Swansboro, NC (The Idiot strikes again)

Wednesday October 21, 2012
34 41. 107 N 77 07.284 W

Barges and Bridges

Engine start at 8:15 AM and thru the bridge at 8:30 AM sharp. Nice cool sunny day but not much breeze. We are running with the engine room door open for the heat - 44 degrees outside.

We seemed to be fighting wind and current most of the day except for the last 10 miles when the force was  with us and we started making good time (8 kts plus) - until the idiot in me struck again. To make a long story short we went hard aground at the Swansboro inlet.

The logical part of my brain (the little bit hiding in the back of the rest) has taught me that when I am piloting the boat I need to pay attention to all the major inputs -
     #1: what I see outside,
     #2: what the chart tells me, and
     #3: what Deidre tells me.

This time I just followed #1 and here we are stuck hard and fast. and right in front of our two friends (so now they knew I was an idiot rather than just thinking it.) I messed around with the engines for 15 minutes or so and probably dug us in deeper. So then we called Tow Boat US and asked for help. They had to come from Beaufort and were 45 minutes away. The two other boats headed off to the marina - there was no point them hanging around. The good news was that we were at the low point of the tide and there was a bit of a current.

Deidre sounded around the boat with a hammer on a rope, and we concluded we had some "deeper" water to starboard and stern. The boat was swinging around in the current. After about 15 minutes I tried again with the engines and we powered ourselves off. Time for a beer.

Tonight is Halloween. Deidre and I dressed up in togas and went "next door" for dinner. Dinner was good and I probably drank too much. But it was fun, despite the headache.

New Bern - Day 6

Tuesday October 20, 2012

Mostly cloudy, breezy but basically calm. Spent most of the morning watching CNN. Dinner at Stingrays

New Bern - Day 5

9:00 AM Report
Monday October 29, 2012

Last night was the same as the one before - breezy and rainy and cool, but not uncomfortable. This morning is basically the same, but at the moment its not raining. The surge seems to have dissipated

The 6 of us went out for breakfast and to review plans. As a result we have decided to delay departure from New Bern to early Wednesday morning. The wind forecast for Tuesday included mention of 45 MPH which is out of our collective comfort zone. The forecast for the remainder of the week is still not particularly good because Sandy is turning west, and therefore this area will remain in the "tropical winds" radius for some time to come. It really is a large storm radius. We need to get a couple of hundred miles south, and away from her influence ASAP.

We walked through town today to get some fresh air. No sign of damage, although it was apparent that the river level had risen over one of the local parks and made a bit of a mess.

been Pot luck dinner on Jon & Bonnie's boat.

New Bern - Day 4

9:00 AM Report
Wind and rain all night. According to the local weather max wind speed was 39 MPH. I left the canvas in place and it survived OK. Judging by the bulkhead the surge is only about 3' so far, but more to come today. Temperature is still in the 60's, we are told to expect near freezing in the next couple of days.

5:00 PM Report
Not much change. Rain has eased a bit. Dreary day. We are having people over for chili dinner and games.

Chili dinner

11:00 PM Report
Dinner was fun. The chili was a good batch, followed by cherry pie.

Rain has stopped for now. Wind seems calm, but with occasional gusts. Off to bed.

New Bern - Day 3

We are exactly under the yellow pin

Hurricane Sandy was downgraded to a Tropical Storm overnight then upgraded back up to a category I Hurricane this morning. Kylie tells us that it is very windy and wet in Charleston. In New Bern at 9:00 AM its overcast, breezy and wanting to rain. The Dock Master just visited and told us to expect about 4' of serge - will not affect us much but it will cause some flooding in the city. According to CNN this morning "Sandy is still predicted to merge with a strong cold front from the west and morph into a superstorm." Seems like a lot of hype, but its better than election "news".

5:00 PM Report
It has rained all afternoon, not especially hard and not with much wind. Everything not tied down has been moved from the marina and associated hotel. We seem pretty snug for now.

Deidre is applying her skills to a bit of ironing, not sure what I am doing.

9:00 PM Report
Raining hard now, apparently we have received 1.5" of rain so far today. Wind has picked up to about steady 30 MPH with gusts the boat is bouncing around a bit. The surge seems to be arriving - the "tide" is up a few feet.

