We began our trip north from Florida by
positioning ourselves on the down river side of Jacksonville closer
to the mouth of the river so we could get an early morning departure,
both to take advantage of the favorable current and to assure a
daylight arrival in Charleston harbor. As luck would have it we had
wind on the bow or near so the whole way so it was a motor sailing
trip from start to finish. Our speed was slower than planned so we
arrived too late to catch a bridge opening we needed to get to our
intended anchorage just north of Charleston. We passed Fort Sumter
on our way to an anchorage in Charleston harbor across from City
Marina. In the past we have always avoided this anchorage because it
is usually crowded, not well protected, and subject to strong
currents. We didn't expect it to be crowded at this time of year and
so we did find a spot with adequate swinging room. To our amazement
we had a very pleasant night. Taking the outside route was about 65
miles shorter, even backtracking a little to our anchorage, but it
also saved at least three days of travel time. We had a rough plan
for stops on the ICW, mostly to revisit our favorite anchorages and
maybe even stop at a couple marinas, something we almost never do.
With our unexpected stop in Charleston, now our plan was thrown into
disarray. We made it to Georgetown, SC the next day, again short of
our plan, but enjoyed another nice peaceful evening. With an early
start we felt we could get back on plan, but plans went afoul again
when we reached North Myrtle Beach for a fuel stop. It was only 3:30
but Barefoot Resort had just filled up their fuel dock with overnight
transient boats so they were no longer pumping fuel for the day. Not
wanting to proceed without topping of the fuel we took a slip across
the waterway at Barefoot Landing Marina for the night. A very strong
storm system was sweeping across the country and was due in our area
late the next evening. We decided to make a short travel day and
after getting our fuel proceeded to Ocean Isle Marina, in Ocean Isle,
North Carolina. Ocean Isle Marina is a dry stack storage facility
for smaller power boats, but they have room for one transient boat on
the end of their dock furthest out into the waterway. This was our
planned stop the previous day. Norm's cousin Bob and his wife Hattie
live just a few streets from the marina. Unfortunately Bob was
working that day but after Bob got off from work we all went our for
a couple drinks. While our visit was short we were happy to see each
other. The next day after the front passed through we had a good
travel day and arrived at Wrightsville Beach, our intended stop. The
next day, Sunday, April 21 was the harshest we have ever spent on the
waterway. The skies were clear and blue, but the air was cold and
the wind was blowing around 30, and gusting higher mostly on our bow
and to make things even worse the current was against us all day. We
came very close to having our way blocked. Some of the bridges
cannot operate in high winds. When we arrived at the Surf City
bridge it could not be opened because the wind was in excess of 25
knots. After a brief wait and thoughts of dropping the hook, there
was a momentary lull in the wind and the bridge tender decided to
give it a try. It opened oh so slowly, but it did open and we got
through. Later the Coast Guard announced that the Figure Eight
Island Bridge had suspended operations due to wind. We had cleared
that bridge earlier in the day. We arrived at our anchorage at Camp
Lajeune (Mile Hammock). This is one of the most popular anchorages
on the waterway and we found it empty. Later just one other boat
joined us. Of course we are well ahead of the spring northern
migration. We found one anchor would not hold, so we put our a
second in a V shape off the bow and that did the trick. We were
solidly in place and we both slept peacefully even as the winds howled
all night. The next morning the winds had not subsided so we decided
to stay put and take up travel the following day which was predicted
to be better. After our lay day at Mile Hammock, the weather was
much improved and we were once again underway. A couple days later
found us in Belhaven, North Carolina. We have always stopped in
Belhaven and it is one our favorites. The many empty storefronts
witness a town struggling, but we have found the people to be the
friendliest you will find anywhere. For our first time while
stopping at Belhaven we decided to go into a marina. We stopped at
the Belhaven Waterway Marina which is right in town, actually next
door to the dinghy dock which in the past was our access point to town.
Since our last visit three years ago Belhaven was flooded during a
hurricane so a couple more stores were closed and the laundromat
moved to higher ground, luckily still within reasonable walking
distance. We went out to dinner at the Fish Hooks Cafe as a walk down
memory lane. Before beginning our first trip down the ICW in 2007,
we met Iain and Jan on Jocks Lodge. They were experienced with the
ICW so we asked to tag along for a couple days. This was all
arranged sitting in our dinghy next to their boat so we really didn't
know them as we started out. Likewise Ted and Alice on Windsong
asked to tag along with us. After clearing the idea with Jan and
Iain the three boats started out together. After three days of
travel together we arrived in Belhaven and stayed a couple days. It
was in Belhaven that we finally started to get to know one another.
Iain and Jan treated the four of us to dinner at the Fish Hooks Cafe as
appreciation for assisting them when their engine quit with a clogged
fuel line and after that was fixed they got a line wrapped around
their prop. Assistance was in the form of towing them across
Albemarle Sound in rough seas and helping untangle the prop. The
food at that time at the Fish Hooks was not to be recommended but we
had a wonderful time together. This time around the food was
excellent. The six of us on our three boats spent the next few
months cruising together. Iain, Jan, Ted and Alice became close
friends and we have continued to stay in touch.
This trip we decided to take the
Virginia Cut. Crossing Albemarle Sound, there is a choice to be
made between the Dismal Swamp route or the Virginia Cut route. This
is our sixth trip on the ICW (three round trips) and with the
decision to take the Virginia Cut we split evenly between the two
routes.
On April 27, just two weeks after
leaving the marina on the St Johns in Florida, we arrived in Hampton
on the lower end of the Chesapeake and were happy to be back in open
waters. The weather was either very nice of very miserable. Our
first day on the Chesapeake was cold with misting rain and that night
the rain increased in intensity and continued non-stop through the
following day. After laying over for a day at anchor we had a
fantastic day with good sailing. Our next stop was the Solomons,
which was our summer home in 2009. Again rain was forecast for the
following day so we took a slip at the Solomons Harbor Marina
(Holiday Inn). It was good to get off the boat and to see places so
familiar to us. Our highlight was dinner at Boomerangs, a place we
like and when we had visitors we invariably took them to Boomerangs,
which specializes in ribs.
After two days in the Solomons we again
had another great travel day, the wind was a little close so we motor
sailed, but we caught favorable current from the incoming tide all
the way. We arrived in Rock Hall at Gratitude Marina, our new home
for Ariel on May 2, five months after leaving Panama.
Our laptop keyboard finally gave out so until we were able to order a new keyboard and install it updating the blog just wasn't going to happen. This laptop has spent six years at sea so it is understandable it developed this problem. Now it seems good as new, but just a little ( or a lot slow ) by today's standards. Anyway that is why this post is long winded.
No comments:
Post a Comment