This was just a short weekend trip, out on Saturday and back on Sunday. We sailed almost all the way there--out Broad Creek, down the Neuse River, up the Bay River then into Bonner Bay, even though at times we were only traveling at 2 knots.
The Bay is mostly surrounded by marshlands, with some trees to the east and south. On our previous trip to this bay, there was a strong northerly, while this time we expected a weak southerly. It is a good anchorage for either condition. Except for the holding on the bottom, but more on that later. After two tries, we got the anchor set, inflated the kayak and Abby and I took off exploring the marsh.
From the anchorage, we paddled into a smaller bay. The grass around the edge are about 3 feet high, and with the water still up from the non-storm last week, the grass appears to be floating. Abby found a small canal, and we first thought we should paddle backwards up the canal as it was too small to turn around. We immediately realized two things (1) we can't kayak backwards and (2)we can GO backwards in a kayak by just...turning around! We paddled as far as we could, then stood up in the kayak to see that we were surrounded by pale yellow grass, with the mast to our north seemingly sticking up right out of the grass.
And then the mosquitos found us. We paddled as fast as we could down the canal, out the small bay, across the big bay, tied up to the stanchion, climbed the ladder and rushed inside to find the insect repellent. The mosquitos came out in force just before sunset and we retreated to the cabin for dessert.
The next morning was a work time--Bob worked on the forward running lights, I worked on the binnacle cover, Abby polished some stainless, then some of the boat hull. Abby and Bob went on another kayak exploration, and when they returned we prepared to leave.
Bob came up from below, took a quick look around and shouted, "we're dragging". He started the engine and put it in forward and slowly moved back to the center of the channel. We had dragged about 200 yards. When Bob went forward to pull up the anchor, he said there was no resistance at all.
We hypothesize that when the wind shifted to come from the east (a direction it was NOT forecast to come from) and picked up to 15+ knots, the anchor turned and was unable to reset in the grassy bottom. The evidence for the grassy bottom was (1) the two tries to set the anchor in the first place, and (2) the occassional blanks from the depth sounder. No harm done, but we will be more cautious (and maybe even dive the anchor) if we stay here again.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Next year...Carib 1500?
It's hard to believe, but we just might try this again. I cant' quite decide if we are foolish or brave. The idea this time is to take off the end of October 2009 with the Caribbean 1500, perhaps from Charleston (that really makes it the Carib 1300, but don't tell the big boats that, OK?) Then we'd leave Aquila in the BVI for the winter and sail back up with the Atlantic Cup in 2010. Should we? Could we? Only time will tell...
I really don't want to give up the idea of cruising. It scares the crap out of me. Sailing the oceans. Sailing in general! And I still want to do it. Maybe...maybe someday...maybe someday we can even do the whole thing. Circumnavigate, that is. Around the whole world. I'm thinking about it, really. Thinking.
I really don't want to give up the idea of cruising. It scares the crap out of me. Sailing the oceans. Sailing in general! And I still want to do it. Maybe...maybe someday...maybe someday we can even do the whole thing. Circumnavigate, that is. Around the whole world. I'm thinking about it, really. Thinking.
The Ocracoke Summer
Each summer since we got Aquila, we have developed a nickname for that year. The first summer was, the first summer (how original is that?). The next summer was Bermuda. Summer of 2007 was The Whale. And 2008? It's the ocracoke summer. We went there for Labour Day and for Fourth of July, and we hope to make it at least one more time.
One of our best, and most memorable trips to Ocracoke occurred the first year we had the boat. We used to only imagine sailing to Ocracoke, and never ever imagined we would sail beyond the shore. Ocracoke still holds a special place in our hearts as the first achievement in becoming 'cruisers'.
It was November, so we left the dock before daylight so we could get to Silver Lake before the sun set. The sail over was easy, not too cold, not too breezy. It was a little rough, and I learned that the seasickness remedy of the electro-band really can work. The Pamlico Sound is shallow, and a steady breeze can really work up a sea--the Pamlico chop is well known for it's steep sides and short intervals.
Abby was just learning to ride a bike--so after docking at the NPS docks (as usual in the winter, we had the place to ourselves), we rented bikes at the Pony Motel in what has now become a tradition.
We were hoping to eat out one night, but when we tried questioning someone who appeared to be a local at the fishing docks, we weren't sure if anything was even open! It might have been the dialect/accent, it might have been that there really wasn't anything open. Either way, we enjoyed our meal on the boat and saved some money, too.
The most remarkable part of this trip was during our departure from the Island. Again, we left before sunup. The light in the Ocracoke Lighthouse (circe 1823, second oldest operating in the US) was still lit. As we left the harbour, we saw hundreds of low flying cormorants. It appeared they were migrating, to and from where we did not know. Wave after wave of cormorants as we motored out the channel usually occupied by ferries and sailboats. The dredge islands were used as brief wayside stops on the cormorant-train. It was one of the most remarkable sights I have even seen.
I have since learned that this type of 'migration' is unusual. Some years there are hundreds of thousands of birds in this migration. Other years, there are only a couple thousand. (It could just be that no one has counted the cormorants every year. I don't know.)
