10/5/17: We
left Brewer Pilots Point Marina headed south! Yeah!!!! The marine
forecast for Long Island Sound had been 1 ft or less for most of the summer but
of course the day we leave it kicked up. SW winds 10-15 kts with gusts to
20 and seas 2-3 ft. Definitely not a comfortable cruise for the first few
hours, it was all of 3 ft and more. Once we decided to change course toward the E/SE and the shelter from Long Island, the seas were 1 ft or less.
We traveled 82 miles, our 2nd longest day on record. We secured a mooring in Port
Washington, NY and hit the sack.
 |
| Port Washington - sunset from mooring |
We bucked the
current through the East River into New York Harbor but were rewarded by a very
pleasant cruise around the Battery. The view of the Manhattan skyline and
Lady Liberty never gets old, it's just breathtaking.
Our cruise along
the NJ shore was better than expected. We headed for Manasquan and
Brewer's Crystal Point Marina. Since we are 'gold card' members of Brewer's we
get discounted rates at all of their marinas. Woohoo, we love a discount!
 |
| Brooklyn Bridge |
 |
| Looking back at the NY Battery |
 |
| Docked in Manasquan |
We had a pretty
good run from Manasquan to Atlantic City. About an hour away from AC, the wind
picked up and what was mostly swells became more of a chop and sloppy. At
least it was only the last hour, it could have been much worse. Decision
time: Scott voted for marina and Mary voted to anchor. So we
anchored! Next time when the winds are predicted to be greater than 15
kts, go for the marina. We dropped the anchor settled in and about 1am when doing a position check we discovered we were swinging
over a shallow area. Long story and long night short, we adjusted the
main anchor and put out a second anchor to pull us away from the
shallows. It worked but not a very restful evening.
There was a small craft advisory up so we traveled inside on
the NJ Intercoastal Waterway (NJICW) from Atlantic City to Cape May, NJ.
This route is much more protected but is historically known for trouble spots
of shoaling and confusing navigation. It was a slow cruising day with opposing currents, no wake zones,
bridge openings and staying in the marked channel. Fortunately,
it wasn't a great boating day so there weren't too many vessels to contend
with. We stayed in Cape May for a couple of days waiting to travel
up Delaware Bay.
 |
| Cape May decorated for Halloween |
 |
| and more fall sights |
We left Utsches Marina in Cape May at 07:30 and headed out the canal
to Delaware Bay. This bay kicked our butts once and we are always a
little leery about this segment of the trip. As it turns out, this makes
3 times out of 4 the trip has been excellent. It is a shame that the one
time still taints our memory. With a favorable current the whole way, we
made it to Chesapeake City with time to spare and decided to push on to a new
stop for us in the Bohemia River. We are glad we pushed on, it
was a very nice marina (part of the Brewer/Safe Harbor Marina family) and we were treated to a beautiful sunset.
The marina manager even offered her car to us if we wanted to venture out.
 |
| Awesome sunset |
 |
| Enjoying sunset under our new bimini |
Off the dock by 7:00am for another long day, 9
hours. The wind began to pick up a bit south of the Bay Bridge so we
diverted our track to pass through the cut at Knapps Narrows on Tilghman
Island. We made it to Oxford, MD, another location we've never stopped
before. It's a quaint and quiet little town, and not far
from our friends, Carol & Lee so we could visit. We stayed a
couple of days to wait out a small craft advisory.
 |
| Neat mural in Oxford |
 |
| Tools of the oyster trade on the Chesapeake |
 |
| Dinner with Carol & Lee |
After a couple of days in Oxford, MD,
we headed down the bay. Thank you to Carol & Lee for coming to visit
and joining us for dinner at Latitude 38. It's always wonderful to see
friends we met on the Great Loop 10 years ago. We had oysters and crab
cakes - yummy! We even managed to get ice cream from one of the top 5
establishments, according to Trip Advisor, in the U.S. at Scottish
Highland Creamery, their last week-end open for the season. Life is good!
Our trip down the
bay was just fine although a bit long at 78 miles and 9 1/2 hours.
We saw our first pelicans and had dolphins swimming in our bow
wake. More stuff that never gets old, we just love it.
