On the Move Again

Tuesday, Oct. 30

We finally moved today although the weather forcast wasn't great. The wind
had switched and was coming from the only direction that made waves that came
through our marina. The winds were a little lighter so we decided to head a short
distance and get out of the Cape Fear River. We had a really difficult time getting
away from our dock because we were being pinned against it by the wind but
finally, with two other guys pushing our bow away we made it. We had a
favorable current but strong head winds as we traveled down the Cape Fear
River for two hours and then into protected waters of the ICW.
We are staying at St. James Marina, recommended to us by Links. Thank you,
Links. This is a very nice place, beautifully landscaped with good staff and an
excellent price and well - protected.

St. James - I'm sitting on a deck of this building

listening to a great live band and typing this.

Part of the spiderweb holding our boat during "Sandy"

18 miles

Still at Carolina Beach

Sunday, Oct. 28

Well we're still here at Carolina Beach Marina and starting to tire of hearing the
strong wind. However, we are glad to be safe and will continue here for another
couple of days. This storm is moving very slowly and today's winds are actually
the strongest yet.
The rain has stopped so we rode our bikes into town, viewed the beach here at the
ocean and will be hanging out at different places watching football games and
such. MacDonalds is always good for coffee and internet service.
From what we are hearing some of you may experience worse weather than we
are having. It certainly dominates the news. At least it's a respite from politics,
which we are fortunately missing. I know Ohio is getting bombarded with advertising.
We voted back when we were in Annapolis so that is already done for us.
Keep Safe!!

Tropical Storm Sandy

Wednesday, Oct.24

We got an early start with a whole string of boats leaving the anchorage to try and
time the multiple bridges with different opening schedules that we would encounter
today. The unknown was how fast we would travel due to the strong currents that
influence traveling speed. We were blessed to have the following current when we
most needed it and counter current when it least affected our timing.
As our cruising guide warned, inlets along the way imposed difficult side currents
and shoaling of the waterway and several times today we had to do sudden s-curves
to go around shallow areas. We were following another sailboat that was a little
deeper than we are, which was helpful. The stretch below Wrightsville Beach was very
busy with boat traffic, the first time we've encountered this on our trip.
While on this stretch we got a phone call from Mike Link apprising us of "Sandy",
which has been very much in our lives since.
We pulled into Carolina Beach State Park Marina, a very nice marina, cheap with new
docks,cheap laundry and well - protected. We rode our bikes the two miles over to the
Atlantic Ocean where there is a beautiful beach with soft clean sand and then had dinner
at The Dive Shop.
After researching our options we decided the best place to weather the coming storm is
right where we are so we are hunkering down, double - tying all our lines, creating a
spiderweb around our boat, stripping all canvas, tying off our dinghy and hoping for
only a glancing blow from "Sandy". It looks like the high winds will be around for
several days.
While here we met Linda and Steve who educated us on galvanic isolators and the need
for them and for monitoring stray electrical currents around our boat and the docks. We
then placed an order for the appropriate equipment which we are having delivered to
a marina we will stay at next week.
If it works out timewise, depending on "Sandy", we hope to visit with Jer and Deb in
Hilton Head as we pass through.

Dolphins swimming along with us

 

Empty docks at Carolina Beach Marina, off of Cape Fear River

 

 

53 miles

 



 

 

Camp Lejeune

Monday, Oct. 22

It was hard to get out from under the comforter this morning, with the temperature
at 47 degrees. The day was beautiful though and we got to enjoy about 20 dolphins
as we neared Morehead City.
We anchored behind Sugarloaf Island next to the mooring balls which were empty
and dinghied to The Sanitary Fish Market (world famous, even with that name).
There we bought three pounds of bay scallops, some of which we enjoyed for dinner
that night. It was a very peaceful quiet night on the hook even that close to town and
we enjoyed the lights of the city reflected on the water. The boat set very steady with
the strong current.

26 miles


Tuesday, Oct. 23

We saw a dolphin as we headed out of our anchorage and again as we passed Bogue
Sound. We needed to time a swing bridge carefully and I called Camp Lejeune as
we neared their area to make sure we could pass through, with no live firing practice
today and get their approval to anchor in their bay. I was told we could anchor
there tonight but to keep a distance from their exercises occuring today.
When we arrived we were treated to a front row seat at an impressive display of the
Osprey aircraft, lots of two man mini- submarines and divers. I'm glad these guys are
on our side. It was noisy with large guns firing in the distance, lots of helicopters, and
other aircraft. We enjoyed a quiet beautiful sunset with 16 other boats in the anchorage
and after dark the nighttime warfare exercises started but things got quiet by 11:00.

