On the Dock in Morehead City

On the Dock in Morehead City

Saturday 14th October 2023

After raining all day on Thursday it was a shock to wake up to clear skies and sunshine on Friday morning. What a beautiful day! We had a somewhat lazy start because we wanted to arrive in Morehead city at slack tide. Currents can run strongly in that area and docking Cotinga can be a challenge at the best of times. In fact, pre-docking anxiety occupied my mind for much of Thursday evening and the following day. It was a lovely warm motor down Adams Creek, with only a couple of large barges to navigate around! We arrived at the Morehead City Yacht Basin and got instructions of where to go. We prepared to back into the slip, but when I saw the situation I chickened out and decided a bow-in approach might be safer. It’s one of those slips where you have to attach a rope to a pair of pilings (one port and one starboard) as you enter, which we were prepared for. In fact there were already lines on the pilings and all we had to do was lift them off their hangers with a boat hook, and voila … home and dry. Of course it didn’t go down quite like that! I managed to back the boat down the fairway and then drive forward to the slip. Rod did a stellar job reaching for the line on upwind piling, but unfortunately it had become knotted around the hanger. After some tense moments we did get Cotinga secured and we all took a deep breath! We ate Butter chicken for dinner … delicious … and drank a couple of Dark and Stormy’s to celebrate our arrival. None of us had the energy or motivation to write a blog!

We chose to come into Morehead City Yacht Basin a day ahead of schedule because the forecast for Saturday was high winds and squalls. As I write this blog it is pouring rain and blowing up to 25 knots. Our planning was good!

So why are we here and why now? Beaufort inlet is about 2 miles from here and is an “ideal” departure point for the Caribbean. The Gulf Stream lies relatively close to the coast and so you can reach it and cross it in a time period that you have confidence in the weather forecast. Specifically, you don’t want to cross the Gulf Stream when the winds have a northerly component as this creates really nasty conditions. Once across the Gulf Stream you want to head south east “until the butter melts” and then turn south in the trade winds as you close in on the islands of the eastern Caribbean. Unfortunately for us, a "250 miles from land" limitation on our insurance coverage will force us to take a more direct route, for better or worse. Timing your passage to the Caribbean is a balance between leaving late enough to avoid tropical storms, but not so late that you start encountering North Atlantic winter storms. Early November is viewed as the best compromise. In 2017 we sailed Cotinga down to Portsmouth, VA in early October and left her on the dock until the start of the Caribbean 1500 rally in early November. Leaving Narragansett Bay in early October gives you a better chance of decent weather for the passage to Portsmouth and also means that you aren’t up against a deadline for the subsequent passage. This year we chose to go a little further south to Morehead City in the hope of getting warmer weather sooner. My friends Dave Anderson (who joined us  on the passage in 2017), Pete Leeming and Simon Wilsher (both from the UK) are all scheduled to fly in on November 1st. We will get settled in and then look for the first opportunity from a weather perspective to start our offshore passage. In the mean time, Gloria and Rod will fly back to New England on Monday and I will stay with Cotinga to prepare for the ongoing journey.

Mike

N34 43.316 W76 42.198

Lunch out on Saturday at the "Sanitary Seafood Market and Restaurant" ... one of Morehead City's oldest restaurants

A highlight from our morning walk was seeing this Clapper Rail down by the water ... this is the first time we have seen (rather than heard) this bird in the USA

The same Clapper Rail crossing a board walk

Structural braces at a construction site near the water's edge

Who said cruising was glamorous?

 Who said cruising was glamorous?

Thursday 12 Oct 2023

We awoke to grey skies and drizzle. There was no wind and so, after we hauled up the anchor, we set out to motor our way down to the Neuse River. At the outset it didn’t feel too cold, but as the morning went on and the rain and wind picked up, we all started to get quite chilled. We took turns at the helm, where the Bimini kept off some of the rain, and then sheltered behind the dodger when we weren’t on watch. It took us about six hours to reach our destination, and in the last couple of hours we were able to deploy the Genoa and gain some speed motor-sailing. It was certainly atmospheric traveling under these conditions. The highlight of the trip was the tomato soup we had for lunch, canned from our own tomatoes last summer. We also saw a couple of dolphin which was cool.

Once anchored in the beautiful South River, we went below and relaxed for a couple of hours reading our books. We ate well at dinner, with Cajun chicken pasta followed by baked apples, and by the time we finished eating the rain had stopped and the skies were clearing. 

