Posted 12 May 1998
To Georgia and Back
About 0900 on Monday, April 13, we left Skull Creek Marina along with Liberty,
a 40' Pilgrim trawler, and headed south through Skull Creek into Calibogue
Sound. We wended our way through numerous creeks and rivers, crossing
into Georgia. It seemed at every turn of the ICW we could still see
in the far distance the highway bridge crossing the river at Savannah.
At a narrow
stretch of the ICW called Hell Gate, the range markers appeared to lead us
to light tan -- shallow -- water. We searched for deeper water but
ended up aground! The 15 knot wind kept us on the shoal, so Liberty
came to the rescue. We tossed him one end of an extra anchor rode,
and off we came. We decided to trust the range markers. About
1800 we anchored in Buckhead Creek on the north side of Ossabaw Island.
Very secluded and peaceful, and the moon was full.
Tuesday morning we had a windy run down the Bear River and across St. Catherine's Sound. From there we headed into Walburg Creek and anchored off the western shore of St. Catherine's Island. As evening came we were joined by two more cruisers and one shrimp boat. They all left Wednesday morning but we stayed put, enjoying the bird sounds and monkey calls from the island which is an animal refuge. Bob from Liberty spotted a gazelle while walking his dog Anchor.
Thursday we weighed anchor early and had an 11-hour run back to Skull Creek Marina. Yes, we got through Hell Gate unassisted this time!
It was a good shakedown cruise for us. Are we ready for our trip back to Maine? You bet! We started following the weather with an eagle eye, listening to the TV Weather Channel, VHF, and SSB.
Monday, April 20, 1998
We had a forecast of clear weather for Monday and Tuesday, with a possibility
of rain in coastal North Carolina on Wednesday. The winds were forecast
at NW, veering to NE, and then easterly. Wind speed was 10-15 knots,
forecast to
increase to 15-20 knots, then dropping to 10-15 knots as the wind veered.
Our plan was to sail from Hilton Head, South Carolina, to Beaufort, North
Carolina, a tad under 300 nautical miles.
As we motored out of Port Royal Sound, we attached the safety life lines from the bow cleats to the stern cleats and donned the safety harnesses.
The watch schedule was:
| Watch Time | Kathy | Jerry | Activities |
| 0600-0700 | on | on | Breakfast, walk dog, shake out reefs |
| 0700-1200 | off | on | |
| 1200-1300 | on | on | Lunch, listen to 1200 weather on SSB |
| 1300-1800 | on | off | |
| 1800-2000 | on | on | Dinner, walk dog, reef sails, listen to 1800 weather on SSB |
| 2000-2400 | off | on | |
| 2400-0200 | on | off | |
| 0200-0400 | off | on | |
| 0400-0600 | on | off |
We had full sails (jib, main, and mizzen) and headed eastward to gain sea
room for our return tack. Maria Carmela behaved beautifully.
She hadn't had a romp like this in many a mile - almost as if she were a
dolphin let loose. She handled the waves beautifully, plowing through
some, riding over others. The aft deck area -- more importantly the
captain -- was dry as Maria Carmela rose up and slid down the waves.
Before nightfall we reefed the mainsail to the first reef point. As
the night deepened, the wind was coming from the northeast, with wind speeds
of 20-25 knots. The wave heights mounted as the wind speed picked
up. We stayed on an easterly heading, figuring that as long as we didn't
cross the longitude for Beaufort, NC, during the night (fat
chance), we'd be ahead of the game come morning. On we sailed,
up one wave, then down the next, turn the wheel to handle the next wave.
As morning broke we tacked westward. We were thinking about lunch when
Kathy called out, "Look, the mainsail has a rip in it." The rip was
about 12" long in the leech. I looked up. Spellbound -- for lack
of a more descriptive word or phrase -- we watched the mainsail for the next
20 seconds as it split to the luff. After we enjoyed that "treat",
we hurriedly lowered the remnants.
Could it be repaired for future use?
The waves continued to gain height. As we approached each wave, I would look up to the top of the wave, then we climbed, finally I could see over the wave, and we slid down the back of the wave. Wave following wave following wave following wave; the motion was hypnotic. The boat rode the waves sure and steady.
