April 28, 2019 Alligator River Marina to Elizabeth City, NC

April 28, 2019

Weather forecasts had all the captains questioning which days were looking best for crossing the Albemarle Sound.   No really good weather window developing  until next week so most everyone decided an early departure  today made the most sense.   The parade started at 6AM with a promising sunrise and even we were off the docks by 6:45 hoping to get some  hours in before the winds kicked up to the 15-20 knots  as forecast.

Such a promising start to the day

Up the final stretch of the Alligator River seemed promising as the  SW swells hitting the port rear quarter wasn't impacting us too badly.   As we punched along at our steady 7 knots we could see boats continue to disappear ahead of us as they gave the throttle some extra juice. Conditions deteriorated as we got into the more open sound with bigger more confused waves and higher sustained winds.   But there was no turning back as a rain squall had developed behind us.  We rolled and bounced and took one good wave  that spayed water on the foredeck.   A check below confirmed a few things were getting tossed about but no damage to report. We've endured  worse  conditions but  this was still no joy ride.

Martha did most of the driving as those conditions will make her nauseous if she isn't focused.  So between maintaining her headings, looking out for waves and skirting around crabpots she had her hands full.  By 9:30 we were rounding our way off the sound and up the Pasquotank River and she was more than ready to hand over the controls.  This area is more protected from the SW winds so things finally settled back down for the final leg into Elizabeth City.   Docked by 11AM at the towns free dock.  What a morning!!

Downtown Elizabeth City 

Elizabeth City is known as the  Harbor of Hospitality for it's "Rose Buddies". Back in 1983 two local gentlemen stopped at the newly completed town dock to welcome  visiting boaters.  One of them cut roses from his garden  and presented them to each "First Mate",  A tradition was started  that they continue to this day.  Both men have passed away but their heirs and other  community members keep the tradition alive using several rose bushes that were transplanted  from the original garden to the dock area.   Martha received her rose from "a 5th generation rose giver". 

We got together with the crews from 3 other looper boats  at the local brew pub -  Ghost Harbor Brewery.  It was a fun afternoon for introductions, tall tales of the crossings,  and  a flight of their stouts and porters to sample.  

We'll spend another day or two here before heading up the dismal swamp.  We're a few days ahead of schedule and  free dock is always worth taking advantage of when available.  There's a  few good restaurants here we need to check out that weren't open on Sunday. 

Journey on 4-28-2019

April 27, 2019 Belhaven to Alligator River Marina

April 27, 2019

Sooo…  I’m trying to recreate this page from memory after accidentally deleting it from the blog and then finding out there is no way to recover it.  We’ll see how it goes.

Belhaven has been a good stopping point.   The dockage fees were dirt cheap at the town dock, the boat is fairly protected and secure, the town is recovering nicely from last year’s hurricanes and flooding and has several good restaurants, and there’s a nice collection of older homes to look at while exploring the town.  The people in town are friendly and appreciative of the boaters who stop here each spring and fall during their migrations on the ICW.  It’s a small town that has probably seen its best days – no more boat building or fishing industry to speak of and no real local industry to attract people.  Belhaven’s big claim to fame is River Forest Manor which was built in the late 1800’s by the founder of the Norfolk and Southern Railway.  Beautifully restored several years ago and now used primarily for special events like weddings.

Main Street - one stoplight 

Old town hall  - new waterfront condos

Thursday was a family get together down at Carolina Beach so one of my brothers drove up and got me.  Good times with lots of stories, lots of laughs, a fantastic meal, and way too much drinking!  Then back to the boat Friday.

Paul pops some champagne

Pete finishes cooking the ribs

Rhonda ready start the outstanding dinner

Mom checking our Bill's new ride

Friday’s forecast originally called for winds and rain so we continued to stay in port along with several other loopers. The rain held off most of the day but not so much the wind.  Even in our protected harbor it was whipping up waves. Then about 6PM a cold front passed through with rain and 35-40MPH winds. Everybody was rocking but thankfully it only lasted about an hour.  

