Author Archives: dolcevitaville

Passage to Morehead City #37

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Tuesday, May 21

Folks, remember you can track our position in real time by going to the following site:

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0zf7trF8VCXlbrj72vkGsUkDo8QIe8hEO

We left our anchorage in Belhaven at 5:30 a.m. It was a beautiful sunrise.

We traveled through the Pongo River into the Pamlico River and by 8 a.m. we were in Goose Creek. There were lovely homes along the creek.

 

It was a beautiful sunny day. We passed sailboats headed north

Ralph used vinegar and Purple Power to clean dead bugs off the ceiling. We had quite a mosquito invasion the night before. Arlene cleaned in the galley.

We saw a fisherman tending his pots.

Around 8:30 a.m. Goose Creek narrowed into a canal. This canal connects Goose Creek and the Neuce River. Along the way we saw damage to the trees along the banks, possibly caused by a hurricane.

 
 
 
We passed a marina with several large fishing boats.
 
 
 
 

Arlene tidies up the screecher line.

We would eventually see a few private homes along the canal.

By 9 a.m. we left the canal and entered the Neuce River. Our plan was to travel about 65 miles that day. Our destination was Morehead City, close to Beaufort, NC. Beaufort, by the way, is pronounced Bo fort just like Beaumont. In South Carolina there is a Beaufort pronounced Bu fort. Go figure.

We pass a green square with a gold triangle on it. That means it's really red so leave it to the starboard side. There's much to learn about navigating the I C W.

Stephen was at the helm for several hours. At 10 a.m. Capt. Ralph took the helm again. We would be on the Neuce River for several hours. It's a large body of water, once again almost like a bay. Eventually we would go south down Adams Creek to a large bay where Beaufort and Morehead City are located.

We saw many sailboats sailing north. We wished we could be sailing too, but, alas we were still heading straight into the wind. That's pretty much the way it is this time if year. Many folks from the north have taken their boats to Florida or the Bahamas for the winter. This is the perfect time of year for them to travel back to their home ports in the northeast and Canada.

At 11:30 Arlene takes over the helm. Th helm is a very sunny spot today. It's a gorgeous, sunny day.

We had grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch. Here's Stephen cleaning up the galley.

After lunch Franci moved into the helm position and got to take the boat through Adams Creek. There were many homes along the way. It was a very scenic journey through Adams Creek. Nearly all the homes had private docks. Many were vacation homes.

 
 

At 3 o'clock we arrived at our destination, Morehead City Yacht Basin. The part needed to repair the front beam was there and Ralph and Stephen started immediately working on that repair. Meanwhiie Franci and Alene took the courtesy car to West Marine, the grocery store and the liquor store. They also got more ice from the marina.

At West Marine a gentlemen named Steve helped them buy Stephen a trolling rod and reel and all that he will need to catch a fish along our way. He's very excited about trying to catch a fish.

By the time the girls got back to the boat, the guys had completed the repair. Ralph and Arlene hosed down the boat until she sparkled and shone once again. No more nasty dead bugs. We refueled and topped off the water and we were ready for the next leg of the journey,

After showers for all, we walked down to Raps, a charming little pub where we had drinks and dinner. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting the waitress, bartender, cook and management. It was a very fun way to spend our evening. Ralph knows all the good spots.

Life is good.

Fair winds,

Franci and Stephen

 

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Passage to Belhaven, NC #36

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On Monday, May 20, we left Coinjock at 5:30 a.m. We put the screecher and bowsprit back on.

We had oatmeal for breakfast.

It was a bumpy ride across Albemarle Sound. We saw several sailboats along the way. This one's a ketch which means that it has two masts. The rear mast, called a mizzen mast, is forward of the rudder post and shorter than main mast.

Franci enjoyed a turn at the helm.

This gave the captain time to catch up on his paperwork.

Stephen took the next turn at the helm and took us to the Alligator Bridge and into the Alligator River.

 

The Alligator Bridge is a swing bridge and it opens for you by request. When the winds are higher than 20 mph they cannot open the bridge at all for anyone because it becomes too difficult to close. After passing through the bridge you call the bridge master again on VHF and say “Thank you”.

Shortly after passing through the bridge there were thunderstorms all around. We put out the lightning strike preventer. We put down the eisenglass, but actually we never got much rain. The storms seemed to be going behind us.

We had prime rib sandwiches for lunch. There was a jet plane buzzing around us making lots of noise. Soon the quiet sound of naps took over. The captain drove on through the Alligator River.

