Still Treading Water

Jacksons Creek: 31 July 2019

WJ3 never far away: Marina in foreground,
WJ3 with dinghy, Bruce, at back, way out on the Creek. 

We’re cruizin’ on up to month TWO in Jackson Creek.  There may (or may not) be an end in sight to our stay here.  The spaghetti of wires that runs throughout the boat for all things electrical has been exposed, corralled and hog-tied…   So far, and fingers crossed, it all seems to be working (as long as the sun is shining!) and ALL the batteries are charging.  The saloon is now ablaze at night with blue lights and WJ3’s electrical panel resplendent in tiny red dots.  Quite the party!  Let’s hope we don’t have too many overnighters on our float plan – night vision near the chart table might be a bit of an issue.

A pretty sunset over Jackson Creek 

So, what else have we been up to?  Cap’n Valiant has weathered a few big blows down the creek (30-35 kts). A hot spell, in sympathy with Europe’s trend-setting summer bake, has scorched us here setting off regular entertainment in the evenings of wind, lightning and rain.  The geese got fed up and have flown back to Canada for some respite.   

Trouble on the way

Another storm, another day, but at least it's moving fast
 and the lightning has missed us

We’ve eaten crabs, crab cakes and crab dip until we can’t look at a crab any more (at least, for this week. Maybe..).  We’ve cruised the farmer’s markets at the Deltaville Maritime Museum, eaten hot dogs and s’mores, attended an ice-cream social, provided light entertainment for a boater’s weekend gathering - a gam (it means a school of whales; also a friendly visit/conversation between whalers at sea or ashore) at the marina, and enjoyed an evening blues concert.  Swimming is out now that sea nettles are in (stinging jellyfish) but it’s all ok, the pool is open for business.  Not that we’ve had time to use it.  Walmart trips (a 45 min drive to Gloucester) come up on Fridays for those hard-to-find products, the farm is selling cheap scallops - real ones - and local gift shops need our support.  And if it all gets too much, then there’s an air-conditioned lounge with TV and on-tap coffee to hide in.  We might never leave.  Except the staff keep asking if they can help get the anchor up. 

That mess below will be cleaned up...soon

A real big one! Oh, my...

Dock Master Dennis & Kris,
socially serving ice-cream

Heather & Bill, beer & blues

Home grown blues down on Jackson Creek

Well, we’d like to keep chatting but Kenny’s been out for his daily catch (crab pots) and is boiling them up in the marina shack.  That, Sugar, means it’s beer time, so we’re just a bit busy right now… 

Up Ship Creek

July and not a paddle in sight!

Doesn't everyone do dishes in their best hat and gloves?

Well, so far this season, we’ve moved, oh I don’t know, let’s say 500 metres.  Most of that was by travel lift so it barely counts in the great scheme of things.  We are, and remain, anchored in Jackson Creek.  Aside from the anchor dragging occasionally through gelatinous mud (locals call this plowin' and much excitement thus caused), we are sitting on the boat waiting for things to break.  And break they do. 

The Cap’n has his H460 blog which will (in time) explain what he has been working on.  Most recently he has lavished attention on the sea-going toilet (we now have a new one) and all its miles of pipes that thread through the boat; we had some fun with that!  Now it’s electrics!  GS has been unable to use her computer on board and has, in a cranky state, been “shipped” off daily to the marina lounge for Day Care.  This will continue we presume, until the situation is remedied.   

Spaghetti of a different kind

Meanwhile, WestMarine and Hurd’s Hardware staff know him personally; the lady at Nauti Nells (not what you think - a repository of second hand boat bits and other such treasures) holds all the good stuff for him and local seafood suppliers are thinking of naming a seafood dish after him.  (Well, perhaps that’s all a slight exaggeration.) 

Either way, we are having fun staying put in our little community of boaters.  Ever the planner, GS has come up with vague imaginings for a trip up the Potomac to Washington.  But it’s nearly August, holiday month, and the weather is already oh, so hot and sticky.  When we do move on, you’ll be the first to know. 

Photos?  Oh, those things.  Nope, nothing in that department either.  Camera batteries are dead flat.

(As an aside, our Map & Tracker will not be functional for a while until we decide how best to remedy the current situation, which at the moment is leading us to another provider.  Still, I doubt we'll be going anywhere for some weeks so what's the rush?)  

Y’all Still With Us?

Out of the Yard_At Last!

We kept delaying this Splash, largely in part due to weather; plenty of seasonal thunderstorms and wet weather.  But you also know how long it takes to maintain WJ3.  I’ve calculated at least 2 months of each cruising season goes into unpacking, maintenance and repacking…

Still can’t complain, here we are afloat in Jackson Creek.  Albeit waiting, and waiting, for new gas tanks.  Meanwhile, the loo’s in pieces, the dinghy motor is out for repairs and the generator has become a weighty lump of metal, too expensive to repair.  There, that’s more stories for the long list of miseries that the Cap’n might one day add to his H460 blog! 

