11/19/2009, Anchored in Carolina Beach, NC
Maybe we have a flat learning curve. Once again we decided to park the boat on a nice little shoal. This one was just north of Carolina Beach, NC. Our trusty Skipper Bob said to watch out for the shoaling around G155 and so I was favoring the starboard side of the channel. That worked until we got near G155 where we went bump...bump...bump...stop! There was no way we could power off...believe me George tried. And once we hit ground everybody slowed way down, so nobody would through us a wake to help us off. Of course in the end that's probaly just as well since a big wake could also do some damage to the boat by making it bang on the shoat. Actually several boats that past us ran around further down the ICW, but they all managed to power off...even the Coast Gaurd boat.
After it was clear we were not going anywhere soon we re-checked the tide charts that said the tide should be rising. So we waited. After 1 1/2 hours of waiting we were still in the same place. Time for TowBoat...agian. They arrived about an half hour later and popped us off in seconds. He then told us to hug G155 really close, in fact he figured it was safer on the outside of G155. The towboat guy, who was extreamly nice, followed us through the shoaling area and told us that the shoaling had changed quite a bit when a tug went aground there and churned everything up trying to get off. He also gave us some information about where to anchor in Carolina Beach that was again a bit different than what Skipper Bob said. (Just for the record we just bought our Skipper Bob while in Cape May.)
Despite being aground the day was actually quite pleasant. The homes along this part of the ICW are beautiful and the marsh areas are alive with wildlife, especially birds. To top it off, the weather today was wonderful, especially since they were calling for rain and thunderstorms off and on all day.
The picture above was taken just before Wrightsville Beach Bridge. We had a fifty miniute wait there, so we enjoyed lunch and milled about with the half dozen other boats that were there. As slow as we move I was surprised to see one of the boats we had bumped into at the Dismal Swamp Welcome Center and two of the others were in Dowry Creek Marina the last night we were there. Obviously they only go a short distance each day, or they spend a day or two at each stop.
Tommorw we head for Cape Fear River. I'm going now to check how deep the water will be and when the tide is going to be low. The goal now will be to not call Tow Boat for at least a week. But as our friend Jennifer from s/v Ruth might say...as sailor we just have to LUFF this stuff off.
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Comments [1]
The problem with that spot was that the incoming tide just pushes you further aground. We did manage to get off after a lot of effort.
wayne
11/18/2009, Beach House Marina, Surf City, NC
We left Swansboro this morning. Unfortunately we left Al & Jen on S/V Ruth fighting with an un-cooperative Atomic engine. We've had a great time getting to know them over the past week after spending months talking back and forth electronically. We are hoping that the engine can be fixed quickly and that they'll be able to catch up...SOON. We'd even slow down if we knew they were catching up. lol
Kooper started the morning with a refreshing saltwater swim, or rather splash. He learned the hard way that a five foot jump shouldn't be tried when the end of your leash is being firmly held eight feet away. After being fished out Kooper was then further humiliated by having a cold, freshwater hose down.
Yesterday when we can into the dock Ben was at the helm. With George's help he managed to dock the boat without crashing into anything. This morning when we left we had a huge current to fight with. In fact the sailboat that left just before us managed to leave one of the crew on the dock. He couldn't get on the boat once he had untied the boat. They came back for him, but it wasn't easy. Lucky for us we had Al and Jen on the dock to help out. I know I don't move fast enough to jump on a boat that's moving away from the dock at about 6 knots. lol
We now have only 80 miles to go until we reach South Carolina and the pressure to move fast is starting to melt away. Yeah it's still cool at night, but no risk of frost. The past few days we've been spotting dolphins/porpoises everywhere. They even swim by in the marinas. We're also seeing way more pelicans and a huge variety of gulls and ...palm trees. Today, the icing on this cake was our first stop at a true beach town. A beautiful sand beach running along the Atlantic Ocean with all the surf shops, fishing stores and jewelry stores you'd expect to find in a good beach town. Surf City has been a real surprise for us. We were not expecting anything like this and to top it all off it is a great place for food, seafood and alcohol provisioning. Everything is within a block or two.
