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Tubby's Restuarant

With our time nearly up, we left Savannah and headed home to Brunswick.  An hour and half after we pulled out of down-town Savannah, we made a pit stop in Thunderbolt, GA.  There is a great marine supply store called River Supply located right on the waterfront and we were needing some new fenders so we pulled in for shopping.

Since it was lunchtime, we also stopped at Tubby's Restaurant for lunch.  It is a very popular place to eat among locals and tourists alike.

After Thunderbolt, we continued south and arrived at Hell Gate about two hours before low tide.  Hell Gate is a very narrow cut at low tide.  The depth is only about 4-5 feet and that depth only extends about 10 feet across, so if you are not directly in the channel, you run aground.  Most boats choose to wait until mid tide or higher to go through, so you get a little more depth and a wider channel.

The day was a nice day and it was already the afternoon, so we decided to drop anchor for the night near that little point to the north of Hell Gate.  The next morning, it would be mid tide and rising, so it would be a perfect time to go through.

At first we enjoyed a relaxing time at anchor, sitting up on the flybridge doing nothing in particular.  But then, as though someone flipped a switch, the wind suddenly kicked up to 20 mph!  The waves became very choppy and as we were anchored in the open, the boat began to rock and roll.  We had to move.

Hell Gate

It was only 30 minutes after dead low tide, but the nearest protected anchorage from a southerly wind was on the other side of Hell Gate.  I told Marie that at least it was a rising tide so if we got stuck, we would just wait a few minutes and get lifted off.

So into the gates of Hell we went!  Because it was so shallow (I was reading depths of less than a foot) I was going through at idle speed.  Bad mistake.  With such slow speed, the wind blew us out of the channel and yep, we ended up on the ground!

Elixir back home

At first I tried to power through it.  Another mistake!  I got stuck good.  In fact, at one point I sucked so much mud into my raw water pump that it quit pumping water through the engine!  Not good.

A couple of times smaller boats went by and their wake would lift me up and I could move a few feet, but I was stuck.  We sat there for 1 1/2 hours before the tide came in enough to lift me out of the mud and with lots of cheering, we continued on.

We dropped anchor in a creek just the other side of Hell Gate and had a nice quiet night.

Two days later, after an uneventful remainder of the trip, we pulled into Brunswick, sad to see our trip come to an end.

Savannah

Replica of an old stern wheeler in a yard for repairs

Originally, we were going to anchor off of St.Catherine's Island for a couple of days.  We have never been there and it is supposed to have great beaches that are accessible only by boat.  But since our outboard motor wasn't working, we would not be able to get to the beach.  Therefore, we changed our plans and decided to head to Savannah.

Even though we kept Elixir in the Savannah area for a year after we bought her there, we never made it to the downtown docks.  So it had been on my bucket list from the beginning.  Now was the time to check it off the list!

The USS Lexington is now a floating musuem in Charleston

There are several docks in the downtown Savannah area, but we chose to stay at the River Street Market docks.  They are a little further from the dock used by the water taxis that cross back and forth over the river taking tourists to and from their various waterfront hotels.  If you get too close to them, your boat will constantly be rocked by their wake.  Savannah is a busy waterfront city, with large ships coming and going at all hours.  Large tug boats run up and down the river to assist the ships.  Various pleasure boats run at full speed without regard to your boat being tied to the dock.  And as I already said, the ever-present water taxis.  So anytime you dock there, you
get rocked all day!

View of the River Street Market from Elixir

But on the up-side, you step off your boat and immediately you are in downtown Savannah!  River Street runs along the river and is packed with tourist type shops, as well as numerous restaurants, tucked in the old cotton warehouses and shops of the 19th century.  But we initially by-passed this area and walked the steep stairs to get to the upper level of the newer Savannah.  It was lunchtime and when in Savannah, we always want to eat at our favorite restaurant there, Your Pie.  We enjoy Your Pie because we each get an individual size pizza made exactly how we want it.  You walk along a buffet of toppings and tell the person what to put on your pizza.  Its delicious!

One of the old stairs down to River Street

After lunch we walked back to River Street to check out the shops.  You can spend hours going in and out of these shops.

