Trip Diary for June, 2009

Jun. 1-5; Little River, SC: Monday was devoted to continued recuperation, organizing returned boat stuff, and planning how to make the 450 mi. trip north to the Chesapeake by June 16.  Larry was particularly happy to bring aboard some new safety toys ordered during the Charleston Rendezvous for shipment to IN: an EPIRB, a handheld DCS radio, and a throw line.  Tuesday morning, as a result of Compuserv's demise, was consumed with changing e-mail addresses stored in dozens of personal and business connections.  With temps warming, Larry started the second AC unit in the pilothouse.  A couple hours later he discovered its condensate drain tube was plugged, evidenced by overflow onto Lola's clothing in the stateroom below; the admiral was not happy.  To take our minds off this problem, in late afternoon we drove to Myrtle Beach for a little shopping before an early dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise.  Wednesday began with 8 AM McD egg sandwiches in order walk the Ocean Isle Beach before temps rose. Returning, Lola worked the laundry while Larry worked on the AC drain.  After a light lunch, Larry changed engine zincs while Lola finished the last of our unpacking.   We then enjoyed outstanding dinners at Umberto's, a fine Italian restaurant adjacent to MBYC.  Thursday was a time to wash linens and finish boat projects in anticipation of an imminent departure.  Friday was devoted to moving the car 145 mi. N to Morehead City, NC utilizing MBYC's rental service.  We returned at 4:30 PM, just in time to settle bills with MBYC and then share a delicious mahi-mahi dinner at Crab Catchers, the locally popular shack adjacent to the Big M Casino boat on the ICW.  After dinner Lola baked a sumptuous rhubarb pie from stalks provided by son John while Larry installed experimental software in the chart plotter intended to fix its inability to calculate distance traveled (it only created worse problems) and charted the next two days' journey.

Saturday, Jun. 6: Finally, we were boating again at 6:35 AM, heading 64 mi. up the ICW to Wrightsville Beach, NC!  The early departure was to assure we could make 8 mi. for the 8 AM Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge opening (opens only at the top of each hour); in fact, with a favorable tide current we had a 25 min. wait.  A new bridge to replace the aging pontoon one is under construction, but far from completed. There was light fog with 1/4 mi. visibility until 8:30 AM with overcast skies all day.  Except for 15 mi. on the Cape Fear River when we bucked 2 mph currents, we had favorable tide currents most of the trip.  We arrived at Seapath Yacht Club at 2:35 PM.  Larry grilled brauts for dinner aboard, topped off with rhubarb pie.

Jun. 7-8; Morehead City, NC: Needing to cover 81 mi. with two scheduled bridges and a fuel stop along the way, we dropped lines Sunday at 6:20 AM (who says retired life is easy??).  While partly cloudy most of the morning, it became increasingly sunny after lunch.  We saw many dolphins and one manatee along the way plus many nesting osprey.  Both bridges, Surf City (opens only on the hour) and Onslow (opens every 30 min.) required 15 min. waits, but there was no wait to take on 240 gal. of fuel at New River Marina ($2.08).  We reached the delightful Morehead City Yacht Basin at 4:20; as expected, it was a hectic place hosting the annual Big Rock Blue Marlin tournament.  It was impressive walking the dock lined with huge fishing boats. After getting hooked up and checking in we immediately went a couple of blocks for outstanding dinners at Floyd's 1921 Restaurant & Bar.  Monday began at 8 AM with a drive to Enterprise.  We then drove both cars 250 mi. to Deltaville, VA before returning together in the rental.  We got back to the boat about 9 PM.

Tuesday, Jun. 9: Larry left at 7 AM to turn in the rental and be brought back to the boat in time for a 7:50 departure in very warm, humid weather.  Winds were higher than forecast, but waves on the open water portion of the trip were no worse than 1-2 ft. at the junction of the Pamlico and Pungo Rivers where they were abeam for about an hour.  With no bridges to be opened and luckily getting either slack or favorable tide currents the entire trip, we covered 72 mi. to reach Dowry Creek Marina by 3:35 just before intense thunderstorms moved in for the evening. The storms caused grilling plans to be scrapped, but Lola fixed a great alternative meal of French toast.

Wednesday, Jun. 10: Skies were clear and winds light at 5:30 AM so we decided to try for Elizabeth City, 84 mi. away over mostly open waters of the Alligator River, Albemarle Sound and the Pasquotank River.  It was a wise decision as we left the dock at 6:50.  We had 1 hour of 1-2 ft. nose waves on the southern end of the Alligator, but they diminished as we moved north until the huge Albemarle Sound was totally flat!  The only hazard on the trip was crab pots; thousands of them in the Albemarle and especially the Pasquotank.  With zero wait at the Alligator River bridge, we made a steady 9.4 mph to reach the city's free Mariner's Wharf at 3:50.  This easily allowed us to make the city's 4:30 complimentary wine & cheese reception held daily for those using its docks; the city's mayor officially welcomed us and gave an introduction of its attractions. We then joined other docked boaters to walk 3 blocks to Logan Raye's Key West Grill for dinner.  We shared a table with a fascinating Canadian couple, Howard and Kellie Stephenson on Rapture I, who sailed west from Vancouver, BC 9 years ago and had only recently reached the eastern US coast at Ft. Pierce, FL!  Their adventures included countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka, Egypt and the Virgin Islands.

