Making Great Time and THE Decision . . .Our Journey is Over

Thanks, Martha, for this photo
of Pekabu at sunrise this morning.

    We had a wonderful breeze when we left the anchorage.  Then we had to change our angle and lost our point of sail for a while. Once on the Chesapeake the winds subtly changed direction and speed all day. Even with the changes we made good time, 6.8 to 7.5 knots as the current will be with us all the way up the bay.

 A reminder that we share
 the waters with those who make a living
while we use the waters for recreation.

    Unfortunately, the fact that we were making such good time also forced us to make a decision.  We could stop at Solomons around 1:30 PM and possibly be stuck there for a few days. .  . OR we could continue and be in our home dock tonight. If we stay in Solomons, we will be only a few miles from John and Betty’s home . . .so close and yet so far!  The bad weather tomorrow and then the winds on Thursday will keep us here until Friday.  We could take a direct route from here and be in our home slips for Andiamo around 7:30, Brunelle by about 8:30 and us about 9 PM providing the winds continue consistent.    As we discussed our options my first reaction was simply “it’s over!” “No hugs and kisses, no final clink of glasses and toasting to another good day and fantastic cruise!”    

    We are all in agreement.  We are homeward bound.  Our wonderful adventure will be coming to an end. I am, but I am not quite ready. It seems to be true of most cruisers, once you get close to home, you push on to get home for any number of reasons.  For us, we have people to see and places to go. This is the longest we haven’t seen our kids. They might be all grown, but we still miss them.  Pete’s Mom had surgery this past January and we have not been able to see her since Thanksgiving. We have spoken often, but it is not the same thing.   And then there is my truck. It is still in Florida with Ann and Howie. We will fly down to see them, pick it up, perhaps stop to see my sister and her family in the Charlotte area on the way out to Ohio to see Mom and then head home. Then Pete will have to set up meetings for work and I will have to figure out just what being retired really is all about.

The time has come for us to part and head for our home ports.
Andiamo is far off to the left; Brunelle is close on the right;
the lines are from Pekabu. 

     Around 3:30 we reached a distance where we said our final farewells over our handy walkie talkies that only reach 2 miles.   At 5:30 we hailed over the VHS to go to another channel and raised our glasses for a final toast to “another great day, wonderful friends and, to borrow from Martha’s Dad’ secretary, a G---  D---- Great Cruise!”

The confused skies sum up today's emotions.

    We followed Brunelle right up to Kent Narrows as the sun was low in the clouds. Brunelle parted to head to Lippincott Marina while we continued up to wait for the 8 PM opening of the final bridge of our voyage.  The tide was very high due to southerly winds blowing all day, so we had no problems with the skinny spots in the northern channel of Kent Narrows or the entry to Castle Harbor.

Brunelle entering Kent Narrows

     By 9 PM we were snuggled in to our slip as darkness was finally upon us.  SPOT was set as to our location and the email to our friends, family and cruising family letting them know that we had arrived at our homeport safely. Tomorrow, will be the final 70 miles at a considerably faster pace on land to home.

Pekabu heads into Kent Narrows and the final bridge.
Thanks, Martha, for the great photo.

    As for the statistics. . .6 months, 193 days, 7 states, 2 countries, 3 thunderstorms with 4 additional smatterings of rain, ever-changing vistas, countless magnificent sunset and sunrises, over 5000 photos (only the best or most relevant of which have been placed in the blog), unforgettable memories , priceless friendships and 3623 miles at 7 miles an hour! Would we do it again? We both agreed we would not answer that one too quickly, but there is so much we didn’t see and so many wonderful experiences that are worth repeating.  It is a definite . . . “maybe.”

     We are sad that something so wonderful is ending. However, we are so very thankful that we have been given the opportunity to experience all the places, the people, the acquired knowledge, the weather, the water, the images and most importantly the friendships that will forever be treasured.

~  ~ (\_~ ~ ~     Kathy and Pete  
  


Pekabu crossing The Bahama Banks February 22, 2011



War Ships, Loose Belts and a Creek Called "Antipoison"

Naval ship yard with ship completely
out of water!

