Oriental, NC

Oriental, North Carolina

Shrimp boat accident! See below...

We've been told once you arrive here you will end up staying longer than you originally planned. It happened to us too. The amount of cruisers in and out of here is fun and everyone is so excited and nice, energy is high. A ton of "boat goggling" going on and lots of time hanging out on the deck of the local coffee shop talking shop. Steve and I didn't even have the boat tied off at the dock before we had 4-5 people talking with us about our boat and our plans. L ots of fun, we hope to keep track of everyone as we go down the line.

The other treasure for the kids here in Oriental was the Clarke family on S/V Osprey bound for the Bahamas too. The kids immediately clicked and ran themselves ragged with fun lawn games and trick-or-treating. Steve and I enjoyed getting to know the parents too. Both John and Wendy had lots of good information for us and had great senses of humor.

On our second night on the town dock, the state of Maine had the entire dock filled. One guy from Camden, and one guy from Lincolnville. We spent a great evening with Bruce from Lincolnville who has done this trip 5 times. He poured over the charts with us giving us all the great anchorages from Oriental to Florida. Thank you Bruce!

Halloween day started out with a bang, and I mean a true "Bang!"

A shrimp boat lost their transmission and slammed into the town dock just 20 feet from Hook! The poor people who owned that dinghy watched it all happen from the deck of local coffee shop that overlooks the harbor. I heard the crash and the yell, "Hey! That's my dinghy!" from Hook. Steve of course, jumped into action and was able to help save their outboard.



Hook on the Oriental Town Dock.




Happy Halloween!

All ready to go with friends Kaeo and Kailani "Birdy" Clarke from Annapolis, MD on S/V Osprey.

Hanging out Halloween day at the marina pool...still cold, but the kids didn't care!

Maddie with her prize! A bird house! Just what you need on a boat! Not sure where we'll put it but she is so proud!

Maddie's first place pumpkin! She won the kids contest! Go Maddie!

Playing on the lawn at Oriental Marina with new friends.

Pumpkin carving at Oriental Marina

October 30-31 and Nov 1, 2009

Oriental, North Carolina

Bath, NC

Bath, North Carolina

We followed "Salty Spouse" into the town of Bath. We had good wind again and sailed the entire time. We have had the best wind for sailing in the last 3 days than we have had since we left home! We are enjoying it now for we know after tomorrow we will be motoring until Florida as we will be in the "ditch"!

Bath had not only a great Halloween Party at their local Elementary School for the kids but great history on one of the fiercest pirates of all time, Blackbeard! Blackbeard used to braid pieces of rope into his beard and long hair and then set them on fire! Imagine seeing that come across your rails out at sea!

Blackbeard's real name was Edward Teach and his pirate ship name was the "Queen Anne's Revenge". Even though he was the most famous he actually only survived 2 years of pirating from 1716-1718. The Governor of Virginia sent the Navy to hunt him down in his hideout in Ocracoke, NC. The NC Governor where Blackbeard was from never hunted him for he was paid off by Blackbeard for sanctuary. Blackbeards sunken ship was actually found in 1996 along with the bronze bell that he used on board.


Decorating, decorating, decorating


Maddie joining in to the costume contest.


Emma at the Community Halloween Party doing the "Frog Hop" game.

Maddie "The Wizard" walking her dog "Ralphy"

Emma's "Bat-A-Lux" costume

Halloween treats under-way while trying out parts of their costumes!

October 29, 2009

Bath, North Carolina

Belhaven, NC

Belhaven, NC

We had a good sail coming out of the Pungo Canal into Belhaven for a few hours before entering into the Belhaven Waterway Marina. The MacKenzies spoiled us and treated us to a night at the wonderful little marina right next to their boat.

Les and Brenda Porter own this marina and they provide everything a cruiser needs along the way with a hot tub to boot! Steve and I loved this! We could see our boat from the hot tub! After the kids went to sleep we were able to enjoy a quiet moment in the tub and still feel the kids were safe.

We loved catching up with "Salty Spouse" and decided to follow them to Bath, NC for another night to see some of their "stomping grounds" and learn about Blackbeard the Pirate!

Getting ready to "shove off" for a morning cruise together to Bath, NC.


Morning chat on board the beautiful "Salty Spouse".


Girls "relaxing" in the marina hot tub...looks rough doesn't it?!


Friends Scott and Inza MacKenzie at Belhaven Waterway Marina.

October 28, 2009

Belhaven, North Carolina

Albemarle Sound & Alligator River, NC

Albemarle Sound and the Alligator River

North Carolina

Maddie "cleaning" while underway


On the move again.


