Georgia

On Friday Nov 25, we left Beaufort, SC and headed for Georgia.  We crossed the Savannah River that marks the Georgia-SC border and anchored in St. Augustine Creek less than one mile southwest of the river.  This was a fairly narrow creek with a fast current do to a 5+ foot tide.  After we were settled, I saw a large ship headed down the ICW from the river.  The area we were in was all marsh, so you can see far.  I was wondering what it was.  I didn’t need to wait long to find out as much to my surprise the ship turned onto the St. Augustine Creek and was coming our direction.  As it squeaked by us, we found out it was a casino ship.  Must load/unload at a terminal on the creek.    We saw the ship pass us again around 7pm leaving the creek.  It must have returned later that evening but we did not see it until morning at its terminal.

On Saturday we proceeded down the ICW and anchored at Wahoo River just off the ICW.  This anchorage actually had trees that provided shelter from the wind in the direction it was blowing.  The ICW in Georgia consists of river and canals going from ocean inlet to inlet.  The depth varies greatly as the Corp of Engineers was not funded to dredge the ICW in Georgia.  We heard much chatter on the radio from various boats warning of shoal areas on this portion of the ICW.  Several boats went aground.

We decided to stop at St. Simon’s Island next and left on Sunday Nov 27.  Again, there were very shallow areas especially the Muddy River where were saw depths down as low as 5 feet at low tide.   It was a bit tedious going through this area.   Next time we will probably go out to the ocean (weather permitting) to bypass this section as there are many inlets back into the ICW to allow you to find protection.  We anchored in the Frederica River just off the ICW.  We took the dinghy to the marina (Golden Isles) near the anchorage and found out the town was at least two miles away.  Also, the marina charged $5 for leaving you dinghy there.  There were no other places to bring the dinghy ashore.  On Monday, we went to the marina and took showers ($10).  After, we were walking through the marina and we saw another Island Packet.  We walked over to it and saw it was Melaka II from Tulsa, OK.  The original name of Island Time was Melaka.  This boat belonged to the Bates from whom we purchased Island Time.  We asked the Dockmaster if they were around and since he thought they went to St Simons, we went back to Island Time.  Tuesday’s forecast was for rain and thunderstorms due to a large cold front moving through from the Midwest so we decided to stay put.  Wind gusts over 30 knots moved through about 6am for about one-half hour then subsided.  Genie checked the weather radar which showed another line of storms scheduled to arrive around noon, so we stayed with our plan to stay put for the day.  Later in the morning, we heard a knock on the hull and Sam and Carolyn Bates were outside in their dinghy.  The Dockmaster had told them about our visit and they came to see us.  They bought their larger Island Packet to sail in the pacific, but decided since that would require them to be away from the states for over a year (away from family) they would not go there.  They have spent the last few years sailing in the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coast.   It was a nice visit and again proves what a small world it is.

On Wednesday, Nov 30, we left St. Simons Island headed for Cumberland Island near St. Marys Georgia.  Again, the ICW had many shallow areas along with confusing markers in the area of St. Marys.  There is a large submarine base in this area.  Our chartplotter started to act strangely in this area with the magnetic heading deviating significantly from the course over ground (COG).  I first blamed it on the sub base, but after further investigation I found that our chart plotter was using a magnetic variation of 15 degrees instead of the 8 degrees shown on the charts for the area.  After correction, the magnetic heading agreed with the COG.

On Thursday, Dec 1, 2005 we took the dinghy over to Cumberland Island, which is a US National Park.  It is a barrier island which is not developed like all the other islands such as Myrtle Beach.  There are wild horses still on the island. The island was sold to the feds by the islanders, but they still live on the island and are allowed to drive their own cars as one of conditions of sale.  They are descended from slaves and servants.  Thomas Carnagie, brother and partner of Andrew Carnagie had an estate on the island.  It was a complete community as it was remote and needed to be self sufficient. 

The main house burned down in the 1930’s but the ruins of the estate are still intact.  It must have been opulent based on the fountains and other garden areas still standing.  They had their own ice house.  There were several old cars (model T’s etc) still rusting on the site.

There are self guiding trails on the island with placards in front of many of the interesting flora found on the island.  We saw an armadillo just off one of the trails.

We left Cumberland Island on Friday, Dec 2, 2006 bound for Florida, specifically Jacksonville where we made reservations to leave Island Time at Seafarer’s Marina on the Trout River just north of the St. Johns River about 9 miles upstream.  It took a day to get to the marina in the cold north wind.

Our schedule was to leave the boat in Jacksonville from Dec 14 to Jan 11 while we went to Vermont for the holidays.  In reality, were arrived at the marina on Dec 2 and left on Jan 18.  I did manage to get the water maker we purchased in Annapolis almost installed.  Still need to make the final water and electrical connections.

On Wednesday, Nov 16, we arrived at Charleston City Marina about 2pm after crossing Charleston Harbor dodging a huge container ship and steering clear of a Coast Guard cutter anchored at the junction of the Cooper and Ashley Rivers, which merge to form Charleston Harbor.  Boy, the shower at the marina felt good.

Charleston City Marina is a well kept facility that looks recently renovated.  It has shower facilities separate from the lavatories with each shower unit with a large stall with a seat which made it comfortable as opposed to the small stalls in the lavatory that is found in most marinas.  The docks were floating with electrical service and water.  It looked like the original docks were fixed as they were remnants of these docks left as part of a sea wall protecting the docks.  The outside dock is called the megadock as it can (and did) accommodate ships up to 100 feet.  As we were low on provisions because we could not find an open grocery store in Georgetown on Sunday, we dined out at the restaurant at the marina.  It was good with seafood featured on the menu.

Thursday, we rode the free van from the marina to the South Carolina Aquarium.  This is a new facility with many interesting exhibits.  They show the aquatic life in South Carolina from the hills in the west to the seashore which culminates in a large tank with many different species of fish from eels to sharks including a large turtle.  They have a feeding demonstration where diver’s actually hand feed the fish.  The sharks are not fed by the divers in the water so they won’t associate the divers with food.  Smart idea if you’re a diver.  They feed the sharks well to keep the population of other fish intact.

In the afternoon we took a tour of Fort Sumter, where the first shot of the Civil War was fired in April of 1861.  The Fort has a long history of defending Charleston Harbor as it sits right at the entrance where any ship entering the harbor must pass.

