Archive for November, 2008
We’re sitting dockside at Skull Creek Marina (I just like the name!) at the beginning of Hilton Head Island – its fairly overcast but I did just see my first real beach here in the south at Dolphin Head!! What they call a “beach” in the Chesapeake Bay is really just a place to land your dinghy to “walk” your dog – nothing I’d want to sink my toes in.
Tammy here by the way…
We arrived this morning after a quick run from Beaufort, SC down the Beaufort River and across Port Royal Sound and plan on being here for a couple days – we have rented a car to explore Hilton Head today and tomorrow we are off for the day to tour Savannah, GA. The whole way down to Hilton Head we had dolphins diving in and out of our bow wake – especially once we got to Dolphin Head (good name it seems!) Life is good!
The gypsies had a great Thanksgiving complete with a 13 pound turkey and all the trimmings (cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, squash, corn, gravy and even pecan pie and vanilla ice cream!!), all of which we cooked on the boat!
While we missed being with our families and friends, we got to talk to many of them (we’re not as far away as it sometimes seems!) and we figure we have started our own new turkey day traditions. Doug even figured out how to connect the TV to cable so we got to watch FOOTBALL!!!!
The boat kitties were very happy about that, although not nearly as much as John!
The next morning after fortifying ourselves with turkey sandwiches and turkey benedict, we went in to explore Beaufort. We walked across the Lady’s Island Swing Bridge
and then along a waterfront promenade with parks and cute little restaurants. We then headed down “Bay Street” which is the main shopping drag – the stores were already decked for Christmas with decorations and carols playing! Yikes – isn’t that a little early! Did the elves work overtime Thanksgiving night??
Anyways, after working up a powerful thirst, we went off in search of Rosie O’Grady’s Sports Pub which John had seen advertised in one of the local flyers. Little did we know that we’d be walking 3 1/2 miles for that beer!!! Along the way though we got to see some of the historic old homes in Beaufort, huge oak trees with hanging Spanish Moss making them look like something straight out of Harry Potter and road art in the form of crystalline mermaids.
Once we got to Rosie’s the bartender Leslie and owner/chef Mike were so impressed that we had walked all the way there, they bought us the first round!!! I think they thought we were nuts!! Rosie’s is a great local Irish bar with pool tables and great characters – we spent a very enjoyable afternoon hanging with the locals who couldn’t seem to hear enough about our adventure. I think we now have a number of new blog readers and friends in Beaufort – what a fun place!!
By the way, we cabbed back to the boat (it was raining – yeah that was it!!)….
November 29th, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving from all the Gypsies to all our family, friends and loved ones – we hope you have a wonderful day filled with happiness and love. When you are together, make sure to raise a toast to us as we will surely be doing the same later today here on Gypsies in the Palace.
Tammy here…
Well its 7:30 in the morning this bright, cold South Carolina Thanksgiving Day – the sun is up and we are sitting peacefully at anchor in Tom’s Point Creek (halfway between Charleston and Beaufort).
We plan on heading south to Beaufort later today – down here we are back to 7 foot tides, so the tides/current often dictate our timing now. We want to get into Beaufort where we are tying up at a marina for the night at slack tide to avoid any issue of “bumper boats”. What this means is that unlike most Thanksgivings past, no bloody marys or mimosas for breakfast! We’ll just have to be content with tea and coffee until we get to Beaufort this afternoon as safety always comes first on Gypsies.
Leaving Charleston yesterday was bittersweet for me – while I desperately want to go south to find the sun and warmth (Sun Pig is going through withdrawal here), I absolutely fell in love with Charleston. After we got back from our trip for my niece’s wedding, we had several days to explore Charleston – and explore we did! We walked all over the city from the waterfront
to the business district, the shopping avenues, the Battery and the French Quarter – everything we saw was simply just charming. We saw open air markets, shops like Louis Vuitton and Saks 5th Avenue next door to mom and pop craft stores, horse drawn carriages, and upscale restaurants like the Noisy Oyster across the street from “dives” (and I use that in the best sense of the word) like Tbonz, Wild Wing Cafe and East Bay Crab Shack (guess which ones we frequented!).
The architecture of the city is also like nothing this yankee has ever seen – many of the pastel colored houses are very thin and face North or South with large porches off the front to avoid the direct heat;
most have quaint little brick walled gardens behind lacy iron gates filled with flowers, waterfalls and wrought iron furniture where you can just picture genteel southern ladies having tea;
and the large magnolia and palmetto trees that overhang the sidewalks and parks cast their shade on a city that obviously reflects its historical significance but also its thriving present.
Charleston’s history is rich and varied – right off the Battery sits Fort Sumter whose bombing started the civil war. The fort was subject to a two year siege by Union forces (or the aggressors as they are called here in the south) until it was abandoned in 1865. A beautiful park down in the Battery houses a number of actual cannons salvaged from the bombing of Fort Sumter.