Osprey aircraft practicing landing and takeoff

 

Beautiful peaceful sunset at Mile Hammock Bay

(Camp Lejeune)

 

Alligator River - Oriental

Thursday, Oct. 18

We left in the dark to get through the liftbridge at 6:30 (on demand) before they
went to restricted openings at 7:00. It was a beautiful sunrise ( "red in the morning,
sailors take warning") and it was cloudy and threatening for the first two hours as
we headed out into Albemarle Sound, which has a bad reputation. Then the weather
improved and we had a great sail for two hours as we crossed the sound. We pulled
into Alligator Creek Marina at noon and were the only boat there until later in the
afternoon when two other boats arrived, one we knew and another from Cleveland
that we got to know as they joined us on our boat for happy hour. This marina is
behind a gas station/restaurant/store, which is an interesting combination that works.
By the way, they do have alligators now way up here in North Carolina, even in slightly
brackish water.
The locals have an accent that can make it hard to understand them especially on the
marine radio.

34 miles


Friday, Oct. 19

We left early and into a heavy fog on the Alligator River. Thankfully we have radar
onboard and could safely continue and traffic was very light. When we got into the
Pungo Canal we had a couple hours of rain but we stayed dry in the cockpit. Along the
southwest end of the canal we saw a dozen eagles, some catching fish in front of us.
Belhaven Marina was full so we stayed at the community dock which worked out
well for us since it was free, no electric or water. The dock itself was very nice with
an adjoining deck with picnic tables. It was right next door to Belhaven Marina so we
went over and joined four other boats/couples for happy hour. It's been great to get to
know some of these people as we keep connecting with them.
The town of Belhaven is obviously struggling, with many closed storefronts and
businesses. We did our best to help the bakery in town, visiting them for donuts in
the morning before we took off.

53 miles


Saturday, Oct. 20

We were the first to leave in the morning and were followed by quite a few other
sailboats as we headed down the River. The breeze was good and from a favorable
direction so we all enjoyed a great sail for a while until we had to turn up the Neuse
River. It was a beautiful day and lots of sailboats were out enjoying a sunny fall day
out sailing on the wide river here which seems more like a bay than a river.
Oriental, NC is known as the sailing capitol of the state and rightfully so. There are
loads of boats, many marinas, lots of big shrimp boats, and a community that is
oriented around boating. The people are friendly and helpful and this is the first
marina where they refueled our boat in its slip.
There is a chandlery next door where we were able to buy a needed part for our grill
we had not been able to find anywhere else and they loaned us some bikes to use for
our trip to the grocery store a mile away. There is a fresh fish market across the street
that had great scallops we grilled for dinner, crab meat Carol used to make yummy
crabcakes and super shrimp we will enjoy soon. We spent Sunday here too.

48 miles

                                         

                        Oriental, NC - docked next to the shrimp boats
















fish market in Oriental


  



Elizabeth City

Wednesday, Oct. 17

It was a cold morning as we left with three other sailboats to catch the 8:30
bridge and lock at South Mills, the south end of the Dismal Swamp Canal.
The sunrise was gorgeous and the river after we left the canal was extremely
winding and narrow with many areas totally coverd with duckweed making
it look surreal. The swamp forest we were traveling through had lots of bald
cypress and had a very "swampy" appearance. I enjoyed it.
When we came into Elizabeth City we decided to dock at some free docks in
front of  The Mid Atlantic Christian University instead of the free town docks,
at the advice of an experienced cruiser we met. As we pulled in I saw that we
were tying up next to a boat that said "Maritime Ministries" named "Praise
The Lord". This was amazing. We have known of this ministry since 15 years
ago when it started, ministering to Long Island, Bahamas. The couple started
by living on their boat and doing ministry from there. We had met them in
Richmond, VA but had never seen the boat, only heard stories. It was interesting
to meet Mike, from the U.K and catch up on Reuben and Debra.
We were hosted by the visitor staff from Elizabeth City to wine, beer, cheese
and roses for the ladies.
There was a great museum in town, free.

