North Carolina-Roy's country May 1st

It has been a busy couple of days, but at 7:45 am today Rock Chalk crossed into Roy's home state. Back in basketball country (no offense Mike about Florida), but we have had more people recognize what Rock Chalk means here than in the month prior. We currently lie in Wrightsville Beach, NC on the Cape Fear River. Wilmington NC is west across the river, but this is a beach town.

There are 3 capes in North Carolina as you go north. The first is Cape Fear which we crossed today. The next is Cape Lookout, where we will be tomorrow. The granddaddy is Cape Hatteras, which we will take 3 days to go inside of it up to Norfolk. They call Hatteras the graveyard for ships, and we are not going to tempt an outside run. Plus Shelley wants to see the Dismal Swamp, which we will go through after Elizabeth City. Should be interesting.

We had a beautiful anchorage near Georgtown, where several of these photos were taken. We went up a creek for a mile an anchored in this stream that was about 100 yrds wide. We had a friendly alligator who spent the night off our stern. It was absolutely still all night and the only sounds were frogs and birds. Really beautiful.

That night as I was checking our anchor in pitch blackness, I kept seeing circular shooting stars in my right eye vision every time I moved my eyes from right to left. It was still there the next morning along with many black floaters, and a light film over my right eye. Great, my worse thought, as we do this trip for this year, is some medical issue. With Mom having glacoma, and Dad had a detached retina, I had to take this seriously. Dad lost his eye when we were sailing in the Caribbean because he ignored his symptoms for several weeks. Once again, on a boat or our bodies, everything is broken, it just hasn't happened yet.

So by 3:00 yesterday we got to a marina in Myrtle Beach, and the dockmaster was a retired ER and surgical nurse. How lucky was that. She put us in her car and drove us to the nearest emergency room just a mile a way. Within an hour I had a diagnostic optomitrist dialating my eye and examining the retina. I am happy to say it was all in tact. So my problem was not the retina.

So what am I seeing? He says that as you get older stuff starts to float around your eye. It is causing the floaters and the bright flashes, and the film. Oh well. Frankly I was very relieved that I was not going to have to have surgery, and by 5:00 we were back on the boat.

I was very impressed with the credentials and professionalism of this doctor, which says something about our state of medical care in the US today. I was walking into an emergency room and received excellent care, regardless of whether I had medical insurance or not. Anyone who tells you that our system is completely broke and needs a 2200 page bill to fix it, is crazy and just flat misinformed.

So this was just one more adventure to add to the list, and I am sure there will be plenty more.

(For some reason I cannot add photos, so I will try it on another page.)

USN Yorktown-now a museam

I took 46 photos today at the Yorktown, which is too many to attach here. But this is a special place that many of my friends would really love. The Yorktown was decommissioned in 1970 after service in World War II, Vietnam, and was also one of the ships to receive the Apollo spacecrafts after landing in the Pacific. In fact the Yorktown was the ship that pulled Apollo 8 from the sea, after the first successful trip to the moon over Christmas 1968.

Sitting on her deck on down in her hold, the Yorktown has every plane and helicopter that flew from her decks, from Hellcats, Corsairs, to F4's, and F14 Tomcats (of Top Gun fame). My friend John Wurth flew these planes in his Navy career, and I was overwhelmed by how huge this carriers are, and how small they would be to land a plane on. The Yorktown almost 900 ft. long, which felt huge. But compare it to the USN Reagan which is one of the Super Carrier's today, is three times as big.

Along with the Yorktown, there is a World War II diesel class submarine that you can tour. I cannot believe Casey Fox served on a nuclear submarine that was under water for 6 months. I was claustrophobic after 5 minutes. On land they recreated a base camp from Vietnam, with Huey helicopters and the a big gun ship called "Puff the Magic Dragon". Jay Carey flew these helicopters in Vietnam.

All in all, its a fabulous way to spend the day and see this carrier, planes, helicopters, and submarine. My hat is off to those that served. Also inside the Yorktown is a section devoted to Medal of Honor recipients. Very humbling.

Our time in Charleston has been filled with Civil War history, seeing a city that has played a significant role in our country's history, and remains today a vibrant port city. It is a wonderful place to visit. And have I mentioned the food??? Um mm. Good.

Life without all the Stuff

We are within a few hours of closing on our house in Austin, and it occurs to me that I have spent a lifetime of accumulating "stuff", and now I am shedding it faster than a cat sheds her fur in springtime. It is freaking me out!! Have you tried to live your life without a car? Everywhere we go, we are constantly walking, or riding our bikes. I am losing more weight, as Shelley and I have walked at least 7 miles today in and around Charleston. We are always asking at marina offices if there is a car available, but most of the time there is not....so we walk. and Walk...and walk.

