Finally --- a great run on the rivers...

Today was a great run down the Pamlico. We left early around 7:30am. Conditions were a "mill pond". I was glad to leave BATH.. That place like the Cape Fear just gives me the "creeps".

We made good time on the river - 6.2 - 6.5 kts. It was very nice in a cool light breeze. Actually did a little motor sailing.

Then we hit the ditch. Must be a current running there because we slowed down to 5.5kts. We had a few powerboats pass us but all the sailboats stayed behind us. We were leading the "migration South" through the ditch.

Just as we exited I hailed SKAT - Jim and Barb Thompson.. Wow great contact, then found out they were just a couple of miles ahead of us but "swimming against the flow". They were headed north for a few weeks while the rest of the folks were headed south..

We had a nice chat on the radio and made some big waves at each other as we passed. We will get together in several weeks when they return here for the winter.

Once we turned at the Neuse River Junction to head up the Neuse the wind was on the nose. Had to put the sails away and slog into the wind - speed down to 5.1 kts.

We made South River and had the hook down by 3pm - a long days run.

Conditions in the river are quite nice. At least 4 boats back here at Lukens tonight.

We will have Craig and Dovie over for dinner and games tonight then an early departure tomorrow so we can put the boat away and then face the 3 hour trip home by car.

Gosh hard to believe this mini cruise is nearly over ALREADY!!!

Bath -- Blackbeard's Home

BATH - Bah Humbug.

I think it was 15 or 16 years ago we anchored here for a day and night and it was not much fun. That and someone tried to steal my dinghy and motor which were hanging off the stern. It was only because of the oppressive heat of that July evening I was sleeping in the cockpit that I thwarted the attempt.

Tuesday when we stopped here it was blowing too hard to take the dinghies into town. We cam early today arriving at noon for just that purpose. After lunch we went to the public dock and low and behold the land end of the dock was blocked by police tape. I motored close and there was a sheriffs deputy there. He said we could land but not leave the dock. A kindly lady told us to back down the stream and dock at her dock.

She said the tape was Crime Scene Tape. There had been the murder of a resident nearby and the sheriff had cordoned off a huge chuck of real estate to conduct their investigation.

Ohhh GREAT!!! We walked to town but unfortunately the cordoned off area was smack in the historic district. We visited the visitors center but everyone was just preoccupied with this murder. No details of how and when but it was a resident paraplegic that they all knew and liked.

We walked around a bit. It was noisy and dusty. I have never seen so many large 8K lawnmowers out dusting the gravel - there was no length of grass to cut.!!

The walked back to the dinghy we passed several nice Towncars and Cadillacs but all were in serious need of a wash. A trip through the marina here was equally dismal. Very poorly maintained docks and what a collection of old dirty boats.

Once again - Bath has proved to be a depressing destination.

The anchorage is fine and the star gazing is great so I'm at least looking forward to this evening. We will be grilling steaks and playing games with the Turners tonight.

Today has been an easy day but tomorrow will be a long day..

In fact we had perfect departure conditions from the dock this morning. Current was on the nose with a gentle breeze pushing us from the docks. We had a beam breeze most of the way and had a very nice ride down and into Bath.

A fine day in Washington

The finest weather we have see this trip!! Today the 7th was beautiful. It started cool with little wind and warmed right up. We wore everything from long pants and sweaters to shorts today.

I took a couple of long walks this morning on search for a sweet roll and bread. I found the bakery which is at the end of Waters street but they had just made the dough and no finished bread expected till noon. The sweet rolls were simply sugar coatings and not what I really wanted.

I looked for a coffee shop and found one on Market street but they only offered "coffee, liquor, and tobacco - kind of a dismal place actually. What can you expect from a place that has a neon sign that says "give me my coffee and I won't hurt you".

I explored the road by the opening bridge (opens with 24 hour notice) and there was a convenient/store gas station about 23 blocks away -- I waited for the bakery.

Back on the boat to recover from the long walks and do some maintenance. I cleaned the filter on the fresh water pump, added 12 oz of oil to the engine and inspected and tightened the alternator belt. While investigating how to get more travel to tighten the belt further I found 2 more of Ol Al's kluges.. Maybe not Al but previous to my ownership.

