Beaufort to Atlantic Yacht Basin (AYB), traveling up the inside

Sunset on the Pungo River

We spent last night anchored out on the Pungo River. We had a nice barbeque to celebrate Labor Day and went to bed early so we could get an early start on Tuesday.

Sunrise on the Pungo

Tuesday started off with an impeller check. In the night, our 9K gen overheated. We switched to the 20K so we could keep the AC on.  In the morning, Martin and Jim checked the impeller but it was fine. We ran it for about 2.5 hours this morning before it abruptly overheated and shut down again. Add one to the fix-it list!

Checking the impeller

The past two days we’ve been traveling up the inside, along the ICW (intracoastal waterway). These were our first inside passages.  It’s a very different experience - slower, narrower and shallower.  There’s more to look at but less time for sight seeing for the person at the helm. When running on the outside you set way points and let the autopilot do its job. Your job is watch the horizon and radar for obstacles.  While traveling up “The Ditch” you have to keep to the channel, often very narrow, navigate by markers, and there’s more traffic to avoid.  Jim took us through a couple of channels where at times we were only seeing 1.5 feet under the keel!  We’re not sure if that’s accurate, we’ll be calibrating the depth finder when we get to AYB.  He’s been through this area multiple times and wasn’t the least bit concerned. Martin and I decided we’d go the long way around if it were just the two of us J  We have a long way to go before we’ll know the boat and waterways as well as Jim!

Martin relaxing while Jim mans the helm.

Bald Eagle

Horse fly approximately the same size as the bald eagle

We’re getting very comfortable on Blossom.  The more time spent on her, the more familiar we become with her sounds and movement.  This is important, not just for comforts sake but also for safety. We’ll recognize when something is amiss much more quickly if we’re accustomed to her normal state.

We’re also finding all the little tweaks that need to be done as well as some bigger issues. It’s great to have a knowledgeable captain aboard with us to help trouble shoot any issues that arise.  The list of things that we want to do while Jim is still with us is growing longer.  In fact, we have 2 lists now. One is a training list and the other a fix-it/maintenance list.

While at AYB:

·       Dometic is coming out to put the new harness on our second chiller and hopefully will help us locate the AC leak. 

·       We’ll ask a mechanic to look at a strange yellow liquid that has dripped under the main engine. The small leak just happened today. It’s not oil, coolant or diesel. The guys are stumped.

·       Ask for some help with the 9K gen that keeps overheating

·       Change the oil on the main generator

·       Change the racor filter on the transfer pump

·       Get 800 gallons of gas

Once we’re done at AYB we’ll be free to head up into the Chesapeake and “play”. We’ll have less of an agenda so we’ll head north, anchor and dock and train on a few skills:

·       Deploying the tender

·       Deploying the flopper stoppers

·       Anchoring

·       Docking

We’ll arrive at ABY around 9:00 this evening and stay for two nights.  In the meantime, using AIS, we’ve been tracking our friends Sean & Louise who are making their way south. The gap is closing – we’ll be cruising together soon!