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 CODA : Moving over to the Wacca Wache for crew change

29 October 2024

Wacca Wache Marina, Waccamaw River, Wachesaw Landing, South Carolina 

Marc-  Very short trip today at high tide to get out of the mud and facilitate a crew change and have some friends over to visit.  Craig and Donna Lewis came over and then took us for lunch nearby (the marina restaurant is closed on Tuesday).  We had on and off rain showers most of the day with only brief periods of sunshine.  I spent more time working on boat repairs and our friends helped find spare parts.

Definitely more accessible here.

Some of the local color around here.

Waccamaw sunset.

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 CODA : Moving down the Waccamaw River (or anchoring with the alligators)

28 October 2024

Cow House Creek, Waccamaw River, Wachesaw Landing, South Carolina   

There were no cows and no houses on Cow House Creek (nothing but Cypress trees).

Marc-  09:00 departure today for a short 2 hour trip downstream to a new anchorage closer to civilization.  There are many places to anchor around here.  The anchor came up clean this morning even though we were in a swamp.  We are in freshwater here and the water is a dark brown.  There is a reversing current caused by the tides but the salt water never seems to push this far in from the ocean.  The area  just South of here was heavily developed for the cultivation of Carolina Rice.  The Rice plantations used the waters of the Waccamaw River to grow rice in large quantities.

Nothing much exciting after we anchored.  I did the 300 hour oil and filter change and redesigned and constructed a new helm seat.  Finally I took out the old radar (not functioning) and replaced it with a second I-Pad.  Michael cooked up some burgers on the grill and we went over to a local restaurant by dinghy to watch the world series game.

The new double I-pad dash.

And then there are alligators.

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CODA : Into the Waccamaw (bayou country)

27 October 2024

Enterprise Island oxbow, Waccamaw River, Bucksport, South Carolina   

One of three swing bridges that we passed through today all operated by women who did an exemplary job.  The above photo is of the Barefoot Bridge after passing through the so called Rock Pile passage.

Marc-  At 03:00 my face became a bit wet from rain entering the open hatch above my head.  The forecasters had missed this rain (or I had missed the forecast).  I closed all of the hatches and tuned on the air conditioning to dry things out.  At 08:00 we could see some clear sky to the west as we pulled out for the days travel.  The ICW boat traffic was light and we soon joined up with two other sailboats as we prepared to pass through several swing bridges.  The first bridge was a breeze.  An area called the "Rock Pile" stood between us and the next bridge.  The rock pile is a 9 mile passage through cut ledge with jagged edges and is significantly narrower than the ICW channels before or after it.  Each end of the passage is marked with signs noting "Danger Rocks" and since we were passing near low tide we could see some of the dangerous rocks.  The powerboats started to come through the passage with some throwing large wakes while others slowed a bit.  We stood our ground because we are deep draft and Coda is a 28,000 pound heavily built boat (Michael also likes to go out in the cockpit and stare at the fast boats).  We arrived at the Barefoot Bridge and indicated to the Bridge operator that there were three sailboats in our group requesting the bridge to open.  She responded that she could see only two of us from her cabin high on the bridge structure.  She radioed all three boats but no response came from the third boat that we knew was a small cruising catamaran.  The Catamaran Captain did respond after fifteen minutes indicating that they had been delayed due to being pushed toward the rocks by the wake of a passing powerboat.  I am not aware of the damage but the catamaran is anchored near us tonight.

Rock ledge to the left of me.

Rock ledge to the right of me.

We stopped after this excitement for some rest and relaxation meeting with friends who have retired here and live in a community called Barefoot Landing.  This is a very large developed area of different housing types from vacation rentals  to single family homes and townhouses with several golf courses as lots of shopping and recreation too.  

Barefoot Landing marina in background.  Barefoot Landing free day use docks (Coda is tied to a nice floating dock just out of view.  The deepwater docks are south of the small boat docks).  We were actually docked right in front of the Greg Norman Australian Restaurant where we were meeting our friends Peggy and John for brunch.  The food was good, reasonably priced, with excellent service and a nice view.  

Excellent Ice cream shop nearby for desert.  This one appealed to the farmer in me.

Barefoot landing carousel one of multiple amusements.

Now where did we leave our boat?

