Thursday, May 12, 2016

5/7-5/11

May 7-8
Our final stretch up the Chesapeake Bay! It was nice to be back in home waters!
We left Portsmouth, headed north,  and turned in at Deltaville.  Anchored in Jackson Creek. Next day was very windy and gusty.  We stayed put and took a hike and went out to lunch. Fellow cruisers here, Bonnie and Phil on Windaway and Jill and Richard on Jill Christy, also took a lay day so we had company.

May 9
Had a long day to Solomons Island- 64 miles.  Set the hook in Mill Creek. It was cold and rainy on the Bay!
Had to find long pants and jackets and even hats!

May 10
On up to Annapolis!  When we pulled into the mooring field, we knew 6 cruising boats!  Had a group dinner at McGarveys and of course, some oyster shooters!

Sky clearing!

With our fellow cruisers in Annapolis for a celebratory dinner

May 11
This was our last day of the trip!  Motored the short distance to Rock Hall  and tied up in our slip!  A second wonderful adventure south!


Pepromenon returning to Spring Cove Marina in Rock Hall.



Friday, May 6, 2016

4/26- 5/6 North Carolina to Portsmouth, VA

April 26-27
From the Calabash River, we motored up to Southport, NC. Beautiful water and sand dunes, with lots of tough, shoaled inlets. And, of course, the dolphins, which disappear whenever the camera comes out!  We spent 2 days here and visited with Liz and Ray, who we had spent time with in Marathon, FL when they rented a house nearby. They have a beach house here in Oak Island, NC. Liz and Ray had us to dinner, allowed us to do laundry, and use their car to reprovision.  It was a wonderful time off the boat for a break!

NC inlet

Bob with Liz and Ray.  You can see the ocean and the ICW from this porch!

April 28
We put in a long day, timing our travel up the Cape Fear River to go with the strong current. Anchored in the basin at Camp LeJune and listened to the helicopters coming and going.

April 29-30
We decided return to Beaufort. Love this place! Great restaurants and walking from the city docks! We met 2 other Island Packet 31 owners. And we were invited to Happy Hour on Sovereignty, a 36 Kadey Krogen Manatee. Bob says this will be his next boat! We are always excited if we time our stay coincides with a Farmer's Market.  There was a great one Sat. morning and we stocked up on fresh produce and bread.

Island Packet sailboats with Kadey Krogen in background.
While in Beaufort, we took a 15 minute bus ride over to nearby Morehead City.  Carol's grandparents liked to stop at The Sanitary Restaurant and Fish Market on their way south.  This place opened in 1938 and was still going strong today.  Inland and offshore fish were the specialty.


The bar at the Sanitary Restaurant

Bob shucking his peck of oysters.
May 1
We crossed the Pamlico Sound and Neuse River and anchored Campbell Creek.

May 2
Onto the Pongo River, Pongo-Alligator Canal, and Alligator River 68 miles to our anchorage on the Little Alligator River.
The landscape along the canal seemed like scenery out of a horror movie

May 3
We woke up to a wicked rain and thunderstorm.  Then, at 10am, we saw a window to cross the Albemarle Sound and took it.  We were very lucky to get up this sound in SW wind. Back to the Dismal Swamp route. We ended up at Goat Island. This was one of our prettiest anchorages and we were serenaded by bullfrogs all night!

May 4
Started through the Dismal Swamp and the first lock. We tied up at the Visitor Center dock along with 9 other northbound cruising boats. We put together a cookout and enjoyed meeting our fellow travelers. One boat was doing the Great Loop, another was from our homeport, 2 were full-time live-aboards.

Free dock at Dismal Swamp State Park visitor center with boats rafted up.

Captains grilling our dinner

Our group of cruisers
May 5-6
Finished out the Dismal Swamp and docked at the ferry basin in Portsmouth, VA. Rain and north wind kept us here. Flooding at the dock was 2-3 feet deep at high tide! 

The free dock at the base of the main street in Portsmouth

We took the ferry over to Norfolk and explored the area.
Portsmouth- Norfolk ferry

At the Naval Museum is docked the Battleship USS Wisconsin- massive!  Couldn't even fit the entire boat in a picture!