Thursday thru Saturday,  June 14,15,16, 2012

   For the next few days the winds were blowing from the NE with fury. No one was able to pull into the docks. Although some tried. Actually the best plan for these boats would be to go up river to Goat Island and anchor till things calmed down.
   So for the next few days I hang out with Dale and Chuck. We did some shopping together, had breakfast lunch, and dinner together, and took walks around the town. In the evening we watched some of their favorite movies. Almost all survival movies, 'Into the Wild', 'Blast from The Past',and a fantastic mountain climbing survival movie, 'Touching the Void'.  All great and one's which I have not seen before. On the last night I got them to download one of my favorites 'True Romance'. Anyway we watched the movies while enjoying a bottle of red wine.
   The following morning we all agreed that we were going to continue with each of our trips. So this was an early night to sleep, 11:30 PM.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

I woke up ate my breakfast, and then proceeded to get my docking lines ready for my planned stop at the Elizabeth City free docks. The dock was about five miles down river so I figure about an hour to get down there. Now last night when that storm came in the wind swung about 180 degrees to the NE. The guide books tell you that if there is any easterly component to the wind that you do not want to use these docks. Any way I make my way down the river and arrive at the dock. The reason that they tell you that Easterly winds and this dock are  not compatible is that the wind, which was now blowing pretty strong, will be coming on your beam. I pick out the slip that I plan to pull into. Then I aim for the slip just up wind of it. You  have to pull in with some speed or else you will lose steerage. So you aim for the slip just up wind and you give the boat some throttle, At the last second you turn into your slip, and as soon as the bow gets past the first pair of pilings you throw the boat into reverse and give it full  throttle. This stops you. You don't want to hit the dock. At the dock there were other sailors  waiting to catch your lines. Actually they were really doing  their own thing there but when they see you pulling in they drop what they are doing and run over to help you in. This is a courtesy that other boaters show to each other, because they know from their own experience what you are going through.
 At the dock there is a welcoming committee the leader of which is named Gus. Now Gus is a country guy who, while sitting in his yellow pick up truck, loves to tell you stories,and jokes, and also fill you in on what you need to know in order to be comfortable here. Now they have this  tradition  that if at least 5 boats pull in, they will serve them  a wine and cheese party. Unfortunelly only three boats showed up. so no party.
    Except for this 20 foot sailboat, that I saw up on the canal, all the boats that I run up against are larger then mine. Of the other two sailboats that pulled in, one was a 41 foot Morgan Out Island, and the other is a 47 foot Vagabond. I find that a lot of these boats have some pretty interesting people on them. For Example the Morgan had this couple, now retired, who were teachers in Florida, and lived on the boat for 31 years. They raised their children on the boat. The 47 foot Vagabond  is crewed by this young couple that had just returned from the Bahamas. The guy, Chuck, very quiet and easy going, does boat deliveries for a living.
     For example:  A person buys a boat from someone in Puerto Rico. The new owner does not want to sail the boat home, either no time or no experience. So he hires a boat delivery guy to make the move. This all sounds like a really nice job for the guy doing the delivery, but what happens more then not is that along the way the boat starts to show problems. Now the boat delivery guy is not intimately familiar with this boat, and could have a lot of difficulty fixing it. A lot of boats are not up to par with their maintenance, and also work done on the boat could be very shoddy.
    So anyway Chuck only has to work when he has to, and usually so he can finance his next trip to the Bahamas. The girl, Dale, is this petite, very attractive, over the road tractor trailer driver, she owns her own rig, and drives all over the country.  She has been doing this since she was 22 years old. They both live in a log cabin that they built, which hangs over a bluff in the Maryland woods. I also use to live in a cabin, in the eighties, up near Bear Mountain. So needless to say, we both have a lot in common.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

