Jim: Pit stop in the sea of grass

The view out our window is a sea of grass the likes of which would make the Everglades jealous. We stopped just north of Charleston for the evening. There is a nice channel behind us that has a steady flow of shrimp boats returning home.


The vast sea of grass.

We stayed last night in beautiful little Thoroughfare creek at mile marker 388 on the ICW. We awoke this morning to a light mist and only one other boat in sight. I believe it was about 25' long and of course it was from Canada. The gent on board the "Black Dog" seemed like a nice fellow and he anchored about 100 yards aft of us. He left just before we pulled anchor.

Thoroughfare creek in the morning.

As we headed south the sunshine was a nice change to the recent cold snap. We made our way down to 22 miles north of Charleston and thought we would stop for the night. We are at anchor down in "Five Fathom Creek". The current is about one knot and the dolphins are cruising the point looking for their next meal. Have to love those little guys.

Tomorrow we should arrive in North Charleston at the Isle of Palms Marina. We had a autopilot failure today and we have a guy coming to look at it in the afternoon.

As to the questions and comments on the last few posts, here goes some random thoughts.

For Larry, the bikes we have are Port Runners from West Marine and they work well. They had a very nice write up in Practical Sailor a few months ago. We enjoy them a lot and will add a few pictures when we can.

For Angus that is just a little behind us on the ICW, I am a Renegade too and my call sign is Reallybadeggs. We will be at the Isle of Palms Marina through Sunday. If you are in the area drop by for a drink.

For Joe and Sarah, when they say that cruising is fixing your boat in exotic locations, "they" weren't kidding. More on that later.

For John, the adventure never seems to end, especially that boat maintenance part. We haven't found Elvis yet, but are hopeful

For Ann, please bring that guardian angel and rum!

Finally, Jerry we can't wait for the rescue.

Cheers.

Pat: Update from the Water

We are in a beautiful anchorage on Thoroughfare Creek off the ICW at N36 57.163 W76 18.580. Should be in Charleston late on Wednesday afternoon.

Jim: The Helios Frostbite Tour 2006!!!

Ok, I know we are not breaking any records with our trip south, but this really nice couple passed us on the ICW yesterday:


She seemed a little pushy to me.

The state of North Carolina is holding us hostage. After a week and a half in Southport we were ready to head south. The alternator problem had been solved and the engine tested. Wednesday morning I put "old blue" back in the storage lot and rode my way-cool folding bike the three miles to the marina. Once aboard we disconnect everything and headed out. About 50 yards from the slip, the alternator starts to sound like someone is strangling a cat. A quick check of the engine room reveals the alternator is eating itself. I think to myself, its ok, we can fix it later. No one will notice the ear splitting screeching. Right? Pat gives me the look and we returned to the slip. She really is a good communicator.
We almost got away. DAMN YOU ALTERNATOR GODS!!!

I call Pedro, the terrific boat repair guy that we met and I tell him to come get this %$#$*^& alternator and fix, replace, or exorcise the damn demons out of it so we can get along with our "RELAXING VACATION".

Meanwhile, in the background I see Pat is on-line looking up airfare prices to Aruba. Not a good sign. I think the wife may jump ship. Need to take quick action. How about a day off with some sight seeing and dinner Honey? She agrees. I need a plan. On my bike, back to the truck...

On Friday the parents show up to visit their new house. A family reunion commences and we have a nice weekend. On Saturday night I cooked dinner with a big red wine and we watch "Pirates of the Caribbean II". The alternator is fixed (AGAIN) and we will set out on Sunday for points south. Things are looking up.

Did I mention that the temperature outside last night was 27 degrees. That is a five year low in Southport. As a matter of fact, it is the coldest year that the Southeast Coast has seen in many years. People are freezing in St. Thomas. It is cold in Key West. Dogs and cats are sleeping together. MAN!!! We pulled out this morning with about 1/8" of frost on the boat. No screeching. No smoke. Not sinking. Wife is still aboard and still believes I am a good sailor. WHEW, that was close.


today's date written in the frost.


Dan in the cockpit with the frost on the windows.

We had a nice day motoring down the ICW and we arrived in North Mrytle Beach at a marina named "Dock Holidays". Did I mention that we had a little victory dance when we hit the border. At last we are finally in a state with the word "South" in the title. We plugged in the boat and kicked on the heaters. You see my friends, old Helios has two reverse flow heater/air conditioners on board. I didn't install them, but I am taking full credit. So we kicked them on and the cabin is about 300 degrees right now. I think Pat is going to grow ferns. The marina also had cable TV so we are watching 87 channels of stuff. We decided that this is a vacation and we are going to have max-comfort from here on down.

