Part 2: North Carolina to Virginia

North Carolina

We contemplated whether or not to take the outside route to Bald Head, retracing our steps on the trip down, or staying inside on the ICW.  We decided we'd stay on the ICW.  With many hours of sunlight and no rush to get alot of miles out of the way, we slept late and took off about 9:00am.  As we were heading north, we decided that we could make much better time at sea.  So we turned around, fought the current, and arrived at the inlet at 12:00 noon.  As we headed out towards open water, we got a radio forecast for severe thunderstorms late in the afternoon.  Well, it's like that almost every summer afternoon at the coast, so - we took our chances.  We actually did turn the boat around to head back to the ICW but decided we did not want to retrace our steps again, returning to and passing Georgetown. We were just ready to go.  So we once again pointed the boat towards Bald Head Island.  If you recall from our trip down, we actually go about 20 miles offshore on this leg, far enough that you can't see land for most of the day.  Even though we left late, with good winds behind us and more hours of daylight, we would still have enough time to get to Bald Head Island before dark.  The winds did hold for quite awhile - we were screaming along at almost 8 knots with all sails up.  A glorious sail for our last day at open sea for this trip!  We thoroughly enjoyed the day and spent most of our time out on deck, trying to absorb every moment and not wanting to say goodbye to bluewater sailing just yet.  We even saw a large sea turtle coming up for air...  we'll never tire of seeing a sea turtle.

However, the wind finally died and we slowed down to less than 6 knots.  We finally had to take down the jib because it was luffing (flapping) in the wind but kept up the main to steady us against the ocean swells.  Then a thick haziness settled in.  It was hard to even distinguish the water from the sky on the horizon.  Creepy.  The air just felt thick.  And then that's when the thunderstorms started threatening.  We could see dark clouds in several directions and wanted so bad to make better time.  But our engine was pushing as much as it could and the sails were doing no good.  After 2-3 hours, we did make it to Bald Head Island, through the cross-current at the narrow inlet, and tied up at the dock - about 30 minutes before a thunderstorm blew in.

While tying up at a t-head (the end of a pier dock), a family came over and started asking us about our boat, our trip, etc.  It turned out that they were from Charlotte and knew some family friends of Ria's family.  Sometimes it really seems like a very small world.

The next day, we left bright and early again, trying to make it as far as Beaufort NC.  Due to the wind and current, we had a hard time getting away from the dock.  We actually had to turn the bow of the boat around with the dockline while still tied up, swinging Belisana's stern way out.  The trip was fairly uneventful.  We had mixed emotions about being on the "inside" for good:  no more anxiety about something going awry out at sea, but disappointment in knowing we won't experience the serenity of sailing on the open water for several years, if we ever get to make such a trip again.  Back on the ICW, we made good time - almost to Beaufort.  However, some strong winds were forecast for that evening and we wanted to be hunkered down before they arrived.  We stopped at Swansboro just a few hours sail south of Beaufort.   The folks at Casper's Marina were very friendly, on top of being cheap!  Sure enough the winds howled all night and we were glad that we had decided to stay in a marina tucked behind a huge warehouse to shield us from the wind.  The next morning we got up very early and made the trip on to Beaufort.  We did stop for the remainder of the afternoon, which gave us time to run some errands and visit our old stomping ground where we spent nearly two weeks on the way down getting our new jib made.  It was quite different and much busier this time around.  Amazing what tourist season does!  There was a band playing at one of the waterfront restaurants and the music was very nice - kind of folksy. 

Moving north again...

We didn't stay long, having had our fill of Beaufort before.  The next morning, we were off with the goal of reaching Coinjock before sunset.  A very ambitious goal.  But we did it, thanks to the much longer days than we had on the way down.  The wind was on the nose so we had the main down.  Nolan figured out - all by himself - how to climb the bottom of the mast and perch himself atop the boom for a little lookout...  

But our adventure wasn't over just yet.  As we were approaching one of the swing bridges on the narrow ICW, we were just a few minutes behind their scheduled opening (every 1/2 hour).  We radioed and asked if they could delay the opening just five minutes - we were moving full steam ahead (roughly 7mph).  The answer was "no".  So we circled and circled in the  narrow channel for almost half an hour.  The bridge tender finally radios for us to come on up to the bridge for the next opening.  He had not started opening the bridge so we asked if he would be ready - that with the current pushing us towards the bridge we wouldn't be able to slow down as we got closer.  Come on up, we were told.  So we did.  And just as predicted, the bridge didn't open fast enough...  So we threw it in reverse.  Finally the bridge opened.  Brian yelled for Maria to take the helm and dove below, with the boat still in reverse.  "It's stuck in reverse!" he reported as he disappeared below.  The bridge tender radioed, "Belisana, please come through the bridge."  Um, we can't right now.  We're stuck in reverse.  Silence on the other end.  Then a few minutes later:  "Belisana, can you please pass through.  I need to close the bridge in a few minutes."  After Maria informed him again that we were stuck in reverse and could not move forward, he then said that he was closing the bridge now.  At that moment, Brian hollered up, "Put her in forward - and go!"  Maria radioed back to the bridge tender, "We're fine now - we're coming through!"  Too late.  The bridge was already closing.  He said it took too long to open and close for him to do it back-to-back - we'd have to wait on the next opening and we better be ready next time.  Us?  We wouldn't have gotten stuck in reverse if he had not told us to approach too early...  

Our gearshift had been sticking and getting harder and harder to move.  So it was no surprise that something eventually broke.  The transmission cable had snapped so Brian had to whack it into gear with a hammer for the bridge incident.  After that, he used a pair of vice grips until we are able to repair the cable.  More than just a minor inconvenience when you need to put the boat in or out of gear and have to go below and reach across a hot diesel engine to do it.

