Last Saturday morning we arrived in Elizabeth City, North Carolina just before 10 a.m. The free dock there is kind of unusual as you go in perpendicular to shore and tie up to some pilings with a small triangular floating dock near the bow of your boat. We had never tied up like this before, so we were glad to see some familiar faces of fellow boaters from the Great Dismal Swamp who caught our bow lines. We went in to a space marked 13 feet wide, thinking we had all kinds of room (Romana is 12 feet wide) but we managed to bump into one of the pilings and got some creosote on the hull on the way past. Other than that we did pretty well.
Our boat has a lot of freeboard so the bow is quite high out of the water which meant we couldn't get off onto the floating dock very easily, so we tied the bow close to the shore and got off from there, as did many other boats. Elizabeth City is well known for their hospitality to visiting boaters and the people there were very friendly and helpful. The night before we arrived they had a wine and cheese reception for the boats that came in, but that only happens on weekdays, so we were out of luck.
We spent most of Saturday doing laundry, getting groceries and getting a shower, which was a mistake on our part because we missed out on the museum, which was open Saturday but closed Sunday and Monday. However it did feel good to have clean sheets that night. After all those errands, we treated ourselves and went out for supper that night with two other Canadian cruising couples we had met in the Swamp. Earlier in the day, we had all walked up to the grocery store and then pooled together on a cab ride back. We had been told that the cab could hold seven people and their groceries, but when it arrived it could only take four of us, so Dave and one of the other skippers walked back.
While we were in Elizabeth City we got a lot of walking in, taking advantage of being tied up instead of anchored out. Dave got the bilge pump switch replaced and we spent Happy Hours with a few other couples taking turns hosting and getting to know each other better. Two other boats were going to leave the same day as us and we ended up spending this week together as 'buddy boats'.
We had originally planned to stay for two days in Elizabeth City, but when we got up to leave early Monday morning for the "skippers' meeting" on the dock the consensus was that it was going to be too windy to go down the Ablemarle Sound (which is shallow and can be very rough in strong winds) that day. On our 'extra' day Dave installed the second anchor roller on the bow, with help from a couple of other skippers, much to my delight, as that works a lot better than when I help. We also walked around the historical district of the city on a self guided tour with three other couples and across the bridge that had opened to let us through when we arrived. They are demolishing the remains of an old bridge to make way for a new bridge, but apparently the old bridge was pretty well constructed because they are having a difficult time breaking it up and are very much behind schedule!
We finally left Elizabeth City on Monday with our 'buddy boats' Slow Waltz and Leeloo. Both crews are Canadian couples on beautiful and well equipped cruising boats. We left early and got the sails up right away going down the Pasquatank River. After motor sailing for an hour the wind picked up and we had a fantastic sail down the river and across the Ablemarle Sound close hauled at first and then on a beam reach. This is Romana's favourite point of sail but Slow Waltz and Leeloo still passed us in the sound. We had took the sails down to go through the bridge into the Alligator River but then sailed up the river to an anchorage we had selected when we left. By 3:30 p.m. we were enjoying an early happy hour on Romana until a fantastic sunset.
The switch off daylight savings time hasn't really affected us much this year because on the boat we are so driven by daylight rather than time, and we are getting up and going to sleep at the same time relative to daylight - it's just a different time on the clock. I don't know what it is about cruising, but some days we are in bed before 8 p.m. and other cruisers say the same thing. This week I have been waking up shortly after 5, but that works because we've been getting early starts. Sunrise is about 7 a.m. but by 6:30 it is light enough to haul up the anchor and set off.
After a great sail on Tuesday there was hardly any wind on Wednesday, so we motored through the Alligator/Pungo Canal into the Pungo River. We got the jib up and motor sailed for a while in the Pungo River but the wind died again completely as we got near our destination for the night, which was in Goose Creek, between the Pamlico River and the Neuse River. At this point the ICW is a series of rivers connected by man made land cuts so we are cruising in rivers, creeks and canals. It was very calm and the forecast was for light winds, so we decided to raft up the three boats together for the night.
We anchored and Slow Waltz tied up on one side of us and Leeloo tied up on the other side. It turned out to be a great day to do this, as it made it easy to go from boat to boat in the rain and we decided to do a potluck dinner after Happy Hour. It was great sharing a great variety of delicious food, a few laughs and some good stories and we stayed late (til 8:30 p.m.!).
Thursday morning we got up early again and set off planning to stop in Oriental for the night. It was still raining lightly when we got up and Dave took the opportunity to give the cockpit a good scrubdown while I tried (with limited success) to get the creosote we had picked up from the pilings in Elizabeth City out of our dock lines. After a couple of hours the wind came up right on the nose, making things sloppy and uncomfortable, but that didn't last long and the rain stopped as we approached Oriental. When we got in to Oriental the free town dock was already full and the anchorage looked very tight so after discussing it with Slow Waltz and Leeloo we decided to push on across the river and anchor just off Adam's Creek just before the last canal before Beaufort, NC. By 1 p.m. we had the hook down.
Slow Waltz was having an issue with their windlass, so Dave went over to see if he could help, and then we dinghied in to a dock where some shrimp boats were tied up and had an interesting conversation with one of the fishermen about shrimping (shades of Forrest Gump). North Carolina is definitely a great place to get shrimp, and we saw a funny sign at the wharf that said "friends don't let friends buy imported shrimp". The shrimp boats are very dinstincitive with their big outriggers and at night they are all lit up. We were a bit intimidated when the owner of the shrimp boats said he had some boats coming in that night and we should make sure we weren't anchored in the channel because 'sometimes they can't see that well". Everyone made sure they had their anchor lights on that night!
