2019: Dowry Creek Marina Belhaven NC

23 October 2019

Depart: Alligator River Marina 9:00

Arrive: Dowry Creek Marina, Belhaven, NC 2:20

Distance: 43 nm

What a gorgeous day we had for travel today with clear, sunny skies and just-right temps! We had a relatively short trip to Dowry Creek where we needed to stop for Franklin to pick up a package he had delivered there.

Along the way, we saw nothing but nature …

and other boats! One in particular stuck out due to its size. A mega-yacht of 75 feet in length or more passed us towing a runabout behind him. He had a dinghy on top of the boat as well. I should have snapped a picture, but missed my chance, when the boat passed Franklin’s Mainship 34. It miniaturized the Mainship!

"Temptation" 

I remembered from the Rendezvous that Dowry Creek offered a courtesy car, and we decided to use it to drive into town and have a look around. It’s a 7-mile drive into town from the marina, so walking or even bike riding on the dangerous, high-speed highway was not going to happen. We inquired when we checked in and found we could have the car for the 4:30 to 6:00 time slot.

I decided that while we waited for the car to become available, I would do my laundry using the free services at the marina and grab a shower while I waited for the wash to complete. That plan would have been golden with a normal washing machine. However, the one I chose to use decided I had all day to wait for one load to complete. Every time I looked at it, the display showed the machine to be in the rinse cycle.

Eventually, when a “normal” washing machine came available, I pulled my sopping wet clothes out of the much newer machine and threw them into the more traditional machine for a spin. I could have completed my laundry before the trip into town. With the disastrous wait for the luxury washer, I only had a short time with the dryer before I had to pull them out, still quite damp, so we could be on our way into town.

In the Club House at the marina, I found a “Belhaven: Tour of History & Trivia” brochure that I thought would be a way to see the more notable parts of town. We just happened to park in front of the facility with the answers to questions 1 and 2 – the Riddick & Windley “Ace” Hardware Store. The clue said there would be a poster at the store showing Belhaven history. Since I could find no poster on the outside of the store, I went in and asked at the desk.

They dug behind some stuff on the counter and pulled out a laminated piece of plastic. I think my eyes bugged out and I said, “That’s a poster?!”  Most businesses were closed or closing since it was late in the day. Given that most of the trivia questions required visiting places and viewing more “posters”, I was so disillusioned that I gave up my quest for more trivia answers. 

Oh well! We walked around the small town to check it out.

Downtown Belhaven, NC

"Salty Dog" at Belhaven Town Docks

Bahama-like colors for the
Chamber of Commerce building complex

Historic City Hall

Now a museum

Mural in Town of Belhaven, NC

In 2009, the town in conjunction with the Arts of the Pamlico organization put up artistically decorated crabs around town. Here are a couple. We did not see them, but apparently, more can be seen in "Crab Park" in town.

The highlight of the trip into town was that we found a Dollar Tree in town. Franklin wanted to buy some over-sized clothes pegs for his boat railings. I bought mine there, and he was looking for the same for his boat. We found them in Dollar Tree! With his whopping great $2 purchase, we declared success and rushed back to the marina to get the car back for the 6:00 deadline.

Back at the marina, I finished drying my laundry and Clark snapped a couple of late-day pictures.

Night view of Dowry Creek Marina

Note: Dowry Creek Marina has changed owners multiple times since the first time we stayed here. The current owner has made some changes and improvements. For example, what used to be the club house is now the office and store, and the building that housed the office now contains the club house. The free laundry is now at ground level. Some additional improvements are planned for the future including an on-site restaurant.

2019: Albemarle Sound

22 October 2019
Depart: Centerville Waterway Marina 7:50
Arrive: Alligator River Marina 4:00
Distance: 61 nm

Being tied to a dock right on the canal, we heard and felt every commercial vessel as they passed during the night. The boat went by and shortly thereafter the wake came and bumped us up against the bulkhead. At 6:00 a.m. the work crew started work on the Centerville bridge. Since they started work before sunup, they had mega lights to work by. Those lights shone directly on our boat. I thought we had left lights on but it was coming from outside.

