FLORIDA!!! : )

First of all, we’d like to wish everyone a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  Hope yours was blessed with family, friends, and good times.  We have finally found our way to Florida, and so far, the Sunshine State has really lived up to its name.  Weather has been gorgeous and not too hot or cold (yet).

We did make a stop in St. Marys, GA last Sunday and were pleasantly surprised by the changes to this small town.  As I mentioned before, Mark was stationed there from 1995 to 2000 while on the USS Rhode Island and then on shore tour as Squadron Engineer.  Though Mark was quite busy during these years, the kids and I became very creative in finding ways to entertain ourselves in this “quaint” little town.  To St. Marys’ credit, the downtown area has come a long way since we left - it was wonderful to see the city’s plans for a waterfront park come to fruition!

After a few more uneventful anchorages, we have stayed in St. Augustine for the past two nights  in the municipal marina’s mooring field (tied up to a big mooring ball instead of using our anchor).  Lots of dolphins around, and even a few manatees have come close by (no luck taking pictures of them yet despite my best efforts).  We have found the city to be very charming and boater friendly - so many things to do and so little time!  Favorite attractions include the historical St. George St. shopping/restaurant district, tour of a local chocolate factory, the Castillo de San Marcos, and biking across the Bridge of Lions to Anastasia State Park (more sea-shelling of course).  

Today, we were very grateful to be included in the huge Thanksgiving pot luck extravaganza hosted by the St. Augustine Cruisers Net (this was their 4th annual).  Sponsors provided 7 turkeys (4 roasted and 3 smoked - yum) and 3 hams; plus all of the home/boat-made side dishes, it was an amazing and delicious spread.  We met lots of other couples and families, all with various destinations along the East Coast and all extremely friendly.  I couldn’t help but miss my kiddos, family, and friends a lot today; though a reason to be even more thankful for their roles in our lives is always welcome.

Our next notable stop will be a visit to Mark’s Uncle Jack and Aunt Patty in Cocoa, FL - with the promise of a warm visit with family and a bonus of being offered a comfortable bed  (WOW!).  We will definitely post more before long, and we remain grateful for all of our friends reading this - be well, friends!!!!

Beaufort, SC and beyond!

Hi folks and greetings from Georgia!  We've been making good time (about 60 miles per day) for the past few days.  The ICW is hardly a straight line, though, so our actual southern progression per day is significantly less than that.  (example of ICW chart below)



We spent two nights anchored in the harbor off Beaufort, SC (the one pronounced Be-YOU-fort).  Had some great dinners and enjoyed some live music - a real treat!  The highlight of this quaint city was the Spanish Moss Trail - a 12-mile section of an old rail line that they converted into a walking/biking trail.  It was mercifully flat, and our mutual endurance was limited only by the lack of bike-seat comfort.  After about 15 miles, one snake encounter, and being chased by two angry dogs, we were glad to get back to the relative comforts of the city.  The pictures below are from a waterfront city park in Beaufort, which had lots of Southern charm.









Since leaving Beaufort on Thursday, November 17, our trip has taken us into some pretty remote waters as we crossed into and through Northern Georgia.  Apparently, we have fallen behind almost all of the other south-bound trawlers and sailors - some days we have only seen a handful of other boats (including local fishing boats).  Our anchorages have been very quiet, peaceful, and uneventful.  Thanks to our satellite radio, we've been able to listen to all the college and NFL football games.  Here is our high-tech set up as we were listening to the Buckeyes squeak out a win yesterday - note the OSU flag flying proudly on our bow!









Our current plan is to anchor tonight in St. Mary's, GA - where we were stationed for a memorable 5 years when the kiddos were little.  We'll hopefully be able to bike around a bit if this colder weather has stifled the formidable bug population there.  After that, we plan to continue southward, with our next notable stop planned for St. Augustine mid next-week.

Stay warm and well, friends!!!!  : )

Onward from Myrtle Beach!!!!

Hello everyone!  I wasn’t expecting to take this long of a break from blogging - glad you could join us again as our journey continues.  

SIDE NOTE/TECHNICAL CHALLENGES:  I have tried to adjust the settings on my blog so that y’all get email notifications when I post an update; however, I don’t think this is working.  I’ve heard from people who have tried to post comments, but I can’t see those comments at all.  Also, I have not been able to figure out a way to put a map (tracking our progress) into my blog but would like to.  If anyone has any advice on any of these issues, I would love to hear from you!  (email is sherylmerrick@gmail.com).  Thanks so much for bearing with me!!!

Now on to our update:  we spent 9 wonderful days at Osprey Marina in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, which is on the southern end of Myrtle Beach.  My parents live about 20 minutes away, so we were able to spend some very relaxing time with them.  Gotta give a shout-out to my Mom for doing our laundry (is there an age limit when that should stop?) - very much appreciated!!!  It was also a lot of fun getting my mom going on her first “smart phone” - she even managed to take her very first selfie LOL (if you know my mom, this is big news for her!).

