Shelby and Savannah Go to the Beach in the Rain

It was Savannah’s first Atlantic Ocean beach experience. She ran full speed up and down chasing the waves, several times getting caught as the wave broke on the beach. She also chased sea gulls running in and out of the surf. Her adventure ended when the Park Ranger came by and required the dogs to be leashed. Needless to say, she had salt and sand all over her. We rinsed her off the best we could, but now we have sand all over Salty Dog’s decks. Fortunately the rain is flushing the sand down the scuppers. Shelby could have cared less. I guess at her age, no need to run and chase. She just casually walked along with Jeff (he's not caring about much at his age either). No beach pictures due to the rain (to keep the camera dry).

Traveling with "Sandpiper"

We are fortunate to be traveling with Bob Webb on “Sandpiper”, a Marine Trader 34 trawler. We met Bob at Stingray Point in Deltaville last year. Bob, who holds a Coast Guard Captain’s license, has made this trip four times. No substitute for skill and experience. We rely on him to show the way as well as to advise us on docking maneuvers, etc. Jeff returns the favor by fixing stuff on Bob’s boat.

We generally gather on “Salty Dog” for evening happy hour. It is good traveling together.

Bob mentioned that he didn’t plan a blog, but would refer his friends and family to this one. So welcome to all readers.

Attached are some additional pictures taken along the way:

Checking In From Wrightsville Beach, N.C.

Last night we anchored off of Camp LeJeune, N.C. For those that are unfamiliar with this - it is the Marine Corps Base. It covers a lot of waterfrontage, in fact, many, many miles. We anchored at a place referred to on the charts as Mile Hammock. We were just in front of where the Marines were doing practice take offs and landings with the CH-53 helicopters (the biggest and fastest ones they have), as well as the Osprey (plane). It was very impressive! I have posted pictures of both. Then, this morning about 7:00am, I was in the cockpit and heard something loud and low, meaning big, coming from the south towards us. I watched and listened, expecting to see a barge and tow boat, but instead there were four camoflodged (sp?) boats heading into the anchorage area. It was awesome!!! They headed straight for the bulkhead dock - there was a platoon of men on the dock waiting for them. They loaded on the boats and left the area. I was dissappointed in the other boats at anchor - they showed no respect for the marines. They hoisted their anchors and proceeded to get in the marines' way as they were trying to get out of the anchorage. I guess Jeff and I have a respect for the military that is not present in a lot of people. We felt very priveleged to watch the training excercises, both this morning and yesterday afternoon/evening.

So, we are in Wrightsville Beach this evening, after a tedious day of hurry up and wait. We really didn't make that many miles today (only 40), nor did we intend to. We are exactly where we wanted to be tonight, but we had to wait for almost 2 hours to get through the last bridge, at Wrightsville Beach. We took the dogs ashore early this evening and walked for a short time on the beach. The surfers are out! The waves didn't look very big to me, so I'm not so sure why they are out there. We have had on again, off again rain today, as well as 15 - 25 knot winds. This is the first day of semi-yukky weather we have had since we started south. The forecast is for the next couple of days to be like this. Perhaps we will just stay here and wait it out. I am looking forward to a long walk on the beach tomorrow morning. Now that we have passed Oct 1 the dogs are allowed on the beach.

We are meeting all kinds of people along the way. It is an interesting bunch of people going down the waterway. Some have no clue. Jeff and I are feeling much better about our boat handling skills after watching the boats around us. It is interesting that we are seeing a lot of the same boats day after day in the anchorage. But then again we may not see certain boats for several days, and then there they are again. Everyone has their places/towns/marinas that they like to stop at. And tonight there are a half dozen boats in this anchorage that we have never seen. And they are not local boats - how have we missed them? Boats from everywhere! And all different kinds and sizes, of boats as well as people. Some people travel alone, as in alone on the boat by themselves, others have two couples on one boat, some boats have all men, some all women.

Better get this posted before I lose my wireless signal again. It sounds like there is a storm getting ready to hit us - it is thundering and the dogs are frantic. It's here!

Leaving Beaufort, North Carolina in the morning

We have enjoyed our couple of days in Beaufort, NC. We are across from Carrot Island and there is a herd of about 40 wild horses on the island. This morning I counted 7 or 8 down on the beach, but wasn't able to get any pictures.

