Cruising up the “inner banks” of NC

The past two weeks have been truly lovely. We’ve had an amazing time buddy boating with our friends Jo & Robbie, cruising through NC and into Virginia via the ICW. The area is as beautiful as it is remote. We’ve enjoyed several pretty anchorages, exploring in the dinghy (looking for bear, fox, deer, alligators – without much success!) and honed our 500 card game skills. We feel extraordinarily fortunate to end our 2016 season in the company of such warm and wonderful friends.

Here are some photos from our travels which I’ve broken down by anchorage. Our first stop was just east of Oriental, NC, seeking shelter from s/sw winds.

Barge on the waterway

Mellow day on the water

Gratuitous pretty photo of Southern Star 

Several osprey were nesting on the markers, only red though, they must not like the green!

Calm before the storm

Anchored just off the river

On our way to Oriental

Small town America, everyone we met was so friendly!

Easy dinghy ride in but not so easy on the way back

 One big gust and we did a 180

One heck of an evening storm

Jo & Robbie treated us some amazing grilled prawns that evening (prior to the storm!)

Our second night we tucked in to Bonner Bay, NC. looking to shelter from the sw winds. It was a gorgeous area and we were happy we chose this anchorage when a mean storm blew in that evening (again).

Coast Guard training: towing 

Anchoring in Bonner Bay, NC

Exploring in the dinghy. Man was it hot!

Yet another evening storm, one gust was up to 50!

Our next stop was a popular anchorage just west of the Pungo Canal. Normally there are a few boats here but we’re late in the season and I think most folks are already well up into the Chesapeake and beyond by now (and it’s too late into hurricane season to see many boats heading south).

Passing by Hobucken some dolphins came to play

Our anchorage just SW of the entrance to the Pungo River canal

There are some very big bugs here and equally large dragonflies to eat them

Another evening storm came through that night, it started off so pretty!

We spent two nights there and took the opportunity to go exploring. We headed out in the morning to beat the heat as it was forecast to be 95 degrees that afternoon with a “feels like” in the low 100s. Heading west on the Pungo River, we travelled up the Pungo River until it turned into Dogwood Run, covering about 12.5 miles. We stopped when we came to a bridge that Petal couldn’t fit under. It was Gorgeous! I took far too many photos but it was stunning, I have to share a bunch. Wildlife sightings included an otter or beaver carrying a read to its nest, a big black water snake, numerous hawks, a turtle, an osprey and a bald eagle. The evening was topped off with a game of 500 and one of the best curries I’ve ever had. It’s really, really nice to have friends who cook so well J (Actually, the evening was ultimately topped off by yet another mean night-time thunderstorm).

Photos from our morning exploration up the Pungo River/Dogwood Run:

Friday morning we headed out early for the longest travel day of this trip. We passed through the Pungo River Alligator River canal, up through the Alligator River, across the Albemarle Sound and tucked into south end of the North River where we anchored, again looking for shelter from west wind and a possible evening storm. Along the way we spotted deer and an enormous turkey. Apparently we just missed a black bear swimming across the canal - we chatted with a sailboat who had sailed right past him, even making eye contact!

Saturday we had a very short run up to Coinjock Marina. This marina is known for 2 things – cheap diesel and excellent prime rib. We’ve only been once before and they had run out of prime rib so I called ahead. She asked if we wanted the 16 oz. I thought that sounded like too much so I asked what other portion sizes they had, thinking to down size. “16 or 32” was the reply. So what I took away from this is that no one leaves Coinjock hungry!

Hanging on the dock at Coinjock

Reality set in Saturday afternoon as we both started working on our “to-do” lists for getting Blossom ready to be put into storage. That night we all ate prime rib, of course, we ate a lot, in fact, and it was delicious!

