We were up early this morning and pulled away from the dock with just a tinge of regret - rain is forecast and it is tempting to stay tied up with access to shore power and hot showers. But off we went, once again surprised at the strength of the wind having been protected in the marina. But once again the wind was behind us so we were able to unfurl the headsail and make good speed South. At one point we were overtaken by a deluge of rain but it didn't last too long and we were left with overcast skies but thankfully not too cold. On previous days we have been amazed at how many boats there are heading South - big, small, sail and power but we saw very little traffic today, presumably because of the weather.
Once again the depth sounder was absolutely useless, so that is it - we are headed to a boat yard tomorrow to replace it. We have gone back and forth and realise that although we have done fine in this stretch of the waterway we would be having severe anxiety attacks if we were in shallower water. And we want to be able to head into some of the more remote anchorages where an accurate depth sounder is vital.
Tonight we anchored in Pungo Creek (our third time here). We have had a lovely supper and are warm and dry, although it is raining outside. Tomorrow we are headed to Deaton's Boat Yard in Oriental.
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Comments [1]
Sorry about the depth sounder, but totally agree withthe decision...for here and in the Bahamas. I wanted to go see the horses on the Island across from Beaufort, but the outboard failed. 1.3 boat units latter it is purring away and we have seen 11 horses!, trala.
Tomorrow, we head on the INSIDE and should get to Wrightsville beach Thur. nite. We will be lisgening for you.
C&T
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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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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If I painted a sky like that people would dismiss it as chocolate box ! what do they know?
Much love
Dad
XXX
Steve
CORN
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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