End of Bahamas Cruise

23 May - Day #81. Before heading off for the day we dingy over to look at Blue Jacket, a 37' Victory Tug like Nellie. Blue Jacket was built in October of 1984 (vs. Nellie in August of 1987) and there are some interesting differences. We weigh anchor and cruise into a placid Chesapeake. The morning calm gives way to a 15kt breeze from the SE. Again we're surfing down the little rollers. Now that the end of this journey is in sight, we're making up 'to do' lists so Nellie will be ready for her next adventure--Maine. As we get close to Church Creek we see the Cheri Lynn, our neighbors' Jones 42', coming towards us. They've come out to welcome us home. 76nm today: 2683nm total. DBH

---- End of the Bahamas Cruise ----

22 May - Day #80. Norfolk is 50nm north of us. First though we'll have to get through three bridges (and their respective bridge tenders) and a lock at Great Bridge, VA. This part of the ICW is like river cruising. Dead cypress stumps litter the shore line. The trees are so thick you can't see 50' into the forest. We transit the bridges and the lock without a problem. The commercial boat traffic really picks up as we approach Norfolk, but everyone is surprisingly well behaved. The number of Navy ships in Norfolk never ceases to impress--saw at least four aircraft carriers. Before heading up the Chesapeake we take on 93 gallons of diesel (for this leg Nellie burned 1.8 gph at 1850 rpm). The winds are from the SE as we head up the Chesapeake. We surf down the faces of the little rollers and at one point see out speed jump to 9.7kts (vs. 7kts ordinarily). The sun sets on us as we approach Gwynn's Island. At anchor in Gwynn's Island. 101nm today: 2607nm total. DBH

21 May - Day 79. It's amazing how the little things in life can bring a lot of happiness. For 2 1/2 months we've been retrieving the anchor almost daily. It's not a hard job. The windlass does the heavy lifting while the saltwater wash-down makes sure the chain is clean. The head of the anchor (where the chain attaches to the shank) usually slips easily into the hause-pipe. Invariably though the flukes need to be manhandled, with a boat hook, so they'll lie flush against the hull. A little fanagaling is usually all it takes. This morning however, it was a perfect lift--all chain aboard, head in the hause and the flukes flush. All three judges awarded 10.0's and the crowd went crazy. See, little things, they can make you happy. Today we covered some of the broadest bodies of water on the trip: Neuse River; Alligator River; Pamlico Sound; and, Albermarle Sound. In adverse winds each of these can be miserable places to be. Fortunately, today it was perfect. 111nm today: 2,556nm total. DBH

20 May - Day 78. With "Follow the yellow brick Road! Follow the Yellow brick road!" repeating endlessly in my head we push off at 0600 hours and head up the Cape Fear River. It's much better than yesterday as the winds are down to 15kts and river relatively flat. Unlike Dorothy's road ours is pink. No kidding, the official NOAA charts actual identify the ICW with a pretty pink line. Not sure if this is a subtle commentary on sailors that use this route--but there you go. An event of almost biblical proportions occurred today. In fact, Nellie's crew is still in stunned disbelief. The Surf City bridge tender kept the bridge open 10 minutes so Nellie could make it thorough. "So what?", I hear you saying. So what! As a group tenders don't suffer pleasure boaters easily. Hell, most of the time they don't answer the VHF radio and only half the time open on schedule (yes, I jest, but not much… ). Most believe that tenders live for the opportunity to slam the door shut on a hapless cruiser. This may be true. We've heard their maniacal laughter. Anyway here we are, despite heroic efforts to arrive on time, still 10 minutes away when the bridge opens. Miss this opening and we get to cool our heels for a hour. The tender hails us. We expect to hear laughter. Instead he says, "Keep her com'in Nellie D.". Soon after we heard angels singing, and Bicki could walk on water. South of Jacksonville, NC, the ICW crosses through 10 miles of Camp LeJeune's training areas. Today we got to watch the Marine Expeditionary Forces with big helicopters, fast RIBs, etc. doing their thing. It was a little ironic though seeing several pleasure boats, in what's advertised as an idylic anchorage, completely surrounded by both surface and airborne military hardware. We run until 2300 and thus get in some more night navigation practice. At anchor in Cedar Creek, NC. 105nm today: 2445nm total. DBH

