This part of The Alligator  river meanders thru the backwoods of North Carolina. Homes are few and far between. It's customary to wave to passersby on foot or boat but this local gave us a look that was far from welcoming.

Deer hunting in the bayou !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are sections of the river that are carpeted in green moss  and the water filled with the decay of leaves and trees changes from a deep coffee color to a light colored root beer.

Green stearn waves

 

Root beer bubbles                                      

                                                                                                          
We are headed to Adams Creek, deep within the river where a friend of a friend has offered us the safety of his mooring in about 4-5 feet of water to weather out the storm .  The skies are ominous as we bunker down to prepare for the onslaught. With double mooring lines anchoring the bow and all secured , we hop in the dinghy to meet our gracious host , Robert Irwin.  His English Bull Terrier greets us at the dock.
Bob is very entertaining and has had an extraordinary life . In the 60's as a rock and roll photographer

for the Atlanta Pop Festival , he captured the essence of the era by photographing the likes of B.B. King,
Janis Joplin , Eric Clapton , The Rolling Stones..the list is endless. His talents also include accomplished
painter , sculptor and cyclist.  A tour thru his studio and workshop says it all . Hours later we board the dinghy back to Viento to ride out the storm . Howling winds and driving rains keep us boatbound for 2 days.
We pass the hours away reading , watching movies , celebrating Scott's birthday and Doug treats us to a
delicious fritata for Sunday brunch.

Dougs Fritata

Scott's birthday breakfast

Rain, rain go away..come back another day!!

                              

The tricky part about taking the ICW inland route is looking ahead and anticipating your arrival time at
the bridges and locks. Locks are only open at posted times and some of the bridges are not open during both morning and evening rush hour. What inevitably starts to happen is the boats start to stack up at
these locations. Many snowbirds are heading South . We just met a couple as we were waiting for the bridge to open  that started from Quebec City on Aug 29th meandering thru the St Lawrence Seaway, Lake Champlain and Hudson River . What endless possibilities are at are disposal ! I think I foresee cruising
in our future...Scott is already leafing thru Boattrader.com....

All lined up for the bridge opening

I think I just figured out why the monohaul seems to be the boat of preference on these inland waterways.
Try squeezing a 65 foot catamaran mast under a 64 foot bridge with  barely a 3-4 foot tide to assist. Let's keep our fingers crossed as there really is no other way to tell until its too late.

Holy Crap!!! See the small antennae scrapping the underside of the bridge.

That was a bit too close for comfort . Doug decides to climb the mast and remove the wind vane as we have several more bridges to deal with  before we get to Beaufort. Secured in a climbing harness with Scott raising him up with the winch and belaying him back down,  Doug is safely back on deck. 

I really begin to appreciate the fact that my designated tasks are in the galley as chief cook and bottle washer and moral and welfare coordinator.
Swinging in the breeze with those straps looks a bit uncomfortable to say the least. Doug is appreciative
as I hand him a bubbling gin and tonic accompanied with nacho chips and homemade mango salsa.
Let's call it a day!
 We splurge for dinner at Groupers Restaurant in Elizabeth City , N.C. and enjoy delicious macademia encrusted mahi mahi, and call it an early night.

At sunrise we depart Elizabeth City (Mile 51) hoping to cross Albemarle Sound and and make it all the way to the Pungo River ( Mile 136)

 The ICW ( Intracoastal Waterway) What an amazing system..a combination of bays, sounds  rivers and  canals spanning from Norfolk VA (Mile 0 ) to Key West Florida for a total of  1243 nautical miles.

Carnival Cruise ship with Norfolk Police escort

Norfolk Naval Shipyard

USS Enterprise

Three masted schooner on Norfolk skyline

Our first introduction is here in Norfolk where we are sharing the waterways with an incredible array of commercial vessels. Norfolk Naval Shipyard is the largest naval installation in the world..homeport to aircraft carriers , cruisers, destroyers and nuclear submarines. The twinkling lights at sunset made for a spectacular arrival into this diverse port.

Dismal Swamp Route

  With Hurricane Sandy down in the Bahamas we are up before dawn trying to make headway South for safe berthing in the Beaufort NC area . We opt to take the Dismal Swamp route a bit more inland rather than brave the Outer Banks of Cape Hatteras.  Much to our delight this 70 mile section of the ICW has only a few scattered inhabitants and is home to birds, reptiles and is like a primeval forest with hanging moss very similar to the Louisiana bayous. In 1763 , George Washington  prior to his presidency purchased  40,000 acres of this swampland  with several other businessmen to harvest the timber for shipbuilding and shingles .

Locking system -8 foot height

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He sold his interest to Harry Lee ( father of Robert E. Lee) 30 years later. At Mile 7 we enter  Deep Creek Lock  , the oldest hand dug canal in the US .We are greeted by Robert who wears multiple hats as you can see by his title. Once the waters has reached the 8 foot height , he invites us to his adorable building for coffee and orange juice. My juice is laden with a frozen strawberry and banana concoction. He asks if we are heading to the Tropics and requests that on our return trip we bring back a conch shell .
He is an avid collector and trumpeteer of these nautical shells and entertains us by blasting out a melody                          

Robert- Lock,Dam and Bridge Master

Mileage on the ICW from Deep Creek Lock

                                                           

 What a great day with the girls ! It has been almost five years since we have seen Ramona.Conversation flowed  like we hadn't missed a beat.She picked us up at the boat and we headed to colonial Williamsburg for lunch at the Dog Street Pub. Fried green tomatoes, crab pots and calamari apps with an incredible assortment of hand crafted brews...yummie!!

