Dec 3 - Dec 14

Happy Christmas Season!

We have been on the move since the last blog and could not believe it has been 11 days since I have checked in with whats been happening! As you can see by the pics, there has mainly been cold and overcast days. Thank goodness we have been traveling south and the temp has not dropped below 50 during the day.

We left Charleston on the 3rd and headed to Lady’s Island Marina in Beaufort, SC (pronounced Bew-furt as opposed to Bow-fort in N Carolina!). We had a great 7-day stay and met new friends. Darin and Monica also cruise on a Mainship 430 (same as ours) that they bought just a few months ago. They sold their home and moved onto their boat without any previous boating knowledge. They have a YouTube series called Yard2Yacht   that is great to watch if any of you have the notion to take up this lifestyle.

We also hung out with Bob and Kat who are new to cruising as well. There were lots of belly laughs and a wee bit of drinking. Kat is the new queen of Farkel (dice game). We hope to meet up with all 4 again in the future.

The first 3 days in Beaufort were not as much fun as the last 3. Derek got a gastrointestinal bug that ripped through him pretty bad. Not to be too graphic, but the smells in a small living space were enough to make me search for my N95 mask!!!!! I think my nursing antibodies saved me from the same fate. Of course I have a whole pharmacy on the boat, except not one pill of Imodium! Thankful for the use of a courtesy car at the marina to make a Walgreens trip.

There was a restaurant about 100 yards from our slip that we visited while in Beaufort. We walked from our boat, and about 3/4 of the way there we noticed Gypsea following us. Normally when we get near other people, she will shy away and head back. This time she prances her little butt right up to the restaurant door with us. Derek picked her up and walked in and asked for a table for 2 and 1/2 people. The awesome manager says sure, we welcome dogs, why not cats! The porch is totally screened in and he says, don’t worry she can’t get out. We took a picture and then Derek escorted her back to the boat. I would have been mortified if she were to jump up on someones table while they were eating. Gypsea was a little upset that she wasn’t able to enjoy the shrimp dish she chose on the menu.

Next stop was in Savannah at Delegal marina. We only stopped for one night, but will make another stop here next year to spend some time in the city. I did get a chance to take a few pics of the iconic live oaks dripping with moss. Derek loves cruising through this part of Georgia. There are marshy flat grassland as far as the eye can see and it seems we are the only ones on the water. In 7 hours of cruising we will see only 2 or 3 other boats. Its just us, the dolphins and the sea birds following behind us. I have come to call them the flying monkeys like on the Wizard of Oz.

We then cruised on to Sunbury Crab Company restaurant and marina. This is the ONLY thing in Sunbury, GA! It was another one-night stay. The restaurant was a seafood dive with live music. I don’t know where all the people came from, but it was packed. It was the BEST seafood so far on our trip. It put the fancy restaurants in Charleston to shame. The owner, Elaine, took a shine to Derek and sat with us at our table. She was absolute southern charm. Her husband, son and grandson were in the band and provided great dancing music. We will definitely be back even if we have to detour from our course.

Finally, we are in Brunswick, GA at Brunswick Landing Marina. This is where the boat will stay while we head home for Christmas. It will be 3 days of cleaning the boat and packing. And just like on the show Chopped, I will be trying to piece together meals with our last remaining food supplies. French toast with brussel sprouts is on the menu today!

After 600 miles of safe traveling, Gypsea pulled a fast one on this last stop in Brunswick. She went out one night and didn’t come back for about 20 hours. Her AirTag pinpointed her last location about 50 yards away and never moved since 6:37 am. It was like she vanished from that spot. We figured she had lost her collar there, but it was not found. Of course it was a parking lot, and visions of her being hit or picked up went through our minds. We would take turns searching throughout the day. Then out of nowhere, she walks right up to Tater while on his walk. Hungry and cold, she bedded down INSIDE for the night.

Well this blog has gone on long enough for today! We would appreciate prayers for safe travels home in the rental car. We can’t wait to see family and friends. This blog will pick up again prolly in March.

Merry Christmas everyone. Be blessed and safe. We love you!!!

Taters friend Bear.

