The last 2 weeks half sitting and waiting half moving

On our way to Beaufort SC actually we landed at Port Royal SC just across the way from Beaufort since we have been to Beaufort in the past we thought we would try a different stop this time.  Port Royal was a fine choice they have a nice little  restaurant located right on the property the Back Porch good food very reasonable, they also have 2 courtesy cars (pickups) so we scouted out the area and went to Public's to restock on essentials IE milk bread, veggies etc. and took a ride over to Beaufort Historical Area and had lunch.

Shrimping season has begun and we are seeing many boats it can be a bit intimidating when you come across one of these guys in the ICW on a tight turn, especially with their booms down.

We anchored off of this dock for the night it was located next to an inlet for an easy trip to the outside run if the weather is good.

up early the weather is suppose to be good for an outside trip up to Beaufort.  It was a bit bumpy heading out of the inlet but once out there is was a nice trip.

Charleston SC to read more about Charleston and other stops in the area visit...
http://sweetpeatrawler.blogspot.com/2010/12/day58-charleston-sc.html
http://sweetpeatrawler.blogspot.com/2011/04/end-of-our-week-in-charleston-and-on-to.html

We came into the Maritime Center along with Raydiance there were 4 other loopers here as well.  Due to the winds we ended up here 4 days instead of the 2 schedualed

Charleston is a huge port of call for cruise ships and cargo, I want one of these slides on SweetPea but then we would need a much bigger boat!

When we left Charleston we traveled with Gold Leaf a couple days they are also loopers and about half looped Carl and Glenda began their loop in St Louis Mo but are from Iowa.  We traveled with them to Georgetown and Myrtle Beach.

We are now in NC anchored at Mile Hammock Bay we had planned to anchor here which was a good thing as the ICW was shut down most of the day in the Camp LeJeune area as the military was having live fire maneuvers.  Here are the pictures of the day.

Tomorrow morning we head out to River Dunes in NC.

Georgia on my mind

We were up and out of St Mary's around 8am our next destination being Brunswick GA just 32 miles away.  Not really sure why we planned a short day but here we are.  We have stayed at the Morning Star marina (St Simon Island) in the past but we have heard wonderful things about Brunswick Landing so we chose it for the night.  I guess we failed to plan properly today, being a Sunday, the town of Brunswick was completely shut down.  Dang, at least at Morning star they have a courtesy car.  Oh well, you would think that people who have been doing this cruising thing for almost a year and a half would have figured these things out, NOT! 
Tomorrow we will be heading to Kilkenny Creek 60 miles hopefully to anchor, this will also set us up to jump outside if the weather permits, this means traveling on the Atlantic ocean verses the ICW which is much faster as long as the wind and waves are minimal.  We shall see when the time comes.

I forgot to mention another reason for some of our looper friends to maybe consider St Mary's as a stop.  This is a great place to take a ferry to the Cumberland Island which is a must do thing!  Cumberland Island is where the wild horses are as well as a beautiful beach on the other side a very enjoyable walk, also there is an old mansion and a chapel where John Kennedy Jr got married. 
So for those who choose not to anchor you can get the ferry out of St Mary's.  For others its a great anchorage for a night or 2. 

I personally think the marshlands of Georgia are so beautiful, which is a good thing as there is plenty of it to see on the waterway, from Ga though the Carolina's.  I just can't seem to capture the beauty of the Marshes in a photo though, but I will keep tryin.

The not so good thing about Georgia is the huge tide swings, this sailboat on the inside of the dock is now sitting on the mud.  Sometimes its just to easy for the boat to find the bottom with shoaling due to the swift currents and extreme tides.  But thanks to helpful sites such as active captain   https://activecaptain.com/index.php
 the crusiers net
http://cruisersnet.net/
and of course trusty old Skipper Bob
www.skipperbob.net/
there is lots of great info out there to help with waterway warnings, alerts etc.

Standing on the waters edge,  in about 6 hours it will be filled in with water again.

Just a paddling away

Ahhh the end of another wonderful day on the water.

Traveling the east coast of Florida to Georgia

Since I lasted blogged we have been in Daytona, St Augustine, Jacksonville and now we are in St. Mary's Georgia.  Tomorrow if weather permits, we are hoping to get to St Simon's GA.  There are so many places we have not seen in GA even though we have traveled through this area twice before, but we are destination driven right now and we have 1500 miles to go.  We can spend more time when we come through in the fall.  Georgia is such a beautiful state and we particularly love the marshlands.