After awhile, we decided to rest our feet and hopped on one of the tour trolleys for a guided tour of Savannah.  It lasted about an hour and a half and was very informative.  We learned about the history of Savannah and some of its more important residents.

The cotton gin was invented here, which although it revolutionized the production of cotton, it had the unintended side affect of increasing and prolonging slavery, which ultimately led to the Civil War.

Pirates House Restaurant

We also saw the Pirates House Restaurant, which is the oldest building in the state of Georgia.  Apparently, it was quite a nefarious pub in its day.  Sailors would go there for a drink or two or more and end up getting hit over the head and kidnapped onto a ship sailing for ports unknown!  The locals all knew to avoid the place.  We were told it is now a must eat at restaurant!

Trolley tour

We would have liked to stay a second night in Savannah, but the docks are unreasonably expensive.  They are comparable in price to high end places like Miami.  Because of the price, you rarely see more than one or two transient boats at any time on all the docks combined in downtown Savannah!  The night we were there we were one of two.  You could probably fit 20 boats on those docks.  I think it is bad business for the private docks like we were on, but I think it is a "shame on Savannah" moment for the dock owned by the city.  They should be encouraging the tourist industry, not chasing them away with high priced docking.

Elixir all alone on the River Street Market Dock

But the prices are what they are and so we just spent one night to have the experience and then moved on.  Hopefully some day they will wise up and lower the price to attract more boaters.

Ships pass by this close around the clock!

In the meantime, we did thoroughly enjoy our visit to Savannah.

And as a final farewell, the Fort James Jackson which guards the entrance to Savannah, and is the oldest brick fort in Georgia, fired a cannon as we passed on our way out.....or maybe they were saying "and don't come back!"  hmmm

Sunset in Savannah

The fort that fired on us!

Charleston

Elixir docked at Charleston Maritime Center Marina

We stopped in Charleston on the way north, but there is so much to see that two days did not even begin to cover it.  So we decided to hit Charleston again on the way south.  This time we stayed at the Charleston Maritime Center Marina, which is located on the other side of Charleston from where we were before.  This is a smaller marina and not as popular, in part because it is more exposed to shipping traffic wakes and waves in general.  But it is within walking distance of all the shopping and tourist areas, as well as a grocery store and hardware store, so we parked Elixir there.

Marie in front of a wall mural

Our first day we revisited the King Street Shopping District.  King Street is were you go to buy anything.  Pretty much every store you can think of, and some that you didn't, is located on King Street.  After we were there the last time, we remembered we should have bought this and that and so we returned.

King Street also has many restaurants serving just about any type of food that you would want.  So while we were there, we grabbed lunch... and dinner!

Ron gets a shave

Among the stops we made was The Art of Shaving, one of the very few stores where you can find quality shaving products.  They also give shaves and Marie felt that I should pamper myself with a shave while she did some shopping.  I recommend it to all guys as it is so relaxing and you will get the smoothest shave you have ever had!  I felt bad for the guy though, since, as I am apt to do while cruising, I had not shaven in 3 days!  He did a great job though and I will stop in next time I am in town.

Theater 99

After dinner, we took in a comedy show at Theater 99.  A hard place to find, it is a small theater just big enough to get the crowd going, but small enough to interact with everyone.

We really enjoyed the show which featured three nationally known comics (sorry, I am bad at remembering names).  After the show, we had a nice night-time walk back to the boat.  In our hectic lives (even on the boat life can be busy) it is not often I get to just stroll with Marie so I enjoyed that as much as the show.

Entrance to The Market

The next day, we went to The Market.  Originally, this was where meat and produce vendors sold their wares.  Today is is packed with blocks and blocks of arts and crafts as well as souvenirs.  We spent most of the morning there and of course, we found some things we just had to buy!

inside The Market

Charleston's storm of the week

On the way back to the boat, we stopped at Harris Teeters Grocery to re-provision. While we were inside, a really bad storm rolled in.  So we grabbed our bags of groceries and ran to the boat, which was about 4 blocks away!  The wind was making it hard to move in a straight line and at one point, a police officer stopped to offer us a ride.  Unfortunately, he had forgotten about all the equipment in his backseat, so we had to pass on the offer.  Luckily, we got back to Elixir just before the bottom fell out!

The coming storm pushes the water over the dock!