Windy conditions before the storm

During my walk on Friday I came across an old marine railway.  This was the method used   for hauling and launching boats before the advent of current travel lifts.  They are a quickly disappearing bit of Americana.  Basically, railroad tracks were laid down going from land into the water.  A trolley was fabricated that rode on the rails and was connected to a cable and drum.  To retrieve a boat the trolley was put down into the water and the boat floated onto it.  As the drum started reeling in cable the boat would be shored up on the trolley and eventually brought fully onto land for  repairs and then relaunched using the reverse process.   Pretty sure it won’t be long before this one is completely gone as the land it’s on had a “For Sale” sign planted out front with an “Under Contract” sticker across it.

Saturday came with a forecast for moderate winds so most everyone was up and out of the harbor early.  We made it out about 7:30 putting us close to the back of the pack.  The ride up the remainder of the Pungo River was uneventful.  Mostly undeveloped natural landscapes.  As we passed through the Alligator – Pungo Canal a few larger faster boats came through but were generally pretty respectful in giving us a slow and easy pass when they saw us throttle back as they approached. Our initial intent was to anchor at the base of the Alligator River for the night, but we were making decent time so decided to press on for the Alligator River Marina where the others had already settled in. This got us through the Alligator River swing bridge which is notorious for having days long mechanical issues and also refusing to open if there are strong winds.  It also placed us about 2/3 of the way up the Alligator River and several hours closer to the Albemarle Sound which would be our next challenge to cross. 

 The Alligator River Marina is an interesting stop.  It’s a good safe haven for boaters who get caught in bad weather between Belhaven and Elizabeth City.   But there is absolutely NOTHING there.  It is best described as a gas station on the bridge road with some boat slips behind it.  They have a grill but dinner orders  for their “famous fried chicken” must be placed by 4:30 and picked up between 5:30 and 6:00PM because they close the place down and lock it up at 6:30.  It was OK – I’m sure it’s the best – or maybe the only -  in a 20 mile area.

THE gas station

Alligator River bridge in distance past harbor entrance

Settling in for the evening

Nebo misfired and didn't pick up our journey for  today so no map to share.  Sorry!!

April 24, 2019 Bear Creek Anchorage to Belhaven

April 24, 2019

Short day today on the water as we left our anchorage in Bear Creek and headed for Belhaven.   Anchor up at 8:30 with Martha at the helm and taking us out the narrow snaking passage as John  hosed down the  decks and anchor of the mud that came up with it.  I've been really impressed with how well this new Rockna anchor sets and holds.

Once out of Bear Creek we headed into Goose Creek canal which connects the Neuse River and Pamlico River.  Part natural creeks on both ends connected by a man made ditch.  Not much  going on here except for the town of Hobuken which is home to R.E. Mayo Seafood and Marine Supply  with it's fleet of boats and a high rise bridge that replaced the older swing bridge.

The Pamlico River was an easy crossing with light winds once again.  I played with the radar a bit while crossing knowing we had a couple boats ahead of us and a few behind.  Mostly just getting used to seeing what  the radar signals will look like  in open water and differentiating them  from known navigation aids.

Open water on the Pamlico but calm seas

Making a  left hand turn  off the Pamlico  onto the Pungo River had us headed right to Belhaven.  Sort of a unique harbor as it has a metal breakwater wall across Pantego Creek which the town faces to control wave action.  We're tied up at the town docks which are across the street from the  Chamber of Commerce and before we could get fully secure Diane the Chamber Executive Director  was  alongside with a welcome package.

Approaching the breakwater

Waterfront homes in Belhaven

Tied up and secured

We had been to Belhaven during our trip  down in the fall when the town was still recovering from the terrible flooding  this part of the state experienced last year.  We could see where water had risen  several feet into the downtown stores.  Several had been cleaned out and reopened but many were still in various stages of renovation.  Happy to report that all is well and even their best restaurant  Spoon River has reopened.  Delicious flounder for Martha and Mahi for John.  After a walk around downtown and talking to the crew on several other boats tied to the dock we watched  another great sunset.

We're tied up here for a few days to travel to a family gathering in Carolina Beach and then hoping we get a weather window for our next  section  which is a long run up the Alligator River and across the Albemarle Sound to Elizabeth City.  The weather gods have been kind to us so far but it looks like some windy weather for the foreseeable future.

April 23, 2019 Beaufort, NC to Bear Creek Anchorage

April 23, 2019

Interesting fact: Based on the loop being 6000 miles we have now  completed 5% of our journey!

