Where's the Warmth? Recap - Norfolk, VA to Charleston, SC

Ice...on the inside.

When we left Hayes, VA (which is just north of Yorktown) at the end of November, it was getting really cold at night and we had already succumbed to buying 2 small ceramic space heaters.  So, we left early on November 21st and by the second night we were anchored in the Alligator River in North Carolina, making about 80.5 nm that day.  We were trying to make good time because Bill had a flight out of Charleston on November 30th and we knew it would be close. The next couple of days were uneventful.  When we got to Morehead City, NC on the 24th, the free anchorage was full of moorings and had little anchoring space, so we tied up at the Municipal Marina. The marina was small but new, and getting into the slip (even though it was on the end), was tricky. Luckily another boat had just tied up and came over to help us. There was a wicked cross-current that was pushing us and we didn't know the depth of the water on the end dock, but we took the chance it was OK, and luckily it was.  I don't think we would have attempted it without some dock help. It ended up that we got to stay there for free! That was because the office was closed (it was after 5p.m. the day before Thanksgiving) and wasn't going to be open until the day after. We called and left a message about paying, but when they called back, they said if we had already left (we had), to "never mind".

November 25th, Thanskgiving day we anchored in Wrightsville Beach, NC. We got there just as the sun was setting and picked a spot as far away from the crowd as we could. But, not far enough. After dark the wind picked up and boats started swinging. We are a catamaran, so we don't swing the same as monohulls, and there were boats on all rode (rope) and another with a very long scope out. We started feeling uncomfortable about how close the other boats looked, so at 3a.m. we picked up our anchor and circled around for a while (using a handheld spot light) and finally put it back down near the entrance buoys for the rest of the night.

We were planning to stop the next night at Carolina State Park Marina, as we had been there before and loved it. It's exactly what it sounds like, a state park on the water that has a marina.  There are lots of hiking/nature trails and a beach on the Cape Fear River. We talked to them earlier in the day and it sounded like there was room for us, but as we rounded the corner to see what it looked like, we changed our minds. We knew there was not a lot of room inside to turn around (we knew this from our 37' boat) and the entrance was quite narrow and this day the current was running pretty strong going in and there was a strong cross wind.  We circled around outside for a while before deciding that we would pass it up.  It just didn't look like we could maneuver inside if we needed to re-dock or turn around and we didn't want to chance it. So on we went a little further to Southport, NC. and we lucked out here! There is one free dock in the town that is on a first come first serve basis. Since it was early in the day, we were first.  It was looking like rain and we were happy to be tied up somewhere and able to put on our heaters to warm the boat. The town itself is very quaint and historic, fun to walk around. They had a lot of Christmas themed shops and it was fun for the boys to look around. We had a great dinner at a gas station-turned restaurant (PJ's) where the decor was college pennants and autographed pictures all over the walls (I even saw my alma mater).

Our last 2 days were the worst as far as the whole trip was concerned. We stopped at a marina along the ICW (which we have never done before, but it was cheap and had showers and laundry) in a stretch called "the rock pile". So named because of the rocks bordering the channel and you are warned not to stray outside of it. As we left the marina in the morning we hugged the side of the channel where the marina was, to allow another boat to pass, and if you haven't guessed already, we hit rock. Pretty scary! It sounded horrible and it kind of freaked me out but Bill handled it well and let the boat just bounce itself off(ouch!), no throttle. So, hopefully we didn't do any damage but we won't know what it looks like until we are in clear water or have it hauled.

Our last night anchored was in a channel called Five Fathom Creek. Everything was good here until we left in the morning. As we headed out into the main channel we noticed a boat that was heeling over a little too far. On talking to them on the VHF, we found out that they had run aground (the tide had dropped where they anchored and it was too shallow for them. As we were talking to them, to see if we could help, our boat was drifting just outside the main channel and we soon found ourselves aground!  Fortunately, it was only mud (not rock!) and also fortunately there was a tug coming by and they were able to create enough wake for us to get off relatively quickly.  Whew!

Less than 60nm from Charleston and we are anxious to get there. Our marina, the Charleston Maritime Center couldn't take us until the next day (same day as Bill's flight) so we anchored in the basin on the Ashley River for the night, then made our way over to the Cooper River and tied up at the Maritime Center the next morning. Bill made his flight later that day.  While we've been here for the month of December, we haven't had as warm of temperatures as we like.  In fact, one morning was so cold that there was ice on every hatch and window inside the boat! And of course, that was when Bill was out of town.  Luckily it isn't that cold everyday and generally we have sunny days that warm up the inside of the boat quite nicely. We have even been able to make a trip up to Connecticut to collect the rest of our boat stuff from storage (we are storage free now!).  So now we have to decide when to head further south. It could have been today, but we have decided to wait and see if there is a better (i.e. warmer) weather window to do that. Being almost January, there is not much chance of that, but one can hope!