We made good progress, and if all goes well, we should be on the dock in Morehead city by tomorrow evening.

Mike

N 34 57.941, W 76 34.688

Hauling up the anchor in Belhaven

Gloria in her foul weather gear

Motoring down the Pungo River in the rain

ICW channel markers entering Goose Creek

From the Alligator River to Belhaven

From the Alligator River to Belhaven

October 11, 2023

After a hearty breakfast, we hoisted the anchor and set off from the Alligator River.  Our route followed the Alligator -Pungo Canal. This narrow section of water was tree-lined for much of the way and quite beautiful.  We enjoyed seeing several bald eagles, a few kingfishers and numerous turkey vultures.  After about 25 miles, we emerged into the Pungo River and followed it to Belhaven.  For a change of pace, Mike dropped the anchor.  (I usually do this whilst Mike drives the boat). He seemed very pleased with his accomplishment!

Lunch was followed by a trip to shore in the dinghy for a walk around town.  Each time we visit Belhaven, we find the town very quiet with few open businesses.  We did find an ice cream shop that was open, and of course we had to indulge. We also found a brewery, right by the water-front, and Rod and Mike sampled a few beers.  They would have bought a growler if the chap had any containers in which to put their beverage of choice.... 

We are taking a look at the forecast and planning the next couple of days.

Gloria

N 35 31.899 W 76 37.285

Sunrise at our anchorage in the Alligator River

Motoring down the Pungo-Alligator River canal

One of several bald eagles we saw from the canal

Gloria doesn't feel she's had her money's worth until we come head to head with a barge

This vessel was heading north ... in October ... to where?

A friendly cat (oxymoron) in Belhaven

A reminder not to rely on our fishing prowess for food!

Crossing Albermarle Sound

 Crossing Albermarle Sound

Tuesday 10th October 2023

How do you leave the dock when you only have 2 or 3 feet of space between yourself and the boats in front and behind? This was the question we grappled with this morning because Coinjock marina squeezes boats in like dominos. We came up with a plan that involved using a bow line on a bollard to stop us plowing into the three 350 HP Yamaha outboard motors on the vessel in front ($$$$), whilst our engine pushed the stern out from the dock, avoiding the bow of the powerboat behind ($$$$). This worked pretty well, and some nifty throttle work and only a little panic on my part, we backed away from the dock and set off down the ICW. Another expensive catastrophe avoided! 

It was cold with partly sunny skies and a stiff south westerly breeze. After a couple of hours winding our way through beautiful marshy lowlands, we emerged into the open waters of Albermarle Sound.  At this point the sound is about a 12 miles across and is less than 20 feet deep. However, with a fetch of tens of miles to the east and west, it can kick up some nasty steep waves. The wind was blowing 10-14 knots, almost from the direction we were heading (SW). We raised our mainsail, mostly to help stabilize the boat, and entered the sound with some trepidation. We had a fallback plan in case conditions became really horrible, but actually it turned out to be fine. The wind angle was enough to get some power out of the sail, the boat settled into a grove, and about half way across a shift in wind direction allowed us to stop the motor altogether and sail at speeds of up to 7 knots. Once across, we zig-zagged our way through the shoal entrance to the Alligator river, and after passing through the swing bridge on the causeway that crosses the estuary, we were able to sail another 10 miles. Reaching the southern end of the river we turned west, put on the engine and motored the final 3 miles to a wonderful anchorage where the water and horizon seem to stretch for miles in all directions. 

It was a good day. We covered 55 statute miles in a little over 8 hours and were all tired by the time we got here. We ate a fine meal, drank a glass of wine and retired to bed long before “boaters midnight” (9pm).

Mike

Scenic lowland marshes to the north of Albermarle Sound

A beautiful Sunset anchored at the southern end of the Alligator River

Another sailboat heading south in "the ditch", anchored for the night. The red light at the left edge of the horizon marks the entrance to the Pungo-Alligator river canal.

The Virginia Cut

 The Virginia Cut

Monday Oct 9th 2023

Our goal at this point is to follow the Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW) south from Norfolk (Mile Zero) through Virginia and North Carolina down to Morehead City. We envisage that this journey will take 5-6 days. It will mostly be motoring due to the constrained navigation (narrow, windy and shallow) but should allow some sailing and be pretty relaxing. As well as being picturesque and interesting, it allows us to avoid sailing around Cape Hatteras, which can be really gnarly. There is a route down through the DIsmal Swamp, which we took in 2012, but it's even more shallow and full of tree debris. In 2020 we took the Virginia Cut route, which has more locks and bridges to navigate, but is otherwise less taxing, and that's what we are going to do this time as well. 

