day by day

Boy howdy, but time do fly by!. I believe we were at Dowry Creek trying to peddle free "feesh" last time we posted. So, let's move on; April 21: Scooter and crew travelled to the Little Alligator river. No issues; passed thru the infamous Alligator-Pungo canal with ease; altho' sometimes that is not the case. When we arrived it was calm, cool and peaceful; and then..... What can I say; not so peaceful and quiet anymore. Amazing what you can sleep thru.

April 22: Up early to get across the Albemarle Sound before the winds picked up. Forecast was for 5-8kts; 1ft seas. Piece 'o cake for Scooter. 30 minutes after we left the anchorage, we were in 3-4' seas, 15-20 kt winds. 'Twas not a fun ride. Scooter  prevailed, and we got to Elizabeth City's municipal marina in good form. The city has a tradition of giving roses to visiting boat crews; gender specific, of course. Started in 1983, the tradition called for a wine and cheese party if there were 5 boats at the dock, plus roses for the female crew members. Continued to this day, but without the enthusiasm of earlier times. Nice town, friendly folks, good food.

April 23: Out of Elizabeth City, thru the Pasquotank River, by far one of the prettiest rivers of the whole trip; thru the South Mills lock , into the Dismal Swamp canal. Hardly wider than some of the local streams in PA, it actually handles an amazing amount, and type, of traffic. Fact is, possibly to Scooter's detriment, a large cruise boat apparently preceded us thru the canal. Since the controlling depth is only 6-7', large boats have a tendency to stir up "stuff" on the bottom. It hangs there before sinking; next boat thru has a good chance of catching a prop. Some thumps as we transited the canal, but no serious vibrations at this point.  We arrived at the Deep Creek Lock in time to clear the bridge and tie up at Elizabeth's dock for the night. Deep Creek is not a jumping burg; good thing, in our opinion, so it was really quiet and really starry. Up early on the 24th, into the lock to be lowered down to Deep Creek. Kind of an interesting experience.
Off Scooter and crew went ; thru the industrial environs of Norfolk, thru the might of the US Navy, past all the super toys used in big ship work. Tedious at times; one no wake zone after another, enforced by fast RIB's with M-60's; technologically enthralling at others.
Finally into Mobjack Bay, East River anchorage. From there, on the 25th Scooter wandered around into the Rappahanock River and the port/town of Urbanna, VA. for a visit with an acquaintance of ours from Mathews county. Honestly, the visit was like a leap back into the 40's. Model A Fords in plentiful supply, old style gasoline pumps; you know, the kind with the hand pump on the side and a glass cylinder at the top. Could that be where the term" fill 'er up" came from? Unfortunately, at the moment, technical difficulties are preventing me from posting the pics. Later, Chuckie. April  28: Scooter left Urbanna and crossed to the Corrotoman river for the night. Plan, based on the forecast was to cross the Bay to Crisfield,  Maryland. Ha! Blew out of the Corrotoman the 29th in good conditions, An hour later we were wishing that we had stayed put. Patience, determination, a good boat, and 6 hours later, found us tied to a dock in Crisfield. Short walk to Dollar general for the correct cat food  ( sorry, RCO's food) kept the fuzzy crew's  morale high. rest of the crew strolled to Bubby's for burgers and ice cream

Currently, Scooter and crew are in San Domingo Creek, just behind St. Michael's MD. Plan is/was to cross the Bay to Essex tomorrow, then traipse home Thursday. NOAA, however has just issued an advisory for high winds in the am. Soooo, I guess we'll do the old"wait and see" thing to see how it should be played. Be safe, catch you on the flip side

slacking off....again

So, after an afternoon and evening of entertainment provided by the USMC aviators driving Ospreys and various other rotorcraft at low altitudes over Mile Hammock Bay, we arose to a lovely morning and headed North  by way of Morehead City and Beaufort, NC. Also made a stop in Jarrett Bay for fuel. Seven hours and 51 NM later, we pulled into Cedar Creek; previously reported on, but most known for the "killer shrimp" that reside in these waters. January, 2010 was the date of that episode.

