32⁰37’01” N – 080⁰24’06” W

Well we got rained on again today “Somedayers”. Actually we got poured on to be exact; the wind was so high to that the rain was coming in almost horizontally. But, it still beats workin’!!!! Tony joined us last night and we were glad to share some of our bad weather luck with him today. We continued our journey though the southern states this morning as we slipped past Fort Sumter and continued though Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. We continue to see lots of dolphins and other sea life. It amazes me when I see the diversity of our little world, and then I look up into the night sky and see all those other worlds… it makes me feel blessed to be a part of it, even if it’s an infinitely small part, I know I’m still a part of it, as are we all. The rest of the crew and I spend much of our evening sharing these feelings. I’m sure you have had the same thoughts at some point, or something similar to them. So the next time you cast your gaze to the night sky and wonder at the heavens, know that we, Capt. Greg, Jim “LT”, Tony “Gaffman”,  “Boston” Stevie, Perry “Cookie” and me have spent much of our time doing the same and thinking of you at home… as we are right now. Banana Winds… no significant structures, standing by on 16… Clear.

32⁰48’22” N – 079⁰45’35” W

WE SAW DOLPHINS!!!!!! And we even got pictures of them that I didn’t have to draw circles for you to see them too (like last time). They came right up alongside us and surfed in our wake, I’m guessing that there were about five in the pod, but they all kind of look alike (geez I hope that doesn’t sound racist). They came along just as we were nearing the marina that we are staying in tonight, Isle of Palms Marina. The dolphins were a perfect end to a perfect, if short, day on the ICW. We woke up today with a little bit of cloud cover, after having a crystal clear view of the stars last night. The sun came out before 1000hrs and warmed up to 80⁰ by 1300hrs. The water keeps getting more clearer and is beginning to look very inviting. We saw some old derelict boats today and figured they must be from some hurricane from some time ago. Tony should be here in the next few hours and we should have a nice night. I hope all of you do as well. Banana Winds standing by on 16… Clear.

33⁰10’12” N – 079⁰17’28” W

Today was one of those days that make us remember why we’re doing this, and helps us to forget the bad weather days that we have been so plagued by lately. It was a gorgeous morning as we steamed though a Cypress forest and by 1100hrs we were in shorts and tee shirts. We saw tons of turtles and, later in the afternoon we even saw an alligator. We left the Myrtle Beach area, ran past Georgetown, South Carolina and are now headed for Charleston where we’ll be picking up Tony. That’s right “Somedayers” the Gaffman will return tonight!!!! Talk to y’all soon (wow! Did you catch that “Y’ALL”, we must be in the south now!!!!!) Banana Winds standing by on 16… Clear.

P.S. here is another quote I like:

“To me, nothing made by man is more beautiful than a sailboat under way in fine weather, and to be on that sailboat is to be as close to heaven as I expect to get. It is unalloyed happiness.”

 by Robert Manry – American journalist and sailor.

33⁰40’52” N – 079⁰02’29” W

Short day today “Somedayers”. We got underway at about 0800hrs this morning after having some egg sandwiches for breakfast. When we woke up we were amongst our cruising caravan, and when we finished breakfast we were all alone. So we weight the anchor (it was heavy) and made way. We caught up to everyone fairly quick, we’re a much bigger boat which makes us faster. We got a good picture of Mikey sitting on his bucket. We came though the Grand Strand today. That is the area of the Carolinas where all the vacation resorts are, like Ocean Isle, and Myrtle Beach. It was a neat way to experience it, being on the back side of the coast. The scenery was excellent, and the homes were extravagant to say the least.  Capt. Greg remembered a very nice marina that is also inexpensive, so we talked everyone in to stopping with us here at Osprey Marina. And there is a local pizza joint that comes to pick cruisers up and bring them back. So we all went out for pizza and did a little grocery shopping next door to the joint before having them bring us back. It was great fun and we all had a good time. Banana Winds standing by on 16… Clear.

33⁰49’37” N – 078⁰42’30” W

Well “Somedayers” we found the sun, it’s still a bit chilly though. Today we had wonderful bright sunny day, and by the end of it we were shedding a layer or two. The morning found us in the Cape Fear River, after having traversed Snow’s Cut, a very confusing channel. In the river we encountered a huge oil tanker (you’ll see the pic below). After that we traveled the rest of the way through the state of North Carolina, and anchored just inside the South Carolina state line. And, we seem to have fallen in with “Pirates”!!! But being pirates ourselves we are too concerned by the situation. We are moving south in a loose convoy of four or five other sailboats, one of which is a black hulled Choy Lee 33 ketch named “Pirate Witch”, from Wisconsin. One of the others is a small boat named “Ragtime” being single handed by a young man on his way to Miami. We haven’t spoken to him much, other than to find out his destination, but he seems to be a real gypsy/pirate. His boat “Ragtime” is kind of slow, covered in gear, he sits on a bucket while at the tiller and doesn’t seem to be monitoring his radio… we’ve named him “Mikey”. All the best Mikey, if you ever see this!! One of my favorite things about this trip, so far, is the people we’ve run into. Some of them we don’t even ever meet, like Mikey, but we know that on some level we’re not that different from them, and if a meeting ever does take place… I’m sure we’d like them. One of things that all of us out here share (and many of you who couldn’t make it this time share as well) is our love of boats and what they represent. I have a favorite quote that I had my Mom send me to add to the blog for today (thanks Mom), it is…

“If a man must be obsessed with something, I suppose a boat is as good as anything, perhaps better than most. A small sailing craft is not only beautiful, it is seductive and full of strange promise and the hint of trouble.”

