Thanks to Hurricane Sandy, we were a week late on our departure this year. At least she only brought us winds and the boat survived just fine at her home port tied with 13 lines in her hurricane tie-up. We were very fortunate that the storm did not come up the bay which would have brought significant tidal surges.
We had been living on the boat for a few days as our way to make sure we had all the things we needed for the trip as usual and ended up moving back up to the house for the storm. Bob made a number of trips to the dock to check on the boat during the night of the worst part of the storm. Luckily, the water level never was higher than the dock, so he was able to reach the boat ok.
We were underway the 5th of November this year. We stopped at Norfolk as usual this year staying at the Naval Base Marina. We were within sight of the aircraft carrier Enterprise that had just arrived back from her final tour of duty the day before. After 37 years of service, she will now be deactivated. We saluted her as we passed her the next day.
We chose to go through the Great Lock and use the Virginia Cut route rather than the Dismal Swamp route this year. Although going through the swamp is beautiful, it is narrow and in normal years (when there are no big storms in the area) the swamp usually has a number of trees and deadheads in the water to watch out for. It is also another day longer to go that way.
We stopped for the night at the Coinjock Marina right on the ICW. Their restaurant is famous for their prime rib, which of course the Captain ordered. We ate that for a couple of days afterward! Due to some high winds, we ended up staying at Coinjock an extra day unti the winds died down some making a more comfortable crossing of Albermarle Sound.
Our next stop was Dowry Creek Marina. This was our first time at this marina. It had top ratings in Active Captain. We had never hit this right before to stop, or the weather was nice, so we anchored out nearby instead of using the marina. It is very nice place. Every evening there is a happy hour for the cruisers in the club house. They also have a great pool - which of course was closed this time of year. We would stop there again.
Our next stop was Morehead City, NC. This year we went to Morehead City Yacht Basin and found we much preferred it over Beaufort City Docks across the ICW. It is off the ICW and away from the ocean inlet and does not have strong currents making it much easier to dock. We left the boat there, rented a car, and drove to visit Bob's daughter Krista and family in Camp Lejeune, then on to Raleigh to visit Bob's son Greg and his family and Bob's brother Dave and sister-in-law Nanci. We arrived back on the boat to find all was well.
We were back underway on Tuesday passing Camp Lejeune and Wilmington Beach. Another new marina we stopped at was Jacksonville Beach Marina in Florida. In Jacksonville, we splurged and went to Marker 32, a five star restaurant next to the marina and it was worth every star. Best meal we have had just about anywhere!
When we were passing by Fernandina Beach, FL we heard Windemere on the radio going in for fuel. We spent a lot of time anchored by John and Wendy in Staniel Cay last year. They were the first boat we had passed that we knew on the ICW.
We did our usual stop in Palm Coast Marina, Palm Coast, FL to have our list of engine maintenance completed by Al's Mobile Marine Service, our favorite mechanic. While we were there, our friends Dennis and Bettye on Miss Bettye who live in St. Augustine came to see us. Bettye and I went shopping a couple of days - always fun to have a
"girls day out" and I don't get that many of those! We had several evenings of Texas Hold'em poker to satisfy our addictions! Dennis and Bettye also graciously had us for Thanksgiving dinner with their friends.
After Palm Coast, we headed south and anchored a night in Titusville, then on to Vero Beach where we moored at the City Marina there. The second day we were there, our friends Ed and Dee on Sea Fox X arrived and tied up on our mooring next to us. It was so good to see them again. Last year we saw them in Vero Beach but Ed was not feeling well, so they stayed in the Florida Keys until he got better. Unfortunately, he got worse and it was found that he had several brain tumors and he was flown back to Canada where the largest one was removed. We were so thankful to hear that the tumors were benign and he is back to his normal self. They have decided to just stay in in Florida with their boat again this winter, but may fly over and visit us during the Family Island Regatta this year.
We also caught up with Cathie and Tom on Interlude, other Texas Hold'em players, and one day Dennis and Bettye drove 3 hours to Vero Beach for lunch with us all and we had a great game of hold'em with them, Ed and Dee, and Tom and Cathie! I actually won that game, but tried not to gloat too much.
After a week in Vero Beach, we headed on south to Lake Worth where we picked up some mail that was sent to us and did some shopping. Ed and Dee arrived the next day and we did some shopping and dining together. Ed and Dee left the next day to get some customs paperwork taken care of and we moved on south.
We found an anchorage that looked interesting, an enclosed small lake down a canel off the the ICW called Maule Lake. We spent a day there and then moved to The Waterways Marina for a couple of days and met up with our friends Ray and Susan on No Agenda and Jim and Janie on Pirate. Ray stores his boat in this marina and has two cars there. Ray let us use a vehicle, so we were able to do some last minute errands while we watched the weather for a window to cross to the Bahamas. It finally looks like that day will be tomorrow, the 17th.
