Aboard s.v. Trudy Mae

On Sunday we made it to the town of Hampton, which is up the Hampton River off the north side of Norfolk Harbour by about 4 pm. Two of the three anchorages we had information about up the river were shoaled in and too shallow. The third one was viable...but already crowded...so we broke down and went to the Hampton Yacht Club who were happy to offer us reciprocal at $1.25/ft. The electricity gave us the chance to top up the batteries and Doug got to watch the Sunday football games...not to mention the thrill of hot showers.

We'd headed for Hampton instead of directly to Hospital Point (mile 0 of the 1096 statue miles of the ICW) with the intention of doing some provisioning and laundry so having a dock made that a bit easier and so bright and early Monday morning we hiked to the Laundromat and grocery store about a mile away....threw in the laundry and headed for the grocery store (next door) buying only the essentials as we also had the laundry to "hoof" back. Luckily as Doug was pushing the cart out of the store (while I was still paying the cashier) a lady tug boat skipper from Savannah GA offered Doug a ride back from the grocery store to the yacht club. I think she was disappointed when I came over with the last two bags...I think she was hoping he was single.

I headed back to the Laundromat to fluff and fold and when Doug had off-loaded the groceries he walked back to help me carry the laundry back. Once all was aboard and stowed we motored across Norfolk Harbour toward Plymouth to anchor at Hospital Point. Entertainment along the way was provided by the Coast Guard tactical training practice. Three small but very fast Coast Guard boats would zoom up to the back of a medium size ferry/tour boat and bunches of men dressed all in black with large guns would pile off the Coast Guard boats onto the ferry and start running around the decks...then they'd get back on the boats...zoom away...and do it all again

When we arrived at Hospital Point we met up with the "gang" from Cape May and were invited to dinner with Glenn and Paulette aboard "Sea Rah" (a Tanzer 10.7 out of Port Credit). Also coming to dinner was Paul and Joanne off "Novynik" (a 60' charter out of Montreal). We had a good time exchanging "war" stories...Paul and Joanne having some interesting stories about their charter passengers.

Tuesday morning we started down the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). Progress on the first section is interrupted by bridge openings and one lock but we made it as far as Pungo Ferry (mile 30).

Wednesday we were off early again and anchored in the Alligator River at about mile 85...now in North Carolina. "Sea Rah" moving a couple of knots faster than us were in a few hours before us and had dinner ready when we arrived. We've been treated to Glenn's gourmet cooking a number of times now but he out did himself with the best Hot and Sour Soup I've ever tasted.

Thursday morning we continued along the Alligator River and then down the 20+ mile long Alligator River - Pungo River Canal. Long strands of "cobwebs" were floating through the air and by the time we were at the end of the canal all kinds of it had attached itself to the rigging...and along with it came very tiny spiders. After 5 days of grey skies and drizzle we finally had a sunny day...warm enough to strip off the jackets and be comfortable in just a t-shirt...for a little while anyway. On the other side of the canal we headed for Belhaven and took a dock at the marina as we were in for another big "blow". Again, "Sea Rah" was in a few hours before us, but it was our turn to host...so once we were settled Glenn and Paulette joined us for dinner aboard "Trudy Mae". It was hard to believe that such a beautiful sunset could be the precursor of what was to come.

Around midnight it rained...and then it stopped...and then the wind started. It howled for a bit ...then the chop started and we rocked and rolled with it ...then the wind got serious and we wondered if the cleats would survive. We got a bit of sleep (once Doug had rechecked the lines and added a couple more). Then around 2 AM the wind shifted and we were getting thrown around in the v-berth so much it was impossible to sleep but at least now it wasn't yanking on the lines...it was just tossing us around. Around 4:30 the wind shifted again and seemed to ease off a bit so we managed a few more hours of sleep.

Yesterday (Friday) we spent most of the day provisioning again...this time a big provision. The marina offered golf carts to take to town. Belhaven isn't a big town so when we were told to go down to the second light and then turn right to get to the grocery store we didn't imagine that meant a two mile trip to the highway and then another half mile up to the grocery store. So there we are scooting along in our little golf cart, dodging cars and hoping the cart had enough "juice" to make it against the wind that hadn't let up since it started Thursday night....but miraculously the little cart got us there and made it back loaded down with all kinds of canned goods, beer, wine, 4 cases of diet coke, potatoes and all sorts of other goodies...not to mention the stop on the way back for oil and kerosene. So after several hours of organizing and stowing we were stuck at the marina for anther night on a boat loaded down with enough provisions for the whole 5th army including the biggest pork rinds I've ever seen...

After another "blow" last night - not that it ever let up (they were calling for more gale force winds in Pamlico Sound ...not to mention a frost warning) things settled down to a manageable level by this morning... and today we are on the move again - across a corner of Pamlico Sound and down the Neuse River to an anchorage at about mile 173.