Belhaven to Wrightsville Beach

On our approach to Belhaven, we discovered that our dripless shaft seal was about as dripless as our stainless steel is stainless. The shaft seal is the thingy that is supposed to keep water from intruding into the boat through the hole where the shaft enters the boat from the propeller on the outside on it's way to the engine on the inside.

This would involve hauling the boat out of the water, pulling the shaft partially out, sliding a new seal (and also a spare) onto the shaft, then reattaching the shaft, realigning the engine, putting it back in the water, and paying the bill with a smile.

We ordered the seals and set up an appointment with Bock Marine which is not far from Beaufort, NC. After leaving Belhaven, we anchored for the night in Back Creek , a tad north of Oriental.

The following morning our anchor was up by 5, very dark...and it was foggy. The entrance to the creek has several sharp turns to avoid shoals and we would not have attempted it in the dark and fog without radar and a chartplotter. Once we got out into the Neuse River the fog got thicker. We were going slow and on the verge of turning around to reanchor in the creek, but we decided to proceed past South River before giving up on the day. We did not want to enter the Adams Creek part of the ICW with thick fog. After passing South River the fog lifted and it turned into a beautiful day.


Fishing boat on Adams Creek ICW.


We arrived at Bock Marine just before 9 am, and we were out of there by 2:15. They seemed to do good work, but it's the first time we have ever been charged 42 feet for our 40 foot boat.

We like the town of Beaufort, but the anchorage is waaaay too crowded for us and the marina is very expensive with 3rd world quality restrooms and showers. So we continued on out the inlet, hung a left and made our way to Cape Lookout Bight. Our anchor was down before 5 pm. Cape Lookout Bight is an easy place to make a departure in the dark which suited us well. Our next stop was Wrightsville Beach which would be a long summer day sail--but this wasn't summer, so we would need to leave in the dark.


Pretty boat anchored next to us at Cape Lookout Bight. Notice the bike on deck.

We stayed put for a day waiting for the wind to change direction and to take advantage of a cold front which would bring brisk but favorable winds. We were underway by 4 am with 20 to 25 knot true wind just off our stern. The winds were supposed to abate through the day--which they did, but they stayed brisker than the forecast which enabled us to sail more and make a fast passage.


Sometime late morning, we picked up this very tired passenger.

We made good time and were anchored near the bridge at Wrightsville Beach by early afternoon.


The Motor Vessel Mi T Mo anchored behind us. Notice the car and the carport on the foredeck.

Portsmouth to Belhaven

We were weighing anchor by 5 o'clock Saturday morning ready to take on mucho restricted bridges and a lock. Half way through the weighing anchor process our chain brought up a 5 foot long pipe off the bottom of the Elizabeth River. A couple of days worth of reversing currents had wrapped our chain around the pipe, tying a pretty good knot around it. Of course that section of chain and the pipe were caked with yucky mucky gross mud--and I had been feeling all nice and clean and ready to go. Ten minutes later I wasn't feeling so clean anymore and neither was the front deck of the boat. But we were on our way.

We had left early in hopes of beating the crowd to the lock, but got held up a long time waiting for a train. That gave everyone a chance to catch up, so we basically got up early for nothing, but the weather was perfect.


Bow Babe on duty at the lock.

We wear our life jackets at the lock so that we don't get yelled at in case we have to get off the boat to secure it.


These boats are tied up at the town of Great Bridge, which is just after passing through the lock. There is good provisioning here, but we have yet to stop. We are usually stocked up at this point and it tends to get very crowded here.


Later in the day we sensed that something had passed us. We couldn't see this man and his dog, so we know you can't either. We thought we were all alone, but then we noticed a wake.

Last year we had 25 to 30 knot winds while on the Alligator River--quite nasty.  This year it was dead calm--wonderful.

Near the end of our second day we passed under the Wilkenson Bridge on the Alligator/Pungo River Canal. The clearance from water to the bottom of the bridge was only 63.5 feet. Our mast with wind instruments and antennas is about 58 feet above the water so no problem for us.

High Priority, a 40 foot Catalina, drew 64 feet in the air.


So he stuck his wife out on the end of the boom to tilt the boat over. You might want to blow this picture up.

OK... Maybe your brother, or a couple of water jugs, maybe the dinghy with water in it--but your wife?? Bad move dude.

He said there were only a couple of scrapes on the bottom of the bridge--could of used a fatter wife (he didn't say the last part).

