The Grahams

Changes in Latitude

We continue to travel north on the Chesapeake Bay. At times we have crisscrossed from the eastern shore to the western shore and back, as we try to visit as many of the notable small towns as possible. We cruised into the beautiful historic port of Annapolis yesterday and enjoyed our walking tour of the Naval Academy today. Once again, we are so incredibly proud of these fine young men and woman who will soon become our country’s military leaders.🇺🇸

It’s remarkable to know that we have traveled over 1,500 miles on the water since tossing our lines in Sarasota in late February. With Sarasota located at 27 degrees N latitude and Annapolis being at 39 degrees N latitude, we have noticed the surrounding water temperature has dropped to 52 degrees Fahrenheit with the air temperature averaging in the 50’s, as well. In fact, for every one degree of latitude change we move 69 statute miles further north. Therefore, we are 828 miles north of Sarasota where spring weather is still trying to break through.

Unlike cruising in Florida, we have not had to run our generator or use our air conditioning for the past six weeks. We are able to keep our refrigerators and freezer cold while underway utilizing an inverter system which converts battery power to 110 volt ac current to supply these appliances. This allows us to keep these essential appliances operating without having to turn on our generator. While docking at marinas, we utilize the dockside electrical power pedestals to supply all the electrical power we need.

We will soon be moving further north to cross from the upper Chesapeake to the Delaware River and Cape May, NJ via the C & D canal (Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River).

The Necessity of Flexibility

Cruising north on the ICW has required a large degree of flexibility. We have had to adjust our schedule numerous times due to strong currents, forceful winds, high seas and even a lack of dock availability. We have even encountered marinas which had no fuel. We have learned valuable lessons in flexibility and adaptability and recognize that our planned daily schedule might need to be revised, altered or simply cancelled.

We arrived at the Norfolk Yacht and Country Club in howling winds, but managed to safely dock with the help of two able dockhands. After spending Easter Sunday and the following day at the beautiful yacht club we chose to leave on the third day when the winds were supposed to be less fierce. As we got into the main shipping channel approximately three miles to the north, we encountered our worst sea and wind conditions to date. We even had some challenges turning the boat around. We called the Norfolk club and asked whether we could return for another night. They were very accommodating and we felt that we made the safest decision. That evening we had dinner with another boating couple who had completed their Great Loop trip in 1988. They have over 50 years of boating experience. They shared their boating wisdom with us… “When in doubt, chicken out.” Our revision to that is, “When in doubt, think it out.”

As we continue cruising on this coast, we have had the opportunity to anchor near Camp Lejeune, cruise past the Norfolk Navy shipyard, and watch patrols of young Coast Guard seamen train near our dock at Yorktown, VA. We are inspired by their dedication and professionalism. In the future, we will be cruising to Annapolis, home of the Naval Academy and up the Hudson River past West Point. We are grateful to these fine men and women for their service.

Anchoring by Camp Lejeune

After a one day stop at Wrightsville Beach, NC we moved north on the ICW to find a quite anchorage to spend one night. Our quiet setting was located adjacent to the Camp Lejeune marine base. We were about to go to sleep when our night was livened up by several Apache helicopters performing night training maneuvers directly over our heads. As we weighed anchor the next morning to head north, we were passed by a flotilla of fast moving navy harbor patrol boats carrying marine personnel on morning maneuvers. We also passed a designated military beach area used for live fire target practice. It is comforting to know our military men and women are constantly training to be ready to defend our freedom and we are forever grateful for their service. God bless America! 🇺🇸

From the military area, we moved on to Beaufort, NC. Having visited both Beaufort, SC recently and Beaufort, NC, we made an effort to pronounce each town properly. Beaufort, SC is pronounced ”BEW-fert” and Beaufort, NC is pronounced ”BOW-firt”. Interestingly, both towns are named after the same individual, Henry Somerset, the Duke of Beaufort, an English noble.

From the eastern shore of North Carolina we are cruising our way to the North Carolina Outer Banks. We will have to monitor the weather which can cause the seas of the Pimlico Sound to swell, making for an unpleasant passage.

Running Offshore in the Atlantic

We enjoyed two days in Savannah where we were able to take the Old Town Trolley tour to remind us, not only of the rich history of the city, but also its contributions to the many cinematic productions filmed both here and in Charleston. In fact, we were able to download and watch the films, Forrest Gump, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Prince of Tides and Conrak which all had ties to the South Carolina low country.

We spent three days at the Charleston City Marina in the heart of downtown Charleston, SC. From there we could walk the riverfront and see the contrast between the historic downtown homes and the modern Medical University of South Carolina. While tied to the floating dock at the marina, we experienced a violent thunderstorm with wind gusts to 60mph. With rain coming at us sideways, it was comforting to see our boat remain watertight and see our dockside fenders protect our hull from crashing into the sides of the dock.

With improvement in the weather forecast for our fourth day, we made the decision to move north to Georgetown, SC utilizing the outside passage in the Atlantic for a change of scenery. Although the wave height was predicted to be 1-2 ft., we found the seas to be rougher than anticipated. We maintained our heading and speed to arrive at the Georgetown marina safely early in the afternoon.

A close friend of ours who has a summer home nearby, met us at the marina and gave us a wonderful tour of her hometown. She even had us as guests overnight in her home. That was the first night we have not slept on our boat since Feb. 22. Now on to North Carolina!

Solitude, Serenity and Silence

Tuesday night we found a secluded spot alongside St Catherines Island on Walburg Creek in Georgia. Having no success with finding dock space anywhere for the night, we decided to anchor out once again. What we are finding is that we are absolutely loving ending our evening with no boats, no docks, no people, no lights, and no city…nothing but stars, solitude, silence, and serenity. It is the most peaceful ending to a busy day of boating and we will be anchoring out now any chance we get. Anchoring out is a reminder to us all to seek our serenity and silence.

We spent two days and nights at Thunderbolt Marina in Savannah, GA. We had never been to Savannah before so we took the hop-on/hop-off trolley for a quick overview of this historical city. We loved the stately live oaks covered with their Spanish moss, the blooming Dogwoods and azaleas and the wonderful old homes, some of which date back to the early 1800’s.

Today we had an easy run from Savannah to Hilton Head and crossed from Georgia into South Carolina. The landscape is unmistakeably low-country now with marsh grass, numerous cuts and inlets, and nine foot tidal changes. Tomorrow we are playing golf at one of the many beautiful golf courses on Hilton Head.

Anchoring Out

It’s hard to believe we have journeyed over 1150 miles since we began our cruise. Yesterday we crossed the FL/GA line. We decided to anchor offshore of the Cumberland Island National Park and planned to dinghy ashore for a day of hiking and picnicking. We hiked 10 miles from the Atlantic side of the island to the bay side yesterday afternoon.

The island was owned by the Carnegie family in the 19th century. They built a 35,000 sq. foot mansion with buildings to house over 200 support staff in the late 1800’s. The 20th century Carnegies donated the island to the National Park Service with the proviso that all the horses left on the island would be allowed to roam freely. Thus, many generations of horses since then have grown to a population of approximately 150 horses. We encountered many groups of feral horses while hiking both the beach side and bay side of the island.

We were glad that our anchor held firm throughout a windy day and night and now we’re ready to anchor out more when the occasion arises. Now we head north toward Jekyll Island and to Savannah.