Monthly Archives: November 2012

Too late in the canal

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A bridge too far

Abemarle Sound was glassy smooth all the way across so we made great time. We entered the Alligator River early and began to think about stretching our goals a little. With the sun setting so early it’s tricky making sure you have plenty of sunlight to anchor and get your bearings before dark.

There was a group of five boats ahead of us and over the radio we could hear that they were headed into our preferred anchorage. Marce found a little known anchorage halfway through the Alligator-Pungo canal which is about 22 miles long. Sounds good. Upon entering the canal, which is rod straight, we found three sailboats chugging along at a knot and a half slower than our cruising speed. No matter, we should still make it, but they would erode our safety margin. Now I know you’re saying a knot and a half hardly matters but when you’re not going much faster than a fast walk, it can make all the the difference. Today it made no difference.

The single hander in front if us got on the VHF and asked us when was sundown, we said about 5:30. When he said oh…5:30 we knew he was committed to finishing the entire canal and he’d be running the last two hours in the dark. Not a good idea.

In the meantime as we slowed down to enter our small canal anchorage we hit the bottom twice which was enough for me. Now we were going all the way and it’s starting to get really dark. You could really hear the tension in our voices on the VHF. This is serious stuff. We began to see unlit day markers go by after we passed them, unnoticed in the dark. All you could do is focus on the white running light in front of you. Soon it was so dark that you couldn’t see the edge of the canal.

After what seemed like an eternity, we began to see green and red lights far ahead which meant that we had to negotiate a bridge and a short run up to the Pungo anchorage at the end of the canal.

Out of the blackness I noticed the stern light on the head boat pitch up and down, and if I’m not crazy, stop dead in what I thought was the middle of the channel. I barely got EV slowed down in time, but which way should I go around? She slewed round in reverse and I realized I had depth on the port side. It was a near thing. We were now the lead boat. Soon the airwaves lit up with excited French. Apparently the French boat behind us had just gone aground. It was all so disorienting in the dark. Someone in our flotilla spoke French, and soon I think everyone was extricated.

Anchoring without any visual cues felt like we could have been in outer
space but I was never so glad to get the hook down.

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Gymnastics and who slept here

Elizabeth City has free docks along the waterfront so we were looking forward to yet another night’s reprieve from the drudgery of anchoring. Unfortunately, and we should have realized this, the docks are narrow slips with finger piers in between so with our 21-foot beam we couldn’t fit. We were hanging in the harbor trying to figure out what to do when we were hailed on the VHF by someone who told us to tie up to the sea wall by the park.

“You mean where it says ‘No Docking’?” I asked. Yep. That’s what he meant. Well, all right! Our cruising guide warned that all of the waterfront would be uncomfortable in any wind with an east component, and we did have a bit of SE wind that night, but eventually it calmed down and we were quite comfortable. Except for getting on and off Escape Velocity.

This involved stepping outside the lifelines onto the very edge of the deck, boosting up onto a narrow finger pier, climbing over a railing, then jumping down to the walkway. Tough enough in daylight but even more challenging after dark.

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When we got ashore to explore, we discovered Elizabeth City’s claim to fame: the Wright Brothers were here. Notice Jack in the background doing the EV dismount.

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We stocked up on some produce at the Farm Fresh supermarket and had a Mexican dinner out with John from Sarah but that was the extent of our shore leave. We forget that most small towns in the south pretty much shut down on Sundays.

Jack took Izzy off the boat for a little walk but open spaces make her nervous and it wasn’t long before she wanted to be back home again.

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There’s weather moving in tonight and we need to be on the other side of Albemarle Sound and in a protected anchorage by the end of the day. We pushed away from the dock while there was still fog lingering on the water, heading down the Pasquotank River.

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Sometimes you wake up in a painting

The last time we came through here the Albermarle Sound kicked our butt. We felt like we barely escaped its clutches, so we’re being careful with the forecast across the sound. Sunday was a perfect crossing day but we really needed reprovisioning. Elizabeth City is very sailor friendly and I’d read that the Farm Fresh Supermarket would come and pick you up and take you back again. Nice.

