Nov 5/17 South cont'

Well I'm at it again. I left yesterday Saturday to pick up Tony my crew .. lol in Syracuse NY Three hr drive from Ottawa. Carol drove me to Alexandria Bay and we picked up my car which was left there from the first adventure. Carol drove back to Ottawa and I drove South to Syracuse arriving at Tony's around 9:pm.
After going over the plans for the week, we went to bed around midnight and got up at 3am to start our journey to Baltimore MD where I left the boat in September on our first trek. It took Tony and me 6 hours and 15 min to arrive at Anchor Bay East Marina in Baltimore where we found the boat on a dock ready for us to leave. The staff is great there.
Didn't take long for us to do the engine pre-checks and we were off by 10:45 am headed for Calvert Marina Maryland a 75 mile run.
ARRIVED
Made it here at 4:45pm

November 6/17

Calvert Marina Maryland to Bluewater Marina Virginia

6:45am We left Calvert's on a seemingly calm morning and ventured toward the Chesapeake on route to Norfolk Virginia if time allowed. With daylight savings time in effect and the time of year, the days are shorter so we had to make it to our destination before 5pm otherwise we would be caught navigating in the dark.

The weather is quite warm hovering about 18 degrees and going up to 23 degrees in the afternoon.

10:00am When we checked the weather, they had called for 2 to 3 foot waves. This was good and really not a problem but as we got further into the core of the Chesapeake, the waves were 5 to 6 feet and smashing us like I've never experienced before. Tons of sea water came as high as our bridge and slapped us in the face every 20 seconds. Ride em cowboy! The boat performed well as I brought the trim tabs to the full bow up position which made it alot better for the ride. This fight lasted 2 hours.

12:00 noon At last a little calmness. The sun was shining strong and the waves were diminishing to 2 feet. We had a beautiful ride thereafter in warm calm weather.

We finally arrive at Bluewater Marina Hampton Virginia at 4:pm

Tuesday November 7, 2017

2:00pm Leaving Bluewater Yacht Marina and headed for Portsmouth Virginia. Staying at Ocean Yacht Marina. The trip will be a short one but we will travel past submarines and navel destroyer ships. More of a sight seeing day.

Tomorrow may be a rain day We will see

Wednesday November 8, 2017

9:am Today I decided to check out Portsmouth in the morning so Tony and I started with a walk to a nice coffeeshop. After that we took a few pics and headed back to the boat to prepare for departure.

12 Noon We left Ocean Yacht Marina headed South on the intercoastal waterway ( ICW ) bound for Great Bridge Virginia. Not a long haul but went under quite a few bridges. Some of them we had to call ahead to have them raise the bridge. As we headed South we were coming up to the Great Bridge lock and requested passage Southbound. The lock master informed us that there would be a 1 and a half hr wait due to the lock having too much water and not safe until the tides would go down. We ended up anchoring about 300 yards from the lock and then 2 hrs later we were called in. By that time, two others joined us... Freedom and Help Me Rhonda. They were headed a lot further South for the winter.

3:43pm Through the lock,....only a 3 foot drop and then through the Great Bridge bridge that opens on the 30 min and 60 min intervals.

We docked to our port side on a free wall and then went to dinner at Vino's an Italian restaurant.

8:30pm MOVIE TIME Captain Phillips....

Thursday November 9, 2017

6:30am Today's run will be a long one. 121 miles! After doing all the engine checks we were anxious to leave because we woud like to make it to Belhaven North Carolina.

Our first stop was not to far, a swing bridge that opens on the half hour and hour. As we approached the bridge, I radio in and let them know I want southbound passage. I got the reply that they wouldn't be ready until 8:30am. Darn it!... Ok then, I'll practice holding my position while the current and wind plays with me for the next hour and a half.

As I waited, 3 other boats lined up an were going the same way.

8:30am Right on time the bridge opens up and I give her full throttle bringing my speed to 21 miles an hr and a massive fuel burn at that. We all had to make the next bridge which would open at 9am and the bridge after that the same thing.

12:15pm we arrive at our first waypoint Alligator river on time. Now we push it again to get to the Pungo River a narrow river for miles. Reminded me of the Amazon river although I've never been there.

4:30pm We arrive in Belhaven at River Forest Marina and settle in.

5:30pm The marina let us use their golf cart to go into town and hit a restaurant.

Tomorrow is the last leg to our final destination New Bern NC

Tony... I left him at the restaurant.

Friday November 10, 2017

7:00am We are preparing to depart for New Bern. Sun expected to come out around 8:am. Depending on our speed, we are looking at about 5 hrs. The winds are at 12 knots from the North so they will be pretty well behind us all the way. Temperature 58 degrees.

9:00am We have the wind behind us and I have stepped it up a notch to 18 miles per hr. Our arrival in New Bern should be around 12:15pm. The intracoastal waterway is crazy. It is narrow with a creek like feel and then it opens up where you can barely see land. The depth is always around 9 to 13 feet except for the wide open areas which went down to 40 feet but you would definitly stay in the middle and watch your Active Captain on the ipad for updates on shoaling and any other significant markings not shown on the Garmin Chartplotter.

The weather was cloud most of the way and we saw a lot of small sailboats heading south just a rockin and a rollin' on the water. I don't know how they wouldn't get seasick. Crazy...

11:00am I reduced our speed to 11 mph and it was alot more enjoyable then riding the boat on plane burning twice the fuel. If I had the choice and time I would have done that all the way but we would have never made it to New Bern today.

12:20pm Arrived at Galley Stores & Marina. We were greeted by Mona, Dave, Pete and Sheila at the dock. The winds were up by now and made it difficult to put the boat in stern first. As I turned the boat and the North wind grabbed her it would immediatly screw up my angle. After a couple of tries we were finally in.