Oct 26 - 29 Elizabeth City to Pungo River, River Dunes, Bogue Sound then to Swansboro, NC

Oct 26- Headed from the Dismal Swamp to Elizabeth City .  The town has a free dock and welcomes cruisers.  Volunteers help dock the boats.  They give roses to the ladies on board.  We did our first laundromat excursion for an "outing"... nteresting…

Several Rock Hall boats arrived at Elizabeth City at the same time 

and enjoyed a wine and cheese get together.

South of Elizabeth City is the USCG station and east coast blimp station.  The Firestone, Goodyesar, etc blimps all are kept here, unfortunately the picture did not come out….

 Oct 27- We had a long day down the Alligator River to the Pungo Canal and out to the Pungo River. (75 miles in a boat at 6 knots is over 11hrs) . Fortunately a calm day on the Albemarle Sound.  The Pungo canal is very narrow with a lot of cypress stumps and deadheads.

As the sun set we anchored in a beautiful spot  with unbelievable stars.  Outside of civilization there is so little light pollution!

Oct 28- We headed to the Neuse River over the Pamlico Sound and spent the night at a fancy marina named River Dunes near Oriental NC.  A beautiful 80 degree and sunny day, swam laps in the pool and tried the hot tub.    There were unusual jumping fish in the lagoon in front of there pool.

The marina hosted a "cruisers dinner" and it was fun to meet other people headed south.

Oct 29- Traveled through Morehead City/ Beaufort North Carolina area onto the Bogue Sound.  Water  now green and ocean- like.  Dolphins here and there.  After having a terrible time anchoring in strong current we tied up at a dock in Swansboro, NC and walked to a local seafood restaurant.  Enjoyed the shrimp and grits.  We have seen lots of bubba gump shrimp boats.

Oct 23 -25 Great Wicomico to Portsmouth, VA and Dismal Swamp

Pepromenon sailing south… 

Oct 23, 2014  Despite the USCG warning of gale force winds we got tired of hanging around and decided to do a short 15 mile run to another snug anchorage in Dymer Creek off Fleets Bay .  It was a very rough day and Carol was not happy with the cutter only sailing in 30+ knots of wind. Bob thought it was a good day!

Oct 24  Weather improved slightly so we made a run for Portsmouth, Va - a 60 mile trek with NW wind 15-20 knots gusting to 25.  We made excellent time and pulled into Norfolk passing many aircraft carriers and a fleet of naval vessels.  Also saw more dolphins here.

We were lucky and got the last open dock space in the Portsmouth ferry basin for the night around 5pm.

The group we are traveling with headed into town and decided to take in a "movie and dinner".  The Commodore Theater is a renovated 1945 classic movie theater that had the seats removed and comfy chairs and small tables put in.  You actually have dinner while the movie is played.  We all thought it was awesome.








Oct 25th Another beautiful day, warmer already, mid 70's by early afternoon.
Left Portsmouth at ICW mile marker 0 and headed for the Dismal Swamp Canal. We went through a lock which elevated our boat to join a higher sea level.
Carol experienced her first locking:

Mid day we were in North Carolina!

An easy run of 25 miles in the Dismal Swamp Canal brought us to the Dismal Welcome Center where we are now using their free wi-fi at their free dock.

Tomorrow we head for Elizabeth City.

Oct 20th - Rock Hall, MD to Little Choptank then Great Wicomico

We are under way….



Left Rock Hall Oct 20, 2014 at 04:00.

We could not sleep and the forecast was for a beautiful day so headed out in the dark.  Passed under the Bay Bridge as the sun rose.  And then the weather turned against us.  20-25 knots of wind on the nose.  We were headed for Solomons Island but had to turn off into Little Choptank river for the nite.












Oct 21st was a beautiful day,  we basked in the sun having lunch while the autopilot did the steering for us.

With 10-15 knots of wind from the west we sailed all the way to a snug little creek south of the Potomac called Cockrell creek on the Great Wicomico river.   A pod of dolphins greeted us as we passed by the Potomac - very exciting to see them.  Cockrell creek is home to the  largest US Menhaden fishing fleet.  Smells bad as they process the fish down to Omega 3.  The boat in the picture chased us into the creek.

Oct 22 brought weather threats of gale force winds and heavy rain.  We will hang out here until the weather improves.  It may be another day or two….my basil plant is suffering from this weather but the rosemary is doing fine, can't wait to get farther south.

Pepromenon preparations pre Oct 20, 2014 departure

The Adventures of Bob and Carol sailing south on Pepromenon

After many years of planning and preparation we now embark on our first snowbird trip down the ICW to the Florida Keys on our Island Packet 31 sailboat Pepromenon.  We "cut the dock lines" October 20, 2014 early am.
One of our highest priorities was to have a full enclosure to protect us from weather.  Over Labor Day 2013 weekend we worked for 4 full days and built a beautiful enclosure (thanks to Carol's sewing skills).

During the winter haul out of 2013 we had the bottom soda blasted and added now barrier coat and bottom paint to streamline the boat bottom.

Nice new bottom

We installed solar panels and added refrigeration, a new anchor windlass to hoist the new 35# Mantus anchor.  We cut an access hole in the saloon floor for more storage, replaced the engine mixing elbow, replaced the engine motor mounts and did lots of diesel engine tune-up things.  Our to-do list was very lengthy to get Pepromenon in tip top shape.

Carol, in her usual organized way, made lists of all the provisions and supplies we would need.
She methodically recorded all quantities and location of all supplies.

We are looking forward to an adventure of a lifetime, cruising down the ICW to the Florida Keys to escape the cold northern winter and share this experience together as new retirees.