My lovely bride is sitting over on the other settee with no blankets. She looks comfortable. She is actually not wearing three pairs of socks. This is a good sign.

Tomorrow we get another step closer to Charleston, SC. We have friends there, plus some other friends (Bob and Ann) are coming to visit. I guess they got tired of waiting for us to be in the islands and are settling for SC. So tune in everyone for more interesting adventures of Pat and Jim, two hobbits that must return the ring to Mount... Oh well, you get the picture.

If anyone in the Wilmington NC area needs boat work done, I have to give a big recommendation to Pedro Cordero of Unlimited Boat Services. (910) 231-0837 or Unlimitedboat@aol.com He is the owner. He and his son Pedro Jr. did a great job of killing the evil demons that were living in our alternator. He also put up with all my stupid questions. He knows his way around boats and makes a hell of a good Paella. Thanks Pedro for the help and the lunch. We will see you in the spring.

Cheers,

Pat: Another View II

Tomorrow Team Helios is leaving the warm comfort of St James Plantation, to head down the coast. Before we left I thought you might like to see more pictures of our life on the ICW.


Just like with the bed we have staked out our sides of the boat. This is "my" view from the starboard side.



Just south of Wrightsville Beach the porpoises came to visit.


Here is the sign to the St James Marina. We had been waiting for this moment since Norfolk.


After getting the boat put to bed it was Miller time. 007 has nothing on my man!

There is bad weather forecast for tomorrow night (of course), so we should be making an early day of it in Myrtle Beach, SC. We will let you know how it goes.

Enjoy

Pat: A Vacation from Travel?

Have you wondered what we do when we aren't sailing? Well the great thing about having a boat is that when you aren't sailing you are fixing.

We have taken the last week to finally connect the propane to the oven so we can cook on something other than the Coleman stove, install our water filtration system for the drinking water and stop the squealing alternator belts. We put all the ceiling tiles back up that needed to be down while we were waiting to "fix" things and lightened the boat of all the extras. The extras included clothes, pots, glassware, linens, and all manner of nicknacks. We dumped at least a couple of hundred pounds of stuff at the parents house. At the same time we brought off anything that could be washed to really break in their new washing machine. I washed down the sides of the boat to remove all the black streaks we accumulated. This job involves standing in the dingy with a brush on an long pole, a pail of soap and a hose. It is one of my favorites! Also washed down the deck and topsides and polished the stainless fittings. Oh yes, I almost forgot that we put a new coat of paint on the dinghy to keep away the bottom growth.

We did take some time for non-boating activities. We went and saw the new 007 movie, two thumbs up. We also received a much needed care package from Larry with the episodes of Heroes that we had missed, getting us ready for tonight. Thanks Larry, we have a reason to live until January.

Now that all that is done the boat is much more comfortable to continue the next part of our travels. It is time to move on, but when? It is Monday night and we are sitting next to the fireplace with a cup of warm cocoa. We would like to make Charleston, SC by this weekend, but I have a cold coming on so we may sit for a bit.. That is the great part about this whole adventure, we are in charge. I told James that it is an anniversary of sorts for me, I have not seen a powerpoint slide in a month. Instead I watched James put new strings on the guitar and it seems he can still remember some of his favorite songs. Life could be a lot worse.

UPDATE: Found some bandwidth and have uploaded pictures of our completed projects. To get a clearer look, just click on the pictures to view at full size.




James looking very happy that the "to do" list in the galley is done.
For those following along at home, we have installed a Technautics DC Fridge (new compressor and coldplate), a Whale water system with accumulator and new collapsible water bladders (140 gallons), a Seagull X-1F water purifier, faucets and a new propane box, regulators and hose run to the stove.


The deck and sides are clean for the first time in 500 miles. Nothing special here except we have been very happy with Collinite's Metal Wax for maintaining the stainless. Expensive, but worth it.

Hope all are well and life is good.

Enjoy

Jim: Belhaven to St. James Plantation NC

We arrived at the St James Plantation Marina around 1230 on Monday 27 November. A big milestone on our journey.

