We are at the new dock that Miles put in for long-term cruisers here at Osprey Marina. It is lovely with two docks, lighting, and a 1/4 mile path to the club house.....but we have an electric golf cart to drive to and fro....sweet! Tomorrow we head home for two months. We'll return here after Christmas and continue south to Marathon and then the Bahamas.
We were surprised this morning to find a Catholic Church directly across from us in the Wrightsville Beach anchorage. We just went to the dinghy dock and five minutes later we were in church....how nice! We spent the afternoon and night anchored in the Pipeline Canal, Mile 311. The water was really shallow coming in as we hit low tide...I tried to anchor in .01 inches of water but we decided to move over to 7'. We all walked to the Dead End Grill for some refreshments before dinner. This is a great spot with beautiful new docks and a park next door.
We had a great ocean run today from Beaufort to Masonboro Inlet, something we haven't done before. We had 10-15 knots of wind off of our quarter stern and made fantastic time. The inlet has recently been dredged to 30' and the red nuns are in place so it was a very easy harbor to enter. We went to the dinghy dock near the bridge and then to the beach for a walk.....what a great stop. There have been more and more cruising boats on the move and then anchored at night....everyone is headed to warmer climes!
We arrived in lovely Beaufort, NC this afternoon and anchored in Taylor's Creek in front of the Boardwalk on Front Street. The sunset was beautiful viewed from the outside deck of the Dock House Restaurant where we could see Waves of Grace anchored and FUI in her slip at the town dock.
We arrived at Bill and Mary White's docks in front of their lovely home on the Bay River, Mile 161 after 4-5 hours of more 26 knot winds on the Pungo and Pamlico Rivers. Bonnie and Sid on Fui arrived as well and we were treated to great southern hospitality. Mary cooked a delicious dinner and Bill told some great stories. So nice to be with boating friends that we met in Marathon two years ago. Bill is very proud of his new sports car-a Crossfire....she sure is sweet! We saw the same kind of destruction in this area from hurricane Irene that we saw in the Owego and Albany areas....so many docks ruined, homes flooded, people displaced, and trees down. Mary said that it will take about four years to rebuild everything.
We are anchored here at Mile 127 in the Pungo River. Yesterday we crossed Albemarle Sound and did the Alligator River after leaving our anchorage at Broad Creek.(Didn't see any alligators...) Bonnie and Sid took the Dismal Swamp Route and met us around 6:30. With the high winds and rain predicted for today we stayed here and caught up on out reading. The weather cleared up later and I caught this pretty sunset just as we were about to eat our dinner in the cockpit.
The paradox of sailing the Chesapeake.....one minute it's an adrenaline rush of controlling the boat in 28knots with 4-5' waves and winds on the nose, to the next minute of feeling beat up and helpless with 31knots making less than 3knots with reefed sails and engine.....oh and 30 miles to go! Needless to say we are spending two days here in Great Bridge just to recover. Darell from Y-Knot, on his Cataline 36, is right in front of us at the town dock. We met 2 years ago in Vero and then in Marathon. He had great adrenaline sailing stories to share as well. There are stores, restaurants, parks, churches and laundromats here. Love it!
We love stopping here in the Solomon's Islands. We are anchored in front of the Holiday Inn where their is a $2.00 dinghy dock. Just a short walk away you'll find a grocery store, McDonald's and a West Marine. Yesterday we went to the town dock with Bonnie and Sid for happy hour at Catamaran's....$1.00 drafts and $5.00 dinners. Today we toured the Maritime Museum which features a real screw-pile light house. I also learned about the mermaid's purse which is laid by skates and then the little skates hatch on their own. Unlike skates, manta rays have live births. Tomorrow we head to Deltaville.
Ahh...to be at the Annapolis Boat Show Columbus Day Week-end, anchored in Back Creek on your own boat.....does it get any better than this? Oh and it's sunny and warm! There are sailboats anchored everywhere here and downtown Annapolis is packed with happy people having a good time. We went to church with Bonnie and Sid at the Naval Academy this morning and then attended three seminars at the show: How to Trim your Sails, Attitude Adjustment by Bob Bitchin HIMSELF!, and Cruising the Abacos. They were all worth our time. We even bought a two-day pass so we are going back to the show all day tomorrow. Bad news from Catalina......they stopped production last year of our 42 and also the 320. They have down-sized to only four ocean cruisers and they have closed their original plant in California because of too many EPA regulations. Leave it to the government to regulate the heck out of small business here in the States.
Today the tides were against us for 11 hours out of a 12 hour passage.....how can that be? Well, if the tide is not in your favor as you enter the Delaware Bay, as you go further north it stays against you as you travel further from the ocean. However the sun was shining and we made it to the basin anchorage. Ranger jumped into the dinghy and missed so he's all clean now. This town is so quaint and lovely. They are showing the Wizard of Oz on an outside screen in the town park near the canal and the popcorn machine is working over time. Cruising is the best!
We left NYC at 6:45 AM and anchored on the east side of the bridge here in Atlantic City at 6:30 PM. We always seem to put in a 12 hour day on the water. It was a near perfect sailing day with winds 15-20 knots most of the way. We no sooner got situated in the anchorage when Bonnie and Sid called to warn us that the sailboat in front of us had pulled anchor and was dragging down the channel. Walt hailed Tow Boat US who had us call the coast guard (they didn't answer) and then he called the State Police. By this time it's dark, the boat is dragging faster and faster in the current. Finally the police come out to fetch the sailboat...and out of the corner of my eye I see an unlit dinghy being rowed by someone going by our boat and towards the police boat and the sailboat. Yep, it's this guy's boat.....the police pick him up and ticket him for no lights in the dinghy or on his sailboat. Hey....he didn't lose his boat!
We have arrived in NYC this afternoon and we are anchored in NJ at Liberty State Park, behind the Statue of Liberty. Gary and Annette Grant introduced us to this quiet, secure spot and we love it. Thanks guys! We had our mast put up at Hop-O-Nose Marina on Catskill Creek and as luck would have it they were serving a free prime rib dinner as customer appreciation day! It was wonderful! Yesterday we met up with Bonnie and Sid in the Nyack anchorage. They shared dinner with us on their boat, FIU. Tomorrow we head out into the ocean for Cape May.
