Hushpuppies, a Cat and all that Southern Hospitality

Welcome Back!

And so we keep on going, having travelled in 'trains, planes and automobiles', 

we finally arrive back at Deja Vu in Fishing Bay Marina, Virginia.

We have mixed emotions, having left family to continue our trek south to Florida. Our rally of 15 other boats began the week we headed back to Canada, and are well on there way ahead of us (10 days ahead as of this post). We know we will struggle to catch up and oddly enough, as much as we so looked forward to the companionship of other cruisers on this trip, we are quite ok with taking it slow. If we took anything from our recent family members passing away, we take this: Don't rush through your life, take it slow and make sure you have fun.

When we arrive at Fishing Bay, Wednesday October 28,  we are faced with heavy rains, coastal flooding, and very high winds. The higher-than-usual tides bring the water to near fixed dock height. This makes it impossible for us to even step off the bow of the boat, as we are just too high up to safely 'jump' off. We wave to a few cruisers opposite and although we discuss being abandoned on our ship for the day, we don't try to lave. I was going to do some laundry, but hey, laundry can always wait, right? Best time to make soup, watch a movie and even paint with some water colours.
Perfect rainy day.

Sunshine and 23C, shorts on!  Woohoo! With winds WSW 15-20 knots and gust to 30 knots, we head into the gorgeous sunshine day, joining a handful of other boats who are also taking advantage of this perfect weather window too inch further south.

We've left late, (10:30 am)  but getting going is a bit harder after our sea legs are just moving a tad bit slow. We are headed to Hampton, Virginia, approx. 6 hours.
The sea air and warm sun remind us that we are indeed sailing south.

The naval helicopters fly the skies and make for some hard-to-catch pics.

Nice and windy for sailing, finally!

We put our main sail and catch some wind, although it's behind us, Deja Vu loves the high winds!








We are never ever alone on these runs, as the freighters keep us awake and as the day is nearly done, we are somewhat cursing this guy as he cuts across our path in the channel to our marina.

There is a golden rule on the seas here and that is to let these big guys move on by.
We try to contact him on VHF, no answer. Without knowing if he is going into the same channel as us, going left or right, we are stuck behind him.




We decide to go around him on his port side and then we see him somewhat stop his tug. He detaches himself from the barge he was tugging and steers around to push the barge.

With daylight leaving us and an unknown harbour ahead, we are becoming slightly a bit anxious as we pass him, but happy to know we will make it in to the marina and tie up before dark.

We pass this huge red marker on our starboard side.

Here is Old Point Comfort Marina, with a breakwall that has a narrow, angled entrance. 

This is the way we came in. Can you see the naval ships in the distance?

And this is the way we came out. It never looks wide enough. But we bend the boat somehow.

 There is great history here, as this was once a marina solely used by the navy and their families. The marina is across the street from a few well designed streets with large brick homes that were once accommodations for the officers and their family. Today they remain lovely, with new owners, and remind us how things change yet stay the same.

The large brick building behind the marina is the Hilton.

What has changed is the restaurant at the marina, newly renovated and located on top of the marina, offering deck waterfront dining, overlooking the slips and harbour.

Flounder basket

Hushpuppies - flour and cornmeal deep fried, a typical southern dish.

We didn't order these, but the Hushpuppies are served with every order as a side.
Apparently these are 'just like my momma makes', says  our cute server named Taylor.

Not quite the wake of dawn, but pretty close to it - we are up, showered, and off the dock early.

Never tired of that sunshine and 23C, with little wind.

Today we are in for a treat. Crazy that the channel is open for boaters, fishermen and even cruise ships to pass the naval parking lot.

Anyone for a game of Battleship? 

You can see some men on the deck, under the flag. Look how small they are!

State Police patrol the waterfront.

Can you see the top of the black submarines? 

The Carnival Splendor, the largest Carnival ship ever to sail from Norfolk, offers a half-dozen cruises from the city's Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center, including a seven-day Bermuda voyage in October. Just this past May, Carnival offered a new series of cruises, including a 5-day Bahamas trip.

Mile "0" of the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) is pretty much around the corner from the bow of this cruiseship in Norfolk. The ICW is marked in miles (unfortunately not nautical miles) in our charts,
all the way to Miami, ending at Mile Marker 1089.

Carnival has offered cruises from Norfolk for the past 13 years, however in June 2014, they had announced they would discontinue due to environmental requirements that were too costly for the company to endure, related to the sulfur content in fuel used by these big ships.. However, just this past January, Carnival and the Environmental Protection Agency came to an agreement and cruise schedules started this past spring, as the ships have installed 'scrubbers' on all 32 of their vessels, which cleans the exhaust from burning the high-sulfur fuel.

I also heard that Carnival runs cruises out of Baltimore too - so that WAS a cruise ship I saw that day when we were at the Maryland Yacht Club. So, if flying is not your thing,  all you mass-market cruisers could rent a car and drive to Baltimore. Car Rental: $100 from Buffalo International Airport to Baltimore International Airport; 7 Day Bahamas Cruise, Oceanview room, mid-ship $679 per person. Might be a good deal, I am not sure, as we've never taken a ship larger than ours on the ocean.