It was just outside of Charleston during our north-bound trip that we got hit by the storm that tore up our bimini top.  Now we get hit by another storm that had us banging against the dock!  I'm beginning to think Charleston is a storm magnet!

The Charleston Aquarium

Since the storm cancelled some of our sightseeing plans, we decided to stay an extra day.  Along with just walking around town seeing the sights, we took in the Charleston Aquarium.  They did a wonderful job of making it interesting and informative and we enjoyed the day.  While there, we watched the 4-D movie about aquatic dinosaurs.  It was pretty cool and at least twice, the 4-D part almost got Marie to jump out of her seat!

We found this hidden in a fire station on a side street

We were reluctant to leave Charleston, but we have to get Elixir back to Brunswick before my vacation ends.  So we promised ourselves that we would come back some day and make Charleston our destination, rather than just a stop along the way!

Georgetown

Historic Downtown Georgetown

Georgetown is just a short hop from Osprey Marina and we pulled in to the Harborwalk Marina the same afternoon.  Georgetown is a quaint little town with lots of little shops and restaurants right on the waterfront.

We arrived on a Sunday and everything was closed.  So we took the opportunity to ride our bikes to Walmart for some supplies.  Everything was fine until we started to return.  Marie hit a bump in the sidewalk and her tire blew!  Luckily, we were still at Walmart so I went back inside and bought some fix-a-flat for bikes.  I put it on the tire and immediately got covered with a fluorescent green gooey substance all over my arms!

the River Room Restaurant - great view of the water!

Not enough went into the tire to get us anywhere, so assuming I got a defective one, I went back inside to buy another.  I hooked it up and the tire filled up.  Then I went to remove the can from the tire and green stuff went everywhere!  Plus, the green stuff was oozing out of every possible place on the tire.  Along the rim, by the spokes, everywhere!  We immediately took off, walking at first, then riding, waiting for the stuff to harden and form a seal.  But it never did.  After awhile, we had to walk the bikes back to the boat!

Harborwalk, Georgetown

Our son, Josh, who is a part time wedding photographer, always says the best weddings are those were something goes wrong.  He says the bloopers are what will be remembered and laughed at years later.  So anytime things don't go right on our trips, we look at each other and say, "another memory!"  Its what makes the trip fun!

Monday we walked the shops along the riverfront and had a nice relaxing day.  It is a place we would not mind visiting again someday, but for now we had to keep moving south so the next day we pulled out and continued our trip.

A double rainbow points the way to the beach!

That night we anchored within sight of the ocean and beaches in Price Creek, just north of Isle of Palms.  We had allotted two nights here so that we could spend time on the beach, so the first night we just kicked back on the boat and relaxed.

The next morning we got up and put the dinghy over, loaded her up for a day at the beach, and got ready to go.  But once again, I pulled and pulled and pulled on the starter chord only to have the outboard remain silent!  I am very disappointed in the Mercury outboard and am seriously considering trading it in for another brand.  Without power, we were once again stuck on the boat.

Headed South

Breakfast with Jim & Ann

Up close and personal with the local wildlife!

We had decided to leave Elixir at Osprey Marina for the month we would be gone from her.

When we pulled in to Osprey Marina, our good friends, Jim and Ann, were there onboard their 43 foot Defever, Wild Goose.  We got to spend the day with them in Myrtle Beach (we had rented a car to drive back home) and really enjoyed the time with them!  The next day, they headed north towards the Chesapeake Bay.

We spent a couple of days getting Elixir ready for us to leave.  We also enjoyed the peace and quiet of this secluded marina, complete with a variety of wildlife such as deer, turtles, and many species of birds.

Then finally, it was time to go.  We got in the rental car and headed towards home, the first leg of our vacation over.

Osprey Marina

After about a month of catching up the case files back at my office, it was finally time to head back to Elixir.  As far as I was concerned, it was not a moment too soon.

We had never left Elixir anywhere before and wouldn't you know it, she got hit by not one, but two tropical storms!  You can imagine how nervous I was!

But luckily, we left her at Osprey Marina just south of Myrtle Beach.  Not only are the dock prices reasonable and the fuel prices the lowest around, but you can't beat the location for hurricane protection.

