20 Apr, Deep Creek to Fort Monroe through Norfolk

 

   After transiting up the Dismal Swamp Canal, we spent the night tied up to the town dock at Little Creek. The town has built a nice dock for 4-5 boats between the lock and the bridge. They even have free electric power - very unusual. But with 70deg weather, we didn't need any power this time of year. 

  At 0900, it was time to enter the lock for the drop down to Chesapeake Bay water level. We were still the first boat in the lock but, with the water going down, not up, there is little turbulence. Just a slow ride down with fenders getting squashed between the boat and the lock wall.

   We have blue skies today but chilly north winds. We will transit up to Fort Monroe then, wait a couple days for the winds to shift to the south in order to sail home.

   Going down...  We went down over 10ft, that's a bit more than normal. I was running out of line that is doubled up over the shore bollard. All worked out though.

   Doors opening and time to head out on the next to last leg home.  First we have to detour a bit south on the Elizabeth River to fill up the diesel tank at Top Rack Marina, then on to Norfolk.

   We got through the one opening bridge in Norfolk, the Gilmerton with no delay. Fortunately, the Norfolk Southern railroad bridge closed a few minutes after we had passed through. That can be a 30-60min delay.

   The old Jordan opening bridge has been replaced by a fixed high rise bridge. The new bridge is pretty majestic and has to be 135ft high to let large merchant ships pass through.  

  

    I thought it would be a motoring trip up to Fort Monroe but the winds were up and gusty. We sailed up along the Norfolk Naval Base with just the head sails and a couple reefs in the genoa. 

  

   Passing by the carrier piers. Harry Truman was the only carrier in port. Bush and Ford are deployed. Ike was in the Portsmouth repair yard.

  Way up in front of us was a submarine exiting the naval base heading for sea. At first I thought it was heading for us and I was surprised not to see any security boats warning us off but, it was heading out to sea and we weren't going to be catching up. There was a helo scanning the waters ahead of the sub as he exited Hampton Roads.

   It was a bit choppy passing through the narrow James River opening to the Chesapeake Bay but once we were behind the protection of the Hampton shores things calmed down for our entrance to the Fort Monroe anchorage area.

   There were a couple boats already in the anchorage and a couple more came in later in the day. Fairly quiet night as the winds clocked to the north where we had good protection.

19 Apr Dismal Swamp Canal

 

   Normally we would spend several days in Elizabeth City hitting several of the breweries and restaurants, but the USACE was closing the Dismal Swamp Canal down for several days of maintenance so we had to zip through the canal on the 19th. 

   It was just as well as there was a cold front blowing through with light showers throughout the day, so a good day to motor up through the protected waters of the river and canal. 

    The Pasquotank River north from Elizabeth City, along with the Waccamaw in South Carolina, are the two prettiest sections along the entire 1000mile long ICW from Norfolk to Miami. We love to take this route and see the cypress forests bordering the river and listen to the birds. We always see ospreys here and occasionally bald eagles. (We also see snakes in the Pasquotank) There are reports of more alligators being sighted up this far north but it was a fairly cool day so I expect they were huddled up.

 

    At the head of the river we enter the Dismal Swamp Canal through the South Mills lock. Going up 8 feet to canal height. At Deep Creek lock to the north we will drop back down 4 feet to the height of the Chesapeake Bay.

   Through the lock before the rain came so we were happy. 

17-18 Apr, Elizabeth City, NC

 

   Two long 12hr days brought us to Elizabeth City. We tied up at the Jennette Bros food services warehouse who provide free docking for visiting boaters so you can spend money in town. We took Rivah for a walk, then headed out for a local brewery with live music and had an enjoyable evening.

    The next day it was coffee in the morning at Muddy Waters then, lunch at Bistro Tropical along the Liz City waterfront. We didn't have time to visit the other excellent breweries in town that we have stopped at before. 

   With the great weather it was a very nice visit to this quaint waterfront town. 

    They are continuing to improve the waterfront facilities and have added two new extended docks that can handle up to 40ft boats - in addition to the existing slips with short finger piers. 

12-16 Apr, Cape Lookout, NC

    Once the northerly winds blew through, we could continue transiting up the ICW and up the Cape Fear River, through Wrightsville and Camp Lejeune and Beaufort and ultimately to Cape Lookout, just south of Hatteras. 

   There is a well protected bay inside the Cape (very similar to Cape Cod but much smaller area) and open area to anchor with good protection from the Southwest winds expected for the next 3 days.

    This is where there are lots of shells both inside and outside the cape. We spent 3 days here walking the beach and collecting a couple buckets of shells.

    A picture of the dunes taken from the ocean shore. The entire area from the dunes to the ocean is piled with shells thrown up here from previous storms.  Most of these shells are old and worn and broken. Sue likes to walk the shoreline for the new shells.