Thursday evening as we were walking to dinner at Sticky Fingers, a rib place, we were pulled in from the street by a nice young guy offering free tours of Charleston.  Of course this was a come on for time share sales.  They were offering several different packages.  We took a horse drawn carriage tour of the city, tickets to the aircraft carrier Yorktown and $25 toward dinner at many of the best restaurants in town.  All this cost us was 90 min of our time to listen to the spiel and look at the property.  It was a good company and would appeal to us if we were not on Island Time.  They were not too “hard sell”.

On Friday, Nov 18, we rode the van into town to attend the time share spiel at 9 am.  We then used our free pass to take a carriage ride through the city, which was quite interesting.  The city once was walled with a moat around it fashioned after the medieval cities of Europe to protect it from Indian attacks.  The economy of Charleston was devastated by the Civil War as it was based on the wealth of the Plantation owners.  As there was no money to rebuild the city after the war, the houses were repaired and preserved and today serve as living history of a bygone era.  The examples of different architecture were plentiful. Most of the homes had verandas on the side of the house and the lots were narrow and deep.  This was due to the practice in Europe of taxing property based on its street frontage with higher taxes for more frontage so the early homeowners of Charleston made sure they would pay less taxes.  Churches were plentiful as we found them to be in all the southern cities we toured.

In the afternoon, we took a taxi across the new suspension bridge to Patriot’s Point where the aircraft carrier Yorktown is on display along with a submarine, destroyer and Coast Guard Cutter.  The Yorktown served in WWII until the mid seventies.  It’s hard to describe the size of this ship.  It must have taken sailors serving on the ship months to find their way around.  The ship was self contained with all the necessary equipment and skilled personnel to handle all situations.  The bakery had a display showing the ingredients needed to make 10,000 chocolate chip cookies that starts out with 112 pounds of chocolate chips.  The ship had a complete machine shop along with a shop for the shoemaker.

Several aircraft were on display from the propeller driven models to the jet powered models used at the end of the Yorktown’s tour of duty.  It is amazing that the planes could take off and land on the deck.  There were several examples of tailhooks on display along with the wire that they grabbed on landing.  The submarine was a contrast to the carrier.  It was so small that the sailors had to sleep in bunks suspended over the torpedoes.  It certainly took a lot of courage to serve on the submarine under those conditions.

On Friday night, my brother Peter and wife Donna picked us up from the marina and drove us westward to their home in Greenwood, SC, a 3.5 hour drive. This was 7 hours on the road for them.  Genie and I really appreciate their efforts in entertaining us for the weekend.  They have a beautiful home in a pleasant town.  We went grocery shopping at Wal-Mart with a car which made it easy to buy heavy items such as soda and beer along with normal replenishing of the boat food supplies.  Donna gave us a grand tour of Greenwood which is where she was raised and has moved back to care for her parents.  We had dinner with them on Saturday night and found them to be wonderful company.

Sunday afternoon we rode back to Charleston again a seven hour round trip for Peter and Donna. Thanks again for the great weekend.  After watching the second football game to get the Giants score, 27 to 17 over Phil (go gints); we were going to marina restaurant for dinner.  It was closed and the only place to get a bite within walking distance was the gas station at the entrance to the marina.  They had premade subs.  This had to be the worst sub I ever had.  Fortunately they sold Ben and Jerrys, so a pint of Cherry Garcia salvaged the night.

On Monday Nov 21, we decided to stay at the marina one more night and complete or grocery shopping at a store called Harris Teeter which was on the van route.  This was a good grocery store that we never head of until Charleston.  We needed cold cuts and bread which we didn’t buy at Wal-mart where we shopped with my brother as we wanted them to be fresh for the next week.  That evening we ate at Hyman’s Seafood to use our $25 voucher from the time share presentation.   It was a good place to eat. We tried boiled peanuts served as a snack prior to the dinner, yuck. 

On Tuesday Nov 22 we left Charleston and went to Town Point Creek just off the ICW.  Our knotmeter became fouled after the 6 days at Charleston.  With great trepidation I pulled the sensor from its housing to check it for fouling.  The housing has a built in check valve which actually worked to stop the water inflow.  The sensor was free and I put it back in and it worked.

We spent the evening before Thanksgiving in Beaufort (bew-fert) SC anchored in Factory Creek just before the Lady Island bridge.  This was a good place to anchor in the marsh but close to downtown Beaufort.  We went to Beaufort on Thanksgiving to visit the town.  There is a good dinghy dock that allows access to the main street.  Being Thanksgiving all the shops were closed, but we walked through the town to look at the old homes.  The streets had oak trees covered with Spanish moss just like the pictures of the south.  Unfortunately I forgot the camera for the walk.  We went back to Island Time and had or Thanksgiving Dinner with Cornish Game hens substituting for Turkey but with all the other fixings including stuffing and cranberry sauce.   Watched the Cowboys get beat by the Bronchos yeah!!!

The ICW is just beyond the Trawler.  This is Inlet Creek, about 7 miles north of Charleston City Marina on Nov 15, 2005.

On Wednesday Nov 9, we entered South Carolina and anchored in the Calabash Creek near Calabash, SC.  The anchorage is just off the ICW.  There was a strong current and wind at this anchorage so we only stayed one night.  The guide book claims there are several good seafood restaurants in Calabash, but we did not try any of them.

It was like turning the Verison switch on when we crossed the border.  All through NC, we could not get Verison service with the National plan for internet connection.  Soon as we crossed the border, the cell phone came on showing us connected to the Verison network with the National access plan. This is the reason for the long gap in posting updates.  In NC we could get the misnomered “Quicknet” which was about 14.4 kb service.  The National access plan is 250 kb service.  Ain’t technology wonderful?

On Thursday Nov 10, we anchored off the Waccamaw River in Cow House Creek, which was very narrow and secluded.  It was like having an anchorage to yourself even though a small marina (Wacca Wache) was out in the Waccamaw River a short distance (1/2 mile) away.  Earlier in the day we went through the ‘Rock Pile’ which is a land cut that runs parallel to the Myrtle Beach area.  The story about this area is that once the canal was started, more rock than originally thought was found, and to stay on budget, the Army Corp of Engineers kept narrowing the cut to reduce the amount of rock that needed to be removed.  I believe that story as in the middle of the cut, there is not room for two boats to pass.

