weather

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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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Chesapeake Bay Tidbits

Our last boat show: Oct 2009, meeting MC for serious purchase discussions

Our last boat show: Oct 2009, meeting MC for serious purchase discussions

Rainy days are useful for catching up on reading, baking and warming up with hot beverages. We carry several Embassy Cruising Guides on board and while somewhat outdated, they provide colorful aerial photos along with interesting background info on places to visit. The Main Ingredient made available free copies of Bay Weekly and Spinsheet’s October U.S Sailboat show-themed issue. I’ll share a handful of tidbits with you and if you get bored, well just hope our weather improves real soon!

Chesapeake Bay by the Numbers: 200- length in miles; 35- widest part of the Bay near the Potomac; 11,684-miles of shoreline; 15- trillions of gallons of water held by the Bay (add another billion for the torrential rain over the past 4 days) ; 21- average depth in feet; 3,000- number of migratory and resident wildlife species; 350 species of fish.

Pride of Baltimore’s Homecoming; the rest of the story. She was heading back from the Great Lakes when we saw her. She anchored for the night in the Delaware’s big ship waiting area then made her way up the river, through the C&D and into Baltimore last Saturday during the 47th Annual Fells Point Fun Festival, with “canons blazing” as she docked at noontime.

My reading confirmed that I am definitely not a salty sailor because included in the list of “things sailors never say” were thoughts I have indeed vocalized. For example, “we have plenty of ice.”  Or “It’s pretty windy; I think we’ll stay put today.”  Oh well, always a chance I’ll do better in my next life!

Now, how about a trip down Ego Alley or watching the big switcheroo?  What, not familiar with boat show lingo? Let me enlighten you- assuming you are still reading this meandering post. When the U.S. Powerboat Show ended on Oct 6, it was followed by a massive endeavor to change over to the Sailboat Show. At 5pm the powers make a quick departure to make way for the sails. Docks get re-configured and at 7pm a 90-ft long by 38-ft wide catamaran would back into Ego Alley, followed by other big cats. Naturally this event is accompanied by a changeover party!

To prepare for the two shows, a crew of 150 assemble what looks like a city on the water, supported by 58 temporary newly driven pilings, 350 tents, 600 wooden floor sections covering an acre of land and six miles of wire for electrical power to land and sea. The show covers roughly five acres, with up to 360 boats in each show, not to mention exhibitors of nearly every known type of boating equipment, gadget and apparel. Nearly 100,000 boaters will walk through the gates of the two shows combined. What a blast! Since 1972 the two shows have combined to make Annapolis, without a doubt, the Boating Capital of the World.

Would we attend the Sailboat Show for the fourth time? This wimpy sailor will be consulting her weather-wise crystal ball hoping to leave foul-weather gear and heavy parka at home.