After the Civil War, Charleston was gripped in a depression which caused virtually no new building and even very little restoration of the city. As a result there are no real skyscrapers in the city – most of the buildings are low other than the numerous churches which dot the landscape. I’m not sure you can stand anywhere in Charleston and not see at least one beautifully crafted church steeple.
A devastating fire later would wipe out a large swath of the city. Thus Charleston’s charm in part stems from the hard times the city underwent – there is a resilience and attitude to the city that is palpable in both its infrastructure and its people.
Yet Charleston today is also one of the most sophisticated southern cities – it is a thriving commercial port with cargo ships, tugs and barges constantly plying the harbor’s waters, it has world class shopping, and first rate art and culture (including from what I heard, the best debutante balls anywhere – not that that means much to me being a yankee). Charleston was one of those handful of places that we all really wanted to see on this trip and for me at least, it has been one of the high points thus far. My only regret was not having more time to spend getting to know her, but there is no question in my mind that we will come back to Charleston again!
Charleston is also where Gypsies got her full crew back – running screaming from the cold, John arrived back from NH the other day. Its good to have the gang all together again – the boat kitties love it as there are more people to feed them treats and more laps to sit in. Puss decided John’s lap was perfect last night as he was the one with the blanket!!
After a great dinner last night thanks to Colleen, we went out onto the back of the boat (Colleen was smoking a cigar!). Looking up at the night sky, we were treated to one of the most beautiful sights ever – a sky so full of stars you would swear there wasn’t room for another. Without any ambient light, the night sky was lit up with a splendor you rarely get to see when in “civilization.” Out here anchored in the middle of a small creek in South Carolina, we were as far from civilization as you can get, but last night looking up at that sky and seeing Orion in all his resplendent glory, we felt like the luckiest people in the universe. We have much to be thankful for!
Tomorrow we all vowed to bone up on our knowledge of the constellations….
For more Charleston pictures, click here.
November 27th, 2008
I sure have missed the boat rooster…and she is sure making up for lost time!! As I made my way groggily upstairs this morning, the sun was just cresting the horizon and two dolphins were playing not even 100 yards off the front of our bow. Without the boat rooster I would have missed the whole wonderful scene!
Tammy back by the way….
I’m sitting in the helm station writing this after having been awoken by the boat rooster to a beautiful morning in Charleston harbor – OK its earlier than I would have chosen had it been up to me, but as all you cat owners out there know, when you have cats, it is not up to you! The old saying that “dogs have masters, cats have staff” is especially relevant when both of your cats are 21 years old, know what they want and have us wrapped around their little paws. On my good days, I reflect that Bootsie is 21 so that she wakes us up early only because she wants to get the most out of each and every day and is not afraid to voice her desires – when you think about it, that’s not such a bad way to go through life and I’m sure there is a lesson in there for all of us!
And when I’m honest, I’m usually the better for having dragged my butt out of bed – I see beautiful sunsets, unspoiled wildlife and have the peace and quiet before the rest of the world wakes up to reflect on how cool this life is that we are leading. On my bad days…well lets just not go there…this morning is one of the many good days!
Doug and I just got back to the boat the other day after a four day trip home to celebrate our niece Samantha’s wedding – wow do I feel old!!! It was a whirlwind tour to say the least – how do you fit everything you want to do into four days especially when two of those are travel days – can’t be done, although we did give it our best shot. We flew into Providence, RI and spent Thursday night with our great friends Mary and Steve Ouellette. We walked into their house and after being on the boat for 2 1/2 months we felt like we had just entered a mansion – there was so much space!!! What do they do with all that space??? After an amazing dinner spent catching up and just laughing and not enough time together, we were off the next morning for lunch with our nephew Drew at my cousin Chris’ restaurant Lexx in Lexington, MA (the food and everything rocks so if you haven’t been there you really ought to make a point of going!). Next up was a visit to our Aunt Peg at her gift store in Marlborough, followed by appetizers with the bride and groom, and then dinner with Aunt Peg, after which we crashed hard! Next morning up early (without the boat rooster’s aid) for breakfast with Aunt Peg, my cousin Warren and my brother Tom (both of whom were off to the Harvard/Yale game – as a Dartmouth alum, boo hiss) and then it was time for the wedding!
Now I know I am biased, but Sam was the most beautiful bride I have ever seen and, not to leave out the groom, Steve was very handsome – they make a wonderful couple and we wish them all the happiness in the world!
I still can’t quite believe that our niece Samantha is all grown up and married – we are so proud of her! Her brothers Andrew (Drew to us) and Wyatt were looking pretty spiffy in their own way too – one in a tux and one sporting hair ALMOST as long as Uncle Doug’s (Wyatt is going for best hair in his 8th grade class and my odds are on him – although again I’m biased!).
