11/15/2009
This is another overnight trip - 19 hours. We had a beautiful sunset. Seas were really calm. There were millions of stars to sea since we were about 20 miles offshore. We didn't time leaving Baldhead at the right time and ended up having to enter charleston inlet in the dark. We had been here on the way up but it still confusing at night. On the way in i told Matt that i had never seen a shooting star - 5 minutes later i saw FOUR - one right after the other. Docking at our marina was a challenge since we had not been there before. The marina is blocked by a jetty so was really a challeng with the lights of the docks. When we docked at the fuel dock at 4:30am our friend Donny comes riding down the dock on his boat! He had heard us talking to the security guard on the radio. We had a nice visit and dinner with he and his wife Louise on their boat. Louise took me to the grocery store and there was a Starbucks next store - my first Starbucks in 8 months!! There is an old aircraft carrier docked right next to our marina, with a tiny sub attached. Not as big as i would have thought. I was really mad that I missed the Monday night football game - Patriots and Indy - my favorite teams and of course ended up being one of those really good games!!! I told Matt we have to start planning our stops around football from now on!
11/09/2009
we got to Cape Lookout late yesterday afternoon. We did a quick run to the beach for Nemo. It was really low tide so the shoal was exposed. Really neat the way you could see the ripples in the sand from where it is usually covered. Lots of shells but not anything you don't see in Fla. I found two scallop shells - one that is colored like a sunrise, the other colored like a sunset. We decided to get up and leave really early again this morning because Tropical storm Ida is expected to come this way with 5-7 ft seas and 30 knot winds. Cape Lookout is really exposed. It was another overnight trip to Baldhead. Half way there the winds kicked up to 25 knots and the seas were at least 6' rollers. It was dark outside so we couldn't see how big they were! By the time we got to the shoals that extend out from baldhead it was really rough and the winds were 20 knots. Not fun at all since we were coming into the inlet at night. Really hard to see at night coming in because there are so many lights competing with the bouy markers. The entrance to the marina at Bald head is really tight and not well marked. Luckily we had been there on the way up so we knew what to look for. It was a really long trip - about 21 hours. Not fun in weather like that. The winds gusted up to 30 knots and the seas were 4-7 at the inlet. Where we were at cape lookout the seas were 10-12 with 40 plus winds. Glad we left! We just hung out at the boat for a few days waiting on the storm to go away. We had been here before on the way up so we didn't do any touring. You can see the pictures in the album from before.
11/06/2009
We are leaving tomorrow - Sat 11/7 - to go around Cape Hatteras to Cape Lookout. It should take us about 27 hours. We won't have cell service or internet svc along the way so i will check in when we get where we can.
11/03/2009
FINALLY, we have a beautiful blue sky day to travel. Pretty cold but it gets warmer as we go. We planned to stay here until a weather window opens up to go around Cape Hatteras which is known as the ship graveyard. The Caribbean ARC, which is the race that goes from Hampton, VA to Tortola, BVI just left - 63 boats. Not everyone races. Traveling in a group like this gives you access to other experienced boaters should you have problems along the way, or just to have the comraderie of a group during an approximately two week trip. There is a downtown here but it is a typical small city with commercial districts etc. The picture shows a little oddity with the seafood plant falling apart (yes it is still used) against the brand new office buildings and marinas. An 84' motor cat parked next to us on the dock. The captain docked the boat using a remote control unit just like the ones you use on a play station. Really cool to watch.
10/29/2009
We are starting to feel like migrating birds with all the sailboats we see heading south. It is too cold and too dreary. It would be nice to have a sunny day for once. Deltaville doesn't have a "town" so we stayed in Fishing Bay at the marina. It is a really pretty, quiet Bay. We spent most of the time on the boat because the weather was so bad - really misty, ranining as usual. Our last day there the sun came out for a little while so we took the dingy and explored the Bay and then went round the point into the other cove. It is really shallow going into the cove and the channel (what there is of it) is not marked. I can't imagine how many people run aground here. We almost did in our dingy. There isn't much color left on the trees now as we head further south.
10/24/2009
We actually followed about 10 boats out of Annapolis harbor - first time we have ever been with so many boats during the whole trip. Everyone is heading south towards the warm weather. We saw some beautiful leaves along the way to the island and now in the river where we are. We have been picking some up and saving them - hope they keep their color. The island is really small and there isn't much here. We can't figure out where summer residents would be - except on all the sailboats but where do they park? This is definitely a sailboat harbor. We have had to stay here a few days waiting on our genoa sail and then it rained all day Sun.
