Just South of the Dismal Swamp

Glory Be!   We had the engine on but didn't use it to leave our anchor south of Albermarle Sound two days ago.   We sailed back three miles back to the Intracoastal Waterway, then out into the  Sound and all the way across (15 miles) without mishap and with a decent amount of speed.    We practiced heaving to, for use if the wind did come up so high we didn't want to handle it.   But it never did.

Here at Elizabeth City, NC, they have town docks where we can stay two days or so free.  And the use of free bicycles.

Can you see them here in front of the boat?  They're painted really happy colors so they won't be lost along the way.

We took them all over town - to the Laundromat, to a grocery store, to Ruby Tuesdays for lunch, to the mall for shopping (Tom bought a couple of pair of shorts and we found some ice cube trays).
We couldn't believe we were able to do all that in ONE trip.

Tom needed those shorts because this sailing regime and living with me and my cooking has caused him to loose weight.

 

We needed the ice cube trays because we have discovered we can make ice in our freezer!   No more buying bags of ice, stuffing it into little bags and trying to fit it all into pockets in the refrigerator/freezer.  Now we'll have what we need as we need it!

 

Today, it's much cooler and it's supposed to be windy.  But today, we will dump our waste tanks, take on fuel and water (two different places for this) and head up the 15 miles to the Dismal Swamp canal that goes on into Virginia.    We'll say more about this as we learn more.

Headed north

We made about 50 miles each of the last few days, putting us just on the south side of Albermarle Sound. We should be to the Chesapeake in a couple more days.

  It's about 15 miles across the sound going north and reputed to be choppy because of the its relatively shallow and with a long fetch (distance of wind going over water).   Sometimes when the wind has been going one way and then changes, the waves are continuing to go another way so there's a checkerboard affect.   Anyway, the wind has shifted a little since yesterday, the winds are at about 9 coming from the south so we do plan to sail as much as we can toward the other side.
 
It's so strange.  Coming here the wind was on our nose so it was difficult to sail.  Every time we made a turn, we'd say, now the wind will be off the side so we can sail.  But no!   The wind was still on the nose.    Other sailors have noted this, saying wherever they want to go, the wind is right there coming toward them.

Anyway, we've anchored out in some beautiful places the last two nights and swam and fished in some lovely water.  

It was tough, having a non-eventful day, just watching the scenery and hanging out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We wondered when the gulls ever rest.  We found out yesterday morning when the water was dead calm.   They were everywhere, just floating.

 

No pictures.  Just an update on our plans.

Yesterday, at 5 p.m. we decided we'd rather be anchored out and a little on our way rather than sit here in town any longer.   So we motored the one hour across the Neuse River and up Adams Creek and anchored where we had anchored on the way into town the first time.   It was lovely.   I just kept cooking the spaghetti sauce I'd started before we left so when we got there at 7, we had some wine, then the dinner.   Then we SWAM.  That was a biggy!   We hadn't swum behind our boat since at that anchorage more than a month ago.   Lovely as the day dwindled and the crescent moon came out.  

It was really dark and we could hear two kinds of owls calling.

Next morning, we talked and looked at the calendar and decided that we have time and would like to go farther north, maybe just into the Chesapeake.  There are few stops along the way - the waterway goes through very unpopulated areas.   So this morning, here we came back to Oriental and its town dock to get fuel, water and provisions. 

We may leave this evening and anchor out or maybe early tomorrow.  Either way, we will have more pictures of wilder areas to post soon.

Home again, home again

Here we are back in Oriental, the place we stayed a month until five days ago when we sailed to Orcacoke.

Okay, while on a bicycle ride here, I saw what I think is a Luna moth. 

I think it was dangling on the grasses and laying eggs.

 

 

While Tom was gone I spent quite a bit of time in this little park in these chairs or at the Bean where you get coffee in the morning or ice cream in the afternoon - a great business combination.  It's usually crowded until 7 at night.

You might want to see what it's like back in the boat.  Pretty comfortable, except when it's too warm.  We had the A/C running the whole time we were here so we always had a cool place to escape to.

 

This is how our boat looked just after we arrived in Ocrakoke. 

 

 

The foresail was in a bundle on the bow and books were tumbled to the floor down below.    We had started out sailing.  It was a beautiful day and the sails had us going between 5 and 6 knots.    Finally, we said, we will be sailors and use them to get from one place to another.   But no.   About half way there, we noticed a storm off to the north, "going away from us."   All of a sudden, winds went from 14 to 20 and on up to 28 knots.   Our sails weren't reefed (shortened in preparation for heavier wind) so we decided to take them down.   But couldn't!    Our lazy jack lines were loosely tied and one of them got twisted with a jib trim line, once again ripping out several feet of fabric on the leech (rear) side of the sail.     Tom courageously went to the foredeck  and manually brought the foresail down while I steered.   And since the lazy jack lines were not taut, when we brought the mainsail down, the mainsail didn't go into its mack pack pocket; it draped over the boom 'til Tom could get them tucked in.   After that half hour or so of gathering and tucking, we motored the rest of the way to Ocrakoke, arriving about dusk.    We were so grateful for the protected anchorage where we could just sit back and feel safe 'til the next day when we regrouped.   

