Finally I'm back on Caprice to continue the adventure. I hadn't planned to park her her for so long, and especially not in the water. I had nightmares that over the months the bilge pump would maybe clog or fail, and that the slowly dripping propeller shaft would eventually fill her with water.
Nothing like this happened, I'm happy to say.
I'm glad they have Uber in Greenville now, because that cost me $42 instead of $70-$80 to get to the marina. And the driver was fun to talk to.
Caprice was afloat and dry, and not even smelly as she often was before. But almost everywhere was more or less moldy. After over 4 months in the wet and humid climate, that was to be expected.
I spent the first two days cleaning and laundering pretty much everything on her. Oddly, the mold wasn't at all in the lockers and drawers. I had read that mold doesn't like light or air circulation, so I had expected the lockers to be worse. I'm not complaining.
After two days the Pyxis crew arrived to check out their boat, and they had an awful surprise. Their cockpit drain had clogged from pine needles and other debris, and caused the boat to take on a lot of water. Their carpet was soaked and ruined, and the floor under it was all wet. They were pretty upset, but after a few days of cleaning they found that the damage was mostly superficial. And they could smile again.
When I arrived the weather was beautiful, but now that I was ready it turned seriously cold and windy. Since the Pamlico, like all the rivers and sounds, can develop a nasty chop, I decided to wait it out and reprovision the boat and get a number of other items. I got a WIFI-extender antenna that worked really well int he marina and was even able to do some work via VPN. The marina lent me their beat up Nissan pickup truck to buy stuff in town and I filled up with food (but unfortunately, no chocolate).
After two days of no sun the batteries were running down (usually the solar panels keep her filled) and I plugged in shore power for the first time since being on the Hudson half a year ago. I found that the charger didn't work anymore, so I ended up having to run the engine a bit to recharge. I rarely plug into power because I'm a bit afraid of galvanic corrosion, and the solar panels almost always do enough. So I removed the charger and threw it out. I don't know if I'll get a new one.
Since I had time I took the chance to look at two boats Mark has for sale at the marina - a huge and expensive Irwin 43 (gorgeous really, but a huge step in size and money) and a much more modest Pearson 365. I love the Caprice and she's been good to me, but I sometimes lust after other boats. I hope she doesn't notice...
The Pearson was not exactly in sales display mode, but I got the idea how such a boat looks and feels.
Day 55 - Tuesday, March 22
Washington, NC to Neuse River
Top left is Washington, NC. Right Center is infamous Cape Hatteras. I'm not going near there.
Finally, almost a week after I arrived in North Carolina, the weather looked promising and I left on Tuesday morning. It took some effort to get out of the slip as the bottom was clearly gouging the mud, but with enough power I got clear and motored down the Pamlico. The engine ran like a champ.
It had been very cold overnight (below freezing) but it started to warm up fast and it was clam enough for me to do kitchen work in the cockpit. The beans were so good I immediately nuked some in the Microwave for lunch.
There's not much traffic on the rivers at this time, I saw one freighter and one crabber, and one sail boat going north. I actually enjoy the off-season solitude.
Later the wind started to pick up and got steadily stronger. Annoyingly it also was constantly right on the nose, even when I turned clockwise the wind also changed. By the late afternoon when I reached the Neuse River it was becoming clear that I couldn't reach my planned anchorage before the night. I changed course and found shelter in a beautiful creek on the north shore of the Neuse and spent a good calm night there at anchor.
Day 56 - Wednesday, March 23
Neuse River to Adams Creek
The weather forecast said that the wind wouldn't diminish any time soon, but I didn't want to wait here another two days. There was a small craft advisory until 11AM, so I decided to peek out at noon and see if I couldn't make it the 10 miles up the river and into the creek. It turned out much better than feared, and with the engine at 3000 RPMs (which is much more than I usually run her at) the Caprice powered through and got us to the anchorage in Adams Creek. The problem with the chop on the rivers and sound isn't so much the wave height - it was barely more than 2-3 feet, but the short
wavelength. This makes the boat hobbyhorse and slow down a lot and doesn't make a fun ride.
The wind is blowing here too, especially since the anchorage is pretty open to the SW, but the waves are no big deal.
When I arrived I had the whole place to myself, but shortly afterwards two other sailboats arrived from the south and anchored too, but a good distance away.
Day 57 - Thursday, March 24
Adams Creek to Cape Lookout
My original plan had been to rush south towards Wilmington to make up lost time. However, that's the wrong to cruise entirely! As luck had it, I texted John from last fall's meeting on the Jersey coast and it turned out he had himself just arrived back on his boat in New Bern. He recommended to me to do a detour to Cape Lookout, and I'm glad I took his advice.
The waves coming into the Atlantic at Beaufort were larger than on the Neuse, but at a much better wavelength, and the Caprice rode them out just fine. I suddenly heard a loud breathing sound behind me and there was a pod of 5-8 dolphins right next to the Caprice. Before I got the camera they realized I had no fish to offer though and went off to beg at one of the plenty fishermen in the inlet.
I got the Jib unfurled to 70% to give some extra drive and stability, and arrived by early afternoon. The place was deserted and beautiful and I anchored at the very bottom corner of the bay.
I inflated the good old dinghy and rowed ashore and took a long walk first on the ocean side and then the inner side of this great place.
I read that it's considered the 'Bahamas of North Carolina' and is very popular in summer and on weekends, when sometimes a hundred boats congregate here. Not now.
Also, supposedly there's lots of turtles here, but so far I didn't see any. It might be too early in the season. And wild ponies, which I also didn't spot any.
I like it here!
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