23 miles

Swampy looking Pasquotank River covered with duckweed

In the Dismal Swamp Canal

Monday, Oct. 15

We decided to stay another day in Portsmouth and enjoyed our time here. We walked
around "Old Town" which has many old houses from the 1700's and 1800's, very historical.
In the afternoon we took the ferry over to Norfolk on the other side of the river and
walked the riverfront area, which is very nice. The battleship "Wisconsin" is there and
is awesome. It was not open for tours on Monday but just viewing it from the dock was
great. There is a beautiful Taiwan garden on the waterfront that we enjoyed and the
ferry beween sides was reasonably priced.
In the evening we decided to celebrate our anniversary a day early - 36 wonderful years!
We had scallops and wine at Lobscouser and then dessert and a movie at the Commadore
Theater, a renovated old theater, watching "Trouble With the Curve" with Clint Eastwood
and Amy Adams, which we enjoyed.


Tuesday, Oct.16

We left at 8:30 to make the 9:30 opening of the Gilmerton Bridge and there were 15 -20
boats waiting in the gusty wind for the opening. The turn for the Dismal Swamp Canal
was tricky and everyone else missed it and then followed us. Nine of us sailboats went
through the lock together and four of us spent the night at the visitors center, where we
enjoyed Happy Hour together getting acquainted. The canal was very narrow and we
bumped on the bottom once. The overhanging trees made us watch the clearance aloft
as we went through. We had a beautiful day and I felt blessed to have a wife willing to
accompany me on this dream trip after 36 years of married life.
By the way, Sue and Terry, we enjoyed the second bottle of Winsome Old Vine Zinfandel,
one of our favorites from the collection.

27 miles

In the Intracoastal Waterway

Saturday, Oct. 13

It was a cold morning, 41 degrees, making it hard to get up and going but it was
sunny. We kept our foul weather gear on all day for warmth but the day went
well. At the mouth of the Potomac we started seeing pelicans and we saw lots of
them all day. We still haven't seen any dolphins but we're keeping our eye out for
them.
We were hoping to stay at Walden Marina because of the good price but it was too
shallow for us to get in there so we stayed across the creek at Dozier's which is
owned by the publishers of The Waterway Guide and Skipper Bob's. They have a
very nice facility and friendly helpful staff.
We met Bill from "Curchulian", a schooner that had been in the Great Schooner Race
the day before, a big event on the bay. The day before was a very bad day for him as
one of their crew fell off the boat right after the race and drown. We visited with him
as he talked over the loss of his crew member. He was still pretty shaken as you might
expect.
It was a long but good day.

58 miles


Sunday, Oct. 14

Today was a beautiful day, the warmest it has been in a while, hitting 78 degrees. There
was very little traffic, even in Hampton Roads and the Norfolk area. It was awesome
going by all the huge Navy aircraft carriers and battleships in the harbor here. There were
3 carriers and 3 battleships here and we are docked in Portsmouth right across from
some new battleships being built and they are huge.
There are still some of the schooners here from the race tied up near us and they are fun
to see, especially "The Pride of Baltimore".
There are huge commercial docks along the river here unloading cargo and they are amazing
to see.
We are finally in the Intracoastal Waterway, at mile marker 1. We enjoyed the Chesapeake
Bay and are ready for the next stage of the adventure.

54 miles  (1106 total miles)

On the Move Again

Thursday, Oct. 11

Wednesday afternoon our absentee ballots finally arrived at the Annapolis post office
and we were free to continue our trip. After a windy night on the anchor we pulled up
the anchor at 7:00 and headed out into the Chesapeake Bay. The wind was still blowing
pretty good but the trip was fine. The washdown pump we had installed before the trip
was a big help in removing the mud from the chain and anchor as we hauled it after a
week and a half in one spot.
Our destination for the day was Solomons, MD and we decided to stay at Calvert Marina.
We fueled up here first (great price), went over to the public pumpout (free) and then
back to our slip at Calvert on their floating dock (very nice). They had a nice discount
for Boat US members (only $1/ foot) and the staff was very pleasant and helpful. There
is a courtesy car available to use for West Marine and grocery shopping, laundry ($1.50/
load) and the owner loaned me his tester for checking out an electrical issue we had. We
had been wrestling with using our new generator for charging our batteries because our
reverse polarity light had lit when we connected it to our system. After much research
the issue had to do with "no ground" on the generator which turns out to be universally
true with generators and can be just ignored.
Having a chance to catch up on laundry was a huge plus.

