Blue Turtle Cruising

Southbound! Beaufort, NC to Georgetown, SC

We left Beaufort, NC at 7:00am and were treated to an amazing sunrise as we pulled up the anchor. We’d already planned to make the passage from Beaufort to Wrightsville Beach on the Atlantic since conditions were to be perfect. We were expecting 10-15 knots gusting to 20 off shore with calm seas. We got the calm seas (with a little swell) but unfortunately, the forcasted winds didn’t happen and we didn’t get to sail. Still, it was a beautiful day on the Atlantic cruising 68 nautical miles to Wrightsville Beach. We arrived in Wrightsville around 5pm and dropped anchor.

The next morning, after getting fuel and water at a local marina and reanchoring the boat, we went to shore to check out the beach. We anchored here in Wrightsville Beach on our way north, but never went to shore. This time, we were glad we had a couple days to check it out. This area is a such a quaint little beach and surf town. After checking out the waves at the beach, we walked down to a local coffee shop, called Sundays so we could get a beverage and use their wifi. After that, we headed across the street to a restaurant called Oceanic that resides on the rebuilt historic Crystal Pier. With amazing views on the beach, we decided we had to check it out and enjoy a couple of beers there.

After going for a run the next morning, Randy and I loaded Sophie, the stroller, and our laundry into the dinghy to head to shore. We had gotten an invitation from one of Randy’s previous work colleagues to visit their home where we could do our laundry and enjoy dinner with them. We actually crossed paths with Stephan and Lisa back in May heading north from Cocoa Beach. They were also cruising north on their sailboat, Slow by Slow. It was then that Randy and Stephan had reconnected and who would’ve known then that we’d be doing laundry and eating dinner at their home in Wrightsville Beach months later? We enjoyed our time with them and had an amazing vegan dinner and key lime pie made by Lisa.

The next morning, Randy and I made a provisioning run in the a.m. and later welcomed Stephan and Lisa to our boat for happy hour. It was so wonderful for me to meet these two and for Randy to catch up with Stephan. We are looking forward to seeing them on the water soon.

As Hurricane Nicole inched her way toward us, it was time to come up with a plan to find a protected anchorage. We left Wrightsville Beach and cruised about 50 miles south to anchor overnight in Calabash Creek. From there, we navigated 3 bridges and 56 miles to Georgetown, SC where we dropped anchor in a protected area. We decided to stay put in Georgetown for several days until the rain and winds from Nicole passed through. This gave us plenty of time to explore this little gem of town for the first time.

We thoroughly enjoyed Georgetown with it’s cruiser-friendly docks, great waterfront restaurants and friendly folks welcoming us. It was a great area for us to get off the boat, go for a run, walk to a great laundromat and visit the local restaurants and bars in the late afternoons. One of our favorite establishments was Between the Antlers, a really cool little restaurant and bar right near the anchorage. They let us sit at the bar inside with Sophie in her stroller, which was nice to get out of the cold and wind. It was even better that we could see our boat in the anchorage. Once Nicole’s winds had passed through, it was time to move on to find warmer weather.

Beaufort, NC to Wrightsville Beach, NC = 68 nm
Wrightsville Beach, NC to Calabash Creek = 51 nm
Calabash Creek to Georgetown, SC = 56 nm

Bridge Openings = 3

TOTAL miles to date: = 2,206 nm
TOTAL Bridge Openings to date = 42

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