Atlantic Yacht Basin, Virginia Cut

Day 277, May 17th, 2010

We felt worried. The weather forecast wasn't too bad though, calling for south east winds at 10 - 15 knots. We figured we would sail across the Albemarle Sound and up into the North River.

We put the main up before we brought up the anchor, but the engine did start okay and got us out of the channel on the Alligator River and into the Sound. As soon as we got out into the open water, we shut down the engine and determined to sail. The weather forecast lied. The wind never did get into the south east but stayed East to North East!!! We don't have wind instruments but we heard another boat report on the radio that it was 20 knots! Again, the Albemarle is huge, 15 nautical miles across, and shallow, around 17 feet deep, which gives a short uncomfortable chop. However, we stuck to our guns and sailed across, making two tacks. We set off about 6:00 and made it all the way across and then up the North River another 5 miles under sail. Dropped the main at the top of the North River, where the channel gets narrow and meanders. Then we had to use the engine again. We hadn't gone very far when another gas guzzler came by and swamped us and the popping started again, and the light came on, etc. etc.!!!

From the North River, there's a series of narrow channels and then you get to the North Landing River where its very shallow. There's a dredged channel, well marked but the area is open and wide with areas of shallow water either side - 2ft, 1ft, 4ft, 5ft, etc. etc. We were able to use the jib for long periods and wind was pretty good. At times we used the engine to help keep the speed up to 5 knots, but then another gas guzzler would come by and we'd go through the routine again and again. Meanwhile the sky got greyer and greyer and it started to drizzle.

Around 4:30, the temperature light was on again. Each time John was having more and more trouble getting her to cool down. We were getting really concerned that damage might be done to the engine. So we decided to get help. The wind was still in our favor, and the channel was long and straight but we felt that it was only a matter of time before the wind would change and then we could go aground. John called Tow Boat US. We had a hard time making contact at first. His transmission was breaking up. Then a big cruiser passed us and told us that Tow Boat US were trying to call us. We asked him to relay and he did, which was very helpful. It wasn't long before the local Boat US guy, in Coinjock, called us on the cell phone and said he'd be along in about 90 minutes. It was then that we looked ahead on the chart and realised that we'd better just drop the anchor right then as there was an area of 6ft just off the channel. We shortened sail, came up wind and dropped the anchor. It was pouring with rain by then and we were both sodden. When in times of stress - EAT!! I quickly warmed up yesterday's spaghetti sauce and added more noodles and we sat down to a warming plate of spaghetti and mugs of hot tea!!!

That helped. Just as we were sipping on the tea, just an hour later, and there was a "Ahoy, Periwinkle!" from outside. It was Cap'n Wayne, the Tow Boat US guy!! In the blink of an eye we had the anchor up, the line was slipped over the bow cleat, and we were underway. John had called Atlantic Yacht Basin and they were holding a place for us at the end of their dock. Wayne hummed along with his 200 hp Merc. at 5.6 knots while we took turns at the wheel to keep the tow boat immediately infront. The rain just poured down the whole time. I felt bad for poor Wayne who stood out in that weather the whole time, and when we reached the dock I saw he didn't even have a wind shield at his driving station!!!! At least we'd had a hot meal and had some cover! Anyway we reached the dock at 8:30 p.m. and there was somebody there to meet us. Wayne came alongside, tied up to us and nudged us to the dock very smoothly. We were happy to arrive safely! Our thanks to Wayne for a job well done. He said his wife would be waiting up for him with a hot drink!!

(Does this bring back memories, Darvin and Marilyn?)

Little Alligator River, NC

Day 276, May 16th, 2010,

Off we left at 8:00 a.m. up the last of the Pungo River and then into the Alligator/Pungo canal.
Gorgeous day, not quite as hot. In the canal we passed a motor cruiser stuck well and truly in the mud on the side! They asked a passing power boat for help but no luck. Needless to say we couldn't help.

All was fine until we reached the Alligator River where the water was more open and rough with a northerly wind. The river is about 2 miles across at this point and its shallow. Just as we were feeling more confident in the engine, the exhaust started popping again and this time the high temperature light came on. That hadn't happened before, although we had been shutting it down very promptly. Again, after a short while we were able to get going again. The wind was on the nose so we couldn't sail but we chugged along.

