A Long Run Through the ICW

We awoke in the Alligator River pretty much where we had left the boat, the winds were still from the southeast...albeit at a lesser velocity than the night before.  Checking the anchor alarm, it showed we were 31 feet from where we had set it (with an accuracy of 14 feet...so we could very well be in the exact same spot). The goal today was to try and make it to the Great Bridge Lock, about 62 nautical miles away. This meant we needed to get an early start so we would have a little time buffer to deal with the 3 bridges that would need to open so we could pass. Of course the Alligator had different plans.

As we started to haul up the anchor, I discovered why I should have paid more attention to the length of the trip line. Instead of our anchor being stuck, it appeared that the trip line had caught something and at one point the anchor rode and trip line were pulling tight in opposite directions. I guess the boat swung a bit during the night after all. I had to attach another line to the trip line so I could use one of the sheet winches to help break the trip line free. Although we considered cutting the trip line, we were eventually able to work it free by applying tension on the line and rocking the boat back and forth with the motors. After freeing the initial snag, in our excitement to retrieve the trip line I accidentally ended up hauling the anchor up with the trip line. We pulled up the remaining anchor chain, secured the anchor and we're on our way.

After dodging several lines of crab pots (why do these genius fishermen use black, blue, and dark green for the buoy colors...you can barely see them in the water even on a bright and sunny day), we made our way to the Alligator river bridge. This bridge has always fascinated me because the road on either side of the bridge spans quite a distance before it reaches the shore. It is a long stretch of highway on stilts hovering about 20 feet over water. We call the bridge tender and he has the bridge opened for us as we get there so we don't even have to slow down. As we clear the bridge, I thank him for the opening and we head out into the Albemarle sound.

The Alligator River Swing Bridge

The forecast from the night before seemed accurate as we were only getting light winds from the southeast and at best one foot seas.  Not the greatest conditions for sailing (unless you want to go really slow), but a much more comfortable ride and that is a good thing. We sailed some and motor sailed some so we could keep on schedule on this long leg of our ICW path.

After crossing the Albemarle, we were forced back into the narrow winding streams and man-made trenches that would make up the rest of this day's leg of the trip. We were able to motor sail some, which added a knot or two to our single engine cruising speed.

Unlike the Alligator bridge that opens on demand, the next bridges as well as the lock operate on a fixed schedule. And as usual, I arrive at the next bridge in our trek just about exactly mid way between the scheduled openings. Fortunately the two engines on a catamaran that make it maneuverable, also make it easy to keep a fixed station in a current while waiting for the North Landing swing bridge to open. The bridge opens on schedule and we are on our way to the next bridge.

The Centerville Turnpike bridge is just over 4 nautical miles from the North Landing bridge and opens on the half hour.  That means we need to do better than 8 knots to make the next opening (unlikely without a good wind...which you don't get in a tree lined man-made channel) or throttle back to about 4.5 knots and resign yourself to make the opening in an hour. And, since it was 5pm and there would be no 5:30 opening anyway, we settled in for the lazy 4.5 knot trek to the next bridge. We arrive at the bridge with about 5 minutes to spare and are ushered through at 6pm. From there it was a short trip to our destination for the evening.

Our destination was one of the free docks that surround the Great Bridge bridge in Chesapeake, Virginia. Since I had stayed at the one on the north side of the bridge when I came through last fall, I opted to try the brand new one on the south side of the bridge. 

The dock is brand new and in very good shape and can fit 5 to 7 boats, depending on size. It is attached to a nice park with a walking path and currently has a porta-potty in case you are in need of one.  Both docks are within walking distance to restaurants and a grocery store. It is a great place to stop if you are in the area. The only bad thing is the park has some marshy area and the mosquitoes come out in hunting packs around dusk and dawn.

We tied up took the dogs for a walk, did a little reprovisioning at the store and treated ourselves to dinner at a reasonably priced local Mexican restaurant before calling it a day.

P.S. Sorry for the infrequent posts, but internet has been quite spotty of late. The signals aren't that reliable and it has taken me several days to get this to post.  I promise more are coming.  In the meantime, I have some better success getting small posts out to Facebook, so you can always check out the page there.

