Around Cape Hatteras

This past weekend we made our first coastal passage; traveling from Norfolk, VA to Beaufort, NC. This was a big step and the first time any of the other crew had been on the open ocean.

Elizabeth and  David along with Kim and Caleb Yecke met up with me in Norfolk Friday night after spending a few days visiting historic Jamestown and Yorktown. Elizabeth had already shopped for the trip and had settled up with the Marina so we were ready to go! Little Creek Marina was a great place to stop and particularly sit out Sandy.

Unfortunately Zach Nelson, who had accompanied us on the previous leg was ill and unable to join us for this leg of the trip. He and his mother Susan did come by to see us off and present us with a beautifully engraved helmsman's knife which straps on nicely next to the wheel.

We cast off at 0805 on Saturday morning, only 5 minutes later than planned, leaving the Chesapeake Bay with an ebbing current. As we moved offshore we made several radio checks with the Sea Tow service at Little Creek Marina reaching them easily at over 20 nm. Cell service was also available from time to time as we moved down the coast, averaging 6-7 miles offshore throughout the day Saturday and into the evening.

As we passed Virginia Beach and picked up a 3 foot swell, Kim fell victim to Mal de Mare (sea sickness), and spent the first half of the voyage in misery. She was a trooper and rallied for her midnight to 0400 watch with David for the rounding of Cape Hatteras. By the morning she was feeling much better and was actually able to enjoy the rest of the trip.

The weather was cool and the wind about 10 kts on our nose most of the day Saturday, by about 10 pm the wind had dropped off but the cool temperatures remained. It wasn't until Elizabeth and Caleb took the 0400 watch that the temperature improved. The sky was clear and moonless (until just before morning) so the stars were incredible all night.

After rounding Cape Hatteras we took a relatively straight course from Diamond shoals to Cape Lookout Shoals which put us about about 14 miles out and beyond cell phone range of shore. This vexed the shore crew, Thomas and Alexis who were in the process of bringing the van back from Norfolk to Beaufort.

Sunday morning brought a beautiful sunrise and short sleeve weather, along with a wind shift that allowed us to run or broad reach most of the way to Beaufort. Along with the improved weather came an increase in sea life. During the last several hours of the trip we saw several pods of 10+ dolphin, a shark finishing off a meal of some sort and a leaping marlin. We also spent some time being shadowed by the Privateer Lynx which was enroute to Georgetown before heading on to Charleston next weekend.

During the trip, the ship's systems didn't miss a beat and we were able to average 7.1 knots during the 223 nautical miles trip over the course of about 32 hours. Before the trip we'd taken on 4 - 5 gallon cans of fuel, we added 10 gallons Sunday morning as the fuel gauge approached 1/4 full which saw us comfortably into Beaufort.

Everyone took a turn at the helm and did a great job keeping us on course. Alexis and Thomas pulled off a marathon road trip from Charleston to Norfolk to bring the van down to Beaufort and stage it for our return trip home, Thank you!

Solomon's Maryland and beyond

Over the Labor Day weekend we completed our most ambitious leg so far. Friday after work, one of my co-workers, David Hansen, was kind enough to drop me off at the boat before heading to the airport to fly home. Elizabeth drove up to Norfolk, VA where she connected with the Nelson family who we met through Sea Scouts. Zach is the boatswain for ship 747 and had agreed to join us for this leg of the trip. Zach's mom, Susan shuttled Elizabeth and Zach up to Galesville where we linked up. As soon as they arrived we shoved off bound for Solomon's, MD. We managed to find a shallow spot just outside of Galesville but were able to back off and continue our journey.

Saturday's journey was uneventful as we proceeded South. That changed once we turned West on the entrance to Solomon's. We were arriving after dark, so were relying heavily on our GPS as we approached the unfamiliar harbor. Before we made the final turn into the marina the course to steer pointer on the GPS became disoriented and pointed us towards shore, as the water got shallower, we figured out something was amiss. As we felt our way back out to the channel and bumped the bottom several times but eventually made it to the correct side of the channel marker. A quick look at the GPS led me to question the GPS, it was showing the direction of travel was oriented 90 degrees to port, so it kept telling us to turn to starboard and into the houses along the shore. While I was trying to reorient to the  landmarks Elizabeth prayed for guidance. A few moments later we heard  a VHF call to the boat trying to enter the harbor.  This helpful call from a local boat "Key West" offering to help guide us into the marina. After a brief conversation it turns out they were offering to help another boat but we took them up on their offer and once they described what the general approach to the marina looked like from a "shore lights" perspective we were back on track and following the channel markers into our dock. We found our parking spot just as described and were quickly tied up and then walked up to the "The Back Creek Bistro" for dinner, we were seated even though we were a little under dressed, and put our order in minutes before the kitchen closed. The meal and service was excellent and we look forward to our next visit.

Last weekend's route

Last weekend's route down the Chesapeake Bay. Went back and looked at some of the details of the route we took down the Chesapeake Bay, first into Baltimore and then down to Galesville, in total we moved the boat about 100 miles down the bay.

The next leg is planned to take us down to the Norfolk area.