I left the Great Dismal Swamp Visitors Center at 9AM. One hour later I was at the second lock. This one lowers you down 10 feet. I exit the lock and proceed down the canal. As I continue down the canal I think about what a misnomer this place got 'The Dismal Canal'.To me this place, as I had said before, is absolutely beautiful. It is like drifting down a river in the  Amazon Jungle. As you are going through it you hear the sound of the birds, you see lots of turtles sunning on logs, a snake swimming across the canal and also since the water is so calm, you see the reflection of all the foliage, with its myriad of colors, in the water.
        Eventually the canal leads into the Pasquatank River. Now this river starts out narrow and deep, then becomes wide and shallow, and leads you into Elizabeth City, NC. Now I want to go off on a tangent for a few lines to explain a problem that I had. When I go down the inter_coastal waterway in New Jersey the red triangles are on the right, and the green squares are on the left. Even when you pass an inlet the boats coming through the inlet have to immediately adapt, especially if they are headed north, to the flow of the signs. So now I am going down the Pasquatank River and if their were no navigation signs there I automatically know that the deeper water is on the outside of a bend. The water runs faster on this side, and so no sediment settles. Whereas on the inside of the bend the speed of the water slows and sediment settles, making it shallow. So now I am traveling  on the ICW and  I know how the signs should appear on it. So now I am proceeding down the the river and approaching a bend to my right. I see this green square navigation sign close to the right bank. About a 100 feet off. All of a sudden a war started going off in my head. One side of it was saying you should be off to port where the water should be deeper. the other side of my brain was saying that this is the ICW and green squares should be passed on my port side. I also contemplate that maybe they made a mistake in the placement of the sign, but this assumption I quickly cast off. So I came to the conclusion that for some reason this particular bend on the river broke all the rules, and I ought to follow the sign. So I passed the sign on my port and quickly came to a stop. Damn, I'm grounded. Now this particular grounding really bother me. for one I was still in the jungle. Also I had no idea when anyone else would come by to give me a hand. Now my draft is 4 feet, and I was in 3 foot of water. Fortunately as I was heading down stream the wind was blowing pretty strong on my bow. So I put together a plan to get out of here.What I did was to raise my sta-sail, that is the smaller inner jib. The idea was to use that with the wind coming into my bow to turn the boat around. There were small waves on the river. Within not too long of a time the  boat, with the wind pushing, and the waves bouncing it, began to turn. Then when turned, I let out a little more jib, and the boat slowly bounced me back to where I came from, before I got grounded.

       Now, again, I was on my way. It was starting to get late, and looking at the sky you could see that a storm was coming in. So as I come around another bend I see two sailboats anchored behind a little island, Goat Island. So I decide to do the same. I anchor, run down to feed  Sam, and before I could get back up on deck again, an intense rain came down, It rained on and off for a few hours. What a lucky decision that was to anchor at that time. Some times I make good decisions.

