A few more notes about "Leg 2"

Aimee has been doing a great job of keeping the blog updated with all of our adventures. She asked me to add a few notes about the last trip and some of the adventures we had. Unfortunately I didn't take a lot of pictures along the way, but I managed to "pirate" some from the Internet to give a visual account of the journey.

As Aimee mentioned there are a lot of logistics involved in this type of travel. This last leg required no less than 2-3 days of planning to arrange the details of transportation, gear, course plotting, and interpretation of weather forecasts. Through a friend of Randy's, we were even in contact with Bob, a professional weather router, who gave us updates both before, and during the trip. ( http://www.ocean-pro.com/htmfiles/routing2.htm)

After not getting much sleep during the week, due to Madelyn having a cold, I left early Thursday morning headed for New Jersey. Along the way I stopped in Manhattan to meet my friend Myung for lunch. The traffic was very heavy due to the large political event at the U.N., requiring our visit to be cut short. Nevertheless it was nice to meet up with him. I headed back off of the island, and after almost getting a $125 parking ticket, and getting lost briefly, met up with Randy who was doing business in the Bronx. We loaded up his gear into my car and headed south.

Our next stop was to meet my sister Vera, who had kindly picked up the life raft we purchased in Pennsylvania, and agreed to meet us on our way and drop it off. Traffic, and a few wrong turns, kept her waiting nearly 2 hours. Despite the delay, she greeted us warmly with a smile and a hug. (What a great sister!) After picking up some food and drink for the trip ahead, we were on our way. Unfortunately the instructions once again failed us, and we lost some more time before finally arriving in Barnegat Light at 8pm. Vince, who runs the local boat rental, had promised to shuttle us out to our boat, but had been waiting now over 3 hours for our arrival. Despite his frustration, he stayed a good sport, and helped us load everything on board before wishing us well on the voyage ahead.

We stored our goods, surveyed the boat, and after a quick toast, we were on our way. It was now almost 11pm.

The night was clear, and the winds calm as we headed south. We passed Atlantic City, NJ with its well lit skyline of casinos and nightlife illuminating the dark night sky. As the clock turned midnight, the winds began to build out of the NE, with the seas increasing in succession. By morning the weather was rough, but manageable. Neither one of us got much sleep throughout the night as our adrenaline was high, and we needed time to adjust to the motion of the boat and the sea.

Throughout the next day the weather worsened. While it was still manageable, we continued to debate whether to continue on the outside passage, or turn west in search of calmer conditions. Bob, our weather router, kept us abreast of the latest developments. and we consulted the on-board satellite and radio weather devices for further information. During the afternoon we enjoyed a break in the clouds that had been increasing since morning, and with the autopilot engaged, took a moment to relax and enjoy the ride. We were even joined by two birds, who dropped in for a visit despite the 2o+ mile distance to shore.

As night fell the conditions worsened. We had decided to continue offshore, but after realizing that we would need to hand steer the entire way, made the decision to head west into the Chesapeake Bay and take the Inter Coastal Waterway south. The winds increased to over 30 knots and we saw seas topping 12 feet before we were entrenched in darkness. The boat required our full attention to keep it heading down the waves in order to prevent us from being broadsided. We clocked a top speed of 14.5 knots as we surfed d own wave after wave! The exhaustion of the past 24 hours, together with the rough seas, left our stomachs uneasy, and we were glad when the weather calmed as we entered Norfolk harbor. Beaten and exhausted, we dropped anchor and slept for 4 hours.

We rose just before 8am to get an early start on the canal. As we motored through the harbor, we were amazed at the vast size of the shipyards and navy vessels. As Aimee noted earlier, we proceeded through numerous bridges, most of which had to be contacted in advance to open so we could fit through. We even had to pass through the Great Bridge Lock - a first for me!

While most most bridge tenders were friendly and helpful, one female tender decided she would simply not let us through! I hailed her on the radio at a few minutes before the scheduled hourly opening, and within sight of the bridge. After making our request she replied that the bridge opens on the hour. Seeing that it was in 3 minutes few headed full steam ahead toward the bridge. As we got close, the gates had still not been lowered, and the closed steel bridge loomed as quite the obstacle to our forward progress! Randy hailed her again on the radio, and she now informed us that as it was a few minutes past the hour we would need to wait a full hour until the next opening! I was floored! Luckily a tug approached withing a few minutes who, through an exchange with the bridge tender (and I think a call to her superiors), had her apologizing and opening the bridge to let us both through. The next boat wasn't so lucky.

The day progressed with pleasant weather, and we ticked away the miles toward our destination. In the afternoon we stopped to refuel and chat with some fellow cruisers. We crossed into the Albemarle Sound in the early evening where we encountered strong winds and choppy seas. Estella punched close-hauled into the waves, and the spray flew up from the bow. Luckily it would only be a few hour crossing, allowing us to enjoy the excitement without getting too exhausted. The weather here though confirmed that we had made the right decision to travel further inland. Dealing with even higher wind, and much higher waves offshore, for 24 or more hours would simply not have been manageable with our small crew, and the little rest we received.