So, here we are…in the water and the view from our dinner table is pure Chesapeake.  Birds are singing, flies a-buzzin’, crabs are in season and Simon (Le Goose) is patrolling his self-appointed neighbourhood watch area.  We even spotted a dolphin yesterday.  Things aren’t too bad and so inadvertently, we are more or less in keeping with our year of planned “not-doing-much” around the Chesapeake. 

(For those who are wondering about the new look map and tracker, believe me, we are too.  The solution our providers came up with to resolve Google’s unexpected and significant $$$ charges for its once free maps has resulted in a compromise that doesn’t suit us.  GS is in search of another solution – it may take a while, especially if all the entries from 2008-2018 have to be entered into a new site individually.  So, in the meantime we will not be adding 2019 position updates.  Lucky we’re not crossing oceans this year!!)

As always, we'll start the photos too.....coming soon!

Change of Watch

The time gone has been good

The time coming will be better

With this melodic chant of Columbus’s cabin boys ringing in our ears again, it is time to sketch out our plans for 2019.  We intend for it not to be too much of a year; indeed a year of flopping about the Chesapeake.  Pain Killers** in hand, we’ll be soaking up the delights of our nomadic life and making plans for future Adventures of Windjammer.  After the efforts involved in re-rigging WJ3 in Saint Martin, and concerns that our keel depth will limit waterway access, we’ve given over the BIG idea of doing the Great Loop…  GS suggested swapping WJ3 for a hot water boat, but our Captain’s not budging.  So any planning process will be an exercise fraught with dangers and sheltered, shallow waters is probably a good thing.

If you can imagine this, we do intend to relax!  There will be no clocking of big miles and plenty of “sailing” on protected bay waters.  Chesapeake’s not exactly tiny and there’s a vast selection of sheltered anchorages, navigable rivers and quaint towns to visit, so this year should be fun…  There’s plenty of history too, and museums galore so Washington is on our list, as is exploring Virginia with brave visitors.  I know, I know…we lured them with the promise of a crab feast or two, ok!  So, roll on May.

(**The Yanks are big on big cocktails.  Pain Killer recipe adapted by Boy Wonder here from our past Caribbean passages “grin”!)

Landsat Photo from Wiki (link); The next one up is Delaware with
New York (not shown) only a stones throw north 

(Our Map & Tracker appears to be playing up since Google went into cost recovery mode.  We are waiting for our providers to sort out the detail and hopefully it will all "normalise" soon.) Ed Update:  All's well, and working now.  

End of Season Fin & Tonic

X-ing File #6_A Gulf Stream Crossing & the Atlantic ICW

Norfolk to Deltaville

By the time we got tucked in to Deltaville Marina's snug dock, we too badly needed a (very) large Fin & Tonic.  WJ3 deserved one too, having grown a healthy moustache!  Indeed we were so happy to arrive we almost forgot that we had achieved quite the milestone.  There indeed, we will have "crossed our wake" of an Atlantic circumnavigation!!  Who'd have thought!

Finally at home in Jackson Creek, Deltaville VA

Let's not get ahead of ourselves though, the voyage back to Deltaville resumes.

Our departure from Norfolk went awry with the engine overheating – thankfully not in front of those vast, grey Navy warships where anchoring is NOT permitted.  Security staff have big, nasty guns mounted on the front of their boats (as do the Coast Guard).  We crept back to the anchorage and the Cap’n put to work on finding the culprit.  At least the early morning downpour had cleared somewhat.  After our Cap’n Resolute crawled all over the engine, cleaned sea creatures from water filters and took a dip in less-than-appealing river waters (to check drains), off we set again.  Only to watch the temperature gauge rise steadily again.  Oh dear, back to the anchorage and time to consult those (many) manuals.  By the time we found the culprits – two not-so-tight hose clips allowing coolant to leak into the bilge, it was too late in the day to start off for a 50 mile run up the Chesapeake.  Pity really as the next day conditions were worse; wind and swell on the nose and lots of rain.  

So, for our last 'leg" of this long, long voyage we geared up in now standard attire – thermals and wet weather gear.  We’d even taken to wearing beanies...warm yes, but flattering, no.  We waved goodbye to Warship 64 wondering if she’d remembered our 2011 encounter mid-Atlantic, then negotiated our way passed all the commercial traffic and out this busy port.   

