On Down the Line a Bit

It's New Year's Eve in Beaufort, South Carolina. As it is elsewhere. But with the anchor down in Factory Creek and the nice folks at Lady's Island Marina letting us tie up the dinghy to provision, and a restaurant next door, there's not a lot else we need to do but catch up on the reporting.
A week and a day ago we left Wrightsville with spotty rain forecast and made it to the Cape Fear River before it hit us. The radar and chartplotter were a helpful combination as we picked out the line of markers leading down the river and as the tidal flow built we logged 9-1/2+ knots driving into the incoming breeze. That's a 3.5 kt boost. Or bust if one is going the other way. Better check that next time, we just got lucky. Back into the ICW at Southport and against the current once more.

There is a long stretch between there and Myrtle beach with little opportunity to anchor. Apparently many folks stop at Southport and make a long leg through there. With only half the day gone by I planned on using a marina once again in that stretch just to keep our 50 mile per day pace within reach. I placed several calls to the facility during the afternoon and tried the radio as we passed in front as sundown approached. A TowboatUS captain replied to my call to say that the place was closed for a month. And with that news we pulled up to the outside of their dock and tied up. Oh well, they couldn't even change their answering machine message, and regular folks were obviously still using their boats daily. I guess it was just the office staff that couldn't be bothered with doing any business this month. No guilt on our part. Didn't plug in or use a drop of water, gone by 0730.

So now we were motoring along on Christmas Eve, hoping to make Georgetown, SC for Christmas morning, but it's a long haul. Ran the few miles that have rocky banks on a narrow stretch, passed Myrtle Beach and a couple of swing bridges and we were back in a river system that became the Waccamaw. Another tide boost finally caught us up and it seemed like we could make G'town a little after 5pm and sunset. That tide boost was the ebb of a very high tide that had flushed out a lot of debris and mats of floating plants. We saw at least two dead-head log snags with their gnarly ends pointed upstream at us and the other end down in the mud. The darker it got the less important waking up in the harbor seemed to be and as a marina dock came around a bend, out came the phone. Of course, at 4:40 on Christmas Eve what right minded individual is sitting at a desk in an off-season marina office? Alas, we became pier pirates once again, and skulked off into the fog in the morning. Actually we waited until 10 o'clock because of the fog and when it broke up some we departed.

It was only another 8 miles to Georgetown but their harbor channel was still socked in thickly. We circled out and did a slow loop up the river and back to try again as it cleared in about an hour.
We dropped anchor in the harbor and had a surreal walk around town with nothing open and no more than half a dozen humans to be seen in several hours. But it was warm and sunny! Come to think of it, I haven't had long pants on since. We took a berth in a marina the next day for laundry, showers and a walk to the Piggly-Wiggly Market. where we called a cab to haul the load back. Our driver seemed a bit indifferent at first and I thought there might be a little socio-economic rub with the boat tourist vs. workaday folks but when I asked about the closed steel mill he turned out to be the Sage of Georgetown. Opining on economics and universal truths of the cosmos as we know it. $5 for the ride. Free lecture and entertainment. Actually, we agreed on most everything, so that's even better.

The next few days were Low Country scenic. Salt marshes with  surprising numbers Porpoises working the inside channels. We recognize a few boats here and there that leapfrog with us. The new anchor is working like a charm in these reversing current channels. I had rigged a retrieval line with a crab float on a stick to adjust the line length and learned that I need to leave 6-8 feet more than the depth of the water because the anchor will dive so deep in the muddy spots that it sucks the float down too. It just keeps going until it finds firm ground. One time I believe I dropped it into soft mud upside down and didn't pull hard enough to right it. It is important to be moving just a bit as it goes down. Doesn't matter much what direction, just as long as it gets laid out a bit. I haven't seen many other Vulcan pattern Rocnas out here yet, but I'm gaining confidence in it.

We made Charleston at midday and looking at the open water anchorages with a fair bit of traffic, we took a tie up at the 'Megadock', Charleston City Marina's big floating pier. It was convenient and nicely serviced, but made for a long squeaky night as the southwesterly breeze pushed a little harbor chop up against us. Had a long walk around the old town with some grand style houses and plenty to do if you want to take the time. There are a lot of Mid-Atlantic boats wintering there; far enough to be mild and not too damn far to drive the boat each year, and a Southwest Air connection back to BWI multiple times a day.

