We're in Virginia at Mile Marker "0"

No winning lottery tickets, but a winning day. We left our anchorage at 7:45 having gaged the time it would take us to arrive at the South Mills Lock at the southern end of the Dismal Swamp. It was slow going, partly because we couldn't get into the lock until 11:00 and partly because several other boats traveling the same route chose to move slowly. We all arrived in good time and were lifted 8 feet to join the level of the Dismal Swamp. It was quite warm in the lock and we shed a layer or two of clothing. The sun was out for most of the day but we're far enough north for the air to have a nip to it for most of the day.

We decided that this "nessie" lawn ornament was guarding the "lock(h)" we were about to enter.

Someone in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway or US Army Core of Engineers has a real sense of humor. The very tasteful sign identifies this as the Superintendent's House!

The bottom three pictures show us in the South Mills lock. The top three show the lushness and closeness of the Dismal Swamp Canal. Surveyor George Washington did a good job making it straight!

Most of the Dismal Swamp is tree-lined on both sides, but occasionally you see a house or two. This house had placed the large "Flat Stanley" across the canal from their house. He was riddled with bullet holes!

One of my favorite Sesame Street number songs is "Ten Tiny Turtles", so when I started seeing several tiny turtles sunning themselves I made it a challenge to get pictures of 10. I just made it and some are a little fuzzy, but just count them! If you don't remember the song, just google ten tiny turtles and you can watch a U-tube video of the song!

We made it through to the Deep Creek Lock at the northern end of the canal with only a few bumps on deadheads (sunken logs) that lurk at the bottom of the canal. The depths were fine throughout. We emerged from the second lock 8 feet lower and headed towards Tidewater Marina. We were taken by surprise at the Gilmerton Bridge that used to be on request, but they changed their schedule in December and only open on the half hour and we arrived at 4:36! We decided to anchor for the hour wait and Andiamo and Pekabu III rafted with us - the first raft in our whole trip! Pretty strange for CCYC boats who usually are rafted each time we meet!

We went through the bridge at 5:30 only to have Andiamo's engine overheat. They dropped their hook and I dropped Dan off aboard - the engine belt had failed. They had a spare and he made quick work of putting it on and we continued on to Tidewater - arriving at 7 pm. Dinner ashore at Tidewater's restaurant after a long day. ~~~(\_~~~M&D

Sunset today found us wending our way through the busy port area of Portsmouth/Norfolk.

From Mile Marker 203 to MM 50 in 2 days!

Morehead City Yacht Basin doesn't open until 8:30 and although we all needed to buy fuel, we opted to leave at 8 Friday morning and put a few miles in before stopping at Jarret Bay Boat Works to buy diesel. We managed to get in and out and all three boats fueled in about half an hour when we did stop. Our goal was to get to Belhaven, at the turn in the Pungo River. It meant a long day that included the Neuse River (often called the "Nasty Neuse") and Pamlico Sound - also notorious for stirring up a chop now and then. Our luck was still with us and both bodies of water posed no problem. We motorsailed as much as we could and made it to the anchorage off the town of Belhaven by 6:30pm.

Large bodies of water don't always lend themselves to good photo ops, but we did see this cute tug on our way up Adams Creek on our way to the Neuse.

With another long day ahead of us we were up and on our way before 7 this morning. The most remarkable thing about this morning was the number of bugs - most of them May flies that were EVERYWHERE when we all came on deck. We finally got the vacuum out and tried to clean the cockpit a bit once we were underway. We still had a few of them flying around and dying all over for most of the day!

The weather both yesterday and today was beautiful. Clear skies, mostly fair breezes and pleasant, if a bit cool, temperatures. We continued up the Pungo, through the Pungo-Alligator Canal and out the Alligator River with what little wind we had on the nose. We still had a long way to go and were glad we could put up the main for crossing the Albemarle Sound, but it was too close to carry the jib, so we motor-sailed the 12 miles across. Luckily we turned further west when we reached the Pasquotank River and had a nice beam reach with both main and genoa drawing well. We averaged over 7 knots under sail alone for the whole ride up to Elizabeth City and scooted through the swing bridge there at 7:15. We were anchored in the bend in the river by 7:30. We all opted to forgo all cockpit lights of any kind in the hopes that the bugs won't find us so appealing. Tomorrow - the Dismal Swamp. ~~~(\_~~~M&D

The home of USCG Aviation is located along the shore of the Pasquotank River. The Waterway Guide talked about all the different types of aircraft that are based there and how far and wide their missions carry them, but it didn't mention this blimp-like thing. I thought it looked like an overgrown weather balloon.

