Day 89 – N 34° 12.405’ W 77° 47.933 Wrightsville Beach, NC

 We spent a pleasant evening Thursday night talking with two other boating couples at the marina as we all gathered in the gazebo rather than be on our boats rocking in the strong winds of an approaching storm. One couple, about our age, were from Australia and had been sailing around Asia and India for a few years. They were just arriving on the U.S. coast to explore that. The other couple was from San Francisco and had two young boys ages 9 and 11. They had sailed through the Panama Canal and spent some time in Central America. Now they were heading for Annapolis where they hoped to sell their Catalina 38 and buy an RV so they could explore inland America on the way home. Then back to jobs, and school, “real life” as they put it. Both boaters spoke about what a “confused sea” the Atlantic was. Compared to the Pacific and the Indian Oceans, the Atlantic was always tossing with conflicting wave patterns.  Who knew it could be smoother? The Atlantic is all we have ever sailed in.

We awoke Friday morning to find the wind had indeed turned northwest after the storms passed through in the night. This was what we were waiting for in order to have a day of offshore sailing and avoid the shoaling inlets and the many bridges with scheduled openings that characterize that stretch of Intracoastal Waterway through North Carolina. After a quick breakfast, we left the dock at 06:00 and got tossed around by opposing wind and current in the inlet which was made worse by all the sport fishing boats heading out hoping to win the billfish tournament.

Captain Peter steering through 25 knot gusts and going 7.2 knots.

We had decided to stay about a mile off the shoreline rather than plot a direct route from Beaufort inlet to our destination of Masonboro inlet in order to avoid being further offshore and in the bigger waves still lingering from the strong winds from the previous night.  The waves close to shore were more comfortable 3 to 4 foot gentle rollers. For the first few hours, the wind was just under 20 knots and there were strong gusts going up to 25 knots, so Peter had to be constantly focused on steering the course while Lyn had to reef the head sail and make frequent adjustments to the sheets.  The combination delivered a great sailing speed of between 6 and 7 knots. But it was a bit of a relief when the wind subsided some and we could relax a little more.  Lyn put out the fishing line thinking only a tuna could chase the lure at the speed we were going…. yum! Unfortunately, nothing bit all day.  The only sea life we saw was a couple of schools of rays swimming just below the surface as they migrated north.

Tilt.. only the stove and the picture are level

 

Dragonfly holding on through the gusts

Eventually, about 14:00, the wind decreased enough so that we had to motor-sail in order to be sure to make it to our destination before dark. And we made it all the way to the anchorage in Wrightsville Beach, NC about 18:00.  We had travelled 71 miles and we were fully under sail for more than half the time.  Peter calculated we got “18 miles to the gallon” today -- better than some land vehicles!

Day 87 – N 34° 43.134’ W 76° 42.292’ Morehead City, NC

New Bern, NC which is 20 miles off the ICW up the Neuse River and is billed as the sailing capital of North Carolina, appealed to us as a next destination from Hobucken.  Our decision would be based on when there would be a period of northerly winds in our area.  We want to sail in the ocean from Beaufort/Morehead City to Cape Fear and prefer to do it in northerly winds, but we would need a day to get from New Bern to the inlet at Beaufort.  Northerly winds this time of year are fairly rare and tend to last for only one day.  As it turned out, the forecast on this Wednesday as we are leaving Hobucken, predicts northerly winds on Friday, so there would not be time to get to New Bern and have time to spend a day or so to see it.  Consequently, we pointed Kite south, towards Morehead City and made a reservation at a marina there, conveniently located close to the inlet.  It turns out that they are having a billfish tournament in Morehead City this week, and it was difficult to find a marina that could accommodate us, but we located Portside Marina in Morehead City and reserved our space there.

Lyn, ready for budget air-conditioning

Southwest winds were forecast, but they turned out to be more westerly before turning southwest in the late morning, so we got in a couple of hours of sailing in the Neuse River before the wind diminished and turned southwest.  That was an unexpected treat.  The day started out at about 75°F and by noon was in the low 80s.  Until the wind freshened in mid-afternoon, it was just plain HOT and humid.  Lyn resorted to her time-tested budget air-conditioning – dousing ourselves, fully clothed, in water.  The cooling effect is immediate and lasts for a couple of hours.  You just have to remember to remove items like cell phones and wallets from your pockets before turning on the water….