Just before the Alligator River gets out to the Albemarle Sound there's a swing bridge. We were just going through the bridge and the idea did pass through my head "Oh, I do hope it doesn't happen again right now!" Sure enough, we'd not cleared the bridge when the popping started again! John had no option but to push it until we were clear - with the wind on the nose we pulled out the jib and had to bear off to get some forward way before we could shut the engine off. The temperature light was on and John couldn't get the engine to cool off, so we had to give up on the engine. There was a choice of two anchorages on that side of the bridge. The preferred anchorage was on the east side, described as a good spot to wait out bad weather on the Albemarle - however, according to the chart the entrance is quite narrow and as we sailed the wind clocked around to the east. It would have been impossiblel to enter with the wind on the nose. So, we chose the west anchorage at Little Alligator River. There was a little hook behind an island there but that didn't seem like a good idea, seeing as we might have continued problems with the engine. So we dropped the anchor in the open - very open, windy and lumpy with 2 ft waves. We set the anchor alarm in case we dragged, and went to bed, not too hopeful of sleeping very much. Sure enough, I was awakened at 12:00 with the alarm ringing off. We scrambled out of bed but everything looked just the same - just a wide swinging, we figured.
We did sleep a little off and on. The wind diminished a little but it didn't quit, and neither did the waves. Not the best of nights!

We're homesick!

Belhaven, NC

Day 275, May 15th, 2010

We left Oriental at 7:00 the next morning. The Neuse River was good and we motor sailed up across the Neuse and then across the Pamlico Sound into the Pungo River. Said a mental goodbye to the dolphins as they don't come further north than the Pungo! All was fine until some motor cruiser went by at high speed sloshing us in his wake. The pop, pop, popping started again from the exhaust and the engine started overheating. We shut it down and waited a bit and then were able to start it again and continue on our way. Rest of the day was fine. John's original thought was that it was a water cooling problem but Breck, the mechanic, had been so sure it was dirty fuel. John did change the impeller while we were in Oriental but the impeller was absolutely fine.

However, we arrived in Belhaven around 3:00 p.m. and tied up in a lovely little marina there. We were their only customers at first. What a sweet spot. They'd made it so nice with a screened gazebo on the front. It was scorching hot and humid. I picked up my papers and sent them off by UPS - that was a bit funny as the poor girl had never sent a package internationally before and it kind of sent her into a spin; eventually her boss had to come in and sort out the paperwork!! We went for supper over at the local diner across the street and sat outside on the deck where there was a lovely breeze off the river. I ate catfish again - I really like catfish!!! (Thanks Mike and Cindy & Co.!) After supper we walked back to the marina, collected a bag of drinks, our books, my knitting and the Dominoes, and went to the gazebo. It was such a lovely evening. I finished a little sweater for Abby while John took a nap. Then we played a game of Mexican Train Dominoes - all in the lovely comfort of our bug free gazebo!!!

Oriental, NC

Day 273, May 13th, 2010

Breck came pretty promptly in the morning and replaced the polished fuel tank, hooking up everything again. However, when it came to changing the oil seal on the engine, it wasn't there! So thats as far as things could go. Disappointing!

I walked up to the grocery store for a couple of bits. Its a pretty little town with a really rural feel. People tell us there are more boats than people! (And most of those are sail boats which is a bit unusual.) We barbecued for supper and then watched a movie to take our minds off the waiting.


Day 274, May 14th, 2010

Hooray!!! We're fixed!!! Had to wait for an oil seal to be sent from New Jersey. We waited all day yesterday but it didn't come. We were disappointed. When the morning came and went today, we were thinking we might have to wait until Monday. "Breck", the mechanic, stopped by to say it wasn't in the morning delivery but still may come. He did leave a message at the supplier asking for the tracking number though. Shortly after 1:00 I went up to the office and asked the girl to check if the guy had called in the number. We looked it up on the website and it said the package had been delivered in the morning! It was just that the packaging was a little different than usual. We called Breck on his cell phone as he was working at another site, and he said he'd come in about an hour and a half. True to his word he came to the boat and had the seal changed in less that 15 minutes!!!!

We shall leave first thing in the morning to Belhaven on the Pungo River. John's got the GPS plotted all the way to New York. Hopefully there won't be any more problems. We're keeping our fingers crossed for a weather window to do the long leg between Hampton and New York.

Oriental, NC

Day 272, May 12th, 2010

Well, after having trouble stopping in Oriental before, now, it seems, we can't get away!!!
We have made progress today though. The mechanic came yesterday and reckoned it was mainly dirty fuel. He was back today and took the fuel tank right out. Its been "polished" and is ready to go back in tomorrow. Couple of other little bits too but we should be okay then.

I did the laundry while John helped "Breck" the mechanic. We walked to the local diner for supper and it was really good. If all goes well in the morning, perhaps we'll get going in the afternoon? Our fingers are crossed!

