Cat Cruising

Southport, N.C.

We left Manteo and had a beautiful windy 60 n.m sail to Ocracoke. We averaged about 8 kts. We quickly toured the town (which was quaint) and decided to move on as we’re getting anxious to return to the comforts of home.

We left Ocracoke in 20 kts of wind. I decided to take a channel out of town (to the Pamlico Sound that isn’t listed in any of our guide books. The depths were all over 8 ft so I figured it would be a piece of cake. The channel is several miles long. Half way through the waves became 3-4 ft high. It occurred to me that our bottom (we have a 4 ft draft) might hit bottom with a thud in the trough of a wave. By that time were were past the point of no return. It was quite nerve racking but we never hit bottom and got into the Sound. It was a close reach (about 60 degrees to the wind) all the way to Neuse River which got us back to the protected ICW. We anchored at Cedar Creek with 4 other boats. Coincidently one of the boats knew my fellow Lagoon 35 owner and email friend Marshall. He introduced himself and took a photo of our boat to send to Marshall. For some reason though the photo Marshall received was of a different catamaran?

The next morning we motored from Cedar Creek to Mile Hammock Bay. We stayed there on the way north. It’s on Camp Lejeune marine base. There was only one other boat on this large bay. We had purchased the recent version of Skipper Bob’s ICW guide. Going north we used one that was 6 years old. The newer version mentioned that they had received reports of boats being ordered to leave day or night when the marines wanted to use it for maneuvers. I spent the whole night worrying that that would happen and we’d have to travel the ICW in darkness 3 in the AM. Of course it didn’t happen.

We left there this AM with Southport, NC as our destination. We had stopped there on the way north and stayed at the Provisions restaurant dock. The food is great and the dock is free, what more can one ask for.

This trip the wind was directly behind us at 20-25 kts. The current was against us. In the situation on the Cape Fear River (I know now how it got its name), large, closely spaced waves develop. We experienced 3-5 ft waves closely spaced. We’d ride up the crest of one and drop to about 2 kts, than down the next we’re we hit 12 kts. It was quite a ride for a couple of hours. Was glad to reach Southport harbor.

We may spend a second day here. Obviously we have internet access.

Great Dismal Swamp

Since the storm things have been routine, but interesting and fun.

We proceeded down the ICW and entered the “Great Dismal Swamp Canal”. This is a 22 mile stretch that looks like it came out of the movie Deliverance. It’s quite narrow, when two boats have to cross in opposite directions both have to slow to a crawl to avoid hitting each other (we only had one crossing the entire stretch). Most

Leaving Elizabeth City

cruisers take the Virginia Cut which is faster but less rustic.

To enter the canal you have to go through a lock that raises the boat 8 ft. This takes about 30 minutes during which time we had a conversation with Robert, the lock keeper. He gave us a lecture on the history of the area. It was fascinating, but the usual 30 min period turned into an hour. In the meantime

Manteo, NC (Outer Banks)

there was another boat waiting to go through the lock. Right after the lock we found a free dock. It’s by a town within easy walking distance so we went grocery shopping and had dinner at a small but wonderful Mexican restaurant. We had a restful sleep that night.

The next morning we continued on and left the canal after going through a second lock which dropped us 6 ft. (I don’t know where the missing 2 ft. went).

We continued on to Elizabeth City where there was more free docks. The people of the city are very cruiser friendly. For years a group known as the “Rose Buddies”, greets cruisers at the docks and if there were more than 4 boats would host a wine and cheese party. We were lucky enough to attend one of those 6 years ago, but for some reason they didn’t have one this time. We were however treated to a farmers market right next to the boat.

We might a nice Canadian (Nova Scotia) couple who told us about a city named Manteo on the outer banks of NC. It was a little out of the way and we hadn’t planned to go in that direction but it sounded so nice we decided to go out of our way. Both boats left together but our cat was much faster and we arrived first. Guess what, another free dock.

Tomorrow we leave early for Ocracoke also on the Outer Banks.

The SSCA gam is over. We had a great time, met many interesting people. We also met three of my cousins who live near Washington, DC.

We’re on the way home and expect to be there towards the end of October (barring any hurricanes).

We’re currently anchored in a small cove on Solomons Island, MD

Exhibit at St. Michaels Maritime Museum

I couldn’t post from Oxford because there was no wifi. We spent 2 nights there. Small prosperous town that looks like it should be located in New England (house style). It’s definitely not a tourist town. Only 2 restaurants and one was closed. One market, no “attractions”. Seemed to be more boats (in the marinas) than people.

Did I mention that Tangier is a “dry town”? (I know that is a non sequitur).

The sail from Oxford to St. Michaels was interesting in that we encountered much debris (mostly logs and tree branches) in the water. From what I gather there are flood gates in the northern Chesapeake that were opened after Hurricane Irene. As the flood waters entered the Bay the debris came with it. It wasn’t a pleasant sail for this reason.

When we got to St. Michael we noted the two inner harbors were pretty crowded. We read that the holding isn’t that good and I don’t like things going “bump in the night”. So we anchored just outside the harbors in the Miles River.

We explored St. Michael yesterday. What a contrast to Oxford. It’s a real tourist town. Lots of restaurants, bars, museums, tours etc. There is a dinghy dock just for the visiting boats. I see why this is such a popular cruising destination.

Right now we’re sitting in the boat reading and catching up on computer stuff (as we have wifi). The winds have picked up to 15 and expected later to be 20 kts with gusts to 30. Because we’re unprotected and the wind is coming down the river we have waves and don’t want to take the chance of being marooned on shore (our dinghy and 2 1/2 HP motor are not suitable for significant waves), so we’re going to stay on the boat all day. Weather is expected to be better tomorrow.

Our next stop is Annapolis or more precisely Edgewater, MD (a suburb). The annual Annapolis SSCA (Seven Seas Cruising Association) gam (convention) is Sept 23-25. We’ll get there around the 20th and hope to meet two of my cousins. After the meeting is over we’ll slowly start our way home visiting places we missed on the way up.

Spent the day and night at Tangier Island yesterday. Wonderful, strange place. Population is about 700. Most people share the same last name. The island makes it’s living from crabbing and a little bit from tourism. The island can only be reached by boat or plane. People are very friendly.

One of the outstanding features are the number of cemeteries. Again most of the tombstones are familiar names. Some people have graves on their front yard. Probably everyone who has died on the island has an identifiable grave here.

The owner of the marina here, Mr. Parks is 80 years old. He has no employees it seems. He offered to take us on a golf cart (there are no cars) tour of the island but it started raining.

We left there this AM and we’re now anchored off Oxford , MD. (a 10 hour trip). We’ll explore the town in the AM.