Black Friday

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Nov 22, 2008
3,562
Endeavour 32 Portland, Maine
Well, I don’t know about the shoppers but I can’t remember offhand a Friday more the antithesis of the term than this one. I started off dark enough though. I was awake way too early, excited about starting cruising and traveling again after six weeks of visiting with the boat serving primarily as transportation from one group of friends to the next.

I’m not complaining. This has been one of the most enjoyable periods of the odyssey covered by this forum. The perfect cap for it was being invited to Buck420’s three generation mega Thanksgiving with nine grandchildren (oldest seven). It was their first all hands turkey day get together and being treated like one of the family was one of the more special things that has happened to me since I started this largely solitary life. Still, the essence of cruising is change and I am ready to start making some southing.

It was a bit of an adventure getting across Hampton Roads to Little Creek the day before. It was rough. I still had the dinghy on the foredeck where I had put it for security during my road trip to Ohio and my first time underway with it up there. The cabin heater is always surges fitfully in rough water as the float valve that regulates the fuel bounces around but it has never caused a problem worse than smoking up the glass on the door.

I was picking my way through a mess of crab pots in some nasty tidal chop set up by a fetch the full length of the bay when I looked down and saw the heater filled with flame. I shot below just in time for it to make a huge “Whoof” that blew it out. Smoke started pouring out the bottom and draft flap. I switched on the fan and ran back up to advise the autopilot on missing the next buoy. They were hard to see in the waves and I stood helplessly watching the cabin fill up with dense smoke. I can’t run the heater in strong winds with the dinghy on deck because it disrupts the draft. The boat smelled like a bus station for a few hours but it was fine by the next day.

So, this morning, I was up pacing around the boat like an old maid that wants something (thanks to Billy Atkin for that line) trying to decide when it would be light enough that I would be able to see the crab pots around the edge of Willoughby Bank. Impatience had me sliding by our sleeping navy in darkness worthy of the post title but I did time it right and could just pick out the first crab pot I came across. At least, I think it was the first one.

The run up the Elizabeth River is right up there with the New York passage in my mind for an impressive display of the scale and might of our civilization. I waved to one of my research vessels that I caught a brief glimpse of at the NOAA dock and continued up to the turn into the Dismal Swamp route.

The section up to Deep Creek Lock was filed with fishermen. I don’t know what they were fishing for but there must be some species that is best caught in the center of the deepest part of the channel. Does anyone know what it is? I thought most fish liked the shallows and snags along the sides.

I missed the 11:00 opening so I anchored, turned off the radio, and was just getting settled for lunch and a bit of a nap to await the 1:30 opening when I heard a horn and looked up to see the lock gates opening. No one had showed up for the 11:00 opening, so Robert, the lock keeper who regaled Lee and Lynn and I for over an hour with a presentation on the whole history of the canal and the area last year, decided he could use the water allotment to let me through so I would have time to make the visitors center by dark.

Once I was in the lock, he told me about all the stores just a short walk from the dock past the bridge. Then he said, “Say, just leave the boat in the lock and I’ll drive you up. Tying up alone is difficult and I can’t open again till 1:30 anyway.” All I needed was ice but, after donning a lifejacket for the walk across to the car so as to be in full compliance with all applicable Army Corp of Engineers regulations, we drove up to the store for ice before he opened the gate and bridge and I continued on my way.

It was a perfect day for the run through the swamp. I reached the visitors center a little over three hours later and tied up for the night after a 47 nm day. There won’t be any days that long again for a while unless I am simply enjoying myself too much to stop. It’s time to start cruising.
 

Tom J

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Sep 30, 2008
2,325
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
Have a nice run down the rest of the canal, Roger. We found it to be a relaxing ride. Maybe you could grab a good dinner at a reasonable price in Elizabeth City.
 
Dec 8, 2006
1,085
Oday 26 Starr, SC
Days are short

Have a nice run down the rest of the canal, Roger. We found it to be a relaxing ride. Maybe you could grab a good dinner at a reasonable price in Elizabeth City.
------------------------- // -------------

The days are short, but I would expect him
to pass Elizathbeth City too early to stop.
Unless he is waiting for correct tides to
navigate Albemarle River and Sound.
That is important not to buck the current
and tide and river. I have done it and it
is not the thing to do.

So the next question is which way?

Up river to Edenton? Columbia and the
Red Wolf Center?

Directly across to Wanda?

Or, the ultimate experience to sail
the sounds down south?