   I'm sure this beach is full of shark's teeth but we have never found one during several years of searching. Of course we don't use any sieve or sifting tools which apparently are the key.

 

       Rivah enjoyed the short walks along the beach but her long walking days are over. 

   We have the shower bags on the deck heating in the sun but with the cool 70degree temps and brisk breeze we only braved one shower during our stop. 

   Trekking across the dunes back to the boat after a walk on the beach collecting shells. In the distance is Tides Inn anchored in the bay. And further back is the Cape Lookout lighthouse. It has scaffolding all around it for ongoing maintenance work.

   

   Sunrise at our quiet anchorage. Sunrises and sunsets are always the highlights of cruising. 

    Soon it was time to take advantage of the break in the wind and move on. We made two long 12hr passages to get from Cape Lookout to Elizabeth City, NC.

 

8-11 Apr, Holden Beach, NC

    There were some strong northerly winds forecasted for the next few days so we reserved a spot at the Holden Beach town dock. 

   We enjoy stopping here, primarily for Sue to collect shells on the beach, and also we get to normally visit with my brother who has a beach house here. 

    There weren't as many shells as we've seen before but still some. Sue walked the beach each morning and evening.

    A cute touch at the northern end of the island, at Lockwood's Folly, is a mailbox for visitors to leave messages.

 

5-8 Apr, Waccamaw River and Bird Island, Little River SC

    After our offshore passage to Charleston, we continued up the ICW to the Awendaw Creek anchorage. This is a nice, fairly protected anchorage that opens to the ocean through narrow marshlands. There are no houses or boat traffic through here.  Very relaxing after 30hrs in the ocean. 

    We motored up the Waccamaw River, one of the prettiest sections of the ICW (sorry no pictures this trip) and proceeded past Myrtle Beach and Little River and anchored at the Little River Inlet off Bird Island.

   This is another isolated anchorage with little boat traffic except some fishermen. We spent two days here walking the beach, not too many shells, waiting for our reservation at Holden Beach up the ICW. There will be shells there.

 

3-4 Apr - Offshore to Charleston

 

   The predicted weather was for light winds from the southeast throughout our 24hr transit from St Mary's to Charleston, pretty much ideal. We were hoping to sail for much of the trip but knew the winds were supposed to die after midnight.

   It turned out we were only able to sail without the motor for 1hr the whole 24hrs. The winds were just too light and too far too the east to let us sail on course.  

 

     Of course, if we were "real sailors" we could have sailed at 3kts and tacked up the coast and made the trip in about 3 days, hopefully arriving before the strong cold front with northwest winds and thunderstorms arrived on the 6th. Instead, we turned on the motor and motored steady at 6kts with main and staysail out (which can be tightly sheeted for the apparent winds on the nose) and arrived at Charleston at 10am the next morning. 

 

    We passed by Fort Sumter at 11am and turned north up the ICW and were anchored in Awendaw Creek, our favorite spot between Charleston and Georgetown early that afternoon, ready for a good night's sleep after 30hrs at sea. 

   We hurried on north the next day, bypassing Georgetown and were safely anchored in the Wacamaw River when the cold front with its thunderstorms passed through.  

31 Mar - 2 Apr, Cumberland Island

 

   We have 3 days to wait for the best weather window to make the transit offshore from St Mary's Inlet to Charleston, and a great spot to sit for several days is anchored off Cumberland Island, GA. 

   Cumberland Island is a national park with no motor vehicles and only accessible by boat. There are several people ferries that shuttle campers and tourists over and a well protected anchorage area for private boats.

 

   The island is covered by old live oak forests that create unusual scenery and, it is the home of the largest herd of un-managed, wild horses that wander around and basically don't interact with the people. 

 

   A trail takes you across the island and eventually to a boardwalk that crosses the shoreline protective sand dunes leading to the beach.

 

   The beach about 13 miles long of fine sand and perhaps 20-50 people depending on the day of the week and weather.

    We carry our small shibumi sunshade and folding chairs in a couple bags, ready to quickly setup on any beach. Snacks and a couple cold beers make it a great day at the beach. 

 

   There are not many shells on this beach but enough for Sue to collect a small bag full. No shark's teeth found though I'm sure there are some there.

 

   Cumberland Island is famous for being the winter vacation grounds for the Carnegie family from cold and snowy Pittsburgh. At one time they had a mansion with multiple support buildings and servants on the southern part of the island. Now the mansion ruins are the prime grazing area for the island's horses. 

 

   We spent 3 cool but sunny beautiful days anchored off the island then, it was time to make the offshore run to Charleston before the next cold front with strong northerly winds pushed through.