February 23-26, 2014
Beaufort SC, Thunderbolt GA, New Teakettle Creek, GA to Fernandina Beach FL

Well, so much for the rule about doing the blog update before happy hour each day!  Our only excuse is that we were busy sightseeing in Savannah.

For the first 2 days our weather was once again just about perfect.

Beaufort SC Sunset

A Savannah Pirate wannabe

 The next day we docked in Thunderbolt, GA, (supposedly named by the Indians after a giant (guess what) struck the area.  I think the settlers (Oglethorp and crew) arrived shortly thereafter and probably took credit for it.

Thunderbolt is really a Savannah suburb and only about a 10 minute drive into downtown.  Savannah is really easily toured by one of the many trolley tours that go round and round the historic district.  But it is amazingly a difficult city to capture in photos, as the whole is so beautiful.  Even the professional postcard photographers don't come close.

The most important part of Savannah may be the food.  We both fondly remember from years past Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room.   then there is the LONG meal, served family style:

Then there is the LOOOONG meal inside, served family style!  The fried chicken is the best we have ever had.

Thunderbolt Sunset

 Last night we anchored out at New Teakettle Creek, same place we stopped last June. 

Sunset at New Teakettle Creek

 If we had been docked somewhere we would probably have stayed put today, as we woke to rain.  However, we wanted to get to a certain spot (Little Mud River) by high tide at 8am so we hauled anchor and moved out early.  Unfortunately it rained (lightly) all day so ruined our good-weather record. 

 It is very wet, cold and dreary behind the wheel, as the isinglass curtain (window) has to be open in order to see out.

But Carol can be very inventive when it comes to her comfort, (note the plastic bag covering her legs) not to mention trying to protect a new and very expensive chartplotter.  Mal is too proud a mariner to resort to such a thing.

We are now in Fernandina Beach, one of our favorite hangouts, and looking forward to dinner at South 29, a hit last year.   Weather looks somewhat better tomorrow but not perfect.  We shall see.

February 16-22, 2014

Swansboro NC,  Wrightsville Beach NC,  Southport NC, Myrtle Beach SC,  Georgetown SC, Charleston SC and Beaufort SC.

We have been blessed with 5 out of 6 beautiful cruising days.  High temps have been in the low 70's and winds have been, for the most part, wonderfully calm.  We have to take advantage of every good day which means not too many "days off" (as if this were work !)  We have been going 5 to 6 hours every day, and while that may not seem like a long day, believe us, when you are out in the sun and salt air, that is a long enough day.  There is something about the motion of the boat, constantly maintaining your balance, being "on your game" the whole time, that is very enervating.  The one who is not behind the wheel is the navigator and lookout, so both of us have to be constantly vigilant.  We try to spell each other every hour or so, because it's easy to become mesmerized by the water and the landscape.  So much of the time we are out in marshes and the low country, and there is no sign of civilization around us.  We have encountered VERY few other boats, as this is kind of the middle of the off season: other boaters have already traveled south and are yet to return north, so there is very little other traffic around us. 

We have a new rule, which is that the blog has to be written at the end of the day,  before (or at least during) happy hour.  Otherwise we say we will get to it tomorrow, and you can see how we have procrastinated again.  We will try to be better.

We always wonder about pink houses.

Southport Sunrise

North Myrtlle Beach

The moment we hit South Carolina it was suddenly in the 70's and T-shirt weather.  Yes!!!

Mal on the look-out in "The Rock Pile"

Georgetown Morning

This is a typical AICW landscape, no others in sight.

The only rainy day we have had was yesterday in Charleston, which meant that we were able to spend an extra day and EAT MORE OYSTERS!!!  4 Dozen in 2 days, plus fried shrimp, corn fritters and homemade chips with blue cheese dip, all fabulous.  Someday we are going to probably find another place besides "Pearlz" to eat in Charleston, but why???

Coming under a bridge south of Charleston

The Admiral at work.  Her neck is great, BTW.










Tomorrow on to Thunderbolt GA, close to Savannah, so we will spend a couple of days so we can tour the city.

We know it has been a very long time since we posted anything here, but we haven't BEEN anywhere on the boat since last September.  But finally we are underway again. 

We have been held up by surgeries, weather, Maui and holidays.

In September 2013 we took "Twilight Time" out of the water for the remainder of hurricane season and returned to CA.  In late September Mal had rotator cuff surgery,  and Carol had a cast on her right wrist for 4 weeks for a torn ligament.  In October we left for Maui for 5 weeks for a little recuperation.  We had a wonderful time there (but no golf) catching up with friends.  Weather was perfect and we were, of course, reminded of just how much we love it there, and why we will settle in once our boating days are done.

We returned to CA just before Thanksgiving and were able to catch up with our family and friends there during the holidays.  In early December Carol had a very successful C1-2 fusion, solving the neck pain she had lived with for the last couple of years.  She wore a brace for a couple of months but now only wears it for particularly strenuous activities (like driving and boating.) 

In January we finally returned to NC, just in time for the fiercest winter weather they have had in a long time.  We flew into Charlotte just as the first snowstorm hit.

We spent a couple of days with Carol's brother Paul and his wife, Audrey, at their new home on Lake Norman, near Charlotte.  Very cold there (for NC) - in the teens day and night.

Their dock on Lake Norman

Then we went on to Cary to see Carol's sisters, Joan and Maureen (and husband Fred), and brother Steve.  Very cold there as well.

Finally we got to Beaufort, had the boat put in the water and the next day an ice and snow storm hit! It may not look like much in these pictures, but ice covered the boat and docks and we couldn't even get off the boat for fear we would slip and slide into the water (43 degrees).

Frozen Over

The following day it rained quite a bit and so the ice gradually melted away.  Stayed very cold in Beaufort and we had some AC & Heater issues that had to be resolved before we could take off.   We were finally able to leave Beaufort on Thursday and are currently in Swansboro, another quaint little harbor town at the intersection of the AICW and the White Oak River.  We were going to go to Wrightsville Beach today but morning rain and afternoon BIG winds have delayed that until tomorrow.  The weather looks pretty good for the next few days so we hope that we can get a little further south in the next week, and maybe get warm.  We are soooo looking forward to FL!!