TRAVELS of "HELIOPAUSE"

The Marina at Coinjock Marina was a nice reprieve from the winds we were having on the open sounds. The winds are a nice breeze as we pass through the Albemerle to the other side and then onto the Virginia Cut. We travel uneventfully and nothing to report as we get closer to mile 0 of the ICW in Norfolk, VA. The depths are great and there is virtually no tide the canal until after the lock. The lock is simply a leveling lock and can be 2-3 feet. We have no idea what the difference is right now but will find out when we get there.

The Virginia Cut has bridges on her that account for some time loss. The good thing is that they do open every half hour so waiting for the bridge isn’t too bad if you time it right. We had to wait 10 minutes for the North Landing Bridge but after that it was smooth sailing with timing our arrival at the next bridge that was within the next half hour.
When we finally approached Great Bridge Bridge and then the lock they are timed together. We were first in line but let a couple other boats through ahead of us. We think they may be Captains by the way they are in such a hurry. The lock goes down a few feet as we are tied to a bollard, wait until the doors closed on the south side and then the north opened.

We made our way to Tidewater Marina for a couple night’s stay. The river into Norfolk and Portsmouth is lined with navy ships, police and dry docks. This is a main hub for all things navy.

We stayed at Tidewater for a couple days while Scott changed the engine oil and we got in some pickleball. Scott also did some resourcing of needed products for replacing a lot of our used components and fluids to be delivered to a marina further north.

There are a lot of Loopers here. We meet up again with Online and are invited to dinner onboard. Dnny is fabulous chef. When we pop over for dinner we find that another couple had been invited too. We met them in Swansboro. They are onboard Destination and traveling the loop as well. It is funny how we leave each other and meet up again later on in the journey. We first met Online on the west coast of Florida where we traveled together and shared stories.

Tidewater is a very accommodating marina. Really suberb folks running the marina. Laundry, showers, restroom, restaurant and good quality docks. Ask for the floating ones. The marina is right on the ICW where cruise ships, tankers and navy ships all share the same space. Along with our recreational vessels this waterway is very busy and is a great spot to watch all the boats go by. The other side of the ICW is Norfolk and the night lights are beautiful to see. Loopers do go to Waterside but Portsmouth is less expensive and a ferry will take you across for $2.00/person. The nightlife and downtown has much more to do in Norfolk but the scenery is more beautiful from Portsmouth. You make the choice that fits your style.

There isn’t much to report today other than just clocking the miles toward Oriental, NC. As we approach The Neuse River we see several runabout boats enjoying the day. Lots of Loopers are moving north too. The river itself is choppy but not too bad. Tides are 2 feet so the winds play more a roll on this area than the tides. As we cross the river towards Oriental the winds pick up. Several sailboats are now on the open water with their sails at full attention in the winds. We have seen that the favourite marina outside the city is at Whittaker Pointe Marina. We have a reservation there.

The marina at Whittaker Pointe has a beautiful clubhouse, restrooms, shower facility. The laundry is available. The docks are superior to most marinas as well. The drawback is that transients are put on the outside docks where the full winds of the Neuse River are upon you. I didn’t see that it was any different at the City docks either. They need a breakwall or to dredge the inside basin for the calmest waters and to be off that large river. We haven’t figured out why this is such a great spot. Our guess is that it is due to the fact that this area is just before or just after a cross on The Neuse. It’s about Convenience. We’ve had better anchorages.

The good thing about this marina is also that they have a courtesy car. So we jumped in and drove to the grocery store. Walmart, hardware, West Marine and restaurants are not far with the car. We drove through the town of Oriental and walked through the little shops, maybe 3 of them. We did see the dragon on the pond to which we aren’t sure what the story is there.

Would we come back to Whittaker or Oriental? The answer is a simple no. There is an anchorage available before the open water or just travel across the sound and find an anchorage on the other side. You can always continue to Belhaven if a long day isn’t a problem.

Running a short run today of about 17 miles. We want to check out Harborside Village Marina as a possible December spot for next year. The trip down was uneventful with grassland yet again. Excitement of the day was when our friends from the navy boats, way back in Charleston, were coming by in full gear towards the navy base at Camp LeJeune. Camp LeJeune is one of the largest naval operating bases on the east coast. They are running live ammo drills this week so I guess our boys in blue are involved with their new toys.

