Seacycle Logs #1 –August to November 2005

Saturday, August 27, 2005

Nobody knew for sure when we were leaving including us so we cast off from Outer Harbour Saturday, August 27th at 6:30am hoping to avoid any fuss. As we passed down the channel heading for the eastern gap we saw huge black swarms of insects the size of clouds over the spit. Not sure what they were not having seen anything like it before. Certainly hope it’s not some kind of omen. We passed through the eastern channel markers at 7am. Weather had called for SW winds but they had remained from the east meaning we couldn’t hold our rhumb line to Cobourg, close- hauled being the best we could do. Passed our dock mate Jim on “C Lady” who was out fishing and he called us on the radio and wished us a safe trip. By noon the weather was deteriorating so we took the sails down turned on the engine and motored into Whitby, getting in just in time to beat the weather. Went for a walk later in the afternoon and got some boat supplies, lunch and turned in by cruisers midnight, 8:00pm. Had to get up around midnight and tie off some banging halyards.

NM: 26

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Slipped the lines and left the dock at 9:30am heading for Cobourg. Headed out 4 miles off shore and motored at 5.5 knots, no wind. First time we had been down this far so the coast line was all new. Arrived at Cobourg at 4:30pm – F dock, slip 170.

Here we ran into friends from Parkdale, Mike Evans and Jayne Finn who have now moved to Cobourg. They showed us around their boat ‘Phantasia’ a beautiful Niagara 35 cavernous compared to Seacycle. Had a short walk around town, had some pizza slices and then turned in for the night.

NM: 36.5

Monday, August 29, 2005

Decided to sit out the remnants of Katrina and work on the boat for a couple of days. Walked around town a bit and worked on the boat.

NM: 0

Tuesday, August 30, 2005
We worked on the boat all day. Constructed the dinghy motor bracket out of scrap plywood since our store bought WestMarine wouldn’t fit our rail. Later that afternoon old friends,
Gary and Elaine Bell, drove down from Peterbourgh, had dinner and a great visit. Later that night the rains came accompanied by the wind. Rode it out comfortable at the dock.


NM: 0

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Katrina has passed by now but the winds are still whipping the lake up. Weather man is calling for calmer conditions after 6pm. Decided to leave around midnight to time our arrival at Oswego in daylight since we heard the harbour entrance can be tricky and is unknown to us. We spent the rest of the day working on the dinghy and trying to rest.

NM: 0

Thursday, September 1, 2005

We passed through the Coburg harbor entrance at 11:04 pm Wednesday night. We had westerly winds which were called for but not the wave size which slowly over the night built to long 10 foot rollers. It was a long night as we kept a close eye out for lake freighters, ended up seeing three, which were really hard to judge until they were fairly close. Passing by Scotch Bonnet Shoal as day break came up, we saw the low tree line which we believe was the land line between Salmon Pt and Pt. Petre. The waves got progressively larger as we approached the east end of the lake. This is new territory for us being this far east on the lake. Seacycle was yawing pretty well as her rudder lifted out of the water when we surfed down the waves. By the time we got to Oswego it was honking pretty well at 20 knots but the boat was still dry. Finding the mouth to Oswego harbour was a bit of a challenge until we realized that there was a freighter anchored right in front of the entrance obscuring the channel which is protected by a breakwater running at 90 degrees in front of the channel. Well as luck would have it the boat finally got wet taking a big wave over the stern quarter as we turned to go into the channel. It took the whole trip for it to happen.
It was 1:30 by the time we pulled into Oswego Marina where we planned to take down the masts tomorrow. Spent the afternoon fueling up, stripping the sails and checking in at the video phone which was funky, doing the Max Headroom thing standing in front of a screen talking to someone at the airport in Syracuse. You put your passport down on a scanning machine and they check you out against your picture. They checked us in and gave us a one year cruising permit which they faxed through to the marina. It was a no hassle experience and it all took about a half an hour to complete.

After that we had a short walk about town and went up to see the first lock and talked to the lockmaster about how things work. Then we had a quick dinner at a restaurant called the press box, lots of stock cars on trailers, must be a track here, then back to the marina, showered and collapsed. Hard to believe we are actually at Oswego the gateway to the trip we have been dreaming about for quite a while.

NM: 80.0




Friday, September 2, 2005

Got up early and went through the wood pile at the marina to find pieces to make the cradles for the two masts. By 9am two marina hands showed up and within an hour we had both masts down and cradled on the boat. It took us until 2pm to get the boat the way we wanted it which included putting the bimini back up for sun protection. All the myths we had heard about being nickled and dimed for screws and wood and general help were nonsense, don’t know whether it was the fact that we were armed with our own tools and supplies but charges came to roughly $200 for the two masts which is about the same or less as we would of paid at home.
Both Carol who runs the marina and the guys were great to work with. The marina itself is really geared to charter fishing boats, quite a fleet nothing like we see in the Toronto area. We moved the boat in the afternoon up past the first lock and tied off to the wall for the night, then went off for the first big grocery hunt finding a Price Choppers. The first lock at Oswego is called Lock 8 because it is the last lock down stream on the Oswego River. We were tied up between Lock 8 and Lock 7 for the night. Hit the sack early still trying to catch up on rest after all the excitement.

NM: 1.0

Saturday, September 3, 2005

We left the wall at 8am and started motoring up the Oswego River. Seacycle is now officially a river barge.
Each lock is quite different. Some locks have lines just hanging down which you just grab and hold on, some locks have pipes set in chases in the walls which you tie your lines around and you slide up or down with the water and then there are locks with just cables which you also tie your lines around.
We ended up going right up the Oswego River through 6 locks to the Three Rivers Junction with the Erie Canal a total of 245 feet above Lake Ontario in seven steps. The last lock in Phoenix was a bit of a problem for all the boats as algae has clogged up the channel before and after the lock. Some of the boats had a hard time motoring through and even Seacycle felt like she had lost all power for a few seconds until we realized what was happening. Some of the boats had to lift there motors on the other side and clean their props. The big lesson for today was learning how not to get slimed as the walls in the locks were covered in algae. The lock operators are all very helpful you just call them on VHF 13 and request a transit and they tell you how long before the opening depending on who is going which way. Finally got to Three Rivers Junction and turned east on the Erie Canal with 23 locks in total now to go through to the Hudson and then one on the Hudson at Troy where the tide starts. The Junction is a historic spot where the Iroquois would gather to go head hunting. First lock we encountered was lock 23 which was a park set in a nice forest of pine. We decided to spend the night rather than push on to Brewerton before Lake Oneida tied up to the wall with a brand new PDQ Power Catamaran. Had an interesting discussion with the owner who was headed south after just picking the boat up in Whitby which is actually built in the same shed as Seacycle. This gentleman had spent the last few years RVing around North America but felt that was too restrictive with all the charges and camps. He figured this was the only true freedom left. We thought we were watching a scene out of Easy Rider again.

