2008 Cruising
5/15 to 5/31/2008
This is our log for 2008; the 2007 East Coast and other voyages are now in Prior Voyages.
We plan to post and update at least weekly. We move the older portions of the log to secondary pages accessible at the bottom of the page. Join our voyage!
Updated on 06/02/2008
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5/15/08 - Sunrise in Fernandina Beach, the northern edge of Florida. We ran the ditch again today though we really wanted to jump offshore. The way I'm feeling I just didn't think I should try a 20 hour run single-handed. These 8-10 hours days drain me... I can't imagine running 20 without a break. Adrian and Jan, and English couple had traveled with us the last couple of days. They had sailed over from England (15 days) and had cruised Venezuela and the Caribbean before working their way up the coast from the Bahamas. I finally got to met them at Jekyll Island when we had lunch while waiting for the tide to rise so we could transit Jekyll Creek, a notoriously shallow section of the ICW. With the tide rising we ran the creek, we also hit Mud River at high tide - talk about luck. We did better than a tug and barge that grounded yesterday and was blocking the ICW until late today. It's still aground but has been able to swing enough to open the channel. Luckily it occurred after we passed the area. May have been one of the two southbound tows we met yesterday. After a 65 statue mile day we anchored in the Darien River (about 70 miles south of Savannah). I made a can of chili for supper and settled in for the night. The weather forecast calls for 30 knot winds and possible thunderstorms... could be a long night. 5/16/08 - I was up at 5:45, still dark outside. The forecast storms appear to have passed south of us during the night. We had wind, but even that stayed in the low 20's; nothing to keep a person up watching for an anchor alarm. Didn't get to talk to Ruth yesterday, the landline is disconnected so she is totally cellular. Works okay as long as it's charged and with her. Left her a voice message wishing her well on today's closing for the house. She'd related that even though the title hadn't transferred yet a team of painters was at work scraping and painting. The new owners-to-be elected to keep the colors we'd painted it. Talked to Ruth, closing at 4pm today. She was loading the last bit out of the house. We ran in light rain all afternoon. Had a couple of areas where the water was thin. AA bumped lightly twice at the south entrance to Florida Cut, Squander grounded but was able to back off. I went back to them by a different path and found more water so they could pass through with their 6' 6" draft. The channel had moved and the range was removed but no buoys added to reveal the changes. Hells Gate cut was tight at 7' - makes life interesting. Georgia has some of the worse stretches of the ICW. AA & Squander anchored for the night in the Herb River just south of Thunderbolt (Savannah) where Ariel had taken a slip given the forecast for thunderstorms and damaging winds. Adrian, Jan and I were comfortable that we would be secure with the shelter and good anchor holding the river provided. We'll know in the morning. 5/17/08 - The sun rose over the dark tree line at 6:30am after a beautiful night. We had an nice surprise when Savannah treated us to an colorful fireworks display. Many of the forecast weather events just don't happen. The scary ones are those that aren't forecasted. We started the day by passing on the wrong side of a mark as we exited our first bridge. Ariel and Squander passed and I was following when I realized our mistake - hey, it was early morning. They both draw more water than AA so I followed. Luckily it was high tide with the 8' of water it brings here. No problems mon. We crossed the Savannah river and entered Field's cut, another notorious section of the ICW. Had a smooth run through some very thin water. No touches or groundings. It was a short day as we reached Beaufort, SC, by early afternoon. All three boats anchored near the Downtown Marina. We're taking a down day tomorrow to visit this historic little community. Went out to dinner with Miles, Laureen, Jan and Adrian. It was interesting talking with a couple from England who had sailed 5 years visiting the Mediterranean, Middle East and northern South America by boat. 5/18/08 - Cool overcast morning - I think we've caught up with the colder weather. While breakfasting in the cockpit listening to Buddy beg for his share I reflected on the challenges of single handing the boat in the ICW. Simple tasks like keeping track of our route or looking ahead on it become more difficult. Lunch