There are a few timed bridges along this stretch. Some will only lift on the hour and some on the half hour. Most are swing bridges with car traffic and each bridge is timed for a quick run between each bridge. If you are a slow moving vessel you may miss the timing of your second bridge. We had to step it up at least once between bridges because we would have missed the opening which would mean an hour wait for the next lift.

The marina seems very new. Beautiful new composite docks. Fuel is available. Power and water……pickleball about 1 mile away. Afer we settle we head on over to the pickleball where we play a couple rounds. Both of us have hurt our backs from the weekend warrior of sitting on the boat driving for so many days and then playing hard. We now both have to heal our small, but insistent, injuries. It is very hard for us both to not go and be our best when we play but we feel we have to move. We walk to pickleball and back and play with our new friends.

Scott catches up on business and I write this blog and clean up the exterior of the boat. In this salt you must do a rinse of your boat every few runs or the boat feels like a well salted marguerita.

Osprey is so secluded and quiet place on this east side of the USA. Fresh water clear with rich tanins make up a portion of our journey today. The quiet tranquil area of the area quickly becomes a space with large homes along the banks of the narrows and no wake zones. There are several along this path as we make our way to Southport, NC. The homes and boat traffic increase throughout the morning. Instead of solitude we are surrounded by large and small boaters enjoying this beautiful spring day. We are lucky to have the tides with us most of the way but with no wake zones we do step it down. At least the scenery is fun to watch and keeps the Captain on his toes while he boat and people watches. It makes his day more entertaining.

We were originally going to go to Deep Creek Marina but Scott noticed that once we “turned the corner” into Cape Fear there would be a 4 knt push against us. So I attempt for a marina prior to that “turn”. Southport Marina could accommodate us which turned out to be the best decision. There were so many Loopers here. Off Leash, Orion, Make it So, Ryker, and so many more. The local harbourhost invited us all over to his place for porchtails. That’s a BYOB and a snack if you wish and enjoy each others tails. As it turns out there were 23 of us Loopers. We were one short of tying the largest porchtail record.

The marina has everything you need with well kept docks. Water, power, showers, laundry, a nice boat lounge. They were wiped out last year with Hurricane Isaias so docks and amenities are only a year old. We didn’t wander around Southport as we came in late in the day and then set up for the Looper party.

Scott plans out our route for the next day. I managed to get all our marinas booked to Norfolk, VI where we will get our windlass manual part. It came into our friend’s place and he has resent it to Tidewater in Portsmouth, VI directly across from Norfolk.

We did chat with a few of the Loopers on the dock once we got back but as everyone knows Loopers midnight is 9:00. It is always nice to meet new friends along the way. We come and go and always seem to cross paths again at some point. We still meet up with friends from the loop we completed in 2017.

1 2 ►

We leave Charleston in breezy but stable conditions. The winds have been following us this entire journey. Since Scott did not find an issue with the windless we don’t want to be stuck out on anchor and not have it come up. He did note that the windless had no manual backup so he did order the part and had it shipped. We were told it could be 2 weeks before coming in so we sent it to a friend. If it comes in we will ask to have it reshipped to a nearby marina. At least once we have the manual lift we can anchor again. This marina living is not for us.

We must pass through some more skinny waters but saw nothing under 8 ft. Although nerve wracking so far the depths have been really good. We have heard that South Carolina dredges and tries to keep ahead of the shoaling that continuously occurs.

Although not a long day we will stop at a local oil company where there is a dock available and reserved for us. The town is really small but it is a good stop for a 50 mile day. Lots more grasslands and lowlands. The scenery really doesn’t change other than the colour of the water from inlet to inland waterways. Although all part of the marine highway of the ICW.

Upon arriving at LeLand we find well kept docks. The cleats are not really secure but it is very protected here so winds should not be a problem. We decide to take a walk which did not disappoint. The trees are thousands of years old, from what we are told. The spanish moss hangs on the massive branches like Christmas lights. Along with the century old homes this place is a really nice find. The scenery and beauty of untouched trees and bush is so beautiful. We even found a well redone old Ford truck. Someone will have to tell me the year and model.