Another two days to Beaufort (Bew, not Bow) with a pretty and quiet night on the hook in between. The dawn to dusk lifestyle takes over pretty quickly while cruising. Especially when trying to keep the mile count up and make a destination. We've mostly pushed to outrun weather, but after 8-9 hours at the helm, a meal and a cold beverage induce sleep promptly. What I'm saying is I'm not sure how in the heck we'll ever make it til midnight on this 12/31.

Enjoy

Mostly North Carolina

Another full week has gone by since the first post of this trip. So much for being verbose and inundating the internet with intricate detail.
We crossed the Albemarle sound and passed the two boats we had been tied up with at the top of the Dismal Swamp Canal. Conditions were clear and light and we ran up the main and got a free knot to add to our speed but lowered sail to pass the bridge at the northern mouth of the river. It's about 12 miles to the skinny end where the Alligator Pungo Canal starts and we dropped the anchor for the night nearby. This was the remotest feeling spot yet with low scrub forest wetlands all around and total silence. Until just after dusk when the mosquitoes swarmed and shortly after we ducked in the cabin and began stalking those that got in the fighter jets began low altitude training runs overhead. Thankfully, they wrapped it up by 7:00pm and the rest of the night was very quiet once again.

The canal transit the next day gave us a more complete AICW experience. It has more traffic and less maintenance than the park's canal so we discovered some sunken debris as we made room for a northbound tug & barge. We may have been clear until I moved over just a bit more to allow a powerboater to pass us at the same time. The bow rose up and we stopped short while I was on the radio to to the powerboater, so he heard my reaction and my request to turn around and pull us off. Which he did, competently and graciously, while the tug slowed to a stop to wait out our little circus. Everyone parted company after the proper radio acknowledgements and we headed south once more. At the southern entrance to the canal is a road bridge that is plenty tall at 65 feet, but beneath it was another navigational issue. A sailboat with the main up and a dead diesel was becalmed in mid channel. More radio negotiations and his slight drift made room to pass. Two guys in a mid-sized cruising sailboat, blown waterpump, dinghy with no gas for the motor, looking for a marina that wasn't there, having passed numerous others out on the Pungo River, being blown downwind into the canal, with rain & squalls forecast within a couple of hours. They refused assistance from us and two more boats that hailed them on the radio after us. Good luck, Gents.
We took the public dock above Belhaven for the night as the breeze filled in. Most of the rain passed to the northwest of us while we chatted with Santa Claus in a tavern about a 20 minute walk into town. The locals spot a boater and engage with the enthusiasm of people in need of a fresh conversation partner. It's a really, really small town. On the walk back to the dock we spotted a storefront being set up with a major model railroad. We ducked in and met the two guys of appropriate age that were finishing it off, tinkering with the accessory pieces activated by doorbell buttons at the edge of the table. Big Standard Gauge trains for the most part. A very nice rig.

Belhaven to Oriental, NC was a 43 mile day. We left in 60 degrees  with a drizzle and a forecast of clearing for the day, expecting cold air mass breezes and a drop in temps later on. Down the Pungo we found some quartering wind so for the first time we shut down the engine and sailed for two whole hours! A half hour deep reaching and we had to turn up the Neuse River into the building breeze. Once it got to pinching and punching into a sloppy sea we furled and picked up our straight line under power again. With mid 30's temperatures and 10-15 knots forecast for the next 24 hours we checked into Oriental Marina with the rational that it was laundry time anyway. Now that was one item not on the shopping list; detergent.
With none available at the marina we took a walk around town and after a detour through the Marine Consignment shop, the Inland Waterway Provision Company came through with a jug of the right stuff, and an excellent anchorage guide as well. We stayed through the next day for the farmers market and were offered a ride to the grocery store as well! Fantastic folks, thanks Pat.