Next stop was Georgetown, SC where we stayed for three nights, Nov 11-13, as we had some extra time and found Georgetown a nice place to visit.  Georgetown is the third oldest city in SC and was the heart of the Rice culture in the days preceding the Civil War.  This area grew about 80 % of the rice consumed in the US and shipped rice all over the world.  It was called Carolina Gold and was grown in the cypress swamp areas.  There are four freshwater rivers converging at Georgetown and rice requires a lot of water to grow as the fields need to be flooded for most of the growing cycle.  There were many plantations in the area with a large slave population.  During the height of production, over 80% of the population were slaves.

Clearing the swampland and digging the canals for flooding the fields took about 15 years of hard labor before rice could be planted.  The fields were all along the rivers with dikes built to control the flooding.  Remnants of the dikes are still visible today along the clearings.  In Georgetown, there is the Rice Museum which we visited that preserves this history.

Georgetown is filled with many old homes built during the rice culture and restored.  Good examples of the architecture of the period.  We had a good walk through the town on Sunday using their historic places map for a self guiding tour.

We left Georgetown Monday Nov 14 and continued southward.  We have reservations a Charleston City Marina for Wed Nov 16 through Sun Nov 20.  We will meet by brother Peter and his southern belle wife Donna on Friday and go to their new home in Greenwood, SC for the weekend.  We are looking forward to the visit.  We will play tourists in Charleston as neither of us has visited here before.

Also while in Georgetown we meet another cruiser from Jacksonville, Fl and asked him for suggestions for a marina in Jacksonville to leave Island Time to return to Vt for the holidays.  He is leaving his boat at Seafarers Marina in Dec/Jan.  Genie called and made a reservation at Seafarers.  Genie also bought our plane tickets leaving Jacksonville on Dec 14.

From Georgetown we traveled to Awendaw Creek which is a few miles north of Isle of Palms, SC and anchored in the inlet just off the ICW.  While at anchor, we saw a family of dolphins traveling through the inlet.  It looked like two adults and the cutest little dolphin.  We did not get any pictures as it is difficult to predict where they will surface.  We also saw a pair of bald eagles perching in a tree along the side of the ICW.  This is the first time either one of us has seen a bald eagle in the wild.  They are very majestic looking.

Today, Nov 15 we traveled to Inlet Creek anchorage which is about 7 miles north of our marina in Charleston.  We tried to anchor in Seven Reaches Creek but came very close to running aground at the entrance and felt it was too narrow to safely anchor as there are strong tidal currents in this area which turn the boats around when the tide changes and this requires some swinging room.  We could put out two anchors to limit the swing, but that is a hassle especially when you raise anchor and they get tangled.  The cruising guides suggest two anchors, but most of the cruisers we talked with say they only use one.

Tomorrow we will leave late morning to go to Charleston City Marina as the current there is listed at 3 knots at maximum, which will occur at 10 am.  We plan to arrive there at 1 pm which will be slack to avoid docking with the current running.

On Wed Nov 2, we continued to Beaufort, NC which is located along the coast.  It’s pronounced bo-fert not to be confused with Beaufort, SC which is pronounced bew-fert.  This marked the end of the inland portion of the ICW as the rest of the route is along the coast. 

It was windy (20-30 kts) when we arrived at the anchorage in Town Creek just north of Beaufort.  While looking for a place to anchor, we found the bottom for the first time this trip.  Fortunately, it was soft mud and we backed off easily with the knowledge of where not to anchor.  For non sailors, there are two types of sailors, those who admit to running aground and liars.  Because of the wind, we did not want to leave Island Time at anchor so we stayed aboard.

On Thursday, Nov 3, we put the dinghy in the water and went to Beaufort, NC.  There is a nice dinghy dock for cruisers.  The town houses an impressive maritime museum which is free.  There were many exhibits on the different types of boats used in NC along the coast, life saving exhibit which showed the equipment used for rescue people from ships wrecked near the shore and artifacts from the recently discovered wreck of “Queen Ann’s Revenge” which was the pirate Blackbeard’s flagship.

We had a great lunch at Spouter Inn along the waterfront.  As the day was warm and sunny, we sat outside on the deck overlooking the harbor.

We left Beaufort on Friday to continue the journey south.  This next section of the ICW passes thru Camp Lejune, which is a large Marine boot camp.  There are warning signs at the camp entrance to stop boats when there is live fire training along the beach area.  Fortunately for us, there was no live five training that day.  We anchored for the night in Mile Hammock Bay which is actually part of Camp Lejune where the Marines train for amphibious landings.  There is a mock up of a ship in the bay that is used for training.

The next stop was Wrightsville Beach on Saturday, Nov 5.  We were in our fist traffic jam on the trip.  The bridge at Wrightsville Beach opens only on the hour so there was a backup ahead of the bridge, but it was nothing compared to the backup after the bridge where there is a marina located along side the ICW.  We needed to turn left to go into the channel to the anchorage at the beach and thought we needed a traffic light to get across the ICW into the channel.

Wrightsville Beach is a good stop with a cruiser friendly dinghy dock, grocery store and Pizza store.  We ate at Vito’s Pizza on Saturday evening.  Finding a Pizza shop has been rare, so, this was a treat.  We met a cruising couple from Mass., who spent the last winter in the Bahamas and they gave us many suggestions for a successful cruise.

Sunday was grocery shopping after a long walk for exercise.  There is a sports bar in Wrightsville Beach, so I went there to watch some football (with $1.50 16 oz. draft beers).  Of course, the Carolina Panthers was the featured team but this place had about 10 tv’s showing other games along with NASCAR and the NYC Marathon.  There was a NY Giants fan in the place so I had a good time.  Genie stayed on Island Time and finished her book.  Unfortunately, I did not get to see the Giants win their sixth game of the season.  Go Giants!!!

Monday morning Nov 7, we left Wrightsville Beach to continue our journey.  We went down the Cape Fear River for about 10 miles with a current of 2 kts against us so that was a slow trip.  That night we stayed at St James Marina near Southport, NC.  The weather was beautiful with warm sunshine and temps in the 80’s.  We decided to give Island Time a good cleaning on the exterior to remove the salt and dirt from the decks and hull.  This took up Monday afternoon and Tuesday.