NM: 22.81



Sunday, September 4, 2005

Figured after all the algae the day before we would clean the water strainer out which we did. Turned the engine on and called the lockmaster and motored into Lock 23. About a half a mile past the lock and roughly 25 minutes into the daily run we had white smoke bellowing out of the cabin. I went down right away and pulled the engine cover seeing that we had no fire but an over heating problem. At this point we dropped the anchor as much to one side of the channel as we dared and killed the engine. At first examination we discovered that the water strainer did not have the strainer gasket. This presented a bit of mystery as the strainer never left the clean out tray. When we started the engine again we noticed water gushing out further down the exhaust line out of the water muffler. While all this was going on we could hear someone on shore calling the lock operator that there was a boat on fire in the channel. So we had to notify the lock master that it was an over heating problem and we were fine but thanked them for the concern. Next we hauled the dinghy out of its bag and pumped it up. We unhooked the water muffler which revealed a huge melted seam on the side we couldn’t see and off I went to find a marina while Deb fended the stern of the boat off out of the trees. Got back in less than an hour and with some splices jury rigged the exhaust system and we motored a mile down to the Ess-Kay Marina where we just managed to have enough water to get into the dock. Since it was Labour Day weekend we had to wait until Tuesday morning to see about ordering replacement parts so we settled in did some boat chores and r & r sight seeing the small village of Brewerton which borders the west end of Lake Oneida.

NM: 1.5

Monday, September 5, 2005

Worked on the boat most of the day, installed a proper propane locker vent, strapped down the starting battery and got really familiar with the exhaust system. Late Monday afternoon we got new dock mates in the form of a 40’ Rhodes Reliant Yawl called “RIRA” Captained and crewed by Gerry & Cheryl Crowley from Chicago by way of Boston with the accent to boot. Rira is a beautiful Cheoy Lee design lots of teak with gorgeous lines. Gerry & Cheryl are on there way to Oriental, NC to build a house.

NM: 0




Tuesday, September 6, 2005

Ordered the parts from Baltimore first thing this morning and asked for overnight delivery. The whole day went to intensive R&R doing the Huck Finn thing in the dinghy. Saw a few boats go through today including Obsession a Catalina from Buffalo and a big white boat called Bohemian II from Kingston.

NM: 0

Wednesday, September 7, 2005

Parts arrived around 11am, couldn’t believe it. Had everything reinstalled and ready to go by 2. We got the boat ready to leave in the morning.

NM: 0

Thursday, September 8, 2005

RiRa left in the morning. We had to fill up all of our tanks, water and fuel and pump out the holding tank. Settled our bill which was very reasonable and were on the road again by 11am. This had turned out to be one of the nicest marina stops we had ever had. Everybody was courteous and helpful. Family run it was definitely a place we would want to stay at again. By 11:30 we were well out on Lake Oneida trying to cross before the winds kicked up which they were suppose to do later in the day. The Lake is very well marked. You can always see the channel markers although a good set of binoculars helps (we are using Bushnell 7 x 50 with a range finder). We came up to Sylvan Beach which was a little tricky because the breakwater is very old and barely visible out of the water, if there is any chop. This is a bit of a summer town with an amusement park and a few trailer parks very clean looking from the water. Just past the town in the channel we had our first experience with the famed Erie Canal barges which were towing a huge work platform barge with a dredger on it. The tow tugs come in a variety of sizes and have huge beards on the bows we are guessing made from shredded line. Made two more locks that afternoon and tied up just as it got dark before lock 20. The canal system is not a place you want to be on at night.

NM: 33.5


Friday, September 9, 2005

We woke up this morning blanketed in fog with near zero visibility. Fog finally burned off just before 10 am and we were underway. We slowly motored through the towns of Utica, Ilion, Herkimer and Little Falls. The lock at Little Falls is the highest lift on the canal and unusual in that the gates lift over the vessel rather than swing open. Today in lock 21 I got into an argument with some barnacle like growths on the lock walls. The little critters started spitting on me as the lock emptied and in typical Bronte boy fashion I retaliated, well of course this started a war .We laughed our way out of that lock. We arrived at the town of Canajoharie just before dusk to find Rira at the face wall which was full. A sailor came from his boat on the side channel, as well as Cheryl from RI RA and motioned us up behind him. I was hesitant since the chart showed quick shallowing to 5 feet but the man said he was sitting in 8 feet so in we nosed slowly. Well one boat length in just as I was complementing Cheryl on her new hair-do when we felt the bow nudge up and the depth meter alarm started flashing four foot nine. We tried backing off with no luck so lines were exchanged with shore and after about ten minutes we were off and tied to the wall. Introductions were made, turned out the other boat was Bohemian II from Kingston crewed by Werner, Tracie and their son Josh on their way south to the islands. After settling in off we went for pizza and Heinikens with the Bohemians. Canajoharie is a typical canal town, beautiful downtown core buildings with that turn of the century brickwork but little sign of life. As usual all of the business has succumbed to car culture and moved to the local highway mall leaving the downtown depressed and awaiting revitalization.

NM. 30.8

Saturday September 10/05

Left Canajoharie around 8 am and had a beautiful motor day. Rira had already left but Bohemian was still at the dock. Today being the weekend there are fishing boats everywhere. The bass boats travel at really high speeds but leave little if any wake. We have often wondered who bought all the pontoon boats and now we know whole families out fishing complete with barbeques and bimini tops. I haven’t really been up in the Muskokas for years but I certainly haven’t seen fishing going on like this anywhere else. Seacycle is starting to resemble and feel like the African Queen just puttering along, and I am starting to feel like that other Canadian, her skipper Charley McNutt, facial growth, hat and bandana. Much more and I will have to start calling Deb sister. We moseyed along till lock 8 which was a quiet nice rural stop with a long wall and tied up for the night figuring tomorrow should put us in Waterford at the Hudson River. Bohemian II pulled in a short time later and we got together for cockpit drinks before turning in for the night.

NM. 25.


Sunday September 11/06


We woke up to a sharp, chilly morning to find Bohemian II already gone. Today was a big day with us finishing the canal system. Again we had great weather and a nice motor except for one incident where a power boat really slammed us with wake and the front mast brace came loose. Luckily Deb was on the wheel and I happened to be on the bow at the time grabbing the mast as it happened, but even I thought for a second I was going to lose her over the side. Most trawlers and power boats will call or approach you looking for a slow pass. As a rule this usually works for both vessels, but in this case the power boat didn’t quite pass us and gunned it at our bow, rocking us sideways and loosening our cross brace. My immediate reaction was to get on the radio and blast the guy but I was too occupied fixing the brace, with a lock dead ahead. This was the last set of locks with one guard gate and six locks over 2.3 miles dropping a total of approx.130 feet. Just before lock 2 we ran into Bohemian II who had come back up one lock to tie-up at lock three’s wall since there was a tugboat festival in Waterford and no place to dock. We decided to press on hoping since it was already late afternoon that some of the tugs would leave freeing up space. Waterford is a place most boats stop to take advantage of the long free wall and great stores from which to re-provision. Well no luck at the bottom and dusk was falling, so we moved down to the federal lock which is on the Hudson, hoping for a marina in Troy. Here Deb struck up a conversation with two water sheriffs who told her they wouldn’t hold it against us that we were from Toronto and told us to follow them to a marina. No problem getting a space at the Troy Municipal Marina where we spotted RiRa tied up. This marina is just a wall with a long floating dock that moves up and down with the tides fronting a couple of fancy riverside restaurants. We needed fresh bread but were warned by the dock master about going into the downtown core after dark. Well figuring we were use to downtown cores off we went. Beautiful downtown area probably great during the day but even I didn’t feel comfortable with lots of the corners being occupied by what seemed to be crack dealers. Got a loaf of bread at a run down corner store and beat it back to Seacycle. Hot showers and off to bed.

