Coinjock

27 May 2109

We are spending two days here in an unlikely location, tied up against a fuel dock in the middle of nowhere, because we are stalling some more to avoid going through the Norfolk area on Memorial Day weekend. Since we hadn't been at a dock for a couple days everything had to get charged back up, and we had to get rid of the trash and recycling. I thinned through the crate of plumbing pieces I had bought in Oriental because they had included the shower hose we needed, also learning how to reattach the handle for the hot water so it would stay. I kept both remaining hoses and the best one of everything else for spares and tossed the rest.

We were down below when we hear a bang. This just turned out to be just a particularly well placed wake slapping the side of the boat. A few moments later, BANG. That was definitely a hit with something solid. We go up top and a sailboat a little bigger than ours has blown into our boat while trying to dock. A few little scrapes in our gelcoat, but not as deep as the ding I just put in the bow with the anchor. They were deeply apologetic and embarrassed, and gave us a bottle of wine. We've done worse (although it was a charter boat!).

I changed diesel fuel filter, which was almost as black as the last one after about 75 engine hours. Hmmm. Getting the fuel tank cleaned out may be in our future. Wash off boat, fill water tanks, pump out, diesel. Tomorrow we'll move even closer to Norfolk, but after some more research I realize that we'll have seven bridges and a lock to go through to get to this Top Rack Marina. We had better get an earlier start than planned.

sv-hiatus.blogspot.com

Alligator River

24 - 25 May 2019

That night we had more than a dozen little bugs make their way into the boat. Maybe I do need to put the seals around the edges of the hatch screens. They didn't seem to bite so they were just annoying. I guess around here they are called blind mosquitos or midges.

Well, in the morning I went up top and realized how a few got past our screens. It was a numbers game. The top of the boat was blanketed with these things, I mean like drifts in spots. Again, they didn't bite, which made it somewhat tolerable, but echh. As I've said before, not all of nature is awesome.

I don't know what got into me, but I wanted a shower, and taking one on the sugar scoop with my thousands of new buggy friends did not sound appealing. I broke out the plumbing parts I had found in Oriental and got to work. After a couple smelly hours and many swear words the shower finally worked again, at least on the second try after I tightened up a few hose clamps. Afterwards a shower felt really great.

Next on the list was taking down the new dinghy. Heather had still had never been in the thing. It's certainly a little heavier than the first one, but I was able to roll it over and hitch it to the spinnaker halyard and we got it over the side. We tied it to the sugar scoop and hoisted the outboard over. The outboard crane tackle worked better, but still not good enough for us to handle a motor that weighs twice as much, which is what we are looking at replacing it with. More work to be done.

It took a couple dozen pulls to get the outboard started, but this was only the second time I'd started it in a year. We went into the marina about a quarter mile away, and with the two of us the dinghy was practically planing. The only other time I had it in the water it had seemed very sluggish, but later we discovered it was leaking water between the hulls from a poorly tightened drain plug. Maybe keeping the old motor won't be so bad for a while longer.

The dinghy ran like a champ to the marina. We spilt a double cheeseburger and fries in celebration of our 34th anniversary. I know how to treat a girl. We're saving our actual anniversary dinner out for Coinjock, famous for their 32 oz prime rib.

When we got back to the boat it was getting rougher, but the dinghy did well, much drier and faster than the old one. As we approached our boat it looked so lonely out in the river all by itself. We eventually got the outboard loaded back on the boat again, but that was it, it was too rough (for us) to bring the dinghy aboard, so we will have to tow it for a while. That night the 1-2 foot waves became 2-3 with an occasional four because wind had shifter to the south and now had miles of fetch.

The anchor held tight that night despite the wind and waves. In the morning as we were getting ready for departure we were also looking for a calmer place along the way to Coinjock to load the dinghy on the foredeck. We did just that on the north end of the river just to the west and out of the wind. After Heather got the thing up over the life lines I remembered I had bought another block and tackle for this very purpose. It was actually a deer sling from Tractor Supply, but it had a clutch to lock the line in. Next time.

