Through the Carolina's

It's been a few days since we posted but we've been making our way through the Carolina's. We stopped for the night in Georgetown at the Harborwalk.  We did have one alligator sighting but that's it, which is ok by me.   Then Sunday we hit a cold front when we got half way through South Carolina so we stayed put at the Dataw Island Marina for three nights being that we have no heat unless we are hooked up to shore power and then it's just a little space heater.   It got down to almost freezing and the winds were around 20 mph.   The marina was in a very remote gated community area.  A very nice area but there was nothing around us except million dollar homes.  At least they had a really good restaurant at the marina and a very nice lady that Wes helped get their boat off the dock gave us a ride to Walmart so we could stock up on some stuff. 

Then we made our way to Hilton Head and spent the last night on anchorage across from the lighthouse.  

Tonight we are staying by Blackbeard Island National Wildlife Refuge.  We found an awesome spot that had a really nice beach for Taylor to run which is about halfway between Savannah and Jacksonville.  We are hoping to get to Florida by Sunday but we will see how it goes.

                                                    Our First Alligator Sighting

I love all the different bridges we get to go through

Hilton Head Lighthouse

MORE DOLPHINS!!!!

Cruising Through North Carolina

We've been cruising through North Carolina and mainly anchoring the last couple of nights.  Last night we stayed in Morehead City at Wrightsville Beach.  It was a really nice anchorage with a very busy harbor. The sunset was beautiful and the full moon was even better.

We were able to take Taylor for a walk on a small beach that was by the anchorage and it was loaded with seashells. I've never seen so many sea shells on one beach before.  Taylor was just looking for sticks though-not interested in the seashells.  

It was so nice because we haven't had any issues for the past couple of days and we've just been able to enjoy the ride.  Yes, we quickly knocked on wood.  The new engines have been running very nicely.

We saw so many dolphins while we were cruising.  They love swimming by the boat.

Today, Thursday 11/6 we made it to South Carolina. We are staying the night at the Myrtle Beach Yacht Club Marina.  This is the lighthouse going into the channel.  It's not a working lighthouse but it is very cool anyways.  

Belhaven NC

 A lot has happened the last two days. First I sank my dingy engine. It fell off the back of the dingy when I was coming back from taking Taylor for a walk. I was doing 25 knots in the dingy and the boat started going all over the place. When I looked back I didn't have a dingy engine. It took me 25 minutes and two nice people on a boat to get it back in. It was on my cable that we use to chain up the boat. 

I got the engine running after a lot of swearing and several oil changes. It took about 4 hours of pulling on the start cord but if finally started. It still doesn't go a high speed because I had to rig the fuel cable I think I can get a new fuel cable and that should fix it.

I also put two new props on. They are bigger and have more pitch to them. It was nice having the extra speed today.  I get about one and a half more knots at 2000 rpm's. So I'm moving at about 6.5 knots when cruising. That may not seem like much but when you go 50 knots in a day that helps a lot.

I also crushed my middle finger yesterday. I dropped a trailer on it and it is just about useless today.

 

 

 

Dismal Swamp

We made it through the dismal swamp after two days of rain and cold.  We haven't seen the sunshine for 3 days.  We stopped halfway through at the visitors center where you can dock for free there and decided to stay an extra day since the weather has been so bad.  We went through two locks in the dismal swamp and those are always cool to go through.

On Wednesday we stopped just before Elizabeth City, North Carolina at Lamb's Marina. At first they didn't have a spot for us so we tied up to the fuel dock, which was fine by us because they had electric hookup and we were able to get warm with the little space heater we brought.  The facility is really nice with laundry and hot showers.  I was reminded of all the things that I take for granted.  

It finally stopped raining and we saw the sunshine this morning with an awesome rainbow.  It's supposed to rain again today but only for a couple of hours.  It is definitely getting warmer as we get further south but I wouldn't say flip flop and short weather yet.  Hopefully soon as we get closer to South Carolina.  

Hampton

We spent the night on anchor in Hampton, VA right in the center of town on a very busy channel. When we were coming in they were having some sort of regatta, which was pretty cool to see.    It was nice area and a fairly big town. We took an UBER to Autozone to try and find more fuel filters and a tool to get the oil filters off so Wes could change the oil.  Wes got it changed, which was quite a chore. Everything that seems should be so simple turns into a huge chore.  

Then when we woke up we had no power on the boat.  Wes was able to get the engines started and we headed out.  He will need to look into this because we bought all new lithium batteries thinking that they would be better for storing the power.  The solar is working just fine so we're not sure what the problem is, but it's always something. 