On Friday Oct 28 we exited the canal through a lock (down) and went down the Pasquotank River to Elizabeth City, NC.  This town is the most cruiser friendly place we have ever visited.  There is free dockage at the pier downtown.  Each berth has four pilings to tie off the boat at each corner.  There is a number painted on the wall of each berth which we assumed was the berth number.  We picked number 12.  I nosed the boat between the two rearmost pilings perfectly centered and continued forward at idle speed.  All of a sudden we were stuck at the widest part of the boat.  There were two men at the bow to whom Genie passed the bow lines.  They said keep coming and we would make it into the berth.  The combination of their pulling and the engine popped Island Time into the slip.   We later talked to the dockmaster who informed us that the 12 is the width of the berth.  Since Island Time has a beam of 13 ft 4 inches, its no wonder we popped into the berth.  Needless to say, the boat did not move around that night.

Every night the welcoming committee hosts a wine and cheese party for the boats docked in Elizabeth City.  It’s a great way to meet fellow cruisers going down the ICW.  This tradition started in 1983 and has continued.  Fred Fearing started and still hosts the party at age 91.  He is quite a character and has been featured on TV in a show done by Willard Scott.  They used to give each lady from the boats a rose but stopped that as roses became too costly.

Saturday dawned gray and cold with a strong north wind.  We decided to stay in Elizabeth City for another night.  Friday night I started the generator so we could run the heater.  Island time has an air conditioner with a reverse cycle heater so you need 110 v to run the heater.  The generator stopped after a few minutes.  High temperature in the exhaust caused the shutdown.  Starting it again showed no cooling water exiting at the rear of the boat with the exhaust.  Since it was dark any further troubleshooting was put off until Saturday while we put on more layers to cope with the cold.

Saturday we went to the hardware store to get some nuts and bolts needed for the watermaker installation.  We saw a Verizon Wireless store and went to buy batteries for our phones as the batteries were not holding a charge.  They did not have batteries for our model phone at this store and we also found out our model phone is obsolete and they are less than 1 year old. They called around and found batteries at the store in the next town.  One of the Verizon employees volunteered to go pick them up for us.  Great service from Verizon in Elizabeth City, NC.  Everyone we met in this town was very friendly and most helpful.

After getting the batteries I started to determine the cause of the generator problem. It turned out to be a broken water pump impeller.  Fortunately, I had a spare on board and replaced it.  With the generator working again we had heat on Island Time Saturday night.  After another wine and cheese party, we ate at a restaurant recommended by the locals.  The bill was $16 for a good meal.  In NYC it cost us $25 for hamburgs for lunch.

We left early Sunday Oct 30 morning squeezing out between the piles and headed for the Alligator River.  Another claim to fame for Elizabeth City is the blimp manufacturing facility located south of town.  There is a huge hangar visible for miles located on the shore of the river.  All the blimps you see with the exception of the Goodyear blimp were manufactured in Elizabeth City.

The Alligator River started with a bridge.  I started to type drawbridge, but this bridge actually rotated on a turntable assembly.  We have seen many types of opening bridges on this trip.

At the south end of the Alligator River we entered the Alligator-Pungo River canal, which goes for 20 some odd miles thru the swamp.  Since it was getting late and we could not make the next anchorage before dark, we anchored just off the ICW at the start of the canal out in the middle of nowhere.  There were no background lights so it was pitch-black outside.  The stars were visible like I hadn’t seen before.

On Halloween, we completed the trip through the canal into the Pungo River.  We read about Belhaven,NC in one of the guide books we are using, which raved about the quaint little town Belhaven.  We needed fuel and an anchorage, so we stopped in Belhaven.  The marina (River Forest) where we stopped for fuel was a nice old Victorian style house converted to a marina.  As we were paying Miss Lily for the fuel, we were convinced to eat lunch at their buffet.  It was very good with, of course, southern fried chicken and fried flounder, both were prepared well.  It was a good choice.  The rest of Belhaven was forgettable.  There wasn’t even a store in town to buy eggs and bread.  It was at least 2 miles outside of town.

From Belhaven, we proceeded down the Pungo River to the Neuse River where we stopped at Oriental, NC which has quite a fleet of sailboats along with some commercial fishing boats.  We anchored in the small harbor and went ashore.  They have a nice dinghy dock to allow cruisers access to town. Oriental is a good place to stop.  There is a marine store a few blocks from the dinghy dock, where I found a check valve I needed to install on the water feed line to the generator to avoid burning up impellers in the water pump.  The generator is above the waterline on Island Time so when it stops, the water drains out of the pump.  When the generator is started, there is no water in the pump to lubricate the rubber impeller so it heats up and after several starts it disintegrates. The check valve will keep the water pump full of water at shutdown so it will be lubricated on the next start.  We walked about a mile to the grocery store to buy eggs and milk.  It was good exercise.

Dismal Swamp

We finally left Scott’s Creek Marina on Thursday, Oct 27. We stayed a day longer than planned as we enjoyed the stay in a marina after 20 or so days at anchor.  Didn’t do much on Wednesday.   Tried to go for a walk but the truck traffic made it unpleasant as there was no sidewalk and we had to walk along the side of the busy road.  We did watch containers being unloaded from trucks onto railcars.  The containers are held onto the truck by a metal peg at each corner.  There didn’t appear to be any latch down to hold the container onto the truck.  I am surprised that they stay on the truck.  Same is true for the railcar, the containers just sit on pegs.

We decided to take the Dismal Swamp canal route to Albemarle Sound as we keep hearing it will be closed in the near future due to lack of funding by the Feds.  This is a very historic waterway that was started in the late 1700’s with George Washington as one of its financial backers.   There is a story that he actually surveyed the route, but this has never been proved.  The canal was hand dug starting in 1793 and completed in 1805.  It was dug by slaves hired from local plantations.  These slaves became very familiar with the swamp and it became a major part of the Underground Railroad that brought runaway slaves north.  Large colonies of runaway slaves lived in the swamp prior to the Civil War.  It would be sad to see this history lost.

The trip today started out in the heavily commercial area around Norfolk, Va and ended in very rural North Carolina.  There is an up lock at the start of the canal.  Being old pros with locks, the 8 ft rise was a piece of cake.  We are currently at a dock behind the first visitors’ center on Rte 17 in North Carolina.  This is very unique to have the same visitors’ center serve both automobiles and boats.