The Trip South....The Posts I Couldn't Make During the Trip.

Sorry for the lack of posts again, but I've made good progress outrunning (or running with) the cold weather and am now in Brunswick Georgia where the current temperature is about 25 degrees higher than Deltaville.  But backing up a bit and providing a more detail on the trip....

I was able to find a hand with this trip at the boatyard. A was talking with a nice gentleman that is in the process of restoring a Bristol 32 and he offered to make the trip with me.  Neal didn't have any plans until the week of Thanksgiving and thought it would be fun to get out on the water again, so it was a perfect match.

We made the trip from the boatyard in Deltaville, VA to Brunswick GA over the course of about 10 days.  With the shorter days upon us, it was slow going through the ICW (I only travel it during daylight hours).  I also worked to make the trip a bit less expensive than the trip up by anchoring out instead of visiting marinas each evening...and T-Mobile doesn't have the greatest coverage so I didn't have much of a chance to make any posts except the previous brief entry. Once we got to open ocean, it was much easier to make good time...but no chance at internet access at all.

The boat was launched Tuesday morning, and after a number of system checks, we departed around noon.  The winds weren't particularly favorable, so we spent much of our time motor-sailing. For the unfamiliar, motor-sailing is where you are running engines and have one or more sails up.  The theory is the light winds and the extra wind created by the fact you are under power can drive the sails and give you a bit more gain in speed than the engine alone.  I think the conditions have to be just right to see any real gain, but it is nice to at least look like a sailboat.

Even motor sailing we just barely made it to Mobjack bay as the sun was going down and found a place to anchor along the shore that would shield us from the overnight winds, had a decent bottom composition, and depth appropriate for anchoring. I motored around just a bit to verify depth in the area we could swing and then we dropped the hook for the night.  This is the first night I've tried our new Mantus anchor, and she set solidly.  Actually, I didn't realize that I had let the anchor rode go a bit slack, and when I backed down on the anchor to set it, the bow of the boat dipped a bit as the anchor instantly grabbed hold of the muddy Chesapeake bottom.

The next morning we set off early under overcast skies and a bit of chill in the air.  It is getting colder in these parts, so it is really nice to be finally moving south.  The sun broke out as we made our way through Norfolk and Portsmouth.  This begins the portion of our trip where we get to play "Mother may I" with a number of draw bridges that are too short for a 60' tall sailboat to pass under without being opened.  Fortunately rush hour had just passed, so the bridges would open mostly on demand. Now normally most train bridges are left open unless a train is using them, but we arrived at one in Norfolk that was down and had no train.  We waited for over half an hour, watched several people in reflective yellow vests walk around and look at various pieces of the bridge, then finally it opened and we continued on our way.  The next bridge we encounter is the Steel bridge, and it only opens on a schedule of every half hour so naturally (thanks to the train bridge delay) we just missed the opening and had to wait about 20 minutes for the next opening.  We make our way through that bridge and on to the Great Bridge Lock.

This is my second time at the lock and so I knew the basic procedure.  Before arrival, you rig long bow and stern dock lines and fenders on the starboard side.  When the lock opens, you proceed in and throw the dock lines to an employee at the edge of the dock who wraps the line around a cleat or bollard and throws it back.  You then use the line to keep your boat near the wall and boat poles to keep it from rubbing along the wall of the lock.  At the time we arrived it was apparently high tide so the lock didn't even lift us a full foot.  The doors at the far end of the lock open and you un-loop your lines from the cleat and head out of the dock.

Normally, you go through the Great Bridge draw bridge (technically, a standard draw bridge is called a bascule bridge) that is timed to coincide with the lock operation (or maybe the lock is timed with the bridge...I forget which is which), but there is a free dock located between the lock and the bridge and, since it was getting late, we decided we would stop there for the night.  We tied up the boat and walked into town (Great Bridge is in Chesapeake VA.) to see if we could find dinner to reward ourselves for the first two days of travel.  We found an OK Mexican restaurant, had a nice dinner, and then called it a night.