October 28-November 2, 2014 Norfolk to Southport

Two of the black labs on the dock.  Helping

It was fun at in Coinjock at the Coinjock Marina last night.  All these boats tie up on the wall.  And dogs.  Marina dogs, 3 of which were black labs.   And then of course a slew of boat dogs.  One couple on a Hampton 58 motor yacht, had this 22 month old semi chocolate, semi black lab.  Its coat defied any color description.  It was just very shiny.  It must have weighed in over 100 pounds.  Big and lovey.  And he had his own boat ramp making it easy for him to disembark and get loved up by boat people without dogs.

Ooops .... I  guess I should also point out we are now in North Carolina!  I only mention this because its one state closer warm water and beaches.

Home made chips in addition to everything else

We met several couples here on their boats.  Basically we grab a cocktail and wander the docks just like most everyone else except those who are sitting on their boats having a cocktail.  Quite fun!  We eventually went to the restaurant and then had dinner.  Prime Rib of course.  At Coinjock marina, its their signature entree.  But why to these places give you half a side of beef for a meal?  Dave H and Don C. might be able to eat it all, but I cant any more.  It's depressing asking for a dogie bag.

One of the boats that docked there right ahead of us was this gorgeous, 100'  Burger yacht.  It was an older model, but wow.  What neat boat.  The owners were absent so the crew was taking it back down to Florida.  Tough job.

In the morning the biggest boat, that beautiful Burger, left first.  That’s significant because we were literally stern to bow on the dock.  In other words each boat had about a foot of space between each other's ends.  Very tightly packed all in a row,  How the Burger got out is intriguing.  Even using a spring line there would be zero margin for error.  

We were lucky.  By 7AM most everyone had left so it was easy for us to spin away from the dock.  Yes, I got Mary up at 7:10 AM.  Pictorial evidenced was deleted by mandate.

Shameless advertising.  And we were in Manteo this spring!

Cold?  Nah ...

We really sprinted down the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal and Alligator River rivers at about 8.5 knots.  It was a bit chilly but I still usually keep one of the front facing windows open to see more clearly.  Some take refuge from the cold.

This route is known as the Virginia Cut as opposed to the Dismal Swamp Canal which we took this spring.   This route is a bit shorter than the Dismal Swamp and although the colors were just beginning to turn we wanted to visit Coinjock again.

I was curious about the this canal and its explained pretty well here

We had 80 miles to go and were in a loose group of  sailboats, some of which we met at Coinjock.

And of course there were a few of these big speedsters that just flew by us without even a flicker of recognition that their wakes could be damaging.    Annoying.

Pungo River Anchorage

Our intentions were to run through the Alligator river and then through the Alligator River and Pungo River Canal to an anchorage right at the Canal terminus.  It actually in the Pungo River.  We ran through the canal in waning daylight and got in to the anchorage right before sunset.  Weather predicated calm winds and there is little tidal activity here so it will be a quiet and peaceful night.  And it was cool to so no bugs and good sleeping.  And we only burned about 33 gallons of fuel racing 80 miles.  Not bad for a heavy old tub.

Hardly a ripple.  Dead calm in Palmico River

The anchorage was perfectly calm all night.  We woke up around 7:30 and of course were the last boat to leave out of about ten scattered through the anchorage.  No worries.  We only had 54 miles to go.  So we left around 8:30 and enjoyed probably the flattest seas I've ever seen down here.  Hardly a ripple.  I’m becoming an superstitious old coot.   I'm thinking this delightfully rare weather is simply lulling us into complacency while a big storm makes its way toward us in the next few days.  But the barometer is hardly moving off of “Fair".  So who knows.

As we approached the turn into South River from the Pamlico River I rechecked the weather and we re-assessed and ultimately decided to just by-pass South River, and anchor in Adams Creek which is really part of the ICW leading down to Beaufort.   Well, actually the anchorage is Cedar Creek which feeds into Adams Creek.  Its a convenient place to stop for the night.  But it is shallow!

 We reasoned we could make the Mile Hammock Bay anchorage tomorrow leaving us a less lengthy journey to Southport and a marina there when these heavy winds are supposed to descend Friday night and into Saturday.  So it’s a 60 mile run tomorrow and a 60 mile run the next day.  And, to keep things interesting the Marines are having live fire exercise tomorrow.  That means we cant pass through towards the anchorage until noon because the water way is shut down about 5 miles on either side of Mile Hammock by the Navy.  And yes there really is a big sign, DO NOT PROCEED, with flashing yellow lights.  Hard to miss.   But in any event we will probably have quite a number of boats with us trying to make that anchorage tomorrow. 