Busy working on the bridge before the sun came up

Clark said we should expect rain at some point today. The last time the two of us wore our raincoats, they failed us and let the water soak through. Since I was up before the sun and had time before we left the dock, I pulled out the can of Scotch Guard we found in the lazerette and heavily sprayed our rain gear. Having read the notes regarding bridge openings, Clark and Franklin agreed that we would leave around 7:45 to be in time for the 8:30 opening of the North Landing Bridge. I finished my waterproofing project with plenty of time to spare.

We departed on schedule with "Home Too"  and "Paddy Wagon" behind us. We picked up a couple of sailboats along the way and had quite a caravan going to the bridge. The edges of the canal showed tons of tree parts that we did not want to come anywhere near. When we passed the sailboats, we stayed closer to them than we stayed to the shore.

Bald Eagle perched on the bare tree in the center
Photo compliments of Cathy on "Home Too"

Nice reflections on the water;
with nasty stuff waiting to grab our props if we wander too close!

As we approached the North Landing bridge, we got some bad news. Clark's schedule information was not current due to bridge construction mods to the normal timetable. The bridge tender said that there would be no 8:30 opening - the next time would be 9:00 a.m. As soon as we heard this, Clark slowed the engines way down to delay our arrival at the bridge. Even so, we still had a 40-minute wait for the opening.

Another example of "hurry up and wait" in the boating world.

Boat in front of us waiting for the swing bridge to open

When the bridge opened at 9, we found a tug on the other side - fortunately, not underway.

Swing bridge open

"Crystal Coast"
Tug - home port: Chesapeake City

Clark said that after this bridge, we did not need to worry about bridge openings for a while. The next bridge at the Alligator River has on-demand openings. Hallelujah! As long as it is not broken or closed due to 30 knot winds, we will be golden!

As we wove our way towards Albemarle Sound, I noticed that we picked up a flock of seagulls. Perhaps they like our boat design or they mostly follow the lead boat, but when I looked back I could not see any swooping around "Home Too". Large groups of seagulls always make me think of the Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds".

Our seagull "escort" with "Home Too" behind them

As we made our way towards Albemarle Sound, Clark received a text from our friend Kenny on "Daybreak" - "Where are you?" Kenny took the Dismal Swamp route; we took the Virginia Cut. We determined that by the end of the day, we would be able to meet up. Originally, we hoped to join up at an anchorage, but once again, we did not cover as much territory as we hoped. To be able to get to a spot for the night before dark and to simplify the logistics of having a joint pot-luck dinner, we decided to head to the Alligator River Marina for the night.

Last year when we crossed the Albemarle Sound, we found ourselves in 5-foot seas with a 5-second period. Today we saw waves of one foot or less. Kenny made a point of saying that this year he beat us across the sound, because last year, we went but he waited for calmer water before crossing the sound.

Kenny and Bill provided Tomato-Garlic Chicken, Mustard-encrusted pork loin, and a side of broccoli. Ev made a pasta primavera dish, and Cathy brought a veggie tray and dessert. Basically, we had a veritable feast including some wine to complete the meal.  Ev and Clark hosted on "Sunset Delight".

The dinner party started at 6:30 and broke up around 9:00. The ending time could have been better timed had it ended just 10 minutes earlier. Just as our guests got off the boat to walk all the way around the marina to return to theirs, the skies opened up and we had a deluge complete with lightening.

To pick up a package that he ordered a while ago, we need to stop at Dowry Creek marina tomorrow. Kenny and Bill plan to travel further distance. Our paths may cross again on the way south. Ultimately, we are all headed to Florida, so Clark and I fully expect to see "Daybreak" again in upcoming months.

2019: Great Bridge Lock

21 October 2019
Depart: Hampton Public Piers 8:50
Arrive: Centerville Waterway Marina 3:30
Distance: 26 nm

Before leaving this morning, we needed to stop at the holding tank pump-out station. Since the marina did not open until 8:30 that defined when we would pull in our lines and leave our slip. After a non-start on pumping out that was fixed by adding water to the tank, we found this to be the fastest pump-out ever. Even with the glitch of some sort of clog, we were done and on our way in under 20 minutes.