has to be in a bag before we leave in the morning or get missed. Using the head is an act of faith given a straight stretch, not traffic and a good autopilot. Anchoring is easier than docking in the wind and tides as there is nothing close to hit. And finally, the company sucks (Buddy excluded). Talking to the smartest person on the boat all day, yourself, is pretty boring. Fueled in Beaufort as my gauge indicated I didn't have enough for Charleston. Took on 42 gallons indicating that I was overcharged in St Augustine... probably about 20 gallons at $4.45 per. Ouch! I may have been given another boat's bill as two of us were fueling at the same time. Wouldn't have happened with Ruth along as she watches the meter while I fill the tank. Mile, Laureen and I walked the city during the afternoon. Beaufort does a nice job of maintaining a historic downtown while Lady Island has the modern mall type stores. It works well. We crossed wakes with friends met on earlier trips, talked via radio to Bob on S/V Autumn Leaves (Hilton Head, SC) and visited Bill and Louise on S/V Andelen (Barrington, RI). I noted M/V Alfie at the marina but didn't see Virginia or Ed. It's always fun to meet and compare adventures. 5/19/08 - I seem to be waking earlier every day... 5:30am today. We have a 6:45 anchors up to clear the Lady Island Bridge before they closed for the morning rush. Today's run was smooth up to the last few miles. AA grounded with the depth sounder reading 8' of water, must have hit a mud hummock as Miles had already passed through the area. Sure got Adrian's attention when I suddenly stopped in front of him. He swung to port and passed by in 11' of water. I was able to wiggle off quickly and continue behind him. For the next few miles we had skinny water. By 3pm we'd run 67 statute miles and anchored in Charleston with Ariel taking a slip on the Mega Dock (City Marina). I treated Buddy to some cockpit time which got him in a talkative mood. We'll be here a couple of days so the crews of Ariel and Squander can explore the city. 5/20/08 - Another great morning, not a cloud in the sky at dawn. Started the day with internet/e-mail access problems. E-mail has been funky the last couple of days - not much incoming. It could be a number of things, the fact we've dropped new.rr, filters on rbhammer.com, or yahoo. Ran a couple of updates on my end and it works??? Go figure! We all went into Charleston and took a horse and carriage tour of the historic district - learning that the city has the largest contiguous historic district in the USA. It was interesting and the buildings were beautiful. The Oleander was in bloom everywhere as our driver/guide explained the growth of Charleston and the impact of the various cultures on the city. After the tour we provisioned at a Harris Teeter supermarket, calling the marina van for a ride back to the harbor. Ruth had left me in good shape so I only needed a few items. Back at the boat we noted the sky darkening. Weather radio revealed severe weather warnings, tornado warnings and other dire forecasts for our area. The first wave passed just north of us about 7pm. The weather radar on the computer indicated the second wave would hit us. At 8:45 it did, starting with large rain drops, thunder, lightning and small hail. What a light show! The last time I saw continuous lightning the Hammerbergs, Cranes and Angells were docked in High Cliff on Lake Winnebago and a tornado passed over us hitting near Sherwood. In a hour the main event was over though little storms rumbled over until midnight. 5/21/08 - Dawn broke late over an eastern cloud bank. Remnants of last night's squalls? When I tried to raise anchor at 8am I found I'd hooked something on the bottom. The windlass wouldn't raise the anchor nor could I power it out without chain pulling through the windlass. I reconnected the snubber harness and did a power circle around the anchor. Luckily I found an angle where it broke free. A couple of days ago a boat in that anchorage had to have divers untangle his anchor. Must be a lot of junk on the bottom. We traveled through lots of skinny water today, 8-8.5' was pretty common. I strayed into a 5'6" area but didn't touch. It was also a day for gusty winds. We were motor sailing and a gust heeled AA over to the point that Buddy's cage slide off the seat in the cabin onto the floor. Spilled his water and food. I set him back up right away and gave him water. After we anchored I cleaned up the food while Buddy let me know he wasn't happy with the way he'd been treated. We anchored about 6pm above Butler Island, north of Georgetown... almost 70 statue miles. Long day! 5/22/08 - Headed out