We were only going about thirteen miles, so we weren’t in a hurry to leave in the morning, besides I still had to pay for our slip. I walked Frank and looked around for Mr. Parks. I didn’t see him, so we hung out for a while. I kept looking for him and eventually saw him looking out the door of his house which was right behind the marina. I walked a little closer and gave him a wave. He waved back and I made my way over. He had disappeared from sight for a moment, so I figured he was getting dressed. I was wrong. He opened the door and had no pants on! He was in the doorway and I was a few steps down, but I never lost eye contact. The bill was $35, but we didn’t have exact change, so I handed him two twenties and tried to make a quick exit. He chatted with me a bit, keeping me in the awkward situation, but I was eventually able to get back to the boat. I told Lauren what happened and we had a laugh. Mr. Parks is an amazing and wonderful man who made the visit to Tangier Island one we will never forget!
We shoved off about 8:45am and made it to Crisfield in little over two hours our destination was an anchorage we saw on the charts, in a protected cove in the middle of town. As we got close we followed the channel in to Somers Cove. There are several marinas in there, as well as a Coast Guard station. We dropped anchor and were the only boat on the side closest to the Coast Guard. There was a boat ramp nearby so we could have shore access too, so that was good for Frank. I put out plenty of scope and we hung out for a while making sure the anchor had set and we were secure. I took Frank for a walk and explored the area a bit before returning. Once back at the boat, Lauren and I loaded up the bikes to take to shore. We went to one of the marinas and filled up the dinghy with gas, then used their dinghy dock. I checked in at the office and they told me it was ‘no charge’ since we were only going to use ot for the afternoon and they technically weren’t fully opened yet from the corona virus shutdown. Sweet! Off we went to explore the town!
Our first stop was the pier which wasn’t far away. We checked that out then went and got some lunch at Captains Carryout. We had some great crab bisque and a seafood sandwich which we shared. We really wanted some Smith Island cake, which is Maryland’s State Dessert. There is a bakery, called Smith Island Bakery: “Smith Island Baking Co. specializes in Authentic Smith Island Cakes, Maryland’s State Dessert” located in Crisfield. We looked it up and rode the bikes there, only to find out it was closed. This was a bummer. As we tried calling the number on the door to see if there was anywhere we could get some of this cake , I looked down and noticed something on my leg. Upon closer inspection I realized it was a tick that had buried in. Wtf! I was trying to talk on the phone and show Lauren what I just found! After hanging up I decided I needed to remove this ASAP. I lit a cigarette and did exactly what I probably shouldn’t have done- I burned it (and my leg) until it backed out so I could pull it off. I was kind of freaked out, but figured since it was out, I should just carry on. So, no cake for us. Crisfield is also referred to as “The Crab Capital of the World.”, so we thought maybe we could find some crab to take back to the boat. All the fish shops were closed. No cake, no crab- other than our lunch. We stopped and got beer though! At least we weren’t going back empty handed. We made it back to the boat and saw we now had a neighbor in a small boat anchored near us. We had dinner and hung out, only going back to retrieve the bikes as we were planning on departing tomorrow. Frank was walked again and I chatted with our neighbor. They were from Maryland and were out for an overnight excursion and this is one of their favorite places.