Peaceful night; up and on the way relatively early to New Bern, NC to visit with family friends, change engine oil and filters, tweak a few other things, etc. Visit was great. As you may recall, New Bern got clobbered by Florence last year. Like so many things that don't directly impact us personally, we tend to forget the disruption others are going thru.  The scene shown is really common here. Frankly, it is an amazing sight; jack up an entire house 8- 9', build some new walls/foundation etc, and you may be ready for the next blast from Mother Nature, or not!  'Taint cheap, but those who love it here seem willing to do what it may take to stick it out.

On the 17th, Scooter and crew, having said all the goodbye stuff, paid the slip fees, returned the adapter, and dealt, as usual, with the tanks, slid gently out of the slip and headed down the Neuse River, longest river contained within North Carolina's borders ( special, eh). Goal was to get to Slade Creek, just south of Belhaven, NC. Plan is to stage here while some bad weather blows thru Friday/Saturday, then hope things improve enough to get across Albemarle Sound. That part of the plan worked; 7.2 hours, 58 nm, found us anchored in Slade Creek, NC. Another repeat spot, as we had anchored here 10 years ago. Pleasantly enough, the place has not changed one iota . Not that we are anti establishment folks, but why does every inch of land have to be occupied by a building or an acre or more of asphalt. What's gonna happen when Nature is gone?

Up this morning; leisurely like, no rush, 'taint but 10 NM to go, and wind isn't forecast to kick up 'til 1100-1200, and we know that forecast folks are never wrong. So, Capt'n is pulling the anchor, and here comes Bubba in an old outboard; pulls right up to Scooter. "Geez" thinks the Capt'n, "did I run over his crab pot"? Guy says "wansomfeesh" Well, long story short, he had some fish he was giving away; got an early morning gift of crabs, flounder, etc, Loaded the feesh into a bucket with ice and rumbled off to Dowry Creek Marina to hang out while the weather blows thru.

ARC (anti rodent officer),  Deck Boss, and Food Control Officer had a staff meeting to discuss upcoming itineraries and future activities in their respective departments. These are tough jobs to fill; perseverance, determination, and the ability to wear more than one hat are a given. As the driver/fixer/gopher, I can feel comforted knowing that things are safely under control; no rodents dare enter the boat; no errant dock person dare misplace a line, and no meal dare to be out of spec. Life is good; catch you on the flip side.















 

Catching up

Last posting found Scooter and crew in Charleston, SC. The Charleston Maritime Center, as a matter of fact. There are quite a few marinas in the Charleston area, but for some reason we gravitate to this one. Its ugly to get in and out of, due to rapidly moving tidal currents, and really rock and rolly due to ship wakes rolling into the basin, BIG advantage; right downtown! This time around we tried something new; rode all three free bus routes around the city in one day. kind of interesting in lots of ways. Parts of this city are gently beautiful, parts absolutely aren't. Same can be said for the ridership. All in all, it was a most enlightening way to spend part of a day. Pleasant as it was, we couldn't get all the stuff done by bus, so we walked, nibbled on ice cream, and, you know, looked at things. Weather settled down, tanks in their proper state of capacity; either full, or empty; laundry all done. Time to git'er done. Beautiful day for a boat ride, so off we went to Awendaw Creek, enroute to, and hopefully,thru the McClellanville  low spot. Sort of sad departing Charleston; it has always been a fun visit.


The low spot issue worked out well; early up, thru as the tide was rising, and a smooth ride up the Waccamaw river to Osprey Point Marina. We have been here before; like the laid back atmosphere, great fuel prices and really friendly staff. Of all the rivers  Scooter has travelled, I think that this is one of the prettiest. Deep, wooded, and NO housing developments popping up along the way. Refreshing!
Out of Osprey Point, thru the Socastee swing bridge up to Ocean Isle Marina. Again, staging for the passage thru Lockwood's Folly inlet. Unbeknownst to us, the dredge had just finished fixing the shallow issues at this particular trouble spot, so we could have transited the inlet without waiting for  tidal assistance. Oh, well; it was a nice enough stay and the passage the next morning was easier because of it. Now in NC, we stopped at Southport Marina for fuel, slip, etc. After juggling all the various weather guesser's predictions, we decided to spend Monday visiting Bald Head Island, an island about 2 miles off the Cape Fear river inlet. There is a ferry that runs from  Southport to the island, and a golf cart rental company that eagerly awaits your arrival at the island. So, off we went on the ferry, 'round and 'round we went on the golf cart, and lickety-split home again on the ferry. Reminded me of Nantucket with palm trees; shingled houses and all. An adventurous day, an educational day.