We arrived in Morehead City around 14:30, just as the southerly wind was starting to really kick up.  Needing fuel, we pulled up to the fuel dock and the dockmaster/owner, Denard Harris, Ph.D., told us we could stay at the fuel dock for our stay.  This is a good thing, because we were on the south side of the dock, and the wind was so strong it is unlikely we could have got off the fuel dock.  After securing Kite to the dock, we took a walk for a few blocks to where they had set up the billfish tournament weigh-in.  No boats arrived during the hour we were there, so we decided to explore the area a little.  We found the ice cream shop, which provided us some relief from the heat, and we saw a boat that had got some good eating fish – just not billfish.  Eventually we returned to Kite not having seen any billfish, but eager to get out of the heat and sample Kite’s air conditioning, which was very refreshing!

Mahi-mahi and yellowfin tuna from one boat

The wind will remain southerly and get stronger tomorrow, before easing up tomorrow night and shifting to the northwest by Friday morning.  At least that is what “Tall Tales” NOAA has been telling us, so we’ll plan to leave early Friday morning and sail in the ocean to Wrightsville Beach, retracing the steps of our trip north.  Meanwhile tomorrow, we’ll stock up on some groceries and Lyn will have one of her monthly blood tests at the nearby hospital outpatient lab.

Day 85 – N 35° 14.547’ W 76° 35.429’ Hobucken, NC

After starting the day seeing another swimming bear, how could the day get any better?  We would be fighting brisk southwest winds as we made our way towards the southwest today, so we were prepared for a slow day of motoring into the wind and planned to cover only 30 miles to Hobucken, home of the little commercial fishing dock, where we stayed an extra stormy day on the trip north. 

The day actually turned out better than we thought and we were able to get in an hour of sailing, plus 2 hours of motor-sailing into our 5 ½ hour trek to Hobucken.  The Pungo River is shaped a little like the letter N, and the 6-mile middle part runs east-west.  The wind started out southerly, so we put out the sails and killed the engine for a fast reach across this portion.  By the time we got to the end, the wind had started to move toward the southwest, but not enough to keep sailing.  We started the engine, and realized that the river was wide enough that we could motor-sail down the last portion with a couple of short tacks to get back to our track, and make better time than just motoring into the wind and current.  So the sails were up for most of the time, and that always feels better – putting the wind to work.

As we entered Goose Creek, in the last 5 miles of today’s passage, we encountered 3 pods of dolphins, intent on their fishing and ignoring our boat.  For this trip we have not often encountered dolphins, so it was a treat to see them.

Upon arriving at the docks of RE Mayo Co., we tied up and had lunch aboard Kite, then went to the office to check in and see what kinds of fish we might buy for supper.  They didn’t have a very large selection this time, but we found some nice flounder fillets and some frozen shrimp (for later).  We paid up for 2 nights at the dock (bad weather forecast for tomorrow), plus our fish, and had change from a $50 bill.  This place is a great deal.

Day 84 – N 35° 33.988’ W 76° 28.881’ Pungo River, NC

Finding the next marker in the fog.

The plan of the day was to cover 50 miles from Coinjock, putting us at the south end of the huge Alligator River.  Away from the dock just after 07:00, we had motored just a mile or two through the short canal, to where it opens out into a broader river.  Then the visibility suddenly decreased to less than 100 feet!  Even though the buoys and markers are fairly close together, we could not see from one to the next, so we were virtually blind.  We reduced speed to idle speed and Peter used the GPS to set the course to the next buoy and then steered by compass until Lyn spotted the buoy.  Then repeat the process to the next one, and the next.  After about an hour of this, the fog started lifting and the river got wider, so we speeded up and within another hour the visibility was over 2 miles and we heaved a sigh of relief.

Bug on inside rim of glasses

The day was windless.  The surface of the water was mirror-like, rarely broken by wavelets from a little zephyr.  There was no wind to blow the bugs away, so they started accumulating in the cockpit, lighting on the underside of the bimini and dodger.  Some would occasionally land on the inside of our glasses. We motored along with help from a little current at about 6 knots and by noon we were entering the Alligator River.  As we moved into afternoon, it was becoming hot.  Peter calculated that we would be at our anchorage by 15:00, a full 5  hours before sundown.  Storms were starting to build, and with them the wind started, but not from the forecasted direction of south; instead the wind was from the northeast.  We decided to take advantage of the northeast winds, and put out our jib, reefed to half size because of the threatening storms.  A short time later we kept hearing the squawking of some birds as if they had landed on our boom.  It turned out to be some swallows that were using the draft off our sail, and they were gliding in the slipstream.  We had never seen this bird behavior before.  They kept it going for about 20 minutes. 

