South Through North Carolina

October 21 – 23, 2011
With great travel weather in the forecast, there was a mass exodus from the wall at Chesapeake, VA.  We were all in a line waiting for the 8:00 a.m. Great Bridge opening.

Squinting required

I tried to take a shot of what we have to see on clear mornings when we are headed in the same direction as the sun is rising.   Even though FLUKE has raked windows that have anti-glare protection, the direct sun can still be blinding.  If the windows are dirty, it can be impossible to see out of them.  With all the glare, reflection, close quarters, and other moving boats, we like to have all “eyes on deck” to help with seeing what's ahead.

Our goal for the day was to make it all the way to the south end of the Alligator River where the Alligator Pungo Canal begins.  It is one of my favorite natural areas on the whole ICW, and I always write about how magical I think it is, especially at sunset and sunrise during calm weather.

Since this uninhabited area is so vast and isolated, on a clear night, like we had, the Milky Way looks like a big belt of thick foam in the sky.  A city person would think they must be on a movie set since so many stars are visible.  By looking through our binoculars into the heavens I can see the diversity of star size, color, and brightness, and it is breath-taking.  The night chill doesn't even distract me from scanning the sky.  Groupings of stars take on a three-dimensional appearance and look like jewels on black velvet.  The vastness of the universe makes me feel “smaller” than the tiniest particle of matter that I can think of.  I am so lucky to see these wonders of nature.

Beating the sun

I could have said that this was taken when we were setting the anchor since we arrived right as the sun was setting, another day of about 75 miles.  We were the last boat of 20 in the area to anchor for the night.  However, this is Eddie getting ready to pull up the anchor the following morning.  By the time we had the anchor up and chained cleaned off, there was enough light to see so that we didn't run over a crab trap buoy since they are numerous in that area.

Lovely in lavender

When the sun rose enough to bring color to the swamp, we were treated to a morning cloaked in all shades of purple.  The clouds were reflected in the glassy calmness of the water.  The swamp mist clung to the shore vegetation until the sun's rays burned it away for another day.  A lone bald eagle perched on a snag and cautiously watched us pass through his territory.

Hello sunshine

The big cloud bank on the eastern horizon extended the morning sunrise.  When the sun could peek through the clouds, the tree silhouettes provided an interesting shoreline panorama.  Sunrise never lasts as long as I wish it would; it is my favorite time of the day when the swamp is being lit up and bathed in all the gentle colors of morning light.

Who goes ahead?

The mist clung to the canal for quite a while where the vegetation was near on both sides.  Look closely to see the sailboat up ahead.

Another golden day

When the sun rises up high enough, it casts a golden glow on the shore line vegetation.  Notice the diversity in the hardwood trees and grasses, coming into their Fall colors.

Yearlings

Creatures of the night, like these two young deer, will be scampering into the underbrush when the sun rises higher and the rest of the parade of boats goes by them.

Swamp rescue

Since we were the lead boat in the “pack” leaving the anchorage that morning, we were the first to come upon this sailboat that had either grounded itself on the bottom or on an underwater log.  As we approached, the captain motioned for us to come closer.  I called on the radio and asked what they wanted, and they asked if we could pull them free. We felt sorry for them since it was a young couple with a small baby, and the woman couldn't do anything to help because she had to hold the child.  We had to be cautious in how close we could get since we didn't want to run aground either, and we drew more water than they did.  So, we approached them with our bow.  The captain threw a line over to Eddie (took four tries), and we had ample power to pull them free.  The “law” of the sea says you always lend assistance whenever you can, even if it is an inconvenience for you.  I wonder why we can't live like that on land?

So, I hoped you liked sharing our morning on the Alligator Pungo canal!  Those kinds of mornings sure make cruising wonderful.

The rest of the day was uneventful as we went another 75 miles until we reached South River, across from Oriental, NC (a boating mecca).  We planned to anchor there for the night and half the next day until we moved to a better staging area to make an offshore run out of the inlet at Beaufort, NC to sea places southward.  It is a great area to anchor because there is a LOT of room, and you can try to tuck in on either side of the river, depending on the wind direction.

The weather forecast for the next couple of days indicated we should have good sea conditions to make an offshore run to Charleston, SC, requiring one night at sea.  We had about 20 miles to go to get to the inlet, where we would anchor for the night so we could get an early start the next morning.  So, we left South River around noon.

Dreams aground

We had to travel through the Adams Creek Canal area, which had sustained damage from Irene.  A couple of large vessels were still stranded.  At least they weren't in the water where cruisers would have to worry about running over them.

Sitting pretty

This stretch of the waterway doesn't have much in the way of scenic natural areas.  So, I try to find other sights to entertain myself.  These house colors and the porch chairs added some real brightness to an otherwise rather dull stretch of the ICW waterway.

Castaway?

It was very easy to spot this inflatable raft aground in a marshy area right alongside the waterway.  At first I just assumed it was some kind of water toy that had blown off a boat.  However, upon closer inspection, I could see that there was a body lying close to it.  What a weird place to stop and take a nap, if that was what this guy was really doing.

Just after 4:00 p.m. we arrived at the Beaufort inlet.  We had talked several times about trying to anchor in the inlet, right off the beach by Fort Macon and the Coast Guard station, so that it would be easy to get out the inlet at first light.  There was some confusion where an underground cable area was supposed to be located according to our nautical chart and there were no signs on shore indicating exactly where the cable crossing was, so we picked the best spot we could with the information at hand.  We found there to be great holding, and the wind kept our bow pointed toward the channel, helping to minimize roll from the few boats that came in late in the day.  If we had been there earlier when a lot of boats were coming in, their wakes would have made the anchorage too uncomfortable.

Almost to port

We were treated to a show of two tugs assisting this ocean freighter through the inlet and over to the port dock, visible from where we were anchored.

We breathed a sigh of relief the next morning when we pulled up the anchor, by itself, without a cable attached!   The anchorage had been quiet and calm through the tide changes.

We had an easy, smooth exit out of the inlet, with the intention of saying goodbye to North Carolina for 2011.