11/03/2009, ICW NC
Well, we are in the middle of camp LeJune, anchored. Hurrah! Got to feel safe at anchor with all these marine hunks around!
Tomarrow we will try to get south of Wrightsville Beach. There's an anchorage there that a lot of cruisers use, but it's big, and good holding. Apparently, good holding is what it's all about when choosing where one stops for the noght. This anchorage doesn't have good holding, but one can only travel around 40-45 miles per day if one wants to get the hook down with enough leftover daylight to make sure one is not dragging.
Several of you have said that you really wanted to share the experience of this cruise. I'm here to help. This is a little labor intensive, but hey, we're cruising. There's got to be some work involved, right?
1. Go to Lowes and purchase 5 12x12 floor tiles. Lay them out on the counter in an L pattern.
2.Place a 12x12 tupperware bin on the lonely side of the L. This is your sink. The rest of the space left over is your galley. All food cooking, prep work and cleanup must be done inside the confines of the tiles. No cheating.
3.If you also want to cook like me, google search "homemade penny alchohal stove". You will be able to make 2 of these for a couple of used beer cans and 2 cents. Really. Arrange these on the end of the long side of the L, and fire those puppies up. Now you're cooking with alchohal. Refrigertator? I don't have a refrigerator, why should you? Don't cheat and use your big one either. Plan creatively. Last night we had spaggetii and meatballs. Not the kind that comes in a can. The night before that, was chili. Before that, meatballs in peppercorn gravy on noodles. We are not starving, or saying "yetch" a lot, so the food plan is working. Al will swim home when it stops. Thanks for all the feedback, we love hearing that you all still remember us. (ha-ha)
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Comments [3]
11/02/2009, On the ICW
We made it to Beaufort/Moorhead City this morning, and the weather reports don't look good for the run offshore.
Al and I know our limitations, and being new to the whole offshore run thing, hearing about winds that would be increasing Wednesday morning to 20 knots, with seas 4-6 feet, makes us choose the milder, gentler route.
Down the "ditch" we go! We will stay in the ICW until we make Southport, then look at conditions again.
Maybe we will get lucky for Thursdays forecast, which is when we will be leaving through the Cape Fear river headed out if we're lucky.
We are meeting new sailor friends every day, all of us headed for a Bahama winter.
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11/02/2009, Jordan Creek to Cedar Creek, NC
Our first day on the ICW was fraught with danger and peril. Ok, maybe not so much, but I've got to do something to keep you entertained, right? We left under a cloud of fog, so much so that when we looked back at the creek entrance, we could no longer see where it had been. Just like most of our adventures, this gave us the clear feeling there was no turning back. Oh well, onward to the Bahamas we go!
Very soon after entering the Pungo river, we were overtaken by large ominus low clouds. Oh boy, into our foulies, get ready for some wet weather! The rain was with us for about 2 hours, with the wind kicking up something fierce by the time we crossed the Pamlico river. We thought we would get some relief from the wind in the Hoboken cut, and we did.
As soon as we exited, we were fraught with wind again. Then it happened. We were aground in the middle of the channel! We weren't alone. Four boats just ahead of us went aground as well. We called Boat US after twenty minutes of failed attempts to power off, and they would be about an hour getting to us. I had ordered the anchor dropped, and we prepared to wait. We saw a couple of the other boats work their way loose, and then we too felt the keel bumping. We sprang into action, and through our combined efforts, managed to finally break free! Feeling pretty good, we called Boat US off the case, and left the last boat which was in the process of setting a kedge anchor with their dingy. They busted loose around ten minutes after we did.
Into the Bay river, bashed by 6-8 foot waves and more wind than I care to set a sail into. Most of the other boats were spread out ahead of us, and they weren't raising sail either. As we put into the Neuse river, we saw our speed go from 3MPH to 7. We flew onto the planned anchorage for the night, at Cedar Creek. Were anchored by 3:45PM. Had some chili for supper, called Jenn and reported in about our day and got to sleep early.
I write this in the pre-dawn of Monday, still at anchor, just waiting for the sun to come up on a new day. Doesn't much look like we are going to get that wish though; the clouds are still firmly in place.
Using the ICW is sort of like traveling down I95 in slow motion. Lots of traffic at this time of year, as everyone goes south. Oh yeah, and like everyone has your cell phone number and they call you as they pass, or approach. With the VHF radio, everyone gets to know each other by boat name really fast. We keep hearing and seeing the same boats, again and again. We are a pack of wild boaters, Look out!
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09/29/2009
Well, crunch time is nearing. Our Bahamas sailing trip is closer than ever, and we have been working at a fevered pitch to get everything ready to leave November first. The food is stowed, and Journey was listing comfortably to port. Adding the dingy in the quarterberth to starboard evened her out nicely though.
Now we will add the finishing touches over the next couple of weeks. We will strap our jerry cans to the starboard rail (LEAN TO THE RIGHT!) and our water in solar shower bags to the icebox on the port side (LEAN TO THE LEFT!) Our new dodger should be joining us by the fifteenth, (STAND UP!) we will be tying up our land based loose ends such as arranging for bill pay, mail pick up, and paying property taxes while we're gone (SIT DOWN!) and all that will be left is to hope the weather is cooperative to head offshore. (FIGHT-FIGHT-FIGHT!)
