After a couple of crazed weeks packing, stacking, storing all of the remains of our land-locked possessions, saying goodbye to old friends and family members, we headed back to Norfolk early November.
A couple of days of shopping in Norfolk, getting provisions for the trip, allowed us to re-acclimate ourselves to boat life, while still tied to the dock. However, after a sleepless night, due to high winds, left-over from the final hurricane of the season, helped us make the decision to untie the dock lines and shove off, finally on our own.
That first feeling of freedom was quickly amended to minor concern as we headed out in the pouring rain across the Norfolk inlet, dodging big Navy battleships, tankers, and container ships and other boats. We quickly learned that the meaning of "right of way" is only theoretical when dealing with boats 50 times your size. Digression being the wiser of all options, we let the big boys go where they wish, all-the-while keeping our course (more or less) allowed us to traverse the bay and head on up the Intracoastal for our first day alone.
We tied up at the free town dock just past the lock at the Great Bridge and were able to head off early through the many bridges which came along during our first couple of days. Some of the tall bridges were posted as high enough to go under with our 60' mast, yet when going under, you were "SURE" you would hit it. They seemed shorter than posted but so far, they have not disappointed. Other bridges need to be opened, raised,or swung open to allow boat traffic to pass. Sometime you must call them on your VHF radio and request an opening, other times they are on a fixed schedule which you must adhere to, and await their openings.
Basically the ICW is a connection of rivers, lakes, bays, inlets, canals, and waterways, designed to allow boats of varying size the ability to traverse the coastal areas without going into the open ocean. It was begun in the mid 1800's (some of it in the 1700's by ol' George Washington himself!) and has been upkept, by and large, by the US Corps of Engineers as an aid to commerce. As a benefit, pleasure boaters use the waterway as a means to travel south/north during their annual "snowbird migration flights." It is an incredibly beautiful passage through the east and we never knew much about it until this trip. We highly recommend it to anyone with some time and the means to do this trip.
Boat is working well although the weather's been very COLD a few nights. Actually had to figure out how to turn the heat on for a short while to warm up the cabin! Today seems to be warmer. The trip is really pretty so far. Mostly heading along swampy canals and then across larger "lakes" and larger inlets from the sea. Fairly calm water on those but capable of blowing up a big one if conditions are right (wrong!). So far, so good!
We're navigating well and following the "highway", anchoring in pretty coves and enjoying this to the max! Went ashore last night for our first restaurant meal of the trip. Oriental, NC is a fishing/tourism town with three restaurants to consider. I had a nice fish combo dinner of fresh Haddock, shrimp and crabcake. Suz had a sauteed Scallop dinner. YUM!
There is quite a migration of northern boaters heading along the ICW with us. It presents a steady stream of sailboats and motor boats to follow or lead at times. Each going at different speeds. The big motor boats (fondly referred to as "stink boats" by the sailing community) seem to all be in a much bigger hurry to get somewhere. Ten each night, more often than not, we'll find them in the same anchorage we head into for the night. So they all seem to be in a hurry mode. They pass us slower boats leaving their large wakes behind which rock our boat for a short while rather harshly. Not very neighborly, we think. We call it the "small penis syndrome". You know, small penis = large boat.
We stopped in Wrightsville Beach, NC in a couple of days to reconnect with some Steamboat friends (Beth and Kevin Dennis) who live there now. Beth used to work with SUZ and her husband is wood working friend. Should be fun to see them again. Then on to Savannah for Turkey day with Pop Lobb. Shooting to be there by Monday of Thanksgiving week. Once there we'll have some boat work done, new name graphics put on the boat, some electrical connections added, and to have the washer/dryer worked on. Still can't get it to work after I installed a new door locking switch. It runs now but doesn't seem to want to hold the water for wash cycle. Something simple, we hope. Sounds like we're really roughing it, eh?
We went to Georgetown, SC before continuing south toward Charleston. We "camped" in a really remote area on the Waccamaw River in SC. Felt like some crude dude would come paddling up in a canoe playing banjo music talking about how pretty my mouth was! :) YIKES!
Anyway, that's our story and we're sticking to it. Hope you are all doing fine and we miss you ALL.
Love and kisses, Rick and Suz
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