at 8am to catch the flooding tide. We're traveling in a wooded area now. It's much prettier and the large green eyed flies apparently don't live in the woods - nice. We saw abandoned rice fields, many Osprey and their nests, herons and other birds. Traffic was light and we made Barefoot Landing about 1pm. Decided to push on to Little River to shorten the run to Wrightsville Beach the following day. Renee called Beth White and learned she'd found a clinic that would remove my stitches Saturday morning... so, on to WB. As we were waiting for the Barefoot Landing swing bridge to open the wind pushed Ariel to the east side of the channel where a hidden rock pile snagged her on a falling tide. We sent Squander ahead while I tried to tow them off. No joy. Had to call TowBoat/US. They quickly responded and freed Ariel. I'd found that same pile in 2005, fortunately on a rising tide. When we caught up with Squander at the Little River inlet we found that a dredging operation in progress had turned the inlet into a junkyard of buoys, barges. Adrian had found a nice spot among the gear but there wasn't room for AA and Ariel. Miles elected to return 4 miles to a marina slip while I crossed the ICW to another anchor in skinny water (7' at low tide). After reading my Yanmar owner's manual and the service manual I'd recently purchased I called Brad Abbott to see if he could shed any light on our apparent large increase in diesel consumption. Up until about 60 hours ago we could literally fuel based on a gallon per hour. Our last three fuel fills indicate AA is burning 1.7-1.8 gallons per hour. Ouch! 5/23/08 - Boat traffic woke me at 6am, it was the sportfishers heading out to catch the big ones sleeping. It's not widely known outside the boat community, but sport fishing boats come with a 5' high wake. It's an attitude. By 7:15 everything had been put back in place in the cabin and the anchor was up. We headed for the Sunset Beach Pontoon bridge and an 8am opening of this unique floating bridge. I talked to Ruth, she's made travel arrangements to rejoin the boat in Norfolk, VA June 3rd. Not a lot of places along the way she can fly into. I ran all day alone at about 300 rpm lower than the past couple of weeks - testing to see what it does for fuel consumption. Brad called after talking to Mack Boring, the Yanmar distributor. They agree the next steps are haul the boat, clean and paint the bottom, re-pitch the prop, and then have a mechanic adjust the valves and check over the engine. That will all happen early June in Deltaville. Even with the lower rpm I arrived only 12 minutes behind Ariel and Squander. I waited for Miles to get anchored and dropped the hook next to them. Beth and George came to Ariel for cocktails - we had a great evening catching up with each others' travels since last fall. By dusk everyone was ready to crash. 5/24/08 - Overcast this morning and cooler, light sprinkles introduced the day. George and Beth took me to a clinic to have my 22 stitches removed. It went smoothly, painlessly and quickly. Nasty scar, but it will recede during the next 12 months and it's hidden behind my ear (an advantage of big ears). It is sure nice not to have the stitches and dressing behind my ear... now if I can just get rid of the squint in my right eye - feels like a face lift gone wrong. Miles says there was a big locals party in the harbor last night, complete with loud music, arguments, boats adrift with people rowing dinghies after them - I blissfully slept through it all. Maeve and Bradd called relating that they had the kids all squared away and had arrived in St Augustine after a mix on ICW and ocean travel. We're hoping to get together around Norfolk when Ruth gets back. It will be great to see them again. Cool and damp most of the day. One positive, it held down the boat traffic until the sky cleared about 5pm. With the clearing came some warmth and the harbor came alive with jet skis and powerboats. At 7 we formed a 3 dinghy convoy and went to a yacht club party as Beth's guests. First we met her father and toured his beautiful 4th floor condo overlooking the harbor - breathtaking! After meeting her father I can see where Beth gets her endearing sharing personality. Very nice people. It was a enjoyable evening with great food. After dinner we headed back to the boats, 10:30, way past sundown and my normal bedtime (I've become solar powered, up at sunrise and to bed at dark). 