The change of boats here from day to day is amazing! Late yesterday afternoon/early evening a 112' yacht pulled in just a couple of slips away from us. Of course the owner was not on board, as they usually are not on most of the boats that pull in here - just the 'crew'. They pull in, tie up, (drag the fuel line to the boat and take on anywhere from $800 - $6000 worth of diesel fuel), hook up the hoses and begin rinsing, washing, and polishing the boat - that is the dead give away that it is 'crew' and not the owner. Most owners are interested in getting the boat settled in the slip and relaxing a little. This afternoon there were a lot more boats that pulled in, and by far they were mostly sportfisher boats - large ones! But again, they had 'crew' on them, with some owners as well. We talked to a few crews to find this out. It absolutely boggles my mind to think of where people get the money for these boats and full time crews. The boats alone are so far out of reach, and then to think that they have 2 - 3 full time crewmembers onboard and will for the next several months. Some boats are being moved from a northern (summer) area to a winter area in Florida or the Bahamas. And this is done every year, just so the owner can spend a few weeks aboard, and be comfortable.

Anyway, we are pulling out in the morning, for Camp LeJeune, NC. Hopefully the weather is going to continue to be good - it looks like it will be. I am looking forward to seeing lots of porpoises and getting some pictures. Don't know when we will have internet access again.

WE HAVE DECK POOPING DOGS!!!!!

Can you believe it???!!! Shelby led the way on this one! And Savannah followed right along. We are almost there. Shelby has even peed on deck, and I’m hopeful Savannah will soon. Savannah goes to the back of the boat where the dinghy is and whines, as if to say “I know that little boat is for taking me to shore so I can go potty, so let’s go, NOW!”

We pulled into Beaufort, North Carolina this afternoon. We love it here! We spent yesterday afternoon in Oriental, NC. We splurged and are tied up in a marina. There really isn’t a good place to anchor here unless you are less than 35 feet. The wind and the current are usually opposite each other as well. The boats that are at anchor are all swinging in different directions. Thank goodness there isn’t much wind. We saw lots of dolphins today along the way, although none were close to the boat. Tomorrow I am going to check out all the shops on the waterfront and Jeff is going to help Bob work on his generator – it won’t start.

OK – We left Stingray Point Marina, Deltaville, Virginia at 7:30am on Oct. 15, with Lenny & Debbie and Dick & Anna waving us off. It was 52* and a beautiful morning. We had a nice motorsail. Sailed into Norfolk that afternoon, past the Navy base. There were three aircraft carriers in port, as well as many other Navy ships, plus a Carnival cruise ship (figure that one out!!). The USS Wisconsin is permanently tied up in downtown Norfolk, for touring. We anchored at a place called Hospital Point, and appropriately named because we were right in front of the hospital. We had downtown Norfolk on one side of the water and Portsmouth on the other. I will try to post a picture of sunrise from this location. You all are going to get tired of my sunset and sunrise pictures!

The second day out was a slow one. We had to wait for several bridges to open and a lock. The bridges have very strict opening times, as does the lock. Many boats left the anchorage before we did this particular morning – apparently they didn’t realize the first bridge would not open until after rush hour at 9:00, because they were all jammed up at the bridge when we got there at 8:45. After waiting for several bridges we then had to wait for over an hour for the lock. There were so many boats going south that we had to wait for the third lock through before our turn, and then we only dropped down 9 inches! Hardly worth the trouble!!! Not quite like locking through on the Tennessee River.

Third day out – we crossed over the N.C. line at 11:35am.

Heading South on Monday

10/10/07 Wednesday

We left Annapolis Sunday morning and headed for Solomon’s Island. We were glad to leave Annapolis, although we had an enjoyable time and met some very interesting people. I feel very confident in saying that we will never keep a boat there and we will probably not go back by boat either. It is a zoo!!

We made Solomon’s Island by 5:00pm. Left out the next morning at 7:15am, heading for an anchorage we like near Deltaville, called Little Bay. When we arrived there were no other boats. The whole place to ourselves!!!!! It was sooooo nice. And quiet! Another boat did show up later, but they were quite aways from us. The dogs had a grand time running on the beach and playing in the water. I know there are those among you reading this that have asked how we do certain things on the boat, such as getting the dogs to shore, as well as ourselves. I am posting a picture of me schlepping the dogs to shore in the dinghy. Think of the dinghy as our car. The dogs are always anxious to get in the dinghy. Savannah actually jumped from the boat to the dinghy one time. I thought, oh great we’re going to have to find a vet to have a bone set after that jump, but she was ok. If that had been Shelby, ‘our delicate little flower’, you know we would have been at the vet’s office.

Jeff left this morning to drive the car home. He will fly back tomorrow evening. We have a few things to complete this weekend, like changing the oil in the engine and generator, as well as marking our chain on the different anchors, so we will know how much we have out – seems like we would have done this already doesn’t it? Anyway – weather permitting we will be leaving Monday morning and heading South. More later.