Cedar Creek Anchorage straight ahead

We arrived at Cedar Creek in the late afternoon and wound our way around the sunken sailboat (well marked) and in the anchorage near two sailboats.  It was calm a cloudless sky.  Perfect for watching a rocket launch.  Which I did to no avail because it blew up shortly after launch.  Mary was watching it on TV while I was vainly searching the sky.   

Running down Adams Creek in the early morning

We left right behind the two sailboats, Hair Ball (love that name) and Carolina at 7am the next morning.  You know, its pretty dark at 7AM.  So as I was up getting ready to leave  the two other boats had their cabin lights on and it was calm enough to see the slight mists of steam rising from their coffee mugs.  Eerie.

We swung out of the anchorage and, ignoring the frantically beeping depth sounder, made it out in the channel about a mile astern of our anchorage neighbors.    I did mention it was shallow to the extent that we had maybe 6 inches below our keel last night.  Probably about the same as we left the creek to.

 It was rather an uneventful journey down Adams Creek and into the cut leading to Beaufort.  Since we had decided to try to make Mile Hammock Bay today, Mary cancelled the reservations we had made in Morehead City at the Morehead City Marina where we had stayed this springs.   Instead, we called and reserved a slip in Southport at the Southport Marina for the next day for several days.

I'm still having periods of complete befuddlement with the weather down here.  I get it right 20% of the time.  NOAA gets it right maybe 50% of the time.  When there is nasty weather around and a dearth of decent, protected anchorages, we usually opt for a marina.  But that requires some predictive abilities which I'm just beginning to learn.

So easy docking ... with a couple of tugs helping out

As we went through Beaufort we watched a Naval vessel being docked and saw another beyond it that was already tied up.  This must coincide with the marine live fire exercises being conducted this  week and into next.  But luckily not on the 30th when we’ll be leaving the area.

The other Naval vessel already tied up

Went through a few very shallow spots coming though Bogue Sound.  And we heard on the radio about one sailboat that had gone aground.  We went through Swansboro which looked totally different than it did last year when we anchored there.  But I do remember the current really ripping through here and so it was today too.  Our speed dropped by 2 mph!

We had one bridge to contend with at Onslow Beach.  It's a swing bridge meaning it doesn't have a lifting span, but pivots around.  And its very slow, taking 5 minutes to swing.  But we arrived in time for the hourly opening and made it through.

Live fire warning sign

After the bridge we reached the really big sign warning mariners to heed the DO NOT PROCEED sign if its flashing its yellow lights.   But it wasn't flashing when we went bye.

After a few miles we eased into Mile Hammock Bay along with several boats we were traveling with since the last bridge.  And, we had to wait momentarily for  2 Navy patrol boats (large, hard bottomed inflatables) as they made their way into the basin.

Mile Hammock Bay is within the Camp Lejeune Marine base.  It's used for launching and docking small patrol craft and military personnel's recreational craft.  But they also permit non military recreational boaters to anchor there.  Its a rather popular anchorage since its rather deep and there is room for 20 or more boats.

We all found a spot to anchor in Hammock Bay 

Sunset in Mile Hammock Bay anchorage

There were 10+ boats already in the anchorage when we arrived but we all the 4 other boats found spots ok.  We’re in front of the launch ramp but were securely anchored.  At least it seemed so.  Hope that's true when the winds switch out of the north and it rains tonight!

We were anchored behind Horizon Chaser which was hosting quite a party for a few hours.  Sadly we didn't have the dinghy down so couldn't invite ourselves over.  I noticed they had an  AGLCA burgee flying too .  And we, being Gold Loopers, would surely be welcome since we are, sort of, elders of the AGLCA having completed the Loop.  Come to think of it, I guess we're elders in any sense because we are, well, old!

Before the sun set we saw several Osprey aircraft buzzing around here.  Loud, ungainly beasts.  They, along with helicopters and infrequent artillery fire made up the nights entertainment.  It is a training base after all.

By nightfall we counted 20+ boats in here.  And along the dock where the Naval patrol boats were tied up, the Navy fired up what looked like a Honda portable generator to power these very bright spot lights illuminating the dozen boats there.  It was eerie when it rained out later that night.

