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.