at a Marina near Charleston called Patriots Point.    We  had an alternator issue and weren't sure our batteries were charging.  So,  on the dock we went to get everything fixed up.  - And, since we had some bad weather forecast - Dixie didn't complain!.

We walked around a local hotel and saw the most amazing exhibit of a man's collection  big game fishing gear from the early 1900's   So,  we finally found someone with a bigger wall of fishing rod's than John's Dad has!     So, for all you fishermen -  these pics are for you.

John did manage to fix everything himself and we were off  bright and early the next morning.  

ESCAPING WINTER?

January 16th we  finally left Myrtle Beach and were we ever glad to get off the dock and on our way!  Check us out wearing our over-the-glasses polaroids that Lisa gave us a while ago as a gag gift.  They are perfect for our trip - we think they are totally awesome!

What a great feeling to be on our way, despite the fact it is way too cold to be on a boat with no heat! Lucky for us, John found a great deal on an electric "throw" blanket that we can use at night on battery power.  It  has been the best purchase we have made so far!  

OUR FIRST ANCHOR OUT! 

We stopped for the night and anchored for the night in the Waccamaw River.  John was pretty excited about using his new Rocna anchor for the first time.  We finally felt like we were really  the "yachties" or "cruisers" we aspired to be.

Maybe its time for our  definition of the term Yachtie since I will be using it in our blog.  

  YACHTIE / CRUISER
 A yachtie is NOT someone who owns or operates an expensive yacht.  Quite the contrary.  In our verbiage Yachtie,  synonimous  with  "cruiser"  refers to people who live aboard their boats as self-sufficiently as possible.  You find cruisers and yachties anchored out,  with wind generators and solar panels always "making do"  and  giving a hand to each other in fixing, repairing their boats etc.,  Yachtie's always find the best deals and figure  how to fix things themselves, and the cheapest way to accomplish  something whether it be the  best dollar breakfast on-shore,  to where all the  hidden anchorages are.  Yachties  befriend each other, and form  an instant community where ever they are - always ready to help a fellow yachtie or  show them the ropes when they arrive.      
So,  stay tuned to our blog and see how good we do at being yachties.  Do you think we can live a yachtie lifestyle?  Your comments are appreciated.

GETTING SOUTH TO THE BOAT

We started off our adventure with a 24 hour drive from  Nova Scotia  to spend a wonderful Christmas with John's family in Ontario.

 Annie and Schooner travelled all snuggled up together and  we were lucky to have good roads the whole way!

We attended  a lovely Christmas Eve Church service and then Christmas Day Dinner followed by  a fun white elephant gift exchange a great dinner and lots of laughs!

Dad is protecting His Fishing Pole from being
"stolen" in the white Elephant Game

While we were in Ontario,  Dixie tried  to learn to play  pepper, got some great new recipes and found out a lot about John's Family History!  And with Skype we were able to see and talk to all the family and kids and Grandkids over Christmas as well! 

It was a really fun week and we were so glad to have been able to spend it with family.  Next we drove to Ohio in time for a fun New Years with  Dixie's brother Derek and Family,  then kept driving until we finally arrived  in Myrtle Beach January 4th where John and Brian had left Simplify.    

We arrived just in time for record breaking low temperatures. So much for our attempt to escape winter -  who would have thought it would have been  colder in South Carolina than Canada? 
Despite   the COLD, we enjoyed our time getting ready for heading south.  
A big thanks to Mom Apfeld, for her hand-knitted hat gifts!  They sure came in handy!

When we  got to Simplify,  we opened a wonderful gift  that had been delivered there for us from  Daniel and Erin.   We feel like we are on a yacht wearing  our  spa style "Simplify" robes.  

Now we are ready to sail off in style with our trusty mascots Annie and Schooner.

As Brian has passed the blog "torch" back to me,  

I can't begin before posting

A Huge Thank You to Brian!   

A True Friend and Sailor who has been with us on most our adventures.   

Brian not only took on the first mate duties while Dixie stayed home

He signed on for the coldest/worst weather  legs of the trip

He kept up the blog 

and Brian did everything with a smile 

(and his cell phone)  

Brian - You are the Best!  

We left Wrightsville before sunup so we could make it past Marine Camp Lajune where they were having exercises and closing the waterway from 9-noon.  As we were passing by we saw all the marines and their equipment getting ready to go.