My awesome friends also made the trek to Murrells Inlet (by car), and we had a great time visiting, catching up, and doing some dorky touristy things.

After all that fun, Mark and I left the comforts of the marina and camaraderie of family/friends and set sail once again on Monday, November 14.  Back to the reality of water-soluble marine grade toilet paper (I won’t elaborate, but I’m sure you can imagine) and conserving power and water.  We passed offshore of Charleston (see picture) but the view was very hazy due to smoke from the wild fires in western North Carolina.  

We have anchored for the past two nights in random places along the way - both spots were pretty isolated and therefore extremely quiet and peaceful.  The types of trees/plants we are passing by have changed - notice the palm trees?  The nights have been on the cool side (mid 40’s), and this only strengthens our resolve to continue rapidly southward.

And I had to throw in a picture Mark took of me relaxing in “my spot” on a day when it was too cold to drive from topside.  Not looking too stressed, am I?  

The only maintenance/repair issue has been a small oil leak around the engine valve cover - Mark has (of course) tried tweaking the tightness of the bolts, but the oil continues to outsmart him and escape.  I believe a new gasket is being delivered to our next destination, though - hopefully that will solve it once and for all.  All other systems functioning nominally, knock on wood!  Next stop will be Beaufort, SC for a day or two - will update next from there.  Take care, y’all!

Goodbye North Carolina!

This is a video taken today at anchor just on the border between North and South Carolina - close to the city of Calabash.  I am not sure I have loaded the video correctly onto the blog - hope it works for you!  (it seems to work on my Macbook but not my iphone for some reason).

Mark took the dinghy into Calabash last night and scored some ultra-fresh shrimp for dinner.  The fact that we have now ventured into alligator territory makes dinghy-rides significantly less appealing to me.





Since leaving Wilmington, Mark and I have anchored each night while continuing to make our way southward.  The weather has remained generally pleasant; unfortunately the bugs (gnats and mosquitoes) like the weather too - and apparently the fresh nourishment we provide.

A lowlight for me this week was my not-so-graceful fall on board, and I am still feeling sore in spots from it.  But if I had to choose a place to fall, that would be the best spot (see picture below).  We had just finished setting the anchor, and the deck was wet - my foot slipped on the top step and gravity took over from there, sending me feet-first into the narrow walkway.   The hardest part was trying to get myself back up (felt wedged) - I'm sure that maneuver looked quite walrussy as well.  Just grateful there were no serious injuries!



Starting tomorrow (Saturday), we will be staying at Osprey Marina in Myrtle Beach for about 10 days.  We will be able to see my sweet parents and visit with my AWESOME group of friends who are traveling down to Myrtle Beach over Veterans' Day weekend.  Really looking forward to seeing everyone again!

Our trip so far has been incredibly relaxing and stress-free (with the exception of the World Series), but it will be good to be back in civilization for a while.  It's hard to believe, but I'm actually looking forward to going to Walmart and getting all those things we've figured out would be good to have.  Hoping to find some cheap DVDs just in case we get desperate and plan to pick up a replacement coffee maker as our current one is not working consistently (big problem for me - I drink a lot of coffee!).  We may not post again until after we head south again - until then, take care!!!!

A brief stop in Wilmington, NC......

Halloween greetings from Wilmington, NC!  Somewhat appropriate that we are on the Cape Fear River today, isn't it?  There was another type of scare awaiting us here that I'll tell you about shortly....



As you can tell, we made it safely past the ICW shoaling areas we've encountered so far.  Mark's evasive maneuvers, sharp eye for odd patterns in the water (which can indicate depth changes), resourceful use of online navigation information, and inherently salty intuition were collectively invaluable in keeping Quality Time afloat and moving southward.

Typical ICW view looking forward:



Typical ICW view looking aft:




We stopped for lunch last Sunday with some fellow Virginians in Wrightsville, then anchored that night in Carolina Beach.  A dinghy ride, a walk on the beach, and yet another beautiful sunset.







At dawn, we decided to take a short diversion north up the Cape Fear River to visit Wilmington, as other boaters had recommended this charming city to us.  The Cape Fear River is renowned for its strong currents, but we arrived around noon to our marina on the north end of town.  Armed with Google Maps/smart phones and bikes, we decided to head out to explore the downtown area and find a grocery store to restock on our perishables.



Mark is apparently significantly less aware of neighborhood "vibes" than I am, and it was quite clear we were very, very out of place as we headed towards town.  And the fact that I could not determine who was dressed up for Halloween and who was not did not help put me at ease.  After at least 6 very uncomfortable miles on the bikes, we made it to a local Food Lion.  Despite Mark's protests, I put my foot down and insisted we use Uber to get back to the marina.

