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11/09/2005
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Pungo Ferry Marina, Pungo Ferry, Virginia
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Made my way down the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), waiting for drawbridges and the Great Bridge canal lock. It made
for a short day. I stopped at Pungo Ferry because I could not make Coinjock before dark.
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A Bit Of A Way To Go...
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11/10/2005
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Coinjock, North Carolina
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Waited out the wind and rain this morning. It cleared up and I had a short blustery ride down
to Coinjock. But the wind was astern and gave me some extra speed even though I was motoring the
entire way. The wind pushes the water around here and today it was pushing the water through the
land cut where this marina is located, causing a 4 knot current. It made for an interesting approach
to the dock....
This moving by day and working by night concept is very tiring. I am looking forward to getting somewhere
warm and just sitting for a few days.
I just checked my logs from the last trip and found I was here on this same date.
But it's turned cold on me. The last five days have been brilliant, I was in shorts yesterday and
got sunburned. Tonight I will have the electric blanket going.
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11/11/2005
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Alligator River Marina, North Carolina
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Luckily for me the predicted 20-25kt winds did not appear today. So I could cross the Albemarle Sound
in relative comfort. But it was COLD. I got out my fleece innershirt to ward off the morning chill.
While talking to the people in the slip next to me here, I found out that they used to keep their boat
on the same dock in the marina where I keep my boat at in Annapolis
Fuel 23g @ 2.199 $50.65
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You see the oddest boats on the Waterway.
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11/12/2005
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Dowry Creek Marina, North Carolina
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Very light winds, long boring slog down the Alligator River (I still have never seen an
alligator here) and the Alligator River - Pungo River Canal. But I did get to take the
courtesy car from the marina to the grocery store.
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For hours, this was the view forward....
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... and this was the view astern.
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11/13/2005
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Oriental Marina, North Carolina
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One of the nice things about cruising the ICW is that because all of the same types of boat travel about the
same speed, and marinas and anchorages being located wherever they are, you tend to see the same boats all the time.
I am in the 3rd location in a row with the boats Pau Hana and Dragonfly. I was invited to dinner and to watch the Redskins
play by Terry and Bailey on Pau Hana. I really enjoy this social aspect.
I had conference call in the morning and stayed an extra day here. Did some work, worked on the boat a little and walked around
the town. I had the bottom cleaned Tuesday morning and it has significantly improved my boat speed - back to my normal blazing
speed of 6 knots.
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Terry and Bailey
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And thier boat Pau Hana
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Synchronicity in Oriental
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11/16/2005
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Beaufort, North Carolina
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"Sooner or later, it had to happen..."
Rode a favorable current most of the way into Beaufort. But as I was turning into the Town Dock area it happened.
It starts as a tinny alarm going off on the depthsounder, then the sickening lurch as your keel hits the bottom. Yes, I
ran aground coming into Beaufort. Not too badly - I did have time to slow down and I was able to back off under power.
No harm done except to my ego. The really bad part was that I was following in another sailboats wake - I guess he had a
much smaller keel...
I anchored in the harbor the first night I was here, and then moved to the City Dock the next day. My friends Ed and Wendy,
and Brad and Holly came by for dinner that evening. Excellent company, wine and good food, but I left my camera aboard, so no pics.
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Beaufort, NC Waterfront
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11/18/2005
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Mile Hammock Bay
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
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It was Cold this morning. I left Beaufort in a strong breeze, across the inlet and down Bogue Sound with over 15kts
of wind chill on top of the already low temps. And I STILL CAN'T FIND MY GLOVES. I was wearing an old pair of work gloves
to keep my fingers from freezing.
Anchored out at Mile Hammock Bay at Camp Lejeune, my usual stop in this area.
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Mile Hammock Bay has a new tenant.
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11/19/2005
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Wrightsville Beach, NC
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Today was a day of bad decisions, but luckily no harm was done. First off, I got a late start, based on
my travel time last trip. Had I left 15 minutes earlier I would have made the 11am opening of the Surf
City bridge, but I was 10 minutes late and had to wait until the noon opening. Then, after going through
the Figure Eight bridge, I did not think I could make the 3pm opening of the Wrightville Beach bridge so I
slowed down to avoid running up to bridge and having to wait. But the 2 sailboats in front of me pushed on.
They did not make it by 3pm, but the bridge tender held the opening until 3:07, and let those boats through,
but by then I was too far back to make it. So I waited another hour. Went through the bridge and was pushing
on to Carolina Beach and Dave and Jill's place there, but was running out of daylight. So I decided to not try
to cross Carolina Inlet after dark so I turned around and raced the sun back to the anchorage at Wrightsville
Beach, arriving in the anchorage as the last light of the day faded away.
I should have paid a little more attention to things - I'm getting sloppy.
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The giraffe is still there...
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11/20/2005
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Carolina Beach, NC
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Finally made it to Dave and Jill's place in Carolina Beach. The weather outlook is not favorable in the near
future for offshore sailing. Might go to Plan B - down the ICW to Charleston.
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Thanksgiving Dinner on Jilli-Q
with Dave and Jill
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Anyplace with palm trees and
flamingos can't be all bad...
(The view from the vee berth hatch.)
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