Posted on November 11, 2017
Departure from Deltaville and on to Oriental and Beaufort, NC
On Tuesday, 31 October, Halloween, we held early reveille at 0600 and made our final preps for getting underway–one last trash run, unhook and bring aboard the electrical cable, and take in the extra lines. At 0730, we got underway, backing out in a tight space between docks using a fair wind with the aid of a spring line and turned into the fairway and motored out into Fishing Bay and on into the Chesapeake Bay.
Coming out with us were several boats that had been at anchor. Joining our little fleet, four boats came out of nearby Jackson Creek. As we turned south, we counted 14 boats heading south in company with us.
At 0900 we raised sails, but winds were light and we motor-sailed on to Hampton Roads. We passed Wolf Trap light, through the expanses of the entrance to the York River, and approached Thimble Shoals channel.
Over the radio, there were several announcements of an Navy aircraft carrier getting underway and patrol boats clearing small craft out of the way. Off in the distance, we spotted the behemoth coming through the Hampton Roads Tunnel. The channel narrows a bit and we could see we were going to pass her close aboard. Turns out, the carrier was CVN78, the newly commissioned USS Gerald R Ford, going out for underway tests. It was an impressive sight and we made sure we stayed out of the way.
At 1700, we were approached and passed by a boat that I recognized immediately from the hull and the large number of scuba tanks and other paraphernalia on deck. She was “Autumn Bourne” – a large 45 foot CSY ketch with whom we had sailed with from Jacksonville, Florida to the Bahamas. This was Captain Dean’s 11th cruise south and he has developed a reputation as an expert. They were in company with “Avalon” on their first cruise. We talked briefly over the radio.
About the same time, we left historic Fort Monroe to starboard, always an impressive site. Autumn Bourne turned to anchor in an estuary next to Fort Monroe.
The forecast called for a calm night and we chose to anchor in the open water on what is called the Hampton Flats off of Hampton city and across the James and Elizabeth Rivers from the huge Norfolk Naval Station. Other than having some difficulty finding a spot clear of crab pots, we spent a calm night at anchor.
The next day called for us to transit through Norfolk and Portsmouth. While it would not be a long day, covering about 20 miles, it is filled with traffic, bridges and even a lock. There are free docks at Great Bridge and it would be a race to see who can get there first. In addition, we were about two hours behind the boats that anchored at Hospital Point in Portsmouth. We had anchored there last year, in the dark with a full crowd of boats in the anchorage. Elena had decided she did not want that again, hence the anchorage at Hampton Flats.
We got early again and were underway by 0730. Heading up the Elizabeth River, we passed the Navy docks, the coal docks, the container port, the Navy fuel farm, many private shipyards (I counted 8 Navy ships in those yards), the Portsmouth Naval Hospital, Hospital Point (2 boats at anchor), and the Norfolk Naval Shipyard at Portsmouth. Just past Hospital Point, we officially entered the Intracoastal Waterway (Mile 0).
At 1220, we entered the Great Bridge locks and moored at the free docks, joining two other boats there. Soon 3 others joined us, including Autumn Bourne and Avalon. Elena enjoyed herself by playing dockmaster, helping the new boats tie up. It turns out that she had socialized with several of the crews at Fishing Bay while doing laundry. It was like a reunion. Besides Autumn Bourne and Avalon, there was Packet-Inn, Room for Two, Varuna , and Spindrift.
The next day was another early start. After the locks, there is a bascule bridge that needs to be open for us to go through. It is a busy highway and the bridge only opens on the hour. We had planned for an 0800 opening. At the appointed hour, we discovered a tug and barge on the other side of the bridge. On our sides, several large motor yachts were waiting for the bridge to open. Using our discretion, we stayed at the dock until the tug and barge cleared. Spindrift had gotten underway before us and was heading for the bridge as we were casting off lines. Suddenly the bells start ringing and the bridge closes in front of him and the bridge-keeper with the tone that would make a troll proud, announces the next bridge opening would be in an hour. By that time, we are underway and spent the next 45 minutes making circles in the water.
