11/08/2009
Well, we made it to Georgetown, SC at around 4 PM Saturday, and have anchored in a side river with one other small sailboat. As I write this Sunday morning, we are currently stuck at anchor because of severe fog. Our plans were to pull and get underway at around 6:10 AM. Then we saw the fog pouring in and are now just waiting. Yesterday was some of the most beautiful remote regions of river we have seen yet. Lots of Spanish moss hanging on the trees, deer swimming across the river, lots of sun and very little boat traffic. One thing we found amusing was the fishing boats. The guys like their speed and these folks wear racing helmets they go so fast. We would see them power up, race at top speed a mile or so down or up river, kill the engine and throw out the trolling motors. Funny. Reminded us of STIG on Top Gear. Sorry the updates have been sporadic. Loss of Internet through a lot of the regions, combined with just being on vacation and having fun. Our typical day begins around 5AM with me jumping up to light the 2 oil lamps, and start the stovetop. This quickly heats the cabin to the low 70"s and it's time to get dressed and start the breakfast water to boil. We try to weigh anchor as soon after daybreak as I can see the navigational buoys. Of course, if there's fog, like now, that won't happen. Then we hold of and sit in the cockpit, waiting to hear boat traffic, so we can start blowing our brass foghorn. The other boats can't see us, so we have to make sure they can hear us. We keep hearing of high wind forecasts and large wave forecasts for the offshore near future, so we continue along the ICW, making our way south. Yesterday we passed through the infamous Rockpile region of the ICW. We arrived at 7:30AM, with low tide and rolling ground fog across the water surface. Not the best scenario, since the big deal about the rock pile are the partially submerged rocks. We got a break from the fog, and managed not to hit any rocks, so it was a successful AM. The oil anchor light is working out great, (thanks MS Finch) and Ponza, thanks for the suggestion for CuddleDuds. They are keeping us warm and comfortable in the cold mornings. I start out with 5 layers in the AM, and then peel off as needed through the day. We hit the bed shortly after 6PM, and are getting more than enough rest. LOL Al says he can see the top of our boat neighbors mast, about 4-5 hundred yards away, so I'll sign off and upload, we may be on the move soon!
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Comments [6]
11/05/2009, Dutchman's creek (near SouthportNC)
Well all heck is supposed to break loose offshore Friday (30 Knot winds) so we are progressing south on the "ditch". Hoping to make at least 40-45 miles per day. Have meet some wonderful folks on the water. Friends from my sailblogs site and new friends that we travel with every day. We all have the same goal, go south. Thanks for the comments they make the blogging all worthwhile. Am having a few issues w/ vids, and uploading, so am waiting before trying another. I'll get back to it, that's a promise. we are anchored in a small creek south of Southport, and we are getting shallow w/ low tide. Need to reanchor, so by for now.
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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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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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