Dismal Swamp Canal - Chesapeake and Home - 1-2 May

 

   We spent the day in Elizabeth City visiting with our friend Carol. We tied up along the bulkhead by the town park with the light winds from the north. There were a couple showers in the afternoon, then cool and comfortable weather for a great dinner with friends.

  Elizabeth City is a great place to stop for boaters. 

   Early the next morning it was time to bid adieu to Elizabeth City and start the long trek to home port in Yorktown. The weather is great today but turns unfavorable tomorrow so we will go the entire way to Chisman Creek today, expecting to arrive around midnight. 

   We have to depart before 7am to pass through the Elizabeth City bridge before it closes at 7am for morning rush hour and then make it to the South Mills Lock for the 1100 opening. We were up and underway at 0615.

   The Pasquotank River between Elizabeth City and the Dismal Swamp Canal is another of the prettiest sections of the ICW. 

   Today the wind was zero and the sky was clear blue providing a mirror water surface that perfectly reflected the shoreline. Flip the photo and you probably can't tell which side is up without the bow of the boat.

   We had a little fog at 7am but it quickly burned off for ideal conditions.

   We got to the lock a little early but that's better than too late as it turned out the lock was eventually full with 8 boats. The ninth boat arriving had to wait for the next opening, two and half hours later. 

   Once out of the lock, the main danger in the dismal swamp is the overhanging trees. You have to stick to the middle of the canal and do a little maneuvering from time to time. If you hit a tree you are likely to damage the wind instruments at the top of the mast - a $500 mistake. 

   We made it all the way without any encounters with the trees, just a couple near misses.

   The boats are rafting up at the Dismal Swamp Visitor Center. Turns out there is a Trawler Meet-Up in Norfolk that all these folks are heading to.

   We were able to squeeze by and continue our trip up the canal. We have to get to the Deep Creek Lock by 1530, the last opening of the day, to continue our trip homeward bound. 

   After 4 months of cruising, we're back in home waters. Making good time and we should be at the Deep Creek lock on time. Weather is still perfect.

   Passing through the Deep Creek lock where we drop back down 8 feet to the level of the Chesapeake Bay. From here its 10 miles to Norfolk but, its a long segment as we can't get through the Gilmerton Bridge in Norfolk until 1730 after rush hour so we have to waste about 45 minutes getting there. 

   We're finally through all the bridges in the Elizabeth River and heading through Norfolk past the drydocks full of US Navy ships.

   We got to the Gilmerton Bridge at 1730 but then had to wait another 30 minutes for the Norfolk Southern railroad bridge to open after a long coal train passed through. 

   Then we just made it through the next two railroad bridges before they had closures for trains. A busy evening of train traffic.

   Finally, past the Norfolk Naval Base and cargo loading piers and into the Chesapeake Bay just as the sun is setting at 2030. 

   Its already been a full day but we have another 4 hours to go before we anchor in Chisman Creek by our marina. We need to do this nighttime passage up the Chesapeake today while the weather is good - tomorrow the wind will be blowing strong on the nose.

   We were able to sail for a couple hours up the bay, then the wind died and it was back to motoring the final few hours. We used our radar during the night to back up our eyesight and, in what is very rare, it was very critical in two instances.  Normally, in good visibility it is easier to see the lights of other boats with your eyes rather than the confusing blips on the radar screen. Our first issue was encountering a small fishing boat coming directly at us without proper lighting in the Poquoson River. He had just a white light on the bow which blended in with white lights from houses ashore. But I saw a fleeting reflection on the radar that made us closely check ahead and we finally picked him out as a "moving" white light coming at us. Then when we turned up Chisman Creek, again I noted a fuzzy reflection on the radar that popped up and then disappeared, right in the middle of the creek. Upon inspection with the search light, it turned out to be a small catamaran without legal anchor lighting. They just had a couple dim solar lights showing which also blend in with the shore lighting.  So, using all the resources available, we successfully arrived just off our marina and anchored for the night. A long 19hr transit, but safe arrival.

   Its morning and we are home, back to our home slip. Good thing we made the long transit yesterday as later in the day the wind and rain came up with a cold nor-easter wind coming off the ocean even stronger and colder than forecasted.  But we were back home in our house with Tides Inn snug in her slip. 

   The end of another great trip to the Bahamas with no incidents - the best kind of trip. 

Beaufort to Elizabeth City 28-30 Apr

    From Cape Lookout, nearby Beaufort, to Elizabeth City is 160 miles through the North Carolina rivers and sounds, a 3 day transit. 

   The first day is up Adams Creek and down the Neuse River, then up Bay river and past Hobucken to an anchorage in  Goose Creek. 

   Rivah is enjoying the view and smells but I suspect she is wondering if she will ever see Holden Lane again.

   Always new and interesting sights along the ICW. A group of five of these USCG go-fast boats sped by in the morning, apparently heading up to the tiny USCG station at Hobucken, then sped by us again in the afternoon returning to their operating base. These appear to be USCG special forces boats.

   We decided not to stop at Mayo Seafood in Hobucken and keep moving north to spend more time at Dowry Creek Marina the next day. We noted the pirate boat is still moored at Mayo Seafood. Wonder if it will be operating this summer?

