Trip Diary for June, 2006

Thursday, June 1; Southport, NC: Lines dropped at 8:25 for the short 36 mi. trip to the outstanding South Harbour Village Marina. The weather was perfect, with 10-12 mph E winds and a high of 81 degrees.  The ICW scene was enjoyable, but not spectacular with many reaches having nice water-front homes and docks. We forgot the unique Sunset Beach cable bridge 10 mi. into the trip opened only on the hour and arrived at 10:10, i.e. a 50 min. wait. However, we still managed to dock by 1:40 PM.  Following the wise dockmaster's recommendation, we had dinner at the truly outstanding on-site Joseph's Italian Bistro.

Friday, June 2; Wrightsville Beach: With only 28 mi. to make, we left at a leisurely 9 AM.  The most excitement of the day occurred on the Cape Fear River (which flows past Wilmington) when we were overtaken by a large tanker ship. Fortunately, given the river's width, it was uneventful.  We arrived at the large Wrightsville Beach Marina at 12:40 PM, just in time for a excellent lunch at the on-site Bluewater Grill.

June 3-5; Morehead City: Saturday we left at 8:20 in a light rain which continued intermittently throughout the day.  It was an ambitious 80 mi. day with two scheduled opening swing bridges plus an intermediate fuel stop at New River Marina ($2.46, about $.40 cheaper than most other sources in the region).  One bridge arrival was correctly timed and we waited only 15 min. for the second, so by running for 1.5 hr of the day, we made the first-class Morehead City Yacht Basin at 5:30.  There were some unusual ICW homes today, e.g. (note giraffe in the yard) (pink palace with its own lighthouse).  The marina is close to everything in this town, so we walked only 3 blocks to the waterfront Sanitary Fish Market. This was the same restaurant our family enjoyed with Wayne and Judy Skaggs during our first ever visit to NC in 1970!  Thus, we had nostalgic, still excellent flounder and shrimp dinners. Sunday we walked .5 mi to the beautiful FUMC and then back by Sanitary for lunch.  After a bit of shopping, we returned to the boat and worked on a few projects before dinner aboard.  Monday was spring boat cleaning day.

June 6; Beaufort, NC: Tuesday AM we moved the boat 4 mi. to Beaufort.  Following lunch at the on-site Dock House, Enterprise picked us up and we drove to Oriental, NC to meet Wayne and Judy Skaggs who drove over from Raleigh and would be spending the night aboard and traveling with us tomorrow.  Leaving their car in Oriental, we returned to the Lola Marie via New Bern, the city where Pepsi Cola was created and the home of Hatteras Yachts.  We enjoyed excellent dinners there at The Chelsea.

June 7-8; Oriental: After returning the rental car Wednesday, we dropped lines at 10:05 AM for the 27 mi. trip to Oriental.  Wayne piloted most of the trip, arriving at the small, neat Oriental Marina about 1:30 PM. It's showers supplies not only shampoo and soap, but also towels!  Oriental, which bills itself as "The Sail Boating Capital of NC", is a delightful boat-friendly village: 875 population and 2700 boats!  Even their bicycles have boat trailers! More than sailboats call Oriental their home port; the Lady Phyllis, docked just across the harbor in front of the Lola Marie, is one of the sharpest looking shrimp boats we've seen. This laid-back village also has a few quality shops and restaurants such as M & M's where we had an excellent chicken quesadilla for dinner.  Here and for the next several days we had only analog roam cell service; thus, no web connectivity except where the marina provides Wi-Fi. Thursday's wind forecast (15-25 mph) was not favorable for the 20 mi. passage needed along the Neuse River section of the huge Pamlico Sound, so we decided to just relax another day in the ideal village for such inactivity; we didn't leave the boat except for showers.  Larry cut, oiled and installed teak panels in the refrigerator door and Lola laundered and read.  About 3 PM an intense thunderstorm arrived: we received 2.2 in of rain in 2 hrs, a bit of .3 in hail and wind gusts in excess of 30 mph before it ended (glad we decided to stay in port).