Some of the local inhabitants that seem to enjoy living next to, or on the roof of,  a restaurant.

Anchored in the Enterprise oxbow behind Enterprise Island in the Waccamaw River.  Many of the trees here are bald head cypress.  We are enjoying the solitude of this beautiful area tonight.

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CODA : Arrival in South Carolina

26 October 2024

Myrtle Beach Yacht Club, Little River, South Carolina  

A rather large manmade cove filled with docks from five different marinas.

Marc- We traversed 45 miles of varied waterways including the man-made "snows cut" that links the Carolina Beach lagoon to the Cape Fear River with quite opposite currents.  The Cape Fear River is a large ship route to Wilmington, NC. Finally we returned to the ICW with its connections behind barrier islands with many ocean inlets.  Some of these "inlets" impact the ICW path created difficult shoals to pass around or over.  Dredging is a constant need in this area. One such area is named"Lockwood's Folly".  I wonder what "Lockwood did"?  Once we cross the border into South Carolina the waterway turns away from the coast and basically a series of man-made ditches that connect to the Waccamaw River. It was a wild ride today once we passed the Caoe Fear River.  Weekend boating traffic increased significantly and the number of considerate boaters arranging for a slow pass for sailboats and slower boats just fishing decreased significantly.  By the time we reached South Carolina it was mayhem on the water!  We pulled into our destination at 15:45 no worse except for some frazzled nerves caused mostly by go fast boats steering head on for your boat and making a last minute swerve motion and big sportfisherman coming up from behind making large wakes.  It was all peace and quiet and a warm welcome by the staff of the Myrtle Beach Yacht Club.  There was also a really good fiddler playing at the Clubhouse this evening.

A rather quiet scene near the Cape Fear River.

This was the best we could do to get a dolphin just drove under CODA (dolphins are really fast swimmers capable of speeds in excess of 30 miles per hour).

The man-made harbor has walking paths all around it and along the ICW.

Beautiful flowers growing right out of the water.

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 CODA : Beautiful water and Carolina Beach

25 October 2024

Carolina Beach Mooring Field, Carolina Beach, North Carolina  

First rate dinghy dock on the beach side of the harbor.  A second dinghy dock

 gives access to the side of the harbor with shops and restaurants.

Marc-  Today started out with light North winds that turned to South light winds.  Neither had any effect on our trip.  The most helpful factor was timing the trip to the tidal currents.  We did have substantial currents for 90 % of the trip.  It was great to see beautiful sea water since this part of the ICW has many barrier islands and many inlets.  We did have to deal with two drawbridges 5 miles apart but on schedules that do not synchronize for sailboat speeds.  The first bridge opens on the hour and on every 1/2 hour while the second bridge opens only on the hour.  If you go through the bridge on the 1/2 hour, like we did, you have to get to the next bridge in 1/2 hour and since we cannot go 10 knots it can't be done.  You end up waiting close to an hour for the next opening.  There was also a significant increase in boats on the water since it was a Friday.  Carolina Beach was a welcome end to the days travels with a quiet mooring area in the middle of town.

We saw this fishing trawlerdeliberately set on its side to await low tide to scrape and paint the bottom.  This is called careening and is a lot cheaper than having these large boats hauled out at a marina even if it takes you two days to get it done.

The incredible water here due to white sand and many barrier islands and numerous inlets.

Carolina Beach mooring field.

Carolina Beach

 

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CODA : Camp Lejeune Marine Base

24 October 2024

Mile Hammock Bay, USMC Camp Lejeune, North Carolina  

Michael found a huge free ice freezer (8 feet by 8 feet ) on the docks and got permission 

to get all we could shovel into our bags (x5).

Pulling into Beaufort at sunset last night (from my new favorite place 

to steer the boat in the pilothouse and virtually no bugs unless we let them in).

Beaufort does not only have free ice but a warm climate that supports Palm Trees. If you anchor in front of the downtown waterfront you may see wild Spanish Mustangs that live on the Shackleford Banks (We did not see any this time).

