Working our way up the Chesapeake

And work it can be. Chesapeake Bay is a bit over 200 miles long. We entered it at the south end on Monday morning, after leaving Hampton Creek near Norfolk. 4 days later we're only a bit more than half way up the Bay, due to strong NW winds that are conspiring against us.

Actually, on Monday the winds were gentle, and we made good time, traveling about 50 miles to anchor in protected Jackson Creek, at the mouth of the Piankatank River (west side of Ches.), and near the town of Deltaville VA. Monday was sunny so we (Riggs and I) spent the day on Spray's flying bridge. A couple hours after we dropped anchor, Margaret & Bob aboard GB32 'Thumper' dropped the hook right next to us. We had shared a dock with them back in Oriental NC (see earlier blog).

For Tuesday the NWS was predicting strong NW winds, and we woke to those and so decided to hang in Jackson Creek for another night. We took a long walk to Schroeders Boatyard in Deltaville, to see if sailboat 'Heron' with skipper Don had pulled in yet. We had shared anchorage with Heron 3 times in NC and knew that Don's goal was Schroeders for storing Heron for the summer. After a 3 mile walk we arrive to find that Don had just pulled in 30 minutes earlier. I helped him pull his foresail off Heron and he gave Riggs and I a ride back to Spray. We had supper that evening at a restaurant and found that 'Thumper's crew was there too.

So Tuesday was a fun day, but the strong NW winds that started the day fizzled before noon. It would have been an easy day to make some progress up the Bay.

For Wednesday the NWS was again predicting strong NW winds, but I wasn't to be fooled twice. We left safe, protected Jackson Creek at 7 am and headed up the Bay. Ooops! This time the NWS was right. In fact they understated the wind strength. We had 3 hours of 25-35 knot winds and nasty 3-4' waves, thankfully mostly off Spray's bow, before we headed up Cockrell Creek to the town of Reedville VA. We had only made 15 miles of progress but were glad when the hook was set. Reedville has some beautiful old homes, probably funded by the menhaden fishery - a good size fishing fleet and a (at times) real stinky menhaden processing plant (think fertilizer, fish oil, etc) are just south of town.

For today the NWS was again predicting NW winds, and today's travel started with crossing the 8-mile-wide mouth of the Potomac River, which has a looong NW fetch as it empties into the Chesapeake. Our strategy was to get moving early, before the winds built up, so we were moving before 7 am. This might have helped a bit, but only a bit. The rollers coming down the Potomac and crashing into Spray's port bow were impressive.

Spray is a great boat. She lived up to her name, with every external inch of her covered in salt spray both yesterday and again today, and she rocked and rolled, but she never hiccupped and got us safely through. Riggs too handled the nasty conditions like the World's Best Boat Dog that he is, mostly sleeping through it all on the helm seat (I stand in these conditions).

After crossing the Potomac, we passed Point Lookout and hugged the west shore as best we could, and the rest of the day's trip was easy enough. We're now anchored in the boater's mecca of Solomons MD and have done some exploring and grocery shopping.

Tomorrow, if you can believe NWS, should have great cruising weather: moderate SW winds and 80 degrees. We'll get some fuel and water, and then try to get 50-60 miles farther north. Stay tuned.

Ready for the Chesapeake

What a change in surroundings over the last two days, and what a variety of experiences.

Saturday morning we were at one of the free slips in Elizabeth City NC (ICW mile 51). Riggs did some ball chasing, then I did some grocery shopping (at a CVS store of all places). We shoved off at about noon and headed up the Pasquotank River, through Turners Cut, and were at the South Mills Lock in time for the 3:30 lock-thru, which lifted Spray by 8 feet and put us in the Dismal Swamp Canal. Only 4 miles later we (and a sailboat we locked-thru with) tied up at the Dismal Swamp Visitors Center (ICW mile 28) for the night.

A few minutes later a fella walks up and invites us all to an outdoor dinner being held there to celebrate the 80th birthday of a man named George Ramsey, who has much history with the canal. What a great time! Some 75 of his friends & relatives were there, several of whom work either at the Visitors Center or for the Corps of Engineers. Several people spoke in admiration of George, and there were some great jokes. It was a canal-fest and it was catered southern style with fried chicken, BBQ pork, hushpuppies, many salads, and of course, sweet tea.

