Remember when Virginia’s slogan was, “Virginia is for Lovers?” or maybe it still is; can’t say we have any clue. But crossing the state line into Virginia put a smile on our faces because the free dock awaited us by the bascule bridge in Great Bridge (Chesapeake)VA and Hampton was right up the road a piece. (teeny inside joke there)  The osprey were in full family raising and I had ample time and opportunity to photograph to my heart’s content. Sorry the day was overcast though.

We seldom require a bridge opening with Twin Sisters but the approach to Norfolk/Portsmouth from the south offers the chance to “dance with other boats at bridges” a few times. The spring snowbird trek north is more spread out than in the fall/winter and the ICW isn’t usually as busy. However, whether fall or spring, nearly all boats “travel inside” between Norfolk (Mile 0) and Beaufort, NC.  Hey, we may live a crazy life but we aren’t insane enough to round Cape Hatteras!

Therefore, we travel with more boat traffic north of Beaufort, with bridges being the gathering spots. This day being a Sunday offered a small benefit, the bridge after North Landing opened on request (I dislike the term “demand”) which meant we could proceed at a more sane pace to make the third bridge which opens only on the hour. For us and most in our “pack” that would mean being there at 1pm.

 

We hoped to snag a spot on the free dock immediately south of the Great Bridge Bascule Bridge, but just in case it was full, no way did we want to dance around for an entire hour. Good move on the part of the travel planner (me) as the dock was full; we went last under the open bridge at 1pm and slid easily onto the free dock just past the bridge! Much appreciate having two docks. Only one sailboat mid-way so we took our preferred spot at the far northern end- farthest from the bridge.

Snarfed a quick lunch then did the easy couple block walk to the Farm Fresh grocery, noting the Chili’s and Panera along the way. Battlefield Blvd is one busy road, but sidewalks and crossing signals make walking very easy, and safe.

Nighttime is another story because as many of you know, “it always happens at night.” The bridge opens on request after 8pm, the time when pleasure boats should be tucked in all comfy for the night. Commercial vessels love the dark hours, I’ll bet. We heard the horn signal for the bridge to open and did what any self-respecting person nearby would do; we stepped outside, binoculars and photo-taking device in hand. Lordy, that tug pushing that barge sure looked monstrous in the narrow waterway that is between the bridge and the lock.

The duo passed by slowly and carefully and although we were “this close”, did not feel even the slightest wake.

The next morning, Monday May 22, we took the 9am Great Bridge Lock opening with one other boat. The water level never changes more than 18” up or down (my kind of lock!) and today’s change was even less. Easy in, tie up and out in no time. Next stop was Top Rack Marina (SM 7) for cheap and easy fuel-up.

 

Between the lock (SM 12) and Mile 0 are several railroad bridges that are very high when open, but when they occasionally close (often in the morning it seems), no one fits under. These closures are announced on CH 16 and you sure better know which bridge is which; we eventually learned to make a note on our flip chart. No sooner did we get past the one at Gilmerton, and the warning came it would close “shortly”. Whew- doing well today.

Not all the fancy yachts with assorted toys are in the tropics!

 

We closed the book at Mile 0- yay! another trip logged successfully. This would be our 12th; seven years, less one RV year, for six boat cruising years.

Warship 56 pulled out from Pier 5- like we know where that is, but we had an idea- after several warning announcements. Pretty sure she’s headed south to the live fire practice zone off Camp Lejeune in Onslow Bay.

She’s a good size, but looked tiny compared to the container ship who passed us both heading in.

Destination: Hampton, VA, a place we’d heard tell of many times but had only stopped for the first time last fall to hide from Hurricane Matthew. Our reservation was at Hampton Public Piers, in the heart of downtown Hampton. The only slips we’d fit into had short finger piers so we backed in. A short finger pier can mean a piling further out you have to toss a looped line over. Note to self: try to remember that in the future!!

Fenders were set, lines ready to toss but not one (we don’t use our good blues ones for this) ready for the piling. I clearly was acting like a clueless crew member, so Russ came down to do the job. Not a good idea to leave the helm, let me say that, but two guys had our lines and with virtually no wind, no harm could come.

The wind blew, the rain pelted down in buckets and in between we visited Glazed Doughnuts- bought some too!, enjoyed lunch one day and dinner the next at Venture, pondered a visit to the brewery but the walk was so far (yep like right behind us), snipped some parsley from the Boater Community Garden and chatted with dock neighbors.

We’d hoped to visit the fort but Mother Nature had other ideas. Guess that means another visit. 🙂 . Really love Venture- drinks, food and the service. Plus we always get a booth opposite the kitchen.

 

 

The above news story caught us by surprise; buildings around us provided so much protection, and of course the wind would be stronger “out there”.

Saturday looked like an amazingly benign day to head up the coast to Cape May; a long day for sure but doable. We planned to stage 4 miles closer by leaving the marina Friday afternoon, but due to strong west winds had to stay on the western shore rather than anchor off Cape Charles which would save plenty miles.

So what’s our rush? Nothing, except someone wanting to take advantage of a perfect day. We’d miss seeing Ann & Mike in Solomons, which was a bummer, but to not do laundry with Spot and steal a sniffy kiss, well that was downright depressing! Next trip- promise!!

When I downloaded my Sony camera every picture included at least one or more of the items in the title.  I wanted to include donuts, but although a “d” is a flipped around “b”, one donut stop wasn’t enough to earn a title spot.

All along the way from Florida we’ve spotted curious dolphins, sometimes in places we didn’t expect. Been lovely as always to see these intelligent creatures. Many are youngsters with mom and dad showing them the ways of the life aquatic. I haven’t mentioned them, but I wanted you to know they are there!