Thursday, Jun. 11: Finally, a day of light travel; sleeping until 7 was a real luxury after the past 5 days.  Following breakfast aboard we walked into town for croissants from the City Wine Sellar and a visit to the book store.  Needing to cover only 23 mi. up the beautiful Pasquotank into the unique Dismal Swamp Canal with its free dock at the Welcome Center serving traffic on both the canal and highway 17, we cast-off at 10:30.  Using only one engine to cruise at a leisurely 6.5 mph we savored the special beauty of the upper Pasquotank River. That speed, even with an unexpected 10 min. delay at the normally open hand-cranked railroad bridge, allowed us to make the South Mills lock to the Dismal Swamp Canal just before its 1:30 PM opening (it opens at 8:30, 11, 1:30 and 4:00 only).  We locked with 3 sailboats.  Another hour at the posted 5 mph canal speed brought us to the Welcome Center at 3:10 PM.  We had to raft-off as the arrival of the four boats that locked together brought the total to ten, ours being the only power boat. Afternoon temps reached 90 degrees with a humidity to match.  Intermittent showers added to that humidity.  So, for the first time this spring, Larry started the genny to provide air conditioning before grilling chops for dinner.

Friday, Jun. 12: The sailboats to which we were rafted left at 7:15 AM to make the 8:30 AM south lock so we retied to the vacated dock until departing at 8:20 to make the 11 AM opening of the northern Deep Creek lock.  It was a warm, but otherwise glorious morning and we really enjoyed the natural beauty of the canal. As usual, the passage through the many (7) lift bridges of south Norfolk was a challenge, but we reached Waterside Marina at 1:20.  After settling in and showering we walked 3 blocks to the huge MacArthur Center shopping complex for nail repair, cards, etc. and to eat a fine dinner at its Max & Erma's.

Jun. 13-19; Deltaville, VA: Larry was up Saturday at 6:15 to check weather forecasts and buoy reports to determine whether to venture onto the open waters of the huge Chesapeake Bay.  The decision was to cast-off at 7:20 for the 60 mi. cruise.  As always, the most impressive thing about the Norfolk harbor is the massive presence of the US Navy, a tiny bit of which is shown at the port's mouth. Sea conditions were indeed quite nice: one ft. waves with 5-10 N winds.  The delightful surprise: the auto-pilot, inoperable since Lake Okeechobee on Mar. 8, suddenly came to life just in time for open water steering!  This behavior tended to confirm Larry's suspicion the original problem was corroded contacts, but which of the several nearly inaccessible connections?  By 10 AM we approached the edge of a large thunderstorm that ultimately spanned E-W across the entire bay; waves increased to 1-2 ft. on our nose and, thankfully, the temperature dropped 10 degrees.  After 10:30 we travelled in light rain as waves gradually decreased back to 1 ft.  We reached the excellent Dozier's Regatta Point Yachting Center at 2 PM, docking in the rain.  Larry then discovered he had left the electrical Y-cable plus 50/30 adapter on the dock at Waterside!  Thus, the remainder of the day was devoted to driving 143 mi. to Norfolk and back.  Deltaville, our "port base" for at least a month, is a small, remote community located on the southern bank at the mouth of the Rappahannock River; it's a laid-back, but delightful area with 800 friendly people, 3,000 boats (mostly sail) and 14 marinas!  Sunday started with the 11 AM service at the small, ultra-friendly Clarksbury UMC in the adjacent village of Hardyville.  We stayed for coffee following service and then joined 6 members for lunch at The Galley.  Returning, Lola spent the afternoon doing laundry while Larry worked on boat projects.  With all critical travel completed and urgent tasks done, we finally relaxed and slept in til 10 AM Monday.  Onboard tasks and working up a W. Lafayette mail package occupied the day until 5 when we drove to CoCoMo's for great seafood dinners.  Tuesday, after a light breakfast in the boaters' lounge and showers, we drove 55 mi. to spend the day shopping in the Williamsburg area.  A mostly sunny day with a high in the mid-70's gave perfect conditions for a most enjoyable day, especially with many beautiful hydrangea in bloom. Wednesday was another day of auto travel in the region.  The weather was cloudy in the low 70s with 10-15 mph E winds (Rappahannock/Chesapeake swells rocked the boat all last night and today).  Leaving at 11 AM, we drove 18 mi. E along the Rappahannock for lunch at the unique, highly recommended Something Different located 3 mi. E of Urbanna.  Its physical appearance lived up to its name (seating capacity of 10) and its sandwiches lived up to the glowing recommendation of local boaters. Following lunch and a bit of shopping in Urbanna, we drove across the Rappahannock through Irvington to visit the historic 1735 Christ Church in Weems.  We spent 2 hrs. wonderful hrs. at its incredible new museum that opened this April and on a guided tour of this beautiful Anglican-style church with a 3-level pulpit. When constructed, the church was the central location for religious, social and legal activities; monthly church attendance was legally required of all citizens!  Arrangements were made Thursday to ship the Standard-Horizon CP1000 chart plotter to the factory for a determination of whether its operating problems with distance calculation were hardware or software related (Larry had been unable to convince them the problem was last fall's software update).  Thus, we drove to Gloucester for a UPS store and lunch; Lola found a good place for a pedicure in Gloucester's historic district, Split Enz.  We returned via a different route to stop by an outstanding Farmer's Daughter produce stand and, with another small diversion, Something Different to pick up a sandwich for dinner aboard.  Severe thunderstorms characterized the evening, but the worst cells missed us.  Friday was devoted to packing and preparing the boat for our trip to Reno for the annual international meeting of ASABE.  We did manage to leave the boat long enough for dinner at CoCoMo's.