5/25/08 - The front has passed, the sun rose against a sapphire sky unmarred by clouds. It's warmer and the water lice (jet skis) were swarming by 9am... lucky us. Buddy was going nuts, he thought that every boat that passed was coming to see him and called out a welcome (can you say parrot on the barbeque?). With all the boat traffic the Coasties were out in force. Let's see, 8 people, 4 life jackets... do you plan on having a lottery if the boat sinks? We have boats tearing through the anchorage at full throttle. Listening to the VHF it became apparent there was at least one high speed boat collision with critical injuries. I'm glad we chose to stay off the ICW today. Tomorrow we plan an early start to get out of the populated area before the masses hit the water. Other than all the waves from a steady stream of passing powerboats it was a quiet day on AA. Buddy spent the day in the cockpit while I read and did minor boat cleaning - things like the stains from our totally rusted anchor chain. Buddy and I watched the young chicks vying for the honor of having the least amount of fabric on, bringing comments from Buddy like aaawwwww or his wolf whistle. Ruth and the Vet thing Buddy is a female... I'm not so sure. 5/26/08 - The parade of sportfishermen heading out rocked me awake at 5:30am. I got up and assembled breakfast - I guess that what you call preparing a bowl of raisin brand and a cup of coffee. Voices outside the boat raised my curiosity - I hadn't heard a boat approach. When I first entered the cockpit I didn't see anyone, then I heard a splash. In the early light of dawn a group of swimmers was crossing the harbor. There were about a dozen in all, guys and gals, on a couple mile swim. These were serious swimmers, they did a continuous crawl across and back with an occasional "Are you okay?", "We're almost there." We hoisted anchor at 7:30 and headed for the Wrightsville Beach bridge, clearing it by 8:05am. An hour later we were through the Figure Eight Island swing bridge. The next bridge was Surf City, over 3 hours away. Ariel made a run for it, I held back to 2800 rpm, still testing fuel consumption. We had a short run planned for the day so Adrian elected to run slower with me. It became apparent Ariel could make the bridge while we'd have a 45 minute wait so we shut down our engines and sailed to the bridge - can you say no fuel burned? Recreation vessel traffic was heavy, but no sportfishermen so it was easily handled. After the bridge we motor sailed to within a couple of miles of our destination. By 3 we were anchored in Mile Hammock at the southern edge of Camp Lejeune. Ariel had arrived about an hour earlier and was already snuggled in. The new battery banks I installed in Ft. Pierce are working great. I now have enough power to make coffee in the morning without starting the engine. With the new voltage regulator the bank is fully recharged by noon. Even at anchor the wind generator and solar recharge the batteries during the day. Finally! Now to get to Deltaville and get the rest of the boat restored. 5/27/08 - My auto-wakeup seems to have reset itself to 5am. After 30 minutes of "stretching" I crawled out of the sack at 5:30, made coffee and watched the sun chase the morning twilight out of the harbor. It's sunny and about 67 degrees. Another day in the ditch. I noted 3 other Loopers in the anchorage, Steel 'n Time, Sue Sea Q and a third boat, Restless Wind, Paul & Emy Struve from Green Bay, WI. The had started the loop rout last September and we bound back to Marinette. I hoisted anchor at 6:50 for the 7:30 Onslow Beach (Camp Lejeune) bridge. Ariel and Squanderer were scheduled to leave at 8. I figured they'd push hard and pass me about as I got into Beaufort (Bo-fert) NC. Enroute I passed on of the longest continuous tows I've seen. The tug Island Outlook had a dredge, several barges and long lengths of dredging pipe in tow - about 1/4 mile of stuff. They used several smaller pushboats to herd the mess through a bridge as I trailed behind. Passing it turned out to be a trick. Beaufort's commercial harbor was busy as I entered. For a short time it was partially blocked by a bulk tanker that was being warped by two tugs while another tanker was moored to the other side of the ICW. Add to that a USCG tug and barge and you have a real dance going on. The other two boats arrived about 1/2 hour after I anchored in Beaufort - the harbor was crowded, a lot of space taken up by empty mooring balls. Ariel had arranged for a mooring, Squander searched and found a marginal spot like mine along the edge of the waterway. Fortunately the isn't heavy barge traffic through the harbor. I think we'll have to start skipping our Beaufort, NC, stops and pick another anchorage either north or south of the city. I'm glad we got to see it the number of times we have. I called the dermatologist this afternoon to learn what the biopsy revealed