Learning to read, "Maddie style!"


Math on the Pungo Canal


Banks of the Pungo Canal

Entering the Pungo Canal. The canal connects the Alligator River to the Pungo River. It proved to be a little deeper than the Dismal Swamp but you had to be watchful for dead heads and snags along the banks.

The remote Alligator River

The run to the Alligator River anchorage proved to be an exciting sail. It was our first long day as part of a group of boats running a crossing together. Quite a different feel and a welcomed change of pace. It was nice to actually know the people you were talking to on the VHF and know if trouble arose there were people keeping track of you. In saying this, we were actually able to try to help a boat in the group that had suddenly lost all electrical on board. We had a spare altinator and were able to pass "port to port" to hand it to them on their side deck!

Our anchorage was quite remote. As our friends from "Salty Spouse" had said, "there's nothin' out there!" They were right! The winds blew about 10-15K through the night and after letting a morning shower pass we headed out into the Pungo Canal on route to Belhaven, NC to meet up with "Salty Spouse", Scott and Inza MacKenzie.

We had our first sight of Dolphins here at the mouth of the Alligator. It was a pod of 8-10 and a few played right alongside Hook allowing us to see their beautiful faces. It almost seemed they were smiling!

Video: Just another day at school

Video: Crossing Albemarle Sound

October 27, 2009

Albemarle Sound and the Alligator River

Dismal Swamp South Mills to Elizabeth City, NC

South Mills to Elizabeth City, North Carolina

Elizabeth City's new search and rescue team.


Steve actually fit in a little duck hunting at the museum! Maddie and Emma were actually a good shot.


Puppet show time at the museum!


Coming through the Elizabeth River.


Another bed for Noodle. Madeline has enjoyed making "comfortable" spots on board for Noodle.

Have we really come that far???

We should have added to the kids names, "Bahamas or Bust!"

Adding their marks on the side of the lock.

Friends Ron and Theresa from "Last Dance"

Awaiting the second lock, docked here for the night.

Dismal Swamp South Mills, North Carolina

October 24-26, 2009

Dismal Swamp, NC Welcome Center

Dismal Swamp

North Carolina Welcome Center

Friendly park ranger gives us a walking tour of some of the plant life. The swamp is also home to black bear, fox, bobcat, pine wood tree frogs, deer, and timber rattle snake.


This is a little state park feet from the docks at the visitor welcome center. The park boasted 18 miles of trails and a fantastic little museum. The park ranger informed us that they are infested with ticks so we opted to stay off the trails.




Looking at Hook from a bridge just down stream.


Hook on the docks at the visitor welcome center. Since this is the first stopping point on the canal it gets full. Everyone is heading south.


Emma practicing Chinese, in a boat, in a swamp, in North Carolina...... in a life jacket.


Swampy looking cypress.


Out of the lock and steaming toward the visitors center. Approximately 22 miles up the canal.


Life inside the lock.


This is our first time going through a lock. The idea is that you drive your boat in, the lock is closed, and they fill the lock with water from the other side of the lock. Ten minutes later they open the lock on the other side.



Dismal Swamp entrance. Inspired by Thomas Jefferson, this section of the Intercoastal Waterway was dug to transport people, equipment, and supplies. It connects Chesapeake Bay and Albermarle Sound. The canal was dug by slaves in the early eighteen hundreds. At the half-way point an inn was said to have stood. Supposably Edger Allen Poe wrote "The Raven" on one of his stays on a trip up north.

Dismal Swamp, North Carolina

October 23, 2009

Norfolk, VA

At first light we weighed anchor and headed for the Dismal Swamp. In a couple of hours our surroundings would look nothing like this.



Going ashore, we motored our wee little dingy past the battleship Wisconsin. We weren't scared. Grabbed some groceries and then headed back to Hook. The anchorage was a welcomed site after a blustery approach in to Norfolk harbor.



Arriving in Norfolk. Hospital Point is the anchorage for the night. Another aircraft carrier looms in the back ground.

This is the stretch of of Norfolk Harbor that has aquired the nick name of Mothball Alley. More battle ships, aircraft carriers, and submarines than we could count are lined up and "mothballed" waiting for when the U.S. needs them. From what I understand the ships are sealed and then pumped full of an inert gas to impeed rust and deteriation.

Noodle and Emma wake up together. We have a big day ahead. Norfolk, VA is the destination.

October 22, 2009

Norfolk, Virginia