At the visitor center there was a nature trail that went along the canal’s edge.  We walked over to the start of the trail with the intent of walking it until we saw the sign at the start of the trail at said “Beware of snakes”.  So much for that walk.  The water in the canal is the color of coffee due to the tannin released by the decaying trees and other vegetation.  Tannin is responsible for the color in coffee.

The visitor center had small areas planted with local crops.  There was a small area of cotton plants which wee in bloom.  We picked some of the bolls and felt the seeds in the cotton.  It was just like cotton balls you buy.  There was an area with peanuts that we picked.  They were still in the shells which we opened and tasted the peanut inside.  Now I know why peanuts are roasted.  They had a small nut taste along with a large uncooked pea taste.

One good reason to take the Dismal Swamp Canal is the lack of power boats.  The wake kicked up by some of the power boats can really knock Island Time around.  The power boats go down the Virginia cut which is the alternate to the Dismal Swamp Canal.

We left Thursday Oct 20 from Mill Creek off Great Wicimico River bound for Put in Creek off the East River on Mobjack Bay.  This anchorage was not as pleasant as the previous one in Mill Creek as it was wide open at the intersection of Put in Creek and East River.  The wind blew across the open area causing waves and moving Island Time around.  We had a good sail with 20-25 knot winds from the north while we were heading south.

As with all the anchorages we stayed in the Chesapeake Bay, you travel at least 7 miles from the bay to the anchorage which takes about an hour plus so it seems that you will never get to anchor.  Fridays dawned gray and rainy, so we decided to stay put at Put in Creek and work on boat projects.  I finally started few long planned projects.

Saturday Oct 22 we left Put in Creek for Chisom Creek, about 20 miles south across Mobjack Bay and south of the York River to minimize our travels on Sunday.  We anchored at the mouth of the creek were it was very busy with lots of traffic by weekend fishermen.  A few storms passed by as evidenced by the dark clouds passing west of us and the winds.  Fortunately, the storms were over by nightfall.

We left early on Sunday Oct 23 for Norfolk, Va which was about 15 miles south of us.  Norfolk is at the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay and marks the beginning of the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW).  As we had our watermaker, which we purchased at the Annapolis Boat show, shipped to the Village Marine Tec store in Portsmith, Va and wanted to pick it up an Monday, so we reserved a slip at a marina in Portsmith.  It was only $0.85/ft which is the cheapest rate we ever stayed.

 Once we arrived at the Thimble Shoal lighthouse at the edge of the main shipping channel into Portsmith, we heard a Navy ship on the radio stating its intention to anchor off the channel.  I think it was really saying “I’m coming through, get out of my way”.

As we progressed through the harbor towards the marina, we saw more battleship grey than anywhere else we have been.  There were Navy ships of all descriptions from aircraft carriers to submarines berthed along the harbor.  The Norfolk/Portsmith area is one of the largest naval bases in the USA with ship building center at Newport News and major repare facilities in Portsmith.  Your tax dollars at work!!!

The marina is right in the middle of the commercial shipping port with containers everywhere.  It is quite well kept with very clean restrooms and maintained grounds.  It is Scott’s Creek Marina and even has free washer/dryers.  Free is good.

Monday, Oct 24, we got a taxi to Village Marine Tec to pick up our watermaker.  The office manager who we met at Annapolis, arrived at the office at the same time we did and offered to drive us back to the marina, saving the $12.00 cab fare.  We can’t say enough good things about Village Marine Tec.  They have been great to deal with this purchase.  I spent the afternoon planning the installation of the watermaker.  Its going to be a tight fit as is anything else on the boat.

The rest of Monday was very windy and rainy, so we stayed in the boat.  On Tuesday, Oct 25, we went grocery shopping and Genie did the laundry while I finally changed the shaft seal on the pump for the head and cleaned the bilge.

It has been cold and damp.  We actually used the heater on Island Time to keep warm for the first time. Fortunately, Hurricane Wilma passed out to sea east of us. We heard that Vermont is going to feel the effects of Wilma along with the low that gave us rain and wind to form a Nor’easter going up the coast.  Based on the weather reports we heard, we are happy to be in the marina.

We had a good sail from St Michaels to Solomans Island, Md on Monday Oct 17.  Wind was 15-25 knts which is ideal for Island Time. We arrived late in the afternoon and anchored in Mill Creek.  Solomans has many anchorage areas but limited dinghy docks for going ashore.  It rivals Annapolis for the number of sailboats in one area.

On Tuesday, we went to shore to explore the town.  It was about a mile walk to the grocery store and West Marine.  We needed to get a rebuild kit for the head as it is leaking flushing water at the pump shaft and cleaning supplies recommended by one of the seminar speakers at the SSCA meeting in Annapolis.  After returning to the boat, we were again visited by a swan.  Genie fed it some bread even though it hissed at her.  I went to get ice at the marina leaving Genie below oiling the interior teak.  Upon my return I found her in the cockpit feeding the swan again.  The swan had pecked at the hull to get her attention.  Very persistent bird.

We left at sun up today (Wed) to continue south.  We anchored in another Mill Creek off the Great Wicimico River south of the Potomac River.  The entrance to the creek was difficult to find but once inside the creek the anchorage is excellent, very calm and rural.

We are now in Virginia as the state line crosses the bay at the bottom of the entrance of the Potomac River into the bay.

Tomorrow we will leave at sun up again to go to Mobjack Bay if the winds cooperate as predicted.  According to the weather service they are to be 10-15 knots from the north and we will be going south.

After leaving Annapolis on Friday, we had a lively sail (20-25 knts wind) over to Saint Michaels on the eastern shore of Maryland.  Sailing in the northern Chesapeake is a lot like sailing in Lake Champlain.  You can see both shores although they are certainly flatter than Lake Champlain.  The waves are short and choppy without the rollers you see in the ocean and the wind is just as variable in speed and direction.

We anchored in the harbor right next to Octopus from MBBC.  I am sure we will see Benoit again along the way as he is going to the same place we are going.  The anchorage was calm but the wind was still gusty.

Saturday was chore day.  We did some grocery shopping.  We took the advice of Wendylyn Duquette (a friend from MBBC who just finished a long cruise with her family) and bought a folding cart at the boatshow to assist is carrying things like groceries and laundry.  It was well used as we did the laundry as well as grocery shopping.