50 miles


Friday, October 12

We stayed at Solomons another day due to Small Craft Advisory on the bay and a desire
to see more of this town. It was good to be plugged into shore power and put a good charge
into the new batteries finally.
It was time for another barbershop day so we both got haircuts today with Carol's being
the most severe, getting an easy care cut for the cruising lifestyle. I have not been cutting
her hair for a while so it required dusting off some old skills that hadn't been used for
some time.
We visited the Calvert Marine Museum here in town and were very impressed with it. It
was very interesting and we spent a couple of hours there getting educated. Then we headed
off to The Ruddy Duck to sample some of the local beer here and mingle with the locals
who were avidly following the baseball playoff game between their beloved Baltimore
Orioles and the wicked New York Yankees. We had a nice conversation with Don, who
retired after selling his business of making flight simulators for the military.
I may have a better handle on including pictures on the blog - we'll see. I'm posting a couple
of New York City pictures to that past blog.

Enjoying Annapolis

 Monday, Oct. 8

We're still in Annapolis, still anchored back in Weem's Creek, a great location for
spending time here. The only difficulty is the need to haul the laptop into town to
get wireless. However, it leads to us sitting in coffee shops enjoying coffee, baked
goods or ice cream. Oh well, sometimes one must suffer.
Our dodger was completed in just two days - amazing and it is so wonderful to
have windows so clear we don't even know they are there. We also decided to
replace our house batteries here and found a place with fantastic prices and they
were able to deliver them to us that same day. Our house batteries weigh 160 pounds
each and Carol and I were able to remove the old ones, load them in the dinghy and
take them to shore. Frankie from Pasco brought the new ones to the dinghy and helped
me take them out to the boat and down into their place below the floorboards. Five
years ago I did it all by myself and this was a wiser way to do it all. Pasco was
great to deal with and I have been referring them to everyone I encounter. Perhaps
we could have completed our trip with the old batteries but this eased our minds. We
have been anchored out for a week and a half now, relying on our own power generation
and battery capacity, with lots more of this in the future.
Friday was spent at the Sailboat Show where we bought some odds and ends and had
a delightful day seeing boats and meeting people. We got some great info regarding how
best to operate our refrigerator and battery charging. This is the largest sailboat show in
the country and it was a beautiful day so there were lots of attendees. The creek where we
are anchored has been packed with boats this week and the dinghy dock has been parked
two boats deep.
Saturday and Sunday were spent attending informational seminars with lots of great
speakers and we had dinner with three other couples from back home, Bill and Sandy,
Andre and Janice, and Chuck and Betty. It was fun reconnecting and we rode all over
town Sunday with Chuck and Betty, shopping and checking out all the great haunts
they have discovered in their many years coming to the show here, eating dinner at
Cantler's, a popular spot especially for crabs.
Monday, Steve Richardson was able to drive over and meet us for lunch at Davis Pub
in Eastport and it was good to spend time with him. He lives over near Galeville on
the West River. Carol and I have been putting lots of miles on our bikes here in
Annapolis.
Thursday I finally bit the bullit and climbed the mast to troubleshoot the masthead
anchor light I had installed on the mast while it was down going through the canal.
Carol did a great job cranking me up the mast with the halyard and after two hours
up there I was able to figure things out and reconnect things. Everyone ought to try
this sometime, making wire connections using only one hand, at the extreme end
of your reach while hanging by a rope, 60 feet in the air. Good news! It works now.
We'll be here in Annapolis until Wednesday waiting for our absentee ballot to reach
us at the post office here.

In the Chesapeake

Wednesday, Sept. 26

We stayed at Utsch's in Cape May another day and had a great day. We started with an
"apple ugly" from the bakery across the street and then walked to West Marine a half mile
away. We were checking the price and availability of new house batteries which are size
8D and not to be found around here because most boats around here are powerboats and
they use smaller batteries. While talking to the guys there they brought up the idea that
quite often electrical problems on a boat are best addressed first by a thorough cleaning
and tightening of all connections. I had forgotten this excellent advice and when I returned
to the boat I did this and found some suspect connections, with the result that I think our
charging problem is fixed, saving us big bucks and hassle (the batteries weigh 160 pounds
each).
We got out our bikes for the first time and rode 10 miles, traveling out to the lighthouse and
around town. They have some great wildlife displays at the lighthouse. Cape May is a
major migratory area for various owls and Monarch butterflies.
Happy hour was spent with Neil and Kelly on "Gon Bei", an enjoyable couple from San
Francisco. Neil made his money on real estate in the heyday out there and they are
conservatives. I didn't know that was possible being from San Francisco.


