April 20-21, 2021 Camp Lejeune, to Homer Smith's ( Beaufort, NC), to Belhaven NC.

 Tuesday, April 20, 2021. Day 135. My mothers birthday.

Everyone was up early, but the anchor was very muddy, so the 15 minutes it took to clean the anchor, caused a delay getting to the Onslow Beach Bridge (the USMC bridge). There was a barge with a crane that let us pass under first, and the tender opened the bridge even though it was between opening times, otherwise we would have had to wait 20 minutes for the 8am opening. The marine corp felt comfortable accommodating us under the circumstances (and thank you to the barge captain). It was our only request bridge of the day.

The water was a flat calm, an 180° opposite from yesterday afternoon with wind and the white caps (a/k/a “wavelets” lol, the Captain refers to them as wavelets.....they are whitecaps to me!).

I did a quick work out. Mornings were getting chilly as we cruised north, but the sun was warm. There were dolphins on the bow, and at 9:10 am, we passed Little Wing, from Annapolis,. A very hearty couple, in a very little, steel-hulled, 1970's, 30 foot sailboat. I so admired the young woman captain. We just love seeing them along the way, and always wish them the best. They far surpass our adventure bar!

We arrived at Homer Smith’s in Beaufort, North Carolina, at approximately 1pm. At first we anchored at the fuel dock, the wind, pushing us off the dock. Roland was docking from the flybridge and Matt, the marina the owner, had to pull us in with the spring line. With Matt's help and the bow thruster, we made it and tied up.

We asked Matt about the GFI issue (he is building several new docks and very clear about the issue). He explained the new regulations and the timing. We must jump on this issue asap, so Captain Roland agreed to call the expert from Vero Beach soon.

The forecast for tomorrow was for very heavy winds, so the question was: to leave tomorrow, or not to leave....I do not do well in heavy, choppy, seas! The decision went back and forth, but regardless, Matt asked us to move to a slip, which the Captain did beautifully, not withstanding the conditions, and we tied up.

We had lots of laundry to do and the marina washers and dryers were available, so I did laundry at the marina as well as on the boat, while Michael and Roland borrowed the marina courtesy car, and went to West Marine to pick up our replacement grille (thank you very much Gail and Michael for the treat). While I continued the laundry, Gail went with Michael and Roland, to do the food shopping.

Between running up and back to the marina laundry, I had a chance to speak to Nancy and Randy from “Bella Vita”, a couple from Denver who had bought their boat in Atlantic City (Farley Marina). It was their first boat (Randy was a former pilot and was loving the boating life). We exchanged boat cards and I went back to the marina to move the wash to the dry and take the dry back to the boat. When I got to the marina office, I found that everything had been locked up and Matt had gone home. We had been in such a rush to get our chores done that I had failed to get the code; I was locked out the laundry was locked in. I waited for someone to come by who knew the code; I called the food shoppers to find out if they knew the code; no luck. In desperation, I called Randy (I had his boat card and he had the code!). It felt very weird to call him 2 minutes after meeting him for the first time. He was very gracious.

There was a Kadey Ladies zoom at 7pm which I attended and asked about GFI and learned that almost all the other boats had already taken care of this problem. Again, I stressed about this issue and wondered why our surveyor hadn't addressed this issue, knowing the requirements. I was unhappy about the surveyor again!

At 8pm I had a TCPW zoom with three national White House correspondents which was really terrific.

The decision was made to leave early tomorrow to minimize the choppy seas. I hoped for the best.

Wednesday, April 21, 2021. Day 136.

We had planned to leave at 8am and I was ready at 7:50am, however, Roland and Mike had de-docked at 7:15 am. I was told Captain Roland did a beautiful job. I took a pill and put on the wrist bands; it was windy and rough. At 11:30am to 12:30pm we were in the Neuse River, and it was choppy. When we entered the canal connecting the two larger bodies of water, what a relief, it was calm. Short lived. Warning to me: The sound after the canal could get choppy again, and it did, but I managed (no computer, nor zooms, nor notetaking, nor reading....just watch the horizon and breathe deeply)....all was OK. I actually was able to use the time to handle some telephone calls for Wil and TIAW.

