Bob thinks that he has solved the problem of water leaking into the forward cabin. It has certainly helped that we are in a marina and close to services. With the heavy rain which began in the afternoon of the day before and continued through the night, we found that again, the bow end of our mattress and bedding was wet. So we pulled everything off the bed and Bob took off a piece of wooden trim in the cabin. When he opened up the anchor locker hatch and felt a draft in the cabin, he knew there was a hole somewhere. Then he took everything out of the locker, stuck his head as far down as possible (basically stood on his head he said), looked around and found a couple of relatively large holes and some smaller ones. Most of the time, water doesn't get into the anchor locker - except of course in heavy seas and extra heavy rains. Since we have Internet access here, Bob went online for a solution. Then he took a long walk to the hardware store and bought an insulating spray foam which once sprayed on would expand to fill any gap. In the mean time, we stripped the bed, and took off the cover for the mattress to dry everything out and wash the sheets and duvet cover and we put on the heater in the cabin to help dry everything out.
We are also finding that condensation on the walls and ceiling (when we close the boat up especially) is worse in our cabin - probably because there's 2 of us in the cabin all night breathing out moisture. As a result, there is dampness underneath the mattress which is unrelated to the anchor locker problem. At the next stop where we can find a big West Marine, we'll buy a piece of underlay which is made to absorb moisture under a mattress and can be removed periodically to dry out.
The marina has laundry facilities very close to where our boat is so that made it easy to catch up on all our laundry and wash all the bedding. We also walked the mile or so to the grocery store and did a big grocery shopping with the intention of taking a cab back. When Bob asked if they had a phone number for a taxi, the owner offered to drive us back. Nice!
After getting everything back in order - the bed put back together, the laundry put away, the groceries stowed, we went out for dinner. The gentleman who drove us back from the grocery store gave us some restaurant recommendations that were "right good". We went to the closest one and had a feed of "peel and eat" fresh shrimp - Mmm good and very reasonable. I was wishing I had my camera so as to take a picture of the one pound of shrimp on each of our plates. We brought home the leftovers and had a yummy shrimp salad for lunch.
As we travel along we are seeing more and more people going south and since we see them again and again, we have begun to get to know some of them. This afternoon, one couple offered us their bikes to take for a ride. We have bikes but hadn't gone to the trouble of pulling them out. We biked out along the water and into a beautiful housing area with a variety of pretty homes in all shapes and sizes and lots of tall trees and grasses all around. We have decided that when we are docked any place for a day or more, we'll make a point of getting out the bikes.
This afternoon, we have invited 2 couples for drinks before dinner. They were both with us at the Dismal Swamp Visitors' Centre and then again at Elizabeth City. Tomorrow the winds are predicted to get lighter in the afternoon so we will leave later in the morning and move further along the ICW's magenta line.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Really Raining in Oriental
Monday, November 3rd: Town of Oriental
Along the canal joining the Alligator and Pungo rivers
I have to confess that before we started on this trip, in spite of reading descriptions, I had no clear idea of what the Intracoastal Waterway really was. Now we are experiencing the reality of the connected waterways that allow boats to avoid traveling in ocean waters as they make their way south (or north).
Last night as I was flipping through pages of our charts to find way points, I listed parts of the waterway that we would travel through today. From the Pantego Creek where we were anchored (just outside of the town of Belhaven), we would go back into the Pungo River where we had traveled yesterday, move further along it until it empties into the Pamlico River, then cross the Pamlico to Goose Creek going down the creek and then into a man made canal connecting it to the Bay River, then out the mouth of the Bay River, briefly again into another arm of the Pamlico and finally into the Neuse River where we would stop at the town of Oriental - so - a creek to a river, then across another river, then a creek, a canal and 2 more rivers.
Canal joining Goose Creek and the Bay River
On paper or electronic charts, a magenta coloured line indicates the ICW and when we follow it, we are sometimes winding around the banks of rivers and sometimes traveling down arrow straight canals. This leg of the ICW through North Carolina is quite lovely but we hear that as we get closer to Florida, the ICW is more often called the "ditch" with all the negative connotations that implies. We'll see.
