Myrtle Beach SC to Elizabeth City, NC April 29-May 13

Dock Holiday, Myrtle Beach, SC

Su and Jim, "Palmetto Moon" Oriental NC










Fred, the original Rose Buddy greets us in Elizabeth City, NC










May 10, 2006
Bellhaven Dowry Creek Marina, 2 nights, $123., 66 miles today, MM136
Left New Bern on today since the weather was nice and the waters are calm. Jim drove fast and we made good time to Dowry Creek Marina in Belhaven. We were going to anchor tonight but bad storms are predicted tonight and tomorrow. Very nice marina with a pool and courtesy car. The predicted storm never materialized Mary (the owners wife) makes “Beer Can chicken” for pot luck dinners. She is having one tonight. The pot luck was nice, spent time talking to sailboaters who have gone into the Carribbean and Belize. On Thursday we anchored near the mouth of the Alligator River. 54 miles today, MM82

Friday May 12
Free dock, 31 miles today, MM51
we cruised into Elizabeth City, NC. The city maintains a free dock here and has a wonderful tradition of welcoming boating visitors started by Fred Fearing. He is the former postmaster of Elizabeth City and is now 94 years old. The traditional welcome is a rose for each visiting lady and a newspaper (we didn't get the paper, and I think they have stopped doing that part). The small group of volunteers have become the Rose Buddies : Another part of the Rose Buddies welcoming tradition is to host a wine and cheese reception.. We enjoyed the reception and the wonderful hospitality. It’s prom night so we are seeing many young couples, all dressed up, coming down here to the park by the water for pictures. Tommorow we head into the Dismal Swamp and on to Norfolk.
May 9 Oriental, NC
mm 181,Oriental Harbor marina, 1 night $ 73.50 , 24 miles today
We made it to Oriental on Saturday and met up with Su and Jim on Palmetto Moon. Had a nice dinner and did some grocery shopping. They had a car so we also got a tour of Oriental, very boater friendly town. You can see a picture of them with Palmetto Moon, which is currently on the hard in a boatyard there in Oriental.
On Sunday May 10
Sheraton New Bern, 3 nights, $ 183.75 , per day $ 61.25 , 22 miles today
we decided to head for New Bern and we are now at the marina at the Sheraton here in New Bern. It's raining now and has cooled off considerably. We may stay here until the storms pass. Both Crazy Horse and Proctor Anne are also here - going shopping with them on Monday.We did our shopping and met up with them for cocktails later that evening. Another couple on a sailboat came over and then Jim and Lisa from Kismet (Charlevoix MI) joined us. On Tuesday we took a troller tour of New Bern. Very historical with beautiful old homes and churches. The local people here are very proud of their town. We like it here too. We also found a fish market so I bought a pound of fresh shrimp. Yum - shrimp cocktails tonight!
April 28 - May 6
MM468, Ashley Marina,3 nights, $258.00, per day $ 86.00, 68 miles on April 25
I put some pictures on the website as we left Charleston on April 28 of the town and Ft. Sumter. We fueled up in Georgtown SC, the boat Nina was there (replica of Christopher Columbus?s boat- it had been in Palmetto when we were there and we just recently saw it in Beaufort, SC.) That night (MM383,Cow House creek, 47 miles)
anchored at Cow House Creek; it was much protected and very calm. The entire stretch of the Waccamaw River was very pretty and we really enjoyed the scenery. I loaded some pictures of that area. Check out the picture of the house that looks like a boat and also the fishing shanties sitting right on the river near Bucksport. It wasn't as pretty as we got near Myrtle Beach, which is really just a ditch that they affectingly call the "rockpile"






April 29, MM345,Dock Holidays,2 nights - $ 138.00, per night $ 69.00,38 miles
We got into Myrtle Beach and stayed at a marina called Dock Holiday. This is a great marina with several restaurants and entertainment on the premises with a grocery store, CVS, and West Marine nearby. The bar at the marina had a live band and the Raw Bar had a DJ. More dancing at the place with the DJ so we also had dinner there.-excellent . We always enjoy places where we can dance.
On May 2,MM295,Carolina Beach, 50miles today
we anchored at Carolina Beach Lots of beach homes and condos here so it's quite developed.This stretch is very pretty with lots of small barrier island that are all sand. Went through the infamous Lockwood Follys and it was high tide so we had no trouble. It is a very pretty area, not the horror I imagined from reading about it for so long. We also went into Cape Fear which was fairly calm and we encountered our first freighter on the trip (we are now in North Carolina).
On May 3
MM228,Dudely Marina,$33.00, 67 miles
we planned to anchor in a spot that has been highly recommended. However, it's inside of Camp LeJeune and the military had the anchorage closed as they were doing diving there. We were disappointed because it looked pretty and very well protected.; So we cruised on another ten miles to Swansboro, NC and got a slip at Dudley Marina. in Swansboro, NC. This has been the least expensive marina so far, only $33 and they had a courtesy car. We just stayed the night and made hamburgers on the boat.
May 4&5
MM205,Town Creek,2 nights- $ 128.70, per night $ 64.35, 23 miles
We are now at Town Creek Marina in Beaufort NC.; This was the most challenging docking yet. The wind caught us, the fairways were narrow but the dockhands helped a lot getting us in.We have found dockhands to be indispensible people. After settling down from that experience, we took our bikes off and went into the town of Beaufort.; Went through the Maritime Museum (it was free) and walked around the town docks. Met some more loopers from Ohio (Proctor Anne) and found that Missy B (we met them in Hilton Head) were there. We also had a call from Su and Jim on Palmetto Moon in Oriental.; They wanted to meet up with us so since Chris and Sandy can't make it down here this weekend, we called and made arrangements to meet Su and Jim tomorrow. However Friday morning was windy and the sky looked threatening with stormy weather predicted. Decided not to try to get out of here and go to Oriental. It did rain some around noon but not the storms that seemed to be predicted.Maybe we/ll get out of there tomorrow. Stay tuned.