Thankful...even in 2020

With hopes of heading offshore for the next big leg of the trip south, we decided to book a mooring in Carolina Beach, NC for a few days. While it was somewhere new to explore, it would also allow me to cook up a Thanksgiving feast without the added challenge of getting bounced around by seas or heeling while cooking.

The town moorings are cheap, but in great shape. For $20 a night you don’t get anything really other than the mooring, but there is a dinghy dock with public restrooms (and outdoor beach showers!) and trash bins nearby that is one block from the beach, and another dinghy dock “in town” that gets you in reach of restaurants, a laundromat, and groceries. My first impression of the town was great—a guy and his kid waved and shouted a welcome to us from their dock as we grabbed our mooring. My second impression came while I was walking to do laundry and it wasn’t as good. It was a beach town, with fast food, surf shops, knick knack shacks, and a lack of sidewalks outside of a few block area. Thankfully I shook that trip off and headed to the beach with the family for some exercise and...I liked it. The wide beach was pristine and relaxing to walk along as the cool water lapped at our feet. Ah...

Our kids did school on Thanksgiving while the adults hit the beach for a nice long walk. Lots of families were out enjoying the day, but we could all still have our own space. After school, I took the kids to the beach again for a chilly dip in the water and some body surfing attempts before we got cleaned up in the outdoor showers. We’re a little crazy, but it was fun! And we took a family photo!

After a quick Zoom call with my family it was time for our feast! Cornish game hens in the oven, brussel sprouts on the grill, potatoes and stuffing on the stove...it was a dance! Once the birds were out, the stuffing went into the oven and I got to work on gravy. Throw in deviled eggs, cranberry sauce, and apple pie that had been made ahead and we had dinner! I think this was actually my best boat Thanksgiving yet, and both meat eaters and vegetarians were happy! I loved the challenge of timing the whole meal with the limited cooking space. And geeking out with a Star Wars movie after dinner capped the night perfectly. This isn’t our first “small” Thanksgiving so the curse of 2020 wasn’t a huge shock, but even I will be happy when we can have more folks around a table.

We left on “Blue Friday” and headed offshore out of Cape Fear Inlet bound for Charleston. It sucked for about a half hour while wind and tide were against each other. Poor Trent got sick twice! But it’s calmed down and we are making great time so for a second year in a row, we are blowing right by Charleston and heading for Beaufort! Katreina is on deck with me and sunrise was cloudy, but still pretty!

10 nights of cruising the ICW in NC

When we compiled our stats for our first year of cruising, it was really fun to see how we'd spent the year between anchorages, moorings, and docks. Just for fun, I decided to drill down a bit on a 10-day chunk of our transit south this season!

After spending a week at a full-service slip (water and power) in Norfolk we cast off the lines and entered the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway to head south. How did we spend the 10 nights after that?

1—Free dock (no power/water), Great Bridge, VA. Pumped out holding tank and filled diesel before getting underway the next day.

2—⚓️ Anchored south of Coinjock, NC

3—Free dock (no power/water), Elizabeth City, NC. Headed ashore for dinner and laundry (and showers at Grandma's)!

4—⚓️ anchored in Alligator River, NC

5—⚓️ anchored in Alligator River, NC

6—⚓️ anchored near Dowry Creek, NC

7—⚓️ anchored in Belhaven, NC. Headed into town for dinner.

8—Free dock (no power/water, but free restrooms and pay showers) in Oriental, NC

9—Free dock (again) in Oriental, NC. While in Oriental we visited the Farmer's Market, brewery, marina restaurant, and local marine/general store, 

10—Pumped out holding tank, filled diesel, filled water and anchored in Beaufort, NC

The only free dock in Oriental that could handle our draft!

And I wrote this over two days--one at anchor in Mile Hammock Bay and now we are on a mooring ($20/night) in Carolina Beach. So I guess really this is a peek at 12 days!