Oriental, NC

Day 271, May 11th, 2010

We thought we had about 41 nautical miles to do today to Belhaven, NC so decided we didn't have to leave at the crack of dawn. We walked into town to have breakfast somewhere first!
However, the marina was all locked up, we walked several blocks but couldn't find a cafe that was open. We were just too early! By the time we got back to the marina I tried the door again to the little store and sure enough they had a little cafe in there! Great! We were greeted by a very nice young lady and sat down with orange juice and a cup of coffee to wait for breakfast. As we sat there, a gentleman arrived and ordered breakfast too. Having established he was alone, we invited him to sit with us. We had a lovely chat with "Larry" over the eggs and bacon! He had an appointment with the yacht brokerage. Having sold his boat sometime ago, he felt it was time to buy another! He lives about 3 hours inland and will keep his boat here inOriental again. (We are so lucky in Collingwood to have our boat just 10 minutes from the house.)

John approached one of the marina staff about the night's stay. Apparently we had tied up on the wall of a private marina and they don't deal with transients. There was no charge. That was a very pleasant surprise!

We returned to the boat, got ourselves organized and set off at 9:30. We didn't get very far. There was a stiff wind, on the nose, and choppy water. We put the sails up but it was very apparent we had an engine problem. It didn't take us long to decide to turn back and get a mechanic to have a look. The book showed "Sailcraft Services, Inc." to be the right yard to go so we called them on the radio and they gave us instructions to get there. We turned up Whittaker's Creek and ended up rafted onto another boat outside the yard. Lots and Lots of boat here - kind of reminds me of Back Creek in Annapolis! Very busy yard with lots of boats in various states of togetherness or not.

Its taken all day, but the mechanic just left. He recommends we have the fuel tank polished which he'll try to push through tomorrow. John is going to change all the fuel filters himself and the water impeller. Lets hope we have only 2 days delay. We were congratulating ourselves on making such good progress. Not to worry, we still hope to be back in Canada for June 10th.

Oriental, NC

Day 270, May 10th, 2010

A bridge, just 5 miles from the anchorage, was restricted through the day from 7:00 a.m. onwards, so we decided to get there early and request an opening so we wouldn't have to be delayed. We pulled up the anchor at 5:45 and made an early start!!! (Those of you who know us well must be laughing - John and Gill up and going at 5:45!!! It can happen!!!!) The temperature was much different this morning - back to sweaters and all weather gear to keep out the cold chill. Again, wind straight out of the north so no possibility of using the jib.

Pretty uneventful day really. Thank goodness for Mondays - all the locals back to work! Just other cruisers on the water today. We passed through the bridge with two other sail boats, a catamaran "Tortuga" and a monohull, "Stella Maris". We got into a quick conversation with Tortuga on the radio. Usual questions - where are you from? where are you headed? It turned out they were from Illinois but kept the boat in the Kentucky Lakes. "Oh, I wonder if you know of a marina called Pebble Isles - we had a lovely stay there and were sorry to leave?"
and he replied "Yeah, thats our home marina!!" So we had a nice chat about the extremely nice owners there and the excellent cinnamon buns each morning! Tortuga is going onto Boston or so and then will turn around and go back to the Bahamas. (He still has a couple of Bahamian dollars he hasn't spent yet.) When I suggested they continue onto Canada, he reckoned they would be "half looped" by the time they got to Boston!

Later in the day we were passed by a trawler with a Canadian flag called "Falkor". They hailed us on the radio - "Didn't we meet you in the Benjamins last summer?" Sure enough! They had given us all kinds of tips about the river system. We thought we might meet them on the way down but never did. Apparently they spent the winter in the Exumas having had a quick and comfortable crossing.

At Moorehead City, NC we took the main channel inland, completely bypassing the lovely little town of Beaufort, NC. We'd been there twice before but have never visited Oriental, NC so decided to skip Beaufort this time. Oriental is about 17 nautical miles north of Beaufort on the Neuse River and we thought we could just make it before dark. We'd wanted to stop in Oriental before but it hadn't happened so we thought it was a must this time. I'm sure Tom Witort at CYC told me he bought Holuk from Oriental, so that gives us another reason to say hi to this dear little town - "the Sailing Capitol of North Carolina" according to the billboard in town.

It was just about 7:50 when we came up the channel. The book told us there was a free dock, so I had the lines and fenders set up. However, there were several boats in the very small anchorage and as we cruised the anchorage somebody told us that there was a free dock but it was pretty much always full. We decided to drop the anchor instead. We did that but then a wind came up out of the south east and all theboats changed direction - then we realised that if the wind became very strong and the chain stretched out, the boat could wind up on the marina wall at our stern. That didn't seem a good idea. Up came the anchor again! Nobody answered from the marina on the radio so we decided to tie up on their wall and settle up in the morning.
We were both exhausted. Having set off at 5:45, it was almost 9:00 when we finally were happy with our set up and climbed into bed!!

Pics: Coming through the port of Moorehead, NC, and further up the river where the houses are smaller; note how the trees have changed - tall pines and cypress, no palms!