We had a relatively
short day at only 50 miles. The southerly migration in full swing. The Coast Guard announced on the radio the Gilmerton Bridge on the
Elizabeth River was having a mechanical problem and would
remain in the closed position until further notice. A problem
for us, yes and no. We planned to stop in Portsmouth,
before the bridge, but with this unexpected closure just beyond there could be
boats holding up where we wanted to dock for the night. The good news is,
we can fit under the closed 35' bridge if necessary. Fortunately, they
resolved the problem by 2pm and the bridge was functional. There are 2
basins in Portsmouth, the south was reserved for schooners who had
participated in The Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race so we tied up
to the north and by the end of the day the north was full. Congratulations
to Schooner Virginia, they not only won the race but beat their own record
time.
 |
| Schooner Virginia (black hull) |
Should we stay or
should we go? Coinjock Marina in Coinjock, NC called us at
9:30am and said they had space for us, so we went. We had multiple
bridges (ranging from 4' to 95') and 1 lock. We needed to time some
of the bridges otherwise it meant circling or temporary tie up. Great
Bridge lock works together with Great Bridge bridge which we thought we had
timed for the noon opening. Our fuel stop took a bit longer than expected
so we had to wait for the 1:00pm opening. We made 7:00pm reservations for
dinner at the marina restaurant and reserved a 16 oz prime rib which we easily
shared. Just in case you are interested, Coinjock is an Indian
word for Mulberry.
Off the beaten
path! We entered Albermarle Sound and instead of staying on the ICW, we
headed west to one of the towns on the Albermarle Loop (www.albermarleloop.com),
Stop #1 Hertford
was another new port for us. As we turned up the Perquiman River, Harvey
Point was to port and as we looked with binoculars, we knew there was
something military about it. A little research discovered it is home to
Harvey Point Defense Testing Activity, owned by the Dept of Defense. You
just need to read about it for yourself, it's really very interesting. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Point_Defense_Testing_Activity)
All of the towns on this side loop offer free dockage for 48 hours and some even
have water and electric. After 15 miles upriver, we got to the final
swing bridge and there was a sign noting the hours of operation from Oct 1 to
Mar 30 as 10am to 10pm. We did plan on leaving before 10am but we adjusted
our plans and found breakfast in the morning. Hertford is a
very quaint town, no trash anywhere, very friendly people, historic homes, ice
cream cones for $1.00 (2 scoops) at the local pharmacy. We ventured into
the Chamber of Commerce where there is a museum of memorabilia for the hometown
legend Catfish Hunter. In case you don't know the name, he was
the pitcher for the Oakland A's and NY Yankees in the early
70's. He was signed out of high school, never played minor league, won
the Cy Young award, was selected for 8 All-Star teams, pitched in 5
World Series, inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987 and
more. Unfortunately, he died from ALS in 1999 at the age of
53. The other celebrity associated with this area is radio personality,
Wolfman Jack. Anyone remember American Graffiti
released in 1973?
 |
| Mascot owns the free dock in Hertford |
 |
| Ultimate cruising conditions on Albermarle Sound |
Stop #2 on our side
trip down Albemarle Sound is Columbia NC and is located almost directly across
the sound from Hertford. Columbia does not have a favorite son (at least that we know of) but it
did have more places where we could spend money. The small winery offered
a wine tasting (we got two bottles) and had many other specialty food items to
try. The infused olive oils and balsamic vinegars were especially
tasty. Dinner was at the Mexican restaurant and was also very
good. Everything is located a couple of blocks from the town docks where
we tied up.
People come from all over for art classes at Pocasin At Studio.
 |
| more art |
 |
| Another great mural |
 |
| Scene from Columbia |
 |
| Very delicious dinner |
We adopted the
rating scale the locals of Hertford, NC use based on the number of turtles
sunning themselves on the log in the river. This image is also
the town logo.
1-5 turtles, with 5
being the best. The weather for our side loop was 🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢 days.
North east winds,
5-10 kts, waves 1'.
Heading east toward the ICW, we cruised along
the southern shore of Albermarle Sound passing through the 'Danger Zone'.
Capt. Scott likes to live on the edge sometimes. The 'Danger Zone' is
described as a dive bombing area used by naval aircraft with the following
notation.
"No persons or
vessels shall enter this area during the hours of daylight without special
permission from the enforcing agency. The area will be patrolled and vessels
will be warned not to enter. “Buzzing” by plane will warn vessels that they
are in a danger zone, and upon being so warned vessels which have inadvertently
entered the area shall immediately leave the area."
We transited the
area without getting "buzzed" much to Scott's dismay.
Turning into the
Alligator River, we joined the parade of southbound vessels. The peaceful
cruising of the last couple of days was over, we have to keep a lookout time to watch for
inconsiderate go-fast boats who send damaging wakes. For the most part,
they did call on the radio for a slow pass, but there is always the exception.
At the southern end
of the Alligator River, we anchored for the evening with 2 other boats.
This is one of our favorite spots with nothing around for miles and no
internet/cell connection. We found out earlier in the day the
Orionid meteor showers were on display from Oct 20-22. We set the alarm
for 1:30am and went up on the top deck where we had a prime seat for viewing
the show. There was no moon (just after new moon phase) and the sky was
completely filled with stars, it was amazing to see stars
reflecting in the water all around us. Just beautiful!