We crossed the Albermarle with a substantial number of bugs still following us, including some even bigger flies, now all black except for some tiger striping on their abdomen. Some of the dragonflies were the size of small birds (below not the biggest one on a black 5/8" line). It's somewhat acceptable to hear the whine of the beating wings of an insect, but when they are big enough for you to hear them bump into things, especially when that thing is you, then it's really just too much.

As we went up the river on the other side of the sound the engine changed tone, then when we slowed down it almost stalled. The diesel tank was as empty as it has been this year and the Alligator river was very bumpy so it could have stirred up any crap in the tank and already clogged the engine fuel filter. I will swap it out again in the morning.

We made it up to Coinjock, which we learned is an indian word for mulberry. Heather docked well again, this time a side tie to the fixed wooden docks. We had dinner at the restaurant, but after a hot day I just couldn't go for the 32 oz prime rib I'd been thinking of for so long. After an early dinner we had an early bed time enjoying the chill of the air conditioner.

sv-hiatus.blogspot.com

Leaving Oriental

23 - 24 May 2109

In the morning, after grabbing a couple bags of ice we had a good departure. Floated right out of our slip backwards, then up the inlet a ways until a wide spot between a couple of fishing trawlers, then a nice tight turn to get the boat pointed forward.

It was a nice easy day, with lots of wide open rivers and bays. We arrived in Belhaven, where the anchor eventually bit well and made a big smile on the anchor alarm. This is apparently the place where the idea of the Intracoastal Waterway was born.

I cooked steaks on the back of the boat after giving them a little sous vide type treatment in the oven. Overnight a few very little bugs seemed to have gotten past our screens.

In morning Heather had a bit of a headache so we delayed our departure while I got other chores done, like mapping out how to get through the Norfolk area. The book we just got describes it as just as busy, and perhaps more complicated, than the New York Harbor area. I had taken a boat navigation class that had a simulator of a boat bridge in the back of the room. One of the locations they put you in was NY harbor. I crashed into many things in NY harbor.

We finally departed Belhaven, low on ice. We thought we'd try to make it to Alligator River Marina for more ice, just on other side of a bridge. As we were making our way Heather suddenly realizes that we are currently scheduled to cross the Norfolk area on Memorial Day weekend. Noooooo. I think we startled the deer on the shore.



So we reschedule, as this is a better area to spend a couple extra days on the hook or such, not just south of Norfolk (although we end up doing that too). So we plan on staying two days anchored outside the Alligator River Marina, taking the dinghy in to get ice and such.

We arrive late, having had a pretty full day after such a late start. I multitask with BBQ chicken off the back while keeping an eye on the anchor setting. Good chicken, good anchor set. We wanted an especially good set because in the morning we planned on leaving the boat at anchor for the first time.

sv-hiatus.blogspot.com

Oriental NC

21 - 24 May 2019

We left Beaufort a little later than planned (as always), so late I was able to pick up a Chesapeake specific guide at the bookstore across the street when they opened. 

Despite the current Heather made a good departure from the dock, then floated right up to another at the other end of the marina for a pump out. With some help from a dockhand to get us pointed out she departed with equal grace, then floated up to the fuel dock. After topping up we warped off this dock neatly. Heather was five for five.

Going the back way north from Beaufort we proceeded into some very thin water, with less than a foot of water beneath the keel. Good thing it was near high tide.

Once we got onto the main channel on the way up to Oriental we got waked bad, maybe the worst ever, with the second wave from the wake perfectly timed for the frequency of the boat rocking back and forth. If only there was a simple procedure for an overtaking boat that was not too difficult for this guy to understand. But it really wasn't just him. Almost all power boats slowed when overtaking our admittedly pokey sailboat, but most started back up before their wake had passed us, in some cases making things worse than if they hadn't slowed at all. 

We got into the Neause river, which was miles across. With a big wind it became choppy, then bouncy, giving the most motion the boat has had this year. The dodger did water spray duty as well as wind, making me glad again we finally got it. On the way we started getting these big flies. I mean really big. In case you think the picture below is overly magnified, the line with the red flecks is a half an inch in diameter.

We made it past the breakwater into Oriental. It was much smaller than I had imagined. With no tide there were no floating docks, with pilings for rear spring ties. Heather did well for docking, although marina office guy was  not impressed because it took us a while to snag those rear pilings with lines. We've been spoiled by floating docks and haven't had to do this in a long time, and we really have never done it well.