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Marce waiting at The Mariners Wharf for her man.

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The pantry is full but Monday’s weather isn’t as nice. We awoke to a Turner painting.

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Things get spotty, connectivity wise, in NC so don’t worry if a few days go by without posts.

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The view from the side deck

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Impromptu Traveling Circus

Passing in the Great Dismal Swamp Canal ranges from extremely difficult to impossible, because of the narrow width and shoal depth. These are our impromptu traveling companions.

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It’s a cold morning here at the Welcome Center on The Great Dismal Swamp Canal where G. Washington slept, The Raven was written, and “Showboat” was inspired. I guess you could say that’s the view from the front porch.

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The view from the back porch

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South but colder

I awoke at 5am to a cabin that was 39 degrees Fahrenheit. I could see my breath. I tried to stay under the covers a little longer but even Jack “The Furnace” wasn’t putting out much heat. Eventually I went upstairs, started the generator and turned on the little space heater, then began the coffee-making process.

Here’s how I maximize the use of water and BTUs. First I boil a kettle of water and fill the empty thermos pot to warm it up. I refill the kettle and when that water is boiling I pour the hot water from the thermos pot into our two thermal coffee mugs to warm them, then use the fresh boiling water to make coffee in the thermos pot. Finally, when the coffee is made, I empty the hot water from the two thermal mugs into the dishpan so we can wash the dinner dishes without getting chapped hands.

Don’t we have a hot water heater, you ask? Why yes, we do, and when we’re motoring all day as we do in the ICW the water gets plenty hot. But in these temperatures, by morning there’s not much heat left. It’s a little too much like camping in this climate, but we look forward to the temperature inching up day by day. And when the sun is shining, it’s glorious.

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Moving on South

It’s moving day in Portsmouth. It’s been great to talk to Bob at Mile Marker 0 again and visit this charming town but it was time to go. You could say the pig floated by. Early crew call, a little sun, and dry docks were a welcome morning sight.

20121109-170532.jpg We made good time up the Elizabeth River and had the Gilmerton bridge operator not dropped the bridge right in front of us, we would have made the earlier opening. The ICW bifurcates right after the Gilmerton Bridge, left is the Virginia Cut, right is the famous Dismal Swamp Canal and that’s where we are headed. But first we had to lock through.

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Growing up in “The Burgh” locking through is no big deal. While we were in the lock chamber an old friend pulled in, and we noticed people had been signing the lock walls.

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The DSC gets very narrow, so in addition to watching for shoaling depths, the cautious mariner has to watch for trees overhanging the canal, waiting to snag his mast and rigging. Marce shows good form spelling the skipper.

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While transiting the DSC we crossed the state border between Virginia and North Carolina, not as fancy as a highway sign but it works.

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We followed three sailboats to the welcome center and managed to jam all of us onto the free docks, and when we hopped off to stretch our legs in the Dismal Swamp State Park, Izzy “Adventure Kitty” Katzenbaum didn’t even want to get off Escape Velocity.

That’s life on the water.

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Last night in Portsmouth

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It’s our last night in Portsmouth at 4:30pm on a wind borne high tide. That’s significant because of what happens to the Ferry basin where we are tied up.

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So if one would happen to make a mistake reading the tide tables or fail to estimate the storm surge this could happen.

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Oops.

We went through a lot of ideas on how to get us and our load of laundry back aboard without getting wet. Marce liked milk crates pushed ahead one after another. I thought it had disaster written all over it, plus we didn’t have any milk crates. We walked up town to get pizza and to brainstorm. The pizza was great, the ideas all had a fatal flaw or two. Dollar General had no rubber boots so we settled for disposable flexible knee-high waders with fashion forward red ties to negotiate the 8″ of freezing water.

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One has to be resourceful living on a boat.

Izzy “Adventure Kitty” Katzenbaum, seen here ferry spotting. She really keeps close tabs on their coming and going. We’ve been running the generator quite a bit. It’s been very cold without sun so today was appreciated even though it was still in the 40’s. Izzy no longer runs and hides when she hears an engine start up.

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Escape Velocity geared up for the storm.

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Looks like its time to go.

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That’s life on water.

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