Allegator River to Dowry Creek Marina

Day 25, Saturday, October 22, 2016

You can monitor my trip at the link: Second Winds Progress Live

Today was an interesting day.  As I mentioned yesterday, a large windy cold front blew through here last night with gusts up to 25 knots. The boat danced around quite a bit but since I had snuggled up close to shore to drop my hook, waves were not a factor.  It was noisy and the wind rocked the boat but I was able to sleep quite well.  The main thing was that my anchor held.

 

We got underway for at around 8:30 and shortly thereafter, we entered the

Morning in a rough anchorage

Alligator River and Pungo River Canal which is a straight shot for about 18 miles.  The wind was really roaring and while in tree lined portions of the canal, it was in our face, however, when we came to a break in the trees, the crosswind would cause the boat to heal.  There was current in the canal so I was easily moving along at about 6 knots.  

Reflection in the foreground

One of my assignments was to follow Brad and Terri in Reflection and assist if needed in passing under the two bridges that cross the canal.  It turned out that my help was not needed.

At about ICW mile 122, I came upon a gaggle of boats hoovering around the lady in the little Cape Dory, Sweet Pea.  It turned out that she had run aground and in the process of trying to back off, she caught the painter of her dinghy in her prop.  One of the guys in the group had gone on to her boat to help and had actually gone into the water to try to unfoul the line but was unsuccessful. Since I had a shallow draft boat, I was able to move in close, pass a line to her and pull her off the shoal.  After a bit of

Sweet Pea

confusion, it was decided that I would tow her about a mile or two to a site where we could evaluate her condition.

In the meantime, the 41 foot Beneteau, Our Log¸ had tried to pass her a line and got his dinghy painter wrapped around his prop.  He had to call Tow Boat US to be towed into port for his problems.  

As I was towing Sweet Pea up the canal, we passed a nice house with a fine dock sticking out into the water.    

Cormorants at rest

It was one of the very few docks I have seen in the canals.  I yelled back to Sam, the skipper of the little boat that I would pull her over to the dock where she should tie up and I would raft alongside.  I would then see if there was anything I could do to get her moving again.  Her engine is a little one cylinder diesel and I was able to use the generator belt to reverse the prop to take the pressure of the rope off of the blades.  I then had her start it in neutral, put it into forward gear. When she did, the prop turned and we could hear the rope slapping the bottom of the boat.  I had her reverse the prop and it also turned.

I decided that the only thing to do was to go into the water and try to cut the line loose. Two things about that!  It was cold. I was layered up to stay warm while I was dry and also, the water in the ICW is as dark as coffee from the tannin that leaches from the surrounding swamp vegetation.  I got back onto my boat preparing to get into my swimming suit when I looked back at Sweet Pea and I

Really rough wter

could see the twisted up line sticking out from behind the boat.  We pulled it out and to both of our surprise the prop was cleared.  The reverse action of the motor had unwound the rope. 

 

As we left the canal, about 2 miles from where we had cleared the prop, we entered the open water of the Pungo River and were greeted by 25 mph winds and heavy chop and swells.  I banged along for the next 2 ½ hours.  I could make about 4.2 knots between the big rollers into which the boat would dive, spread water across the deck and drive my speed down to about 2 knots.  The boat can handle that stuff but it is quite uncomfortable.  The temperature is in the middle 60s but with the wind howling as it was, I was quite cold. 

 

I finally pulled into the harbor at Belhaven and to my surprise there were none of our group there.  I circled the harbor and figured that I had made a mistake.  I found a somewhat quiet spot near the shore, dropped the anchor and tried to determine what I had done wrong.  I had misread the calendar and was a day ahead of where the rest of the group were.  I had banged about 5 miles further than I needed.  I posted a note on our private Facebook page that I had made the mistake and one lady replied back that they were at Dowry Creek Marina and they were planning on having a pot luck dinner so I should come back. 

It was about 5:00 and I was hesitant to go back out into the rough water, however, the winds would be at my back and I would be traveling with the waves so I decided to head back.  Out of the harbor, I unfurled the jib and motor-sailed the five miles in about an hour.  

Typical view in the Alligator River and Pungo River Canal

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I was greeted by a welcoming party who were rewarded with a very sloppy landing in a narrow slip.  The wind was at my back and I overshot the opening by a bit. I wiggled around and got into the slot but ended up with a score of about 4 out of 10.  

The marina had offered wine and cheese for the group so I joined in the partying masses.  I received a loud welcome on my return from the wrong marina.  It was all in good fun.  Several folks brought various kinds of food from wings, chili, a pasta dish, salad, macaroni salad and wine for our dinner.

This is a great group of folks and I spent an enjoyable evening talking to various folks with a wide variety of experiences. 

It was turning cold when I returned to the boat and a check of the weather forecast informed me that it would be down to 45 degrees overnight.  The down comforter felt good.