Conditions began to improve slowly as we inched our way up Chesapeake Bay.  By the time we had reached our cosy anchorage in Jackson Creek, the sun was out, the temperature (and barometer) was up and there was hardly a ripple on the creek.  Deltaville is such a magic place and we were so happy to be back!  And content to have survived the 6,460nm journey to get there.  

A nice quiet crossing of the Turks Caicos Banks

Our figures for our 2017 & 2018 Atlantic Crossing marathon, came in as follows:

From: Lagos, Portugal Lat/Long: 37:06.60N 8:40.53W  Date/Time: 01/12/17: 1130

To: Deltaville, USA Lat/Long: 37:32.921N 76:19.772W  Date/Time: 07/05/18: 1555

Time Taken: (2017-18): 1122 hrs  Distance: (2017-18): 6460nm

Distance Total: (since 2008): 24,744.5nm  

Longest Open Ocean Distance: (2017&18): 2181nm (Cape Verdes to Antigua, Caribbean)

Weather: Challenging weather throughout with the Caribbean unexpectedly blowy too.  Lots of wind action off the US east coast kept us pinned in the ICW; at least we had a good run there.

Fastest Speed: We didn’t set any speed records but had good winds to sail (no motoring) across the Atlantic.  This was followed by a mixed bag in the Caribbean with some really great sailing weather then motoring when things weren’t going our way.  We bumped along the ICW doing the standard 5 - 6.5kts with the occasional burst from tidal currents.  

 
We will be “readjusting” to our regular cruising schedule in 2019, all things being equal, so there will be little to report until about April/May next year.  Yes, a long break but it really does snow here in winter and ice skating’s not for us.  Besides, we’ve paid our winter dues having just completed two, repeat two, winters in a row….  We (or should I say certain crew members) also need time to get over all that blue water excitement.  So, it seems fitting to end with this quote: 

“Once you have travelled, the voyage never ends, 

but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers, 

that the mind can never break off from the journey.”  

Pat Conroy

Amen, and a couple of Stugeron to that!

Unforgettable blue waters. WJ3 on a mooring at Warderwick Wells, a land &
sea park in the Exuma Cays, Bahamas. We did have some good weather days!

Yeah Buoy

X-ing File #6_A Gulf Stream Crossing & the Atlantic ICW

Belhaven to Norfolk

(I think we shouted, "Yeah Buoy!" all the way up the ICW. It seemed so American frat boy really.  Maybe we just watch too many movies?)

All this...and in pink. Still it is a deep water frontage with a lighthouse...

Having previously visited Belhaven, and with our sites firmly set on reaching Virginia at the start of May, planned side trips to historic cities dotted along the Neuse and Pamlico Rivers and up Albemarle Sound were slated for “another” day.  We plugged on through the long and stumpy Alligator-Pungo Canal, wondered at the number of bridges offering openings only on the hour and dodged more commercial traffic than we’d previously seen.  For your edification, Captains of commercial traffic advise either "a slow pass" or "meet me on" the one whistle (or tap) indicating a pass to port.  Two whistles (or taps) indicates starboard.  Fascinating reminder or times before radio communications.   We watched and felt for a hot water boat that managed to impale itself on an underwater stump just outside the channel; fortunately reversing off. 

View back along the stumpy Pungo

Another black river adding colour to WJ3's moustache

At least these stumps are not floating...yet

Passing a big tow "on the two" & taking
the Captain's advice so as not to snag a stump

Winds piped up for our crossing of Albemarle Sound; WJ3 found her sea-legs enjoying the romp.  We set the hook in the open waters of North River rather late in the day but otherwise celebrated our arrival at the Virginia Cut.  We were only 57 miles from Norfolk, Mile Zero.

Green 37. Most importantly, MILE 100! Yes!

The next day’s run took us through Coinjock, having to give the famous 32oz prime rib a miss, before finally crossing into Virginia at Pungo Ferry.  At Great Bridge we were “spoken to” by the bridge operator for not responding on VHF Channel 13.  We had no idea that he was even calling us, his accent quite broad and southern…  There’s a plethora of bridges in this section of the ICW, and as the weather was extraordinarily warm, we called it quits and tied up to the free dock before the Great Bridge Lock.  Better to take the next 10 miles in the morning.  Besides, families of geese were out taking their babies for walks and a swim.  And the local rowing team were dodging canal traffic like professionals during their practice sessions.  Sadly, it was too cold for crabs to be out yet (we caught a nice pot-full last time) so we had to settle for something from the freezer yet again.  The lock continued to be busy; we breathed in when that mini-cruise ship squeezed passed us though, lights blazing in the dark.  Now that’s the way to travel the ICW!

Early morning swimming lessons with mum & dad at Great Bridge Lock

This looked alarming; a school bus teetering on the edge of a cliff;
we think it was a training prop for emergency services though.

