Sweet Carolinas

 

Chaaleston

After leaving Savannah we made our way up to Charleston, South Carolina.  We sailed past Fort Sumter – where the first shots of the Civil War rang out – as we made our way up the Ashley River to anchor in front of Battery Park.  The visitor center had a decidedly Southern bent on the whole affair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sumter

Charleston is a beautiful city steeped in history and you are reminded of its past around every corner.  Every other building in the city center is historic and many have significance from the American Revolution, War of 1812 or Civil War (still known to some down South as the “War of Northern Aggression” we were told….uh, okay….).

 

 

 

 

 

Dante in plane

We spent a few days exploring the historical bounty (house where Washington slept, dungeon where British kept American rebels, old slave market, WW II aircraft carrier and submarine,  Fort Sumter) and then it was time to head up North again.

 

 

 

 

 

BeaufortNext stop was Beaufort, North Carolina (pronounced Bow-fort, not to be confused with Beaufort, SC which is pronounced Byoo-fort).  Our auto pilot had failed on the way to Charleston and we were going “offshore” (into the Atlantic) for our next leg, so we were in for a 24-hour sail of hand steering.  Unfortunately for us, we encountered a large thunderstorm parked right off of Cape Fear.  (This experience is described in the blog post “Weather You Like It Or Not”.)

 

 

 

 

 

Dante pullingWhen we got to Beaufort, we were fairly exhausted and decided to stay in that quaint little town for a couple of days.  They had a fantastic maritime museum that housed artifacts from the recently salvaged Queen Anne’s Revenge, Blackbeard’s ship which he purposefully sank on the bank leading into Beaufort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

lookoutWe also took our dinghy out to the Cape Lookout lighthouse, and learned about lightships (ships anchored semi-permanently off the coast to help keep ships from becoming a statistic in the Graveyard of the Atlantic) as well as the beginning of the U.S. lifesaving services.

 

 

 

 

 

 

alligator riverLeaving Beaufort, we headed up the ICW on the inside of the Outer Banks (avoiding rounding Cape Hatteras) and planned to go toward Manteo, North Carolina (which is near Kitty Hawk).  We motored up the Alligator – Pungo River along a narrow swath of water, bordered by trees and wildlife and the water was so calm we could see our boat’s reflection as we meandered along.

 

 

 

 

 

north carolina anchorageWe stayed at a couple of really beautiful anchorages and enjoyed the peaceful setting as the only boat around.  As we were watching the weather we became concerned that the low pressure system, which had turned into a tropical depression would turn into a tropical storm or hurricane.  So we diverted our path and headed up to the Great Dismal Swamp.  It was a good decision because Hurricane Arthur blew past the Outer Banks and hit both Beaufort and Kitty Hawk.  We were safely tied to a dock between the two locks of the Great Dismal Swamp when Arthur passed by, and celebrated the Fourth of July with fireworks in a nearby park and spent some time getting to know Robert, the lockmaster and water steward of the swamp.  The swamp itself used to be in property owned by George Washington, and he himself surveyed much of it.  The morning after Arthur, we went through the North lock of the Great Dismal Swamp (Dante got to “pull the plug” to lock us down into the Elizabeth River) and we headed toward Norfolk.  (By the way, I challenge you West Coasters to pronounce the name of this city without sounding like a filthy-mouthed Puritan.)

 

 

 

 

kitty hawk 2

Once in Norfolk, we rented a car and explored sites around Virginia (explained in our post about Virginia) and also double-backed to Kitty Hawk to pay homage to the Wright brothers.  Seeing the site where they first flew and learning about the innovations they made in their attempt to do it made us really appreciate the genius and persistence of these two men.  Dante was impressed with seeing a working reproduction of the Wright Flyer and then walking along the track where it first flew.  As we sweated in the heat of the day, we marveled at how Orville and Wilbur used to run down the sandbanks in full suits and dress shoes.  For their sake, too bad running shoes and performance fabric hadn’t yet been invented!

 

 

 

For more pictures on our travels in the Carolinas go here:

Charleston: https://www.flickr.com/photos/easethemain/sets/72157644966468728/

North Carolina: https://www.flickr.com/photos/easethemain/sets/72157644966318250/

Kitty Hawk: https://www.flickr.com/photos/easethemain/sets/72157645971154146/

 

 

 

 .