A Week of Too Much Wind

We left you, dear reader, last at Ocracoke Island, famous for its beheading of Blackbeard. We ultimately staid longer than planned, as a strong low pressure system developed just off the N.C. coast bringing wind speeds as high as 40 knots over a two day period along of course with plenty of rain. We tested our series anchor system again, chaining a fortress to the crown of our delta and then laying out 200 feet of rode (chain + snubber). The anchorage was well protected from waves but the strong and shifting winds were no picnic, the anchoring system, however, held perfectly.

From Ocracoke we sailed on the tail end of the strong winds down to the Neuse river and from there on to Beaufort N.C.. Beaufort was a neat town, with a nice waterfront and easy access to the necessities of cruising (laundry, groceries, beer). A little expensive on moorage but we wanted dock access as we thought we had a nice window to head offshore to Charleston S.C.

We left about 18 hours after arriving Beaufort bound for the Atlantic and we thought would be a sleigh ride south in 15-20 knot winds from the north. What we got was anywhere between 10 - 30 knots, but most ofter 25, and out of the ENE, especially after rounding Cape Fear. The waves were 6 foot plus with a 2 foot swell, so when on our quarter gave us speeds up t0 10.6 knots in a surf down the front of them, but as we rounded Cape Fear they waves became much more confused and more directly on our stern. Along with the wind shift we were suddenly sailing dead down wind, rolling from gunwale to gunwale. Needless to say seasickness became the name of the game taking its largest toll on Jake. No one on the crew felt 100%. As we got close to Winyah bay, an alternative to Charleston harbour the winds were picking up towards 30 knots. The decision was close because we were sailing so fast we arrived at the Winyah channel at 5:20 am so would have to run it in the dark. The channel is a class A, meaning that it is all weather, deep draft commercial channel. The buoys were all lighted and the channel easy to run so ultimately a good decision to come in early and short of our destination. We then came up to Georgetown S.C., a great small town and waterfront, which is a good thing...

In Georgetown we discovered that our charger/inverter had quick working. After a few hours of poking around with a multimeter the answer, as it is with almost all marine electronics now, is to ship it to the manufacturer. Debating this for a few hours we elected to do it immediately, thus we are now stuck in Georgetown until the unit is returned to us, which we hope is only 3-5 days.

Jake's 5th birthday is on Monday the 27th and of course we have Halloween, so plenty to keep us busy while we wait. One last note, we are staying at the Boat Shed Marina, which has been great with us, so if you cruise this way yourself do not hesitate to give them your business.

ICW Week 1 - NO The Other Green Buoy

Do you see the green buoy off of our port bow? asks Rae Ann, "yes I do" is my reply..... Dave the depth is decreasing WE ARE DOWN TO 4 FEET!!! says Rae Ann. "Oh s..t the other green buoy", followed by a hard turn to starboard, a lucky and generous wind gust filling the genoa, while already sailing 7 knots and we were back in the channel. Yes we draw 6 foot 7 inches so we were considerably aground, however because of our speed under sail and the lucky wind gust combined with a very soupy mud bottom we were able to turn to deeper water with almost no loss of speed much less any real impact. Better to be lucky....

The ICW from Norfolk VA to Beaufort NC has several land cuts and channels through shallow sounds. The incident above happened in the North Landing River, where the channel is 100 feet wide and 12 feet deep, though sometimes much shallower. However just outside the channel depths are 1 or 2 feet so the margin for error is very small. Nerve racking to say the least. The depths generally have improved a little farther south so getting a little easier.

We visited several different ports of call, Great Bridge (free dock), Coinjock (a way station on a canal in the ICW), Buck Island (open but peaceful anchorage, Belhaven (a nice anchorage but a struggling town with 8 of 10 store fronts shuttered) and finally Ocracoke, which is on the outer banks a bit of the way off the ICW. Ocracoke is where Blackbeard was captured and beheaded, has great beaches and generally a marvelous atmosphere ashore. With some nasty weather forecast we are happy to be stuck here for a few days poking around.

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Colonial Virginia

We left Deltaville and headed south ultimately sailing 10 miles up the York river and anchoring in Sarah Creek just across the river from Yorktown. From there we rented a car and spent two days visiting Yorktown, Jamestown and Williamsburg, with Williamsburg being our favorite. All, though, were very interesting and well balanced for kids and adults, with good museum quality exhibits mixed with hands on displays like carving canoes, which Jake really enjoyed. Williamsburg has been kept in essentially colonial "condition", although most of the buildings have been rebuilt. There are no cars, just horse and buggy or walking. We ended our very fun day there in a tavern hosting a Gambol, which consisted of a light fare, peanuts, games, live music and a magician - notably ample beer!. Fun was had by all.

As payment on all the fun above we had one long anchoring adventure in Sarah Creek. Although noted as a "good" anchorage, we had a very difficult time getting our Delta anchor to set, at one point using two anchors in series to calm the nerves while we were away from the boat. The anchorage was also small so we needed to reposition for the wind shifts throughout the week.

Lastly, we entered Sarah Creek at high tide, seeing on 7 foot spot (we draw 6 foot, 7 inches) attributing this to being pushed out of the channel by an exiting sailboat. However, upon further inquiry we came to understand that the entrance is only 6 foot at low tide not the 8+ feet our chart suggests. I went out then in the dinghy to sound the entrance finding the lowest and highest spots at low water. Armed with this intelligence we left on the 7:00 am high tide on Saturday, following the winding path with nary an incident.

It Stinks Here

We anchored in the Reedville area, known for its menhaden industry (a fish, I think the spelling is correct). The anchorage was a typical Chesapeake anchorage; shallow creek, mud bottom with good holding, well protected from wind and wave. We went to sleep under a beautiful starry sky. We awoke at 6:00 am, Rae Ann says "why does it smell like dog food?", well the winds had shifted to easterly and were blowing the aerial discharge of the fish processing plant right over our anchorage - so plans to hang out a couple of days became a mad rush to sail farther down the bay.

Backing up a bit. We left Annapolis and sailed to the eastern side of the bay, visiting St. Micheal's for a couple of days. A very nice town famous for its resistance to the British during the battle for independence, its most notable landmark being a still standing house that took a cannon ball through its roof that rolled down the stairs and out the front door. Today the house is aptly named "Cannon Ball House" least anyone be confused.

After St. Micheal's it was the aforementioned Reedville thus leading a speedy departure to Solomons Island. Solomons is a boating mecca a great stop. From Solomons we found are way to Deltaville, yet another boating mecca and where we hang out currently. We are meeting more and more cruisers as everyone begins to funnel towards the ICW ahead of any possibility of cold weather.