22 April 2022
Depart: Town Creek Marina, Beaufort, NC 10:45
Arrive: Fairfield Harbour, New Bern, NC Anchorage 3:15
Distance: 32 nm
Conditions: Warm, sunny, cool breeze
We managed to take care of a few boat tasks this morning and finally made our way out of the marina mid-morning. The trip up the Neuse River is a side trip we normally take to visit Ralph and friends on the way north / south each season. Ralph gives us the run of the house, and we get to visit "Chewy" each time.
Chewy is always happy to have us visit! He goes crazy saying hello in his special doggy way that he has. It is always a delight to spend time with Chewy and Ralph and his friends.
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| Chewy calm after a rambunctious hello |
We only had a brief time to say hello to Ralph before he headed off to work for the late shift at the airport. Just after he left, one of his neighbors, Darlene, showed up to take Chewy for a walk around the neighborhood. Clark and I joined the two of them to stretch our legs and chat with Darlene for a bit.
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| The walk wore Chewy out! |
We anchored in Fairfield Harbour. Sometimes Ralph has room at his dock and sometimes he does not. When we drop anchor in the area, all the neighbors gawk at the boat and tell us how pretty she is. I brought a load of laundry with me when we came to the house. While that was going, we kept Chewy company and then I gave him one more walk before we headed back to the boat just before sunset. Clark needed to turn on the anchor light before the sun went down.
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| Sunset at Fairfield Harbour |
23 April 2022
Since, this time going north, we are not in a rush, we decided to stay put in New Bern for several days. Initially, we expected to have today on our own as Ralph had a yacht race to attend. Sadly for him, the race and associated banquet got canceled at the last minute due to Covid. The good news was that we got to spend the day with Ralph and meet his new friend Helen.
Ralph offered to take us all in to New Bern on his 25' boat for lunch and shopping. We docked at the town docks where there is no charge but there is a 4-hour limit to one's stay there.
After tying up, we strolled through town and did some window shopping. We walked past the birthplace of Pepsi Cola.
Ralph wanted to stop in and get a Pepsi Nitro. I had never heard of it, so Ralph had me taste it. I am not a fan, but then again, I do not drink any soda.
At one o'clock we decided we better eat. The first restaurant we stopped at said they had a 45 minute wait. I quickly said uh-uh to that as I was starving already. We left there and went to another place nearby that only serves breakfast and lunch with emphasis on breakfast - Baker's Kitchen Restaurant & Bakery. The omelet I had was delicious but too big to finish.
After lunch, we decided to head back to the boat for the ride back home. Walking through town, we saw lots of bears, which New Bern is known for.
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| Ralph and Helen with New Bern Bear |
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| Sign says "do not sit or climb on bear" It says nothing about giving the bear alcoholic beverages! |
The walk back to the boat took us along the Trent River and under the bridge.
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| Clark liked this artwork in the park. |
While in New Bern, Ralph got a call from his son that he had lost steering on his boat. We took a detour on the way back to Ralph's house to drop off some equipment to help bleed air from James' steering line.
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| Ralph's son, DIL, and grandchildren rafted up to a friend's boat. |
After that side trip, we went back to Ralph's house. It felt like we had just eaten but the clock said we should figure out dinner plans. The original plan had been grilled steaks, but lunch was so filling that the steak plan got thrown out the window. We finally, after much debate, decided to go to a local place to share a pizza - Sara's Big Apple Restaurant.
We decided on a pizza called "Aurora" made with alfredo sauce and chicken that was magnificent. We all enjoyed it. The surprising thing we found when we got to the restaurant was Ralph's daughter-in-law and his two grandchildren sitting at the table next to the one we took. One of the girls is names Aurora, so we told her we had ordered her pizza for dinner.
By the time we got back to the house, the sun was going down yet again, and it was time to return to Sunset Delight for the night and to turn on the anchor light.
25 April 2022
On Sunday, Ralph had to work until 5:00, and we had the house to ourselves (with Chewy of course). Out of desperation for clean underwear, I had done one load of wash when we first arrived. Today I did another 4 loads including sheets, towels, and less-used clothes. What a relief to get caught up and without using a hundred quarters in the process. In between loads, Chewy and I explored the neighborhood together.
Ralph also insisted that I use his oven to bake my applesauce cake for Clark, so I took advantage of that as well. Otherwise, Clark would have had to run the generator to produce electricity for me. As I did chores in Ralph's house, Clark took some time to play his guitar on the boat. He also did a bit of ferrying of me or my laundry back-and-forth from the boat to the house to the boat to the house ...
At 4:00 Helen arrived at Ralph's house bearing a tray of cookies and a huge container of homemade potato salad. Shortly thereafter our friend Pat, who we met on the loop (2015-2016 timeframe) arrived bearing a crab-dip appetizer for our picnic dinner tonight. Later, Ralph and Pat's husband, Dick, arrived. Ralph cooked and we had hot dogs, hamburgers, and sweet or hot sausage for dinner.