Hampton and Norfolk, Virginia are full of commercial and naval vessels. Today's trip through the area gave us a view of lots of interesting ships.

Container Ship

US Coast Guard with Crane onboard

Naval Ships

We heard securite calls for incoming US Naval Ship Bob Hope that was not under its own power. Later, we passed by "Bob Hope" and the four tugs bringing her into port.

Tugs on either side of US Naval Vessel Bob Hope

Two tugs per side

USCG Escort for "Bob Hope"

In addition to the commercial traffic, tall ships passed us.

"Pride of Baltimore"

"Virginia"

We passed by Waterside docks as we passed through Norfolk, Virginia.

Norfolk, Virginia

"American Rover" at Norfolk, VA

We saw one ship with an interesting name ...

"Handy Stranger"

Other than the fact that it is a slow-speed-no-wake zone all through Norfolk, we had high hopes of traveling a good distance today of 50 or so nautical miles. Unfortunately, today turned into a day of wait, wait, wait. We knew that a lot of sail and power boats would be on the water today. The Hampton Snowbirds Rendezvous ended yesterday, rain yesterday held many folks in place, and the Sail-to-the-Sun sailboat group left today as well. Hearing about it and living it, however, are two different things!

Just as we reached the Gilmerton Bridge, the railroad bridge #7 announced it would be closing immediately. While we waited for the train to pass, a number of other boats joined us to bob around in front of Gilmerton Bridge. When the bridge finally opened, we all lined up and traveled southward. Although some turned off to follow the Dismal Swamp route, a large number of vessels continued on to the Virginia Cut route.

We stopped at Top Rack to fuel up and took on 324 gallons of diesel fuel. Because of a steady stream of customers into Top Rack, we had to wait for a spot to fuel.  Fortunately, we got the fast-fuel hose, so our fueling time was minimized. Unfortunately, "Home Too" had to wait while we fueled before they could pull in, so we then ended up waiting for them.

As we traveled, targeting 5:00 p.m. as our end of day, Clark picked out an anchorage for us to spend the night. Approaching the Great Bridge lock, we could not believe our eyes. The lock was not yet in sight, but what we came upon was a line of boats as far as we could see obviously waiting for the lock to open.

Uh-oh ... boats waiting for the lock.

When the lock opened, the lock master managed to get 16 boats into the lock before he had to close the gate to match his lock through with the opening of Great Bridge. After that lot was in the lock, we could see boats still piled up in front of us. Using binoculars, Clark counted about a dozen boats in front of us for the next lock through.

We had missed the 2:00 opening and started to wonder if we would miss the 3:00 opening as well. Clark felt extremely frustrated by the swarm of boats around us. They moved very slowly and refused to pull up close to other boats to allow room for others. He worried that even though there might be room in the lock, we might miss the lock-through because the lock crew ran out of time to get any more boats in the lock.

Eventually, our turn came to come into the lock. By then, thirteen boats were already in the lock, and we worried that our buddy boat "Home Too" would not be able to fit. They were two behind us. We both squeaked in.

At final tally, we had 16 other boats in the lock with us. One last boat called the lock master and begged for a space in the lock. He replied, "Are you the blue-hulled boat I've been trying to call for the last 15 minutes?" Her reply, "Yes, sorry, we only just turned our radio to channel 13." I was surprised he let them join the pack!

As we looked around the boats in the lock, we recognized many of the vessels we had seen at the rendezvous in Hampton. Most, if not all, of them had left earlier than we did from the marina. Given we stopped to fuel, they should have been long gone!

Bobbing around, station keeping and waiting for the lock gave us time to reconsider our plans for the night. Clearly we could not cover the same distance we had anticipated given our duration of time at the lock itself. Clark remembered that a bridge up ahead is closed from 4:00 until 6:00. Given our delay, we could anticipate a two-hour wait at that bridge. Meaning, we would be trying to find the anchorage in the night after dark.

Looking at the options, Clark called the Centerville Waterway Marina. We both breathed a sigh of relief when we found they had space for both "Home Too" and "Sunset Delight". We had to take a space without electric, but at least we had a spot for the night. "Home Too" got to plug in to electric.