Whenever I mention places in NC we like to stop at; and there’s quite a few, Russ often remarks, “I thought you didn’t like North Carolina?”  Sigh. Yes, I still have not-so-fond memories of severe thunderstorms, very nearby tornadoes, hiding out from hurricane Sandy, going aground and fog, fog. But those are in the past- maybe the most recent event was 2013, and memories fade faster after age 50!

North Carolina has a great deal to offer boaters and cruisers and that’s just along the many miles of shoreline. Looks like this post might turn out longer than I first imagined!

First off a close encounter with a dredge. It would swing back and forth across the channel, doing a good job of allowing room for boats to pass by as they came along. We would be proceeding between the dredge and the red marker.

Compare and contrast the dredging method above with the laborious dredge method below. Also note the smooth waters of the ICW versus the rougher Cape Fear River. We didn’t choose the best day to go up the Cape Fear River from Southport, NC to Carolina Beach, but the next two days looked worse and Britts is only open Friday through Sunday until Memorial Weekend. So there you have it.

We reserved and paid for a mooring ball at Carolina Beach using Dockwa but not everyone does, so Randy comes out to collect your $20, chat and offer to take trash.

Others love them too!

Mothers’ Day was warm and mostly sunny, unlike the dreary rainy day before. We had to use the dinghy dock a stone’s throw from our mooring because the small boat/dinghy dock at the south “dead end” was completely dismantled. This makes for a longer walk down to Britts and the boardwalk shops but we needed the exercise.

A stop at Britts- surprise!- but hey, these have to last us an entire year because they aren’t open when we come by in October. We walked back on the beach with smiling faces, full bellies and “happy in the sand” toes.

Monday brought an offshore day of 80 miles to Cape Lookout which is six miles past the Beaufort, NC inlet and a pristine paradise. Some compare the water and beaches to the Bahamas, but take it from one who knows; the beaches are wide and loaded with shells, the dunes picturesque, but the water no way.

Still, the Cape has a lot to offer and if you are there during the week, you can avoid the weekend craziness.

 

 

Over by the lighthouse which opens to visitors/climbers every May 16, is a ferry dock. The ferries bring people in from Beaufort using the inside route which gets regular dredging to keep it usable by the large pontoon ferries, small local boats and smaller shrimpers.

 

Russ took an hour in the late afternoon to gently scrub the moss-y stuff off the bottoms and scrape away the few barnacles that had attached themselves. Maybe this place is more like the Bahamas than I thought!

I’m also certain I saw a huge loggerhead turtle as we headed back from the beach. They are fairly common in here but other than that one sighting we didn’t spot any others.

 

I’m sure you have all heard the red sky saying, and if you are like me you may not know exactly what conditions are being predicted by the night or morning red. Read on and you too will be all the wiser:

Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning’? In general in mid latitudes because the prevailing winds are westerlies, storms move in from the west. A red sky at night means that the setting sun is sending its light through a high concentration of dust particles. This usually indicates high pressure and stable air coming in from the west. Basically good weather will follow. A red sunrise can mean that a high pressure system (good weather) has already passed, thus indicating that a storm system (low pressure) may be moving to the east. A morning sky that is a deep, fiery red can indicate that there is high water content in the atmosphere. So, rain could be on its way.

Interesting uh?

Our next stop was close by, six miles back the way we came; head in the Beaufort inlet, catch the 10:30 Beaufort Bascule Bridge opening, hang a right and nose into a slip at Homer Smith’s Docks. You may recall this is the shrimp place. 🙂  Tony lends you his truck for errands and this baby was a new white Ford pickup; very comfy but as usual many of the bells & whistles left us baffled. We returned to find a new neighbor; Captain Bob: swordfish vessel.

 

Could we purchase any swordfish? Why sure! One of the guys pulled out a partial and cut us two thick fillets. Mahi had also come in, so we bought an entire four-pounder and watched an expert filet job. That and three pounds of cleaned shrimp all for much less than we’d pay anywhere else.

Traveling Soul recommended the bus tour of historic Beaufort and it was excellent Sunny and hot though, but most wanted to sit up top anyway.

 

 

Continuing north as we do this time of year, Belhaven would be our next stop. Anchor in the protected harbor, dinghy in to the public floating dinghy dock, walk one block and well what do you know? If it isn’t Spoon River.

The day we left Belhaven would be a great travel day, except for one event; a cold front was due to sweep by and that meant chilly winds out of the north.The tricky part was that we’d be crossing the Albemarle Sound; 15 miles of water shallow enough to get rough and choppy in just a moderate wind. Foolish nomads we are, we believed the forecast which had the front coming around 3pm. Our plan was to depart early and pick up speed in the Alligator River so as to be across the Sound in time. Twenty miles in the Alligator-Pungo Canal, twenty miles in the Alligator River, fifteen across the Sound. Plus 6-8 miles on either end; very doable assuming the front doesn’t come early. Ha.

I must say we could not have timed it better, had we wanted to do the last five miles of the Alligator River and the entire Albemarle Sound in strong northerly headwinds that gave us the roughest trip, pounding like no tomorrow. Spray flew up over the flybridge but Russ couldn’t retreat to the inside helm because then he couldn’t see the pot floats which lay scattered about. Miserable I tell you. And I was down below, much warmer and drier. I haven’t felt so happy to drop the hook as I did that day.

Our final bird photo to round out North Carolina is one we’d been hoping to spot but couldn’t recall ever seeing in this area. We crossed Currituck Sound without a pounding repeat and crossed the line into Virginia by noon.