The original plan was to go to River Forest Marina in Belhaven, NC, but the winds being so heavy and in a very inauspicious direction, caused us to make a change. Captain Roland called Henry who was very understanding and agreed that we should spend the night “on the hook”, in a nearby protected area. So at 3:50pm, we anchored in Pungo Creek (bonus: we get to try our new grille for a steak redo), everybody was happy!

After we anchored, Captain Roland and Mike gave me some instructions as to lining up points on the shore to check the boat's position, from time to time, to make sure we were not drifting, while at anchor.

The steaks grilled on our new “secure on the staple” grille, were delicious, with wonderful sweet potatoes and string beans, and a nice red wine. We zoomed with Howard and Debbie (Gail's and my brother and sister-in-law in California ). And the captain who was tired after several early and long days, was looking forward to sleeping late tomorrow before we cruise over to the marina.

April 18-19, 2021 Beautiful Passage.

Sunday, April 18, 2021. Day 133.

We all arose with the sun, and it was spectacular. We have seen some amazing sunrises over the past 4 ½ months, but this one was unbelievable. All four of us ran around the boat taking dozens of photos. The water was like a mirror. The morning was quiet, peaceful and calm. Mike got up early to help Captain Roland take up the anchor and get started. and then he went back to bed (Mike is a retired firefighter so he had a lifetime of training getting up in an instant and then being able to go back to sleep - a wonderful talent). 

 I joined the Captain after Mike went back to bed. We were on the Waccamaw River in South Carolina, going through abandoned rice fields; possibly the finest scenery on this entire journey. We passed a boat selling hotdogs, custard, sodas and coffee, while anchored near a small creek right off the ICW. One of the many unexpected sights that bought a smile to my face. Who would have thought?

We passed Myrtle Beach and went under the Barefoot Landing Swing Bridge, which is 31 feet, without the need to open (MM is 25feet). We did need the next bridge to open, and the tender was excellent. As she saw us arriving she opened the bridge and we did not miss a beat.

Near Ocean Isle Beach, at approximately 2:15pm, my sister at the helm, we got a radio call from the local police for speeding by a marina and, he said, creating too much of a wake (MM has almost no wake, and we are always careful in slow and no wake zones, to reduce our speed). Unfortunately, my sister didn't realize she was passing a marina (her experience is not on the ICW, and this was early in her MM training). The Captain apologized and admitted that he needed to supervise his crew a little more closely. Captain Roland was just loving having so much time off from steering, but there is no free lunch; very embarrassing, but fortunately they didn’t fine us.

We arrived at St. James Plantation Marina, which is a lovely, small marina in a golf community. Before we had completed docking, we were greeted by two guys from Philadelphia who saw our hailing port, and came to the dock as a welcoming party. Much fun!

At our dock, the power post didn’t work and the person in the office hadn’t bothered to tell us it was not functioning, so we wasted a great deal of time and energy trying to figure out how to get the electric to work. Finally Gail suggested just trying a different post. We did and all worked just fine.

Monday, April 19, 2021. Day 134.

I got up early and did my 3 mile run around St. James Plantation. I passed very large houses, beautiful paths, outdoor installed exercise stations; an upscale community, with very reasonable marina prices. A very lovely place to stay.

At 9am, we de-docked, and the wind helped us do so, making the process easier. The Captain is practicing docking and de-docking from the fly bridge, and he loves it. He felt that he is really getting to know MM.

We exited from St James Plantation through a rather narrow passage, and proceeded back on the ICW. Most of the day was spent on the fly bridge, but the weather was erratic: sometimes very windy and overcast and other times sunny and lightly breezy. One gust blew off a cushion on the bow. Fortunately, one snap held, and I brought the 2 cushions into the pilot house, and almost went over the side like a windsurfer. Nothing was lost nor went overboard (including me).

We had only two bridge openings for the rest of the day: the first was very narrow, and there were several other vessels waiting. We all had to circle for 20 minutes; ugh, never fun. Later, we passed Little Wing, from Annapolis Maryland, a tiny sailboat that was captained by a very adventurous young woman. Very spunky!

