Cape Fear

So cool to go through Cape Fear. The first thing I thought of was the two movies. I'm not sure about anyone else but I think Robert Mitchum might have been scarier than Robert DiNiro (which is crazy because DiNiro was really scarey.). We got unde way by 7 am and was pleasantly surprised that the current was with us in the River. We were going over eight knots the whole way. One time we even saw 9.3 knots on our chart plotter.  Little did we know their was a few other scarey parts... The next leg of the run was at low tide so all the boaters were talking in the marine radio about how much water was underneath them. We heard 5 feet and was a little more than worried as we draw five and a half with our keel. So we all slowed down( we are traveling with Lisa and Benny on Rhiannon 4.8 draft and the boat Night Cap 5.8 foot draft) so that the tide could come up a bit. We had Rhinnon in the lead so they could let us know what was a head. Well it worked pretty well until a huge barge came in the narrow Chanel and put Rhiannon on ground and met us around a bend and put us aground. Thank goodness we both were able to push through the mud, I can tell you it was a pretty tense moment on our boat.  Now this was all before lunch. Late afternoon as we are approaching our destination, Benny from Rhiannon tells us to stay close we are going through an area called "the rock pile". Jon thought that was a scarey name, but as we went through that stretch you could see submerged rocks and concrete   Ugh, this will keep you on your toes. When we finiall arrived at Barefoot Marinia in Myrtle Beach, Jon commented to Benny that this must be the worst stretch of the ICW.   Benny said , "No this is the warm up for Georgia!"  OK!  I guess we are duley warmed up.  Anyway, this is a beautiful place and it has warmed up a little. We'll spend Sunday cleaning up the boat, getting supplies and walking around the town.  

Old chart of Cape Fear. 

              Cape Fear River

        Cool seafood place

Speaking of scarey....what happened here

  A long prominade of shops along the canal in Myrtle Beach. 

Moving Toward The Sun

It was lovely ride down North Carolina intercoastal, just a little narrow. Saw two boats run aground.   We picked up our anchor at 7 am.

So pretty

See that little white thing....dreaded crab pots...still avoiding them.

Our mooring at Carolina Beach. Got here about 4 pm. Can't wait Aaron is making sausage and peppers for dinner. 

Chilly Thanksgiving

Morehead City has been good to us over this past five days at dock. We were tucked in and survived a few chilly rain-soaked and windy days.  We even dodged a tornado about 2 miles from us on Tuesday night. Winds were gusting to 45 knots by us.  It was made much nicer by meeting to very nice people, Benny and Lisa. We were able to share a few meals and stories. We even broke out the cards and played Rumicub to pass the time.  Now it's thanksgiving and we are so excited to be moving again. We were greeted by 32 degrees and 17 knot north wind.  But once we got around the bridge of morehead city, we sent off by a pod of dolphins.....and yes, "our" crane came out to wish us well.  We pulled out the head sail and had a sunny day to Hammock Bay. We put our anchor down about 3:30. Time for Thanksgiving dinner of meatloaf and sweet potatoes and baked apples. Yumm. 

Our friends, Benny and Lisa

After the tornado.  I tried to capture some of damage from the loaner courtesy car. 

Going down the intercoastal

Our new friend Lisa took our pic

Quicksilver at anchor at sunset thanksgiving day. 

Morehead City

Sorry... Left you hanging for a few days. It always happens when we get stuck somewhere, as we are now at Morehead City, NC.  It was 20 degrees with a bitter wind. We ll be stuck here till Thanksgiving Day. Then will spend the day being thankful that we can move further south. It's times like these when you are missing your family and friends and wonder if this was a good idea. Guess this is part of living with out all those extra comforts (like central heat) and spending special holidays without the people you love.   Don't think this part gets easier but we are sure that this adventure will add some things to our life as well. 

Ok, back to the middle of the River.  We got half way across  the River when the 15 to 20 knot  winds caught up to us. We saw gusts of 27 knots. As they were right behind us we were having quite a nice ride and really enjoying our canvas.  We rode in on the wind our beam and arrived at Morehead City about 3 pm. 

The front closing in on us on the Neuse River

Public docks at Morehead City

A visit with the king

Tuesday had a break in weather. Went from 20's to 60 degrees. We went for a walk before the rain comes upon us. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! LOVE YOU!!

Fresh Seafood and A Visit By Our Spirit Guide

After a pretty uneventful motoring through the Pongo River, Pamlico River and into Goose Creek, we docked at the ReMayo Seafood Docks. Although the docks were a lot less than perfect, the shore power wasn't working and the outhouses were debatably rustic we enjoyed purchasing two pounds of fresh frozen shrimp and enjoyed a peaceful night. Well, I say a peaceful night but really we were more than a little preoccupied with the next few days weather. NOAA ( marine weather ) was calling for 20 to 25 knots of wind in the morning  deminishing to 15 to 20 in the afternoon. We knew we had to cross the Neuse River which is about 15 miles of shallow water.   Also Sunday they are calling for gale force winds and a high of 40 degrees and a low of 20 degrees.  The rest of the week doesn't look much better with 60 to 70  percent rain till thanksgiving.  Ugh, who wants to stay on a seafood dock with no shore power and no place to go....not us. 