Now we are in Beaufort, NC. Slow Waltz has ordered a replacement motor for their windlass and should have it by Saturday and we are planning to push off again on Sunday morning. The forecast doesn't look good for going outside, so we'll stick to the ICW for he next few days at least.
Our boat has a lot of freeboard so the bow is quite high out of the water which meant we couldn't get off onto the floating dock very easily, so we tied the bow close to the shore and got off from there, as did many other boats. Elizabeth City is well known for their hospitality to visiting boaters and the people there were very friendly and helpful. The night before we arrived they had a wine and cheese reception for the boats that came in, but that only happens on weekdays, so we were out of luck.
We spent most of Saturday doing laundry, getting groceries and getting a shower, which was a mistake on our part because we missed out on the museum, which was open Saturday but closed Sunday and Monday. However it did feel good to have clean sheets that night. After all those errands, we treated ourselves and went out for supper that night with two other Canadian cruising couples we had met in the Swamp. Earlier in the day, we had all walked up to the grocery store and then pooled together on a cab ride back. We had been told that the cab could hold seven people and their groceries, but when it arrived it could only take four of us, so Dave and one of the other skippers walked back.
While we were in Elizabeth City we got a lot of walking in, taking advantage of being tied up instead of anchored out. Dave got the bilge pump switch replaced and we spent Happy Hours with a few other couples taking turns hosting and getting to know each other better. Two other boats were going to leave the same day as us and we ended up spending this week together as 'buddy boats'.
We had originally planned to stay for two days in Elizabeth City, but when we got up to leave early Monday morning for the "skippers' meeting" on the dock the consensus was that it was going to be too windy to go down the Ablemarle Sound (which is shallow and can be very rough in strong winds) that day. On our 'extra' day Dave installed the second anchor roller on the bow, with help from a couple of other skippers, much to my delight, as that works a lot better than when I help. We also walked around the historical district of the city on a self guided tour with three other couples and across the bridge that had opened to let us through when we arrived. They are demolishing the remains of an old bridge to make way for a new bridge, but apparently the old bridge was pretty well constructed because they are having a difficult time breaking it up and are very much behind schedule!
We finally left Elizabeth City on Monday with our 'buddy boats' Slow Waltz and Leeloo. Both crews are Canadian couples on beautiful and well equipped cruising boats. We left early and got the sails up right away going down the Pasquatank River. After motor sailing for an hour the wind picked up and we had a fantastic sail down the river and across the Ablemarle Sound close hauled at first and then on a beam reach. This is Romana's favourite point of sail but Slow Waltz and Leeloo still passed us in the sound. We had took the sails down to go through the bridge into the Alligator River but then sailed up the river to an anchorage we had selected when we left. By 3:30 p.m. we were enjoying an early happy hour on Romana until a fantastic sunset.
The switch off daylight savings time hasn't really affected us much this year because on the boat we are so driven by daylight rather than time, and we are getting up and going to sleep at the same time relative to daylight - it's just a different time on the clock. I don't know what it is about cruising, but some days we are in bed before 8 p.m. and other cruisers say the same thing. This week I have been waking up shortly after 5, but that works because we've been getting early starts. Sunrise is about 7 a.m. but by 6:30 it is light enough to haul up the anchor and set off.
After a great sail on Tuesday there was hardly any wind on Wednesday, so we motored through the Alligator/Pungo Canal into the Pungo River. We got the jib up and motor sailed for a while in the Pungo River but the wind died again completely as we got near our destination for the night, which was in Goose Creek, between the Pamlico River and the Neuse River. At this point the ICW is a series of rivers connected by man made land cuts so we are cruising in rivers, creeks and canals. It was very calm and the forecast was for light winds, so we decided to raft up the three boats together for the night.
We anchored and Slow Waltz tied up on one side of us and Leeloo tied up on the other side. It turned out to be a great day to do this, as it made it easy to go from boat to boat in the rain and we decided to do a potluck dinner after Happy Hour. It was great sharing a great variety of delicious food, a few laughs and some good stories and we stayed late (til 8:30 p.m.!).
Thursday morning we got up early again and set off planning to stop in Oriental for the night. It was still raining lightly when we got up and Dave took the opportunity to give the cockpit a good scrubdown while I tried (with limited success) to get the creosote we had picked up from the pilings in Elizabeth City out of our dock lines. After a couple of hours the wind came up right on the nose, making things sloppy and uncomfortable, but that didn't last long and the rain stopped as we approached Oriental. When we got in to Oriental the free town dock was already full and the anchorage looked very tight so after discussing it with Slow Waltz and Leeloo we decided to push on across the river and anchor just off Adam's Creek just before the last canal before Beaufort, NC. By 1 p.m. we had the hook down.
Slow Waltz was having an issue with their windlass, so Dave went over to see if he could help, and then we dinghied in to a dock where some shrimp boats were tied up and had an interesting conversation with one of the fishermen about shrimping (shades of Forrest Gump). North Carolina is definitely a great place to get shrimp, and we saw a funny sign at the wharf that said "friends don't let friends buy imported shrimp". The shrimp boats are very dinstincitive with their big outriggers and at night they are all lit up. We were a bit intimidated when the owner of the shrimp boats said he had some boats coming in that night and we should make sure we weren't anchored in the channel because 'sometimes they can't see that well". Everyone made sure they had their anchor lights on that night!
Now we are in Beaufort, NC. Slow Waltz has ordered a replacement motor for their windlass and should have it by Saturday and we are planning to push off again on Sunday morning. The forecast doesn't look good for going outside, so we'll stick to the ICW for he next few days at least.