In the morning, while walking across the street to the coffee shop, there was a little dog with his owner, both taking a walk down the street, both with a smile, just enjoying the morning and being outside. But the dog was in some sort of wheelchair, harness racing type two wheeled apparatus, with one rear leg drooping in a sling, and the other mostly just dragging on the ground, while his front legs just bopped on down the sidewalk. It was so cute and sad at the same time. I really wanted to take a picture but it felt rude.

We had dinner at a little place called M&Ms, just a couple block walk from the marina. We had a very good steak, half the price, half again as big and twice as good as the one on Beaufort, and a nice little salad. It was a very nice little restaurant for such a small town, and one of the only ones open, so we went back again the next evening.

The next day we walked up to the West Marine (Express!) and the grocery, stopping at a deli for lunch on the way. The little West Marine Express store was better stocked for what we needed than the last three full size stores put together. Across from the (astonishingly good) deli was one of those classic small town hardware stores with a million little things in it. I walked out with a few of said little things, half of which I didn't know I wanted or needed until I saw them. One of these last minute purchases was a fly swatter, which turned out to be a life saver in upcoming battles with bugs of sizes and/or numbers which we were previously unfamiliar with.

There was even more boat stuff to peruse at a store called Provision something, most importantly, three (admittedly used) shower hoses (and the rest of the plumbing, and the crate they were in) for $30. I had been looking for these hoses since last year when the one in our forward head unraveled, and would have paid twice that for one. They also had more head treatment for half of what West charges and more clear plastic Strataglass cleaner which West didn't have at all. All this just on the other side of the marina, in a town you could fit most of in a Walmart strip mall parking lot.

The fishing trawlers behind us kept their lights on all day and night, which was alternatingly pretty, and pretty annoying.

The next day, after grabbing another couple bags of ice, we had a smooth departure with most of the wind blocked by the hotel next to the marina. We backed right out, spun around between two of the trawlers, and out we went past the breakwater.

sv-hiatus.blogspot.com

Beaufort NC

16 - 22 May 2019

We originally planned on three nights in Beaufort, although I was already campaigning for four. We had done a lot in three weeks. We were maybe two-thirds of the way to the Chesapeake, and getting to areas where there were many more options to anchor and explore. There was a lot of Beaufort within walking distance of the marina, and they had dock cars for farther trips, like to the grocery store.

We were having problems with Heather's multiple prescriptions. Her doctor's practice had suddenly detonated. Her doctor then departed and joined another existing practice. This was complicated with said doctor leaving in a few weeks for several months of maternity leave. The new practice was insisting on seeing everyone new to the practice. For us this was a problem because we were 3000 miles away. In planning ahead Oriental was our next stop, but there seemed to be little around there, and not a CVS pharmacy or rental car place for miles. We didn't have a car now, so staying in Beaufort until Heather's prescriptions were resolved seemed like the best idea. Big Bird's cousin on the dock agreed with our plan.

We were going to call the doctor's office yet again on Monday but Heather was running out of meds and options. We were looking at her having to fly out for another appointment not six weeks after her last. If she has to do this I'll be wanting her to look for a(nother) new practice.

Fortunately one of the office managers had come with Heather's doctor to the new practice, so she was familiar with Heather's odd scheduling requirements. After a few more days of back and forth, by which time Heather's doctor had already left for maternity leave, Heather finally got her last two scrips.

We shuttled our car on Friday. We drove down to Southport, which was all secondary two-lane highways, and it took forever even though it was only 130 miles. Since the boat had moved from the end of one peninsula to the next we drove both cars to the little Greenville airport, where we could park for several dollars a day, then drove the rental back to Morehead City. We had dinner at Clawsons across the street from the marina, where I (accidentally!) caught Heather in a picture.



Monday night we had a very good dinner at a place called Beaufort Grocery, priced accordingly. We had squash blossoms. Interesting, but I prefer hummingbird tongues.

We finally left Tuesday in a flurry of good docking maneuvers.

sv-hiatus.blogspot.com