Time to move again?

10/7/07 Sunday morning

The Harbormaster showed up at 4:00pm yesterday and said the Condo Association had complained heavily to them about us being anchored in front of their condos. We had move, but where to go? Out in front of the Naval Academy, of course. Being a Saturday afternoon, and all the recreational traffic buzzing in and out and around, it was very rough out there, but by dark it had settled down. I’ve posted a picture of sunset from this location.

Jeff dinghied in and picked up Michael & Sara and Steve & Terri and brought them out to the boat for cocktails. Both couples were flying out this morning and we were leaving as well, so it was goodbye time. We will probably see Michael & Sara when we arrive in Charleston, SC, as they live close by. And we are hopeful Steve & Terri will be able to visit with us in the Bahamas.

Boat Show Time!!!!

'Push and Shove'

10/5/07 Friday

We spent all day yesterday and part of today at the Boat Show. We are Boat Showed out!!!

We watched the goings ons with putting the Boat Show together earlier this week. There is soooo much to do to get ready for the show – bringing in the tents for “stuff” to be set up - these are on shore. Then the boats start arriving, and in a very particular order, because floating, portable docks have to be placed in behind them to allow more docking space for more boats. There were two boats named PUSH and SHOVE (check pictures) that helped place the temporary docks. I have no idea how many temporary pilings we saw driven into place to stabilize these docks. We stood up on top of Pusser’s Pub (that is where the boat placement coordinator was) and watched some of the boats arrive. What a zoo!!!!! The coordinator had several radios that he used to talk to the show level coordinator as well as the people moving the show boats in. Not all boats had their radios on or weren’t listening and it got messy. We watched a boat come flying into the docking area (out of turn) and T-boned another boat. We could hear the crunch of fiberglass from where we were! I’ve posted a few pictures of the show area.

'Setting up The Show'

'During The Show'

'During The Show'

Our friends from the marina in Deltaville, Sara & Michael Barrett flew in today, for the boat show. Michael is a retired General, so they are able to stay on the Naval Academy grounds while in town. Lucky them. We were treated to drinks in the Officers’ Club this evening. We enjoyed spending the evening with them.

I’ve posted a picture of the drawbridge in downtown Annapolis, with a sailboat going through, as well as a picture of the hanging baskets that are on the drawbridge. The potted flowers in downtown Annapolis are gorgeous. The pots that are sitting along the sidewalks are enormous, maybe 36-40 inches across and 36 inches high, and hanging baskets like I posted on every light post. You only see one side, but there is another one on the other of the post, and equally beautiful. They have a crew that comes along every day and cares for them. It is October and they are still beautiful!

'See the sailboat to the right?'

Naval Academy Day

10/3/07 Wednesday

We toured the Naval Academy yesterday(can you tell???). WOW – was that impressive! There are 4,000 cadets and over 300 acres of USNA grounds. They have a large sailing fleet as well. Sixteen 44’ boats and probably a hundred small boats, all the way down to Lasers (14 feet) and there were probably 50 or so of those.

We saw the crypt of John Paul Jones (pictures didn’t turn out). The Chapel is breathtaking, and I have included some pictures of that. But just as impressive was watching noon formation. All 4,000 cadets stand in formation, Monday through Friday, for “Noon Formation”. This happens right before they go to lunch in Bancroft Hall. The Pipes & Drum Band plays (check out the picture).

Our friends, Steve & Terri Brothers, from Chattanooga, flew in this morning. They spent the afternoon and evening with us. Terri helped me finish the netting around the boat. Now we can leave the dogs out on deck when we are away from the boat, without worrying about them falling off. I’ve always hated leaving them down inside. They will be happier outside. Steve helped Jeff move anchors, again.

We are getting more anchoring practice!

9/28/07 Friday

Well, we’ve moved again. Farther back into the creek. We sure are getting some practice pulling the anchor up and re-anchoring. We have no swing room here, because of the size of our boat and the shear number of other boats, along with the size of the creek. We are anchored in front of some condos, with boat slips on both sides of us, but they have plenty of room to get in and out.
We’ve met a number of people from other boats that are anchored here. There seem to be quite a few boats from Canada. We met a couple from Toronto that has very little sailing/boating experience and are going to Grenada, offshore. Gutsy or just plain stupid, we’re not sure. They have taken a year off work and only have that year to see all they want to see. We wish them luck. We’ve met two families, with two children each that are cruising. One family has 12 year old twins and the other family has 12 and 16 year olds. They are from Charleston, SC and somewhere in Iowa.