We did depart around 6:30am and followed Oceana out to the Pamlico Sound. I was communicating with them on the radio and we were going about the same speed. They veered off a bit and put the sails up and I kept on the course I had plotted. We stayed about a mile or two from each other, and the trip was long and boring. Lauren made lunch and relieved me a couple of times so I could get up an stretch my legs. After about seven hours we were entering the Old House Channel, which is a narrow channel that takes us to Manteo. There are several shoaling hazards listed such as this: “There is an area of about 5 feet MLW mid channel between R10 and R12. Deep draft boats might need tide help here.” and the channel is almost fifteen miles long to get to the Manteo turn off! We were following Oceana in, and this is their home port, so I felt okay with them in the lead, even though they have a more shallow draft than us. We finally made it to the turn off to Manteo after another hour and half. I dropped back a bit to let them go in first. We had looked at the charts and saw the town has a free dock available, as well as an anchorage just off the free dock. As Oceana approached, they went into the marina next door and pulled into a dock. It was a bit windy, so it looked like they were having a little trouble getting situated. In the mean time, I was coming in to the free dock on the other side of the marina. As we were approaching, the dock master from the marina came running over and called to me on the radio to tell me we could not dock here, nor could we anchor here, as the town was ‘closed’ until Saturday! Lauren and I looked at each other and thought “WTF!?” Now we are here and have no where to go. I aborted our maneuver and went back out to the narrow, shallow channel and just floated there in neutral. Lauren came upstairs and we talked about our next option. The dock master said we could go back seven miles or so and anchor there, but that didn’t sound good to us, so we pulled up the charts on our phones and called the next closest marina which was Shallowbag Bay Marina. The dock master answered the phone and I asked if they are taking transients? He responded with a “yes”, to which we were relieved to hear. The next question was “is there space for us?”. He asked the normal questions: how long, draft, etc. then he asked “when are you coming?” I explained how we had just been denied from the Manteo Waterfront and we were in the bay as we speak. He told me he was not on the property at the moment, but give him twenty minutes and he would meet us there. This was great to hear! We hung up with him and the radio came to life: “Klondike, Klondike- this is Oceana, come in.” I responded and we switched channels (channel 16 is only used for hailing and distress, so conversations are hel d on other channels) “What the heck!?- I’m so sorry, we didn’t know they would do that!” Oceana explained- “you could anchor there if you want- he doesn’t have authority over the anchorage!” I responded with the news of already securing a slip at Shallowbag Marina and thanking them for the concern. We were pretty sure they weren’t aware of the situation or they wouldn’t have suggested it to us, and I thought of anchoring there anyway, but I didn’t want to push it. “The town opens on Saturday, so you could come back if you want” Oceana informed us. I again thanked them for the information and we signed off. We were now making our way slowly toward the marina, waiting for the call to tell us we could enter and where to dock. Soon the phone rang and the dock master told us we could enter and they would show us to the dock and have a dock hand ready to assist with the lines. We made our way in and docked without incident. Once we were tied up, I made my way to the office to check in. The rates weren’t too bad, about $1.75/foot. The location of the marina was pretty good too, to the grocery store as well as an Autozone, where I could get supplies I needed, as it was time to do an oil change and I wanted to replace some fuel filters too. Lauren took Frank for a walk while I tidied up the boat and reported back there were a couple of restaurants close by which we might want to try. After finishing our tasks, we ordered a pizza from a local joint across the street. I picked it up and we relaxed, ate some pizza and retired early after our long day.
Day 2- I walked to the Autozone with our cart to pick up the filters and oil I would be needing. Unfortunately they did not have everything in stock, so I ended up buying the oil and four of the eight filters, with them having the other four for me tomorrow morning. I returned and did the oil change and replaced the fuel filters I did have. I also went to work on the hull, using the product I bought in Oriental. It did an amazing job of removing the rust stains on the white hull! I used the dinghy to work all the way around the boat and it looks so much better. Lauren and I then took the cart to the grocery store and the Dollar General and re-supplied. Once back at the boat, some more minor work was done, including me going up a ladder I borrowed, propped against the mast and the shroud with Lauren holding it for support. probably not the best idea, but it worked. I had noticed our anchor light was not working, so I figured I would just need to change the bulb. The switch was pretty easy, but then I checked it and it still wasn’t working. Hmmm… I checked the fuse and it was fine. I changed that too, just to be sure. It still isn’t working- I’ll have to think about this… Later I was chatting with our boat neighbor, and he told me about the soft shell crabs at the restaurant next to the marina. We felt like we had to try them, so we ordered some takeout. They were delicious- we’ve had soft shell crabs before and thought they were okay, but I have never been a huge fan. These were the best I’ve had for sure. The crab was an appetizer, so we made dinner. Afterward, we cleaned up from the long day and called it a night.