I have also spent more time in a grocery store in the past 25 days than I have in the past 25 years. People look at men funny when you are in the grocery store pushing that cart around at 2 or 10 in the morning. For me, this is weird. But I have to say I am becoming a good grocery shopper, able to tell the best bananas from the too ripe ones. Shelley still calls me a rookie however.

So instead of my life's routine of heading off to work, I now check the weather, and plan the day. Where are we going over the next week, and where will we stay each night. You have to plan for the important events, like where we will do a pump out, and where is the next grocery store. No more planning for sophisticated estate plans. No, I am planning every day things that we need in boat life. Food, water, beer, bananas, and pump outs. At the end of this trip, we both will need to de-tox at some alcohol clinic.

Then there is the weather. Rock Chalk is a very safe and sturdy boat, and most of our travels are in the Intercoastal, where we are not as concerned about big storms and high seas. But big winds in thunderstorms with lightning all around when you are on a boat is a bit disconcerting. No sweat though, Rock Chalk has a good navigation chart plotter that tells me where I am at all times as long as I have a GPS connection. If that goes, then you will see me panic. Knock on wood.

We have talked to many of you about joining us for some leg of this adventure. I hope you all can find some time to experience this. Remember, its sophisticated camping. There are sacrifices one makes on a boat, but all in all its pretty comfortable. Our grandsons' Max and Leo and granddaughter, Rylee, and daughter Shana, will join us for the upper part of the Chesapeake Bay, the Delaware canal, and then a couple of days cruising up the outside of New Jersey on our way to New York. They will get a chance to see the fireworks over the 4th of July at the Statute of Liberty. Cool.

Jay and Anne Carey will join us for the lower part of the Chesapeake, and believe me I am preparing my long list of questions about the ocean for Anne. Keith Carmichael has suggested an app for the iPad that lets you look and identify all the stars in the sky. I think Shelley has that app, but we have not used it yet. Maybe Keith can show me when he and Robin visit.

But for now, I am busy each night planning the next 8 days it will take to get from Charleston to Norfolk, Virginia. We are going to do the Dismal Swamp route, which should be quite interesting. Rock Chalk is alot like the Sundance Kid. You remember the movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? Remember the part when he is shooting cans off a fence post. The Sundance Kid (Robert Redford) can't hit anthing until he rolls one way and shoots before he hits the ground. His line says it all..."I am better when I move". Rock Chalk. Marc

Charleston, South Carolina

Yesterday was cloudy and rainy all day. We took Rock Chalk from Edisto Beach up the ICW to Charleston in about 4.5 hours. Naturally the hardest rain came just as we rounded the southern tip of the Charleston peninsula, and were looking for our marina, The Charleston Maritime Center. We found it, got tied up, and the skies opened up. It rained really hard for an hour. Great to wash the boat off.

Today (Saturday, April 23) the skies cleared and it was a beautiful day. Perfect for the ferry trip out to Ft. Sumter, and for discovering Charleston by foot. I love the history of these kinds of things, but Shelley can speed walk at world record paces through any museum, fort, tourist attraction, etc. She has no slow speed. Then she has the audacity to complain that I am actually reading these plaques by each photo or artifact. She just doesn't do this stuff, so we agree to meet up at the end. It works.

We are tied up at the Charleston Maritime Center, which is a small marina on the east side of the peninsula and within a few blocks of City Market of Charleston. If you have been to New Orleans, this place has a French Quarter. If you have been to Savannah, this place has some beautiful homes from the early 1800's. What struck me today was reading the philosophy of the orators of South Carolina in 1860. It was all about limited federal government, states rights, individual freedom, and a strict interpretation of the Constitution. All this led to South Carolina being the first state to secede.

Although today we all look at the horrible nature of slavery, I have to agree with why they felt it was so important that they were willing to leave the union to follow a path that they felt was critical to their economy and livelihood. When you read the quotes of all the leaders of the south and the strict constitutionalists, you see an amazing parallel for today. Less federal government, more personal freedom, is the true meaning of our constitution. But I pontificate.

One of the reasons I have been dreaming of this trip for years was to see the eastern third of the US by water, where so much of our history as a country was developed. Charleston is a perfect example of what I am learning. Cool. Marc

Happy 27th Anniversary in Rainy S. Carolina

It's raining in South Carolina. Not bad though. This is the first rain we have had in 19 days, so no complaints. Yesterday was our 27th anniversary and we spent it on the beach at Edisto Island, SC. Once again Shelley found an off the grid marina up a creek on the back side of Edisto. It was a short 3 block walk to the beach and we took our Jayhawk cooler on wheels (thanks Criag and Shana) and guess what we did? You got it Leo, we looked for sea shells. For those of you who have not met our grandson Leo, (age 7) he loves shells. He and Shelley looked at this encyclopedia size book, all on shells, just to get prepared for this trip.

