Florida to Maine 2006

A lot of scurrying around as we finish loading up Windwalker with supplies, our refrigerated/frozen goods and the kitties. Previous days have been spent making provisioning trips, final projects and stowing gear on the boat. We'd stripped off most of our cruising gear to allow room for projects and it's been 3 years since we've cruised. So we're a little rusty! We stored our car and took a cab back to the boat around 4pm. Since we can only leave our slip at close to high tide, we had to wait until around 6pm to start the engine and 'cut the lines'!

Off we go - not too far - it's around 7:30 before we get out from the last bridge and can anchor off of Old Port Cove Marina on the Singer Island side of northern section of Lake Worth. Iris makes dinner. Quiet evening - only a couple of boats on moorings and no one near us. While we may leave tomorrow - Iris tries to make the case for waiting a day to acclimate both ourselves and kitties. Frosty is pretty berserk and her only aim is to get on deck. Dusty is anxious to be above as well.

For future reference, since we're sure it'll be an issue on this trip - Frosty, our around 14 yr old cat, was a timid, affectionate soul until March when she started having seizures. Since then, she's been on a twice daily dose of Phenobarbital. We have had a couple of weeks of daily seizures until a week ago and have been trying to adjust her dose. We think we're there for awhile at least. But we're concerned about how her potential sea-sickness will affect her ability to keep the meds down. And she has changed from the timid kitty to some creature out of The Exorcist. Violent rages, unprovoked attacks on previously dominant 16 yr old Dusty, attacks on Iris - the only one she ever trusted, have become the norm. But she's healthy, pretty happy, and plays and enjoys life most of the time.

We've decided to stay put, prepare for sea, and relax a little today. While the night was hot, it wasn't intolerable. Safety gear was assembled, ditch bag put together, more items were stowed - we were feeling productive. Frosty was in a foul mood, but remained below. Iris tried logging on via cell-phone, but we couldn't get a good connection. Around 3pm a fairly strong thunderstorm with winds over 25 knots came through our area. We started to drag, but decided to wait until the lightening had abated before going on deck to reset the anchor. After the storm, we raised anchor, moved and reset. We enjoyed a nice dinner in the cockpit, filed our float plan with family and played a bit with the SSB weather frequencies. We plan to be at the Lake Worth sea buoy by 10am tomorrow, headed north to Beaufort, NC. Passage should take us about 3 days with arrival sometime on Wed. morning.

We had a pretty bad night. Frosty kept trying to jump up into the aft cabin with us, unsuccessfully. She growled and attacked Dusty all night. And we wanted to have a good night's sleep before heading out - not to be. As we were raising anchor, the coast guard is reporting a "body in the inlet". That's not a great omen. Fortunately, this was later amended to a "person in the water" who was then recovered. We raised anchor at 8:45 am - with lots of mud which went into the chain locker since we failed to put out our anchor wash hose. We were underway by 9 and out the sea buoy at 10:02 - right on time!

Winds are very light and from behind us, the seas are flat, and we're having to motor at low rpm. The gulf stream is giving us a lift and we're making around 10 knots. Mid-afternoon, we're engulfed in a cloud of tiny, crunchy bugs which are landing on the boat and promptly dying. Weird. Shortly afterwards, the wind picks up and we're able to run so we turn off the engine. Around 7pm, an hour before Iris's first watch, she says she doesn't want wing and wing (main and jib on opposing side) after dark because it's too hard to maintain. Winds are getting flukey and there are clearly thunderstorms in the area. We take in the genny after turning on the engine and keep the main up. At 7:30 the storm hit and things got pretty wild. We'd reefed the main to a tiny triangle a few minutes earlier. Winds gusted into the high 30s and the seas got rough. At around 8, we were hailed by a motor vessel overtaking us, Curtsey, asking if we were ok. Fred replied affirmatively and thanked them for asking. They said that the storm was quite extensive (12 mi or more wide) and that we'd be in it for at least another hour or more. At 8:30, Iris took the watch while Fred went below to try and get some rest in the 'washing machine'. While the rain stopped, the seas and winds stayed up until shortly after 10pm. Fred took his watch at 11pm , put out the sails again and turned off the engine.

