Oriental, NC

Who is this man?

Oriental is an interesting old sea town. Lots of boats, power and sail plus a shrimping fleet.  Anchoring in the harbor is almost a chore, not lots of room. Of course, Joan found several shops that needed her inspection.  Only thing that saves me is, no more room on the boat.  We did take a walk (about a mile) to the West Marine store.  Need a part for the barbecue that I dropped overboard. Never fails.

Flat Water

She likes this porch!

Kids playing on the swing

Java is out there in the harbor.

You have got to be kidding me!

There are two free docking spots in the harbor, which were taken already. We were sitting at the Tiki Bar doing what most boaters do - DRINK. When this guy in a 44ft tried to tie up to the end of the dock blocking the other two boats in.  Dockmaster said watch this, he let the guy get all tied up and then called the local police.  This is not permitted..  Police showed up and in a few minutes after much talking he moved on...  Arn't small towns wonderful..

Got Hurricane Sandy coming up the coast and we plan to move over into South River and anchor down.  Only problem with the place is that it is a electronic black hole. So once we move over this afternoon we might not have any contact for three days.  Stay tuned...

Sitting still....

Alligator-Pungo Canal

We have not been moving very much, just enjoying the trip.  Transition south across the Albemarie Sound with 15kts of wind from the north which pushed us across real fast.  At times we were doing 8kts of speed.  Then through the Alligator Bridge into the Alligator River.  Once in the canal it was a beautiful day, sun keeping you warm and no waves.

Mirror smooth

Our own private grass mat floating by at anchor

Dowery Creek Marina

 https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=35.531563,-76.534882&spn=0.026088,0.034418&t=h&z=15

Morning fog..

Today is Tuesday 23rd, will be doing some engine work, checking the values, washing the boat down just small stuff killing time.  Will leave here on Wednesday...

Slowly moving south

No pictures tonight

We left Portsmouth this morning around 8:15a so we could make a bridge opening at 9:30, made it with a large tug pushing a barge in front of us. Eight boats went through with him. Now down to the Great Bridge Lock system. Barge, 3 power boats and one sailboat squeezed into the lock. We could not fit along with several others. We had to wait for about a hour and a half before we could be locked thru.  On the other side of the lock is a bridge that has to open for everyone. We decided to pull over to a free dock and spent the night. While motoring down from Portsmouth I noticed we were blowing some black smoke out the exhaust, this indicated a problem with the fuel.  Needed to change the fuel filter in case we picked up some crud from the mixing we got coming down the Chesapeake Bay.  Things turned out ok after changing the filters.  This free dock is great. Shopping is a quick walk down the road for just about anything you need.  We will continue south in the morning.
We only moved about 12 miles today...

It's a real bitch not having a schedule to maintain. Do whatever....

Fast Run

We left the dock at Cobb Island about 8am and started the journey south. Winds were favorable at about 15 to 20 kts from the SW on our starboard beam. As we move down the Potomac we started taking gusts 25 to 30 but we had already reefed the sails and by the time we reached the mouth of the Potomac at the Chesapeake Bay we were taking gust to 40kts. By this time we were triple reefed. Made for a wild ride. 

Due to the sun going down in a couple of hours and the wave really kicking up we went into Reedville, VA and spent the night.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=reedville,va&hl=en&ll=37.838462,-76.274557&spn=0.054227,0.071068&geocode=+&hnear=Reedville,+Northumberland,+Virginia&t=h&z=14

Got up at sunrise on Tuesday, Oct 16 and started south again we had a a 55 nm run to the entrance of Norfolk harbor.  During the night the winds had moved to the NW which was forecast for 15 to 25 kts.  For a change the weather man got it right.  The Bay was very choppy and mixed waves. Wave were running 3 to 5 ft smacking in the butt, but was making for great speed.  Under sail 90% of the way, we made Hampton in 10 hrs.  A little wine and rum and it was good night to all.

Ft Monroe

As we were dropping the anchor for the night we notice lots of black smoke coming from our exhaust. This was caused by have very little fuel in the tank and it getting shook up from the ride down the bay. On Wednesday morning, I drained the primary filter of some gunk and everything turned back to normal.  Will probably have to change the filter by the time we get to North Carolina.

Start of the Intercoast waterway (ICW)

On Wednesday we moved down to Ocean Marine Marina and fueled up. Saw some friends at the marina and then moved a few hundred yards to a free docks at the foot of High St in Portsmouth.

We will stay here for a couple of days and continue south on Friday. 

More to come..

Have We Left Yet?

Spent the day doing the final cleaning and provisioning. Every system has been check twice. I’m tired and want to go south.  Only thing left to due is put the frozen food and small stuff onboard. Monday morning depending on weather which should be good - WE ARE GONE...