Updated on October 29, 2021
Our Run to Warmer Climes
Through September and into October, Elena and I discussed what we would do for the winter. Elena’s instincts were to stay put, but I was not thrilled with living on the boat in a frozen Chesapeake Bay. A bit Spartan for my tastes. Elena did not like what was going on in Florida with the pandemic and the Bahamas had closed for visitors. We compromised on Beaufort South Carolina, one of our favorite spots.
Early on the morning October 24, Sophia slipped into the channel in Herring Bay, rounded Holland Point, and turned south.
Our first stop was Solomon’s Island, Maryland, staying an extra night due to rain and fog. We were surrounded by fog on the morning of the 26th. By mid-morning it lifted. With the aid of our new radar, we again headed south. That evening we anchored in the Great Wicomico River near Reedville, VA using our new generator to run the reverse cycle AC to keep us warm for a few hours. The next morning we headed for Fishing Bay Marina in Deltaville Virginia for a few days to visit friends and to do a stock up on victuals for a long run to Oriental, North Carolina.
On the way down to Deltaville, our new charplotter went blank, completely dark screen. We continued on using our backup chartplotter. After tying up at the dock, we troubleshot the charplotter only to discover that chartplotter was wired to the generator starter battery, which had not been replaced in 5 years. Thinking the battery was shot, we replaced the battery (more to follow on this).
While we were in Deltaville, we docked next to a fellow cruiser who had taught materials science at the Naval Academy, my alma mater, while I was there, although I had not taken the course. And then I just happened to run into a fellow who had been in my class but left before graduating. Small world.
After a brief weather delay, we left Deltaville on November 3rd taking a familiar path south: anchoring off Hospital Point in Portsmouth, spending the night in Great Bridge, Virginia, on to Coinjock North Carolina, a jump across Abermarle Sound and into the Alligator River, down the Pungo-Alligator River canal to Bellevue, and then on through the Hoboken Canal, back into the Abermarle Sound for a final leg to Oriental, arriving at 4pm on November 10th.
For the most part, the leg was uneventful. The leg into Hospital Point was in the dark on a moonless night with lots of tugs and barges going up and down the river. At one point I had to put Elena on a visual watch just to make sure we could make out all the marine traffic against the background lights.
The chartplotter continued to cause us problems. After a couple of emails to the folks that installed the generator, we determined that the cooling fan ran off of the generator battery, but the generator did not automatically recharge the starting battery. We finally figured out that we could hook up the shore power cable, plugged into an outlet in the cabin and the battery could be recharged. Something we need to address upon our return to home base.
While at anchor in the Alligator River, a large sailboat bore down on us, evidently intent on coming close aboard. As she closed up, I recognized “Zingaro” and Captain Juan. Zingaro is also homeported in Herrington Harbour and Juan and I have been working side by side on our boats for years. Again, small world.
After an all-day run through the Pungo-Alligator canal, we anchored in Bellhaven for a couple of days, making a quick visit ashore this small North Carolina town and then moved on to Oriental.
In Oriental, we visited friends, Butch and Vickie, as we normally do. We also rewired the chartplotter so that it ran off of main service batteries instead of the generator starter battery. Hopefully that will provide a lot more reliability.
We left Oriental on the November 14, for Beaufort North Carolina and departed on the 16th for our first offshore overnight leg. It was a marginal forecast with winds off the bow enough I thought we could sail close hauled. Unfortunately, the forecast was a bit off, more out of the south than west as we expected and with winds increasing to 15 knots. By 9pm we were 6 miles east of track and losing ground every hour. At 10pm, we brought in sails, started the engine, and turned west into 15-20 knot winds and 4 to 6 foot seas. For the next 6 hours we plunged up and down, with water crashing over the bow, crawling into the wind making 1-2 knots. By 8am, we had regained our track, turned a bit more southernly, got a break with seas easing to 3 foot swells. At 10 am we entered Masonboro Inlet and shortly thereafter anchored off Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, retiring for a long sleep. We have anchored here often, but never been ashore. So after catching up on our sleep, we went ashore for a meal and a walk. While the beach was nice, there was just not much to see in Wrightsville with few restaurants open.
On November 22nd, we sailed through the “inside” path, going through Snows Cut, out into the Cape Fear River, and back into the Intercoastal Waterway at Southport. Hurricane Matthew had damaged many of the marinas in the area including our favorite. We eventually found a slip at St James Planation Marina, a rather expensive marina in an exclusive neighborhood.
We broke our pandemic rules to invite a fellow cruiser over for Thanksgiving dinner. Alan Konechy was cruising down the east coast, single handling his boat (with his dog). He was an interesting character with an adventurous spirit and good company. Elena put out a terrific spread that lasted days until the leftovers where finished off.
On November 27th, we made our way back north, into the Cape Fear, and out into the Atlantic. AT 11:30, we crossed path with the sailboat “Artemis” who was coming back in due to heavy seas. Sophia was handling it ok as far as we were concerned so we decided to proceed on. By 2pm, the seas abated and we were sailing close hauled in 10 knots of wind. We exchanged radio calls with “Artemis” who went with no problems through the reported shoaled areas (named appropriately Lockwood Folly).
The next morning found us off Wynah Bay, and we turned north again to proceed to an anchorage north of Georgetown, South Carolina. Weather was expected to get really bad, and we hunkered down with plenty of anchor chain out behind an island on the Wynah River. On November 30th, the expected weather arrived and winds grew to 25 knots (gusting to 40) out of the south east. We were in company with three other boats, some of which gave up and moved elsewhere. The anchor held fast, but we veered back and forth as the wind and current challenged each other for dominance over Sophia. At some point during the day, “Artemis” came by reporting they had weathered the storm at a nearby marina.
On December 2nd, we raised the anchor and were underway for Beaufort, South Carolina. Going with the current, we were making 9.5 knots, the fastest I’ve ever seen Sophia go on a sustained run. Getting out into the Atlantic we again turned south for our last run for the year. At 7pm we again crossed paths with “Artemis” who were heading into Charleston. At 10pm we passed the lights of Charleston.
At 7am, we went into St. Helena Sound, the “back way” into Beaufort and shortly thereafter anchored off of “Monkey Island” (to recover from our overnight sail. There are really monkeys on this island, Rhesus monkeys used for research. Once in a while you can see one of the braver ones come out to the beach, but you can always hear their screeches in the evening.
The next morning, December 3rd, we motored into the marina at the Beaufort waterfront for our stay in “winter quarters”.