Prime rib at Coinjock

Jo working the cards for our 500 game

Mama duck and 6 ducklings crossing the river at dusk

Sunset

Sunday we headed out early and made it to AYB by early afternoon. We had to squeeze through a bridge that can only half open (it’s been repeatedly smashed by towing vehicles - ouch!).

Southern Star squeaking through

Barge coming by

But otherwise it was a quiet trip full of osprey. (Up here they seem to prefer the greens)

Osprey nesting on the (green) markers

We arrived at AYB early afternoon. We're at opposite ends of the dock so there's quite a walk to get together!

Blossom on the south end, Southern Star on the north

Barge waiting for the bridge at sunset

It was a nice surprise to find that there are several restaurants within walking distance so we enjoyed a nice dinner out on the water.

 View from the restaurant

Guys and beer

And now the work begins! The plan is to spend the next few days prepping Blossom for her off season. She’ll be in the (brackish) water and under cover for the next 8 months or so. We’re pushing our cruising season forward next year as we plan to cruise the northeast, exploring the Chesapeake, going up to New York to visit family and possibly as far as Boston. Our thought is that the following year we would head farther north to Maine or possibly beyond. So our 6-month season will shift to April-September for a couple of years.

This is our penultimate post of the 2016 season. I’ll be back with one last blog post (obviously, with some input from Martin), detailing our preparations to store/winterize Blossom. That will likely be one big “Boat Business” blog post.

Boat Business:

• Engine starter battery/smart charger. For the second time this year, our smart charger decided to take a little break. We realized the battery was critically low when the engine wouldn’t turn over. Martin paralleled the start batteries and we were on our way but we need to trouble shoot why this happens every once and a while.
• Seeking balance. We’ve been running lighter than we ever have over the past week or so. We’re down to just over 300 gallons of fuel, had very little fresh water and not a lot of black either. We were shocked at how differently she sits when so light! All things being relative, it felt like we were bobbing like a cork in the evening storms. We figure we’re about 4 tons lighter than “normal” and all 4 of those tons are from the bottom of the boat so it really makes a difference. We prefer her heavy! She’s also “dressing left” more than usual. We don’t have enough fuel to balance her out. One of Martin’s to-do’s is to move around some ballast this week so we aren’t so left-heavy.

Cape Lookout, NC

Our next destination was going to be Beaufort, NC but I happened to be reading a fabulous blog (Dirona, these folks are amazing!) and they mentioned they had stopped in a beautiful, sheltered anchorage called Cape Lookout, just 7 miles or so east of Beaufort. We hadn’t anchored since leaving the Bahamas so we thought we’d give it a go. (And we're so very happy that we did, thank you Jennifer & James!)

Southern Star underway

We left Charleston early Monday morning, heading out with Southern Star. It should have been about a 30-hour trip but we had some head winds with choppy head seas and it ended up taking about 32. Unfortunately, even with half a patch and my bracelet, the first 12 hours were queasy. Conditions improved continuously over the passage and it was calm and lovely by the time we arrived. I shared a night shift with Jo and we had a great time chatting away on the radio – it went by so quickly!

As the sun came up I was treated to a gorgeous sunrise. Then I check behind to take a look at Southern Star and whoa – there were some storm clouds on the horizon!

Sunrise

Southern Star under the clouds

Luckily, all those clouds dissipated and we never saw any rain. As we approached land and got within cell range we were so happy to get word that Giddy Up and Sunday Morning had changed plans and they were on their way to join us, arriving the next day. And another mini-Nordhavn gathering is born!!

We had a quiet evening the day we arrived aboard Southern Star. They hosted dinner and treated us to an amazing Australian barbeque. OMG, we eat so very well! We also got bit by a bug of sorts, one which I’m mildly obsessing over I might say… Jo & Robbie taught us their favorite game, 500. Oh my, I’m not really a game person but I’m already completely hooked. I’ve even managed to download an app to work on my strategy. J

Cape Lookout Lighthouse, several pics because it was so pretty!

