Monday, May 31, 2021

We Are Ready to Travel

We are ready to begin our next season of travel.  We had a list of projects and things that needed to be done before we continued.  We have worked through most of the list and are ready to move on.

We were able to get a temporary slip in our old marina which made working on the boat much easier then being out on anchor.  Our good friend Vic also gave us use of his car for the many trips to town and the storage unit.  Thanks Vic!  The top of the list was to repair the floor in Hi Flite.  We had two areas that had water damage.  The floor in the v-berth had gotten wet and damaged from the water maker and an area in the salon had been damaged from a leak in one of the water tanks.  The floor is made up with two layers of plywood, the top having a teak and holly veneer.  Water had gotten into the plywood and caused it to separate.  I had hoped that I could remove the top layer and replace it.  I had planned to use marine plywood and to cover that with another surface rather then use the more expensive teak and holly.  There are a lot of new material being used in boats these days.  The first problem came when I found that whoever replaced the flooring in the salon had glued it down along with screwing it down.  I finally decided that I would cut out both layers in the affected area of the salon and only replace that area.  In the v-berth the damage wasn't as bad and I was able to remove the top layer and replace with a piece of marine grade plywood.  All of the plywood was given a coat of epoxy to prevent water damage in the future.  We were still having problems choosing what to use for the finish layer and decided that we could make that decision later.  On another trip to the home store we found a suitable carpet remnant that covered the area leaving enough to redo it if it got damaged.  The floor project is complete for now. 

Our dinghy is eventually our car and is our means to get back and forth from shore and to go exploring.  One day while putting the outboard motor on it I noticed where some cracks in the aluminum transom.  After that we used the 3.3 horse motor exclusively.  Once back in North Carolina we brought it to the dealer we had bought it from to see what could be done.  They submitted a warranty claim and made arrangements for a welder to come to us to make the repairs.  Pretty good customer service for a five year old dinghy.  It will feel good getting back to using the 15 horse motor to get around.

Cori had a number of sewing project and she was able to set up at our friends Wayne and Louise's house just up the creek to work on those.  We now have a cover for the kayak that will help protect it from the harsh uv-rays but now pictures of Hi Flite will not have a bright orange kayak on deck.  The fenders have new covers and she was able to help Wayne with one of his boat projects.

There were a number of smaller maintenance issues we took care of.  We sorted through most of the "stuff" we have on board and moved some of it to the storage unit.  We have a storage unit in the closest town to the marina.  Some of it will come back aboard since there are things we will need next winter when we go south again.

With most of the list completed we decided we are ready to continue.  We had been in the marina for two weeks and we need to move on.  Today, Monday the 31st, we untied the lines again and moved out of the marina.  We still need to stay in the area for another week so we decided to move up the river to New Bern.  We had a great sail with winds varying from 10-19 knots and set anchor in the Trent river.  We will be finalizing provisioning and preparing to move on.

Where are we going this season?  We have decided to work our way north to Chesapeake Bay and spend some time there.  From there we will head up to New York and work our way up Long Island Sound to Cape Cod with plans to visit Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.  We are still debating if we go through the Cape Cod Canal to Boston but feel that will be as far as we go this year.  Time and weather will make those decisions for us.  As usual we are keeping in mind that "plans are written in sand at low tide" and will be changed many times.









Sunday, May 16, 2021

Closed the Circle

 We have closed the circle.  We are back in Clubfoot Creek where we started this traveling season in November.

Last update we were anchored off of No Name Harbor in Biscayne Bay.  The first morning we were rocked awake by fishing boats heading out stirring up some huge wakes.  We pulled anchor and moved into the inner harbor.  There was less room but no wakes to bounce us around.  We went ashore and did the walk around to the lighthouse and the beach.  We stopped for a beer at the cafĂ© but only one since they were charging $9.00 each.  In the morning I made the run to drop off the garbage and stopped to help a boat that was removing their headsail roller for repair.  They had tied up to the seawall and could use more hands.  Later we went back to help them put it all back together.  After that it was time to celebrate so we joined them, Dan and Nawal on Break A Weigh, Rob and Yvonne from As You Wish and Robbie from ? for drinks.  During the day we found that we were too close to the boats on the seawall and as others left we moved over to their spot to re-anchor.  We spent several days here, one which was taken up by a trip to the grocery store.  Rob had told us of a service called "Ride Freebee" that is a free taxi service using electric golf cart type vehicles.  We walked to the store, bought our groceries, had lunch then called them to pick us up.  Back at the harbor we tipped the driver well since she dropped us off as close to our dinghy as she could while ignoring the signed stating not to.  On Friday and Saturday the weekend crowds were reappearing and the harbor was filling up again.  Most disconcerting was the BIG yacht that anchored near us and every time the winds shifted they had to move to be clear of the boats around them.  It was too big of a boat to be in this small harbor.  There were similar boats anchored outside the harbor that were not causing any problems.  Several times they swung very close to us and each time Cori went out to negotiate with the captain.  We was proposing that in exchange for a bottle of rum we would pull our anchor and move.  They evidently didn't think that was a fair exchange so we sat and just gave them dirty looks when they swung close.  Eventually it was time to pull anchor and start the next leg.

