EC—the Harbor of Hospitality (again!)

I’m sitting in my favorite coffee shop downtown as we wrap our semi-annual visit to Elizabeth City, North Carolina. If you haven’t been reading along with us, the Skipper grew up nearby so this stop, with its 48-hour (-ish!) free docks, makes it easy for us to visit friends and family. We debated skipping it this spring as the city has been reeling from a police shooting of a black resident during an arrest. Nationwide media had been on the scene and tensions were understandably high, but after getting an update from local friends we decided to come. I’m so glad we did. 

Lehe Paine tied up at the free dock at Mid-Atlantic Christian University

We didn’t stay long, but we did manage to see family and friends, restock the boat, clean the boat, hang out in the community, help mom around her house, and visit with other cruisers passing through. The boy and I marked Memorial Day with a MURPH workout at a local gym, I walked downtown almost every day, and the boys got their fill of Bojangles food!

This crew spans Frank’s youth (mom) and high school years (Jesse), our pre-kid years at the marina (Earl and Deb), and the post-Mrs. Jesse years (Rachel’s family). Great night with great friends!

MURPH with my boy and Rachel at No Limit Fitness—1-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, and another 1-mile run!

Dirty work to get the car running, air gun fun, games, and good times with family and friends.

Geocaching along the Dismal Swamp Canal, exploring EC, and drinks around town.

And then the crew left and I stayed! Our car was here (with a flat and a dead battery, but we fixed it!) so I stayed an extra night and will slowly make my way north, staying on the boat when I can.

Our tiny home leaving EC without me!

This town is much like my hometown...similar size, working hard to accept the changing economy, an old downtown separated from the “new” strip malls, trying to bolster change and hold on to the past all at the same time, and for the most part full of hard-working folks that just want to live in a safe, prosperous town. And it, in my opinion, remains as a fantastic stopover for cruisers transiting the ICW.

Day trip to Georgetown, SC

We FINALLY have a window where the wind isn’t out of the northeast coming up! Joy! But with a day to burn we decided to check out Georgetown, SC. The Skipper had been there in college, but this was our first boat visit.

First—the entrance. It’s skinny! We went in on a +0.5’ tide, dropping to -0.5’. So our boat’s spec draft is 6.25’ but as a fully-loaded liveaboard we plan like we are 6.5’ draft because, well, the waterline sure looks a few inches higher than it should! Following the USACE survey tracks we hugged the marina to starboard and watched the fathometer...7.4, 7.2, 6.8, 6.4...GAH!!!!! The bottom is soft and mucky and while we didn’t ground, I have no doubt we glided right over the bottom before getting into the “deep” 8’s. Goodness, it was stressful! But anchoring near the steel mill was easy and knowing that we would be leaving with 2 more feet of water under the keel made me happy. Be forewarned—there is a paper mill nearby so depending on the wind direction you could get a “Fernandina experience.”

All of the museums are closed on Sunday (the day we were in town), but we headed in to check it out and of course find ice cream on a hot afternoon. First impression was honestly not that great. Dinghies at the free dock were tied fore and aft and locked so it was tough to wedge in. Once ashore we found the trash cans along the harbor walk to be totally overflowing—all of them. Then a quick stop at the public restroom almost had me running back to the boat—no TP, no soap, trash everywhere in the women’s, but surprisingly the men’s was much better (and I used it while the boys guarded outside!). I told myself that maybe Saturday was a big party day and the town just hadn’t cleaned up yet and we pressed on. 

Lots of little waterfront parks, including this one with a nice view of our boat!

While several businesses were closed we found a great ice cream place and the winner of Georgetown—Purr & Pour Cafe. This is literally a place where you can get a drink and play with CATS! There is a modest fee, but it’s well worth it as the proprietors are in the business of socializing these cats and finding them homes. With over 145 adoptions under their belts, it seems to be working! The kids spent an hour playing with the cats and will be looking for this type of place everywhere we go.

Purr & Pour

The Skipper and I ditched the kids for a date/route-planning night at Root. We liked the vibe, the cocktail selection, and the fresh, flavorful dishes. And we had a nice view of our boat!