NM.33.3


Monday Sept.12/05


We woke this morning to Seacycle rolling from a huge wake, which again almost took the mast overboard, with me reaching up through the forward hatch to steady things. Rira had the same problem. I never saw what caused the wave but figured later that it had to of been a large tug. This would become a developing theme. Up to this point I had been thinking of having the masts installed at Riverview or Hop on the Nose marinas but both of these were at least a solid day’s travel away and I was tired of playing river barge and wanted my sticks back up. Gerry on Rira was of the same mind so we agreed to work together and try Castleton on the Hudson which was only two hours away and where they had a do-it yourself ginnypole. We left at 9 am and by 12.30 we were at Castleton and booked in for the afternoon. On the way we motored through Albany, capital of New York State which had a very impressive working shore full of working tugs and barges. It’s kind of maddening to see a small city like this so active with shipping industry when compared to Toronto. Just another reason to get rid of that patronage trough called the Toronto Harbour Authority which has got to be a contradiction in terms.

It was agreed that Sea Cycle would go first and by 1 pm we had the masts loosened and the decks cleared. Gerry manned the hand cranks and by 2 pm I had both of Sea Cycle’s masts in place and loosely rigged. The only problem was that in my haste I forgot to address some noisy antennae wires in the mizzen so that will have to wait until next time when ever that may be. RiRa was next and I manned the hand cranks while Gerry placed his masts. Gerry had smoothly acted his way through Sea Cycle’s masting but I didn’t hesitate to let him know I was having a coronary in the 90 degree heat cranking that pole. In the end it all went well and both vessels had their masts stayed by late afternoon. Dinner was burgers and fries from the local bar.

Later that night we went up to the club house for what had to be the coldest beer I have ever had. Castleton is primarily a power boat club with a few sailboats in the mix. It is a self run club with a real friendly crowd. After a while I had them all stirred up when I asked who was the sixth Iroquois tribe since all the way down the canals everything seemed to named after the tribes, but, I could only come up with five .Well this challenge would not go unanswered and right before closing time the phone rang and I was told it was for me which turned out to be an older club member who also could not let it lie, gone home, and looked it up. Answer turned out to be Tuscarora. You can look up the other five.

NM. 16.4


Tuesday Sept. 13/06

Well reveille came this morning at 4.30 am in the form of the Amtrack commuter train to New York City which roared by about 300 feet from our mooring a small detail I had failed to notice yesterday. The day was spent putting Seacylce back together and washing her down. We are planning to move down river tomorrow.

NM. 0

Wednesday, Sept. 14/05

Now for the first time we have to pay attention to the weather and the tides which can really affect your speeds on the river and add to your traveling time. We have no experience with tides. Even in the Caribbean chartering we had done the tides are inches and of no concern. We have been getting the weather off the VHF radio through NOAA which has rotating broadcasts changing every so many miles as you move through the country. It has been our experience that you have to take these reports with a grain of salt. Today was calling for 5 to 10 knots o start, with deteriorating conditions for the next few days, which turned in 20 knots with considerable gusts as the day progressed. A lot of this was probably caused by the hills and banks playing the weather locally. We had intended to go as far as Catskill creek today to anchor but by one o’clock we were already there and we decided to push further on to the Saugerties or Kingston on Rondout Creek. Between Catskill and Saugerties the channels got quite tight and we passed a freight port with lots of barge activity, in very swift current, out in the middle of nowhere. We decided on Rondout for the night because we have been keeping an eye on hurricane Ophelia and Rondout is protected in a valley of high cliffs with a town and shopping if we have to stay for a few days. By late afternoon we were a couple of miles from approaching the entrance when the tide and the wind turned against us , As luck would have a kayak was besides us when this happened and he actually beat us to the mouth of the creek probably having his finest moment. We went up the river for about 2 miles and sure enough there was Rira at the dock which took one worry off us as she draws the same as us so we knew we could get in. It was hot showers and off to bed.


NM.35.5

Thursday Sept. 15/05

Rira left bright and early this morning, hoping to beat the rain that is forecast. We decided to stay and sit it out since we had to still hook up our mast lights along with a grocery run. As it turned out, the rain did not come till later in the afternoon so we managed to get most everything done including a good look at the town. As usual the grocery store was miles away in a box store district needing the obligatory taxi ride. On the walk to town across a high bridge we came across a deer right on the road in a pretty well developed area. This is a very picturesque town.

NM. 0

Friday Sept. 16/05

Well today it‘s raining hard, and the marina informed us at two dollars a foot that we would have to move since they were taking in a 150 foot power cruiser. Deb and I poked around the river looking for another spot in between showers and had kind of settled on a spot when the dockmaster let us know he thought he could squeeze us in another spot if we could maneuver her in but I thought it was a little tight and shallow since seacycle will not back up straight with her full keel. About thirty minutes later they found us a spot and we moved. In the end the 150 footer never showed so it was all for naught although the dock master said their money was guaranteed with the credit card. Somehow I doubt it would matter to the cruiser owner.

NM.0


Saturday Sept.17/05

Got away early at 7:40am motored down river past Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, past the Castle on Pollepel Island and then past West Point which was very impressive. Also today we went under a number of bridges which never fail to impress me compared to the bridges at home. There are just big and everywhere. I think it has something to do with Roosevelt’s’ new deal putting everybody to work but it sure is a hell of an infrastructure at least as seen from the water. Around the corner from West Point we came in the Haverstraw Bay looking for a marina but hard to believe they were all full. This kind of left us with a bit of a predicament since the wind was blowing from the north making the only anchorage on Croton Point a lee shore. Well since the bay is so wide and skinny we decided just to take our chances and anchor well off shore off the point. The weather was calling for a wind shift but not until the early hours of the morning. We figured if we dragged we could drag for a couple of thousand feet if we had to with no harm and plenty of time to deal with it. So down went the hook in 7.8’ of water low tide and beds were made up in the cockpit after a hamburger dinner. First time we dropped the hook on this trip! Used the 45 pound Delta with 50’ of 3/8” chain and 40’ of 5/8” rode. We had the anchor alarm on the Garmin set for 80 feet and didn’t budge. We finished the night off watching a full moon rise.

