Beaufort was the line where, in my head, things were going to get warm. How wrong I was. Leaving RE Mayo, was probably the coldest day yet. To make matters worse, the wind was howling, the waves were slamming and it had started to hail. I was not happy to say the least. The plus side, there always is a plus side, we didn’t have far to go. We stayed in yet another marina, it’s just too cold to spend the nights without heat, in Morehead City (across from Beaufort).
We had a decision to make, to either stay inside along the ICW or make a jump to Charleston along the outside. The weather was perfect to go outside, but the temperature is still just too cold. We’d be out for 30+ hours, that’s a long time to be cold. So we decided to continue inside until Charleston and jump outside there. It will take us 5 days this way, but it also guarantees us heat every night.
The run inside will take a total of 5 days. Most of it will run us just inside the ocean shore. The problem with that is that it’s often shoaled. The likelihood of running aground is very high. We are halfway through our first day and only Liberty hasn’t run aground yet. As they say in French “jamais 2 sans 3”.
When we ran aground, it was in the channel and we were able to plow our way out. We call that “cleaning the keel”. Our keel is now very clean. Ambition has also cleaned their keel. How they managed to run aground where they did was surprising. First of all they were no longer in the channel (My Dad won’t tell me exactly how that part happened). But all around them was at least 12-15 feet of water, they just couldn’t get to it. Thankfully my Dad finally took my advice and got SeaTow (CAA for boats). On the first leg down, he kept saying he didn’t need it. So it was SeaTow to the rescue. When they got him afloat again, the lady from SeaTow gave him some very wise advice, she said, “Stay between the markers Sir.”!!!
It’s tough looking for the markers all the time, we’re too busy looking for dolphins (we’ve seen lots) and watching the dive-bombing pelicans. It’s quite beautiful here, no wonder there are so many summer houses.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Shrimping
From Coinjock, we crossed the Abermarle Sound against all advice. We got just a little shaken. Luckily, it was only from an hour or so. Once we had just about finished crossing the sound, the wind and waves seemed to have quieted a bit, we thought we could breathe again. WRONG. We knew that some of the buoys had been moved and re-numbered. We also knew that our paper charts were correct, we just couldn’t remember if the chart plotter was right also. It’s not. It’s VERY wrong in fact. We almost ran aground. Phew!!! As we round that last marker and think we are home clear, we bump and then come to a complete stop. Thankfully we were able to back ourselves out of that one. We made it into the marina in time to grab a nice, long, hot shower (a true luxury) and make it to Benoit’s birthday dinner aboard Liberty. A true feast.
The next day we left the marina after a beautiful sunrise, with great excitement. We were going Alligator watching in the Alligator river. Well that enthusiasm was quickly dulled by the monotony that is the Alligator canal. One very straight, very long, very ugly canal. The one thing that did lift our spirits was the warm weather. It was the first warm day yet.
We had found a real cheap “marina” for the night, RE Mayo. I don’t know if you could actually call it a marina. It’s a dock alongside the canal, where the shrimp boats stay. We were the first to pull up, right behind the “Peggy Sue” (or something like that). As I went to leap from the boat to the dock, I paused. I was afraid I’d fall right through the docks into the tangle of old steel cables that lay beneath. The dock held… barely. We tied up in front of the shrimp packaging plant thingy, filled with boxes and conveyor belts and a particular odor.
Once all the boats we snugged to the dock, we went off exploring. The only thing we found were 2 outhouses, one with a large privacy fence made out corrugated steel, with the words “Ladies only” spray paint. I need not tell you that, I opted to use the head (a boat toilet) instead.
In the morning, when I went to pay, there were a couple of little old men sitting in rocking chairs by an old wood furnace. They invited us to join them by the fire to warm up. They answered all my shrimping questions. A model shrimp boat facilitated things. They just didn’t seem to know what I meant when I was talking about the “two sticky-up-y thingy-s”. It’s quite simple really. The two sticky-up-y thingies have the nets attached to them and they are dragged along the bottom. It’s too bad that shrimp season in the Pamlico Sound is only June to September.
Next stop, Beaufort, NC.
The next day we left the marina after a beautiful sunrise, with great excitement. We were going Alligator watching in the Alligator river. Well that enthusiasm was quickly dulled by the monotony that is the Alligator canal. One very straight, very long, very ugly canal. The one thing that did lift our spirits was the warm weather. It was the first warm day yet.
We had found a real cheap “marina” for the night, RE Mayo. I don’t know if you could actually call it a marina. It’s a dock alongside the canal, where the shrimp boats stay. We were the first to pull up, right behind the “Peggy Sue” (or something like that). As I went to leap from the boat to the dock, I paused. I was afraid I’d fall right through the docks into the tangle of old steel cables that lay beneath. The dock held… barely. We tied up in front of the shrimp packaging plant thingy, filled with boxes and conveyor belts and a particular odor.
Once all the boats we snugged to the dock, we went off exploring. The only thing we found were 2 outhouses, one with a large privacy fence made out corrugated steel, with the words “Ladies only” spray paint. I need not tell you that, I opted to use the head (a boat toilet) instead.
