Traveling a New Wave

New Wave

We are starting a new part of our adventure. We had reached Mile O on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Charting your course each day becomes so important. For the past 1000 miles we have followed the ICW. Starting at Mile O, there is not a designated course and this must be determined using navigation charts, being aware of water depths, shoals, and large boat traffic. We have become aware of how important predicting the weather is. Winds and current can make traveling very difficult. The Chesapeake starts as we exit Norfolk/Portsmouth VA. Going forward from Norfolk, we will travel up the Chesapeake through the Chesapeake/Delaware River Canal (the C&D canal) to Cape May through the cut into the Atlantic Ocean, up the East Coast to the Hudson River. We have made the first trip up the Chesapeake and are currently at Deltaville, VA. We will be here through the Memorial weekend.


Entering Norfolk Harbor, lots of Navy ships

Early homes in Portsmouth

Looking towards Norfolk from Portsmouth

   

                 War memorial in Portsmouth



Elks Lodge in Portsmouth

The Blue Highway

The Blue Highway (Magenta Line)


We are in Swansboro, NC and it is kind of a cool drizzle day with Marine cannon firing practice in the distance. We are near Camp Lejeune NC. You can feel the percussion under your feet. This will be a day of relaxing and catching up. I have been very bad about posting this blog. Today I will list our past itinerary and post a few pictures of what we have seen. Not in any particular order. This blog thing is a lot of work, but I will try to do better once I have this one posted. We have met a lot of fellow loopers, made many new friends, and seen a lot of new things. If you have particular questions, please email me and I will respond. Here is what we have traveled since the adventure begin.

April 7--First stop was Cocoa Beach, Fl
April 8-- Leave Cocoa Beach arrive at Halifax Harbor Marina
April 9-- Leave Halifax and arrive Comanche Cove at St. Augustine, FL
April 10-11 no travel--rest.
April 12 leave St. Augustine, FL and arrive at Fernandina Harbor Marina FL
April 13 leave Fernandina Harbor and arrive Golden Isle Marina, GA. This is to Stage for High Tide run at Jekyll Creek, which can be very shallow at low tide.
April 14--leave Golden Isle GA and arrive at Birthday Creek, we anchored out for the night.
April 15--leave anchor at Birthday Creek and arrive at City Marina Beaufort SC
April 16--no travel
April 17 leave Beaufort SC and arrive at Charleston City Marina. Met with passed Bell employees, had a great visit and dinner. Blue Angles were performing an air show over the bay.
April 18--no travel
April 19--leave Charleston SC and arrive at Georgetown Harbor Walk Marina, SC
April 20--leave Georgetown SC and arrive Myrtle Beach Barefoot Resort Yacht Club for the AGLCA Rendevous. Stayed in Myrtle Beach for a week.
April 30--leave Myrtle Beach and arrive at Southport Marina, NC
April 30-May 2 stayed in Southport and visited Bald Head Island where I climbed to the top of Old Baldy, the light house built in 1817 on the point of Cape Fear. We were on the Cape Fear River which runs on the West side of Bald Head Island, with in inlet from the Atlantic on the South side of the island. The only difficult part was the small ladder through the small opening at the very top.
May 3-5-- we will be at Swansboro NC due to weather. Will leave here on Wed.

Passing barges along the river way











Entering marina at Beaufort NC and Shipping in the Beaufort channel










Well it is time to catch you up again on our progress. I thought I would also give you an idea of our typical day. I know that many of you think we are on a cruising vacation on the waterways of America. Some days are like that some days are not. We are up most mornings at 6 AM. Check engine room, engine oil, and coolant, check transmissions, check fuel filters, and belts. Nancy is preparing her bridge, turning on and checking radar, chart plotter, and depth sounders. The night before we have laid out charts plotted course, checked weather, and checked for anchorages and marina availability. Try to be out on water by 6:30 or 7:00 AM. At a top speed of 8 Knots you can only make 60 miles a day on the average. Some days less, some days more. Hopefully traffic is not to heavy, and we can make all the bridge openings on time. It is real difficult to hold position when a bridge will not open except on the hour. Many times you have to hold a boat in the current or wind. The relaxing part of the day is when you have finally tied up at the dock or anchored in the evening. The adventures you experience and the sites you see make the travel and trip worth while. I will continue to keep you updated when we have internet service. Today we are at Alligator River Marina in Columbia, NC. Moving on to CoinJock on the Virginia Cut on Monday.

Rough water on the Alligator River and an Early start to beat the winds

Entering marina at Beaufort NC and Shipping in the Beaufort channel

Entering marina at Beaufort NC

This is the grave of a young English girl who died on a return trip to Beaufort from England. Her father purchased a barrel of rum from the Captain and placed his daughter in it to preserve her so that she could be returned to Beaufort NC to be buried.

Manicured gardens in Beaufort NC.

House of 1800 period Beaufort NC

Another house of 1800 period and attending Beaufort Musical Festival from our boat



Water Street along Beaufort water front

Tired Cats