We anchored at 5:10pm in Mile Hammock Bay; a cute little bay with five or six other small boats. There was a short fetch so there were no “wavelets”, a/k/a white caps. The entrance was very tricky from the ICW, really shallow, narrow with lots of dredging equipment (and it really needs to be dredged); very tough negotiating.

We anchored right near Camp Lejeune, and listened to the cannon blasts in the evening. No maneuvers were in process which was disappointing to the Captain who had hoped to see burned out tanks and helicopters and war games.

It was a beautiful small cove and we had a lovely evening; the end of a beautiful two days.

April 16-17, 2021 Anchorages for Four

 Friday, April 16, 2021. Day 131.

As agreed, Gail and Michael showed up before 10am with three carts of stuff to load on the boat, including food, clothing, drink, etc. While we were getting ourselves organized, we were waiting for our opportunity to go to the fuel dock to buy fuel and pump out the holding tank. The large boat that had spent the night at the fuel dock and was supposed to leave by 11am, didn’t leave until after 12 pm; so we had a wait for them to free up the dock; not really considerate. Hopefully, they did not have an issue that caused the delay.

By the time the dock was available, it was a bit windy and Captain Roland misjudged his turn so docking was a disappointment to him. He is often rather hard on himself; every docking is a new experience. We haven’t been back to the same place enough times to even begin to think we have “local knowledge”, and it’s always different anyway, especially when we factor in the variable wind and the current.

Leaving Charleston, Gail and Michael helped (they are a great crew with the lines and the fenders), and they watched the charts and the steering techniques that they are going add to their repertoire in order to take the helm of Magic Moments......soon… Not yet.

The day was overcast and cool, almost cold, and we are going north on the ICW, so we expected that it would get colder every day.

I had plenty to do with making lunch for myself and the captain, working on my blog and my 2 TCPW zooms at 2 pm and 3pm. Captain Roland was busy coaching the new crew.

We anchored at Capers Island, South Carolina, at approximately 4pm; Gail and Michael helping Roland anchor.

Michael and Roland took down the dinghy (Mike made a suggestion that may make the dinghy up and down easier… I certainly hope so ), and the four of us went for a dinghy ride to the ocean. People were arriving at the beach by boat, some to camp out for the weekend.

Captain Roland was very happy that his motor started right up for our dinghy ride.

The plan was that each couple would do two meals cooking and cleaning and then have two nights off. We hope to have a sprinkling here and there of a dinner at an outside restaurant when we were at a marina from time to time.

We had dinner after our happy hour on the fly deck: we grilled the turkey burgers, and there were lots of dishes. Roland cooked and helped by drying and putting them away. Everyone went to bed early and I had an hour by myself.

Saturday, April 17, 2021. Day 132.

I set the alarm for 6:30 for a 9am exit from the anchorage.

Everyone said that they slept reasonably well, there was a lot of hustle and bustle in the galley in the morning for coffee and breakfast and at 9am we left the anchorage, starting our cruise north on the ICW.

It was overcast in the morning but the sun came out later in the day. Captain Roland was thrilled to have additional steerers on board, I had more free time than I could imagined to work out, to stretch, and to work on my blog and catch up on my emails.

Everyone was taking turns to steer from the flybridge, and with Magic Moments in the good hands of Mike and Gail, Roland and I, for the first time ever, had lunch together on the back deck while we were underway. Captain Roland was loving this. We passed beautiful scenery and everybody was taking photos left and right of beautiful homes and beautiful scenery. The sun came out and it was again just beautiful. We saw a few other vessels; the afternoon was terrific.

Around 3:30pm, we anchored off the ICW next to Butler Island. Gail offered to do all the dishes for a while if we agreed to change our system. I did not hesitate and she was on. I did tell her that if she wants to change this, at anytime, I would be happy to do some dishes.

After Roland and Mike anchored, we had happy hour. It was a great day. I had a TIAW zoom at 6pm which I took in the pilot house, while the crew showered and Mike put steaks on the grille. And, in the middle of my zoom, the shouting and cursing began. Apparently Mike, who doesn’t know his own strength, closed the top to the grille, it flipped over, the steaks and all the racks and some of the heating elements were gone …..into the drink! Beautiful steaks.........it was a bummer!

