Thursday, May 15, 2014
Posted with Blogsy
more Dismal pix
at the Visitor Center before the other 6 boats arrrived
dusk in The Dismal
AM fog
fog has cleared
beginning to line up in the lock
Dismal pix
up the river to The Dismal
lined up in the lock
lock doors closing
going up!
wwaiting for lock doors to open
The Dismal
The Dismal Swamp and Hampton VA
First of all, you need to google this area as there is a LOT of history here. It was started during George Washington's administration and the colonial term for swamp was "dismal", so it is redundant to say the Dismal Swamp - it's just The Dismal. However - it is a long way from dismal. Probably of one of the prettiest areas we have ever seen. There are locks at each end of The Swamp, and that was going to be a new experience for us!! We followed a beautiful river to the first lock. The locks have specific times they open and you best not miss it, or you wait for the next 2-3 hrs. There were 7 boats entering the lock with us, most of them sailboats. You line up against either wall, the lock master comes by and attaches your bow and stern lines to stanchions on the side of the lock and you wait, watching your lines, as the water goes up - about 8 ft. You then remove the lines and take your turn exciting the lock. About midway thru The Swamp was the visitors center (there is a highway along one side, past the trees) and they have a short dock there for overnite boaters. We had planned to spend the night there and it was a good thing as they said a tree had fallen over the canal just past the Visitor Center and nobody was leaving that night!! As it turns out, there were 11 boats that night!! The dock is long enough for 3, so you raft up with the other boats. One of the boats that had tried to leave the dock that am had engine problems and had to return to the dock so they rafted up as well. There were 3 along the dock, at one point there were 2 rows of four boats across - almost to the other side of the canal. That meant that they had to walk over 3 other boats to get to shore. Luckily we rafted up to a good sized sail boat who was already at the dock and it was easy getting the boys to shore. None of the other smaller boats wanted to raft on our other side as we were too high and they wouldn't not have been able to board in order to get to shore. Worked for us!! The canal is very narrow with thick forest on either side. Often the trees are over the canal and it runs about 5 ft deep, if you are lucky!! Absolutely beautiful - so lush and serene! They have bobcat, black bear, snakes etc. but we didn't see anything. There is no electricity there, so it was a pretty warm night as we usually run a fan. We awoke in the am to fog, but the canal is so narrow it is pretty hard to get into trouble, just need to keep track of the boat in front of you. We wanted to make the 10 am opening as we were heading to Hampton, VA - our first day in the Chesapeake!! There were 5 boats that left together and we ended up with 11 in the lock at the end of the canal. The lock master was a super nice guy, very helpful getting you set up in the lock, loves to share the history of The Swamp, and once everyone is ready to leave the lock he plays a tune on a conch shell!! It was a very fun day!! The next portion of the trip was up the Elizabeth River and thru the port of Norfolk, across the channel to Hampton VA. We were dreading Norfolk as it is a HUGE military port - the largest Navy facility in the US - both active and dry docked ships. It went on for miles and was absolutely amazing! I am not usually impressed by that sort of thing, but it blew me away!! The pix won't do it justice. As it turns out, it was a very quiet day and our only "occurence" was to meet/pass a Navy destroyer as we were leaving port. It passed us probably 100 yds away - a lot of the guys on dock, probably returning after several months at sea. There are military "police" boats all over making sure you don't get too close to any of the facilities/ships. After a very long, fun day we arrived at Hampton, VA - we have ARRIVED at the Chesapeake!!!! Almost hard to believe - we are so thankful for a safe trip with a wonderful boat. Next project is to find a home port for the summer and to arrange for a boat yard to do some work on Panacea and also to find a place to leave her come winter. More fun to come!!!
Elizabeth City
After a good trip across the Albermarle we arrived in Elizabeth City. We had left about 8 this am as the wind was predicted to wind up this aft and we didn't want to be on the sound then. At our arrival the wind had started pretty good and, of course, we had a fixed dock with pilings again. Try lasooing on of those in a good wind and while the captain is fighting the wind as well. Panacea turned into a giant kite!! Alan did a really good job, and the dock hand was there to assist and we all managed to get her into the slip. Whew!! Elizabeth City offers free city docks (for 48 hrs) but they are first come/first serve and we had read the fingers (docks between slips that we get off of the boat on) were very short and some of the slips might not be wide enough. We decided not to chance it and stayed at Pelican Marina, across the harbor, instead. Again, a rustic marina but all the services needed, including excellent WiFi - remember what I said about the older, more rustic marinas? We were within walking distance of town, tho no grocery nearby. Always good to have extra provisions on board! The town also has a group of ladies called the Rose Buddies - if you are visiting while on a boat, they will host a wine/cheese tasting when there are enough cruisers in. We missed the one they held while we were there but it sure is a nice thing for them to do. They understand the value of visiting cruisers to their community!! We spent a couple of days relaxing, doing laundry and generally catching up. I can't find my Eliz City photos so will send them when/if I find them!! Our next stop will be the Dismal Swamp!!