At dusk we entered the mouth of the Alligator River. Randy was at the wheel, and I was tending to the sails when Estella suddenly lurched forward! We had run aground! According to all of our navigational aids we were right in the middle of the channel! We threw the engine into reverse, and with the help of the sails, were able to get Estella floating again within a few minutes. Whew!We made a second attempt at the entrance. This time I was at the wheel and we decided to try a little bit further to starboard, proceeding both slowly and cautiously. No luck! We ran aground again! We freed the boat only to be aground again in a matter of minutes. This was not good! The sun had now set and we struggled in the darkness to get the boat off the shoal. Again no luck! With each attempt it seemed we were getting pushed up higher onto the shoal. Estella now leaned to one side, and the waves lapped up against the hull. It began to rain. We decided to make some dinner and regroup. Randy (a trained chef) cooked up some delicious chicken and broccoli in garlic sauce. The warm meal hit the spot. After dinner I tried to hail a sea towing company on the radio, but was unable to make any contact. My cell phone showed no service, and we attempted contact via satellite phone. Eventually we got through, and spoke with the local towing service. The man suggested we wait until morning, as completing the maneuver in the dark would be very difficult and time-consuming. Apparently the insurance will cover the towing only if it can be accomplished within an hour's time. If it took longer I would be looking at a bill of around $5,000. Ouch!! I hung up disappointed and uneasy. We had hoped that the tides, according to nearby tidal charts, would start coming in and together with the changing wind help lift Estella off the hard. But the towing agent informed us that there would be no tides in our immediate area. Greatly discouraged, we shut everything down and went to bed.

After sleeping about an hour, I was awoken by the increasing banking and creaking noises from Estella being repeatedly knocked against the ground by the building waves. I checked our position and concluded that we were being pushed even higher onto the shoal. We had to do something. I woke Randy and we went at it again, trying to free Estella from the precarious situation. At this point it was becoming difficult to suppress my anxiety. Nothing seemed to be helping! After some prayer and another look at our position, we determined that we had in fact moved further eastward, thus moved into slightly deeper water. That was encouraging! We continued to struggle for a good hour before Estella finally floated free. Hallelujah!!

We tried once more through the narrow cut, as backtracking through the sound to a safe anchorage was too long and rough of a journey to attempt. This time we were successful! We motored through the high winds, rain, and darkness, through one more bridge, until we reached a protected anchorage were we could stop for the night. What an adventure! I went to sleep elated to be safe and sound, and have a least 3 to 4 hours of sleep ahead.

The next morning we woke to sunny skies and a hot cup of coffee. We were both glad to have last night behind us. After checking the weather I learned that the spot we were stuck in last night was forecasted to have 50 knot winds this morning! That would not have been good! While we would not have been in any serious danger, Estella would most likely have suffered serious damage from the pounding. Although our insurance would cover it, the destruction would have surely affected our morale, travel schedule, and dented our pocketbook. Thankfully this was not the case! I went about doing some maintenance to the engine, and going over the boat. Everything looked pretty good, with only some minor (and probably unrelated) problems. We headed out for the day.

With the exception of one major downpour, the day was sunny, warm, and absolutely beautiful. We motored through the narrow canal surrounded by swamp on both sides. This was my first time in such terrain and I was impressed by its beauty. For lunch we cooked up some cheeseburgers on the grill, while basking in the sun and enjoying some good music on the stereo.

In the afternoon we entered the Pamlico River, though not before running aground another 3 times in the canal! The daylight and nice weather made it easier to deal with, and we were able to get freed quickly each time. Randy had the good idea of contacting the tug behind us for some local knowledge of the conditions, as each time we were positioned properly within the channel indicated on our charts. Since the tug drew 9 feet of water, and Estella only 6, we decided to allow the tug to pass and follow him out into the deeper waters. Once there we set sail into a beautiful setting sun.

In the evening we turned into Adams Creek still following the tug. This turned out to be helpful once again, as without him, we would have surely grounded numerous times. At some points the GPS chartplotter was showing us on land, while we were motoring in over 20 feet of water. I had to learn that while navigational aids are important and very helpful, they are not always correct. A good mariner needs to consult every little piece of information available to make the best assessment of the situation. We also learned that by positioning our vessel just to the outside of the tug's propwash we could increase our speed by almost 2 knots! (much like dolphins riding the bow wave of a ship) Cool!

We pulled in to the marina a little before 11pm. Ted the night watch greeted us, and since the Tiki bar was closed, invited us aboard his boat for a welcome drink. Rum and tonic. A nice finish to a long and challenging trip. After a little more celebration aboard our boat, we retired to a good night's sleep.

The next day was spent arranging for the Estella's stay until November and arranging our transportation back home. This time I made sure we had a GPS in the rental as I did not want to add any time to the already 18+hour drive back. After the chores we complete, we headed out for a nice dinner at a local restaurant: The Beaufort Grocery Store. (http://www.beaufortgrocery.com/bgcmain.html) The food was fabulous, and we were served with true southern hospitality. Then back to the boat and off to bed.

We woke at 2am in order to get a head start on the journey home, and make it through New York City without getting stuck in traffic. I found myself continuously wondering when the sun was going to rise, only to look at the clock and realize it was still hours away. But just as we began to cross the 20 mile Chesapeake Bay bridge/tunnel, the sun peaked over the horizon creating a breath taking view of the water and dunes.

We continued north, needing to make a detour in Delaware, as the GPS directed us to the Delaware Bay ferry without providing any indication of doing so. While the ride would have been nice, the wait time for the ferry would have added an additional hour or more to our trip. The rest of the trip was long, though shortened by good conversation and the comedy channels on satellite radio. After dropping Randy off in New York, I arrived back in Newburyport just after 8pm - an 18hour drive! (my longest yet!)

Now it is time for some quality family time, catching up on work, and making the final preparations and plans for the next leg of our trip. Thanks again to Randy for all of his kind and generous help. The success of the trip would not have been possible without him!