Southport, NC – 1st Leg of Journey Complete

When we arrived at St. John’s Yacht Club, the wind had picked up considerably, the water was extremely choppy, AND there was a swift current.  Poor Judy had a difficult time getting on and off our boat. The next morning you would have thought we had moved to a new location! Calm and smooth!

The fenders LOOK like they are passed the bridge, but are actually UNDER the bridge.  Quite the illusion!

The water didn’t stay quite this calm but calm enough for some fun with the camera.

We passed through a “cut” connecting us to another body of water.  Lots of pretty houses along here.

I think I took this little guy’s picture a year ago – but he’s still cute!


This gorgeous yacht went past us.  Note the “little” trawler coming up to meet it!

I’d forgotten how LONG the docks can be here.

And how sad the wrecked ones are.

The owners did double duty building this one – that’s quite the tower in the distance, and that’s half way from the house!

Bob is so careful watching our depth (upper right corner 3’8”). Times like this, he throttles back and “glides” through, ready to throw it into reverse if it gets much shallower.

Our gorgeous sunset at North Santee River

It is so unusual to recognize places as we traverse this stretch of coast we have traveled twice before. 

This sailboat stands out as a vivid memory – we wonder what her plans are?

Then there are those that are NOT familiar to this stretch – Bob saw this “log” (aka, alligator) moving through the water.
Our last night before Southport was at Enterprise Oxbow. Not only had we stayed here before but our boat with her prior owner had stayed here several times.  It is a beautiful spot loved by many boaters. Another gold Looper pulled in after we did.  We didn’t meet in person, but chatted on the radio.

It was such a peaceful night with an unusual orchestra that put us to sleep.  Anyone have any idea of what makes this sound? - there is no video - only sound.

Another calm morning let me play with the camera again. 

The roots of the mangroves never cease to amaze me.

As does our wake – I love how the mirrored image is distorted in our wake.

Here’s a necessity in my book! A screened deck on their dock!  I HATE the biting flies!!  I’m surprised there aren’t more of these.

If you wonder what it looks like to store your boat “on the hard” – here it is – not often you see it this close to the water!

We knew we were getting close to “home” when we saw familiar landmarks.

This incredible building that we never did discover if it was a house or an inn.

An anchorage we stayed at twice (but not this time)

And we made it all the way back to Southport! The rain (and a lot of friends) greeted us.

 6,987 miles!  It’s been quite the journey and we have loved it.  We met so many wonderful people and saw so many wonderful sites (and learned how to operate a boat!)  A new journey awaits – hope you will come along for ride!

Anchored at North Santee River, South Carolina – May 13, 2018
Anchored at Enterprise Oxbow, South Carolina – May 14, 2018
Docked at South Harbour Village Marina – May 15-23, 2018

Going Gold

Our spirits are high as we get close to closing our Loop.  The Georgia coastline is notorious for being very shallow.  Bob is careful in planning our route to avoid the shallowest areas during low tide. The scenery as always is beautiful.

Farewell to Jacksonville

Georgia houses try to rival Florida’s I think.

One of the most unusual sailboats we’ve seen – with a full garden on deck no less!

Another sad hurricane story

We pass Amelia City where we were just touring a few days ago. 

We can just see the trolley we took around the town.

The Shrimp Festival was this last weekend and one of the shrimp boats is still decorated to celebrate.

The dolphins have found us again

Anchoring out in the salt marshes again.

These HUGE buildings house ballistic missile submarines (in the water)

If we’re going to be out here a while, we might as well be comfortable!

A little closer to the river and they wouldn’t need a pool at the bottom!

We passed this great shrimp boat.

We spent a great night at anchor with Angie and Gary from Unruly.  We love our game nights!

We left early in the morning for a long day.  Unruly looked so pretty in the early morning calm.

They travel faster and passed us, then anchored long before we stopped for the day.  This is all we could see of their boat at anchor.

This blog seems to be about the boats rather than the houses!

This beautiful lady couldn’t help but catch my camera!

From old to new – they’re all beautiful.

One of the most original boat tops, this is a pontoon boat with a full enclosure on the back! And notice how low the tide is. 

This marina provides a great lookout tower with a spider web of catwalks to all the piers!

8:22 May11th crossed our wake – this is the Windmill Harbour Marina on Hilton Head, where we officially started the Loop.  We didn’t stop here as we wanted to celebrate in Southport where we started our journey.

Our anchorage that night was filled with the bird song of the sanderlings along the shore – hundreds of them!

The next morning is so calm, if not for the land, you wouldn’t know where the water and sky met!

A beautiful day…

for dolphins…

…for playing on the beach (I guess a sandbar will have to do!)

….playing in the water…(this is Norman Rockwell material)

…canoeing (notice he is paddling his and she has a motor on hers!)….

…and just hanging out in the water!

We waited one day to put on our Gold Burgee (symbolizing that we have completed the Loop) to celebrate with our friends Marshall and Judy from Let’s Go.  They were some of our first Looper friends so it was extra special to celebrate with them.  They brought along their new puppy, Mindy.  I loved the cuddle time and company time!!

Mindy

Going Gold

Celebration dinner – thanks for the BBQ treat, Marshall and Judy!  YUM!!

Swig and Swine – they even brought out a water bowl for Mindy!

The burgee looks pretty good flying on the bow.

We continued on the next day to complete our celebration by arriving at Southport, NC where we actually started our journey.
Anchored Amelia River near Fernandina Beach, FL – May 7, 2018
Anchored at Wally’s Leg Georgia – May 8, 2018
Anchored Lincoln Creek Georgia, May 9, 2018
Anchored Cooper River Georgia, May 10, 2018
Anchored Bass Mouth, Georgia – May 11, 2018
Docked at St. John Yacht Harbor – May 12, 2018 – Marshall and Judy come to celebrate