Our stop in Belhaven was brief. We took a quick run into town but everything except an ice cream shop was closed (it was Sunday!). Luckily, the shop had WiFi access so we shared an ice cream, had a coffee and read our email.
We're in shrimp boat country now.
This morning, we left early to avoid the heavy winds and rain predicted for the afternoon. Just after lunch, we were beginning to feel the effects of the coming "front" and the Neuse river was choppy - the Neuse is another wide but shallow waterway where strong winds can make traveling uncomfortable.
The anchoring area behind the breakwater in Oriental is tight so we decided to go into a marina. Now that we're tied up, it's great to be secure, out of the heavy rain and winds, and near facilities and stores - but the tie up process was not much fun. This is one of the 4 pilings with mini dock situations and we still can't figure out how to manage it all. Again, the boat ended up rubbing against pilings and was all askew until we finally got everything in place. How do people do this anyway?? I guess eventually we'll get the knack of throwing the line into the air high enough (and fast enough) to get around those tall pilings as we go into the slip. Why don't they make the pilings a bit lower for people like me?
Typical mini dock - the town dock in Elizabeth City was about half this size.
The dreaded pilings
We are going to the marine store tomorrow to buy another long line - we have always had enough lines for any docking situation on Lake Ontario but here you need at least four extra long lines for wrapping around pilings. Today Bob ended up tying 2 of our shorter lines together to make a fifth long line - to act as a spring line to run back to a rear piling. The idea is that you wrap the line around the piling and bring it back to the boat so that you can easily pull it in as you leave.
While the wind blows hard, we'll use the next couple of days for boating chores - laundry, groceries and boat clean up and fix-up.
Along the canal joining the Alligator and Pungo riversLast night as I was flipping through pages of our charts to find way points, I listed parts of the waterway that we would travel through today. From the Pantego Creek where we were anchored (just outside of the town of Belhaven), we would go back into the Pungo River where we had traveled yesterday, move further along it until it empties into the Pamlico River, then cross the Pamlico to Goose Creek going down the creek and then into a man made canal connecting it to the Bay River, then out the mouth of the Bay River, briefly again into another arm of the Pamlico and finally into the Neuse River where we would stop at the town of Oriental - so - a creek to a river, then across another river, then a creek, a canal and 2 more rivers.
Canal joining Goose Creek and the Bay RiverOn paper or electronic charts, a magenta coloured line indicates the ICW and when we follow it, we are sometimes winding around the banks of rivers and sometimes traveling down arrow straight canals. This leg of the ICW through North Carolina is quite lovely but we hear that as we get closer to Florida, the ICW is more often called the "ditch" with all the negative connotations that implies. We'll see.
Our stop in Belhaven was brief. We took a quick run into town but everything except an ice cream shop was closed (it was Sunday!). Luckily, the shop had WiFi access so we shared an ice cream, had a coffee and read our email.
We're in shrimp boat country now.This morning, we left early to avoid the heavy winds and rain predicted for the afternoon. Just after lunch, we were beginning to feel the effects of the coming "front" and the Neuse river was choppy - the Neuse is another wide but shallow waterway where strong winds can make traveling uncomfortable.
The anchoring area behind the breakwater in Oriental is tight so we decided to go into a marina. Now that we're tied up, it's great to be secure, out of the heavy rain and winds, and near facilities and stores - but the tie up process was not much fun. This is one of the 4 pilings with mini dock situations and we still can't figure out how to manage it all. Again, the boat ended up rubbing against pilings and was all askew until we finally got everything in place. How do people do this anyway?? I guess eventually we'll get the knack of throwing the line into the air high enough (and fast enough) to get around those tall pilings as we go into the slip. Why don't they make the pilings a bit lower for people like me?
Typical mini dock - the town dock in Elizabeth City was about half this size.