Now what were we going to eat? Gail and Mike had left out some chicken for the next night's meal and in 15 minutes Roland whipped up a delicious chicken dish with string beans and sweet potatoes; it was delicious. Although Gail was unhappy that the sliced almonds were stale (they weren't the freshest.... but it was pretty good anyway for a last minute gourmet meal...... sad the beautiful steaks..... gone into the water. And, even more of a bummer, Roland had just spent an hour cleaning all the grates; what a waste.

However, that evening we had the most stunning sunset ever on the Waccamaw River, and....... “spoiler” …....the most incredible sunrise was waiting for us the next morning.

Charleston April 14-15, 2021

 Wednesday, April 14, 2021. Day 129.

We had a relaxing morning on the hook. Roland made blueberry pancakes (one giant one for each of us to avoid the challenges of the griddle on the uneven electric stove top).

We left the anchorage at 10:10 am (FILO), everyone else was gone: the two sailboats, before first light. The water was sparkling, and it was sunny and cool, and we were off to Charleston to get ready to take on our additional crew.

My sister, Gail, had generously, left her car for us in the Ashley Marina parking lot. There were lots of errands for us to do before Friday morning. We were going to Ashley Marina this time rather than the Charleston City Marina, where we had docked on our way south.

We passed lovely homes with remarkably long docks, some of them without railings on either side, and many with extensive water frontage.

We were steering from the flybridge, at first, but it got rather windy, so about 11:20am, the captain moved to the pilot house. It was 77° and really nice, the landscape was lush, and we passed several beautiful areas as we approached Charleston from the south. We cruised under the Folly Road Bridge (31 feet) without a problem. At Ashley Marina, we tied up, connected the water and electricity, arrange the fenders in the lines and we were in place at about 1pm. It was next to the bridge (noisy all night but some wind protection), bow in. There was a scrape on the side (rubber black marks) but hopefully, it will wash off and buff out. The slip was narrow; scrapes happen; that’s the nature of the beast. We were in D 29.

I immediately started the laundry, did the dishes, and commenced cleaning. There was lots to do. Roland had to clean both the outside and the inside of the boat, and I had to continue to empty the den.



Except for the heavy wind, it was warm and sunny and pleasant. We had the car, so we went to Rodney Scott's Barbecue, on King Street for a very early dinner. We had seen Rodney Scott on a barbecue TV cooking show and we were very excited to be there in person. It was very casual, we ate outside and the food was delicious; we even had leftovers. On my way back to the boat, I mailed my four tax forms and payments.

Thursday, April 15, 2021. Day 130.

I ran along the waterfront from Ashley Marina, past the Charleston City Marina, and up into the historic part of Charleston. It was cool and pleasant, a bit overcast so I didn’t have to worry about the sun. We discussed, by phone with Gail, arrangements about provisioning the boat. Roland cleaned all day (between errands), and I did the laundry and the dishes, itching all over from the bugs we had encountered at the last two anchorages. I was enjoying the thought that the bugs were behind us.

We usually checkout boats and their names wherever we are. Favorite boat names for today were:

“Fox Sea Lady” and “Southern Comfort”.

We had lots of errands to do with my sister's car: West Marine, Harris Teeter, Publix, etc., etc., and etc.

I made turkey burgers for our Friday welcome the new crew dinner at anchor (we love to grille at anchor), and then I showered and got ready for dinner out, before my Wil zoom program. Roland forgot to buy the buns for the turkey burgers, so on the way to dinner we had to stop again at the supermarket.

We arrived at Savi Cucina and Wine Bar, a of couple minutes later than planned, and it was a super kick to see family members sitting around the table outside: Gail, Mike, Laura and Jeff (my sister, brother-in-law, niece and her boyfriend). After the last 4 1/2 months of traveling, it was such a lift to see some of my family members together at dinner waiting for us; it was truly a party and a celebration. And the food and drink were fun too........ specially the desserts!

When we got back to the boat, we had still had a lot to do and finally got to bed at 1am. I set the alarm for an early wake up call, so we would be ready to welcome the additional crew scheduled to arrive between 9:30 and 10 am.