Posts In The “Destinations” Category
The Intracoastal Waterway continues south past Charleston through Wappoo Creek. We returned briefly to the ICW on a tour of the area by tender that included a run up the Ashley River beyond our marina, and a pass by the Port of Charleston where we watched the tugs Moira McAllister and Patrick McAllister assist the…
Charleston, SC was founded in 1670 and has done an excellent job of preserving its heritage and historic sites and buildings. On a surprisingly cold and frosty morning, we did a bicycle tour along the city’s historic waterfront. Trip highlights from January 8th, 2017 in Charleston, SC follow. Click any image for a larger view,…
The USS Yorktown is the second of twenty-four Essex-class aircraft carriers launched during World War II. The Yorktown served in World War II and Vietnam and was the recovery ship for Apollo 8, the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon. Today the Yorktown is a National Historic Landmark and open for tours as part…
The three-mile-long Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge crosses the Cooper River between Charleston and Mt. Pleasant. The bridge has a pedestrian and cycle lane with fabulous views to the city, the river and out to sea. We got the bikes down and spent a great day riding through Charleston and across the bridge, and explored a…
As we neared Charleston City Marina from sea, we’d started to wonder if we were heading in the right direction. The marina was supposed to be walking distance from downtown, but where were the tall buildlings? The city, it turns out, looks different from other downtowns due to zoning restrictions that limit building heights. We’d…
Our final leg along the ICW brought us to Beaufort, NC. South of here, the ICW is shallower than the section we just ran from Portsmouth, Virginia and has more bridges, current and shoaling issues. So we’ll be making a direct run offshore to our next stop in Charleston, South Carolina. A major weather system…
South of Albermarle Sound, the ICW continues south through the Alligator River. The swing bridge there, at mile 84, is the last of four bridges that we needed to have opened on our run between Portsmouth, Virginia and Beaufort, NC. The bridge won’t open in high winds of 35kts or more, which can be a…
The Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge includes 111,106 acres of wetlands south of Albermarle Sound. The refuge is home to over 300 different wildlife species including otters, muskrat, turtles, and the endangered red wolf, plus tens of thousands of migratory birds in the winter. Sponge-like peat soil in the wetlands retain water and hold it…
TCOM manufacturing has a major airship manufacturing facility in North Carolina up the Pasquotank River, with a 1,000ft-long hangar that can accomodate airships up to 150ft tall. We were lucky to arrive in the area during a test flight of a smaller model, and got a glimpse of a much larger ship when the massive…
In our second day along the ICW we travelled 38 miles from Great Bridge, Virgina to Coinjock in North Carolina. We passed five bridges, but only needed to have two opened for us. Depths generally were at least 10ft, with a few brief drops to about 8.5ft. A video of our transit between Great Bridge…
Except for a brief transit around the Palm Beach area, we’ve not traveled the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) in Dirona. In our first leg along the ICW, we headed 12 miles south from Portsmouth, Virginia to the town of Great Bridge. Depths were at least 10 feet all the way, except for about 8.5ft at Great…
Norfolk is home to the world’s largest naval base with ships ranging from aircraft carriers to destroyers to nuclear submarines. Navy ships are moored on both sides of the the channel into Norfolk, with security patrol craft in the air. The city also has a large and busy shipping port. As a fitting envoy, we…
We found winter boating in Chesapeake Bay to be surprisingly similar to the Pacific Northwest, with the same advantages and disadvantages. The main disadvantage of course is the weather. Storms are more frequent and fierce, so we need to watch the forecasts more carefully, the days are shorter, and the temperature is colder. The temperature…
In this 21st edition of the Dirona Technology Series, we get an opportunity to explore the CS Responder, a trans-ocean cable-laying ship operated by TE SubCom. TE Connectivity is $13.3B global technology company that specializes in communication cable, connectors, sensors, and electronic components. Their subsidiary TE SubCom manufactures, lays and maintains undersea cable. TE SubCom has a base in Baltimore…
Annapolis is the capital of Maryland and has more 18th-century buildings than any American city, including the homes of the four Maryland residents who signed the Declaration of Independence. It also is home to the US Naval Academy, a four-thousand strong four-year officer training program. The campus, open for tours, is a National Historic Landmark…
In a first for us, we started and ended 2016 at sea. On December 23rd, 2015 we departed Cape Town, South Africa on an 11-night, 1,713-nm passage to St. Helena in the southern Atlantic Ocean. And on December 31st 2016, we left Cape Lookout, NC on a 212-nm, overnight run to Charleston, SC (for details see 2016…
Baltimore is considered the birthplace of American railroading. The first regular passenger railway began here in 1830 from Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s Mount Clare station. That station and its adjacent roundhouse now is the B&O Railway Museum, housing the largest collection of 19th-century locomotives in the country and one of the most significant collections of…
The 178ft Washington Monument in Baltimore was completed in 1829 to honor George Washington. A 227-step climb to the top leads to a deck with sweeping city views. And if that isn’t enough, more great views can be had along the inner harbor from the top of Baltimore’s World Trade Center. Trip highlights from December…