A Month and 900 Miles To Home - First Part

When Bob left Miami, he was given nitroglycerin pills and told that if he had pain, he should take a pill. If the pain did not stop, he was to go to the ER. Missing from this instruction was the realization that if we are on a boat, there is no really good way to get to an ER. So since Bob didn't want to deal with going to the ER, he just never admitted that he had pain which would require that he take the nitroglycerin to find out.

I have been doing this report using the narratives from Virtual Tourist where I archived my original logs. I have been trying to retrieve the logs of the trip the rest of the way home. I have not, at this point, found all of them. So this last log will have gaps. The photos, unless otherwise noted, were taken on this trip by my first digital camera a Toshiba PDRM5 or a failing film camera.

Our boat at the fastest (hull speed) goes 7 knots (nautical miles per hour) or 8 mph. But our average speed is about 5 mph. Unless we go offshore, we do not usually sail overnight. So in the Intercoastal Waterway, we try to pick destinations that require less than 8 hours of travel, or about 40 miles. We could do 50 miles if we pushed it, but we only did that if we had no marinas or available place to anchor.

March 14, 2002 - Leaving Fort Pierce.
Normally when we sail up the Indian River in Florida (which is one of the few places on the Intercoastal where actual sailing is possible), we stop midway near Melbourne.

Green ICW channel Marker #9

I called Intercoastal Marina for a slip this time because after Bob's heart attack I was unwilling to anchor like we would usually do, and we didn't want to go back to Melbourne Marina. They were having a trawler convention at Melbourne Marina so we probably wouldn't have been able to get a slip there anyway. Skipper Bob was there, but we missed meeting him. We also missed meeting a guy from the Live-Aboard List (an email list) who lives on his boat in a far corner of Intercoastal Marina.

The entrance channel supposed to be 8 ft, but was down to 6.5 in a couple of places. The harbor master at Intercoastal clearly had no idea what type boat we had - he was going to put us in a slip that was much too small and also much too shallow. As we were coming in, he changed the directions on the radio, and put us between big power boats where there was only 50 amp service and no splitter. The whole marina was cluttered with small power boats for a show they were having the next day - it was hard to find your way around the boats to the bathrooms. Dockage was $1/ft + tax.

We went to the restaurant which was right over our heads and had the Early Bird Specials, which were quite reasonable. They had things on the menu like East Coast Lobster Cake and Clearwater Crab Cake. I don't know how a Clearwater crab cake would differ from any other kind of crab cake.

In any case, the restaurant was having Thirsty Thursday, with a loud DJ and music played right by the boat until the wee hours. Anchoring would have been preferable.

An email from the Live-Aboard list boater after we left said:
"I have lived at the Intercoastal Marina for 2 years now and understand what you are talking about. ... The next item on the agenda is the restoration of the showers/bathrooms. We have a commitment that they will be tiled and restored this summer. As for Thirsty Thursdays, it doesn't look like there is anything we can do. That is the restaurant's big money night and without it he would probably have to shut the place down.

"One of the big trawlers up front plays opera music over a loudspeaker to compete with the DJ. Luckily, I live as far away from the bar as possible.. I do hear the DJ every once in a while when I am outside but I hear nothing once I am inside. (although I do get a strange parade of characters through my "front lawn" at weird hours of the night. Seems they like the Adirondack chairs and tiki torches I have on the dock in front of the boat. Some of the teenage boy/girl conversations are quite humorous. I wonder if they know I can hear them?!?)"

[Hurricane Jeanne (2004) destroyed all docks at this marina. It will be closed until repaired]

March 15, 2002 - We left the marina early about 7 am. The wind was calm and the water was flat. We were at the NASA bridge by noon, with an average speed of 6.5 mph.

Cape Kennedy Vertical Assembly Building which we can see for a long way

I saw a roseate spoonbill flying across the channel. I thought at first it was a flamingo, but I looked it up in the bird book and identified that in flight it was indeed a roseate spoonbill (the flight profile is different from the flamingo). Several of them were in the bushes of a spoil island with the pelicans. (A spoil island is formed when they dredge the channel and pile the dredged material or spoil up beside the channel)

Spoil Island and ICW red marker

We reached Titusville and went through the swing bridge, and got a slip in the marina after a trip of 39.4 miles which took 6.5 hours. We've been a total of 780 nm (nm=nautical miles which are longer than statute miles) since January 1, 2002. Titusville was 95 cents a foot (with a Boat US discount), electricity $3 for 30 amp, and they gave us a splitter which they locked to the dock, plus 6% tax. We always enjoy it there. They have an email line for cruisers outside the office under an awning so it is always available. They will not tell you if they have a slip for you until after 10 a.m. because that's when they walk the docks and see who's still there.