  Sunset after a long transit the first day. This was a fairly exposed anchorage but thankfully the wind died down for the night. 

   An amazing day, after leaving our anchorage we were able to sail almost the entire day from Hobucken to Dowry Creek near Belhaven, NC. The wind was just from the right direction to let us sail downwind down the Pamlico River, then beam reach and upwind the Pungo River to Belhaven. This is extremely rare and we enjoyed the quiet transit.  One of our first all day sails since leaving the Bahamas.

   The view from the restaurant deck at Dowry Creek. This has become one of our favorite marinas along the trek to/from Florida with its excellent restaurant with great draft beer selection, clean and hot showers, nice laundry facilities and quiet walking areas for Rivah. This is our first marina overnight since leaving the Bahamas.

   We had a nice visit and good dinner at Dowry Creek but early next morning it was on the road again at 0630am for the 11-12hr run to Elizabeth City.

   We have to pass through the Pungo-Alligator Canal (for 3 hours) then up the Alligator River (3hrs) across the Albemarle Sound (2hrs) then up the Pasquotank River (3hrs) to Liz City. 

  We put the main sail up to catch the wind from astern, but this will basically be a motoring trip as the winds are not strong enough to sail fast enough to make our destination before dark. In January, with short daylight, we break up this trip into 2 days, but with 14hrs of daylight we can make it all the way in April. 

   The Pungo-Alligator Canal passes through a very sparsely populated area of North Carolina. We have seen deer and bald eagles here and heard of people seeing bears swimming across the canal.

   This old Morgan 41 has been sitting at this dock in the same condition (needed a total refurbishment) since our first trip to Florida in 2004. Obviously some old sailor's retirement dream boat. 

   We were pleasantly surprised to be able to sail up the Alligator River for a couple hours, and still maintain our speed.

   But too soon the wind died down and we had to start the engine again to arrive before dark.

   Crossing the Albemarle, we were able to keep the sails up. We could have sailed all the way to Elizabeth City (arriving after dark) but I kept the engine running at half throttle which kept our speed at just about maximum hull speed, letting us arrive just after 7pm. 

   The Albemarle can be very rough in even moderate winds so we were lucky and happy to only have 1-2ft waves.

After a long day we tied up to the town dock and relaxed. Tomorrow we will explore around the town.

Cape Lookout 25-28 Apr

 

   After 20yrs of cruising up and down the East Coast, we finally stopped at Cape Lookout last year. It is normally very rough and windy getting here scaring us away but, last year the weather was fine. It is now our favorite spot mainly because of all the seashells Sue collects here.

   This year we arrived on a morning with light winds but, after anchoring and walking the beach in the morning, we had to move over by Shackleford Bank for the next two nights because of the strong winds the Cape is famous for.

   One advantage of anchoring off Shackleford is that it is closer to the lighthouse and pathway to the ocean. We ran over to check out the shells on the oceanside but it was mid-tide and not that many shells. We only got a little wet riding the waves in the dinghy back to our boat.

   We found some shells on Shackleford Bank but it is fairly protected from the direct ocean waves so not that many shells. We did see several of the 100 or so wild horses that live on the island. 

   One of our neighbors in the anchorage, the 180ft megayacht Adele. Owned by some billionaire businessman. We saw on the Internet he has a 84ft tender/support boat that shuttles him out to the yacht. They sat out the 2 days of high winds then departed.

   We didn't find nearly as many Atlantic Welks as last year when they were sitting on the beach every 100ft or so. I suppose it depends on the winds and waves and storms that throw them up on shore and how many people have been walking the beach before you get there.

   My significant contribution. I found this one just off the shore on the bight side of the cape.

  Even though there weren't as many as last year, Sue still found several good size welks. 

  In addition we picked up many of the pretty clam and scallop shells which are everywhere.

   We found this guy our last day ashore who unfortunately had run into some misfortune. He had an interesting notch out of his shell that happened some time ago as the edges were well rounded off.

   Last night at Cape Lookout. The winds finally settled down and we were able to return to our anchorage spot off the cape spit. Tomorrow we will head north up the ICW and across the North Carolina sounds.

   When you are boatbound at anchorage because of high winds its time for games. 

Holden Beach to Beaufort, NC 23-24 Apr

 After a great visit to Holden Beach collecting shells and seeing Sue's sister and family we are continuing our trek up the ICW towards home. The winds are unfavorable today for heading up the Cape Fear River so we will anchor for the night up a canal just before Southport, NC. 

   We got in here just before low tide and had less than 6inches under the keel entering the canal over the bar. Once in the canal its 8ft deep up to this small pond area. There was one boat in before us but 3 more followed us in later in the day. A very protected, but tight anchorage.

   No wind today under blue skies and we motored up the Cape Fear River with a little helping current, then down Snow's Cut again with the current to Carolina Beach and still trucking up the ICW.

   Normally we stop at Masonboro to anchor but we were making good time so proceeded on to Hammock Bay.