 

You can only reach Ocrakoke by boat.  The small body of water, called Silver Lake, where we anchored is also the basin where two sets of ferries come in.

 
We loved having our bicycles to take us around.  The last day there, we biked to the beach.   The water is clear.   When we swam, the water was just right - not cold and not warm.
 

 

 

 
The last night we were there, it was windy and a little moody, making for a dramatic sunset.
 
After getting our rigging back in shape and hearing that the wind would be coming from the northeast (behind us if sailing southwest), we left Ocracoke on Saturday.  Thinking the wind would be 14 + and maybe gusting higher again,  we followed the lead of another sailer who left just before us and reefed our sails just as we set out.   And for a while that worked great - we were making 6-7 knots in 14-15 miles wind.   But the wind got lighter and lighter.  We put the sails out fully and sailed a while.  But by half way up the course, the wind was down to 5 so we turned on the engine, left the foresail out and stayed at about 5 knots.   We arrived back to what feels a little like home now - Oriental - where we had sailed from.  
 
The town has a town dock where boats can stay up to 48 hours, right in front of the Bean coffee/ice cream shop I've mentioned.  We were so lucky that one of the two large spaces here was empty when we pulled up. 
 
So here we are again, going to  our familiar grocery store and favorite restaurant, looking for sailing gear nearby.  
 

 
 
This will be our second night here tonight.   Last night the Lady Susie shrimp boat was docked across the way from us.  With all the lights and colors, she looked like a carnival ride.   But some young women have just come and seen off some of the crew members just now and she's gone back out.  Kinda fun to watch them be and come and go.
 
Tomorrow, we plan to head over  to Beaufort, North Carolina and anchor there in town for a couple of days.   Out the inlet from there, is Cape Lookout where the outer bank island hooks around to form a safe harbor.  There the water is said to be beautiful and the beaches pristine.   We plan to stay there a bit 'til we get to urge to get on down the road.



Thoughts re now

Commenters wonder if we are enthusiastic about the rest of our trip.  Yes, we can now picture staying on the boat 'til spring and are looking forward to each part of the trip.   When Tom comes back on Sunday, we plan to spend a month exploring the outer banks near here in North Carolina, arriving by the end of September to near Wilmington where we'll find a place to keep the boat for a while while I fly back to Arkansas to handle a rent house turnover and, if time, to visit my family, especially my brother.

Then we hope to poke our way south.  We see many places along South Carolina that we'd like to know better and there are several places along eastern Florida that we'd feel at home in when we visit again.  By the cool weather, we hope to be in the Florida keys hanging out 'til a couple of friends from Arkansas fly the coop and bring their boats down that way.  

After that, we don't know.  Maybe follow one those couples out toward the Caribbean. 

Anyway, most of the time, I can't think of living anywhere else but on this boat.

Just now I was sitting here, in the cockpit typing and a little mist of water (the tiniest rain) hit my face while all around there is a mixture of blue sky and multicolored clouds.   If I were inside, I would never have noticed that little mist.  And all the time, the wind blows a little or a lot and makes sounds in the rigging around me.  I would feel so isolated in a room in a house.

But also, yesterday, the boat pitched and jerked so much in the waves from the south that I found myself wanting to not stand, but sit,  or better yet, get off the boat onto a steady surface.    Sometimes, there are sounds at night that I hadn't heard before and I have to get up to figure them out, in case something has changed positions for the worse. 

The reality is that the outdoors is always very vivid and in my face.   Most of the time I'm fine with it but sometimes want a little hidey hole to burrow up in (and actually, the boat provides that too!)

Tides

 

 
I can't help putting this picture first, even though it's not about "Tides."    I bicycle by it each day here at the entrance to the marina and think "I know that boat will probably never be put in the water again."   Someone sure had fun when they painted it.

Also, nephew Drew coached me so that I could get online again with my laptop, so today I'll be able to catch up a little.
 
Okay, now about tides -
 

 
When I want to know whether the water is low or high, instead of looking at how the boat levels with the dock (it's not a floating one, so the boat does go up and down with the water),  I look across at the blue boat across the way.     Something about the person didn't pay the slip fee here and now the boat is just grounded over near the other shore.     When the water is up it looks nicely anchored there and when it's down it looks like this - askew.
 
We are so far away from the ocean here that the tides due to the moon do not affect us.  Instead, when the wind blows steadily from upriver the water drops about two feet and when it blows from the mouth of the river northeast of here, it rises two feet.   So . . . it's been blowing and blowing from the southwest and the water is low.
 

 

 

Technical difficulties

Just to let you know-   I haven't stopped the blog.    My computer won't go to websites and until it does,I'll wait to post.     It's too tedious by iPhone.  

My nephew Drew plans to get on my computer long distance and sort it out soon.

All is well