Captain's Blog

  TRAVEL DAY 37 - Alligator River to Columbia April 25, 2023 7.0 Hours/57.6 Miles     There are a few other "Loops" inside the Loop. One is the Albemarle Loop . It is a series of 10 stops around Albemarle Sound. Many that offer free docking. We don't intend to visit all 10 cities but will try to do a couple on our way to The Great Dismal Swamp and our last few stops in North Carolina before transiting to Virginia. Scuppernong River Cypress     We knew the winds would pick up later in the day and the Albemarle Sound can be rough so we pulled anchor at a little before 7 am and motored into the larger portion of the Alligator River. It was a lot calmer today and we had high hopes for an easy transit west on the Albemarle Sound.   Alligator River Swing Bridge     As soon as we went thru the Alligator swing bridge is was clear that it was going to be a little "sporty". The wind was blowing in from the NE and the waves were hitting us on the starbo...

  TRAVEL DAY 36 - Belhaven to Alligator River April 24, 2023 5.22 Hours/36.4 Miles     We had run our fuel down to as low as I wanted to comfortably go. I am still trying to nail down our fuel burn. We left the municipal dock in Belhaven and proceeded to the fuel dock at Belhaven Marina. The dockmaster hadn't arrived yet so we tied up and waited 10 minutes. The fuel pump is a good 100' from where we were docked. They have long delivery hoses that extend to the end of the docks so they can fuel at virtually any spot in the marina. Beth went to the pump and using the handheld radio called out the gallons as they ticked by "...30, 31, 32...". This is a great way for me to get a handle on what I am putting in each tank. We put in 70 gallons of diesel even though our gauge showed near empty we still had 28 gallons left. I am pretty confident now that my fuel burn at our 2000 rpm's/8 mph is right at 1.9 gph. Clearing the Breakwater at Belhaven    It was slightly overc...

  TRAVEL DAY 35 - Oriental to Belhaven April 23, 2023 6 Hours/47.4 Miles     The interesting people we have met on this journey. The day we pulled into Oriental, a guy in a 32' sailboat nosed in to the slip beside us. He looked pretty rough and tired. We helped him with his port stern line. After he got settled we chatted some. He said "Do you like sailing books?", "Sure, I love boating books" I replied. He handed me a copy of his book, Sailing Into Oblivion . In 2017-18 this guy sailed his 32' sailboat "The Mighty Sparrow", solo, non-stop and circumnavigated the globe. 271 days at sea! I said "Dude, you're going to need to autograph that book for me!" Jerome Rand    We pulled out of our slip Sunday around 9 am with the intention of traveling 3 hours to an overnight dock. R.E. Mayo Seafood has a cheap ($30) overnight dock, the best inexpensive fresh seafood and best of all, the cheapest diesel. It was about noon when we got there, and...

  TRAVEL DAY 34 - Morehead City to Oriental April 21, 2023 2.83 Hours/23.8 Miles     To say we lost a week would be a lie. What we feared would be lost time turned into probably one of the most fun stops. With the repairs complete, we waived our short term home in Morehead City goodbye and set our sights for Oriental, NC.  Oriental, NC     The terrain and foliage constantly changes, the marshes again gave way to higher bank elevations and larger trees. We traversed Harlowe Creek to the Adam's Creek Cut and then across the broad Neuse River to Oriental. There was a heavy smoke from some sort of fire, so thick on the river, we could not see the other side.     The town of Oriental was named after the Sailing Steamer Oriental, a Federal transport ship during the Civil War. The Oriental ran aground in May 1862 and wrecked off Bodie Island, 33 miles north of Cape Hatteras. Originally called Smith's Creek, the wife of the newly appointed Postmaster, Reb...

  TRAVEL DAY 33 - Mile Hammock Bay to Morehead City April 13, 2023 5.30 Hours/40.1 Miles     We left the anchorage early in an attempt to catch the Onslow Beach Bridge opening. We were too late, we saw the open bridge, radioed & asked if they would wait for us. "Capt'n, I'll open again at 8:30". Oh well. We eased up to the bridge just as the boat behind us called and asked what the current height was "Looks like 14 foot". Cool, we dropped the top and antennas and slid under by 2'.   Morehead City     We got another perfect day and all was good. I was fighting a small amount of water that kept showing up in the bilge for the past couple of days. My engine was telling me something and I had yet to figure it out. I had Beth at the helm while I went to the engine room to see if I could decipher where the drip was coming from. Beth practices her boat handling     When we reached Morehead City Transient Dock, I radioed the dockmaster but didn't incl...