Internet Connection At Last

May 26. Off I Go at Last

Left the dock at 8 am, found the wind just starting to blow as we motored out into the Neuse. It blew from right in front of us all way to the Bay River, and it was cloudy. Very annoying. Where was the sunny day they predicted? After 2 hours we got sheltered in the Bay River and from then on the water was calm and the wind light. The sun came out and as we approached Belhaven it was hot and the sky was blue.  We had 2 unpleasant surprises- The plywood support for the steering geer had developed a crack, there was a rotten bit if wood, so we had to steer by hand and Bruce started thinking up ways to repair it. By mid afternoon he had cut some pieces of aluminum and drilled holes and we have a sort of repair in place, but dont know if it will work.  Also there is water in the fuel, a problem he had discovered weeks ago and thought he had fixed. But the engine ran fine all day because the fuel filter catches all the water--something I just learned about engines.  Anchored at 4 pm just before the Pungo Alligator canal. 6 other boats anchored here also.  Saw very few boats all day.

May 27. Fog and Sun

Left the anchorage at 5:45 with everything shrouded in fog. Into the 3 hour canal where all the fog was concentrated. It lifted slowly, but at one point it looked like we were driving into a snowstorm.  After that it was 8 more hours of motoring in sunshine until we anchored behind Buck Island with 3 other boats at 4pm

May 28. Norfolk VA.  Motored from 5:20 to 2:30. Good thing we left early because we got through Currituck Sound with no wind, that is a long open field of water,very shallow with a narrow marked channel where you have to steer very carefully at best. A power boat guy got on the radio and reported only 1 foot in the channel at the marker just ahead of us.  He was too close to the marker, the correct distance away there was 13 feet.  After that, miles of windy rivers 18 feet deep, a pretty totally wild area until you come to the first of 5 bridges several miles apart.  These open on various schedules and you have go as fast as possible to make some of openings and really slow to avoid getting to others too soon.  It's hard to wait around in a sailboat, backing and circling without hitting anything. After the bridges, another hour to Norfolk and it's hot, but luckily a nice breeze is blowing and we anchor across the river from Nauticus so actually we're in Portsmouth rather than Norfolk.  Everything is working except the steering geer connection, one prong broke off the plug, but Bruce has spare ones, not to worry.

May 29 & 30 Resting, fixing things and taking walks

May 30.  Sarah Creek

Got here about 2 pm and immediately jumped into the water. Hot day breezy at first. Lured us to sail up into the York River. Then calm until we were almost here and then as frequently happens a nice afternoon breeze came up.

May 25. Patience

It's a beautiful day.  So was yesterday.  Why am I still here?

Here's the Marine Forecast for Pamlico Sound:

Today -NW winds 15 to 20 kt with frequent gusts to 25 kt early...diminishing to 10 to 15 kt late. Waves 2 to 3 ft...then 1 to 2 ft late. 

The direction we have to go from here is basically North but the rivers wander NW and NE.  It's all about weather and wind direction. So far we've made the right choice not to leave.  There were storms all over the area between here and Norfolk all week, even though we didn't see any here except on Thursday.

I spent some time with Kathy at her house and met Anne at The Bean with Anne on Thursday,  Julie and I enjoyed The Bean porch on Friday morning, all of which helped pass the time.

Sunday looks like the day to go, which has the advantage of arriving in Norfolk on Tuesday instead of Monday/Memorial Day when the river will be crowded with every sort of little pleasure boat - - kayaks, jet skis, powerboats towing kids on saucers - all hard to keep track of as they zip around among the tugs and barges.

May 22. My Life as a Boat Babe

Boat Babe!  Purely Decorative

I am still home.  Maybe Saturday. . . .
These photos are from my past, but life on a sailboat doesn't change much. The person you see here is Boat Elizabeth (aka Fun in the Sun Elizabeth).  In this mode, I'm at home in a boatyard and can read a chart,  keep a 4-hour night watch at sea, and throw some food together in the roughest conditions. I might get seasick the first day or two but after that I'm fine. I try not to argue with Captain Bruce about where to drop the anchor, because I'm taking a break from being in charge of things.

