Elizabeth City to Allegator River

Day 24, Friday, October 21, 2016

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

 

Today was a beautiful day.  Last night I went to sleep in a bucking boat.  I was amazed that at around 12:00 I awoke to a calm sea and boat.  The amazing part was that I was able to sleep while it was jumping around and also that the waters had so completely calmed down.

Light fog as we depart

Our plan was to get under way early.  We were to travel about 43 miles the first part of which was through the Albemarle Sound.  It is notorious for being quit bumpy with a short sharp chop.  It was not to be.  The entire passage was on glassy windless water.

Sunrise over Albemarle Sound

Second Wind tipping Reflection.  I am driving straight he is pulling off to the side to tip the mast so that he can pass under low bridges.

There was a light fog covering the water as we departed making for beautiful sights and pictures as the sun burned her way through.  Shortly after we left, Brad Geddes on Reflection called me on the radio and asked if I would be interested in practicing the tipping procedure for lowing this mast when passing under low bridges.  He pulled alongside and I threw his a 60 foot line that I had attached to the base of my mast.  He attached it to his halyard and drew it up tight.  We then began to move forward. I traveled in a straight line while he steered off to the side.  I had to turn my motor to counteract his pull.  We also had to experiment on speeds that we needed to travel so that I could maintain steerage.  It turned out that at 3 knots, they could pull off far enough to tip the boat lowing the mast probably 2 or 3 feet.  We are both confident that we and get them under bridges slightly lower than their mast.  There are several others that may need the thing, however, Brad’s boat has the tallest mast of the group.

The trip throughout the day was uneventful.  As I left the Albemarle Sound and

Alligator River Swing Bridge

entered the Alligator River, I encountered a swing bridge.  I called his probably 5 or 6 times on the bridge channel, 13, and the emergency channel, 16, but he did not respond.  Finally on the last time I tried, he came back with a low gruff voice saying “I’m getting ready to open it now!” Usually they respond to you call and discuss the opening but not this fellow.

Our destination was an anchorage off of the Alligator River near Tuckahoe Point.  As I pulled in, Brad from Reflection called me on the radio and offered that I could join them for dinner.  He mentioned grilled steak and it was an offer couldn’t refuse.  I dropped my anchor

One of many ICW travelers.  I didn't wave because he had his fenders out!

in about 10 feet of water and prepared to head over to their boat.  I decided to take a Triple Chocolate Cake to bake over there.  I loaded up and headed out as I was traveling I noticed that several of the other boats were leaving the anchorage. 

 

The weather forecast for tonight looks a bit shaky.  They are calling for 10 to 10 mph winds with gust to over 30. The place where we had anchored was pretty much out in the open and we were about a mile from a windward shore behind which we would have better protection so we both agreed that we would pull our anchors and head over there before dinner. 

 

I found a spot fairly close to the shore in 6.5 feet of water and dropped the anchor with plenty of rode to insure a good set.  I used the engine to back it down making sure that it was well set.

I headed for Reflection where I enjoyed a wonderful mean and a great evening with Brad, Terri and another couple who were spending a bit of time on the boat.  Brad is a retired nuclear engineer and Terri is a home health nurse practitioner.  Of course we had plenty to talk about.

At about 8:30, we noticed that the wind had shifted and the boat had moved around a bit.  I decided I had best be heading back to Second Wind and it a good thing that I did.  Just as I climbed aboard, it started to rain and the predicted wind began to howl.  I battened down the hatches and crawled into bed for would could be an interesting night.  Immediately after I dropped the anchor, I had set the “Anchor Drift Alarm” that would alert me if I was moving outside of a predetermined circle. As it turned out, the winds did live up to the prediction but the anchor held and I slept well.