With the mainsail gone, we decided to alter course to Charleston Harbor. It took three hours of wave pounding to round the outer buoys for the Charleston jetties. Once inside the jetties the wave action lessened, and we eventually motored into Toler's Cove Marina where we spent the night (Tuesday, April 21).
Wednesday, April 22, 1998
We ran the ICW from Charleston to just south of Georgetown, SC. Saw a real, live, and fairly good size alligator just before turning into our anchorage at Minim Creek. After dinner Mother Nature treated us to a thunder and lightening show.
Thursday, April 23, 1998
We "slogged" our way north today. Rain showers, some hail, and an adverse current the entire day. It took 12 hours to go 53 nautical miles, across Winyah Bay and up the Waccamaw River. We stopped at Barefoot Landing which consists of a couple of hundred feet of dock behind a large shopping/entertainment complex in North Myrtle Beach, SC. We rafted to a trawler and visited with friends on Segredar II from the Rockland (Maine) Yacht Club who also were tied up there; 'tis a small world.
Friday, April 24, 1998
This was another long day -- 11 hours -- but a lot more interesting than yesterday. We started the day by meeting a tow in the middle of the "Rock Pile," a narrow cut with rocky ledges on both sides of the channel. We maneuvered the currents and buoys at Little River Inlet, Shallotte Inlet, and Lockwoods Folly Inlet. We had a fun 10-mile sail in 10 knot winds up the Cape Fear River. We spent the night at Masonboro Boat Yard and Marina. We're now in North Carolina!
Saturday, April 25, 1998
A 10-hour day, some of which was spent waiting for bridge openings.
We had 4 today: Wrightsville Beach, Figure Eight Island, Surf City,
and Onslow Beach bridges. The U.S. Marines manning the Onslow bridge
held the opening 5 minutes for us -- Thank You, Marines! We filled
up with fuel at New River Marina; they have a good price for diesel because
they have the fuel contract
for Camp Lejeune. We are using 0.75 gallon per hour. We spent
the night at Dudley's Marina in Swansboro, sharing a glass of wine with fellow
cruisers aboard Longhope, tied up next to us.
Sunday, April 26, 1998, to Friday, May 1, 1998
Sunday was a short day and a nice sail up Bogue Sound, around Beaufort, North Carolina (finally!), and up Core Creek to Bock Marine. Once at Bock we took care of chores. The 4 biggest items were:
- We took our mainsail to Omar Sailmakers in Beaufort for repair; they gave
us quick service and a good price.
- We changed the oil. It had been 93.5 hours since the last oil change.
- We had a rebuilt fresh water pump installed.
- We had the boat hauled and replaced the propeller zinc. The zincs
were fine where the keel attaches to the base of the rudder. There
was virtually no marine growth on the hull. I now know that loading
the bottom paint with Cayenne pepper increases its effectiveness.
We left Bock Marine on Thursday about 1330 and headed north for the Neuse River, anchoring for the night on Broad Creek. One other boat. We had one heck of a storm all night, heavy winds, heavy rains, finally easing off about 0700 the next morning. We decided to spend Friday at anchor, reading, as the weather prediction was for more of the same.
Saturday, May 2, 1998
We had the sails out for our trip up the Neuse River, Bay River, and Goose Creek; across the Pamlico River; and up the Pungo River. We anchored at the headwaters of the Pungo River. We chatted with Pegasus, friends we had met last November. Their home port is Jordan Creek, off the Pungo River. They left today for Bermuda. Good Sailing, Pegasus!
Sunday, May 3, 1998
We motored 20 miles up the Alligator River-Pungo River Canal, and then sailed 20 miles up the Alligator River. We stayed the night at the Alligator River Marina, filled up the fuel and water tanks, and took showers (very enjoyable after 3 nights of anchoring). This marina is all transients, a good stop before crossing Albemarle Sound. We spoke with the other 10 or so boats here. Some are heading for the ICW's Virginia Cut; many are going with us to the ICW's Dismal Swamp route.