Lauren and looked at the charts and weather, and decided tomorrow would be a good travel day to go to an anchorage in St. Mary’s River, which is just up the Potomac River…
We left around 8:30am and headed north up the Chesapeake Bay. Today’s trip is about forty five miles, which will take about six hours. I called and left a message at the only marina on the island, Parks Marina, while we were en route. I received a call back and Mr. Parks confirmed there was space available for us. He told me he would call me on the VHF around 2pm to tell me how to get there and where to dock. We continued our journey and it was a nice day for a boat ride. Around 2pm I was waiting, listening to the radio for his call, but it never came. When we finally got close to entering the channel to the island, I tried calling him on the VHF, and then the telephone, to no avail. Mr. Parks is in his eighties, maybe even ninety years old, so I chalked it up as being forgetful. Soon we were entering the channel and I had no idea where to go. I tried calling again to no response. We were now at the T of the channel and not sure where to go, so we were just floating there. The radio came to life and it was Mr. Parks directing me to turn right and the marina was on the left. We slowly made our way over there and he told me to dock wherever I want. I was coming in to the dock next to the office, and he started to tell me to go around the post that was there. Hmmm… I backed off and reversed out. Then he told me to come on the other side of the office pier to the other dock. Okay- got it. We maneuvered over there and pulled in, with him helping with a line. He kept directing me forward, then told me to stop. Got it. I hopped down to assist with the rest of the lines, and he kept telling me where and how to tie them. I wasn’t going to argue, so I just did what he told me. We eventually were tied up to his satisfaction and he continued chatting with me for a bit. He is eighty nine years old and has had the marina forever. His daughters (his oldest is sixty-something) are doctors, and one still lives on the island. Lauren took Frank for a walk while we chatted and eventually another boat pulled up. I could see Mr. Parks talking into the radio, but he wasn’t pressing the button, so that’s why we couldn’t hear him! The other boat, like us, got close enough he could talk to them and told them the same- pick a spot- and when they went for the slip, he told them to go around the post and come in bow out. I was able to break away at this point while he told them how to tie off… Here is a little bit about Tangier: “Tangier Island is a squiggle of mud and marsh in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay, which is about 30 miles wide at that point, and a dozen miles from the nearest mainland port, Crisfield, Maryland, and the only way to get here is by boat or a very small plane. It is home to roughly 460 people, all of them descended from the first settler on the island, a guy named JosephCrocket, who moved there in 1778. Though it’s only 100 miles from Washington, D.C., it’s among the most isolated communities in the East. The island’s isolation has spawned a styleofspeech that you’ll not hear anywhere else in America. For 240 years the islanders have earned their sustenance from the waters surrounding the island, which are rich in fish, crab, and oysters. They’ve especially made a name for themselves in harvesting the Chesapeake Bay blue crab, which is the chief ingredient for Maryland-style crab cakes. They are also the world’s primary source for soft shell crab, a delicacy that many restaurants on the Eastern seaboard serve. Rising sea levels may make the island uninhabitable in 50 years.” It sits only a few feet above sea level and loses 16 feet of shoreline a year. The islands population is also dwindling as the younger generation loses interest in this traditional way of life.
Lauren and I eventually took the bikes for a ride around the small town. We found a beach and walked around, then explored more of the island. We noticed many of the small homes had graves tucked away in the corner of the yard. This was done to protect from grave robbers (back when that was a thing) and so the family members could tend them easily. It also was due to lack of space on the small island. Unfortunately most shops were closed but there was one restaurant serving take out. We ordered some soft shell crab (of course!) and returned to the boat. The crab was an appetizer, so we made dinner and figured out our next stop: Crisfield, Maryland. It seems like we blew through Virginia, unintentionally. We still had to pay for our slip, which was a bargain at $35. I figured I would see Mr. Parks in the morning to cash out…
We dropped our lines at the marina around 9am. We were going just under thirty miles and made good time. We arrived at Kiptopeke around 1pm and found a spot to drop anchor next to a row of old concrete boats which now form a break wall. Here is the cool part about this: “Years ago drivers and passengers wanting to cross the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay boarded a ferry. There was no bridge-tunnel. In the late 1940s, the Virginia Ferry Corporation moved their terminal from the relatively safe harbor at Cape Charles to Kiptopeke. Officials needed some way to shield a new pier they were preparing to build on the exposed Eastern Shore of the bay from the fickle Virginia weather. The U.S. government, flush with ships from World War II, offered the perfect solution, and in 1949, officials partially sunk nine concrete ships–the lower half of the hulls below the surface, resting on the bay, the top half exposed above the waterline–in two neat rows roughly parallel to the shore. Why were there concrete vessels in the first place? A wartime shortage of plate steel. Allied shipyards constructed several dozen barges, tankers and freighters to supplement the steel fleets…The army used several in the South Pacific as floating storage space for the supplies necessary to fight the Japanese. The Allies sunk a couple off the coast of Normandy, France as a breakwater ahead of the D-Day invasion…” Now you know about concrete ships. After making sure we were securely anchored, I decided this would be the best place to dive under the boat so I could check the propeller. The water was cold, so it took me a short while to talk myself into it. I thought we might have something wrapped around it, as Lauren and I both heard something, like we ran over a crab pot one day. Then maybe I was being paranoid, but I thought I felt a slight vibration too, so I was trying to find a place that the water wasn’t muddy and murky so I could jump in and look. I finally did jump in and put on the snorkel mask; I went under and saw that the propeller was clear and spun fine, so after a few minutes I got out so I could warm up. Once dry and somewhat warm, we took the dinghy in to shore to explore the park. There were large beautiful beaches and several walking trails. We tired Frank out and returned to the boat for the evening.