Saturday afternoon, we, along with Break A Weigh pulled anchor and started off.  We were headed to Beaufort NC and they were going to Jacksonville FL.  It was just a couple of miles until we got into the gulf stream and we were off,  We hoisted all sails with the extra push from the Stream we were going nine knots.   This continued into the next day when we lost the wind and had to motor but still going nine knots.  This gave us our all time best travel going 200 nautical miles the first day and 196 the next.  During the second night we altered course to the Cape Fear River.  We checked with our weather guy and it didn't look like we could make it to Beaufort before the weather changed for the worse.  That night we got hit with a sudden squall with winds topping over thirty knots and then a torrential downpour.  Fortunately at this point we had already dropped the mainsail so we only had to get the headsail and mizzen under control.  We rolled up part of the headsail to make it smaller and continued on.  By morning the skies had cleared but with little wind we motored.  We made much better time then we had expected and instead of anchoring in the Cape Fear River we were able to continue on to Carolina Beach and were in the ICW's protected waters.  We took a break the next day and went ashore to walk the beach collecting shells.  With what we were hearing about the weather we planned to continue following the ICW to Beaufort.  The next morning we pulled anchor to move up to Wrightsville Beach to take on fuel and water and the next morning we would continue.  After we pulled the anchor we took a good look at the skies and they were black.  We shortly got hit with winds on the 20's gusting into the 30's , rain so heavy we could not see through it and hail up to the size of nickels.  After about a half hour the skies began clearing and the sun was shinning when we stopped for fuel and water.  We moved to the anchorage and made plans to catch the 7:00 am bridge opening.  While sitting in the cockpit we overheard two other boats talking on the radio about their plans to go out the inlet and sail to Beaufort and Cape Lookout.  We contacted our weather guy and asked for his forecast.  It didn't sound bad so we decided to leave at first light and make the trip offshore.  At 6:00 am we pulled anchor and followed several other boats out the inlet.

The forecast was for light winds increasing during the day but staying behind us and the seas growing from a light chop to 4-6 foot by evening.  We motored and motor/sailed until about mid-day and then just sailed under the headsail and mizzen, not wanting to deal with the main when the winds came up.  The winds and seas grew as the day progressed and by the time we were approaching Beaufort Inlet it was in the high 20's and the seas were about six foot and pushing our stern side to side as they broke under us.  When we made the turn to follow the channel we were still going eight knots and passed a catamaran that had stopped sailing and was motoring.  Usually we drop sail and start the motor before going through the inlet but this time we started the motor in case it was needed and we sailed in.  Once pass the inlet we followed the channel until it put the winds on our nose and we rolled up the headsail and motored to and up the channel to the Beaufort anchorage.  With the speeds we were able to go we were in much earlier than we expected.  We dropped anchor and celebrated with rum like proper sailors.  We lived for about twelve years in the area but had never come to Beaufort by boat.  It was always easier by car, the anchorage had filled up with private moorings making anchoring difficult and there was a strong current making going into and out of the marina complicated.  It has changed.  The city has removed all of the private mooring opening it up once again for visiting boats to anchor.  The next morning we went ashore to check out the shops and to meet a fellow cruiser for lunch.  In one of the shops I ran into one of the teachers I knew from working at the schools and got caught up with them.  We met up for lunch with Ann from Bees Knees who we knew from the radio nets but had never met and then spent the afternoon visiting at the micro-brewery.

The next morning it was forecasted to continue blowing and made an early decision to pull anchor and continue up the ICW to Oriental.  Anchor was up at 8:00 am, who says I can't get up early, and we were off.  We caught the current going up the waterway and before we knew it we were back in the Neuse River and set the sails for Oriental.  We were able to get a spot on one of the free docks and were tied up with the help on the crew of Red Tail who was also on the dock.  The only complications were that I went aground while maneuvering in the harbor and because of low water we were aground when we got tied to the dock.  They say there are two kinds of sailors: those who have gone aground and those who lie about it.  I obviously am with the first group.  That evening we went to M&M's for dinner and then a quiet night on the boat.  The next morning we met up with Donna and Jerry from Blue Jacket for breakfast.  They live in the area and are back from their season in the Bahamas.  We visited for a bit with Van and Lauren from Gratitude who we had followed out of Wrightsville Beach to Beaufort.  Ann from Bees Knees caught up with us and we joined her and her friend Don for pizza night at the Silos.  We also had the sailmakers from Inner Banks Sail Loft come down to measure for a new mainsail.  We also wanted to meet with the dealer that we bought the dinghy from to discuss solutions to a problem we are having.  The next day it was cold and rainy so we spent the day on the boat.  By now Red Tail had left and Dragonfly had taken their place.  Greg was throwing out an old rope and asked if we wanted it.  Of course we did!  I spent the afternoon weaving it into a rug and then gave it back to them.  They are from Chicago and are doing the Great Loop.  Thursday we got together with Donna and Jerry, Ann and Dick and Judy for lunch at M&M's.  Dick is the net operator for the Doo Dah net on the SSB that we all check into in the evenings and it was great for everyone to get a face to match the voices we were familiar with.

On Friday we closed the circle.  We backed away from the dock and headed upriver to Clubfoot Creek where we used to live on the boat and where this seasons journey had started in November.

We traveled 2447 nautical miles, or 2816 statute miles, or about the distance from New York City to Los Angeles with about a hundred miles added on.  All at the speed of a jogger.

This year we had decided not to go to the Bahamas due to Covid restrictions and explored the east and west coasts of Florida.  I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would and met a lot of nice people along the way.  Including a pair of Florida Marine Patrol Officers.

Now that we are back we have some projects that need to be taken care of and we will be planning our next adventure, obviously heading somewhere north.  Where is yet to be determined.