Back In The Exumas

     This past week has been very busy with land adventures and adventures on the water.  On Sunday we traveled through the Dismal Swamp Canal.  The canal is a little like the interstate, straight and boring.  Sunday afternoon we found a free dock in Portsmouth and waited for Joe & Ann on S/V Short Walk to arrive on Monday.  Short Walk arrived just in time to take one of the last two free dock spaces.  That evening we dined at the Bier Garden where we enjoyed some wonderful German cuisine. 

      Tuesday was a new adventure as we toured the Battleship Wisconsin.  Joe at 6'4" and myself at 6' found it difficult to navigate the decks because of the low overheads.  Joe, a former serviceman of the Navy, was able to get around better than myself.  Thanks to hardhats, we all walked away without injury.

     Tuesday night was a planned outing that exceeded our expectations.  The four of us went to The Commodore Theatre in Portsmouth.  This theatre was restored to an art deco design of the 40's with an additional flair of having tables instead of rows of theatre seating.  On each table was a telephone, your direct connection to the kitchen.  Call in your order, dine at your table before the movie, and if you tell the kitchen to hold your desert, it will be served part way through the movie.  What a unique experience!  The movie - The Hunger Games - my rating 6 out of 10.

     Wednesday morning came at 6a.m. as we prepared to run the Chesapeake Bay non-stop.  We did this last year because of the weather and did it again this year for the same reason.  With a little push from the winds and favorable tides at the right times we got back to Long Cove Marina on Thursday morning at 7:10a.m.  That was 3 hours better than last year's run.

     Thursday morning was a time of recuperation but on Friday it was boat work, boat work, boat work.  Saturday was boat washing day before the rains came!  Now, it's time to get back out on the hook.  The next three weeks will be spent painting teak and whatever other work we can manage to do.  Who said "Let's Go Boating!"  Who knows, but maybe I'll get a chance to kick back with a cold beer and watch a sunset reminiscing that I was back in the Exumas (Bahamas).

On the foredeck of Battleship Wisconsin

Hard working woman

The ladies take a stroll on the fantail

Joe & Ann (S/V Short Walk) at Commodore Theatre

The Pasquotank River

     When you depart the Alligator River in North Carolina and are heading north, you must make a navigational decision - ICW Route 1 through Coinjock or ICW Route 2 through the Dismal Swamp.  We have always chosen Route 1 through Coinjock, whether we were heading south or north.  However, there is always an exception and that would be our migration north this spring, when we chose Route 2.  When you depart Elizabeth City, NC for the Dismal Swamp, you travel north on a river to access the Dismal Swamp Canal.  There is an abundance of wildlife on this river as shown in the photos below.  This river is our third installment in the Best Scenic Waterways.  This river is the Pasquotank River.

M/V "Rust Bucket"

     The only reason this boat qualifies for the "Boats of Interest" label is because the twin 150 Mercs mounted on the stern are worth 25 times more than the value of this rust bucket.

The Rest Is History

     The story has been told once or twice, or even more, but it does warrant another time because it was purely a chance encounter.  Sharon and I were on our inaugural trip south on the ICW.in 2010.   Somewhere in the vicinity of Cocoa Beach, FL we were passed by a sailboat.  Yes, I said passed by a sailboat.  When you're a slow boat to China, aka a trawler, you do get passed by other boats that are traditionally slower than yourself.  But in this case, being passed by this sailboat was a very good thing.  After being passed, the sailboat's Admiral, Ann, hailed us because of our boat name and our hailing port.  We are Big Run with a hailing port of Rock Hall, MD, and they are Short Walk with a hailing port of Furlong, PA.  Okay, the hailing ports don't match but they do keep their boat in Rock Hall, MD.  It's all about the boat  names. We chatted on the radio with them for awhile.  As these two slow boats traveled south on the ICW that afternoon, we were never separated by much distance, and soon it was time to look for an anchorage.  Both Short Walk and Big Run shared an anchorage that night at Pine Island which included an impromptu happy hour, and the rest is history. 

Goose Creek

     We have passed through this waterway many times, but never on a sunny day.  Although each day was grey and overcast, it was always a beautiful and scenic waterway.  Located in North Carolina just south of the Pamilco River, the creek is about 5 miles long and is packed with swamps, marshes woodlands and small tributaries.  It has earned our title of best scenic waterway, this is Goose Creek.

