Elizabeth City, NC to Hampton, VA

Wednesday morning we left Elizabeth City at 7:15 because of a restricted bridge that opened at 7:30.  We had a beautiful trip up tree lined Pasquotank River to Turners Cut and the South Bridge Lock.

We spent the night at the Great Dismal Swamp Visitors Center with seven other boats.  After listening to the weather we all decided to stay the next day which turned out to be a good choice.  Thursday was the day with the violent storms that sadly killed so many people.  We were lucky in that the worst of the storms did not hit this area.  We had a couple of thunderstorms but we were in such a protected place that we could see the top of the trees whipping in the wind but the water was flat calm with barely a ripple.  The staff at the visitors center were great - they offered to drive people to the nearest store or to order pizzas for us.  Across the canal from the visitors center is a interpretive center and miles of trails accessed by a pontoon bridge.

Friday morning we left the visitors center along with the other seven boats and had a nice calm relaxing trip through the scenic swamp.  This is one of our favorite parts of the trip.  The scenery is not dramatic but it is beautiful.  Because there were so many of us in the lock at the same time we ended up on the side away from the lock tender's house which was unfortunate because Robert, the lock tender, handed out doughnuts to everyone on that side of the lock.

When we left the lock we had 45 minutes to get to the Glimerton Bridge 5 miles away for the once per hour opening.  We had the tide with us and made it with minutes to spare.  It is a culture shock to go from the serenity of the swamp to the hustle and bustle of Norfolk.  Between the pleasure boats, tour boats, barges, and Navy ships it requires constant vigilance to avoid being run over.  We were able to sail across Hampden Roads which was a nice treat.  We pulled into Hampden public docks and received a warm greeting from Kate the dock master who remembered us from the fall.

The Great Dismal Swamp Photos

Oriental, NC to Elizabeth City, NC

We left Oriental on Saturday and had a nice sailing day to the Pungo River where we anchored for the night just before the entrance to the the Alligator River-Pungo River Canal.  The next day we were able to motor sail the canal then sail as soon as we were out of the canal.  We anchored for the night in the Little Alligator River and had an Easter dinner of ham, potoatoes, green beans, and a salad.  I missed the green egg that my mother always makes for me at Easter (she may have read Green Eggs and Ham to me one too many times).

Monday we had a great sail to Elizabeth City past the blimp hangers.  Most of the blimps made in the U.S. are made here.  The hanger is enormous and can be seen for miles.  Until about 5 or 6 years ago the largest wooden building in the country was next to the hanger, but it burned down in a spectacular fire.

Elizabeth City's motto is "hospitality harbor" and it lives up to its name.  There is a free dock for cruisers in the heart of downtown.  The Rose Buddies throw a wine and cheese party anytime there are at least five boats tied up at the dock.  We were lucky enough to be here for the first party of the season.  In 1983 Fred Fearing and Joe Kramer decided to host a party for mariners.  Joe clipped roses from his garden to give to the ladies and a tradition was born.  Sadly both Fred and Joe have passed away but their friends are carrying on the tradition.  Joe's roses have been transplanted to the park by the docks and they still hand out roses.

Everyone that we have met in Elizabeth City has been very friendly and helpful. The Chamber of Commerce sent two representatives to the Rose Buddy get together.  The grocery store will send a driver to pick up cruisers at the dock.  The shopkeepers ask if there is anything in town that we need to find and if they can be of help.  People walking down the street always say hello and smile. There are benches along the waterfront and we have met quite a few people who have stopped to look at the boats.  Even the model dressed as Wonder Woman who wanted to use some of the boats as a background for her photoshoot was very nice.  Bill was disappointed that she decided to use a trawler and a larger sailboat instead of RONDO but he was still a gentleman and helped her on and off the other boats. 

St James NC to Oriental NC

We had a leisurely morning at the St. James Bay marina and left late in the morning hoping to hit the slack tide at the Cape Fear River inlet.  We made better time than expected and hit the river while the tide was still going out.  We went from about 6.5 knots to 2.5 knots in three boat lengths which was impressive in a depressing sort of way so we headed back into Southport and anchored for lunch.  Whenever we talk to other cruisers we all say that it is not about the boats it is about the people and this has been very true in North Carolina.  While we were anchored for lunch a beautiful old 1938 workboat, the SOLOMON T, came by and the owner called out that he was going out for a couple of hours and that if we were still there when he came back he would check on us to see if we needed anything or if we needed a car to go anywhere.  We were tempted to stay just to get to know this very nice person but we left when the tide was slack and had a slow trip up the Cape Fear River then on to Wrightsville Beach.

This is the fourth time we have been in Wrightsville Beach, the last two times we have gone aground.  This time we made it in and out of the harbor without incident.  Right outside of the entrance to the harbor is a bridge that only opens on the hour.  We had to wait about 10 minutes for the bridge (it is much better to get there 10 minutes early rather than 1 minute late).  There were five other boats waiting and doing the "bridge dance" of circling around each other.

