day three - batteries and Beaufort

Awake before first light, the symphony of the marsh has slipped away during the night.  Calm with broken clouds.  Dew covered decks and a few mosquitoes which disappear quickly.  Under power by 6:00, and looking down the creek to the ICW I see several power boats heading south.

Down Adams Creek and then the canal under power at 6.6 mh with a helping tide.  Just after 7:00 we slide below the high-rise bridge, the water swirling with eddies port and starboard and I began to feel the heat of the morning sun as it reaches over the trees.  To the south a flag flutters at a marina and reveals a light but steady west wind.

We round up and set full sail at 7:40, 5.2 mh as we slip out onto the Newport River, red markers to the right showing the path through the shoals.

A fine breeze carries us down behind the Newport Marshes, the approaching low tide revealing mud flats to the west.  One of the most pleasant of sails, Spartina heels slightly and makes steady progress towards Beaufort.  Larger boats take a deep channel to the west and I am happy to be sailing alone on the narrower channel.  

Tacking to the west to reach Gallant Channel the gps beeps and the batteries die.  Not wanting to lose track of the shoals or my waypoints I make a few wasted tacks back and forth across the skinny water as I replace the two lithium batteries.  With the gps up and running again we round the point and make our way beneath the construction of a new high-rise bridge into Beaufort.  

Try as I might I cannot recall a fuel station on the Beaufort waterfront.  I would like to top off the gas can and a marina on the backside of Beaufort shows fuel prices.  I dock and top off the can, less than a half gallon, then motor toward the draw bridge which I see is opening to let a shrimp boat come through.  I make three calls on the vhf radio to the bridge tender to see if I can make the lift but get no response.  I look at the radio and see the batteries are down to zero, enough power that I can hear the bridge tender and shrimper, not enough power to transmit.  I change out the batteries and make contact with the tender just as the bridge begins to close.  "Sorry, Hon, you'll have to wait until the 10:00 lift."  Less than 30 minutes to wait, I motor over behind a marker and drop the anchor.  At 10:00, and not a minute sooner, we pass through the lift bridge, and looking back at the new high rise I suspect it will be the last time I talk to that bridge tender.

At tie up at the usual spot in Beaufort, the west floating dock where they like to keep the smaller transients.  At the end of the dock in a megayacht with a very loud, bored crew that apparently likes to hear themselves talk.  No matter, I think.  It's a nice day on the waterfront, a run to the general store for supplies, lunch at the Dockhouse Restaurant overlooking Taylor Creek, then an afternoon walk through town and sitting at a waterfront table at the Finz Grill to write in my journal and send emails home.  Dinner at the Dockhouse Restaurant, using my two wooden nickels for draft beers, and and another walk.  I come back to Spartina to see the beautiful schooner "When and If," built for General George Patton and perfectly maintained, arrive at a neighboring dock for the night.

Boom tent up for privacy I slip into the bivy.  The loud crew from the megayacht comes back to the dock after dinner and a few (maybe too many) drinks and the loud conversation wakes me.  Some of it was about me, "Can you see him in there?" a young lady asks.  The conversation continues and I drift off to sleep while the crew drifts off to another bar.  Later I wake again as the crew returns talking loudly, much too loudly, about nothing.  I drift off to sleep again.

everybody is somewhere

Webb is in Darwin after what must have

been some wonderful sailing along the 

Great Barrier Reef.

---------------------------

The Pilgrim is in Spain, setting a personal

best at 28 miles in one day, hiking the 

Camino de Santiago.

-----------------------

And me, I'm at home sailing with tall ships at

Harborfest, an early morning sail before the river

got busy with deadrise races and

military demonstrations.  That's

Pride II above and Gazeal below.

some nice boats on the water today

Harborfest, the annual party down at Town Point.

Hope to be out there Sunday/Monday.  Can't wait!

day two - Adams Creek

I wake after a bright starry night, bright moon and bright mars glowing red.  Morning comes clear and calm in the tiny little cove.  A few mosquitoes but they are small and more of a nuisance than a problem.  We sail off anchor with a light west wind just after 6 a.m., the sun just coming over the tree tops and tinting the sails light orange. 

I see a local power boat cut the channel so we sail south past the red and green markers making Cedar Point at 6:25, two pelicans standing on abandoned post jutting out of the shallows.   Past Gum Thicket before 7:00 we find stronger wind on the open Neuse River and make just under 4 mh.  

Mid-morning the wind fails on the Neuse, the fills in from the southwest.  We start making slow tacks toward Adams Creek but looking west across the river I can see the fine little village of Oriental and the thought of a nice lunch has us sailing towards the harbor.  Wind fades, fills in again.  Three or four dolphin pass by.  I look to the south and wonder if tiny ripples mean more wind.  Yes, they do!  A fine sail into Oriental, tied up at the town dock by 10:30.

A nice burger for lunch but only because I missed seeing the fried soft-shell sandwich written on the "specials" chalkboard.  I pick up some bottled drinks and almost-ripe peaches at the provision shop, then duck into The Bean coffee shop to charge my cell phone and have another glass of iced tea.  Walking in the door I step into the middle of a performance by two ladies from the local ukelele club.  You never know what you'll find in Oriental.