Monday, May 4, 1998
We got a 0600 start because the weather forecast was unfavorable for later
in the day. We beat the weather across the Albemarle Sound and up the
Pasquotank River to Elizabeth City, NC. We tied up to the complimentary
city docks and
were soon joined by 6 other sailboats and 1 trawler. All had made the trip
from Alligator River Marina. Elizabeth City calls itself the "Harbor
of Hospitality" and this isn't limited to free dockage. We were all
greeted by Fred Fearing, a co-founder and now the chief "Rose Buddy," who
described the city's tourist interests, gave us maps, answered questions,
and in general made sure everyone felt very welcome. Each lady was
given a rose as a momento of her visit to Elizabeth City. At 1700 that
evening, the Rose Buddies hosted a wine and cheese party for all the
boats. The party was a lot of fun and made us want to come back to
Elizabeth City.
The wind rose from the south that evening, creating waves that hit the stern
of the boats, then the seawall, and bounced back, giving all the boats a
very unpleasant night. The couple from the boat next to us did the smart
thing; they abandoned ship in favor of the local motel. At about 0230 one
of the spring lines parted and our early warning danger alarm worked (our
bow anchor
clanged against the steel seawall) in time for us to replace the parted
springline and add a new one to the starboard side. Part of this operation
involved pulling the 35-pound CQR anchor through the bow pulpit without hooking
it on the roller furling equipment - an intricate sequence of turns, lifts,
and pulls especially on a bouncing, wet, unlighted deck. I stood watching
as Kathy grabbed the CQR and proceeded to maneuver and twist it as if it
weighed less than an ounce. This was the same anchor that I had to carry
from the truck to the boat for her in June. Ahh, the power of adrenaline.
Just a little lost sleep and a soapless shower, typical early morning activities
of cruisers.
Tuesday, May 5, 1998
While all 8 boats at Elizabeth City planned to travel the Dismal Swamp route to Norfolk, Virginia, two of the boats intended to make the trip in one day while the remaining six boats opted to make it a two-day trip. We all left Elizabeth City at various times. We went through South Mills lock with just one other boat, the Meghan Kristin, whom we had first met at Skull Creek Marina in South Carolina. The Dismal Swamp turned out to be a highlight of our trip. The trees come very close together as the waterway itself is quite narrow. We saw dozens of turtles and swimming snakes. It was hard to believe we were not far off busy Route 17. The six boats rafted together at the North Carolina Visitors Center for the night.
Wednesday, May 6, 1998
We were on our way bright and early, meandering at 4 knots to enjoy
our second day on the Dismal Swamp. We crossed into Virginia, and by
the time we got to the Deep Creek Lock at 1100 we were again a fleet of six
boats. Once through the lock we rejoined the "regular" ICW route and
were quickly overwhelmed by Norfolk, Virginia. Dozens of naval and
commercial ships; lots
of noise, bridges and buildings everywhere. We'd passed through a time
warp, not a canal lock. We worked our way through the busy waterfront
to anchor in Willoughby Bay. As the sun set there were four U.S. Navy
aircraft carriers silhouetted against the sky. Quite a sight. We anchored
with Meghan Kristin.
Thursday, May 7, 1998
As we weighed anchor this morning, we found we had hooked onto an abandoned
mooring chain. Tom brought Meghan Kristin to our bow and used our snubber
line to lift the chain off. Unfortunately this maneuvering disturbed
the 3 ducks who had spent the night in Meghan Kristin's dinghy. We
sailed out of Norfolk with Meghan Kristin until she turned into the York
River. We
continued north on Chesapeake Bay, motorsailing with 8 knots wind.
The rain clouds caught us about 1400. About 1600 we reached our anchorage
at Mill Creek, off Ingram Bay.
Friday, May 8, 1998
We were underway at 0630 with hopes of beating forecasted rain showers. For a few hours we had a nice sail with 15 knot winds. But at 1100 we were hit by a torrential downpour, lots of lightening and thunder, visibility near zero just as we were crossing the mouth of the Potomac River. After an hour the worst was over. We reached Solomons, Maryland, about 1400. Before anchoring we filled up the fuel and water tanks. There was a bit of wind during the night and it appeared as if we were slowly, slowly drifting on our anchor. At 0200 (that's 2 a.m., Mom) we decided to practice resetting the anchor.
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