Sunday the 20th was another Bluebird Day and we made the short hop down through Beaufort to a little keyhole basin called Spooner Creek, where we anchored in the middle of a gleaming waterfront neighborhood with nobody home. Expensive seasonal places for the most part. Just 26NM and some sunny naptime in the cockpit before sundown. Monday is Solstice Day and we crammed 53 nautical miles into the shortest day of the year, with some more ICW entertainment along the way. There's a shoal area a few miles north of Onslow Beach bridge that is documented and specially marked but it still snares a lot of captains and their keels. The radio chatter told us that a sailboat was aground and shortly after, a powerboat got stuck trying to go around them. Once we had them in sight there was another poweboat pacing back and forth above the mess and TowboatUS had been called, so we anchored to wait it out. The towboatUS captain sorted them out and sent them on their way, guided the last powerboater through and offered to do the same for us. We followed him closely but still had to power through some mud for a nerve wrackingly long few seconds. A few hours later, just above the Surf City bridge we heard the same power boater warn the same sailboat that he was stuck again on the red side of the channel. He called Seatow this time. It was a fairly large sportfisher, trailing black smoke exhaust each of the three times he passed us, named, appropriately, "Bottom Line". We had an anchorage from the guidebooks in mind but the sailboat ahead of us was heading in there and it looked tight so we took a night at the Harbor Village marina 3 miles further along, just at sundown. 453 total NM at the end of the day and the Solar Year.

A long line of colorful rain images greeted us this morning on the weather radar apps, so with the hope of stopping in a decent anchorage instead of a pricey marina we left about 7:30. Another transient boat pulled out ahead of us at 7:00 and their strategy was superior as we could see them catching the bridge openings a few miles ahead of us, and we had to circle and wait until the next. Until NC, the bridges had been opening on request. Now they are on the hour or half hour during the day. Once again, the plan had to change as we turned off the ICW to look for the chosen anchorage in Wrightsville Beach. Stuck in the center of the channel was another big sportfisher. We circled out and since the rain was due within the hour, opted for a tie up at the Dockside Marina, close at hand. An afternoon of rain, heavy at times and a nice restaurant meal later, the saga continues.

Here's some video of the Dismal Swamp Canal and South.
Juniata Lily's Youtube Channel

Enjoy

Who's got time to blog?

Ok, getting out a laptop is going to be too much trouble, so here's an iPhone post. Six days out and 248 miles in. We crossed into North Carolina this morning in the middle of the woods. Through which runs the 200 year old Dismal Swamp Canal. One of George Washington's business deals involving development of swamp land that didn't quite work out as planned. I think they still made a bundle on the lumber and the swamp is a park now. But this is out of order. 

Chronologically, we left The North East River on Thursday about noon and made it to Worton Creek for the first night. The boat was a disaster scene of throw & go packing, but over the next few days Laura has stashed and stowed all but a box or two of parts and epoxy stuff that I will have to deal with. 

The nearly miraculous weather for mid December has allowed us to motor down the bay in flat water wth only a breath of air on the nose, posting three 50 plus mile days. We stopped at the Little Choptank, the Great Wicomico, where we were met by our friends Git & Holly who had just moved to that area, and brought us home to a wonderful dinner. Back onboard we rose early to leave the marina and promptly stuck Juniata in the mud on the way out of their little channel. It really only took 20 minutes to drop the dinghy, carry out a spare anchor and kedge her off with the genoa winch and get back underway. On down the Bay to anchor out in the Back River, right next to Norfolk. These days were steady chugging, pulling into each just at sunset and off again first thing in the morning. Yes we missed all the Chesapeake classics, but getting caught in big air and big water at the same time was not going to be good fun in cool weather. So all those places will still be new when we want to cruise closer to home. 

The next phase was much more like the expected pace. We went through Hampton Roads and Norfolk, VA on Monday morning with the imposing Naval presence and heavy industry to turn into the Deep Creek channel and turn back the clock. From urban waterfront and intense pilotage to pastoral backwater in a minute. Our first lock experience was uplifting, of course, and informative. The Lockmaster/Bridgetender played the museum docent as well. We stopped just past the lock & bridge to get propane and some groceries and stayed the night with two other sailboats: a single hander from Maine and a couple from Virginia. Light rain and impending darkness parked us there but I would recommend pushing on to the the next bulkhead 5 miles further because the traffic at the bridge and a stoplight went on all night long. 

