In which we finish our summer sojourn in the United States and head back to the Bahamas for the winter.
November opened with
us on a mooring buoy in Annapolis, still waiting for the final fit of
our new mainsail. We got a call at 08:30, to say it was ready and
could we collect it from the dock – yes. Back on board, it took us
an hour or so to fit, including the battens, which seem to be a much
better system than our old sail. Apart from it being about 10 cm
short in the foot (and nothing can be done about that), all appears
now to be in order so Rubette was hoisted aboard, buoy let go and we
set off south. Of course, the great sailing winds of the previous
days had gone but, once out in the river, there was sufficient breeze
for us to hoist the new sail and, with full genoa, sail the 10,
miles or so down to Rhode river and another lovely anchorage.
Thursday, 2nd, brought southerly winds. We set off, with
full sail, close hauled across the Chesapeake then back, putting a
reef in as the wind increased to F4. To make time, we motor sailed
for a couple of hours with just the main up but then, with 10 miles
to go, we could sail properly again past Solomons Island and back to
Cuckold Creek which we had visited a few before. More southerly
winds on Friday had us sailing, motor sailing or just motoring as the
shape of the bay dictated, but finished in style with 1 reef in at
the entrance to Reedville. Here, we took the first right to anchor
in Cockrell Creek. The view through 270 degrees was idyllic, so we
ignored the direction of the huge fish processing plant. It wasn’t
so easy to ignore the following morning as the wind had shifted to
the north and it made its presence known. Another early-ish start
on Saturday but this time with northerly winds and we broad reached
across the bay and back, covering nearly 60 miles to enter the York
River and anchor in Sarah Creek, where we had last been back in May.
Now it was decision
time. We had hoped to make an off-shore passage round Cape Hatteras
and had been rushing down as there appeared to be a window for us to
do this. Now, however, the forecast winds has increased to 40 knots
and, with no realistic window showing for at least the next 10 days,
we decided to sample ‘the Ditch’. We though we deserved a day
off so Sunday was taken fairly easy, with just an oil change on the
main engine and a little trip to fill up with fuel and water. It was
then into the books for Elsie to plan the first few day’s stops.
On Monday, we transited down to Norfolk, managing to sail most of the
way in a SSW4. Of course, the timing of the tides was atrocious,
with a flood up the York River and Chesapeake turning to an ebb down
the Elizabeth River. Norfolk is, of course, a huge Naval base. The
first section we passed had 3 aircraft carriers and half a dozen
destroyers just parked and a large helicopter / troop carrier pulled
out as we approached, propelled by 6 tugs. It proceeded up river,
pushing us into the margins, so we slowed and followed. Of course
its destination was just beyond ours but its deceleration zone rather
larger
so we had to dodge
back round it to berth at a private dock owned by the local OCC Port
Officer. The was a U.S. style slip, with six piles to tie up to and
a tiny finger jetty. On advice, we entered bow first and didn’t
make too bad a hash of it but it did make access rather difficult,
especially for Elsie who doesn't go in for pier head leaps. It was
very nice to find old friends here though – Venture Lady, last met
in Bequia and Livingstone not seen since La Graciosa.
Glass chess set
Tuesday we spent
mostly at the Chrysler museum, which has a huge glassware exhibition
and an associated workshop with a lunchtime demonstration of glass
blowing. This was unintentionally entertaining as the two
demonstrators appeared to have personal issues, possibly regarding
whose turn it was to be the star. Somewhat edgy with red hot glass
being played with (and the audience being largely made up of a group
of ‘learning challenged’ adults) and the denouement of the
workpiece being dropped was almost predictable. We finished the day
with a provisioning trip with the expectation of an early start.
Wednesday was, however, horrible – cold, windy and very wet. We
decided that we didn’t need to spend hours in the cockpit so
hunkered down to read books and catch up on a few internetty things,
blessing the decision to install central heating.
Thursday started not
a lot better but there was a forecast of a dry patch in the middle so
planned a 10:15 departure to catch the first bridge, 6 miles up,
which opens hourly on the half hour. We had a couple of incompetent
tugs to dodge (managed to get a floating walkway wrapped round an
open bridge support) and a normally open rail bridge closed for no
apparent reason but we made our target and transited at 11:30. From
here, the industrial and Naval landscape turned rural and it was like
being back in an oversize version of the Caledonian Canal. One more
timed bridge opening neatly achieved and then on to the only lock on
the ICW at Great Bridge. This easily accommodated the 8 yachts of
varying sizes and we exited at 13:00 with the intention of just
passing the bridge itself and tying up on a free wharf for the night.
While we were 3rd into the lock, we were 7th
out, as the lead boat on our side decided to giver way to the other
side. We formed an orderly queue down the ¼ mile stretch to the
bridge, with 3 knot speed limit. The bridge opened, told us to hurry
up, then closed, leaving us on the wrong side and with an hour to
wait for the next opening. We cut our losses and tied up where we
were. As the rain was holding off, we took a 3 mile round trip walk
to top up provisions.
