One of favorite spots on the east coast is a little bight surrounded by sand dunes just south of Cape Hatteras.
After Becca was picked up by her parents, we headed out to Lookout Bight to stage for heading offshore down the coast.
The Bight is usually calm, filled with dolphins (and one time a whale) and is easy to enter and exit, even in the dark. Of course, having Lookout Point lighthouse right there is a real bonus!
Shrimp boats hang out in the bight to catch a bit of sleep
And the seagulls know all about the shrimp boats!
The lighthouse. Can never get enough
But if not…
Photo credit Damien Wagaman
We were so blessed to have our oldest granddaughter, Becca, onboard with us for the month of October! We sailed, played games, ate lots of yummy food, learned knot tying, boat jargon, how to tell time with a ships bell clock, listened to music, had math and history lessons, read books…so many books … and laughed together!! We absolutely loved having you Becca!!! We thank God for the special time we had with you! We hope you’ll come again!! WE MISS YOU!!!
He quieted the sea with His power
From Elizabeth City, our route takes us through the Alligator River (no alligators) to one of our favorite anchorages: Tuckahoe Point. It’s not the middle of nowhere, but you can just about see it from there. Clear skies (except for a few anchor lights), no cell service, and no buildings anywhere in sight. It all combines for a great spot for stargazing. Becca won the prize for most celestial bodies identified, but only because she nailed all the planets right at twilight. Of course, we had to turn it into a navigation/math lesson explaining how to determine latitude from Polaris (the North Star).
In the morning, some patchy fog greeted us. The heaviest patch, of course, was right at the entrance to the Pungo Canal. We crept slowly through and the visibility soon improved for the 3 hr trip down the canal.
With a threat of a cold front looming, we decided to make it a long day and pushed all the way to Broad Creek off the Neuse River. Tucking up into a nice, secure spot, we sat out the blow for a couple of days before heading down Adams Creek toward Beaufort NC.
“Why won’t it go in a straight line?” Becca did a great job on the helm in all sorts of conditions, including a particularly nasty day on the Neuse River. We’ll done!
The E City blimp hangar. No blimps in sight this year. Still an impressive building!
A foggy morning on the Pungo Canal. Markers and colored pencils got a good workout.
Eagle-eyed Becca spotted the bald eagle lurking in the tree along the Pungo Canal.
The Albemarle has the most unusual small fishing skiffs we’ve seen. Drive stations up high and forward. Outboards tucked in wells up near the bow. Function over form.
Big shrimp boats, up close.
Arms down to steady the boat. Thankfully, no nets trailing.
“Harbor of Hospitality” is the self-proclaimed nickname of Elizabeth City. They sure make it true for visiting cruisers. Free docks, free WiFi at the docks, a water spigot for filling tanks and short (relatively) walks to essential places like restaurants, hardware stores and DQ.
As long as the wind isn’t out of the southeast, the docks are well protected. This year, it was a great stop. Plenty to walk around and see. Other boaters to meet and talk with. And, of course, DQ….
Tied up at the free docks in Elizabeth City, right in the heart of the downtown waterfront district. We get on and off climbing over the bow pulpit and then easing on the sea wall.
The Museum of the Albemarle. A great museum with new displays each time we visit.
Following the history of the Albemarle through the ages.
“2 brake pedals!? No way!”
Ye olde smokehouse.
Sure looks like a lot of work
But if not…
The Dismal Swamp. People seem to either love it or hate it. Maybe it’s the name. Maybe it’s the brown water. Or maybe it’s the not infrequent deadheads (waterlogged logs) lurking on the bottom of the 6 ft deep canal just waiting to thump into the bottom of the keel ensuring that everyone aboard is wide awake.
We love it. It’s always one of the highlights of our trip south. The scenery is peaceful, the other boaters that raft up at the Visitors Center are friendly and the pace is a lot slower than the Virginia cut route a little farther to the east.
This year was the first trip since Robert Peek, our favorite lock master, passed away and we missed him, his stories about the history of the area and his masterful conch horn music. But the new lock master was just as friendly and skilled.