 A couple of hours later we came to another restricted bridge and had to wait for about 20 minutes before the bridge would open.  This section of the ICW varies between tree lined sections and developed sections.  Most of the houses are beautiful with well kept grounds and gorgeous rose gardens with azaleas in full bloom.  Some of them also have interesting lawn ornaments.

The boat traffic has been fairly light for the last couple of days - a group of sailboats traveling north, the occasional powerboat, and a few very large barges.  The pushboats often push two barges at a time so they are impressive especially in the narrow sections of the ICW.  We came across a series of  anchored barges with pipes between them working on a project.  When these barges are underway they are a sight to behold as they and their cargo of pipes bend around corners of the rivers so both ends are out of sight.

We anchored for the night in Mile Hammock Bay just south of Camp LeJeune.  Other than the artillery fire it was a quiet night.  The next day was a short day to Beaufort NC.  The anchorage is in Taylor Creek and is narrow with a strong current.  The first time we tried anchoring we ended up too close to the channel so we picked up the anchor to try again.  As soon as we had the anchor up a nice man on a moored boat called out that we could use the mooring next to him.  The mooring belongs to a friend of his whose boat is not in the water.  It was a treat to be on a mooring and not have to worry about the anchor or the limited swing room available in a very busy area.  We went ashore and went for a long walk to the Piggly Wiggly to pick up some groceries. 

Thursday morning we left the mooring in time for the 8:00 opening of the Beaufort Bridge and had an easy run to Oriental, NC and spent the day having "what a small world" experiences.  We pulled into the open side of the free dock next to Russell on LADY PAULINE who we had met in 2006 in the Bahamas.  The new owner of the marine consignment store heard our boat name and said "Were you the ones sailing back and forth while the bridge was closed in Titusville last fall?".  In the evening we went out to dinner at the Silos with Russ and Pat from CONSORT.

Friday morning we listened to the weather and decided to stay on the nice calm free dock for another day. The wind was whistling down the Pamlico Sound at over 20 knots and creating short steep unpleasant waves.  The dock is supposed to only have two boats, one on each side.  A 40 foot catamaran came in after being beat up in the sound and wanted to tie up to the end of the dock so we moved our boat down so he could fit as did LADY PAULINE.  A few minutes later a catboat came in and tied up next to the seawall next to us.  Oriental is very boater friendly and is full of friendly boaters.  All morning people wandered down to the dock and talked about boats.

Charleston, SC to St. James, NC

We left Charleston Thursday afternoon (April 14th) and anchored for the night in Awendaw Creek.  Cheryl and Dan from CURIEUSE rowed over for a visit.  The current in the creek is very strong. The current and wind combined to drive the boat ahead on the anchor so the anchor rode was under the boat and the rudder making for an uncomfortable and potentially dangerous situation.  We solved the problem by using a stern anchor.  We were worried about whether of not the stern anchor would hold but in the morning we realized this was not a problem, the problem was raising the anchor.  Bill had a good workout along with an omen for what the day would be like.  We fought the current all day and ended up averaging 4 knots over a ten hour day.  We anchored for the night in Thoroughfare Creek which turned out to be a very good choice.  After many days of being in the marshes where we were the tallest object we were tucked up in a beautiful tree lined creek with great protection. Saturday we listened to the weather and decided to stay in the creek for the day.  The weather report was calling for dangerous thunderstorms with a possibility of tornadoes.  We had scattered rain showers and gusty wind all day.  The weather settled down for a couple of hours in the afternoon giving us a chance to go for a dinghy ride through some of the tributaries of the creek.  We saw painted turtles that had climbed about ten feet up a leaning tree over the water.  Not only could these turtles climb trees but they demonstrated impressive diving skills when they decided we were too close.  After the turtles we saw two swimming snakes.  The first snake was about three feet long, the second one was closer to five feet long.  After we saw the creepy swimming snakes the wind came up and the trees looked like the whomping willow from the Harry Potter movies so we decided to head back to the boat.  We had dinner on board CURIEUSE during a thunderstorm.  Some of the wind gusts were strong enough that their Island Packet (a very heavy and stable boat) heeled over to the point we would have to hold our glasses so they would not slide off the table.  In the morning we listened to the news and heard about the 60 tornadoes that touched down in NC.

Sunday the weather was completely different from the day before - it was flat calm. In the morning we went through the beautiful osprey filled cypress swamps along the Waccamaw River.  

For a change we were with the tide for the entire day. We thought about anchoring for the night near the Shallotte Inlet but went aground going into the anchorage.  Luckily a sports fisherman came by and his wake was enought to bounce us off the sandbar.  The next inlet was Lockwood's Folly. The guidebook description warned that "shoaling in both the inlet and the ICW is always a problem here".  Judging by the placement of this navigational aid I guess they were right.