Titusville Swing Bridge

They have floating docks, but I don't know why - there's no tide to speak of. They have several washers and three dryers, of which dryers only 2 work well. .Bob went grocery shopping, and we walked over to the shopping center and ate at Azteca the Tex Mex place for dinner. There is a resident manatee population in the marina but I didn't take photos of them on this trip

March 16,2002 - New Smyrna
According to my photos we went to New Smyrna next, but I do not know what marina we stayed at there - there's only one possibility - the Municipal Marina which has only two transient slips and I don't see any photos from there. It may be that I just took the photos while sailing past and that we actually went on to Daytona

Bridge New Smyrna

Sea Harvest Restaurant where we ate in 2000 on our first trip down

Shore on the ICW

Ponce de Leon Lighthouse - it is on Mosquito Lagoon but the developers changed the name

Daytona
In Daytona, I know we stayed at the Municipal Marina there.

Bob on the stern plugging the boat in to dock power - he has our yellow power cord in his hand

Docked at Halifax Harbor Marina

When we leave the marina there is a

Daytona Bascule Bridge right outside the marina

but the rest of the bridges are fixed bridges - you really can't appreciate these bridges unless you are in a boat.

Mosaic details on the speedway bridge

Tile on the Daytona Bridges piers

Daytona bridge

March 18, 2002 - St Augustine

In order to get to St Augustine we have to pass Matanzas where the ICW is very prone to shoaling. There is always a tow boat here waiting for people to go aground. He fishes in between helping people.

Matanzas inlet

Fort Matanzas

The fort there is very interesting to visit and it is free. It was the site of a 1565 massacre of the Protestant French from Fort Caroline up by Jacksonville by the Catholic Spanish from the Castillo in St Augustine. The Matanzas fort was built 200 years later.

ICW mile marker 783 (measured from Norfolk VA). At the last bridge before the San Sebastian RIver, the bridge tender asked me if we knew what the intentions of a boat anchored there. As we came up to him, we saw him hastily pulling his anchor. He appeared to be a single hander from Canada (we'd seen him before), with an old white wooden ketch and a red kayak as a dinghy. Apparently he was waiting for someone else to go through the bridge because he either didn't have a radio or didn't know how to hail the bridge. So he went through with us, and stuck close behind us (we'd passed him north of Titusville and he was going a lot slower than we were then). We got to the turn off to go up the San Sebastian River, and he started to come up here with us. I think he wanted to go through the Bridge of Lions with us.

We got into a slip at Oyster Creek Marina (I hope we can get out again-it's close quarters if there is any wind). We like this marina better than the Municipal Marina. They give us a Boat US discount so we paid $1/ft and $4 for 30 amp electric (plus 6% tax). They didn't charge for cable. They have an email connection for marina guests. We went over to the Eddie's Oyster Creek, the restaurant that they were building the last time we were here for dinner. It's only open Weds to Sunday. We spent a couple of days in St Augustine- meeting internet friends. Norm and Jan took us and a guy named Fred from another boat (all friends from the Live-Aboard list) out to beach bar where the food was cheap although the service wasn't too good.

Norm and Jan in our cockpit

Fred and Norm

Bob also got to go to the marine consignment shop which he liked. We had been 900 nm since Jan 1 2002.

I had the temp filling (put in by the dentist in Nassau) come out of my tooth, so I went to the dentist again today. (He charged way more than $60 for it and my dental insurance did not cover it.) Then we decided to walk south and cross the bridge and see whether there were any restaurants that we could go to - we walked about 1/4th fo 1/2 mile and found La Pentola which was this little jewel of a place. Food was very good. This restaurant has (as of 2003) moved from where it was definitely off the beaten tourist path to a downtown location. I had pasta.

