We spend the weekend at
Osprey, visiting with Linda's sister, Claudia and her husband Larry.
I did some maintenance, changed oil and filters and changed water
filter. Not many cruising boats in the marina this time of year,
maybe one a night besides us. I guess we are on the tail end of the
migration north. We celebrate Claudia’s birthday Sunday night.
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| Leaving Osprey Marina |
Monday (5/12/14) morning we
leave at 8:15. We had wind and current in our favor most of the day.
Most of the time we were moving over 7mph with the engine on idle and
only the head sail out. I could not have timed the current changes
any better if I had planned it. By the time we reached the Cape Fear
river we caught the flood tide up the river and were moving above 10
mph for much of our transit up the river. We got into Carolina Beach
around 7:00 PM covering 80 miles in one 11 hour day. A lot more day
light than we hand in the fall coming south. In November and
December we were usually anchored by 4:00 PM. Gertie is in the same
mooring field that we pull into.
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| Some affordable ICW water front |
The next morning the harbor
master for the mooring field gives us a ride to the local supermarket
on his golf cart. Nice little extra for staying on one of the town
moorings. Did some more boat maintenance, changed heat exchanger
zinc, cleaned out the raw water engine filter and changed the
transmission fluid. That afternoon we go for a walk on the beach.
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| Camp
Lejuene, Marines training |
Wednesday we are on our way
by 8:00AM. Gertie stays another day to get their engine mounts
checked out. We have a number of swing bridges to deal with today.
Some open on the hour and some every half hour. I adjust engine speed
to time bridges so we do not have to wait for openings and waste fuel
by arriving too early. Later in the afternoon we reach a couple
inlets that were trouble coming south. Lots of shoaling, we saw a
number of boats aground last Fall. We are pleasantly surprised to
find out that the state of North Carolina had dredged these problem
areas in March and we now had plenty of depth in these areas. Thank
you NC. By 5:00 PM we are anchored in Mile Hammock Bay, part of Camp
Lejuene, Marine training base.
There were about 13 boats here coming
south. Tonight there was just us and another boat. Interestingly, the
next night Gertie was there with about 7 other boats. The no-seems
(little ity-bity-bitey bugs) are out in force and they are nearly
impossible to keep out of the boat. Normal screens don't stop them
and you can't see them. I take a couple extra fans and have them
blowing on us all night to slow them down so we can sleep.
Thursday we stop for the
night at Spooner Creek, a stop we made coming south. We stayed at
Spooner Creek Marina in the Fall, but this time we anchored in the
narrow confines of the creek, which is lined with homes and docks.
Fortunately, for us they have not changed the password to the WIFI.
Thunderstorms are predicted for tonight and tomorrow and this very
protected creek is a good place to be. We are also a short walk to a
lot of stores like, Walmart, Radio Shack, Best Buy, etc. The wind and
rain really picks up Friday morning so we stay put. This very small
creek actually had white caps. Around noontime the front passes
through and the weather turns nice, so we head out after stopping at
the Marina for fuel and a pump out. We head through Morehead City
and north, up the ICW. Saw lots of dolphins. Anchor in Cedar Creek
for the night. We anchored there coming south. Gertie comes in
about an hour later.
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| Blackbeard Yacht Club |
Our plans for the following
day is to sail up the Neuse River to New Bern to visit with Bill and
Sandy (Hot Chocolate) who arrived home ahead of us, by a week or so.
We are going to stay at Bill and Sandy's boat club, Blackbeard
Sailing Club. Bill is the Dockmaster, so we have a pretty good
connection. They do offer a nights free dockage to members of any
registered yacht club. Bill gives us direction via cell phone and VHF
radio as we get closer. Bill and Sandy are waiting at the dock to
grab our lines. Shortly after Gertie pulls in behind us. Very nice
boat club, 3 docks, no moorings. Although one interesting fact is
when there is a potential hurricane all the boats must be off the
docks. So most of the boats get anchored out in the creek, up stream
from Blackbeard, when a hurricane threatens. That explains some of
the huge Danforth anchors that are tied to the pilings on the dock in
front of on some sailboats. Bill currently avoids that problem by
keeping their boat at a marina a mile or so away, that has more
protection and enjoys the club for the social aspects of sailing. We
all head over to the marina for lunch.
