We stayed the extra night in Surf City as severe weather, including several tornados, stretched across North Carolina. Where we were was included in the watches and warnings, but we only had a little rain. Here are a couple of shots taken from the marina.
We left bright and early Friday and as it turns out, its a good thing we didn't leave any later. Just a few miles north of Surf City the ICW runs 14 miles through the Marine Base, Camp Lejeune. The beaches are used for amphibious landing training and when live fire exercises are going on the ICW is shut down.
Just as we were approaching the swing bridge that needed opening, two small Navy patrol boats came up behind us and contacted us via the radio to tell us they were shutting down the ICW at 11 AM. Since it was still only 10, we were allowed through, but by the time we reached the end of the camp I saw a southbound boat stopped and told to turn back.
Our cruise continued east to Beaufort, NC, yes, east. At this point, the NC coast runs west to east, with the Atlantic on the south. Incidently, there is a Beaufort, SC too, however in SC its pronounced boo - furt and in NC its bo - fort. At Bo - fort, the ICW takes a sharp left, or north and to the right and north east the Outer Banks begin. The ICW continues to the Neuse River, which is the primary river forming the Pamlico Sound, the second largest sound in the US. Chesapeake Bay is the largest. The Neuse River is 5 miles wide at this point and on the other side is Oriental, NC. People there say you can see the end of the earth from Oriental.
Out there beyond the horizon is Ocracoke Island and then England. We didn't stop in Oriental, but we thought about it. The town has a web site where you can view the free town dock via a web cam to see if its available or not. The picture is continuously updated every 10 minutes and Denise took a look a few times, but it was still early and the wide river was calm, so we thought we should take advantage of it. We found an anchorage several more miles up the river that Denise says is her favorite. There were lots of big houses around and five other transient boats.
While it was calm when we went to sleep, it wasn't when we woke up. The wind had swung around from north west to north east and this created rough seas on the Pamlico Sound. It was going to take us three hours to cross the east end, the first directly into the 2 foot waves, then an hour with the waves hitting on our starboard beam and finally the last hour with them on the stern. By then, however, Denise was feeling queasy. She got through it though without actually getting sick. There wasn't much to see the rest of the day as we had another large river to traverse, the Pamlico river and then the Alligator - Pungo river canal, another ditch that takes you to the Albemarle Sound. Of course, this was also the end of the day, so we dropped the anchor again, but with no houses around, just swamp and 12 other boats. It was a pretty popular anchorage, as there aren't many options from here. It did provide a nice sunset.
Even though we only anchored out 4 or 5 times since leaving Florida, we have a pretty good routine. Denise has the toughest job as she is at the helm and I am on the bow shouting instructions, forward, neutral, toggle, reverse, etc. The trick for me is to shout to be heard, but not sound like I am shouting like I'm angry. None the less, Denise has it down and I don't think I've made her cry yet. The reason she has the helm job and I am on the bow is because when the anchor rode (line) is all in, the last step is to haul up the 45 lb anchor and chain and secure it.
Today we crossed the Albemarle Sound, another 3 or 4 hours on open water, but not nearly as rough as the Pamlico. Half way across the Albemarle the ICW splits into two route options. Route 1 is called the Virginia Cut and route 2 is the Dismal Swamp. I have heard about and seen pictures of the scenic Dismal Swamp and was hoping to go that way, but had to opt for route 1. We are heading home for several days this week and I had found a marina in Great Bridge, VA where we will leave Tranquility. On the Dismal Swamp route there is a bridge that only opens at certain times during the day, with the last one at 3:30 and we couldn't make it in time, plus Great Bridge was a little closer via the Virginia Cut route, so that's the way we went and we have safely arrived in Great Bridge. Tomorrow we will clean the boat, inside and out, do some laundry and then head to the Hilton at the airport. Our flights are early on Tuesday. Denise is heading straight home and I am first flying to Fort Meyers, Fl to pick up a car to drive back to Rockford. Its two days out of my life, but I'm getting paid. Then its home to see these guys.
Oh, I almost forgot about the rotten squid. Back on April 10, when Tom was on board, we bought frozen shrimp and squid for fishing. We got rid of the shrimp, but continued to keep the squid in the cooler on the back deck. Denise kept telling me to get rid of it, but I did contine to fish once in awhile. I caught a large stingray the other night, but just as Denise got the camera out, the line broke and the stingray was gone. Just remember the picture of the stingray Tom caught and imagine one twice as big. Anyway, eventually, even in a zip lock bag, the rotting squid started to smell bad, and of course everything else in the cooler took on the smell, mainly beer, but also some of Denise's Diet Pepsi. Denise is certain it permeated the cans and says the pop tastes like fish. She has thrown out several cans. I, however, will not throw out any beer. I don't think it tastes like fish. The cans do, but not the beer. Earlier today I drained the tainted water from the cooler and poured in laundry soap. Later, I rinsed some cans and put them in the refridgerator. I had one earlier and even though the can had a soapy flavor, the Coors Light tasted fantastic. You know its the worlds most refreshing beer.
We're back in Great Bridge on May 15th. So far, we've traveled 1281 miles, or about 20% of the total trip, depending on how many side trips we make. I'm having fun and Denise has endured. She's been a really good sport and so far is still planning to come back. She's read the entire Waterway Guide and provides factoids that make the places we're seeing much more interesting. Stay tuned for more starting again in a couple of weeks.
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