Cedar Creek, NC to Southport, NC - October 28 to November 5

We left Cedar Creek, NC, at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 28, with plans to travel only 40 miles to Dudley Marina and stay for the night.  Just before arriving at Dudley's, we heard a Coast Guard announcement about firing exercises taking place in the Marine Corp Training Base at Camp LeJeune.   The ICW runs through the Camp and could be shut down to boat traffic at any time during the next three days.  So, we decided to press on another 20 miles to anchor in Mile Hammock Bay, which put us beyond where the firing was going to take place.  We didn't want to get delayed!

Mile Hammock Bay is a basin that was dredged by the military for use by Camp LeJeune and is a popular anchorage for cruisers.  When we anchored at 3:30 p.m., helicopter landing/take-off practice was taking place on the perimeter of the Bay and stopped around 6:00 p.m., which made us happy because it was extremely noisy.  The military personnel must have just stopped for dinner, because, it started up again and continued until 10:00 p.m. 

During our travels, we saw a few dolphins, which is common in North Carolina.  It's so hard to capture them with the camera, most of the time you end up with lots of  splashing water shots.  But sometimes you get lucky.

Since leaving Norfolk, our steering problem kept getting worse and was greatly affecting boat speed and steering.  So, we decided we had to replace the hydraulic cylinders sooner than Florida. We ordered the second cylinder from Defender and had it shipped to St. James Marina.  It was scheduled to arrive Tuesday, November 3.  We limped along very slowly for the next couple of days.

On Thursday, October 29,  we traveled to the Carolina Beach anchorage; taking some pictures along the way. 

The pink house at the end of a peninsula always catches our eye.

And then there's the house with a giraffe on its lawn.

On Friday, October 30, we traveled just 15 miles going through Snows Cut, down the Fear River and into the Southport, NC area.  We are always amazed at the artwork that we see along the way and wonder how the "artist" painted it.

Just past Snow's Cut, dredging of the ICW was underway; boats had to wait for the dredge to swing away from the ICW marker in order to have enough room to squeeze between them.  Shoaling is a constant problem; some areas that were being dredged last year are already getting filled in with sand.

We stopped at the Pipeline Canal anchorage for the night.  Carol and Rich, who we met last year, picked us up by car and took us into Southport for lunch.  It was great to get off the boat and stretch our legs for the first time since leaving Norfolk.  Then they showed us the Marina where we would be staying to do our repairs; we picked St. James based on their recommendation.

On Saturday, October 31, we arrived at St. James Marina; the marina is part of a gated community with four golf courses (too bad we don't play) and beautiful homes.  After getting docked, we had lunch together with a couple of their friends who retired in the St. James Plantation.  Then we helped Rich and Carol cast off; heading South to their condo in Melbourne on their Manta sail cat, The Great Catsby. 

St. James is about 5 miles away from the center of Southport, however, that wasn't a problem....the owners of the boat next to us introduced themselves and gave us a key to one of their cars.  Everyone made us feel most welcome!                               

On Sunday, November 1 through Wednesday, November 4, we focused on installing the two hydraulic cylinders.  The port engine compartment was a tight squeeze. 

John spent most of these days in the engine compartments, which are under our bunks.

Diane helped with the bleeding, which gets the air out of the system for steering to work smoothly.   She has learned more than she ever wanted to learn about hydraulic cylinders!   This certainly wasn't a fun project; we are glad it's behind us and hope all goes smoothly for the remainder of the trip.

At 5:00 p.m. each night, we did enjoy happy hours at the Marina Bar, we met some people who have homes overlooking the Marina. This diversion from the project was a blessing! 

The generosity and hospitality of people we have met during our trips is always so amazing to us, especially when we run into problems in unfamiliar areas!   One of the couples we met brought us a homemade coffee cake and invited us over to their house for dinner one night.

One day we had downtime waiting for the second cylinder to be delivered,  so we visited Southport.  Southport is a low-key, seaside village located on the Fear River, Intracoastal Waterway and Atlantic Ocean.  

Fresh fish is plentiful in restaurants, local fish markets, and trucks along the roadside.

One of the local fish markets is located right on the village dock with the fishing boats tied up at seaside.

We had lunch at the Provision Company, which has docks where boats can tie up for the night if the crew spends money at the restaurant.  We enjoyed the outside seating looking over the ICW.  An ice cream store is located across the street.  The streets were wet from extreme high tides.

A cruising boat can be seen turning the corner from the Fear River into the ICW. 

We took a walk on the boardwalk over the salt  marsh leading to an ICW overlook. 

Southport blends the New England village atmosphere with the climate of the tropics; palm trees can be seen growing near huge live oaks.  We took pictures of its small harbor from the boardwalk.

 

After touring Southport, we did a Walmart run, getting enough food to get us to Vero Beach, FL.

We are spending today getting the boat back in order; since our project took place in our living space, we had some cleanup and reorganizing to do.  We did a final Walmart run this morning and other necessary chores in preparation for leaving St. James on Friday, October 6.  Our plan is to travel everyday until we get to Vero Beach, weather permitting.