Today's forecast called for strong T-storms and strong winds, but turned out to be a reasonably nice day with an occasional sprinkle. We juggled the time frames around a bit and elected to stop, again, in Wrightsville Beach, NC. Actually dropped the lil'ol rubber boat in the water and putted into the town dinghy dock. Walked to Robert's grocery store (has the coldest beer in Wrightsville Beach) for some items we were short on; 'taint short any more! Putted back (hooyah) in good form. Tomorrow will hopefully find us in Mile Hammock Bay, part of the Camp Lejune complex. We'll keep you posted. Be safe

Update; 3/19-3/28

Wow, been slacking off big time lately; my apologies. Last posted, Scooter and crew were in St Augustine, on a mooring ball, waiting out a nasty wind event. That eventually downgraded from gale conditions to mere small craft advisory conditions; winds up to 30 kts or so. So, away we went, north up the Tolomato river and associated environs to Harrison Creek. No major events along the way, no spectacular scenery to be mindful of. Pulled in, dropped Bruce,  the ground connector device, dried out the bilge; little more than usual, and settled in for the evening. About 2 in the am, the captain, as is his wont at times, got up to check on things; see if Bruce was doing his job, etc. The night time scenery was absolutely mind boggling. The water was awesomely still, not a ripple to be seen anywhere, the full moon was reflected in all its minute detail, as were the surrounding myriads of stars. A glistening, sparkling carpet, both above and beside Scooter. And out of the night stillness  what should I hear, but the "whufff" of a hunting porpoise. Stunning!

So,up and at'em in the morning; we had a tide timetable to match if we wanted to get thru Jekyll Creek without running aground. Engine room check; "Whoa, whats with all the water?" Bottom line, the heat exchanger on the starboard engine had a hole in it on the raw water side. When the engine ran, so did the water. MacGyver time, as there isn't really any other way. One engine might get us there, but I'm not sure we'd have enough food. So, PC plumbers epoxy, a #10 sheet metal screw, two small flat washers; Mix the "stuff", put the screw thru the washers, then thru the ball of "stuff", squash over the hole, tighten screw, wait 30 minutes; drive on to Brunswick, GA. 1/2 hour engine checks became routine. Got to Brunswick in good form. Asked the yard folks if they could, perhaps, repair the exchanger unit; braze it, etc. Laughable question. OK. Shopped, walked about, washed salt off boat, etc, and moved on. Next stop involved tidal timing for Little Mud River and Hell Gate, so we stopped for the night in Walburg Creek. Easy, peasy, then on to Herb River, just below Thunderbolt, GA. Lots of wind, black clouds and rumbling noise, a quick blast of rain, over and done.

Next morning Scooter and crew moved on to SC and Port Royal Landing Marina, just above Parris Island of USMC fame and pain. Not sure what is with the wind this trip, but we are certainly getting enough to last a while. A pleasant visit to Port Royal and neighboring Beaufort, SC. Provisioned, another term for shopped; (wonder when the other states will require recyclable plastic shopping bags?) Serviced the boat and headed north for Charleston, SC.. Coosaw,  Dawhoo, and Ashepoo rivers all passed under Scooter's keel today. Tomorrow will find us leaving our North Edisto river anchorage and heading into Charleston Harbor for some Harris Teeter experiences, perhaps a walk around that lovely city, tweak some boat issues, and get ready for more northerly travel.

Be safe, be happy, be thankful that Spring has started, and, above all, be careful out there. Catch you on the flip side.

Titusville forward

Eased into Titusville, well, blew into Titusville on a cool afternoon breeze, slipped into the slip (sorry), and settled in for some more Florida time. First item of business was to get the outboard repair guy and the ailing Tohatsu together. Our man, Justin showed up in good time, climbed on the boat, grabbed the starter rope, pulled, and the lil' bugger fired right up. He laughed, I felt a little dumb; certainly puzzled. Shut 'er down, tried a restart; again, and again, and again. I chuckled, and felt a little less dumb, certainly relieved. Bottom line: intermittent kill switch. As a preventative maintenance thing,we decided to update the carburetor. This engine is 8 years old, and sits a lot. Turned out there were some dry rotted gaskets. Also some mods to the needle valve  system on the idle side. So, we wandered around, did some boat maintenance stuff; as in washed the salt off, lubed the upper station throttle cables, etc. Question was asked about maintenance problems on an older boat like Scooter. Knock on wood, other than the holding tank issue, Scooter has been a very well behaved vessel. Problems do arise in any complex piece of  equipment. If you look at it this way: you have 20,000# of plastic wrapped machinery, akin to a small village; sewer plant, power and light producing plants, communication abilities, etc, moving thru an extremely hostile environment; the lack of problems is really an  amazing thing.