New Bern - Day 2

The clouds have rolled in but the wind remains calm. The latest NOAA forecast still has the storm center passing Hatteras out to sea, but with New Bern expecting 4" to 8" of rain and only 20% - 30% chance of 50 MPH winds. We have 11 X 1"  lines securing the boat and I am pumping up the fenders. If the wind forecast increases then we will start removing canvas and eisen glass.

Rather a long boring day. Deidre spent a couple of hours touring the "Tyron Palace" and I stayed on the boat adjusting lines.

This evening we visited friends boat for drinks and snacks, and ended up staying till 10 'ish playing a silly dice game called "Farqual". The weather was calm over night.

New Bern - Our very first hurricane

Thursday October 25, 2012
35 06.171 N
77 02.290 W

Out of the boat yard and into the storm. We have headed inland away from the coast and taken a slip in New Bern, NC. New Bern is as far west as you can get on the Neuse River, and is maybe 25 miles ATCF from the nearest Atlantic coast line. We have some friends already here, and they twisted some arms and got us the last spot in the marina. Which is good, but our slip seems a bit exposed. We arrived about 1:30 PM and Tide Hiker is now trussed up better than Dolly Parton. The forecast track keeps on being revised and it seems to be getting closer each update.

This morning was calm and misty and we were underway by about 8:30 AM. The sun eventually broke through and settled into a perfectly calm and sunny day. It was great to be moving again. I spent more time than usual in the engine room checking that the work in the boat yard had not caused any problems. The only issue was a voltage drop on the starboard engine but I found a lose wire on the alternator, and once that was back in place the voltage climbed back to normal.  We only had about 30 NM to go, and arrived at the New Bern bridge at 1:00 PM.

Bock Marine - Tuesday & Wednesday October 23 & 24

 We are back in the water! We are expecting the mechanic first thing in the morning tomorrow to install the new battery and work on the Glendenning, and then we will be done. The boat needs a thorough clean and that will occupy the rest of the day. Plan is to leave Bock and go to an anchorage later tomorrow afternoon.

Our "new" muffler

The day started off well enough when the "new and improved muffler" arrived and was installed. The paint guy arrived soon thereafter and completed the work with a bit of wet sanding. I then reattached the stainless rub rail cap and we were all done. EXCEPT that I needed to straighten the cap a bit and hit it a few times with a hammer - but missed and hit the paint and knocked out a chunk.Oops.

After that happy moment we had to stooge for a couple of ours till the travel-lift came and got us.

Wednesday October 24

The mechanic arrived first thing and installed the new battery and tuned up the Glendenning and was gone. We spent the rest of the day shopping and cleaning up the boat. And paying the bill ...

Newly painted ER deck

After two weeks of perfect weather sitting "on the hard" we now have a hurricane in the forecast. Hurricane "Sandy" is currently crossing Jamaica and is forecast to track North up the East Coast. In NC we will feel the first effects Thursday night and have decided to play it safe and head "inland" to New Bern tomorrow to wait it out.

Bock Marine (Saturday October 20 to Monday October 22)

Please note I have put an end date in the title to our happy stay at Bock. Today (Monday) I gave Kenny Bock a "suggested" schedule to get us out of here Wednesday.

The weekend was totally uneventful. We went to a Movie Saturday night. We went out for breakfast Sunday.

Today the new valve for the Avon and the new site gauge for the stabilizer tank both arrived and I installed them. At present neither appear to be leaking. The paint man sprayed the finish coat on his repairs and has promised to return to buff it tomorrow (Tuesday). The vented loop was installed.

The starboard muffler is rebuilt and I expect it to be installed tomorrow. That means we can be relaunched by lunchtime and Deidre and I can start cleaning the boat. I have requested the mechanic for Tuesday afternoon to install the new battery and work on the Glendenning. Then we will be DONE

Bock Marine (Tuesday 10/16/2012 thru Friday 10/19/2012)

I am combining 4 days because bugger-all is happening. Deidre and I are really getting a bit fed up with the yard. Seems very unlikely that we will get out of here this week. Progress is very slow and communication virtually non existent.

New bottom treatment

The bottom job is now complete and looks good. However I was unimpressed that I had to ask the crew to remove the thru-hull covers and clean inside the piping. Seems to me that this is one of the most basic components of a haul-out and bottom job. Turns out the majority of the 6 thru hulls were choked with growth and needed to be dealt with. But it is all done now and looks nice.

