Winding Our Way South

It's been a busy three weeks or so since my last blog. We had planned to leave Solomons on a Thursday, but nasty weather kept us, and about a dozen other big boats, tied to the dock until Sunday. Despite the icy glaze on the cement dock and wave reports in the Chesapeake still a bit on the high side, we and most everyone else had had enough of waiting.

"The Boys" Relax 

We were rewarded by an extremely nice run down to Deltaville, VA, the stop mid-way to Norfolk from Solomons,  but marred by leaking transmission fluid. Not a small problem. We had just left Scotty in Solomons, but were soon on the phone with him again. With the addition of more fluid and engine checks every half hour, then hourly, we docked at Zimmerman's Yard with hopes of getting repairs early Monday morning.

As the weather had been so nasty in Maryland and to clear my head of engine issues, I took a long walk down the road from the boatyard and surrounding area. I quickly became nostalgic for the time my parents lived in the Tidewater region of Virginia. Somehow the piney smell, mixed with a little wood smoke, the long pine needles scrunching under my feet and the autumn feel of the late day were like Proust's cookie, bringing back memories from so many years ago. Poor Paul was left behind cleaning buckets of oil from the engine and pump rooms and the bilge. Not fun.

Zimmerman's came through like champs for us early the next morning and we were underway again by 11, feeling good about the experience there and relieved not to be held up waiting for a mechanic. On to Norfolk, where we pulled in to our unfamiliar marina just after dark, a docking challenge which Paul handled nicely. It was a full day, ending well.

Transiting Norfolk Harbor is something we always look forward to, despite all the timed bridges, heavy commercial and recreational traffic. We enjoy looking at all the naval vessels, at downtown Norfolk and the commercial piers. This time of year cruising boat traffic can be heavy and we found ourselves in a pack of 24 boats waiting for the first timed bridge opening. Amazingly, there were three boats from Marblehead, including ourselves, and one that has always been docked one boat away from us in Salem. Small world.

Alligator River- Pungo River  Canal

We made it through several more bridges, the Great Bridge Locks and into North Carolina where we anchored for the night behind a small island. We celebrated Paul's birthday onboard with one of his favorite pastas and since I love an excuse to bake underway, a homemade chocolate cake.

Slade Creek Anchorage at Sunset

The next couple of days we traveled through trees on winding rivers connected by land cuts, some only a few miles, one a numbing 21 miles. The cuts look straight, but the auto pilot needs more tending to stay on track than we'd wish. And then there are the sounds-- wide open, shallow bodies of water which can become nasty with opposing wind and currents. Our tactic is to leave very early in the day, when winds are calm and the water is flat, and we had no weather issues, making it an easy trip.

The upside to this part of North Carolina is the lovely anchorages just off the waterway. Anchored away from any populated area, we frequently find ourselves without cell coverage, sometimes without internet, but incredibly as we only have "air" TV, we enjoyed a choice of channels for the everning news! As we move southward, such anchorages become rare, as depths and protection from current is problematic.

As we were nearing our last day of exposed water, the weather forecast continued to worsen. The NOAA predictions were so bad for the  NC coastal waters (outside) that they were almost hard to believe-- 16-24 ft waves and sustained winds over 40 knots. We had planned to anchor at Wrightsville Beach for a couple of nights as it's a favorite place, but we were concerned about our ability to find enough swinging room there. We are also not fond of anchor watches during the night, so we beat feet to Southport to a cozy marina to ride out the storm. We stayed there two nights, and were happy to be there.

Fishermen in Early Morning Fog

We connected by radio with friends in Southport, also waiting out the weather, and agreed to travel to our next destination, Myrtle Beach, together. We had a lovely day on the ICW and arrived mid afternoon at the Grande Dunes Resort and Marina in 70 degree temps. Motivated by dinner out and embarrassment over the very dirty condition of poor Carry On, we gave her a thorough, much needed bath. We had a delicious dinner at the resort while enjoying the company of new friends.

One more day to Awendaw Creek where we anchored for the night, then up early the next morning to make Charleston by mid day.

Salt Marshes, Cloudy Day

Our lives have been made crazy for the last week by making an offer on a house sight unseen, in Marblehead-- one of the reasons I have procrastinated my blog post. We have rescheduled our itinerary endless times and been totally preoccupied. Paul is presently in Marblehead, overseeing the home inspection and heat loss testing while I am home with Bubba on Carry On in Charleston. The jury is still out on the house, but it looks like it may be quite a bigger project than we expected or are comfortable with. We are feeling stoic about the decision-- if this one doesn't work out, another one will and we are still happy to be living on Carry On. But no more long distance  house hunting-- crazy making!