When we left Oyster Creek, we went past the Municipal Marina

Municipal Marina- St Augustine

and through he Bridge of Lions - a bascule bridge which is one of the primary symbol of the city Although, it is a 'thorn in the paw" of residents, and a pain in the stern for boaters it is also quite an important landmark. It has restricted opening hours, which can be very idiosyncratic and anyone on the ICW HAS to go under this bridge if they come through St. Augustine because the channel of the St. Augustine inlet shifts so much that it requires local knowledge to transit should one think about going south in the Atlantic Ocean.

Bridge of Lions

Bridge of Lions opening

Bridge of Liions open

Norm's boat Bandersnatch- his dinghy is the White Rabbit

Norms boat which he built himself in front of the Castillo

We could look back at the lighthouse on St. Augustine Beach

St Augustine lighthouse

Airport north of St. Augustine

March 21-22, 2002 Fernandina Beach

Normally we stay somewhere around Jacksonville before we go to Fernandina Beach. My notes say that after we left St. Augustine, we stayed just 28 miles farther on from Jacksonville. But I don't know where we stayed. Then we were in Fernandina for 2 days to wait out some weather. They have showers, fuel and ice. The old town is right there in walking distance, but a grocery store is about 2 miles away. They do not take reservations. The south side - the docks closest to shore- there is no water at low tide (8 foot tides). Most of the time, they put transients on the outside dock. But this is really unsafe and certainly uncomfortable in a NW wind. The cost in 2002 was $1.10/ft plus $7.14/day for electricity (30 amp is $3.50) and taxes. In March 2002, the fuel was $1.13/gal for diesel. When the winds die to nothing we are eaten alive by no-see-ums, especially at low tide.

RosalieAnn at the Fernandina dock

Bow of RosalieAnn

Electric Pedestal in Fernandina

Azaleas

City Hall from the patio

On the last night we ate at Florida House which is a hotel where they serve family style.

Florida House

American Eagle cruise ship in Fernandina

March 23, 2002
We left Fernandina and went 32 miles to Jekyll Island in Georgia. On the way we pass

Cumberland Island

Cumberland Island is the largest and southernmost barrier island in the Georgia sea island chain and it is skirted on the east by an unbroken fringe of Atlantic coastal beach. Most of the island is included in the Cumberland Island National Seashore, but some of the people who had property on the island when it was made into a National Park retain the rights to live on the island for their lifetimes. There are still wild horses on the island but it was hard to take photos from the boat that showed them. Even with a digital camera - back in those days they didn't have so many pixels as they do now.

A wild horse on Cumberland Island

American Eagle cruise ship ahead of us on the dock

Face Dock at Jekyll

Marina office from Sea Jay's Cafe '02

Sea Jay's in the spring

The no-see-ums followed us from Fernandina, so we didn't eat outside. We were happy to see that the nice restaurant there (SeaJay's Cafe), was still in operation. We come here mainly for the restaurant- we like their Brunswick Stew.

Jekyll Island's version of Brunswick stew

Bob thinks we are the kiss of death for restaurants along the waterway. I think it is just a fact of life for waterway restaurants. (and in 2017 See Jay's was out of business)

Looking past our furled flag and radar arch

New Fixed Bridge right by the fuel dock looking toward Brunswick

March 24, 2002 Leaving Jekyll Island

Sunk ship off north of Jekyll Island

Looking up toward Brunswick

We met a couple on the pilothouse in Fernandina and Jekyll. He had built it himself. They were from Maryland. They passed us after we left Jekyll Island as they are faster than we are.

Homebuilt pilot house from MD

Pilothouse passing us

We anchored after 55 miles in the Wahoo River where the dolphins were frollicking in the shallows. The phosphorescence was so strong that it lit up the whole hose out of the toilet when we flushed (we have a toilet called an Electra-San which treats the output electrically to sanitize it when we flush)

Chart of anchorage - Wahoo Island

After this trip up through the Georgia sounds with their 8 foot tides, shifting shoals and crushing cross currents, we went outside from Charleston to get down to Fernandina

March 25, 2002
Sailing through Georgia we pass Skidmore Island Bridge and Isle of Hope on our way to Thunderbolt which is a suburb of Savannah

Skidmore Narrow's Bridge

Anchorage near Isle of Hope

Isle of Hope in 2002

Bridge and tug from our foredeck

Tug approaching bridge

Tug going under a bascule bridge

Building near Thunderbolt

Most of the time when we go to Thunderbolt, we've gone to Palmer Johnson marina (which is now called Thunderbolt Marina I understand). Palmer Johnson manufactures luxury mega-yachts, and this is a repair yard for them. It is located on the grounds of a casino, built in 1875 which became one of the most popular recreation spots in the Savannah area until it burned in 1930.

