Plan was to catch the falling tide to Southport, the entrance to the Cape Fear River, arrive at slack tide and then catch a rising tide up Cape Fear River. Some smart, right?
We hit the entrance to Cape Fear about a half hour before low tide and thought we timed it right; nope. We ended up going against the current the whole time ( 15 miles) but the wind was light and the water was calm so we'll take it.
Just a little bit of traffic and the occasional passenger and car ferry.
Passed one opening to the ocean where the locals had there cars on the beach.
And passed this high and dry on the way to Wrightsville Beach; these boats looked like the slightest breeze would blow them off the rack.
Anchored in the basin where we had stopped back in 2011 only this time we had lots of room. We couldn't figure out why the place was crawling with young adults, enjoying the beaches and just hanging around; turns out this is also a college town. Jeez, should have gone there instead of Dal. I wonder if their parents know what they're doing. Valerie said there's lots of "candy-eye" - I wonder what she was looking at?
Some locals had this out for a pleasure sail. It's called a Sprit-sail Skiff; originally produced in Beaufort, NC as a work boat it is very shallow draft and stable.
Neat looking boat and rig.
Next morning the wind was blowing hard from the NE so we decided to wait a bit and go for a walk. Back to the boat and caught the 12:00 opening of the bridge (only opens on the hour). Picked up some tide in our favor and had an easy run to an anchorage surrounded by the Cape Lejeune Military Base.
Passed this house on the way - Big Pink! No wait, that was an album, right?
Had a couple of fly-overs with helicopters and some big guns going off in the distance. Nice big anchorage with 17 other boats.
Off early the next morning and saw these signs on the way. When the Marines are doing exercises they will temporarily close the ICW to traffic.
I didn't get this sign right but it says UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE and these were posted all over the place keeping you on the ICW.
Saw some locals raking for oysters.
And passed this large phosphate barge on the way through Beaufort, NC.
We were having such a good run we decide to skip Beaufort and head for Oriental, NC and got a spot at the marina.
Oriental is a nice little town and calls it self the "sailing capital of NC". We took our little fold-up bikes for a a ride and went to a Wal-Mart Express! Oh boy! Wonder how many boxes of wine you can fit on a tiny bike rack? Sorry, didn't have the camera but it was impressive. Washed the boat down only to wake up with the damn thing covered in "fuzzy-bills"! Turns out they are small, non-biting midges that will swarm at will. Millions of them on all the boats! What a mess.
Off early the next morning, after washing the fuzzy-bills off, for a perfect crossing of the Neuse River and Pamlico Sound.
Motored through the Alligator-Pungo Canal; a 25 mile stretch of almost perfectly straight canal.
Although there was the occasional log to dodge; this is a nice clump of logs on the side of the canal.
Anchored in a bay at opening of the Albemarle Sound where we had protection from the SW winds. Forecast was for more of the same wind tomorrow so we should be good. Had a radio conversation with George who is on a unique 46' Nordhaven motor yacht, hull #1. Pretty cool. He's headed for Newfoundland and Labrador, single handed. Amazing at 70 years old.
Weather forecast wrong again! Winds clocked to the NW 10-15 knots. Those winds along with the shallow water across the sound (15 feet average) made for a rolly, uncomfortable ride for 10 miles with winds on the beam, until we got into the lee of the land. Everything getting tossed around in the boat; some fun!
Anyway,we got through that in one piece and saw this blimp and hanger again, as we did on our trip in 2011.
I needed to google this and see what this is used for. Turns out it was originally built in 1941 for spotting U-Boats but it is now a manufacturing and test facility for dirigibles. That's what Google says. Question is: research for whom?
Got to Elizabeth City mid-afternoon; the free town docks are really narrow with just a short dock so we decided to go through the lift bridge and tie up to the Jennett food supply free dock. One other boat there, a Whitby 42. The owners had cruised Nova Scotia last summer and wanted to know if we knew Vince Purcell who runs a marina in Purcell's Cove. Nope, but I'm sure we know someone who does!
This looks like a nice idyllic spot from this angle, right?
Not so much from this here! Right next to the bridge (one lift is under construction) and constant traffic all night!
Took the dinghy into town and went to the Potato Festival! Lots of stands selling deep-fried anythings (Oreo cookies, and cheesecake? Yuck!) and carnival rides for kids. Apparently, potatoes here are like what potatoes are to PEI. There were a lot of people there who should give up eating potatoes for their own good. Not us, of course, we had a big order of hand-cut fries! Yum!
Off at 5:45 to catch the first opening of the Dismal Swamp lock at 8:30. Boat behind us left first which made it easy for us to get off the dock.
And dead calm as we wind our way up the Pasquotank River.
Locked up 8' with the other boat ("Hold Fast", Dena and Myron) into the Dismal Swamp.
Lock tender gets you through the lock and then drives to the lift bridge to open that for you.
Dismal Swamp was surveyed by George Washington and was dug by hand by slaves beginning in 1793 and was finally opened in 1805. It is the oldest operating waterway in the US.
It's pretty now, but can't help thinking what is was like back then for those poor people with the heat and mosquitoes, working in a swamp.
And eventually you cross the border into Virginia.
One more lock and bridge (had to wait for an hour so for lock to open, so made a quick trip to grocery store) and in about ten minutes, from wilderness, into the confusion of Norfolk harbor!
We got a slip at Tidewater Marine across the river from Norfolk in Portsmouth. Nice marina and close to the historic district. As we were getting settled a cruise ship decided to leave and did a 180 in the channel. Glad he wasn't doing that when we arrived!
We will spend a few days here doing chores. I need to change the engine oil and disposing of it is always the biggest headache. Hot hot hot, mid 90's - went for a swim in a floating pool at the marina to cool off - another first. Can hear the thunderstorms closing in on us.
Just watched a boat try to leave the dock, but they forgot to unplug their power cable. Some fun! Wonder what they say about us?
So we are finished with the Intra-Coastal Waterway. We have gone approximately 1,200 miles in just less that 4 weeks. We feel we can slow down a bit and start exploring the Chesapeake as we make our way north to New York and the trip up the Hudson River.
No comments:
Post a Comment