at the edges of the surgery. Green light! All checked out negative. Now I just need to move to a mine and live in the dark to avoid more sun exposure. Can you say zinc paste wrap? We had dinner at Aqua, a nice restaurant with a different menu - excellent. Then off to a funky wine bar where the others shared wine while I listened to local musicians jamming folk music. Very nice. Some real talent in the room. 5/28/08 - Anchor up at 7:30am. Keel on the bottom 7:45am. Given that AA is the shallowest draft of the three it was pretty apparent we were not going out Galiants Channel, the shortest route. Because I had crept aground I easily backed away and checked for other paths, not finding one the deeper boats could use. We backtracked and went through the commercial harbor, Morehead City, where we connected with the ICW. The harbor was the busiest I've seen it with two tankers and a bulk carrier warped to piers. The weatherman called for showers, about mid-morning the sky clouded and darkened. We're pushing into another mild cold front - 50's & 60's at night, low 70's during the day - jacket weather with the wind and dampness. AA motor sailed about half the trip. We met a tow and barge at the entrance to Core Creek... talked briefly and agreed to a one whistle pass (port to port). The tug moved to his side of the channel to ensure I'd have enough water to get by. By noon we were in Oriental without getting rained on. I anchored, then realized the free dock was open so I gave my spot to Ariel and slid into the town dock. Slid being the operative word, I grounded in the slip. Tied her up anyway as Oriental gets wind tides rather than lunar. Ariel quickly anchored, Squander was left with a space in the extreme outer portion of the small harbor. The bottom there proved to be scoured, forcing Adrian and Jan to put out two anchors, each anchor hanging on by a fingernail, to prevent dragging. Showers arrived around 2:30 lightly wetting the streets and boats - just enough to keep everyone in their cabins. Later it rained in earnest and the temperature started falling further. 5/29/08 - Low of 56 last night. My southernized blood said that was bloody cold. Tried to start the furnace but it faulted out. That happens when it isn't used for a long time, the diesel drains back out of the fuel line and the unit has to cycle more times than the controller allows to re-prime the system. An hour with the system will get it up, I think it's time. I walked around Oriental searching for engine oil, finally settle on another brand so I'd have a couple of quarts on hand if I need to add some. Oil in hand I stopped at the seafood shop for fresh scallops and shrimp. Next I moved the boat to the fuel dock, destroying the port bow light in a gust of wind when the bow line pulled the boat into a piling... a hazard of single handling a 43' boat around piers. Finally, all my chores done, I was on my way by 10am. Ariel and Squander left at 8am so I was a couple of hours behind them. The Pamlico Sound had a steep chop right on the nose. Pounded through that for a couple of hours. Then the ICW took a bend and I got to motor sail for a couple of hours. I arrived in Belhaven around 3:30 after a 42 mile run in strong winds. The anchorage was large and virtually empty. The hook set on my first try. When I arrive the three crew toured Belhaven. It's maybe 1/4 the size of New London. By the time we got back to the harbor it was supper time. We ate at the marina's restaurant. David and Laura of Top Cat joined us. Now that we have I don't think the group would do it again. Talked to Ruth before bed... she was looking for a place to sleep for the night and was trying to reach her brother Pat. She'd take a hotel the night before - no more house in Appleton and no flights to Norfolk until Tuesday. She's become a homeless person. 5/30/08 - A thin golden red crescent over the trees to the east heralded another beautiful day in North Carolina. Yesterday's winds were gone, having died after providing us with a bouncy dinghy ride home last night. Two more days and we should be done doing the ditch. A 7:30 start by AA dragged the other boats off their hooks. Actually I like to get about a half hour start on them so I'm not holding them back all day. I'd rather be the fox than the turtle. As it was they were 10 minutes behind and passed me in the Alligator-Pungo Canal. It was a 3 tow day... nice to see the commercial traffic on the ICW. Helps keep it from being a repeat of the Wolf and Fox Rivers. A sport? fisherman named Instinct came roaring down the A-P Canal during the day throwing a large wake at every boat he passed... throttle on 30, brain at zero. Outa