We plan to video blog the trip; make that MJ will blog and make video and upload, while Al makes soothing noises and gentle encouragement from behind. Due to the slowness and scarcity of Internet connections once we enter the Bahamas, updates will be irregular, and infrequent. Sorry, but that's just what we deal with in paradise. Sometimes, there will be 3-4 new posts in a day if we get a good signal. These will be posts for the last week or two when there was no wifi or Internet connection. Just don't want anyone to get alarmed over NOT hearing something for a period of time. For our friends who have asked to keep up with our trip postings, there are a few ways to do this.
1. If you use igoogle or google as your homepage: go to our site and subscribe to the rss feed, and click to add it to igoogle. It will be there each time you log on and you can see new posting right away.
2. If you use Facebook, add me as a friend to get all updates sent directly to your page. I'm a Fbwhore, I'll add anyone who wants in. I mean really, I'm going to be blogging my life for 3 months. What would I have to hide?
3. Log on to our site, and subscribe to the rss feed, and check your feeds tab to alert you of updates.
4. Log on to our site and bookmark the page so that you can find it each time you want to check our progress.
The site address we use is: http://www.sailblogs.com/member/svjourney/
You can also find the site listed under my FB profile picture as a link. Click on it to go there.
To all our critics, nay Sayers, and people who don't know much of anything no how: Yah, see we're doing it, and by the way, what did you plan and do this year?
To all our family, friends and supporters: Thanks for all you've done to help us see this happen. We hope that through our blogs, we can portray the trip as it unfolds for us in a way that lets you share in our fun. Of course, we will be where the sun is warm, water's wet and the lobsters grow as big as dogs. We might have to rub that in every now and again.
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09/23/2009
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09/18/2009
We have an impressive ferry system here in North Carolina. Almost every place we sail to is crossed by a ferry path. Maybe it's me, but I think they're trying to mow me down.
My first time in the death-zone of a ferry was my first time sailing Journey. The wind had decided to quit on us, and as we were getting close to the marina entrance, I cut the engine on. Little did I know the tank was full of sludge and the sailing I'd been doing had stirred up a mess. I just wanted to keep the engine running until I could get the boat tucked into the slip. I was worried about it dying out in the middle of the Neuse River. I mean, rpm up, rpm down, barely moving, I was scared of getting stranded.
Then I saw that the Minnesott ferry had started across the river. I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to power out of the way before it crushed me flat. I couldn't manage anything over idle speed, I hardly had steerage, let's face it, I was toast. My friend Keith assured me that the ferry would maneuver around us, but I wasn't convinced. I mean "big boat little boat rule" "constrained by draft" commercial working vessel in a channel" I didn't see anything in my favor and it just kept growing bigger and bigger until ferry was all I could see. Then it started to turn, so slowly that I thought it was my imagination. No, it really WAS turning to keep from running me down. I realized that I had been holding my breath. I'm sure that's what made me go all weak-kneed at that point. I would live to see another day! Thanks, Mr. ferry captain!
Another memorable encounter was as we were working our way up the channel to Ocracoke Island. There are two very large ferries that we have to share that channel with, and I usually hug the greens all the way and monitor on channel 16 to listen for any instructions from the ferry captains. The ferry was making the turn out of Silver Lake, and I hunkered down, motoring against the green markers. The wind was against us, and with our 13HP diesel, we were making around 3 knots. Heading our way, the ferry kept to the left half way down the channel and was around 150yards in front of us when suddenly it turned rather dramatically toward us, and proceeded to line us up for the kill.
"What's he doing?" I asked Al, in a shrill panicked voice. Before Al could pick up the radio to ask the captain, the ferry let off three blasts on its horn. Al and I looked at each other. Three blasts? He wants me to back up??? Oh the sheer panic of wondering if I even could remember the horn signals correctly. Surely he didn't want me to back; I have a flop-prop, my boat doesn't DO reverse. And WHY? So he could kill me while I was clearly doing something stupid, like backing away from a ferry in a windy channel? I asked Al where in the ---- did he think I could go; I was already hugging the greens. If I left the channel completely, there was a very real chance I would go aground. Well, that would make his job easier.
Then it hit me... a way out, maybe. I mean the ferry was closing fast, fast. I turned HARD to port and started to work my way over to the reds. The ferry missed us by about 75feet; too darn close. Looked like a five story building attempting a drive-by.
Turned out, it was the Cedar Island ferry, and it was making for the other channel to run it's destination, but I mean, could you call and state your intentions, since you know what you're going to do and I don't? I heard this (I'm sure it was the same captain) ferry blowing at other boats for the three days we spent on Ocracoke. Once I heard FIVE blasts! Bet he ran that sucker flat dab over. Poor Al had to listen to me rant and rave about the ferry captain the entire time. Thanks a lot, Mr. Ferry captain! Now when we get to the Big Foot Slough channel to Ocracoke, I always call a securite'. Stuff like that stays with ya.
Whenever we go to Bath or Washington (the original, in NC) there's the Bayview ferry. It stays docked for a little while before it loads up and heads back across river again. I keep a sharp eye out, because it always leaves when we are approaching its path, like a bloodhound who's just caught a scent. I've turned around on several occasions because I don't want to end up as a ferry maidenhead. I'm luckier with this ferry, in that even though it locks on the target, and comes out to get me, I have some room to maneuver, and maneuver I do. When a ferry gets me in its kill-zone I know enough to run for cover!
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