RosalieAnn in Thunderbolt

Palmer Johnson does the dockage on a face dock and insists that our boat is 50 feet (which when I measure it, I discover to my chagrin that it is - I have been insisting that since it is a CSY44 that it was only 44 feet long). The restaurant there that we like has closed and the dockmaster says the building is unsafe. So we have to walk up to Teeples (which looks like a greasy spoon) or Tubby's with a bathtub on the roof. Not too far.

Teeples in 2008 - Thunderbolt

2002, March 26 Northward Bound
Leaving Thunderbolt, we pass Bonaventure Cemetery. Many believe Bonaventure is the most beautiful cemetery in the world. The attractive plants, sweet smells, and beautiful views of the Wilmington River make for a peaceful final resting site—and a tranquil site to visit. Recently, it has received worldwide fame from being featured on the cover and in the text of writer John Berendt's hugely popular bestseller "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil".

Red Marker by Bonaventure cemetery

Azaleas in Bonaventure cemetery

Waiting for the bridge opening just north of the dock, we observe rowing practice

Wilmington River - coach and rowers

Yellow scull

Wisteria by the bridge

Cable sign overgrown with wisteria

Bascule bridge

From Thunderbolt to Beaufort SC is 47 miles - just about the limit of one day's trip for us.

The ice cream place we liked was closed earlier than the times on the sign said. There was also a BIG thunderstorm while we were there. I was glad we were safely tied to the dock.

Coming back to Charleston, we were again aiming to get to Ross Marine because the distance from Beaufort is too great to do in one day. In order to make it to Johns Island the next day we have to leave really early before the restrictions on the Ladies Island Bridge. In addition to Parris Island south of Beaufort, there is a marine air base north of the town. We see this

Fuel dock north of Beaufort

each time we come through here going down the river and speculate that it is connected with the marine base. It is a sign that we are approaching our destination or that we are on our way

Prospect Hill Plantation

at MM 507 about 8 miles north of Beaufort by water. It is taken with a digital camera from far away at maximum zoom and cropped in even more. It dates from 1790 and is even marked on the charts as "House". Ephraim Baynard was the first owner, and the design has been attributed to James Hoban. The plantation house is reported to have ghosts.

New bridge being built

When we got to Ross Marine after 59 miles, we saw that the Limehouse Bridge had been repaired.

Powerboat going through the swing bridge ahead of us

Bridge construction

Bob had a chance to use his new splitter (to reduce the 50 amp power in half to 30 amp). Limehouse bridge told me that they open on the hour and half hour (between 9 and 4). The sign still says every 20 minutes. Wappoo Creek told me they were on demand. This was March 27th, 2002. I could not see a sign stating the Wapoo Creek hours.

Ross Marine is very laid back - they don't seem to pay much attention to transients. They are supposed to monitor 16 and 79, but I had to call them on the phone. They were going to put us on the fuel dock, which would have been a non-starter because although the office told them that we were 44 ft, they didn't hear that. When we were there on the way down the docks were almost empty - this time they were almost full. 75 cents/ft, and you can have electric and water included if you have a cord long enough to get to the hookup point. The sales/service office will let you hook up your computer to the internet during office hours (7-4:30).

Easter 2002 - March 26 to April 3, 2002We left Ross Marine (on John's Island) March 26th and went to the Charleston Maritime Center, which was only 11 miles. When we were going into Elliot Cut (at high tide), we saw the red/green and then east of it there was a Red 18 in the Stono RIver. It was not an ICW mark, and was not on the charts. I think it should have been kept on our right, and Bob thought on the left. I think we'd have been aground if not high tide where he went through on the left.

RosalieAnn in the Maritime Center

RosalieAnn in the Maritime Center

I took some pictures of boats in the marina. The first day there was a tall ship on the outer face dock, and I took a picture of it. The picture also shows the Charleston Explorer tour boat.

Three masted ship

Charleston Explorer tour boat from shore with Cooper River bridge

The other side of the marina shows a tug getting fuel and the Sea Research Vessel. Between them, across the harbor is the Yorktown at Patriot's Point.