 We were up early and had the anchor on deck by 7.30 am. As we left the anchorage we immediately encountered an enormous cargo ship accompanied by two tugs that was heading south down the Elizabeth River, in the same direction we were going. We probably could have gone out in front of it, but this didn’t seem like the smartest move, so we coasted along behind them for the next half hour. They eventually turned off into a loading dock and we continued along the industrial section of the Virginia Cut. We passed under a couple of bridges and soon arrived at the Great Bridge Lock, in perfect time for the once per hour transit. The next four mile section to the Centerville Turnpike swing bridge was too far for us to make in 30 minutes, so we ended up waiting twenty minutes for the next opening. The North Landing swing bridge, at mile 20 on the Intra Coastal Waterway, was the last of obstacles we needed to navigate today and the following 30 miles took us down through some attractive areas of swampy woodlands and open expanses of shallow water. We arrived at Coinjock Marina, mile 50 on the ICW shortly after 4pm. We filled up with diesel, fresh water, pumped out our septic tank and then took a shower on land. Life felt really good as we downed a couple of cold beers and ate Thai green curry for dinner. 

Mike

36.348 N, -75.949 W

Sunrise from our anchorage off Hospital Point, Norfolk / Portsmouth, VA

Trying to avoid a huge cargo ship with two tugs as we head south from Norfolk (Photo courtesy Rod Breault)

A dredging barge plus two tugs enters the Great Bridge Lock just after we exited. We are heading south, they were heading north

A Catamaran "Mavis" that we followed, the overtook ... working south through the swampy forests

Visiting Portsmouth and Norfolk

 Visiting Portsmouth and Norfolk

October 7 and 8, 2023

After a night’s sleep, we all felt a bit better.  The morning was taken up with various boat jobs—launching the dinghy, planning the first section of the ICW, removing the wind steering system, attaching the davits to the back of the boat. We were contemplating going to shore, when some substantial wind and rain arrived.  Hanging around the boat seemed the wiser course.  

Late in the afternoon, we took the dinghy to shore in Portsmouth.  To our surprise, the little area where we usually tie up was experiencing some high water conditions.  Tying up in the usual spot would have required walking through about four inches of water.  We did spot a ladder that allowed us to scramble up onto a higher level dock.  After some fooling around we had the dinghy secured and set off to find a place to eat.  

The tapas place we went to was truly exceptional. We tried a trio of game sausages, a Mexican shrimp cocktail, and veggie pot-stickers for our small plates.  These were followed by a hummus and tapenade combo, seared tuna and Cajun pasta.  We managed to force down dessert.  The stagger back to the dinghy was a tad more challenging as we all felt we had over indulged!  Motoring back to the boat through the dark, while watching the lights of Norfolk, was a magical experience.

Sunday started slowly.  Our primary objective was a trip to the Food Lion.  We got our grocery items and returned to Cotinga for lunch.  The ambitious boaters, Mike and Rod, went ashore on the Norfolk side for a second walk and photo shoot.  The lazy element stayed aboard and tried to nap. 

Dinner is now cooking and we are hoping for a cozy evening.  Maybe we will be able to stay awake long enough to watch the Patriots game from this afternoon.... 

Gloria

Glass Buildings (1) - Norfolk

Glass Buildings (2) - Norfolk

Glass Buildings (3) - Norfolk

Mural (and statue) depicting the Norfolk maritime supply chain

Prow of the USS Wisconsin

The Start of Another Great Adventure!

The Start of Another Great Adventure!

Tuesday 3rd - Saturday 6th October 2023

It has been more that 2 years since we returned from our last year afloat. In 2020 we had hoped to travel down the east coast of the USA, then work our way to the Caribbean and possibly over to Europe the following year. However, these were the plans before Covid took hold, and as things turned out, we ended up not leaving the USA, but cruising all the way to the south of Florida. The Dry Tortugas marked our furthest point of travel before we meandered back up the coast. We had a great time, with plenty of excitement and lots of good memories, but we found it a different, more solitary, experience cruising during the pandemic. On our return to New England we both ended up going back to work at Framingham State University for one additional year, before finally retiring in May last year.