Norfolk in our sights

The hardworking end of Portsmouth

So, here we are, sitting on anchor off Hospital Point in Norfolk, feeling very pleased with ourselves.  Its only a day’s run to Deltaville, so we’re having a few days off here in this busy port city (the largest Naval Port in the world) to prepare for the madness of bedding down WJ3.  This will be our last post of the season (unless something really interesting happens in Deltaville), except for the End of Season tallies.  After this long and heroic season (2017 & 2018), we’re thinking of just gunkholing the Chesapeake next year.  Still, that’s 12 months away and anything can (& will) happen…

Cosmic Karma*

X-ing File #6_A Gulf Stream Crossing & the Atlantic ICW

Georgetown to Belhaven

( Yes really, this floating vision was complete with pink flamingo (plastic of course) tied to the pulpit and induced a "trip" back to the psychedelic 60’s & a need to hum something Jimi Hendrix.)

Off on a shopping trip in Georgetown 

Georgetown, once famed rice growing capital of the south, was also a seaport, vital to plantation resupply and to carry their produce to markets, both locally and overseas.  Here, tucked up inside its tiny harbour, we withstood a nasty off-shore weather system (a day of solid rain & continuing wild winds) before taking time to bike to a grocery store and explore the town.  We made a dash to the Gullah Museum and were given a thorough insight into the history of African-Americans in the area by a well-read and knowledgeable docent.  He began by showing us a quilt his wife had made in honour of Michelle Obama’s ancestors who came from this area.  Well, quilts and history - all the makings for another movie (as in “How to Make an American Quilt“ fame) and GS was kindly allowed to take photos of them.  The Gullah specialise in finely woven sweet-grass baskets with some pretty examples on show at the museum. Regrettably, it was time to move on…

Michelle Obama Quilt

We made for Bucksport, a favourite stop set on the upper reaches of the Waccamaw River in the midst of old rice plantations and cedar swamps.  It’s beautifully scenic, feels so remote, everyone’s friendly and we were given to understand that the fishing’s excellent in these black, brackish and fresh waters.  Nearby, tortoises sunned themselves on old cedar stumps, and we, like them, watched the world go by from our vantage point.  It was hard not to break out with a roaring (if not out-of-tune) rendition of “Summertime” (from Gershwin’s 1935 Opera “Porgy and Bess”). 

Tortoises enjoying the morning sun along the river

Spirit of Jefferson (a floating casino?) comin' round the bend off Bucksport

Early morning reflections on the Waccamaw River at Bucksport 

We now had the North Carolina border in our sights so didn’t dally.  The day was going to be long and trying.  The ICW runs along Myrtle Beach in a section known as The Rockpile.  Lined with shale, sharp, shallow and narrow, it’s not the place to meet a tow (a tug & barge(s) combo) or a large hot water boat with an even larger wake.  Once across the border (yahooo!!), it was time to negotiate several shoaled inlets, also noted infamous spots along the ICW.  Luckily, we managed to find ourselves zig-zagging across them on a rising tide.  So, it was with some relief we found the open but calm Cape Fear River anchorage and could finally set the hook.  We did wonder how "fear" came into its naming...

Here's a new angle on your boat house...

And the house with the Mermaid is for sale 

Noisy birds on a nearby spoil island provided us with a “wake-up” dawn chorus, so we took Snow’s cut at speeds we never thought Windjammer capable of achieving.  Deep water anchorages along this section, close behind North Carolina’s barrier islands are few and far between.  Meaning more long days and even longer distances, so it was fortunate indeed to find space in (and be allowed to use) Mile Hammock, a military boat ramp and basin tacked on the end of Camp LeJeune.  Old APC's line the live fire range, fortunately no sailboats.       

Finally, we reached Morehead City, from our viewpoint a jumble of industrial and port facilities, and a river alive with recreational fishing boats – enough to make you feel very sorry for the fish.  It was the weekend and Morehead City is renown for its fishing tournaments of all varieties.  We’d planned a stop at nearby Beaufort (this one said “bow fert”) but didn’t like our chances of anchoring, so headed up Newport River, through Adams Creek and out into the wide Neuse River.  It was such a pleasure to see plenty of sailboats enjoying a romp in early afternoon breezes. 

Cedar swamps aplenty 

And interesting collection of craft along the river too

Late in the afternoon, winds increased on Pamlico Sound almost instantly clearing the fleet but we persevered, turning at Bay River into a crab-pot infested Long Creek for another well protected, marsh anchorage.  Cap’n Tenacious had set a record – a 90nm, 13 hour day.  Still, we weren't too far off the ICW, and well placed to reach Belhaven the next day for a well-earned afternoon rest in their sheltered harbour.