Last night Tuesday/Wednesday was NOT great. It started raining lightly around 5pm then rained off and on all night -- some mild thunderstorms passed over too. We chickened out and ran the genset so we could close the boat up and have air conditioning -- worked great. I turned it off at 6am. The rest of the day was mostly cloudy, high of 82, and a nice breeze with low humidity -- felt great.
In the morning I checked the site www.marinetraffic.com to see my AIS position. It wasn't there. Heck my last entry on that site was May 2015! It took awhile but I found the software online for my Humminbird AIS TX and loaded it into the new notebook computer. When I ran the diagnostics it said the unit was not seeing the GPS Antenna and thus would not transmit. I traced the circuitry and sure enough a connctro to the antenna had come off. Once back on all is well and I'm transmitting AIS again. Yippeeee!
Three more high dollar trawlers came in. They were nearly identical with gray hulls -- only the antenna array on the top were different. Two of their dingies went by us -- both equipped with 60HP Yamahas!
I dove on the boat around mid morning and scrubbed the hull with a brush. It came off easily and looked good.
I took a nice nap in the afternoon to atone for that punishment on the body. I'm not a youngster anymore.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing and reading and occasional surf on the internet. The Verizon 4G LTE works well here.
Nice dinner of T-Bone on the grill and several hands of Farkle before bed.
With that nice breeze we did not run the AC again.
It's back to the marina on Thursday. Maybe all the way. Because of the currents here we can't leave before 10am so it will be a long day.
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
The Changing face of anchored boats in Cape lookout Bight
Today was a nice day here at Cape lookout. Sunny in the morning, partly cloudy most of the afternoon then a gentle rain beginning at 5pm and going till ?
We had a couple of nice walks on the beach, I tried to Scuba on the boat but had equipment and operator issues -- lost a gasket to the air tank and forgot the weight belt. Anyway did not get much done.
A couple of large motor yachts came in and anchored around us -- this brings the count to 4 with 7 sailboats. Man the largest was probably a 10 million dollar Nordhaven with a 30,000 dollar dinghy -- actually a center console boat. He came in and did everything from the Air conditioned cabin. What a guy. Saw no one come out most of the afternoon.
A Coast Guard utility vessel came in and anchored. Not sure what they are up to.
he rest of the folks have all been playing at the beach.
I got out my toys early and enjoyed the morning coffee from my hanging swing chair, put a wind spiral toy in the rigging, and fly my rotating spinner kite.
Not a bad day.
We had a couple of nice walks on the beach, I tried to Scuba on the boat but had equipment and operator issues -- lost a gasket to the air tank and forgot the weight belt. Anyway did not get much done.
A couple of large motor yachts came in and anchored around us -- this brings the count to 4 with 7 sailboats. Man the largest was probably a 10 million dollar Nordhaven with a 30,000 dollar dinghy -- actually a center console boat. He came in and did everything from the Air conditioned cabin. What a guy. Saw no one come out most of the afternoon.
A Coast Guard utility vessel came in and anchored. Not sure what they are up to.
he rest of the folks have all been playing at the beach.
I got out my toys early and enjoyed the morning coffee from my hanging swing chair, put a wind spiral toy in the rigging, and fly my rotating spinner kite.
Not a bad day.
Monday, June 27, 2016
Every dog has his day
And today was our day!
We held up at Cedar Creek yesterday to get a favorable current down Adam's creek today and boy did we.
Ww left around 6:15am and entered the channel. Our normal cruise speed now is around 6.5kts. I saw 6.7 right away --- yippeee... By the time we hti the wiggle we were doing 7.2 and through the straightaway near Sea Gate marina we were hitting 8.0. Then I noticed FOG AHEAD. Ohh great we have this big push down the creek and now we will have to stop till the fog dissipates. Well it was not uniform and we worked our way through it. Twice when I could no longer see the banks on my side I almost anchored but pushed on for just a few minutes and found the fog less dense. Once we hit the cutoff for Russell Slough we were finally through the fog.
The turning basin was quiet except for 2 tugs readying a war ship for exit, and a Coast Guard Cutter said they were leaving in 30 minutes but we just pressed on. Ohhh man we were doing 7.5 kts through the inlet. It was flat except for a few small sport boats, we made the turn for the Cape Lookout Bight and the ocean was nearly flat with just a wind ripple and no swells. Truly the mildest crossing we have ever had going to or from lookout.
Once in the bight there were 2 sailboats and 1 trawler. We picked a spot to ourselves deep in the bight and anchored in 22 feet of water. After cleaning up and some lunch I swam around the boat to see what was needed. Prop and zincs are fine but there is some growth on the bottom paint. I'll put the scuba on tomorrow and take care of that.
We just relaxed this afternoon and watched some huge 70 foot motor yacht come in and anchor nearly in front of us. Boy he has never turned off his generator since he got here but fortunately his exhaust is not hitting us. Temps are in the mid 80s today.
It was Tacos for dinner and a walk on the beach this evening. Now it's just time to enjoy the bight and watch the lighthouse flash. Ohhh after our walk on the beach we got back on the boat and noticed the lighthouse was not flashing. I called the Coast Guard to report it and they called the lighthouse keeper -- light was back on in 10 minutes. My good deed for the day.
