May 11, 2009

How quickly this Monday has rolled around. And we have rolled along. After our protracted stay in South Carolina, I neglected to note that we have crossed the border into the Carolina of the North! It has been suggested to me that I somehow attach a map to this blog, I will put it on the list of things to learn to do, and suggestions are welcomed! We had a fun day in North Carolina last Tuesday. The Harbour Village Marina was delightful and we (once again) hated to leave, but by 9am were underway and heading North! Very soon we discovered that the Canadian boat (IMPERTINENCE TOO) we first met in McClellanville, then parted with at Wrightsville Beach, was back. That is truly one of the best parts of cruising—meeting the same people again and again. So, joined by a sailboat named THE REVERIE we had a parade of sorts along the Carolina coast. The Intracoastal Waterway pretty much follows the shoreline of North Carolina. And the shore of NC is primarily barrier islands with inlets (or outlets, depending....) to the Atlantic Ocean every so often. Between inlets with their rushing currents, the magenta line (that is how the Waterway is designated on our charts) can get very twisty and turny, and the water often becomes surprisingly shallow—and then the depth sounder beeps! The trick then is to decide which way to turn the boat to return to deeper water. (Boaters, bear with me here. My belief is that many blog readers don't boat!) Here is an example of why it really works to NOT have tight schedules when you are cruising. The standard height above the water for a highway bridge crossing the Intracoastal Waterway is 65 feet. Most sailboats easily clear that, and it is always prudent to check the 'waterboards' posted on the bridge support. Depending on the tides, currents, winds, etc., the distance from the top of the water to the bottom of the bridge can vary greatly. The boards generally show 2' increments, and it is usually pretty easy to read the clearance distance. With our antennae folded back, we need only 19' to clear,so all highway bridges work for us. THE REVERIE was unable to get under the bridge at Morehead City, NC. In our just over a year of cruising, that was the first time we'd seen a boat whose mast wouldn't clear a fixed bridge. Off she went to await a lower tide. We trust she didn't have a dinner date! Who knows when she'd fit under the bridge? We juggled the wind and current in Morehead City and soon were tied up for the night. Wednesday was an easy day, and the last day of boating for us for the week. We zipped up Adams' Creek, crossed the Nuese River and by 1:00 pm Fred had backed us into a slip conveniently located right in front of the Oriental, NC Marina office (and Tiki Bar). We spent the evening washing the salt spray off the boat, and packing. On Thursday morning, we were picked up by Enterprise, took their car—actually not their car—long story... Suffice it to say that we drove to Dover DE. Slept there, and the next day finished the trip to Newburgh. It was a whirlwind visit with lots happening in a very short time! On Saturday morning, Orange County Community College had a breakfast celebration and Hudson River ride on the stern paddle wheeler RIVER ROSE for thirty or so graduates who took most of their classes at the college's Newburgh campus. Daughter Kris Tina, who has been both a student and an employee at OCCC, had a hard time being a guest at the event she had worked hard to make a success (in her role as employee). She was there as a graduate and spoke (very eloquently,I might add) to the gathering of families and friends of graduates. Her topic? The challenges of returning to college as a single mom with a full time job. What a treat to share in her accomplishment. Later in the day, we joined daughter Molly and her family for a Mother's Day/birthday/anniversary dinner that ended with fabulous fruit selections on Angel Food Cake. Yum! Also got to meet the eight chickens who have come to add hilarity to the Whritner Whresidence. No eggs yet, but they will be great, we betcha! (I left my camera on the boat. Newburgh photos will be added when they arrive) Sunday morning Fred and I were up and on the road at the crack of dawn. By 11 am we were at the Southern end of the Jersey Tpk. We stopped for a picnic lunch along the shore of the Chesapeake-Delaware Canal, and by 10 pm were back 'at home' in Oriental, on the boat. Monday, after we returned the rental car, YOUNG AMERICA carried us off to the Neuse River. It was a very exciting ride in strong northeast winds. YA handled the waves on her bow admirably! One huge wall of water, though, washed under the anchor lock in such a way that the chain was freed and spun out in a heartbeat. We heard the crash and recognized that the sound came from the bow, but it was much later, when we were out of the wind and spray and about to anchor for the night that we discovered, to our horror, that we'd dragged the Danforth at the end of 200' of chain for a very long time! The chain was embalmed in sticky mud, and the anchor wound up in sticks, mud and random pieces of 'stuff'. New project. Install a back up locking system on both anchors! Actually, it is a new OLD project. Fred has had tag lines on the anchors for about 9 months, and only recently stopped using them. This incident moves the design and building of a back up holding system way up on the 'to-do' list! Had Knute, our gi-normous Rockna anchor deployed in that wind----well, let's not go there. Needless to say, by the time we'd cleaned up the Danforth and the deck, anchored for real, and eaten dinner, we were done. It was early to bed and the blog will have to wait until Tuesday. And here it is! Hope you all had a great week, too. Remember, comments are appreciated—just click on the comment line at the bottom of the blog. I feel a bit like radio announcers must—the word goes out. Feedback would be great! Just say 'hey'! Fred and Linda