The horns are blaring the ferries are running there is continuous ship traffic.  It is a big and beautiful working harbor.  Enormous military ships are either being built new or in for maintenance.

The “Looper Rendezvous” is in progress.  250 people are in attendance, about fifty boats. Not all attendees are on the loop, some are finished and sharing their knowledge and some are in the planning stages. Amazing to see so many on the same wavelength.

Our boat is on the Looper Crawl”, which means that other Loopers are welcome to come aboard and look around during a 2 hour period today.  Denny is frantically trying to get the last vestiges of bugs off the vessel. He is actually suggesting we need to show it warts and all.  That may happen, as the bug removal is tedious and difficult.

The South Mills Lock raises you 8 feet to where the aptly named, Dismal Swamp begins, a long, narrow and tree-lined canal.

We haven’t yet mastered or even come close to understanding the protocol for locks.  We either have too many or too few fenders on the wrong side or the right side.  Do we need  to wear life jackets?  The other boaters have them.

Keep the line taut around the piling. Loosen that line; another fender bit the dust. At the end of this trip we should be pros but it would be nice if it would happen sooner.

The Dismal Swamp National wildlife refuge is the largest intact remnant of a vast habitat that once covered more than one million acres of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. During the Civil War confederate soldiers kept the Locks open by preventing the Union from blowing them up. It is now the oldest operating artificial waterway in the country.

On to Norfolk!!!

waiting to get into the locks

inside the lock

visitor center Dismal Swamp

the bridge opening

on the canal

waiting to get into the locks

inside the lock

visitor center Dismal Swamp

the bridge opening

on the canal

Like the month of March, we entered the Sound with strong winds, high waves, dense fog and heavy rain: after an hour it left like a lamb. The sun is shining and all is well with the world.  Travelling at 9 knots, it looks like we will only be one day late for the rendezvous.

Weaving our way across the Sound, while dodging a plethora of crab pots, we entered the Pasquotank River. On our way to Elizabeth City to meet another Sea Craft buddy of Denny’s, do a ton of laundry and scrub the bugs off the gelcoat.

Martin Cross(Uncleboo), a charming southern gentleman, restored an old Sea Craft and delighted in showing Denny the results over drinks and dinner.

The last two days have tried our collective patience.  I am not always a patient person, fortunately Denny is.

Our washing machine failed which puts us at the mercy of marina washers that eat quarters and forget their proper function. The ability to wash clothes while on the waterway really frees our time up for sightseeing and provisioning when we do stop; fortunately the dryer works.

Denny spent many hours researching a new washer and found one that will do the job. Fortunately we will be in Norfolk for five days on a “Looper Rendezvous”. By adding one day to the stop we can have a new washer installed.

The printer has lost its ability to scan documents. For two hours, HP help tried to help me fix it while we were on a rocky sea (the Neuse River).  Help determined that I had some type of spyware and wanted to sell me a fix for it for only $60.00. I will call apple in the morning I am sure they can solve my problem in minutes.

The hot spot on the phone did not always maintain the wi-fi, probably because we were a little too far from shore and the cell towers were sparse. The cell phone only works sporadically.

One month ago, I had surgery on my right shoulder to remove a cyst. The theory was, take care of a problem before you go on this trip so it won’t bother you while you are on it. One more theory bit the dust.  The cyst reappeared and my doctor is 1000 miles away, albeit available by phone. The docks at Beaufort, NC, are right downtown and the marina  graciously gave us a loaner car.  We found a very busy urgent care center and four hours later we were on our way, a minor problem, just annoying.  Have an appointment in Norfolk with an orthopedic surgeon. At least, I think I have, I don’t have a working scanner to send written consent to the surgeon to send my files.  Hopefully, I will tomorrow.

All this and as Denny says we are “hauling ass” at 8 knots an hour, up the ICW north.

Anchored for the night there was no one in sight.  Woke up in the morning and felt like Job. A plague had descended on the land. Huge flies and mosquitoes littered the boat. At places, two inches thick. I itch all over. Let’s get out of here!!!!!

Denny geting exercise

If you are looking for property on the water, you should travel along the ICW just south of Myrtle Beach. Every other tract of land is new construction and the rest seems quite available.

The Socastee Swing Bridge, vertical clearance of 11 feet opens on demand but she likes to have many boats traveling through at the same time.

The ICW in North Carolina is dotted with shrimp boats and easily navigated. We started out this morning and should anchor about 7 PM, a long day.  We will anchor in Wrightsville Beach hoping to make the rendezvous on May 5. Only 283 miles to go.

The ten miles north of Charleston on the ICW is very shallow. The guidebook says it must be traversed on a rising tide, our experience today indicates, high tide is better.  We only ran aground twice.

Stuck on the bottom, mud churned up by the struggling engines, but a beautiful day.      At times we felt like we were dredging our own canal.

Only managed to motor 37 miles. We are hoping to make Norfolk for a Looper rendezvous May 6-9, six days left to do 430 miles. I hope we won’t prove the adage that “the worst thing you can have on a boat is a schedule”.

Just as we were having our fill of this low country, so shallow, flat and buggy, five incredible huge bottlenose dolphins spent one-half an hour escorting us out to larger waters. I have another spectacular video.

swirling muddy waters going nowhere

at anchor

Charleston harbor is a heavily used ship channel with a great deal of commercial traffic and a harmonious harbor with a myriad of beautiful boats.  A water taxi takes you to all sides of the harbor every twenty minutes. We docked by three old ships, World War 2 vintage, a destroyer (the Laffey), an aircraft carrier (Yorktown) and a very old and rusting submarine. We toured them all.

“Old’sCool”, (great boat name) Cam and Karen, lifelong Charlestonians and members of the SeaCraft group, met us in the downtown marina bearing gifts of handmade wild Hog sausages, but first he caught the wild hog.  Our new grille will get its first test.   Cam not only chauffeured us to West Marine but also gave us a few tips on how to deal with a broken anchor light.

Our anchor light has been broken for a week, causing great consternation to the local police. They always seem to appear out of nowhere.

Do you feel those vibrations?    No!  Do you see the gearshift shaking?  Not really!

Can’t you see the movement? Sorry No! The engine has been quivering for a few days.   I need to suit up and go look at the prop.

Hard to imagine but, I am not as attuned as Denny when it comes to engines.

Are you sure you want to go in? Are you sure there is anything in there? It is cold and windy out there. Are you thinking about the electric current that may lurk in marina waters from surrounding boats?

There is a problem.  I’m going in!!!

It feels good to be right.  Quite a bit of line wrapped around the prop. The engine is purring.

Beaufort, South Carolina, pronounced “Bewfort”, contrasted to Beaufort (Bo-fort) North Carolina. We are docked at the Downtown Marina.

Beaufort’s downtown area is located in the National Register of Historic places. The streets are lined with grand oaks, historic homes and churches all within walking distance of the boat, everything but a grocery store.

We shared a ride in the marina courtesy car to the grocery store with another Looper, Mike, and his two friends, traveling with him for a week. Large men.  Small car. Tight squeeze.

The hardware store is unbelievable for a small town. A man could spend hours in it and some did.

The Blue Angels are in town, what a spectacular view and extremely loud.

I have been asked about the status of the Dinghy;

Maybe its flooded?

The Saga of the dinghy will continue until it comes to a resolution whenever that will be.

I will keep you posted.