Ohh I like Cape Lookout bight.
We held up at Cedar Creek yesterday to get a favorable current down Adam's creek today and boy did we.
Ww left around 6:15am and entered the channel. Our normal cruise speed now is around 6.5kts. I saw 6.7 right away --- yippeee... By the time we hti the wiggle we were doing 7.2 and through the straightaway near Sea Gate marina we were hitting 8.0. Then I noticed FOG AHEAD. Ohh great we have this big push down the creek and now we will have to stop till the fog dissipates. Well it was not uniform and we worked our way through it. Twice when I could no longer see the banks on my side I almost anchored but pushed on for just a few minutes and found the fog less dense. Once we hit the cutoff for Russell Slough we were finally through the fog.
The turning basin was quiet except for 2 tugs readying a war ship for exit, and a Coast Guard Cutter said they were leaving in 30 minutes but we just pressed on. Ohhh man we were doing 7.5 kts through the inlet. It was flat except for a few small sport boats, we made the turn for the Cape Lookout Bight and the ocean was nearly flat with just a wind ripple and no swells. Truly the mildest crossing we have ever had going to or from lookout.
Once in the bight there were 2 sailboats and 1 trawler. We picked a spot to ourselves deep in the bight and anchored in 22 feet of water. After cleaning up and some lunch I swam around the boat to see what was needed. Prop and zincs are fine but there is some growth on the bottom paint. I'll put the scuba on tomorrow and take care of that.
We just relaxed this afternoon and watched some huge 70 foot motor yacht come in and anchor nearly in front of us. Boy he has never turned off his generator since he got here but fortunately his exhaust is not hitting us. Temps are in the mid 80s today.
It was Tacos for dinner and a walk on the beach this evening. Now it's just time to enjoy the bight and watch the lighthouse flash. Ohhh after our walk on the beach we got back on the boat and noticed the lighthouse was not flashing. I called the Coast Guard to report it and they called the lighthouse keeper -- light was back on in 10 minutes. My good deed for the day.
Ohh I like Cape Lookout bight.
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Anchor Failure!
Well not really anchor failure but operator ERROR.
We left NWCM late morning and headed to Cedar Creek on Adams Creek. We had a nice run and motorsailed
-- a third of the way until wind was on the nose. We were in around 2:30pm. As we set the anchor a large shrimp boat
was leaving and he came mighty close. Apparently we were crowding his desired path out.
I opted to pull the anchor and move further into Cedar Creek. I pulled the anchor up but not completely out of
the water -- thought I would save time and energy. We dropped it but it didn't set. I pulled it up again and
took it completely out of the water and the problem was readily apparent. The flukes were holding a LARGE mud
ball -- no wonder it wouldn't set. I bounced that off and we tried again and it set fine.
Then we saw several other shrimp trawlers leave. Then it was several small boats dragging shrimp nets -- this
must be opening day of the shrimp season here. I tried to look it up online but the information was not
readily available, and since I'm on battery power I didn't look too long.
In addition to the anchor light I think I'll run the LED spot lights on the aft end of the boat above the
dinghy. I suspect there will be a lot of boat traffic near us tonight.
Tomorrow early -- 7am or earlier we will leave for Cape Lookout. We didn't go all the way today because the
current would be adverse from 9am until 3pm. Tomorrow it will adverse from 10am until 4pm and if we leave early
we should be either in or just left the inlet when it changes. Wish us luck
Temps were fine today and only in the low 80s. Tomorrow will be a little warmer but not really HOT.
Ohhh I'm looking forward to the beach and swimming at Cape Lookout.
We left NWCM late morning and headed to Cedar Creek on Adams Creek. We had a nice run and motorsailed
-- a third of the way until wind was on the nose. We were in around 2:30pm. As we set the anchor a large shrimp boat
was leaving and he came mighty close. Apparently we were crowding his desired path out.
I opted to pull the anchor and move further into Cedar Creek. I pulled the anchor up but not completely out of
the water -- thought I would save time and energy. We dropped it but it didn't set. I pulled it up again and
took it completely out of the water and the problem was readily apparent. The flukes were holding a LARGE mud
ball -- no wonder it wouldn't set. I bounced that off and we tried again and it set fine.
Then we saw several other shrimp trawlers leave. Then it was several small boats dragging shrimp nets -- this
must be opening day of the shrimp season here. I tried to look it up online but the information was not
readily available, and since I'm on battery power I didn't look too long.
In addition to the anchor light I think I'll run the LED spot lights on the aft end of the boat above the
dinghy. I suspect there will be a lot of boat traffic near us tonight.
Tomorrow early -- 7am or earlier we will leave for Cape Lookout. We didn't go all the way today because the
current would be adverse from 9am until 3pm. Tomorrow it will adverse from 10am until 4pm and if we leave early
we should be either in or just left the inlet when it changes. Wish us luck
Temps were fine today and only in the low 80s. Tomorrow will be a little warmer but not really HOT.
Ohhh I'm looking forward to the beach and swimming at Cape Lookout.
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