Thru hull strainers removed, cleaned & painted

Since I have started to complain I will continue in the same vien. After the underside part of the hull had been sanded the crew "washed" the dust of the painted side of the boat. They used a concoction that appeared quite potent. Next morning I observed that the paint was badly stained with rust streaks. Seemed like their boat wash had reacted with stainless fittings on the side of the boat (rub rains, fender rails, window frames, haws-holes etc) and the resulting chemical reactions had dribbled down our beautiful paint job leaving brown streaks. I tried to wash off the stains with boat wash - no effect. I tried a rust stain remover - no result. I tried a 3M polish - no result.The lady in the boat next door suggested another product and that worked with only about 80% effectiveness. So I lodged an official complaint and this AM a crew was assigned to polishing the stains off with some sort of "grinding compound". This seems to be working (by grinding off half the paint, no doubt.)

The good news is that the paint man has turned up today and has started patching some of my parking scrapes. There are really only a couple, but when one bounces 35 ton of boat off an immovable bulkhead, something has to give, and the paint cracked in a couple of places on the rub rail. He is also the muffler repair man, and he just promised me he would work on that over the weekend. We need the muffler to get back into the water - the other repairs can be done in the water.

More good news. The extended davit crane arrived and was re-installed this afternoon. I will re-install the motor and cable tomorrow. This will make it much easier for us the deploy the dinghy. Meanwhile, one of the valves on the dinghy has completely failed and the side tubes have totally deflated. A replacement has been ordered, to arrive Tuesday. And on it goes!

There are a dozen or so couples living on their boats as they are being worked on. This causes several inconveniences (such as the sinks and shower drain out onto the dirt) but the biggest is that you have to climb a ladder to get on and off the boat. This looked quite dangerous to Deidre and I so we requested the addition of a hand rail to our ladder and we tied it to the swim platform so it could not slide. Yesterday we were started to see an ambulance arrive and dismayed when we heard that a lady had fallen off her ladder near the top and had a badly broken arm and banged her head. It was a compound fracture with the bone poking thru the skin. A warning for all.

We went out for Mexican with new friends. They own a boat the same as ours - theirs is hull #58 and ours is #61. They are renovating theirs at another yard in the area.

Bock Marine (Monday 10/15/2012)

Our view

I think I can say I have had enough of the boat yard and am looking forward to getting out of here. Being here is like living in a tree house in a junk yard. We are surrounded by boats in various stages of disrepair. We cannot use our toilets or shower. There is dirt everywhere. Its noisy. We are bored. It is Monday and I doubt if we will be out by Friday.

The yard people are making progress, but its all quite slow. The hull now has two coats of anti-fouling paint. One more to go, but just at the water line.

Working on the running gear

The running gear has received a couple of coats of barrier paint, with anti-fouling to follow. The thru hull strainers have been removed and cleaned and painted and are ready to replace.

The mechanic comes back Wednesday to change out the starboard engine water pump, work on the Glendenning engine synchronizing system and the stabilizer hydraulic oil leak and the suspect starter battery.

The fiber glass guy brings back the repaired muffler Wednesday.

I met the paint guy today and he promised he would be back Wednesday.

I dismantled the davit (the little crane that launches the dinghy) this morning and the mobile came and took it to the sjhop where they will add 12" to the lifting arm.

Removing the davit.

So "its all happening" but it is slow to live through.

Bock Marine (10/13/2012 and 12/14/2012)

Saturday
The boat yard does not work on the weekend so we were looking forward to a couple of "days off". After a leisurely breakfast Deidre headed of in the car to do some shopping and I cleaned up in the engine room. After a quick lunch we headed of to explore New Bern, about 40 miles away.

Floating Art Museum

New Bern was settled by Swiss immigrants in the 1700's. It is located at the head of the Neuse River and was once a busy port. Deidre and I looked at New Bern back in 1996 when we were planning our move from Valparaiso. We decided against New Bern when we discovered that the river water was polluted by effluent originating from all the pig farms up state! Since we were looking for a place on the water, this nixed the deal. We have been told the situation has been reversed, but I am not going for a swim.

