Author: ortolancat

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Another Manteo Visit

In keeping with our typical M.O. of having a backup plan in place, if we hadn’t snagged a spot at the free dock we planned to secure a berth at Atlantic Yacht Basin across the way. Looking at all the boats along their 1,700ft of face dock and knowing boats also went into the back basin, I think that backup plan may have back fired! At any rate, we were well positioned to head over for diesel – our first fill-up since leaving CT.

Fancy meeting her here! Too nice a boat to keep in the cold northern climes

Fancy meeting her here! Too nice a boat to keep in the cold northern climes

 

You will see all types of boats on the ICW- especially in calm conditions

You will see all types of boats on the ICW- especially in calm conditions

We decided to try a new anchorage that night; one that would place us near the Albemarle Sound and give us a short sail into Manteo. The wind was forecast to be SW to W around 15kts give or take which would be fine for our SE trip to Manteo.  Most boats were staying on the ICW, crossing the Albemarle to the Alligator River; no sailing for them. Our 27nm day took 4 1/3 hours; 2 ¼ sailing well at 6.5kts.

The Elizabeth II heads to Edenton from Manteo, NC

The Elizabeth II heads to Edenton from Manteo, NC

 

That night and for the next handful of days the wind was to be out of the West to North; perfect for getting protection in Manteo’s tiny harbor. We’ve spent many a night in Manteo with moderate to strong winds out of the NE to East. That just sucks because the harbor is exposed to the east and the waves just come in like they were invited!  Four locals occupied much of the small anchorage but we snagged a great spot in 7ft close to the lighthouse museum. Not the Manteo Waterfront Marina, not the free docks, just plain ole swinging at anchor.  The holding is great here and with the right wind direction, there’d be no fetch to make us the star in a bucking bronco show. A quick walk through the downtown area showed a bustling Manteo with more visitors than we saw a year ago. Sandy hardly made her mark here and the disastrous effects of Irene are no longer visible.

I got all excited when Russ created an adjustable planning chart showing the forecast for the coming week, using sticky-notes for the places we wanted to be each day. Wasn’t so much the chart, although it was very clever and very useful, but it showed we could stay the weekend in Manteo, spend two nights in Ocracoke and meet up with the ICW near Oriental; all trips with nearly ideal conditions. We planned to rent a car on Sunday to tour the OBX and more of Roanoke Island. Wow! Lady luck is sitting pretty on our tramps wearing her Plan A bonnet.????????????????

Not only that, but guess who pulled in to the marina? None other than Harmony II herself. You can bet we stopped by to share Sanderling’s greetings and say how we’d been leap-frogging them the past few days. They’d be spending the night at the home of a high school friend of Judy’s; a sweet treat given the temps overnight would drop to 45 degrees.

That evening lady luck fell off the tramps thanks to a weather event arriving the following Thursday-Saturday. This meant a plan re-think and with our adjustable trip planner we moved the sticky notes around until the puzzle worked again. Given our strong desire for warmth, our decision to move faster rather than slower will come as no surprise. Ah, Plan A felt good while it lasted.

We contented ourselves with taking care of the necessaries, including a Red Box rental; a so-so semi-horror movie starring an older, pudgier Val Kilmer. Our dining out treat was a delicious lunch at Avenue Waterfront; my Lavender Lemonade tasted soooooo good. They do their own infusing using lavender grown in their herb garden.

The Manteo weather tower flies the red flag for days

The Manteo weather tower flies the red flag for days

The Manteo weather tower is very unique in that it’s figured to be the only one still existing with the original lights attached. As weather conditions change, so does the flag flown at the top. For much of our stay, the red triangle flag was waving indicating small-craft warnings. By Friday at 4pm the wind was calming down for the night and I wondered if the flag would be changed; we’d never actually seen it happen. Sure enough the red flag was lowered and replaced by a white one for fair weather. Sweet.

No surrender- just wonderful fair weather arriving

No surrender- just wonderful fair weather arriving

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NOAA to Deep-Six Paper Charts

A portion of the chart showing the channel into Norfolk from the Chesapeake (to north)

A portion of the chart showing the channel into Norfolk from the Chesapeake (to north)

We read a news blurb about the demise of the heavy paper charts that NOAA has been printing and selling for years. They state that by doing do, money will be saved. Then the article goes on to say that the charts sell for cost, around $20 each. So unless the article left out a few details, which is very possible, since when does break-even mean losing? Just because we all rely, although not solely, on electronic charts doesn’t mean paper isn’t wanted.

We have paper charts on board for nearly every area we go to, and others we talk with say they do too. Yes, many people go to places online or brick & mortar who will print the needed charts. I suppose that meets the immediate need, but what about history? All those aged charts that have found a second life as a framed piece on a wall. All those table-sized chart books with big-picture pages followed by a zoomed-in view, covering several hundred miles in each booklet. Just because many (most?) paper charts are outdated and this supposed money saved could be spent on extensive surveying, doesn’t mean the boating community doesn’t want those heavy paper, cumbersome charts that link us to days of old.
What next? No weather? 
I know that most boaters have outdated charts and they do not update them. If you are diligent and spend the money your electronic charts can be as up-to-date as possible- and that’s a good thing. You should also have redundancy for when your primary electronics go down or get fried, perhaps in the form of charts on your iPad or laptop at least.

So all this being said, we like to supplement our electronic charts with paper for two reasons. One is that with our Garmin charts if you aren’t in the correct zoom level you will not see that small but important buoy or marker. And just to make things interesting, the correct zoom level is not the same all the time. The second reason I mentioned before and that is a paper chart can provide a good big-picture view of where you are and where you are going. When we leave the ICW, are sailing off-shore or in some larger body of water I always want to see the big picture and so does Russ as this helps him get his bearings.

Paper charts are like comfort food; not absolutely necessary just wonderful to have.

My take-away from NOAA’s announcement is that if we keep our paper NOAA charts they could be worth something some day in the future. If nothing else, we’ll have an assortment of wall hangings for our future little bungalow.