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| Potluck dinner |
That evening we attend a
Potluck Dinner at Blackbeard. They have a guest speaker from The
Salty Southeast Cruisers' Net, ( CrusiersNet.Net ). Kind of fun
hearing him describe cruising areas on the ICW that we have been
recently through. We did catch up with Sea-Vu-Play another Blackbeard
member we crossed paths with frequently in the Bahamas, distinctive
name on the VHF. Only problem with the name, man of the French
Canadian boats assumed they to, were French Canadian. We have a great
time, very friendly club members and a very nice club house.
Sunday morning Bill picks us
all up for breakfast at their home. Sandy makes us a fabulous
breakfast. After, Bill and Sandy takes us on a tour of New Bern. We
can see why they chose to move to New Bern. Historical town on the
Neuse river with quick access to some great sailing areas. Later we
go back to their house for dinner and domino's. They may never get
rid of us, if they keep feeding us so well. Monday I stay on the
boat for a couple sewing repair projects, re-sewing a dodger zipper
and making some changes to our Bimini, while everyone else goes off
on various errands. A club member, Charlie, has a sail cover that
needs some new stitches, so I repair that as well since I already
have the sewing machine out. Again we have dinner at Bill and
Sandy's.
Late Monday morning we leave for a short trip to Oriental,
NC. Gertie goes to a boatyard to get engine mounts replaced and we
anchor in the harbor. The town has some free docks, but they are all
full. The anchoring area is very small. We kind of run aground
checking out one spot. We back off with ease after our forward
movement stops. Sandy and Bill stops by to take us all to a couple
stores near town. We of course have to stop at the local marine
consignment store. Always interesting, but more of a museum of old
junk, entertaining, but still worthless junk. Some of the used
marine equipment stores in Florida had some worthwhile items from
teak and starboard to diving equipment.
I had Sandy's laptop
overnight and used a linux bootable CD to save copies of all her
documents and photos, because her Windows operating system is fatally
damaged and will not boot up. I give her back her laptop. After she
installs a fresh copy of Windows she can reload her documents and
photos.
Wednesday we leave around
9:00 AM for Ocracoke Island on the Outer Banks and say good bye to
Gertie as they are waiting for their engine mounts. We have good
winds and have a brisk sail to Ocracoke. Fortunately we are here
before Memorial Day weekend, so the harbor is not too crowded. There
are about 5 derelict liveaboard “sailboats” in the harbor without
sails and one without a mast.
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| Ocracoke Lighthouse |
Linda's arms and hands have
been having an increasing tingling feeling over the past few days. We
were getting concerned. Linda called her doctor back in Vermont and
was told she should see immediate attention, implying it could be a
heart problem. Called the local medical center late in the afternoon
and they said we should call 911 and they would have to take her by
ferry to the mainland. We both get busy Googling on our iPads and
decide she has none of the 8 or so major symptoms that are precursors
to a heart attack and decide the medical people are defaulting to the
worst possible scenario without any logical reasons. We make an
appointment to visit the local medical center in the morning and head
into town for dinner at Dajio. Great restaurant, good prices and
unique menu.
The next morning we meet Dr.
Baker. Linda fills out a questionnaire and they do some minor
testing, EKG and draw blood. She notes that Linda has just started
taking Prilosec. I do a quick Google search and SOB, tingling of the
hands, arms and feet is one of the many side effects that some people
experience with Prilosec. The doctor comes back. Tests are negative
for heart problems and she feels the Prilosec may be the culprit. She
recommends switching to Zantac. They send out the blood sample for
further testing and recommends we stay another day to get the
results. Relieved we head back to the boat for lunch. Later we head
back into town to rent bikes and ride to the Variety store for
Zantac.