NM – 42.20




Sunday, September 18, 2005

Weighed anchor Croton Point 8:15 moved back into the Hudson River heading south first passing the infamous Sing Sing Prison and then going under the Tappan Zee Bridge past Nyack. Slowly you could see the skyline of New York first coming up to Yonkers and the George Washington Bridge. On the south shore on the Jersey side was pretty well undeveloped land with cliffs down to the water. Here we started to have a lot of trouble with big power boats who didn’t seem to have a clue about the rules of the road never mind any common sense. I couldn’t help but think what old Henry must of thought when he came up this river that was named after him which at this point was very muddy.

At this point the excitement really took over as we came up along side Manhattan. Here a ferry there a ferry everywhere god damn ferries, high speed ferries creating high speed wake! Went past the 79th Street Basin and took one look at all the boats on the mooring balls just rocking like crazy and said to hell with that. A little further up on the Jersey side past Hoboken we saw RiRa’s masts in the Newport Marina and radioed in to see if there was enough depth for us to come in since it was low tide. They claimed there was and we went in but it was really skinny. Tied up to the dock which was quite rocky and went for a walk through Jersey City before showers and turning in for the night. We agreed to meet Gerry and Cheryl the next day for a little sight seeing in Manhattan.

NM – 27.56

Monday, September 19, 2005

Around 6:30 am the wake from all the commuter ferries in the harbour started rocking the boat even though we were in a marina. Took a while to adjust all the lines to make sure Seacycle was settled right and even then she was taking a tremendous strain on some of her cleats. We took what is known as the path train underneath the river which brought us out at Ground Zero at the World Trade Centre. The train actually drives right around the outside of the excavated basement area. This wasn’t something I had not really given much thought to but I have to admit standing at street level looking down at the site was pretty easy for your emotions to sneak up on you.


A few streets up we found New York Nautical where we went in bought Pilot Guides for the entire east coast of the USA, paper charts for Belize, Honduras and Panama’s San Blas Islands. Don’t know if I will ever get there having been to Belize and Panama once already but at least I have the charts to do it in the boat this time. After that we found the only West Marine in Manhattan and bought a larger chip for our Garmin Chart Plotter and a data transfer device to transfer the electronic charts from the computer to the Garmin. We finished the day off with lunch and more exploring of the downtown core before getting back on the path train that took us back to Jersey City.

NM – 0

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

In the morning we met Obsession a Catalina 36 Chuck & Marilyn from Buffalo who were docked next to Rira. We shopped around Jersey City in the morning grabbing filters and oil for the boat. By 10:00am we were back on our way to Manhattan for more sight seeing. Phoned my dad from Battery Park to wish him a Happy 75th Birthday and then jumped on a site seeing bus that you could get on or off of any where that you wanted on the pre determined route. Going totally tourist we went to Central Park then over to the Dakotas to see where Lennon was shot and slowly worked our way back past the United Nations then through Times Square, the village, Tribeca and finally back to the World Trade Centre to catch the train. What can you say about New York, they only made one. I think I could live here if I ever had the opportunity, no problem. Back to the boat late and turned in.

NM – 0

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Despite wanting to stay and spend more time here I don’t think the boat can take any more punishment from the wakes. So we got the boat ready to leave and hold it, I have always wanted to say this “Got to go, got to catch the tide”. Motored over to Liberty Landing Marina where we had our first experience with pilings when we fueled up and pumped out. Next time we come this way I think I will stay in this marina since the basin is very well protected from the river only problem being is it is a long way from transportation. Motoring out of the Liberty Marina we passed Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty then headed through New York Harbour dodging the Staten Island Ferries and all kinds of freighters, went under the Narrows Bridge past Coney Island and over to Sandy Hook to stage for the New Jersey Coast. Tucked up inside Sandy Hook on a mooring ball at the Atlantic Highlands where again we met RiRa and Obsession for drinks.

NM – 17.0

Thursday, September 22, 2005
Friday, September 23/05

We left Atlantic Highlands in Sandy Hook at 8am with the weather calling for a front coming through and a small craft advisory for Friday afternoon. This was not our first choice to leave but if we didn’t go now we would have to wait until Monday or Tuesday of next week for the weather. Talked it over with the other boats and decided to try to push down to Manasquan and tuck in there 25 miles from Sandy Hook at least that way we would have done part of the New Jersey coast. We got around the hook well after the other two boats when we slowed to correct the mast partners which I was not happy with. Hoisted sails for the first time on the ocean since the Caribbean three years earlier in the Grenadines. Lasted less than half an hour when the wind clocked SE to S right on the nose causing us to fire up the engine. Got to Manasquan inlet at 1:30pm called in to RiRa who said, no slips, lots of current, and no anchorage. Decided to push on to Atlantic City since conditions were calm and seemed benign with a gentle swell 8 – 10 knots. The problem with navigating this coast is there are no intermediate stops for deep draft vessels. From Mansaquan with our 6’ draft you have to go to Atlantic City. There is a stop at Barnesgat Bay and I know some vessels that have done it at high tide but they didn’t draw 6 feet, By 16:00 wind had gone 12-15 knots gusting to 20 from the south which was right on the nose with 5-7 foot seas breaking over the bow. We went from 5.5 knots right down to 2 knots with no place on the coast to put in. It was at this point that Debbie noticed that we were shipping large amounts of green water through the anchor lockers and the dorades which was soaking the fore peak lockers and streaming across the cabin sole. She looked in the bilges but there didn’t seem to be anything serious going on down there, never the less she took over the helm we put on the harnesses and I crawled up front turned the dorades around stuffing them and the anchor hawsers with rags and tightening down the anchors on the bow roller getting drenched in the process as by this time Seacycle was in submarine mode. After this we settled in for the night. The motor didn’t blink and around 4am we arrived at Atlantic City but couldn’t make out the entrance to the harbour. There was so much light chatter from the casinos on shore it was impossible to make out the piers. Finally we found the outer starboard channel marker buoys which sure enough, had burnt out lights. Started to slowly work our way in but by the time I got to the second buoy a huge roller had picked Seacycle up and all I could hear was the surf pounding on the shore so I figured to hell with this and took her back out and laid off waiting for first light. The Pilot had said that the jetty was lit but when the light finally came up we saw that there was no lit jetty, just huge breaking waves under the piers and on to the beaches, awesome but frightening. I hate to think what could have happen going in and decided for now on, it’s Don Streets rule “never enter strange harbours at night”. Entered Atlantic City basin but didn’t like the depth on the suggested anchorage as it was low tide and we almost grounded in one channel, spun off and headed over to Trumps fuel dock and filled up where they said we could take a transient slip at three dollars a foot ( that Donald such a Joker) when the dock master came in. Went to find the dock master but the first 600 feet were covered with guano and crab shells. Stopped and talked to two local mariners about options. They could not believe that we had been out all night with the conditions. Decided to press on, agreeing with Deb to try it for one hour because the wind had diminished and shifted signaling the beginning of the front that was called for on Friday night. Went back out at 8:30 feeling like we had lost 4 hours in transit but got good mileage in the first hour (6nm) so decided to push on before the front came through. Made Cape May at 4pm motored around checking out anchorages and marinas. The only marina with any masts was Utschs but the entrance looked difficult with no depth. Talked to them on the vhf and they said 6’ draft should be okay. Got the directions and went in docking in a slip between pilings a totally new experience for us. After we were all tied up went below to see the extent of the water damage. All starboard side lockers were drenched meaning clothes, tools and some mp3’s. Immediately hauled everything out and still noticed that the bow of the boat was low in the water but the bilges were dry. Checked under the motor where we had a large ugly pool of oil. Got a hose and washed the interior down with fresh water finally crashing with exhaustion at 7 pm in very muggy temperatures leaving the rest of the boat until the morning. Thirty-two hours straight. I told Deb, that earlier that morning sitting off Atlantic City cold and tired I had had my first “what the hell am I doing out here “ thoughts. She told me she had the same thought with a slight variation being “what the hell has Mark got me into this time”.