Day 2- We took Frank and walked for miles, following the trails and wearing ourselves out. Frank got to run free at times and I caught a tick on him before it could burrow in. The campsites were bustling and there were a lot of people enjoying being outside. We actually made a few trips to shore and back, and finally returned for dinner around sunset. I too found a tick on me, but again it had not burrowed in, so I was able to remove it. I guess we need to be especially careful in the forests. We also talked about our next destination which will be Tangier Island…
We prepared to leave our dock and head to another free dock in Portsmouth, Virginia. The lock we were behind opens at 8:30am, 11:00am, 1:30pm and 3:30pm. We had assessed the weather and we were only planning on going about ten miles, but we planned on going through the first lock opening. I took Frank for his morning walk and saw some people on the other boats moving about. I inquired if anyone was leaving, and three other boats were going to be locking through with us. Since it was so early, the lockmaster was not in yet. I figured I would let him know we would be going through this morning. He did arrive as we were coming back to the boat and I told him a few of us were planning on coming through, and thanked him for the hospitality of letting us stay there two nights due to the weather. He laughed and said he would normally have us all in for coffee and a ‘talk’ to prepare us for the next leg of our trip up the Chesapeake. He asked where we were from as where we were headed, I had mentioned Norfolk and apparently I didn’t pronounce it correctly, so he told me a story: “picture this- my mother was born and raised here, and in the 1930’s she was a cheerleader in Norfolk high school; they had a cheer, which we used to ask her to do at get-togethers, because it was so funny to hear her do this cheer, even when she was eighty-something years old!…It went like this: Norfolk, Norfolk, We’re the best! We don’t don’t smoke, we don’t drink; Norfolk!” He and I cracked up laughing! If you didn’t get it- Norfolk is pronounced with a soft U and silent L. I went back to the boat and told Lauren about the lesson in pronouncing Norfolk, and we prepared to depart. At about 8:15am we pulled away from the dock and floated in front of the lock. The other boats leaving did the same. Since we were the only non-sailboat, they wanted us to go in first so we would be in front of them, as power boats usually travel faster than sailboats. Once given the ok we pulled in to the lock and tied off following the lock masters direction. Once everyone was in and secured, he gave us all a conch blowing demonstration and told us what to expect for the next few miles. We all waited while the lock filled with water until he finally opened the gates and told us we could proceed out.
We were the lead boat out and made our way up the ICW toward the Chesapeake Bay with everyone else following. Soon we were passing massive commercial boat yards and some had very large military ships in them. Our plan was to stop about ten miles down the river at a free dock at High Street Landing in Portsmouth, Virginia. “Portsmouth was founded as a town in 1752 on 65 acres of land on the shores of the Elizabeth River. The town was founded by William Crawford, a wealthy merchant and ship owner. The 65 acres were part of Colonel Crawfords extensive plantation and were constituted as a town by an enabling act of the General Assembly of Virginia. The town was named after the English naval port of that name, and many of the streets of the new town reflected the English heritage.” We pulled into the small cutout where the dock is and saw only a smallish sailboat docked there. We maneuvered to the far wall and tied off to some pilings. We could see the walkway was just at water level, so if not for the pilings, we would be on top of the walkway! Once secured, we were looking around and saw we were right downtown. There was a bit of pedestrian traffic passing by and a few homeless guys across from us watching. We hung out for a little while before taking a walk around town. We walked around for a while, then came back to the boat. There was a brewery across from us: Legend Brewing, so we decided to order some food. I went and picked it up (and some to-go beers) and we ate lunch on the boat. While eating, we decided this wasn’t the best place to hang out overnight. I got online and found a marina not too far away that only charged a dollar a foot. We had to book it online, so we went ahead and made the reservation. We decided we should leave now that we were done with lunch. We untied from the pilings and I started to pull away, but the current was pushing me back and there wasn’t enough room to gain any momentum! I eased back on the throttle and tried spinning the boat with the engine. This wasn’t working out so well either. We were now being pushed back to the back end of the little square