As you go along the waterway every time you come to an opening to the ocean the sand bottom shoals up into the waterway.  They usually put a small nunn buoy over near the shoal so you will go around the shoal.  At one of the junctions there were two green buoys moved over almost to the other side of the river.  I was at the helm and went over around the buoys but as I went around the second we found to a quick stop.  You can be sure John jumped up from below to see What the crazy Yankee driving the boat had done.  We tried to motor off but no way.  We called Towboat US and in about ten minutes a boat arrived and towed us off the hump of sand. 

 I learned the hard way that when you come to these junctions you have to really slow down and try and find the hole through the shoal.

That day was very interesting as it was one of the lowest tides of the year so at certain spots in the river we only had a foot or so of room under our keel and you had to wander back and forth in the river trying to find it.

The day was a long one and at about 4:30 we turned into the Lite Keepers Marina at Little river, South Carolina just north of Myrtle Beach where the boat is going to rest until John and Dixie come back after Christmas.  They intend to go down to the Florida Keys Nd then over to the Bahamas.

So this is where I get off.  It's been a wonderful 5 weeks going through high winds, cold and then nice warm weather and nice winds..lot's of rain and lots of sunshine.  Thank you John and Dixie for a great experience.  John you are a great person to spend that much time with and also a wonderful cook.  Talk about a great problem solver/mechanic/electrician John spent three hours at the top of the mast fixing a light yesterday.  To say that we haven't had a few beers, wine and rum would be an under statement.  I'll miss continuing on but I'm passing the responsibility for the blog onto Dixie.

Along the Adams River -- off to Wrightsville

We woke up to a beautiful sunny 35 degree morning. Dixie had changed our plan and suggested we go 40 miles to Swansboro.  That was the plan and then one of our neighbors said that the railway bridge in Moorehead City was closed for repair and only open from noon 'til one.  So we got underway and went through the railroad bridge which was actually open when we arrived there at 11:30.  We motored through and the remainder of the day was a beautiful motor down to Swansboro and Dudley's Marina.

On our way along the Adams River we ran into about four pods of Dolphins...such playful characters. Also along the Adams River were hundreds of houses with docks and their boats on lifts out front...my idea of heaven.

The amazing thing about Dudley's was the cost of the moorage plus electric plug-in was 0.75 cents per foot. The average charge is usually from $2.00 to $4.00 per foot so this was a bargain.  Not the most luxurious place but clean showers and bathrooms and they also give you a courtesy car to go into town to buy items.

We learned from one of our neighbors that there is a marine exercise area on the ICW near us and that it is closed due to marine exercises from 9-12 in the morning.  Nothing ever seems simple on this trip. We are off to Wrightsville early tomorrow to get through the Marine zone before it closes.

Down the Pungo River to Oriental, N.C.

There were three boats moored alongside of the quay near us.  We had met them all in the restaurant the night before.  So come 6:30 in the morning we all left within 15 minutes of each other.  One of the boat's crew had  told us about an anchorage on the Pungo River just after the Alligator Pungo canal which was a long 65 miles from where we started from.  This was going to be a long day crossing 14 miles of the shallow wavy Abelmare Sound and the down the long canal.  Going through Abelmre Sound we actually got to sail for a couple of hours.  At the end of the Sound is the Alligator River Bridge and the Bridge commander helps the bridge for our group and four other sailboats before he let us all go together. So after that it was just each of us following the other for four hours through the canal.  Just after sunset we all exited the canal and anchored in the Pungo River.

We had been having trouble with our alternator not charging the batteries, so on the way John wiggled some wires and found one of them was probably corroded.  After we anchored our handy John took the corroded cable off and cleaned and pounded it back together to solve our problem.  So we completed this task and went to start the engine to see if this solved the problem.  The only problem now was the engine wouldn't turn over.  So here we are in the middle of nowhere and no engine.  So 'Mr Problem Solver John' went to work and after two hours replaced another cable and, voila,  problem solved (it was one of those try everything and maybe something will work!).  So a good meal was had and off to sleep knowing the engine would start in the morning.

We were the last to leave in the morning but had a great day where we even got in a few hours of sailing.  We ended up at a marina in Oriental, NC.  The marina is part of a hotel and on our first night they had a band so it was quite fun...even though it was Halloween the Halloween party wasn't until Saturday night.  We decided to stay until Sunday since there was going to be high winds and rain.  So John worked on the boat while I walked about the town.  The Halloween party was interrupted with high winds and cold so there wasn't a huge crowd but we met other boaters heading south and some of the locals so a good time was had and the band was very good.

Toady I watched football while John again worked on the boat...I sound pretty lazy??  Tomorrow, Monday we are off for Beaufort/Morehead City which is an easy 20 mile trip.