3 May 2021
Depart: Morehead City Yacht Basin 9:00
Arrive: Fairfield Harbor near New Bern NC Private Dock 2:15
Distance: 37 nm
Conditions: Cloudy, rain
Our dock neighbors, "Sojourn", left at 8:00. It took us a while longer to be ready to go and then when we left the dock, we moved over to the main dock for a pump-out. Finally, at 9:00 we were on our way. Having been invited to visit, our destination for today was a private dock in Fairfield Harbor near New Bern, North Carolina.
Today, we traveled the ICW until we reached the Neuse River where we left the ICW for a side trip towards New Bern. Our route took us along Adams Creek.
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| Wonder why this tower is here! |
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| Some cleanup needed here! |
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| Scenery on waterway |
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| Dead trees along shore |
As we approached our destination for the day, we found ourselves racing the thunderstorm to the dock.
Clark rarely pilots from the lower helm. However, when a thunderstorm is nearby, he heads down.
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| Driving from the pilot house helm |
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| 2 Kayaks also trying to outrun the t-storm |
The rain held off until it was time for us to tie up at our friend's dock. What timing! At least there was no thunder at the moment. Ralph came out to help us with lines so we could tie up next to the boat currently occupying his dock. It took a bit of playing with the lines to get ourselves set up, but Ralph was instrumental in getting us secure at the dock.
Once we got settled in, we headed up to Ralph's house to say hello to his Jack Russell - "Chewy". Chewy was very excited to greet us.
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| Chewy posing for a treat |
While in Florida this winter, I saw a picture of Chewy that Ralph posted on Facebook and I decided to paint him.
When it stopped raining, I ran back to the boat and grabbed the picture to gift to Ralph for his house.
We met Ralph when he and his wife Linda did the Great Loop on "Mazel Tug" at the same time we did the loop on "Sea Moss". At that time we also met Pat and Dick, who did the loop on "Dream Catcher". Pat and Dick live in the New Bern area and came over to Ralph's house for a mini Loopers's reunion. Pat brought food for cocktails as well as a jug of Mojitos that I helped her drink. They were very refreshing.
The sunset tonight was very pink.
4 May 2021
No boat travel.
Clark and I did miscellaneous tasks on the boat until noon today when we met up with Ralph for a trip out for lunch. We ate at "The Bern Bar & Grill". I swear the burger I ate was the best one I have ever eaten - so juicy and cooked just right!
After lunch, we stopped at Publix to pick up a few things that I could not find on my last shopping trip. Then it was back to Ralph's house for some chitchat. I wanted to cuddle with Chewy, but he decided that he preferred spending time near Clark.
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| Besties! |
Today was "Taco Tuesday" in New Bern, but I was too full from lunch to even think about eating another dinner out. We passed on the outing and ate on the boat.
5 May 2021
Depart: Fairfield Harbor Private Dock 9:20
Arrive: Tyson Point anchorage near Pungo River 4:20
Distance: 56 nm
Conditions: warm, partly cloudy, pleasant cruising weather
The big debate yesterday was whether we would or would not leave today. Early weather forecasts predicted heavy winds (over 30 knots) and severe thunderstorms throughout the day. Ralph pushed for us to stay another day. Clark was ready to push on - weather permitting.
By this morning the forecast had changed significantly, and we decided to cast off our lines and get going. Our route today took us down the Neuse River to Pamlico Sound past R.E. Mayo to Goose Creek and then the Pamlico River to the Pungo River.
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| Vertical take-off plane flying overhead |
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| Hitchhiker on board! |
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| Strange bulkhead material |
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| Welcome Recreational Boaters at R. E. Mayo |
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| Fishing trawler at R. E. Mayo Seafood |
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| "Sharon Nicole" at R. E. Mayo dock |
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| Dead tree trunks along Goose Creek |
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| Boat coming up fast behind us on Goose Creek |
The next leg of our journey took us across the Pamlico River to Pungo River. Part way across the Pamlico, an over-heat alarm went off for our stabilizers. Clark shut the stabilizers down and then slowed down our engines while he called the TRACS company for instructions on how to proceed given this failure.
Clark talked to a representative of the company who told him to shut down our starboard engine which is tied to the stabilizing unit. He did that and we carried on with just the port engine at minimal RPM to prevent damage to the starboard engine. Fortunately an anchorage was nearby, and we limped in and dropped anchor. The rest of the Pungo River will have to wait until tomorrow.
On a high-wind day, this anchorage might be problematic due to the open area. Today it appears to be fine.
We had this wide open anchorage to ourselves and let out loads of line to let us swing if the wind picks up.
The engine room gets very hot when we run. Regardless of the heat, Clark was anxious to get in there and work on the temporary solution to our stabilizer problem, i.e. disconnect the stabilizer from the starboard engine. We will not have stabilization, but we can proceed at normal RPM.
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| Power Take Off for the stabilizer |
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| On the left is the hydraulic motor that drives the cooling pump for the hydraulic fluid. Pieces of the shredded coupler joining the motor to the pump are below the motor on the left. |
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| The ABT Tracs people said the the PTO could be removed and this coupling can be pulled out and then the PTO reassembled to the engine. This closes up the hole but keeps the PTO disconnected from the engine drive allowing the engine to run normally minus the stabilizer. |
The permanent solution requires a part that we need to have delivered to us at a future stop. We will have to cross Albemarle Sound without stabilizers and that might prove challenging; otherwise, we should be fine.
We had clouds tonight so the sunset was pretty.
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