     As we were preparing to leave Tidewater Marina, we met the owner of Saving Grace, the Valiant sailboat that traveled through Dismal Swamp with us yesterday. He is taking the boat from Kentucky to sell her in Annapolis. It has been a series of adventures including getting stuck in the mud in Alabama for a month, broken batten in the main and miscellaneous crew problems, but all and all it has been a very interesting voyage.

Returing war ship receiving help into slip.

    As we were approaching the naval docks, the announcement was made that there would be a naval ship departing. We were able to keep to the outside of the channel and watch as she was eased out of her berth. There was another naval ship being assisted back into her dock at the same time.

F16s patrol the harbor

 Add to this was a barge with a diver in the water further south in the channel and an air craft carrier beginning her entry into the harbor.  Unfortunately, Saving Grace did not have her radio on when we tried to alert her to the naval traffic.  Saving Grace was centered in the channel with the “war ship” (as they are now referred to on the radio) was bearing down on her.  The war ship actually had to blast the horn twice to get Saving Grace to respond.  Dan finally told him he had to give the navy ships 500 yards clearance.  After making a joke about not having a tape measure, he exited the channel. We were surprised the chase boats didn’t go after him. We had noticed the increase security, which is probably due to the news last night that US Special Forces took out Osama Bin Ladin in Pakistan last night.

Coast Guard escourts the very large air craft carrier into Norfolk Harbor

     After that little bit of excitement, we headed towards the north and into the Chesapeake Bay.  The winds were able to give us a little bit of a push so we motor sailed for most of the day.  Andiamo once again saw the temperature increase slightly so John checked and tightened the belt and we were once again on our way.  Then the temperature started to increase again, the instruments were also behaving a little bit flakey.  After some walkie discussion between the boats, John decided it might have something to do with the gain on the autopilot being too high. Once he lowered the gain, things seemed to settle back to normal. So we continued on, but changed our destination from Fishing Bay to Fleets Bay off of Antipoison Creek.  It offered better protection from the south wind and a more direct entry to the bay in the morning.

The beach - complete with a volley ball net
with osprey on each post!

    As we were heading towards the anchorage, Betty called to announce she had dinner ready for us once we anchored.  Dan offered to provide shuttle service.  Martha and I just had to add a few items to round out the meal and we were all set.  The anchorage is very pretty, close to a sandy beach with a volley ball net already installed.  It is not protected from the north, but if we were to head up the creek we would not have to worry about the wind from any direction.  It is a good place to keep in mind for a future trip in this area.

     At dinner, we discussed how quickly this cruise is coming to an end.  Tomorrow we will be in Solomons.  The weather doesn’t look good for Wednesday, storms and wind; then Thursday, cool and windy.  We are just not used to this weather!  Since the weather might come in early, we will be heading out at 7 AM. So it is back to the boats and getting ready for tomorrow for us.

~  ~ (\_~ ~ ~     Kathy and Pete 

The Beauty of Dismal Swamp

The morning is quite with the muted colors on the trees
 and mist slithers along the water's edge as we begin our day.

     We all have been looking forward to this portion of the trip.  We bypassed the Dismal Swamp on our trip south, but we would not end this trip without seeing this place that George Washington surveyed “back in the day.”

The railroad bridge tender's house.

One of the side creeks

     The trip needed to be timed as the locks and bridge only open at specific times each day.  So we needed to be at the South Mills Lock at 11:30 for the opening. Pekabu was fortunate to have the lead today.  It gave me the opportunity to take pictures form the bow. With the cool morning temperatures, there was even some early morning mist rising from the water in amongst the trees.

Entering the 1st lock

     As we traveled further north, I spotted an osprey with it's breakfast.  He also spotted and squawked at us.  As we got closer, he flew further up the creek.   I once again spotted him; he spotted us; he squawked more the closer we came, then few further up the creek.  He actually repeated this 4 times before he few down the creek with his small fish.  I don’t know if he repeated this with the other boats, or if he went up another branch of the creek, away from the “terrible boats.”