This morning we set off about 8 am and had a liesurely 17 mile ride to the Deep Creek Lock, at the northern end of the canal (ICW mile 11). We locked through at 11 am and dropped 8 feet, back to sea level. In a few miles we were in super-busy Norfolk VA (ICW mile 0!!). We worked our way out to the Hampton Roads shipway, dodging th big traffic (below) and finally tucking up the Hampton River, where we are anchored right off downtown Hampton VA. Sowe're poised to enter the Chesapeake tomorrow and work our way north. Stay tuned!

Cruising the Outer Banks

Tonight we are tied to one of the free slips in Elizabeth City NC, ready to head up the Dismal Swamp Canal, either tomorrow or Sunday, and then into Chesapeake Bay.

We were here back in November, with Dave Wyman aboard, and stayed 2 nights. We then spent several days exploring the western reaches of Abermarle and Pamlico Sounds. So when Riggs and I left Oriental NC (ICW mile 182) this past Wednesday we aimed Spray off the ICW, towards the eastern waters behind the narrow barrier islands that are the Outer Banks of NC.

Our first stop was Ocracoke NC, about a 40 mile cruise from Oriental, over wide-but-shallow waters that are typical here. We anchored in the Silver Lake anchorage and went ashore to walk around the island, which is accessible only by boat (including car ferries) or air. It was a bit touristy but still pre-season.

On Thursday we made a long run (60 miles or so) up Pamlico Sound to Roanoke Island and the town of Manteo. We liked this town better, with its nice waterfront park. Its probably very busy in summer but this time of year it was quite nice.

Today the NWS web site predicted 5-10 knot west winds on Abermarle Sound with 1 ft waves so we headed out to find 20 knot winds and 4 foot waves, fortunately on our nose so still tolerable. But it was a long bouncy run of 45 miles into the Pasquotank River and up to Elizabeth City (back on the ICW at mile 51). Now we have light SE winds that are making for a somewhat bouncy night in the slip. We originally planned 2 nights here but the winds are supposed to increase tomorrow so maybe we'll cruise upriver a bit and drop anchor. Stay tuned.

And now we slow down a bit

Hello from Oriental NC, a very boater friendly, dog friendly, and just plain friendly small town on the Neuse River. We arrived here yesterday and we're still here for a 2nd night. Why? Can you say 'Free Dock'?

Yes, we're in the very hospitable 'Sounds' are of eastern NC, where Dave Wyman and I explored some of back in November. This area has welcoming towns that often provide free dockage to cruisers, and Oriental has a single finger pier for this, providing coveted free docking space to two boats. When we came here in November, the dock was full so we anchored up in nearby Greens Creek. This time we were luckier, as I'll explain below.

We started yesterday in Swansboro (ICW mile 229), lifting anchor at 7:30 or so, heading up Bogue Sound to Beaufort NC (mile 204), then turning inland up Adams Creek to the Neuse River and Oriental (mile 181). There happens to be a webcam that points at Oriental's free dock, and I could access that as we approached and see that one side of the dock was open (and at the other side was a boat that looked like Spray's twin). It was great to know ahead of time that I'd be doing a port-side-tieup so I could get the fenders and lines ready, and by 2 pm we were tied up in the heart of Oriental. Our neighbors, Bob and Margaret from CT had arrived just a bit before on their 1988 GB32 'Thumper', which they keep in beautiful condition. In the pic above, that's Spray on the left and Thumper on the right. Across the street is coffee shop 'The Bean' (below), the nerve center of town and a great place to hang out.

There is a 48 hour limit on the dock here, so tomorrow we'll shove off. Since Dave and I explored the western reaches of these sounds, I think now we'll look at the eastern areas, beginning with the town of Ocracoke NC, which is out on the outer banks barrier islands, and reportedly has a good anchorage. This area apparently has poor ATT coverage, so I'll have to report on it when I'm back in civilization. Stay tuned.

The 50+ mile/day club

We're in lovely Swansboro NC (ICW mile 229), where we visited early last December. I've got to like a town that has apparently named a street after me (above). I wonder who the William Main person is.

Its a bit odd. Back in December it was freezing cold yet we averaged maybe 30 miles/day as we cruised south in this region. Now its a beautiful spring, the weather is great, and we race through the region, often covering in a day what you could drive in an whole hour, 50 or 60 miles or more. You would think we would have raced south to the warmer temps, and dally on the way north to savor the spring.

It must be that on our way south it was all brand new, and we had to explore each town more. Plus the days were pretty short then. Now its all familiar (well, vaguely), and the days are long, and we've been away from home for almost 7 months, so lets keep moving.