We were off the Beaufort town docks at 7:30 and were still the last ones gone.  Big custom sportfish with Shinnecock, NY hailing port fired up his diesels and left in darkness at 5AM and must have woken everyone else up.  After consulting with a few people on the docks the northern route out of town to the ICW has some pretty skinny water and so we opted to take the long way around going back south towards the inlet before doubling back and heading north on the main channel.  Beaufort was a little more out of the way than staying at the Morehead City Marina which we used  when coming south, but we enjoyed our stay and had a good walkabout.

A couple of tugs/tows passed us headed towards Morehead City as we left town. That was the only commercial traffic we encountered.  We saw  this old short smokestack on a  small unnamed  island. It shows as an icon on the charts but no further information. I’m sure there’s an interesting history behind it, but guess we’ll never know. 

Next up was Adams Creek and the canal leading to the Neuse River.  Fairly typical scenery for along these cuts. A few marinas, some more shrimp boats, and houses and docks. The tidal range is a lot more reasonable here, so most docks are fixed rather than floating which reduces the need for no wake zones.  Fairly light traffic today with just us and a few sailboats.

Miss Melisa has seen her best days

Looking a bit more Bahamian  than southern

We hit the Neuse river with a light southerly breeze so no wave action to worry about.  Open waters we’ll cross in NC include the Neuse River , the Pamlico Sound, the Alligator River and the Albemarle Sound.   Each of these can get nasty if the wind picks up from the wrong direction as they quickly develop a rough chop and uncomfortable ride due to the shallow depths.  Today was perfect – sunny, calm and no traffic.  We set “Otto”, our autopilot, and relaxed a bit for the crossing. 

First mate catching a nap during the Neuse crossing

Sailboat followed in our wake across the river

Once across the Neuse we headed up Bay River and then shot into Bear Creek to drop anchor.  We made an early arrival so had some time to play.  I finally got the dingy in the water and fired up the motor for the first time this season.  Did some reading and relaxing.  Cocktails, dinner on board and then watched another great sunset to finish the day.

Motor fired up and off on the first sea trial 

Returning from sea trial

Back up and running properly

Quite anchorage all to ourselves as the sun goes down.  

Journey 4-23-2019

April 22, 2019 Hammock Bay to Beaufort, NC

April 22, 2019

After a restful night sleep  on the anchor under a full bright moon  in Hammock Bay (Camp Lejeune) we were a bit late in pulling anchor and getting underway.  Finally had the anchor secured and we were back on the ICW at 8:45.  There were 11 boats anchored with us and we were the next to last to leave.  Realized we messed up our timing a bit as we approached the Onslow Beach swing bridge which only opens on the half hour and we arrived smack in between  openings so had to idle around for a few minutes.

We then worked our way up and around Swansboro.  There are numerous shoals which encroach on the ICW and despite having a set of  current printed COE Surveys  showing water depths  in these areas we still managed to find some pretty skinny water but luckily no grounding today!

This area is also home to the diminishing shrimping industry.  There's still some working boats but we also have seen several beached and rotting boats. Possibly the result of past hurricane damage, possibly grounded as an unfitting end to a working vessel that just couldn't make it financially.

All along this area and through the stretch  behind Bogue Sound  there are small islands separating  the ICW from  the sound and sometimes the ocean.  It's a long stretch with limited  views of interest but where  you need to keep a constant eye on the charts, current, winds, etc.   It was nice to finally get back into a developed area and see the houses, marinas and high rise bridge of Morehead City.  Our final destination was Beaufort, NC (The Bo-fort one, not the Bue-fort one in SC).  This required an interesting jog south  as if we were heading out the inlet before  making a 180 degree turn  and heading back up a secondary channel.  The outgoing tide had us  shooting outbound  but it took a little extra  RPM's to make headway going back up channel to Beaufort.

We arrived about 2:30  at Beaufort Docks Marina right in the heart of town and did a remarkably good job with stern in docking while a crowd of tourists watched.  The early arrival gave us time to use the marinas courtesy car - a Chevy Lumina that had seen it's best days long ago - for a quick trip to the grocery for some provisioning.  Once that was done a quick walk around town, a stroll through a few stores, and reading the menu boards at the local eateries.  Decided the restaurants were a bit too proud of their food and opted to just dine on board again.

The Beaufort waterfront

As the sun set we took  advantage of some wooden nickles they gave us at the dock office which were good for a free beer at the bar. Great way to end another day!!

Pretty sunsets just never get old

Route taken 4-22-2019