Coinjock
Leaving Coinjock
On Saturday we took off and headed south to travel the ICW heading toward Beaufort. It was an uneventful day
and I had a bit of a headache so it was a wash other than the guys
taking us south.
Passing through the Great Bridge Lock
We docked in Coinjock, NC,
a sleepy little town nestled on the ICW. There’s a restaurant there that’s
known for its 34oz prime rib. Martin was willing to give the smaller, 16oz cut,
the old college try but alas, they were out of prime rib. A sad evening.
I was happy that we had to dock port side at Coinjock. I was
going to ask that we do that while Jim was aboard with us again. Blossom is asymmetric,
which means that we can only walk forward on the starboard side. This makes
docking on the port side more difficult because we have to go up to the boat
deck to hang fenders and put out the center line. We also removed the stairs in
the cockpit that lead to the boat deck so we have to run around the starboard
side of the boat to get from the cockpit to the upper boat deck. We made the
decision knowing that it would be a pain and that we would always prefer a
starboard tie. We’re hoping the added room and drier cockpit will outweigh the
inconvenience we encounter when we have to tie port side. So it was good to have the opportunity to
practice. It’s definitely more complicated and not preferred, but it wasn’t
horrible.
Sunday, we headed out early to get through the Alligator
Canal and anchor in the same anchorage we stayed in on the way up. I decided to make my favorite Tom Ka Kai soup
for lunch. It was quite rolly as we crossed the Albermerle Sound and I got to
use our stove fiddles – tightening them up to keep the pot from sliding across
the stove top.
Using the stove fiddles
Oops, we’re aground!
That got your attention, didn’t it? It did us too!
By early evening we had made it to the Alligator Canal. The
Alligator is a very narrow waterway lined by forest. The center channel is
narrow and dredged to about 12 feet so the barges can come through. The sides shallow
quickly and are lined with old tree trunks and stumps. Martin was below doing an engine room check
and I was in the pilot house poking through quilting books looking for a design
for my salon door panel as Jim captained Blossom. All of a sudden an alarm sounded that read “rudder
limit reached” and she took a hard turn to starboard (right). I looked up as
Jim was trying to take control of the boat from the autopilot. In a matter of seconds, womp, we
were at a dead stop. The canal is so
narrow it didn’t take long to hit the side. Poor Martin came running up from
below with a look on his face that I hope I don’t get to see too often.
In his fashion, Jim was calm, explained that the autopilot had
gone bat-sh*! crazy (my descriptive words, not his…) and explained how we would
try to get back in the channel. We
turned on and revved the wing engine so we had our thrusters. He thrust the
stern into the river (deeper water) and then put her in reverse. We slowly slid
backward into the river and went on our way. Yikes! It seems to have been an anomaly (solar flare we could hope?).
I’m very thankful that it happened with Jim aboard so he could show us what to
do to, and so calmly! It reminded me of
when I had vertigo for a couple months and tried to go jogging. I looked down at
my watch, looked up, and then must have looked like I just threw myself into a
flower bush (to starboard no less!) I
think that’s what Blossom looked like – jumping to shore.
We exited the canal a short time later to find our former
anchorage filled with boats. The “southern migration” has begun. This is the
time of year when all the boats from Canada and the NE states start heading south
to avoid the cold weather that’s coming.
Hurricane season, as defined by boat insurance companies, ends anywhere
between Oct 15th and Nov 30th. So everyone starts heading
to the southernmost point that their insurance will allow (Georgia, Hatteras,
Beaufort, etc.) so they can pop down to Florida and beyond when their insurance
allows.
We cruised down river just a little ways and found a lovely
anchorage with no one in it. Strange how everyone flocks together when there’s plenty
of other places to go. Martin cooked up
a great meal on the grill, was visited by bird-sized hornet (at night no less), and we decompressed from our stressful evening. We were in bed at “Sailor’s
midnight,” as Sean calls it, 9pm.
Sunrise sky
This morning we woke up to a pretty, but strange
sunrise. The sky looked cut in half! And our autopilot freaked out
again, but in more open water this time, and we were prepared for it. Thankfully I had taken the early shift, driving us out of the anchorage, so I wasn't at the helm for that one. Looks
like we’ve found another gremlin...
Southward Bound
The weather isn’t looking great for an ocean passage on Tuesday or Wednesday so we’re thinking of heading down the inside to Georgetown, SC.
It’s very shallow and Martin and I wouldn’t likely do it on our own but with
Jim we may give it a try. That means we’d go right by my Mom’s house so
hopefully I’ll get to see her!
Boat Business
- We’ve switched over to the other autopilot to see if the "anomaly" happens on that one. We don’t want to throw ourselves onto a bank again in SC…
- Gray smell returns. We’re getting some odor in our master state room again, but it's not from the closet. Now it seems to be coming from under the floors in the master and in the "basement". Martin tightened a bunch of clamps this morning. Fingers crossed…
- The 9k gen is running like a champ after Martin installed the new wavenet panel. The panel was definitely the issue.
The inside route to Georgetown is not too bad. The only serious shoaling that you will have to time with the tide is at Lockwoods Folly. The Rock Pile is a non-issue if you drive by looking out the window. Few places to stay between Beaufort and New River, so plan your stops carefully. We like Osprey Marina for a stop in MB. Hope your backup AP does not have the same problem -- sounds like maybe a call to Celtic is in order.
ReplyDelete