Monday, June 11, 2012

I was awake pretty early 5AM. Out in the country, no TV, not very much in the way of light, you go to sleep early, wake early. I arrive at the lock at 7:30 AM. There was not the typical dock with cleats that you could tie up to. Instead there were these bundles of pilings, they call them Dolphins, all strapped together. Anyway I motor up to the Dolphin very slowly and grab on with my hands and then slip a line from my mast around one of the pilings in the bundle. There was space between the pilings, and there was no way that you were going to get a line all the way around this thing. Now I relax and have my breakfast, and wait for the Lock Master to arrive.
    At about 8:30 AM the Lock Master arrives, His name is Robert, He gave me very precise instructions as to every move that I was to make in his lock. The Instructions were very good. Anyway he raises the boat up the 10 feet needed. Now he goes into this talking mode, and begins to tell me the history about the Great Dismal swamp, the Canal, the Lock, and George Washington, who he said was responsible for its existence, the Lock, and Canal that is. I later found that he also works as a tour guide, and he loves to talk. BTW at this time I am also a captured audience. He must of talked at the dock for about 10 minutes or so, and then invites me inside for a cup of coffee. Inside he went on for maybe another 30 or 40 minutes. he explained to me why the color of the water is what it is, ie: amber. He says that because of the surrounding vegetation, the water has a lot of tanic acid in it. This he says makes it impervious to bacteria. He went on to say that ships, of Washington's time, would carry this water with them as they crossed the oceans because it would not spoil. He told me that you could bottle this water for seven years, open it, and it would still be good. He even went on to say that if they did not invent Reverse Osmosis that the astronauts would of used it for their trip to the moon. After that he talked a lot about the swamp. I will talk more about that tomorrow.Then he proceeded to talk about the Norfolk Naval Base. I had told him that I had counted almost 11 aircraft carriers on my passing through there. He goes on to tell me that I did not count any aircraft carriers. I gave him a double look at this point. He goes on to say that they were helicopter carriers and that the US, the only country in the world to have aircraft carriers, has eleven of them. Britain has VTOL carriers. China is just now coming out with some. Then he goes on to tell me where each one was deployed. Then he goes on to explain how the aircraft carriers are all part of battle groups, and what the battle group consisted of, and how they all protected the carrier. While he was talking I tried not to interrupt much at all. He was so interesting that I did not want to miss a word.
   So now time is ticking on and we head back to the boat. On the way back to the boat he goes on to explain to me why he has all these Conch shells around. He tells me that he is the best Conch Horn blower in the world. I say "in the world". He goes "yep in the world". So he goes on to play this song called 'Bubbles'. To tell you the truth, he did a pretty good job of it. I think that of he was on 'America's has Talent' that he just might continue onto the next level.
     After leaving the lock I proceed down the  canal for about 4 hours. The canal is 150 feet wide and 8 foot deep, and runs for about 40 miles or so. As you proceed through it you feel that you are traveling through a jungle.It is very scenic and beautiful. At the 28 mile marker there is a Visitors Center. I had planned on passing it up, but when I got there I saw two other sail boats, and so decided to stop. I met the other sailors, traded stories, travel tips, and some sailboat technology. The place was very pleasant. It had , for me, a free dock with water. An information desk, a refreshment stand, toilets, and a nature center. In the Nature Center you can see what roams the swamp. Unfortunately I missed the time schedule for the nature center. From other people that I had talked to about this place, they informed me they have alligators, bears, panthers, poisonous snakes, eagles and more.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

I finally leave my comfortable anchorage on the Lafayette River. I sailed down to Hospital Point, the formal beginning of the ICW, to pick up 5 gallons of diesel. Since I will be motoring for the next 50 or so miles, I figure why not fill all my tanks up at this time while the opportunity presents itself., you never know, for some reason, when the next fuel stop will be unavailable (maybe out of order). From Hospital Point I motor down the Elizabeth River, which is still congested due to the Op-Sail celebration, actually they have their own version of  our 'South Street Seaport', police and coast guard boats everywhere controlling the boat traffic. No Wakes. Eventually I get to the entrance of the Great Dismal Swamp Canal (GDSC). I motor in about a mile or so and pull into a little indentation on the right and drop the hook. I got here pretty early in the afternoon so there was time to organize the boat, again, and just relax. When ever I do some cooking, and have to clean up the dishes and pots, I use river,or bay water. So I dip my bucket into the canal and come up with this amber colored water. Not sure what this water was all about so I at least scrubbed the worst of the leftovers off with it. Tomorrow I will know the story about the water. Tomorrow the first lock opening is at 8:30 AM. So I figure if leave here by 7:00, then I will be fine. I am at present about five miles from it, and I usually motor at 5 knots.
   It is starting to get hot and humid and I feel, unfortunately, that this will only increase as I push South. My cat who usually sleeps most of the day anyway, now is starting to show a complete reluctance in doing anything except sleeping.
   Yesterday, after I left the library where I was posting to my blog, I get back to my boat and decide to play around with my wireless antenna to see if I could make it work. Well in an hour or so of fooling around with it, it starts to work. I say to myself, isn't that the way it goes, when I needed it this morning it wouldn't work. Anyway I play around with it just to see who's wireless I can piggyback on. Well there were lots of choices. Maybe 15 unlocked possibilities. Now I am at the entrance of this canal and I figure that I will do a little blogging. So I look to see where I can piggyback. Well there was only one wireless signal available, and that was locked. I guess that I am in the boonies now.