Marc- We used the free laundromat at the marina this morning since we needed to wait for the tidal currents  and height to be advantageous.  The stretch of the ICW South of here has a few shallow spots so you want to have the advantage of having a rising tide and the currents are considerable 2.0 knots.  We timed it perfectly leaving at 11:00 and headed Southeast to the Beaufort Inlet and then turned Northwest to head for the ICW via a major shipping channel.  This is a great departure point for Bermuda or the Bahamas.  Note that the Gulf Stream passes 40 miles offshore.  All that being said the water is warm enough for surfcasters to be out fishing in the bays as well as people enjoying as sorts of water sports.  We continued to be favored with North winds putting us in a beam reach position for much todays 44 mile journey.  There was one exciting shallow point where a strong diesel engine and a 28,000pond boat allowed us to plow through the mud to deeper water only going from 7.2 knots to 5.1 knots for a brief period.  The spot is about an hour South of Beaufort where the 1/4 mile wide channel suddenly shrinks to about 20 feet with a confusing array of bouys (more is not always better when they are inconsistent).  No harm done.  The next is the new Onslow Bridge being constructed by the Marines at the large Camp Lejeune footprint.  The Marines have some of the most beautiful of the barrier islands and there own Inlet as well as extensive mainland territory.  Most of it looks undeveloped except for various mock up tanks, guided missile vehicles, tanks, invasion barges.  Marine helicopters fly over now and then and the Marines shut down the ICW when they are firing munitions.  The new bridge construction closes the ICW from 08:00 to 12:00, opens on the hour from 12:00 to 1:00 and the shuts down from 13:00 to 17:00.  We timed our boat speed to arrive at 16:45.  Mile Hammock Bay is nearby and we found an assembled 8 sailboats and 4 powerboats. I am not counting the Marine vessels passing through.  The Bay is very quiet so far tonight (mill pond calm).

A pelican looks on as we wait for the Onslow bridge to open.

I tried out a new spell at the marina this morning in the small boat section.

"Wingardeum Levio Sa"

Sunset after the wonderful barbecue chicken cooked up by chef Michael.

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CODA : Beaufort at last

23 October 2024

Homer Smith Docks and Marina, Beaufort, North Carolina 

Mama and baby dolphins swimming in the bay approaching Beaufort.

Marc- The dolphins were really a good omen for our arrival to the coast.  Today was another day where everything just went well and we covered a lot miles heading South.  The tidal current was going out as we left Dowry Creek and the Pongo River.  The winds were still out of the North all day (unfortunately only around 7-10 knots).  The day was just right in the 70's and sunny. We crossed several very large bodies of relatively calm water inside the outer Banks of Cape Hatteras.   Even the large powerboats that passed us did it graciously asking if we wanted a slow pass (even a large Sportfishing boat Captain did this).  Michael called the Beaufort marina manager where we had reserved a one night space  and told him we would be late and he volunteered to stay late to greet us and show us around.  The facilities were all new and even the loaner car was a late model van in great condition.  We splurged on the dock because I needed to pick up medications at a pharmacy a bit out of town.  Everything worked out.

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 CODA : Dowry Creek

22 October 2024

Dowry Creek Anchorage, Belhaven, North Carolina 

Sunrise over the Pasquotank River.

Marc-  We started early this morning, alarms went off at 06:15, in order to get through the Elizabeth City Highway Bridge before it shut down for rush hour from 07:00 to 09:00.  The bridge opened on request at 06:45 even though it was still quite dark outside.  All of that being said we were not the earliest risers here.  The mens basketball team was in the training room an hour before we awoke.

The weather was great for us today, light North winds, out going tidal currents and calm seas.  Even the boaters we met were good to us.  Imagine that large powerboats actually gave us a slow pass rather than a jarring wake.  We later met up with two of captains of these boats and found out that they were delivery captains.  We also met up with a non stop line of boats heading South once we reached the Alligator River.  Now what were people thinking when they named some of the places we pass through: "Dismal Swamp" and  "Alligator River" to just name two. Then there is the ever famous "mosquito lagoon" in Florida.  No wonder some places are avoided.   The Swingbridge Operator at the Alligator River Highway Bridge had to juggle truck and ato traffic heading to or from the Outer Banks with the constant stream of powerboats and sailboats heading South asking for passage.  Somehow this bridge operator made it work causing only minor delays for those on land and on the water.

Our destination for the end of the day was Dowry Creek.  It is a fantastic spot with a very friendly family owned marina and a quiet anchorage out back.  We stopped for diesel fuel and treated the same as the big boat operators even when we only purchased 34 gallos versus 400 gallons.

