5/2 Elizabeth City

Ducks in the Harbor planning their course

Yesterday, just as we were pulling into the Elizabeth City Harbor, the Coast Guard issued a securite warning that the Elizabeth City Bridge just north of the city docks was stuck in the down position.  The Hydrophilic needs close to 20 feet for us to go under a bridge and the clearance was only 4 feet in the down position, so we were not passing that bridge.

The Elizabeth City Welcome Center opened and gave us information to take our own walking tour of the area.  John and I walked the area.  There were many instances of fine and unusual architecture.  This one in right on the corner of the waterfront and it is for sale.  The Colonial Oil Filling Station with the original blue tile roof was built in 1931 for the Pure Oil Company and was first known as The Auto Fountain.

Colonial Oil Filling Station

It was a warm day in the mid 80's and very humid, even with a good breeze off the harbor.  After lunch John rested and I decided to walk to the Organic Grocery.  When crossing the street, I missed the curb and landed splayed out on the sidewalk.  My pride was hurt and I left a good deal of my skin on the sidewalk.  I was amazed that two cars stopped to make sure I was OK.  It was so kind of them.  When I got to the grocery and asked for some water for my tissue to clean up my leg, the employees gave me alcohol wipes to clean my leg and band aids.  The world really does have good people in it.

The Visitors Center had a wine and cheese reception at 5 pm for all the boaters on the docks.  Each woman was given one of the roses from the rose bushes.  There were interesting people here.  One sailboat had infantry soldiers from England.  They have been doing different legs of a journey that will take the boat back to England.  There are many loopers some who started in Michigan, Florida, etc.  We met one couple who are Gold loopers.  That means they have already completed the loop once.

Everyone watched the bridge maintenance crew all day.  At 5:30, they were able to open one half of the bridge and will be operating on a normal schedule tomorrow.  The forecast is for rain and I hope it will not be too bad.  If we do take off tomorrow, we will be going up the Dismal Swamp route.  The Dismal Swamp Canal and lands were once owned by George Washington.  I hope to learn more about the history so I can share it with my grandchildren when they read this blog.  Also there are two locks to go through. 

Lat 36 degrees 17.90 minutes North
Long 76 degrees 13.11 minutes West

5/1 Elizabeth City

Crab pots to the left of me, crab pots to the right; here we are dodging crab pots again.

We crossed Albemarle Sound today.  The Sound is known for being choppy but we had a mild, pleasant crossing.  But the entire sound is populated with random crab pots, 14 miles of random crab pots.  Then we headed up the Pasquotank River to Elizabeth City, NC.  Elizabeth City is known for their roses and free docks.  The docks are back in to a very tiny finger slip (more like a fingernail slip) and although we were glad another looper caught our lines, we paid it forward and caught lines for others.  Each slip here is in honor of someone and we are in the Clark Slip.  Elizabeth City is where the Wright Bros. came to take a boat over to Kill Devil Hills. 

Weathervane on the Visitors Center

View of the Roses from the couch on the Hydrophilic

The Hydrophilic in the Clark Slip

Lat 36 degrees 17.91 minutes North
Long 76 degrees 13.11 minutes West

4/30 North Alligator River

Last night, I posted before sunset, but I had to share this picture from our anchorage.  We had the anchorage all to ourselves.

Our journey today started as we crossed the Pamlico Sound.  It was much calmer than the Neuse River.  The sounds and rivers in this part of NC are relatively shallow.  Because of that, when the wind kicks up, even a little, they can get very choppy.  From there we entered the Pungo River that led to the Pungo Alligator Canal.  The Pungo Alligator Canal was the last part of the Atlantic ICW completed.  As you can see from the picture below, they must have had one goal in mind, keep it straight and get it done.  It is perfectly straight as far as the eye can see.

North Carolina is known for its pine forests.  Here along the Pungo Alligator Canal, you can smell the pines that line the canal.

That led us to the Alligator River, where the wind started to blow and it got choppy.  The hardest part is dodging crab pots.  They are everywhere!!   In NC, there is no law that says crab pots must run North South or East West.  The result is a free for all. 

We are tucked in to the Alligator River Marina just north of the Alligator River Swing Bridge.  Swing bridges are disappearing, being replaced by high span bridges.  This one does something unusual; it opens on demand for all boats.  So my polite albeit queenly request for an opening was met with, "just keep coming, I'll have it open for you."   And he did.  Thank you, bridge tender.  Last year, we were at anchor near here and were invaded by Fuzzy Bills.  Look back in this blog for story of that infestation.

Hummingbirds on the loop?   Yes, there are.  This marina has a hummingbird feeder and John took this fabulous photo.  How is that for cool?

Tomorrow, we cross the Albemarle Sound to Elizabeth City, which will head us to the Dismal Swamp.  The Albemarle is know to be choppy and, if our experience last year hasn't changed, filled with crab pots to avoid.

Good Night from
Lat 35 degrees 54.35 minutes North
Long 76 degrees 1.76 minutes West

April 29 Neuse River

This morning was cool with a foggy mist.  We ran from inside the cabin most of the day.  The Neuse River had to be crossed.  The wind was coming smartly up the river from the ocean.  The provided us with 2 foot waves, sometimes more, for the entire transit.  Transderm Scop patches are my friends.   I normally don't use them but when crossing sounds and large choppy rivers, I just feel so much better. And in the next two days we will cross Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds.

This section of the ICW is known as Goose Creek.  John researched this calm anchorage, Campbell Bay.  There is not a house in sight.  To get there, you take a left off the ICW and follow some markers left by the locals.  Dodging crab pots as you go!!!  Apparently, the thought of putting them in a straight line has not caught on here.  We are tucked in for the night.  Want to know specifically where we are?  Our lat long is 35 degrees 17.14 minutes North and 76 degrees 37.27 minutes West.