   Always have to be alert and ready to react when transiting the ICW. We knew this dredge was operating north of Carolina Beach and you had to pass very close aboard him, just a few feet off his port side. Just as we were about to pass he decided to reposition out into the channel. We had to stop and wait for him to get reset, then were able to proceed close aboard without any problems.  Several boats have gone aground here passing too far to the left.

   After a long day we got to Hammock Bay just before dark. As one of the last boats to arrive we found 13 boats already in the anchorage and one more coming in behind us. Fortunately there is room for all here.

   Sue snapped this picture of the full moon over several of the anchored boats beside us. Their anchor lights are like little fairies. 

   Next morning and next challenge up the ICW. The Onslow bridge is under construction and a tug and barge block the opening. There is a passage 30ft wide for boats to pass through. We have a 13ft beam so not a problem for us. Some large catamarans with beams around 30ft have to wait for the one hour opening each day when the barge moves.

   Sue wishes she could live in the tiny home on the island just opposite Swansboro. 

   We got to Beaufort at the end of the day and decided to stop here before transiting the last hour trip to Cape Lookout as the winds had been strong all day long and the ocean waves were 5-7ft. Tomorrow morning is no wind so we will head to the cape tomorrow.

   We normally anchor here just off the USCG station but found tugs and dredge pipes blocking our anchorage spot. We were able to talk to the tug and he told us where the submerged pipeline was and we were able to anchor inshore of it. We were surprised in the morning to find two other sailboats anchored alongside us. 

Holden Beach 19-22 Apr

 

   We got underway early in the morning in good weather for Holden Beach and suddenly a cloud bank rolled in as cold wind blew in over the warm water. Normally we don't travel on the ICW in the fog as there is too much traffic and radar is ineffective with all the land clutter. I wished we had waited a couple more hours before leaving. 

   Fortunately, the fog wasn't pea soup thick. We had about 1000ft visibility which was just enough to be safe. Within 30 minutes or so the fog had lifted and we could resume cruising speed.

   Several hours later, the fog had cleared, we had made it through the Shallotte Inlet shallow waters and we had arrived at the Holden Beach town dock. We plan to stay here for 3 days which will provide Sue lots of time to collect shells on the beach, get all our laundry done and take some showers, and fill our water tank up. Meanwhile another cold front is coming through with strong thunderstorms. Plus, Sue's sisters and families are down from New York spending their Spring Break week at the beach. 

   Yes, there were lots of shells on the beach at Holden. Sue and Rivah spent a lot of time at the beach checking out the high tide and low tide treasures. Rivah enjoyed all the time off the boat.

   Some of the collected treasures. These are in addition to the buckets full.

   There are other wildlife animals at the beach besides the normal fish and birds. Sue encountered this guy early one morning. 

   Conveniently, right across the ICW from the town dock was the Provision Company. with the standard beer and fish sandwich options. We dinghied across a couple happy hour evenings. 

   Then it was time for the cold front to roll through. We had a few close lightning strikes on Saturday night but otherwise no problems. It rained but no dangerous winds. 

   On Sunday, the forecast was for rain all day and it did rain throughout the morning, then cleared enough for us to walk down to see Sue's sisters, then the rain was back along with the cold weather.

  Now we were glad we had shore power to plug into as we had to turn on the heat for the first time since last January

   Sue loves to play games with the kids. She actually won the first couple hands of "Trash". We had a great visit with all.

   The next morning the kids were able to come see the boat before we had to get underway to keep moving north. They were excited and very impressed. Maybe some future sailors?

   

Waccamaw River to Bird Island Little River, SC 17-18 Apr

 

   When you come back off the ocean at Winyah Bay Inlet, you are in the Waccamaw River which takes you up to Myrtle Beach. The Waccamaw is one of the prettiest sections along the ICW with cypress tree forests along either bank. We often see bald eagles along the Waccamaw, but this time only saw several ospreys, sitting on their nests.

    The first night off the ocean we anchored off Butler Island, a couple hours up the river. The next night we stopped at Wacca Wachee after refueling.

   In addition to the lowest diesel prices on the ICW, Wacca Wachee has a great restaurant and beer selection.  This visit Rivah got to sit with us on the deck as we had a beer and appetizers and listened to an excellent singer. When we had stopped here back in January with the temperature in the 20s, we ate inside and Rivah had to stay on the boat.

  

   Tides Inn sits at anchor off Wacca Wachee. Its a short dinghy ride over to the marina. 

    

   Next up ICW north of Myrtle Beach is the Little River Inlet. We anchor just inside the inlet breakwaters, off of Bird Island. This is a popular spot for local boaters but most all of them depart at nightfall. We were one of 5 sailboats that anchored for the night. Fortunately there is lots of room here for boats to spread out.

 

  Well, not all the local boaters left at sunset. This poor couple had sat on the beach for too long as the tide went out. When they went to leave, their boat was firmly stuck in the sand and too heavy to lift off.  They had to stay until the tide came back in and finally departed sometime after midnight. 

  Sue scoured the beach for shells but we confirmed that this is "Bird Island", not Shell Island. There were only a couple shells worth collecting. But no problem, we have Holden Beach and Cape Lookout ahead. 

  Next up the ICW is Holden Beach.\, home of lots of shells.