April 4,
2010
Easy day today. Only a six-hour cruise from Cricket Cove Marina, north of Myrtle Beach, to Southport, NC. Of course, that meant going through a pontoon bridge and a swing bridge and attempting to hold position against the current with two trawlers and four sailboats also waiting for the bridge opening. It was interesting to listen to sailboaters from Canada trying to understand the heavy drawl of the bridge tender . Fred and I looked at each other and said, "What did he say? They'll never figure that out if we can't!"
We arrived early afternoon
and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the day. It was in the low 80s with a great
breeze. We had an interesting
Easter dinner at "Fishy, Fishy," a restaurant on the canal within walking
distance of the marina. It was a
little different having local grilled tuna for me and, as Fred says, anything
but fish for him!
We are aiming for Topsail,
NC tomorrow, which will be an eight-hour cruise, depending on the prevailing
current. Hope all of you had a
wonderful Easter.
April 5,
2010
Made it to Topsail,
NC this afternoon after an
eight-hour journey. Uneventful,
except for a slow go because of the recurring opposing current. Again waited for two swing bridge
openings, one on the hour and the other on the half hour. Of course, we don't go fast enough to
make them in succession, so we wander around and wait for the next appointed
time. On the up side,
It did give us a chance to watch dolphins swimming alongside the boat, as well
as learning how good pelicans are at diving for fish and swallowing them
whole.
The home above is just one
of hundreds of mini-castles we've seen along the Waterway. However, there is also evidence of an
economic downturn in the Carolinas, because we've also seen many For Sale
signs. The ship pictured was docked
near the Wrightsville Bridge. I
hope it has owners who appreciate her, but how much fun can it be when you have
to use an intercom to locate one another?
Our Cape Dory may be small, but she has absolutely everything we need,
and we don't need an on-board crew to operate her!
We're just going to start
out tomorrow and go until we find someplace interesting to spend the night. What a great way to travel!
April 6,
2010
We traveled up to Bogue
Sound in Swansboro, NC. Beautiful
ride along the ICW today as we passed through bays, inlets, rivers and
sounds. We again saw many dolphins
lazily rolling out of the water. A
familiar sight was the birds making nests on the markers, just like they do in
the Chesapeake. We watched them
carrying sticks and long strands of moss from the shore.
There have also been several areas where
people are digging for clams. The
clams are often found in the areas exposed at low tide, adjacent to the
Waterway, as you can see in the picture above. One more reason to keep a sharp lookout
for the boundaries of the ICW.
We passed by Camp Lejeune, but thankfully they didn't close the Waterway
for small-weapons firing and beach-landing exercises .
We had winds on our stern
for most of the day, increasing to 25 knots (30 MPH) by the time we docked. They continue to howl and are expected
to last throughout the night and into tomorrow. Hopefully, they will help push us toward
Oriental, NC, our next destination.
April 7,
2010
Yeah, we actually motor-sailed today! The jib, along with the wind, helped propel us into past Beaufort, NC through Pamlico Sound on our way to Oriental, NC. A nice ride, and the temperature has been perfect on the water. The natives in Oriental claim that "Oriental isn't at the end of the world, but you can see it from there. Stand on the lawn at Lou Mac Park and look to your left, and you'll see the earth fall away below the edge of the Pamlico Sound. Somewhere beneath the horizon lies Oracoke Island, and beyond that, England. So while Oriental isn't really at land's end, it does have that feel."
Tomorrow, our plan is to motor or sail or both to Belhaven, NC; that is, if we can get out of this slip with the wind!
Is this what they mean by
"birds of a feather flock together”?
April 8,
2010
We arrived at Belhaven, NC
after nice big rollers in the Neuse River, Bay River, Pamlico Sound, and into
the Pungo River. Fred said if he
ignored the land visible on each side, he could pretend he was in the
ocean. If he had a more adventurous
mate, I'm sure that's where we'd be!
The marina in Dowry Creek
was very interesting. There is a
clubhouse where we joined other slipmates and resident boat people for a potluck
dinner. Very nice marina, very
friendly people, in spite of the gusty 40-mile-per-hour winds and lightning
overnight.
We had no connectivity to
the world at Belhaven, as cell phones didn't work and we didn't have a wireless
connection. Now we're back on
line. Tomorrow, we're pressing on to the Alligator
River, if the weather allows.
April 9,
2010
We are determined to reach
the Chesapeake Bay next week. What
other reason could there be to leave in a rainstorm and with reduced
visibility? Crazy, that's
what! After nine hours of periodic
rain, partial sun, gusty winds, and calm air in the tree-lined canals, we
arrived at Alligator River Marina, located at the mouth of the Alligator
River. We're ready to tackle
Albemarle Sound tomorrow, which is a very unpredictable body of water. Hope we can sail across, as it
makes the passage more enjoyable.
Our big decision tomorrow morning is whether to travel to Norfolk via the Dismal Swamp again or to go the Virginia Cut route. Much depends on wind and wave forecasts Boat traffic is much lighter than we expected, so wind is the determining factor. Isn't it always with a sailor?
Beauty amidst debris
April 10,
2010
After consulting weather
forecasters and the local homespun prognosticators, we decided to travel north
via the Virginia Cut instead of the Dismal Swamp. We prepared last night for wind and
waves in the Albemarle Sound.
Fred unbagged the sails and we secured items in the cabin and were ready
for unstable conditions. Well, he
was totally disgusted. We had
three hours of waves of about one foot and such minimal wind that it was almost
monotonous. I'll have to admit that
yours truly wasn't all that unhappy.
He claimed that he would have gotten beaten up more if he had taken my
merlot!
We arrived at Coinjock, NC
mid-afternoon and watched in amazement as much larger boats tied up at the
dock. Many seemed fascinated with
the Cape Dory, however, so we had a steady stream of
visitors.
We will leave bright and
early tomorrow morning in an attempt to get to Norfolk, VA. It's a little doubtful, because we have
to go through the Great Bridge Lock, plus six scheduled bridge openings. Just another day of adventure in an
interesting part of the country!