The next few corners are pretty hairy, with bridges and turns and traffic of all kinds. If one bridge opens on time you are said to be lucky and hope the maintenance schedule is updated as well.

Many obstacles and challenges that we are familiar with from our first experiences on the Oswego and Erie Canals, including the locks, were well worth it. Deja Vu is once again a motor boat along the river, and as we approach the Great Bridge Lock, we realize how important those canal and lock days prepared us for this one.

Too close for comfort. My camera is NOT on zoom.

We are crammed in beside this hunk of metal. The lift down is just about 4 feet with little turbulence.

We have chosen to dock on the free dock, alongside a park. Our location is just within a few blocks of restaurants, banks, gift shops and groceries. We are able to watch all the traffic too, going through the Great Bridge. After some retail therapy, I come home with fresh fruit and veggies and make a yummy stir fry. A quiet night with little traffic along the water.

Happy Hallowe'en! 

A bright day brings early rowers along the water and the first bridge opening at 7 am for huge yachts. We warm up our engine and head through the 8:30 lift of the bridge, as 3 huge yachts lead the way.

A misty morning along the canal water makes for a spooky and beautiful day.

It's 2 pm and we've just crossed the border and are now in North Carolina, headed to one of 2 marinas in the town of Coinjock. We have called Coinjock Marina and was told there was no space, but they would call and let us know. We were so happy to have found Midway Marina across the river from them.

With open arms and a big hug, Terry, the owner, give us a warm southern-style welcome. 

"It's how we do it down south, give lots of hugs." When Tony asks if we should settle up and pay for our day, Terry say, "Whoah, where do you think you are, Florida?". We laugh and he tells us the story of cruisers like ourselves that were abruptly asked to reserve a space at a marina in Florida with their credit card, although he was just 30 minutes away. "It's just how they do it in Florida. No trust whatsoever. It's a shame." We agree and take a deep breath and relax. We'll be here for a few days as a nasty storm passes and our next long day involves crossing the Albemarle Sound.

We are quite happy to not be on the other side of the river. We've named it Gasoline Alley, as all the huge power boats gas up there. We've realized after being here a few days, that they seem to turn away sailboats, reserving space for the big boats who fill up 300 gallons or more. I see the business side of it, although we did hear that Coinjock Marina jacks up the price for these gas guzzlers. They never did call us back.

Crabbie's Bar and Grill served us a nice salmon dinner, while in costume on Hallowe'en night.

So for any cruisers heading this way, please enjoy the southern hospitality and homemade cooking from Terry and his wife at Midway Marina. The building itself needs some TLC, however, the showers were fine and laundry too.

Maybe our next boat?

River traffic as we are docked at marina.

Midway Marina doesn't sell gas/diesel this season but will start up again in the new year.

We've been hearing reports of our friends south of us, having a terrible time, as boats are hitting ground over and over. TowBoat US is apparently just sitting near waiting to help out. The shoaling in the area has created very little wiggle room, and when one boat is aground, and another goes around them, then that boat is aground. At one point, we heard of 4 boats aground in this one area, and those boats had 5' drafts or less!! We discuss and determine we have to avoid this area completely (Swansboro to Wrightsville). We decide to plan our trip to Beaufort (say Bo-Fort), North Carolina and have our friends from Canada come down to help us do the off shore run.

After 4 nights at Midway Marina, at the discounted rate, we leave on Wednesday but not before we do our regular boat checks. Hmmm. what do we have here?

Tony cleans out the strainer (water intake for the engine) and predict we will have a few pieces of long marsh grasses but we were not expecting this guy!

This is a channel CATfish. It's about 2 inches long, found in our strainer.

Here is the size they can grow up to be!! So happy we let him go.

Some of these catfish can weigh above 100 lbs. (Photo courtesy of Google)

The river water is a gross brown colour and appears to look like rootbeer. We find out it is quite contaminated, as bubbles form when boats create any wake at all.

Very eager power boats pass us many times along the way. Most are polite and slow down to avoid the wake.
Not this guy. The wake is damaging to shoreline, as trees try to hug onto the mud bottom,
but bashing of waves loosens them until they fall.

 

Eager boaters converge on the Alligator River Swing Bridge. We hail the bridge master on VHF16 and he waits for us!

It's Wednesday, November 4th, the mist is rising from the North River and we have a relatively good forecast ahead for us to cross the Albemarle Sound. If the winds forecast were from the south, we'd be chopping into it. And if winds were above 30 knots then the Alligator River Bridge would not be opening for anyone! Our winds are from the NW and no too bad at all.

Along our river voyage, just after we left the marina, I spot this deer crossing the river in front of us!

