Hi Everyone - here are various pics from Georgetown. We had a really wonderful few days there. There were quite a few other loopers plus our daughter-in-law's parents, Elton and Cathy live there. We had a birthday party for Ellen and for me at the Rice Paddy - wonderful food and even more wonderful company. Thanks to all who participated. Elton and Cathy came and brought one of their model boats for all to see. Elton makes them to scale from popsicle sticks. They really interesting and beautiful.

We are now at Bald Head Island - I'll publish another post for that.

See you out there somewhere.

Rob & Ann

Fort Sumter Posted April 27, 2007

Dear Ones

These pics were taken at Fort Sumter in Charleston Bay. I won't bore you with a history lesson as we all learned about this in grade school - as if I could remember. We really enjoyed Charleston. Bill and Eva were with us the last few days we were there and will continue on with us to Wilmington NC. I'll post again for Georgetown and Cape Fear.

See you out there somewhere. . .

Rob & Ann

Charleston 4/21/07

Hello All

These pictures were all taken at the Charleston Tea Plantation - the only place in the US that tea is grown and processed. Very beautiful and interesting place. I have not taken many pictures in the city of Charleston - there is so much to see and do here that it is almost overwhelming.

The American Great Loop Cruisers' Assoc Spring Rendezvous was wonderful. Lots of great people, greaat speakers and great food. What more could you ask for. We are moving on to Georgetown tomorrow, along with several other boats.

See you out there somewhere.

Ann & Rob

We survived the wind! 4/17/07

Hello All. We are in Charleston, South Carolina - a beautiful and charming city. We are attending the America's Great Loop Cruiser's Association Spring Rendezvous. What Fun! We know or have at least met almost all of the members who are attending. I'm not sure just how many are here but probably 250 to 300. There are around 175 boats that we know of doing at least part of the great loop this year.

We were hit by the storms that came across the US over the weekend. We did not have a lot of lightning but did have major winds. I heard that we had steady 40 mph winds with gusts to 60 mph. We are on the inside of a dock so the wind was blowing us away from the dock - only problem we had was that we could not get off our boat without a huge leap - both of distance and of faith. The boats on the outside really had a bad day. We all did what we could to help but mostly we just had to wait it out. I'm including a picture I took of the boat across from us. Several men are trying to push it away from the dock to get more bumpers in.

Every time we stuck our head out, we were drenched by sea water coming across the 20 foot dock and over the top of our boat. Thank goodness, we were not out in the ocean - with 20+ foot waves.

I'm also including a picture I just took of Rob, off to do his Coast Guard Auxilliary boat safety inspections.

Bill and Eva are joining us tomorrow and will go with us to the Wilmington, North Carolina area. We can't wait to see them.

See you out there somewhere . . .

Rob & Ann

We're in Charleston 4/14/07

Hello All - Yesterday we made the run from Beaufort to Charleston. We had the perfect day. Calm winds, calm waters, clear blue sky and lots of company. There were many boats making the same or similar journey. The Charleston City Marina is full of boats here for the AGLCA Rendezvous. We're taking the shuttle down town this afternoon. Will update tomorrow.

See you out there somewhere.
Ann & Rob

Beaufort SC Pictures 4/12/07

Hello Again - Here are some pictures from historic Beaufort. This is one of the most interesting and beautiful places we have ever been. Love it!!!

We are off to Charleston tomorrow! Wish we could stay here longer but weather is approaching.

See you out there somewhere!

Ann & Rob

Beautiful Beaufort 4/12/06

Hello All

We are in Beaufort, South Carolina. We moved the boat here yesterday morning with a calm and enjoyable crossing of the Port Royal Sound and Parris Island. The coasts of Georgia and South Carolina are a maize of sounds, rivers and creeks. Many of the rivers and creeks are not navigable - very shallow with many shoals. Also, these states have not done much dredging in several years, making boat travel difficult. We are only traveling during the 3 hours before and 3 hours after high tide. We will probably leave for Charleston tomorrow as the weather is supposed to be bad on Saturday and Sunday.

I'll post some pictures in the next couple of days when internet reception is a little faster.

See you out there somewhere.
Ann & Rob

2/28/07 Post Updated on 4/6/07

Hello All - - -

We spent most of Januaary and February at Riveria Dunes Marina in the Palmetto-Bradenton area. The highlight of Feburary was a visit from Earl and kathy. We spent a day at the Miami Boat Show - the last time we'll ever do that willingly as we spent 2 hours looking for a parking place. We did enjoy stayng with Ann and Terry on their boat in Ft. Lauderdale and enjoyed dinner on South Beach with friends Chuck and Barbara, owners of the Columbus Marina.

We toured the Kennedy Space Center and Epcot with Earl and Kathy. We especially enjoyed the space center - saw the shuttle on the launch pad ready for a March 15th launch. We then drove back to the boat and spent the next few days at the Ringling Museums and at Fort Desoto State Park (one of the best beaches in the world) and various other places in the area. Had a lot of fun showing Earl and Kathy some of our favorites.

Rob and I left Palmetto on the 25th and spent a couple of nights at Crows Nest Marina in Venice. Did not run into the "Venice Nazi" - an out of control Florida river policeman whose reputation preceeds him! We enjoyed dinner with Barry and Alden and got all the latest on all our friends who now live in this area of Florida. We'll definately be back next year!

Yesterday we cruised to the Gulf Harbor Marina in Ft. Myers. Had a fabulous and long day cruising inland waters. We saw dozens of dolphins - they chase boats just like dogs chase cars. There were 5 or 6 of them with us for many miles. They would jump our wake, dive down and then jump and land sideways. I guess they were trying to see how big a splash they could make. Amazing! In addition to the usual sea birds, we saw several bald eagles fishing and many osprey nests with occupants - looked like they might have been sitting on eggs. Very Cool!

John and Pyllis will be meeting us tomorrow and we'll cross Florida via Lake Okeechobee Waterway and end up in the Stuart area and then head North.

See you out there somewhere!

Rob & Ann

Hello from Rob & Ann 4/6/07

Hello All - We have been in Nashville for the last week or so. We're planning on driving back toward Hilton Head on Easter Sunday. Will spend the night in the Ashville area and go on on Monday. We have enjoyed being home for a few days. We're catching up at work and trying to get our corporate and personal tax work to the accountant. We had a wonderful Passover with our family. It was great to see everyone and catch up on the news.

Since my last post, we traveled from Amelia Island to Brunswick, where we picked up Wayne and Sara and then traveled on to Savannah with them. We left them in Savannah and traveled on to Hilton Head before heading home. We LOVED Savannah, as always. We have been there several times and see new things each time we visit. It is a amazing city. We docked right in the historic area and were able to tour easily and quickly. As you can see from the pictures, the azaleas were in full bloom - these pictures were taken just a few feet from our boat.

We have learned a couple of things traveling through the very shallow waters from Amelia Island to Hilton Head. First of all, if you see sea gulls WALKING across the channel in front of you, you know you may have a problem! We did run aground about half way just North of Brunswick and had to call Sea Tow. They were wonderful - arrived quickly and knew just what to do. Until we leave these shallow waters, we'll only travel 3 hours before and 3 hours after high tide.

We'll see many of you in Charleston and hope to see the rest of you out there somewhere.
Rob & Ann