Friday morning we sleep in
and have a late breakfast on the boat. We bike to the Ocracoke
Lighthouse and to the beach for the afternoon. Not like the deserted
beaches of Cumberland Island, lots of people here at the national
park beach. Just south of this beach area, vehicles are allowed and
it looks like a used car lot as far south as we can see. Later in
the afternoon Linda talks to Dr. Baker about the blood test results
and everything is negative for any heart related issues. Maybe it
was the bicycling, but Linda sleeps much better that night.
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| Maybe I should of read this before we left Vermont |
I had hoped to sail north
inside of the Outer Banks and skip more of the ICW. Unfortunately
the winds are blowing pretty hard out of the north, the direction we
want to go, so we sail northwest across the Pamlico Sound and then up
the Pungo river towards Belhaven, NC back on the ICW. Once we get
across the Pamlico Sound we pick up Gertie on the Radio, they are
about an hour ahead of us, with the new motor mounts in place. We
anchor at the same anchorage on the Pungo river just before the start
of the Alligator River – Pungo River Canal. Gertie radios back to
make sure we have our screens in place before we arrive, the bugs are
out in force.
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| Morning parade up the Alligator River – Pungo River Canal |
Sunday (5/25/14) we have a
long day ahead so we are off by 7:00 AM with Gertie. It takes a
couple hours to transit the canal and another 4 hours to transit
Alligator River to the Albemarle Sound. We cross the Sound to North
River to anchor for the night. We are taking the Virginia Cut, an
alternate passage from the Dismal Swamp, which we took going south.
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| Town of Coinjock on the Virginia Cut |
Monday up and early again to
cover some distance. The northern half of today's passage has three
swing bridges which with odd opening times makes it impossible to get
through at normal cruising speeds. On some sections we throttle back
so we aren't sitting in front of a bridge for an extended period of
time. The upside was we were able to sail without the engine running
in a couple sections allowing us to listen to the wild life, between
power boats zipping by.
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| Low swing bridge |
The swing bridges here are
some of the lowest we have seen. Even Personal Water Craft have to
wait for an opening since the bridges are only three feet off the
water. By the time we got to Great Bridge, the last one, the power
boats that passed us at the first bridge are tied to the dock waiting
for the bridge to open. The Virginia Cut lock is just north of Great
Bridge and opens in sequence with the bridge for north bound boats.
In between the bridge and the lock is a wall where boats can tie up
over night for free. We and Gertie tie up for the night. A couple
recommended restaurants we were hoping to try are closed, being
Monday and Memorial Day weekend. We head for a local Bar and Grill
that has a good crowd and fairly good food.
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| Sunset of the wall |
Mid-morning the next day
after some food shopping we shove off the wall to enter the lock just
as the bridge opens. The lock is fairly full and we are side by side
with a mega-yacht with a bow thruster that is probably more powerful
than our diesel engine.
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| Virginia Cut Lock |
Sticker on the lock wall.
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| "Life is too short to have an ugly boat" |
Two more bridge openings and we get to
Plymouth by early afternoon. We get lucky and Gertie and Manana get
the last two spots in a free wall in a protected basin in Plymouth
across the river from Norfolk. Our fellow cruisers, already tied up
in the basin, come to our assistance and take our dock lines. Our
neighbor across the river is an aircraft carrier being refitted.
Coming south it was inside a floating dry dock, now next to it. It
just came out of the floating dry dock a couple days ago. We spend
the afternoon walking around Plymouth.
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| Free dock at Plymouth |
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| Battleship Wisconsin |
Wednesday (5/28/14) we get
up early and take the water taxi to Norfolk with Dan & Dawn and
have breakfast there before we go to the Norfolk Naval Museum. Very
large museum. We also toured the World War II, Battleship Wisconsin,
which last saw action in the first Gulf War, refitted with cruise
missiles. Most of the guides were once crew members on the Wisconsin
which made it all the more interesting hearing their stories about
life on a Battleship.