Jun. 20-25; Reno, NV: Apprehensive about traffic delays around Washington/Baltimore, we left Saturday at 7:30 AM for the 165 mi. drive to the Baltimore airport for our 3:07 flight to Reno.  That concern was unnecessary as there was amazingly light traffic the entire trip.  BWI was not our most convenient airport, but flights had been booked before the 3-week delay for Larry's appendectomy which prevented getting as far into the Chesapeake as expected.  Delta, in the interest of greater customer dissatisfaction, decided to reschedule our 1-stop booking into a 2-stop one with a 2-hr. later Reno arrival.  Therefore, despite all three legs being on-time, it was 12:40 AM EDT when we reached Reno.  After hotel check-in, our bodies were very aware we had been up for 20 hrs.  The ASABE meeting was off to a great start Sunday afternoon with mostly social events having more than 1,300 registrants.  It was great seeing so many friends and colleagues we now interact with less frequently than a few years earlier.  Following the opening General Session Monday morning, Lola attended the Spouse/Guest brunch while Larry prepared for his afternoon judging of the K.K. Barnes student paper oral presentations.  Following dinner with Wayne and Judy Skaggs at on-site Charlie Palmer Steak, we attended the Univ. of IL reception.  Tuesday, the busiest day of the meeting, started early with the 7 AM Purdue Alumni and Friends Breakfast.  The day concluded with ASABE Foundation's fantastic Celebration Dinner with The New Christy Minstrels.  Wednesday's key event was the Awards Banquet; Larry carried a banner into the hall and Wayne Skaggs received the Massey-Ferguson Educational Gold Medal Award that Larry received last year.  Thursday was travel day, beginning with our 6:30 AM flight to Salt Lake City.  This time Delta made no changes to our 1-stop schedule and, again, all flights were on schedule.  Thus, we arrived at BWI at 4 PM before driving 165 mi. to reach the boat at 9:15 PM.  The 5 PM traffic wasn't too bad around Baltimore/Washington, but the humidity and 94 degree temp. were a dramatic change from the past few days.

Jun. 26-30; Deltaville, VA: 12 hrs. of sleep was great therapy for re-entry Friday.  The day was devoted to unpacking and laundry, a bit of a challenge with the marina's single washer and dryer, before enjoying locally caught, fresh flounder sandwiches at CoCoMo's.  Saturday was time for Lola's haircut and nail fix, so we drove to Split Enz in Gloucester.  While in the area we enjoyed great Mexican food at Salsa's about 6 mi. south in Hayes.  We attended Clarksbury UMC Sunday and, again, we joined a small group for lunch at The Galley following fellowship time.  It was a cloudy day with intermittent light showers, but temperatures moderated to a 77 degree high.  Larry was totally responsible for dinner aboard: left-over Mexican nachos and ice cream; "tough job, but somebody's..."  Monday was an absolutely perfect summer day: low humidity with an 85 high.  It began by taking the central screen/curtain from the cockpit to The Ship's Tailor to replace its screen zipper.  It was a complicated task, but they completed a superb job by noon!  After a light lunch at The Galley, it was time to work up a mail delivery filled with bills from our numerous Lafayette/Indy medical visits.  Larry grilled brauts for a relaxed dinner with wine in the cockpit and no annoying bugs; a perfect end to a perfect day.  Perfect weather doesn't last long; Tuesday's high reached 91 and the humidity returned.  Larry scrubbed the bridge in the cooler morning temps while Lola vacuumed and dusted inside.  After lunch we drove to Gloucester to return items and to utilize its better cell service for extended calls to resolve problems with a few medical bills.  We used the opportunity to buy grocery items not available in the local Deltaville Market before enjoying an early dinner at Applebee's.  Returning via Hartfield we visited Lower UMC, another of the historical churches in the region.  It was of special interest because we shared lunch last Sunday with one of its retired ministers.

Water miles traveled to date: 3,531; this month: 406

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