Iris took her watch at 2pm and turned on the engine shortly thereafter, motorsailing. Nothing threatening out there, stars started to appear and she could see the Milky Way for the first time since our last trip to the Keys. At around 4:45am, the Raymarine GPS (which had been flakey of late), lost it's fix. Fred took his watch at 5am while Iris dug the Garmin hand-held ETREX out of the ditch bag - so we could continue to take hourly fixes and track our speed. We also tried to get the NVN offshore forecasts, but they were either garbled or unreadable. What we did hear was something about a stalled front with low that was supposed to dissipate before we got to Beaufort. But we also heard seas building from 5-8 feet. Around 7am, we decided to divert to Charleston because we were uncomfortable without getting a better forecast and due to the failure of the GPS. The GPS came back on at 10am. We continued to debate whether or not to continue on. Our arrival in Charleston would be way too early - midnight to 2am or so. Then we redid our route to go in the next inlet, Winyah Bay - which would be early/mid-morning. Through the afternoon we second-guessed our decision but decided to stay with our Winyah Bay plan. Iris took the first watch at 8pm - thunderstorms around but nothing threatening. Saw a big sea turtle! And had a fairly close pass with 2 ships inbound to Charleston. About 5 minutes before Fred's 11pm watch was to begin, Iris noted that lightening starting to get closer and the radar image became consumed by rain. Fred took over and the fun began shortly thereafter. Very, very close and frequent lightening strikes. Iris hugged Dusty who seemed terrified and wouldn't stop meowing. The rain poured so heavily that Fred got soaked and put on his foulies. One bolt was so close that Fred wasn't sure if we'd gotten hit; he could smell the ozone. It was blinding below in the dark cabin as well. But fortunately, we were ok.

Iris's 2-5am watch was uneventful, but she slowed the boat down too much by bringing in the genny. Fred came up at 5, rolled out the sails and made up the time she'd lost ;-). We entered the inlet at around 9:20am, heading up the intracoastal. Both of us felt pretty good and the cats were doing well too. As soon as we were in cellphone range of Georgetown, SC, we called family to close our float plan and let them know that all was well.

We wanted to make as much progress northward as possible, wanted to try out a new anchorage - yet we were tired by over two days at sea. First stop, at around 2pm, was Thoroughfare Creek on the Waccamah River, rated all '4's except for shopping in Skipper Bob's ICW Anchorages guide. The terrain was gorgeous - a beautiful mix of hardwoods and swamp and Spanish moss. First clues that things may not work out were the two small power boats screaming out of the creek. Then the 'no wake' signs posted as we went deeper. At the suggested anchoring location, a small boat was pulled ashore and a child was swimming. Then two other boats powered by us and landed there as well as all jumped out to swim. We circled trying to find shallow enough waters and as we were about to drop anchor a large excursion ferry came around the bend at a fast clip. Maybe things had changed since the guide was written. It was 2pm, we could try one more place before settling for our past anchorage on the Waccamaw. Almost as highly rated was the Bull Creek anchorage. One guide even said if one never anchors anywhere else, this is the place to go! Equally beautiful - with lots of bird and animal noises. We headed to the first bend - not sure we were in the 'right' place but found shallow water, and dropped anchor with a trip line (anchor float) in case we snagged a tree stump, at around 4pm. The wind was against current and the boat was sitting parallel to the forest. We figured even if we end up stern to shore, there was soft mud and no real obstacles to hurt us.