In the morning, when I went to pay, there were a couple of little old men sitting in rocking chairs by an old wood furnace. They invited us to join them by the fire to warm up. They answered all my shrimping questions. A model shrimp boat facilitated things. They just didn’t seem to know what I meant when I was talking about the “two sticky-up-y thingy-s”. It’s quite simple really. The two sticky-up-y thingies have the nets attached to them and they are dragged along the bottom. It’s too bad that shrimp season in the Pamlico Sound is only June to September.
Next stop, Beaufort, NC.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The Day It Snowed!!!
For those of you who don't know me well, I HATE being cold. I'm not so happy right now, we are experiencing abnormally cold temperatures. When we last left you, we had left Deltaville, VA en route to Norfolk. Well we found a magnificent little free town dock in Portsmouth, it's a tiny little basin that fits about 5 boats, with a beautiful christmas tree. Fantastic. What was even more fantastic was that someone had left the locks off the electrical outlets!!! After much convincing, Josh let me plug the boat in. (Why is that so important, you ask, we have to be plugged in to have power to run our heater) So after dark, I snuck out with our bright yellow extention cord in tow, to the nearest outlet.
If you think that was bad, at least we didn't ruin christmas. Liberty, a boat we're traveling with, also wanted some heat. The closest outlet to them was the one under the christmas tree. So Benoit very stealthily sneaks under the tree to plug in. It's all good, he gets back to his boat turns on the heater....and it all goes dark. He blew the breaker and the entire christmas was unlit!!! And as if that's not bad enough, he now has to crawl back under and claim his electrical cord, while his wife, Sylvie, stands guard.
We left Portsmouth yesterday, Tuesday, for Coinjock. We had a day filled with badly timed bridges. The bridges don't just open when you want them to, that would be to easy. And until that bridge opens you do circles, usually in tight places with people trying to get to the front of the line. And yestesday we had the wind blowing us too. One bridge opening we missed by 5 minutes! We had to do circles for 25 minutes until the next opening.
Somewhere along the way, it SNOWED, not a lot, but little flakes fell from the sky. Needless to say we were frozen. I seriously cannot remember the last I was so cold. Josh had lost feeling in his toes by early afternoon. I had hidden below to get out of the wind. We have been wearing all our warm clothes now for days, they are beginning to feel not so fresh. I didn't know we had to pack snowsuits!
Once we'd passed all the bridges, we leave the narrow and protected channel for a very shallow sound. That was about the time we noticed Ambition, my dad's boat, had stopped rather unexpectedly. His engine had died. Ambition drops the anchor, so they don't get blown in to shallow water. They didn't have any extra fuel (which could be the problem, but my dad thought it had to be a different problem, he wouldn't have run out of fuel), luckily we had one, a very heavy one.
All we had to do was pull up next to Ambition and hand them the fuel jug. Easy, you say....Not at all. It was blowing a steady 30kts, with a decent size chop. Thank goodness Josh can handle the boat like a champ. Ambition refueled, which was the problem, and we were off again. See even pros make mistakes.
(For those who are reading this who know my dad... I'm sure he would like for me to explain how this happened. He's been running his generator and espar heater to keep warm. Well his fuel gauge is not properly calibrated, and he didn't take into account the extra fuel he was consuming to keep warm...so he ran out of gas! He has a long to go before I let him live this one down. You'll all be happy to know he filled his jerry cans at the marina that night.)
Also just in case you think we're making this "cold" stuff I took a picture on the ice on the dock. I can't tell you how happy I am that we are staying in another marina tonight, money very well spent.
We miss you
Josh and Roxanne
If you think that was bad, at least we didn't ruin christmas. Liberty, a boat we're traveling with, also wanted some heat. The closest outlet to them was the one under the christmas tree. So Benoit very stealthily sneaks under the tree to plug in. It's all good, he gets back to his boat turns on the heater....and it all goes dark. He blew the breaker and the entire christmas was unlit!!! And as if that's not bad enough, he now has to crawl back under and claim his electrical cord, while his wife, Sylvie, stands guard.
We left Portsmouth yesterday, Tuesday, for Coinjock. We had a day filled with badly timed bridges. The bridges don't just open when you want them to, that would be to easy. And until that bridge opens you do circles, usually in tight places with people trying to get to the front of the line. And yestesday we had the wind blowing us too. One bridge opening we missed by 5 minutes! We had to do circles for 25 minutes until the next opening.
Somewhere along the way, it SNOWED, not a lot, but little flakes fell from the sky. Needless to say we were frozen. I seriously cannot remember the last I was so cold. Josh had lost feeling in his toes by early afternoon. I had hidden below to get out of the wind. We have been wearing all our warm clothes now for days, they are beginning to feel not so fresh. I didn't know we had to pack snowsuits!
