Author: Phil

Monday

We were up and underway at 7:45 AM Monday for a long 80-statute mile trip to Dowry Creek Marina. We’ve stopped here often because we like it and became fond of the previous owners. Now that it is under new ownership, we wanted to see if it had changed.  We found the facilities much improved with a new restaurant and rebuilt slips.  However, the old home friendliness wasn’t as evident.  A few pictures below give you a view of the place.

One of the pictures below is of a mile marker of the ICW that starts at Norfolk (at marker 0) to somewhere in Florida at 1000+ miles.  Little known, the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) distance is measured in statute miles because it’s considered a land-based waterway, meaning the distances are most relevant to navigating within the confines of the shoreline and are best understood by users when compared to the miles they would travel on land, unlike open ocean where nautical miles are used, which are slightly longer than statute miles.

Also, the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is approximately 3,000 miles long, stretching from Boston along the Atlantic coast, around the southern tip of Florida, and then up the Gulf Coast to its final marker in Brownsville, Texas. The ICW from Norfolk, VA to Florida gets most of the advertising and attention.

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After a nice meal at the Salty Crab at Dowry Creek we enjoyed BenjOllie’s firm mattress and slept soundly.

Tuesday

Up Tuesday and underway for Beaufort, NC, a 70-statue mile trip through the Pungo River, the Pamlico River, the Neuse River, and the not-famous Adams Creek that winds you through parts of North Carolina to get you to Beaufort.  An enjoyable ride if the Neuse, notorious for rough weather, is quiet.  It was!  We tied up at Beaufort Docks, had a glass of wine on the marina, and then headed across the street to Clawson’s for Shrimp Scampi and Shrimp and Grits.  Great food.  A few pictures along the way follow.

We like Beaufort, so we are staying here for a few days to enjoy Thanksgiving. We’ll be underway Friday morning. It’s turning out we’re updating the blog every other day or so. It is working out that way, despite the lack of Wi-Fi and the general schedule.

 

 

 

We got caught in Norfolk due to very strong winds on Currituck Sound so we stayed at Ocean Yacht Marina in Portsmouth.  We wanted to move south but the weather said otherwise.  We relaxed onboard with reading, watching TV, and enjoying the sites and fine food in Portsmouth.  We also completed some necessary maintenance on the boat.  Although we did not initially think the Thyme on the River Restaurant — Cajun and Caribbean cuisine —  was going to be a positive experience, once we tasted the food, we walked away pleased

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Finally, the wind died down and on Sunday morning we we continued our trip south.  We pulled out at 8:45 AM Sunday and headed south.   An hour and a half later we arrived at the Great Bridge Lock and locked through with five other boats.  The sun was out and we passed numerous small boats, including kayaks, with dedicated…determined… fishermen along the way.

After passing through the lock we traveled 39 more miles south to CoinJock Marina in North Carolina where we had dinner at their restaurant, after a while visiting with the people at the bar.   The restaurant is known for its 34 oz prime rib.  I had pork chops and Carey had the smaller prime rib version.  One unpleasant event on this part of the trip involved a fast downeast cruiser that overtook and passed us just 20 feet on the starboard side at 20+ knots.  It rocked us and as I tried to turn into his wake to avoid heavy rolling we touched the bottom.  Luckily there was no damage and we were underway quickly after the “jerk” passed.  We moored just ahead of him in CoinJock and I enjoyed a few words with the boat’s Captain.  Luckily there are not many boaters like him on the water.  Polite boaters are safe and experienced boaters.

Other than the “jerk” we had a great day on the water and are now getting ready for a good night’s sleep and travel to Dowry Creek Marina tomorrow.

Up at 7 AM we smiled as we read the weather report — less than 5 knots of wind on a Chesapeake Bay that was flat calm.  We readied the boat and  said “See you along the way” to a retired marine family on their sailboat also getting underway this morning.  We both moored last night at Regatta Point Yacht Center.  We talked and found we are traveling a similar plan.  They’re headed to the Bahamas for the first time.  We’ve seen this before.  They’ll travel their plan and we ours, yet meet along the way. It’s one of the benefits of this kind of travel ….meeting and developing friendships.

It was a peaceful 50 nautical mile cruise to Ocean Yacht Marina in Portsmouth.  But studying the weather forecast we’re pretty sure we’ll be here until Saturday as a major wind weather event starts tonight with 35-knot gale force winds that lingers until Friday or Saturday.  Our next travel events include going through Great Bridge Lock lock and onto Currituck Sound with its narrow dredged path for boats down to Coinjoick Marina near Albemarle Sound. Good weather needed for this stretch of the ICW.  We’ll wait here until the winds die down. After dinner aboard, we’ve settled down to our nightly Jeopardy viewing.

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We’ve decided to try one more trip to the Bahamas … our 7th and probably last.  We’ve loved the travel before and feel we have another trip in us, and this time on BenjOllie, a 42′ Grand Banks Trawler.  We”ll attempt to keep up the blog for those that want to follow along.  The first part of the month was getting us ready — the boat, our old folk medicines, and loading the stuff we’ll need on board.

Finally, on November 19, we are underway, heading south. Peggy Saylor came to cast off our lines at 8:30 AM. We had a false start because I forgot to mail an important document, so we turned around and asked Peggy to be our postman to get the document on its way. By 9 AM, we were on our way to Regatta Point Yachting Center in Deltaville, 70 miles from Colonial Beach.  Beautiful waters and a nice cruise. Not much traffic on the water.  Had dinner aboard and tomorrow we’re off to Norfolk just ahead of a strong storm expected to last a couple of days.  We’ll see what unfolds.

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We started the month from Cole’s Point on BenjOllie.  A couple of days of relaxation and we were off to Olverson’s Marina just 12 miles south on the Potomac.  Westmoreland Yachting Association was having a weekend event that included a Saturday Morning Breakfast and an evening Low Country Boil along with lots of comradery and relaxing time.   There was a good group of 10 to 12 WYA boaters and a large group of locals from Olversons that joined us.  I wished I’d had my carera.  Pictures next time.

The rest of the month was devoted to selling the Maxum cruiser we’ve owned for several years.  We bought it in Florida, used it there, and motored it here to Virginia in 2021.  We have had a year’s worth of heartache selling it, but finally, it is sold.  We are now cruising on BenjOllie, a 1990 Grand Banks Trawler.

The rest of the month was spent completing our medical appointments, enjoying the town and getting ready for the trip down south, at least to Florida on the ICW and hopefully to the Bahamas.