As we entered the
Alligator-Pungo Canal this morning, we heard boats ahead of us talking about a
bear in the water. We searched the water and shoreline for the
bear, but nothing. The canal is a straight shot to the Pungo River and
Pantego Creek in Belhaven NC. We set our anchor and headed ashore for
lunch at Spoon River Artwork & Market. It's a farm to table
restaurant where the menu changes daily. The food is incredible and the
decor very funky. We highly recommend if you find
yourself in Belhaven to try it.
 |
| Lunch at Spoon River |
We monitored the
Oriental town dock web cam before entering the harbor to see what docks were
available. We lucked out and tied to the free dock for the night.
The Piggly Wiggly shuttle picked us up for a grocery run. Web cam in Oriental: http://towndock.net/harborcam
Short cruise, only
22 miles up the Neuse River to New Bern for a week. We attended a
Southbounder's Rendezvous hosted by Marine Trawler Owners Association
(MTOA). The timing was good for us to stay put since the marine forecast
was for strong winds. It was a beautiful week although chilly at
night getting down to 48 a couple of nights. New Bern is a lovely
town with many restaurants, historic homes, shops, bike & walking trails
and most importantly to Scott, the Pecan Tree where we stopped and filled our
bicycle basket. We gathered a bunch in Oriental, NC as well but
one can never have too many pecans. Pecan Pie is in our future!
We met lots of new
people at the rendezvous, enjoyed docktails and hor d'overs every night with
the group, graciously accepted transportation for shopping from members of the
New Bern Yacht Club and had a couple of very interesting and informative
sessions by someone from the National Weather Service and UNC/Wilmington on The
Lost Colony. MTOA does a great job putting events together a couple times
a year.
As part of the
rendezvous, we toured the Hatteras boat facility where we saw the entire
production process. The biggest mould they have is 100' that they can
adjust up to 110' or down to 90'. Our guide told us they currently have
one order for (3) 70' sport fish boats for one customer so he can position them
all over the world and fly in to enjoy them as needed. But, the
kicker of the story is that the 3 boats end to end do not even come close to
the length of his mega yacht. This is just not right!
 |
| One of the many bears in New Bern |
 |
| Mascot docked next to Mary Jo in New Bern |
 |
| Collecting pecans |
We moved on to
Beaufort, NC for 2 days waiting for weather to pass along with 2 other boats we
met in New Bern. We haven't been in Beaufort since we did the
Great Loop 10 years ago, so we were happy to revisit. Best of all, the
marina we stayed at is adjacent to a commercial waterfront for shrimp boats.
The marina is affiliated with them so on checking in we received 2
lbs of shrimp fresh off the boat. Guess what we had for supper.
The wind howled one
night In Beaufort and we were very thankful we were tied to a dock
and not at anchor. 20-30 mph winds with gusts over 40. The temp was
42 with wind chill of 34 one morning, brrrr. We usually enjoy the
water lapping against the hull of the boat but it was strong and continuous
throughout the night. The next day was a much better day as we
cruised Bogue Sound to the ICW stretch through Camp Lejeune. We saw lots
of dolphins and even an Osprey, not the bird but the military aircraft making
practice runs along the ICW. Camp Lejeune along the ICW has been closed for a few days for military exercises, so transiting this area has been backed up, otherwise
you would have to run outside. They had just reopened the waterway so we
made it through to our anchorage at Mile Hammock. There were about 8-10
boats anchored for the night. It's very cool, the army men/women run
around on shore and in small boats doing what they do and
off in the background we can hear explosions. Speaking of
explosions, Scott has a new toy. I'm sure one of these days you'll be his
captive audience for a show.
Happy Halloween!
After a very
peaceful evening, although a little chilly, we hauled anchor at 7:15am to get a
jump on the 62 mile trip to Southport, NC. We also needed to time our
transit with bridge openings and navigate through some very tricky shoaling
areas. Within 10 minutes of leaving our anchorage the
sailboat in front of us ran aground. We constantly review
Active Captain, Waterway Guide, CruisersNet and whatever else we can find with
the latest information, as every good captain should do. Obviously the sailboat didn't do their homework. In Southport, there is someone at the marina who holds a daily meeting at 6pm to review
weather and navigation from Southport to Savannah for all those heading
south. It's extremely valuable and we walk away with printed slides of
his presentation. It's definitely worth the price of dockage just to get
this.
Cruising down the
Cape Fear River today we heard a boat being hailed and once the voice came on
the VHF we knew it was Ray & Susie from Last Dance, friends from the
Bahamas. We talked for a little while before they went into Bald Head
Island and we went into Southport. Just before we turned off the river
onto the ICW, a Sheriff boat came along side with 2 Coast Guard men and asked
to come aboard for inspection. Fortunately, waters were calm so they
pulled alongside, boarded Mascot and ran through the inspection. Once the
paperwork was completed they left us with a copy for our records and exited the
same way they arrived. Of course this is the short version of the story,
nothing is ever that easy.