One of the highlights of a very memorable day was Sam’s attempt to make us feel like we were still on the boat as she sported lavender Crocs under her gorgeous wedding gown!!!!
Doug was so upset that I had told him that Crocs (which is ALL he wears on the boat) were not suitable for a wedding – so much for that theory! I’m sure I have lost all fashion credibility with him for next time…. We think Crocs should adopt our photo of Sam for their ad campaigns!
After the wedding we snuck in one last dinner with my cousin Chris to cap off a great trip home. Next morning it was back to Providence to catch our flight back to the boat. Can I tell you how weird it was to be catching a flight south to Charleston and thinking we were headed home!! But that is certainly how it felt…walking onto the boat and seeing the boat kitties and Colleen (who was left in Charleston to watch over the boat and the boat kitties) truly felt like a homecoming – we were so glad to be back!! Even though it was fairly chilly walking down the docks, it wasn’t anything compared to that bone numbing cold we had up in MA for the past several days – everything is relative I guess and we’d much rather be down here where eventually it will warm up than back in MA or ME hunkering down for winter!!
Yesterday was spent catching up on work, emails, etc although we did spend the late afternoon walking all over Charleston – what a great city!! The history of the town is everywhere and the architecture is just fascinating.
And when you get tired and thirsty (as we often do), there are plenty of great little bars to pop into.
We found one yesterday for a late happy hour in the French Quarter called Tbonz – home brewed nut brown ale that finished with a hint of chocolate and homemade potato chips topped with melted blue cheese (it just doesn’t get much more decadent than that, although we have vowed to try and outdo ourselves!). Today we plan on a full day of sightseeing (although I’m sure we may happen to pop into a couple bars along the way as well).
We also get the fourth gypsy back today – John flies in this morning after being in Manchester the past week for work. With a full crew complement, we plan on heading south for warmer climes tomorrow and expect to be in Beaufort, SC (pronounced Bew’-fort, not Boe’-fort as in NC) for Thanksgiving. Who knows what we will be eating, but we certainly have much to be thankful for this year!!
November 25th, 2008
Since none of us brought our sticks on the boat with us, one might question what we’d find to do in Myrtle Beach – there are after all 120 public golf courses here. Have no fear, we have stayed entertained.
Tammy posting….
We left Surf City the other morning and immediately got hit with fog, rain and wind – lots of it! We thought we had left fog behind when we left New England – obviously not! Now fog makes boating a challenge in Maine when you are in a wide open and deep ocean; in the narrow, shallow ICW it is just plain no fun at all! But we caught up with Current Jumper, a sailboat that we had been docked with at Surf City that was captained by a marine who obviously knew what he was doing, so we tag teamed our way through the fog until it finally lifted around Carolina Beach.
Let me tell you how happy we were to actually be able to see the banks of the river we were then on!! We even maneuvered through the only pontoon bridge on the Atlantic ICW together – the Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge with zero vertical clearance!
The rest of the trip was just as exciting since as the fog burned off, the wind picked up so that it was almost impossible to stand up on the flybridge. But very little phases the Gypsies’ crew now and we navigated the swirling currents of the Snows Cut and then the Cape Fear River (which truly lived up to its name!!) like old salts.
The only little glitch was Doug having yet another “close encounter” with several coast guard boats out on cadet maneuvers – of course just as we were passing a huge container ship heading into the Cape Fear River. I jumped on the VHF in the helm station because it was too windy for Doug to hear up on the flybridge and soon enough we were on our way again and pulling into Harbour Village Marina in Southport, NC. It poured all that afternoon and evening so we hung close to the boat – the boat kitties had a great evening with all the attention and treats they got.
The next day we awoke to more pounding rain and wind so put off our departure to see if it would clear – some of the older swing bridges won’t even open if it is too windy. Finally around 8:00 am we saw a weather window and bolted.
The run that day was wild – the high winds and currents through many of the cuts made for a challenging day. Lots of shoaling in the ICW kept us on our toes as well as the boat traffic – there really isn’t anything quite like it when you suddenly see a 300 foot tug and barge coming around a bend in the river where you know there is only several feet of water outside the channel!! Yes that did happen to me! We also passed several inlets to the ocean and man were we all glad we weren’t out there!!!! The waves were 8-10 feet and pounding!!
We have decided to stay in the ICW for at least a while longer – the scenery is wonderful and we can run even if the weather isn’t perfect. If we had been out in the ocean, we would have been laid over this whole past week – and you can only drink so often…did I say that??
We also crossed into South Carolina that day – witness the confederate flags flying high and proud!!!
Another state off our list – now we just have SC, Georgia and Florida left before really heading to the little latitudes!!