In the course of our wandering, we walked by one of the local LEO's. As we passed, he called out "has it been scrubbed". "Whoa". thinks I, "is this some kind of local ordinance?" Turns out he was referring to the shuttle launch planned for that evening. So, we scurried thru the shopping spree, and got back to the marina just in time for a snapshot of the event. Sorry, it was a quick snap with the phone. Man does some amazing things at times.

Speaking of which, our man Justin showed up at 1600 Friday afternoon, put the parts back on the Tohatsu, pulled it a bunch of times; it started and ran smoothly each time, so I figured it was good. I gotta tell you, its hard to go thru life as a slow learner. Next morning, off to the north. Windy, some sun, more clouds than sun perhaps, but still pleasant enough. Got to Daytona Beach and parked behind the Seabreeze bridge. Speaking of man doing amazing things,  I want to know how they get those cranes up there.

Out of Daytona, bound for St Augustine; windy and gray enough to run from the lower helm station. Overall, a good run, some scattered rain showers, but nothing that caused any problems. On arrival in the St Augustine mooring field, I rediscovered one of the issues with running from the lower station; you cannot see the mooring ball at all. Ah, well, after some wind induced veering , and guided by the picker-upper's corrective commentary, we got'er done in reasonable fashion. Once moored, I chose to take the dink in and pay up, etc. Remember it is reallly windy and rough. Mounted the lil'ol Tohatsu on the transom of the lil'ol rubber boat; slid in (literally) squeezed the bulb, choked it, pulled it twice, OK, maybe three times, and off we went, Bear in mind I am now going into  20 kts of wind whilst sitting on the rear tube of the lil boat; the bow is up, and rising ( stay tuned). Engine seems to be  running a bit fast, but I get to the dinghy dock in fairly good form, cut back to idle; "whoa" way too fast. Out of gear, now I'm going backwards; into gear, too fast. As long as you don't hit anything sharp, a rubber boat will bounce. Got in the slot between the finger piers, bounced around 'til I could grab something solid and get shut down. Fun!Took a moment and adjusted the idle speed.  Paid up and headed back to Scooter; With  the wind for the moment, so it was a pretty cool ride. Now, Scooter is a fairly flat bottomed boat, so there is a lot of swinging side to side while at anchor or on a mooring. Plus, the mooring moves as well; plus , well, when I went to idle the wind was so strong that, once again, I was going backwards; powered up, nothing happened... then. wham, in comes the power, up goes the bow; seriously! Finally figured how Scooter was going to move, and stayed centered until I got close enough to grab the swim platform and throw Ginny a line. was kinda like a three stooges moment. Apparently there may have to be some more fine tuning done.

At the moment, we are sitting in the mooring field, listening, and watching as 30-40 mph winds whip everybody around. Hopefully, the forecasts will  prove true and this will slow down by ten tonight. Plan is to head for Jacksonville tomorrow, Then  Brunswick, GA  on Thursday.

Stay safe, look for Spring; Catch you on the flip side.

Northbound

Question has arisen as to who is doing the rowing described in previous posts. Easy, peasy; one sits down, facing the stern, deploys, as in extends,  both oars. Next grab the good arm oar and pull rapidly for three pulls, quickly, but carefully, whirl around on the butt pivot point we are all provided with, grab the other oar, now on the good arm side, and push rapidly 3 times. Repeat as needed to reach the destination. There are, of course, other options.

As an addendum to the whole engine repair journey; yesterday the 85 degree sun/heat, altho' accompanied by a soothing breeze, heated up the gas tank enough to pressurize the whole system. When I bounded off Scooter into the "dink"and tried to get it started: yup, nothing but dripping gas, locked cylinders, etc. So another afternoon of sweat'n cuss. No spark showing; exciter, coil; I dunno... End result is that the lil' ol Tohatsu is tied to the back of Scooter enroute to Titusville's Tohatsu guys for repair, I hope; certainly beyond my pay grade at this point.

