Day 325, Tuesday May 13th

Day 325, Tuesday May 13^th

As predicted last night was very calm and we had a restful night.  We slept in later than planned and lots of boats had already upped anchor.  We still were underway by 7:00 a.m., but had planned on a 6 a.m.  departure.  Oh well, schedule really does not matter, yet.  There are lots of anchorages where we are going, however we were hoping to get one of the free docks at Elizabeth City which is 75 miles away.

We are on day 8 of actually traveling the ICW although it seems a lot longer, having taken 2 days off in Wrightville Beach, 2 days in Beaufort  and 8 days in Oriental.

Today our speed is a bit slower, there is no current to help us.  Luckily no current against us either.  We typically have been going about 8 statute miles per hour, but today only slightly more than 7.

We travel the Alligator-Pongo channel which is cut through some marshland in the middle of North Carolina nowhere.  A few homes, but not many.  We did not see any alligators either.  There are crab pots everywhere.  We have to dodge around them for hours to avoid fouling the engine.  Turns out mid May is the start of crabbing season so everyone has their pots out.

Pretty flowers for the boaters

As we were getting near our destination, about 8 miles away and after almost 9 hours of travel....the engine stopped.  Luckily we were in an area with lots of water, no boats around and a soft wind behind us.  Julie raised the jib and we ghosted along as Dawson investigated.  First we switch fuel tanks, but the engine only ran for a couple minutes and stopped again.  Seemed like it was out of fuel.  Uh oh, maybe the fuel pump has given up the ghost.  Dawson primes the engine and we try again, this time the engine turns over.  We are always learning something, that is for sure.  The Caliber has 2 fuel tanks, and we ran out of fuel in the aft, which we knew we were getting low, but wanted to use it up, but when we switched tanks, the forward tank was not primed.  It was supposed to be, but when Dawson had switched the fuel filters we had not run the engine long enough to hold the prime.  A simple thing, but had us a bit worried initially.  The engine worked fine after that and we made it to Elizabeth City by 18:00 instead of 17:00. 

Dawson in front of the spot the Wright Bros. got interviewed

As we arrived at the docks there were members of the community to catch our lines.  They were very welcoming and friendly.  Julie was called to the park area in front of the docks to receive her roses.  The greeters cut fresh roses for all the arriving boaters.  Very nice.  We headed into town for a beer and an appetizer on the waterfront and caught a bit of the history.  The community is fairly small, but we managed to find a suitable spot.  After an hour or so we headed back to the boat for our Ceasar salads and an early night.

Cheers

Julie and Dawson