As we headed down the Little River, which is where Myrtle Beach is located, members of the Gypsies crew spied from the boat a couple of really funky looking little local bars next to the Casino cruise ships, one of which was named Key West Crazy. Now you just know we had to go find that bar as soon as we docked at Lightkeepers Marina in Myrtle Beach. So after securing Gypsies, we donned our Key West attire (shirts, hats and coozies) and set off walking in search of Key West North – three miles later we found the promised land.
What a very cool bar – if it had just been a little warmer, you would swear you had just set foot in the Hog or Schooner Wharf! We set upon a few snappetizers and beers to warm up with our new friend Janice.
Mike, the owner/chef is a master in the kitchen!!
Since happy hour wasn’t for another 1/2 hour, we decided to explore the rest of the bars – right next door was BJ’s, advertising the best head on the Little River (beer that is – get your mind out of the gutter!). So of course we had to check that out – the beer was cold and good but it didn’t have quite the vibe that KWC had. I of course had to buy a tee shirt at BJs, those being my initials and all (I actually did it for Deb Gordon – hi Deb, I’ll send you pictures!)
So back to Key West Crazy we went for happy hour – all I will say is that things got fairly ugly/funny from there (depends on your perspective I guess) – I’ll let some of the pictures do the talking (although some pictures have been withheld to protect the not so innocent). Mike had hired a great musician Jody Hunter who kept the bar hopping well into the evening – check him out on the web (jodylineberry.com), he’s great!!
I think it’s fair to say that we were probably overserved, but we were having so much fun with our waitress Erin and her mom, whose birthday it was, as well as our new friends Jody and Joe, that no one seemed to mind!
Midway through our happy hour/evening, we made the collective executive decision to stay over in Myrtle Beach another day – I think it was around the time Mike was telling us about his crabcake benedict brunch the next day – or maybe it was around the time we realized none of us was getting up early the next morning. Well things went straight downhill from there….
The next day we got a late start but did in fact head back to Key West Crazy for Mike’s brunch and it felt like returning to the scene of the crime!! But our pictures weren’t up on the wall yet and Mike and Dynah even welcomed us back – huh??? His crab cake benedict turned out to be all that it was cracked up to be – of course the bloody marys and screwdrivers helped a little too.
Mike even gave Doug some of his famous grits which put a true smile on a southern boy’s face – normally I think grits taste like wallpaper paste but even I have to admit that Mike’s grits rocked!
Realizing it would probably be wrong to stay at KWC all day until happy hour started again, we headed back to the boat for a couple hours. At 4:00 we were headed back to Key West Crazy though for happy hour and to hear a blues singer that Mike had playing for the evening. You’d think we liked this place or something!! This time we didn’t forget to eat dinner and had more of Mike’s amazing seafood while listening to the blues. Sunday night’s vibe was a little mellower than the night before (I guess some people still work for a living), which was probably good for us since we had to get an early start this morning.
This morning came bright and early and we had to say goodbye to John who had to fly home for about a week for that dreaded work thing. He was starring in planes, trains and automobiles today – he left the boat and took a cab to the bus station in Myrtle Beach, a bus to the airport in Charleston and a plane home to Manchester. He just called to tell us it was going to be 26 degrees in Charleston on Wednesday – I wonder why he seemed so happy about that???
Anyway, Colleen, Doug and I set off this morning on an adventure. The land cut from North Myrtle Beach for the next 15 miles is known as the Rockpile – now even I know that can’t be good in a boat!! Seeing Towboat US hauling a sailboat behind them in the first couple miles didn’t add to our confidence either! But we successfully navigated the Rockpile and headed out into the Waccamaw River which is basically cypress swamp on both sides – the trees along the way are very Harry Potterish looking.
Still haven’t seen any alligators but we did see some turtles sunning themselves on a floating log and lots of white herons.
Tonight we are anchored in Thoroughfare Creek and finally get to enjoy the steak Colleen marinated and the garlic mashed potatoes she made several days ago – before Key West Crazy came into sight….
Tomorrow we have a long steam to an anchorage about 10 miles from Charleston… Charleston here we come!!!
November 17th, 2008
Well, we’re sitting in Surf City, North Carolina (no kidding!) waiting out some bad weather…and while it was only in the 60s yesterday when we pulled in, we did manage to sink our toes in the sand on the wide open beach and pretend for just a minute that we were in the islands. OK, well not really, since there was no mistaking the bundled up surf casters for island boys,
but it sure did feel good to have sand under our feet again…
Tammy here by the way…
Lots of miles and lots of smiles have passed since last we posted. From Alligator River, we and many of our “new friends” headed south to Belhaven, NC – we were on a mission to meet up with the boat parents (the Kelleys, Colleen’s parents) who were driving down to Florida and were gracious enough to make a detour to see us.