We were pleasantly surprised to discover that this weekend in New Bern was "Mum Fest" (as in chrysanthemums) and the whole town was decorated with mums and set up as a street fair.There was also a "floating art gallery" visiting the port. It was really fun, I think it was the biggest street fair we have ever seen.  I bought Deidre a fishing rod, cleaning knife and hook remover. Deidre bought stuff for Kylie and her Mum. We stayed in town for dinner. Was a good day.

Street Scene

Sunday
Banana pancakes for breakfast. After cleaning up we drove to Willmington for the day. It was a fun but not inspirational day.

Deidre made tuna patties and salad for dinner. After dinner we watched "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "The Midwives" and "Wallender". Definitely the best part of the day.

Pumpkin Fair

Bock Marine (10/10/12 thru 10/12/12)

Wednesday October 10, 2012
34 49.430 N
76 41.376 W

We are officially "on the hard" and tide Hiker is ready for her "spa treatment".

We arrived at Bock Marine early after lunch. To our surprise they did not have a pump-out and we did not want to take 40 gallons of "you know what" ashore, so we backed out and headed 3 miles back to another marina. It was a very tight fit for us but we eventually got in and out and back to Bock. The staff were waiting dockside and very shortly Tide Hiker had "her ass in a sling" and was out of the water. Deidre and I were a bit nervous, but it seems they have done this before and all was well.

Running gear

I thought there was a lot of growth on the hull but the consensus was just "average". The crew scraped off 90% of the barnacles and power washed the whole underwater skin. To my eye the zincs look a bit worse for wear, so I will get those off tomorrow and order replacements. The hull will also be inspected tomorrow and the scope of work decided.

Bow thruster tunnel

The boat has been "parked" in the yard and hooked up to water and electricity. We have a ladder to get on and off the boat. We are allowed to let shower and washing up water just spill onto the ground. It all sounds a bit grotty, but there are about 15 occupied boats in the yard at present. It feels a bit like living in a tree house.

Thursday October 11, 2012

The guys were back at it first thing this AM sanding the hull and the running gear. The hull is now looking a bit pock marked but the running gear is starting to look shiny. I removed all the zincs and have purchased replacements. Tomorrow I think we will see paint!

Deidre and I hitched a ride to town and picked up our rental car and did some shopping and touring. Tonight we are driving into town for dinner.

Friday October 12, 21012

The first coat of paint went on the hull today. Second coat goes on Monday. The running gear is as shiny as a new penny. There are several other jobs now under way:

1. The port muffler has some pin-hole leaks. It was removed today and taken to the shop.
2. The mechanic installed the two raw water "upgrade kits"
3. The mechanic decided the starboard fresh water circulating pump was leaking and needs to be replaced. We ordered the replacement and will have it next week.
4. We found a small diesel leak emanating from the site gauge tap on the Starboard-Aft fuel tank. Not too sure how we will handle that yet.
5. The stabilizer control has a leak - not sure what happens next
6. We are planning to replace the Starboard starter battery

Oriental

Tuesday October 9, 2012
35 01.778 N
76 40.892 W

Today's efforts did not provide much to write about. Monday night was wet and breezy and very dark, but the anchor did its job and we enjoyed a good nights rest. The run to Oriental was about 49 NM which is a full day ahead of us. The wind was North and North West so we had it on our stern most of the way, especially as we crossed the Pamlico river estuary. Deidre is now used to some excitement each day, and found the today quite boring, so much so that she gave up and went back to bed.

The most exciting moment of the day was when a "sister ship" passed in the opposite direction. We called them on the radio and had a chat.

We were tied up at the marina in Oriental by 4PM and were pleasantly surprised at the newness and quality of the place. Their loaner car was available and we headed into town for some dinner and some shopping.

Wednesday morning we met some nice people on the dock - a retired Methodist minister and his wife! They were really fun people and invited us to meet them for dinner next week! I will have to be on best behavior if that happens.

Tomorrow we head for the yard. Its only about 15 miles so it will be an easy day.

Pungo Creek

Monday October 8, 2012
35 31.058 N
76 38.608 W

It was pretty windy last night but the anchor held fast. Anchoring in windy weather is probably the most stressful part of our lifestyle. Overall, we have not seen much bad weather (compared to the stories we are told) but have dragged twice - once in Georgia near Savannah and once at Block Island. Fortunately on both occasions we were awake and could "see" the problem and able to take action before we "grounded".