At 0900 we passed though the Great Bridge with out little fleet including Autumn Bourne and Avalon who were heading to get fuel and water at the nearby marina. We had 37 statute (as opposed to nautical) miles to go to Coinjock. We wanted to be there before dark, but we could motor through the Virginia Cut canal and the North Landing River at a leisurely 4.5 knots.
We arrived at Midway Marina in Coinjock at 4pm. Our little fleet split up, two boats went to the other marina with its restaurant (famous on the ICW for its prime rib) and Autumn Bourne and Avalon went to anchor another 10 miles further south.
We had noticed that we were a quart low on oil on the engine, so we took the extra time to add some oil. In addition, one of our bilge pumps was not working and we spent some time investigating. We confirmed we had some sort of problem, but the fix would have to wait until Oriental.
While hanging out on the bow, I met the guy on the only other boat at the marina. Turns out he was one of those boat characters I love. “Mike” is an older fellow (how old was hard to tell, but he definitely has some miles on him). Â He was on an ancient 26 foot sailboat that was driven by an outboard motor. At least it had been driven by an outboard until it fell overboard while he was caught in the ferocious storm that had driven us into the marina. Evidently, it had broken loose from its mounting and there was something about his tiller being broken and the rudder was in an unknown condition. And something about the chartplotter not working and he was doing all his navigating with paper charts. He had just bought this boat for $3000 and was taking it from North Carolina to Colonial Beach on the Potomac. I still feel a tinge of jealousy of his simplicity (as I always do with these lone sailors) and a bit of admiration for his courage, but perhaps not so much for judgement and experience.
On Friday, November 3rd, we awoke early to get a good start on the day, only to find that we were fogged in with visibility about a quarter mile. By 0830 the fog had cleared and our fellow travelers had left, so we got underway for the Alligator River.
By 1230 we had entered Abermarle Sound. I had hoped for some sailing time in the open waters, but, alas, there was not wind and we motored on, through the Alligator River Bridge and anchored in open water about 5 miles north of the entrance to the Pungo-Alligator Canal, a 25 mile transit to Bellhaven.
We anchored with a relatively short amount of chain out (40 feet) hoping to get an early start. At the same time as the sun was setting, the moon was rising, making an interesting celestial juxtaposition.
We got our wish, but not in the way we had planned. At 5am, the winds began to increase. By 5:30, winds were at 15 knots and we were beginning to bounce. The anchor held nicely, even with short length of chain. We had breakfast and got underway before 0700. At 0830, we entered the Pungo-Alligator Canal and anchored in Belhaven at 2pm. There were six boats at anchor with us, including our old traveling companions, Autumn Bourne and Varuna.
The weather since departure from Fishing Bay has been very nice with clear skies and warm temperatures, although a little wind would be nice. Today though was cold and cloudy, reminding us that winter is right on our tail.
We are about a week later than we were last year. There seems to be fewer boats than last year, though there are plenty–we were passed by about 20 boats today, all motor yachts and there we another eight sailboats behind us. It seems the main fleet of boats left Annapolis shortly after the Boat Show (5-9 Oct) and are ahead of us. We delayed our departure to get more work done and because October was so warm.
We left Belhaven at 0900, travelled the 12 miles down the Pungo River. We passed a northbound sailboat, a rare sight. It brought back memories of when I first bought Sophia and was moving her north from Oriental in the fall of 2007. We were the only boat heading north and was so envious of those heading south. Now, we are the southbound snowbirds.
We crossed the Pamlico River (with a gentle breeze, motor-sailing with the genoa), and steamed into the Hobucken Canal, passing a couple of shrimp boats at their dock.
We exited the Hobucken Canal at noon, turned south for the run to Oriental. As Autumn Bourne and Varuna were pulling ahead and further down the ICW, we bade them farewell and good sailing.