The holder for the antifreeze reservoir was loose. I was going to try and tighten the mounting screws and found they were a combination of a too long screw that used an combination of nylon nuts and washers to effectively (not very) shorten the screws so they wouldn't punch through the wall into the cabin. Ohh and the screws were an assortment of head styles too. I can't imagine this was a factory install.

Karen went shopping/exploring with Dovie and Craig while I did this.

After lunch Karen and Dovie went shopping and Craig and I dumped the dinghy in the water and explored the water front. I discovered when turning on a river with current to not turn into the current sweeping my side into the current - got a wet butt a couple of times.

We saw the Railroad Bridge close across the waterway into Washington. We went there to watch it lock up and the train cross. We found that it was not automated but had an operator - a 70 year old retired engineer. He was quite talkative and explained a lot about this 104 year old trestle.

We got some pictures of the waterfront and boats from the river then put the dinghy away.

We then relaxed till 4:30 when Karen presented us all with "Fuzzy Navels" Around 6:15 we left for Pia'S for dinner. This was a much nicer place than the Main Street restaurant we went to last night. I had some Crab soup and the GROUPER - love the grouper.

Then back on the boat for some games.. Unfortunately Craig was greeted to his fresh water pump running dry and his bilge pump running wet - a hose connection had burst while at dinner and he had pumped 50 gallons of fresh water into the bilge.

He was able to effect a simple repair and then we played a couple of games of Farkle -- uhh I was not the LB last night!!

It was the end to a very nice day. Tomorrow we need to begin the trip back.

Warshington!!

Washington, NC is the first city to be named after General Washington. A very old town it is..

I didn't misspell the title -- that's the way I say it. It's probably a bleed through of my Italian/Swedish accent.

We had a nice run from Bath to Washington this morning. Naturally the wind was on the nose and a LOT more than forecast or given in "conditions from around the area. NOAA said it was 14 kts in Washington. We had 17 with gusts to 20 and 22 with the highest just as we came into dock - NATURALLY!!!

Well we rubbed a few pilings not on the landing but because the dock master insisted I move forward 6 feet. The wind had us pinned to the dock. Was not pretty or me happy.

The Dock teem otherwise was very friendly and accommodating. What we saw of the town this afternoon was very nice. We expect to go out to dinner tonight and plan to stay the day tomorrow.

We canceled our morning walk through Bath this morning and left for Washington instead. We expect to leave here Friday morning and overnight in Bath which will leave a warm comfortable afternoon to explore Bath.

Last night was an early night for all of us.. All that rocking and rolling wore us flat out. You don't realize how much energy the body expends subconsciously as you roll with boat.

I did do some star gazing last night around 8:30pm and then I was up at 3am and went on deck and really saw all my old favorite navigation starts and I was treated to a nice shooting star to boot..

Too much light pollution on the waterfront for tonight but maybe Friday night back in Bath Anchorage.

Time to shave for dinner and maybe - maybe a clean T.

A Welcome Bath

L O N G DAY!!! Well we finally made some tracks today. The last couple of days we went about 12 miles each - today we went 40+. We left Broad Creek early this morning at 7am, it was a mill pond. Even the Neuse was flat for a mile or two then we had 2 foot waves and 15+kts on the nose. Not too bad but not a cake walk. The ride up the ditch was fine -- lots of snowbirds heading south - mostly trawlers. Then we hit the Pamlico. I thought we would get some wind protection but no it was straight down the river in our face. It was blowing 17 with gust to 20. The waves were not bad but the combination had us slogging along at about 4.7 kts. It was a long 12 miles to Bath Creek.

One memorable moment occurred. Out in the middle of the river with nothing around in 18 feet of water and the chart showing 18 feet suddenly the depth alarm goes off - 6.9', 6.3', 5.2', 3.9' - I throttle back and the depth goes back to 18'. Hit nothing but I was sure we were going to be aground.. Whew!!

We had a confused entry into Bath Creek but didn't bump. Plenty of room to anchor but the first attempt didn't hold. I ran about another 20 feet of chain then it did.

Whew - long day and I'm beat but it is only 3pm!!