We ended up spending the night at the St. James Bay marina after a 77 mile 12 hour day.

Scenes from Charleston Harbor

Fort Sumter flying the First Confederate Navy Ensign

Beaufort to Charleston

We left Beaufort Sunday afternoon and anchored in Ashepoo Creek.  Fortunately the holding is good at this anchorage as the wind and the tide conspired to spin the boat around like a top.  The experience was similar to cooking dinner and eating it on the teacup ride at the far.  Ah, the joys of the cruising life.

Monday was hazy, hot, and humid.  Apparently this is the kind of weather that makes the no-see-ums happy as they tormented us all day.  Clothing decisions were hard as the choices were long sleeves and long pants because of the bugs or swimsuits because of the heat. It was so hot that we ended up in swimsuits and now are covered in bug bites.  We anchored for the night in Wappoo Creek just south of Charleston.  A family of dolphins spent quite a lot of time near the boat in the evening.  We couldn't tell if the baby dolphin was playing when it was rolling around and flapping its tail in the water or if this was the swimming equivalent of being a toddler. 

Tuesday we came into Charleston in time for the 150th anniversary of the attack on Fort Sumter.  We spent the morning doing boat chores.  Bill changed the oil while I did three loads of laundry. In the afternoon we walked around town and had an early dinner.Wednesday we walked around town and played tourist until our feet hurt.  The city is beautiful and there is so much to look at it is hard to stop.

One of the reasons we were tired early was our location on the Mega Dock.  The dock is 1,530 feet long and we are the next to the last boat at the end.  Our friend Doug on KITE has the dubious distinction of being the last boat. 

RONDO is the small boat on the left

The Mega Dock

Vero Beach to Beaufort, SC

We spent a week in Vero Beach reintegrating into the American way of life.  Vero Beach is very convenient for this as we could take the public bus to the shopping centers. The amount of people combined with traffic and the sheer volume of stuff in the stores is overwhelming after a winter in the Bahamas.  Remembering which side of the street to walk on and which way to look before crossing the street requires effort.

We walked to an antique car show in the park under the live oaks one day.  In case my mother is looking for a new car Bill thinks she and Bailey would look cute driving around in this one:

We left Vero Beach on a Friday and headed for Cocoa for the night.  Saturday we left Cocoa a little before sunrise and spent a day on the ICW in Florida on a sunny weekend day.  The boat traffic was incredible; every possible kind of boat was on the water, most of them travelling at a high rate of speed.  The wakes were constant from every direction.  When this happens the turbulence in the water confuses our depthsounder so in most of the narrow shallow places we had no idea how much water we had under us. A bright part of the day was going through the Haulover Canal just above Titusville which is a surpisingly pretty canal with a very friendly bridge tender.  As we were going through the canal we saw a manatee.  The water here is very murky and the manatees like to swim very slowly just under the surface where they are virtually invisible.  It is a miracle that any of them survive.

We spent the night anchored in Daytona Beach.  Sunday we had another high traffic day on the way to St. Augustine although not all the boats were fast and noisy.

We decided to skip the ICW from St. Augustine to Fernandina because both towns are next to inlets that are easy in settled weather.  We left around sunrise and motorsailed most of the day in light winds until the afternoon when we had plenty of wind.  We sailed through the inlet under a reefed jib in 20 -25 knots of wind with 4 - 5 foot following seas.   Corning and Tita from BLESSED SPIRIT had arrived well before us and kindly reserved a mooring for us which happend to be next to CONSORT.  The next morning we woke up to a crashing thunderstorm.  The winds gusted over 50 mph and the rain brought the visibility to  near zero.  We were very happy to be on a big mooring!  We ended up spending the day on the boat relaxing then spent the evening visiting with Russ and Pat on CONSORT.

Wednesday we spent the morning walking about 3 miles to the Winn Dixie to stock up on groceries (we took a cab back to the marina). In the afternoon we went to Cumberland Island and walked around enjoying the beauty of the island and watching the wild horses.

Thursay and Friday were traveling days where we got up before sunrise and were underway for over 10 hours per day migrating north.  Georgia is very beautiful, but tricky to navigate particularly at low tide.  We ended up going through the Little Mud River two hours before low tide with 1 - 2 feet of water under the boat in many places.  This is somewhat nerve wracking, especially after the alligator slithered off the bank into the water as we were going by.

Saturday was a short day as we left St. Augustine Creek (about a mile south of the Savannah River) at 6:50 in the morning and reached Beaufort, SC at 1:00.  We went for a short walk ashore then went back to the boat because it was 90 degrees and humid.  Sunday morning we had a nice leisurely stroll through the peaceful streets with beautiful buildings surrounded by life oaks and palm trees.  We found a little park to rest in with a fountain where we could watch the cardinals, blue birds, and purple finches.