Peaceful anchorage at Carter Creek

Yesterday was a very short cruise that ended at a very picturesque anchorage at Carter Creek.

We spent most of the afternoon working on the bimini extension, very slow going. 

Later we cruised around the anchorage admiring all the beautiful homes.  There was a weeding going on at one of the marinas.

Here is the boat that brought the bride to the marina. A Hatteras 80 footer

When we returned to the boat, Jim worked on removing the unsightly brown "mustache" from the bow of our boat. It cleaned off very well with help from On-Off.

We had a quite dinner each couple sitting in their own cockpit and dining almost together.  Inside from the bugs around 8:30 and then another episode of Outlanders. I'm loving this life!

Chesapeake

On Thursday we started up the Chesapeake and through Norfolk harbor.  So much activity here.
 We cruised by the Nauticus that we has visited the day before.

There was every kind of naval vessel here.  We saw 4 active aircraft carriers and one undergoing a major refit in drydock, supply ships, destroyers and missile cruisers. Also housing barges, tugs refuelers and sub tenders.  If little Kimmy from North Korea wanted to start a fight I'm sure it would be over quick!





Below is an aircraft carrier with a small boat in for the foreground guarding it.

We rafted with Seas The Day at Bryant 1 anchorage. Jim made a lovely sushi appetizer prior to a shrimp with fettuccine dinner. This trading off chef duties is nice.  Not much more trouble to cook for 4 than 2.

On Friday we continued up the Chesapeake and saw this brick lighthouse.

It is called Wolf Trap Lighthouse and it has quite a history. If you want an interesting read go to
http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=441
It has three bedrooms and is currently for sail if you are looking for a unique home.

Nauticus

It was raining again yesterday morning but we decided to take an Uber ride into Norfolk to visit the Nauticus Museum and tour the Battleship Wisconsin. By the time we got to Norfolk the sun was coming out and we had a beautiful day for our outing.

There is a big difference between the quarters for the enlisted men and the officers.

Enlisted mens' berths

Officer's cabin

Jim, the chef, decides to help out with serving meals to the sailors.     

Enlisted men's mess 

Officers' mess

After an exhausting day of touring we relaxed at the "219 Restaurant" for a late lunch, and then back to the Nauticus for the 3D movie at 3:30

Coinjock

After leaving Belhaven we found a nice anchorage at Alligator River.
We rafted with Bill & Sandy and the Atkins invited us for a lovely dinner.

Here we are at the anchorage with Seas The Day

 And Drift Away

There was an old canal where we anchored on the Alligator river and I took the dingy down to explore where it went.  Also the dingy fuel tank was very full and when it was hot out the tank would vent gas and it was smelly!  At the end of about a two mile man made canal I came across this sunken sailboat and the grain silos and an old lumber yard.

We arrived at Coinjock Marina so we could have the famous 32oz Prime Rib dinner at the restaurant there. Debbie and I split it and it was delicious 

It was highly recommended by Bill and Sandy who had stopped there on their way south and it lived up to their billing.

We left Coinjock at 8:00AM and motored across Coinjock Bay and up through a narrow river to the swing bridges and lock at Great Bridge, just south of Norfolk.  The bridges all opened upon arrival and we had a flotilla of 6 vessels passing through at each opening.  

Bill and I stopped at TopRack Marina just past the Great Bridge lock.  Fuel was $209.9 with taxes and $35.00 a night for a very nice clean facility.  Everything is very new.  Dock hands were a big help and the fueling process went quickly.  

We have been here now for three days as the weather has been rainy and cold.  Catching up on some boat chores and we decided to order some things to get delivered here since we would be here for three days.  Kathy Gilmore and Bob Parsons (my ex brother-in-law) came for dinner Sunday night and it was great to catch up with them both.  Bobby graciously took Sandy and I shopping at the grocery store and we are well stocked up now. Monday I got a long needed haircut and then Bill got on the back of the bike and we rode over to WestMarine for some engine zincs and other supplies.  Sandy and Bill had us over for comfort food dinner Tuesday night and Debbie made a beautiful lattice crust cherry pie. The Wifi is very good here and we have been downloading shows and movies for when we wont be so lucky with WiFi

Oriental & Belhaven

Wednesday was a cloudy day as we set off to Oriental. By the time we reached the Oriental Marina the sun was shining again. Oriental is a small town but a thriving one that is known as the Carolina's Sailing Capital. It is a very friendly town catering to the needs of boaters. We ended up in a slip next to Mike & Sally who we met earlier when they stayed at St Johns Yacht Harbor and also at Heritage Plantation.