Nice umbrella

We now have two tools that help prevent us waking up with the boat bumping and leaning over. They are alarms that sound off when the boat moves "too far". I usually watch the GPS closely from the moment we anchor till we go to bed. If the anchor is holding then it typically makes a nice umbrella pattern. I have included a photo of the GPS from last night - it was perfect! In addition we have an "app" on the Ipad called "Drag Queen". The instant I drop the anchor Deidre hits the set function, and it measures our movement from that point. If we move too far (200') then it shrieks.

On the canal

We took it easy today, maybe about 40 miles. Tomorrow another 40 to Oriental (where I have reserved a slip) and then just 12 more miles to the boat yard. We have anchored in a wide creek in 10' of water, our nose edged up to the northern shore. We are expecting 15-20 Kt NE and N wind tonight. The shore seems heavily forested, so the protection should be pretty good. Most of today was man made canal, pretty boring.

.

Alligator River

Sunday October 7th, 2012

35 40.447 N

76 03.443 W

By the time we woke up, showered and had some breakfast "everyone else" was gone. What did they know that we did not? The weather looked OK - tail winds but a bit blowy tonight. What was the rush? We had stayed up late Saturday night because we had found a late episode of Doc Martin on TV. 

So we headed out about 8:40 AM, blissfully ignorant. Uneventful start for the day, except that we were abused by some citizen who thought our 5 or 6 knot wake was excessive. That seemed crazy to me. During the night we were woken twice by tugs with giant barges in tow - passing a few feet away (maybe 50', but it seemed close). The wake they churned up was 100 times what we created as we "slipped along". Maybe he was upset just because he had missed Doc Martin?

 We planned 49 miles today to an anchorage in the southern part of the Alligator River. As expected we picked up a little speed from the tail wind and arrived at the target spot at about 3:30 PM. Took us three tries to find the right spot but now we seem set for the night. "Drag Queen" confirms we have not budged. Since then, we have picked up two neighbors, a trawler and a yacht. 

Other neighbor

Coinjock, NC

Saturday, October 6, 2012
36 21.0969 N
75 56.8620 W

There is a Bank of America less than a mile from our mooring, so I walked up this morning and obtained a bank statement. By the time I got back it was time to cast off and get rolling. The bridge opens after the lock empties its load of south bound boats, and I wanted to be up front. We ended up in 3rd place after some serious jockeying.

The day started sunny and calm but the wind picked up as the day progressed south. We were aware of a cold front arriving over night Saturday that would change the wind from predominately South to predominately North. This makes it a bit hard to find the right overnight anchorage, but so long as the wind was under 20 MPH we were OK with it. We checked the forecast every few hours and at about 2 PM a "Small Craft Advisory" had been declared and the Northerly had been upped to 15 - 30 MPH.

That news sent us to a marina at Coinjock, and that is where we sit now. There are a lot of boats headed south, and many will react the same as us to the weather. There is only limited number of marinas out here (especially the cheap ones we like) and its "first in best dressed". We were tied up by 3PM. As the afternoon progressed more boats rolled in. It became quite social, and we made friends with a 42' Catamaran and a 53' DeFever (The owners recognized Tide Hiker.) We had dinner on the boat.

We will probably head off in the AM as we are headed south and a Northerly would be on our tail.

Great Bridge

Friday October 5, 2012
36 43.282 N
76 14.506 W

We really nailed the tides today. Underway at about 7:30 AM and rode the ebb south east across Chesapeake, then as the tide turned rode the flood up the Elizabeth River. All this "speed" turned to nought when we were delayed first at the Gilmerton lifting bridge because of a maintenance issue and then later at the Great Bridge Lock because of an accident. (Sad story: apparently a grand father took his grand son fishing at the pool in front of the lock. We do not know the details yet, but apparently they both drowned. The lock was closed while the police recovered the bodies.)

 As we approached Hampton Roads we noticed an aircraft carrier in the distance behind us. We slowed down so she would catch up and we could watch her being docked. Once she was inside, we kept our distance and the security people ignored us as the ship was met by four tugs, was stopped, turned 90 degrees and pushed backwards into a slip.

There is just so much "hardware" here that its hard to take it all in. Further up stream we came across the USS George H Bush. This is a new super carrier and seemed twice as large as the little guy we saw docking.

