Day 60-63

Day 60 - Oct. 14

It seems to be our pattern now as once again we left at 7:30.  We had a nice 11 kt wind and got a couple of hours of sailing in before we had to turn the bow into the wind and drop the jib.  Near the halfway point, before the approach to the Alligator River - Pungo River Canal we were buzzed by two F-16's.  I could swear I saw the second guy wink at me. Sounded like he was trying to fly through the cockpit he was so close.  Scared the crap out of me..
The canal is 22 miles long, with one turn.  However this one is about 500' wide so it was much more pleasant to travel then the Dismal Swamp.  We started to overheat again so had to reduce speed to 4.5 kts. So much for the great guys at Alligator River.  This is definitely becoming a concern.  With almost 1000 miles of mostly motoring, we need to go faster than 4.5 kts.  At one point we thought we might be able to do the canal with our jib since we were getting 13-15 kts.  No sooner did we get the jib out when we got a 22kt gust that wanted to blow us to shore.  The jib came down!
When we left the canal, we got hit with steady winds of 20-25 kts.  Quite a surprise.  Our first anchorage we had thought about was just outside the canal and up towards the head of the Pungo River, but the south wind was blowing straight in and the land was very flat giving little protection.  We decided to make for Bel Haven which is down the Pungo River about 10 miles.  The river was covered in whitecaps and our speed dropped to 3.5kts.  Once we made the turn to put the wind on our port beam, we hummed and hawed about putting out the jib.  We finally decided that since we WERE in a sailboat, perhaps we should try the jib.  Why didn't we do it sooner.  It quickly took us up to 6.5-7 kts and smoothed out our ride.  It also let the engine cool down.  Win-Win.   We were very disappointed on the approach to Bel Haven.  We had hoped the breakwater would provide some protection from the wind, but it was very low and I think anchoring there would have made for a very long, restless night.  So, on to anchorage number 3.  This was about 2 miles west of Bel Haven in Pungo Creek.  We could see another boat anchored inside so figured, if it's good enough for him then it's good enough for us.  As we were going in, a cruiser came out of Bel Haven and followed us in to anchor as well.  It turns out we made a great choice.  We have good protection and good holding, so I think we'll both sleep well tonight.  Tomorrow looks like a nasty day, so we will stay here and do some housework.
48 nm today!


Day 61 - Oct. 15

As planned, we spent the day in Pungo Creek.  There are a few homes around the shore, but no place to take a dinghy, not that it would have done us any good today.  It rained cats and dogs, with a horse or two thrown in for good measure.  We saw another sailboat come in mid afternoon and I can't begin to imagine what kind of day he had.  Looks like he's alone so that explains why he sailed today.  If he had a wife with him there is no way they would have left their last location.  We had a text from Richard and Heather that they were spending another day in Elizabeth City.  Smart move since I read that the Albemarle Sound can be treacherous in winds over 25 knots.
We spent the day relaxing.  Greg cleaned the head and I washed the floors.  Didn't do any baking as planned as it was too stinking humid.  We watched our first movie on the TV ( Thank you George!). Greg's pick for the inaugural run... Battleship!  What can I say :(
I worked at splicing my sweater...
Richard suggested the heat exchanger might need to be cleaned so we will pick up some Ridlime at the next stop.  Please keep your fingers crossed for us that this will clear up our overheating problem.





Day 62 - Oct. 16
(Orval..... I'm 2/3 of my way to that beer!)

We traveled 40 nm today. Once again leaving anchor at 7:30, we were able to sail the first two hours on the Pungo River until we turned into the wind and entered  Goose Creek.  Motored through there, coming out in Bay River where the sails went up and the engine went off and we had a nice 6.5 sail until we had to turn south on the Neuse River.  Sails came down, engine went on :(.   We had intended to go to Oriental, mostly to try and find Ridlime for our overheating issues, but figured everything would be closed by the time we got there and anchorage was limited.  We opted to go to South River, where we found a very peaceful and quiet anchorage.  Only two other boats here.  We'll leave early tomorrow for Morehead City where a  diesel mechanic is on call.  With luck he'll be able to meet us at the boat and clean our heat exchanger.  If he can't then we'll try the Ridlime, if we can find it.
We saw 7 fighter planes in formation off in the distance.  Think they may have been the Blue Angels, but not sure.  Also had two Army helicopters fly by several times.  They do an awful lot of practicing.  Do you think they know something we don't?


DAY 63 - Oct. 17

We had a short sail today, only 26 nm.  Managed to sail a good part of the way into the Adams River until we lost our wind.  Three sailboats went in ahead do us, and three more were behind us.  Several power boats and more sailboats passed us enroute, even though we were doing 5.5-6 kts.  In all, I think about 15 boats came through to Beaufort / Moorehead City this morning.  It was an interesting sail with lots of houses along the way to look at.  We were also entertained by the numerous dolphins on exiting the Adams River.  We are tied onto a dock in Moorehead City and have lined up a diesel mechanic for tomorrow morning at 8:30.  I'm remaining hopeful.
There's not a grocery store within walking distance, but we picked up a wahoo steak at the fish market for supper tonight.  I'll let you know how it compares to haddock.