Journey's Trip w/pictures

[captedteach]

I think some of you know that Adam is doing a delivery - got word earlier that they made it to NC and will continue trip down ICW for a few days due to weather on the outside.  Adam said he fed the fish today for the first time ever - but felt great once he did

[Coastal Cruiser]

DO you know what part he maybe on the ICW? There maybe a hot bunk and some homemade spaghetti this weekend, if he gets stranded with this nasty wind and weather.

[s/v Faith]

I sure wish I had contact info.  If they are going to lay over anwhere near the New River (many anchor at Mile Hammoc, or one of the 3 marina's near the inlet) I would like to meet him.

[captedteach]

I'll forward the info - They are using a satphone for internet access and keeping it to a minimum.  If you send me your contact info I'll pass that on too - I'm sure that he would appreciate a hot bed and meal vs the KOLD boat   Last message had them at Silver Lake in Ocranoke

[captedteach]

you two check yer PMs - some info there -

[s/v Faith]

Thnx Capt,

  Will shoot him a message.
;D

[captedteach]

Here is the last update I got from Adam - He asked me to post this for him.

Lee – We're still stuck on Ocracoke Island, NC. Hopefully the wind will abate some overnight and we can get out into Pamlico Sound via the Nine Foot Shoal Channel. Evidently, the channel out towards the ICW is tricky, but thankfully well charted and not shoaled over, like the entrance from the ocean was. From there, we'll head west-southwest towards Oriental, and follow the ICW down through Beaufort...etc... following is a summary to post of the trip thus far, with a little more detail than I gave you last night. I have nothing better to do, as this town is basically shut down for the winter, and it's too early to get some beer.



We left Norfolk 10:50am on Friday, Feb 10th. Wind was directly on the nose until around 5am, then dead apparent wind until the turn around Cape Hatteras at approximately 8am Feb 11th. Then it clocked around to dead astern at about 15 knts. Tried flying the genny, but we were unable to without using the pole, and it was too rough to dick around on the foredeck. Motored the whole way at about 4.5 knots when the wind was on the nose, 6 knts in the morning calm, then averaged a little under 7 knts, surfed at up to 8 knts. Quatering seas were uncomfortable as we rounded Hatteras and paralleled the coast. Entrance to Ocracoke, NC, was stressful, as charts do not reflect the shifing channels, and unmarked buoys (esp. #22 red) were ambiguous. Entrance to Silver Lake was simple once we got to the actual entrance markers. Silver Lake is a pretty busy harbor (spud barge dredging and Hatteras ferry terminal) and maybe not a great place to anchor although there are several boats moored at the east end of the lake, but Anchorage Marina graciously let us tie up for the night for free (45 knt. gale blowing through, less than an hour after we got in!). If you need a hidey hole, and draw less than 5', this is a great place to run from inclement weather. Arrived at 5:40 pm... raced the gale in... won by a hair. It was a very wet trip, and freezing cold. It was still much preferable to taking the ICW from Norfolk. Even waiting an extra day here for the weather, we'll still be ahead. Rough route thus far: Out of Norfolk, through the Bay Bridge-Tunnel, then cut close to Cape Henry. Paralleled the coast between 8-10nm out, then rounded Cape Hatteras about 10nm of closest approach to land. Then due-west to Ocracoke Inlet. We squeaked in at dusk (do NOT try this inlet in bad weather or darkness).



Sunday, Feb 12th: Well, it's still blowing like stink, so we're hanging out at the dock for another night. The wind blew all night straight at us down the channel from Pamlico sound, so we rock and rolled quite a bit. With a little better planning, we would have docked along the pier rather than on the end of the T. But we assumed that we would be more sheltered. Still, it's very comfortable and the locals are VERY nice. With no cell service for T-Mobile and NexTEL here, the lady at the grocery store let me use my calling card on her phone. There's not much going on, so we're hanging out on the boat playing with the Raytech Nav software and playing games on the Playstation Portable (PSP), and listening to the weather on the radio. We've already had snow, and some more is possible this afternoon. Right now it's in the upper 30s, winds out of the west at about 20 knts, with gusts to 30... yuck.



We're not really on a schedule, just getting as far south in the next 8-9 days as possible, hopefully as far as Stuart. Weather permitting, we'll go back offshore after we pass Cape Fear. If not, we'll just go the ICW as far as necessary. The Simrad WP30 has been a godsend, Donald (Don954 on renegade-cruisers.org) installed it in about 10 minutes, and it's been flawless. The Air 300 wind generator is putting out a steady 9 amps, with bursts to 25 amps... it's shutting itself down every 5-10 minutes as a full charge is reached. So we're not on shore power, but have a plethora of electrons to run the toys.