Friday, June 9; Belhaven: We departed at 6:45 for the friendly, secluded Dowry Creek Marina 3 mi. east of Belhaven.  To clear the 20 mi. of the huge Pungo River before its waves picked up we decided to run at cruising speed (19 mph).  About 15 min. into the trip, the aft automatic bilge pump came for about 10 sec. and then shut off for 15 sec. be coming on again!  Larry crawled into the engine room to observe a 6 in. diameter, thin cone of water spraying from the forward end of port engine's shaft seal.  Given the on-off cycle ratio, water was entering at about 50 gph.  After a brief discussion about the proximity of repair services and bilge pump capacities, we decided to continue with close monitoring.  The on-off cycle remained unchanged for the next hour until we slowed to enter the narrower upper reaches of the Pungo.  At slower speed, the leakage rate decreased by 75% and, in about 20 min. virtually stopped.  Upon arrival at Dowry Creek about 11:15 AM, the dockmaster/owner called a Frank Smith of Sea Power who agreed to come around 4 PM.  He quickly diagnosed the problem as debris and salt buildup on the carbon disk of the PMY dripless seal, something he could fix without a haul-out.  Two hours later, disks for both shafts had been cleaned and reseated.  We celebrated the quick resolution of our problem with showers and a trip in the marina's courtesy car to Belhaven's Fish Hooks restaurant.  We decided to spend an extra day here just relaxing.

Saturday, June 10: Upon getting up late (9 AM), we decided weather conditions were too good, i.e. low NW winds, to delay traveling the 20 mi. of wide water on both the huge Pungo and Alligator Rivers; thus, we cast off at 10:25 and ran at cruising speed for an hour.  NO shaft leaks!  The two rivers are joined by a virtually straight dug canal with very little development, but quite a bit of boat traffic.  When we reached the Alligator River, the 15 mph NW winds were producing a very tolerable 2 ft. chop.  We arrived at Alligator River Marina at 3:30, plenty of time for laundry, washdown, showers and grilling pork chops for dinner aboard.  The catamaran Cat Tails, with AGLCA members Jim and Judy Foster, was docked next to us.  They started their loop just 5 days ago.  We invited them over after dinner for coffee, cookies and conversation.

June 11-12; Elizabeth City: We cast off at 6:30 AM Sunday under cloudy skies following a night of intermittent showers, hoping to cross the Albemarle Sound before the wind picked up enough to make intolerable waves.  As agreed last evening, Cat Tails followed.  The only unpleasant stretch was 2-3 ft. beam waves for an hour; otherwise, it was a brief 37 mi. trip to the city's free Mariner's Wharf docks without amenities except free WiFi and a return to cell service. This city closes on Sunday.  Only one of its great restaurants was open, Groupers, adjacent to our dock.  There are some beautiful homes in the city. In addition to the exceptionally friendly and helpful volunteer dockmaster, Sam, we also had a parrot entertain us. Monday's milestone was Lola's first time since May 22 to get off the boat without a Velcro boot on her left foot/leg for a careful walk to breakfast at the nearby Village Wine Stellar bakery; good pastries and a successful test of the healing foot.  At 5 PM we attended the complimentary wine & cheese party organized by Fred Fearing (extreme right of picture), a tradition he started 23 years ago whenever 5 or more boats are at Mariner's Wharf.  Subsequently, we shared a dinner table with Lloyd and Jane Moore from New Bern aboard S/V Liberty at the excellent Cypress Creek Grill.

