We cruised through South Carolina and are about halfway through the North Carolina coast. The Carolinas seem to have it all--some remote marshland, coastal beach towns, city waterfronts, rivers winding through woods, great seafood, and new and old friends. Highlights below.
Continuing to figure out anchoring
We found some pretty cool remote anchorages. At one, we were the only boat right next to Pickney Island near Hilton Head. We now have a set up where Tim serves drinks through our front window and chairs set up on the bow to watch the sunset. Best happy hour and bar service around.
Mastering the “Free Day Dock”
There are too many places and not enough time to stop overnight everywhere we'd like. But some small coastal towns have free day docks where we tied up for a few hours, stretched our legs, walked the town, grabbed a meal, and then headed on to wherever we’ll spend the night. In Beaufort, SC, we fit in a run topped off with a walnut honey cinnamon bun at Blackstone Cafe. In Georgetown, NC, got accidentally lured into a cat cafe looking for coffee, but made up for it with a great fish sandwich at Roots.
First injury of the trip
About 5 minutes into a run in Charleston, somehow tripped on a brand new sidewalk (there was no elevation gain) and hit my hands hard. Tim did a great job providing first aid, and thankfully can still grip lines and maneuver around the boat. Have been working ever since on avoiding bandage tan lines and keeping the scrapes clean to stay on a road to recovery.
Passed a 5-time Looper
We came up upon the boat Phantom, captained by Mick who is on his 5th time around the loop. We had heard about him from other loopers so it was fun to see him in action and practice the art of radio bantering.
Made new friends
We ended up meeting Cait and Greg on Dragonfly in Charleston and after hitting up the city’s Tuesday happy hour specials together, cruised with them the next couple of days. They started the loop in Chicago in October, and has been so fun to hear about their trip, what led them to do the loop, and pick up some anchoring tips (not to mention find one of the coolest anchorages so far). Check them out at @onaboatsailing on Instagram and if you’re in Chicago looking to do something fun, they’ll take you out on their boat in Chicago in the summers!
Saw Familiar Faces
It was so fun to have our friend Kathryn, who met us in Southport, as our first overnight visitor! We cooked a great meal, met "Anchor King Pete" (who lived a couple slips away from us and complimented us on our Mantus anchor), and was so fun to share a small piece of our boat life. The next day we traveled to Wrightsville Beach to stay with Matt and Loulie, Tim’s aunt’s brother and wife, who let us stay on their dock and had us for drinks to watch the sunrise in their incredible brand new house right on the water. Best showers and ice service we’ve had so far on the trip!
Off to Beaufort, NC where we are hoping to get some boat work done and bring Sweet Day to her home port, Washington, DC in the next couple weeks.