April 28 Morehead City

Today, is our eldest daughter, Christine's birthday.  We are happy to be celebrating her today.

Yesterday, I promised more pictures. 
First is a final shot of our weathervane at home.  It was on John's house growing up.  The sky was blue with fair winds.

Bonnie, from UNCW, made a special trip to the boat on Tuesday night to make sure we had our shirts for the loop.  Bonnie joined us as we cracked open a bottle of champagne and celebrated.  The shirts make us look pretty dapper. 

After pictures on the bow Wednesday morning, we headed north.

John's colleagues took this picture of the Hydrophilic underway waiting for the Wrightsville Beach Bridge.

It was a beautiful day for cruising.  Nature just surrounds us.  We saw a Mommy dolphin with her baby and too many osprey sitting on their nests to count. The ospreys build nests right on the markers on the ICW.  Ospreys come in many varieties and we saw them all.  The bird type below in the picture, the Osprey Military Helicopters, and even a sailboat named Osprey.

Last night we anchored in Mile Hammock Bay on the edge of Camp Lejeune.  Our new Rocna anchor held beautifully in a pretty stiff wind.  I love this new anchor and have so much confidence in it.  There is an app for telling if your anchor drags and we used it but didn't move at all.  The app is called Drag Queen, so don't anyone take offense, it is just the name of a very helpful app.

We headed out this morning so we were going through Camp Lejeune.  I love the signs they post.  Red lights flash if there is any live firing.   We didn't see any live firing but there were explosives going off.  The reverberations we strong even on the boat and I know we were no where near them.  The concussive force is amazing.

Morehead City is our stop for the night at a marina.  The forecast was for heavy rains to start by now but they haven't.  Morehead is known for some good restaurants so next job is to choose which one we are going to try.

On the Loop

John and I casted off today on the Great Loop.  We wore the new AGLCA Hydrophilic Shirts from the Chemistry Dept. at UNCW.  We passed ICW Mile Marker 295 and will cross our wake there to complete the loop back to that in the future.

  We passed The Tides with one last wave.  At Wrightsville, two of John's colleagues were along the shore to take pictures of the Hydrophilic underway. It was a bright and sunny day, perfect for starting the Loop.  Tonight we are on the hook, on the anchor in Mile Hammock Bay. More pictures tomorrow when we have more internet access.

  

Beaufort, NC toward home

Beaufort, NC city docks were our next stop. Beaufort is a very quaint fishing town.  Coming down the Intracoastal, the drawbridge is in the process of being replaced with a span with the modern height of 64 feet.  It was interesting to pass the workers constructing the new bridge and call the bridge tender.  Her bridge will be removed in 2 years when the new span to Morehead City is complete.

The waterfront is full of restored buildings that house unique shops, and restaurants.  The dock rail is lined with flour pots, so pretty and welcoming. 

 

 

 

 On signing in with the dock master, we received two wooden nickels.  The wooden nickels can be traded in at the restaurant next door for a beer or wine.  We took the trade.  Our boat looked tiny next to the 80 foot or so vessels that had private crews, etc. 

Beaufort is across from Carrot Island.  Carrot Island is one of the many along the NC coast that has feral ponies. 

The Rachel Carson System that includes Masonboro Island across from us in Wilmington.  The islands in that system do not have any building on them or any automotive access.  They are a special wonder of North Carolina.

We toured the NC Maritime Museum which is very well done for all ages groups.  It had Pirate information as well as an exhibit on the boats and how they were made that included how the Native boats were made from a single log.  The Native secret was to build fires to make the wood easier to hewn out.  John paid particular attention to the anchor exhibit.  He loves our new Rocna anchor.  It is impressive to look at preserved history.  There is a preserved cemetery with markers from the 1700's and marking founders, and Revolution and Civil Wars.  

When John took some downtime, went exploring.  There is a $1 shuttle bus that goes up to the new Marina, that was formerly the old Menhadden fish factory and back around town.  

So many homes and businesses were renovated and marked with the Historical Society Markers. 

And they know how to party too and we listened to the singers from the bar fronts as we snuggled into bed.   Not the party animal I used to be.   There is a wooden boat works on the waterfront where you can watch as the artisans create their wooden boats.  What a talent.

Heading south again we had an interesting day.  When we were coming up from FL a while back, John met a man who had rowed his boat from Africa and was heading up the ICW to NY to bring awareness to World AIDS. Spirit of Malabo.  As we crossed the Bogue Sound we saw the same type of rowboat.  Sure enough, we hailed him on the radio and it was the same man.  We wished him well on is continued journey.

Going through Camp Lejeune north of the Onslow bridge, we discovered what many on the ICW know.  There is a thread the needle area where a barge asked if he could go first and moved to the side....and ran aground!!!  Of course, tide was dropping.  But we have BoatUS and Towboat eventually came and pulled us off.

Back on course, we went through the bridge and headed for Mile Hammock Bay, an excellent anchorage.  Steak grilled on the summer kitchen makes a great meal.  That Rocna anchor holds very nicely and we sleep well with it deployed.

Last day on Sunday, we headed to Wilmington.  The Sunday Summer traffic on the ICW was unceasing.  It was somewhat frightening to see so many who were not paying attention and criss-crossing the channel.  And the winds were high too.  We saw this huge swan on the shore too.

Finally, we passed The Tides Marina and we knew we were home.  Docking at Joyner, we had to make a decision what to take off the boat with us.  Well, we didn't put it on the boat all at once so we decided not to take it off all at once, either.  The boat had proven that we can live on it well and have space for everything and everything in its place.  Ready for the next adventure.