Delivering Ariel Spirit; Deale, MD to New River, NC

[s/v Faith]

I cut the quote out of Frank's Chesapeake thread, since the trip was mostly south of the Chesapeake.

Well, we ticked off mile 180 of our trip from Deale, MD to the New River, NC

'Ariel Spirit' Hull #3 has performed wonderfully!

I am typing this from the courtesy dock at Elizabeth City, after Rose and I stepped for on land for the first time in the last 4 days (had a wonderful dinner at Groupers, and made the Rose brothers 'party' at the town dock).

Day one, out of Deale was one of the best days sailing I have ever had. Had 25-30 knots on a broad Stbd reach for the entire day..... Started late, but still made Solomans Is. in time to watch the last of the sun set.
Day 2 we got caught out in a gale....[ pretty nasty, I heard reports of 2 capsized boats (well, powerboats anyway)  ;) and listened to one conversation involving a rescue of some folks from a 27' Bayliner (?) that started taking on water and sank(?!?!).


We are doing well, and I will catch up more later. Just wanted to give a quick update to let everyone know we were alive and well.




The boat is safely tucked in it's slip on the New River in NC. It was a fantastic trip, we only had bad weather that one day I posted about before.

Rose caught a nice striped bass, but decided to let it go to get a little bit bigger....  ;D


We anchored at Solomon's Island,

then on the Rappahannock river. Day 3 we
crossed through Hampton Roads and spent the night at the Deep Creek lock,
awaiting entry to the Dismal Swamp Canal.

We were even able to motor sail
most of the way down the ditch, it is beautiful and a really enjoyable trip!





After the Dismal Swamp, we spent a night at the Elizabeth City courtesy dock.   This was a big deal for us, as a couple years ago we had been unable to make up to these docks and had a bad experience trying. This time we had
nearly the same (bad) cross winds but managed to get tied up. They hold a party on the dock in Elizabeth City, where the 'Rosebud Brother's greet the visiting boaters and they have wine and cheese 'meet and greet' for
everyone. Elizabeth City is a great stop, the city is very cruiser friendly with free wireless internet at the docks, good stores and a courtesy car that will pick you up and take you to the local Farm Fresh for groceries.

The night we spent in Elizabeth City, the wonderful NW winds clocked around to the West. Then as we w left the Albemarle sound, and entered the Alligator River the wind clocked further and came at us from the SW...... we
spent the rest of the day close hauled with the motor ticking over and spent the night at the south end of the Alligator.

The next stop was Belhaven, NC. We stopped in for Ice and decided to spend the night. When we brought 'Faith' down we had stopped there and wanted to
take some time to explore. We spent the night at River Forest Manor Marina, and used the courtesy golf cart to explore the town. It is a neat little place, just being discovered by the developers and real estate vultures. I
recommend lunch at 'Wine and Words' in Belhaven.

We pressed on across the Pamlico sound, and then on across the Neuse River and spent the night in Adam's creek. The next morning we shared the channel
with dozens of dolphins who seemed to appreciate that we were sailing and rewarded us by coming in close to the boat.

Sailing / motoring through Beaufort / Morehead was the most stressful part of the trip (worse then the storm on the Chesapeake). I have always had an 'exciting' time transiting this popular stretch of water.... Our choice to
make our way through on a Saturday morning did little to improve my opinion of power boaters.  >:(

Saturday night saw us enjoying a dinner with friends at Mile Hammock. We turned up the river and sailed into the marina with Ariel Spirit's new captain at the tiller. It was the perfect end to a great trip in a great boat.

[Pixie Dust]

Craig, really enjoyed the trip update and especially the pictures.  Sounds like you and Rose had a great trip!  Ariel Spirits' new Capt looks very confident and content at the helm.  Awesome to see that!  She looks like a wonderful boat!
Glad you had a good ride.   :)

[nemona]

Great descriptions. Anyone going through Bellhaven NC needs to check out the Bellhaven  Waterway Marina, a charming place run by a lovely cruising couple. The bathrooms are not to be believed, like a  bed and breakfast. They also have a hottub on a deck overlooking the water and a big grill to cook on. They have bikes and let you use their truck to get to the supermarket.

Don't miss the Bellhaven museum, its like something out of the Twilight Zone.

Second the Wine and Books place. Good food and interesting books, interesting proprieters.

[xroyal]

Thanks so much for a delightful read and fine pics.

I've experienced those storms forming over the Chesapeake, and they can be Scary. Amongst other times, I was in the middle of the Bay off Annapolis sailing my 17' Klepper kayak on a once lovely summer day.  Seemingly, all of a sudden the sky went black, and the wind picked up fast. I was more than happy to get my date and I back to shore before the heavy stuff hit. Had to peg the boat down to keep it from blowing away. Memories not easily forgotten.

Thanks again, and best wishes to the new owner too!

[mariner3302]

I think I was up that way in the Chesapeake when you were. I was on a Annapolis to Bermuda race boat. We heard those same calls in the morning as we were getting ready to head out into the ocean.

[castawaysailor]

My vessel is currently in New River area at Swan Point Marina; on delivery from Philly to St. Pete, FL

[s/v Faith]

Hey Cast Away!

  Hello and welcome to SAILFAR.net!

What are you having done there?  Are you with the boat, or is it just here getting some work done?

  Please check your personal messages on this site, I have some information that might be helpful to you.

[castawaysailor]

thanks faith, just passing through on the way to Florida.  Stopped because of the approaching tropical storm and decided to do the bottom and enjoy the area.

long range plan is to begin cruising full time Dec 2006.