Sailing down the ICW
The next morning, we
were ready at 8 for the bridge and joined a little flotilla heading
south. The first 15 miles were along a narrow cut but then the banks
opened out. The canal was still only usable for a width of about 120
feet but the wind steadied and increased. With 20+ knots from nearly
astern, it seemed a shame not to take advantage so we put out 2/3rds
genoa and throttled back; then full genoa and stopped the engine. We
were making over 7 knots down the narrow channel and hand steering
was required but it felt good to do a bit of sailing. The wind
increased to 30 knots and we had to put a bit of sail away and, after
13 miles, we were back to a narrow cut so had to put it all away and
motor again. Tonight’s stop was tucked up at the north end of a
large shallow lake. We were both frozen and the heating was turned
on full blast to th;w us out. Suddenly we remembered our padded
suits, not used since we left Ireland so we dug them out and gave
them a good airing. Saturday again had a good Northerly, though a
little less brisk. We managed to motor-sail with full genoa across
Albermarle Sound and the Alligator River, with just the one bridge to
negotiate. 4 miles motoring at the end of the day took us to Winn
Bay, the start of the next cut and a comfortable anchorage, where we
were joined by a few others.
The wind died on Sunday, so it was
motoring all the way across to the Pungo River, across the Pamlico
River and through another cut to the Bay river. 52 miles in 8 ½
hours and we were glad to settle for the night. Monday started wet
but we only had 18 miles to go to Oriental, where there was the
possibility of a free dock and provisioning for our next leg
offshore. We had to hang around for 20 minutes while someone vacated
one of the two that we would fit on but tied up at 10:50. The plan
was to spend 2 nights here but, on checking the weather, showed that
we could depart the following morning and, maybe, get 3 days of good
sailing down the coast. Once the rain stopped, we did a little
exploring. It seemed a very friendly village with a good little
chandler, a fish merchant who sold us a pound of shrimps (king
prawns) for $14; a dragon in a pond and a marina which allowed Elsie
to use their laundry facilities. There was also, a mile out of town,
a Piggly Wiggly supermarket which caters for passing boaters by
delivering to the dock. So we shopped, laundered and got quietly
exited about doing some real sailing.
ICW on a calm morning
Time to find somewhere warmer
Up at first light on
the 14th and motored down Adams Creek (pausing to top up
fuel) to Morehead and out to sea. Our weather planning showed us
that the offshore trip to St Augustine should take about 2.5 – 2.8
days so we expected to arrive A.M. on the 17th. We had
had a look at the predicted path of the Gulf Stream, which seemed to
limit us to no more than 60 miles offshore. The wind was predicted
to decrease within 30 miles of the coast so we had an ideal track of
40 – 50 miles offshore a curving coast. We started Goose winged,
with 2 reefs in the main and one in the genoa with a N4 blowing us
along at 7 – 8 knots. That night, after reefing more of the genoa,
we put a 3rd reef in the main as the wind was up to F6-7,
sending us surfing down the building swell at speeds of up to 12
knots. By 0500 on the 15th, we were 60 miles offshore and
changed to a broad reach with 3 reefs in both sails. Calculations at
noon showed that, on current rate of progress, we should arrive St
Augustine late evening the following day. This was not ideal as the
entrance is subject to change and, with a recent hurricane could be
tricky to negotiate so a change of plan was made. Jacksonville was
both 20 miles closer and, being a major port, has a well maintained
channel so seemed a better target. The wind decreased again to F4 so
we shook out the 3nd and, later, the 2nd reef.
The second night was crystal clear with beautiful stars, the moon
just rising 2 hours before the sun and showing as a bright thin
crescent and paler complete disc of reflected earthlight.
We managed to sail
at an average of over 7 knots until within 10 miles of Jacksonville,
where the wind dropped and we had to complete using motor, arriving
at the channel just as the tide turned to give us a gentle push. 6
miles up the Johns River, we turned to starboard into Sisters Creek
and found a deserted free dock to tie up to. This was next to a
public ramp, which was well used by small fishing boats the next day.
We spent Friday relaxing and doing a bit of tidying up. A stroll
ashore was a disappointment as, although we were in a park, the only
path lead to a busy highway. We had a dilemma as to how to complete
the trip to St Augustine: Offshore was 30 miles but, to do it in
daylight, we would be battling a flood current leaving Jacksonville
and an ebb on arrival. The wind was light, so we would have to motor
all the way. The ICW was reasonably straight, with no locks or
opening bridges and the currents would work in our favour. So,
although we would rather have gone outside, we decided to do another
30 miles of the ditch. Up at first light and let go at 0730.
The bridge
All the fixed
bridges on the ICW have a nominal clearance of 65 ft and have marker
boards at water level showing actual clearance. We had never seen
less than 65 and most had 66 ft+. I had calculated the top of our
VHF aerial at just under 61 ft and we had had no problem. As we
approached the first bridge today, the marker board showed 61 ft.
The combination of spring tide, easterly winds and rain must have
raised the water level. We had 3 knots of current behind us; the
tide was still rising, so the clearance would decrease and, if we
waited 3 hours, we would have adverse currents all the way. 10
seconds to decide – go for it. Ting, ting, ting, ting, as the
aerial hit each of the girders of the bridge deck. Damn. But it was
still in place and apparently unharmed.