Finally, engine off and the first total quiet since departure. We had dinner and enjoyed our surroundings. We also listed the items that had broken enroute - we seemed to have a leak in the engine raw-water pump, our VHF cockpit extension cable had almost worn through, and our fixed-mount GPS - a bit flakey before we left, kept losing its fix at inopportune times. Iris decided to 'pill' Frosty before dessert. First bad sign - it took 4 tries and Iris wasn't sure the cat ever swallowed the meds. Then, while having dessert, Fred said "is that an alligator?" The first was a log. But then the second spot he pointed to surely had eyes pointed in our direction. He grabbed the camera while Iris got the binoculars and the eyes headed in our direction - either enamored of the float or of the choice morsel named Dusty following Fred onto the deck. While up on deck, we noticed that the float was headed towards our stern. Fred scooped it up with the boathook to move it forward. As he was doing this a boat rushing by on the intracoastal came to a sudden stop at the opening of the creek and turned to face us, 1/4 mile in. After stopping for what seemed like hours, but was probably 2-3 minutes, they came full bore towards us and passed us as they continued up the creek. Iris went below and Fred dropped the float. Seconds later, a 2nd boat followed them. Their wakes moved Windwalker around and now the float was gone. What if it's wrapped around our keel or prop? What if our anchor drags or we're attacked in the middle of the night (a la Deliverence)? Our vivid imaginations took over as we took showers, ran the air-conditioning briefly to dry out the boat, and prepared for bed in a very steamy boat surrounded by alligator infested zero visibility tannin-brown waters. A good night's sleep was out of the question!

Frosty attacked Dusty throughout the night - so besides wild-life sounds surrounding us, we heard a lot of growling and hissing. Fred slept in the aft cabin, while Iris slept on one of the settees in the saloon - running fans to get some air motion. Sleep was a misnomer - each of us tried to work out scenarios on how to recover from a snagged trip line. Typically, a prop wrap from a snag would be an easy problem - jump in the water with a mask and snorkle (or Scuba if extensively wrapped) and remove the line. Here though, the water was like dark tea with no visibility, the current was fast, and there were those alligators! Upon review later in the day, our approaches were the same: First we'd put the dinghy in the water and try and snag the line with a boathook. If that failed, we'd take a second anchor out and set it manually and then try to slowing raise the first, without power until we could reach the snagged line. If attempts to unsnag failed, our only recourse would be to call one of the nearby marinas and see if we could get a diver (no way either of us was going in there!) or get a tow and be hauled out to clear the snag. But neither of us discussed this during the night - we just rested and struggled with our own nightmares.

At 6am we both got up - we had to deal with the issue or get going before breakfast. Fred went up on deck and yelled down "We're lucky!" Windwalker was in her original anchoring position as was the float. We rushed to get ready, raised the anchor and trip line and were headed on our way by 6:45. Breakfast and cat meds were accomplished enroute.

More decisions - how far do we think we can get today? Southport, NC would be great - but bridge opening schedules might not oblige - the current sure wasn't favorable either. And Fred wanted to change the engine oil. After delays at both bridges, one of which was being repaired, we decided to go into Cricket Cove Marina early (around 2pm), take on fuel, do chores quickly and then unwind. The first part (getting there at 2) worked out. But after changing the oil, Fred decided to change out the engine raw water pump. Meanwhile, Iris was on deck washing the boat and removing the fish scales and other stains caused by the remains of 4 large flying fish which had landed on the boat while in the gulf stream. Finally, we were ready to take 'real' showers at 5:30 and get to dinner at the marina restaurant at 6:30. If trying for Southport, we surely would not have been there yet, nor would we have gotten to the chores until 8! Frosty remained amazingly nasty and cruel throughout the day; Dusty was terrorized. Sleeping in a frigid, air-conditioned boat was fantastic.

Up at 6:30 for a 7:30 target departure. We've got to make around 65+ miles today and need to get going. Rush, rush. Then just as we were ready to cast off our lines, Fred decided to make a last check on the engine. Good thing, because oil was leaking out of the pump he'd replaced yesterday. A quick glance at the Volvo manual showed that he'd left out an o-ring. Messy job done quickly and we were on our way at 8:25. We had to wait 45 minutes for the first NC bridge - one we've mentioned in our previous ICW trips. One of the last pontoon bridges of its type in the country. It only opens hourly and the wait was expected. After the bridge, we raised the main (and later genoa) and were able to motor sail past Southport and into the broad area of Cape Fear River. Along with the GPS, our autopilot was acting up and Fred tried adjusting a second control unit. The boat, under full sail, attempted to make a 360. Fortunately, Fred was able to turn off the autopilot and regain control before our unplanned gybe hurt anything. We weren't going to use that 2nd control unit anytime soon!

