We left Great Bridge very early, about an hour earlier than normal. Being a holiday, the Centerville Turnpike Swing bridge did not have the opening restriction until 0830. Went through it by 0725. I had to call the bridgetender to convince her it was a Federal Holiday and that they should be opening on request. It wasn't until we were through that I told her the holiday was my birthday. #70.
We sighted multiple eagles along the way. Other raptors, too. It was very, very cold but calm.
As mentioned in the previous post, we got the new Covid booster while in Great Bridge and of course, I got very sick the next day. Chills, fever, sore eyes, sore shoulder. I'm used to it. Happens every time. Still sucks.
We ended up in a usual anchorage in Broad Creek, just before Albemarle Sound. We were between Shiloh, NC and Jarvisburg, NC. We did not get the bug swarm Carol feared. A transient in Great Bridge said they got them 2 or 3 weeks ago. All dead, I guess. Cold snap was good for something. The Albemarle Sound crossing was uneventful. Light breeze behind us. It isn't always this nice. Blue skies but cool. Warming up! Basically uneventful all the way to Belhaven, NC. I bumped the bottom of the Alligator-Pungo Canal when I squeezed to the side to give room to a northbound barge. I guess that's an event. No big deal. We went aground in the same spot 10 years ago. Not this time. Our passage on the Neuse/Pamlico waters was also uneventful. Not quite calm but light 1ft seas were mostly astern. We ended up in Oriental, NC at a free town dock. We got there early enough to get a spot as we watched the live camera feed on the internet as we were travelling on the Neuse River to be sure there was space for us. Of course someone scooted in after my last check of the feed just before we entered the harbor. They were just there to get coffee at the shop across the street but it forced us to switch our tie-up side at the last moment. An annoyance but no big deal. We planned to stay 2 nights due to forecast thunderstorms.
There is a slightly strange theme in Oriental. They have dragon eggs, okay painted rocks, all around the area. On our walks we sighted at least 6. Then there is the actual dragon. No, not the one painted on the bench.
The town is named for the sign board from the wreckage of a ship lost near Cape Hatteras in the early 19th century and found by the then newly appointed postmaster's wife. Yes, she found the name board along the outer coast 25 miles away and suggested the name of the town be changed to match it. Not strange at all. This is likely the origin of the oriental dragon themes that abound here.
Anyway, after one partly rainy day, we got underway again. Our passage to Camp LeJeune, the Marine Corp base, was a little cooler and a lot cloudier than forecast. We had good current most of the way so, in spite of a fuel stop, we made good time. Our trip from Camp LeJeune, Mile Hammock basin, was nice. Great weather, with blue skies, if a little cool to start. Our passage through the New River inlet area was taken slow because it is shallow and difficult to navigate but we did okay. It's been dredged (ongoing) but it's still an adventure. We just barely made the 1100 Figure Eight Island swing bridge opening but, having done so, the Wrightsville Beach bridge 1200 opening was easy to make. We got a municipal mooring at Carolina Beach again for one night. At $20/night, the cost is reasonable. We sat out weather and did some exploring here this past spring. Not this time. We departed Carolina Beach slightly later than normal to try and time the currents. It worked reasonably well. The Cape Fear River had ripples building to 6". Nice. The current when rejoining the ICW at Southport was good and stayed mostly good all day. Lockwoods Folly only caused minor agita and Shallotte Inlet was a breeze. We anchored at Calabash Creek just into SC once again. Our trip through the Myrtle Beach ICW area after that was slow due to adverse current most of the day. Started off wearing short pants but with a sweatshirt and it warmed up from there. We stopped at Wacca Wache Marina for fuel and then went right into nearby Cow House Creek where our anchor winch failed. I thought it was the down switch but after investigation apparently it's not. The relay clicks but does not engage. The 'up' function works, however. Strange. Still investigating/guessing. Our passage down the Waccamaw River was swift and smooth. Winyah Bay had small waves behind us so that was comfortable, too. Once back in the ICW at the Estherville-Minim Canal we passed by our usual anchorage at Minim Creek because it was very early in the day and a new-to-us anchorage at the South Santee River would get us closer to Charleston for the next day. We got a few repairs done including getting the windlass working properly. No great genius of mechanical ability was involved. I have no idea why the relay was kicking in correctly. Or why it stopped previously. A future problem coming I suspect. I reconnected the wires I had snipped while testing it the day before. Boating is fun. Anyway, the South Santee anchorage is exposed to the wind and has a lot of current but conditions were benign and posed no problems.
When we got underway for Charleston it was very, very cold. Not quite freezing but with the breeze... brrr. Wore many layers. The shallows of McClellanville were less worrisome because we anchored 45 minutes closer to it in the South Santee. We beat the low tide. By just a little. Once again, for the 2nd year in a row, we anchored in the Ashley River where we used to regularly stop years ago. It was a 'fly off and work' stop for Carol. Not a great anchorage due to wind and current. Not a great place to be alone like I used to be. Great city, however. We haven't visited it in a while.
We are going to head offshore from here. Small weather window again. Remember, this past spring didn't work out so well. Supposed to be nice here and a bit south but northern Florida may not be so great. We shall see.
The next posting will be from Florida, maybe Marathon. Uh, if we survive. Funny, we never used to question that.
No comments:
Post a Comment