Root

I’d give this one an “okay.” I would like to return to check out the Rice Museum if convenient on one of our trips and see the town when more businesses are open, but I can’t say that I would divert to return. Many cruisers love it here and love one of the vibrant local bars...it just didn’t really grab us.

The steel mill and commercial fleet.

A new adventure...the ICW through Georgia

We have avoided this option for many transits of the area due to narrow channels, shallows that require precise tide planning (especially with our 6'3"+ draft), shifting and silting inlets, and anchoring laws that many other cruisers complained about, but...we decided to keep moving north via the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway through Georgia! Winds out of the northeast (the direction we want to head) just weren't letting up and the timing of high tide was mid-afternoon (so we didn't have to dawn patrol or go through those spots at sunset) so we decided to go for it.

We planned very conservatively and didn't tap the bottom once! We also didn't have any issues with the anchoring restrictions. I think this might be because we weren't trying to get close to docks or shore to relieve pets and we are comfortable trying anchorages that aren't "marked" in any of the popular apps, but it worked well for us. We anchored at Wally's Leg and the south end of Walburg Creek without issue for our two nights in Georgia. And we saw a “site”—the wreck of the Golden Ray!

1st Mate at the helm

The wreck of the Golden Ray, slowly getting removed.

The only real issue? THE HORSEFLIES! Oh my word, there are so many of them! Thankfully they rarely tried to bite but just the shear volume of them was insane. One day Frank got so sick of them flying around his head that we stripped the ENTIRE bimini off! Extreme? Maybe, but it was effective! This persisted as we made our way into South Carolina...

Trent wages war with our weapon of choice, the Bug-A-Salt. When all else fails, rip the bimini down!

After a brief stop in Beaufort, SC for lunch at Herban (our favorite!), laundry, groceries, fuel, water, and pump-out, we opted to continue along on our "new places" journey up the ICW. We anchored at some beautiful spots off Bluff Point on the Edisto River and at Five Fathom Creek. We did some long days to take advantage of the high tide, even going through Charleston and the nearby waters on a weekend which was totally crazy with runabouts, but it was so worth it. 

The ICW anchorages have been lovely!

Weather is looking better and we should be making a hop offshore soon!

We ran aground!

There's a saying among Chesapeake Bay sailors that you've either run aground in the Bay or you're a liar. As we've made our way up and down the east coast of the U.S. via the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (the "ICW") a few times we heard it again, but with a twist--"You've either run aground in the ICW or you're a liar!" Well, we aren't liars!

We earned our stripes and this post's title years ago on the Chesapeake Bay, having furrowed a 6'3" trough at our marina's entrance a few times and touching bottom near the notoriously shifty, partly-marked entrance to Rock Hall, MD...and probably several other times that I've chosen to forget. Our first ICW "touch" was on a spring break trip with our kids probably eight years ago as we made contact with the bottom in an area of known shoaling during a 20kt blow just north of Coinjock. That experience led us to the Coinjock Marina for a night to recover (of course, with their famous prime rib!).

So why is this topic coming back up? We ran aground twice over the past four days! As we departed Vero Beach tracking just adjacent to our inbound track we ran aground! We were thankfully going slow as a manatee had surfaced up ahead and we able to back off, scoot back to the other side of our inbound track, and make for the ICW. Then after a night in Titusville and another in Daytona we headed for our mooring reservation in St. Augustine. It was a busy Saturday on the ICW, but we had a good current pushing us along and Katreina took the helm for a bit. While she was cruising along just right of the channel centerline (still in the channel!) our depth reading went from 18' to 6.5' in a matter of seconds and we felt a "bump" or two! We draw between 6'3" and 6'6" depending on our fuel/water/stores load. Frank immediately jumped to the helm, but the excitement was pretty much over as soon as it began and we were back to having 10 feet beneath our keel. We gave her a little grief, but honestly just laughed about it. She even got some "welcome to the cruisers club" notes from our boating friends. It happens, folks!

Katreina expertly handling the boat traffic on the ICW.

Her "I don't want to talk about it" face after touching bottom.