Sails up in the harbor just before 1:00, sailing in light wind to Adams Creek at 1.8.  Pleasant and peaceful.  Halfway across the river the wind fails and leaves the water a glassy calm that reflects the blue sky and a few white clouds.  Under power to the creek, entering it with a following tide.  

The afternoon wind comes strongly out of the south mid-afternoon as we follow the curve of the creek directly into the hot breeze.  At 3:40 we drop anchor on long, wide Back Creek, just a few homes spaced out on the north shore and marsh backed by tall trees to the south.  

With batteries charging from the solar panel on the foredeck I lie down in sliver of shade on the starboard bunk flat and sleep with straw hat tilted over my eyes.

With evening comes a dinner of spicy pasta with sausage, excellent.  I slip into the sleeping bag listening to the birds in the marsh.  The chattering amplifies as the sun goes down, filling in with humming and buzzing, shrill three-note songs, gasping breathes and the noise of an ill-fitting door scraping back and forth across a wooden floor.  Maybe it was the stillness of the night, but I cannot remember a marsh so loud and pleasant sounding.

day one - west wind to Green Creek

Cast off from Pate Boat Yard at 9:30, clear blue skies and unseasonably cool with a solid west wind rustling through the trees.  Before heading down the narrow canal to Jones Bay I tell Shawn that I had hope to make Broad Creek today.  "With this wind you'll be there in no time," he says.

We round up on Jones Bay at 9:45 raise sails and head downwind at 4.0 mh.  Some gusts come down the bay and our speed varies from 3.5 to 5.0, sometimes wing and wind and sometimes not.  It's cool and comfortable and the sails give me shade from the morning sun.

At 10:20 we are off the green marsh grasses of Maiden Point, Boar Point a thin line on the horizon to the southeast.  We are making incredible time with the west wind and I think about trying to make Adams Creek.   

Making Boar Point and turning south the stiff wind is now on the beam.  I round up to tuck in a reef on Sound Bay and as I put the reef hook in the grommet on the mainsail I am aware of something moving near my right shoulder.   I glance back to see a seagull hovering just a couple of feet away.  I raise my arm and the seagull flies off.  Turning back to reef I feel the bird coming back.  I shoo him away a second time.  Back to reefing and the bird makes a third visit - attracted by what I don't know. Instead of shooing him away I reach for my camera and the bird suddenly becomes camera shy.  I get the first reef in and the gps stills shows a speed of 7.2 mh.  I round up again and tuck in the second reef.

Crossing the mouth of the Bay River we pass by a shrimper and a few cruising boats headed up the ICW.  Maw Point before noon, small white sandy beaches mixed in with the marsh shoreline ahead.  Calmer water past the point and we make 5.5 mh.  Soon we are off Swan Island, the gusts dropping and I shake out the second reef.  Hardly a cloud in the sky.  

The wind falters, swings east and then back west.  Full sail looking for a steady breeze.  We find choppy water crossing Lighthouse Shoal, Spartina rolling in the waves.  Won't make Adams Creek tonight.  Past the shoals we turn west into Broad Creek and then catch light breezes up into  Green Creek.  

I spend the afternoon napping, cleaning up the boat and doing some organizing.  An osprey hovers over the water, seems to change its mind, flies to the other side of the creek, hovers and dives, coming up with a small fish.  I watch large cownose rays swim beneath Spartina.  Later in the afternoon I see water churning behind the boat.  Puppy drum feeding?  I pay out the anchor line to get within casting distance.  From there I can see it is not puppy drum, but a huge school of small cownose raise stirring up the bottom in search of food.  

Beef stroganoff, with a little olive oil and cajun sunshine added, for dinner.  Excellent.  

Later in the evening the wind swings to the south and I can feel the swells rolling up the creek.  We raise anchor and motor back to a tiny protected cove for the night.

17.2 miles

7.2 mh max speed

4.3 mh moving average

another photo from today

(look closely)

from a friend in the waterfront

Last day of vacation. Better enjoy it!

the canvas ladies

I'm gonna track those canvas ladies down and give them a hug.  The new tent was a huge success!  Worked better than I could have imagined.

We had three nights with some pretty heavy showers.  Above you see the tent hanging from the boom during a lull in the rainfall in Belhaven.  

The unexpected benefit of the design was excellent air flow while keeping out the rain.  Here you can see the openings at the forward end of the tent with the vent areas around the mast and forward of the coamings.  Sure, a little rain came down the mast and into Spartina but hardly enough to notice.

And of course that is me, tracking down a radio station while sitting in comfort under the tent.  I'm not a big fan of rain, but I'll tell you it is really wonderful to sleep inside a dry, warm sleeping bag while listening to the rain fall outside.  The tent was worth every dime I spent.      

spot tracking map

A nice SPOT tracking map from SPOT Buddy, courtesy of Paul.  Thanks, Paul!

a few photographs