Disclaimer: this post is kind of crummy. We are rushing, a bit, through some parts as we are a bit behind on where we want to be this time of year. So, we are boating more and seeing less on land, which is all good, but makes for poor blogging. Mea Culpa.

Friday, May 17…Pulled up anchor at 6:50am. Beautiful morning with calm seas. We wanted to take advantage of the rising tide. Around and north of Charleston has some very shoal areas. Hurricane Florence, that came through last September, made it so that the charts (upon which we rely so heavily for depths) were not always accurate. Lots of fun preparation for this.

Saw some beautiful scenery on our ~56 mile trip.

Departed Awendaw @ 7:00am to calm seas. Totally different views.

Dropped the hook at Bull Creek which was highly recommended to us from Kent and Heather on Heartbeat. Did not disappoint.

Departed Bull Creek Saturday @ 7:00 to beautiful weather and calm waters.

Went through all kinds of neighborhoods and saw some beautiful homes.

After a short 38 mile day, pulled into Lightkeepers Marina in North Myrtle Beach, SC. Took a nice walk and did a late lunch/early dinner at Clark’s where we met some really nice people at the bar. Dan and Jim (Heidi had her own car) drove us to Publix, saving us an Uber. We provisioned, and Ubered back to the boat. Departed the next morning for Southport, our first port in North Carolina! Again, beautiful scenery and homes along our route.

Passed along numerous inlets to the Atlantic Ocean which was beautiful this day.

Arrived Southport Marina @ 12:30. Super cool little town. We took a long walk through some gorgeous neighborhoods. Many of the homes were built between 1890 and 1910. They were so well maintained.

Went to the Provision Company for a beer and margarita. Place was packed!

After we left the Provision Company, we came upon 3 ladies who were trying to take a selfie. I asked if they wanted me to take their picture. They asked where we were from, and we told them about our trip. They loved hearing about it and wanted to buy us a beer. We ended up taking them back to our boat for a drink. Loved these southern ladies!

After hosting the ladies on FF, we met a family from Germany in our marina. Hilmar and Marla, along with their 3 kids (10, 9 & 6), are traveling up the East Coast from the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas on their ~40 foot sailboat. We invited dad and the kids over to FF for a bit. Absolutely loved these kids, and I think mom dug the break.

Departed Southport at 8:35am the following morning. We wanted to time going with the current on the Cape Fear River, and going through Snow’s Cut without too much of it. (You need a damn math degree to prepare for some of these legs!) We timed it perfectly. Sailed past Carolina Beach which was super pretty (the sun was behind all my pictures, so they stink). Lots more inlets to the ocean which made for a pretty trip.

Saw some folks having a great Monday afternoon on a sand spit as we went by next to their boat, and what looked to be a fake palm tree. Loved this:

Had an e-ticket ride through Little River Inlet with flats all around us and a ripping current. Was happy Mike was at the helm. We didn’t run aground! Pulled into Mile Hammock anchorage at 4:00 after about a 64 mile day. This anchorage is on the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base. We were treated to lots of fun stuff!

Departed Mile Hammock @ 7:00am to clouds and calm seas. We saw a Harrier (aka: VTOL “Jump Jet”) plane land which was so cool! These are the planes that land like a helicopter. More stunning scenery along the way.

Passed Beaufort, NC (pronounced bow-fort) and pulled into Cedar Creek anchorage after about a 57 mile day. Lovely anchorage. We invited the crew of Sabbatical, who was also anchored there, for pizza night aboard FF. Jane and Steve are Gold Loopers, meaning they have already completed the Great Loop. They are headed to Maine. A good time was had by all.

Awoke to a beautiful sunrise.

Departed Cedar Creek @ 6:55am and went out into the Neuse River which feeds into the Pamlico Sound. The wind was forecast the day before to be about 10 knots. That morning’s forecast was 10-15 knots. Because we were going into it, apparent wind was about 24-25 knots. This much wind turns the water into crap in these shallow waters. We had about 16 miles of it which turned our previously clean boat into a glazed donut. Was not a fun run.

After we turned back into protected waters, the trip mellowed a tremendous amount. Going through the 22 mile canal between Pungo and Alligator Rivers was super peaceful, other than just watching our depth, and for debris. After a 10 and 1/2 hour, 90 mile day, we dropped the hook at the south portion of the Alligator River. The wind was still up, which kept the bugs away! Had a great night at anchor, and a stunning sunset that seemingly lasted for hours.

Awoke to another stunning sunrise and very calm seas!

Departed Alligator River at 6:35am trying to get up the river and across the storied Abermarle Sound before the winds picked up. We luckily had following seas while crossing the sound. Until we had to turn to port heading up the Pasquotank River in beam seas with a kazillion crab pots to avoid. Thankfully, this only lasted a couple hours. Arrived Elizabeth City, NC by around 1:00 this afternoon! Easy 54 mile day.

Mike spent 3 hours washing the boat (she was in dire need of it) and we walked into town. Went to the local brewery where they were having a Coast Guard party. We chatted with a number of servicemen who were just delightful. From Wikipedia:

Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City is a United States Coast Guard Air Station co-located at Elizabeth City Regional Airport in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, along the Pasquotank River near the opening of the Albemarle Sound. It is the second largest Coast Guard aviation base^[1] with a population of about 855 Military personal.

Walked another couple miles to the city’s ‘fine dining’ establishment. Walked through some kind of sketchy areas, so Ubered back to the boat. We don’t yet know what we are doing tomorrow, but will update on the next post.

Happy birthday to Kerry Holmes. I know you saved me a piece of Ida’s chocolate cake! You did, right???

Cheers all! M&M