Tug, and Sea Research Vessel

Tanker near the Maritime Center

We had a nice visit with our son, DIL and the grandkids at Easter. They took us to a Passion Play at a local church.

Churches

The kids were off school, so we Bob and I took my son and grandson and granddaughter, and we took the trip out to Ft. Sumter. The ferry to the fort is run by a private contractor. There are two different ferries running to the fort - from Liberty Square in Charleston and the once a day from Mt. Pleasant on the other side of the Cooper River. We went from Liberty Square.

Bob, son and grandchildren waiting to get on the ferry

The ferry ride to Fort Sumter costs money - it is operated by a contractor. But the Exhibit Hall on the Charleston side ferry docks is free. Inside is a museum giving the history of the fort and the area before and during the Civil War. The Exhibit Hall is open 8:30 to 5 every day.

In the exhibit hall are displays from which you can learn about the decline in the commercial importance of Charleston between 1790 and 1860. Most of the population growth in those years was in the north. In 1860, Charleston was the 5th largest city in the south, behind St. Louis, New Orleans, Baltimore, Washington D.C., and Louisville. The population of over 40,000 included 14,000 slaves and over 3,000 free African Americans. On December 20, 1860, in response to the election of Lincoln in November 1860, the South Carolina Social Convention of 169 delegates passed and signed an Ordinance of Secession, taking the state out of the Union.

-Part_of_exhibit_in_the_visitors_center

The first engagement of the Civil War took place at Fort Sumter on April 12 and 13, 1861, and after a brief battle, the Union surrendered the fort to the Confederates. At that time, the Confederates thought that the 60 foot tall fort's six foot thick brick walls were regarded as impregnable. Most of the guns used against it during the 1861 bombardment did little damage except for setting fire to the buildings. There were no casualties. For the next two years Sumter was a symbol of the South's first victory. It was a popular site with visitors and balls were held there. BUT in March of 1863 the Union Navy began gathering the largest fleet of ironclads ever seen at Charleston off Beaufort and Folly Island, both of which were held by the Union. This fleet included six monitors of improved design, a massive iron ship, The New Ironsides, most powerful in the Federal Fleet and the double turret tinclad, Keokuk. These vessels carried larger, more powerful canon and their iron protection could allow them to come closer to their targets.

Information gleaned from the internet indicates that the Confederates were not unprepared. They had two ironclads of their own, the Chicora and The Palmetto State, both badly underpowered but bearing powerful guns. The artillery in the harbor forts was improved. The harbor was blocked with obstructions, most importantly mines. Additional forts on Morris Island were constructed and the existing batteries around the harbor were improved. Most importantly a system of signals, markers, charts and indicator marks on the gun carriages were developed that allowed the Confederate artillerists to fire their more accurate land based guns at predetermined locations. With all calculations worked out in advance, the Confederate Batteries would wait for a ship to move into a predetermined position marked with flag and buoys and when it was in the targeted location, fire. The guns would then be set to the next location up or down the channel. Batteries were arranged and prepared to present a gauntlet of precisely controlled fire to any ship moving up the narrow harbor channel.

When the Federal fleet went into line of battle on the afternoon of April 7, the Confederate Garrison at Sumter met it with the chivalry which was still part of the war at that time. The Fort ran up all its flags and the band was sent to the parapet to play the national airs. The details on the attack itself can be best determined from the official reports and records. The Federal Navy was unable or unwilling to come close in to Sumter and operated near the limit of its weapons. The tinclad Keokuk, whose master protested her unfitness for the work, came in closest, took the worst pounding, was disabled and sank the next day. Several of the monitors were damaged and had to go to the Federal Navy Yard at Beaufort for repairs. The powerful Ironsides kept her distance. The Ironsides paused for twenty minutes over a Confederate electrical mine packed with 1000 pounds of gunpowder but the operators on the shore could not detonate it. Ultimately the iron fleet withdrew under pressure from the more accurate Confederate Fire, which had the advantage of fixed and stable positions on the land.

There is also some indication that the Navy might have been worse off had they won the battle. If the ironclad fleet had managed to pass Sumter and entered the Harbor, it would have been completely surrounded by powerful land batteries and possibly trapped by the Confederate Ironclads, which though slow and unfit for pursuit and engagement, could have effectively blacked the escape channel behind them.

