Blog of Events & Happenings

28 March

We left Regatta Point at Deltaville at 7:30 to 10-15 knots of wind and 2-3 foot seas on the Bay.  Luckily, the wind subsided by 10 AM and the waves laid down, the rest of the trip to Colonial Beach was a snap.  We arrived about 3:30 PM and concluded our trip to Florida that started in mid November last year.  Good trip even though the weather was not as good as it has been in the past.

25-27 March

We got underway from Belhaven Marina on Tuesday the 25th after relaxing on the 24th.  We had a good trip across Albermarle Sound stopping in Coinjock by 4 PM Tuesday.  We just wanted a drink after our 9-hour 85-mile trip so we went to the bar at Coinjock’s restaurant.  After relaxing a bit, returning to the boat to clean up, we came back to the restaurant for filet and prime rib dinners.  Back to the boat for a good night sleep. Up early, we headed for Ocean Yacht Marina in Portsmouth on Wednesday the 26th.  We had a reasonable journey through Currituck Sound and the lock at Great Bridge.  Stopping early at Ocean Marina, we rested, ate aboard, and slept soundly again.  The weather forecast had changed so we decided to get underway Thursday up the Chesapeake and landed at Regatta Point Yacht Center in Deltaville. Tomorrow is forecast to be fairly okay, so we’ll try to make it back to Colonial Beach by Friday afternoon.  Good to be home, but sad to end an enjoyable journey on this great trawler!

22-24 MARCH

After Wrightsville we realized that the weather has now become a major factor in planning our trip.  Climate change is a fact.  We decided we can probably make Colonial Beach before Carey’s medical appointments the 31st of March by paying attention to a few weather windows among many bad weather windows. We pushed on to Beaufort, NC for the 22nd suffering 20 knots of wind the later part of the day to safely tie up at Beaufort before 4 PM.  Underway on the 23rd the weather report said the Neuse River would be quiet with 10 knots of wind and choppy seas.  We experienced 15 to 20  knots of wind and 4–5-foot seas, an eye opener, but we fell deeper in love with BenjOllie as it proved to be a stable and well-handled boat in those seas.  We felt safe and secure and made it through the Neuse.  We arrived in Belhaven Marina at 3:30 PM.  A great place we’ve never stopped at.  Owned by a retired Marine we found friendly folks and great food in town. We’ll stay tomorrow as the weather is bad in the Albemarle Sound that we must cross next.  We’ll wait till Tuesday to try that crossing.    Below is a picture of BenjOllie heading away from Wrightsville Beach with the sunrise a couple days ago — an early start for our normal journeys.

In late February, the 24th exactly, we started our trip back to Colonial Beach.  We first stopped at Eau Gallie Yacht Basic and visited with Pam and her daughter Jill.  Then moved on to Fernandina Beach where we had our first weather lay over.  Once it settled down we continued north to Duplin River anchorage, Sunbury, Ga, Beaufort, SC, and St Johns Marina just outside Charleston.  Our next stop was in Georgetown, SC where Jack and Ann drove down for a weekend visit.  A great visit.  We started again after they left and stopped at Barefoot landing (a two day weather delay stop) and then stopped at Bridge Tender’s Marina at Wrightsville Beach.  En route we passed through Cape Fear River where you can see below in a picture our slow Trawler BenjOllie was pushing over the ground at 14 mph.   While at Wrightsville Beach we planned our remaining trip to Colonial Beach.  If the weather forecast holds we’ll be in Colonial Beach on Saturday the 29th.  We’ll see how it goes.

Here are a few pictures of the trip so far.

 

February was generally a quiet month.  We visited with old friends from Florida and toured around Florida, mostly in Fort Pierce.  We also bought the new generator and had it installed that required us to pull BenjOllie out of the water to use the crane to replace the generator.  In March we’ll start moving home to Colonial Beach.  We are hoping the weather warms up a bit.  It has been a cold winter in Florida this year

We made the car trip back to Virginia to repeat a test Carey had in December.  All of the tests Carey had to redo proved the initial tests were in error.  The new tests were all clear.  She is still cancer free.  We have decided not to go to the Bahamas due to this delay.  We’ll travel around Florida visiting friends and family and some of our favorite places.  Bahamas will be next winter.  We’ll also replace the generator in Florida that gave it up on the way down.  Since we are just moving around the area the blog will be sporadic and infrequent.   See most of you when we get back to Colonial Beach in the spring.