harbor. Hmmm… this was not going as planned. We were now back against the pilings, but I couldn’t get the bow of the boat around and there just wasn’t enough room. A guy emerged from the small sailboat that was there and walked over to us. I was contemplating what to do and he helpfully suggested we run a stern line from the outside of our boat to a piling, and I could use that to pivot the boat with the engine. I had heard of this and it was going through my mind when he suggested it, so I was willing to give it a try. We ran the line from the outside (starboard side) to a piling and I put the boat in forward gear; the boat started to move, then pivot, so I gave it some more throttle… it continued to pivot to the point I was turned enough to head out. At this point he released the line which Lauren quickly pulled in, and we were heading out! Yay! As we came back to the main channel, I followed up with a phone call to the marina to make sure they knew we were coming. They were very friendly on the phone and told me to call when we got closer and they would tell me the slip assignment and assist with the lines. We followed the chart and made our way to them. The dock master did meet us and assist with the lines. This marina had short ‘quarter’ docks, so when we pull in bow first, we have to exit the boat via the bowsprit, as the dock ends before our midship gate. Frank has become pretty good at this. Once we were secured and settled, we needed to do some laundry. I went to the office for quarters, but he had to empty the laundry machines to give me the change. Now it was laundry time. The rain came and we did runs between the rain to load and unload the machines. We also had power since we were at a marina, so we could watch TV too. I chatted with a guy on the dock for a bit and he told me about a s good anchorage at a State Park- Kiptopeke. We would look into this as a possibility of our next stop.
Day 2- The weather was once again crappy, so we hung out on the boat all day, with walks for Franklin between rain. We looked into the Kiptopeke State Park and decided that will be our next stop when we leave tomorrow…
Due to the lock schedule on the Great Dismal Swamp, we left the dock at about 7:45am. The locks open at 8:30am, 11:00am, 1:30pm and 3:30pm. You have to be there at these times, or you cannot get through. We had about seventeen miles to go from our free dock in Elizabeth City to get to the first lock. I figured if we do about six knots, we would get there in three hours. I wanted to make sure we were there for the 11am opening, so we were the first to leave in the morning, but the others weren’t too far behind us.
About the Great Dismal Swamp: “The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is the largest intact remnant of a vast habitat that once covered more than one million acres of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. Formal protection of this resource began in 1973, when the Union Camp Corporation (a local forest products company) donated 49,097acres to The Nature Conservancy. The Nature Conservancy conveyed the donated land to the federal government, which, combined with additionally purchased land, was used to establish the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in 1974. With a secondary purpose to: “Promote a public use program when not in conflict with the primary objectives of the refuge.”” Now here is information about the canal: “The Dismal Swamp Canal is located along the eastern edge of the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia and North Carolina. It is the oldest continually operating man-made canal in the United States, opened in 1805. It is part of the Intracoastal Waterway. In May 1763, George Washington made his first visit to the Great Dismal Swamp and suggested draining it and digging a north–south canal through it to connect the waters of the Chesapeake Bayin Virginia and Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. As the first president, Washington agreed with Virginia Governor Patrick Henry that canals were the easiest answer for an efficient means of internal transportation and urged their creation and improvement. Work was started in 1793. The canal was dug completely by hand; most of the labor was done by slaves hired from nearby landowners. It took approximately 12 years of back-breaking construction under highly unfavorable conditions to complete the 22-mile long waterway, which opened in 1805.” So why is it called Dismal, you ask? Here is what I found: “In the dog days of Virginia’s summer, it would seem to be no surprise that a place as inhospitable to humans as the snake-infested, mosquito-swarming Great Dismal Swamp would have such a downer of a name. But rather than being what might be considered an apt description, its name is a redundancy. Called “great,” possibly because of its size, it was called “dismal” because that was a common term at the time for a swamp or morass.”