On a happier note, we headed over to Norfolk which is where the Inter Coastal Waterway (ICW) starts, which is the way we are going to go down rather than out on the Atlantic.  We're hoping it will be much calmer (and warmer).  When we were just about heading into the start of the ICW, a huge navel ship was turning around, so we had to wait for them to maneuver around. It was pretty interesting to watch.  

Night shots of Hampton

Navel Ships in Norfolk

Day Two

Today was day two of our adventure. We didn't have any mechanical problem today. Yesterday we had the bilge pump hose break and then I tried to let fuel out of the fuel filter and got some air in the fuel line. But today everything ran perfect.

We almost made it to Norfolk. We stopped about 10 miles north. I didn't want to have to get in a marina at night. So tomorrow we will get out of the Chesapeake.  Then we have to go through the Dismal swamp. It sounds worse than it is. 

One problem we have is it gets cold at night. We brought only summer cloths thinking we would be in warm weather by this time. The engine guy screwed that up. 

So we don't have heat on the boat and last night we could have used it.

There was no wind today which made for a pretty smooth ride but we didn't get any help from the wind. We did see some dolphins and a lot of pelicans.  

Sorry I didn't get ant pictures of the dolphins 

 

 

On Our Way

We headed out at the crack of dawn yesterday (Friday) and made it half way across the Chesapeake just inside Virginia.  We anchored in a quiet inlet called the Little Wicomico River.  We didn't have any trouble and the engines ran great.  It's just really cold here and we about froze our butts off last night because we couldn't run the heater unless we ran the generator all night.  I can't wait to get to warmer weather!!! Hopefully once we get in the dismal swamp and below South Carolina it will start to warm up.   We are hoping to get to the start of the ICW today which is at Norfolk. At least it's not too rough out on the water today and we are basically going with the wind, which makes for a nice smooth ride.  

These were some of the houses around us where we anchored and you can see the leaves are changing.  We did have a very nice sunset.

Gettin' Close

We've just about got everything done to head out.  We are just waiting for a new temperature sensor, new props and a coupler for the water heater.  Hopefully everything will be in tomorrow and we can head out on Friday.  Wes took the truck and trailer over to Pam & Gary's today so we are without a vehicle.  We took them out for a couple hours on the Chesapeake and the engines were running great until we got to the dock and the starboard engine died.  Come to find out it was a clocked fuel filter.  Probably from old gas that was left in the tank.  Thank goodness it was an easy fix-new fuel filter.

We bought a new anchor light because the old one wasn't working and we were able to convince Aiden to go up the mast in the bosun's chair, which is a little seat that you sit in and then someone has to pull you up the mast using the lines.  He was able to replace the light without any trouble.  Thank goodness for 22 year olds with no fear.  The mast is just under 50 feet and it was a bit windy so there is no way I was going up there  Aiden is the marina manager and he has helped us out a ton.  He helped out a lot with all of the engine work too and did a great job.  

The boat is in the water.

 Well, we finally put the boat in the water today. Hurray!! I told the owners here that if the boat wasn't in today that Karen does have access to firearms. That seemed
to help motivate them a little. We took it for a little ride and the engines worked well. We still have a couple of minor things to get done on the engines but they are working on that.

 I've got most of the work done on the boat that I can do. It was a lot of stuff. The most frustrating has been ground wires that have gone bad. You have 12 volts on something and then you hook it up and you have 6. I ran a lot of ground wires. I also had to rewire my panel, get the GPS and auto pilot working.

 Tonight will be Taylor's first night on the boat when its in the water, we will see how she does.

 

 

New Engines Are Installed

They finally got the engines in and hooked up last week.  They put it in the water and the port side started great but they couldn't get the starboard side to run so they took the boat back out to do some adjustments and put it back in.  They were able to take it for a trial run and Wes went with them.  They got it up to 8 knots, which is great since our previous engines barely got to 6 knots.  Steve, the mechanic, noticed that the starboard engine was vibrating a little so he will need to adjust the motor mounts and it was also heating the exhaust up but they ordered the parts and they will be here on Monday and Steve will be back on Monday to work on it and get everything finished up.   The prop guy will also be out on Monday because we will need to put new props on.  They pulled the boat back out but they're letting us stay on it even though it's on the hard, which is great because we don't have to drive 17 miles back and forth and pay for the hotel, where we've been staying for the last month.  

It does get tiring going up and down the ladder all the time and Taylor does not like being up on the boat, so she has been spending a lot of time sleeping in the truck.  Hopefully they will get it back in the water on Monday and it will stay in the water.  I'm hoping Taylor will like it more when it's in the water.

We've been getting a lot of things fixed, which is good.  Wes has been working on rewiring everything, which has been quite a chore but it will be so much better when he's done.