And moving is what we've been doing. Here are our travels since Tuesday:

- Wednesday we left Beaufort SC (ICW mile 536) and traveled 65 miles to the Wappoo Creek anchorage (mile 471), just west of Charleston SC. That was a long day. Riggs played ball chase at a nearby boat ramp.

-Thursday we crossed Charleston Harbor, and up the ICW to Georgetown SC (mile 403), for an even longer 68 mile day. As we walked around charming Georgetown (ignoring the huge paper mill) we were surprised to stumble onto a Tea-Party rally. Riggs barked whenever a speaker told a lie.

- Friday night we anchored in Calabash Creek, just below the SC/NC border at ICW mile 342. We had an interesting time running aground in the creek before finally finding enough water to anchor in.

- Saturday we made it to busy Wrightsville Beach NC (mile 283). The boating season here is well under way and on a nice Saturday the boat traffic was crazy. On shore there were hundreds of college kids. Is it still spring break?

- Today we moved another 54 miles to here in Swansboro. Upon pulling in we stopped at Casper's Marina and bought 120 gallons of diesel ($2.50/gal plus 7% tax) and filled the water tank.

As I write this I'm dealing with a dragging anchor. The bottom here is apparently not very anchor-friendly and the tidal currents are significant. Its all part of the fun of cruising!

Tomorrow: Through Beaufort NC and hopefully inland to Oriental NC. Stay tuned:

Out of FL, through GA, and into SC

Maine is beckoning, so we are making continuous progress to the northeast. The weather has been perfect, the ICW is curvy and shallow in spots, and the tidal currents are a pain. Dealing with the currents reminds me of bicycle riding: you notice the uphill runs more than the downhills.

Since last report in Fernadina Beach FL, we've made these daily journeys:

- Last Friday we bought 100 gallons of diesel at the Florida Petroleum dock ($2.89/gal, ICW mile 716), crossed into GA, and made an easy run up the inside of Cumberland Island to anchor off of the Plum Orchard estate (mile ~ 700). We had a nice time walking the estate grounds then crossing the island to the Atlantic beach.

- On Saturday we made a long run up to the Duplin River anchorage (mile 649), where we could walk around the southern end of Sapelo Island.

- On Sunday we meandered the GA ICW to end up at remote Queen Bess Creek, off of Bear Island (mile 606). It was tricky to land Riggs for his business there but we made do (actually he did).

- Yesterday we complete the GA section, crossed the Savannah River into SC, and anchored in the New River (mile 570), off of Dafuskie Landing. We had a nice supper at Marshside Mama's cafe, which is as casual a restaurant as you'll ever find.

- Today we ended up anchored off of beautiful Beaufort SC (mile 536). The great weather is still here and we enjoyed walking the town, and picked up some groceries.

Tomorrow should get us close to Charleston SC. Stay tuned.

Blasting off to the Northeast

This past Sunday we left our anchorage in Melbourne FL (ICW mile 918), cruised a few miles up the ICW, and turned east to round Dragon Point (mile 914), and continued northwards up the Banana River, which parallels the ICW and brings us to our anchorage near Port Canaveral, about 5 miles south of the Space Shuttle launch pad, and as close as we're allowed to get to it. There's a small 'spoil island' nearby where I can land Riggs for his business.

Monday morning we're up early to catch the 6:21 am flawless launch of the Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-131 (above). It lit the predawn sky and the noise was really something. After breakfast we traveled west through the Canaveral Barge Canal to rejoin the ICW at mile 894. Now it was our turn to blast off to the north (at 7 knots) as we put in a few long (for us) travel days:

- Monday noon we stopped in Titusville (ICW mile 879) to pick up a few items, then continued on to New Smyrna Beach (mile 847) to anchor overnight.

- Tuesday we pushed north all the way to St. Augustine(mile 778) to anchor in the Salt Run cove. This was a long day's travel.

- Wednesday we continued to just north of the St. John River to anchor in Sisters Creek (mile 739).

These last 3 anchorages we had stayed at back in December/January on our run south. It was MUCH warmer now than back then. In fact we've had a great stretch of weather with sunny days in the low 80's.