Waiting for the 1st lock, a little duckweed around it
Back to our story: we made it to the first lock about thirty minutes early. We floated there while the others caught up and were given directions from the lock master about how to proceed into the lock. We went in first, and due to the COVID restrictions, she couldn’t handle the lines with her hands, so she reached down with a long boat hook, took the line and wrapped it around a pylon, then lowered it back to us. Lauren was on the bow and I took the stern. Once the process started it took about thirty minutes for her to lift us about eleven feet. Once the chambers were full the gates opened and we all proceeded out, with us in the lead. The canal is a ‘no wake’ zone, so you are only supposed to go around five knots in speed. There are a few concerns for taking the Dismal Swamp route: One is the shallowness of the canal, we saw five feet of depth ar some points, and we draw four and a half feet- that doesn’t leave much wiggle room. There is also submerged logs, which you cannot see and can ‘bump’ into, or if you are following someone, their propellers can dislodge them so they start to float and the following boat hits them. There is also an issue with ‘duckweed’ at certain times of the year. These plants grow floating in still or slow-moving fresh water around the globe, except in the coldest regions. The growth of these high-protein plants can be extremely rapid and they can clog a boats cooling system quickly, causing overheating. Since we were the lead boat, we took our time. We didn’t have any issue with the duckweed, but we did bump a couple of logs. Our intention was to stop at the free dock at the halfway point where there is a visitor’s center. As we approached the dock, we could see that it was full. The guide books do say you should raft off if it is full, but we didn’t want to do that with the whole COVID thing, and we didn’t know anyone there. I consulted with Lauren and we decided to continue on to the next dock we saw on the charts. I also saw the boat that kept going when we stopped at Elizabeth City, was still docked there. It is only supposed to be a one day stop, but with the weather we’ve had, nobody seemed to want to be moving. We were getting close to the next dock and I could see there were more boats docked here too. Shit. I again consulted with Lauren and the charts and saw there was still one more free dock at the end of the canal, before going through the lock. That is going to be our last hope. We continued on and actually was catching up to a sailboat in front of us. I heard him call on the radio to the lock master, who also doubles a the bridge tender. I too got on the radio to let them know I was coming right behind. I also asked the lock master about docking at the docks by the lock. He said there was a few boats there, but there was room. The sailboat we were now following also said he was going to stop there. Great. The lock master told us there was room for one boat at the fixed dock, and room for one boat on a floating dock next to it. The sailboat and I communicated and I told him I would stay back and take whichever one he doesn’t. I told him we weren’t planning on coming this far today and he said the same! The skies were getting darker now and rain was imminent. We made our way through the bridge and I fell back a bit to see where he was going. He went for the fixed dock, so we went for the floating one. As we approached, a fellow from one of the boats already docked came over to assist. I noticed there were no cleats to tie off to, so we used the pylons holding the dock. Once we were secure, Lauren took Frank and I went about double checking and setting up our bumpers. The rain started soon after we were settled in. I chatted a bit with the other captains as I was going about my business and most had been here for a couple of days due to weather. It was looking like tomorrow will not be a good travel day, so we will stay at least two nights here.
Day 2- there wasn’t anything really around where we are docked except a park. There is a grocery store a little ways away, but we didn’t feel like getting the bikes off and it was cold and rainy all day. We pretty much stayed in the boat and walked Frank between downpours. We planned our next stop, which we located another free dock across from Norfolk, in the town of Portsmouth. The reviews are mixed- it’s free and it is right downtown, but that brings another element to leaving your boat to explore and safety in a ‘big city’. We will just have to see for ourselves…
To cross the Albermarle Sound, it is quite important to pay attention to the weather. This body of water literally stretches hundreds of miles and is one of the longest estuaries in the state, leading, eventually, into a number of rivers, specifically the Roanoke and Chowan Rivers, both of which extend all the way into the state of Virginia. This gives the wind plenty of opportunity to create large waves and hazardous conditions. According to the weather forecasts we were seeing, the wind looked mild earlier in the morning and was expected to increase through the day. With this information, we decided to leave as early as possible. We were on our way by 6:30am and heading out to the open waters. We had to go out the channel which we entered and then turn north. As we approached the channel markers to make our turn the depth finder kept getting lower and lower. I was following our path that we brought in, but the tides were different now. I was trying to find deeper water, going from one side of the channel to the other, then we bottomed out. “Fu$k!”