TRAVELS of "HELIOPAUSE"

Happy to leave this marina as Scott was up most of the night with the winds and checking lines and fenders. As we travel on Palmico Sound we are finding a lot of Loopers and cruising boats. The weather is calm which we expected however the winds are to pick up this afternoon. It’s a hot one in the high 90’s today.

Palmico Sound is a large sound which behaves more like a lake. Winds affect the seiche more than the tide here. The tea coloured water makes for an interesting moustache on most boats. Finding our way through the channels which are well marked the depths are very favourable.

Heading into Dowry’s Marina the small channel is a good depth. We tie to starboard with the stern in and happy to find that the pool is open. It’s a hot one with humidity. We drive with no air conditioning and it does get warm even with the breezes from the open windows. We plug in and start up the AC and Scott takes a half hour to decompress after 5 hours of driving. Then off to the pool to find that it is 84 degrees. We do several laps and then hide under an umbrella. The sun is so intense. We find that they do have a tennis court with pickleball lines but I would hardly say it is useable. They are building a restaurant with water views, improving the pickleball courts. This is a family run marina and this family works hard. It is not near Belhaven but if you like the more quiet, scenic marinas this is the one to stay at. Once the restaurant starts up it will be a destination. Looking forward to coming back in the fall.

Big surprise….weather is changing. Expected 30 knt winds in the next couple days. We are booked at a marina in Swansboro already so we add a day. As we begin our day we notice that the grasslands have all but disappeared. We are now seeing more homes, civilization, tall trees, even some evergreens that are hardy to the heat here. Dolphins still come around but not to play. They are very shy around boats. It is still such a sight to see when one surfaces. Where there is 1, there are usually more.

There are still a lot of small boats today. We pass and watch pass us many loopers and travelers to bring their boats north for the summer. This waterway is so well used at this time of the year and again in the fall to head to the warmth of the sun.

Heading along the ICW we pass by Camp LeJeuene a navy military base. Along the ICW they are doing live ammunition practices using old tanks, bombs and artillery. We can hear the bombs going off very regularly. As we pass along we are watched by the navy police and towers to be sure the ICW remains clear during the exercises.

We stop into Caspers Marina. Although we rock a bit more than most marinas we are okay with it. With the winds coming the wakes from boats will die down and we will only have to deal with wind chop. We again have every rope out with redundancy for ties. It is a fixed dock so that makes it more of a challenge with a 3 foot tide and winds. The Church St docks, also known as the City Dock, has a floating dock and would suggest that over Caspers on for that reason. Swansboro is a really nice stop. The town has so much old town flavour with family restaurants and friendly folks. We met a lady who has a community library box on her front lawn. Take a book and leave a book. I wondered over and traded a James Patterson for another.

We reluctantly left Osprey Marina and headed north to a restaurant along the ICW. Running through the fresh water to the salt again as we pass a few inlets to the Atlantic Ocean. There are so many boats out in the last couple days. As we arrive just about lunchtime at Dockside we do see the many boats coming in for lunch. The dock is free to anyone just stopping in for a meal.

We were hoping for a free dock as long as you had a meal. This was not to be the case as it is $3.00 per foot. There is power and water but no discount for eating in. The winds begin to pick up and we begin to see the current step up throughout the afternoon. We found a grocery store and hardware store about 1/2 mile away and pick up a few items.

Heading back to the boat we get an alert of an upcoming storm. Checking in on the weather we are expected to get more winds, rain and lightning thunderstorms. We put out more lines to secure the mothership. Having a fabulous homecooked salmon dinner we watch the dinner crowd and then the evening crowd clearing out as the thunderstorms move closer. The lighning show was beautiful. We did get blasts of rain but there was significant winds north of us. We were able to watch the show in the distance.

More lowlands, lots of grasslands and now fresh water. The Waccamaw River is so far inland that the runoff from the grasslands provides water for this area. The water is has so much tanins that the river runs a colour of tea. There are no tides either.

We found this gem of a marina at $1.00 per foot along today’s journey. Great family owned operation with goats and horses and well kept docks nestled in the marshlands. Tall trees and smells of forest with not much around to distract your senses. There is a well stocked convenience store where we picked up a couple Tshirts, marine toilet paper, engine oil, ice cream and paper towels. This little store has a little of a lot of needed items. Along with the slip we were offered a goody bag. In this bag was a beach coin container, a lanyard, homemade jam, fridge magnet, notepad and pen. This is our first goody bag on this trip.