The dreaded pilingsWhile the wind blows hard, we'll use the next couple of days for boating chores - laundry, groceries and boat clean up and fix-up.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
On Catfish Creek
Saturday, November 1st: Catfish Creek off of the Alligator River
I have printed up pages from a couple of blogs that we were following last winter and today I read through parts describing this portion of their trip. Because one of the boats had a deep keel, they decided to take the Virginia Cut rather than the Dismal Swamp Canal. One blogger said nothing at all about the Cut, the second complained of dull and dismal scenery. We feel lucky to have been able to take the Dismal Swamp Canal route. With the small leafed trees along the way just beginning to take on fall colours and the vines wrapped around many of the trees, the foliage had a lacy delicate look. It was quite beautiful and is one of the highlights of the trip so far.
The Visitors' Centre that I mentioned in my last post was a surprise as well. It is in the middle of a lovely park that runs along the canal and situated between the canal and a busy highway. The Centre provides travel info, a computer for anyone's use and very clean washroom facilities to boaters as well people coming in off of the highway. It was so unexpected to find facilities like that half way along the canal.
Elizabeth City with it's Rosebud men was another nice experience. In truth, it's more town than city but it is working hard to be a place worth visiting. Since we arrived there yesterday at midday - we did have time to walk around a little but it was all kind of rushed. I would love to have spent anther day taking advantage of the special offerings which the host of the wine and cheese listed for us - a farmer's market this morning where we could buy fresh baked bread and home made cakes sold by the half and so good that a huge pile of them disappears early in the day, the dinner and a movie theatre within walking distance where you can sit at a table, order your dinner by a phone there, and then turn your seat around to see a first run movie, and the enticing offer of the Food Fresh grocery store to pick you up and bring you back. One of the women docked near us had phoned for a ride and said that it was a great store with "everything there". Given my new found mania for stocking up while the stocking up is good, I would have loved to shop where there is "everything".
Farmer's market and grocery store or not, we decided to forgo another day at Elizabeth City. We were facing a crossing of the Albermarle Sound and wanted to make sure to do it in the best of weather. Talk around the picnic table at the Visitor's Centre had especially scared us off crossing the sound in iffy conditions. Like the Delaware Bay that we crossed after leaving Cape May, the Albermarle is shallow and even in moderate winds, waves build quickly. Today promised light winds, tomorrow less so and then Monday conditions would begin to get difficult. We decided to make the most comfortable crossing today - which it was - a little sailing in 10-12 knot winds and then some motoring over flat waters.
I remember dropping our anchor in the Delaware River just before the sun went down at 7:30. Now that it is much later in the year, we have a much shorter day and it's best to be settled by 5:30 or 6 - so early in the afternoon after crossing the Albermarle Sound and going a ways up the Alligator River, we decided to go into an anchorage listed in Skipper Bob's book. To do so, we had to move off the ICW magenta line on our GPS chart and go toward a way point for Catfish Creek. Skipper Bob says that once you are over a "bar" near the mouth of the creek, you'll be in deep water. He also says as you go into the creek, to "ignore stakes, bushes and shoals to starboard". Long before we could see the opening of the creek, we were moving slowly through water with pieces of dead trees. logs and limbs jutting out through the water everywhere. I suggested chickening out, getting back on the main channel and trying the next anchorage but Bob had faith in Skipper Bob, faith that the mouth of the Catfish would eventually appear and that the ever more shallow water would get deep again. For me, there were a few heart stopping minutes (Bob says not for him) - but we finally saw the creek opening peeping out between grassy and stump lined shores and we rounded the corner into a quiet little bay . There's been a fire here some time ago - something has killed many of the trees but there's plenty of new growth and it's rather appealing.
Opening of Catfish Creek peeking beyond the tall grass
We motored by this spit of land as we went into the creek.