The trip down the Alligator River was memorable for a lot of reasons, including the narrowness and shallowness of the channel,
the stumps and debris littering the water, the vastly different landscape and the procession of boats, but for me it was proof of how far we have come and how much we have learned along the way since the beginning of September. Neither the skinny water nor the narrow channel phased us and sure, we had used the VHF radio to call ahead to marinas before, but on this trip the radio became a real means of communication! Trust me when I say that where we were you were more likely to hear banjos than get cell phone reception.
Yet, the whole way down the River we kept up running conversations with friends on other boats, we indicated our intent to pass boats (OK the only boats we can pass are snailbotters) with one whistle (pass to starboard) or two (pass to port), we asked bridge tenders for openings (lots of old 12 foot vertical clearance bridges down here!) and we gave out information to those behind us on stump and deadhead locations making sure all who followed could pass safely down the waterway. It was really very cool! No longer were we “radio neophytes” – nervous of violating radio etiquette (which truly exists) but instead we laughed at newbies who didn’t know the rules!
The Kelleys were waiting on the docks in Belhaven to greet us – Doug was sweating it, but performed a picture perfect dock. It was important to impress Colleen’s Dad so he didn’t think she was off for the next several years with some yahoos that had no idea how to operate a boat!!
Unfortunately they could only stay for a couple hours as they had places to get to before dark, but we made the most of our visit! After a few cocktails and some great conversation we had to say goodbye to the Kelleys, but shortly thereafter we got to say hello to other friends. Steve and Di on Aurora (Gypsies’ twin – another 49′ RPH DeFever) pulled in behind us at the Belhaven Marina and then Brett and Jill on Muircu (a sailboat that had been with us in Alligator River Marina) came by even though they had tied up at the other marina in town. If you haven’t guessed by now, it seems to be a rule that where 4 or more cruisers congregate, a party shall ensue – and since we have 4 Gypsies on board, we seem to attract lots of parties! Suffice it to say that a really good party did follow on Gypsies that afternoon/evening. Lots of appetizers and drinks later, it truly felt like we’d known each other forever – for people that hadn’t known each other for more than several days, the comraderie and all around fun aboard was a sight to behold! Di’s amazing lamb appetizer was the hit of the party, although my homemade spiced rum played a major role in the frivolity as well!!
The next day we all got an early start (although not too early) for our next destination – Oriental, North Carolina. Steve and Di were heading to New Bern so we steamed with them most of the way.
The highlight of the trip was our first major dolphin experience – as we headed out to the Neuse River, a whole pod of dolphins came to play in our bow wake!!
We’d been waiting for this the whole trip!! They are such majestic and fun creatures – I swear one of them smiled right at me (and I was lucky enough to get his picture!!).
Oriental is a very quaint little town with a total population of about 1,000 on land – it also is the home of about 2,700 boats – you get the idea, its a boating town!! We arrived late afternoon but decided to walk around and explore before the sun set – it took about 15 minutes! As I mentioned, Oriental is a pretty small place, but the architecture and the landscaping of the houses was well worth the walk. Lots of the town has disappeared over the past 100 years or so thanks to one hurricane or the other (at least it sure seemed so based on the historical signs all around town that read “here on this sight used to be the (fill in the blank) before Hurricane (fill in the blank))!!! Oriental did treat us to a great sunset, though,
as we made plans to head out to Morehead City/Beaufort (they are sister cities on either side of a very narrow, busy channel) the next day.
Being cruisers we are always on the lookout for anchorages (which are free) or lower cost places to tie up the boat – we certainly scored with our next destination – thanks Skipper Bob!! Instead of docking at the Beaufort (pronounced “bo-fort,” so as not to be confused with Beaufort pronounced “bue-fort”, South Carolina) town docks for $2.25 per foot, we tied up at the dock behind the Sanitary Fish Market and Restaurant on the Morehead City side of town for $10 per night. Our misgivings about the name nonetheless, it turned out to be a fabulous place!! The sun finally came out and was even warm enough for shorts which we haven’t seen all that often given the “unseasonably” cold spell the south has had over the past month or so. We enjoyed the warmth with lunch topsides while the local pelicans and seagulls gave us quite a show!!
We headed into Morehead City to explore that afternoon – Colleen and I paid homage to Neptune as we strolled the waterfront so as to ensure a safe voyage going forward (the things we do for the sake of the boat!)
We passed quite a few funky local bars that we planned to frequent later that afternoon and Doug picked up a pair of pirate (skull and crossbone) earrings – bet the woman at the jewelry store didn’t expect Doug to be the only one who bought anything! After walking around for a couple hours, we were parched and found ourselves at one of those funky bars, Raps (weird how that always seems to happen to us – like there is a powerful magnet or something that just draws us in…). $0.99 Yuengling drafts and free popcorn made us feel right at home – I love the South!!!
