Heading South - 2010

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Heading South -2010

After a very hot and humid summer docked in Baltimore at the Anchorage Marina in the Canton section of the inner harbor, Double-Wide and crew shoved off and headed South. We left on the 4th of October under partly cloudy skies and a light westerly wind. Our goal for the first day was to get as far down the bay as possible yet find a secure anchorage for the night on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay. This was important because the NOAA weather forecast called for building west winds overnight reaching 20-25 knots the following day.

As we reached under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, just north of Annapolis, we heard our old friends from the Bahamas, Bill & Sue on “Nice & Easy” on the VHF radio. They have a condo in Annapolis and live there during the summer months. They too were just beginning their annual trip South towards Georgetown, Exuma. WE talked to them and agreed to try to meet up later that week.

We picked Harness Creek off of the South River for our first stop. This would put us safely anchored by about 3:00 PM, a good first day back on the water. The creek was very protected and seemed as pretty as we remembered. It had been the early 80’s the last time we had been there.

Sure enough the following morning dawned clear and crisp with a building West wind. We reefed the mainsail and rolled out the small jib as we left the South River. Once clear of the 4’ shoal just south of Thomas Point Light we eased sheets and headed South. Our goal this day was Solomons Maryland, one of our favorite stops. By 11:00 we had a good 20 knots with gusts into the high 20’s. Our speeds were fluctuating between 7-11 knots as the gusts passed by. There seemed to be many boats heading in our direction. Shortly after lunch we picked up Nice & Easy about 5 miles ahead of us. They too, were headed to Solomons. We rounded Drum Point and headed into the Patuxent River about 14:30. BY 15:30 we were anchored in Mill Creek about ¼ mile past “Nice & Easy”. After launching the dinghy we had a good visit with Bill & Sue and heard about their adventure replacing their engine during the summer months.

Our stop the next day was Dymer Creek in the Northern Neck of the Western Shore of Virginia. It was our first time there and was a very lovely creek with huge homes on lots of 2-5 acres visible on both banks. We woke at first light and pulled the anchor as soon as we could see. Our goal for the day was to reach Hampton Rhoades (Norfolk) that evening. We had discovered on our trip North a place in downtown Portsmouth (across the harbor from Norfolk) free docking for boats in their ferryboat basin. This free dockage had limited room so getting there as early as possible would increase our chances of getting one of the spaces.

We started out sailing but as the day went on the wind began to die and we motor sailed for about five hours. The currents in the Bay were with us but as soon as we rounded Old Point Comfort and headed into Hampton Rhodes, we were bucking about 1.5 - 2.0 knots of current. Even with both engines going full speed we struggled to make just over 5 knots. When we reached the basin to tie up we were surprised to find only two boats already docked. Within an hour the basin was filled with cruisers. It was like a reunion of familiar Georgetown boats from years past. We knew the crews on, Runaway, Mystic, High Stepper, Wisper-5, and Nice & Easy. We had a good time catching up with all of the crews and finding out what their plans were for the winter.

The next morning, Sunday, we slipped out of the basin which is at mile/mark 1.0 on the ICW and proceeded South through the several bridges in Norfolk harbor. Sunday morning is a great time to do this since the weekday restrictions on opening are not in effect and we made our fastest trip down that trying stretch. We arrived at the Great Bridge lock at 09:30 and were able to take on fuel and then dock at the free dock just past the lock. The plan was to do some laundry, grocery shopping and then have lunch at the Irish Pub while we watched the Ravens football game on the big flat panel TV.

Monday morning we departed early along with most of the same boats that had been with us in Portsmouth a couple of days earlier. The segment of the ICW turned out to be more challenging than usual. The area had had about 8 inches of rain a week earlier and there were still many floating logs and deadheads in our way. The VHF was busy with boats ahead warning boats behind about various ugly floating obstructions that lay waiting to tear up a rudder or propeller. We managed to make it through without damage but we did hit one partially submerged tree that came at us out of nowhere. We pushed on until just before dark and managed to cross Currituck Sound, run past Coinjock and then anchor just a couple of miles North of the Albemarle Sound at the mouth of Broad Creek. As dark settled in we were attacked by millions of little bugs about the size of mosquitos. They were hitting our windows and soon covered the boat.

Tuesday morning dawned clear and cool with a SW wind at 10-15 out of the Southwest. Not the best winds for crossing the wide open sound but the seas were only 2-3 feet so we motored across and were able to roll out the jib as we approached the long Alligator River that runs North-South behind the Outer Banks. This was another long day with more obstructions to maneuver around. The last leg was the very boring 25 miles through the Alligator-Pungo canal, a man-made cut that runs through a very desolate area of North Carolina. We were able to keep going until dark when we anchored in the Pungo Creek, just past the little town of Bellhaven.

The next day we left at first light and motor sailed down the Pungo River in light NW winds. Then we passed through the Hobucken Canal into the Neuse River. Finally, we were able to cut the engine and sail. What a relief! It took us three hours to sail the 12 miles down to Oriental, NC but they were very enjoyable hours, even though many other sail boats motored on by us. We had arranged for a slip in Oriental for a couple of days while we waited for a good weather window to start our offshore hops down the coast. While there we took several long walks, borrowed bikes and expanded our tour of the area, and we caught up on laundry and visited with some of the other cruisers there.

Finally, by Saturday we decided to push on down the ICW. The forecast offshore was still for relatively strong winds from the SW, right on the nose. We did a two day trip down the ICW to Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach with an overnight at Mile Hammock Bay in the Camp Lejeune Marine Base. While anchored at Wrightsville Beach we visited with our friends Beth & Bill and took a beach walk.

The weather was still not cooperating so we shoved off the next morning down the ICW and into the Cape Fear River. The Cape Fear can be very treacherous if the currents are fowl. However, we managed to time the tide just right and carried the current with us with as much as 2.5 knots sweeping us down river against the light winds. As we were about 2/3 down the river I heard a boat calling Double-Wide on the radio. It turned out to be one of my old friends from the Port of Wilmington, Jerry Pope. He was delivering a restored motorb oat back from a Classic Wooden Boat Show in Georgetown, SC. Jerry and I had crewed for each other back in the 80‘s when we lived in Wilmington and raced sailboats in that area. We had hoped to go outside at the mouth of the Cape Fear but it looked like we would still have the winds against us so we opted for more of the inside route. We managed to just make it into South Carolina by nightfall and anchored in Little River, near the town of Calabash.

The following day we were faced with the long motor down the man-made cut behind Myrtle Beach. This section starts out with a 12 mile stretch known as the “Rockpile”. This is the only part of the ICW that has rocks that can poke holes in your boat if you get out of the channel. By about noon we were past Myrtle Beach and into the wild Waccamaw River. This is one of our favorite parts of the ICW. It is pretty wide, well marked, and very beautiful. There are cypress trees lining both sides and lots of wildlife to look for, including alligators and eagles. We anchored off Butler Island just north of Georgetown, SC all by ourselves. We had a spectacular sunset and then the wind dropped out completely. It was a very still and comfortable night on the anchor.

With another first light start, we set off with the goal of reaching Charleston, SC and our resting point for a while. We somehow managed to carry a favorable current with us most of the day and made the critical bridge opening at Sullivan’s Island by 3:30. The bridge does not open between 4:00 and 6:00 PM. This meant docking at the Maritime Center in downtown Charleston in the daylight instead of the dark. We had planned a prolonged stop in Charleston for two reasons. It allowed us to drive back to Baltimore so Cameron could get some follow up outpatient surgery done and it was a way to kill some time until our insurance company allows us to go south into Florida.

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