my way or outa my canal! I could hear boats warning others on channel 16 all the way up the canal. Some folks just don't get it until they do real damage - if then. They think no wake is an Irish tragedy. By 11 we were at the anchorage we'd targeted at the north end of the Alligator-Pungo canal. We were making great time so we elected to continue past the Alligator River bridge. That came up too early so we sailed across the Albemarle sound and anchored along the ICW near Goose Pond. Talked to Ruth today, she'd roomed with brother Pat last night. She's looking forward to the weekend and visits to our Menasha Marina boating friends. All her appointments are done and she's making a round of our buddies. Wind is whistling through the rigging, Our meter says 10 knots, sounds and feels like more. The meter is on the list of things to fix, it reads low and mis-indicates direction. I'm shortly going to add the sizzle of a nice mess of fresh scallops being sautéed on the stove, yyyum! 5/31/08 - Had a tow come by early last night - a tug with a loaded barge on its hip. It slide by our anchorage like a ghost. Later (earlier?), at 2 am I woke with an awareness of a large idling engine. I recognized the throaty sound of a towboat idling toward us from the north as its spotlight flooded the cabin. I called on channel 13 and advised him that 4 boats were anchored outside the channel on his port side. The captain of Irish Moran quickly acknowledged he had us all accounted for, relating he'd be idling next to us until another tow arrived and they'd transferred goods from tow to tow. The second tow arrived from the south in about 15 minutes. The two captains, communicating on 68, glided alongside each other facing opposite directions. The barges coupled without a sound and a few boxes were passed before both continued to their destinations. It felt like I'd watched prehistoric beasts mate in the dark. The crews of the other boats slept through it all. Overcast dawn, looks like showers today. SkyMate indicated that Sampatecho was off Wrightsville Beach headed north. With the kids out of crew school and on mega-yachts they can head north... they're making time now! We sailed and motor-sailed most of the day with little incident. The only excitement was a ferry crossing the ICW between Ariel and Squander. After we passed Pungo Ferry Landing we came to a series of bridges with a tight schedule all the way to Norfolk. The first was scheduled on the hour - we made it nicely. Ariel realized that the next bridge was unscheduled so we powered up to make it so we'd be timed for the next one. They were concerned that AA would delay the opening if the bridge waited for me so I dropped back. Even dropping back I almost made it. The first two boats backed up a lot of traffic, after it cleared the bridge opened again for me... 15 minutes after the hour. I missed the next bridge by 15 minutes, suddenly realizing that there was a lock after the bridge and I was running single-handed. Not a good plan with a 43' boat and a lock. Talked to Miles and he said the lock was a piece of cake, I'd single-hand it easily. Then Murphy stepped in. A "red flag" tow called. The red flag meant he was carrying flammable liquid and had priority over other vessels, and that he could not enter a lock with another vessel. That blew the 2pm locking and created a traffic jam. The dock space above the lock immediately filled. I held in place in the channel, entering a special second locking with two sportfishermen and two runabouts. As I was entering the larger sportfish got crossways in the dock... twin screw, twice as many ways to screw up I guess. I pulled up short and got a line over a bollard, secured for the locking. The lock delay caused an issue at the next bridge. The lock mistress noted the bridge had a 10 minute window for opening and she'd call ahead for me. I arrived 3 minutes after the hour and the bridge opened for me and two pissed sportfishermen - they'd hit full throttle to get to the bridge earlier. The delays stacked up and I missed locking with Ariel and Squander so I anchored below the Deep Creek Lock at the north end of the Dismal. Nice little spot, but I'd been hoping to get above the lock and get some provisions at Deep Creek. Just as I was getting settled in Robert called, asking if I'd like the 3:30 locking. They have enough water this year for their normal schedule and he'd lock me up... kewl! Anchor up, locked and docked, rafted off Squander. Looking back it was a busy day. |
Click on the photos for an 8" x 10" view. Use Back to return to the site. A reminder... Our only e-mail addresses are now: All other addresses have been cancelled.