NM.133


Saturday, September 23, 2005


I had gone to my bed the night before in my birthday suit but at 2 am I woke freezing with the wind howling. Got some clothes on and went up on deck taking down the lazy jacks and dressing the sails with their covers. Half way through I looked around and realized half the boats were up adjusting their lines. As usual not wanting to miss a party Deb got up to help. Glad we didn’t anchor out, there were boats dragging out in the harbour. (Sand and palm trees, yeah right).Went back to bed till 9 am and then spent the rest of the day cleaning up boat, laundry and self .Still didn’t like the way the bow sat and after some investigating discovered that there was about fifty gallons of salt water trapped under the front fresh water tank. Seems a small bilge transit limber hole had got blocked and the anchor locker couldn’t drain properly. Put this down as a regular maintenance issue. Surveying the boat and reviewing the trip down the Jersey coast I probably could have avoided most of the leaks by closing off the dorades and waiting for winds with no southerly component. Before we knew it the day was gone.

NM. 0

Sunday, Sept. 24/05

Continued to dry out the boat and do laundry, pretty well having to dry out all of the clothes which had soaked up salt water which won’t dry. We walked into the town of Cape May a resort town with lots of B&B’s set in colonial style houses. The town is also home to a very impressive fleet of Sport Fishers charter boats with huge trailing downriggers, very impressive boats but I couldn’t imagine their fuel bills. The center of town is historical very similar to Niagara-on the-Lake, touristy with lots of restaurants and knick knack shops. The beaches are nice and this probably wouldn’t be a bad vacation spot. We met new dock mates today on Haniniah a new 42’ Saga built in Canada, Dick and Pat.



Monday, Sept,25/05

During the night we woke up to sirens but wasn’t quite sure what was going on .With the marina being pretty well next to a coast guard station I thought it might be some kind of drill. Turned out that the Lobster House, a famous local eatery had a fire, one parking lot over, so much for being alert. Just after lunch Rira and Obsession pulled in.



Tuesday, Sept.26/06

Decided to leave tomorrow and staged the boat today to leave early in the morning. This next passage has me apprehensive, having been warned of all the traffic, with the Delaware Bay being a major shipping lane with shallows on both sides. Along with all that, according to the charts and coastal pilot there doesn’t seem to be a deep harbour, leaving no where to run to until the C&D canal which connects the bay with the Chesapeake, about a 50 mile jaunt with tide running sometimes against the current. Everyone got together in our cockpit that night for an adios party since some boats were staying. Managed to squeeze eight in and had a great night.

Wednesday Sept. 27/06

Cast the lines at 0730 catching the tide and motored down the Cape May canal worrying about the bridge height at 55 feet. Seacycles stick is just under 50 being a split rig yawl, but you tend to worry anyways, especially with a couple of sunken boats right by the bridge. All the other boats had left an hour earlier having to go out and around the cape not being able to clear the height. There will be three or four spots down the ICW where these vessels have to go outside or wait for low tide help
By 0800 we were out in the bay setting a course for the shipping lanes. Saw something in the water just off the bow. I think it was a ray, a large one. By 1100 we had a dozen boats caught up with or passing us. We hung just outside the lanes but saw only a few freighters. As the afternoon progressed we were passed by about sixteen boats and found ourselves in flotilla of five with half a dozen behind us leaving us with some hard choices on marinas and anchorages since there just weren’t that many places to go. First choice would have been Chesapeake City basin but we didn’t feel there would be space with the number of boats that had passed and there didn’t seem to be any marinas that had any depth. We also had to keep in mind the weather which was supposed to turn bad the following morning. At 1600 we decided to hide behind Reedy Island about two miles south of the canal where there seemed to be a little protection from the wind. We followed two boats in After You and Manitou and on our second try tucked in just off the island which really wasn’t much, a couple thousand feet with some trees, but it did break the wind and waves. I had lifted once not being satisfied with the first position, and was just tucking up closer to shore settling in when another boat, Blackfoot, came in and dropped hook and chain in a pile in front of us. Somehow I knew this wasn’t going to be the end of this guy. Got settled in and even though it was cooler, decided to sleep in the cockpit because of my buddy Blackfoot.

Well sure enough around midnight I heard voices and after a few minutes could see there was only a boat length between us and Blackfoot. At first I thought we had dragged, but after checking my bearings on the shores and checking the anchor alarm chart I realized that we had swung but on the tide. This was my first experience in close quarters with this, where the other boat having a fin keel hadn’t swung like us with our full keel, which basically acts like a sail under water. At this point I got on the stern and made myself look about as ugly as possible in the dark and noticed “After You” observing the situation too. Blackfoot must have got the hint, because next thing I could hear the rattle of his anchor windlass and could only think better you than me, not that I would get much sleep again that night.