View from the porch of the Dowry Creek Marina store.

Sunset from our Anchorage behind the Dowry Creek Marina.

On a final note of gratitude: expert helmsmen Michael Gilmartin avoided hundreds of crabtrap bouys while crossing Albemarle Sound.

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CODA : Elizabeth City of Hospitality

21 October 2024

Mid-Atlantic Christian University, Elizabeth City, North Carolina 

The NC State Park Bridge (zero clearance).

Marc-  We seemed to have a slow start this morning.  First the State park bridge opens when you call them on the phone and find the bridge operator.  The bridge is in three pieces, the sides tilt up and the center span floats and spins left.  Several miles further we encounter the South Mills Bridge operated by the South mills Lockmaster who is located at the lock 1 mile south of the bridge.  When you contact the Lockmaster he informs you when the next passage takes place (11:00) and that he needs to check the there are no north bound boats before he closes the kock and drives up to the bridge in his truck.  Once he arrives at the bridge it needs to be prepared and he needs to get the cars and the pedestrians off of the bridge (not as simple as just lowering the gates when there is only one bridge in the center of a busy little town).  In any case eventually the bridge opens and you are told to proceed to the lock and to disregard the red light and simply go in and to secure your boat to the starboard wall and wait for the lockmaster to arrive.   This part actually went as planned.  The Champlain canal has is incredibly more efficient.  

Locking through the South Mills Lock with a tiny floating island.

CODA performed perfectly today despite hitting 3 more sunken logs on the bottom and trimming a few tree branches.  Final score no boat damage.  A catamaran that came through earlier in the day trimmed a few branches and dislodged its wind indicator instrument a the very top of its mast.

The wind sensors, running lights and radio antenna are at the very top of CODA's mast.

Michael and I assisted our neighbor to raise him to the top of his mast to restore his instruments.

Roses are tossed into the sea to Welcome CODA to Elizabeth City.

We docked on the campus of a very welcoming college.  The docks are first rate and we were allowed to use the showers and bathrooms in the gymnasium.

Elizabeth City Harbor of Hospitality

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 CODA : We have arrived in North Carolina

20 October 2024

Dismal Swamp Canal Visitor Center, South Mills, North Carolina

Welcome to the Norfolk Naval Base

Marc-  We let Hampton at 09:00 this morning and stopped to refill the fuel tank and water tank.  About 45 minutes later we were amidst the world's largest naval base.  It is not only a base but the massive repair shipyard here that means you see more gray ships here than anywhere else.  The Navy Police boats keep everything secure by patrolling 24 hours a day with armed vessels.  We saw a total of 5 aircraft carriers in port.  Two were being repaired at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard including the George H W Bush. This is also a massive Commercial seaport and we once again dealt with a passing container ship. We only had to wait for a few minutes for a highway bridge to open for us out of a total of five opening bridges.  

We came to a fork in the road , so to speak, just after the Highway bridge train bridge combo South of Norfolk.  These are incredibly busy waters even on a Sunday morning. The fork gave us the choice of the Virginia Cut shore route or taking the Dismal Swamp Canal.  We chose the Dismal Swamp canal based on our past trip South.  We arrived at the Deep Creek Lock at the northern end of the canal at 12:00.  Unfortunately the Lockmaster indicated that the lock would not be opening for another 1 and 1/2 hours (that is some lunch hour).  Not a problem we simply another and enjoyed our leisurely lunch as well.  The goal of the day was to reach the Welcome center in North Carolina and we did arriving at 17:45.

Norfolk is not just warships there were two sailing ships in town as well.

The fork in the road.  We took the route less travelled. 

Sign at the Deep Creek Lock.

The Dismal Swamp route is very straight making navigation easy.  Our only issue was bumping fifteen sunken logs along the way.  No harm done by the logs but it does startle the captain.  Some of those nice tall trees do infringe on the canal in spots and Michael saved the day by warning me that we would be trimming some branches.

Visitor Center free docks.  There were only three sailboats here.  Our fellow boaters were quick to help us tie up and settle us in.  There is always a discussion of where each of us is going.

Beautiful visitors center rose bushes were all about the place.