Sumter ferry

The ferry ride is quite a lot of fun. There is a snack bar on the ferry where you can get drinks.

Son and grandchildren on the ferry

In 1860, the walls of the fort were 55 feet above the water, to today when they range between 9 and 25 feet tall. The fort is basically a stablized ruin.

Waters_edge_of_fort

The task of clearing the rubble began in in the 1870s. During the next 20 years, the fort served mainly as a lighthouse station. In 1899, a modernization added a concrete Edicott battery in the middle of the parade grounds. The fort was used throughout WWII, and was decommissioned in 1947 when the War Department (as it was then) turned it over to the National Park Service. It became a National Monument in 1948

Flags_flying_over_the_fort

Getting off the ferry

When we got off the ferry, we walked around with a ranger for a short (10 minute) tour. After that we walked around on our own. You do not have to take the ranger tour, but it really helps to understand the history of the fort. One of the facts I remember is that the guns at Fort Sumter would not have reached as far as the Battery in Charleston.

Charleston Battery from the ferry

The Fort Sumter museum has exhibits that tell the story of the construction of the fort and island, the events leading to the April 12-13, 1861 battle, and the subsequent bombardment and reduction of Fort Sumter by artillery to rubble later in the war.

Grandson and cannon

-Looking_down_into_the_fort

Since Fort Sumter is designated "Historic" they don't want you to climb on the cannons (which of course my granddaughter immediately started to do since she wasn't listening on the tour).

Climbing on the cannons

Other than the wayside exhibits which interpret the historic resources found throughout the site and the vistas visible from the observation level there is not that much to do except for such recreational activities as bird watching and fishing.

Bob and the kids at the fort

I took some more photos on the ferry ride back

Freighter_going_out

There is a seagull, a sailboat going out of the harbor, a container ship also going out of the harbor, a speedboat coming toward the ferry, and sometimes I think I can see a dolphin gamboling in the wake of the ferry.

Seagull and freighter

Gulls_following_ferry_looking_for_handout

Freighter from the ferry

Sailboat race in the distance

We also went to the SC aquarium. It was hard to take pictures with a digital camera in the aquarium, and I was still learning. The pictures of the macaws in the main lobby had enough light to make digital pictures possible.

Son's family looking at Macaws

I was having a lot of trouble with the film camera as it got stuck open and the battery died after I took three pictures trying to get a reasonable picture of this woodpecker.

woodpecker

I couldn't replace the battery with the front slide open because I couldn't get into the battery compartment. So I have no pictures of the touching tank, or the various ecological niches that exist in South Carolina. The main tank in the lobby had enough light

Fish in Entrance Aquarium

- the problem here was reflections from the lights or flash.

I did manage to get a picture of the moray eel, which is real, although you can see that the coral is fake plastic One of the feature exhibits was one called UFOs (Unidentified Floating Objects) which had various strange looking aquatic creatures in it.

Leafy Sea Dragon

Small fish

Some of the fish didn't move very fast, but they weren't lit very well either, and you can clearly see the people on the other side of the tank - so the background is confusing.

Granddaughter at the big tank waving to Scuba diver

This big tank had fish feeding several times a day. The children are waving to the diver (who has his face obscured by bubbles.

Bob and our son

Bob and our son also put a new timing chain on the Grand Marquise and got it back on the road. We left there April 4th to go to Isle of Palms.

We usually do the trip south to Charleston from Georgetown SC by stopping at Isle of Palms. Because we certainly don't want to go to McClellanville again like we did on our first trip south in 2000. On our second trip south in 2001, we got pinned to the dock by the NE winds and could not get to the Maritime Center where we had reservations.

Then when we come north, the distance from Beaufort to Charleston is so great that we have to stop on the south side of the city and take another day to go across the harbor to Isle of Palms where we stop again so that we can get to Georgetown going north the next day.

April 4, 2002 We went from Charleston Maritime Center to Isle of Palms- only 9 miles, but there's no convenient place to stop between there and Georgetown. We had a heck of a time getting into the dock so that we were pointed out because we had NE winds 20-25 knots again.

Boat behind us leaving Isle of Palms

April 5, 2002 - to Georgetown

Coming north to Georgetown, we go into the Esterville-Mimm's canal and passed the Cat Island free running ferry

Esterville-Mimm's canal

Ferry dock

Cat Island Ferry

Free running ferry

A free running ferry means that we don't to worry about being caught on the cable that pulls a cable ferry across. We did the 54 miles to Georgetown.

