Sunday, April 10th

Adams Creek (most of the day) and then to Broad Creek

The wind shifted overnight to N and diminished some, and I was now nicely protected. It was pretty cold but sunny and inside with my little heater life was good and cozy. I read and slept and cooked a big stew to last me the next few days and to use up the remaining vegetables. There was no internet in this area and sometimes it's a relief to be offline.
By the afternoon conditions had turned nice enough so that I decided to move a little bit further to my destination, Little Washington, so to reduce the last leg by a few hours. On the way down I had found shelter in this pretty creek, called 'Broad Creek' like at least 100 other places. Never mind, I knew which one I meant. The journey was uneventful and I arrived a bit before sunset. Just like three weeks ago the place was deserted still. Peaceful and lovely.

Monday, April 11th

Broad Creek to McCotters (Little Washington)

I woke up early because getting to McCotter's in the afternoon would allow me to talk to them and maybe get some help docking. It was a lovely day, but I was on the alert because I had by now realized that almost always something bad happens after a good day in my sailing adventures. What would it be? Toilet tank explosion maybe (Caprice has a flexible rubber tank for the toilet, and this was by now full to bursting)? Engine trouble (the Yanmar had been fantastic up to now).
A big tug passed going down to the coast, and then a riverboat replica came up behind me and asked to pass me with a polite double toot.



















In the end the inevitable failure wasn't a big problem - I had been motorsailing a lot today when the wind direction was favorable, and the big old genoa clew suddenly failed. I rolled the sail up quickly before it could flap itself to bits.
Since the wind was blowing favorably I decided to take the sail down and put on the smaller, newer jib. It was a bit of an experience to exchange a roller furling sail on the run, but since the weather was good I strapped myself onto the tether and manhandled the big genoa to the deck while the autopilot kept Caprice on course. Putting the smaller jib up was a much easier job, and we continued at renewed speed.



I had fixed that clew 4 or 5 years ago when it ripped off when I was trying to cross Lake Michigan. I had sewn new webbing strips that I had found at the marina at Skipper Buds, but I remember that even then I felt that those strips seemed kind of weak. I had doubled them and sewn them well enough, and my stitches didn't fail - but the webbing strips just ripped apart. A few years after the clew the genoa had again lost it - this time it was the head ring. I had then repaired that with much stronger webbing and Chris' wonderful sewing machine. That repair was still looking good. Nevertheless, I felt that this was a sign that this genoa finally wants to go where jibs rest after a long and productive life.

We arrived at McCotters at 4PM, and I went back towards my old boat slip. I didn't need any help docking because the boat was plowing through the mud and stopped as soon as I reduced engine power, so I had all the time in the world to attach lines and pull myself close to the dock.

Saturday, April 9th

Adams Creek

The weather forecast was spot on. The wind started building and got seriously fierce by 10 am. While I had contemplated crossing the Neuse before the peak of the gale, I'm glad I didn't leave from here. Another sailboat was anchored behind me in the bay, and later a second one appeared who anchored closer to the channel.
I stayed mostly below, apart from occasional visits upstairs to check that all was well. The sailboat behind me left and anchored on the west side of the channel - a good idea since there's better wind and wave protection there, I hadn't known that there was space to anchor there. The other boat suddenly had a Towboat US boat next to him, I didn't know why.
While my new chain reduced my worry about dragging the anchor, I realized I had another problem. The bow roller that the anchor usually rests on and through which the anchor line runs was working itself loose. The constant left-right travels of the boat in high winds also makes the line chafe every time it touches the end of the boat''s path, as the line angles at 30-40 degrees and touches the heavy bracket the roller is mounted on. I had to find a way to take the load off the main anchor line to avoid this chafe and the bow roller possibly ripping off.
I thought of tying two relief lines with rolling hitches to the anchor line and lead these lines through the chocks to the main cleat. Unfortunately, the rolling hitch knot does tend to slide on the slippery Nylon main rode. Also, the knot must have tension in the same direction of the main line, not at too large an angle.
The problem with the relief lines was that it was hard to balance them so that both of the knots had tension, especially since the boat was zig-zagging so much. The wind was really fierce now, at times over 30 knots and with gusts to 40. Whenever I tied two lines to the main line, one of them would slip. I realized I couldn't put two lines on there, especially since they would each be at an angle to the main force.
I eventually had the idea of using my old big bridle from Montrose harbor. I tied a rope to the shackle of the bridle and then that line to the main line with a rolling hitch with 5 turns rather than the normal 2 turns. I now let the main anchor line slide by 10 feet and it worked! The tension and chafe was now on the old heavy bridle. I will sleep well tonight.