As he finished tying up our boats, the dock master said he had room for and expected just one more boat coming in for the night. He told us that boat was expected to arrive after his closing time and asked us to help grab the guy's lines. We agreed to assist.

Shortly after, however, "Paddy Wagon" came along asking if they could grab a spot. The dock master squeezed them in. Bev from "Paddy Wagon" said they left the Hampton Public Piers marina at 8:00 in hopes of beating the crowd. That did not work for them as they locked through with us!

Late afternoon, as I worked on updating the blog, Clark and Franklin put their heads together to come up with a travel plan for the next few nights. They worked through the details for about two hours. As with any boat travel plan, it is good for now, and only travel each day will decide if we can stick to the plan.

Around 6:30 a huge boat, named "Ramblin' Rose", pulled up to the marina to take the last available space at the dock. As agreed, Clark ran down to help. No sooner did they get tied to the dock though than a sailboat showed up saying they had a reservation. I asked Clark, "Which one is 42 feet since that's the one the dockmaster told us about?" He said, "That would be the sailboat".

Clark asked if we should invite them to raft next to "Sunset Delight", and I readily agreed and put fenders out. I could tell that the debate downstream continued, so I went back to work on my blog. I figured if they were going to tie up, I would hear about it soon enough. As I sat typing at the laptop, I felt a boat wake shove the boat up to the dock. I looked out and saw what looked like a party-boat-for-hire go by.

Shortly after that, I saw the sailboat pull into the dock behind "Home Too". I pulled my fenders back in as it was clear they would not be tying up to our boat for the night. Later, when Clark returned, he said that the sailboat declined the raft-to-us invite because there is no electric at this dock, and they do not have a generator. I thought the sailboat had rafted with the mega yacht.

Instead, due to listening to the dialog between Clark and the sailboat, the giant boat that had claimed the space behind "Home Too" decided that, since they do have a generator, they could leave and find a place downstream to anchor for the night. That huge boat, that rocked me on "Sunset Delight" earlier, turned out to be the initial vessel, "Ramblin' Rose", that Clark had helped tie up. I wondered, with all the other boats that continued on from the lock, where in the world they would find a place to drop an anchor.

I just hope that the huge clump of boats that flowed on down the waterway will spread out and allow us to cover some much-needed distance tomorrow and the following days to make that plan that Clark and Franklin put together work for us.

Update: Via connections with Jody on the sailboat "Moment of Zen", Clark learned that "Ramblin' Rose" anchored after the North Landing bridge in the same location as Jody and a couple of other boats. The spot they chose in North Landing River is not indicated on the charts as an anchorage.

2019: Hampton VA

16 October 2019
Depart: Hampton, VA anchorage 9:40
Arrive: Hampton Public Piers 9:55
Distance: < 1 nm

With rain predicted for the day, we decided to scoot on over to the marina as early as feasible. Since we could practically see the marina from our anchorage spot, it took only a few minutes to move ourselves over. Shortly after we tied up, Cathy invited me to join her on a walk around the local area.

We found a number of shops to explore including one I have not been able to visit on prior stops in Hampton - Best of British Whenever I have been by the store in the past, it had always been before or after their open hours. I had not planned on our outing being a shopping trip and did bring my wallet with me. It was a very good thing, or I might have loaded up on Branston Pickle, Cadbury chocolate, or McVities biscuits -- all childhood favorites!

In the shop we saw a couple of wall hangings that caught or attention.

On our walk Cathy found a place that could do some alterations on a pair of jeans for her, a shop to buy a loaf of bread, and an art and antiques store where we met a very friendly local artist. On the way back to our boats, we passed a mural on one of the buildings.

Hampton Mural

Today was a soggy day in Hampton. When the rain finally stopped in late afternoon, I took my laundry up to the marina building to get that out of the way. After that was done, I convinced Clark to go out for pizza for dinner. He found "Venture" via Google Maps, so we went there. They offered pizza and tapas dishes. I got a short rib and onion pizza called "Get Shorty". On our walk to dinner, Clark managed to snap a Hampton, Virginia sunset shot.