Views from the Lighthouse

The anchorage is part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore Park. It’s large, very well protected and beautiful. It’s home to an amazing number of animals, several species of birds nest here, loggerhead turtles nest on the beaches, and there are wild ponies inhabiting some of the islands as well. I was stunned to see a seal playing in the water when we anchored!

Giddy Up and Sunday morning arrived the next afternoon and we had a bird's eye view of their arrival from the lighthouse.

Giddy Up and Sunday Morning rounding the bend, arriving to the anchorage

Gorgeous boats in the anchorage J

Welcome, Jim!

That afternoon we went on a tour of the area in two dingies. We were hoping to see the wild ponies. Not only did we see them on land, but we rounded a corner and spotted something in the water… We went to investigate and found swimming ponies!

Anne & Tracy

Cruise w/ massage, lucky lady! :)

Gull

Horses on Shackleford Island

What's in the water over there?

Swimming ponies

On Wednesday we all went in to Beaufort. We had no idea it would be such a circuitous route, taking us about 2 hours as picked our way through the shallows and shoaling to get there. It was a much quicker return once we had the track on our GPS. We enjoyed walking the main street, checking out shops and had a nice lunch.

Van, Tracy, Jim & Anne

On the way we passed Wind Horse, Steve Dashew’s prototype FPH boat. She’s very impressive and we lucked out and got to chat with the new owner as well.

Views from our day trip to Beaufort:

 Wind Horse

Blazing out of the anchorage under a dramatic sky

So picturesque 

 Interesting bird houses

 Kiddie sailing school

Our days at Cape Lookout went by in a blur of fabulous company and fine food. We had dinner parties on Blossom and Giddy Up. And if you’ve heard the rumor that Anne makes the best chili on the planet, I’m here to confirm that the rumor is absolutely true! 

It’s a party!

A walk on the beach, ocean/bay side

Loggerhead turtle tracks, covered by tire tread :/

The dunes, home to several species of sea birds

4 Nordies in the anchorage

When we first arrived, we had the anchorage pretty much to ourselves. But we awoke Saturday morning to find that we were in the most happening place around! It was 4^th of July weekend and everyone was anchored out and on the beach. It was a gorgeous day and fun to watch everyone enjoying it.

Blossom in the center of the action

All too quickly, our time together at Cape Lookout was over as Giddy Up and Sunday Morning headed out a day ahead of us to their next destination. We were sad to say good-bye but happy for the friendships forged! We have our fingers crossed that we’ll be seeing everyone again further north next year. 

Robbie brought out his drone out and took some magnificent footage of the 55s heading out.

  

It was a beautiful exit and looked like synchronized boating!

Our last night in the anchorage, Jo & Robbie treated us to another fabulous Australian Barbeque and a game of 500 on the fly bridge. Life doesn’t get much better!

Barbeque & Chef :)

500 and a view

And then, Sunday morning we were off to anchor outside Oriental, NC. I’ll leave that adventure for our next blog entry…

Boat Business:

• Whole lotta drag. Blossom struggled quite a bit on our way to Cape Lookout. Given the numbers (increased engine load, increased fuel burn and increased shaft temperature) we suspected a dirty bum. Martin dove down and found we had a very dirty prop so he gave it a clean. We were back to normal cruise when we left, so problem solved. We picked up a lot of critters in Charleston!
• Exercise the wing. The wing prop also had lots of small barnacles so he gave it a clean and then we drove around our anchor circle and bore down on the anchor a bit to work the wing engine/shaft/prop.
• 20k gen. The gen is being a little temperamental. It’s been hot and humid so we’ve been running the gen pretty much 24/7. If it gets a spike in load the breaker will pop and it seems to be weakening, popping more and more frequently. We can control it with power management (shutting off a couple systems) but we’ll need to replace that breaker when we reach AYB.
• The leak in the air conditioning system seems to be solved. Martin reports that we haven't lost any pressure in the water loop since he recharged it last week.