Voices in the Night

Boat owner with anxiety about stern damage.  Wakes himself up screaming!

I have vivid dreams and not infrequently, I wake myself from them while yelling.  My dreams often have a theme of getting lost so when I wake myself, it is usually because I’ve dreamed I am lost or have been left behind. In real life, before I get on a plane, I have this anxiety that they’re not going to let me on the plane for some reason.  What that reason might be, I can’t imagine.  

Little bird got lost inside our boat on the ICW.

Perhaps I am anxious, too, about the boat sailing away without me when she leaves port?  Carl would surely notice my absence, right?  So, here we are, moving around, from port to port.  We have never been lost.  In spite of that, I suppose I will continue to ward off the “lost” demons on a regular basis by shouting at them a couple times a week in the night.  

Reviewing charts with a friend from Duluth who came by to visit.

We always avoid telling people about our sailing destination plans, largely because we have avoided making firm plans.  We figure this is the best way to enjoy a sailing lifestyle.  It is not because we fear getting lost on the way.  But, we sort of have a plan now, at least in a general sort of way, for this summer.  For all you folks who have patiently been asking, “where are you going to go on your boat?” and have heard us say, “We don’t really know,” this may be the closest to a real answer that you get.

Lovely Charleston.

Okay, so to bring readers up to date—we crossed the Gulf Stream to Fernandina Beach, Florida and then after a few days, took another hop on the ocean to Charleston.  In Charleston, we met an old friend from Duluth, and one of our blog readers who also has a Saga 43, and was kind enough to pick us up in his car, bring us to dinner and give us a broader tour of Charleston than what we were able to do on our bus tour last time through.  

Jax complaining because we had to wait for this bridge to open.

Although the ocean passages had not been difficult, it was taking a couple of days following each passage to rest up.  So, after enjoying Charleston, we decided to go up the ICW for a while.

Historic clock tower in Georgetown, S.C.

 On the ICW, we average about 50 miles/day.  The ICW provides opportunities to see historic little towns off the beaten path.  We enjoyed a visit to Georgetown, S.C., an historic town that thankfully, was not destroyed during the Civil War.  Now, in addition to the historic structures, it has five museums, and offers water tours of the Georgetown Lighthouse downriver on the ocean inlet and a plantation nearby.  We took in a couple of establishments, preferring the funkier places to the white tablecloth restaurants.  We left Georgetown at 0630 the next morning in order to get out on the high tide.  

Waterfront of Georgetown.  A boat friendly town with lots of great restaurants!

Today we crossed the wide Cape Fear River, going upstream with the tide, and we are now in a protected mooring ball field in Carolina Beach, part of the Wilmington, NC area.  We’re supposed to have a big blow with a lot of rain over the next couple days.  We’ll stay put here for that.  Then on to Oriental, N.C. where we will meet up with some old friends who live in Raleigh and will drive to meet us in that lovely little sailing community.  

Cape Fear River is incredibly WIDE.  At times, can barely see the shores. 

The Chesapeake Bay and Annapolis will be next, where we will address boat maintenance tasks.  A couple of the tasks will require the boat to be out of the water.  Carl and I can stay on the boat while it’s up on the hard, but Jax is another matter.  We have to figure out a plan for Jax for that period.  Northern Star will probably be in the Annapolis area for about a month.

Carolina Beach anchorage where we found a mooring ball to wait out heavy weather coming.

Some fellow live-aboard friends in Annapolis are planning to head up to New England on their sailboat, Narwhal along about June 20.  We would like to buddy boat with them north.  If we can get as far as Maine, that will be wonderful!  Of course, we will need to turn around and start heading south again before it gets too cold in the fall, so there’s our quasi-plan for the next five months or so.

Sunrise over Battery Park in Charleston Harbor.

A few nights ago, Carl woke me up with talking in his sleep.  He rarely talks in his sleep, so I pay close attention when he does.  In a very earnest voice, he said calmly,  “Ardys…..what…what should we do?  Who should we follow?”  The correct answer to this question is of course, Narwhal, since we will be traveling to New England together.  But I replied, “Go to sleep” and in my head said, ‘I already got the “lost” demons covered, Babe.’