Thursday, Sept.29/05

Well when I got up all the boats had left except my buddy Blackfoot, whose female portion of the crew was on the radio frantically looking for information on conditions further down. Seems the weather was going to be a bit nastier than previously forecast, with a weather advisory calling for a front with 40 knot winds passing around noon, in fact droning Harold the computer voice on the NOAA broadcasts had my full attention with his advice not to leave loose objects (like garden chairs and tables) laying around since they might end up in Kansas the way he was calling it. It’s amazing how you never give this stuff much time living on the dirt, but out here it can knot your stomach up pretty quick. We had considered staying where we were but by 0900 the wind had shifted and what protection we had was becoming a lee shore with a considerable fetch with white caps. We figured that we should at least move into the canal where hopefully there would be shelter (you are not allowed to anchor) from the worst of winds with no fetch and I told Deb we will just run it up and down all day if needed till it passes. Getting out from behind the island proved a little hairy with there being a narrow entrance channel to shoot with all the wind, but after about half an hour we got into the canal where things were a lot calmer with high tree lined banks. About half way through the canal the wind came or so we thought lasting only ten minutes with some rain. Things started to clear up just as we passed Chesapeake City basin where once again we saw our buddy Blackfoot anchored right in the basin mouth. A few miles further and we came out into Chesapeake Bay. By this time we were both getting pretty tired so we looked for an anchorage and decided on Bohemia River even though it was exposed to the wind which we figured was gone since it had cleared up and was sunny. Just off the channels on the south side of the bay there was good depths of at least 8’ with a high bank if the wind direction changed with a few boats already anchored, including a 29 foot Alberg from Ottawa, so over we went dropping the hook. Normally we back the anchor down with some high reverse revs, but I told Deb let the wind dig it in like the Pardeys and stretched out in the cockpit for some zzzs. Around 3:30 the last of the big wind came gusting through while we were catnapping in the cockpit and picked Seacycle up, swinging her on a beam where she sailed off the hook. Oh well another lesson learned. We started the motor moved to position again dropped the hook and raised the mizzen to point her into the wind. This did the trick and we fell asleep. Around midnight we had swung but could not figure out how but with the mizzen up and no wind direction change. Again the current had overpowered the wind and the tide had lowered the depth meter which was only showing 4 feet and we were aground. Oh well no danger of dragging and hopefully tide would refloat us since it had dumped us.
Friday Sept.30th- Woke up early still aground but two hours till high tide when sure enough she floated off with a foot to spare. Chock another lesson up. Decided to pass on Sassafras River and Georgetown and push on to Baltimore or Annapolis. By noon we were in line with the channel leading to Baltimore so we decided to try Annapolis. Just before the bridge we spotted Out of the Blue an Alberg 30 from Toronto, formerly Gord Martin’s old boat Maggie Fields. Talked on vhf they were headed to Magothy Bay for an Alberg 30 rendezvous said he had been out since end of July. We pulled into Annapolis harbour around 13:00 with hundreds of boats sailing and racing making a grand entrance by promptly running aground on the wrong side of day buoy. Fortunately we backed off easily enough. At that point with the harbour full we picked Back Creek to look for marina or anchor. Well all marinas were full and so was the creek channels row after row stern to bow with virtually no swinging room. Found Hanninah who told us to try further up even though it looked like the creek ended. Warned off a couple of spots by big slipped boats and finally found a spot right at end of creek by Bohemian II who we had thought were way behind us, turned out they had been here for week. Hook finally down at 16:00 anchor watched for one hour on a very soft bottom well ploughed. Used 50’ chain 10’ ¾” rode with the delta in 6’ at low tide. Pumped dinghy up went to find a phone to call the kids at family reunion with my uncle over from England. We finally staggered to bed at 21:00 in Annapolis, the east coast’s boating capital, in our own boat, not quite believing it.

Saturday October1st- got lay of the land and met some other boats including Ellipse (Barry), Voyager14 a Corbin (John and Judy) and Bohemian II (Irwin) all from Toronto. Got some advice from John who told me to lose my vanity CQR anchor he said the stainless would be too smooth in a lot of conditions. When I questioned a dealer at the boat show on this point he replied well, that will mean it sets all the smoother. We have been using a 44lb delta plow with success so far. We are also carrying a medium sized Danforth and a medium wishbone for anchors. Most people think we are over anchored but I think I will buy a Herrshof fisherman for an emergency blow. It can be stored in the bilge. I would ship the stainless home and buy a Lewmar CQR but, I just know customs will tag me for it and I paid cash at the boat show. No receipt. It always comes back to bite you. We went to town in the afternoon to register at the Harbourmaster’s office, bought shower tokens, finally getting under hot water, shaved and made it to town. Beautiful place, total tourist zoo, best comparison would be Niagara on the Lake x 3. Everything was a nautical theme presented and centered on a Kunta Kinte Alex Hailey statue in square.

Sunday Oct.2nd-, finally did nothing stayed off our feet and read all day.

MondayOct.3rd- went up town on local bus with Bohemian II to Bacons a large naval consignment shop bought some odds and sods including a Bosun’s chair. The chair should satisfy Deb who has been after me about climbing to the top of the mast with only a halyard and steps. Did a home depot, bought a water filter system then went home to quiet evening.

TuesdayOct.4th-, we did boat chores all day.

WednesdayOct.5th- did boat chores in the morning and then went to town for a post office, showers and back to boat. We did an evening dinghy ride and hike to West Marine for more water jugs. Bought a remote command mic for vhf in the cockpit since outs is mounted at the navigation table. We have been using a portable in the cock pit but it doesn’t have the range of the large Icom with the antenna on the mast giving 20 miles verses 3 sometimes with the motor running or even sailing you cannot hear other vessels hails. We phoned our old neighbours and friends from Erin, Ray and Carol who live in Virginia and made arrangements for Thursday night at the Middletown Tavern on the waterfront. Michael their oldest son drove down from Baltimore and we had a great get together.

ThursdayOct.6th- Boat chores and a Pumpout which is done by a barge that goes around all the boats, very well organized.

Friday, October 7th-

High south winds brought some drama in the anchorage. By noon the wind was gusting 25-30 knots in the anchorage which is quite protected in all directions. In the outside anchorage it was chaos as boats started to drag especially along the naval wall. A 110 foot vessel lost its engine and drifted through the anchorage hitting boats. In our anchorage we lent our large mooring balls to Albion a Pearson who was being dragged down on by Mess-in-About, a sister ship of theirs. Then we went to help Voyager14 (from St. Catharine’s) as he was being dragged down on by Fantasy a large freeboard Hunter. At one point a C+C called Our Whim came in looking to re-anchor from the outside and drove between Voyager and Fantasy dragging it’s dinghy and motor under Fantasy’s swim platform, stunningly stupid. I spent the rest of the afternoon helping others re-anchor. We put out our second CQR with 60 feet of chain in 7 feet of water and seemed to hold well. There was enough swing room for most of the boats to put out a proper scope on their rode I think most of them were on a 3 to 1 which isn’t enough. That night on the radio was better than a reality show as the chatter on the radio was all to the Coast guard or Sea Tow looking for assistance. It was a sleepless night. We ended up in the morning 20 feet off a 26 foot boat from South Africa who were sitting over our one anchor.

Saturday, Oct. 8th-

Today we were going to the Seven Seas Association Gam and to look for our friends on Halycone Days who were driving down from the Hudson for the boat show. A wind shift was being forecast and with everything that had happened the previous day we decided the prudent thing would be to remain on board. We were not sure which way all the boats would swing on the shift. It started to rain mid morning and the harbour master came around to check on the situation and warned us more weather was on the way and that it was, “every man for himself.” It wasn’t much of a decision to stay put. Again when the winds arrived a couple of boats moved and we came quite close to the South African boat but eventually everyone got settled with none of yesterday’s excitement.

Sunday October 9th-

We finally got off to the boat show taking our mobile, so Bohemians could let us know if anything started to brew back at the boat. We met up with Halcyone Days at Starbucks for coffee and a rundown of each other’s trip to date. They are traveling with a boat from the Mimico club called Polar Bear. We spent the rest of the day checking out gear and making a shopping list for the boat.