  

  The beauty of the ride was simply magnificent.  We removed the canvas connector between the dodger and the bimini just so we could appreciate the vista. Though the trees had completed their blooming, the honeysuckle perfumed various parts of our ride while unknown sweet floral scents drifted from other areas.  Surprisingly, even though this is “The Dismal Swamp“ we never encountered a “swamp” or “bog” smell in our travels today.

I finally got "the" turtle picture!

     What we DID encounter today was one grumpy trawler captain, who didn’t want to be passed (rammed our dinghy in the lock, blaming it on a bad port engine and never apologized), two sail boats, who wanted positions in the first lock so that they would be able to grab the dock at the Visitor’s Center, two logs in the canal and a couple of dead heads on the bottom that gave us significant bumps while we were traveling in 8 feet of water. . .and an ever changing spectacular view.

The lush, but narrow canal that was 8' deep with some submerged debris
that we bumped at 5' below the surface.

    Once we exited the canal we had to wait 50 minutes for the Glimerton Bascule Bridge, which had changed from an on demand to an hourly schedule last November. Dan dropped the hook and we rafted for the first time in 7 months.

We are not in the Bahamas anymore!

It was a great time to spend a half hour rather than circle.  By the time the bridge lifted, there were 8 boats and a tug pushing a barge, which was thankfully traveling extremely slow and was the last to go through the bridge. Unfortunately,

Rafted and waiting for the bridge
to open.

Andiamo needed to drop anchor just at the edge of the channel due to the engine overheating. Martha maneuvered Brunelle over and enabled Dan to transfer over to lend a hand to replace a belt.  After about 40 minutes we were on our way to Tidewater Marina in Portsmouth.  We had already decided to eat at the restaurant at the marina, which was a definite plus tonight considering we were all tied up by about 7:30 PM.

    The ICW Cruising Guide has been put away. Tomorrow we will be back to the Chesapeake and our home waters and well dog-eared charts.

~  ~ (\_~ ~ ~     Kathy and Pete 

More Bugs and Long Day

     We could not believe our eyes when we come out into the cockpit.   The May files covered the inside of the canvas and a lot of the fiberglass, by the hundreds.  Even when we shoed then many returned.  We were successful is washing away many of them, some remained with us all day.  DOUBLE UCK!!!

Migration north up the Pongo River

    We continued up the Pongo River and onto the canal then onto the Alligator River.  We were fortunate will all the rain that the east has been having, the levels were not affected.  Andiamo had not problem going under the fixed 64 foot Walter B Jones Bridge.

Spring shades of green along the river banks

     Once on the predicted light winds increased to 15-20 and we were able to motor sail on the Albemarle Sound and up the Pasquotank River, dodging the crab pots.  We passed through the final bridge and cropped anchor in an anchorage with two other boats and lots of sunken boats.

Andiamo as we passed a weather balloon and hanger

Brunelle leading north on the Pasquotank River

     We had planned a long day.  We covered about 65 miles in 12 hours.  On Pete suggestion, we all left the center of the dodger up to allow the air to circulate in the cockpit so the bugs would not gather.  Hope it works. We stayed in the cockpit to watch the sunset, this time with few bugs.

We raise our glasses "To another great day!"

    Tomorrow. . . The Dismal Swamp     

~  ~ (\_~ ~ ~     Kathy and Pete  

Alone . . . Until the Bugs

    We left Morehead City Marina Yacht Basin around 8:30 as planned and headed up the ICW.  We all wanted to fill up with gas, so we opted to fill up at Jarrett Bay Boat Works.  Since we are the slowest of the three boats, it was decided to let us fill up first, then begin out trek north.  The others would catch up.

     As it turns out we traveled most of the day by ourselves.  We caught sight of them as they emerged out of Adams Creek onto the “Nasty” Neuse River, which was really quite calm today. In fact, we had a nice motor sail across her today.

Belhaven shoreline at sunset

     The winds were supposed to be relative light today, but instead were perfect for a nice push once we were on the Pamlico Sound. Then it was on to Belhaven, where we set the anchor for the night.  We quickly went down below by the time the sun was setting.  Suddenly the May files decended upon us; millions of them.!Unfortunately, they managed to come into the cabin and we managed to kill about a hundred on the ceiling, which then needed to be scrubbed. UCK!!!! Talk about feeling buggy.