Given the low fee for dockage, we treated ourselves to dinner at the Sanitary Fish Restaurant after a drink at Jacks, a very cool local private bar (in NC if you don’t serve food, you can only get a liquor license if you are a private club for members only). Cameron, the cute local 22 year old bartender, welcomed us with stories of the place and the 350 foot hammerhead shark that had been caught right outside on the dock not long ago. OK that clinched it, no swimming off the boat for us that evening!! The restaurant was all that it had been cracked up to be – really fresh seafood and great hushpuppies!!
The next day we set out to explore the sister city of Beaufort, which is a major boating mecca for cruisers heading either north or south on the ICW. It also has a deep channel running to the Atlantic so is home to many commercial fishing fleets which gives it some local character (and characters!). Beaufort is filled with quaint little shops and antique stores which we browsed for awhile. Sooner or later, you guessed it – we found a “quaint” little watering hole named the Back Street Pub, literally on a back street hidden from the touristy part of town.
Talk about character and characters – this place had it (and them) in spades!! The bartender Donna was just what you’d expect – a little brassy and rough around the edges but full of tales and spunk. She kept us there for more than our share of beers and peanuts! After heading back to the boat that evening, we got to enjoy another beautiful sunset in paradise (or at least behind the Sanitary Fish Restaurant))!
Yesterday we had a long run down the ICW to Wrightsville Beach – at least that was the intended destination, but yet again our plans would change mid-stream (or channel as the case may be). We set out as the sun was just cresting the horizon and jumped out into the ICW with several other boats also getting an early start.
All was going well until we hit the Onslow Beach Swing Bridge which we needed to open before we could pass through – unfortunately it was out of commission for over an hour while the hydraulics were being worked on. Talk about a cluster – about 15 boats trying to “just hang out” in a very narrow channel with major current flowing for over an hour!! Except for one sailboat that seemed to PO most of the other boats, everyone was relatively under control and well behaved. But a big cheer went up as the bridge finally opened!
However, the delay made it so we wouldn’t have been able to get to Wrightsville Beach until after dark and anchoring in a new harbor in the dark is not yet something we really want to experience!! So we called an audible and ducked into Surf City, NC – sure, not THE surf city but a pretty neat place anyways! Sometimes we find the best places by accident – that’s why going with the flow definitely needs to be our mantra for this adventure.
The rest of the trip from Beaufort to Surf City yesterday was an interesting one – first we had to traverse the wide open and often nasty Neuse River and then several very narrow creeks and canals. The scenery was constantly changing that’s for sure. Along the way we encountered spectacular homes along parts of the waterway
(and then, some not so spectacular…the banjos were humming), wind swept sand dunes, more dolphins playing in our bow wake,
military/space-like boats coming right at us
and we even cruised through Camp LeJeune’s firing range (luckily on an off day!)
This morning has been a day of work on the boat and catching up with emails, blogs etc. This afternoon we may hit the beach again and tonight, the Pats play the Jets so we may just have to find one more of those funky little locals bars to see the game….we’ll keep you posted!
To see more wildlife pictures click here.
November 13th, 2008
The Alligator River Marina turned out to be a fine and friendly place, perhaps the apex of southern hospitality we have encountered thus far.
John here….
The marina is run by Morris and Wanda Pritchett – she’s “Miss Wanda” to one and all – and because of its choice location just before the Alligator River Bridge, it was going to be pretty much “full-up,” as Morris described it while he skillfully jockeyed both sail and power boats into the slips.
With the sun finally making a cameo appearance — and so many boats snugged up together — it didn’t take long for heads to start popping up out of hatches like some nautical version of the “Whack-a-Mole” game. Conversations soon ensued, friendships were quickly formed, and it came as no surprise when the boat-to-boat grapevine made it known: “Cruiser Party at Five O’Clock.”
It was BYOB in the cruiser’s lounge, which is a living-room arrangement in the same building that houses the showers and laundry facilities at the “Gator.” The Gypsies crew brought pre-made rum and Coke concoctions — vodka and grapefruit for Colleen — and with a dozen or so boaters in such close quarters, the conversations were many, varied and entertaining.
So was dinner.
The Alligator Marina revolves in large part around a Shell gas station. On the marina side, that’s where boats take on fuel, and on the land side — US Route 64 — it caters to motorists bound for the Outer Banks. Inside, it’s more than a gas station. It’s a convenience store and gift shop with a combination deli and restaurant, and when word got out that Miss Wanda had ribs on that night’s specials menu, all of the cruisers made a bee-line for the restaurant.