We wondered around the grounds and visited the free range goats while they feasted on fresh grass. The horses came up to us looking for some goodies. There is diesel and gas available as well. This is a realy nice place to just kick back and not get so distracted from all that the city offers.

Today the challenge is real. We have to leave at a rising tide but dead low tide is at 10 AM. We decide to head out and if we have to we will wait for the rising tide to get through Ashepoo Cut. All the reports say less than 3 feet and we draft 4 feet. That math doesn’t add up. As we head out from B&B’s fisheries we note that 2 other loopers are ahead of us. They are a bit smaller but must be heading to the cut too. Scott hails them. They have been through several times and saw nothing less than 6 feet. That is reassuring.

As we approach Ashepoo Cut they are just ahead of us. They will let us know if it is too shallow on the radio. As we approach we quickly go from 30 feet to 9, 8, 7, 6 feet. With LeeAnn and Sakado ahead they are quiet on the radio. That means all is good so far. We head through really slow and find that the entire cut is 6 feet deep at low tide. About half way through a huge 50 foot Searay passes us at a higher rate of speed and tosses us around. We loose our depth gauge. Great. He takes off at full speed. At this point he is going to hit something before us so we very slowly make our way through his water waiting for the depth gauge to come back once the turbulence dies down. We make it through at low tide with no issues.

We are heading to Charleston, SC with a marina reservation at the Harborage at Ashley. Charleston is on the Ashley River and the city dock had no room for us. We are feeling very fortunate to find this spot. The Harborage is in the downtown medical area with pickleball only 1 mile away. Yes, there is pickleball. We get settled in what may end up being a week here due to a massive nor’easter coming in just north of here. Everyone is stuck with a sustained 50 mph wind expected about 50 miles north of us. We are safe and snug here but know it will be difficult to move north as everyone has been stuck the same amount of time as us.

At the dock there are 4 new prototype navy intercept vessels with the fellas performing nightly and daily routines. They spend hours prepping the vessels and then take off after dinner to test. It is really interesting to watch how efficient these guys are.

We wander around town during the coldfront days and find a rooftop lunch spot. As we are up there the winds pick up a bit with the sun in and out of the clouds. It is really interesting how many of the rooftops are being utilized for various purposes. We found a pickleball court on top of the rehab centre, several restaurants, green space for the apartments, a gym. What a great idea to use the extra space. Some of the downtown buildings are a couple hundred years old. You can see that the streets were used by horses and carriage as they are narrow and the buildings have had several uses in their past lives.

The marina is very nice. Floating docks, close to restaurants, downtown and pickleball. A Marriott is here too and with Scott’s lifetime membership we have access to the amentities. After heading out on a bike ride Scott decides to take apart the windless (anchor winch) to figure out if he can fix the anchor problem. There is none visible but he does take the time to grease the moving parts and get serial numbers just in case. I chase around the fruit flies with the vacuum.

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Waking the next morning we hoist up the anchor only to find that the windlass ( the anchor winch) is struggling. It is struggling to the point of not coming up. Scott is very efficient in using the boat to bring up the anchor and not using the windlass other than to bring up the chain yet it is unable to lift. After several attempts and Scott coming to the bow to help get the anchor engaged the anchor is settled in its cradle. Phewwww, that could have been some drama.

At this point he figures we cannot rely on the anchor coming up so we have to head to a marina where he can do some research on the windless. I find a nice marina in Hilton Head which will be considered a side trip as the marina will be about 45 minutes to an hour off the ICW.

The trip down the river shows the wealth of this little island. Huge multi million dollar homes and properties line the shore. There is an area on the island that is restricted to homeowners only. Must be some big names that have homes there. The river is deep with at least 15 feet below us until we reach the marina entrance. It is a narrow passage that shallows quickly. We are at high tide and see some concerning depths of about 6 feet. With a 7 foot tide that should make it interesting getting out of here.

Our slip is way back on I dock. Not a lot of space between vessels in here but with no wind Scott masters it like the pro he is. Now tucked into the slip he begins looking for information on the windless and where we can play pickleball.

The marina is a resort, abreast to the Disney Hilton Head Resort. There are shops, restaurants, entertainment all on ground level and condos and rentals to about 12 stories. The marina is beautifully landscaped. We head out for a walk and find that the grounds throughout are very natural in the setting. Flowers, trees, paths are very well landscaped. Meandering paths for bicycles are the norm with paved paths everywhere you want to go. There are bike paths in Palmetto Palms county throughout. A courtesy van will pick you up at any point in Palmetto Palms County here on Hilton Head Island. I wouldn’t say folks are friendly here though. We have definitely left the hospitality of the South.