Tuesday, June 13: We left Elizabeth City as a small flotilla, 3 sailboats and the Lola Marie, at 7:25 in order to make the nearby bridge opening and then the 11 AM South Mill Lock opening 19 mi. up the Pasquotank River and into the Great Dismal Swamp Canal. The lock at each end of this canal opens only at 8:30, 11, 1:30 and 3:30 each day.  The Pasquotank was pristine and beautiful with good 10-20 ft. depths and no crab pots.  Its banks are virtually undeveloped and lined with a mix of hardwoods, pine and pink flowering bushes.  The water is acidic and the color of strong tea due to Cypress and Juniper trees.  The scenery reminded us very much of the Tennessee River.  The 9 ft. South Mill Lock was our first since December!  Once locked up we had to wait for the lockmaster to drive a half-mile to also open a low-clearance lift bridge over the canal.  We were the first boat out, so, due to the narrowness of the canal and the uniform no wake restriction, we were first to arrive at the free NC Welcome Center dock (uniquely, this is also an auto welcome center for route US 17).  Ultimately, 11 boats arrived with 8 sail boats rafting off the three power boats.  One of the boaters organized a delightful potluck for 6 PM. The attendance distribution was incredible: two sailboats had crossed the Atlantic, one from Holland and one from Turkey, one boat was from Nova Scotia and one from elsewhere in Canada.  Those from within the US included Biloxi, Atlanta, New Bern and W. Lafayette.  After dinner we were surprised by Frank and Rona Bany of Crazy Horse with whom we had shared dinner at Brunswick, happened to see the Lola Marie when they drove into the Welcome Center; they came to the dock for a brief chat and update on their recent experience buying a condo in New Bern.  The only bad news of this very pleasant day was that the inverter quit; it was a pain to start the genny anytime AC power was required, e.g. to dry hair after showering aboard.

June 14-17; Norfolk, VA: Tropical storm Alberto reached us at 3:30 AM Wednesday, starting as a steady, gentle rain.  Nevertheless, we chose to depart the Welcome Center at 8 AM as planned.  As the only boat willing to travel in the rain with 3 other boats rafted to us made departure a tad challenging. The canal was really picturesque in light fog as we soon crossed into VA. We were alone locking thru Deep Creek at 11 AM in a constant rain of slowly increasing intensity.  By 1 PM when we docked at the excellent Waterside Marina at MM 0 in Norfolk, it was coming down at .5 in./hr.; despite raincoats, we were drenched when finally tied and connected, but delighted to be here.  Given the weather, we decided to eat in the dockside Joe's Crab Shack.  Upon returning, we noticed Cat Tails in a nearby slip and visited with Jim and Judy for an hour.  Thursday AM was devoted to showers, laundry, and examining the inverter; it worked when powered on!  How Larry hates intermittent problems.  About noon we walked 4 blocks to the huge MacArthur Center mall for lunch, shopping and watching the movie Cars.  A courtesy van from Fresh Market picked us up at the marina dock at 10 AM Friday for grocery shopping.  After returning to stash purchases, we returned to MacArthur Center for a late lunch and a bit more shopping before taking the Water Ferry across the Elizabeth River to Portsmouth. It had quite a different ambience than Norfolk, with an almost deserted, beautiful tree-lined High St. of nice shops and a few restaurants. We very much enjoyed visiting the Naval History Museum and the lightship Portsmouth, an obsolete alternative way to provide lighthouse services.  We also saw one of the oldest Methodist churches in VA, founded in 1772.  Saturday AM was a time for onboard projects and relaxing.  After a light lunch aboard, Lola got a haircut at MacArthur Center before we visited the huge, excellent Douglas MacArthur Memorial. After dinner at Outback, we returned to watch a wedding reception board the American Rover, a tall ship docked immediately behind us, and sail away.

June 18-20; Hampton, VA: Father's Day began with a 6-block walk to the 11 AM service at Morehead City's Epworth United Methodist Church. Started in 1850, the current building was constructed in 1880. It was the oldest we've attended, but the congregation was especially friendly.  We cast off at 1:50 PM to pass the impressive armada of naval ships in Norfolk and travel only 15 mi. on the Elizabeth River into the mouth of the Chesapeake and then the Hampton River to the excellent facilities at Hampton Public Piers (HPP).  We had dinner at one of the only dock-area places open, Marker 20.  Following dinner, we visited with Rich and Lee Johnson aboard Crazy Eights, whom we originally met at the potluck in the Dismal Swamp.  Overnight winds picked up to 15-20 mph making a Monday departure unattractive, so we decided to take advantage of this dock's "buy 2, get 1 free" rate schedule.  The number of sea nettles (jellyfish) around the docks here is incredible.  We joined Rich and Lee for lunch at Marker 20 and then shared a car rental with them to see parts of the city away from the marina and to grocery shop.  Tuesday morning was devoted to resolving medical billing issues, making reservations at future locations and charting Wednesday's trip.  Using the dockmaster's recommendation, we drove with Johnson's to Newport News for an excellent Mexican lunch at Plaza Azteca Mexican Restaurant.  Returning, we walked the historic district and rode its wonderful antique carousel of hand-carved wooden horses.