Elixir sports her repaired bimini at Osprey Marina

Osprey Marina is a little pocket of water surrounded by trees.  The only way in or out is a narrow channel just wide enough for two boats, although one side is taken up by the dock where we left Elixir.  So all my worrying was for nothing, and Elixir was just fine!

While I was working, Marie repaired the bimini top that had been destroyed in the earlier storm.  I think she did a great job.  Although it will ultimately need to be replaced, this repair will get us through the cruising season and you can't really tell from the dock that it was repaired!

Elixir at Wacca Wache Marina

After making sure everything was in order, we pointed the bow southward and started the long trip home.

We passed Wacca Wache Marina at lunch time so we decided to pull in for lunch.  We have always been surprised at how few restaurants there are along the ICW where you can pull a 40 foot trawler up to, so we like to support those that exist.

On this day, it was K-Rae's Waterway Bar and Grill.  We were rewarded for stopping with a great black bean veggie burger!

K-Rae's Water Bar and Grill

After a great lunch we went to pull out of the marina and I got fed a double helping of humble pie!  The marina is a little tight to pull in and out of.  Pulling in, I performed a picture perfect docking.  But pulling out, I had a strong current pushing me from behind.  With a single screw, I have very little control when backing up, and even less when a 3-4 knot current is pushing against me.  Everytime I tried to turn, the current pushed me towards the dock.  I should have backed in so I could have just pulled straight out into the current, but I didn't.  So here I was, struggling to turn with a current doing everything it could to stop me.  By the time I finally got the bow turned up-river enough to get out of there, I was completely inside the slip.  There was barely 5 feet in front of and in back of the boat, but somehow we got out of there without hitting anything!  A little embarrassed, I headed once again down-river.

North of Charleston

Isle of Palms beach

Our next stop after Charleston was Isle of Palms.  It is a tourist town that seems to make its living off of renting beach houses to out-of-towners.  It seemed like 3 out of every 4 businesses on the island was a rental agency.

We stopped there because of the close proximity of the marina to the beach.  We weren't disappointed.  They have a beautiful beach which was not too crowded while we were there.

Busy boat ramp!

We like the marina as well.  It was full of activity.  I think everyone in the state of South Carolina that had a boat on a trailer brought it there to launch!  The two days we spent there, there was a constant stream of boats being launched or recovered from sunrise to sunset!  Most of the time there were multiple boats being launched at the same time!  And we had a front row seat to watch all the action.

Morgan Creek Grill

To add to the activity, we were also docked right next to a very popular restaurant, the Morgan Creek Grill.  We ate lunch there one day.  The food is good and you have a great view of the ICW so you can eat while you watch all the yachts going by.

They also provided live music both nights we were there, so we got free entertainment without leaving our boat!

Guess his anchor didn't hold either!

Our next night after Isle of Palms was supposed to be at anchor.  We chose a creek right off the ICW near a beached shrimp boat.  However, after about 5 failed attempts to get the anchor to hold, we gave up and went into McClellanville to tie up for the night.

Shrimp boat fleet

We arrived on a Sunday, one day after their Shrimp Festival.  All of the shrimp boats were still dressed up for the occasion, and it was quite a sight to see!

By this time, Marie was exhausted as she is our anchor winch and has to manually pull in the anchor and chain after each attempt.

Fine Dining!

So I decided that I would treat her to dinner, especially since it was Mother's Day.  We had heard much about the only restaurant in town, and so we rode our bikes the mile or so to get to it, only to find it closed for Mother's Day.  So we rode our bikes a couple of more miles out to Highway 17 where we were told there was another restaurant.  But it also was closed!  So finally we found a Subway Restaurant inside a BP Gas station.  But that had no where to sit to eat.  Not even a bar to stand at and eat!  So we took our sandwiches and sat on the curb in the parking lot and ate with ants crawling all around (and on) us!  Happy Mother's Day Marie!

Who is watching who?

One big surprise I got was when I was walking down the dock back to the boat.  Suddenly a dolphin surface right next to me.  At first I was startled, but I noticed he wasn't swimming away.  He was just watching me!  I knelt down and talked to him and he just stayed there!  He was so close I could have touched him!  I realized I was missing a moment and reached into my pocket for my cell phone and took several pictures of him.  Finally he swam away.  It was really cool to be that close to a dolphin in the wild, and by his choice!