Scott finds us pickleball for the morning and continues the windless research. He finds that the manual operation of the windless is an option that yacht manufacturers don’t usually buy. It is an add on. What that means is that if you have an issue bringing up your anchor you have no way of bringing it up. We have never had a boat without the manual operation so this was news. Scott ordered the parts but now we have no way of recovery if the windless fails. That means marinas for the duration of the trip.

We play pickleball at the Palmetto Palms Tennis Club, bike around the county. We have also been having an issue with electronics overheating in the 90 degree heat. We run to Walmart and buy 2 more fans. Scott takes apart the ceiling in the bath and now it has significant ventilation. Hopefully this helps with the 1 display not working or throwing out “man overboard” signals which crashes all the electronics. Boat maintenance in exotic place…..right?

It’s Scott’s birthday too. We celebrate with a special home cooked meal and carrot cake where we had our first instacart grocery delivery. Not sure I would use it again. Happy Birthday Captain!!

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These dang flies. They bite hard…….on the To Buy list will be a flyswatter. Scott has reverted to the 1970 rolled magazine camping swatter. It works well but leaves a mess. Between the fly and noseeum bites we both are scratching our way through our tan.

East River Anchorage is an amazing anchorage. We woke to pods of dolphins gathering breakfast while we sipped our morning tea on the back deck. Leaving a bit later than usual to catch the rising tide we continue the journey through the marshlands of Georgia. The depths are very good with nothing less than 10 feet. Tides are with us and against us at various spots along this stretch. There is a lot of boat movement too. We pass, and are passed, by several boats looking to stay on the rising tide. Most are headed north.

We are looking for games of pickleball. As it turns out pickleball games are easy to find. It is the marina that is difficult to find. The slips in all the marinas are full in and around Savannah. We had lined up to play a few games however we must cancel due to not having the boat secured. We continue to seek those games in the next towns and cities we pass. We will find something, somewhere. It’s just dialing for marina space as we all start the trek north. During these after covid times it seems that there are more boats on the water and the marinas cannot accommodate them all.

Duplin River is a great anchorage but can be rolly if the winds and tides are against each other. For the first hour that is what we have. Knowing the winds will die down we hold well with our anchor. The ferry provides a distraction as it takes folks to and from Sapelo Island to the mainland. OMG, these dang flies……….

We tune into our yacht club for an up to date member meeting and we are able to see our friends from the dock. We so enjoy catching up and seeing everyone. After the meeting we sit on the back deck and watch a fabulous lightning show that radar shows should pass just north of us. The show lasts for a couple hours while the lightning in the clouds pass the time away.

During the night our anchor alarm goes off showing that we have dragged about 300 feet. We are fine but a sailboat had anchored aft and we were concerned if we would drag more so I stayed up for a bit to be sure our anchor had set again. An anchor can do this because of the 180 degree shift in current. The anchor will have to pivot to accommodate the boat changing its direction due to being pushed by the current, or wind. We are all set again so off to bed it is waking to an early morning to catch the high tide.

At this point in our journey the tides become very important or should I say the timing of tides and travel become important. The tides run around 5 feet starting up to Jacksonville. That means that at low tide you are now 5 feet lower in the water than you are at high tide which can create some very skinny water if traveling at low tide. We head out from the marina later than usual to follow the tides. The scenery to get to Jacksonville is very low, marshlands, open spaces with the estate homes dotted here and there. The homes are massive with decks along the shoreline. There are a lot of low speed, minimum wake areas. We are not in a hurry and it has become interesting seeing everything at about 10 mph.

It is a Sunday and local boaters are out in plenty. We arrive at the Jacksonville dock to find 1 boat there. It is a sturdy dock with 1 spigot for water and about 300 ft of dockage space. The fisher folks are out in droves catching their fill on the dock that we must tie lines to. They are pleasant and move as they see us coming in. There is a sunken boat held at the dock with lines. It seems to be floating but it is releasing oils or gas into the water. It has been there some time and it takes up valuable boat tying real estate as we watch 3 more boats tie up at the dock filling up the available space. Two more boats show up later but there is no space. They are forced to anchor nearby.

We were here in 2017 and not much has changed other than it is really busy with day trippers with their trucks and trailers lined up all the way to the street. The day docks are full of activity and at low tide sit on the bottom of the shoreline.

Cheri Baby, Beautiful Dawn and Eros, all loopers and we have docktails on the dock as we listen to the thunder in the distance and watch for the rain that is yet to come, which it did not. It was a quiet night with comfortable dock space.

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