June 21-24; Deltaville, VA: We dropped lines from HPP at 7 AM Wednesday, stopping 20 min. at their central dock to pumpout.  We traveled with Crazy Eights on a totally flat Chesapeake.  It was already 77 when we departed, but the 81 degree huge body of water and 5 mph wind kept the max. trip temp to 83; ideal weather and a delightful 50 mi. cruise for an early 1 PM arrival at the beautiful Dozier's Regatta Point Yachting Center in Deltaville, VA and corporate headquarters of Waterway Guide. After a light lunch aboard, we blew-off the afternoon relaxing and napping.  The number of sea nettles is less than at Hampton, but they are also much larger.  We called Toby's shuttle and enjoyed their wonderful seafood "suppa" along the "rivah", returning in time to do laundry.  It didn't cool much, so for the first time in months we ran AC through the night.  The plan for Thursday morning was to take the dinghy up Broad Creek into Deltaville, viewing the 11 marinas along its 1.5 mi of winding banks.  Unfortunately, its battery was dead and would not accept a charge.  So we took the courtesy station wagon into town to buy a new battery.  By time we returned and installed it, temperatures exceeded 90 degrees with very high humidity.  We decided it was too uncomfortable for the excursion, so we ate lunch and stayed aboard all afternoon.  Audrey Stehle, Waterway Guide staff, stopped by about 6 PM to invite us to come aboard Good Times for wine and munchies with her and husband Ted.  They provided detailed descriptions of their favorite places to cruise on the Chesapeake.  At 9:30 PM, the temperature was still 86 degrees!  Friday morning we took the deferred dinghy ride.  Never have we seen such a density of marinas; Deltaville has a population of 800 and claims to be home port for 3,000 mostly sailboats.  Audrey drove Lola to nearby Urbanna and then to Mathews to see its beautiful Episcopal Kingston Parish Church descended from 1652. While they shopped and viewed the area, Larry used the dinghy and FSR to clean tannin stains from the Lola Marie's port waterline.  Thunderstorms began about 1:30, just as Lola and Audrey returned, and continued into the evening.  It provided a relaxing afternoon before grilling lamb chops for dinner aboard.  Rainfall totaled 1.3 inches.  Saturday morning we took the courtesy wagon to the farmer's market and enjoyed a complimentary lunch at Sandy Bottom's customer appreciation day.  Larry cleaned the starboard waterline and Lola finished laundry.  Audrey and Ted came over for a grilled bratswurst dinner and conversation.

June 25-26; Urbanna, VA: Stehle's loaned us their car Sunday morning to attend Deltaville's Clarksbury UMC, a very small, but friendly church with about 60 people attending.  After fueling at the next door Norview Marina, we departed at 1:40 PM for Dozier's Port Urbanna Marina, 17 mi. up the wide Rappahannock River.  10-20 mph SE winds produced 2-4 ft. waves at the 5 mi. wide river mouth, but since they were directly following, the ride was not unpleasant.  The dockmaster was not present, but we had been pre-assigned a large covered slip for our 3:45 PM arrival.  This is a old marina without the great facilities of Regatta Point, but it had clean showers/restrooms.  We walked about 4 blocks to an enjoyable dinner at a Greek-Italian-American restaurant, Colonial Pizza.  Monday morning we walked 2 blocks into Urbanna's business district. No "cookie cutter chains" in these small VA towns, everything is small Mom & Pop stores. Most of their shops and restaurants were closed on Mondays (some are open only Thur.-Sat.), but we did find good merchandise at Bristow's.  Returning just before noon and the start of an afternoon and evening of thundershowers, we stopped a Moo's for ice cream.  Lunch and dinner both consisted of good leftovers aboard.  The afternoon of rain provided a good opportunity for boat cleaning and project work.