Relaxing on the beach

After McClellanville, we were going to anchor one night and then keep heading for the North Carolina border.

Marie went looking on Active Captain for a good anchorage and found one a little further than I had planned to go, but she thought it would be worth the time.  She was right!

We anchored off a sand dune on Thoroughfare Creek.  It was a great beach in a nature preserve.  If you climb to the top of the sand dune, the other side slopes down to a real pretty lagoon!  So you have beach and swimming on both sides!

Do I need to say anything?

We got to try out the outboard motor repair we had done in Beaufort and explored the creek and lagoon.  We made several trips over to the beach and walked some of the trails.

It was so nice, that we decided to stay two nights.  We were rewarded with a beautiful sunset on our second night!

We could have stayed here a week, but we did have a loose schedule so we reluctantly moved on.

No swimming here!

As we headed north once again, we saw our first alligator!  He was swimming across the ICW directly in front of us.  Although the picture makes it look further, he was so close I had to stop the boat to keep from hitting him!  He had to be about 8 feet long!  We would see plenty more before the day was done, but he was by far the biggest.

Waccamaw River

The lowland marshes soon gave way to lush forests which came right down to the water's edge.  I have to say that the Waccamaw River is the prettiest section of the ICW that I have traveled so far!  Aside from the beautiful vegetation, there was also plenty of wildlife to watch.  Osprey were abundant, as were the turtles and alligators competing for space to sun on fallen logs.  Birds could be heard singing from somewhere in the forest and large fish could be seen swimming just beneath the surface!

Four!

We had plenty of time to enjoy the sights because the current was against us almost the whole day.  The faster the current flows in the opposite direction in which we are travelling, the slower we go.  On this day, we were doing just over 5 knots, which is slow!

We had planned to go all the way to the North Carolina border on this day, but we were going so slow that we decided to give up on making it to the border, so Marie got on Active Captain and went looking for a place to stay.

Luvane's Fish Camp

She found the perfect place in Bucksport Marina.  It is right on the ICW and was only 75 cents per foot to stay there!  In boat terms, that's almost free!  Speaking of free, there was no charge for the putt put golf so we played a few rounds, right on the dock!

They also had free courtesy rides so we had the driver (which was the owner's son, Jeffery) take us to his choice of restaurant.  He picked Luvane's Fish Camp and we were not disappointed.  As an added bonus, Jeffery joined us for dinner and entertained us with all the local gossip as well as enough jokes to headline in Vegas!

Swing Bridge

The next morning we continued on, heading for Barefoot Landing Marina in Myrtle Beach.

I had chosen Barefoot Landing Marina (not to be confused with Barefoot Marina which is on the opposite shore), because it was part of a huge outdoor shopping center.  I thought it might be fun to take a day and just walk the shops to see what they had to offer.

Skylift

From Bucksport to Myrtle Beach, the river gets pretty narrow with lots of expensive homes along the water.  It is a worthwhile trip just to look at the homes!

As you get closer to Myrtle Beach, the scenery gives way to buildings targeting the tourist industry, including a skylift that crosses over the ICW!

Some of the many shops at Barefoot Landing

When we arrived at Barefoot Landing Marina, I radioed for directions and the dockmaster told me to pull in behind a Nordic Tug that was docked there.  As I pulled in behind the tug, I saw the name.  It was Peter and Sue on Osprey, the couple we had met in Beaufort a week before!  We had been unable to meet up with them for dinner in Charleston, but here we were, docked right next to each other once again.  So of course, we all had dinner together that night!  We really enjoyed meeting up with them again and hope to run into them on the water in the future!

Nothing better than dinner with friends!

There was so much to see at Barefoot Landing, that we spent the whole day and only shopped in a small fraction of the stores!

To add to all the excitement, we arrived at the start of bike week so motorcycles were everywhere!

This was as far north as we were going to get on this trip.  And so now everything will be southbound towards Brunswick.

Osprey continues north

But first, I have to go back to work for awhile as my clients need my help.  As much as I would like to stay on vacation, I have responsibilities back home.

And so with sadness, we leave Elixir in Myrtle Beach for a month while I catch up at the office.  But then we will be back, with new adventures on the way south!