We met up with old friends Alan and Bev on their sailboat Dagny and met their traveling buddies Paul & Lori on their sailboat 2 Outragious. They had both just returned from 3 months in the Bahamas and were appropriately brown from their time in the sun.  We invited everyone to shared a lasagna dinner on board Drift Away. Here we all are from left to right; Bill, Bev, Paul, Lori, Sandy, Alan, and Jim, with Debbie and of course Abby in front.

On Thursday we cruised to Belhaven NC another small town and stayed at the town dock. We had a great dinner out at The Tavern at Jack's Neck. Great burgers and Bill had the Ahi Tuna which he said was excellent.  Sandy tried the shrimp and grits and also reported it was very good. We did a short walk around town after dinner and turned in early.  This boating is tough work and we were pooped.
There is a large lot next to the dock which made Abby very happy.  She could run and play without being on a leash.

We had a few mechanical issues today.  The port engine would not start when we left the dock at Oriental and after much very hot work in the engine room and use of jumper cables I was able to get it started and everything was good.  We ran for about two hours on one engine before we got it going though. Upon reflection there was only one old battery that I had not changed and I suspected it was the problem.  I called Advance Auto in Belhaven and they delivered the battery to the dock within half an hour.  What great service.  Bill and I wrestled the old one out and the new one in and we were up and running within another half hour.   I hope that's the end of that problem, it sure is hot working down there in the summer heat, and its only April.  The other issue was the Balmar voltage regulator and alternator for charging the 4 8D inverter batteries was not working.  There was no power to the regulator and it would not light up.  I remembered that Dennis and I had put a fuse in line and I was not able too find the fuse.  Fresher and more patient this morning I moved the tool box out of the way and the first thing I saw was the fuse holder.  When I opened it the fuse fell out into the bilge and once recovered and reinstalled everything was right again.  Very simple fix. One more project will be the cooling fan for the Generator.  It works but only when the switch is on for the generator to run in the engine room.  Not our usual way of running it.  So I will need to trace the wires and probably move the power wire for the fan to a different terminal.  Again small problems, it is a boat!!

We are having a great time and are planning our Chesapeake Bay visit for the next month.  So many places to see and visit.

Moving On

We left Dudleys Marine traveling with our buddy boat "Seas The Day".

It was a beautiful day and we saw lots of activity on the waterways. 

CoastGuard boat and helicopter doing training exercises in Morehead City Port

Here is a tugboat pushing a large barge.









We arrived at Morehead City Yacht Basin in the early afternoon and spent some time cutting fabric to cover the the Bimini extension on the flybridge. We didn't get very far before it was time to join Bill and Sandy on Seas The Day for cocktails and a delicious dinner.  

We have been having beautiful weather until the next day when we woke up in Morehead City to some light rain. We motored on to New Bern and by the afternoon the sun was out again.

New Bern is a sweet town with lots of history.  It is also the birthplace of Pepsi Cola.

New Bern has many colorful bears scattered throughout the downtown area.
Here is our friend Sandy with one of them. Of course Abby had to get in on the picture too!

Here are more examples of the bears.

We anchored just past the railway bridge inside New Bern harbor and rafted together for the night.  Very peaceful night on the hook.  Tonight we will meet up with Allan and Bev Gray on Dagny in Oriental.  We can't wait to hear about all of their adventures in the Bahamas.

Dinner with friends

We left the anchorage at Figure Eight on Saturday and headed towards Cedar Point to see our friends, Marcia and Benton Herring who were our former neighbors in Denver, NC. They are in the process of building a new home in Cedar Point.  We contacted them earlier and arranged to have our mail forwarded to their address for us to pick up.