     Oh, for the blue green, crystal clear waters, warm fresh air, sandy beaches and NO BUGS of the Bahamas!!!!

~  ~ (\_~ ~ ~     Kathy and Pete 

Layover in Morehead City Yacht Basin

     We were able to rent the Marina van for 2 hours at 8:30 this morning. As a result we were able to make a run to Harris Teeter and West Marine. Pete remained behind to do some work.

     We will definitely be staying in place today.  The winds are out of the southwest at 25+.  We have put additional lines on the boat as we were under a tornado watch for a good part of the day.  The storms that ravaged the south have diminished somewhat, but are still packing quite a wallop and heading this way. The newscasts from the devastated areas are surreal and the death count keep rising as some of the big tornados hit major cities. Yesterday might go down as being the worst tornado outbreak in recorded history. This just makes me want to just hold my family and friends close.

    Once back at the boat I needed to defrost the fridge/freezer again.  I also needed to do some laundry since we had time.  I wasn’t as successful with the blog.  My pictures and writings are ready, but the internet would not connect, and Pete needed the air card this afternoon. 

Martha's picture of the present & card.

So instead the boat interior was cleaned before heading to Andiamo for dinner. Knowing that our return home is coming up much too quickly, Betty suggested we give our little  "Thank You” sea star dish and dip set we found in Fernadina Beach to Mr. & Mrs. Cruise Dictator, Martha and Dan, tonight.  We will still take them to dinner once the cruise is over, but we know that we will all have commitments and it will take a lot more planning.    

~  ~ (\_~ ~ ~     Kathy and Pete   

Another Lucky Day to Morehead City, NC

Daybreak and the last of the storm clouds are breaking up.

     We started the morning believing that we would have a meeting via walkies at 7 AM to see what time we would be heading out.  Our alarm was set for 6:50.  Pete woke at 6:45, checked his e-mail and found an email from Dan stating that we were pulling up anchor at 7AM.  Needless to say, I woke up very quickly and made a mad dash to make sure that we pulled the anchor on time.

     We really should find a place to purchase some lottery tickets.  There were no storms last night.  John confirmed that all the storms somehow worked their way around us, but there appeared to be a protective bubble around us.  Thankfully, that protective bubble with continued to be in place today.

Not a sign you might see
every day.

    The morning was clear, but hazy with light winds that slowly built as the day progressed. We traveled north through Camp Lejune, passing an area with old tanks and missile launchers that are used for live target practices.  There are times that this stretch of the ICW is closed. We all were glad today is not one of those times.

    Shortly after clearing that restricted area, we heard the Coast Guard broadcast that not one, but two of the bridges we had open for us yesterday were closed; one only for an hour, but the other until further notice.  The second one was still closed by 5 PM today.  That means most boat traffic would be stopped at that point.  There are very few anchorages and few marinas around and there is some mean weather forecast for tonight and tomorrow, which is why we are in a marina in Morehead City tonight and tomorrow.

This unusual little island caught our attention.
Apparently, it also caught Brunelle's attention last time they passed.
This is where they lost their rudder in the unmarked shallows. Note ~ there is now a marker!

Oysterman on Bogue Sound
Very shallow!

   Coming into the dock at the Morehead City Yacht Basin was pretty straight forward up until we came into the dock.  Just as we were entering the dock a gust of wind took us and we were heading into Brunelle’s stern quarters.  The docks at this marina are meant for 50 foot boats.  We could not use the rear pilings. After checking in and checking out the nice facilities, we decided to follow the recommendation of the harbor master and have dinner at Floyd’s. 

     It was a quick walk to the converted home. which is Floyd's.  The food and service were excellent. We happened to catch the weather channel on their TV at the bar and we decided we are definitely staying an extra day.  The forecast for this area is for strong thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon.  We will be getting the tail end of some horrific storms that are hitting the south with unbelievable outbreak of tornadoes and damage. Our thoughts as we leave the restaurant are with those who are in the storms’ paths.