Thursday's travel was especially interesting. We started with 30 minutes work changing Spray's primary fuel filter, which was getting clogged after only 45 hours use (did I get some dirty fuel back in Naples?). Then a few miles north to anchor in the Ft. George River (mile 735), right in front of Kingsley Plantation, which is a national park. Our good friends in Castine, David & Carolyn Punzelt, have a daughter, Beth, who lives with her chief engineer husband Jim (and 2 great dogs) on their own spread just adjacent to Kingsley Plantation. After Riggs and I walked around the park, Beth showed up with her dogs, and we walked back to her place for coffee and talk and to let the dogs play. We had the best time, especially Riggs.

By noon we were back aboard Spray and headed up to Fernandina Beach FL (ICW mile 716), just below the GA border, and we have rented a mooring off the town marina for the night. The Siegels had given me a contact here: 'Stowaway Joe', a very nice guy who, among other things, helps cruisers-in-need. He gave Riggs and I a ride to buy some more fuel filters plus some groceries, and gave us lots of good info about the town (we now know which restaurants you can sneak a dog into). Thanks for the help Joe!

On Friday we plan to use the marina facilities for a shower, a waste pump-out, and a water fill-up. Then we'll move a few hundred feet to the Florida Petroleum dock to buy diesel fuel (and hopefully dilute the dirty stuff). The we plan a short cruise across the GA border to anchor off of Cumberland Island, which looks to be worth exploring. Stay tuned!

Crawling up the E. Florida coast

Riggs and I are headed back to Maine, and have a long way to go. But that's OK as we'd like to arrive in Maine with spring weather like we've been having here, and a late May arrival should do the trick, I hope.

It was great to have B.I.L. Dennis aboard, but in Stuart his visit started to suffer. If you check the previous blog entry you'll see that we planned last Sunday's supper as take-home (take-boat?) pizza, which we did. I knew something was up when, after eating 2 slices, Dennis says "that's enough for me, you have the rest". Sure enough, some sort of gastric invader was attacking Dennis, and it was a battle of epic proportions over the next couple of days. I'll hand it to Dennis. He waged a fierce battle yet always maintained a clean and professional appearance.

Anyhow, over Sunday night a front came through, with lightning storms and torrential rains. This kept up through Monday morning, so we hung on our mooring ball in Stuart and stayed dry during the deluge. By noon it had stopped so we unclipped from the mooring, got a pumpout at the marina, and made a very short (7 miles) run to Manatee Pocket, a nice harbor near where the St. Lucie River joins the ICW (at OCW mile 0 and ICW mile 988), where Spray had visited back in January.

I made pasta-with-gorgonzola for Monday dinner, and Dennis had a small bowl, but it was not to be. He had a rough night and on Tuesday, as we cruised up the ICW to Vero Beach (mile 952), Dennis got some rack time. It was a smooth cruise, and we pulled in and clipped onto mooring no. 10 at ~3 pm. We took Riggs to the dog park (he loved it, see below) and then Dennis (ever the trooper) suggested we dighny over to the nearby Riverside Cafe for supper. He was hoping for a light soup such as chicken noodle but the soup that night was cream of broccoli, which Dennis rented a cup of for 1/2 hour or so. Lets just say that during our dinghy ride back to Spray, the people aboard nearby boats got a sunset show they won't soon forget.

On Wednesday, the 3 of us we picked up a rental car and headed to Orlando Intl. Airport, and left Dennis for his flight back to CT. He was a little green around the edges but reportedly handled his flights in good form. I should also point out that, after 2 days giving Spray's head a good workout, Dennis gave the head a thorough cleaning. What a class act!

Riggs and I drove back to Vero, bought some groceries, turned in the car, and were back in time for the dog park then supper aboard Spray. On Thursday we hit the dog park 3 separate times, plus I had Castine/Vero friends Gene and Kathy Spinazola aboard for supper. We had great fun swapping cruising stories. Earlier in the day I had seen new Vero friends the Thomas's move their trawler into a slip at the marina. It turns out they just sold their waterfront home and are now free for some long-term cruising.

I had originally planned to head north on Friday but instead stayed another day in Vero, for an oil-change for Spray's diesel, for more dog park action, and to welcome the Siegels as they sailed into the mooring field. We had supper together at the Lobster Shanty across the river, and we saw them at the dog park this morning, but might not see them again until Castine.

Today we left Vero at 9 am, traveled north some 33 miles, and dropped anchor on the NE lee side of the causeway here in Melbourne (ICW mile 918). Tomorrow we head for as close as we can get to Cape Canaveral. At 6:21 am Monday the space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to launch, and we don't want to miss that.