There is a portion of the ICW that goes through Camp Lejuene. As you may know they do live firing exercises here and use all kinds of new toys to light up the sky and acquire and destroy "targets".

We were glad they were not doing any training that day.

We just missed the opening of theSurf City Swing Bridge by 10 minutes!  Since it only opened on the hour we had to drop anchor and wait until it opened again at 11:00. 

The bridge was very busy that day.

Abby was bored with waiting an decided to take a nap.

Later that day, we didn't want to miss the opening at the Onslow Swing Bridge so Jim cranked up the engines and we made it through just in time. Debbie was down below when he did and she said it sounded like a jet taking off.

We arrived at Dudleys Marina, which is the marina closest to Marcia, at 3:00. We had a great visit with Marcia, Benton and Madison on our boat, catching up on the latest news. We also had a very enjoyable dinner with them in downtown Swansboro. 

One of the mail packages contained a new AGLCA burgee so we were able to replace our torn and tattered burgee with the new one.

Old















NEW

Sunday was for shopping and finishing and filing our taxes.  We accomplished both.

Our friends Bill and Sandy on Seas The Day are scheduled to arrive at Dudleys on their way from the Bahamas to Montreal. Jim bought some items for side dishes to go with our turkey dinner (it is Easter) and invited Bill and Sandy to share Easter dinner with us. 

Took Debbie a while to get the auto timer to work.

This was a sort of a dredge that was tied up behind us both nights we were here.  They come in around 5 PM and leave at 6 in the AM.  It picks up the sand from the two pipes on the side and shoots it out of a big water cannon off the bow.  Would have loved to see it working, but we didn't find where they were working.

Abby lost her favorite toy

As we cruised from Wilmington we saw a large tanker that was unloading cargo at the port in Wilmington.

We spent a peaceful morning cruising up the Cape Fear River and then the ICW north through Carolina Beach.  


What a difference when we got to Wrightsville Beach.  The beautiful 75 degree weather brought out a lot of boaters making navigating through the drawbridge a little challenging. But Captain Jim did a great job getting us through the congested area, and we timed the "on the hour" opening perfectly.

Wrightsville draw Bridge

We continued from Wrightsville Beach to Figure Eight Island where we spent the night.  
Jim spent the afternoon on the phone trying to get to the bottom of our issues with the depth finder and our Island Time wifi booster.  The depth sounder has been intermittent and as with all things electronic, fails when you would really like to have it working the most. Sometimes it works and sometime it doesn't.  Not a good thing. I did another reset on the Raymarine and reset the DSM, hopefully this will be the fix.  The Island Time is not making a connection with the router and after changing IP addresses and trying multiple resets it looks like it will need to go off to get fixed.

Here is Abby with her favorite toy.  Jim was playing with Abby tossing her toy from the flybridge down the steps to the aft salon and having her chase it. The dog stairmaster!
After many tosses it went into the water.  We saw it floating by so Jim got down the dingy and after 4-5 circuits downstream could not find it.  Alas the toy is loss. Poor Abby! Petsmart here we come.

Our anchorage last night with one other lonely abandoned sailboat.
Happy Easter to all.

Sewing in Wilmington

We spent most of yesterday at Bennett Yacht Brothers marina making repairs to the flybridge bimini. A few of the zippers were starting to detach and a couple zippers needed to be replaced. It was less trouble to hand sew the zippers than to remove the whole bimini and sew it with the SailRight machine.  Next time when we remove the top we will oversew the repairs we made today. We are adding an extension or a ball cap brim to the bimini to add more shade and protection from the sun. I've had enough skin cancer already.

Here is headless Debbie sewing the top.

 Jim was helping too. It was team work.

Ya I know my shirt is on inside out!

An Osprey helicopter/plane 

We seemed to be on the flight path for the Osprey's and Military helicopters going in and out of Wilmington.  Boy do they make some noise.

Later that afternoon we took Abby and dinghyed  up the Cape Fear river above Wilmington for a few miles and then back down to downtown Wilmington where Debbie and Abby walked the River Walk and met some new strangers.  We also saw Chris and Amy from Imagine This.  They are staying at the town docks and we will see them again as they are doing ht Loop to.