30 September 2012 | Manasquan Inlet to New Haven CT
30 September 2012 | Atlantic City, NJ
29 September 2012 | Cape May NJ
19 September 2012 | Ending at Cape May
18 September 2012 | Greenwich, NJ
17 September 2012 | Greenwich, NJ
16 September 2012 | Cheasapeake Bay
04 July 2012 | Bell Isle Marina in Hampton, VA
02 July 2012
01 July 2012 | Alligator River Marina in Columbia, NC
30 June 2012 | Dowry Creek in Belhaven, NC
29 June 2012 | Cedar Creek in Adams Creek Canal, NC
28 June 2012 | Beach House Marina - Surf City, NC
27 June 2012 | Southport, NC
25 June 2012
24 June 2012 | Minim Creek, just south of Georgetown, SC
23 June 2012 | Wappoo Creek, south of Charleston Harbor, SC
22 June 2012
27 April 2012 | Beaufort, SC
26 April 2012 | Hilton Head, SC

Leg 3 - Day 10

01 July 2012 | Alligator River Marina in Columbia, NC
Pam
We left the Dowry Creek Marina this morning around 8:30 after fueling up and getting more ice. It was already getting hot before we even left! It was hotter than any day that we have ever experienced......ever! Jeff said it felt like his feet were touching the sun. We had to rinse off with the outside shower five times each during the day and it still wasn't enough. We've also gone through ice every two days or so because it won't stay much longer than that in our marine grade cooler.

We went thru Alligator Creek Canal, which is 18 miles of straight, desolate canal with nothing around except for the promise of a black bear or deer. The whole way through we didn't see any bears, but we did spot a fawn at the edge of a residential backyard. A bald eagle flew next to the boat but unfortunately I was not fast enough with the camera and I missed a great photo opportunity. We had a couple of power boats pass us on the narrow, stump infested channel.

When we got to Alligator River, we saw a cumulus cloud that appeared to be a pop-up thunderstorm. We received a warning on the VHF radio for severe thunderstorms expiring at 8:00 PM this evening. We went on the internet to find out if there were any thunderstorms near us on the radar, and sure enough it was the beginnings of one. It was directly in our path, so Jeff steered us behind it and we waited for it to pass over us.

So we got to the Alligator Creek Marina at around 3:30. It was the second good decision we made today. About an hour later, we had severe thunder and lightning that lasted two hours. There were some crazy lightning bolts out there! Luckily we were hiding out in the marina clubhouse in the ice-cold air conditioning (the heat index was 106 all afternoon), so we were out of the storm. We also had a brief period of heavy rain. The boat was fine and thankfully didn't get struck by lightning. We cooked some dinner on the boat after the storm let up.

We were sitting on the boat having dinner when we saw this BAB (big ass boat) pull in for the night. Seafarer -- the 100-foot yacht -- is from Santa Barbara, CA, so of course I was thinking it must be owned by someone famous....LOL. I saw a couple people from the boat go into the gas station, where you go to pay for your dockage, fuel, etc. I didn't recognize any of them, but they were probably deck hands. Jeff looked up the boat name online and found out that you can charter the boat for $45,000 a week. Pretty crazy!!

During our run today......

Jeff drilled holes in the table and fixed it so that it no longer wobbles.

We went through three bridges:

1. Walter B. Jones Bridge - 64'
2. Fairfield Bridge - 65'
3. Alligator River Swing Bridge - 14' (the guy operating the swing bridge stated on the VHF radio that he saw wind gusts of 55 knots at the peak of the storm that we had late this afternoon)

I made a mistake in last night's blog in saying we would be in VA today. We'll be there some time on Tuesday. Tomorrow we have a short run to Coinjock, NC (about 30 miles), where Jeff can change the oil on the motors (they need it desperately). We still do not have cell phone coverage, until possibly tomorrow when we get to Coinjock. We did about 45 miles today. This brings us exactly to the 400 nautical mile mark for this trip!
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Vessel Name: Whip-It
Vessel Make/Model: Maine Cat 30
Hailing Port: East Hampton, CT
Crew: Jeff, Pam, and Maddie and Lucy our furry friends
About: We are from East Hampton, CT. We started this blog to document our sailing adventures!

Who: Jeff, Pam, and Maddie and Lucy our furry friends
Port: East Hampton, CT