At 2:15 we left the Alligator River behind and headed into the Alligator Canal. The canal connects the Alligator River and the Pongo River. Belhaven, our destination, would be in the Pongo River. We rolled the eisenglass back up. It had warmed up and there were no more thunderstorms in the sky

 
 

We passed several boats in the canal who were headed north. This one is called a Gemini.

We passed under the new Fairfield Bridge. Ralph and Arlene recall when they had to wait for the old bridge to open.

We saw three boats ahead. Stephen said it looked like school just let out.

At 3 o'clock we had tea time. The cookie of the day was Ginger Snaps.

There's a lot of farmland along the canal. Occasionally you would see a house.

Eventually we came to the Wilkerson Bridge. After that we would be in the Pongo River. Franci got to take the helm and steer us to the final anchor spot close to Belhaven.

 

By 6:30 that evening we were anchored in a lovely spot. We had been 88 miles that day. We were the only boat around.. On one shore we could see some private homes, One of them was over a hundred years old and had been a plantation before the civil war. We're not In the north anymore. Ralph and Arlene said that at one time it was a very cool restaurant. There were also new condominiums and numerous other private homes.

For dinner Arlene made us the best fish taco spread we've ever had. Food continues to be great here on the Dolce Vitaville.

The evening ended with a major mosquito invasion. We quickly put down the eisenglass and killed and shooed off all we could. Happy hour was over. We quietly retired after that.

Life is good.

Fair winds,

Franci and Stphen

 

Passage to Coinjock (continued) #35

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Alas, we did not make the11 a.m. opening and we settle in for an hour long wait.

 

We took pictures of Canadian geese families. Mom and Dad watch over the young ones together. Very sweet.

The ukeleles came out and we had live music. You can catch the audio on one of the posted videos.

Finally we made it through the bridge and stopped at the Atlantic Yacht Basin for fuel.

 

They gave us this cool screwdriver with a magnet on the other end as well as a couple of pens.

 

At 12:35 we arrived at the Centerville Turnpike Bridge. We expected a 25 minute wait but the man said,”Come on down to the bridge.” He opened the bridge.

This one is called a swing bridge.

We are no longer on the Elizabeth River. This is called the Chesapeake Canal but it is still the ICW.

At 1:30 we came to the North Landing Bridge. We contacted the bridge master and he said come ahead. This would be our last bridge and our last hang up.

Franci enjoyed her time at the helm. The canal is narrow with trees and bad stuff on either side so it is important to stay right in middle. Driving with sharp attention to the depth gauge helps as does looking back at the wake occasionally.

At 2 p.m. it began to rain. Stephen and Arlene put down the eisenglass. We had things open before. It is no longer cold, I don't think we'll need our long underwear anymore.

At 2:30 Arlene brought up the snacks……ham, cheese, apples, crackers, chips, humus, blue cheese dip, bean dip and mixed nuts. She took over the helm so Franci could take a break.

Stephen and Franci worked on a couple if new knots…..a sheet bend used to connect two ropes of dissimilar sizes and the rolling hitch used with the anchor harness.

3:15 Capt. Ralph is back at the helm. We finally passed La Rosa Marie, a boat we had been following since the lock. Later we would have the opportunity to help them navigate the channel into Coinjock Marina. The canal opened up into some sort of bay although they call it the North Landing River.

Here's Stephen down below for a little blog time.

There were no ships in the ICW although we did see a couple of barges. We understand the barges like to run at night after yachties have docked. The canals and locks are narrow. Most the ships go outside into the Atlantic

The lock by the way served mainly to keep salt water out of fresh water. There was very little level change..

At 3:30 we had pecan sandies and tea, another refreshing snack. We were also able to roll the eisenglass back up. The sun was out again.

We arrived at Coinjock Marina around 5:30 p.m. Before arriving we took down the screecher and rolled in the bowsprit because boats at Coinjock are tied close together.

 

It was also at that point that we turned around to help the guys on La Rosa Marie navigate the narrow entrance into the harbor.

Franci helps get the fenders and dock lines ready.

 

The Marina was great. The boats were tied close together. We got a nice spot at the end of the dock.

 

We were able to get rid of trash, clean the boat, top off the water, take showers and buy ice.

 

The Dock Master, Louis, lives in this charming house with his wife and two children. The landscaping was impeccable. Ralph and Arlene recall when they lived in only the small cottage in the front. The waitress, Colleen, recalls when Louis lived in an apartment above the restaurant. It's truly a little community. Very charming.

Dinner was marvelous.

Homemade Potato Chips

Salad

Prime Rib, we got the mate's cut (smaller than the 32oz Captain's cut) for obvious reasons.

Crab Cakes

We forgot to take a photo of the apple cranberry pie we topped it all off with.

Life is good.

Fair winds,

Franci and Stephen