 

After pulling into Marineland Saturday afternoon we spent Sunday and Monday getting the car and packing for the trip,  Tuesday morning off for Richmond VA, and our first medical appt on Wednesday.  It all worked out and we were back in Colonial Beach Wednesday evening for a week with medical appts and enjoying Colonial Beach.  We’re certain that driving a boat is much more fun than driving a car after this whirlwind trip.

We enjoyed visiting with many CB friends and had time to attend the Colonial Yacht Club Holiday party and Change of Watch for the new club bridge. It was great fun!

After the last appointment, we headed south again and pulled into Marineland Marina on the evening of the 18th.  On the way, we found out we have to redo one test, which will be on January 2.  We’ll enjoy Marineland until then and continue the trip after the 2nd.  In the meantime, we’re having Hanukkah with Carey’s cousin Jerry and his daughter Pam in Cocoa Beach, Fl.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to everyone.

(Double-click pictures for a larger view, and the back arrow to return to this page.)

 

 

It was cold when we pulled into Duplin River last night so we kept the generator running to use the heat pumps.  We tested the carbon monoxide alarms, turned on the engine room blowers, and were glad we had the generator engine exhaust system replaced when we bought the boat.  We felt safe and glad we did because it was VERY cold.

DUPLIN TO FERNANDINA BEACH

Underway Friday morning from Duplin River, we headed for Fernandina Beach, our first stop in Florida.  Traveled the North River, Little Mud River, and Buttermilk Sound in the AM, then traveled on the Mackay River into St Simons Sound.  The wind was at 15+ and waves 2-3 foot.  We sat back and enjoyed the rocking and rolling for about an hour until through this Sound.  We passed Jekyll Island and into the very small St Andrews Sound.  At this point you have to go around a shoal by entering the Atlantic for a short period or follow a carefully crafted route inside the Sound.  We chose the latter as the winds were 15 knots and more.  Unfortunately, the ocean waves were pushing into the Sound, so even the inside route was rough with 4/5-footers.  Luckily, it was a quick-hour trip.   We then jumped into the Cumberland River and headed south to Kings Bay GA, a key facility for our nuclear submarine force.   We stopped for the evening at Fernandina Beach and learned a hard lesson.  This marina had been rebuilt after an earlier hurricane and had new protocols for electric systems. Our older Grand Banks was not compatible without some rework, so we had a slip but no electricity from shore.  No problem, just use the generator, fixed just days earlier.  Not so fast.  The generator would not start so we now have to find the real cause of the generator problem.  It also meant we slept very close together with lots of blankets.  Luckily we are in Florida and the cold was not unbearable.

FERNANDINA BEACH TO MARINA LAND MARINA

Cold getting out of bed this morning, but we rushed through the preps (ours and the boat’s) to get underway.  By seven-thirty, we were off the pier and heading south to Marineland Marina, an 80-mile trip.  We started on the Amelia River, then the South Amelia River (original?), and through Nassau Sound and Sawpit Creek before arriving at Sisters Creek which feeds into St John’s River that we crossed into the Jacksonville area.  Palm Valley was next where many millions of dollars were spent on waterfront homes. Sorry we did not get many pictures here, but it was mile after mile of overly large homes and docks snuggled side by side.  We focused on pushing hard to get to Marineland.  One of several rivers we traveled to St Augustine was the Tolomato River.  We passed St Augustine early afternoon, one of our favorite stops but not for this trip.  We made it safely through the Fort Matanzas Inlet shoal and into Marineland Marina. We’ll leave the boat here for twelve days as we drive back home for medical appointments.  We’ll return on the 19th and continue our trip, including a stop at Ft Pierce to have Christmas with Carey’s cousins and see friends and relatives near where we used to live in Port St. Lucie. Then on to Palm Beach to cast off for the Bahamas.

Don’t expect many updates until we continue the trip later this month. Here are a few pictures of the last two days. (Double click for large version, then return arrow to get back to here.)