We were up with most of the rest of the anchored boats this morning and we all left around 7:30.  The reason we all departed around the same time were bridges.  There are three bridges which are an impediment to swift and easy travel on the ICW between Southport and Hammcok Bay.  Two open on the hour while the middle bridge opens on every half hour.  The first two are 16 miles apart, the  last is 5 miles.  Most of the boats we travel with do about 8 mph.  So its gets to be a complicated game of sorts.  Some of us having played the game before, now wait until others start to leave assuming they have made all the calculations you had done in years past.   And yes, that's me.  

We left in a group of about 8 boats and jostled for position as we made our way up the waterway.  It took about 30 minutes but we ended up separating into two groups, the faster and the slower.  We were in the faster, 8 mph.  And as an added bonus we were right behind Carolina, a large sailing ketch from South Carolina whom we have been talking on the radio a bit.  He’s been up and down here many times and knows all the little anchorages and tricks.  We anchored with him in Cedar creek which is where we first met them.

Waiting for a bridge opening 

We, or I should say "they" since I was following them, timed it rather well and went through Surf City and the Surf City Bridge with only a few minutes of idling around before the bridge opened.  Its another swing bridge like so many in the Carolinas.   Some times this idling around can be rather risky.  Half a dozen boats trying to stay in one position with current and wind effecting how the boats move not to menton the confined space one has to wait.  Makes for some lively radio conversations.

The next bridge we found out, had a height of twenty feet.  We can make it under a 20 feet bridge if I take all the antennas down.  And this time the bridge was reporting 22.5 feet of clearance.  So I did take the two big antennas down  and we slide under the bridge with feet to spare. 

The last bridge though was supposed to have 20 feet of clearance but only had 14 so we had to really run hard to make it.   The engines have had their share of  hard running over the last few days.  Moving so fast (9mph)  we just made it in time.

The rest of the way to Southport was typical ICW cruising with some pretty, some ugly, some large and some small houses.    No real bad shallow spots and it turned out to be a warm, sunny day after the rain storms we had the previous night.  Actually, it rained and blew rather over night to a degree sufficient to turn us 180 degrees around on our anchor.  Pretty interesting waking up and becoming disorientated because the 23 boats in the anchorage were all facing the wrong way! 

Tied up on B dock

We came into Southport Marina and they directed us to a face dock which is the outside dock forming the interior slips.  They are usually easier to access but can also be more bouncy in windy conditions.

I had to make to two, 90 degree turns and then spin the boat around so the it was facing out.  We did it but it took awhile to get the boat close to the dock against the wind and current.  We have no bow thruster and have to rely on me being able to twist the boat around using the shifters or spring lines to move the boat around when there are strong winds or currents effecting us.  Strong like today.  But the dock hand didn't get the bow line tied tightly enough so I could use it as a spring line.  But it all worked out fine, a little slowly but it worked.

Fruition right behind us

We spotted again, and finally talked with Jim and Sue from Fruition.  We ran into them at Colonial Beach.   Fun couple.  They are holing up at Light Keepers Marina for the winter.  Light Keepers is located in Coquina Harbour, a basin hosting several marinas including the Myrtle Beach Yacht Club where we spent several days early this summer.Myrtle Beach.  

We’ll be here in Southport probably until Monday as the weather gets bad Saturday and Sunday.  They have a super Walmart about 2 1/2 miles away but its not very accessible to biking or walking.  So we'll enlist the aide of Hank and Lisa of CYC to get us there and back.

And boy did we shop.  Besides spending lots of money, lugging all the groceries etc. up and in the boat can be arduous because we have such high Freeboard.  But we manage.

I sat down. It jumped on my lap without hesitation

And of course there are the marina cats who suck up to anyone for attention.

Hank does a presentation on weather in the area and navigation.  He's a meteorologist and does a superb job conveying weather facts and concepts not to mention navigation tips.  

We pulled in here Thursday evening anticipating some strong weather beginning Friday morning.  Considering my meteorological predictive abilities what could go wrong, right?   Friday, warm and pleasant.  Saturday morning warm and pleasant.  Saturday afternoon it began to rain until early Sunday morning.  Sunday may have been dry, but it was frigid.  Well, frigid meaning in the 50's.  And very windy.

The cold bottomed out around at 33 degrees early this morning (Monday) before we left at 8:30am.  The starboard engine barley started.  And we found a leaky faucet for which I have no replacement cartridge or O rings.  So on the agenda is a starter motor rebuild and a Home Depot where they carry replacement cartridges for the faucets we have on board.  Something to look forward too.

 Meanwhile Mary wears hats, gloves and a ski jacket.  Made of sterner stuff I still wear shorts but did succumb to a jacket.  No gloves though.  Yet.  But we both enjoy turning on the heat in the boat!