We spent the first night just inside the lock on Elizabeth’s Dock, next to a small park that was great for walking. Then it was on to the visitors center where we rafted with 7 other boats.
Calm and beautiful
Leaving Elizabeth’s dock and heading thru the drawbridge
A favorite pastime. Becca always had 2 or 3 books going: biographies, history, novels, even brochures about the local area.
Leaving Virginia, entering North Carolina
One of the many knots mastered. This one was also renamed from throwing a clove hitch on a piling to “the piling knot.” Makes sense to us!
With practice came mastery and confidence
Forget the rabbit, the hole and the tree. Becca learned the right right way to tie a bowline
A job well done!
Clove hitch, figure eight, bowline, piling knot, plus how to properly coil a line. Not a bad repertoire!
But if not…
Right next to the Hampton public piers is the Langley Air and Space museum. Becca had to remind us that Hampton is where NASA started and the Hidden Figures ladies were from that area.
It’s a little smaller than other Air & Space museums, but still was nice to walk around and see the exhibits. They were pretty heavy on video simulators, and the crowds were pretty light, so we tried our hand at several different ones including the Mars rover, a moon lander, and a flight simulator.
The highlight was probably an Apollo capsule that still bore the burn marks from the heat of re-entry. Still amazing at the small size of the early spacecraft. Definitely not for the claustrophobic.
A real capsule, scorch marks from re-entry and all.
Landing (and crashing) on the moon.
Just as many crashes as Becca. Must be something wrong with the controls, or gravity, or something…
Hidden figures. Great inspiration!
Lots of planes, including a glider, a Wright Flyer replica and several military planes
A cool small plane flight simulator. Managed to do a loop – just before crashing…
Pilot in training
But if not…
A long day ahead, with a favorable wind on the beam, and a little help from the current. Rappahanock to Hampton. Rather than go straight to the Hampton Public Piers, we opted to anchor in Mill Creek by Ft Monroe. That way our arrival time didn’t really matter. Hampton piers is notorious for a strong cross current at the slips and much prefer to arrive at slack tide. So a calm night on the hook followed by a leisurely, short trip from the anchorage to the slip was in order.
Sometimes the plan works out! We made better time than expected and enjoyed a relaxing evening at anchor watching the traffic jam on the nearby highway. Better them than us!
The ride down the Bay was the usual combination of lighthouse spotting, reading, munching, and enjoying the scenery.
Now for a few days shoreside exploring Hampton, VA.
Early morning start
Waiting for the lighthouse
Wolf Trap Lighthouse
Reading, reading, reading!!
Algebra class – fun with quadratic equations!
But if not…
Thirty five years sailing the Chesapeake and we’ve never ventured onto the Rappahanock River. Shame on us! It’s a beautiful area. We anchored in Carter Creek for a couple days to wait out a cold front. Great protection and calm waters. The Tides Inn was close by but way out of our range. The eastern branch of the river was more our style.
But the best part of the trip is that we have a new crewmember aboard. Rebecca, our oldest grand, is joining us for the first month of our trip. She will be with us from Deltaville to some point south, probably Beaufort, NC. One of her main requests was to see dolphins. So what did we see on the Rappahanock? A pod of dolphins that frolicked alongside and showed off their jumping skills. Success!!
Then we moved farther into the river and visited Urbana. Now a sleepy little spot, it was once a major tobacco shipping and inspection port. Also a place to get a fantastic bowl of she-crab soup!
Now it’s time to start south.
Becca driving the dinghy. Push the handle to go one way, pull to go the other way. Or is it the other way around?
Looking good. Doing great!
But if not…
It’s been way too long – almost exactly 2-1/2 years to be exact. But we are thrilled to relaunch and get back to our journeys by water!
Needless to say, the project list was long and painful. But after an intense 3 weeks on the hard and another week post launch, we were able to head out into the Chesapeake Bay and turn south.
This year, given all the new and changing regulations, our destination is very uncertain. South for sure. Maybe the Bahamas (our first choice), or perhaps Florida’s west coast, or maybe Vero Beach. No bad choices on the list. All warm and inviting!
But if not…