Thursday, Sept. 27

After much discussion and a phone call to Jan on "Rubaiyat" who did the Deleware two
days ago, we left Utsch's three and a half hours before low tide at Cape May. The Delaware
Bay is 54 miles long and has very strong tides and can be nasty depending on how you time
it. The guys at West Marine said "leave two hours before low tide", Skipper Bob says
"leave two hours after low tide", leaving us befuddled. We were facing a very long day so
followed Jan's advice which was we'd be OK if we left early due to calm weather forcast.
We ended up having a contrary current of 1 1/2 mph all day until the last hour of Deleware
Bay but with the calm weather it was fine. We only encountered one freighter all day and
we had been expecting heavy traffic. We made it up to the top of the bay and the beginning
of the C & D Canal just as darkness fell, which was a blessing. Just as we were getting
worried about finding the canal in the dark the current changed to favorable and we got
a big burst of speed to get there in time. The canal has lights all along the sides making it
easy to navigate and we didn't encounter any large boats, only on tug as we made our way
14 miles down to an anchorage area at Chesapeake City. We found our way into the bay
in the dark and got anchored by 9:00, a long day, but good. Shortly after anchoring the
sky was blocked out on the canal side of our boat. It was a "huge" ocean freighter going
down the canal, blocking part of the sky it was so big and close. We were glad to not have encountered that ship, getting in just in time.
Zero dollar day and very quiet anchorage. Slept well.

84 miles


Friday, Sept. 28

We stayed at Chesapeake City for another day since we have plenty of time to reach
Annopolis. We walked the town, visiting the shops in the historic buildings. There is a
pretty park on the harbor where many weddings are held, including one tomorrow they
were decorating for. We had lunch at The Chesapeake Inn on the water. There is an interesting
free canal museum by our boat. The canal is operated by the Army Corps of Engineers.


Saturday, Sept. 29

After another peaceful night at anchor, with an overnight drizzle we left and headed for
Worton Creek, a secluded bay down the Chesapeake Bay. We were now in the Chesapeake
and we had a wonderful sail. Carol hit 8.4 knots (9.6 mph). While sailing along we watched
an eagle come alongside 50' from us and snatch a fish out of the water - awesome. There
were lots of sailboats out on the bay today but no bad traffic.
We pulled into Worton Creek which has a tricky entrance, especially at low tide when
we were coming in. We anchored in 5.2' of water and listened to owls all night. The full
moon was gorgeous and we awoke to a calm bay with mist rising around the sailboats and
geese, ducks and cormorants floating around. It was very ethereal.
Zero dollar day. The batteries and charger seem to be working well.

30 miles

Sunday, Sept. 30

We were able to sail most of the way to Rock Hall. Lots of sailboats were out again today
on a nice weekend day at the end of the season. We tied up to the harbor wall which has
free docking and soon met "Johnny Crash", a colorful friendly chap that describes himself
as a "sailing trotlining chicken necker crabber". In case you haven't figure it out he's a local.
We befriended him, listening to his tales while his girlfriend took the local trolley into
town to shop and he offered us 8 crabs he had just caught and steamed, ready to eat. He
wouldn't take any payment so we gave him a nice bottle of wine for his girlfriend. He was
a hoot and reminded me of my friend Wally Taylor on steroids (no slight meant, Wally -
you would have enjoyed him too).
We had lunch and watched a football game on TV at the Harbor Shack and then walked to
downtown, a half mile away for grocereies and ice cream. Motored over to North Point
for fuel and a pumpout ($) since we plan on anchoring out for the next week and a half.
Back at the boat we used our pliers and screwdriver to enjoy the Maryland blue crabs we
had been given - delicious.

22 miles

Monday, Oct. 1

We had rain overnight but it was nice in the morning as we left for Annapolis. It was calm
so we motored and it was interesting coming in to Annapolis by water after having come
here so many times by land. There are saiboats everywhere and even more right now due
to the boat show this next weekend. All the mooring balls were taken at the town docks
so we headed on to Weems Creek, our intended anchorage.It was very hard to find a spot
to drop our anchor due to all the private moorings and swinging room needed but we
finally got settled in and after lunch we dinghied to the end of the bay and then walked to
the downtown Annapolis harbor area (1.7 miles). We asked at the visitor center and the lady
working the desk being a sailor, was able to lead us to info on getting new windows put
in our dodger while in Annapolis. We were able to connect with Sean at Cover Loft and
they will do the work and have it back to us by next Wednesday. We'll be here for the boat
show and to connect with people from Geneva Marina and we will have some mail sent
here from home. This is a good place to spend some time and we have been making good
progress.

19 miles