Boat chores

Not a lot of interesting things going on in Oriental....just cleaning the boat and getting settled in the slip.  Since this boat has never been here before, we had to set up all the dock lines to make sure the boat sits safely in the center in all wind conditions.   A tedious but necessary task.

The boat is salty and dirty from 6 months with no unlimited water supply for cleaning.

I spent pretty much the entire day scrubbing and rinsing the decks, washing clothes, etc.  Love my little washer/dryer - sure beats lugging clothes to the laundromat!

When we had gotten all the coiled docklines out of this compartment, Duane noticed that the dryer vent tube had come loose....so I shimmied into the compartment.  It's a large compartment inside, but the opening is small and it's really claustrophobic while inside. 

Here I am laying down inside the compartment - I'd already put the vent hose back in place and secured it tightly with a tie-wrap.  Hope it stays put because that was no fun!!

That's about it....just lots of little necessary chores!

Home Dock

We left Morehead City in the morning....passing the shipping dock we saw this ship with huge turbine blades...I assume they're for windmills, but not sure.  These ships are usually about 900-1000' long, so those blades would have to be 200-300' long each. 

More familiar sights as we start the intercoastal trek to Oriental.

Core Creek bridge - glad our mast is only 62' now.  This bridge gave us fits when we were in Glory Days because it was often too low for us to pass due to wind driven water and tides.

Oriental in the distance - it's been a long time since we've seen this view!

Sojourn at "home" for the first time!   Now to do lots and lots of cleaning and boat chores!

Back in NC!

We left St. Simons Island inlet (near the Ga/Fl border) 3 days ago.

Pretty lighthouse at St. Simons.

Sunset across the open ocean.  Beautiful flat seas and just enough wind.  Motorsailed all night on one engine.

I awaoke at about 7am (Duane was on watch) to "Fish on!"  Quickly jumped up an reeled this pretty "Little Tunny" in.  (Note the long jammies....it was actually chilly in the wind - we're not used to that!

Nice size fish.

 Sushi!  It was great.  I'd read that these fish were not particularly good eatin - but I beg to differ!

Approaching the Charleston inlet there were lots of "hits" on the radar (the red blobs).  Cargo ships anchored 10-15 miles out.  I assume they were waiting their turn in port....

Note the glassy water!

I could see workers on all these ships.  Many looked like they were doing chores, grinding and painting.

Pretty sunset.

Then pretty sunrise!  Looks all the same.  Note the water is not so smooth now.

We were joined by some dolphins!  They stayed with us for about 5 minutes. 

That's about it for the trip!  Was great not to have to be "on alert" like on the intercoastal waterway. It would have taken about 10 days to do the trip "inside" since we wouldn't do any night travel.

Arrived late in the evening to Beaufort, NC.

Anchored near Morehead City and will continue to Oriental in the morning!!

Cumberland Island to Jekyll Island - Offshore tomorrow!

We started the day out by going ashore to investigate the Cumberland Island National Seashore park just at the Florida/Georgia border.  The only way to get to the park is by ferry or private boat.  We anchored near the dock and just took our dinghy to shore.

After paying our entry fee ($7 each) at the honor station, we started walking the trail to the Carnegie family house ruins from the late 1800's - called the Dungeness.   Since it was early in the morning, the "herds" of people on the ferry boats had not arrived.  We had the park completely to ourselves for hours.

Great shady walk - about a mile to the ruins.  Lovely live oaks with Spanish moss hanging.

Getting close to the mansion ruins.  Live oaks border the path.

The house ruins.  It was abandoned mostly by the Carnegie's after the depression.  It burned in 1959, hence the ruined state.

 Pretty though....the family donated the land to the Park Service in 1972.  The horses appear to be abandoned also and free-roaming.  (The house had gates barring entry, so no interior photos!)

In the previous photos, you can see the "pergola"....apparently the ladies strolled here in the late 1800's when vines and flowers were abundant.

Here are a couple of photos I found on the internet of the house in all it's glory.

This was the "duck pond"....a pretty reflecting pool, even now.

 More of the free-roaming horses.

There were a few left-over items that showed some "ostentatiousness".  Several fountains.

And a strange statue of Mercury.....

The ruins of what we think was probably a greenhouse.  No placards helped us....

This was part of their view from the edges of the property at low tide.

Walking up from the "garden" area towards the ruins.  The gardens were important because they were a self-sufficient community with about 300 people working to keep up the house/grounds.

A different view of the ruins.

Enjoyed that walkabout!   We then walked to the other side of the island to the ocean.

Pretty sand dunes.

And more horses!!  Note that two are laying in the sun behind the standing horse.

Back towards the boat thru a pretty trail.

Back to the boat - time to head north for one more day "in the ditch".

Weird Navy or Coast Guard apparatus .....

It was called "DeGausing system" on the navigation chart.  Apparently, they use this to "demagnetize" the ships.

More Navy/Coast Guard ships....not sure which.

And a pretty little lighthouse tucked away in the dunes as we approached Jekyll Island.

We fueled up again at Jekyll Island, just to make sure we have enough diesel if we have to have the motors running the entire way home.   We'll be heading off in the morning out the St. Simons inlet - destination - Beaufort, NC!!  It will be about 3 days - so you won't hear from us for a while!

Planned route. It's about 340 miles to the Beaufort Inlet. 

 The weather looks OK - looks like the worst should be about 4' seas.  Hope the forecast is correct!  

Georgia sunset!