It also occured to me that I really need our good friend Anne Carey on this boat as our resident scientist. I once asked Anne how the ocean worked and she knew!!

Anne was the person that also showed me how to read those star gazer books. I could never make the photos of stars in the book look anything like the real sky at night. Then Anne had me raise the book up over my head and compare the photo with the night sky and it suddenly all came into focus. Really she is a scientist, and there are so many things we are seeing on the ocean and I have so many questions.

I am making a list and will email you Anne. Be ready.

Its really raining now. Reminds me of those storms in the Caribbean when visibility drops to a few yards in front of the boat. We made it into Charleston Harbour just in time to get docked and all secured before this hit. The USS Yorktown is anchored across the way, plus Ft. Sumter, and all of Charleston are ours to explore over this next week. Can you believe it, we are staying one place for a week!! Marc

Beaufort, South Carolina

Don't know about you, but when I am gone from the office I set my email up for "Out of Office" messages. What has been funny since we left Austin April 3rd, is that every day I get a message from my auto message saying quote, "Your out of office message is on, and no one has emailed you." I had to laugh.

Welcome to retirement. I have to thank my partner and successor, Mike Priede. He is obviously receiving the 100 emails a day that I used to get, and I cannot tell you how nice it is to be out the bullets flying overhead.

Shelley continues to find these off the grid places. The last couple of days it was Bull River Marina near Tybee Island. Pretty run down place with really ugly bathrooms, docks full of splinters, and beautiful scenery. We took the ding several miles up the St. Augustine creek to Tybee itself. It was early on Monday morning, so nothing was open but their pretty beach. I was shocked but it took half a tank of fuel in the ding to get to Tybee, so here we are with not really enough gas to get back to our marina. Shelley came to the rescue and made fast friends with this family who were putting their kayaks into the water. Before I knew it, the dad was taking me across the island to the nearest gas station to refill my tank.

Plus this family suggested we visit Little Tybee across the channel. It is a nature preserve and the only way to get there is by boat. We took the ding across and spent the next several hours looking for shells for our grandson Leo. He and Shelley have a thing for sea shells. She found some, and took a photo with her cell phone and sent them to Shana, asking Leo to research what kind of shells she had found. That little guy is just 7 going on 8, and by evening we knew. They were angel wings. Way to go Leo.

Today is Beaufort, South Carolina. On the way here we cruised up the coast of Hilton Head. What a pretty place, and the homes on the shore were fabulous. Then it was Paris Island, and all those marines in training running their morning jog to all those great songs we sang as boys...."I don't know what I've been told, Eskimo women are mighty cold....UH-RAH!

Can't wait to see Beaufort. We are at a marina two miles outside of town, so we will get a cab into town tomorrow. We hear nothing but nice things about this town. We are also hoping that we will close on the house in Austin tomorrow. Yahoo!!! But we miss the pool. So much is happening in such a short time. Almost homeless in South Carolina. Marc

9 foot tides cause me Stress!

Have I mentioned that coastal Georgia has huge tides. If you look outside this evening (Sunday) its a full moon. This shot was just taken off the front of Rock Chalk with the moon rising over Tybee Island. Very pretty right?? It is but it causes these massive tides that we have been fighting these last few days. Today's low tide was 9 feet down, just as we were coming up the Wilmington River into Savannah. So many times I would look at my depth sounder and see that I had less than a foot under the keel. This boat with it's shallow draft has saved me many times already.

It is really hard to look at a river and figure out where the deep water channel is. I am getting better at reading the water, but it is stressful, and today was the ultimate. Shelley says, "Charge on, Marc! She is not driving. But we made it to Tybee Island and the Bull River Marina without hitting the bottom and I was so relieved after 7 hours of this today, that I had to just sit on the back of the boat, sip on a Gin and tonic, and smoke a cigar. I am better now, but really, these tides, currents, and little rivers are a real navigational challenge.

We are here for two nights, then its off to South Carolina, which is just a mile away across the Savannah River. We will spend a couple of nights in Beaufort, SC, then on to Charleston. I know these rivers, tides, and currents are with me until we get up the Hudson and get into either the Erie Canal, or go north to Lake Champlain. We have yet to decide which way we will go to get to the St. Lawrence Seaway. But that is a long ways away. Right now, I am going to get better at reading rivers. Where is Huck Finn when you need him. Marc