We never tire of pretty sunsets - Pekabu III is on the left as we anchored in Belhaven last night and Andiamo on the right just after sunset here in the bend in the river just past Elizabeth City.

Sitting pretty in Morehead City

A pod of dolphins accompanied us out of the bay Wednesday morning as we headed up the ICW past Camp Lejeune.

Dan was up before 6 and went to buy a lottery ticket! We had marveled at how our trip from Mile Hammock Bay, through Bogue Sound and into Morehead City had been as lucky as yesterday - without a drop of rain and no thunder and lightning. We did hear lots of booming though - ordinances or whatever they were from the Marine base. The weather reports all day long talked about how storms would be popping up along the coast. We arrived at Morehead City Yacht Basin just before two and the three of us were tied in slips in a very snug basin.

The Morehead City Yacht Basin is very protected and well run, we felt we were ready to face the dangerous front that was due Thursday morning. Pete has just finished removing his ICW "smile" from the bow. Brunelle still had hers at the time I took the picture, but Dan got out there shortly after that and we look just as white as the other two. Andiamo seems to be immune because John keeps her so well waxed.

The dockmaster suggested we try Floyds 1921 for dinner and it was an excellent suggestion. We enjoyed a delicious meal with all sorts of southern accents. We were back aboard before dark and battened down the hatches and added extra lines just in case the front blew through before morning.

We awoke to gray skies but no storms and watched all the devastation that hit Alabama and Georgia on the morning news. Unbelievable. We had signed up for the 2 hour courtesy car for 8:30, so five of us piled in (Pete had to work) and headed to Harris Teeter and West Marine - two of our favorite places! Back aboard we hunkered down again to wait for the storms to hit. I spent the afternoon making a case for Andiamo's extra hatch doors while Dan worked on logging our daily progress during the whole trip. Meanwhile John was cooking up some mean chili for our dinner.

We gathered aboard Andiamo for yet another great meal and John, Betty, Pete and Kathy surprised us with a thank you gift of a gorgeous starfish shaped platter!

The card is addressed to Mr. & Mrs. Cruise Dictator!

Once again we awoke to no storms!! During dinner the wind picked up a bit, but still no storms. We headed back to Brunelle around 8:30 and finally a small burst of rain hit us, but THAT WAS IT! So, as I said at the top, Dan went and bought lottery tickets for everyone!! We are on the way this morning (Friday) heading into the NC dead zone, so it'll be a couple of days before I'll be able to report in again. ~~~(\_~~~M&D

Southport, NC to Camp Lejeune, NC

You could feel the tension in the air as we headed out of Deep Point Marina at 8:30 this morning. Today was the day. ----We would be passing by the very spot where we ran aground two years ago and lost our rudder as TowboatUS pulled us off! The weather forecast didn't help matters any either! Thunderstorms were expected throughout the day. In spite of all the trepidations, we forged ahead and had an amazingly pleasant day. We managed to make it through the timed bridges that plague slow travelers through this part of the ICW and made it past "the spot" and also Anchors Away Boatyard where Brunelle spent a week high and dry.

THE SPOT. Note the buoy on the left side - - - that's where it all happened and NOW they put a buoy that says "DANGER"!!

Another twenty miles up the waterway we passed our favorite NC boatyard, Anchors Away. Dan was tempted to call and just say hi for old times sake, but he didn't.

All day long we kept getting reports from John aboard Andiamo telling us just how close the next big storm cell was, but not ONE hit us all day long and we were able to motorsail most of the day. The wind did pick up through the afternoon, but it was behind us and didn't cause us any problems. It did cool down a bit as the day wore on, but nothing a long sleeved shirt couldn't handle. We arrived at Mile Hammock Bay which is controlled by the Marine base at Camp Lejeune but is open for cruisers to anchor at 5:30 with the winds gusting higher than they had all day and storm clouds all around us, but still none came close. We are due some rain tonight, but none has shown up yet. We saw hardly any traffic on the waterway today, seems most people were worried about storms. We just wish we were near a convenience store so we could buy some lottery tickets! We all felt this had been a lucky day. ~~~(\_~~~M&D

There are lawn ornaments and lawn decorations, but this is the first lawn giraffe I've ever seen!

Still "south of the border" but into NC

Two years ago we loved Osprey Marina, and this time wasn't any different! We hated to rush off, but once the trek north begins we find ourselves pushing to get home!

We headed out the narrow tree lined entrance Monday morning and turned right (into the sun! - - this part of the ICW was actually heading just a little south of East) The only thing disturbing the peaceful morning was a jetski that came roaring by at about 8:15 - a commuter??)