Historic Beaufort Street
Old Episcopalian cemetery
British soldiers from the Revolution
Confederate soldier's grave ICW towboat service center
SeaTow - one of their biggies
Mussel shoals at low tide (also known as covert boat snaggers)
Go-Fast with training wheels?
The horse knows the way...
Trees north of Georgetown
Erosion barrier of posts
Posts become hosts
Living in the red light district
A deer visits our Little River anchorage
Sandy doesn't work here anymore
Kayakers get instructions on beach
Busy day for the little red boat
Adrian brings Jan to met Buddy
Voices break the dawn silence
One by sea... no, it's not a manatee
Beaufort inner harbor
Squander looking for a home
Morehead City harbor rush hour, we went right through the middle turning at the yellow ship and under the bridge
The piers are in, houses anyone?
Downtown Belhaven
Home of the marina and "restaurant" Feelin' Fuelish When my fuel consumption jumped from a gallon per hour to 1.79 gallons per hour I knew something was amiss. I knew the boat had picked up a lot of drag (marine growth) during our stay at Fort Pierce and I knew I was running hard to follow Ariel's pace, but this sucks. So, I dropped to 2800 rpm and separated from the other boats, running at my best pace. Two tanks of fuel revealed I was running at 1.1 gallons per hour. Running 5% faster was costing me a 69% rise in fuel consumption. Needless to say I'm running slower and looking forward to the haul out in Deltaville.
Tug Rose Moran pushing south Dismal thoughts... We skipped Elizabeth City and the Dismal Swamp route this trip as Ariel and Squander both drew too much water to transit the canal. The water is probably deep enough but limbs sink to the bottom and pose a hazard to boats with over 6' draft. As our trip unfolded it made sense to visit Robert (lockmaster Extraordinaire) at the Deep Creek lock. Using the free Elizabeth dock there for a chance to go shopping for groceries and a secure tie up for the forecast strong winds and thunder-storms. Ariel and Squander made the earlier opening, AA made the 3:30 locking thanks to Robert. Yes Fourth Watch, someone always has to bring up the rear - I miss you!
Looking toward the Dismal Swamp north entry, the Deep Creek lock
Deep Creek scenery - nice!
Robert retrieving vessel lines |
Visit earlier portions of our 2008 voyage...
| Boca Raton to Miami, FL - Jan 1 to 15, 2008 | Miami to Key West, FL - Jan 16 to 31, 2008 |
| Key West to Marathon, FL - Feb 1 to 15, 2008 | Marathon, FL to Nassau, Bahamas - Feb 16 - 29, 2008 |
| Norman Cay to Georgetown, Bahamas - March 1 - 15, 2008 | Georgetown to Royal Island - March 16 - 31, 2008 |
| Royal Island to Green Turtle Cay - April 1 - 15, 2008 | Green Turtle Cay to Fort Pierce - April 16 - 20, 2008 |
| Fort Pierce, FL to Savannah, GA - May 1 - 15, 2008 | |
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