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Alligator and Albamarle pix
Parade, most sailboats, heading up the Alligator river with us
Just passed under bridge on Pungo-Alligator Canal
Look hard here and you will see 4 sailboats crossing Albermale
These are "cruising" dogs-zzzzzzzzzzz
The orange object off the bow is a crab pot
The facility on the background is a blimp storage facility near Elizabeth City - you can imagine how huge it is
Jen - this one is for you - more tanned legs and barefoot; hope your winter ends soon:)
Belhaven, NC
Belhaven is another area we visited years ago. The marina we chose was about 7 miles out of town, and it was just an overnite, so we didn't get to see the town. The marina was lovely and secluded. That eve we had a HH get together in the club house and oh, the stories you hear. Could listen to them all night. One couple there was on their way home to Boston from the Bahamas. They have been doing this annually for 17 years!!! We haven't talked to anyone yet who doesn't absolutely LOVE the Bahamas. I guess, at some point in this adventure, we will have to find our way there! The trip up involved some pretty interesting water. Thankfully we are now out of most of the shallow water - it is now a matter of a good weather window for crossing g bigger water, dodging debris/logs in the water and dodging crab pots. MILLIONS OF THEM!!
Our next stop is the Alligator Marina which is a stop off point before crossing the Albermarle sound - another potentially nasty piece of water. We started out going up the Pungo River which then runs into the Alligator River. The scenery has changed to heavily wooded, but lots of stuff in the water as well as narrow areas with stumps above and below the water on the sides. So - it takes two sets of eyes. We were in front of some sailboats, so we would hail them on the VHF radio whenever we saw something in the water - they really appreciated it. Boaters, as a general rule, are very courteous and helpful. Of course there is always the one a--hole! Sometimes you will hear, on the radio, one boater let another one know just what a butt he has been. There is never an response back :). The Alligator River marina is in the middle of NOWHERE but very modern and nice. Wands serves fried checken in the gas station they own. We didn't do that, but did have breakfast there the next am. We are now in crab pot city - every where!!! Watching the weather closely as the Albermarle is about a 3 hour trip across and it can really whip up. We awake in the am to calm winds, but fog. Decide to have breakfast and see if it burns off, which it has pretty much done by the time we are ready to go. We are going to Elizabeth City from here and then the Dismal Swamp. John and Diane don't want to do The Swamp so will cross the Albermale in a different direction to go thru the Virginia Cut. We will end up in Norfolk at the same area. More on the swamp later. Can't begin to tell you how many crab traps we evaded on the trip across the sound. They are not supposed to be placed in the ICW channel, but I guess no one ever told them that. They can range in color from white, to dark geen, to dark blue, black and red. You can imagine how hard it is to see the blue, black and green in rough water, and if you have white caps it is almost impossible to distinguish the white ones until you are almost on top of them!! They are usually set in straight lines, but you run into areas where there can be 3 or 4 different lines all running in different directions. It is like a mine field, or as I chose to call it - video game. Makes it a little more fun, but the consequences of running over one are a little more dire - fouled prop - and you are dead in the water!!
Oriental, NC
Arriving in Oriental we knew we would be dealing with fixed docks, as opposed to floating docks. From this point south almost all of the docks are floating meaning they rise and fall with the bigs tides, and you tie the boat up to the dock. The further north you go, the tides become much less, thus the fixed dock. HOWEVER, this is a whole type of docking thing. You have to lasso your lines around pilings (large poles in the water) and 4 of them. - 2 on either side of the front of the boat and 2 on either side of the back. Getting the boat set up for this is an entirely new exercise - first time for us!! The dock hands were there to help us, and there was very little wind. Unfortunately, there was a lovely lawn and sitting area right in front of the docks, so we provided the happy hour entertainment that evening. Of course, Alan is driving, so it is up to me to get those lines secured!! It actually went pretty well as I was inspired when one of the dock hands told me it was time to channel Annie Oakley. You would have been proud!! However, the finger dock was pretty short, so the only way we could get off the dock was to jump down to our 5 step ladder. This was not going to work for Sam, so Alan would stand at the very front of the boat, put Sam's collar on, and then Sam would jump to the dock. It was quite a jump and he was the star of the marina. Though he was pretty hot stuff!! To get back on, Alan got him to walk to the top of the step ladder and then he would jump over to the walkway on the side of the boat. He has gained soooo much confidence and now is anxious to show off whenever he can. He has come such a long way!! Then there's Ted - whatever, whenever, just as long as Mom has me it's all cool. We soon realized that when we had made a trip to Otiental, about 18 yrs ago, we had stayed at the Inn attached to this marina. That was in our sailing days, and Oriental was/is Mecca for sailors. What a walk down memory lane!!! We met some friends there who we had previously met in Jekyll. They are also relative newbies and doing the Loop so we decided to buddy up for the run to Bellhaven. It's always nice to have a buddy boat. Oriental is a charming, quaint little village and everyone so sooooo nice!!
