Day 331, Monday May 19th – Victoria Day in Canada

Day 331, Monday May 19^th – Victoria Day in Canada

Dawson washing down the anchor chain

We enjoy a slow start to the day as we are looking at a easy 40 mile sail up to the Solomon Island.  We up anchor just before 9, the bottom provided good holding but the anchor chain needs to be hosed down to get rid of mud before going into the anchor locker.  On the way out of the harbour we pass the fish factory where there was a number of fishing boat tied up the day before.  Today they are all out except for one; proof the menhaven fishery is still going strong.

Fishery plant with the fleet gone

Again the winds are forecasted out of the north.  Dang!  Not as strong though and our heading for the first hour is NE so we are able to sail, but soon enough the cloth comes down and the engine is turned on.   The winds and waves are not too bad so we can motor directly where we want to go which is due north.  There is a current of about a knot against us so our speed is not our fastest, but reasonable.

Aurora under sail

Fisherman on his way home

The current is due to change in about 2 hours so we will be patient and enjoy a push later in the day.

After a couple of hours we hear some announcements on the VHF and there is a spotter boat telling people where to go and asking their intentions etc. as they are doing some military exercises.  Braveheart who is ahead of us is in “their” zone and is asked/told to stand off and change directions.  They do of course as no one wants to get in the way of the military.  Mike radios us and tells us he gets to see a bit of an air show.  We are too far back and miss it.

The winds pick up for an hour or so, but lay down again after lunch so we plod along.  We are able to put our sails back up around 2:00 which is nice.  By 4:00 we are pulling into our anchorage, getting the hook dropped, lowering the dinghy and putting the outboard on it.  We have anchored here before on our way south and it is a well sheltered spot.  It takes 2 tries however to get the anchor to hold.  Winds are supposed to be “medium” tonight so we want a good hold.  We choose to go to town for an

explore.  We find a place to dock the dinghy near a few boats that we sailed with for the day who have taken a slip.  The walk to town is about 30 minutes, but it is 6:30 somehow by the time we sit down to a beer and blog.   We stay at the Lighthouse restaurant for an hour and then head back to the dinghy dock and our mothership.  We recognize a few boats in harbour but do not see anyone we know.  The town is spread out a bit and it is a typical tourist town set up for hot weather activities, lots of restaurants and a nice boardwalk.  There must be about 10 marinas and 2000 boats in harbour, yet the population of the town is probably 2000 people.

It is almost 9:00 by the time we have dinner.  We could have dined at the Lighthouse restaurant, but we have food that needs to be eaten, plus we eat healthier on our boat.  Our typical evening of coffee and King’s cribbage ensues, then we are off to bed for the night.

Day 330, Sunday May 18th

Day 330, Sunday May 18^th

We head out of Fisher’s Bay very early to get a jump on the days movement.  Turns out it was a dumb move as the winds were building and scheduled to stay strong in the wrong direction until about noon.  It was blowing over 12 knots right on the nose.  By noon we had already been underway for 6 hours and were exhausted from being bashed about.  We could not even make very good headway into the wind and waves under motor, so reefed our main and our headsail and tacked way out into the bay to keep our speed up.   We had planned on making it to Solomon Island but decide we have to look for alternatives.  We decide to head in to Reedville although it means we only made about 20 miles on our journey to Annapolis.  It is an easy anchorage to access, and by 1:00 we have anchored just down the creek from another Caliber 40.  We have lunch and launched the dinghy so we can enjoy wandering around a new town.

View of fishing ships as we come into port

On the way to shore we stop and chat to a fellow couple in their dinghy who own the other Caliber 40.  They invite us to drop in later so we agree we will visit after our tour of the town.

Julie in front of a bank that has closed down 

Our town tour takes us to the museum which at first we struggle to access as the doors do not open so we peruse the grounds which have many boat displays and talk about the fishing and oyster industries.  We try the doors again, (all of them), and with no luck even though the big “open flag” is flying we head off to walk up the street and take some pictures and making up stories of where the museum employee has gone and what they are up to that caused them to leave the museum locked when it was clearly advertised as open.

The walk is quite nice with a number of older homes to look at boarded by beautiful hard wood and pine trees.  We also spot a bluebird which we photograph so we can confirm it species.  We turned around from our walk and as we were passing the museum we see a car there so decide to head in and try again.  The car belonged to the curator and he assured us the museum was open and sure enough, he could work the door.  We were greeted by the 2 employees who had not heard us trying to get in earlier.  We paid our entry fee and then enjoyed an hour being toured around by Linda, through the historical home.  Linda was also a sailor who had undertaken adventures offshore.  We also got to see a video and the many models, and displays of the museum.  It really was an excellent museum.  The village of Reedville’s economic boom of fishing Menhaven, continues today and we watched a 12 minute promo video of the industry which was quite ensightful. 