              E.B. White.

That pretty much says it all, don’t you think so? More to come tomorrow “Somedayers. Till then Banana Winds standing by on 16… Clear.

34⁰06’15” N – 077⁰52’32” W

COLD!!!!! That about sums up our day today “Somedayers”, COLD!!! We left our anchorage this morning at about 0730, and hoped all day today that it might warm up, it didn’t. We only made it about 40 nautical miles today partly because we were to cold to continue and also because we encountered a lot of bridges today that operate on strange schedules. One would open every half hour on the half, and the next would only open on the hour, and they were fairly close together (like five miles) so we had to go very slow so we wouldn’t have to sit and wait for them. For on five mile stretch we were only cruising at 4 kts (we usually cruise at 7 or 8 kts). But we made our way to a very nice marina for the night and had hotdogs and hamburgers for dinner. The pics for today are of a big shrimpin’ boat (again no sign of Forest Gump, darn it!) and of a sailboat that tied up just a little to close to land at high tide. Hope all is well at the home front, and please think warm thoughts for us. Banana Winds standing by on 16… Clear.

34⁰33’02” N – 077⁰19’28” W

WE FOUND THE SUN “SOMEDAYERS”!!!!!!! We didn’t run across it till this afternoon, but we got it. It wasn’t all that warm mind you, but when the sun is out, you’re able to tolerate the chill a little bit easier it seems. Today we made it about forty nautical miles and should pass into South Carolina tomorrow. We did have a fairly exciting day today. We encountered a fleet of recreational fishermen who seemed to believe that the fish only swim in the exact middle of the Inner Coastal Waterway channel. I find that hard to believe, but I also know the futility of arguing with a fisherman over such things as where to find the fishies, so we sailed around them. We also got waived down by some fellers in a Navy Patrol Boat and then told that they were going to be using the ICW as a live fire training area. And then just as we were about to set our anchor and wait for the war games to complete, they said we could go on though, if we hurry… GREAT!!!! We did hurry and on our way though we saw the potential “War Gamers” and their boats with the big nasty guns on them, and we hurried a little faster. I took lots of pictures of the fishing fleet in the channel, and of the Navy gun boats. We even got to see some of the targets the navy was planning to shoot at as well, holed is an understatement; I got some pics of those as well. We bid you fair winds and calm seas “Somedayers”, Banana Winds standing by on 16… Clear.

P.S. We haven’t heard from Perry since he left us back on Wednesday, if any of you have heard from him, drop us a line and let us know he made it home ok.

35⁰12’46” N – 076⁰35’27” W

It’s a little warmer today “Somedayers”, and it’s not raining. So there’s that. Other than that we are just heading south, and we seem to have found the mass exodus. Today finds us in the middle of a caravan of about seven or eight other boats. I spent the morning cleaning out the refrigerator and taking inventory of what we have left. With Perry no longer with us the roll of Galley Chief has fallen to me. “LT” has offered to do the dishes if I continue to cook the meals, and we stuck an accord on that plan. We have passed several “shrimpin’ boats”; I kept hollerin’ for Forest, but got no answers. We also pasted a little US Coast Guard station and saw some “Coasties” playing football, the cool thing about that was that one of the “Coasties” we saw was a German Sheppard, and I think his team was winning. I included pics of all these fun things, I hope you enjoy them. Till later “Somedayers”, Banana Winds Standing by on 16… Clear.

35⁰31’55” N – 076⁰37’18” W

Well we made it through the flow ice (HaHaHaHa) to Belhaven, North Carolina. We are sitting firmly at anchor and have just finished dinner. I made beany-weenys, but used Italian sausages instead of hotdogs and added a bunch of grilled onions and peppers. When I checked the camera tonight I found that we did get a shot of a dolphin, it’s not easy to make out so I added a red circle to help you see it (it really is a dolphin in the circle, I swear). I have added some more pics to make y’all jealous about not being here. More to come tomorrow “Somedayers”, until then, Banana Winds keeping a weather eye out for ice bergs, and standing by on 16… Clear.

35⁰35’11” N – 076⁰15’53” W

ITS COLD AND RAINING “SOMEDAYERS”!!!!!! If you have been reading these log entries and wishing you were here with us the whole time… let me tell you this “Somedayers”, today is your payback day. We left the Alligator River Marina this morning at about 0900hrs, it was cloudy but it wasn’t raining and the temperature and winds were mild. And then, just about the time we had made it far enough that turning back would have been a hassle, it started to rain. And it has only gotten worse as the day has progressed. I have just come below to change into some dry pants and warm up a bit (however I know as soon as I go topside I’ll be wet and cold again in a matter of minutes). On a happier note, we saw our first pod of dolphins today. So, I have to remember, even when things are at their nastiest out here, there are still some pleasantries to be had. But given the choice of dolphins or warm weather… I’ll take warmth at this point. I’ll try to get some pictures and give you an update when we stop, till then Banana Winds standing by on 16… Clear.