. We were now ‘run aground’ (once again) in the middle of the channel! Lauren and I looked at each other and I didn’t know what to say. I kept showing her we were in the middle of the ‘marked’ channel, but that didn’t really matter now. What mattered is what were we going to do? Call SeaTow? We had to get going soon, before this tropical storm gets here! I was pissed, but thought my best bet- aside from waiting for the tide to rise in a couple of hours, or calling SeaTow, was to try to get off of it myself. I kept throttling in reverse, trying to get off of the sandbar. That wasn’t working, so I tried forward. That didn’t really work either. At this point I told Lauren to go ahead and call SeaTow, but I kept trying. Soon I could sense we were inching around; not forward or backwards, but we were moving… I continued trying both forward and reverse and soon we were actually spinning in place. WTF!? I continued this and we were soon moving backwards- enough that I thought we were going to be free. At this point we had been stuck for about thirty minutes or so. I kept at it and eventually got us un-stuck enough that we were now floating free, but I was still behind the sandbar that we were just stuck on. Stop the SeaTow call! Fu$k it- I’m going ahead and full throttle on the other side of the channel where we were stuck. We held our breath and made our way past the low point, with the depth finder showing zero below us, and we made it past that point. We turned port out of the channel and saw the depths rise to a ‘comfortable’ six feet. We eventually passed Nags Head and Kitty Hawk on our way out. We turned northwest and were cruising around seven knots. The wind was minimal on our journey across the sound and we made it to Elizabeth City in about six hours. As we got close to the town, we fell in behind another boat that appeared to be heading in the same direction. I called them on the radio to let them know we were behind them and to inquire of their destination. They told me they were trying to get into the Dismal Swamp today. I’ll explain the ‘swamp’ later… We were going to be stopping at one of the free dock at Elizabeth City that we saw on the charts. As we got closer, we could see the free city docks were in poor repair. Our second option was a free bulkhead along side of a food distribution company- Jennette Brothers. This is also listed on our charts, but it is immediately after a draw bridge, so we couldn’t tell if there was room or not. I called the bridge tender and told him our intentions, because if we couldn’t dock there, we would have to come back through the bridge. The bridge tender told me there was room, and we waited with the other boat while the bridge lifted. As soon as we got through we could see a few other boats docked along the wall- two with Looper flags- with just enough room for us at the end, closest to the bridge. I told Lauren my plan to come in and dock on the port side, which would mean turning 180 degrees right in front of the bridge, with not too much room to spare. We executed the turn and got tied up without incident. The other boat that came through with us continued on. As we were finishing securing the boat, one of the other boats tied up along the wall pulled out and headed upriver with the one I was following. I wish I would have known he was leaving because I would have waited and taken that spot! Oh well. Soon, one of the other Looper boat captain came out and welcomed us, telling us he tried to call us to let us know there was room here for us. Apparently he was watching Nebo and saw us coming- he looked up our info on the Great Loop website and called Lauren’s phone, but she didn’t answer as we were coming up to the bridge and was occupied with our conversation of what/where/how. It is nice to know people are still looking out for each other! The dock was fine, easy access to grass, but we were actually locked in to the grounds. Since we were in a private trucking company and it was a Sunday, the gates were locked. We hung out on the boat for a while, then decided to take the dinghy over to the city docks where we could dock and walk around the town. We took Frank and explored the small city. There wasn’t anything open, and the town was small. The area we were in had a couple of restaurants (all closed) and a brewery (closed sun/mon) so we returned to the boat after about an hour and half. The weather was expected to deteriorate more and rain was coming, so we battened down the hatches and hung out. Tomorrow is expected to rain most of the day, so we knew we were staying here another night. At least we were secure and since we were close to the bridge we had a barrier from the wind too.
Day 2- It did rain most of the day. I checked in at the office and got a list of rules: no dogs was one of them. Oops! We stayed tucked inside dry, and I took Frank out for another walk after they closed the office at 5pm. We ordered some takeout from a local restaurant Hoppin’ Johnz and enjoyed some shrimp and grits. We made our plans for tomorrow’s journey through the Dismal Swamp. I checked with the other boats and they are planning doing the same…
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….