The wind was gradually diminishing and will turn N overnight, which will make it colder but better protected.

Thursday, April 7

Beaufort

I'm glad to be here today and not in some remote unprotected spot, because the wind is blowing like crazy from the South. It started with a violent thunderstorm in the morning which gave way to a blustery but sunny day. This is a nice little town, and I walked around a lot to look at things and buy some supplies. Lunch was a delicious Mahi sandwich at the Spouter Inn. I found a marine consignment store but they didn't have what I needed, so I borrowed the marina courtesy car and drove to Morehead City. I got new oars for the dinghy, 35 foot of very heavy chain for the anchor plus shackles, 200 feet of nylon anchor line and various other things.



The wind didn't let up so I decided to stay here another night.

Friday, April 8

Beaufort to Adam's Creek (via Cape Lookout)

The weather is so variable here, every day is different. But I hear in Chicago and Ohio there's been snow, so I can't complain. I headed to Cape Lookout one more time,  because I had lost an anchor there a few days ago (an embarrassing story) and felt I could find it again with a grapnel. The benefits of GPS.



Indeed I was lucky and found the anchor, which was so well buried in the sand that I had to wade in at low tide and retrieve it by hand. The water wasn't cold though - I almost felt like swimming. In summer it must be great here.
Next we headed back where we came from and north to Adams Creek. This creek is really gorgeous - woods and rivers interrupted by cottages. Some of them quite pretty.



But it's mainly peaceful, not even much boat traffic. The outgoing tide here made my progress relatively slow even though I was pushing the engine hard. I reached the anchorage just after a beautiful sunset. I will possibly have to stay put tomorrow as there's a gale warning and the Neuse River is absolutely no fun in a gale.

Tuesday, April 5

Cape Lookout

As predicted the weather was pretty rough today. I went on shore only briefly but returned to the boat quickly. I had to attend to a host of issues to fix - always something broken and needing mending. I had to resew some velcro on the sail cover and some lose stitches on the dodger and fix a broken oar, and numerous other issues. The weather is predicted to become better tomorrow, so I'll just stay put here. I'm pretty stuck right now but that's a sailors life.

Wednesday, April 6

Cape Lookout to Beaufort

As predicted the weather improved today and by lunchtime it was nice enough to leave from here. I sailed only a short two hour trip to Beaufort, a little touristy town here. As I was coming in I saw some dolphins playing (well, more likely fishing) in the inlet. They are so common I guess nobody pays much attention to them anymore. Even though I had left Cape Lookout at low tide there, and had taken 2 hours to get here, the tide was still running out from the inlet. Tides are just crazy - even a few miles from each other they can be quite different. I docked next to a gorgeous restored motorboat, but then the dockmaster came and told me to reposition as there was a more suitable dock available and they expected strong winds tomorrow that would possibly make some bigger boats seek shelter. People were super friendly and helpful. I hadn't even tied all my lines when a couple of strangers started talking with me and I invited them on board to have some beers. As strange as coincidences can come, one of them turned out a lockmaster from the Erie Canal - he retired last June though, just before my admiral and I went through there. We had a great time and it was good to relax a little. The last days have been a little rough. Their wives eventually turned up and we were all sitting in the cockpit which is the only inhabitable space really for guests as downstairs is chaos.
Eventually after they left I packed my laundry (almost everything is now either dirty, salty or sandy or all of the above) and found a laundromat. The final shower of the day was bliss and I went to bed early.

