Annapolis

     We are now in Annapolis. Weems Creek in West Annapolis to be a little more precise. After a few days Carol will fly off to work and I'll start on maintenance.

     While we were both here we went to the US Naval Academy again. Visiting John Paul Jones' crypt and a couple of the museums on campus.

We were also there to view the daily formation and parade the cadets have preceding lunch. It's a long tradition indicating their willingness to fight and perhaps die for our country. We noticed a little more security than normal and assumed it was because of the bombing of the Boston Marathon. It wasn't. It was because Michelle Obama was visiting. We got to see her observing the procession and her motorcade as she was exiting a while later. She didn't wave. We'll we didn't either.

     BTW: she's in the red dress on the steps.

     It'll be almost three weeks before we leave here and start our final push towards Mystic.

Catching up

     We are now in St Michaels, MD. I haven't had the time to update this blog so there's a lot to catch up on.

     After my last post we went to a spot called Pipeline Canal just before Southport, NC. No issues except for annoying crab pots in the anchorage and a number of passes by very loud Osprey helicopters from the Marine Base. We were also happy the UConn WBB team won their game and was going to the Final Four.

     Next up was the Cape Fear River and a major road block for us: Snows Cut Bridge. It's under repair so instead of a 65' clearance it had only 61'. We have a 65' mast. That's an issue. There is a 4' tide there so we had to time our passage for low tide, a little after 10am. We were 30 minutes late but made it through okay and headed to Wrightsville Beach for the night.

     The next days was cold, rainy and windy. Also slow due to current. YUCK. We ended up okay at Camp LeJeune, the Marine Base with noisy Ospreys. Deserve the noise here. We appreciate being able to use the anchorage.

     From there we went past Beaufort, NC (Bo-fert) to Cedar Creek just south of the Neuse River.

     We said we'd never cross the Neuse or the Pamlico in a north wind and here we were again. DOING IT AGAIN! It wasn't as awful as last year but we still had 3-4 ft. seas on the nose with a 15-20 kt wind. Double yuck! But we made it and stopped at the start of the Pungo River, skipping by Belhaven.

     We were up early the next day to go under the Wilkerson Bridge when it turned very foggy in the Pungo-Alligator Canal. We went aground twice in the narrow canal before following a deeper draft sailboat. A half hour of very scary. Even a barge had pulled over to wait for better visibility. It took us 11 hours to get to Coinjock where we could get internet at a marina. Internet to watch UConn beat Notre Dame. Destroy Notre Dame. Yay!!!!

     From there we had a short day to Great Bridge where we tie up to a free dock to get supplies, fuel and access to a bar to watch the last UConn game of the season.

     UConn - National Champions!

     From there we took advantage of a great weather day to go all the way to Deltaville, VA. Then a second good day to get to the Solomons where we tied up to the Jack and Kathy Locher's private dock.

     We spent a few days there due to stormy weather before heading here to St Michaels. We'll probably spend a few days here also before heading to a work stop in Annapolis.

On the Road again

     We are again underway after a three week stay in Charleston. Two travelling days brings us to North Myrtle Beach to stay at a marina so we can watch the UConn WBB game.

     Charleston is a great city, we love it but....

It doesn't have a very good anchorage. The Ashley River is deep, not well protected and it has a lot of current. I had two thunderstorms come through while Carol was away which were no fun at all. They were not the worst we've had while there but the worry is enough.

Our two passages so far to get here were a little rainy but not rough. Tomorrow we head towards Southport, NC. We get the the SC/NC border fairly early in the morning. Were timing our trip so two days from now we get to Snow's Cut at low tide, about 1000 Wed.

Why?

Because they are working on the bridge and lowered the clearance to 61 feet. Problem. Our mast is 65 feet tall. Doesn't work. Fortunately there is a nearly 4 foot tide so at low tide we may, MAY, get under it.

     Last fall while southbound Carol hit the navigation light on the bridge with our mast. That was when the clearance was at 65 feet. Whoops. We may end up taking down their scaffolding, including workers if this doesn't work out right. Then we'd have to turn around, go 20 miles to the open ocean and go offshore to re-enter at an inlet near Wrightsville beach that may be too shallow for us.

     Major pain in the...


We'll let you know what happens.