Ninkasi Adventures: 09/21/09

Day 59, Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Got underway at 0630. The overnight thunder storms, rain and change in the wind direction have cleared the air of smoke for the moment. The temperature is also down a bit. The forecast for today is clear in the mid to upper eighties. That’s gotta be better than the past few days. We still have not been able to confirm the operation of the railway bridge #7 (next to Gilmerton), but we are headed home anyway.

We arrived at the North Landing Bridge just prior to the 1200 opening. We were joined in just a few minutes by four other boats. When the bridge tender attempted the opening something went wrong and the bridge would not open. He made two more attempts to open before informing us that the bridge was “stuck” and he was calling maintenance. Maintenance arrived, diagnosed the problem, needed parts and had to wait for the part to come from Great Bridge. All the waiting boats dropped an anchor to wait out the delay. Two plus hours later there were 8 northbound boats and 2 southbound waiting when the repairs were finally completed and the bridge opened.

The delay totally destroyed our bridge schedule. We were now going to hit the Steel Bridge during the evening rush hour closure. We cleared Centerville Bridge at 1500 and the Great Bridge at 1600. After passing through the Great Bridge bridge, we pulled over to the port side and tied up instead of proceeding to the lock. Tying up here allowed us to wait for the 1700 lock through and hit the reopening of the Steel Bridge at 1800. The good news was a report form the Gilmerton Bridge that the malfunctioning railway bridge was operational and in its normal open position. Only four boats continued north at 1700, three sail and one power. We managed to make all the remaining bridges together and said goodbye to each other after passing the Jordan Bridge and Waterside.

We pulled into Scotts Creek marina about 1930 and with some dockside help, secured the boat. We then enjoyed a brew and packed a few bags to take home. Don Wade arrived about 2000 to give us a ride back to our condo. We loaded our meager belongings into the car but Don persuaded us to detour to the PBC clubhouse for a short visit. We received a warm welcome home from the Wednesday night pot-luck dinner gang and enjoyed a few brews and hot dogs. We finally left and arrived at the condo about 2200. We’re Home!!!

Location: Portsmouth, VA, MM Zero. Boat distance traveled, 50.6 miles. Time actually moving, 8 hours. Total travel time, 11 hours.

Day 58, Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Underway at 0800. Today will be a short run to Coinjock, about 35 miles. It’s still smokey, but not as bad as yesterday. We head out across the Albemarle Sound with a light wind on the beam and the chop building. We roll out the jib and it helps only a little. By the time we enter the North River, the chop is making us uncomfortable until we reach Buck Island. Here, the wind shifts and we motor the remaining distance to Coinjock. The smoke is getting bad again and the temperature is soaring by the time we reach the marina. We are tied along side at 1330.

We’ve had it with the smoke and heat and decide to rent a room at the Midway Marina & Motel. The air conditioning and showers are fantastic. We take naps, read and watch TV until about 1900 when we go to Crabbie’s Restaurant. Donna has snow crab and I have NC BBQ. Both meals were great. After dinner it was more A/C and TV. Lots of strong thunderstorms and rain rolled through during the night.

Location: Midway Marina, Coinjock, NC at MM 50. Boat distance traveled, 36.5 miles. Time in actual transit, 5.5 hours. Top speed 7.7 mph, average speed 6.3 mph

Day 57, Monday, June 9, 2008

Underway at 0630. Destination today is Alligator River Marina or a nearby anchorage. There is a fair amount of smoke from the swamp fire and visibility is less than a mile when we depart Upper Dowry Creek. We used the jib a while during the eight mile run to the Alligator-Pungo River Canal. The run was uneventful, but the smoke got thicker and visibility less. We finally lost the wind altogether and by the time we reached MM 115, visibility was down to about 50 yards and a lot of ash was falling on the boat. The 95+ degree heat, high humidity, smoke and little wind made breathing bothersome and our throats and eyes became irritated. Smoke conditions began to improve as we exited the canal at MM 105. We actually saw an alligator in the Alligator River between Grassy Point and Deep Point. He took off when we came close to him.