19 May - Day 77. It's cold at first light, 51F! Just miss the North Carolina record low for this date, 50F, set in 1955. Passing through Myrtle Beach on the ICW is always entertaining. Lots of new, big houses line the waterway. Golf courses too. In North Myrtle Beach is a treacherous section of the ICW called the rock pile. It's narrow and there are rock protrusions well into the waterway. Knowing this no one wants to yield the center so it's a giant game of chicken with each on coming boat. The wind is blowing in the mid 20's as we pass through Southport, NC. This marks the end of our very protected passage and we enter the larger waters of the Cape Fear River. We're welcomed with 4' waves and whitecaps. A quick 180 and we're back into Southport's harbor in no time. A big sail boat fills the anchorage while two rafted sail boats fill the free dock. A quick call to the Provision Company, a local restaurant, and we have a slip for the night. Upon arrival we're told the terms of the mooring: no water; no electricity; no fee. After a quick crew conference we acquiesce to the ardent terms. At the Provision Company Dock in downtown Southport, NC. 68nm today: 2340nm total. DBH

18 May - Day 76. Off before sunrise yet again. We've decided the only way Nellie's crew will sleep in late is by going to bed earlier ;-) Gales are predicted today and we see almost 30kts in Charleston Harbor. Once across there's nothing but very protected waters for the next several hundred miles. Gone is summer as we're all wearing long pants and socks now thanks to the 50 degree weather. It sprinkles off-and-on but gone are the thunderstorms of yesterday. There are 100 hours on the engine since last refueling so we use CruisersNet.Net to check for the best prices. Wacca Wache Marina just south of Myrtle Beach is the winner at $2.09/gallon. We take on 166 gallons which means Nellie burns about 1.6 gph. At the dock in Wacca Wache, SC. 78nm today: 2272nm total. DBH

17 May - Day 75. We leave Savannah's Thunderbolt Marina at 0800 having eaten our (free) donuts and read our (free) Sunday paper. Luxuries we mariners are not used to. Naturally it's dead low tide and Fields Cut, one of the most silted-in sections of the ICW, lies a few miles ahead. On the ICW a 'slow pass' is not another term for the advances of as unambitious Romeo but rather a choreographed dance between two boats about to pass. The ICW is narrow and big fast boats put out huge wakes, so for civility's sake, and to keep VHF 16 with a PG-13 rating, it's common practice for the overtaking boat to come off plane before passing and for the slower boat to go to idle speed while being passed. While slow passes are common practice they're not mandatory. So when a 45' Clorox bottle passed within 20' and going like a bat out of hell, Nellie rolled a might. We kept our thoughts to ourselves but certainly weren't unhappy to see him go hard aground a few minutes later--schedenfreud the Germans call it (taking joy in the misery of others). We pass through Field's Cut with inches to spare. Two 50'+ boats following us didn't fare so well as both went aground and were last seen churning the waters trying to get off. Just south of Beaufort, SC a squall hits with driving rain and 46kt winds. Visibility drops to near zero. The predicted cold front which motivated us to leave the Bahamas now has us in it's grips. The weather forecasters are almost giddy with all the dire news they have to share: gales; microbursts; severe thunderstorms; tornados; and, best of all, maybe even a forming tropical depression in the southern Bahamas. For us it's constant winds, intermittent rain, and dropping temperatures (80F to 50F). We beat into most of the weather and Nellie has a smooth ride so we continue plodding along. At anchor in the very windy Wappoo Creek, SC (2 miles south of Charleston). 95nm today: 2194nm total. DBH