We did decide to forgo Belhaven and we headed for The Outer Banks. This took us across the Pamlico Sound, past the Ocracoke Inlet to Silver Lake. “The Ocracoke Harbor is basically a clam-shaped basin or lagoon of water on the soundside of the island. The water within the village is named “Silver Lake” and while the island extends for a good mile or so towards the Ocracoke Inlet, Ocracoke Harbor is essentially an easy run from Portsmouth Island, Hatteras Island, and the fantastic offshore fishing in the Gulf Stream. Ocracoke Inlet was one of Blackbeard’s hideouts, and it was here that two small sloops hired by Virginia governor Alexander Spotswood found and cornered Blackbeard on the inner side of the island. Blackbeard was killed in the battle that ensued Nov. 22, 1718. His headless body is believed to be buried in a mass grave somewhere on the island”. The only way to access this island is by boat or small plane. We found our way in to the harbor after our forty mile, six hour journey to find a couple of other boats anchored in the bay. We slowly passed the first sailboat and I asked how much line they had out? He responded “about seventy five feet”. As soon as we passed the radio came alive and the boat we had just passed and spoken to, the dad was now on the radio telling me his son was wrong about the scope and they had closer to a hundred feet out. Got it. We passed the second boat and circled around and dropped anchor behind him. We let out around a hundred feet on line and made sure we were secure. Anchor beer time for me!
*Speaking of anchoring, I want to add a story I forgot about back at Thoroughfare Creek: We had just dropped anchor and I was settling in on the back deck when I heard Lauren calling for me quite excitedly! I came up to the cabin and she told me a bird had just flown in! I looked inside and saw it flying around into the windows. It soon came to rest along a window sill so I just reached out and gently grabbed it, making sure to hold the wings closed, and released it outside where it flew off into the day. That was exciting! We made sure to have the screen doors on the rest of our time there…
Back to Ocracoke: Once we felt we were secure, it was time to get Frank to shore. We dinghied over to the State Park dinghy dock and unloaded. We walked around the small beach, then up the main road through town. Almost everything was still closed due to the virus and there was a lot of construction going on from last years Hurricane Dorian. Here is a news article:“When Hurricane Dorian barreled toward the Outer Banks last November, little Ocracoke Island took the main hit. The storm moved quickly, but it left the island ravaged from waters that rose like a tidal wave in merely two hours. In a 7-foot storm surge, waters from the Pamlico Sound spilled over the village, flooding homes, destroying businesses and altering every life of the island’s several hundred locals. Floodwaters in the village reached the greatest depths since a 1944 storm. Thankfully, no one lost their lives in the hurricane, but many lost their livelihoods. Nearly every car on the island flooded as did plenty of the village’s restaurants, shops and hotels. The island’s older homes and cottages – which tend to sit closer to the ground – faced the worst flooding. As water levels rose, some people were airlifted from their homes; others sought rescue from boats motoring up the canal-like streets”. So there wasn’t much going on… we returned to Klondike for the evening, made dinner and retired for the night.
Day 2: After taking Frank for his morning walk, we loaded the bikes in the dinghy and took them to shore. We rode to the lighthouse: “Ocracoke Light is the oldest operating light station in NorthCarolina and the second oldest lighthouse still standing in the state.” After checking that out, we continued on to find the beach. We found it, and it was awesome. You are allowed to drive on the beaches, so as soon as we entered we saw cars lined up and down the beach. There weren’t a lot of them, but it was cool to see. There was a Jeep pulled right up to the water with a fishing pole in the grill! We walked the beach and I went in for a swim, just because. We then made our way back toward town, stopping at a small grocery store to pick up some refreshments. We continued on, making a couple of detours around some back streets to see some more shuttered shops, then finally went back to the dinghy. We loaded the bikes up and returned back to the boat.
I took Frank back for another midday walk and met the people on one of the other boats anchored with us- Oceana. I stopped to chat on my way by them and was telling them our plans of going to Hatteras tomorrow, but the wife said we should skip that and go directly to Manteo on Roanoke Island. I inquired why, and she said it is “much better, and there not a lot going on in Hatteras”. After walking Frank I returned and told Lauren about our conversation about Hatteras and Manteo. Lauren got right on it and looked them up. After awhile, Lauren said it would probably be good to go to Manteo. Later as I was passing by Oceana for our evening walk, I stoped to ask when they planned on leaving and told them we would be following along. They were pleased to hear this and we made plans to leave at first light-after walking the dogs- as it will be a long sixty mile trip. Dinner was made and we retired early, knowing we will be waking up around 5:15am…
We departed Beaufort about 9:30am and made it to Oriental around 12:30pm. We weren’t sure where exactly the free docks were, or even if there were any available as they are on a first arrival basis. If they were occupied by other boats, we would have to resort to a backup plan. We crossed the Neuse River and entered the harbor. We could see two boats occupying the one set of free docks, and the other set were behind a large fishing boat, so we couldn’t tell until we got past that. As we eased past the fishing boat, we saw the other docks were open. I turned into the outside slip and we tied off. I went about adjusting the bumpers and lines, then sat down for a beer while Lauren took Frank for a walk.
