July 11th we pulled into Georgetown, SC at a small marina called Harborwalk situated right off their Main Street. Georgetown is a small town of around 8700 residents that was founded in 1729 and is the third oldest city in SC. It became a port of entry in 1732 which meant it could directly accept foreign ships into port.

The main economy started as rice farming which died out after the civil war. Lumber mills, paper mills and steel mills have all been industry here and the paper mill emits a stink that is the opposite of pleasant. 

Now, I don’t know about you, but I love the history that we have encountered so far. There are buildings here that have been standing for almost 300 years. I am beginning to feel like a stalker taking pictures of random homes, but I can’t help myself. So, after attending Mass, I strolled around and snapped pictures of a few.

July 13th brought us to the city wall in downtown Wilmington where we docked for two nights. This was the first place along the route where the electric was wonky and we kept tripping the circuit. Because it was so touchy, we had to turn off the washer, dryer and refrain from using blow dryers and flat irons. Tom was crushed.

My sister Shana, and brother-in-law David joined us on the 15th in Wilmington. We were happy to see more family and enjoyed dinner with them one night at the Front Street Brewery. This particular brewery also had a bar stocked completely with whiskey and scotch. They claim to have the largest whiskey collection in North Carolina, and I believe them.

Other than that, Wilmington historical museums were closed and the downtown was rife with road and building construction. Needless to say, we did not explore too much in this city.

We left Wilmington and headed to Wrightsville Beach NC Thursday, July 16th. It was a nice little run and we ended up staying at Bridgetender Marina right along the busy Intracoastal Waterway. Vessels of all sizes were cruising back and forth all day and night in a section of the waterway that was no wider than a six-lane highway. We got knocked around a bit in our spot from the wakes, but the boat watching sure was fun.

We had a fantastic beach day on Friday with a nice breeze and the best waves. We did some body surfing and people watching along the fishing pier. 

Leaving Wrightsville, we headed out into the ocean on Saturday towards Beaufort, NC. Here, they pronounce it “BO-fort.” In South Carolina, the town’s name is pronounce “Byu-fort.” Apparently, it irritates the residents if you mix the two up.

Anyhoo, it was a beautiful day to travel out. No sea-sickness happened and we saw leaping dolphins along the way. 

Beaufort, NC was established in 1709 and was voted “America’s Coolest Small Town” by readers of Budget Travel Magazine. Actually, we found it to be very nice and full of historic homes and buildings.

We spent Shana and David’s anniversary, July 18, settling in and had a nice dinner at Clawson’s.  The next day, Shana and I walked around the historic part of town and saw homes dating back to the early 1700s. We also walked through the old cemetery. 

That afternoon, we broke out the dinghy and scooted around to Horseshoe Island (known also as Sand dollar island by the locals) for a day of wading and watching kite surfing. David was itching to get out there and try it.

Their last day here David got his chance to take a kite surfing lesson. It looked exhausting and he did very well. We stayed in for dinner making shrimp appetizers—with bacon—and shrimp scampi as our main course. We followed that with four slices of different desserts from a local grocery/restaurant. We’re going to have to check into fat camp along this journey at some point. This was also the day we realized that we lost a trim tab on the boat.

Note:  A trim tab will help level out the boat when you reach faster speeds.  The one on the port side is just gone. (I think it was David’s fault). So, after Shana and David left, we checked the boat into the boatyard for repair and checked ourselves into a nice hotel in Beaufort.

Where we go from here is a bit up in the air. As I write this, we are waiting to find out how long the repair will take. Best scenario, a couple of days. Worst scenario, a few weeks. Stay tuned.