In hindsight, perhaps it was not so much a bee-line for us. Being Gypsies, we lingered longer at the party than some of the others, and thus, Miss Wanda was ribless when we arrived. We called an audible, however, so Tammy and Colleen went for fried chicken — Southern fried chicken, naturally — while Doug and I went for the North Carolina Barbecue Plate. Miss Wanda took great pains to explain what we’d be getting.
“This is Eastern Carolina Barbecue,” she said in her honeyed drawl. “It’s vinegar-based. It’s not like the barbecue in Western Carolina. That’s tomato-based.”
In a few short sentences, she summed up one of the most significant cultural divides in all of North Carolina. When it came time to choose side dishes, I saw okra on the menu. I asked her if it was fried or steamed, and she looked at me with raised eyebrows.
“Most Yankees don’t even know what okra is,” she said, and how she pegged me for a Yankee, I’ll never know. “They don’t even know enough to ask how it’s cooked. They say, ‘What’s that O,K,A,R stuff?’ I just tell ‘em to get the onion rings.”
I got the okra. It was fried and it was outstanding, as were the mammoth 24-ounce cans of Coors Light we used to wash our food down, beers that cost us all of $1.49 apiece.
Morning saw the usual mass exodus from the marina, with most of the boats following the identical route south to Belhaven, NC. That required passage down the Alligator River and through the very narrow Pungo River Canal, where partially submerged logs and stumps — plus shallow water — made the passage an interesting one.
November 13th, 2008
We’re sitting topsides (with beers of course) in Alligator River Marina getting re-aquainted with an old friend that we haven’t seen in quite some time – the sun!!! Man does that feel good – it’s not even all that warm but immediately upon docking, we broke out the shorts and tee-shirts to wash down the boat and are currently soaking up the rays while we can!
Sun pig (a/k/a Tammy) here…as if you couldn’t tell already
We finally left Elizabeth City, North Carolina early this morning for points south – we and about 12 other boats have been holed up in Elizabeth City for the past 4 days riding out a big storm that threw us 30-35 knot winds with gusts up to 40 and torrential rain. As John mentioned in his last entry, Elizabeth City is a great little town full of warm and hospitable people…but after 6 days there, we were getting cabin fever and Gypsies was more than ready to kick up her heels again to head south. I think the guys on the town dock, which advertises free dockage for 48 hours, were ready to have us gone too!! As one guy kidded us last night, “you’re not cruisers, you’re squatters!” Yeah, what was his point??
There is a great tradition in Elizabeth City called the Rose Buddies which was started by two gentlemen many years ago and continues to this day with their sons and other interested town folks carrying on the tradition. Whenever there are at least 5 new boats at the town dock, they hold a wine and cheese party to welcome all the mariners – before the original Rose Buddies passed away, they would also give roses to each of the women from the rose bushes in their gardens. Since then, the rose bushes have been replanted to the wharf area and everyone is encouraged to take a bloom to brighten their boat. Our rose is on our pilothouse table in a very classy vase – a Coors Light can!!
We were there long enough to attend 2 such bashes – time to go!! Seriously though, it was a great opportunity to meet the other cruisers in town – most of them were from Canada, although there were 3 of us boats from Maine – can you believe it, that’s a long way from home – although I guess by now, Gypsies is really our home!!
Seriously though, Elizabeth City is a very fun little town for anyone heading down the dismal swamp canal and it is even worth the two hour trip up the Pasquotank River if you come down the Virginia cut. Not many places are you met on the docks by the mayor of the town – he handles your lines and welcomes you to the city!!! There is a great museum of the history of the Albemarle region – the price is the same as that for the dockage so the price is right. There is great provisioning within walking distance, a super coffee house/deli with wifi (where John and Colleen lived for a couple days since John maxed out his air card!) and plenty of cool bars within several blocks of the waterfront area (my personal favorite was Thumpers – they knew us by name!!)
One rainy day we rented a car to visit Steve and Di Koch in Great Bridge – they also own a 49′ DeFever RPH and are friends of friends. We are finding, much to our surprise and pleasure, that this cruising community, especially DeFever owners, is a very close knit group! After a delightful afternoon of getting to know each other, we left feeling very much like we had met some great people and new friends!! In fact we are planning to meet up with them again tomorrow in Belhaven and look forward to crossing their path often on our trip south!! Steve is even going to help us with some electrical work once we get down to Stuart, Florida – he is the guru!! but, we’re learning!!
As people say, all good things must come to an end – in our case so we can find the next great place and the next great adventure. We had a fabulous cruise down the Pasquotank River and across the Albemarle Sound – we were joined by a whole convoy of other boats, many that had left Elizabeth City with us. As we entered the Alligator River, you won’t believe what we saw – no, not an alligator, but a shark just cruising right next to our boat, its dorsal fin just off our starboard beam.