Morehead City pix
Live fire area
Hard to see, but this family backed their truck into the water and were having a picnic and fishing out of the bed. I like it!!!
The nonstop parade of fishing boats
This area reminds me of northern Minnesota in the summer - hard to beat!
Heading across Neuse river - Oriental is on the other side. Again, lucky to have calm winds as this river can be very nasty!! Area referred to as sailing capital of the US
Morehead City, NC
Remember Beaufort, SC? Well, we were headed to Beaufort, NC ( pronounced Bow-fort) next but then read that there was a wooden boat show going on there and most likely a lot of the slips would be taken, so we chose to go to Morehead City, which is a sister city just across the waterway. The run up was very interesting. Along with the usual shallow areas, the ICW runs about 10 mi thru Camp LeJeune, the Marine training area. They train about 40,000 marines here a year!! This area, along the waterway, is used for live fire exercises and is very carefully monitored as they typically have daily exercises when the ICW is closed down for approx 2 hrs. There is a number to call to see what time on any particular day it will be closed, but we were lucky as it was a Sat and there are no exercises on Sat. At the beginning of the area there are large stop light type things that will flash and say it is closed; there is also a patrol boat that will reinforce that point should you be confused. Same situation at the other end. Also guard towers are in place. I am sure it could all be very fascinating, but maybe some other time!?! Also, a large part of the trip was a long run up the Bogue Sound which is the beginning of some bigger water we will be seeing. It runs straight up the coast with a line of very small barrier islands between you and the ocean. The winds were calm, thank God! It was mostly a matter of watching for shoaling at the inlets between the islands and strong current that can come thru them and bounce you off course. Again, Cpt Alan did an awesome job!! It was a long day, but a good one. Our marina in Morehead City was located practically in the middle of the ICW. It was Sun and there had been a big fishing tournament. We arrived around 4 and the fishing boat charters were returning from the ocean. It was a CONTINUOUS parade for about 11/2 hours. Hundreds of boats! Later, on a walk, we saw some of them offloading some really big fish! We only spent the night here and then on to Oriental, NC
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
New River NC
Swan Point marina - what a lovely spot. This is your vintage, rustic marina that offerss all that you need. It had the best WiFi we've ever had!! It is run by Evelyn and her daughter and Evelyn is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. I needed to do laundry but had no detergent so she loaned me some - believe me, I HAD to do laundry!! We were just there for an overnight, so not too much to report. However, I found my dream tug there - it is for sale and I WANT it!!! We can use one boat in the winter, and the other boat in the summer!!! Alan is not buying into this plan:(
Swan Point marina
My dream tug
look carefully - what's missing on this boat? I couldn'\t stop laughing!!!
tti guy made the wrong turn
Panacea - bicycles are on the front
Friday, May 2, 2014
Southport
After an overnite in Myrtle Beach we are headed to Southport NC - notice the NC - we are making progress!! Southport is a small, quaint port that we didn't have a lot of time to spend at. One of the main reasons we chose this marina is that there is a retired Navy meteorologist/sailor who lives there and gives nightly weather/navigation updates to the mariners passing thru. He did an outstanding job - such valuable info for everyone. We then went to Fishy Fishy for a quick dinner as we were leaving in the am. By the time we got to the restaurant it was high tide and we had to wade thru water to the palates they had laid out to the entrance. Really added to the ambience!!! It was just one of those shoreside, local places with good food.
Dinner in Southport
Read the sign! We only go to the classy places!!! The water we waded thru is outside the window
Tug at night -I LOVE tugs and I want to be a tug boat captain when I grow up!
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