A Sport fisher boat...ughhhhh!

We left Virginia on the 3rd, a few days later than we expected. After over 5 weeks there, it was actually hard to say goodbye to some of the Atlantic Yacht Basin crew, especially Kevin the dock master and our engine mechanic Matt.  I have added a couple pics of the laundry facility and public bathroom (our home away from home while our heads didn’t work on the boat) at the marina. I also wanted to share  a picture showing the walk on the road to Krogers we took 2 or 3 times a week! These places will be etched in our memory as much as anything else that happened in Chesapeake. See….it’s not all fun and games :)

We pulled out of our slip without fanfare on November 3rd, happy to be finally underway.   We decided to make it a short run and 4 hours (38 miles) later we arrived at our first stop, Coinjock, NC. Yes, I spelled that correctly.

We’ve been to Coinjock https://www.coinjockmarina.com/ when we did the Great Loop in 2017 and I remember calling it Jockstrap, which pretty much describes the marina. Coinjock is a bit of an institution and  straddles the Intracoastal Waterway at Mile Marker (MM) 50.  Coinjock is a popular stop because there are no other marinas for many miles. Donna Mae ran great and we were able to secure a last minute slip.  However, we had to dock without assistance along the marina wall across the river from the actual Marina. Imagine my surprise after pulling in to discover that the pilings on the dock were 6 feet tall!   As Derek worked to keep the boat steady against the dock, I was trying to throw a loop over my head to secure the boat.  After a couple of misses, iI finally hit the mark and we tied up.  

Coinjock marina is known for it’s 32-oz prime rib, but we saved about $90 and had ‘Lori’s awesome pork chops’ instead. Derek says they were some of the best ever made… After a great dinner, and just as the sun was setting, we heard a knock on our boat. It was the couple from the sailboat docked behind us with a bottle of wine to share. Boaters don’t wait for invitations and that’s why we love ‘em. Another nurse and her husband. We had a great time.

The next morning Derek was up early and we were off by 7:45. The next stop was Alligator River Marina  on, surprise, the Alligator River. Alligator River is located on what is called the ‘Outer Banks’ of N Carolina. No we didn’t see any alligators. In fact, all we saw at this stop was a  gas station that  also served as a small marina, convenience store and a greasy-spoon restaurant!!! Nothing else but a highway bridge next to the docks https://marinas.com/view/marina/z4cnmq_Alligator_River_Marina_Columbia_NC_United_States . Of note: the boater that docked next to us was from Toronto. And the boat itself used to be owned by the BEST NHL hockey goalie EVER when he lived in Toronto…Eddy Belfour. You might be saying, ‘who????’ Well he played for the Dallas Stars when they won the Stanley Cup in 1999 (while we were living in Dallas). I had lost my voice and my composure for that man through that whole season! So I touched his boat and thought of the many hockey-player parties that the boat would tell if it could talk.

The next morning we charted a path to Belhaven, NC. The weather apps (all 5 that we look at) promised calm seas and a nice 6-mph wind. And for most of the trip, it was. Then about 15 miles from the marina, God decided He didn’t like the apps’ predictions. We came into Dowry Creek marina www.dowrycreekmarina.com with the winds at 28 knots to our port aft with whitecaps and 3-4 foot rollers slamming into the docks. It was absolute docking hell. Back up, try again…twice. Third time was a charm, but very ugly. Three men were pulling on our lines to try to guide us in. Derek really thought he lost his ability to drive the boat until we watched the other boats trying to dock that came in after us. They were struggling just as much. Derek is still shaking his head though that he didn’t do better.   We were definitely rocked to sleep that night as the swim platform and transom went up and then slammed down with a boom until the next wave hit.

All was calm the next morning, so without assistance we threw the lines and were off to Beaufort, NC https://www.beaufort.com/. We were excited as Beaufort brought good memories of friends from the loop in 2017.  The weather held, but the seals in the hydraulic steering ram  were leaking hydraulic steering fluid.  The auto pilot kept trying to turn us to port all the time  and the steering became less and less responsive.  I took the helm while Derek dug out his steering fluid and special funnel just in case.   Luckily, it was still  somewhat functional and not gone altogether when we arrived in Beaufort so we didn’t have to strap Tater into his life vest to dog paddle us to shore. Beaufort welcomed us with our first dolphin sightings. They jumped in our wake and I clapped my hands and squealed like a little girl.