So are we crappy sailors? I don't think so! Shoaling happens and in places like the Bay and ICW where the water is mud-brown you can't exactly read the depths like you can in the Bahamas, though we have touched bottom there, too, when trying to nose into anchorages. This type of stuff generally happens where the bottom is muddy or sandy, so it's a soft grounding. We use charts, local Notice to Mariners, and the local boating community to learn about places that are known for shoaling and lower speed to minimize the impact should we touch. And we have a tow boat plan in case none of that works!

Could we avoid all of this drama by just staying safely at the dock? Sure, but then we couldn't have great sea stories to share with our friends!

3...2...1...Crew 2 has launched!

We found ourselves back in Titusville on our way north with PERFECT timing for a rocket launch from Kennedy Space Center! We had been tracking the launch schedule for a while and weather pushed a launch right into a relaxed transit day from Vero Beach for us! But first, we enjoyed our favorite Titusville activities...skateboarding and drinking fantastic beer! The kids spent a few hours at the skate park before we hit Playalinda Brewery for their craft root beer and ever-changing beer selection. We got positively soaked on the way back to our mooring, but it was worth it!

The marina skate park and Playalinda Brewery make for a happy crew!

This morning was an early one! I was up at 0515 to get the coffee going, but the astronauts and launch teams had already been up for hours. At 0549 the eastern sky lit up with the glow of the SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket as it carried four crew members to the International Space Station. It was beautiful! We saw a launch back in January, but somehow this was different. You could hear people cheering all around us, you could clearly see the 1st and 2nd stages after separation, you could see the rocket returning to Earth, and you knew that instead of satellites, you had just watch four fellow humans get launched into space. What a time to be alive!

First light from the launch.

Folks cheered as the rocket broke above the clouds.

Kind of love the contrail!

Separation of the 1st and 2nd stage is clear.

The rocket returning to "Of Course I Still Love You" as the sun starts to rise.

As the sun rose we enjoyed seeing photos of the launch from friends from the Bahamas to Charleston...so cool to see the different perspectives. This may not be he fastest, least stressful way to make a transit of the coast, but I could watch that again and again. 

TWO WHOLE WEEKS in Titusville!

I seriously can’t believe it—we stayed in one place for two whole weeks! We haven’t done that since our marina/boatyard stay in June, and it’s not at all how we normally cruise. But...we had our reasons! The launch that was supposed to happen the last night of our first week got delayed...Trent had a blast at a nearby paintball park so why not go again...Katreina was hitting the skate park daily...we had some non-critical parts that we could order...we stayed! 

We decided to rent a car for the second half of our visit so we could easily explore the coast and have some fun. We visited Kennedy Space Center, saw a rocket launch from our boat, perfected skateboard tricks, explored the nearby wildlife refuges, got tons of exercise, and crammed more provisions into the bilge. And for good measure, we knocked out a few projects as well.

KSC was awesome!

SpaceX Falcon 9 launch!

Boarding and paintball—the kids had fun!

Tons of birds and gators to see in the nearby wildlife refuges.

Fixed the composting head vent, scrubbed the inside of the boat, crammed into the lazarrette to tighten bolts, and made new salon pillows!

While we were all antsy at the end of our stay, we would definitely return here. The marina is a good value, there’s plenty for us to do given our interests, and the people were friendly!

Farewell, 2020 from Titusville, Florida!

After a brief stop at anchor in Rockhouse Creek in New Smyrna we arrived in Titusville and picked up a mooring from the municipal marina. First impression—this is going to be a good stop! The mooring is only $100 a week, the facilities are really nice, laundry is cheap, and mobile pump-out (up to twice a week) is included. The location is also walking distance to a grocery store, a pharmacy, and a really good brewery! The real treat? The adjacent park has a sweet skate park! The kids are thrilled!  

Loving the skate park!

We’ve ended the year by enjoying a brilliant full moon, exploring the little island near our mooring, hitting the park for exercise, and exploring the town on foot. We are going to stick around for a week so that Trent can have another paintball experience, we can visit Kennedy Space Center after the local school breaks, and so that we can hopefully see a rocket launch that’s scheduled for the night of January 4th. I’m not sad to put 2020 in the rear view mirror, and pretty content to be welcoming 2021 from the space coast.

Stunning shot of Lehe Paine and the full moon on Dec 29th from one of our neighbors 

Fun on Horseshoe Crab Island

And then there are the sleepless nights...

