Still Going North

After a long day on the ICW about 8pm we dropped anchor, don’t even know the name of the area, it just looked like a good place to get some rest. ( St Catherine's Cumberland Island)  Up again and under way at sunrise.  The waters have been fairly calm, so we just keep pushing north but there was also a added feature to this days’ time on the ICW.  We were swarmed with horse flies.  Ok maybe not swarmed but they filled the cockpit all day.  So like any of us do I googled horse flies, what their life cycle was, what deterred them as well as what attracted them.  What I learned is that they live for 30/60 days, they bite because they want blood for their young, their season is May-Sept and best of all they like shiny, warmth and things that are blue or black in color.  We have dark blue canvas, and shiny stainless steel and of course our warm bodies, we were in a lose lose situation.  But to the rescue was our electric fly swatter.  This thing zaps the flies on contact some even make a popping burning sound (somewhat satisfying after you have killed about 100 of them). By night all those flies that did not get zapped left, just in time for the no-seems to come out, isn’t summer weather grand.

Remember Wahoo Creek (our arch nemesis) this is where we ran aground back in February, we decided to head back there a bit wiser about the anchorage and stop for the night. All went well it had good holding and was a very peaceful stop for the night. 

Up early again and under way at sunrise but this day had a added feature RAIN!! The sky started out very innocently but got darker and the winds picked up, clear sign that we were headed for a storm.  We put on our rain slickers and battened down the hatches.  It rained then sprinkled on and off most of the morning and into early afternoon. We decided we needed to stay at a marina for the night, we reached out to Thunderbolt Marina to see if they had a slip for one night, score, we were good to go.

Next stop Port Royal Marina, but not before we had to motor through Port Royal Sound.  This open stretch of water was a bit rough as the seas offshore were still crazy and it flowed into the sound with waves and strong winds.  Port Royal Marina is a great place, we have stayed here before and planned on two nights (weather pending).  Once we arrived, we fueled up, empty the holding tank and refreshed our water so we could be all prepared for when it was time to depart.

We plan on a early departure tomorrow (Wednesday) and head for Church Creek for the night and then the next day we will work our way the final distance to Charleston.  If all goes well, we will be home by Thursday afternoon.  But no fear this will not be the last entry, we plan on a final update once we get home.