The rest of the
journey down was uneventful, though you may be sure that we checked
the clearance on each bridge very carefully – none was less than 65
ft. We arrived at St Augustine at 14:00 and anchored just south of
the Vilano bridge. There is a public dock, with free mooring for 4
hours ans a 3 block walk to a Publix supermarket. We needed to do a
big provisioning trip to stock up on basics for the winter and
considered going at once but decided to leave it until the following
morning. So, on Sunday, we were at the dock by 10:00 and, having
enlisted the aid of Ian, my local friend, we grabbed 2 trolleys (+1
for the beer) and proceeded to empty shelves. 2 hours and $666
later, we had almost everything on the list: loads of UHT milk, fruit
juice, wine, and loads beside, including tissue which is 4 times the
price in the Bahamas. Having loaded this all aboard (if we had done
it the day before, we might have cleared the bridge!), we headed
through the Bridge of Lions to a mooring ball at the municipal
marina. The offshore weather did not look inviting for our voyage to
the Bahamas, so we paid for a week and settled in for the wait. Ian
picked us that afternoon and took us to an open house at a
neighbours’. The main theme was an oyster bake. I enjoyed the half
dozen that I had but others were gorging. I later discovered that
over 1500 were consumed through the afternoon. On Monday, I repaid
some of Ian’s kindness by helping him with building a new deck,
while Elsie got into some deep cleaning. Tuesday, we went ashore to
meet some of the cruising locals and visitors at an informal wings
supper. The music was loud but we managed to work out ‘our’
group by the clothing and introduced ourselves. Another couple,
similarly attired, arrived, looked lost and were shepherded to a
neighbouring table by a ‘local’. At the next music break, I
introduced myself to them. ‘What kind of cruisers were we’? Sail
boat. ‘O boaters’. Poor people, they must have presumed that we
were cruising for quite another purpose but, if they were relieved or
disappointed, I didn’t discover. Wednesday, we dingied a couple of
miles south and walked to an Aldi and a Walmart to try to fill the
gaps in our provisioning. No success at the first but some at the
second, including our favourite tea and coffee, but no Weetabix to be
found anywhere.
Thursday was
Thanksgiving and we were invited to Ian and Lauren’s for an
excellent turkey dinner and traditional puddings. The weather was
foul and we stayed the night. On return to Ruby on Friday, we found
Rubette flooded. As 3” of rain had been forecast overnight, I
suppose that we should not have been surprised at the amount of water
in the dinghy but it took quite a bit of baling. We had been
surprised, on arrival in the U.S., if we were serving burgers. There
is a restaurant chain called Ruby Tuesday and we had intended to try
it out but failed to find a franchise. The internet located one for
us so we invited Ian and Lauren to join us for a meal out. Nice, but
we probably won’t make a habit of it.
The other Ruby Tuesday
We had been watching
the weather and, all week, it had looked that we could leave Saturday
afternoon to go direct to the Bahamas or Sunday morning to go down
the Florida coast. A decision was made to go direct and, on Saturday
morning, we made our final supermarket trip, to buy fresh food and
let go our mooring at 12:30. The plan was to head out to the Gulf
Stream, cross it at right angles and then head for the Abacos
Islands. We knew that we would have to motor for a few hours and, in
fact, light winds were best to cross the stream: southerlies would
head us and strong northerlies would kick up a nasty chop. Of our 4
weather models, 2 gave the wind remaining light, but useable and the
others gave good beam winds most of the way down. In fact we had to
motor for almost all of the first 24 hours. I became concerned that,
if we continued to do so, we could arrive low on fuel so decided
that, if we were making any progress, we would sail and, for the next
24 hours moved very slowly and achieved less than 75 miles, possibly
our slowest ever. One benefit was very calm seas and clear skies.
On my morning watch, I was not only able to watch Venus rise, but
observe a ‘path’ of its reflection in the water. Finally, on
Monday afternoon, a sailing north-easterly sprang up. We needed to
arrive in daylight and, having travelled so slowly, we now had the
frustration of wasting good wind to try to limit our speed to about 4
½ knots. We still arrived early and, at 0300 on Tuesday, Elsie
heaved to 10 miles north of Moraine Cay Channel and we killed a couple
of hours, making our entrance in good light at 08:00. We still had
nearly 30 miles to go, just too close to the wind to be able to sail
so motor-sailed and dropped anchor off New Plymouth, Green Turtle
Cay, at 13:20. Ashore, to clear in and pay the $300 for our cruising
permit. Unfortunately, the Bahamas TeleCom office only opens on
Thursdays, so we were unable to re-activate our local number but we
did find a nice bar with internet and conch fritters so were able to
contact the wider world.
50 kinds of rum. Elsie's heaven
We had a very lazy
day on Wednesday, with just a little wander ashore and then over to
‘Lady Rebel’ for sun-downers with couples from 3 other boats.
Thursday, we had a slightly longer walk, round Black Sound and got a
new BTC SIM so that we could contact the world over the coming
months. We also had our first sea dips for several months in crystal
clear water – bliss. So ended November.
Monthly stats:
Logged 1125
Over Ground 1057
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