I'm sorry if I repeated myself anywhere, I pasted my notes into this email to Lee, then added more of a narrative

Adam

[hearsejr]

so road trip anyone? :D

[captedteach]

They are on the move again - I'll post an update later

[s/v Faith]

  Just got back from meeting them down at Mile Hammock anchorage. 

  They were cold and tired, but in good spirits......  ;D

Sounds like Donald had done a little dredging on the ICW (just as all do around these parts.)

  They are talking about staying in the ICW and going back out at Cape Fear.

 

[hearsejr]

had I known sooner (hint: I need to come here more ften and pay attention!..lol.) I would have  met up with you guys.
I didn't think anyone would try a passage this time of year around here...well maybe myself but noone else. lol.

[captedteach]

Here is one update

CaptTeach


Anchored along the ICW. Following is my submission for the evening to the boards J Please post them for me, and make sure you note that I am out of cell coverage, so I'll call those guys from sailfar that offered help. We don't need anything, but I will call them and thank them.



Thanks.



------------------- Daily Report ---------------------------------





Feb 13 - Underway from Ocracoke Island at 11:10 am. Large pipelaying barge blocked channel, had to cut within 8' of tug to stay in channel. Winds pretty light out of the north at 10 knts. Fairly smooth seas. Making about 5 knts. into the small swells.

1:10 pm - Unfurled the jib. Still a hair too close to the wind. Problem with furling line coming out of the cam forward. Went on foredeck, fixed problem, re-furled jib. Will adjust guides later.



2:45 pm - Point of March 7.5 nm at 256 bearing. Very calm, 1' swells, making an easy 6.5 knts at 1800 rpm. Went off rhumbline to detour south around Branti Shoal (1.9 nm back). Uneventful afternoon on Pamlico Sound. Dropped bimini top, nice and sunny, 8-10 knt winds, mid to upper 40s temps... Simrad AP and Perkins diesel are working great so far. NO traffic on the sound other than the Hatteras and Ocracoke ferries in the far distance. Lunch was Campbell's condensed Cream of Chicken soup, heated in the can on the Force10 gimbled single burner stove. It was delicious.



3:00 pm - winds picked up 10-12 knts from NW. avg. 5.5 knts now



3:50 pm - put main up, added about 3/4 knts overall speed. A little bit bumpy w/ spray over the bow. Bimini back up. If we had a dodger, it would be up too. But we're making good time. Just entering the mouth of the Neuse River, linking up with the ICW.



6:00 PM - Passed #7 GRN off of Oriental, NC. Sunset was awesome. Pictures were taken. Rounding Garbacon Shoal to head to Adam's Creek. Chose to deviate from plan to cross on shoal, as charts have been iffy around shoal areas.



7:50 PM Anchored in Adams Creek. Very easy to navigate even in darkness. 34 53.747N 76 41.199W Very cold, otherwise we would have continued on the Beaufort/Morehead City. Dead calm winds. Beautiful full moon, not a cloud in the sky.

[captedteach]

and here is Todays

CaptTeach

today's update:



Left our anchored position about 8:50am this morning. It was tough getting going with the bitter cold, but it was pretty quiet at anchor in the ICW (outside of the channel, see previous post for Lat/Lon). A few tugs and some fishing boats. Not many other idiots like us out cruising.



Uneventful trip down the ICW under power. COLD and windy.. do I keep saying "cold"? I wonder why? Anyway, we met up with "Guest" from Renegades (S/V Faith on sailfar.net) here at the Mile Hammock Bay just north of the New River Inlet. He brought us propane, nicotine, and pizza! The plan was to ride up to an ATM with him to reimburse him. He refused payment... he's gotten two friends for life. Otherwise, we would have not had enough propane to heat the boat until Wilmington. And fresh pizza was pretty darn good too! 34 33.211N – 77 19.426W . We're hunkered down for the night with heat, tunes, pizza, and Playstation. It, of course, is blowing pretty good out there, and cold... as usual. But, we're headed south! No problems to report with the boat, everything is working perfectly.



Happy Valentine's Day to all the ladies of the boards. Ya'll are welcome to join us along the way!

[CapnK]

Cool! (no pun intended  ::) ) Thx for posting that Teach. Good on ya Craig for bringing the fellas some stores. :D

Teach - tell Adam that if they pull in at Georgetown I'd be glad to meet them!

[captedteach]

Here is the latest

CaptTeach

Feb 14th - sent email for Lee to post. 6 35' steel assault boats came roaring into the anchorage in the middle of night. Rough at our borrowed dock from their wake. Can't really complain, it was their dock and we used the last 35' of it. They didn't mind, two even asked us to let them stowaway. Evidently playing around on open assault boats in the middle of the night when the temps are in the 30s is not "Being All You Can Be" or an "Army of One"... actually, they were Marines, so Semper Frozen to them :)



Feb 15th - Left Mile Hammock Dock @ 8:50am. cold. no incidents.