Historic Plantation

After we leave the canal, we have to go up Winyah Bay (which is a Class A inlet) to get to Georgetown

Freighter in Winyah Bay

We usually stay at The Boat Shed which is a marina.

from Boatshed Marina

Nice people - let me do e-mail in the office. They have about 4 places for transient boats. No pay phones (so I can't do Pocketmail) Rest rooms aren't locked. Next to the marina at the shrimp docks is a good place to buy fresh seafood. Equipment: It was $1/foot and that included electricity.

Bob walking ahead of me in Georgetown

The Rice Paddy

We ate at the Rice Paddy (expensive). Another one of those restaurants in an old Bank Building - this one still has the vault and it is filled with antiques. Dinner Reservations Recommended. We went early and they were able to seat us because we were going to be finished before they needed the table for someone with a late reservation. I can't remember what we ate, except that it was good. We spent $63.93 for two just drinking iced tea. This time the restaurant that had gone out of business was Sid and Luthers, which we had never eaten at. I got some pictures of the Rice Museum (not open as usual).

Rice Museum from the waterfront

The Rice Museum is located in two buildings. The Town Clock and the Kaminski Hardware Building. The museum exhibits are The Rice Museum and The Maritime Museum

Clock on the Rice Museum

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Mural on a brick building

Historic marker outside antique shop and museum

Anchorage from in front of the Clock Tower

sunset

April 6, 2002 to Murrells Inlet

We left Georgetown and went just 21 miles to the Wacca Wachee marina on the Waccamaw River.

RosalieAnn at Wacca Wache

A boat named ARCTURUS was behind us at Isle of Palms, and left before us came into the marina right behind us in Georgetown. They have 2 large poodles. In Georgetown, they told us that they were going to Myrtle Beach the next day. But we thought that was too far, as the wind would be on the nose and the current would be against us too. They left Georgetown before we did, and decided to stop at Wacca Wachee too. This time, we finally made time to visit Brookgreen Gardens. One of the guys working at the marina took us over and dropped us off using the marina truck. We had a couple of hours here to look at the statuary and really didn't even scratch the surface of what could be seen.

Three swans sculpture in the lake

Pomona by JosephEmile Renier (1887-1966)

Tennessee marble, designed in 1929, and carved in marble in the spring of 1937 - she's prettier from the back

Alligator Bender-Italian marble by Nathaniel Choat

Children's Garden Sundial and Boy with Ram

Riders of the Dawn by Adolph Alexander Weinman

The gardens were beyond beautiful. We walked in through the main gardens, down the alleyway of live oaks,

Bob walking down Oak Alee

and saw the end of the 15 minute film about the garden history. We also walked through the special sculpture exhibit, and the building in which the floor was a large map of the area. We could pick out the marina on it. I took lots of pictures particularly of horses (like this 'seahorse')

Seahorse by Joseph Kiselewski

From the west end of the garden we could look out over the marshes toward the river. This photo shows one of two sculptures - one of Diana

Diana of the Chase - in the Diana pool by Anna Hyatt

and this is of Actaeon who according to myth, surprised the goddess of the hunt as she bathed in a woodland pool. For this trespass, Diana turned him into a stag and he was killed by his own hounds.

Actaeon

Several of the sculptures were these life-like ones of ordinary people involved in ordinary activities. I've seen these type sculptures in Dallas and in Princeton.

Pledge of Allegiance by Glenna Goodacre

This one is

Len Ganeway by Derek Wernher

When commissioned to create a sculpture that symbolized the readers of a country newspaper in rural Michigan, Derek Wernher decided that a farmer sitting on a park bench would be the perfect choice. The title of the sculpture is the pen name of the newspaper's editor, Bronze 1980

There was a special exhibit of sculptures of famous people.

Martha Graham medal

This was the one of Martha Graham. It was hard to take a photo inside without having it be blurred or have reflections of the flash.

Iris items in the gift shop - very pricey

We also took a tram tour out to the edges of the property but didn't have time for some other tours. The tour was very interesting, but hard to take pictures from.

Bob waiting for a ride back to the marina

We are almost out of South Carolina. We will go to Dock Holliday's tomorrow