The winds were predicted to keep the smoke in the area so we decided to stop at the Alligator River Marina rather than anchor. We arrived at the marina about 1500. After the sun went down we showered, watched a little TV in the boaters lounge and enjoyed the A/C.

Location: Alligator River Marina at MM 85. Boat distance traveled, 49.5 miles. Time in actual transit, 8.5 hours. Top speed 6.6 mph, average speed 5.7 mph

Day 56, Sunday, June 8, 2008

Underway at 0630. Destination today is somewhere near Belhaven. This morning there is some smoke from the nearby swamp fire and visibility is down a little. We track our way out of Broad Creek back to the ICW route in the Neuse river. We have some wind and use the jib as much as we can. It’s a hot one and the Hobucken Cut is like a furnace. The closer we get to Belhaven, the more smoke and ash we encounter. We have made good time and decide to stop at the highly recommended Dowry Creek Marina. We arrive at 1330, take on fuel, do a pump-out and proceed to the slip.

The marina has a pool and a great air conditioned boaters lounge which we enjoy. The break from the heat and smoke hit the spot. Later that evening we showered, watched TV in the lounge and finally went back to the boat about 2200.

Location: North of Belhaven, NC at MM 135. Boat distance traveled, 45.3 miles. Time in actual transit, 7 hours. Top speed 9.1 mph, average speed 6.2 mph.

Day 55, Saturday, June 7, 2008

Got a late start but we are finally underway at 0830. Destination today is somewhere near Oriental. Tide and wind are not much help today. It's another hot day but at least things are uneventful. The free slips are already taken at Oriental and the marinas are full up, typical for a weekend. We decide to head to our favorite hurricane anchorage in Broad Creek a little north of Oriental. We turn off the ICW at MM 174 and head up Broad Creek. We pass marker #4 and continue further up the creek to see if we can find another anchorage, but decide to return to Burton Creek just north of #4. We anchor in 7’ of water for the night. We are joined by two other sail boats near sundown. Having visited “Paradise Cove” last November, we decided to remain on the boat and skip the Saturday night karaoke and pot-luck event. The bugs came at dusk and drove us below where we sweltered all night.

Location: Worton Creek near MM 174. Boat distance traveled, 47 miles. Time in actual transit, 6.5 hours. Top speed 7.9 mph, average speed 5.9 mph

Day 54, Friday, June 6, 2008

Underway at 0700. We bumped bottom coming out the channel from the marina, but managed to back off and get back to the ICW safely. We are starting to encounter some smoke and haze from the swamp fire north of us. Destination today was the “freebie slips” at the new town docks in Morehead City,. I ran us hard aground in the small channel attempting to locate the town dock and had to call TowBoat/US to bail me out. We came out this channel when we were going south, but the “negative” low tide got us. I should have known better. After getting out of that mess, we were going to go over to Beaufort stay a couple of days and see the town. This was also not to be as we had arrived at the biggest sport fish tournament weekend of the season. There was no anchorage room or slips were available in Morehead City or Beaufort. The Dockside Condominium Marina dockmaster offered us the use of a T-head for the night if we promised to be gone early in the morning as he had big powerboat coming in at that time. Grateful for anything at this time of the day, we took it.

We cleaned up the boat, showered and went ashore for dinner. The dockmaster recommended “Floyd’s 1918” restaurant as a better choice to the usual “Sanitary” and “Capt Bill’s”. It was only about 3 blocks away so we walked there. The dockmaster was right. It was a very pleasant experience. The restaurant was located in a old home, nicely kept and decorated. The entrée offerings were plentiful and varied. I had the crab cakes and Donna had the shrimp and grits. Both meals were very good. We even tried the Carolina Blonde Pale Ales and found them to be flavorful and mild.

After dinner we walked back to the boardwalk and proceeded south to see if we could find the city dock area. We located the dock and noted we were only about 300 yards south of them when I ran us aground. Well, at least we know where they are and not to use the little north channel at other than high tide.

We arrived back at the boat after 2130 so we called it a day since we had to leave early the next morning.

