Yay! I'm on the move again! I was starting to go a little stir crazy in Oriental. Besides, it seems as though Old Man Winter found me again. After more than a week of short sleeve weather, there was frost on the deck again this morning. Clearly, it's time to continue south. As soon as I left port this morning I had an escort: Dolphins! They came right over to the boat from out in the Neuse River and swam alongside me, jumping beside the boat, criss-crossing underneath, and playing in the bow wave. Very cool. I tried to get some video but its hard to capture fast-moving marine mammals while piloting a boat through the shallows of North Carolina.
The first pod left me after a few minutes, but I was joined many times throughout the whole day in various locations by more dolphins fishing and playing. At one point, an overtaking powerboat called me on the radio to tell me there was a dolphin in my bow wave. He said it was good luck. I could use some good luck. Actually, I had pretty good luck today. Made pretty good progress, good weather, no significant mechanical failures, and no collisions. I did go aground once though, but was able to get off fairly easily. I also bumped a bit when I was poking around for an anchoring spot. I come to accept that grounding is a part of the game when cruising this part of the ICW in a boat that draws 6'3". The whole coastline is a giant sandbar with tides, surf, and storm surges heaving in and out of a few restricted inlets. The shoals and channels shift constantly. The charts are pretty accurate, but they are only as current as the last major storm. The shoal I hit today was right in the middle of the marked channel. Luckily it's all sand and silt, so the groundings are soft and no harm is done. The disadvantage of my fin keel is the deep draft. The advantage is that when I do hit bottom, only a small section of keel is stuck in the mud, and the boat can still pivot, which is a great help when trying to break free. Might put that TowBoatUS unlimited package to work yet again, but not today. Aside from the dolphins, the eastern Carolina scenery doesn't make for a very exciting trip, especially with the motor on all day. The wind was great for sailing, but the channel was far too narrow, convoluted, and busy to be able to sail safely and effectively. I would have been constantly trimming and furling, all the while trying to keep the boat in the channel and keeping one eye on the depth sounder (which is working very well now). Another consequence of the topography here is that when the tide rises and falls, all of the water inside the outer bank must squeeze in or out of the inlets. This can create some very strong currents, especially around the inlets. There was no current on the Neuse, but by the time I reached Adams Creek, I was getting a nice little push on the ebb tibe heading to sea via the Beaufort Inlet. By the time I reached Beaufort I was doing 8. However, as soon as I turned the corner in Morehead City, I was down to under 4, beating against the same outwash that was helping me a moment before. As the tide slackened, the speed picked up until again I was getting a push. Then as the rising tide forced its way into the Bogue Inlet, it was in my face again, until I motored past and had it on my tail again. This is typical for around here. The complex interaction between the tides, the large inland sounds, and the tortuous channels that connect them makes it very difficult to plan your day to make use of favourable currents. It's not uncommon to see a half a dozen reversals in a day's trip. Even as I sit and type this entry, the boat has swung 180 degrees on her anchor. I'll have to get up a few times tonight to make sure we're still hooked. There's a low bridge downstream. Shouldn't be hard, I've been a little anxious all day. I think the combination of too much coffee, a long wait at the dock, a streak of engine trouble and a few mishaps and bad luck has made it difficult to relax and enjoy the trip. I find that I'm chronically checking everything: depth - course - oil pressure - temperature - RPM - alternator - cooling water - crab traps ahead - chart, then back through the cycle again. Every little unusual sound, smell, or vibration makes me think something else is about to quit. Hopefully, a few trouble-free days will give me back a bit of confidence.