This is a pretty typical routine for us. We tend to get fuel/water/pump out about once a week while on the ICW. We ate out some so that kept our water consumption down, but we do shower and cook on board most of the time. We never came dangerously close to running out of water over the 10 days. When a town offers a free dock we seek out ways to pay back the community and will try to do some shopping and dining out while we are there. We tend to anchor or take moorings a lot. We just don't need much from a marina facility and we like to be on our own, especially during a pandemic. I guess if you're into land travel, we boondock a lot!

We are going slow this trip. We've only really slowed down due to weather once (on the Alligator River) and have been trying to hit places we've skipped in the past.  At this point, I'm ready to do laundry and get a load of groceries, which we should be able to tackle while in Carolina Beach. We are going to stay put for a few days before hopefully catching a window to head "outside" and further south!

Losing a member of the crew

When we started cruising full-time we expected that there may be starts and stops. We thought the kids may push to have a “normal” bit of high school, or maybe we would settle for a bit for work, but I can’t say that I imagined we would lose a crew member before they turned 18. It’s our own fault, really. We have traveled with the kids since they were babies, encouraging them to explore the world and learn about cultures by immersing themselves in it. 

After a year of French in public school and a year of DuoLingo French, our 2nd Mate decided she was interested in a foreign exchange program. We’ve researched, discussed, thought...and this week we put down a deposit on a full year exchange program in France for her sophomore year in 2021-2022. Application is still pending, and we have COVID concerns, but it seems to be a “go.” I am excited for her, but at the same time my heart is breaking just a little. Just a year ago I retired to spend more time with my kiddos and now one is leaving me. But it will be good. Everything will be good. 🇫🇷

Tears of joy (I swear!) 😭

Great Bridge saga 2020

On our trip north last year we discovered the free docks on the south side of Great Bridge and LOVED them so we decided to do a short day out of Norfolk and just stay there for a night. We hit every single “normally open” bridge in the down position, but had an easy pass through the locks and secured a spot on the south docks. After a little jockeying of boats, our cruising family friends on S/V Traveler got a spot, too! 

We visited the museum, hiked in the woods, and had a peaceful night. We didn’t have a long day planned so we lazily prepared to leave. 

Then we got word that the bridge south of us had been hit by a barge and was closed to sea and land traffic. Boats that had left early started returning to the dock. I went for a walk in the woods and while I was gone, they announced that boats could pass. I ran back and we got underway, but we had to stop for fuel and a pump out. We knocked that out and we were off. Not so fast! When we were 1/2nm from the bridge, they shut it down again! I was so upset that my hike had possibly caused us to not get through! We hung out a bit, then decided to return to the dock. The locks had been closed due to high water, but soon a bunch of boats would come through looking for somewhere to dock and we wanted to be set in case this bridge was a long-term thing. 

We decided 1300 was our absolute cutoff for departure. We chatted with our friends, watched all the other boats milling about, and chatted with a friend of ours that was northbound and stuck at the bridge. At about 1230 word came that the waterway was open. We all quickly got underway and this time WE

MADE IT! And we got to see our northbound friend!

Why was this a big deal? We could have hung out where we were, but technically there is a 24hr limit on the dock. More concerning was a front coming through Sunday that we are trying to get to Elizabeth City ahead of, but we have a few options there. This was all just another awesome example of why we really don’t do schedules as part of our cruising! 

Ok, so how did the day end? We went 38nm and dropped the hook off the ICW south of Coinjock about an hour after sunset. We can make EC tomorrow. It all worked out!

A new MWR experience—Norfolk

A few days of smooth seas and peaceful anchorages near Solomon’s Island and Deltaville delivered us to Norfolk and yet another week in a marina. I know, we are really changing it up this year! 

Why Norfolk? It allowed us relatively easy access to public transportation so that we could continue to move our car south and the MWR marina at Naval Station Norfolk had a great reputation and great weekly rate. It was also close to family and friends. Hands down, this is the best MWR marina we’ve been to so far when considering amenities, condition of the docks, and staff. 