Once we'd passed all the bridges, we leave the narrow and protected channel for a very shallow sound. That was about the time we noticed Ambition, my dad's boat, had stopped rather unexpectedly. His engine had died. Ambition drops the anchor, so they don't get blown in to shallow water. They didn't have any extra fuel (which could be the problem, but my dad thought it had to be a different problem, he wouldn't have run out of fuel), luckily we had one, a very heavy one.
All we had to do was pull up next to Ambition and hand them the fuel jug. Easy, you say....Not at all. It was blowing a steady 30kts, with a decent size chop. Thank goodness Josh can handle the boat like a champ. Ambition refueled, which was the problem, and we were off again. See even pros make mistakes.
(For those who are reading this who know my dad... I'm sure he would like for me to explain how this happened. He's been running his generator and espar heater to keep warm. Well his fuel gauge is not properly calibrated, and he didn't take into account the extra fuel he was consuming to keep warm...so he ran out of gas! He has a long to go before I let him live this one down. You'll all be happy to know he filled his jerry cans at the marina that night.)
Also just in case you think we're making this "cold" stuff I took a picture on the ice on the dock. I can't tell you how happy I am that we are staying in another marina tonight, money very well spent.
We miss you
Josh and Roxanne
Monday, November 17, 2008
SOUTH-ish ... finally
The compas is finally reading south and we couldn't be happier. We had stopped for a month or so in the Solomons, MD to ... fix the boat again. Still dealing with issues from the lightening strike. Thanks to Scotty, our friend and boat guru, we think we've fixed almost all of the remaining problems. (my fingers are crossed, I've knocked on wood and touched metal!!!) We were able (with Scotty's help) to upgrade a lot of stuff aboard to stuff we really wanted. For those who care to know what we (by we I mean Josh) fixed, we upgraded our battery charger to a 100amp with inverter, and changed our alternator to a high output Balmar.
Anyways .... we are traveling with my dad again (on Ambition is Merrill, Cindy, Paul-Andre, and Therese) as well as his neighbours from the marina Liberty (Benoit et Sylvie, their blog is sylviebenoit.blogspot.com) We left Solomons on Sunday, we were going to leave on Saturday, but there was a tornado warning. It was like they we waiting for us to get going to report another tornado! For those that don't remember (my mom, I'm sure remembers them all, I think we scared her just a little) our journey north was plagued with tornadoes, a record year.
We took off at the crack of dawn (yawn) and had a great sail to Deltaville. The entrance to the creek, where we went to anchor was interesting. You go right up to someone's back door (you could see what they were having for supper) and hang a right. We anchored, sans windlass (windlass is the thing that lowers and more importantly lifts the anchor and it's many pounds of chain). Luckily Josh was able to fix that as well. There was a wire that came off the old alternator that neither Josh nor the guru Scotty could figure out what it went to, so they didn't connect it. Well it went to the windlass, and now it's hooked up.
For those of you who are feeling just a little jealous that we are spending the winter down south... don't. It's not all fun. Yesterday, I went all day without feeling my toes, today is not looking any better. Josh and I both went to bed with our tuques on last night. I was also wearing a scarf, long johns and my one pair of wooley socks. And because it's so cold outside, there's condensation inside, so much in fact that it DRIPS on you face at night!!! When we woke up this morning it was 6 degrees celcius in the boat!!! Not cool. The other boats all have heaters, maybe we could have a sleep over.
We should be arriving in Norfolk today. We'll keep you posted... no really I will.
lots of love
Josh and Rox
Anyways .... we are traveling with my dad again (on Ambition is Merrill, Cindy, Paul-Andre, and Therese) as well as his neighbours from the marina Liberty (Benoit et Sylvie, their blog is sylviebenoit.blogspot.com) We left Solomons on Sunday, we were going to leave on Saturday, but there was a tornado warning. It was like they we waiting for us to get going to report another tornado! For those that don't remember (my mom, I'm sure remembers them all, I think we scared her just a little) our journey north was plagued with tornadoes, a record year.
We took off at the crack of dawn (yawn) and had a great sail to Deltaville. The entrance to the creek, where we went to anchor was interesting. You go right up to someone's back door (you could see what they were having for supper) and hang a right. We anchored, sans windlass (windlass is the thing that lowers and more importantly lifts the anchor and it's many pounds of chain). Luckily Josh was able to fix that as well. There was a wire that came off the old alternator that neither Josh nor the guru Scotty could figure out what it went to, so they didn't connect it. Well it went to the windlass, and now it's hooked up.
For those of you who are feeling just a little jealous that we are spending the winter down south... don't. It's not all fun. Yesterday, I went all day without feeling my toes, today is not looking any better. Josh and I both went to bed with our tuques on last night. I was also wearing a scarf, long johns and my one pair of wooley socks. And because it's so cold outside, there's condensation inside, so much in fact that it DRIPS on you face at night!!! When we woke up this morning it was 6 degrees celcius in the boat!!! Not cool. The other boats all have heaters, maybe we could have a sleep over.
We should be arriving in Norfolk today. We'll keep you posted... no really I will.
lots of love
Josh and Rox
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