Thursday, May 29, 2014. This
morning, we turn in the rental car, fuel the boat, we are off the dock at
9:50am. It is sunny and 80 degrees. The wind is S @ 5-10. We pass the Barefoot Swing Bridge at 10am,
then through the area known as the “Rock Pile” (because it is narrow, about 3
miles long, with rock on the sides of the channel). We pass here at high tide so no issues. We pass through the Little River Bridge at
11am.
Along the way, we are passed by
Grace Full a 27 foot C-Dory. This is
exactly like the boat in the book River Horse, which is about taking a 27 foot
C-Dory from New York to the Pacific Ocean across America. If you have not read the book, it is an
interesting read.
At 3pm, the clouds are closing
in. At 4:30pm, spattering rain and
thunder when we pull in to South Harbor Village Marina, Southport, NC. No engine issues today, but we fill up with
fuel while here. 2 bridges today, both
on request.
Dinner at the Dead End Saloon at
the Marina. Food was good, but new menu
(higher prices) and a $7.95 sharing charge.
45SM, 36NM today. MM 309.
33° 55.26’N 078° 03.67’W
Friday, May 30, 2014. Rain overnight. Partly cloudy and murky the AM. Wind NE@5.
70 degrees. Off the dock at
8:15am, 1 ½ hours before high tide on the Cape Fear River. Made 7-71/2 knots all the way up through
Snows Cut – then down the ICW to Wrightsville Beach. Still cool and murky. We make the Wrightsville Beach Bridge at noon
and the Figure 8 Island Bridge at 1pm.
At 2pm, we pass Cahoots
(Bristol 45?) aground on the red side of the channel. We tried to pull them off from their bow, and
then tried to heel them over with a halyard, but they are stuck hard and will
wait for the tide to come in.
A 4pm, we make the Surf
City Bridge, and at 6:30pm, the anchor is down in Mile Hammock Bay, Camp Lejeune,
NC. No engine issues today.
3 scheduled bridges today, all made on-time. 65SM,
52NM today. MM244.
34° 33.10’N 077° 19.51’W
Saturday, May 31, 2014. Put
in 12 gallons from the jerry cans, which filled the tank. Anchor up at 7:45am. Onslow Beach Bridge at 8:30am. Tide running with us. Cloudy, cool 70 degrees. Wind NE 5-10.
With the tide push, we
make Morehead City at 1:30pm. Sunny and
80 degrees, wind N 10-15. There is a
fishing tournament going on here and there are boats anchored everwhere – all the
marinas are full.
Talked to Nelson and
Ondra Gainey (Last Boat). They have a
home in NC. Ondra will have knee surgery
on June 9. We wish her the best.
We come out of Adams
Creek and into the Neuse River at 4:25.
Different day here. Wind is E at
20-25, Seas 4-6 feet. No fun. We planned to head down the Neuse to Braod
Creek, but will head across the river to Orient instead. 5:15pm, we tied up at Oriental Marina and
Inn. We like this place anyway.
1 scheduled bridge made
on time today. No engine issues. 62.6SM, 50.8NM today. MM 181.5
We had dinner at the
Toucan Grill. Nice and only 100 feet
from the boat. Oriental is full tonight,
because of the rough seas on the Neuse.
35° 01.48’N 076° 41.73’W
Sunday, June 1, 2014. Left
the dock at 6:30am. Cool 65 degrees. Sunny, wind NE 5-10. We will try to get out of the Neuse before
the wind and waves build this afternoon (according to the forecast). We are staying as close as we can to the land
for some wind protection. By 7:30, the
wind has come back to the east (straight down the river) at 20-25, right on our
nose. As we pound through the wave, the
engine begins stalling again – not for 3 days – but now! Then the engine quits altogether! We turn around and sail downwind back to
Oriental. We had only gotten 5
miles! Luckily, the engine started as we
passed the breakwater and we limped back into a slip.
We changed both engine
filters. It seems several people we
talked with have had this issue and suggest that we get the fuel polished
(cleaned) and maybe the tank needs it too.
Sailcraft Service here in Oriental is supposed to be an excellent yard
and they do that work.
After changing the
filters, Lisa and I both have showers and then walk around the small town. We had dinner at M&M Restaurant, not far
from the marina. Food was good and
prices reasonable.