The wind picked up somewhere along the Alligator River so Maria let out the jib while Brian napped.  With the jib out, we picked up another knot or so.  We made it to Coinjock and tied up alongside the ICW at Coinjock Marina.  We met some very nice folks on another sailboat with a little boy Nolan's age.  Nolan went over to their boat and played awhile.  The dad was in the Coast Guard and they were moving to Virginia Beach.  He had taken a few weeks off to move their boat.  We would have liked to travel with them, but we were leaving very early the next morning.  

Virginia

We got off early, headed for Newport News.  It was a pleasant day, although a little hot.  We made excellent time and decided to push further.  So we made it across the Bay over to Hampton VA where we stayed for the night.  We walked and walked, looking for a restaurant, and finally found a very mediocre one.  We had heard that the waterfront in Hampton was nice; we weren't very impressed.  We left again early the next morning with hopes of making it all the way to the mouth of the Potomac River...!  Almost home.  Brian's parents were meeting us because we had invited his dad to make the two-day journey up the Potomac to Alexandria with us.  We were very excited to be seeing them and to see our dog, Mimi.

It ended up being a very interesting day.  First of all, after leaving Hampton, we were approaching a marked channel which we later learned led to one of the many Navy shipyards in the area.  We heard a Navy ship announcing that a "war ship" was headed in to port.  We didn't really put two and two together until we were almost in the channel and we got a call from the Navy on our radio:  "Sailboat heading North at marker Green 17, sailboat heading North at marker Green 17.  Do you copy?"  (He probably did use the name of his ship, but we don't recall what it was).  Scrambling for the radio, Brian responded, "This is the sailboat heading North at Green 17.  Copy."  "This is the US Warship XYZ, Captain, what are your intentions?  We're moving quite fast.  Do you plan on entering the channel before we arrive?"  Brian asked what they would prefer that we do - cross ahead of them or wait and cut behind.  They definitely wanted us to wait.  We had thought we had time since they appeared to be quite a ways off, but we weren't going to argue with the Captain of a Navy war ship.  As they passed, Brian quickly pointed our bow into their wake:  about 6-foot waves.  Much better taken head-on than on the beam.  Wow.  BIG boat moving fast.  As we got underway, we heard radio communication from another Navy ship headed to sea trying to contact a sailboat but to no avail.  They kept announcing, "We are now 500 yards from your rear quarterstern." "We are now 200 yards away."  "Captain, we are now 50 yards from you.  Please move out of our way and respond on your radio."  We never heard anymore and never heard from the other boat.  When you're in a boat, you should always have your radio on.  Always.  Period.  

After noon, it got very hot - remember, this is August.  The heat index was 116 with the worst possible wind condition - exactly 5 knots from astern.  Since we were traveling at 5 knots the net result on the boat was dead calm.  Not even a slight breeze from moving forward.  We were also being eaten alive by little black flies.  We knew we'd be pushing it to meet Brian's parents but really wanted to get there because we wanted to get to Alexandria by Sunday (Brian's dad had to be back at work on Monday.  Also, the bridge in Alexandria was being rebuilt with a higher one to replace the lower one.  The lower one was still in place, though, and remained open all day on Sundays.  Otherwise, you had to wait until midnight for the opening).  At some point, Maria realized that the heat was really getting to her.  We had been very careful with Nolan, keeping him cool and in the shade.  But Maria started feeling faint, getting chilled and being hot all at the same time.  Brian got buckets of water from the Bay and dumped them on her but the water was warm, too, and didn't help at all.  We were all hydrated well - it was just very very hot.  It was serious enough that Brian turned Belisana 90 degrees towards land.  We could not approach the shore there because it was too shallow for our draft but he felt that we may really need some help.  At the risk of running the engine hot, he turned on the inverter and plugged in our air conditioner.  Maria went below and stood in front of the AC.  Brian had to turn it off after about five minutes because of the drain on the battery and the alternator running hot.  But we did that off and on every five minutes or so until she started feeling better.  So we adjusted our course back to our original plan.  After that, Brian stayed on the whole crew, setting a timer to make sure we all drank water every five minutes or so, like a drill sergeant.  We did make it to Point Lookout Marina at Smith Creek MD before dark - just barely!  Brian's parents weren't there yet so we had time to rest and take a break.  They arrived shortly, with Mimi!  It was dark by then and she ran towards us.  Once she realized it was us, she crouched very low and ran back to Lynn.  We honestly think that she thought we had disappeared off the face of the earth  (in her mind, probably sank with that blasted boat we kept putting her on) - and here our ghosts were on a hot dark night at the end of a little gravel road by the Chesapeake Bay...  We all went to dinner and then Brian's parents stayed at a nearby hotel.  

We departed early again and saw a gorgeous sunrise as we entered in the Potomac River.  David was still asleep and woke to find us underway: "Oh, we're not at the dock anymore."  This was his first time making a passage with us.  It was a gorgeous day for sailing.  We have said that before - many times - but this day was really perfect.  Winds behind us, sunny blue sky above, and much lower temperatures - in the 80s maybe?  Gorgeous.   At one point, David's Belisana hat blew off (with some help from Nolan).  We made several attempts to retrieve it but with the wonderful winds, it was hard to spot in the small chop.  We finally gave up and went about our way.  Nolan was delighted to have his grandfather on the boat.  They played trains, sang songs, read books, sat together on the bow and watched the world go by.  They had missed each other very much.  We stopped at Colonial Beach, the last marina before the DC area that could handle our deep draft.  (Many times, we didn't have the option of anchoring out in any sheltered area because of our deep draft and had no option but to stay at a marina).  We got there early enough to rent a golf cart and check out the place.  An old resort town with its heyday in the 50s, it had its own charm and probably alot of stories to tell.