Monday October 10th-

Went to the show and began wallet hemorrhaging by ordering or buying
-6 new stainless ports
-Fugawi navigation software
-heavy duty chainstops and claw bridle for ground tackle
-LED light cluster for anchor light and tricolor
-4 hotwire fans
-new Force ten three burner stove

We did not have any luck getting solar panels as there is a silica shortage so this is a concern, since we don’t want to run our diesel two hours a day to charge the batteries. The LEDs should save us 25 amps a night on the anchor light which is a considerable savings.

Tuesday, October 11th-
Calm day but still raining, we heard from the locals with all the bad weather the boat show took a bath with low attendance. We installed the new stove with no problems and then hauled the old one off to Bacons a consignment show for sale, probably for parts. We did laundry and groceries and then humped it all back to Seacycle. We went out for dinner that night with the Bohemains to Davis Tavern a local hangout at the dinghy docks edge.



Wednesday, October 12th-

Spent the whole day getting the boat ready to move on. First we re-anchored so there wouldn’t be any early morning delays, since the South African boat was over our anchor, then spent the rest of the day getting fuel and water. We pulled the motor and dinghy to get ready to leave for the Solomon Islands in the morning. There is a small craft warning till midnight.

Thursday, October 13th-

Weathered in blowing outside at 20-25 knots. Bohemian II left at 8.am telling me its just another day on Lake Ontario but that’s what worries me, so we figured we would sit it out. We stayed on the boat all day because the dinghy is packed. Still a small craft advisory in effect till tonight.

Friday, October 14th-

Small craft advisory extended until tonight, lowered the dinghy to get groceries and try to find some computer gear. Loaded dinghy and waited to try again tomorrow.

Saturday October 15th-

Finally on the road again bright and early leaving Back Creek and entering the bay dodging what we think are crab pots. We still are not sure how theses pots are strung and what is the best way to avoid them in fact we are quite confused by all the fishing weirs and nets. We were the third boat out but the time we got to the Thomas Light we had an entire armada behind us so the race was on. By noon we were approaching the entrance to the Solomons and since we had had a good run we looked at the charts to see how far to the Potomac River where Tom and Kaye live which was our next stop. At the rate we were going we figured we could be there by 5 pm and I wasn’t in the mood for a repeat of an over crowded anchorage so we decided to give it a shot. Well we made the Potomac ok by 5pm but in reading the instructions on how to get to the Assemachers we discovered that it was still ten miles upstream and now the wind and current was against us with time running short so on went the engine and with main only we motor tacked up the river, which by the way is very impressive and arrived at the mouth of the Yeocomico just in time to see the outer buoys as we went up river with darkness descending. By the time we had reached the spot to turn to port we couldn’t see anything but found our first use for our new spotlight and managed to see the reflection of the two day markers that took us up to the marina. Unfortunately that was it and it was too dark to make out the land marks Tom had provided in his directions. We were very nervous about going aground in the dark in a strange place so we crawled up the river with just enough way on to move forward and Deb marking way spot to way spot on the chart plotter. I felt like General Wolfe picking his way up the river in the dark to storm Quebec. There were at least two divorces in the space of an hour. After rounding the bend with Deb repeatedly warning me to stay well to the left to avoid a point with a flag pole I was just starting to relax when I heard a loud primal screech which I figured was the engine giving up the ghost. Totally exasperated I stuck my head down the companionway but the engine sounded fine. We then realized that the screeching was coming from the trees on shore and that we had disturbed something from its sleep which wasn’t too shy in letting us know about it. Tom let us know later that it was a heron. We finally spotted the other Albergs and the big cat at the dock, picked our spot and dropped the hook. It was nine o’clock and it had taken us two hours to do about three miles. As the boat settled I looked over my shoulder to witness the moon coming up and lighting up the water, two hours late to be of any help to us. After the hook was dropped and motored down on we heard Tom calling from shore asking “Mark is that you?” After we replied he asked us if we wanted to come ashore but we begged off and told him we would chat in the morning.

Sunday October 16th to Thursday October 20th

Well we spent the better part of the week at the centre of the Alberg37 universe the dock and home of Tom and Kaye Assemacher who head the Alberg 37 Owners Association and are of the greatest help to their fellow Albergers as well as other cruisers. Pika and Party of Two were also at dock along with Shearwater who had recently been returned from Alex’s shop in Whitby with a beautiful new deck and topsides. Lou and Jean from Pika showed up early in the week and Geoff and Bunky formerly off of Everden and now moving on to the big Lagoon cat came in later. We spent our time working on the boats and I’m sure I drove Tom and Lou crazy with questions, but if not here where else? Lou and Jean also were great for providing advice and calming nerves for the trip to the Bahamas. We had a great time here and finished it off with a dinner at the local yacht club where we watched the progress of a new hurricane called Wilma. We finally pushed off on the Thursday morning fueling up and pumping out at the Kinsale marina before heading out on the Potomac again. Our goal had been to reach Deltaville before dark but by three o’clock it was obvious we weren’t going to make it so we threaded our way into Dymer creek hoping to anchor behind Grog Island which didn’t look too good with the wind direction so we poked up the creek and pushing the envelope a bit ran aground. It was getting dark and starting to rain but I rowed out the dinghy and dropped the plow anchor and we kedged our way off in ten minutes. We just left the anchor down and hit the bunks.

Friday October 21st,

Well this morning was a challenge when we found ourselves in limited visibility but we were hoping it would clear up and decided to head out using our chart plotter to get out to deeper water and run down alongside the shipping channels. It took a couple of hours and we certainly learned the case for radar with freighters calling boats and asking their intentions, in fact we had one ketch come up on us a few hundred feet off but we had no inkling he was there till he broke through the mists. We ended up following the ketch for a couple of hours in and out of the mists and around two o’clock the clouds finally broke and we could see for a couple of miles. We had intended to run into Deltaville and then Mobjack but we were making good time and felt we could get into Norfolk before sunset so we pushed on with increasing traffic and about dusk we pulled into Mill creek motoring along behind a destroyer at Hampton Roads and anchoring next to WeDidit 2 a French Canadian couple who seemed glad to see us and was smiling when I asked him if they had any hockey scores despite his limited English and a bridge full of traffic which died off after rush hour.

