Beaufort or Beaufort?

*  Beaufort, NC to Beaufort, SC  *

–  4 ports, 3 anchorages  –  344 miles

Beaufort – two great ports, two different states, two different pronunciations, and both named after the same man. Bow-fert is North, Bew-fert is South. Confusing for boaters and others alike as you cruise by both on the East coast, just a few hundred miles apart.

The waters were calm as we left Beaufort, NC and a great cruising day ensued to an anchorage outside of Camp LeJeune, Mile Hammock Bay. Cruising 45 miles had us arriving early afternoon to get a good spot. We were the third boat in the anchorage and still had difficulty finding enough water below us, took us three tries and eight more boats joined us for the evening.

The Now or Never headed back to a crew favorite at Southport, NC. There were a few very skinny areas and our Bob423 tracks did not let us down. We strayed one time and hit some shoaling, it was a reminder to go forth always with Bob. Arriving after a 64 mile cruise, we had to pass the American Fish Company on our way to dock, we had joined the exclusive Club last visit and headed to reap the benefits of our $1 investment. The day was beautiful looking out over the Cape Fear River and the beer was cold.

We docked next door to the club at the Provision Company, in the heart of the Southport waterfront.

At 5, we headed to friends Bob and Kay’s house a couple blocks away for porch tails. They welcome loopers to Southport and neighbors to their porch every day. We were joined by their son and grandson this day. They have an awesome view and incredible southern hospitality. We enjoyed sharing our cruising stories with them since we had seen them last in early June.

A last minute decision had us heading to Bald Head Island the following day. A quick 3.5 mile cruise through the frying pan shoals and a wild ride into the chute of the marina had us there in no time. We pulled out the bikes and went exploring on this tranquil, nature filled island. Golf carts, bikes are the modes of transportation. We climbed the 110 feet to the top of Old Baldy, the oldest standing lighthouse in North Carolina built in 1817.

The view was breathtaking. We stood at the top what seemed like forever, just taking it all in, not wanting to give up the view or the moment. Beautiful, the vast Atlantic Ocean views, the Cape Fear River, Southport, and the natural island.

We headed to the beach and had to dip our toes in the water, more like most of our legs and the waves were bigger than thought and crashed down on us. We also sank in the sand as the water pulled in back out to sea and drenched us from the thighs down. It felt good. We’re on the water every day, but very few days are we in the water.

It was a nice change just sitting on the water’s edge watching the waves rush in and out. The water was cool, but it didn’t stop a bunch of young kids from enjoying their time on the beach. We rode and rode for miles on our bikes looking for anything commercial or retail, really just a cold drink and possibly a bite. There just isn’t much on this island. We finally found one restaurant mid island.

Returning to the marina there was another there but that’s all we saw. Housing is booming, sure to ruin the remote, nature oriented island alluring people to the beach or golf. It was a great one day visit ended by a night of rocking in the harbor as there just is not much protection to the marina. Fun Fact: Most of the movie Weekend at Bernie’s was shot on Bald Head Island. It was at Old Baldy, the lighthouse where Parker got temporarily blinded.

The winds would be picking up, so we left early the following morning, timing out departure around the ferries who bring workers and tourists to the island every 30 minutes. You do not want to meet a ferry in the chute, especially when the winds are kicking up. The captain masterfully pulled us off the dock as the wind tried to pin us down, went heavy with the throttles to build up speed as soon as we hit the narrow chute so the wind, waves, and current wouldn’t send us into the wall. We were out and headed back across the frying pan shoals and cape fear inlet, out running a container ship across the channel, and back into the calmer waters of the intracoastal waterway near Southport. We turned southwest and making our way toward Myrtle Beach.

Our intentions were to stop and meet up with friends from Indiana for dinner but looking at the next day forecast of rain and strong winds, we pushed on another few hours and 20 miles to a marina tucked away on the Waccamaw River.

Disappointed we missed Jenny and Ann. We have learned you have to have a plan A and plan B and mother nature is always in charge. We stayed two nights waiting out weather. We heard about some strong storms and winds on the coast but did not experience them at Osprey Marina, a very protected location.

One of David’s sayings is there is always something broken on your boat, you just don’t know it yet. With a day at port, he went to work on one of the heads. We thought the pump went out, it did not. He discovered a small leak and spent the day rebuilding and troubleshooting to no avail. The following day, still a small leak. Can’t think of a worse job on a boat and it will have to worked on it again.