On we went towards Wrightsville Beach, anchoring in around 15+knots wind and 2 knots of current. It felt like a good anchor set - better be because we're pretty close to a fixed bridge should we start to drag. Only 4 other boats were anchored nearby.

After dinner, Iris called our friends Bob and K on fellow Valiant 40 RIMA from TX - to see if our paths would cross. We'd last seen them as they came into Lake Worth a couple of weeks ago. They had just gotten to New Bern, NC, where they'd stay a few days. That wasn't really on our route, and our next chance to see them would be in the fall, in the Chesapeake. Oh well. Before dark, a severe thunderstorm crossed over us - but the anchor held well and the rains just rinsed off the boat. Sometime during the thunderstorm, Frosty must have had a seizure - we found drool, and she was particularly affectionate and hungry - characteristic signs. Not sure she'd taken her meds - it took 2 tries in the morning and 4 in the afternoon. We talked about alternatives for the next day and agreed on one thing - we weren't going anywhere in the morning. If weather permitted, we might leave tomorrow night for Beaufort offshore. Alternatively, we could stay another day and do the ICW up to Beaufort - but we hate the particular stretch with its numerous bridges and no great stopping spots. If we tried to leave early tomorrow for the 70+miles offshore to Beaufort - our stopping spots after arrival would be limited and we'd be trying to find a place to anchor after dark if delayed at all. The offshore overnight plan was coming together but still hadn't gelled. We also needed to buy a new GPS - don't want to do Maine in the fog without the chartplotter. Iris found an unsecured wireless connection and was able to log on and get weather.

Iris awoke to sounds of a grand mal seizure by Frosty, She found the cat atop the food/water bowls literally trying to climb the bulkhead. Iris grabbed her, placed her on the settee and hugged her until the seizure stopped. Given Frosty's hunger, it was easy to give her the phenobarbital plus valium. It still was nice to go back to bed and not have to move.

During and after breakfast our plan came together. We called the New Bern West Marine to see if they had a new GPS. Iris had them place it on hold for a Sunday pickup. Affirmative. Iris then called the New Bern Sheraton Marina (where Rima was), to see if they had an opening and to check on rates - sounds good so she made a reservation for Sat. and Sun. nights. We then called Bob and K to let them know we decided to take a short detour to visit with them. Fred plotted our waypoints - it would be a long day. We'd leave the Masonboro Inlet around 7pm, get to Beaufort inlet at twilight or dawn, and then make our way up the Neuse River to New Bern by early afternoon. Doing this inside would otherwise take 3 days. We felt good, and took the remainder of the day to relax, slowly do passage prep, and sleep when we could.

Dinner at around 5:30pm; Frosty medicated and anchor up at 6:30pm. And out the inlet at 7:02pm. We were amazed at the lack of boat traffic. Except for 2 small catamarans racing out the inlet, there were no fishing vessels - recreational or commercial, to be seen. We had 3-4, and then more like 5+ foot following seas along with 15-18 knots of wind behind us. We were able to sail and took less formal watches. Both of us stayed in the cockpit and took turns at the helm. We saw occasional fireworks on shore, along with the natural kind (thunderstorms) further inland. We were making very good time and thought we might have to slow ourselves down on the approach. The boat motion was a little rough however, and the cats were having a hard time finding comfortable positions.

At 4am the excitement began. The GPS lost it's fix and didn't come back. We knew where we were, as we manually log and use the chartplotter log of hourly/half-hourly fixes. But we had planned to cut into the channel and needed some precision for that. Iris handed Fred the hand-held Etrex so that we could figure out our speed over ground. Fred headed for the sea buoy. We needed to run the entire inlet channel - which we began before twilight. Our entrance was uneventful and Fred got out the wires and hooked up the hand-held GPS to the chartplotter for fixes as we headed up the ICW, using the buffer amplifier he had built a few weeks ago just for such a need.

