Monday 10 February 2020
We are starting this morning at mile 204! I know that it doesn’t sound like a big deal but it is enough that in four or five days of steaming we will be in Norfolk and one day after that in the Stingray Point (Deltaville) area. I am starting to think that the end of this trek is doable. Now we are not fighting against distance but rather the weather and we have fourteen days until our flight leaves. Hallelujah!

Last night I took my lady love out for diner at a place about two hundred meters from the marina called Floyd’s 1921. Sounds like an odd name but it has a French chef and some nice things on the menu. The occasion was what I refer to as our shadow Valentine’s Day dinner as I don’t know where we will be on the actual day. If we are some place nice perhaps we will have a second, real Valentine’s Day diner. That would be nice. What the heck. We won’t be back this way aboard Nelleke so we may as well blow money out the window, eh?

Up early, what else is new and off at high tide and first light to head up Adams Creek. The morning started off cold but temperatures rose steadily during the day. We had a bit of luck and caught the flood current for the better part of the morning and were in the Neuse River by 9 o’clock. This is a very pleasant day to be on the water also by 9 o’clock the temperatures of gotten up a little bit warmer and I’m able to dictate this note to the blog without having my gloves on. The photo accompanying today’s post is of Barbara knitting in the cockpit. Although she is bundled up in her parka and a cowl, etc. please make note that her hands don’t have gloves on and she is able to actually make the needles click and clack. This is an indication of warmer temperatures. There is almost no wind on the Neuse River and it is about as calm as we have ever seen it. I only mentioned this since one time we were here Nelleke was damaged while tied up at a dock in Oriental during the winter storm of 2010. Today is a far cry from that night!

By noon we were in the Hoboken Canal and heading north and shortly before that the wind came up to about 15 knots but not before we had cleared the Neuse River so we were spared the effects. Coming through the canal we were spared even more of the effects of the wind, specifically the cooling effect, and we picked up another current assist as we went through. This is particularly useful for the balance of the day will probably have no effect either plus or minus from the current and indeed we may be adversely affected by the wind.

At this point if we could maintain our speed we should make Dowry Creek Marina by four o’clock which gives us some leeway as they don’t close up until six thirty.

If we can maintain our plan we should be in Norfolk by Thursday. Unfortunately the long range weather forecast means that we will probably be there for 2 to 3 days waiting for non-adverse wind conditions to cut up the Chesapeake to Deltaville. We do have the time since we’ve done quite well up to here, and if in the next three days we can get to Norfolk that will have us there by the 13th or 14th. That gives us 10 days before our flight. We only need one day to get to Deltaville. If it looks like the weather isn’t going to behave we will just bite the bullet and punch our way up. It’s only a half a day trip.

The day today was a bittersweet one for me. As we travelled along from Morehead City past Oriental towards Dowry Creek I was reminded of the first time we came through here in 2008. I remember at the time the anticipation, the eagerness, the enthusiasm that the dream I’ve had since I was 20 years old of embarking on the cruising lifestyle was actually starting to happen. It was at this point where we started to see dolphins, we began to see pelicans and began to see what to us were exotic trees: loblolly pine, Cypress, Norfolk Island Pine; and we began to distinguish different smells, plants, air, the water, even the soil. Today will be the last time we come by this route, at least aboard Nelleke. We may come by on land, we may come by in a different boat, but this will be the last time aboard good old Nelleke. As I stood in the cockpit at the wheel my head was on a swivel trying to see everything and commit everything to memory.

We got an email today from the yacht broker that has Nelleke listed. Apparently, he is getting interest from people in the US?! He asked for some additional information which we were happy to send on to him and it’s going to be very interesting to see whether or not this inquiry comes from somebody who is a well we refer to as a fender kicker or somebody who is really interested in buying our old lady.

Around about 4 o’clock we pulled into the marina. We’ve been here before too, so it’s a bit like coming home. Nice place to stop in pleasant surroundings with good facilities. They have been expanding and are in the process of adding a restaurant to the store, pool, laundry and bathrooms.

We will be out of here first thing in the morning and where we are going tomorrow is still up for discussion. One possibility is we go all the way to Coinjock but that’s another long day like today. We could do it but it depends on the weather and the currents etc. Today we did 70+ miles with the help of tidal current. Who knows if the tides will be so kind again tomorrow. We will have to see. If they are not then what we will do is stop after a short day at a place called Alligator River Marina. We have stayed there in the past too and know the facilities so it’ll be quite familiar. It is just beyond the one swing bridge we are going to have to face for the next couple of days. Wish us luck.