Sunset in St Augustine

Flamingo alert... click on photo to enlarge it's in the center

WOW he's far from home, Istanbul!

We thought it was a dead head but as we got closer ..... it's a Gator!



Brown Eyed Girl (from Ohio) and Passport (from MI)on our tail, we left them at St Augustine as they were staying one more night.  We may not see them again as we head home at a faster pace !  We have traveled on and off with them since Michigan they are about half looped now.

We are now in St Mary's GA we have been here once before and thought it a very nice town so we revisited.  The waterfront is very well done, they have many restaurants and small shops.  Very boater friendly and much more quaint than Fernandina Fl, though we like it there as well.

More of the waterfront, they had entertainment this evening and we didn't have to leave the boat. Live music with our cocktails.

SweetPea is at the end of this dock which is located on the waterfront. The docks in Georgia are loooong as their tides are BIG 8 foot tides in some areas. 

Yes he's real and he's got a girl friend inside there with him.  It's Spring!

Back in the US moving North

It was a great day for a crossing really could not of been any better. 

This was our buddy boat, No Snow they are from Ottawa, we first met Ron, Donna and Winnie in Stuart. They travelled over to the Bahama's a week ahead of us. And here we are 5-6 weeks later crossing back to the states with them.  Yup that's what cruising is all about, its amazing to me how you keep seeing the same boaters over and over. 

It was a beach day for sure 90 degrees

When we were rounding Peanut Island we came across these floating Tiki huts some with pool slides on them and large grills, I bet that they are a fun place to party!  The houseboat is actually a restaurant if you enlarge it (Click on any photo) you will see "they deliver"  

We spent the night actually 2 nights at Lake Park marina it was quite nice and the company even better,  we had never heard of this marina but it was where No Snow was  going so we tagged along.  The next day Ron had rented a car and took us along with them to US customs to check in.  At the customs office (which was located in the cruise ship terminal) we met up once again with most of the boats that had left the West End and crossed over the day before.  I must say. checking in was a little painful in that the officer was a bit of a d**k it was not a proud moment being an American amongst Canadians, British and New Zealanders.  Yes they have a job to do, but there was NO reason other than being in the power position to treat these people as poorly as he did.  They all had their papers, cruising permits, visas etc, there was just no reason for them to be treated so poorly, I felt badly.  But all is done, we are back and of course the officer had to bust us as well, but everyone was good to go. 

Ron and Donna we hope you have a great time visiting your friends on the west coast and have a save and fun trip back to Ottawa and we hope to see you again next winter.

Hmmm you just never know what you will see.  A flying dinghy?

The Juniper lighthouse

People and their owners a day on the water

What is that!

Hmmm .....OK?

The little tug,  I couldn't see a name on this one but there is a small tug up north further named TOOT TOOT!

They are back, while in the Bahamas we saw Sea Turtles, Sting Rays, Sharks, Flying fish and some very large fish jumping from the water like 4' long but we only saw 1 dolphin.

Yesterday on the way to Cocoa Beach Fl this guy put on quite a show.

Since we are back in Florida we stopped in Fort Pierce one of our favorite stops, If you can, plan on a Friday night and Saturday night stay here, They have entertainment starting on Friday and on Saturday the BEST farmers market.  The town is right off the Municipal Marina as is all the activities.  Also on Sunday they close down one of the streets in town and its Bike day, motorcycles are lined up on the street.

We are now at Cocoa Village Marina and will remain here for the Easter weekend along with us is Passport and Brown Eyed Girl.  Last year we made the mistake of traveling, the ICW was nusts!  Cocoa Village is a very nice and friendly marina located in the village with many small shops and alot of nice restaurants to chose from.  They also have a local theater and on Sunday we have tickets for Titanic the play.  Also this weekend is the surfing festival on Cocoa Beach.

Happy Easter everyone!  SweetPea we love you and will be home in a few weeks.

For my sailing friends

Sailboats are so pretty when their sails are up, gracefully sliding along.  More often than not though they are just motoring along.  It was a great day to be a sailor as most of them had wind in their sails.

They do make a pretty picture

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