25 April 2022
Ralph took a friend to the shooting gallery this morning. Clark and I took some time to work on cleaning the boat. While I cleaned inside, Clark scrubbed the rust stains off the swim platform. I would love to say that the boat was spotless afterwards, but the boat never seems to stop getting dirty.
When Ralph got home, Clark picked him up and brought him to our boat for lunch. While out there, he spied his neighbors and, after some shouting hellos back and forth, we invited them to come see the boat. Lois and Bill enjoyed the boat tour Clark gave them very much. To help people remember his name, Clark introduces himself as Clark "like Clark Kent". So, Lois said she was Lois "Like Lois Lane". I guess I won't forget her name any time soon.
After lunch, Clark took Lois and Bill back to their house, took Ralph back to his house, and eventually collected me and my laptop and took me to Ralph's place. I set up my laptop and worked on a Blog update while Ralph and Clark put their heads together discussing Amateur Radio. Ralph is a proficient and Clark is interested in this hobby.
Besides working on the blog, I got to spend more time playing with Chewy. Clark took a few pictures of me feeding bits of cheese to Chewy. Chewy is loads of fun!
26 April 2022
Depart: Fairfield Harbour 8:20
Arrive: Upper Pungo River Anchorage 5:10
Distance: 65 nm
Conditions: Sunny with cool breeze
Clark and I put together a tentative schedule for where we would stop over the next few days on our way to Norfolk for the AGLCA rendezvous. Well, as with all boating plans, that schedule went out the window day one. Instead of the short trip to Oriental dock that Clark "promised" me, we spend 9 hours traveling to the entrance to the Alligator River - Pungo River Canal.
Coming out of Fairfield Harbour, we found a couple of the green markers hard to see due to the huge osprey nests covering them. The green markers are flat on top (unlike the triangular red ones) and make perfect platforms for nests.
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| There's a green marker under there somewhere |
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| Another one with mommy osprey at home keeping the eggs warm on a somewhat chilly morning |
We passed a home with a unique design along the trip. Clark wondered if the tower was a lighthouse in the past.
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| Modern home with tower attached |
Clark asked if I wanted to stop at R.E. Mayo on the way by to check out their hardware department. I said, "Sure. Just don't ask me if I want to check out their fish." I tried it once and was not a fan.
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| R. E. Mayo - great boat hardware and fish market |
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| Fishing trawlers lined up at R. E. Mayo |
Clark spent $8.15 at R. E. Mayo on hardware. Now I just need to convince him to install the items he bought! He seems to have buyer's remorse and is not sure he bought the right thing.
Unfortunately, the docks at R. E. Mayo are not the best. I threw a line around each of 3 poles to hold us while Clark went shopping. One of the lines dropped down between the pole and the dock. When I pulled it out, I found it dripping creosote. I have about a 2-foot length of what was a favorite line covered in creosote now. It is sticky and it stinks! Looks like we need to buy a couple of lines. We damaged one at Marlin Bay and now we have another one ruined.
After the stop at R. E. Mayo, the rest of the day was uneventful. We listened to stories on NPR radio and chased birds out of the way on the ICW. Twice I saw seagulls drop their catch in their hurry to move as "Sunset Delight" approached. It is not our fault they wait until the very last minute to decide we are a danger to them!
Thanks to Helen in New Bern, I am now fully addicted to a new game on my Droid - "Classic Words Solo". It is basically Scrabble, but apparently they cannot call it that. I have always loved Scrabble. We used to play it on family game night when I was growing up. My Dad was the king of 2-letter words that he found while reading the dictionary. I learned a lot from him. I have advanced from normal to hard to very hard and still I beat the droid more than the droid beats me. This game kept me well-entertained on the boat today and made the time go by faster.
With bad weather predicted for today, we had some debate over when we would leave Fairfield Harbour. Ultimately, we stayed with the original plan and left this morning. Clark tucked us in at an anchorage on the Upper Pungo River to protect us in case we got high winds with the storm.
As the clouds came in, we really thought we were in for something big.
Ralph even called us to check on us. He said it had just started raining where he was. Most of the storm bypassed us. We got rain, but we did not get anything exciting other than a couple of bolts of lightning off in the distance.
27 April 2022
Depart: Upper Pungo River anchorage 9:35
Arrive: North River anchorage 5:30
Distance: 62 nm
Conditions: Significant temperature drop from yesterday due to the cold front that came through last night, 60s today!
When I walked out into the salon today, I asked Clark, "Why do I smell a chemical smell?" He responded, "I was going to ask you the same thing." Clark has a much more powerful nose than I do. If I could smell it, it must be something bad. Given neither of us had an explanation for the potent smell, we had to go on the search for the source. We had the boat closed up due to the drop in temps. Normally the windows would be open.
Since we could smell the odor in the salon, Clark started his investigation there. Ultimately, we found a concentration of the odor when we opened the hatch to the lazarette (storage area in stern of the boat). Since Clark has a lot of supplies down there for cleaning the boat, it meant a lot of digging to find the source of the odor. We agreed that it smelled like paint thinner, so that allowed us to eliminate other cleansers. The source turned out to be a leaking can of carburetor cleaner, which Clark informed me is highly flammable. Oh joy!