A little side story here. Since jon and I left Fair Haven we have had a running encounter with a crane. (We choose to believe it's the same one we used to watch in Fair Haven off our dock. Jon used to joke that one morning we would wake up to our crane  in our cockpit behind the wheel. Well everyday we are traveling we have seen "our" crane. I mean everywhere...down the Erie Canal, down the Hudson River, in Sandy Hook, in Cape May, in Deltaville, in the Dismal Swamp and, yes, this morning "our" crane flew by our boat as we were debating going. Jon said he had his thumb up in the air for "go for it". Our personal spirit guide says go so we go. 

So, we're up early and trying to beat the weather. So far so good, no rain, about 10 knots of NW winds, a little chop building and we have about 8 miles left on the River. I ll update you tomorrow.  Maybe we'll have more of  "our" crane.   

The ReMayo Seafood Dock

The Alligator River

We crossed the Albemarle Sound to the Alligator River on Thursday.   The Alligator Rivet was a easy passage but a little bit desolate.  More desolate than the Dismal swamp. It's like we went back in time. Aaron was kind of freaking out because he didn't see any alligators and we didn't have cell service  We anchored about 4pm and watched the misquetos swarm our canvas. It made you itch just to see them. Thankfully only one or two made it inside our covering. If really was a quite place, no light pollution, to bad it was cloudy and we could enjoy the stars.  Instead we watched a movie and afterwards couldn't believe it could be so dark out.  Couldn't see much but the anchor lights of the 6 or 7 sailboats in the anchorage.   Today is Friday and we're finishing the Alligator River into the Pamlico River. We are looking at weather and it looks crapy for the next couple of days. Sunday it will be I. The 20's!  Ugh!

     A couple of sailboats traveling with us

This was our dark night.  The dots are Mosquitos.  Look at them all. 

Free and Come Again, Elizabeth City Hospitality

Elizabeth City was a great find. Free docks and super southern hospitality. From the time we were greeted by volunteer "Rose Buddies" to the time we left, we understood that this city loves it boaters. The visitors center was especially helpful in providing a local map with all the businesses a boater might need. They even offer free bike rentals. We had a good dinner at Quality Seafood and bought some raw shrimp for later.   The Ace hardware became very handy as we were freezing our buts off and purchased a "Mr Heater Buddy". It runs on one pound propane and warmed the boat nicely.  Jon and I even visited the Albemarle Museaum. We spent a couple hours enjoying all their exhibits. They were free except for the " Gone With The 

Wind" exhibit. The visitor's center gave a wine and cheese party on Wednesday evening. Guess it is one of their wonderful traditions started by a man named Fred who in the 1980's  would help the boaters dock and then offer a rose to all the ladies on board.  More volunteers came and after Fred passed away they were determined to keep the tradition going. We understand that by next summer they hope to have free showers as well at the city docks. We certainly will see Elizabeth City again. 

Black Beard Exhibit

A wooden leg from the Civil War Era

Medical equipment.....scarey

Toaster from the 1930's

You know you're getting south when you see a still

Very cool cemetery.... Very creepy 

Jon and Aaron bonding over working on our Honda generator. A dealer had to come out and bring it for repairs. Apparently possible water in the gas  they picked up and brought it back within hour as we were leaving next day. 

Our Mr Heater Buddy

Underway, Once Again

We're sitting at Elizabeth City at their complementary dock after a days traveling through a swamp.  Let me back up, we left Deltaville on Saturday, November 16 about 7 am. We had a light sail and motored most of the way to Norfolk, Virginia. They say it's one of the busiest ports in the United States, but we found it pretty easy to stay out of the way of traffic (unlike NYC where we felt like we couldn't stay out of anyone's way). We dropped anchor about 430 pm at Hospital Point in Norfolk just in time to eat Aaron's meatloaf (his first time making it...was really good...more on our culinary skills in our next entry)

There are rows of battleships and aircraft carriers.as you go into Norfolk

Our friend Temple (we met in Deltaville ) who is staying at the Tidewater Marinia in Norfolk for the winter) took our picture as we left on Sunday. 

It look so cool. There is a ship right between the buildings. 

The Dismal Swamp was beautiful, even though we missed peak season. 

The water in the swamp is the color of strong tea. 

Aaron at the helm so Jon and I could relax. "Do not take my picture."

It was interesting that the lock master on the canal also had to go and lift the bridge afterwards.... It wasn't right next door either.  

Our view in the village park in Elizabeth City 

 

Our slip was donated by the Smith Family