17 October 2019
no boat travel.

We had the day to ourselves until 4:00 when the Snowbirds Rendezvous had its first activity. The anchor roller on "Home Too" crumbled under the weight of the new, 44-pound anchor. Franklin found a roller at West Marine that was slightly too wide, so this morning Clark and Franklin worked on trimming the roller down to fit in the available space. They had saws and files to shave off some size.

The roller resizing project took quite a bit of time. When that exercise was finally completed, the four of us called for Lyft and took a ride to West Marine and Kroger's to shop for some supplies. The two stores were only .2 miles apart on the map. However, a cloverleaf for a major intersection sat between the two stores, so we walked about .5 miles to work around the fact that we could not cross the street safely in several places.

At the Rendezvous reception, I got quite a surprise as Rick and Jean, whom we met in April when we passed through Hampton, were in town and attending the Rendezvous as well.

Folks at our table during the Meet and Greet event
Bev and Bruce - "Paddy Wagon"
Rick and Jean - "Spindrift v. 2"

18 October 2019
no boat travel.

Today's events started at 8:30 with the first presentation. Topics for the day included ICW 101 and 201, Docking and Boat Handling, and Marine Corrosion and Care and Feeding of Shore Power. Today's session included a delicious lunch provided by "The Grey Goose" restaurant.

After classes ended, we walked back to our boats and Clark helped Franklin insert the sawed, filed and sanded anchor roller in place. With a touch more sanding, they got it in place and it even rolls!

Clayton and Dorothy on "Flight" whom we met in Marathon last winter are members of the Hampton Yacht Club and invited us to join them for drinks and dinner this evening. Walking to the yacht club, we got quite a surprise. The road was partially closed and a parade was marching by!

Phoebus High School
MC JROTC

Phoebus Parade thru Hampton, VA

Views on our way to the Yacht club ...

We had a great time catching up with Dorothy and Clayton as well as Jean and Rick at the yacht club.


19 October 2019
no boat travel.

Breakfast at a nearby hotel came with today's schedule. Sessions began at 8:30. Today's agenda included navigation using tablets and iPads, tides and current concerns on the ICW, off-shore weather, an update on the Bahamas, and anchorages and favorite frugal stops on the way south.

Tablet Navigation Session in Process

Dinner tonight was included in the event schedule. Once again we walked to the Hampton Yacht Club for cocktails, a buffet dinner, and live music.

Scrumptious Buffet at HYC

Cocktails and Live Music

Our table at the buffet dinner
"Home Too", "Spring Break", "Salty Dog", and
"Sunset Delight"

This time with Clark included!

We must have sat at a lucky table. The event included a few door prizes and three people at our table one. "Spring Break" won a wet back and caps. "Home Too" won a small canvas bag. Clark won a comfy soft throw blanket made by Sunbrella. I held onto the blanket for no longer than it took to hand it to Elaine on "Salty Dog". She had oohed and aahed over the prior throw that came up for grabs, so I decided, since I did not need / want a throw, I would give it to her. She was thrilled!

Sample door prize - Hampton throw blanket

I was thrilled, when the grand prize came up, that our friends Jean and Rick on "Spindrift v. 2" won. A marina on the Chesapeake offered a free haul out and boat bottom power wash plus some other goodies to make it a big win for them.

Fortunately, we did not have to walk back to our marina after dinner as a shuttle bus was provided for the trip. We did not relish walking back in the dark.


20 October 2019
no boat travel.

This morning Dorothy came by with her car to take Cathy and me to the supermarket. After some Googling on her phone, Dorothy offered up a nearby Harris Teeter and I was thrilled. The Kroger's we went to on Thursday did not have several of the items I needed to restock. Harris Teeter on the other hand had everything I hoped to buy and even some things that I did not plan to get but could not pass up because they are a rare find.

After we dropped off the food and Cathy, Dorothy drove Clark and me to her house for the day. I brought my laundry. We had chili and grilled for lunch. After lunch, Dave and Bev now on "Amale" came to join the group. Great day with our boating friends!!

Bev, Dorothy, Ev, Dave and Clark

This time with Clayton and without Clark

At the end of our visit, Clayton drove us back to our boat where we settled in to watch our favorite Sunday night television shows.