It was showers all around, a quickie nap, then we had Craig and Dovie over for extended snacks - no dinner required tonight.

The wind has laid down and the sky is clearing. Should be some good star gazing tonight. I did some last night trying to re-acquaint myself with some navigation stars. Only about half I knew are up around 9pm he rest come out after midnight.. Maybe tonight I'll get for awhile and look for them.

Just 15 miles from Washington, NC but first we will visit Bath in the morning then go to Washington and maybe get a slip for a night or two.

Sleeping will be easy tonight.

Flexibility

The key to successful cruising is flexibility. I was up early this morning to prepare for a 40+ mile run to Campbell Creek. Unfortunately the weather and forecast had changed overnight. There was a small craft advisory posted until this afternoon, Wind was 20 kts with frequent gusts to 25kts.

Hmm what to do. Ahhh yes - delay the departure.

I spoke with Craig and we decided to move our 8am departure to 9am. Then we moved to 10am. Good thing too. When we did leave the wind was right down Clubfoot and gusting to 22kts. The waves around green 3 were 3 foot and sloppy. We decided to push on to the North side to see if it was better. Heck half way across it was still windy but the motion was comfortable and waves were down to maybe a foot and half. We pressed on.

We were abeam of South River about 12pm. Campbell creek was 25 miles away or a 5pm arrival - Craig suggested we go in to Lower Broad Creek. Great idea. We entered easily, sailed past R4 and dropped the hook and 8 feet of water. It was a mill pond back in there so I waved Craig on and we rafted up. Time for a late lunch now - 1:30pm..

After lunch and a celebratory beer Craig and I launched the dinghy and went over to the River Dunes Marina. A first time for both of us --- Very nice. A great walled entrance channel, very nice floating docks, and all so pretty. Very nice.

We went back out into Broad Creek and zoomed around with that new 9.25 prop. Boy the dinghy is FAST now.

After "inspecting" some docks nearby we were back on the boat around 4:15pm to relax before dinner and GAMES night..

So what we are "late" getting to Washington, NC we are still having a very nice time.

A LAY DAY

What's a lay day you ask?? It is day where you just essentially lay around doing nothing all day..

Now you ask what is Nothing?? Well today it was up early about 6:30am. Check on the position of the boat, gather the weather info and decide whether to travel on or not..

Weather is looking bad.. Small Craft Advisory beginning at 11am and periods of rain and drizzle throughout the day.. Well you asked for cooler weather and you got it along with the other stuff that goes with cooler weather.

I studied the charts to see if we could still make Manteo.. Yes we can but we will have a late arrival and have to leave early the following day - Naw - don't want to do that. Washington, NC is back on the table.

We had some rain last night and nothing leaked that leaked the last time - that is good. I had a leisurely breakfast then checked into the Waterway Net and Cruizheimers Net. The SSB is working very well since I reprogrammed the antenna tuner for those freqs.

Around 9am I heard from Craig and he reported he had an off night because he was feeling poorly. Slept little but was back to bed now - It is now a LAY DAY for sure.

I read a lot today - more than 100 pages in my latest ol time cruising book by John Calder - Family at Sea.. I became industrious and tore into my binnacle compass. It has plagued me since I bought the boat. A looseness in its installation and I couldn't see how to expose the screws properly. Well I now had the time to study and I did.. Ohh the night light on it is the key to disassembly - who would have thought. I took it all apart and cleaned and polished it surfaces and then reassembled. Looks good but I need to adjust the compensators next time I'm underway in mild conditions. No mysteries here any more.

More reading, a nice lunch, more reading, ran the genset to charge batteries and heat water for showers, then a visit to the Marina to visit Vic again. Craig just rested all day.

Back on board, talked to Craig and was feeling better and ready to continue in the morning. Upped the dinghy and made ready this afternoon - a nice dinner of Tortellini soup and Garlic toast then update this log and read till bed time.

Ohh the small craft advisory never happened today. The wind generator turned over a few times in 2 gusts and that was all the wind for the day - How do they get is SO WRONG so often.

Up early and away to Campbell Creek anchorage for tomorrow night.

It's now time to LAY ABOUT some more to practice before going to bed.

Feels good actually.