Swallows drafting off our sail

As we neared our anchorage spot, picked for its protection from south winds, we realized that it would be totally inadequate for the strong northeast winds we were experiencing.  We were about to enter the 27-mile long Alligator River-Pungo River canal, which has nowhere to anchor in it.  We decided to go for a well-protected anchorage at the other end of the canal, and took advantage of the northeast wind by motorsailing.  This increased our speed to over 6 knots.  As we entered the canal the wind diminished because of the tall trees lining both sides of the canal, but there was a favorable current and we were (fortunately) able to keep our speed over 6 knots.  Lyn was constantly on the lookout for bears, swimming across the canal, but she did not see any this time.  We emerged from the canal at about 18:30 and had only a 20-minute trek to our new anchorage at the headwaters of the Pungo River.

There were 2 other boats in the anchorage when we arrived, but there was still plenty of room for us.  The forecast called for south winds at 5 to 10 mph all night, but it was already blowing 15 knots from the southeast, so we were glad to be in a well-protected anchorage.  The holding turned out to be very good, as the wind was frequently gusting to over 20 knots, and our anchor did not drag.

We spent a comfortable evening at anchor, awoke around 06:00 as is our habit, had breakfast and prepared to go.  As we were raising the anchor, Peter spotted a bear – swimming across the river in front of us.  We were both busy with the anchor, so were unable to drop everything and grab a camera, but Lyn confirmed it – we really saw another bear swimming across the river!

Day 83 – N 36° 20.931’ W 75° 56.928’ Coinjock, NC

Since it is Saturday, the Gilmerton Bridge is not closed from 06:30 to 09:30.  Instead, it opens every hour on the half-hour, so we planned our departure today for 07:15, expecting to arrive at the Gilmerton Bridge by 08:30.  We actually got away a few minutes ahead of schedule, and arrived at the bridge 10 minutes early, so we had to mark time for 10 minutes.  It is all about the bridge schedules (and canal lock schedule) in this first 20-mile stretch of the ICW.  After Gilmerton, you have ½ hour to get to Steel Bridge, which opens every hour on the hour.  It is 3 miles, so we needed every bit of speed Kite could deliver to make it on time.  And then it is 2 ½ miles to the Canal Lock, which opens every hour on the half-hour, so we didn’t have to go so fast to get there on time, but we only had a minute or two to spare before they closed the locks after we arrived.  Then it is 5 miles to the Centerville Bridge, which opens on demand on weekends only, but we didn’t know it, so we thought we had to get there for an opening on the hour or half-hour.  So we timed our speed to 5 knots so that we would arrive just in time.  We were shocked when a motorboat ahead of us arrived at 5 minutes before the opening time and the bridge opened.  We thought they had done the opening early and that we would have to wait 25 minutes, so we called and asked if they could hold the bridge open for us.  The bridge tender said we were too far away, but he would close the bridge long enough to clear the automobile traffic and then open it again for us.  We waited only a couple of minutes for that and then we had one last bridge, which opens on the hour and half-hour, 5 miles away to get to in the remaining 55 minutes.  This one went without incident and we were through with bridges by noon.

Osprey with chick

After the bridges, there were still 30 miles to go before arriving at Coinjock, NC, our destination for the night.  Most of that 30 miles is spent crossing Currituck Sound from top to bottom.  But the next 5 to 10 miles was ICW wilderness.  We noted that the ospreys now have chicks, whereas they were just nesting when we came north.  We also saw lots of Canada Geese and blue herons. 

We had hoped that we could put out our sail and get some extra speed, but as we started crossing Currituck Sound, the wind was just too far forward and we couldn’t get any benefit from it in the narrow channel through the Sound.  Half an hour later, some thunderclouds started forming in the west and the wind strengthened and shifted, so we were able to put out the jib and get the boat moving around 7 knots.  Then the Coast Guard broadcast a warning that a line of severe thunderstorms, capable of hail and winds over 40 knots, was west of Currituck Sound and moving east.  About the time the storm arrived we would be turning downwind, so we decided to reef the jib to about ½ its full size and keep moving; maybe we could outrun the storms.  It turned out that we kind of split the difference, some passed in front of us and most of the rain passed behind us, but we didn’t have any hail or severe winds.  Soon afterwards we un-reefed the jib and continued our speedy crossing of Currituck Sound.  We encountered a few more brief rain squalls, but didn’t really get soaked.  The last of the rain had stopped before our arrival at Coinjock at 15:50, and the sky was beginning to clear.  By dinnertime, there was not a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining brightly.