We left the dock at Masonboro Yacht Club and headed back out the Wrightsville Beach NC inlet around 8 am Nov 15 along with two other sailboats. We had a nice westerly wind of 10-12 knots that was forecast to last about 12 hours. We first had to pass around Frying Pan Shoals - a 10 mile shoal that sticks out into the ocean off of Southport, NC. Having shopped yesterday at the grocery store we had a fresh kale salad for lunch before reaching the shoals around 2 pm. After taking a marked cut through the shoals and turning more westerly towards the Five Fathoms Creek Inlet and McClellanville, the seas picked up a bit but we were able to continue sailing until 9 pm when the wind finally died and we had to turn on the engine. We motored about 5-6 knots through the night under a moonlit sky arriving at Five Fathoms inlet just after dawn. We went up the inlet through the marshes about 4 miles alongside Cape Romaine which is a national wildlife refuge and as it was morning, the birds were very active. We dropped our hook in a narrow little creek about 1 mile from McClellanvile, SC at 9 am Tuesday and went below to catch a few hours of missed sleep. Awaking around noon, we ate lunch then dinghied to quiet little McClellanville where a few shrimp boats were tied up. We explored the town on foot catching all the highlights - a 1,000 year old live oak tree, the post office, library and the marina tire swing-a very quiet but quaint little town. Back on Juno, Harry found out he’d booked the wrong week for dockage in Savannah where we’d hope to be for Thanksgiving so we had to make some last minute phone calls but were fortunate to be able to find dockage for our desired dates.
On Wed morning, Nov. 17th, we explored by dinghy the salt marshes surrounding our anchorage that were alive with birds, predominantly swallows, but also pelicans and a bald eagle. At high tide we found we could see across the acres and acres of sweet grass that fills the marshes but at low tide, we can’t see over the three foot tall grasses. We thought that Cape Romaine must be on bird watcher’s hit list as it really is beautiful. We found Buck’s Hall State forest on a map, only 5 miles further along the ICW and so this morning we relocated Juno to nearby Awendaw Creek. The boat ramp and dock was a short dinghy ride away and by lunch time we were walking the Palmetto Trail through the woods with our picnic. No one was there save us and a barred owl we spotted high amongst the pines and we enjoyed a scenic picnic overlooking the ICW. We returned to Juno to haul up the anchor and continue down the ICW. By evening, we relocated Juno at Capers creek, about 10 miles from Charleston on the ICW. Again, alone in the creek, we watched what we believe were wood storks fly overhead and dolphins feeding along the edge of the creek as the sun set.
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