The scenery continued to be lusher and with more luxurious homes (many dotting the edges of the Myrtle Beach Golf Courses that surround this part of the ICW, so it made for a pleasant ride with plenty to look at. Once we crossed into North Carolina, our course took us within spitting distance of the Ocean and we passed several inlets - some navigable and some not so.

Its hard to tell one inlet from the next, but it was a nice change to see the Atlantic after several days without a glimpse of it.

Last trip we stopped at Indigo Plantation Marina - the home of the Bald Head Island Ferry, and this year we stopped at the home of the Bald Head Ferry again, but this time it is at a brand new marina, Deep Point Marina, with much better facilities and still the same reasonable price. They even have a free laundry, so I'm still up waiting on the second load right now! We were able to carry our jib for more than half of today and it helped us battle the current which changed every time we went past a creek or inlet! I hope we can be so lucky tomorrow. ~~~(\_~~~M&D

Easter Sunrise and onward

Each sunrise signifies a new beginning of a new day and today's(Easter Sunday) was just as spectacular as any we've seen. The serenity of our anchorage unfortunately was marred by the onslaught of a multitude of mosquitoes and mayflies as we weighed anchor at 7 am! I put on my Easter bonnet as a spoof, but was actually glad for the protection it provided - keeping the annoying bugs off my head!

We had set a goal of making 60+ miles today, so we needed an early start. We gauge our travel time on the ability to make 6 nm per hour, but the first half of the day was against a certain amount of current so we didn't come close to our goal. We finally reached the incoming current at Winyah Bay, just south of Georgetown around 11:30 and began to make up for lost time - averaging almost 7 knots.

The first half of the day was through the marshes and creeks that we had been traversing yesterday, but after we left Georgetown the ICW follows several rivers that are wider, deeper and much more lush. We spotted several bald eagles in the trees along the shores and many more ospreys nesting in both dead and live trees. I decided to make a study of all the interesting trees that line the shores. I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked to because we ran into engine trouble shortly after 2 pm. Luckily we were motorsailing at the time, so we continued to sail while Dan tried to figure out why the engine chose to just shut down. He determined that it wasn't getting fuel, but the solution didn't become immediately apparent. He spent about an hour troubleshooting the situation while I jibed back and forth (jib only) as we continued on through several "S" curves of the Waccamaw River. We were still with the current and refused tows offered by both Pekabu and Andiamo for the first hour and a half, but began to realize we might not make it to our destination before the current changed if we continued on at our "leisurely" pace. Pekabu headed on to the marina so Pete could put his dinghy down and be available to help us in the long narrow entrance to Osprey Marina and Andiamo gave us a tow the last 5 miles or so. We arrived at 4:45 and were given the berth on the gas dock (easiest approach) and by 6:00 Dan had changed out the electric fuel pump and all was right with the world, and especially with Brunelle! Kathy quickly organized an Easter dinner that was held aboard Andiamo and we toasted to another successful day!

~~~(\_~~~M&D

My tree study isn't what I'd hoped for, but you get the idea that we are out of the marshes !

Ft. Sumter in the AM and Awendaw Creek in the PM

Twas a smart move to hold off until today to take a tour of the harbor and visit Fort Sumter. The weather was much better and we enjoyed to the trip out and back with the running commentary almost as much as seeing the fort. Its significance to our country's history is great and we learned more than we did back in school about the sequence of events that lead up to the Civil War.

The trip out was aboard a mock paddle wheeler which was packed full of visitors (Easter weekend and all) that set us free to roam for an hour before returning to Charleston. The little 10 inch mortar launcher is the type of canon that fired the first shot on that fateful day, April 12, 1861. The other canons pictured are ones that were added when the fort was refortified during the Spanish American War in 1898. I was particularly fond of the flag that was raised at the end of the war. 35 stars - because two new states had been added to the US during the period of the war. The official US flag must have only rows and columns nowadays, as the uniform flag code was adopted in 1912.

As we prepared to leave Ft. Sumter we watched Sheet Music (a fellow ICW traveler) anchor and dinghy into the Fort (we preferred the ferry). The other shots are from our departure through the busy weekend Charleston Harbor.

The courtesy van from the Marina whisked us back to the marina by noon and we prepared to depart. Another look at "Buoyweather"(Dan's favorite site) had us reconsidering our decision to do an overnight to Bald Head Island. Instead we opted to head up the ICW looking for a place to anchor before it got dark. We dropped the hook in Awendaw Creek behind the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge at 6:45 pm after a pleasant afternoon of motorsailing. Quite a change from the bustling Charleston harbor! ~~~(\_~~~M&D

A peaceful change from Charleston's MegaDock here in Awendaw Creek. We are less than half a mile from the Atlantic here with only marshes separating us from the big O.