OK that cinched it – no swimming for us tonight!!! Now sitting in Alligator River Marina, we are surrounded by a bunch of the same boats that were with us in Elizabeth City.
As I sit here, the word just came down the dock – BYOB cruisers party on the docks at 5:00. Did I mention I LOVE this life!
Tomorrow morning we are off to Belhaven, NC where we plan on not only meeting up with Steve and Di but also Colleen’s parents. Yes, you read that right. Ma and Pa Kelly (we have adopted them as the official boat parents) are headed down to Florida and are going to make a slight detour to meet up with us in Belhaven. There’s something kind of funny about the fact that they will take 2 days to drive there from NH and its taken us about 2 1/2 months to get there by water. Bet we have had more fun though….
November 8th, 2008
It’s amazing how quickly you can get into the rhythm of life on the boat, and the best way to appreciate it is to step outside of that world.
John here…
I recently stepped outside of our boating world when I had to return to New Hampshire for 10 days of that “working-for-a-living gig,” as Tammy so aptly put it. It was jarring in ways that are hard to articulate, because all of a sudden, not only was I wearing socks, but I was also sitting in meetings, stewing in traffic, picking up dry cleaning and engaging in the very kinds of behavior that we are trying to leave behind.
So, with my business obligations satisfied, it was with no small measure of joy that I boarded a plane at Logan Airport and flew south to Richmond, VA, where Colleen was waiting to pick me up. As you’ve read elsewhere on the blog, Gypsies was at Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, and the unseasonable weather gave me three days to regain my sea legs while tied up to the dock. Good thing, too, because the winds were so strong that even while tied up, we were bouncing about as if we were at sea.
And would you believe me if I told you that, upon my return, it was colder in Virginia than it was in New Hampshire?
All the better, then, that we ultimately headed south, even if it was to (temporarily) colder temperatures. If you don’t believe me, check out the shots of Doug and Colleen pulling the anchor at sun-up,
or Tammy and me bundled up like “Nanook of the North” while running topside.
That frigid trend finally broke on Friday when we finished off a six-hour run down the Blackwater Creek, across the Albemarle Sound and up into Elizabeth City, NC.
The sign that greeted us at the town’s celebrated “Mariner’s Wharf” is one I’ve never seen in New England. It introduced the town as a “Harbor of Hospitality,” and, as if to prove it, the line below read: “Complimentary Dockage, First 48 Hours.” When you consider that some New England marinas charge as much as three or four bucks a foot, it was a divine sight for tight-fisted cruisers.
Alas, coming in at the end of the season, we missed out on a local tradition called the “Rose Buddies.” Back in 1983, two men from Elizabeth City decided to have an impromptu wine and cheese party for visiting boaters, who help bring prosperity to the town. One of the men, Joe Kramer, raised roses as a hobby, so he stopped by his house and clipped 17 buds for the visiting boaters, while his other buddy, Fred Fearing, rounded up wine, cheese, chips, dip, cups and free local newspapers.
Meeting at the dock, Fred and Joe hosted the first party for those 17 boats and crew. Since that time, the tradition has grown here in town. When Joe passed away, his rose bushes were transplanted to Mariner’s Wharf, where we were docked, and there’s also a granite marker to commemorate this hospitable genius.
Everybody’s favorite weatherman, “The Today Show’s” Willard Scott, donated a golf cart to the help the Rose Buddies work their magic, and even though we didn’t get flowers, we did get warm greetings and free advice from the locals. And free dockage! And in case you’re wondering why they still refer to the Civil War as “the War of Northern Aggression” down here, consider this monument to Confederate soldiers.
We took full advantage of the small town’s flat terrain with long walks and, for Colleen and me, an even longer bike ride on our nifty “Port Runners,” which is why my butt still hurts. The bikes enabled us to lay in last-minute supplies when Doug’s sister Dale came to visit us on Sunday, along with her son Larkin – he’s the chopper pilot who photographed Gypsies from his Blackhawk helicopter – and Larkin’s adorable, soon-to-be-three-year-old daughter Laura. Their visit was a reason for another grill-fest, and while Laura was willing to put up with most of us, she would have been perfectly happy to watch Tammy re-tie the boat’s fenders, an act which she then spent the rest of the day trying to emulate.
After they departed, we hit a local tavern called “Thumpers” – $1.75 for Yeungling pints! – in hopes of watching the Patriots beat the Colts, but we all know how that turned out.
With iffy weather in the forecast, we decided to hang tight on Monday – that being today – only to see our free marina fill up with boats throughout the day. That’s indicative of the rough weather that’s bearing down on us, so Gypsies may be here long enough to see if Elizabeth City remains a “Harbor of Hospitality!”
Tomorrow’s the big day. We’ve all voted. Hope you do, too!
November 5th, 2008