Saint Michaels is a cool town that is cruiser friendly with dinghy docks for transients, many shops of all description, several good restaurants and good parks.  Sunday we went to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum located in Saint Michaels.  It was a well done museum with many interesting displays showing all aspects of the Bay from crabbing and oystering to recreational uses such as sailing log canoes. The canoes carry vast amounts of sail and are balanced by people hiking out on long boards.  Capsizes are frequent but it looks like fun.  Traditional boatbuilding was shown along with a lighthouse that was relocated from the bay to the museum when it was taken out of service.  The keeper’s life was certainly harsh and lonely.

After the museum we did some souvenir shopping and then found a bar to watch some football. Watched the Steelers lose on a fumble in overtime much to the dismay of local fans.  Also saw the score updates of the NY Giants who also lost in overtime to my most hated team, the Dallas Cowboys certainly not this American’s team.

While on Island Time on Sunday, we had some visitors.  We were sitting in the cockpit and along side appeared three white swans.  Based on size, there was a male and 2 females.  They were begging for handouts.  Genie fed them some bread.  The male was tall enough to put his head above the side of the boat which is at least 4 feet above the water.  I got a picture of them which I will post.

We left at sun up on Monday headed for Solomon’s Island Md on the Western shore.

We arrived in Annapolis on Monday, Oct 3, 2005 in the afternoon and left on Friday, Oct 14, 2005.  Can’t believe we spent a week and a half in Annapolis.  We met with many old friends and made some new ones.  We anchored Island Time in Back Creek, which is close to everything in the Annapolis area including the Boat Show which was our purpose in visiting Annapolis at this time.

Back Creek has notoriously poor holding for anchors as it is a mud bottom topped with soft silt from a nearby treatment plant.  On Tues the harbormaster came by distributing a letter to all boats anchored explaining (very politely) the situation and recommending a Danforth anchor be used as it holds better in mud.  Since we had down our CQR, we had to assemble Big Bertha, our Fortress anchor (Danforth type) which we purchased as storm anchor for the Bahamas, which sat unassembled in the cockpit locker.  The eye had to be spliced on the line and the anchor put together.  We deployed Big Bertha at an angle to the CQR to allow it to hold in the predicted wind shift.  So Tues was an anchor watch day to be sure we held.  Back Creek was very crowded, so the amount of scope we could put out was limited.  We barely had 3 to 1 which is marginal.  Two anchors made us feel more secure.

Wed we decided to explore and get some groceries as we had not provisioned since New York harbor.  We landed at the public access at the Back Creek Nature Park and started walking to where we thought the grocery store was located.  We passed several boat yards and boating related businesses including Kato Marine who made the davits for our dinghy storage on the rear of Island Time.  We walked for some time thru residential areas and continued to see more residential areas and we were about to turn around when we saw a traffic light ahead.  We continued to the intersection and lo and behold there was Giant Supermarket.  We stocked up on essentials including 4 Liters of tonic water for G & T.  The only problem was we had to carry the groceries back to the boat.  The walk back seemed much shorter but my arms seemed much longer after carrying all the stuff.  Must have been the tonic water but it was worth it as the G & T tasted mighty good when we got back.

Thursday we went to Annapolis to see how to get to the show.  Annapolis is a very cruiser friendly town when free docks for dinghies in several locations.  We left ours at the dock at the end of sixth st. which left us about six blocks from the show entrance.

Friday, we went to the show and checked out several vendors for water makers and other items we wanted to purchase.  In the afternoon we met Bob and Lorna from MBBC (by chance though we knew they would be there) and they told us where to meet them and Bruce and Pam at the show later for refreshments.  We also saw two other MBBC members (Ed Zeimer and friend Jackie) at the show.  Jackie told us they were staying on the boat owned by a friend of hers berthed nearby.

Saturday, we went to the meeting (called a GAM) of the Seven Seas Cruising Association at nearby Port Annapolis Marina in the pouring rain.  In spite of the rain, the meeting went on with four guest speakers on topics ranging from boat maintenance to weather prediction.  At dinner that evening (still pouring rain), we again met Bob and Lorna and Bruce and Pam along with Lynne and Rich and Bob and Carol longtime friends of  Bob and Lorna and Bruce and Pam.  Bob and Carol cruise their MacGregor 26 to the Bahamas and were full of information about going to the Bahamas and spending the winter there.  We hope to meet them there this winter.  Lynne and Rich live in Annapolis moving here from New England several years ago.  We found a table in one of the tents big enough for our group occupied by one man.  He was agreeable to us joining him.  After we all ate and were chatting, we started talking to man at the table telling him about our trip from Vermont etc.  He told us he had friends staying with him who sailed in Vermont.  Upon further conversation with him we found out his friends were Ed and Jackie from MBBC.  It’s a small world.

Sunday we again went to the show first stopping by the booth of Jed and Paige Guertin who we saw in Cape May.  We have known Jed and Paige for several years as they lived in Charlotte, Vt and sailed Lake Champlain.  They invented a union for rubber hoses called a turncouple which allows the hose to be disconnected from the pipe fitting without disturbing the barb fitting.  Anyone who has wrestled with removing a barb fitting from a hose without destroying either should check out their website.  Google turncouple for the site.

Later on Sunday, we met Bruce and Pam who drove us to the hardware store to get propane for the boat, liquor store for beer and gin, and the grocery store.  No more lugging tonic water.  By the way, it turns out the walk to the grocery store was only one mile as clocked by Bruce.  We thank him for their efforts.  After these chores, we went to Lynne and Rich’s house for dinner.  The painkillers flowed freely and dinner was great along with the company as Bob and Lorna were staying at the house along with Bruce and Pam and Bob and Carol (staying on their boat at Port Annapolis Marina) joined us.  It was a great evening and we thank Lynne and Rich for inviting us to their home.