I’ve said it before...it’s not always cocktails and sunsets! Last night it was sleepless!

We pulled off the ICW by the Atlantic Blvd Bridge and were delighted to see M/V Egret, a boat we’d anchored and moored near a few other times, just finishing up on deck after anchoring. This spot is deep and narrow with a ripping current, and just for fun we had a stiff NW breeze as well. So we had to have lots of scope out for the depth, but not too much because of the limits on swing room, and we had to worry about wrapping the chain around the keel when the tide was against the current. Setting the hook in those conditions can be a challenge, too, and of course the wind and current were against each other when we dropped the hook. We dropped, set, snubbed, monitored, and set the anchor alarm.

We were down by the southern pink anchor mark.

So what’s the problem? Around 2200 the Skipper was monitoring our “track” on the plotter and saw indications of us dragging. As best we can tell, the anchor had set in the deep hole near where we tried to set it. Tide was high, wind was blowing, scope was shorter...about a 25’ shift and we stopped, but it was enough to cause anxiety. We let out more scope and I was plenty awake so I offered to stand the first anchor watch. I didn’t think we were dragging, but the extra scope had me worried about the shallows near us during the tide change. I read, researched things to do along our path, culled my photo collection, and watched our position electronically and visually. We were fine all night, but it was worth having someone watching so that at least one of us could sleep soundly.

We woke to 38F temps, sun, and a chilly wind. After weighing anchor, I hit the rack! 😴 Next stop—St. Augustine!

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!

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!

Free docks! EC to Great Bridge

We left Elizabeth City and opted for some quiet nights at anchor during the holiday weekend. We tied up at Coinjock on Memorial Day to top up our water and batteries before trying out a new-to-us experience—the free docks at Great Bridge, VA! We tied up on the side of the bridge. While the dock doesn’t have water or power, this is a fantastic stop with historical in the battlefield park and a nice system of trails to walk. It was also a nice spot for visitors! Mom came for dinner and an old Navy pal stopped by to see us and deliver a treat—it was awesome!

The location makes for an easy pass through the Great Bridge bridge and locks, too. We got an early start, have passed the Navy base, and are on our way to Deltaville for the night. We hit a bit of fog entering the bay, but our loud speaker horn worked great!

Northbound visit to EC

Elizabeth City, the “Harbor of Hospitality,” continues to hold a special place in my heart. Though COVID-19 currently has the free slips at Mariners Wharf roped off, both Jennette Bothers and Mid Atlantic Christian University docks are allowing transients and the price is right—free for 48 hours! There are also plenty of places to anchor nearby. Many restaurants are offering takeout—try Island Time’s family meals to feed a hungry crew for a great price, Montero’s for a big vegetarian menu, Muddy’s for great coffee, and Ghost Harbor Brewing for tasty brew to-go. The quaint downtown makes for a great place to stretch your legs!

Downtown EC

At the MACU free dock

We spent about a week in Elizabeth City on this stop so that we could help mom straighten out a few things at her house and see a few friends. It ended up being a cool, rainy week for the most part, but we all worked hard at the house and even got a few boat projects done. As usual, the kids also tried to steal our friends’ pets while we were there. 

Kids doing land chores!

Freshened the paint on the chain and cleaned the teak!

A dog! A cat!

It was a lovely visit, but it’s time to move on. We will inch north over the holiday weekend and try to avoid the busy areas. We are on our way to the Chesapeake!

SHRIMP and quiet times

On our way out of Beaufort we needed to get diesel so we hit up the Homer T. Smith Dock. Diesel was cheap, service was awesome, and THE SHRIMP BOAT WAS IN!!! Oh my goodness, they were offloading at the dock and we got these huge, fresh, succulent shrimp for a steal! It was a bring-your-own-container operation and apparently if you stay at the marina as a transient you get an even better price, but we were happy! 

We set out on our lazy trek to northern NC with our daughter at the helm. We had some good sailing, peaceful anchorages, a great F-18 air show on the Alligator River, and delicious shrimp dinner! Tomorrow we will make our way across the Albemarle Sound.

Katreina takes us up the ICW

Fantastic sailing on the Alligator River

Shrimp!

Trent learns the important art of cleaning shrimp.