Friday, June 8,2012
    I didn't mention in the Wednesday blog, that when I pulled into Willoughby Bay and anchored I noticed helicopters about a few hundred feet from me doing maneuvers over the water. They were dropping, I assume, Navy Seals , out of the helicopters on ropes and  into the water. Then a little while later they would pick them up. This went on for hours, and also into the following day. This bay was surrounded with helicopter hangers packed with helicopters. They were doing all sorts of maneuvers throughout the day and night. besides this there were war planes whizzing over head, the noise was tremendous. quite a show.Yesterday I took the day off and puttered around the boat.
   So anyway I awoke this morning feeling a need to move on. I had breakfast then raised the anchor. As I was moving out of the bay I noticed what seemed like hundreds of sailboats sailing up the river into the Chesapeake. At first I figured this must be a big group coming back form the Bahamas. As I got closer to the Elizabeth River I noticed these tremendous tall ships, square riggers, coming off the Chesapeake into the Elizabeth River. This was a parade and the sailboats were all going out to greet the tall ships.This, as I later found out, was an OP_Sail event. They have this every year , but this year was special. They were celebrating the war of 1812. Why I don't know. Anyway there way the fire boat with his fire hoses roaring. There was an Aircraft Carrier in full dress, in the middle of the river, saluting the ships. There were hundreds of anything that could float on the water watching the parade.
  I paraded alongside for a while, and then turned into the Lafayette River to a really nice quiet anchorage.
Once anchored I got into a pleasant conversation with a local sailor who told me slot of the ins and outs of the area. For instance , where a super market would be, restaurants, and also info about the anchorage. To get to the super market I had to take my dinghy around a bend into a little cove and tie it to a bush. From there I walked across a highway and caught a bus. The super market was about 5 miles away, I thought about my dinghy a lot, on this ride, hoping that it would still be there when I got back. Anyway I bought my groceries, and a Chinese dinner, caught another bus back, got in my dink which was still there, and motored  back to Sparrow.
   That was all yesterday. Today I am now in a Library, close to where my dinghy is tied to another bush, catching up on entering these blogs. I did mention that my wifi antenna was out of order, and so this is what I must do for now in order to post my blogs.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012
     It is 11 AM and I am just passing  Cape Charles. 17 hours. The seas have been pretty calm for a while.For some reason I thought the trip was almost over. I pictured in my head the charts that I had looked over before even leaving my house. On the chart after passing the cape you go from this lighter blue area to a darker blue, and eventually into a white area which is the channel. As I actually get into the Chesapeake Bay, I realize that I can't see the other side, now I realize that the other side is 20 miles away, another 4 hours. Once I get to the other side and catch the channel then I have to head up the bay to Hampton Roads and into the Elizabeth River. This as I will learn will take another 3 hours.    I go across the Chesapeake and catch the 'Thimble Shoal Channel'. You need this channel to get you past the Chesapeake Bridge Tunnel road way. by now things are starting to get a little ugly. Not to mention that I am starting to get pretty tired. Now, not only is it getting rough as I proceed along the channel, but there are also war ships, container ships, and freighters whizzing by you. Their wakes are tremendous, and they don't slow up for you. Another problem is because of the chop, and the fact that the markers are pretty far apart, it is difficult to see them. Anyway I move along in this chop until I finally make my turn into Hampton Roads. At this point the waves are behind me, and with each wave I am lifted and then surfing. Things don't calm down until I reach the Elizabeth River. When you enter the river, if you make that first left turn you wind up in Willioughby Bay. I pulled in anchored, had a delicious dinner of beans and rice, called a friend, and then hit the sack. I was on the road for 24 hours. Very tired. BTW I have only used 13 gallons of diesel fuel to get to this point.