Monday, May 14, 2018

Through the Chesapeake and on to Charleston

*Spoiler Alert: I didn't get this blog entry off before we left the inlet at Beaufort. We're safely docked in Charleston and very excited to get a good night sleep tonight. More to come next post!*


We’ve had a really pleasant journey south through the Chesapeake. The first two nights we anchored out along the western shore of the Bay.

Gorgeous Sunset outside Solomon’s Island (anchored with another Nordy!)

On day 3, Martin noticed some water in the bilge and a quick search found the pump which cools the hydraulic system was leaking. It wasn’t a terrible leak but we’re planning on being off shore for a while so anything to do with stabilizers is a priority! A quick call to ABT (the stabilizer folks) and we had a pump overnighted to AYB where we were planning to stop for the night. What great service!
We got docked at AYB, took on 700 gallons of diesel, pumped out, and then settled in. AYB was pretty busy – the northward migration in is full swing.  We’ve seen dozens of folks headed north but no one else is heading south. Salmon swimming downstream as it were…

A few boats waiting for the bridge – all northbound

That night we had dinner at Vino, a great Italian restaurant across the street from AYB.  We got back to the boat just in time as a beautiful storm came through. Look at those clouds!



Pretty stormy sky, I couldn't stop taking photos

The rain was welcome as the pollen is insane around here. We hoped the rain would rinse the yellow haze off of Blossom and knock it a bit out of the trees. I’m sneezing noticeably less today so I think it helped.

In the morning I road my bike to the store to do a little more provisioning. The pump came early so Martin and Jim installed it and we were all done with our chores by noon. And so…off we went. It was a quiet day down to Coinjock. Martin was even wearing his shirt when we arrived! Have you ever heard of Coinjock?

Not many people have 😊

Boats at Coinjock

Coinjock is best known for cheap diesel and excellent prime rib. Our tanks were full but Martin enjoyed the prime rib.

Osprey on their nest



Beautiful views

Saturday morning we were up before dawn and off the dock at 6am. It was a long day for the guys driving through the swamps. We picked up some deadly looking insects that beat against the screens trying to get in. The horse flies here look like they could chomp off a big toe. One got into the boat, took 5 electric shocks with the fly zapper and lived to tell about it. Yikes!

Eagle

The view along the Pungo Alligator Canal

After another long day, we anchored just off Pamlico Bay. We enjoyed the view and discussed our next move…

A beautiful evening at anchor!

The reason we’ve been moving right along and not stopping to smelling the roses is that we’ve been watching the weather, hoping we could catch a window to Charleston. We’ve decided we can as long as we push on and get out of Beaufort early afternoon today. The seas aren’t my favorite (just call me Sea Sick Steph) but I put a patch on and have my fingers crossed. The system coming in is going to lock us in for a few days and we’d rather be “stuck” in Charleston, one our favorite cities. We’ll also be a bit further down the coast where we’ll have a better chance of sneaking out more quickly once the front has passed through.  

This morning was spent prepping Blossom for the passage. It’s been so long since we’ve been off shore! We tied down our fender boards, cleared the decks and stowed the deck furniture. I have curtain rods set in the fridge and coozies on my glass bottles… Here we go!
See you in Charleston…

Boat Business:

  • Pump leak. The pump which cools the hydraulic system began leaking en route to AYB. ABT had a new one to within 18 hours. Pretty slick! We’ll rebuild the old one and keep it as a spare.
  • Transformer issue. The boost function of our isolation boost transformer failed (meaning we couldn’t hook up our 2nd 50amp cord at the dock to get AC). Martin was able to bypass it so it wasn’t a big deal. We’ll add that to the “to-do” list for when we get to St Pete.




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