We removed it from the lazarette, double bagged it in ziplock bags, and placed it in the cooler I have in the back. This particular cooler I use as a place to store excess garbage when we have been on the hook for a number of days. Clark thinks he might try to use it up by spraying it into the outboard engine. Until we empty it, we can't throw the can in the garbage because it is hazardous waste!! Meanwhile, I am not happy to have it still on the boat.
With that unexpected adventure out of the way, we finally pulled up anchor a lot later than expected and made our way along the Alligator River - Pungo River Canal to our next stop.
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| Looking back at the bridge near the start of the canal (Pungo River end) |
Clark was looking for a green marker than he could not find. Finally, he thought he had found it. It did not look quite right as normally on the ICW, the markers are on "sticks" instead of cans floating in the water.
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| "Green Marker" that turned out to be a floating clump of green grass shaped like a can! |
We dropped anchor on the North River. Other times here we have anchored in Lutz Creek nearby.
The weather forecast did not look favorable for a night on the anchor. Temperatures were predicted to drop down into the 40s overnight. In the past we have used an electric blanket to warm up the bed. Unfortunately, the one we had stopped working. Not really knowing if we would need it any time soon, we bought one and sent it to Ralph's house.
We decided to unwrap it and put it on the bed tonight. As I was disappointed when I read the directions, which clearly stated "Do not use with generator or inverter". My thoughts ... "Now you tell me!" I asked Clark what he thought we should do, and he told me to turn it on to see what happened with the amp hour usage. After seeing how much "juice is sucked", he said we could use it but in limitation so as not to drain the battery down too far.
The wind direction we had at the beginning of the night surprised Clark (that's unusal), and we found the boat significantly rocking in the wind. I told him it reminded me of nights at Marlin Bay. During the wee hours of the morning the wind changed direction and the boat stopped rocking.
28 April 2022
Depart: North River anchorage 9:45
Arrive: Great Bridge Bridge Wall 4:10
Distance: 41 nm
Conditions: 48 degrees with a north wind last night; wind gusts to 30 mph; 62 degrees in stateroom this morning; wearing thermal underwear and multiple layers today.
Clark ran the generator this morning to get us heat and hot water before we left the anchorage. It worked so well to heat things up that I had to tell him to turn off the heat after a while as I was roasting.
We did not see anything too exciting on the water today.
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| ICW Marker on Stand instead of Stick |
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| Dead trees in waterway behind Red Marker Don't go on the wrong side of the red! |
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| ICW Mile Marker 50 means we are 50 miles from the beginning of the ICW in Norfolk, Virginia |
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| Coinjock Marina - either empty or packed bow-to-stern docks depending on time of day |
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| Coinjock Marina near NC - VA border |
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| Some of nature's artwork in the middle of the waterway |
As we approached the North Landing Swing Bridge, we learned that only one of the two sides of the bridge were operating. We would need to "squeeze" through with just one side open. Clark told me too late to grab a picture of the "broken" bridge.'
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| Only the side on the left is operating. |
Once again we got to see lots of dead trees and tree stumps as we traveled north today.
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| Phew! We made it without hitting a barge or a stump! |
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| Uh-oh! Look out for cannon fire |
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| Near Centerville, VA |
Clark tried to get a "down the tracks" picture.
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| Too early on the shutter! |
Our plan for today called for us to tie up at the dock near the Great Bridge bridge. From an aesthetics point of view, I prefer the side before the bridge that has a fixed dock. We hoped for a place there. Unfortunately, a bunch of sailboat space hogs got there before us. Had the sailboats tied up with less space between them at least one more boat could have docked here. That might have been us!
So, instead of being tied up for the night at 3:20, we had a long wait for the 4:00 bridge opening hoping that we would find space on the less-pretty side of the bridge. We found two slots available. Clark grabbed the larger one near the end.
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| Tied up on the wall at Great Bridge |
I am not a fan of the grass covered in goose poop, but I was happy to get a space for the night. I had my heart set on a trip to Kroger's near here to stock up on food. As I was walking around the area later, I saw two women from the sailboat behind us climb on their boat carrying a full garbage bag. I immediately searched the internet and found that a laundromat was very near by. I added that to my agenda while tied up here. We can, and planned to, stay for 48 hours. That would give me plenty of time to do laundry as well as grocery shopping.
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| Scullers going by the boat where we are moored at Great Bridge. |
We let our friends, Dorothy and Clayton, know that we managed to grab a space at the bridge. They came by to pick us up at 6:00 to go out to dinner together. Dorothy suggested we go to a nearby Mongolian Barbeque.
Although we had more than enough food at the Mongolian BBQ, Clark requested an ice cream stop. I found a Dunkin nearby that also sold ice cream, so we went there. I took advantage and got a scoop of ice cream for dessert and a dozen munchkins to take home. Sinful!
The pandemic and other events have kept us separated for a number of trips up and down the east coast. It was great to get together and catch up.