We wander over to the fish shack to see what is on today’s catch. We find salmon and flounder for an amazing price. We grab a few pounds of each for the freezer. Another great reason to stop here.

Back at the boat it is flounder for dinner, a good night’s sleep and a good push on in the morning.

We scoped out the entrance to Shelter Cover Marina in “Otter” at low tide last evening. Found the deep spots where the mother ship could go with at least 6 feet available. So a slow move out this morning at low tide but completely feeling relaxed with our sounding depths.

More grasslands to report but no more large green eyed flies. The fans on the electronics are working well with no man overboards to report.

Scott has found a small dock at a fisheries place in Mosquito Creek that we will be staying at tonight. No power but all we need is a dock to tie to. We both are disappointed at our no anchor situation and marinas will have to be booked before we even know a schedule due to the sheer amount of boaters heading north or staying in marinas due to covid boat buying. We have played dialing for marinas a couple times now but it is now a challenge as we have no alternative.

We can’t get to the dock at the fisheries until after 4:00 today so we take our time getting there. More grasslands, a few dolphins, lots of gulls and several other boaters are here on the ICW today. Not much new.

The dock at the fisheries is a good solid dock. There is a shrimp boat here for their business. Scott heads inside and comes out with a pound of fresh shrimp for me for Mother’s Day. All for me as he doesn’t eat shellfish. Benet’s Point is a sleepy area with not much going on. The shirmp place, an oyster place and a couple folks homes dot the shores but that is about it. It is a great stopover nonetheless.

We are up early to catch more dolphins feeding in our anchorage. Always a sight as these graceful creatures work together in family pods. There are less and less of them now as we move north.

Off early to catch the rising tide, we leave just after low tide. Depths are good with lots of clearance. Still making our way through the grasslands and open sounds to the ocean and passing more Looper boats we make our way through Ossabawa Sound to Hell’s Gate. Our goal is to get to Hell’s Gate at a high tide as most of these boats we pass are also doing.

Have I mentioned these big green eyed flies………………………

Hell’s Gate is a notorious channel that is narrow with shoals on either side. The shoals change often due to the large open sounds leading to the Atlantic Ocean. As we are crossing the sound we are with at least 5 other boats looking to pass through at high tide. We didn’t have any issues at all in this channel. Nothing less than 9 feet depth.

The grasslands and marshes are starting to all look the same. Open areas that when the tide is high you see only the tops of the grasses. At low tide, 7 feet lower, you see all the roots of the grasses and the mud along the shorelines. Scott finds us a large anchorage in Vernon River where houses line the one side of the shore on one side and grasslands on the other.

The mosquitos have come out and we make our way inside the boat earlier than usual. We start up the gen to charge batteries and watch TV before bed. The anchorage is quiet with 2 sailboats there. Rumour has it they are fishing boats for the locals. Another sailboat joins us for the night as we enjoy a peaceful night.

The tides they are a’changin. Leaving the dock in Jacksonville the tides will increase to 7 feet on our way to the East River where we will anchor for the night. It is a wide open anchorage in between a shellfish growing area which is restricted to anchor in. Upon low tide we see a crab pot pop up which is obviously illegal. Our guess is that it is on a short line so that it is only visible at low tide which most people do no travel in. It is on the port side by the first anchor mark in Navionics. Go to the second anchor mark and you will miss it as you spin with the tide reversal.

We arrive just after lunch. The marshlands to the anchorage are the most spectacular to date. We are in Georgia now. These lowlands, marsh areas and huge tidal swings make for a new experience to the boater. They lands are flat with grasslands where you can see for miles but see nothing at all. It all looks the same. As we arrive the winds are mild and the anchorage is not busy. We will be the only boat here tonight. I can’t wait to see all the stars as there is not a cloud in the sky and no light pollution. We have found that in the last couple days we are back in bug country. Green large flies have found us today. They are a very large house fly with brilliant green eyes, but bite hard when thirsty. Taking in the scenery for awhile but then upload more pictures to the blog, enjoy the peace of this space, have a nice dinner and likely a movie night. We will have a couple extra exterior lights on tonight as we are in the middle of this small river. We are planning out the next couple days anchorage spots, cruising with the tides rising and making our way north. The depths have been good with at the very least an 8 foot clearance.