So, up and at 'em this morning; refuel, fill tanks that need it, empty those that need to be empty, and head North up the Indian River. We are currently sitting 27 miles south of Titusville, hiding behind the Pineda causeway bridge to duck the NE winds associated with a cold front that is working down Florida.

We'll be in Titusville for a bit, depending on what the repair folks say, then continue north 'til we get there. Be there by Spring, any luck at all; you folks stay warm for now, be happy; be safe.

New plan...and other things

So here we are, still at Vero Beach. First thing that you have to grasp is that once you are attached to the mooring can/ball, you are on your own for transportation to and from shore. A dinghy is a must! Either that or you walk on water; swimming is not a wise choice here.  Well, thas' al'right wid us, bud, 'cause we do have a dink. Another official nautical, "sailor cool" term, Chuckie; dink; aka, rubber boat, dinghy. What doesn't show in the pic, is that the dink has an outboard motor attached to the transom ( the solid part of the boat running between the aft ends of the tubes); clear on that part? The motor, in this case is a Tohatsu 8hp, twin cylinder motor. It will usually drive the "dink" fast enough to scare the pants off you. What makes it even more fun is that the "dink" has an inflatable floor; any chop, or waves and the floor ripples. Kinda wild to experience. Anyway, the combo has been behaving fandamntastically for the whole trip. One of the perks that the city of Vero Beach offers is a free bus that serves the marina and important local entities; Walmart, Publix, etc. We had need to visit those places, so into the dink, PFD's on, pull the starter handle; nothing, after lots of pulls; nothing, not even a pop. Now, mind you, it is about 80, and not a lot of wind; its hot! Flooded? A common thing with these engines. Pull the plugs; can't, don't have a 16mm socket. Call NAPA, they'll send one out. Gotta row in to get it. Fortunately, a nice guy gave us a tow along the way. Got the socket, pulled and dried the plugs; nothing. Got another tow back to Scooter. Boy, we're having fun now! Seeing the flurry of activity around the boat, several experts, nice guys, and certainly well meaning, appeared and offered their services. Talked to some of my people; got more info; all educational. Les' see; plugs are wet, carb has fuel, fuel looks clean coming out of the carb; no spark! Go to "bubba" and the redneck repair guys on the internet. Bottom line step one; by pass kill switch. Did so; pulled cord; up and running! 'Course you can't shut it off; "MacGyvered" it for now.  OK, mobile again, off to town, laundry, etc. Let's do dinner at the local hot spot; we can dinghy over... Great idea.......I must digress a moment. When I was younger, so many moons ago, my father decided I was tolearn how to ride horses and such. Mind, I was still in the snow suit stage. So, Dad goes into the barn, puts me on the back of Pedro, the donkey, grabs the rope, says" here you go" swats Pedro on the Butt, and out the door we went. Good ol' Dad is standing there holding the rope  that is still firmly attached to the wall. Pedro and I quickly reached an agreement; I'd get off,  he wouldn't kick me. So, back to the story; the trip over went smoothly, dinner was adequate, and the trip back to the marina dock was great; twinkling anchor lights, wind in your hair, motor (still) purring. In and out of the dock, heading back to Scooter, crew says" I think I'm holding the wrong rope". " Say, what" says the whiz bang Capt'n. "I don't have the right rope" " I'm holding the side rope, not the front rope" " Ah....soooo" says the Capt'n, now suspecting that the night will not be ending quite according to his plans. Throttle to idle; too late, motor just thudded to a stop. Out with the oars. Stroke, stroke. Tie it up, out with a boat hook, clear line from prop, good to go. Gotta tell you, Chuckie, took a bit longer than the telling. Fun part was shining a light into the infested waters while you waved a shiny arm around hunting for the line. Bait did not used to be part of my personal experience.

All turned out to be well; motor runs fine, folks that now share can # 50 with us are quite good. As to the new plan; after some discussion. looking at weather and some other things, Scooter and crew will be turning North on Tuesday. Timing and the desire to see some things on the way back to the Chesapeake have led us to make the decision.

First half of the journey has been fun, different from the last time we did this, but in an interesting way. We're looking forward to seeing some new spots; maybe a quick revisit to some places we saw on the way down, but, perhaps shorted in the time we spent. Hope you'll stay with us. Catch you on the flip side!