   We checked the lines and prepare to be rocked to sleep by the winds.

~  ~ (\_~ ~ ~     Kathy and Pete

Storms to the Left of Us; Storms to the Right -- South Port to Camp Lejune

Deep Water Marina

    At our staff meeting last evening we debated our departure time so I guess we finally decided on 8:30.  It really made no difference as to the current as we had the ebb tide for the first 10 miles up the river.  We could only do 4 knots. Our goal was to make it to a safe anchorage before the storms came in later tonight according to this morning’s weather reports.

     Once underway, we could see the clouds to the west begin to build as well as the winds building out of the east. Thankfully, Andiamo has the Sirus Weather, Martha checks the IPad and Pete checks his phone for the radar. By 10 AM, the pop-up storms were doing their thing all around us, but we somehow remained in the sun and clouds. To make best time, engine was aided by sails whenever possible. Some of the ICW could not be sailed. 

 It is too narrow and skinny waters are close.  Due to bridge schedules, we even ran our engine floored in order to make the opening, once this morning and once this afternoon. If we hadn’t made the openings we would have delayed anchoring by 1 ½ hours. Considering that we anchored at Mile Hammock Bay, Camp Lejune, NC at 6:15 and it looked as if it was going to storm any moment. We could hear the thunder in the distance.

This was the view to the east as we turned to anchor
 in Miles Hammock Bay

    Even with our eyes to the skies, Pete was able to do his conference call and I was able to post 6 days worth of blogs during the trip.  Once anchored, we used our walkies to have our traditional toast to another great day. Oh yea, as of 8:30 we are doing pretty good, but there is still one more major thunderstorm we are keeping our eyes on which will probably hit during the night.  Have I mentioned I really don’t like thunderstorms, but everything is secured and ready. Maybe we’ll continue to be lucky???

     ~  ~ (\_~ ~ ~     Kathy and Pete   

Myrtle Beach to Cape Fear River

Osprey Marina, a great place to stop.

     The trees are changing.  We are seeing less of the cypress and more deciduous and pine trees and the water is now brown due to the tannic acid. . . no more crystal clear blue/green, but I did see turtles sunning on the logs and rocks. We also saw more homes and now more golf courses along the waterway.  I suppose we should since we passed through Myrtle Beach. We also saw a lot of developments that are like River Dunes; developments barely started with very large homes on the waterway, many with harbors or docks that are now just sitting waiting for the economy to turn around.

Andiamo and Sheet Music making their way north on the ICW.

Part of the"Rock Pile"

     We passed through “The Rock Pile” at low tide.  We could see the horizontal shelf rocks that make this area so dubious to cruisers. Sheet Music was also traveling with us and warned us to stay towards the green to avoid the rocks near the red marker. Thanks to their advice we all passed through just fine.

Pair of Eagles

Carlotte Inlet just north of Sea Isle City, NC, where we spend a couple of very special vacations with family and friends.

     Once again we used the sails to increase our speed with the motor. Even with the increased speed, we still had the currents to fight from time to time so we did not pull into Deep Point Marina until 5. I was quite blissful as to the location.  I finally had the chance to call our friends, Gail and John Hurst, at a time when I should be able to catch them, but had to end the conversation prematurely as we needed to prep to head into the marina, a boat was coming out of the marina and a ship was coming down the channel. I will just have to call back real soon.

    Deep Point is a beautiful, new marina built for the ferry to Bald Head Island. It is reasonable, easy access, deep (except for the entry, which is constantly dredged), free laundry and almost complete, but we have to accept the ferry traffic and it's back up horn when it departs (which is not a real hardship.)

     Once docked, we stopped on the dock between Andiamo and Brunelle to have a quick staff meeting and wound up sitting on Andiamo.  Suddenly, everyone rounded up hefty munchies and there went dinner. . .again, but we once again toasted to another great day!

     Later, I was able to do a load of free laundry while I took my shower and then it was off to bed. 

     Time and miles are passing much too quickly!

~  ~ (\_~ ~ ~     Kathy and Pete