Monday, we brought the spreader bar for our dinghy davits to Kato Marine to be shortened as it was too long for our new dinghy.  They said the modification would be ready by Wednesday.  We then called the Gerald W to pump out the holding tank on Island Time.  For $5 Gerald W comes along side and pumps out the holding tank.  It is operated by the Annapolis Harbormaster’s office.  Then it was off to the show again.  We finalized the purchase of our watermaker by scheduling delivery to the companies Portsmith, Va office where we will pick it up in a few weeks.  After that, we met the group to watch the show be disassembled.  It was a hoot.  There where boats and docks moving everywhere after 5 pm when the gun sounded the end of the show.  Everything was so well coordinated that by 7 pm the whole show was disassembled.  There were at least 200 sailboats of all sizes and types that moved in the 2 hrs.

Tuesday, the big event of the day was getting pizza in Annapolis.  We have not eaten pizza since we left.   There was one place in the center of town which had good pizza.  Exciting day!!!!

Wednesday, we picked up our spreader bar from Kato and installed it.  Jay and Priscilla from MBBC were in town looking at boats and called after they finished.  We picked them up at the sixth st dinghy dock and brought them out to Island Time for cocktails.  After, we went to dinner in Annapolis and really enjoyed ourselves at the buffet at Buddys.  Jay and Priscilla are fun to be with and we enjoyed their company very much.

Thursday we planned to leave Annapolis but woke up to a grey, cold damp day and decided we did not feel like sailing as the wind would make it colder.  So we just read and did a few small boat projects.

Friday, we finally left Annapolis for St Michaels, Md on the eastern shore.  We had a fun sail over to St Michaels.  We left Annapolis with a lot of good memories of friendships old and new.

On Sunday morning Oct 2, 2005, we left the anchorage on the Cohansey River to continue up the Delaware Bay to the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal (C&D Canal).  We went thru the canal without problems except for some of the powerboat wakes.  It seems the larger the boat, the faster they pass you leaving a bigger wake to toss you about.

At the end of the canal, the Chesapeake Bay is still very narrow with a marked channel in the middle.  We stayed at the edge of the channel to avoid the shallow water outside and to take advantage of the current in the channel which gave us a 1 to 2 knot boost down the Chesapeake.  Since we needed fuel, water, clean clothes and to get the anchor light repaired we decided to spend the nite at a marina.  We chose Worton Creek Marina as it only charges $1.35/ft for the nite which was the cheapest marina in the area.

After leaving the channel heading for the marina, the water depth read 8-10 ft all the way to the creek.  After our experience at Cape May, this did not bother us too much.  We went into the creek and the depth dropped to six feet.  Still okay as Island Time draws 4 ft 7 inches.  We stayed close to the green markers as advised by the marina.  We went by two marinas with the depth dropping to 5 ft.  As we approached Worton Creek Marina, the depth went down to 3.2 feet and we still were not aground.  From there we went back up to 4-5 ft at the fuel dock.  I guess our depth sounder in mounted below the water line by at least 1.4 feet.  This was still a different experience as the lowest depth we saw in Lake Champlain was in the 10 to 20 ft range.

Worton Creek Marina was pleasant being far enough up the creek to be free from wind and waves so the nite was very calm.  We took showers and then gathered the laundry and headed up the steep hill where the at the washing machine was located.  We decided to eat at the Harbor House Restaurant located next to the Laundromat while the clothes were washing.  This was a good choice as we met Paul and Cindy from Tom’s River, NJ who were delivering a 38 ft Hunter sailboat from the dealer in Tom’s River to the Annapolis Boat show.  They invited us to sit at their table for dinner.  They were live aboards for several years wintering in the Bahamas.  They gave us many tips about crossing the Gulf Stream and where to stay in the Bahamas.  They also knew many people and gave us a lot of names.  All in all, it was a good nite as the company was good and the food was also excellent.

Monday morning we went to the work dock to have the anchor light bulb checked as it did not show continuity thru the wires up the mast, so I assumed the bulb was burned out.  When the mechanic got to the top on the yard crane, he found the bulb okay.  I then moved the connector at the base of the mast and the light came on.  Apparently, there was loose connection in the 4 way plug used to connect the wires from the boat to those going up the mast.  I rewired the system removing the plug and replacing it with a terminal strip.  All works well now.  We needed to get the anchor light working as our backup battery powered unit burned out a bulb at Cohansey River so we were without an anchor light.  We also found the right bulb for our backup anchor light, so Island Time can now be seen at night at anchor.

It was around noon when we left Worton Creek Marina and the tide was midway between low and high so the trip out was much less exciting as we had at least 1.5 feet more of water.  We continued to motor down the bay as the wind was very light and we wanted to get to Annapolis in the afternoon to find a spot to anchor as it gets very crowded at boatshow time. We went up the Severn River to Back Creek to find a gadzillion boats already anchored.  Luckily, we found an open area and dropped anchor.  After anchoring about 4 tries we were finally situated where we were not too close to our neighbors.  We made it to Annapolis four days before the boatshow.

We left the 79th Street Marina about 8 am Tuesday and caught the ebbing tide which gave us a 2 knot boost thru New York Harbor.  The harbor had a lot of traffic especially water taxis.  We stayed out of the shipping lanes and saw at least 12 large freighters apparently moving up the Jersey side of the harbor.  We passed Ellis Island (where my grand parents entered the USA) and The Statue of Liberty.  Certainly a majestic sight in the harbor.  As we neared the freighters, we saw that they were anchored one behind the other.  Must have been some problem with the traffic in the harbor.  This made it easy for Island Time as we needed to cross the shipping channel to get to the Jersey coast.  Shortly after going under the Verazano Narrows bridge, we crossed west to the Jersey shoreline.  When Sandy Hook was abeam, we were out of most of the ship traffic and since it was blowing about 15 knots from the north, we finally got to sail. The wind lasted for about 3 hrs and then died to less than 5 knots which is not enough wind to move Island Time. 

We motored down the coast all afternoon and at sunset, we were 3 miles west of Manasquan inlet, which is the last harbor accessible to Island Time until Atlantic City.  We chose to continue thru the night and go to either the C&D Canal or Cape May.  At sun up we were just outside Cape May and decided we were too tired to continue.  We took about 2-3 hour watches with the off watch catnapping in the cockpit so we did not get much sleep.  This was our first nite sail on Island Time and we were both nervous and excited.  We saw many tugs with tows (two whites over the red or green) which stayed outside the sea bouys while we were inside so there were no conflicts thankfully.  A few sailboats passed us as we slowed down not to reach Cape May before dawn.