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| Aft deck Battleship Wisconsin |
After a warm day in the
80's, we get heavy showers over night. Thursday is dreary, 66
degrees. We experience the second high tide that floods the dock, by
3 or 4 inches. We leave in the afternoon to go 10 miles north to
Willoughby Bay so we can quickly head out of Norfolk and get on the
Chesapeake early the next day.
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| Sunset at Fishing Bay Yacht Club |
Friday we head for
Deltaville and Fishing Bay Yacht Club, where we stayed for a couple
days when we were heading south. I contacted, members, George and
Lyons Burke, whom we made friends with on our travels south in the
Chesapeake last fall. They also have a Catalina 36. We decide to
stay an extra day since the winds on Saturday will be blowing hard
out of the north. George gives us a ride into Deltaville and drops us
off for lunch. We walk back visiting a number of stores including a
West Marine. I get a deal on a $120 pair of foul weather pants for
$30, could not pass that up. We get pizza delivered to the Yacht club
for dinner.
Sunday we do a long day to
Solomons, MD, but anchor out in the bay since we are leaving early the
next day for Annapolis.
Monday afternoon we go
through the Spa Creek Draw bridge, in Annapolis, at 3:00PM. By
mid-afternoon the wind had picked up enough we were moving by sail
alone and the waves were starting to build up. It was a nice
contrast to be in the placid waters of Spa Creek. Our afternoon goal
was to head to the Rams Head with Dan and Dawn for Happy Hour. We
spent many evenings at the Rams Head last fall for their Happy Hour.
Tonight was taco night, one draft beer $2.75, gets you two tickets
for two Tacos. Two beers and you have had dinner, but we stop at one
beer and Linda and I split a dinner, as do Dan and Dawn.
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| Dawn, Dan & Linda, Rams Head |
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| Another Happy Hour at Rams Head |
Dan and Dawn leave early on
Tuesday, while we stay another day waiting for Linda's prescription
to get filled at CVS. They were out of the medicine she needed the
previous day. In the morning we get our propane tank filled, but
don't get back to the boat until mid-afternoon, because of the long
walk. After a short rain shower we head into CVS to pick up her
prescription and of course head to Rams Head for Happy Hour. Tonight
is raw oysters and steamed mussels. For one beer each, we get 16
oysters and 4 small plates of mussels. Linda eats most of the mussels
and I eat most of the oysters. We split a prime rib dinner. We went
back to the boat very satisfied.
Wednesday we are up early
and catch the 7:00 AM opening of the Spa Creek bridge. We were aiming
to get to Baltimore shortly after noontime. We fueled up and pump out
just before getting into the inner harbor and the East Harbor Marina
where we plan to stay for two nights. Since it is early in the season
we did not need reservations, the marina was more than half empty. I
would hate to be here in the middle of summer.
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| Ships anchored off Annapolis waiting to go to Baltimore Harbor |
Paid up our docking bill and
went for a walk. We toured a couple of ships, USS Constellation a
Civil War man-o-war, Torsk a WWII submarine and a Chesapeake light
ship. The submarine was quite interesting. Since they were replacing
some decking on the stern we could not exit from that end, so once we
reached the aft torpedo room we had to walk back through to the
forward torpedo room where we first entered. With all the hatches
between the compartments it was slow going. You would have to be a
midget hurdler track star to get through the sub with any kind of
speed.
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| Baltimore, Fort McHenry in foreground |
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| Torsk |
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| USS Constellation |
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| National Aquarium |
The manager at the marina
recommended Fleming's Happy Hour. Fleming is a very expensive
restaurant, but their happy hour is not. It was quite good.
Thursday morning we head for
the National Aquarium. We spend most of the day there, it was quite
impressive. Late in the afternoon we walk to an eclectic art museum
that again was recommended by the marina manager. Very interesting,
very strange. Long walk back, we are too tired to think about dinner
so we go back to the Fleming. Tables in the bar were full so we sit
at the bar. Our waiter remembers us and me by name, I guess we are
now regulars. Again left very satisfied.
Friday morning we leave for
a two day trip to Cape May.