Monday, April 4th

I had breakfast in the cockpit this morning, and saw some turtles peeking out from the water at me. They didn't come close and never peeked long enough to take photos.
I had leisure to watch the terns at work and other birds catching fish. This place is so nice...
The other sailboat left and sailed out of the bay - there were nice winds today.
After rowing ashore at low tide with my bucket and my oyster hammer (a piece of rebar) I set out to find some lunch. Alas, no big oysters anywhere to be found, what a shame. I really was looking forward to grilling some.
I walked back to the boat and cooked some big stew instead, and then took a nap. I think the last few days have been a bit too much travelling, I will take it easy here,

Sunday, April 3rd

Mile Hammock Bay to Cape Lookout



I'd been hearing explosions from Camp Lejeune through the early morning, so I wondered if the ICW might be closed for traffic. There's a number to call, and I was told there was no problem going through today. It was a sunny day, with a cold brisk NE wind. This meant no sailing, unfortunately.
I had trouble getting the anchor out of the ground, even when I was straight on top of it. I needed to run over it with engine power and then was able to pull it. Sometimes an anchor winch (windlass) would be useful...
I was being very watchful today especially when I passed the spot where I had spent the night aground a week ago. It looked all innocent. A mile further I passed Sanders Creek that on that night I had considered going to to anchor in, and I'm glad I didn't - it was so shallow I'd have been aground again.
In the middle of the Bogue sound I was distractedly fiddling with the autopilot and let my attention be off the chartplotter for a moment - and promptly ran aground again! It wasn't very hard this time, and with the current against me I was able to reverse off the shallows. This is really not as easy as ocean sailing, unless you can concentrate on the chartplotter without a break for 10 hours. I'm glad the Caprice has a strong keel and protected rudder and propeller, else I'd have to worry about whatever damage she might suffer from this. I stopped counting my groundings now.
Before I was approaching the ocean outlet I slowed down for an hour to reach that point at high tide. Best would be a bit after high tide to take advantage of the tidal current, but I didn't want to wait too long to arrive still at daylight.
All went good and I reached my favorite spot at the bottom of the bay just before the sun set. Another sailboat is anchored just north of me, maybe I'll meet them tomorrow. I plan to stay here a day or two and harass the horses again!

Saturday, 2. April

Carolina Beach State Park to Mile Hammock Bay



Astute readers might find that I've changed directions. Indeed - I had to change plans, as one often does when cruising. My original plan was to reach Florida, ideally Indiantown, on this trip. My next cruise would be in summer, and I wanted to go to the Bahamas. It's an unusual time to head to the Bahamas, but my timing is all messed up primarily because I'm cruising only part-time.
With my delays initially in 'Little Washington' (the name the locals have for Washington, NC), and the detour to Cape Lookout, and then my stayin in Masonboro and the State park much more than imagined, my progress was so slow that I couldn't even be sure to reach Georgia this trip. That would then mean that I'd be cruising Georgia and Florida in the heat of summer.
With the predicted wind and current for today going NE, I made a decision to reverse course and plan an entirely different trip for the summer - the Chesapeake. I always felt it was a shame when I had to bypass this last fall (although I'm glad I experienced the trip down the coast, including the grounding). So I'm heading back to Cape Lookout, my favorite anchorage so far, and then back through the sounds to little Washington, and store Caprice there one more time. It's actually a good base for a boat, I think.

I had planned to stop at an anchorage just south of Figure Eight Bridge. The description in Active Captain sounded nice and I found it indeed easy to reach, and enough depth. Notice by the way how much of this area looks - the beach is developed with many cottages and homes, and then a bank of wilderness, and in there the ICW.



Unfortunately the wind was rather strong today, and predicted to become even stronger overnight. This anchorage also has a lot of current from the tides, so I felt it was going to be too wild overnight, and decided to keep going. I was able to motorsail almost the whole day, which was great to make good time. At some bridges where I had to slow down I actually just sailed. It was a great day.
Just before Mile Hammock Bay I scraped the bottom again, this turn of the ICW is really bad and there's continuous dredging going on. It was just a ridge and Caprice plowed through it.
I reached Mile Hammock Bay at sunset and found only three other boats in there (at peak season it's often full with 20-30 boats). The wind howled all night but this place was well protected.

Friday, April 1

Carolina State Beach Park

As the weatherman predicted, today was a pretty poor day to sail, with gusty winds and rain showers, and too cold for my taste. I decided to stay put another day and walk in the park instead when whether permitted. Caprice was pretty lonely in this 'secret' marina. There was only one other cruiser docked, an elderly couple on a Mainship cabin cruiser.




The hut you see see on the dock is actually a floating home of some adventurous soul.

I was searching for the famous Venus Flytrap Plant here, this park is famous for it. Unfortunately I couldn't find the beast. It's too early in the season and the shoots are small and don't look like much. Instead I found this:


I don't know what it is but it sure looks pretty.