We have had enough weather surprises, mostly disappointments on this trip south, when actual conditions were worse than forecast. Nice to get a pleasant surprise now and then as we did for the trip from Savannah to Cape Canaveral. Overnight we had 10 knots from behind, a 2′ swell and 90% illumination all night. It just does not get any better than that.
Lets back up a bit. Our near term destination for this leg was to get to Key West in time to host our two sons for Christmas. We had five weeks, more than enough time to take it easy and maybe add a few side trips. our plan was to travel offshore whenever weather permitted, limiting it to one overnight at a time. Once we arrived in Florida we no longer had to worry too much about weather as we could always run inside, but we really wanted to avoid the leg between Lake Worth and Miami as the number of bridges can really get to be a pain in the neck.
From Mobjack we we next stopped at Atlantic Yacht Basin. Decent fuel prices, no current, friendly folk. Our favorite activity here is to tour the covered docks. Some beautiful older boats, including a spectacular Trumpy, in pristine condition.
Coinjock may become a tradition. A short run from AYB so we arrived early, which is good here, and enjoyed our prime rib. Coinjock dock hands are famous for stacking boats tightly here, often with overhang fore and aft, so getting here early makes arrival and tie up easier. Best you not be watching as they bring boats in behind you. And also best if you let some of the boats depart first.
From Coinjock we took the “road (somewhat) less traveled” down Pamlico Sound, stopping in Manteo and Ocracoke. Overall, this route is shorter than the ICW, less crowded and with fewer hazzards. The only drawback is that Pamlico Sound can get rather nasty in any significant winds. A 20 knot wind can set up a rather nasty 3 foot, 3 second wave pattern than is uncomfortable even for us. Our route is in blue, the ICW in green.
Manteo has a nice small marina, some anchoring opportunities and plenty of land adventure opportunities. The entrance channel is a little tricky, but holds aout 7′ at low tide at the worst spot. Note that sustained east or west winds can lower or raise depths by a foot or two. We rented bikes and went to Ft Raleigh, checked out the Lost Colony and the Alligator River National Wildlife Sanctuary Visitor Center. Oddly, while the actual sanctuary is on the peninsula astride the Alligator River, the Visitor Center is on Roanoke Island. Not sure why except maybe Roanoke is the closest civilization. The town of Manteo is pretty touristy, but still interesting. Enough locals live here to keep most shops and restaurants open even so late in the season.
Ocracoke is sort of the gateway to the Outer Banks, with large ferries arriving every half hour in season. When we got there, in early November, the ferries were hourly but disgorged fewer travellers, mostly fishermen towing their center console boats from the mainland.
The channel to the basin is well marked and deep but there was some confusion due to recent dredging and changes in bouy locations. As we approached I watched a few ferries come and go on AIS and then adjusted my plotted route to overlay their tracks. That worked out pretty well as some of the route cuts across what the chart shows as shoal, and on the wrong side of a charted red buoy. As it turned out, you can ignore the charts and follow your eyeballs and do just fine. In most of the channel there is plenty of room to pass a ferry going the other way, but there are a few choke points so most cruisers either follow a ferry in or wait till the outgoing ferry exits. You can look up the ferry schedules on line and use that unfo to plan your trip in.
Once inside the basin there is a large area for anchoring and a few marinas. We docked at the NPS docks, which are very nice, and cheap for us. With a NPS pass, the dockage was $37 per night, including power. Unfortunately, quite a bit of dock space is not taken up by a new fast ferry dock located between the two floating docks, preventing access to any of this dock space.
This time of year, many stores and restaurants are closed but there are enough things open to satisfy your urge for fried whatever. We again rented bikes and went out to the shore. Pretty spectacular beaches with hardly any people. We walked a mile or so on one beach and never saw another person. Nice time to visit.
From Pamlico sound we rejoined the ICW and went to Morehead City Yacht Basin, which has become our staging point for running offshore. But this year the weather didn’t play nice so we stayed inside from Morehead City to Bald head. Not many good anchoring spots on this leg if you want to do it with one stop enroute so we booked a slip at Topsail Island Marina in Surf City. So, we are about 10 miles out from the marina, it is 3:30pm and we get a call from the marina on VHF. They tell us they are quite sorry but they had double booked our slip and it was now occupied. too bad, so sorry, good luck finding somewhere else to go. As the Seinfeld skit goes, they new how to take a reservation, they just didn’t know how to keep a reservation.
This put us in a bit of a bind. We called a few other marinas in the general area, but no luck. Searching the charts I found an anchorage that might work if we could get there before dark as we would have to clear the Surf City Bridge and it was on an hourly schedule. We went to mak speed, which for us is not much over 9 knots, and made the 5pm bridge with a few minutes to spare. Another 15 minutes to the anchorage and we had the anchor set by sundown. Not sure what we would have done if that had not worked out. Another boat in a similar situation as ours, who didnt make the bridge, anchored out in the ICW overnight. I cant imagine that working out well. Cruisers own the days on the ICW, tugs and barges own the night.
As it turned out, this was a very nice anchorage and we will use it again, I am sure.
Next day we went to Bald Head marina. Well protected and well situated for an offshore run. We rented bicycles and toured the island. From there we made an offshore hop to Savannah, stopping at Thunderbolt marina. The Krispy Cream donuts remain a big hit. We spent a day doing the tourist things, parks, old homes, restaurants, etc. before heading offshore again to Port Canaveral.
As I mentioned ealier, the trp from Savannah to Port Canaveral was about as good as it gets. Calm seas, clear skies and full moon all night. We spent a few nights at Ocean Club marina and took a side trip to tour NASA’s Cape Kennedy site. Expensive at $50/pp ut worth it. takes a full day to see everything. We went on Thanksgiving day and that was a good choice as the place was nearly empty. Maybe 200 people for a place that is set up to handle thousands. Perfect.
Our next leg is from Port Canaveral to Key West and will be the subject of my next blog entry.
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