Norfolk to DC

We enjoyed good conditions on our voyage up Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River.  Below is a picture of the helm.  It includes Garmin charts at large and small scale, autopilot heading,  plus our iPad with Navionics displaying detailed sonar charts.

This is a high traffic area for large sea going boats.  They move fast and can be upon you before you know it.

We also saw a lot more ospreys building nests.  Some were much more advanced than others.

Very few boats were moving about for this entire leg.  It seemed we were the only pleasure boat moving on the water.  Temperatures were cool ranging from 50 to 65, but quite comfortable inside out of the wind.  The best aspect was NO BUGS!

 Our secluded anchorage just off the Potomac was very peaceful and offered a gorgeous sunset.

Roosters on shore were our wake up call to a beautiful sunrise.

With a good weather forecast and only 95 miles to go, we decided to reach our destination in one last hop.  Again the water was flat and we were the only boat making waves.  The only hitch we encountered was an interception by patrol boat to have us avoid entering a live military gunnery range.  Didn't see any action, but glad to have been directed out of the zone.

Upon further checking we contacted the marina about their shallow entrance depth.  They recommended that we delay our arrival so that the tide rise would help.  Our intended 4 pm arrival was at dead low, but we would have an extra foot if we waited until 6 pm. That required us to slow down and crawl along for the next several hours.  Even then we found ourselves skimming the bottom silt as we made our way in.  We'll be very sure to leave at high tide!

Here is Fort Washington at the entrance to Swan Creek where Tantallon Marina is located.  It was constructed in 1812 to defend the Potomac entrance to Washington DC.

The marina is fairly basic, but in a nice neighborhood, well maintained, and has locked dock access.

Our first day after arrival, we rented a car and drove to nearby National Mall.  It has many tourist attractions and is filled with restaurants and hotels and a retired Air Force One jet.

 John, hobnobbing with the famous!

Our primary reason for visiting here was to spend time with granddaughter Fancy and husband Patrick.  They live in Arlington which is about 12 miles from our marina closer to DC. 

Our timing was excellent since the Cherry blossoms were in full bloom.  So we joined the madding crowd to walk around the Tidal Basin among all the flowering trees.

We flew home April 8 with plans to return by June 1.  Below is a view of the Potomac.
Where to next we do not know.

Norfolk, VA

April 1, 2019
Our stay in Coinjock, SC, was not the best for sleeping.  We were the only boat on the dock and the current continued to slap against our hull, while the wind buffeted us all evening.  But we did get a great sunset to start with.

We were slow to get going and didn't shove off until 9:30.  Didn't worry since it was going to be a short mileage day.  We were to learn another lesson.

We saw only one other boat moving on the water.  It was a cold and blustery day.  The Currituck Sound was quite shallow and the waves were square and tight, continually blowing spray up onto the windshield.  We cruised at our slow rate of 8 mph, trying to minimize the unpleasantness, but extending the duration.  Once back in the narrower river channels, things improved greatly. And the ospreys were out in force building their nests.  We also spotted several bald eagles, including this big guy:

What we did not count on was a series of low bridges that opened on time schedules and not upon request.  The first one we came to required us to wait about 20 minutes.  The second we timed a bit better and only had to sit for about 10 minutes.  The third we adjusted our speed to just reach it when it opened.  But then we had 4 miles to the next bridge (the Great Bridge and Lock) which only opens on the hour, giving us 55 mins to get there.  We idle at 5 mph, so we ended up tying to a pier near the bridge and waiting.  We did luck out with an open RR bridge near Norfolk that can be down for over an hour if a train is near.  The Norfolk Naval Station was quite busy and full of a variety of ships.  The speed limit is 7 mph for several miles thru the area, and we were the only boat moving.  We eventually reached Rebel Marina north of Norfolk, after 60 miles, at about 4:30 feeling more tired than previous 100 mile days.

The weather forecast heavy winds, waves and rain for the next day and it proved true.

We hunkered down, slept in, took showers, did laundry, stayed warm and dry and caught up on our blog.
Hopefully, tomorrow's weather will improve and we'll head up into the Chesapeake Bay.  Only about 190 miles to DC.

North Carolina

Weather is still favorable and we are making good progress.  We start early and travel with tide under us most of the day.  We are early in the season, so the osprey are just getting started building their nests.

We continually see several reminders of hurricane Florence:

Leaving Myrtle Beach, our thrusters quit working, again!  That issue has plagued us ever sense we've had Happy Daze.  Of course we only find out about it when we need to use them.  Like getting into or out of a marina.  A few miles later, we used them at a bridge holdup and they worked fine.  But when we came into the marina at Southport, NC, they stopped working just when most needed against a strong side wind.  Fortunately, there is a quality marine service there called Zimmerman Marine.  After tying up, I immediately contacted them to help fix our thruster issue.  The site manager came right over to diagnose.  Not sure, but we decided to order in a bunch of parts next-day-delivery then do swap out to find the problem.  In the mean time Angie and I enjoyed walking around the town:

Spring has just begun. so it was a treat to see the fresh blooms: 

We treated ourselves to a lovely meal at a seaside cafe and had another wonderful sunset view with our marina in the distance.

So next day after the repair parts arrived, we began testing the thruster system.  Here is a picture of the wiring behind our control panel (not something you ever really want to dig into):

So after a couple of hours diagnosing and swapping out parts (connector cables, control units, end terminators, etc), we deduced that the whole problem (that we have been having for 2 years!) is probably a bad electrical tee connector:

Hard to believe!  But after previously spending thousands on other "fixes" it may have been this simple, bad,  plastic connector that was causing the intermittent failures all along.

So after a couple of layover days and a big sigh of relief, we optimistically set out to continue our journey north.  Here is a passing shot of Southport, NC.

Further north we travelled through many miles of houses on with water access.  Some more colorful than others:

Our anchorage the next nite was at Hammock Bay on Camp Lejune.  There is always military activity near here.

A hundred miles on, near the Pamlico Sound, our next anchorage was more remote and we enjoyed a beautiful sunrise.

Another  100 mile day, including crossing the Albemarle Sound in rough waves , brought us to Coinjock.  A simple marina with a great restaurant that we once again treated ourselves to.

Tomorrow we will leave N. Carolina, with only 50 miles to Norfolk, Va and start up the Chesapeake Bay.

South Carolina

The ICW route through Georgia and S. Carolina can be quite confusing.  There are no signposts at the river intersections telling you which way to go.  I've found that plotting out a route on our iPad the night before really lowers the stress level when it comes to navigating through these waters.

The reward for this area is the wonderful anchorages.  They are remote from civilization and very serene.  Every one we had was better than the last.

But you still have to be careful of the tides.  Here we are in a side river anchorage, alone as always.

 When the water goes down the width can also shrink dramatically.

We have dolphins show up by the boat every once in a while.  And the osprey are building their nests all along this stretch of water.  We also saw several bald eagles; they sure are impressive.

For a bit of history we cruised by Fort Sumter, near Charleston.

We've always stopped in Myrtle Beach since it has nice marinas on the ICW and the beach is close by.  This time we stayed at Grand Dunes Marina for two nights.  A 1.5 mile walk to the beach was on wide sidewalks and little traffic.  Spring just started and we are seeing new green leaves and a few flowering plants.

The beach is wide and quite long.  We walked 4 miles along it until our bare feet got sore.

Stopped at grocery store on our way back to boat for more fresh stuff.  A total of 7 miles walking felt good after 5 days straight on the boat.  We've come almost 400 miles since leaving Jacksonville.  Only 600 more to reach Washington DC, the goal for this leg.