Dragons
Oriental used to be
named Smith Creek, but there were two Smith Creeks in NC. Sometime in the 1800s, while on a trip, the
postmaster’s wife apparently found the stern plaque of the steamship Oriental,
which had sunk in the Neuse River and thought that would be a good name for the
town. When the dragons heard the residents
had named the town Oriental, they thought that meant that they were welcome,
and have left eggs in various nests in town.
Everyone knows it takes 100 years for a dragon egg to hatch, but as you
can see in the pictures, that is happening now.
The dragons are a protected species, so no stealing the eggs! So, when next in Oriental, look for the nests
and you will see pictures of dragons everywhere – a truly dragon friendly town!
Monday, June 02, 2014. I
called Sailcraft this morning and talked to Alan, the owner, explaining the
situation and asking for help and advice.
He told me to bring the boat over at 9:30 (as soon as he could make room
for it) and they would take a look. The
engine started and ran fine as we motored the two miles to Whittaker creek
(very narrow channel and very shallow). It is now 3:30pm, and the fuel has been
cleaned and filtered (polished) and now they are working on cleaning out the
fuel tank. They had to cut access ports
in the tank, as there weren’t any. You
should see the crud left in the bottom of the tank! Hopefully, they will be done by the end of
the day and we can leave tomorrow. I am
impressed with their service, attitude and competence.
We have dinner at a
family restaurant called Brantleys.
Nice, good food, very reasonable.
$14 for dinner for two. And take
note Tony Marts – they have chocolate pie!
Tuesday, June 3, 2014. Well,
Sailcraft did not get done yesterday, but that was our fault. As long as the fuel was clean and out of the
tank, we asked them to check the tank.
They used a scope and looked into the tank and saw (we all took a look)
a lot of sludge and debris. So the story
here is that if you have your fuel “polished”, get the tank cleaned also. They cut a couple of access ports (6 inch
holes) in the tank – one in each area – there is a baffle in between – and then
cleaned the tank. Then the machine shop
had to make covers for the new holes.
Take a look at the pictures.
Darrell and Dan (the mechanics) had all this back together by 10am, and
at 10:15, we left the dock. The day is
sunny and bright, 80 degrees and the wind is S @ 10. Perfect for the trip down
the Neuse River.
Click here for pictures of Oriental and the Dragons
At 11:30am, we are
making 6.6 knots over ground and notice that there is blue smoke pouring out of
the exhaust! The engine seems to be
running OK, not overheating. We shut it
down and check everything and cannot find the problem. Soooo, we turn around and head back to
Oriental once again. At 1pm, we are tied
to the dock, waiting on Darrell, the mechanic.
A 3:30pm, Darrell
finishes his other chores and come over.
We start the engine and blue smoke pours from the exhaust. Darrell says it is the injectors and you can
see fuel in the water as we sit at the dock.
Normally, blue smoke means oil, white smote means water and black smoke
means fuel, but not this time. Darrell
will be back first thing in the morning to change the injectors. In the meantime, we have to find the spares
we have stashed on the boat. We grill
steaks aboard for dinner and enjoy the showers.
I talked to my mom and sister and my aunt Betty (Mom’s sister) is in the
hospital, not doing well. Hope and pray
for the best.
Today was our third time
into Oriental this trip. They say once
you are here, the Dragons are hesitant to let you leave.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014.
Darrel shows up at 8:30am and by 10am the new injectors are installed
and the engine is running like a top. We
are off the dock and on our way down the Neuse River at 10:15. Exactly the same scenario as yesterday. Scary.
However, this time we have no issues and make it to the south end of the
Alligator-Pungo Canal at 6pm. Things are
going so well, we figure we can make it through the canal by dark (about 9pm –
nice long days this time of year). While
going through the canal, we see two bald eagles, turkeys and geese. Everything here is hatching out babies. All the osprey nests are full. The local
fighter pilots are flying low overhead – very impressive.
We exit the canal at
8:45pm and get the anchor down at Tuckaho Point at 8:56pm, just as darkness
falls. Long day. 77.1 SM,
61.7NM MM104. 35° 40.42’N
076° 05.83’W
Loved the dragons! :)
ReplyDeleteOlga