Little River, SC and Southport, NC

We spent 3 nights at the Myrtle Beach Yacht Club in Little River, SC. We enjoyed several great meals with friends Andy and Julie and Hot Tomato, Crab Catchers, and the Flying Fish restaurants. The Myrtle Beach area has sooo many restaurants- I think it's possible to eat in a different one every night of the year! We took advantage of this stopover to retrieve our van from Andy and Julie and drive it to New Bern, where we are headed.

We had a great meal here with friends Andy and Julie in Little River

Our friends have a great view of the ICW from their condo

We moved on to Southport, NC, and met up with more Looper buddies- Robert and Kay, and Patsy. We met some new friends, Harry and Karen. Good times!

Lighthouse near Southport

Southport

Sunrise

Early morning shrimping

The shoaling at New River Inlet was the worst that we have seen so far in our travels. We were within about 45 minutes of low tide and saw 2 boats that had just run aground. Mark radioed a boat that we knew was half an hour ahead of us for advice. We made it through the Inlet with no problem but there was some nail biting involved. 

Our next stop was the anchorage at Mile Hammock Bay near Camp LeJeune.  This was our first day of brand new territory on the Loop- from here on, it's a new path for us!

Around Fort Myers

As we prepare to leave our winter home in Fort Myers, we want to share a few things that make this place so interesting. No two days are the same!

The USCG vessel Vise, which tied up right behind us for the night.

The shrimp we bought from this boat in Matlacha were delicious!

Fountains in downtown FM

Fort Myers City Yacht Basin

The ducks around here beg for bread.

The Nina

The Pinta. No sign of the Santa Maria!

These ships struggled to leave the dock in windy conditions after a fuel stop.

So Excited to be Back on Mara Beel

We didn't expect to be land lubbers for 7 months, but our return was delayed by Hurricane Matthew 2 weeks before we were due to come back. Our boat was not affected but nearby marinas were damaged, and the ICW was filled with debris. So we waited until after Christmas to head south. Mara Beel was wonderfully cared for at St. Marys Boat Services- a great boatyard with friendly folks. We splashed at noon on January 5th and immediately headed over to Amelia Island marina, just a few miles away.

All boat systems were working properly, so yesterday we motored on down to St. Augustine. To avoid low tide, we left at 0615 in the dark, with me standing on the bow with a powerful Marine Beam flashlight for the next hour. What a terrific flashlight! Even so, we were happy when the sun appeared and the flashlight could be stowed.

The beautiful red sunrise accurately predicted storms later.

We enjoyed an easy cruise to St. Augustine and Rivers Edge Marina- this is our third stay here. Friends Connie and Joe on Chesapeake are here- good to connect with them again. St. Augustine is my favorite town- it's just so beautiful, historic, and interesting. Today, January 7, is St. Augustine's winter this year. No doubt spring will arrive tomorrow!

We spent the evening and much of today shuttling our van from St. Marys to Fort Pierce since it was too stormy to cruise.  We met brand new friends on Shingebiss- Liz and Steve. When we returned to our boat Mark worked on a sump pump, bilge pump, heating system, and reluctant genset. All were easily set right and are working fine.  Which means the next time he needs to tighten a bolt it will be a 45 minute job! Karma.

Saw this shrimp boat coming up the San Sebastian River right past us- birds definitely love it!

We will make our way to our winter home in Fort Myers during the next week or so.

Bye Bye Ana

Days 179 and 180
Miles: 67         Total Miles: 3,536

Now that tropical storm Ana has moved on, so have we. Sunday was our last day in beautiful Charleston. We went to church with friends and then had a potluck on Mara Beel with 9 of us. After dinner, the men cleaned up and the ladies went shopping at Steinmart- all great things to do on Mothers' Day.

Monday found us waiting on the tide again. We pulled out of the Maritime Center Marina around 10:30 AM and were soon joined by friends on Fruitcakes. The 3 of us boats - Serenity included- traveled to McClellanville where we tied up to a shrimping dock. We ladies immediately borrowed a dockhand's SUV to buy shrimp at the local shrimp market. We could have easily walked, but it was about to rain. The vehicle was definitely a mess, filled with miscellaneous dirty socks, crushed Coke cans, stray tools, unidentifiable mechanical parts, papers, food wrappers, etc. A fairly typical marina loaner- no problem. We gingerly moved things aside and took off.  Before buying shrimp, we toured this small village (maybe 8 streets total) looking for its famous Deer Head Oak tree, reputed to be impressively huge. It wasn't. We drove past it 3 times before noticing a small sign next to the tree. Having just seen the Angel Oak the other day, the Deer Head tree was a disappointment.  Oh well.

During the drive I noticed an unfamiliar object on the dash in front of me. Directly in front of me. Realization hit me like a lightning bolt- this "thing" recently resided on the back end of a rattlesnake! A large rattlesnake. EEEW! I was suddenly feeling queasy knowing that this snake could silently sneak up on me if it wasn't dead. (Almost certainly dead). My third snake encounter in the Low Country.

Sickest thing ever!

We calmed down, finally found the shrimp market and subsequently enjoyed crab dip and a shrimp boil on Mara Beel. 

Today we cruised to Georgetown, SC, a pretty little town filled with restaurants and shops. Our travel time together is drawing to an end, since Fruitcakes will finish their Loop at Little River in a few days. Serenity will head north to Vermont. Mark and I will be putting our boat on the hard in Wilmington, NC, while we go home for a few months. We are anxious to reunite with our family, but hate to part company with our friends. Going home is bittersweet, as every Looper discovers.