When Bob set the anchor, he added a trip line on a float. This is recommended in this area in case your anchor catches on underwater debris and you need to be able to tip your anchor up to free it. Underwater debris is supposed to be a feature of the Alligator River and we can see that it would definitely be a risk here in this little "dead tree" creek. We are enjoying a view of slender bare trees surrounded by new growth, the placid water, and except for the sounds of birds, the absolute quiet.
The mist this morning on the creek.
The sun rise as we are leaving.
I have printed up pages from a couple of blogs that we were following last winter and today I read through parts describing this portion of their trip. Because one of the boats had a deep keel, they decided to take the Virginia Cut rather than the Dismal Swamp Canal. One blogger said nothing at all about the Cut, the second complained of dull and dismal scenery. We feel lucky to have been able to take the Dismal Swamp Canal route. With the small leafed trees along the way just beginning to take on fall colours and the vines wrapped around many of the trees, the foliage had a lacy delicate look. It was quite beautiful and is one of the highlights of the trip so far.
The Visitors' Centre that I mentioned in my last post was a surprise as well. It is in the middle of a lovely park that runs along the canal and situated between the canal and a busy highway. The Centre provides travel info, a computer for anyone's use and very clean washroom facilities to boaters as well people coming in off of the highway. It was so unexpected to find facilities like that half way along the canal.
Elizabeth City with it's Rosebud men was another nice experience. In truth, it's more town than city but it is working hard to be a place worth visiting. Since we arrived there yesterday at midday - we did have time to walk around a little but it was all kind of rushed. I would love to have spent anther day taking advantage of the special offerings which the host of the wine and cheese listed for us - a farmer's market this morning where we could buy fresh baked bread and home made cakes sold by the half and so good that a huge pile of them disappears early in the day, the dinner and a movie theatre within walking distance where you can sit at a table, order your dinner by a phone there, and then turn your seat around to see a first run movie, and the enticing offer of the Food Fresh grocery store to pick you up and bring you back. One of the women docked near us had phoned for a ride and said that it was a great store with "everything there". Given my new found mania for stocking up while the stocking up is good, I would have loved to shop where there is "everything".
Farmer's market and grocery store or not, we decided to forgo another day at Elizabeth City. We were facing a crossing of the Albermarle Sound and wanted to make sure to do it in the best of weather. Talk around the picnic table at the Visitor's Centre had especially scared us off crossing the sound in iffy conditions. Like the Delaware Bay that we crossed after leaving Cape May, the Albermarle is shallow and even in moderate winds, waves build quickly. Today promised light winds, tomorrow less so and then Monday conditions would begin to get difficult. We decided to make the most comfortable crossing today - which it was - a little sailing in 10-12 knot winds and then some motoring over flat waters.
I remember dropping our anchor in the Delaware River just before the sun went down at 7:30. Now that it is much later in the year, we have a much shorter day and it's best to be settled by 5:30 or 6 - so early in the afternoon after crossing the Albermarle Sound and going a ways up the Alligator River, we decided to go into an anchorage listed in Skipper Bob's book. To do so, we had to move off the ICW magenta line on our GPS chart and go toward a way point for Catfish Creek. Skipper Bob says that once you are over a "bar" near the mouth of the creek, you'll be in deep water. He also says as you go into the creek, to "ignore stakes, bushes and shoals to starboard". Long before we could see the opening of the creek, we were moving slowly through water with pieces of dead trees. logs and limbs jutting out through the water everywhere. I suggested chickening out, getting back on the main channel and trying the next anchorage but Bob had faith in Skipper Bob, faith that the mouth of the Catfish would eventually appear and that the ever more shallow water would get deep again. For me, there were a few heart stopping minutes (Bob says not for him) - but we finally saw the creek opening peeping out between grassy and stump lined shores and we rounded the corner into a quiet little bay . There's been a fire here some time ago - something has killed many of the trees but there's plenty of new growth and it's rather appealing.
Opening of Catfish Creek peeking beyond the tall grass
We motored by this spit of land as we went into the creek.
The mist this morning on the creek.
The sun rise as we are leaving.
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