10/25/2009

We left the Broad Creek anchorage this morning after a good nights sleep, only disturbed once when the wind suddenly started gusting from the North (as opposed to the South). This caused a shift on our anchor and much clanking of chain and creaking of snubber. I jumped up and stood in the cockpit for a while but it was apparent all was well and we were not dragging our anchor, nor were any of our anchorage mates. We had some discussion this morning as to whether it was advisable to leave or not as 20+ knot winds were forecast and we had to face crossing Albemarle Sound with it's reputation as one of the roughest stretches of the ICW. We decided to leave and pulled anchor once it was light enough. Almost immediately the depth sounder started to do it's "thing" and give us totally random readings! A depth sounder is one of those things you think you can manage without.....until you have to manage without! We don't like not having a depth sounder one little bit! Thankfully we were able to follow our "breadcrumbs" out of Broad Creek and once we got back onto the magenta line that is the ICW, navigation was very straight forward. Once we left the anchorage we could appreciate how much protection we had had. Thankfully the winds were behind us and so we were literally surfing across Albemarle Sound. Once we crossed the Sound we had a discussion of our options and decided to call it an early day and head into the Alligator River Marina. What a great choice this turned out to be. We arrived nice and early in the day and were the first ones in. This meant I got first dibs on the washers and driers and managed to get four loads done before other cruisers started appearing. In the meantime Tom gave Osprey a well deserved rinse off. The weather is slowly deteriorating with rain forecast for the next few days. Hopefully we will be able to push on despite this.

Cruiser's Notes: Alligator River Marina, convenient location just before the Alligator River Bridge. Bargain at $1 a foot. Very friendly and helpful. Good showers and laundry and like Pete from Prim said - "don't use the drier on the end"!

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10/24/2009

We have enjoyed a lay day here in Broad Creek. As forecast, a front came through today bringing 20 knot southerly winds with 28 knot gusts. As our next step is to cross Albemarle Sound (in a southerly direction) and as that stretch of water is notorious for kicking up a bad chop in strong winds we felt no need to try it. We have been lucky in that we only had a very brief shower and otherwise enjoyed a warm, sunny day.

We did spend some time fiddling around with our depth sounder which has been giving us some erratic readings - this is very disconcerting in the skinny waters of the ICW. The control unit is very old, the transducer is only two years old, so we suspect the control unit. We even have a spare unit but when we hooked that up it was even less useful than the original one - so much for being prepared with spares!!! Tom cleaned up some connections so we are hoping that will do the trick. We really don't want to have to put in a new unit - so fingers crossed. Otherwise, everything else is working and we have had a lovely day tucked up in our little world aboard Osprey.

Another amazing sunrise today!

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10/23/2009

Photo shows the early morning light as we followed a barge down the Virginia cut.

We were up at sparrow's fart again today - planning on catching the 7.00am opening of the bridge and getting a jump start on the crazy hoards of boaters. As luck would have it a massive barge came along just as we were pulling away from the dock. By keeping up with the barge (along with 4 other sailboats) we were able to pass through all the restricted bridges without delay. This made it a very easy day for us as it seemed as though we kept ahead of the main traffic all day. We made it to our chosen anchorage in time for tea! The days get nice and warm by the afternoon and we were able to bask in the sunshine and even had a cockpit shower this evening. This is a new anchorage for us - it is really peaceful with no habitation in sight. There are 3 other boats here as well but we are all spaced out nicely. Blessed Spirit decided to continue on a bit later than us and have crossed Albemarle Sound - probably a wise move as the forecast does not look good for crossing the sound tomorrow. At this point however, we are quite content to sit here for a day until the South winds blow out.

Cruiser's notes - Broad Creek anchorage, mile 61.2. About 1.7 miles off ICW. Fairly easy entrance (unmarked) nose your way in and up the creek. Well protected from all directions. Room for 6 - 7 boats. No landing possibilities that we could see.

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10/22/2009

The day started bright and early at 6.15am - a bit of a struggle for us after our long slog yesterday. But we were up and at it and pulling anchor at first light. We were one of the first boats out of the anchorage along with Blessed Spirit. Our first goal was the Gilmerton Bridge that was scheduled to open at 8.30am. We arrived in plenty of time along with about 16 other boats!! It is definitely peak migration season and a lot busier than when we headed South last time. Mind you we are about 4 weeks earlier than we were before. Unfortunately, common courtesy was not the name of the game amongst the crowd of boats today. There was a lot of jostling and unsafe maneuvering at the bridges and then a mad scramble for the lock as we all tried to make sure that we all fitted in! All in all it was a very stressful experience. We were tempted to head down the Dismal Swamp route as this appeared to be much less traveled but it is longer and for some reason we feel as though we are in a rush - we both agree we need to slooooow down and chill! But we all locked through without mishap and then Blessed Spirit and Osprey pulled off the highway and tied up to the free dock here at Great Bridge. This is a good stop (mainly because it is free!) and close to a good supermarket so we were able to resupply with milk, fruit and veg. We have spent a lazy afternoon basking in the warm (hot!) sunshine, reading and generally luxuriating in the fact that we are cruising at last. Tomorrow we plan on heading out early again and hope to make up some miles. Rain is forecast for the weekend so not sure how far we will get.

Cruiser Notes: About 18 -20 boats fitted in the lock - so generally there will be room for everyone. Great Bridge tie up - 24 hour limit but does not appear to be enforced. Fresh Market close by - good provisioning stop. Coin Laundry also in the same plaza.

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