Our plan now is to try again to get down to the Caribbean. We envisage taking the boat to Morehead City, NC as a staging point for a departure to the US Virgin Islands. Gloria will return home for a few weeks and Mike will be joined by three friends for the long offshore passage to the USVI (more on that later). Once we get there, Gloria will fly out to St Thomas to rejoin the boat and we will spend the following 7 months cruising the Eastern Caribbean. It takes such a lot of effort to get the boat down there, that we plan to haul out in Grenada for the summer of 2024 and then return after hurricane season. We hope to spend a further 7 months cruising, working our way back up the island chain and eventually back to the US and our home port of East Greenwich. 

I think most people, when they picture cruising in the Caribbean, envisage clear blue water, idyllic beaches and cocktails at sunset, and it certainly can be like that. But actually getting there takes a lot of planning and hard work. Over the past year we have been working through a seemingly endless list of boat jobs, trying to ensure that Cotinga remains in good shape. We have updated our satellite communication systems and bought subscriptions to a variety of weather forecasting tools and services. We had to replace our life raft because it was over 20 years old and it was no longer possible to get it inspected and re-packed. We have booked a dock in Morehead City, NC and scheduled our haul out and storage down in Grenada for next year.  We needed to change insurance companies so that we have coverage for the areas we wish to visit, and that turned out to be a tortuous and expensive process. Over the past few weeks we have been shuttling down clothes and supplies, ready to move aboard. As our departure date approached, friends asked us if we were ready. I think the honest answer to that would be “No”, but on Tuesday it was time to go … regardless of whether we felt ready.

Gloria’s brother Rod kindly offered to help us get the boat to North Carolina. Our plan was to sail offshore direct for Norfolk, VA and then follow the Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW) down to Morehead City. We left our car at Rod and Sue’s house and Sue drove us down to East Greenwich. We brought Cotinga into the dock, loaded up our remaining gear and spent the night on the dock ready for an early morning departure. We had been studying the weather forecasts carefully, and had identified a 3-day window where conditions should be reasonable. However, it also looked like the winds would be light and we would have to do a lot of motoring. We left East Greenwich Yacht Club, RI at 8am on Wednesday and motored down Narragansett Bay on smooth seas, under a cloudless sky. We opted not to stay overnight at Block Island, but to press on so that we had a little time extra time to reach our destination before the predicted bad weather arrived on Saturday. The first day was smooth motoring, capped off by a tremendous sunset. Wednesday night the winds remained light and the seas were fairly comfortable, but it felt really cold with a heavy dew soaking everything. A beautiful sunrise on Thursday was followed by more motor-sailing and a gradual increase in swell from the east. By mid afternoon the winds had picked up enough that we were actually able to sail for a couple of hours, before they eased off and we once again resumed motor-sailing. The seas continued to increase during the day on Thursday, with a large, moderate period swell from the east, that we assume came from tropical storm Philippe. By Thursday night Cotinga was rolling a lot and, although it was a warmer evening, it was a pretty uncomfortable night. Dawn arrived on Friday morning with glassy seas and 4-7 foot swells. We were lucky to avoid a couple of squalls and finally rounded Cape Charles into Chesapeake Bay in the middle of the afternoon. It took us several hours to make our way up to Norfolk and we finally dropped anchor  just off Hospital Point, shortly after dark. It had taken us 59 hours to cover ~ 400 nautical miles. We were all tired, but delighted to have completed the passage with no major issues. We viewed this as a shake-down cruise and we were pleased that everything seemed to work as expected. Our only breakage was trivial but messy. A 1-pint glass jar of honey broke and deposited the contents all over the bottom shelf of the kitchen cabinets. What a mess!

We are going to spend a couple of days in Norfolk / Portsmouth before heading south.

You can track our position at the following web page

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Cotinga/ 

Mike

N 36 50.654, W 76 17.984

Sunset on Day 1

Sunset on Day 1

Flat seas off Long Island

Motor-sailing on Thursday morning (Day 2)

Sailing ... at last ... but not for long!

Glassy seas, no wind, big swells ... early Friday morning

Squalls in the distance ... early Friday morning

Dramatic skies early Friday morning (Day 3)

Gloria in the cockpit, Friday morning (Day 3)

Rod chilling out in the cockpit, Friday morning (Day 3)

Crossing the souther part of Chesapeake Bay towards Norfolk

Incredible skies as we motor up the Elizabeth River to Portsmouth / Norfolk

Mackerel skies just prior to our arrival