Tugs doing their thing.

The navy yards extend for miles along the river. We saw  every type of navel vessel that I could imagine. There are dry docks and floating docks and giant cranes, warehouses and floating billets for the sailors and repair crews. I cannot imagine why we need any more ships - how many are enough? (I suppose when we finally run out of money we can sell some to the Chinese.) Cool stuff, nevertheless.

We ended up anchoring with a bunch of boats in the approach to the Great Bridge lock while we waited, but after an hour or so we got the "green light".

George H Bush

Locking through was uneventful and we tied off to the canal bulkhead as soon as we were through the lock. This is a popular stop. It is also historical - another one of those places where a ragtag bunch of patriots held off the pride of the British army in 1775. (I think I saw the movie.)

There were still TV crews hanging around as we secured the boat.

South bound traffic waiting at the lock

North bound barge at Great Bridge

Cape Charles

Thursday October 4, 2012
37 15,866 N
76 01.051 W

Leaving the "marina"

We were up at 6:30 AM and underway by 7:00 AM. Low tide was at about 9:00 AM so we wanted to ride with as much of the ebb as we could as we went south. (Turns out we had a favorable current until about 10:30 AM - beats me, I just steer the boat.) I enjoy leaving early, except for the getting out of bed part. The water is usually so still, reflections on the water so beautiful and the coffee seems to taste twice as good.

We had about a 40 mile run to Cape Charles, and it was an uneventful trip. We were all tied up by 1:00 PM and after "doing all the chores" went for a stroll around town, ending up at the local coffee shop for a couple of lattes. We decided against eating in town - Deidre promised spaghetti and meatballs!.

The port Cape Charles was once the southerly terminus of the Eastern Railroad and rail cars were loaded onto barges and pulled over to Norfolk. The rail facilities are still here but look out of use.

We plan to leave early again tomorrow. We will be crossing the Chesapeake again and passing thru the Hampton Roads port area, which gets a bit busy. I hope to get some better photos of all the Navy boats with my new camera. I understand there are two of the Reagan class aircraft carriers in port.

The ramp and the rail barge

Tangier Island

Tuesday October 2, 2012
37 49.806 N
75 59.634 W

Now this is a curious place.

We enjoyed a good night's rest up the Corrotoman. The water was so still I do not think the boat moved all night, and the anchor just worked as a weight. We were underway by 9AM, timed so that we arrived at Tangiers at high tide, about 2PM. Once again the Starboard engine battery acted up, so it looks like we have a new starting battery in our near future.

The trip was uneventful, except for a bit of rain. Also, because we had the weather on our stern quarter the boat "squirreled" around a bit - Deidre calls it "the washing machine" effect, and she really does not like it much. She says she feels better when she puts her head down, with the inevitable result of falling asleep. (She is not sucking her thumb, it just looks that way.)

There is only one marina at Tangiers, run by old Mr Parks. He is so old he called me "sonny" and is pretty deaf. The marina fee was only $35 a night, so we stayed two nights, so we could explore all day Wednesday.

Tide Hiker among the wok boats

.Tangiers has an interesting history. It was discovered by Capt. John Smith (of Pocahontas) and settled by Cornish immigrants in the mid 1600's. The descendants of these settlers still live there - all 600 of them. They have retained a distinctive country English accent (just like the villagers on Doc Martin). The islands total only a few square miles and are not far above sea level. Sometimes they are entirely covered by water during a "super tide" or bad storm.  In some ways its like a scruffy Venice. The islands were used as a staging area for the British attack on Baltimore in the war of 1812.

Granma in the front yard.

It sure is a strange place (especially since we had no cell phone coverage, no internet access and only occasional emails would go thru). Apart from that, the first thing that strikes you is that people bury their dead in their own front yards! The graves have slabs of concrete over them so the coffins do not float away at high tide. The streets are only 10' wide - enough for a golf cart. We only saw a coupe of cars. Four or five surnames account for about 50% of the population.

As you would expect the people live of the Bay, mainly crabbing and oysters.

Moocho crab pots

We rented a golf card for a couple of hours on Wednesday and tootled around. It was fun, but all a bit strange. There was a restaurant (for the tourists I suspect) and we had dinner there Tuesday night thinking we would get some fresh sea food - all very disappointing. All very interesting, but I do not think we will revisit.