Once we cross the sound we are travelling south down the Alligator River. We are going to an anchorage, as there are no marinas that can accommodate our deep draft along the way. Active Captain tells us about a few places to anchor. With storms clouds all around us, but a quiet night forecast, we settle in at area just off of the main channel called "Jitka's Corner".
This anchorage is huge and could easily take 15 boats with plenty of swing room.

Tony wearing the latest in technology - Marriage Savers headset.

The main channel in the distance.

Anchored at Jitka's Corner. When we wake up, a total of 8 other boats had joined us for the safe night.

...and here comes another boat to anchor in the 13 ft water.

The sunrise is always the best. I love waking up early to grab the best shot I can. I may be scantily dressed but there are no rules for photographers on this trip.

No editing here, just raw shots.

Later that morning, as we come up to raise the anchor, I catch this boat leaving and spectacular pastel colours reflecting on the water. I have NOT touched this pic up. It's raw and beautiful as can be.

A few ripples of current and not a sound. The starry night gave way to a lovely morning.

Our forecast this morning is light rain, giving way to clearing in the afternoon, 25C.
Today's 6 hour travel takes us to River Dunes Marina in Belhaven, North Carolina, tucked nicely inside a $6 Million dollar breakwall.

We are sitting in 8 ft of water at the slip. Breakwall in the distance, rock wall closer to slips.

HOT HOT HOT!! With all vents open, temps reach over 30C.

Complimentary golf carts to drive - into town.

Yes, yes, we drove into town to have dinner at the Tavern at Jack's Neck and the next day to get groceries at the Food Lion.

Famous for the pizza. It was way too much. We had lunch the next day.

Every piece of handcrafted wood from cypress or pine, all local items.

This was a new addition on the day we were there. He needs a name. Care to suggest one?
I think he should be named Phil the Bear.

Cute little nooks to relax at the end of your day.

Here's a little tour of Belhaven, taken from our golf cart on Saturday, November 7th.

There is a Find the Crab tour you can take, marking a map as you find the critters painted on sidewalks etc..

Main street one-of-a-kind thrift shop!

These two building are owned by the marina.
The small building offers bungalow style rooms for accommodations
while the large manor offers event space for weddings etc..

Palm trees grow very well in this southern climate, although they will see snow in December.

Marina in the foreground. Nearby public beach with a sign warning of the contaminated waters.

Waterfront park.

Here is a view of the public beach and park from our slip at the marina.

We have a delicious 'local farm to fork' lunch

 This is quite a different decorative restaurant called The Spoon River. This was recommended to us by fellow cruisers. The food choices are fresh and what is available. Today's fish was shrimp.

Very different way to sell/serve the beer or wine.

 We were greeted by our server and told we could either order a drink from him or we were free to choose from the selections in the room connected to the main dining room. Here houses many, many wine and beer choices. We could either by a bottle and they would cork for us to drink with lunch, or we could buy and take out. The same for beer. We ordered local beer they had on tap. Take out of beer or wine was 35% off.

What an extra treat - homemade ice cream and gelato! For those of you who do not cruise on a boat,
you won't fully appreciate just how lucky we were to have ice cream!!

We sleep very well after such a lovely day cruising the town. Our grocery trip was about a mile away and it was quite odd driving alongside the roads, with full sized cars passing you. We couldn't help but smile though, as the locals, either in car or on the street, waved to us and said hello. The southern friendliness is so comforting. It reminds us how things used to be.
Saturday night was very rainy and windy, and brought that cool weather.

Sunday, November 8th and we are off at 8 am to Oriental, North Carolina, to stay at River Dunes Yacht Club. We hear it will spoil us rotten. We like to spoiled.

Our weather is clearing for the day but only about 10C and as more than 8 boats leave the general area behind that break wall in Belhaven, we have just today to get to the next point before another rainy, stormy and windy few days is upon us.

Our winds are great and we sail for an hour and a half, winds gusting to 33 knots, but consistent at 20 knots. Deja Vu shows us 9.2 knots as we cross the Pungo River. This is a first.

So cold we have our toques and life vests keep us warm.

You can see the other sailboats in the distance. With this wind, we catch up quickly!

Huge fishing boats in a small river, connecting the larger Pungo River to a larger Neuse River.

This is the Neuse River. No editing done here. Leftovers from previous days weather. The ocean is very near.

The red roofed building in the distance is the club house for River Dunes.

Millionaires Row

Deja Vu brings us safely into River Dunes Marina, down a very lovely, protected and very shallow channel.

We check in at the clubhouse, take a walk around and with our jaws dropping open, we realize we are not in a marina. We enjoy our discounted rate of $1.00/ft, as we are privy to the rates our rally has been enjoying all the way down. Hoping the deals will continue.

After the long 7 hours day of sailing and fighting the waves. we enjoy a simple but delicious dinner at the clubhouse restaurant and turn in early.

We are here until Wednesday, then we head to Beaufort, North Carolina. Hoping the internet keeps me connected to everyone. Cell service was next to nil in this area.
More pics to come of this lovely village-type resort club....stay tuned.

Love and hugs,
Sailor Christine
xo