We stayed an extra day for Thanksgiving at the Dowry Creek Marina due to the weather still being nasty. Ted and Mary, the owners, always have a big turkey day dinner for the cruisers that are staying for the holiday, so we thought we would share in the feast. It was an interesting crowd. We had the a 35' sailboat from Canada named "Mysterious Ways" with two adults, two kids; the 37' sailboat "Contented Turtle" with two adults, one kid, two cats, one dog; the 57' Motortrawler "True Romance" with Richard from Texas; and even a little 26' trawler "S.S. Digby". The Digby was a couple in their mid-sixties that were driving to Annapolis to trade in for a bigger boat of the same make. There were also folks from the local area that always attend the meal. If was a nice thing for the folks that were away from home. Thanks Ted, Mary, and Michelle for your hospitality.

After leaving Belhaven we proceded down the ditch to Swansboro NC. It was a great little town right off of highway 24. We stayed at a marina called Caspers. Nice facilities with the whole town within walking distance. Met a gent onboard "Sundancer" that introduced himself as Crazy John from Mississippi. I was going to say I was Black Jim and Curley Haired Pat was in the head, but I thought that the joke would be lost. John turned out to be quite a character with a boat that was also designed by Ted Brewer. He was on his way back to Ole Miss. Solo.
We had dinner in town at the "Ice House" and retired early.

Dawn came and we were on our way. The day ended in Wrightville, NC. A pretty good size town with a surprising number of power boats. It was a surprise to see that many people in a little town on the Carolina coast. We stayed at a the Dockside marina. Two dollars a foot and there was no restroom. Interesting.

The next day took us down the Cape Fear River and finally to Southport. Along the way we finally had our first dolphin sighting. There were at least four schools of Bottlenose dolphins just playing in the channel and saying hello as we passed. Pat got some nice pictures, but our bandwidth is a little low, so we can't do any pictures at this time. St. James Plantation was just a few more miles up the river and was the destination that we were longing to reach. Now we could have a little downtime at Pat's parents house while doing some work on the boat. By 5 pm that night we had taken baths in the hot tub and were wearing our pajamas. It was a nice change.

The plan is to lighten up the boat with unused stuff, do a little maintainance, wash the boat, and head south for Charleston. Of course, there is a new Bond movie to see and a super Walmart just up the road. And once again, did I mention there is a hot tub?

Thats it for now. Cheers,

Pat: Another View

Well the weather didn't cooperate and we are spending one more night at the marina in Belhaven. Fog, rain and a cold wind in the 40's made the decision easy. Since I have the time, thought I would upload a few pictures to give a sense of our days on the water.


A buoy is the start of the Intercoastal Waterway...Another milestone met


Bridges open with a simple call on the VHF...Big power for a little boat


Leaving on cold morning...Notice who is driving


Sailing across the Albemarle Sound...Beautiful, but 46 degrees


Reading on the deck at anchor...Doesn't this look fun!

You may ask what have we learned so far on this adventure? Patience, specifically that Mother Nature rules and we will go on her schedule, not ours.

Enjoy.

Jim: Norfolk to Belhaven, NC

I would like to start with a few definitions.
Gale: A wind of 32–63 mph
Storm: A heavy fall of rain, snow, or hail with high wind greater than a gale.
Northeaster: A strong Northeast wind, a storm with Northeast winds.

We untied the lines and left Norfolk in our wake on Friday the 17th. After surviving 2 gale-force storms at Norfolk we wanted to get south in a hurry. Brad came down to the pier to see us off. Thanks Brad for letting us use your house and car for the week. Your berth on board for New Years is in the book.


Saying goodbye to Brad.

We made it across Norfolk harbor and into the Inter-coastal waterway (ICW). Mile marker zero is right off of downtown Norfolk. Norfolk is the home of the USS Wisconsin. Battleships tend to make you feel a little small.


USS Wisconsin

Twelve miles down the ICW is Great Bridge. After requesting a number of bridge openings, around bends, under more bridges and through the locks we pulled into the Atlantic Yacht Basin for the night. We had a nice dinner at the Locks View restaurant and went to bed early.


The Lock closes at Great Bridge.

Up the next day and more traveling. We went through the Virginia Cut for 10 hours to land at the Coinjock Marina. The place was deserted until around dusk. Then no less than 10 big fishing boats pull in and tied up. It was an interesting crowd. They have a little restaurant there but we opted for Apple sausages in red sauce over rice. Early to bed as usual. We find it strange that now we get up with the sun and tend to go to sleep when it gets dark. We have turned into our grandparents.