You can send me a comment by clicking where it says "no comments" or "1 comment" and you get a space to write and can read other comments.

I don't do this anymore!

3 meals a day no matter where you are

No wind - motoring to the next destination- too hot for clothes 

On watch in the Bahamas

Thanks to Kathy for the Boat Babe concept --- extremely liberating!

May 21. "I thought you were gone"

I saw Mary this morning,walking her dog, and she said, "I thought you were gone!"  We did almost leave today, but decided the weather was too uncertain. Cruising is all about tne weather and making decisions based on forecasts that may be wrong. In other words, it's gambling.  We decided to wait until this period of showers and thunderstorms is over and get started this weekend when clearing and sunshine is promised.

The cruise begins with 3 long days in the Intercoastal Waterway.  We've done it many times and know where the few  anchorages are. They are out in the middle of nowhere, like stopping for the night on the edge of  the highway. Barges go by in the dark, shining their search lights at you. If we had set off today, we might have had to spend Thursday and possibly Friday in one of those marshy  roadside anchorages waitimg for a stormy front to pass through.

When I say "Cruising" what I mean is we sail and/or motor from place A to place B, maybe 10 miles, maybe as much as 60 miles and then we anchor for the night. We just about never stay at a marina or on a mooring.  We might keep going the next day, but we prefer to stay a few days and go ashore and walk around.  Some people are happy anchored in a scenic spot where they can't go ashore, but we don't enjoy that at all. That means the Waterway is a convenient way to get as far as Norfolk VA, but not the kind of cruising we enjoy.  At least we'd like to have nice weather.  We'll see what happens this weekend!

May 18. Boats in My Life

  No, we haven't gone yet. While we're waiting for the right weather, I'll take advantage of my internet access to give you some background. Here's a quick overview our family boating history.  

1971
We bought a canoe and took our 3-year-old son canoe camping in Algonquin Provincial park in Canada.









1973
We bought a 14-foot day sailor and learned to sail on Lake Champlain in Vermont.









1975
We traded up to a Clipper Marine 21 so we could do overnight trips..  That summer and the next we sailed all up and down Lake Champlain and then took it to Maine on its trailer and spent a week sailing from Camden to the nearby islands.

1977- 1980
We bought a used 31-foot Golden Hind and sold our home in Vermont.  After fixing up the boat in Woods Hole and naming it Horizon, we sailed/motored south to Beaufort.  From there we set out on a circumnavigation of the world that lasted 3 years.  The boat is shown here in Tahiti. In 1980 we returned to Connecticut, sold the boat, and bought a small house in New Hartford.  For a couple of years we tried to amuse ourselves with a windsurfer.

1982 to present
We decided to have a 35-foot steel boat built for us by a yard in Deltaville, Virginia.  The completed hull and deck were delivered to our backyard, and we worked for 3 years to complete the interior and exterior and install all the equipment. This boat, also named Horizon, finally went in the water in the spring of 1987. That fall we sailed to the western Caribbean and then to Bermuda and the Mediterranean.   In 1991 we were in New Bern living aboard at the Sheraton Marina while job-hunting. We worked for 9 years in the Raleigh area and kept the boat at Minnesott Beach Y C. In 2000 we moved to Oriental and later bought a slip a Sea Harbor.  We have made several short cruises to the Bahamas, Maine, and the Chesapeake.

May 12. Our Cruising Plan

Everyone is asking me "Where are you going?" and  "When are you leaving?"  The short answers are "North" and "Soon."

The long answers: 
1.  We hope to get as far as Cape Cod, but with sailing boats everything depends on the weather and luck.  If the wind blew steadily and not too hard from the south, we could be in Cape Cod in a couple of weeks.  Or we could wait a couple of weeks somewhere for the wind to stop blowing from the Northeast. It might take 4-6 weeks to get there or something could prevent us from getting there at all. 

2.  We hope to be able to leave sometime between the 19th and  29th of May. We will be ready to leave this weekend if no unsuspected problems turn up, but we won't leave until we have a good forecast- at least no predicted storms.