Tuesday, June 27: After a night of intermittent thundershowers, the smoke detector in the master stateroom went off at 4:30 AM!  While nothing obvious was amiss, we immediately got up and started checking everywhere.  We smelled a very slight smoke odor outside, but nothing inside or outside seemed unusual.  Going back to sleep proved futile, so we got up, having previously planned to leave early in the hope of avoiding the increasing winds forecast to occur.  The house water pump would not run and its circuit breaker was tripped, so we made coffee from bottled water, ate breakfast, and left dock at 6 AM under cloudy skies, 10 mph SE winds, and minor 1-2 ft. waves on the Rappahannock.  Nearing the river's mouth 1.5 hrs. later, winds had increased to 15-20 and waves were 2-4 ft.  As we cleared the southern shore of the river that provided some wind protection to enter the Chesapeake, waves were 3-5 ft. with an occasional 6 footer on our starboard quarter.  We decided trying to make the additional 22 mi. to Reedville under such conditions was unwise.  Turning around in such waters is always dicey, but we successfully accomplished that maneuver and headed back to Deltaville's Regatta Point.  We made port at 8:20 AM with winds now 15-25 mph.  Lola began restoring order inside while Larry scrubbed down the outside; even flower pots had overturned and spilled soil onto the bridge.  After an afternoon resting/napping, rain resumed so we called CoCoMo's for a pickup and enjoyed an excellent dinner.  Returning, Larry installed the spare house water pump which we long ago learned to carry along.

Wednesday, June 28: What a difference a day makes!  After 1 1/4 in. of rain, about 3 AM the wind at the Windmill Point Light decreased to 7-9 mph.  After studying multiple forecasts and with local advice that the Chesapeake lays down quickly after a blow, we cast-off at 9:35 AM for Reedville, VA.  Chesapeake waves were a pleasant 1-2 ft. for the 23 mi. trip to Reedville Marina, more widely known for its Crazy Crab Restaurant than its marina facilities. The number of sea nettles and other marine life at its dock was incredible. (note crab and blowfish in addition to hundreds of sea nettles).  This town has a definitely laid-back watermen ambiance built upon menhaden, a small fish processed for its oil and as a protein supplement in animal feeds.  Adjacent to our dock was a commercial seafood station where we observed arriving menhaden ships and an oyster barge. After connecting and hosing down the Lola Marie, we walked several blocks into town.  Main Street, otherwise known as "millionaires row" from the heyday of menhaden processing factories, still has numerous spectacular homes. Our first stop was Chitterchats for excellent locally made ice cream. Next, the wonderful Fishermen's Museum with both its external historical boats and inside video and exhibits tells both the history and present day story of menhaden fishing. We ended daylight hours with a delightful dinner at the Crazy Crab.

June 29-30; Solomons, MD: We left Reedville Marina quietly at 6:50 AM.  Commercial fishermen were already busy.  As we exited the Great Wicomico River into the Chesapeake we observed many "pond nets", huge staked nets arranged in a one-way funnel to direct fish into a circular collection net from where they are dipped out. (note collection boat in second picture) Winds were 0-5 mph, so the Chesapeake was totally flat! With temperatures around 80, the 48 mi., 5 1/2 hr. cruise to Calvert's Marina in Solomons, MD was delightful.  Just off the Patuxent River on Back Creek, Calvert's is a 109 Ac. marina where we rented a slip for a full month.  The interesting history from this marina is its use during WW II.  Very near the dock was one of several huge Osprey nests with young we've seen recently. Crazy Eights anchored in Mill Creek about 30 min. after we docked.  They stopped by in their dinghy for a mutual updating on recent experiences and we agreed to join them for dinner.  A local diver, Ron Spalding, came by at 6:15 PM to scrape the props and shafts; he also found the starboard shaft had lost its zinc collar.  When he finished we took the dinghy to join Johnson's at the nearby Captain's Table for excellent seafood.  Saturday morning we took the courtesy Mercedes diesel car into Solomons to get supplies from West Marine.  The afternoon was devoted to laundry and general boat maintenance before using the dink to return to West Marine.  Returning, we stopped by Crazy Eights for wine before taking our respective dinghies to Four Winds restaurant a delightful light dinner.  Daughter Sandy and her husband Klaus Leitem arrived from Noblesville, IN at 11:45 PM for a week aboard.

Water miles traveled this month: 894 (total 5,256).

 Questions?  Just e-mail us.