After taking on fuel and water, we crossed the Albemarle Sound to the Alligator river. I didn't see a single alligator, but I'm sure they call it that for a good reason. Through the Alligator river bridge and down to the bottom we dropped the anchor off of Tuckahoe Point in about 9 feet of water. Since we draw 6 feet, we were pretty safe. Dinner was grilled chicken with Sweet pepper sauce over rice with green beans. Nothing like dinner on the hook while the sun sets.


Chicken on the grill.

We upped anchor on a chilly morning and blazed through the North Carolina cut to the Pungo river. Just up the river is a nice little place called the Dowry Creek Marina. Ted and his wife Mary run the place. Ted was out doubling up lines because, wait...wait for it, there is another gale expected tonight. And for those of you that are keeping score, that makes 3 gales in a two week period. It figures that we would head south on the year that has record cold and rain. This gale was going to be the worst yet. It could even turn into a storm. So, we tied everything down and put over many lines and waited. At 0600 on the 22nd, the wind hit 40 knots with gusts to 50. Two sailboats just down from us lost their forward sails and a lot of awnings were torn too. We didn't get any damage due to the fact that I was on deck from 0600 to 0900 in my foul weather gear. That was fun. It was the "old man and the sea" show.

The forecast is for good weather tomorrow, so we will head out at dawn to continue our trek south. Thanksgiving will be a nice meal on the anchor. Maybe some turkey salad on chips. Our new goal is Southport, NC by Tuesday. Cross your fingers that the weather holds.

Jim: Down the Chesapeake to Norfolk

We have arrived at our first major destination. We reached Norfolk Naval Marina at 1330 on Saturday the 11th. On our way down the Chesapeake we had little wind for sailing. The good part of this is we also had little waves for motoring. It was a great passage of approximately 170nm.


It is weird being the biggest boat in the marina.

Now for a look at our voyage. We had just rounded our home channel marker and headed out on day one when we passed the sailing ship "Pride of Baltimore II". It was ghosting along at about 2 knots and looking beautiful. I was a little worried about the cannons aimed at us, but we made it by without incident.


Pride of Baltimore II

The scenery in the Chesapeake is incredible. Every morning we would wake to a beautiful sunrise and a hot cup of coffee. Not too shabby.


Sunrise at Mill Creek off the Great Wicomico



Sunrise at Chissem Creek off the Poquoson River

As we passed through the Norfolk shipping channel, Pat got her first taste of sitting next to a bazillion ton ship going 30 knots.


Big boys play here.

After the container ships passed, another type of Big Boy came around the corner. The USS Wasp was coming up the channel to complete a 10 month cruise. The boys were all in their dress blues manning the rails for the docking. I remember doing that about a million times. We always hated it, but it does look pretty cool for the shore crowd.


See the little figures on the rails?


She is just a small carrier, imagine the big ones.

No major equipment issues so far. We did realize that we had seriously underestimated our need for Internet usage. Without Internet access, the ship's Chief Meteorologist (Pat) didn't have the tools to give us a proper weather update. On Sunday the 12th, a surprise storm overtook Norfolk. Lucky for us we were tied to the dock with all lines doubled up. The wind blew at 25 to 30 knots constant with gust to 50 knots. I was down on the boat for about 2 hours when the storm was at its worst. Even in the marina, it was a heck of a blow. I don't want to scare you but I did manage to take this picture of a ship that I saw out in the storm.


I sure hope those folks are OK. It was called the "TI" something, I couldn't make out the name.

We hunkered down at my buddy Brad's house and he lent us a car for our errands. The first thing we bought was a Verizon WiFi card to follow the weather more closely. That's our excuse. And what good is a new card without a new laptop. The on-board weather station now consists of a Toshiba with WiFi card and all-you-can-eat Internet access. This should also make it easier to update the blog. So now we have more computing ability then the Apollo space program.

We plan to leave the area on Friday and head into the Inter-coastal Waterway (ICW). The reason for the long stay is that another big storm is projected to hit us on Wednesday night and continue until Friday morning. Being the ships Chief Coward, I convinced the rest of the crew that sitting next to a dock in big winds is a lot better then sitting in some cove with two anchors out and lines tied to trees. "I learned that in Rehab" :-) The fact that Brad has a hot tub had nothing to do with our decision. Honest!

Cheers to all,

J & P

Pat: From Dawn to Dusk

Great weather so we used all the daylight we could and made ~50 miles. Spent the night at N 37 11.00 W76 25.00 on the Poquoson River. Should be in Norfolk tomorrow and have WiFi for a longer post with pictures. Enjoy.