A Fighting Chance

     We've been slowly making our way north since our departure from Stuart, FL on the 30th of March.  Some days we cruised for 40 or 50 miles.  Some days we cruised 60 or 70 miles.  Sometimes we took the day off.  We cruised for 5 days with our good friends Rick, Deb & Izzy (M/V Broulee).  One day we cruised for 87 miles with the help of a flood tide so that we could rendezvous with our good friends Joe & Ann on S/V Short Walk.  Since reuniting with Short Walk on the 9th of April, we have been cruising with them.  They have been taking side excursions to different towns to visit friends.  We have been meeting some of our friends on the waterway.  Just last night I went up to the pilothouse just before sunset and spotted M/V Epilogue, another Krogen 42, heading off for a different anchorage.  They had not seen us because of the other boats that had anchored with us.  We hailed them on the VHF radio and managed to catch up on some things.  This morning Epilogue stopped by for a drive-by hello.  We hadn't seen Phillip and Connie for almost 18 months and we managed to say hello and spend a few moments "together" albeit from 30 feet away as we each stayed on our respective boats. 

     If our planning pans out, remember Jello, Short Walk should catch up to us on Thursday morning in our current anchorage on the Alligator River. Our anchorage is on the south side of the Albemarle Sound.  This body of water has always been our arch enemy because we do not have stabilizers which would prevent us from rolling from side to side.  The Sound is oriented in a east west lay and with its shallow depth can provide for some very rough seas when the winds are strong.  Big Run always handles best when she is very heavy so yesterday we topped off the fuel and fresh water tanks to give us a fighting chance.

ICW Sunrise

M/V Broulee departing Cumberland Island (4-5-2012)

S/V Short Walk on the hook at Butler Island (4-11-2012)

Photo Opportunity

     Just this morning I was on the phone with Rick (M/V Broulee) discussing the "catch of the day" when we hauled the anchor on Monday, the previous day in Port Royal, South Carolina (see blog entry "New Challenges" 4/9/2012).  Rick said it's not a good place (South Carolina) to have to dive on a fowled anchor because of alligators in the south.  We have never seen alligators on the ICW,  until today.  We were traveling north in South Carolina near Casino Creek at mile marker 425 when Joe on S/V Short Walk reported over the VHF "Alligator on the starboard side"!  Say no more, I asked Sharon to take the helm and with camera in hand I was off to the foredeck.  As we draw closer the alligator starts swimming for the center of the ICW, right in front of the boat.  Wow, what a photo opportunity!

The alligator casually swimming for the center of the ICW and towards the front of the boat.

Patiently waiting for Big Run to pass.

New Challenges

     "Everyday is an adventure......." so goes our motto, and with each day comes a new challenge, but at 7a.m. when I'm hauling the anchor I don't need any new challenges.

The one that did get away.  Length - 16 feet.  Weight - extra heavy.  New Big Run record.

The Speed Of Light

     After sitting in an anchorage on Duplin River, GA waiting for a blow to pass through on Friday, Sharon and I decided to get an early start this morning.  At 0645 I went up on the bow to pull the anchor only to find a surprise waiting for me on the anchor chain.  Friday was full moon and with the full moon comes astronomical high tides.  When you have high, high tides as we did last night, the old growth reeds from last season are all swept out of the marsh lands and deposited onto the waterways.  Or, as in our case, snagged on the anchor chain and bow.  (See photos below)

This picture does not convey how large the collection of reeds was on the anchor chain.

With the anchor still deployed we were able to motor to port and then back up to shake part of the  pile free.

      Later in the day as we made our way north through the Georgia marsh lands, we were always fighting the currents of the tides.  Sometimes the currents were on the bow, which slowed our speed over ground to 4.5 MPH.  But when the currents were on the stern, we made very good time.  Big Run is limited in speed due to hull design.  It's a full displacement hull, and it's called hull speed.  Hull speed is the measurement of the vessel through the water not over ground.  It doesn't matter how much horsepower you throw at it our maximum hull speed is around 8 MPH.  Today, with the current on our stern, we broke the 8 MPH barrier and there was cause for celebration.  In fact here is the analysis of our speed over ground with the currents pushing us today:

         9 MPH - now we be sailing!

       10 MPH - now we be flying!

       11 MPH - warp speed Scotty!

    11.5 MPH - for a trawler that's faster than the speed of light!

Cumberland Island National Seashore, GA - Spring 2012

     A different view of Cumberland Island National Seashore.

Fungus?

Lizard

Lichen

Yellow Flowers!

Dung Beetles