Saturday October 22nd,
We woke up surrounded by sailboats marshalling to get ready for an annual race between lighthouses. Not intending to go far and now with news that hurricane Wilma was or could be heading this way we got off to a late start not sure about where we were heading but with a few options none of which was far. The naval yards at Norfolk are large and imposing. Small power boats guard the yards and warn you off if you get too close and all this is even more impressive when you consider that these are mothballed vessels. We took a look at Hospital Point and decided to move on as it seemed too open. Eying all the little creeks and off channels we finally came to the fork where you have to take the Dismal Swamp route or the Virginia Cut route. Pika had told us not to miss the dismal swamp but we were concerned about water levels and the fact that if the storm came our way we might be trapped till they clear fallen trees and such. Our insurance wants us in Moorehead City by November 1st and time is short. We opted for the Virginia cut and remembered that Bunky had told us about stopping at Great Bridge so we decided to try our luck there. There is also a lock there which we hoped would control any surge. We got to Great Bridge where they held the lock for us and when we got through we were disappointed to find that while there was room on the civic dock the boats were spaced improperly with unusable gaps between them and nobody willing to make an effort to tighten up. Some boats were tying to trees on the east bank at the park but I figured we could check the other side of the bridge and come back of all else failed. We went through on the bridge opening and sure enough there was an opening on the dock but occupied by boys fishing who not only moved but helped us in. The dock was surrounded by tall rows of pines on either side of the river and the dock looked new and very sturdy so we figured this was it and started to get settled in. We had the lock on the river behind us and then ten miles to Abermarle sound with the outer island bank separating the sound from the ocean and next to the Dismal swamp we figured this gave us our best chance.

Sunday, October 21-26th
Well we had lots of rain almost the entire time and some gusty winds but Wilma passed 150 miles out to sea and I would be hard pressed to say we felt it. One thing we did have was an 18 inch drop in the water level which took a day to rise again. We spent our time with Scandia, Jandy and RiRa who were in the big Atlantic Marina across from us with engine problems. There were some complaints as two boats refused to shorten up the space between them to allow another boat to fill in. This caused some ill feelings, but everybody ignored them and worked around it and soon we stated to raft boats together as more boats came since there really wasn’t any place for them to go. All of the woman got together and did boat cards while the guys worked on boat stuff. Terry and Arnie were quite the cut-ups and we had a good time. At one time in a pouring rain we convinced one boat that it was ok to raft up alongside Jandy who are also Canadian. After tying up, the lady on board was commenting on how nice Canadians were, Terry who is a much bigger fella than me with a bigger honker to boot, keeping a straight face put his arm around my shoulder and told them that it was because we were a same sex couple. Not really knowing what to say I just kept my mouth shut, grinned and bared it. When she questioned who the ladies on board were he said he wasn’t sure but they were a bit odd, looking at me, I just replied “yes dear”. Thanking us again, Terry replied to them that there was no need to since “we were going to sack your boat the minute you go ashore anyways”. Needless to say they never left the boat but I am sure it was just the rain. Time was meaningless, one morning with a list of things to do on our boat I got off to say good morning and have a chat with Scandia and didn’t end up back on my boat till 9 in the evening, all that time and not one drink. All in all, it was a great way to wait out the storm.



Wednesday October 26th,

It was a long line of boats that left this morning with everybody jockeying for position at the lift bridges while the faster boats sorted themselves from the slower ones. It is also quite cool now and we are dressing for warmth with daytime temperatures not getting out of the sixties. We stopped for diesel at Midway Marina in Coinjack and then proceeded to Broad creek just before the Abermarle sound where we anchored in 9.5 feet. By dusk we had six other boats anchored around us. It was a beautiful anchorage edged by wetlands. Some day in warmer weather I would like to do these waters again.

Thursday October 27th

Today we cross the Abermarle Sound and we have been warned in all the sailing directions about being careful not to wander of the marks since it is a dredged channel. An early morning start with quite a parade of boats through the channel and up to the Alligator Bridge a large swing bridge that doesn’t open when the winds are high. By lunch we had reached the swamps leading up to the Alligator River-Pungo River Canal. It was quite the progression of vessels headed up the canal after everybody being holed up from Wilma for the last week plus the fact most insurance restrictions on movement were about to expire on November 1st. Everything from huge mega yachts to small 24footers were on display, a regular catalogue of boats. It was a late arrival with the hook down just before dusk but still enough time for Scandia to come over for sundowners.

Friday, October 28th

We did a short hop today because the weather is turning bad bypassing Bellhaven and turning up into the Pungo Creek avoiding a lot of crab pots. We inched as close as possible up to the shore dropping in 8.5 feet behind Persimmon Tree Point watching the river conditions outside deteriorate with gusty winds and whitecaps while we sat in a relative calm.

Saturday, October 29th,

Up early to lift the hook at 0700am with found ourselves snagged on something on the bottom which was pulling the bow down as we tried to lift. It took almost 30 minutes to get it sorted out. By 8am we were back out into the Pungo river and then crossing the Pamlico River and entering Goose creek which turned into a canal leading by Hobucken and the Mayo shrimp dock where we had hoped to refuel and out into the Bay river which led finally out into the Neuse River. The fuel dock was closed so our next fuel dock would be Oriental. Knowing Oriental could be full we checked Skipper Bobs anchorages and decided on trying Broad Creek just north of Oriental. Every third river here seems to be named Broad creek. Pushing well up past a couple of bends we found a quiet spot and dropped the hook. About an hour later a boat called Equinox pulled in, and actually asked, if we minded them anchoring next to us. (This turned out to be the first of many anchorages we shared over the next year with the Equinoxes, sometimes with months between). It seems they had been barked at the day before by a boater and didn’t want a repeat. Later during over a sundowner the discussion revealed the other boats name and we realized that they were one of the two boats that refused to tighten up on the Great Bridge dock during Wilma. Sure enough just before dusk the aforementioned boat turned up with the other boat that had refused to move during the storm. I guess misery likes company.

Sunday, October 30th

By the time we got up this morning and had breakfast everybody else had left. It is now starting to get cold during the night and getting started in the morning takes a while. We need fuel as we are not sure if we can make it to Morehead City. Our insurance package is a little weird compared to many. Most insurance companies do not want you south of Beaufort before Nov. 1st because of hurricane season. Ours doesn’t want us north of Morehead City after November 1st. When I questioned them on this they said they do not want their cruising boats further north than this because of North Atlantic gale season. Well I am sure they have an actuary somewhere who has crunched the figures on this one. Well we were right about Oriental being full but we managed to fuel up and headed off to Beaufort and Morehead City. Knowing that Beaufort was bound to be full and that we only had one more day on the insurance we headed down Adams creek and then up the ICW headed for the first creek south of Moorhead called Spooners Creek. Just before Beaufort we got a thrill with dolphins crossing the bow in the ICW. Going by the Beaufort inlet was exciting with all kinds of small and big craft coming and going. At the turning basin we hung to starboard and headed south arriving at Spooners at 3pm to find a dredger at the channel. Making our way up the channel it started to shallow up quick to less than 6ft. making me real nervous so we turned and headed back to Morehead hoping we could find a spot this late in the day. Once again our Skipper Bob guide saved us and we found a spot of the Sanitary Restaurant (yes that’s its name). There wasn’t much room but we snugged up to shore with seven other boats worrying about how close we might come to them when the tide switched. I dinghed over to the closest ones and asked if there was going to a problem but they all were ok with us there. So here we were on the insurance line with a day to spare.


To be continued