Annapolis, MD to Cedar Creek, NC - October 19 to 27, 2009

The rain and wind finally stopped in Annapolis on Monday, October 19; we began our 150-mile trip down the Chesapeake Bay to Norfolk, Virginia, making three stops along the way.

Our first stop was Solomons, MD, to visit Ron and Suzie Williams who we met on our first trip South on our Gemini sailing catamaran.  

We stayed at their new house, which has a dock that is long enough to fit their Gemini Sailing Cat, Easy Time, and Duetto.

The next day, we traveled another 55 miles down the Bay to Jackson Creek on the Piankatank River along with many other cruisers.  We passed a tug and barge pretty closely, which is common during our travels.  This was a milestone day because we crossed into a new state, Virginia.

The entrance into Jackson Creek is very tricky; we  have seen several boats run aground. 

This was our first warm day since Annapolis.  We went from average temperatures of 45 to 70 degrees.  After we got anchored, we went for a walk in shorts, which was a welcome relief from our four days in Annapolis.

The next day was just as warm and sunny.  Several boats were leaving with us and we could see many other cruisers on the horizon once in the Chesapeake Bay. 

The Chesapeake Bay includes many lighthouses.  Below are pictures of a couple of the lighthouses we came close to. 

Thomas Point Light

Smith Point Light

Wolf Trap Light

From Jackson Creek, we traveled to Hampton, VA, taking a slip at their City docks.  We arrived early enough to visit the Virginia Air and Space Center.  On Thursday, we headed up the Elizabeth River to spend a few days in Norfolk.  This is about a 12-mile trip, which is always very interesting; you get to see lots of Navy ships, commercial traffic up-close-and-personal and all kinds of official boats.

Official Navy Boats Cruising the River.

Navy Ship No. 19 going out to sea for exercises.  The tug turning the ship looks so small.

Tug and Barge with containers.

Many Navy and Commercial ships are docked along the River.

We spent Thursday through Sunday in Norfolk visiting our friends Chris and Bill Beach, who we met three years ago as they were traveling South on their PDQ, Beach Magic.   This was also a stop for provisions, laundry, boat cleaning and chores.  Bill had ordered a new hydraulic cylinder for John to install while we were in Norfolk;  however, after further analysis, John realized both were leaking.  So we decided to nurse them along until we got to FL to replace them since it took six days for Bill to get the first one and we wanted to get further South.

In Norfolk, we stay at Waterside Marina, which is right next to Waterside Festival Marketplace.  

The Marina is next to the Nauticus Museum, which is a maritime educational center.  The famous Battleship Wisconsin is docked at its side. 

Captain John standing on the Battleship Wisconsin.

In front of the Nauticus Museum is a very touching Armed Forces Memorial.  Excerpts from 20 letters written home by U.S. service members who lost their lives in war (from Revolutionary War through Iraq) are scattered about.  The letters are cast in bronze.

Carnival cruise ships use the docks at the Museum as a base of operation.   We watched this ship turn around right off our dock.

We also saw a beautiful sunset over Norfolk Harbor.

Mermaid is the official logo of the City of Norfolk.  As you tour the City, beautiful Mermaids are on display.

On Monday, October 26, we left Norfolk at 7:30 a.m. prepared to do the "bridge and lock dance".  We had three bridges to get under based on their opening schedule and one lock. 

There were  24 boats waiting with us for the Gilmerton Bridge 8:30 a.m. opening.

Then, we all rushed to the Steel Bridge for its 9:00 a.m. opening.

Then it's off to the Great Bridge Lock.  Not all boats made the 10:00 a.m. locking because they couldn't fit everyone, so some had to wait for the 11:00 a.m. locking.   This can put a cramp in your schedule!

And finally we all waited for the Great Bridge to open, which is immediately following the Lock.

Once we had the bridges and lock behind us, it was now time to be concerned about a couple of Sounds that we had to go across, which can get pretty rough in a heavy wind.  The wind was blowing from the NE at 15-20 knots, gusting to 25.  Currituck Sound was a little choppy, but not bad at all.  Albemarle Sound was a different story...the waves were 2-4 feet, but behind us, so it was doable, however, steering was a little difficult.  Once we got through the Sound, we had difficulty seeing the buoys that go through a very narrow passage due to low visibility.  We were glad when we reached the Alligator River Marina at 4:00 p.m., even though it was cool and misty.  The shower felt great and the wine delicious!  It was another milestone day....we were now in North Carolina.

On Tuesday, October 27, we left Alligator River Marina at 7:30 a.m., along with five other cruising boats.   It was another cloudy, misty day with fog for the first 25 miles.

We were glad that we were familiar with the area.  After the fog lifted, we continued traveling for another 80 miles.  Travel was fairly calm, but at the end of this trip, we had  to travel up the Neuse River, which can also be rough in heavy wind.    When we got to the River, the wind had calmed and the seas were like glass.  It was certainly a welcome ending to a long day.  We anchored in Cedar Creek for the night along with eight other cruising boats.  Our plan for the next day is to make more progress through North Carolina, but only a 40-mile day.  Our next Update will include our experiences traveling through NC.