After anchoring in Cape May harbor, we showered and thought we would get some sleep.  We still had too much adrenaline for sleep so we took a swing around the harbor took scope out the bridge over the Cape May Canal to see if we felt comfortable going under it.  Island Times mast is 54 ft 3 inches above the waterline.  We have lights, VHF antenna, and wind indicators above that add another 1.5 feet to that height.  The marker board at the bridge showed a little over 56 feet at low tide.  Since we planned on leaving on Saturday, the low tide was at 1 am.  This meant that we would have to try to get under the bridge in the dark.  We decided to go around the bottom of the Cape rather than risk damaging Island Time’s mast.

There are many shoals at the outside of Cape May and the course we plotted around them would add several miles to our trip.  Fortunately, we met Irv and Marsha, experienced cruisers on a boat called Hangout, who hearing of our planned route told us to follow them thru the inside passage close to shore.  Since their boat draws 5.5 ft and Island Time draws 4.6 ft, we followed them knowing if they didn’t run aground, we would not.  We decided to follow them and left Cape May at 9 am Saturday morning. 

Thursday saw a front move thru with north winds.  As we would be going up the Delaware Bay on a flood tide, the wind and waves would be opposite which makes for large, short period waves on the Delaware Bay.  We stayed put on Island Time just loafing.  Friday, we went to shore and explored Cape May.  It is a quaint town with lots of Victorian houses.  We walked from the marina area to downtown (about 2 miles) thru a nice old neighborhood.  Unfortunately, the downtown area was a typical tourist town with tee shirt and souvenir shops.  Not very interesting. 

After lunch at a very nice restaurant on the waterfront, we stopped by to visit with Jack and Karen on White Knight, an Island Packet 35 anchored in the harbor.  They could fit under the bridge and were leaving at 3 am to catch the flood tide up the bay.  After a nice chat with them, we headed back to Island Time.  Enroute, we passed Octopus a fellow club member at MBBC.  No one was aboard at that time.  I dropped Genie off at Island Time and went for ice and beer at a nearby marina.  When I returned, Genie told me that Benoit from Octopus had stopped by.  I also noticed a new boat anchored next to us was Spellbound with a home port of Charlotte, Vermont.  I went to visit Benoit and had a good chat and cold beer with him.  On my return, Genie was talking to Jud and Paige Guertin from Spellbound.  They are also going to Annapolis to exhibit their turncouple product at the show.  We met them several years ago in Vermont.  This is a small world.

We left Cape May at 9 am Saturday morning following Hangout around the cape.  The water did not go below 10 feet deep during this transit.  We continued up the Delaware Bay, a very boring stretch of water and anchored at the Cohansey River for the night.  We saw several freighters along the way, but we stayed out of the channel so the passage was easy.

We left lock eight early Wed morning and headed thru the last seven locks with no disasters.  Down locks are easy.  We stopped at Waterford, NY to meet up with Charly Dickerson who signed on to help us thru the locks but his job delayed him until Wed pm.  He met us at Waterford driving from Montpelier.  For those going thru the Champlain Canal, Waterford has a municipal dock with free water and electricity (for cruising sailors, free is a magic word) located at the NY State police barracks.  One bad sign we noted was the padlock on the dock lines for the State police patrol boat tied at the Waterford dock.  Charly helped get us thru the Troy (Federal) Lock which is the first lock to both the Champlain Canal and the Erie Canal.

The Wall

The Federal lock is only a few miles from Waterford and we got there about 8 am Thursday.  The lock gates were not open and the lockkeeper said it would be about 10 min to get the lock ready.  We saw a barge tied to the wall and assumed it was locking thru with us, so we tied at the end of the wall behind it to wait.  The light turned green so we started to leave from the wall to enter the lock.  All of a sudden we were pinned against the wall and with both Genie and Charly pushing away as hard as they could, we were not able to get away.  Island Time was hitting against the wall at the deck level above the fenders and fender board.  The top of the mast banged into the wall.  We finally decided to try and use reverse to back away from the wall as the prop would pull the stern away.  Genie backed up Island Time hard reverse while I went to the bow and managed to push it away with Charly’s assist, while the stern pulled away due to Island Time’s prop.  We were finally free and heading for the gate when we noticed a tugboat across the entrance pushing a dredge into shore.  The backwash from the tug’s prop was the cause of our problem.  The barge ahead of us was part of the work crew rebuilding the entrance wall (from the north) to the lock and was not locking thru, so we did not need to tie up behind it.  That was quite a scare.  Fortunately the only damage to Island Time was scuffing of the stainless rub rail and a slightly bent wind vane at the top of the mast.  For all you lake sailors do not get behind a tug.

Hop O Nose

We motored down to Catskill, NY to Hop O Nose Marina to get Island Time’s mast put up.  We arrived about 2 pm and removed the cockpit canvas and the mast was up by 4 pm.  Now the real work started in putting up all the items we removed for the trip down the canal such as the solar cells, wind generator and sails.  This took until Friday evening to complete so we stayed at the Marina Friday night.  The owner, who just purchased the marina, did the work to put up the mast and also worked at the bar/restaurant as we met him later.  He is a Yankee fan (good guy) and Charly and I watched the game at bar Friday nite.

The crane used to put up the mast was like a page out of history.  It has riveted beams, open gears to drive the hook and a block and tackle attached to a nearby tree to swing it around.  I was very happy with their work and would recommend them to anyone for mast stepping.

Poughkeepsie Yacht Club

Charly was keeping an eye on the train schedule for his trip home and we decided that Poughkeepsie was a good place to drop him off so he could catch a train to Troy to get back to his car he left in Waterford.  We arrived at the Yacht Club at about 12 pm and watched them set ready to start a regatta.   For those of you, who froze on the committee boat to run a race, listen to this.  The clubhouse sits above the river with a second story and deck overlooking the river.  The starting line is a pumphouse on the far shore and the flagpole right in front of the deck (which is adjacent to the bar).  The RC starts and finishes the race from the clubhouse deck.  Talk about convenience.

The members were very friendly and quite informative.  The clubhouse is very clean and well maintained.  The club has its own travel lift and stores members boats for the winter along with a fuel dock.  One of the members was kind enough to give Charly a ride to the train station. It was a good place to stay.

New York City

Sunday we motored down to NYC riding a favorable current most of the way and stayed at the 79^th Street Marina on a mooring.  We need to get used to