This year, we have done a few other trips as well, taking our dockmaster and dockmistress on a day trip to Cape Lookout (which was a blast, thanks Paul and Mitzi!), and an overnight on the South River. That overnight was memorable because we finally overcame our fear of jellyfish and just jumped off the boat at the anchorage and swam around. We have often done this while at Cape Lookout, but the Pamlico Sound?? While sailing we have seen schools of jellyfish (do they travel in schools/ herds/piles? whatever, there were millions, nay, billions of jellyfish!). But we spent a few hours in the water, and no one got stung, or even saw a jellyfish.
Earlier in this blog, I mentioned that NC is the REAL Virgnina, having been christened Virginia after the Virgin Queen Elizabeth when the Lost Colony was settled on Roanoke Island. Well, today, I found out that not only are we VIRGINIA, we are also CHINA. Apparently, when G. da Verrazano (NYers will recognize this name from the bridge) came up the NC coast in 1524, he could not find a way through the channels in the various inlets leading from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pamlico Sound, and he concluded that the Sound was in fact the Pacific Ocean, which would make Oriental--well, the Orient! Isn't that cool? The story goes that it took cartographers over 100 years to correct Verrazanos little mistake, until then the geography must have been something like (east to west) Atlantic Ocean, Outer Banks, Pacific Ocean, China, Russia, Europe. I wonder how true this story is...
One of our best, and most memorable trips to Ocracoke occurred the first year we had the boat. We used to only imagine sailing to Ocracoke, and never ever imagined we would sail beyond the shore. Ocracoke still holds a special place in our hearts as the first achievement in becoming 'cruisers'.
It was November, so we left the dock before daylight so we could get to Silver Lake before the sun set. The sail over was easy, not too cold, not too breezy. It was a little rough, and I learned that the seasickness remedy of the electro-band really can work. The Pamlico Sound is shallow, and a steady breeze can really work up a sea--the Pamlico chop is well known for it's steep sides and short intervals.
Abby was just learning to ride a bike--so after docking at the NPS docks (as usual in the winter, we had the place to ourselves), we rented bikes at the Pony Motel in what has now become a tradition.
We were hoping to eat out one night, but when we tried questioning someone who appeared to be a local at the fishing docks, we weren't sure if anything was even open! It might have been the dialect/accent, it might have been that there really wasn't anything open. Either way, we enjoyed our meal on the boat and saved some money, too.
The most remarkable part of this trip was during our departure from the Island. Again, we left before sunup. The light in the Ocracoke Lighthouse (circe 1823, second oldest operating in the US) was still lit. As we left the harbour, we saw hundreds of low flying cormorants. It appeared they were migrating, to and from where we did not know. Wave after wave of cormorants as we motored out the channel usually occupied by ferries and sailboats. The dredge islands were used as brief wayside stops on the cormorant-train. It was one of the most remarkable sights I have even seen.
I have since learned that this type of 'migration' is unusual. Some years there are hundreds of thousands of birds in this migration. Other years, there are only a couple thousand. (It could just be that no one has counted the cormorants every year. I don't know.)
This year, we have done a few other trips as well, taking our dockmaster and dockmistress on a day trip to Cape Lookout (which was a blast, thanks Paul and Mitzi!), and an overnight on the South River. That overnight was memorable because we finally overcame our fear of jellyfish and just jumped off the boat at the anchorage and swam around. We have often done this while at Cape Lookout, but the Pamlico Sound?? While sailing we have seen schools of jellyfish (do they travel in schools/ herds/piles? whatever, there were millions, nay, billions of jellyfish!). But we spent a few hours in the water, and no one got stung, or even saw a jellyfish.
Earlier in this blog, I mentioned that NC is the REAL Virgnina, having been christened Virginia after the Virgin Queen Elizabeth when the Lost Colony was settled on Roanoke Island. Well, today, I found out that not only are we VIRGINIA, we are also CHINA. Apparently, when G. da Verrazano (NYers will recognize this name from the bridge) came up the NC coast in 1524, he could not find a way through the channels in the various inlets leading from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pamlico Sound, and he concluded that the Sound was in fact the Pacific Ocean, which would make Oriental--well, the Orient! Isn't that cool? The story goes that it took cartographers over 100 years to correct Verrazanos little mistake, until then the geography must have been something like (east to west) Atlantic Ocean, Outer Banks, Pacific Ocean, China, Russia, Europe. I wonder how true this story is...
End of trip trip across the North Island
So, it's true. The North Island of NZ, being warmer (this was a very hard thing for a Northern Hemispherian to adapt to--the idea that NORTH is WARM and SOUTH is COLD), does really have more boats. We loved the east cost up through the Coromandel, and all of us enjoyed our stay in Auckland. We got to take the ferry across the Cook Straits to Wellington, and stayed in a hotel overlooking the harbour there. Rotorua (where we got to take a ride on a SEAplane), the Coromandel and it's beautiful bays, and then Auckland. Where we got to join the other tourists for a 2 hour-tour on a retired America's Cup boat. THAT was a blast. I even got to go into the pit to pull in the spinnaker. How many people get to do that in their lifetimes, huh? Expensive, but well worth it.
Flying home was both sad and exciting. Maybe next time we get to NZ we will be in our own boat. Another dream come true!
Flying home was both sad and exciting. Maybe next time we get to NZ we will be in our own boat. Another dream come true!
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