Around 10am, Frosty had a mild seizure based on her behavior. She had her pheno at 6am so perhaps it was the stress of the passage? These cluster seizures aren't good. We got to New Bern around 1:30pm and asked the marina for directions. The dockmaster on the radio was giving us one set of instructions, while a dock-hand was waving us to another slip and Bob and K was at the end of the dock waving too. We pulled into the slip the man waved us to - tied up with his and Bob and K's assistance and then found out that this was indeed the wrong slip. Backed out and were moved to within a boat of Rima. Bob and K visited with us briefly as we made plans for later in the afternoon. After a quick straighening up, Fred stayed aboard to do a thorough boat wash and to connect power etc. Iris (together with Bob and K), took the Sheraton courtesy van to West Marine - Bob and K continued on to Walmart while Iris returned with her booty. As Fred opened the GPS box, he discovered that it had been returned (the prior purchaser's receipt was in the box) and had possibly been installed. Iris called West Marine, but the manager didn't know the history of the return. Fred did a quick trial to see if it worked using alligator clips - but we wouldn't know if we had an issue until he did the install himself. Meanwhile, Iris logged on using the marina's broadband connection, which unfortunately, only has a usable signal from the cockpit. At around 5:30 Frosty had another grand mal seizure while we were below. Valium then and pheno right before we left for dinner.

We headed out at 6:30 with Bob and K to find a place to eat. While we selected a spot that had a reasonably priced, interesting menu - the food was not up to par, nor was the service. Not one of our better selections. But we had a nice walk and caught up with our collective sea-stories. We made tentative plans for tomorrow - and have an invite to Rima for dinner along with Brian and Linda - another Valiant couple who live in the area.

An alarm (probably GPS lost fix) came on sometime in the middle of the night. Turning off a breaker solved the intrusion into a good night's sleep. At 6:20, Frosty jumped onto the bed wanting food. Earlier Iris had heard sounds which sounded more like Frosty playing ball than Frosty seizing. But perhaps it was the latter as she was famished and friendly. In any case, Iris was up - and full of energy. By 8:30 she'd taken care of kitties, bought a newspaper, done a load of laundry, connected the cable tv and cleaned up adhesive residue from where we duct-taped openings for passage. By then Fred was up as well and we went to breakfast at the Sheraton. Post breakfast - we watched some of our Sunday morning news shows, read the Raleigh paper and started on projects: Fred installing the GPS while Iris worked on Windwalker website. We may explore New Bern with some of the local walking tour information with Bob and K. We're thinking about staying here an extra day - it's pleasant having access to the hotel facilities and after all - we have to get back into the serendipitous cruising behavior. While we'd like to get to the Newport, RI area by mid August - we have no other commitments besides a dr. apptmt in NYC on 9/18.............

By evening, we'd decided to spend another day - sightseeing and having Bob and K over to dinner tomorrow night.

Iris got up early and saw that the washer/dryer were free right before 7am. But before she could return with the laundry, someone else had gotten there first. We had a 'date' to meet Bob and K at 9am so that we could tour the Tryon Palace. Iris managed to get to the washing machine and dryer right at the end of each cycle and laundry was done around 9:10. Meanwhile, Bob was trying to arrange for delivery of a new cellphone - his had gone overboard on Windwalker while Iris was demonstrating our side-mounted swim ladder on Saturday. We all have fears of dropping something valuable (besides ourselves ;-) overboard! So we got going at 9:30. The Tryon Palace and several other 18th century homes comprise a Williamsburg-like collection of attractions. The Palace, originally the North Carolina Colonial Governor's home, burned down in the 1800s, but was entirely rebuilt according to original plans and furnished with period appropriate furniture and fixtures. The city of New Bern played an active role in both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. After an enjoyable tour, we traipsed over to Chelsea Cafe, a restaurant which had caught Bob's eye a few days earlier. Lunch was fantastic! Afterwards, refreshed, we continued on our tour which included the New Bern Academy - a museum which was originally the site of the first public school in North Carolina. The museum included rooms on period architecture, military history, and educational history. Late in the afternoon we headed to the Galley Store - a newly-opened convenience store not too far from the marina. The store is trying to cater to cruisers - with additional fruits/vegetables, staples and frozen meats. Our needs were minor, but had we stayed longer, we would have purchased more.

We enjoyed Bob and K's company aboard for dinner. Afterwards, we made plans for an 8:30 am departure. Next stop, we hoped, would be the vicinity of Belhaven, NC.