Julie with Linda from the museum

We really have enjoyed many of the small towns, and the many welcoming people.  We have found the Americans to be super friendly and helpful to us travellers. 

Gable inn, impressive

After the museum we head to the dinghy dock restaurant for a beer to say thanks for letting us tie up to their facilities.  Next stop is our boat to grab an appetizer and a drink to take with us over to “Aurora”, the Caliber 40 in the bay owned by Lidia and Bob.  We have a lovely visit and tour of their boat.  They even invite us for dinner which we oblige.  Lidia and Bob are from an area just south of Reedville close to Deltaville.  Again they show fabulous hospitality inviting us to join them for dinner aboard Aurora.  We did have an interesting conversation though about gun laws.  Julie started that conversation and given it is a controversial subject we had an interesting conversation.  Lidia was also able to provide a different perspective having been raised in Poland during the communist regime and was involved in the solidarity movement and escaped as a refugee to the United States.  It reminds us of how our perspective is developed from our environment and it takes listening to other situations to sit back and try to understand differing attitudes and opinions.  Needless to say both Lidia and Bob very much supported the second amendment of the constitution, about the rights to bear arms (or is it “the right to arm bears?”, Bob was not to exciting by this comment) based on the ability to defend yourself from Tierney.  Having always been raised in a peaceful democratic country we have never imagined needing guns to protect our rights from the government.  The USA on the other hand has lived through a war of independence from Britain, and a civil war.  Not to say we agree all their points, however their perspective shed that we have not previously thought about.

Jazzebelle at anchor

We get back to the boat well after boaters midnight, hoist the dinghy and jump into bed.

Cheers

Julie and Dawsonr

Day 329, Saturday May 17th

Day 329, Saturday May 17^th

Back with the freighters

We get off the dock by 8:00 quite easily as the wind is minimal and the fact that Julie has become very skilled at the helm.  We are hoping to be able to sail as the winds are forecasted from the Northwest and we are going north.  Sadly we struggle to keep the sails full.  At least the winds are not too strong so we make reasonable headway.  We have targeted to make Fisher Bay on the south side of the peninsula Deltaville is on.  By 1:00 we have been bouncing along into the waves and head west into the anchorage.  It takes an hour to reach the dock where we have decided to purchase a bit more diesel fuel to ensure we don’t run out and to get a pumpout.  There are no workers around, and no one answering the radio so we tie ourselves up and go to the office.  They tell us it is self service so we head back to the pumps and put in 30 gallons.  Seems weird to fill our own tanks as it is illegal in Canada but is standard operating procedure in the States and Bahamas.  You would think we would be use to it by know.  Oh well old habits die hard as they say. 

Got to sail for a while

Next is the pumpout but the machine says we need a token so up to the office Dawson goes again and pays for the token and the fuel.  Back at the pumpout machine he realizes the clerk did not provide a token so back up to the office he goes.  This time we are ready to go.  Again self service on the pumpout.  We read the instructions....it seems to kind of be working, but Dawson calls on the intercom to make sure it is doing its job and we get the manager out to assist.  Yes, turns out everything is good, and we enjoy chatting to the manager.  In a short time, Dawson has gleaned the highlights of his life which are interesting.

Back on the boat it is now almost 3:00 and we head for the anchorage.  We have anchored here before and it is an easy, safe spot.  It only takes 30 minutes to get all organized and we are in relax and domino mode when we see Braveheart enter the anchorage.  We have not seen Braveheart since Georgetown Exumas in February, but we quite enjoyed meeting them, particularly Mary who was one of our fellow Bridge players.  Sadly none of us wanted to get our dinghies disconnected so we just visited using the radio, but it was still exciting to reconnect after such a long time.

The evening stayed quiet, and we enjoyed a nice glass of wine with dinner and again called it an early night.

Cheers

Julie and Dawson

Day 328, Friday May 16th

Day 328, Friday May 16^th

We wake up in Hampton and Dawson starts his day installing the autohelm part we had delivered to Bluewater Yachting Centre.  We are here for 2 nights due to rain and high winds.  We are now 1 day from our destination in Deltaville.  It really feels we have come full circle now.  The trip is winding down.  We tried to keep the journey north a holiday by not rushing, enjoying towns and time as we went along, but we both now feel anxious to start another chapter in the book of life.  There is lots of organizing and planning to put the boat to bed, and transitioning to selling the Sudbury house, and buying a house and getting moved to Toronto.