While driving us back to the marina, the driver wondered aloud and unprompted "I wonder why my GPS is taking us through the worst part of Wilmington?" - turns out it was because that was the only way back to the marina.  These were the same streets we had travelled earlier on our folding nerd bikes, made even nerdier by the addition of a milk crate (held on by numerous bungee cords) to the back of each bike for our intended groceries.  Let's just say I was quite motivated to keep my bike moving, and it was a wonderful feeling to be Uber-ed back to the safety of Quality Time.

Since we now don't feel comfortable leaving the marina on our own, we are in the process of planning our next move.  We will likely move to a different marina closer to downtown Wilmington, to spend one more night exploring the city and enjoying one of the nice restaurants there.  Then it will be southward again, as we get ever closer to the South Carolina border.

Thanks for joining us on this adventure - hope everyone is doing well on the home front.  We love hearing from you, so please feel free to call/text or leave a comment or question on the blog.  Happy Halloween and once again, GO TRIBE!!!!

Cape Lookout and Beaufort, NC

Hello, folks - and greetings from North Carolina (still)!  I’m not sure if I mentioned it in previous posts or if you have intuited it from what I’ve said, but I’m definitely what you’d call a “fair weather sailor”.  I have been steadfast in my insistence that Quality Time remain in the protected waters of the ICW (and my perception of greater safety there).  However, Mark convinced me to take a short journey “off shore” to visit a place called Cape Lookout (an uninhabited National Seashore); I agreed due to the potential for awesome sea-shelling and projected calm seas.  The trip there was uneventful and even pleasant; despite technically being off shore, it was in full view of land the entire way.  And the visit there was idyllic!

The journey back the next day, however, was far from idyllic - it was downright organ-jarring.  Poor Quality Time just isn’t built for large swells, and of course, neither am I; thankfully it only took about 2 hours to get back into sheltered water.  Despite our previous experiences with bad weather on the Chesapeake Bay and thus learning how to stow things securely on board, this time things went flying that have never moved before.  Needless to say, I was not a happy camper for those two hours and have renewed my vow to remain in the ICW.

We spent the next night anchored in Beaufort (pronounced BO-fort, NC - there is a different city pronounced BE-YOU-fort in SC).  Busy but peaceful anchorage on Taylor Creek; on one side is the small town, and on the other side of the river/creek are small rustic islands inhabited by 400 wild horses.  It was a little strange to hear horses neighing about 50 yards away while at anchor!

Today we are making our way south on the ICW, and we just passed Mile Marker 220.  There are a couple areas ahead where there is significant shoaling in the ICW - usually in areas where a river empties into the ICW.  Coast Guard reports on the radio indicate there are spots where depths have been reduced by shoaling to 2 feet (not good when our draft is 3.5 feet).  Mark remains undeterred and is timing our journey past these areas with the tide to decrease our chances of being stuck.  Time will tell if his strategy was adequate - stay tuned!

And I just have to say “Go Tribe!!!!”

Ocracoke, NC - Outer Banks

After a relatively short jog due east from New Bern (60 miles or so), we spent the next two nights anchored in Silver Lake on the south side of Ocracoke Island not far from the ferry docks.  The ferries bring cars and visitors to the island several times a day, and it seems they are the primary way to get extra trash off the island (we saw lots of piles of debris waiting to be removed, presumably from storm damage).  Lots of fisherman on the island, and many of the businesses (stores and restaurants) are either already closed for the season or getting ready to close until spring.

Mark convinced me to ride our bikes to see the Pony Pen, where the once wild ponies are now housed, stating “it’s only about 5 miles”.  It was indeed only that far, but neither of us realized we would be riding into a 15 mph headwind the entire five miles back.  And whenever I/we stopped to rest, the mosquitoes quickly found us.  It was mutually agreed that upgrades to our bike seats will be a priority in the near future! (ouch!)  Here are some pics from that journey:

After two whole weeks on the high seas, Still so far so good between me and Mark, knock on wood - no major (or even minor) disagreements to speak of.  To his enjoyment, Mark has had a few minor maintenance/repair issues to sleuth, such as determining why the electric motor battery was not charging properly (needs new charger cable) and trying to figure out why the handheld radio was getting significantly better reception that the boat radio.  Turns out the problem seems to be related to using the same antenna for both the AIS and VHF systems (even though you are supposed to be able to do this).  The solution apparently is to buy another 8-foot antenna, which has already been ordered and is hopefully being delivered to Myrtle Beach ahead of us.

We left Ocracoke today and will resume our generally southward trek.  Hoping to make it to Beaufort, NC tonight where we will likely anchor.  The weather forecast will determine when and where we go from there.  Take care, y’all - we’ll talk again soon!