Day 3- I received a call around 8:30am that my filters were in and ready to be picked up. I walked up to the store and brought my old oil to dispose of. Once that was done I returned and started to get ready for departure. I filled the water tanks and we left our dock and headed over to the city dock we had been turned away from a couple of days earlier. As we made our way over the sun was shining and it was clearly going to be a beautiful day. I told Lauren the plan to dock on our port side, so we would be facing out when we leave. As we approached, I could see some other smaller boats docked, but there was plenty of space for us on the end. We executed the maneuver and docked with some assistance of another boater. I do appreciate the help sometimes, but sometimes the ‘help’ is a hinderance. In this case I was working against wind and tide, so I needed to push the bow out so I could get the stern around, but the guy kept pulling the bow in. I finally got close enough I could jump to the dock and muscle the stern in while telling him to let out the bow! It’s all good. Once we were secured, settled and the dog walked we took off on the bikes to explore. One of our first stops was at Poor Richards Sandwich Shop for a bite to eat. We got a sandwich for take out and sat outside at a picnic table to eat. The town was buzzing with people as today was a beautiful Saturday and the first day outsiders were allowed in to town. Apparently they had shut down the only bridges to the island during the COVID lockdown. After consuming our sandwich, we continued on. Our next stop was our first distillery we could stop at in months! We stopped at Kill Devil Rum / Outer Banks Distilling and picked up a bottle of rum. They were only open for retail sales, so after the guy suggested their homemade Painkiller mix. Sold! We cruised back to the boat to have a quick cocktail with our purchase, then took off again in search of the ‘Mother Vine’. The mother vine is “estimated to be 400 years old, the Mother Vine, located on North Carolina’s Roanoke Island, is believed to be the oldest grape vine in all of North America, planted by either Croatan Native Americans or settlers of the Lost Colony. Some have posited that it is the “mother” of all vines for scuppernong grapes, North Carolina’s state fruit.” The vine is actually on private property: “When Jack and Estelle Wilson bought the property housing the Mother Vine in 1957, its tangled branches occupied two acres. After they trimmed it to make room for a house, the Vine still occupies a third of their front yard in Manteo, stretching 30 feet by 120 feet. To make up for their extensive initial cutback, the couple have become its keepers. Not only do the octogenarian couple invite visitors to park and view the sprawling web, they have allowed their neighbors to pick and eat its grapes for years. In 2005, they permitted a local winery to plant clippings from the original vine in their vineyard and make Mother Vine Wine, a sweet, mildly acidic wine.” After taking some pictures and looking up the history, we continued on a bike path toward the Elizabethan Gardens and the Lost Colony. The garden were closed, but we could still bike around the paths and through the park. The ‘Lost Colony’, which has a theater on the grounds of where there has been excavation and in the park, where in 1587, 117 English men, women and children came ashore on Roanoke Island to establish a permanent English settlement in the New World. Just three years later in 1590, when English ships returned to bring supplies, they found the island deserted with no sign of the colonists. After nearly 450 years, the mystery of what happened to the colonists remains unsolved. After spending some time with the park almost to ourselves, we decided to head back to the boat. We still had one more stop to make- we had to find a bottle of Scuppernong wine so we could try it. We found a winery in town and picked up a bottle. Since we had the rum and open Painkiller mix, we decided to wait on drinking the wine and use the open products first. Dinner was made and we decided on our next stop: Elizabeth City, which is about forty miles across the Albermarle Sound, and our last stop before we enter the Great Dismal Swamp. The reason we are skipping the rest of the Outer Banks is we have been watching the first named storm of hurricane season happen: sub-tropical storm Arthur. It is forecast to hit the Outer Banks in a couple of days, so we want to get out of the way. This storm is coming a bit early for the hurricane season, which technically starts on June 1. That being said, we will head more inland just to be safe….