The rain starts to fall quite hard around 7 but the high winds forecasted do not appear, at least where we are.  Dawson finishes re-installing our Autohelm and it checks out so we are both happy to have “Jim” back on board.  We had missed him!   We then have an in depth discussion on whether to list Jazzebelle with a broker or to put her on the hard to sell our selves.  In the end we decide we will contract a broker, one more item to add on the list of things to do to rejoin the working world.

It rains hard until about 11:00 and then we head to the library to use the internet.  It is about a 15 minute walk to get there.  We spend about 3 hours reading contracts, blogging, planning, and general communication.  By the time we leave the library, we are now starting to discuss moving the boat to Annapolis as the broker we are going to use has recommended a few spots there.  Annapolis is about 2 days sail north of Deltaville.  Oh well, the holiday continues.....

This is our barking dog!

Dawson in front of the Barking Dog

On the way back to the boat we stop at the Barking Dog for a beer and a hot dog (to share) as a reward for all the hard work we are doing.  It is Craft Beer week at the Barking Dog so we enjoy some good local brews; a wheat beer for Julie and an IPA for Dawson.  We then stop in at the grocers to pick up a few things and some boxes so we can start packing the boat up.  We need to move everything off of it, as the advice from the broker is that Jazzebelle should be left bare of all personal items and extra gear.  Our plan is to hire a U-Haul van to cart all our stuff back to Canada.  

As we are walking back to the boat a man in a suburban offers us a lift and we accept it with pleasure.  It is these random acts of kindness that makes the trip for us.

Now it is time for laundry, happy hour and a shower.    We stop and chat to some fellow boats, Carol and Dennis of Calyx who are from Jersey and are docked across from us.  This is their 7^th year of spending winters on the boat and going back and forth up the coast.  They are departing in the morning up the Chesapeake as well.  Both Dennis and Carol are 75 years and still sailing strong!  They have to get home cause Dennis's mom is not doing well.  His 105 year old dad had passed away last year. Wow what longevity.  I touched his arm hoping to pass on some health.

A nice dinner, a game, a coffee and off to bed.

Cheers

Julie and Dawson

Day 327, Thursday May 15th

Day 327, Thursday May 15^th

crossing the state border

We wake up after a restful night at the Dismal Swamp visitor centre.  We need to time our departure with the upstream lock which only opens about 4 times a day.  First opening is 8:30 which is too early as it is about 3 hours away.  Luckily the neighbours we are rafted with also want to make the 11:00 opening so we head out at 7:15 knowing we will be a bit early, but the boat beside us wants to get off the dock for 7:30 and we are in their way.  As we go upstream it is absolutely beautiful.  The water is still and once again the sweet smells of flowers are everywhere.  We must have some current as we are scooting along at around 8 knots, which is nice, but means we will get to the lock in 2 hours.  We cut back the engine and try to delay a bit, but still get to the bridge in front of the lock by 10:05.  The bridge will not lift until the lock is ready to take us.  We had hoped we could just tie up inside the lock.  We float around for 5 minutes while the boat ahead of us ties along the seawall.  The guide said there was room for 2 or 3 boats, but looks like room for just one the way the boat tied up.  We asked if we could raft up and they luckily said no problem.  Doug from the other boat, telephoned the lock tender and we found out that we had to wait an hour.  Julie radioed the boats behind us to suggest they slow down a lot so we weren’t all piled up.  A pretty tight area for 5, 40-60 foot boats.  Sadly there was a southbound boat that needed to be locked through first, so it was almost 11:30 by the time we even got through the bridge.  Had we realized we could make the lock in about 2.5 hours we would have tried for the 8:30 as there are storms coming, and as we are waiting the blue sky changed to clouds and the wind started to pick up.

From peaceful to.... (see next photo)

Finally the 5 boats are in the locks and being lowered.  By 12:05 we are pulling out of the locks and speeding along for our destination 3 hours upriver.  Our destination is Hampton which is the town we left the USA from last November 4^th and did our big passage to the Bahamas in 5 nights/6 days.  It just took us a month to get back here by hopping up the coast.

Getting grey out

We finally reach mile zero which is the end of the ICW when heading north, and we transition into the Norfolk basin which is very busy, industrial and a major military base for the navy.  Lots of bridges, and navigational aids.  Lots of work to pay attention and make sure we know where we are going and to get their safely.  We have gone from peaceful to havoc.

The weather continues to deteriorate.  We are able to put up the jib as the winds are behind us.  By 15:00 we have reached the channel that marks the entrance into Hampton and our safe haven for the next 2 nights.  We dock safely in a tight spot, which may be a challenge to get out of.....worry about that later.