Annapolis to Portsmouth

I called the galvanizing place on the appointed day and they reassured me that our chain and anchor would be shiny and new, ready to be picked up at noon the following day. Because the process involved a 3 mile walk, then renting a car and driving 120 miles each way, I asked for, and was granted, assurance that it would be ready by noon.

You win the prize for guessing right. When we got there, they had not started on our stuff--it was sitting on a pallet looking lonely in the middle of the yard.

When I walked in and they realized their goof, they went into panic mode. They assured us they could get it done by closing late that day, and that quality of job would not suffer. We returned shortly before closing time and waited until they finished up, then loaded our treasure into the car.

These guys are good people, and really stepped up for us after initially dropping the ball. I suspect our business is sort of "nuisance business" to them (they do tons of big commercial jobs), but they treated us like we were important and made things happen.

Major thunderstorms with big time lightning and wind hit Annapolis shortly after we got back, so Lisa with her better judgement, decided we needed to go to a 7-Eleven and hide out until it blew through. After things cleared up somewhat, we went through the process of transferring the chain from the car to our floating car, and then to the mothership. It is wonderful not to have rusty chain anymore.

With the chain back on the boat we were ready to head south. A big front with lots of wind and rain was due to arrive in 2 days, so we hightailed it to the Patuxent River, passed Solomons and wound our way up to the beautiful St. Leonard Creek. This is one of our favorite spots--and a good thing too, because we would be there for a few days. The creek offers good protection and a front row seat to watch bald eagles show why they are our national bird.

The wind and rain came. We got 13 inches of rain in 2 days. One of the days had over 10 inches.


Real men make French toast.

After the bad weather cleared, we made the 2 1/2 hour trip to Solomons. We saw the crew of Voyageur, the Island Packet that had been struck by lightening on our way up the Chesapeake. They just got their boat back after several months of repairs and all new electronics. We enjoyed spending an evening with them.

After leaving Solomons, we had a lively sail to Mill Creek off the Great Wicomico River. That was followed by a windless day and the use of the motor to Chisman Creek.


We passed this dudet that was heading north on the Chesapeake.

The trip from Chisman Creek to Portsmouth would be our last day on the Chesapeake this year.


As you can see, Nicki May put the fear in this aircraft carrier. She ran away from us like a baby. We followed her to her berth in Norfolk.


She may not be pretty, but can't get much more practical. All unpainted aluminum. We saw her in the Bahamas 2 years ago.


Now, she IS pretty, though a bit sad because her coffee is gone.

East River to Sassafrass River

This tanker (with a tow pushing it) passed us under the Brooklyn Bridge. Tows normally push barges until they go offshore, where they pull them with very long cables.


Lots of helicopters in and out of Manhattan. Mostly sight seeing tours.

After passing under the Brooklyn Bridge, we made a left and shot through the Buttermilk Channel, passed the large ship anchorage, went under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, through NY Harbor and on to Atlantic Highlands.

We did get a good view of Lady Liberty, and were pleased to verify that The Kinder and Gentler One has not yet placed a burka over her face. We can only hope he doesn't stone her for not wearing one.

We made it to Atlantic Highlands by mid afternoon. For all the bad rap New Jersey gets, this area is quite beautiful.

After some long beautiful walks, getting some chores done, sitting through some bad weather and monitoring the forecast closely, we decided on a 3:00 am departure for the 9th of September. Our destination would be Atlantic City, then a day hop to Cape May, then either Reedy Island or somewhere in the Chesapeake.

When we got up to leave at three, the winds were still blowing in the mid to upper 20s, so we rolled over and went back to sleep. If we are out there in those winds it's no big deal (so long as it's not on the nose), but we tend not to leave in those conditions.

We ended up leaving on the following day a little after 10:00 am. By this time we had changed plans with the intent of doing an overnighter with the options of stopping at Cape Henlopen (in Delaware at the mouth of the Delaware Bay), Reedy Island, or continuing through the C&D Canal and on to the Sassafras River which is off the Chesapeake.

The forecast was for 15 to 20 knot winds aft of our beam, which was just about perfect. The departure time was predicated on arriving at Delaware Bay right at the start of a flood tide. We ended up getting there a bit late because the winds were a lot lighter than the forecast. It was still pretty good sailing, but not as fast as anticipated.

It was a beautiful night with some wonderful sailing. The only nagging issue was the knowledge we would arrive at Delaware Bay a bit late in the tide cycle.