With the rain behind us, we took off on an 80 mile voyage (making up for a day at dock) and anchored just 15 miles north of Charleston. We left the beautiful tree lined Waccamaw River in the morning and northern South Carolina and ended in the low country grassy marshes of southern South Carolina. Our journey brought us back to the land of dolphins and waterfowl. Certainly, was a welcomed sight. The captain caught a great video of our favorite friends.

The Carolina low country brings great challenges with very skinny water, large tidal swings (7-9 feet), strong current, and little wind protection at anchorages.

We crashed and burned with our anchoring again. This is something we just aren’t very good at, tensions rise, there is always an argument or two, and then we finally settle in. The first mate has the propensity to always question the location after the anchor starts to drop, thus having pull it up and start again.

We dropped in three locations this evening, one a mile or so from the 2^nd and third. It still wasn’t an ideal spot, but after 80 miles we were tired, and we just let it be. Man did it get dark. We were in the middle of nowhere without city lights or residential lights. A few channel markers and a couple of towers were all we could see by 7:45 pm. Windy and dark. We were anchored in an inlet right on the edge of the ICW. Between the current, wind, and tide changing we were swinging like Tarzan.

We had a bit of a restless night, though there was no vessel traffic overnight. We still aren’t totally at peace when we anchor with one little all-around light marking the Now or Never. The captain left on the electronics so that our AIS (automatic identification system) on board would broadcast our location, that is if others have a radio which can read AIS. Any assistance was most welcome.  The captain was up by 4:30 am, wanting to check anchor and ensure we were ok as the fisherman would be out and about soon. The humidity in the southern air was so thick you could wipe it up with a rag. Our humidity monitor in our room read 98. Yikes. We pulled anchor just before 7 and left with the first hint of light for our travels. The air was damp and heavy and there was no sun to be seen.

The wind and cool air had the first mate buddled up well. The breeze on the flybridge can cut right through you.

Our day would wind us along the ICW, through rivers, creeks and cuts, across Charleston harbor, and back into the low country for another night at anchor. We called it a day with 36 miles behind us. The last trek to Beaufort has some very skinny water and the tide was going out, too iffy for this crew. We would tackle the skinny water with a rising tide in the morning. This anchoring edition went much smoother. We planned a bit better, and we weren’t as tired having only motored a few hours rather than the 10 the day before. We were anchored prior to lunch and with time for a nap after lunch!

The wind howled, the current ran hard, and the boat direction was conflicted. The wind hitting us on our side rather than coming straight at the bow like normal. It was supposed to be a warm day, but we never felt anything that was close to warm with the wind howling.

We had anchored in this same location on the way up in late May with a handful of other boats, this night we had the anchorage to ourselves until late evening when two joined us. It was a bit rocky to start the wave and winds building across the anchorage and then we had just a ripple for the evening. Come 11 pm, we were rockin’ and rollin’ for a few hours as rogue waves hammered the side of the boat for a few seconds then it would be calm for 10 – 15 seconds and then big waves again. By 2:30am it calmed down but still a less than restful night.

We rose before dawn, pulled anchor, and motored out of our anchorage just as light was appearing. Another cool, crisp morning in the mid 50’s to start. The first hour of our trip we were graced with many dolphins riding along, playing in our wake and jumping alongside the boat. This made for an incredible morning. And the sun was shining, our first day of sunshine in more than a week and our prettiest day since we left Solomons and our voyage south.

Our captain had the route timed to hit a couple of the real shallow areas near high on a rising tide. Our trip up was pretty nail biting, and we didn’t want than this go around. We never saw less than 5-6’ below our keel, with the help of the 7’ tide. On the way up we were dragging bottom.

Our destination was Lady’s Island Marina in Beaufort, SC, an area we thoroughly enjoyed on our trip north and knew we wanted to return to. Tasha feels a strong calling to the area with some family history here. 

We plan to stay a few days and just enjoy ourselves. We have cruised 668.5 miles through 4 states in two weeks, a little faster paced than ideal and we’re going slow it down our last 300 miles. We can’t think of a better place to chill for a few days, ahh Beaufort, SC.                                                      

Cheers!  David, Tasha,  

                  & Remy forever in our hearts!

 

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