I have not checked the tides and winds,
that will be a factor.

Further south it is quite cold and to get
colder. He needs to get that cabin heater
working...

Ed K


 

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Oct 2, 2008
3,811
Pearson/ 530 Strafford, NH
Just like a game of checkers, you're ahead of us again. Seems like there has been at least one gale force wind bag lying off the coast stirring it up everyweek for the last 2 months. Good luck with the heater Roger and mind that wind.

All U Get
 
Dec 8, 2006
1,085
Oday 26 Starr, SC
All you get

Just like a game
of checkers, you're ahead of us again. Seems
like there has been at least one gale force
wind bag lying off the coast stirring it up
everyweek for the last 2 months. Good luck
with the heater Roger and mind that wind.

All U Get
But you did not tell the rest of us where you are...

There are many weather reports, some better
than others. Here is local one that says he needs
to fix heater:

http://www.lawrencevilleweather.com/forecast/elizabeth+city+nc

It is not easy to find tides for Elizabeth City. The
above is one of the few. Most of standard tables
do not cover Albemarle Sound? Do you know of one?
I used to have one but it quit last year.

And snow moving in from West Virginia...

http://www.lambsmarinanc.com/

Ed K
 
Dec 8, 2006
1,085
Oday 26 Starr, SC
Alligator River warning?

Any more information on this?

http://cruisersnet.net/1-northern-mouth-of-alligator-river/

I came across in a storm - rain and squall - and
used depth finder and GPS. But this says wrong
side of line?

I know the captain who posted this warning. I
have to wonder why he is up so far north?
His home is in South Carolina and usually sails
his 44 foot boat near Oriental on the sounds...

While winds and waves high today, the are from
good direction. He would fly right up to Wanda...
http://marinas.com/view/marina/4294_Alligator_River_Marina_Columbia_NC_United_States




Ed K
 
Nov 22, 2008
3,562
Endeavour 32 Portland, Maine
Good luck with the heater Roger and mind that wind.
The heater is working just fine here at the town docks in Elizabeth City and I had no problems after arrival in Little Creek. I just can't run it underway in strong winds with the companionway open and the dinghy on deck.

I'm trying to decide my next moves now. I'd hoped to spend quite a bit of time exploring here in the NC sounds but the long range weather guesses on the Internet and the way the air feels are making me remember what a nice place Green Cove Springs, FL was.

If it looks like there is time to get across Albemarle Sound tomorrow before the wind turns south, I'll probably just keep on moving south. It was beautiful going through the Cypress swamps today and it feels good to be covering ground again.
 
Oct 2, 2008
3,811
Pearson/ 530 Strafford, NH
But you did not tell the rest of us where you are...


And snow moving in from West Virginia...


Ed K
Thanks for the info, the snow is a nice touch. We'll be moving out of the Great Bridge area in the am.

All U Get
 
Dec 8, 2006
1,085
Oday 26 Starr, SC
Humm?

The heater is working just fine here at the town docks in Elizabeth City and I had no problems after arrival in Little Creek. I just can't run it underway in strong winds with the companionway open and the dinghy on deck.

I'm trying to decide my next moves now. I'd hoped to spend quite a bit of time exploring here in the NC sounds but the long range weather guesses on the Internet and the way the air feels are making me remember what a nice place Green Cove Springs, FL was.

If it looks like there is time to get across Albemarle Sound tomorrow before the wind turns south, I'll probably just keep on moving south. It was beautiful going through the Cypress swamps today and it feels good to be covering ground again.
- - - - - // - - - - -

It will be interesting to see your decision.
4 mph NW winds are a nominal help. But
with high tide around 4 AM that means
going against out going tide until noon.
By that time the wind will start to shift
to SW.

And then there is natural river current
added.

See attached:

You may have more accurate tides and
winds.

However, it looks like motor all the way.
The SW winds in afternoon are not
significant on the ditch since it is
motor anyway.

Are you in a hurry to get to your favorite
anchorage on the other side?

Ed K







 

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Nov 22, 2008
3,562
Endeavour 32 Portland, Maine
But with high tide around 4 AM that means
going against out going tide until noon.
There is no real tide here in Albemarle Sound. There are wind driven water level changes but they can't be predicted.

The tide reports you see are for the inlets at the outer coasts. The web bots just plug in the tide information for the nearest tide station which will be out on the outer bank inlets.

I've been tied up here since noon and the boat hasn't gone up or down an inch.
 
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