The excitement for today was crossing Camp Lajeaun. Yesterday I recognized the sounds of firing range. (I spent part of my childhood near a tank range.) Today when we arrived at the "border" to the firing range the lights were flashing and the sign said closed turn on AM530. When we turned the radio on we heard nothing. We also noticed the gaurd tower was empty and there were no patrol boats keeping the ICW closed. When we hailed the camp on VHF 16 we received no response. Earlier in the day we had heard other boaters saying that the lights must have been left on accidentally. So we entered the firiing zone, along with a few other boaters, and started to make our way across. All the while we were wondering what kind of fine there was for entering a closed military zone. We thought maybe it was a way for the government to scratch up a few dollars. haha About half way across I heard the first shell, so I pushed the motor, don't tell George, and kept my fingers crossed. Lucky for us the tide started to work in our favor as we moved further south. Just after we passed through the Onslow Beach bridge, which we timed perfectly, the navy patrol boats headed into the firing zone. Shortly after that we heard them telling other boaters to move through as quickly as possible because the firing we had been hearing was moving into the area. Timing is everything.
So now we are relaxing on the boat getting ready to visit trawler R-Hope for some sundowners and then another fresh seafood dinner. Tonight shrimp and grouper. As for tomorrow we're not sure, but we may start the day with a nice walk along a beautiful beach.
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11/16/2009, Morehead, NC
After five nights at Dowry Creek Marina, just outside of Bellhaven, NC, we finally left Sunday morning. The weather was great and we actually managed to put the sails up for a good part of the day. As we pulled out we were sad to say goodbye to the crew from Trefoil, but happy to see new friends from Ruth and Ninkasi heading the same direction.
Last night we anchored in Broad Creek, just off of Neuse River. (From what we can tell at least 20% of all creeks in Maryland, Virgina and North Carolina are called Broad Creek, most of the the rest are called Mill Creek or Back Creek.) We were anchored in a very pretty and quite spot, if you didn't count the tranformer buzzing off somewhere behind the few homes in the area. The above picture is of the sunrise this morning just before we left at 6:45.
Today we headed to Morehead. George was in desperate need of a reliable cell phone and/or internet connection. The connections since Norfolk have been very spotty and we can't figure out why. The ground is very flat so a signal should travel a good distance and with the exception of the Alligator River and a couple of the canals the area is populated. We hope things will get better from here on down. Everybody claims we are through the worse cell phone area.
Just before we arrived at Morehead/Beaufort (Bo-fort) our GPS decided to hang up. While I was working on the problem George managed to wander from the channel and hit a shoal. He tried to pull off but it was no good. When we got the GPS working again it was clear that we were less than 5 feet out of the channe. When Tow Boat arrived and pulled us off it was clear that we were not off by much. Oh welll it had to happen sometime.
While we were being pulled off S/V Ruth hailed us on the radio and we ended up staying at the same marina tonight. Ninkaski and Ajaya, another Dowry Creek storm stayed boat, pulled in to a marina few doors down.
While we sat in the cockpit this afternoon we were visited by a pod of dolphins, or maybe porpoises. It was so fun watching them break the water and some came pretty close to the boats. This evening we could see them blowing air and swimming along the surface of the water. Actually you could hear them better than you could see them.
Tomorrow we are hoping to anchor out again. We hoping to get past Camp Le Jeaune. We have to reach Charleston, SC by the end of the month. There is a bridge there that will be closed at the end of the month for ten days. If we get there too late we either have to wait or head out in to the ocean for an offshore run. We're hoping, along with the other boats mentioned, to get there in time to miss the bridge closing. Al, from s/v Ruth says that means we have to average over 20 miles a day, and that includes the days we can't go anywhere due to weather or breakdowns.
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The GPSwas down only for a few minutes and that's all it took for George to slip that very important foot or two off the channel.
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