Arriving about 4pm, we slipped into the dock nicely and settled in for the evening.
We had two things we had to fix while in Oriental, work that I began the next afternoon. Both our primary and secondary bilge pumps were not working, leaving us only with the tertiary emergency flooding pump and a hand pump. An investigation of the secondary automatic float switch, which turns the pump on when there is sufficient water, revealed it was being blocked by the recently installed emergency pump. A quick change of position fixed that problem.
The primary pump was more difficult. The pump system has three parts, the main switch, the float switch, and the electrical motor which drives the pump. I checked the float valve first, but it seemed OK. Then I opened the main electrical panel to check the switches, but did not get very far before it got too dark to work, even with cabin lights. And we had been invited to dinner at Butch and Vickie’s. I decided to wait to morning.
The dinner and company were excellent. In addition to Butch and Vickie, there were a couple who had sailed to Europe and back and were now doing the “Great Loop”, up the East Coast, through the Great Lakes and down the Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, and Tombigbee rivers to the Gulf Of Mexico. Also joining us were a couple in their seventies, getting ready to sail south, who had between them made 5 transatlantic crossing, had built their own boat, and she had sailed solo from South Africa to England.
While walking the dock, I ran across a fellow in a small sailboat, perhaps 24 feet in length, one sail, barely enough room to move, driven by a small outboard motor. I accused him of running away from home. We started chatting and it turned out I was not far from the truth. Jimmy had bought a house not far away and the boat came with it. He was a retired farmer and had decided to sail south as far as he could get, maybe Florida.I had started on a 23-foot boat and then graduated to a 25 footer, which I sailed up and down the Chesapeake Bay. I gave him some advice for what it was worth and, after talking for an hour or so (a long conversation for me), wished him well as he was off to points south in the morning. I love characters like Jimmy. I hope we cross paths with him again.
Butch offered to give me a hand with the pump and I took him up on the offer, knowing that which would take me a day, he could do in an hour. The next morning, we checked the switches on the panel which checked out OK. We rechecked the float switch and then moved to the pump, where there was definitely voltage to the pump. The problem was with the electric motor in the pump itself. Butch gave the pump a bang with his flashlight and it started running. Magic!!! Obvious a loose connection in the motor and we will have to watch it, but fixing it meant we could leave in the morning.
Elena made a last grocery run and a shopping trip to New Bern in the car Vickie had lent us. In the morning she returned the car, said our goodbyes to Vickie and Butch, and got underway smartly, backing out slowly in a very tight spot, letting the light and favorable wind push the bow around until we were fair in the channel.
In a cold, damp morning mist, we started 27 miles to Beaufort NC, our next stop.
We made our way up Adams Creek, through the Adams Creek canal, and into the Newport River. We slid in to the dock at the Beaufort waterfront at 3pm. It was not a pretty landing as I got crossways in the slip somehow.Elena had to push off the boat next door to prevent us from hitting it. Perhaps I was intimated by the 100-foot, 4 million dollar sailboat, “Miniskirt”, we docked next to on the other side. But still, any landing you walk away from is a good landing might apply.
We will stay here through Sunday (the 12th) or Monday. A cold front came through last night (the 9th) and we are waiting for the winds and the seas to calm down. Meanwhile, Elena enjoys the shopping, driving around in the marina’s courtesy car, and maybe a couple of dinners out if she is nice to me. Next stop—Southport, NC. Happy Veteran’s Day.
Great photos although I don’t see any of the Captain ! I’m wondering what your “typical” day is like, if there is such a thing. I see lots of detail about entering and leaving port, repairs, and some stories of meals or advice from fellow sailors. But when you’re sailing on open water for hours and hours, what’s that like? Constantly busy with sails and rigging? Lots of time for deep conversations about the meaning of life? Reading charts? Reading/Listening to Books? Writing the next great novel?