The bay was very rough with wind against tide for the first couple of hours. We should have ducked in at Cape Henlopen, but after 2 hours of bashing I was too stubborn to turn around and lose that hard earned ground. OK, water. Then, like magic, things smoothed out and we made great time with perfect weather.


Another shot of the cooler at the nuke plant. On 9/11 no less.

We still had the current with us so we passed Reedy Island, went through the canal, and were anchored about 3 miles up the Sassafras River by late afternoon.

The following day was foggy and drizzly, so we decided to stay put, rest up, and do odds and ends.


This trawler showed up on our second day in the anchorage. They were in Atlantic Highlands when we left.


Amel sailboat at anchor.

Georgetown is a few miles up the Sassafras, and we want to check it out at some point, but that would have to wait.

Among other things, we desperately needed to get our chain regalvanized, so it was off to West Annapolis.

Shortly after going under the Bay Bridge the shackle for the outhaul on the main blew out sending the shackle and the rubber doughnut to the bottom of the bay. When it happened there was a Cabo Rico, also under full sail, about 8 feet off our starboard side. We'll never know if the shackle broke, or if the pin got loose and came out.

After getting settled in, we rented a car, loaded it with 300 feet of chain and a 55 pound anchor, then drove 120 miles to Ashland, Virginia where we dropped off our goods. We really hope we get it back. There is a minimum weight requirement to have this done which is why we included the anchor.

They acid wash the chain first, then dip it in the magic stuff, then either turn it in a drum or put it in a shaker of some sort so that the links don't weld themselves together.

We have Acco High Test chain which is supposed to use the preferred method of galvanizing, but we did not expect to have to redo it this soon. I actually think the galvanizing had mostly disappeared shortly after we arrived in the Chesapeake last year (less than a year old), but it didn't start rusting until this year. Hopefully this time around it will last a lot longer since you're not supposed to regalvanize high test more than once or twice--plus it's expensive.

Oyster Bay to East River

Upon leaving Oyster Bay, we decided to bypass Port Washington and head straight to Atlantic Highlands.

We arrived at the East River right on time to take advantage of the ebb tide. The East River has an amusement park feel to it as the boat shoots through at speeds it's not accustomed to.


Land Ho. Who you callin...


United Nations buildings where we give them lots of money to destroy us.


Gotta be New York City.


More New York City.


One more shot. This has the UN buildings in it.

Narragansett Bay to Oyster Bay

After 3 days of very strong winds and rain, we made a quick return trip to Wickford for cheaper groceries(very close), then back to Jamestown to do laundry before heading to Long Island Sound.

Further south, the hurricanes were line dancing. Earl was in the lead, getting a bit frisky with the East Coast, while Rhode Island, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard had big "hit me" signs on them.


This mama and her babies are adorable. But everything they eat comes back out in semi liquid form--likely on your boat. Only newbie boaters feed water fowl.

We weighed anchor early Saturday morning and headed to the Fish Tail on the eastern end of Long Island, NY. Had it not been for the approaching hurricanes, we would have waited for wind. Although the wind only appeared long enough for 30 minutes of sailing, it was a gorgeous day with perfect temps. The good part of no wind was smooth seas.

We left our anchorage at Long Beach early the following morning and headed for Port Jefferson--also on Long Island. The winds were forecast to be on our nose, but light at 5 to 10 knots. So we shot through Plum Gut and entered Long Island Sound with true wind in the upper teens. This made the apparent wind (wind over the boat) in the 20s.

Early on, we tacked back and forth across the sound which added quite a few miles to the day. We ended up motoring the last bit on a rhumb line to ensure we made it in before dark--although it's an easy port to enter at night. We were just tired and used the dark thing as an excuse. The wind against the tide made most of the day lean toward the miserable side of the scale.

Our plan was to spend a couple of days in Port Jefferson before seeking the shelter of Oyster Bay. Our first day we spent exploring the town of Setauket. This is where we learned to tell the difference between a male and a female crab from a local expert.


House in Setauket.

We met an older local couple at the dinghy dock, where the man was netting crabs that got too close to the dock for their own good. Harvesting females was not allowed at the time, so when the lady asked how you know, the man had the obvious answer. If it's screaming when you pull it out of the water, it's a girl. Men always have an answer. Just ask us.

We had planned on one more day in the harbor so that we could peruse the town of Port Jefferson, but Earl was making better progress than anticipated, and being the nervous type, we headed for Oyster Bay the following morning.