9:40 am - Wind on the nose at 6-8 knts. Making 6.4 knts. Add them up, cold breeze in the face. Getting better temperature wise though, but still bundled up like Nanuk of the North.



11:15 am - about 3/4 nm ne of Surf City swing bridge. Awaiting noon opening. Bridge opens hourly. Just a note, the ICW is very simple to follow up here, but have seen as low as 6' where their target depth is 12? Also, it seems best thus far to stick close to the westward markers/side of the channel, as the ICW seems to be shoaling on the eastward side.





2:40 pm - Just made Figure Eight Island swing bridge. Had to do one donut waiting. Pretty lucky timing. Traveling behind sloop Dolphin Song, out of Stuart, FL. We passed them last night right before Mile Hammock turn. They're flying a banner that says icwguide.info on both sides of their boat. I'll look that up when we get home. Must not be much of a guide, they didn't know the bridge openings and they ran aground... hmmmm....



4:10 pm - Went through the Wrightsville Bridge after donuts for 45 minutes.. Watched Dolphin Song do donuts about 1/2 mile behind us and run aground. They figured it out just in time to make the bridge opening. It opens hourly. Docked at Dockside Marina and Restaurant for fuel ATM run, etc... Great dock. 9' at the dock at low tide showing.



General Notes- if you're attentive to your laptop wireless, you can occasionally get into an open network for long enough to empty your e-mail queue. We managed to get one off today to Donald's family. But for now, these updates are via satphone, which seems to work pretty well for 9.6bps... okay for text, but nothing else. Feel free to send emails to us ( azure@boaterspc.com ) but text only please, no images or attachments. Weather permitting, the plan is to head offshore tomorrow from the west side of Cape Fear. I think we fixed the alignment problem on the rollerfurling jib, but this boat also has a roller furling main (similar to the jib mechanism, parallel to and behind the main). This means the main is loose footed, and thus we are unable to point very high into the wind.

Adam

[Pixie Dust]

Thanks for keeping us posted on Adams adventure.  Enjoying the read!
I too have a Simrad WP30, easy to install, works great!
Keep the updates coming. 

[captedteach]

As our intrepid voyagers continue to that sailors haven of southern Fl the hardships persist - Tune in now and we shall learn the answers to these questions and more:

Will Adam have enuff CreamCheeseand Chive crackers or will he breakdown and have to eat peanut butter crackers?

Will the updates continue even with Equipment failures?

Stay Tuned - The answers right after these words from our Sponsor - DintyMoore Beef Stew All you need is a can and an engine that runs for a hot meal........

CaptTeach


Friday, February 17, 2006

6:20 pm



Current position



N32 03.719

W079 14.679



81 nm due east of Savannah GA.

Bearing 270 Degrees for the next 2 hours or so.

All is good, just making our way outside of the gulfstream on the way south.  We eased a few miles into it by chasing good wind, so for the next hour or so, we're getting more westerly.



Minor problems:

Alternator isn't putting out a charge, but we finally have wind enough for the wind gen. Staying well ahead of consumption.

Most of the day, wind was light and 10 degrees off the nose. Mostly motorsailed since early this morning.

Rollerfurler on jib keeps spitting the line, guides seem too worn. May be without the jib the rest of the time. A couple of small pieces of starboard, and we could fashion new guides in about 5 minutes. Oh well.

There's a monster on level 17 on my playstation game that I can't find. I need to kill him to complete the level.

Almost out of Cream Cheese and Chives crackers. Might have to fall back on the peanut butter crackers.



Otherwise, another gorgeous day, sun just set. Light seas. Diesel is SIPPING fuel. Very efficient Perkins 4-108. This report may be delayed a few hours, we're having trouble locking on to a satellite for the satphone.



This report brought to you by the fine folks at Dinty Moore Beef Stew! It's always an excellent choice!

[CapnK]

LOL Teach and Adam! :)

[Adam]

Well, after my last update, like 15 minutes after, the fuel pump died. 80 miles out from Savannah, GA. So we sailed big donuts all night, deciding at first light to go into Charleston, where I replaced the pump. But, after two nights at the dock and running into a good friend from the other board, we got underway down the ICW and did a two day run down to Savannah, where we left the boat. I had to get home for a traffic court date (only ticket EVER!), and the owner wisely decided not to continue along alone. I'll post pictures when he uploads them from his laptop.

Quite an adventure!
Thanks again S/V Faith! and Lee (captedteach) for posting my ramblings.

[Pixie Dust]

Adam, it has been fun keeping up with them.  It has provided us with lots of chuckles and "ouch-hate to hear that happened" moments.  Enjoy your break and restock on those cream cheese and chive crackers!   :D