Magoolooping's Blog

April 4-9. We left the dock of Hazzard Marine, Georgetown, SC at 8am. We are exhausted and Artie is trying to get through the day without any painkillers, but we want to move on. There is rain coming in tonight so we want to get to Myrtle Beach, SC before its arrival. –

Visiting tigers at Myrtle Beach, Barefoot Landing

Boardwalk at Barefoot Landing

View across ICW of Barefoot Landing, Myrtle Beach, SC

We docked at Barefoot Landing Marina at 3pm. As soon as we got here, we explored the shops of Barefoot Landing for exercise and found out that there was a show at the Alabama Theatre. Since we enjoy shows so much, we bought two tickets for the evening. It was great!!   —  We plan to leave here tomorrow with our destination being Bald Head Island. Our friends, John and Kim, have a summer home there and we have made plans to meet them. — Yeahhhh, we are three more cruising days from home.

Shalotte Inlet

NC fishing fleet, a familiar sight in this area

There is no spiral staircase as found in most older lighthouses, but instead a series of ships ladders with a total of 131 steps to the lantern gallery level

At 9:30am (4/6/11) we crossed the North Carolina border at mm 340.9. The Capt’n and I sang soprano and did a little “jig” on the flybridge (on second thought, it was a “big” jig). It feels soooooooooooo good to be back in North Carolina again.

At 2pm we pulled into Baldhead Island’s marina. We met with John at 5 and went to dinner and we caught up with our events of the past year. The next morning it was off to the grocery store and we picked up a few supplies to get us through the next couple of cruising days. It was fun driving a golf cart to the store that John and Kim let us borrow while we are here on Baldhead Island. Later in the afternoon we biked the island which we enjoyed because no vehicles are allowed on Baldhead,  just golf carts and bikes. Having said that, we did find that the golf carts are going a bit faster than they did a few years ago. — In the evening we relaxed and had a wonderful home cooked dinner with Kim and John, gracious host and hostess for sure.

Captaining a golf cart on Baldhead Island

John, a fellow Power Squadron member, and the Captain

Peeking at "Magoo" docked at Bald Head Island

Bald Head beach

April 8. Left Baldhead Island at 8:30am. The current is with us going up the Cape Fear River and we are traveling at a good speed (for a trawler ). — It is a beautiful sunny day and we can feel the temperature warming up. It feels like North Carolina is happy to have us home and giving us a “warm” welcome; back where we belong!! — We arrived in Wrightsville Beach and docked at noon at the Wrightsville Beach Marina (it’s Azalea Festival Weekend–lots of people). We had a most wonderful surprise!! Two loopers came knocking on “Magoo”; Donna and Greg of “Lady in Red”. We traveled with them through Canada, Lake Michigan, Chicago and the first half of the river system. What a wonderful visit we had and look forward to more get togethers.

The last bridge on our trip (North Topsail)

April 9. Left Wrightsville Beach at 8am. The cruise was wonderfully familiar. It is difficult to believe that we are in our home waters where we have boated for years. Can we really be here after a year? Are we dreaming?? –
No, it was a trip of a lifetime.

As we went by our waterway house I could not contain myself — I started beeping the horn. I beeped it a lot!!  Some neighbors came out of their houses waving, shouting, to welcome us back. It was such a thrill; I found a tear or two on my cheek. Then we turned to port into New River and port again into Old Ferry Marina. And for the last time on this trip, we turned Magoo’s “trusty” engine off and heard  silence. We looked at each other and said “We did it!! We made it!!” We hugged,oh how we hugged!!  We gave each a hearty “high five”  and said yet again, “We did it!! — You and me a ‘Magoo’, we did it!! “

Neighbors along the ICW

More neighbors along the ICW

Entering Old Ferry Marina basin..............

"We Did It!! You, me, and Magoo"

Old Ferry Marina

Welcome Back -- Our first sunset at home!!