     

 Strolled thru the specialty shops and Courtney was on a mission to secure a European style expresso maker that would work on the boats  propane stove . Her perseverance paid off..she scored a cappuciono/latte milk frother that works incredibly well..it startled us a bit the first time we used it as  we didn't know if we should run out of the galley  as it reached its pressure point and started to froth and spew much like a pressure cooker releasing air.

Cappachino/latte/milk frother

After enjoying a day a strolling and eating , Scott joined us as we headed to the James River for a nightcap to enjoy the sunset. Temperatures dropped by about 15 degrees as the sun disappeared but we stayed toasty by the firepit sipping Bailey coffees and expresso martinis.

Tomorrow's Monday right..time to start getting serious about yoga and healthy foods . Where did all my good intentions go ?

Expresso Martini

Scott and Carol

                                                           After a day of motoring we have arrived into Chesapeake Bay and have been able to put            up the sails . 7 knots makes a bit more progress than 4 knots motoring against the currents. It's a beautiful fall day ..70 degrees a bit of Indian summer in the air.  It amazes me that Virginia's autumn colors are just beginning to turn.. almost a full  three weeks behind us in Northern Maine. I think I failed to mention that just before we left Beaver Cove we had our first snow fall .
   
 Our destination is the York River Yacht Club in the Historical
triangle of Yorktown, Williamsburg and Jamestown.  We arrived
just in time for the club's annual oyster bake. Timing couldn't have been better. Tables of oysters every which way raw ,grilled and smoked  along with  hamburg, hot dogs and kegs of beer. Gotta love customer appreciation day when you've only been a customer for one hour.

 Arrangements have been made to have the new Yenmar motors

first warranty check for Monday morning so looks like we will have time to explore this historical area.
  Sunday morning after hot showers and a large breakfast we pack for a day of exploring. Courtney
waltzes into the office to find out the times for the courtesy shuttle. Wouldn't you know it, out she walks with the keys to the owners F350...why were we surprised with a cute outfit like that !! We drop Doug off in Yorktown for a day of cycling to Williamsburg, Scott hops on the shuttle to Jamestown and Courtney and I head to Walmart for a bit more provisioning. Courtney and I  are anxiously awaiting a return call from Ramona  a mutual poker chick  friend who has re-located to this area from Portland, Maine

York River Yacht Haven

Scott securing the bow line

   

10/18/2012

  Seeing that we are having an uneventful morning cruising the Potomac, I thought I would give you a tour of our sailing vessel. Scott and I have the luxury of our own sleeping quarters with queen size bed and plenty of storage. Great inside and outside dining options and a very spacious deck for lounging. 

Outside dining

Dining

 

Galley

 

Sleeping quarters

  Our uneventful morning was short lived as we all became wide eyed from the blast of artillery fire in the distance and the crackle of the marine radio coming to life . We could see a bright red Coast Guard boat up ahead apparently marking the boundary for a real life practice session from the Virginia side of the river. " Sailing vessel Viento..stay to the Maryland side of the river ..you are entering restricted waters" boomed the voice of a naval
commander over the radio. Doug and Scott had their hands full following new navigational directions trying to locate buoy and can markers for our new course. For several miles we could hear the boom and accompanying water splash of artillery fire hoping we were out of range.

Coast Guard vessel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the sun began to set we realized we were not going to make it to Norfolk so we pulled into
Cobb Island to moor for the night . Hours later with our bellies full of fried oysters, crab balls and bronzed scallops we called it a night.

Bald Eagle and Blue Heron in marsh

After several unsuccessful attempts at blogging , I've decided to finally try to post our latest adventure.
On the heels of a successful moose hunt, we swapped wool hunting wear for swimsuits and shorts
in anticipation of hot weather in the Bahamas. 12 hours later we arrived in Philadelphia to spend several
days with Jamie and Shelby prior to our departure. 

Jamie splurged on a luxurious queen blow up bed that was very comfortable and surprised us with a
delicious chicken dish. At Shelby's the next day we cooked up a batch of moose ziti's and several of her roommates sampled and enjoyed both the ziti's and a scrumptous apple crisp.

The next morning we caught the in bound for Philadelphia central to catch an Amtrack to Baltimore. What a beautiful train station. Marble floors, polished wooden benches , gilded columns . It brought back memories
of stations I had been to in Europe 20 years ago. The train pulled up right on time and we boarded for Baltimore.




Upon our arrival we met up with Courtney , a fellow poker chick from Portland and Doug
the owner of S/V Viento ( wind in Spanish) picked us up to transport us to the boat.
Much to our delight it was moored at The Capital Yacht club right on the Potomac ..smack in the middle of DC. The Washington Monument was visible on the horizon and we were surrounded by mega-yachts. We decided that we would provision the next day and grabbed a bite to eat at a local Asian fusion restaurant.

Today most of the day was spent in preparation for the journey south , loads of groceries which Courtney and I procured at the local Trader Joe's and Shopway. Doug and Scott buttoned up lots of loose ends on the boat.  The flight path for Marine 1 was just overhead and on several occasions the Presidents helicopter
flew overhead.

Night has descended and we are heading to bed for an early departure at sunrise. 100 miles South
to our next destination Norfolk to pick up a special order of wire for the communication system.




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