In New Bern NC

We are in New Bern NC getting ready to return to Florida to pick up where we left off on Hi Flite.

The weather forecast was giving us several days of good weather so on Sunday we headed out.  The trip up the ICW to St. Augustine was uneventful even in the shallow areas and we managed to catch the 2:00 pm opening at The Bridge of Lions, from there we raised the mainsail and motored out the inlet.  The tide was going out and the wind was pushing against it so it was a rough ride out the inlet.  From there we set our course for Cape Fear and began.  The seas were still rough with waves in the 5-6 foot range causing us some rolling.  We were hoping that the raised mainsail would help to dampen the rolling. The seas were causing the autopilot to work overtime trying to keep us on track.  During the night the autopilot gave up completely.  We were now tasked with steering by hand the entire trip.  Steering a boat in open water is a little different then steering a car.  There are no points of reference, no signs or buoys to guide you while offshore.  All you can do is just watch the compass and keep on your heading, for hours on end until the next shift comes on.  We normally do four hour shifts but we got off sequence since we were both real tired.

The weather forecast was for the winds to shift from northeast when we started to south by the time we got to Cape Fear and they were right.  As we progressed the sea conditions also dropped so that we only had a mild swell and pretty calm conditions.  The forecast also called for a major wind shift to the northwest then clocking to northeast sometime on Wednesday.  We only had a thirty gallon fuel tank with an extra twenty gallons in jerry jugs so we also needed fuel.  This is why we were aiming for the Cape Fear River instead of continuing on to Beaufort NC.  We arrived in Southport Tuesday and called several marinas until we found one that had room for us. It was after 5:00 so they stayed open late to get us in.  Thank you staff of South Harbour Village Marina.  We ended up tied up behind Lee and Cheryl on Shalaylee.  After showers we joined then for drinks, stories and ice cream.

Wednesday the forecast proved to be correct and the winds were out of the northeast and the temperature had dropped with highs in the mid 60’s and lows in the low 40’s through the weekend.  Pretty chilly when you don’t have a heater and did not bring warm weather clothes.   After a few phone calls to Ken and Francie we ordered the part needed for the autopilot and choose to stay at the marina until the weekend.  Friday the part arrived and the autopilot was again working.  Saturday morning we left the dock early to make as many miles as we could and headed up the Cape Fear River and back into the ICW.  It turned out that Ken and Francie were only a couple of miles behind us and when they caught up we traveled with them.  They draw less water than we did so they went ahead to measure the depth after we went aground near Carolina Beach.  We bumped the bottom several more times the next couple of days.  Sunday morning we pulled anchor at sunrise to try to make it to Morehead City by nightfall.  The weather forecasters had the winds all wrong.  Instead of 15-20 knots we were fighting 20-30 knot winds, at one point we saw gusts up to 37 knots.  We made it to Morehead City sooner than we expected and decided to continue as far as we could to get to Oriental.  Midway up the Core Creek/Adams Creek section of the ICW is Bocks Marine, where we had Hi Flite hauled out and redid the bottom.  We pulled into their docks before sunset and settled in for the night.

Over dinner that night we made a change of plans.  Instead of taking both boats to Oriental where Ken and Francie were going to meet the perspective buyer of Release, it was decided that they would take Release to Oriental and Cori and I would take Both Sides Now to New Bern .  They would continue on up to the Chesapeake and then come back to pick up Both Sides Now.  This was our first time piloting a powerboat.  I rode with Ken up to an anchorage near the Neuse River and we anchored and Cori and Francie brought Release alongside and tied up.  During the ride they had been sorting stuff and deciding what went on which boat.  For the next couple of hours we transferred stuff back and forth.  Once that was done they broke off and continued on to Oriental while we continued up river to New Bern where we got our first lesson in docking a trawler style powerboat.  It took several passes but we eventually put her in the slip without hitting anything.

Today, Tuesday, my good friend and former co-worker, Danielle, picked me up and off we went to my old school to see the teachers and students I had left behind when I retired and then we used her car to run errands all day.  We are leaving New Bern in the morning to drive back to Palm Coast to get back on Hi Flite.  The mechanic says that he has everything sorted out and working properly.  We shall see.  With the next weather window we will be repeating the trip on Hi Flite.