A cold front came through on the way to Wrightsville Beach, so I arrived with a little bit of wind to approach the dock at the marina. And, the weekend was a little cool for the beach, but still nice. Kim and Katherine arrived Thursday afternoon after I had made a trip to the West Marine. We had a nice visit for the weekend. We went to see the Hunger Games at a theater in Wilmington, had a nice day walking on the beach, and went to Easter Service on Sunday. Katherine headed back to Raleigh on Sunday afternoon; Kim and I headed north on the ICW for a planned seven day trip back to White Stone, Va.
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| Kim and Katherine on Wrightsville Beach |
A half day of travel got us to Camp Lejeune for the nights anchorage. Then another day got us past Oriental NC. We stopped in Broad Creek - a nice anchorage, once you figure out the entrance. This is also home to the River Dunes marina and housing development. Worth a visit on the next trip. From here, we continued across the Pamlico River, past Belhaven and through the Pungo-Alligator Canal. We anchored just past the exit of the canal at the base of the Alligator River. The next morning brought an anticipated cold front - but stronger than expected. We started up the river, but encountered stronger winds than expected. 30 plus knots directly on the nose made for slow, cold travel. We decided to turn back to the anchorage and wait for the winds to lay down. In the early afternoon, we followed other boats up the river, and through the Alligator bridge. The crossing of the Albemarle Sound started out OK, but turned nasty as we went along.
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| Bird Gathering - Crossing the Albemarle Sound |
Winds were projected to settle down below 20 knots - and they did for a bit. But later in the afternoon, they picked back up to the mid - 30's. We discovered why they talk about this shallow sound getting rough in a high wind. It was like traveling through a washing machine - a confusing wallow of seas that came from the front, or from either side, with no particular pattern. This lasted for the whole crossing. This was absolutely the coldest week of the entire trip. Adding to the fun, the chart plotter decided to go haywire today. While it was working, it was reading in reverse - the boat icon was facing stern first, and the course was heading down the screen rather than up. This added an interesting navigational challenge. We made it across the Albemarle and anchored in another Broad Creek, just on the northern side.
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| Broad Creek - North of the Albemarle |
From here, we stopped at Coinjock for fuel, and made it to Great Bridge that afternoon. We spent the night at the Atlantic Yacht Basin, and passed through the lock the next morning.
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| Kim - in the lock - Great Bridge, Va |
After the lock, the morning was spend navigating the bridges through Norfolk, and following the river out into the Bay. We were treated to a rare sight leaving Norfolk - a returning submarine with a Coast Guard escort. When we got into the Chesapeake that afternoon, it was a pleasant motor sail north. We arrived back on Indian Creek that evening and entered the slip at 8:00 - just as the last light was fading. Back home on April 14 - about a 5 month trip. Now for the next one....
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| Back home - Pitmans Cove off of Indian Creek |
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