Can't get under this bridge, we have to wait

There is not much around this marina and we wonder why we came back... oh well, funny how we find comfort in “knowing”.  That is likely why we chose it without giving it a thought.  We knew where it was, and what the docks looked like etc.

By the time we get stuff put away, go see the dockmaster, Dawson picks up his part, we have a happy hour, it is time for dinner so we treat ourselves to the on-site restaurant which has a fabulous broiled seafood platter.  Julie certainly enjoys her choice of food. 

Back at the boat we continue our banter about whether to sell the boat.  Sadly we don’t see ourselves adventuring for many years on an extended basis so have decided to sell Jazzebelle as it is unfair to leave her in drydock for extended periods and she is too much boat to bring north for weekend sailing, and lastly, next trip we would like to start the trip further south.  It was a very long way bringing the boat all the way from Canada’s great lakes.

Cheers

Julie and Dawson

Day 326 Wednesday, May 14th

Day 326, Wednesday May 14^th

Fuelling marina

We set out after a leisurely breakfast and a run for Dawson from Elizabeth City which is about 50 miles south of Norfolk.  There is not much to the town to justify us staying for a second night even though they have free dockage.  We decide we will head into the Dismal Swamp and spend a night there instead.  The Dismal swamp is not named very well.  It is absolutely beautiful and pristine.  The reflections on the water and the sweet smell of flowers permeate the air.  It is a beautiful ride as we cruise along using the iron genny. 

The channel called the Dismal swamp 

The first stop however before we get into the swamp is at Lamb’s marina for some diesel fuel.  We pull into a creek and see the marina, but no one is answering the radio and we don’t see where the fuel docks are.  Since there is no wind and current, we just sit at the entrance way and Dawson stands on the deck yelling to shore asking where we should go.  We don’t want to go down a narrow fairway (channel between docked boats) and get to a shallow, narrow dead end.  Someone yells a direction to go and assures us there is lots of water depth so we proceed forward.  We have no choice, we need fuel and this is the only spot.  Makes us wonder why we did not get fuel at an easy spot.  Oh well, so far so good.  We go about 400 meters and see the end of the fairway and yes it is a tight fit to turn around and get situated at the docks, but we manage like pros.  It really helps with no wind, as we just nose up the bow and throw a midship line and they pull us over. 

Looking over the stern

Once fuelled we head off, the take off goes well as Dawson pushes out the bow, jumps on the stern and Julie manoeuvres the vessel off the dock and in the right direction.

First lock in a long time

Shortly after leaving the fuel docks, we encounter our first set of locks (there are 2 in this canal).  It is scheduled to open in about 20 minutes so we mill about.  The lock tender comes over to tell us he will lower the water level so he can open the doors and we will get a bit of turbulence that will just "push us back".  Well, since he was so calm about it we figured this was status quo and waited to be "pushed back".  Sure enough a current of water came and started pushing us but we headed for the shore.  By the time we realized corrective action was required we were angled 45 degrees and heading for shore.  Julie guns the boat and tries to straighten her out, but is still heading for shore.

leaves and branches on dodger and bimini

We hear the noise of branches scraping overhead as we gain control and angle away from shore, but not before a bunch of small branches and leaves have laid a layer of brush on the deck, in the cockpit, on the bimini and doger.  No damage as it was the backstay that moved the branches that shed on us. A bit annoying though.  Had the lock tender not indicated we would just "float back" we would have backed up and been more ready.  Lesson learned!  

We spend the next 4 hours enjoying the ride.  When we arrive to our destination at the Dismal Swamp visitor centre there is no room at the seawall, but another boat has rafted so it looks like the order of the day.  We hail “Field Trip” and they welcome us to raft along.  Bob and Martha are very welcoming in allowing us to cross over their boat to shore. 

Julie on the bike trail

  It is now 15:00 and we want to see some of the State Park so we head across the canal to the museum and are able to rent bikes for an hour.  It is 15:30 by the time are bums are in the seats so we have only 1 hour until the bikes need to be returned.  We giv’er, as they say.  The path is mainly hardpack, but with some potholes and sandy spots.  We manage to bike 9.5 miles round trip.  We see a racoon on the path, 5 turkeys (2 sightings), lots of greenery, some birds, a still, some kind of historical skiff, some still green water, and that is about it.  The biking is fun, feels good to get the cardio going.  This is only our 3^rd time on bikes the whole trip.  Last time was last November at Hope Town in the Abacos.  Next time for sure we will bring bikes with us, even though they will become rust buckets in a year of use.

Dawson pulled over at the old still

Back to the boat, we cook up a fabulous dinner, have a game of King’s cribbage and head to bead for an early night.

Cheers

Colour sketch of Dawson on the trail

Julie and Dawson

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