Weatherman, Chris Parker, was predicting (if the hurricane came close) that instead of a surge, the bays on the sound would have water sucked out lowering the depth somewhat. So we made sure we anchored in water that was deep enough to compensate for a bit of a drop.

We secured everything we could but left the solar panels, bimini, dodger etc. on until we were sure we would get hit. Lisa had all our important papers ready to put in a ditch bag--we would have left the boat to fend for herself had Earl decided to confound the experts by hanging a left instead of a right. We seemed to be the only ones in the area that were a bit anxious.

God was watching over us as Earl weakened and stayed on his proper track. We got no wind from Earl, but once he passed a cold front brought us a couple of days of sustained winds in the mid 20s with higher gusts. Thirty knot winds sound sweet when you've had hurricane winds on your mind for a week or so.


Clouds from the front that passed a day or so after the hurricane fizzled.

Bristol, Wickford, Woods Hole

While we were walking around Bristol, Lisa brought my attention to these 2 boats. Me thinks they are owned by the same person.

Next on our list was a visit to Wickford, RI which is only a two hour sail from Bristol. The winds were very light, but we were able to sail wing and wing (front sail on the opposite side of the mainsail) and still manage to dodge the lobster pots on the east side of Prudence Island. Sojourner left for Wickford the previous day, so Rick and Linda were waiting for us when we arrived. We ate lunch together, walked the town, and did some grocery shopping. Then Sojourner had us over for Rick's special spicy spaghetti. Very good.

Wickford is another very charming RI town with lots of pretty trees and old houses. The town is very small and it doesn't take too long to exhaust the shops and eateries.


Pretty house in Wickford.


This house stands guard over the main mooring field as you enter the harbor.

While in Bristol, Claire and Paul inspired us to get into the spirit of New England. The seafood they served us was so good that we knew we needed to try our hand at it. So we stopped at the fresh seafood place that Claire recommended (in Wickford) and got a couple of lobsters and a couple pounds of mussels.


The lobster is giving us the L sign for "Luke warm water please".

Note to PETA. Some mean person had put him on ice. We were only trying to help.

The meal was great. I think boaters should get a discount on lobster considering the constant stress their traps put on us. Maybe I could be the Lobster Czar. We need more Czars.

It was time to move on. Our goal was sail to Buzzards Bay and check out Woods Hole, Mass., then go to Martha's Vineyard and possibly Nantucket. The Kinder and Gentler One (man, Bush was a meanie) was taking his freak show and campaign to Martha's Vineyard at the same time we had planned to be there (he did the same thing last year). This was not good, but we decided to go ahead anyway.

On the way out, we decided to stop at Dutch Harbor for a day to do laundry, and I was able to do a good scrubbing of the topsides of the boat as well.


Dutch Harbor the night before heading to Woods Hole. Sometimes I can't believe we have to suffer in these kind of surroundings. To make it worse, the temperature was perfect.

The following day we had a wonderful sail to Hadley Harbor, near Woods Hole. This is a very busy destination for pleasure boaters, and we knew Friday was not the best day to show up. But we couldn't name it Tuesday because it was Friday. No new math involved.

Hadley Harbor is beautiful, but like most of the northeast, the main harbor is filled with mooring balls. There is room to anchor, just not with good all round protection. Forbes owns the main island, and a lot of well known politicians frequent these harbors.

On Saturday we took the mile or so dinghy ride to Woods Hole and enjoyed the day exploring the town and it's surrounding area. We were glad we were able to visit Woods Hole, because weather was on it's way. The forecast was now calling for a Nor'easter with gale force winds to arrive Sunday night and linger on through Wednesday.

With the Kinder and Gentler One disrupting the normal flow of Marthas Vineyard and some extended bad weather, with limited bad weather anchorage, we decided to high tail it back to Dutch Harbor. So we took a left on Buzzards Bay and headed back to the little state.

It was another spectacular sail with some light rain in the mix. When we got to the mouth of Narragansett, things got a bit dicey. The winds were mostly in the mid twenties gusting over 30 knots, then a squall hit us. The tidal currents of Rhode Island Sound and Block Island Sound sort of collide near the mouth of Narragansett Bay--then the currents join together in harmony and shoot north or south depending on the tide cycle. All of this made the seas quite large and square and close together. The large square waves assisted us as we tangled up the genoa around the forestay while we tried to roll it in. But we were able to untangle it all by ourselves without any help from the waves. Once we entered the bay everything laid down in an orderly fashion.

We were anchored by early afternoon with good protection and the knowledge that we would get a lot of reading done in the next few days.