Once we were settled, we took the bikes off so we could go for a ride. Just as we were about to leave, a large, old wooden sailboat came around the corner of the shrimp boat and was pulling into the dock next to us. The sailboat had a long bowsprit with netting, and cannons on the bow! I offered assistance to grab a line, but he said he was good. We left and biked over to a little store called Inland Waterway Provision Co. where I picked up some boat supplies and found a bottle of stuff that says will eliminate rust stains. I bought this to try in hopes of cleaning the rust stains that have developed on Klondike due to the salt water. We continued on to a Dollar General and Piggly Wiggly for some groceries and snacks, then returned back to the boat to put everything away. Once done with the reprovisions, we relaxed a bit on the back deck before we took the bikes once again to tour the town. We spoke to our new sailboat neighbor, Martin, who was from the Netherlands. He said he salvaged the cannons in the Caribbean and was on his way back home across the Atlantic Ocean! After our chat (which was hard to understand with his accent) we went exploring again. Oriental has a bunch of dragons painted on rocks throughout the town, and a large meditation labyrinth by the water. We returned to the boat once again and took Frank for another walk as the sun set. We ate dinner and debated our next destination- we originally had planned to stay on the ICW and go to Belhaven, but now we think we want to veer off to the route less traveled and see the Outer Banks, with Ocracoke being our first stop there…
Before departure we filled our water tanks and walked Frank. We were only going about twenty five miles today so we didn’t need to leave too early. We followed the ICW and made our way to Beaufort. Upon researching the town, I saw there was an anchorage right across from the town with access to a dinghy dock. When we arrived we found the anchorage was again already filled with boats. There was a catamaran behind us, so I called to him on the radio to tell him our intentions of finding a place to anchor. He had the same idea. Since he was smaller, he would probably find a place easier than we could. As we were circling around, we noticed a large sailboat trying to retrieve their anchor, but it had a pipe of sorts wrapped around it, so they were having trouble. That didn’t make me feel too good about anchoring there. We tried to find a spot, but the water got shallow and the channel got narrow, so we decided to find somewhere else. Around the corner of land was another anchorage listed on the chart, so we went there. There were two marinas back there, and we anchored just off the channel and in front of a bridge. I had my anchor beer while ensuring we were secure and I had put out a lot of line. Once we felt good, we loaded into the dinghy and took the long-ish ride back to the dinghy dock to walk around town. “Established in 1709 and incorporated in 1723, Beaufort is the third-oldest town in North Carolina. In 2012, Beaufort was ranked as “America’s Coolest Small Town” by readers of Budget Travel Magazine. Visit pirate hideouts, skulk around the town Blackbeard called home, see where his sunken ship is submerged and see where he met his violent end.“ The town was just opening from the lockdown and since it was a Saturday, there were lots of people out and about. We kept our distance and walked Frank around, checking out the old cemetery and houses around town. On our way back on the dinghy we deviated to an island across the way that is part of the Rachel Carson Coastal Estuarine Reserve. We walked around looking for the wild horses that live on the island, which we saw one while looking for a place to anchor. We did not see one this time however, so we went back to the boat and spent the rest of the night comfortably at anchor.
Day 2- Today was Sunday, Mother’s Day. We have been having regular Zoom calls on Sundays with family and friends. We decided to go to town and get lunch (pizza) and take it to the island Reserve. We ordered online and picked up our pie, then took the dinghy over to the Reserve. We ate the pizza and had our calls, then went hiking to find the elusive horses. Lauren even brought an apple to share if we found one! We hiked for a while and finally tracked one down. I was able to get close for a picture, but it wanted nothing to do with me or the apple. I tried tossing a piece to him (or her) and it ran. I followed it and tried to entice it again…it started to come toward me which now made me nervous… I dropped the apple and headed back to Lauren who was holding Franks leash. He really wanted to go see the horse, but we didn’t think that would turn out too well. We hiked our way back to the dinghy and finally back to the boat. Dinner was made and we did our routine of looking at our next destination and weather forecast. Tomorrow we are going to go to Oriental, North Carolina…