So this morning the other boats took off early and we cooked breakfast and cast off later than usual for a placid ride through the ditch. Another lock dropped us back down to the Albemarle basin and the ride down the Pasquotank River through the Cypress forest was gorgeous on a blue sky day in the mid 60's.

We stopped for fuel at Lamb's Marine just north of Elizabeth City, noting that it is the only fuel dealer for many miles. Overnight rate was great and the showers and seafood restaurant sealed the deal for staying in. So tomorrow the plan is to skip another town and cross the Abemarle sound to get ahead of some rain and wind and have a sheltered anchorage, or another protected canal to move through on Thursday. By then I feel we can stop and go a little more comfortably. Old Man Winter doesn't punch so hard down here. 

Enjoy.

P.S. Here's a video of the 1st Leg.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIPHS8K_cJA

But First...

Oh, yes... let's go ahead and have shoulder surgery first. It should only put us back 4-6 weeks.... There is so much less traffic on the ICW in December anyway. I'm out of the sling Thanksgiving week. So what if doing anything hurts for the foreseeable future? It's all Therapy...
The Dickinson Newport heater works like a champ so check back after December 8th or so.

Southbound

Someday, someday soon, and maybe next year can become a cruising mantra that never ends. There's always another project to start or finish. There's always another local destination to see. But there's also never a better time to take a journey than whenever you can cut loose.

So "When and If" has become "Why the Hell Not", and despite the logistics of suspending normal workaday rat race activities, we are going South this Fall.

The practicality of this decision has made the Summer of 2015 the Season of Upgrades. Instead of spending weekends jaunting about the Chesapeake Bay, we've been hunkered down on the mooring, drilling and sawing and crawling and banging. Back and forth to town for hardware. A box or two from one chandlery or another in the dinghy each week. The smell of hot plastic every time I pull a card out of the wallet!
Systems improved include increasing the solar array to 220 watts. Remove and replace the 12 volt refrigeration gear and adding a water pump option. A new anchor windlass with appropriately massive cabling and a chain rode and new anchor. The diesel heater will include a new day-tank for gravity flow that can do double duty as a fuel polisher. Of course the bilge pumps are rebuilt or replaced. And a few rewiring distractions tagging along with each new install. The mainsail was serviced and stitched as needed. The headsail was gone over last year. We also found a lightly used assym spinnaker that makes light air sailing much more pleasant.

So we can see that the trip planning is somewhat more than an impulsive leap. There's also the guidebooks and travel accounts of many other folks to be sifted through for useful information. But we have been doing that for years anyway!

Now some may say that once you are on the Chesapeake there's no need to go anywhere else. The most amazing estuary in the world will take a lifetime to explore. This is all true. There's just one thing that needs to be compensated for. Winter. So at least this once we will do our best to dodge it.

Enjoy

Sayonara 2014

Grand explorations and epic journeys may come our way someday, but good seasons can still be composed of sailing weekends around the Upper Bay and pleasant project days at the mooring.
One highlight was a 4th of July sleigh ride on the tailwinds of Hurricane Arthur, which passed 80 miles south of us the day before. The northerly 20 knots blew a lot of water our of the North East basin and several deeper draft boats were unable to cross the bar below Hances Point.
We took a mooring in Georgetown, MD and the wind abated just in time for fireworks to proceed. 

The Sassafras River hosted us several other weekends for nice overnights, although the daytime traffic is pretty overbearing.
Our big cruise this year was a week plus off, starting with a midnight departure and a 3am transit of the C&D canal on our way to Cape May. A few nights at anchor in the harbor, a few nights in a posh marina, and lots of walking around town. A sail off the coast and a lazy beach day added true vacation ambience.

The sail home turned out to be a nice tame reach in a light easterly all the way from the ferry terminal at Cape May Canal to the Reedy Point entrance to the C&D canal. The Delaware Bay has given sailors plenty to gripe about over the years, but this day was really pleasant.

Fall closed in far too quickly and we bagged a Monday to take advantage of the weather and move Juniata to the winter yard. Out come the lists and catalogs. On go the tarps. Hunker down and wait for Spring.