Location: Morehead City, NC at MM 205. Boat distance traveled, 57 miles. Time in actual transit, 10 hours. Top speed 8.0 mph, average speed 5.6 mph

Day 53, Thursday, June 5, 2008

We got underway around 0815. We did a later start today so we can ride the tide/current up the Cape Fear River. It also gave us a chance to sleep in a little and have a leisurely breakfast, a real treat. The “ride” up was pretty nice except for a skinny water patch as we crossed the river over to Snow’s Cut. Back in the ICW we negotiated the daily trouble spot inlets, Carolina Beach, Masonboro and Mason.

As we neared Surf City Bridge it was apparent that we would not reach a suitable anchorage before dark so we called the Beach House Marina at Surf City and reserved a slip. The channel off the ICW to the marina was short and a little shallow, especially with another negative tide. We made it in and saw 6’ depth on the way in. Water at the dock was about 7’.

We walked over to the beach area for a while and then to the local IGA grocery about a block away. We then fixed dinner, took showers and retired.

Location: Beach House Marina, Surf City, NC at MM 260. Boat distance traveled, 48.4 miles. Time in actual transit, 8.0 hours. Top speed 12.2 mph, average speed 5.8 mph

Day 52, Wednesday, June 4, 2008

I forgot to record the “Underway” time. Destination today is somewhere near Southport, NC. We do a pretty good job of timing our arrival at Sunset Beach Bridge (pontoon bridge) and continue on to the trouble spots of the day. There are so many inlets to deal with, you are fighting tidal current on one leg and then running with the current on the next. We make it through Shallotte and Lockwoods Folly Inlets by following the advice I got off the Salty Southeast Cruisers Net.

We arrived at the “Pipeline” anchorage area near low tide. There is an underwater damn there and I did not like the looks of the entrance depth. The low tide was going to be a “negative” tide so I decided not to anchor and moved on toward Southport. We needed to time our transit up the Cape Fear River and we also needed to refuel so stopping at the Southport Marina was a better option. Even here the low tide caused problems. We were touching bottom at the fuel dock and when we tried to go to our assigned slip we ran aground in the fairway about 40 yards from the slip. I was able to back off safely. We were then told to go to the T-head north of the fuel dock and we were able to dock there.

After docking we walked about 1.5 miles to a convenience store and bought the essentials, beer, bread and milk. After the walk back we fixed dinner, watched TV, read books and retired for the evening.

Location: Southport Marina, Southport, NC at MM 309. Boat distance traveled, 44.7 miles. Time in actual transit, approximately 8.5 hours.

Day 51, Tuesday, June 3, 2008

We get underway about 0730. The Wacamaw River is beautiful and pleasant. The scenery is nice and green, not brown like it was in November. We spot 3 alligators in the river and even get a couple pictures of one. We see lots of turtles and ospreys too. Bucksport Landing is now shut down. The couple running it decided to retire and no one has taken it over yet. That’s a shame, their homemade sausage was great.

We hit the “Rockpile” area at close to high tide, met no commercial traffic and made it safely through to Barefoot Landing. We stopped here to allow Donna to do some shopping in the “getcha” stores. After tying up, we walked around all the shops, used the rest rooms, bought an ice cream cone and then went back to the boat. Except for the great dock, this place is just a tourist trap. What a waste!

Donna fixed dinner, we watched some TV and retired for the night.

Location: Barefoot Landing, Myrtle Beach, SC at MM 354. Boat distance traveled, 52 miles. Time in actual transit, 7.5 hours. Top speed 8.5 mph, average speed 7.0 mph.

Day 50, Monday, June 2, 2008

We departed Charleston at 0715. Destination is an anchorage about 40-50 miles north. We get some assist from the tide and wind, but it’s another hot day. Unlike our experience in the fall, the Ben Sawyer Bridge works today and we hit it on schedule. We push on taking advantage of the wind and tide to make it to Georgetown at MM 402. The anchorage is really crowded so we opt to stay at Harborwalk Marina. We get a starboard tie on the north end of the new floating docks. The docks are nice, but the lounge and showers are under reconstruction, probably why we were able to get a slip. We fix dinner, take sponge baths and retire for the evening.

Location: Harborwalk Marina, Georgetown, SC at MM 402. Boat distance traveled, 67.3 miles. Time in actual transit, 12 hours. Top speed 9.5 mph, average speed 5.7 mph