We didn’t really explore the sites of Norfolk (unless you count the paintball field and skate park), but we visited with local and NC friends, gave the topsides a coat of wax, and filled the bilge with food and drinks. I’d call that a good week. Oh, then the remnants of TS Eta hit and flooded everything. So much rain!

We would definitely hit this marina up again...maybe in the spring!

When size matters

Ok, fine—size matters in a lot of aspects on a boat (don’t get me started on the spare nuts/bolts box), but this time I’m talking about storage and clothing. Storage is a constant struggle on a cruising monohull with four crew...the food, parts, gear, books, clothing. 

When we lived in a house storing clothes wasn’t a problem. Even with my slew of military uniforms and our outdoor gear we never really pushed the limits of our closets, especially when we had a guest room! Once we moved aboard the boat we simplified our wardrobes a bit, my uniforms moved to our storage unit or my office, and we routinely purged items that don’t fit. 

Well...most of us purge items that don’t fit. After a recent bout of frustration with how some things were fitting I came to the realization that I was holding on to a wide range of sizes in my one drawer. In the house or pre-cruising I could get away with keeping the skinny, mid, and “more robust” wardrobes, but I’ve got to just let it go.

Today I ditched one of these sizes and bought another pair of jeans in the “right” size. I even got rid of a few shirts that were ok, but just not that flattering. I may wear the same few outfits over and over, but I’m getting better at making sure they are actually comfortable and compatible with boat life (sturdy and easy to care for). It’s a process!

Cambridge...revisited

Over the years we have visited Cambridge, MD a few times. There was the infamous grounding near the town wall, 4th of July fun, Oktoberfest, anchoring in the middle of the town basin (‘cause the wall incident sufficiently scared us off of that option!)...all visits via boat and all several years ago. I’ve always wanted to explore the eastern shore a bit more and the Skipper came up with an awesome plan—stay at a marina in Cambridge (great rates!) for a week and bring the car over so we could really explore. And it was AWESOME! Logistically this plan required me to cast the crew off and drive around each time we crossed the Bay, but the kids have really become truly helpful hands and that went very smoothly.

Cambridge Yacht Basin provided safe, clean home for the week, hurricane Zeta provided some weather excitement, and homeschooling allowed us the flexibility to explore. Cambridge businesses that we visited took COVID precautions seriously and we felt safe while out and about.

The highlights? Assateague National Seashore and State Park, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park, and just walking around Cambridge and enjoying street art. We also really liked hitting up RAR Brewing for dinner and drinks—great brews, food, and staff! 

Assateague and the horses!

Blackwater NWR

Harriet Tubman NHP

Around Cambridge 

RAR Brewing

I’m glad we came back. Even without a car, I would come back. I think we had a different perspective on this visit since the kids are older and we all really liked it!

Southbound!

 It's November so it's time we got serious about pointing this boat south! We have been enjoying dockside living in Cambridge, Maryland for almost a week, but with temps in the 50's and hours of daylight dwindling, we are ready to move along. Leaving the Bay will always be tough for us as we have so many friends and family here and we love the cruising! 

We are also considering a trip to see our Midwest family. Between weather and COVID we go back and forth as to whether or not this is even a good idea, but for now we are going to keep moving the car down the coast with us so that we have the option to drive inland should we decide to go for it. It's 2020. Nothing seems to be easy.

So, what's the plan? Gale warnings are in the forecast tonight through tomorrow night so we will be staying put! After that, we will start working our way down the Bay to Norfolk where we will hopefully snag a slip for about a week to visit some more family before we continue on. A bridge on the ICW had been damaged earlier this week, but it was repaired last night so cruisers can make their way to North Carolina via the inside route again. Outside around Cape Hatteras can be sketchy, so it's good to have the inside option.

We're only a little behind where we were last year. Some cruisers religiously leave by a certain date each year, but we're a little more flexible. In this type of life, I think you need to be. I guess we'll see if this was a bad move or not as we keep moving along.