We docked without incident at Beaufort Docks Marina and Derek scheduled a mechanic to fix the steering. This is our home for the next 6 days due to high winds and some storms. The marina is right in front of the ‘boardwalk’ and awesome local restaurants and shops are steps away. Good for me, but not Derek’s wallet. Got some Christmas shopping done.

Behind the marina is the Rachel Carson Reserve https://www.beaufort-nc.com/rachel-carson-reserve.html . A cluster of small islands that are home to wild horses (no people). We took the dinghy there and actually saw 4 of them. Tater ran as fast as he could along the shore while I did some shelling. I found the biggest whelk I ever came across (almost half the size of Tater), but it was still alive. ARGHHHHH! It would have been the masterpiece of my collection, but I let him live and walked on. At least I have a picture.

Gypsea has been true to her name. Each time we dock she jumps off the boat and goes on adventures. Just when we think we might have lost her, she shows up again. We often spot her on terraces of shops or on other docked boats. I’ve trained her to come get treats when I click a dog training clicker. So far so good.

Oh yeah, I had mentioned “Duck Beaks” a few posts ago.  Well, Derek informed me they are called Duck Bills as he had two in his hands to go into the engine room and replace the ones on the holding tank.   He was grunting and sweating and cussing so much it reminded me of the scene from movie “Shawshank Redemption”…  “Derek had crawled through 50 inches of the most foul stuff imaginable”… One Tank done, one to go…

We miss everyone and are getting excited to be home for Christmas. Derek promised to get us home in time to put up our Christmas Tree.  We plan on pulling out of here Saturday to a residential style marina to hole up for a couple days as we work towards Charleston.

Much love….

Gypsea's 'I-am-not-pleased' stare

Great boat neighbors, Mark and Saffie. He delivers yachts all over the world and will be attempting to break the around-the-world record soon.

Groundhog Day (Oct 9-19)

We’re still sitting on our dock by the bay (Chesapeake Bay) in Virginia. Still waking up in the same spot, with the same view, with the never-ending list of things to be done to the boat! Things get completed, but new tasks get added. Derek now knows every inch of the engine room and has become quite the mechanic. This is out of necessity because we might be too old to cruise if we waited for the mechanics at this marina to get to it.

However, we did take Donna Mae out to stretch her legs a few days ago, and she purred like a kitten. We were rusty while docking, but made it back with no new scratches or dents!!! It’s not easy getting in and out of a 16’-wide slip with a 15’6”-wide boat.…all 43 feet of her. Gypsea and Tater loved the adventure and our fears of them bailing overboard while on way were dampened. Time will tell whether they can handle bigger waves on less-calm days.

We’ve made some special friends. Apparently this marina is like the United Nations. Erika and Holger from Germany, Safie and Mark (she’s from England) and Wallace and Sharon from Canada. We share docktails and dinners and lots of laughs.

Two major accomplishments to note. We  now have working heads (toilets). I can relieve myself without using a bucket or the sink or the public bathroom 2 blocks away. This is a major thing folks!!! And secondly, we finally have the tv hooked up to the boat’s antenna. We had been stuck with Kojak, Rockford Files or Big Bang Theory repeats for the past THREE WEEKS. Needless to say, with those selections I plowed through my 800-page book in record time.

One other thing to get used to: cooking without being able to use the stovetop and oven at the same time, or the ice maker and toaster oven at the same time. And…if you use more than 2 burners on the stove neither can be turned on high! So our routine is buying ready made microwave meals from Kroger.

We hope everyone is staying warm through the latest arctic blast. We dropped down in the 30’s ourselves so new blankets have been added.

Sending lots of love,

Lori and the Captain

Forward bilge that prolly hadn't been cleaned for 17 years!!!!

Holger and Erika at Vino's Restaurant.

Thinks he's a human and sits like one too!