Tuesday, November 3, 2015

11/2/2015, 11/3/20015 On to Beaufort NC

11/2/15    To  35 12.607N,  76 37.498W   ICW G "23" off the Bay River, Vandemere, NC    30.6NM

Monday was not a stellar day.  We woke to the patter of rain (which had begun falling during the night) on the deck.  In no hurry to get wet, we decided to have leisurely morning and didn't hop out of our bunk other than to shut off the anchor drag alarm on the cell phone.  It had been a very quiet night, and it wasn't until 0630 that we wandered beyond the accidentally limited circumference Leonard had entered the night before.

We decided to go at least as far as Belhaven (15NM) after breakfast.  However, once underway, tucked under our new, not completely impervious side curtains, we changed our minds and opted to motor, under basically calm, albeit wet, conditions, to a position within striking distance of Beaufort, NC.  Given the long term forecast (continued rain), it didn't make sense to do anything but follow the magical magenta line.  It appeared most of the vessels anchored near us weren't in a great hurry to get under way either.

On our way to toward Belhaven,  a tug pushing a barge loomed into our limited visibility range.  I had cause to wonder what would become of the bobber, with red flag, that had been dead center in the channel as we exited the Alligator Pungo Canal yesterday.  We decided tugs didn't work Sundays (we hadn't seen any) and the fisherman, knowing this, had picked up the pot and offending flag rather than risked losing his investment - unlike us, the tug wouldn't have seen it, much less worried about a line around his prop.

The ICW on a rainy day - visibility was limited most of the day
Given the limited design time before departing, our rain curtains work fairly well.  They need some refinements, but fine tuning could hardly be expected in the time we allowed.  I know, plan ahead!   Leonard agrees they are worth the investment we made, and it was time spent more wisely than working on polishing the hull - especially since we're trapped between 2 high pressure systems which boils down to an extended stretch of rainy days.  We'll have plenty of time to figure out how they should have been designed!  Meantime, they provide a dryer cockpit under what could be miserable conditions.
Out bound shrimper and tug pushing a big barge past our anchorage at G"23"
Rather than attempt to get further, we stopped early near G "23", more or less on the middle of nowhere, in a small section of 7' of water off the ICW that offered some wind and fetch protection.  The other option was to continue on, working our way into an anchorage across the Neuse River,  after dark, which seemed less appealing given the radar picture of heavier rain ahead.  The positive part was there'd been little wind to sail most of the day, and motoring was easy.  Shortly after we anchored, we were joined by another sail boat.

Looking behind us at the G "23" anchorage
Once anchored, we set about trying to figure out where the nuisance leak was by the Charlie Noble, the exhaust pipe for our propane heater.  It's more annoying than a problem, but annoying is enough, especially when it's raining.  Leonard bought an inexpensive endoscope before we left home, thinking it might be useful to detect if we pick up something on the prop.  I hope the doctor uses something more sophisticated when scoping out our innards - I guess the old dictum, you get what you pay for applies.  It doesn't show much, even after removing the the heater.  As anyone knows whose tried to trace a leak on a boat, it ain't easy!  We'll keep looking.

Given the current weather forecast, it doesn't look promising to hop offshore from Beaufort to Masonboro Inlet  (Wrightsville Beach) this week with the wind clocking out of the SW beginning Wednesday.  It's usually one of the easier hops we take, avoiding a bunch of annoyingly timed bridges on the ICW.  We'll take a closer look at the GRIB files when we reach Beaufort before making a decision.  Meanwhile, we'll putter on our way south.  As usual, it could be worse - cold, blowing and snowing.  With temperatures in the 60's, it's not all that bad, just wet.

11/3/15   To   34 42.830N,  76 39.753W    Taylor Creek, Beaufort, NC  43.2NM

With nothing but rain and showers in the forecast, we were underway by 0730 - might as well move as sit with little hope of getting better conditions in the near future.  It appears the temperature hasn't ventured near the freezing mark to kill the bugs yet this far south, making screens a necessity.  Much as we appreciate the warmer temperature, dealing with gnats and mosquitoes can be a bit of a pain. Given the daily dose of precipitation, we suspect new pests are being hatched on a daily basis.  Squeezed between 2 ridges of high pressure systems, the temperature hasn't varied much - 70's during the day, dropping into the low 60's at night - no need for long johns, and without any sun, not overly warm, however some sunshine would be nice.   We're hoping we can get S of the rainy section.

Once out on the Neuse River, we ran out the jib and sailed until we turned down Adams Creek.  It was nice not to be restricted to a dredged channel, allowing enough space between most of the passing motor yachts and us so we didn't have to deal with wakes.  That will change S of Beaufort where it appears there is plenty of water until you look at the chart and notice much of it is 2' deep. 

Other than finding our timing of the currents to be out of sync with what we'd like, the trip into Beaufort was uneventful.  What was a surprise, was seeing a new high rise bridge for a by pass under construction as we entered Town Creek. It certainly made it more interesting deciphering the multiple of day marks that had been added to avoid both shoals and bridge work.  Since we planned on anchoring in Taylor Creek, on the town waterfront, we didn't check out the Town Creek anchorage, notorious for a shoal just off the marina.  Our bridge timing wasn't bad, just a 10 minute wait, giving us time to look at all the construction.

Part of the new bypass bridge at Town Creek - the anchorage is beyond the bridge 
Barges and cranes working on  the other end of the new bridge
As expected, Taylor Creek was full of locally moored/anchored boats and cruisers.  On our 2nd try, we had enough room to swing free of the boats by us and stay out of the channel.  Hoping to pick up some treats from the bakery at the Spouter Inn, we went ashore, but by the time we arrived, it was closed.  Thankful we were between rain showers, we went for a short walk, finding a few treats at a local coffee house, stopping at Scuttlebutt - a local, nautical bookstore, before checking out the little deli/sundry store close to the dinghy dock.  We didn't need anything, but Leonard picked up a 6 pack of "Not Your Father's" root beer - we'll keep you posted!

After looking at the GRIB and swell predictions online, Leonard was undecided whether to take the ICW or hop offshore to Masonboro Inlet.  Going offshore eliminates a 2 day trip on the ICW, complicated by a number of restricted bridges and a lot of traffic.  Offshore is roughly 70NM - a long day either arriving after dark, or running overnight after a late afternoon departure.  With a 3' swell and NE win around 10kts, which could translate into a rocky, rolly motor or a very slow sail.  We decided to sleep on it.

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