Friday, November 6th (Day 39)
On my way back from the marina bathroom this morning, I walked out to the point by the Neuse River to check the winds. They were still light and from the Southwest which wasn't helping bring up the water level here. I also checked the floating dock on my way back to the boat. The water level hadn't changed more then an inch since Tuesday.
I mentioned to Laura that this seems like the movie Groundhog Day. Each day we wake up hoping to leave and continue our trip south because the weather forecast called for NE winds. But, the actual winds are SW which are not helping us and we do it all over again for another day.
D and Don's friends Ina and Kusura on S/V Papillion came into the marina today. They only need about 5 feet of water for their boat and didn't have any problems. Laura and I worked a few boat jobs and I practiced the flute in the afternoon.
We invited D and Don, Minta and Rob, plus Ina and Kusuru over to the boat for cocktails and munchies. Minta and Rob are waiting to get a new autopilot installed so will be here for another week or so. Ina and Kusuru are having their boat hauled out on Monday for some work on their rudder. D and Don were still working on their inside struts - their boat is wooden. We are the only ones leaving soon (we hope).
Laura took this picture of her favorite friends - turtles. They were sunning on a sunken dock by the marina.
It was fun having the group over for cocktail hour(s) but I neglected to get a picture of everyone. We all talked about the places we've been and where we want to go next. I drank a little too much red wine which means I will probably have weird dreams tonight.
Saturday, November 7th (Day 40)
Once again the winds were supposed to pick up from the NE today but it doesn't happen. Another Groundhog Day as we sit waiting for just a few more inches of water.
After lunch, Laura and I decided to do some real work and pull the starboard aft railing off the boat to caulk underneath. We've had a leak coming from that area into our cabin for the past couple years. I've repaired or caulked everything else so we are down to this dirty job. The job took about 3 hours of working on our knees and we ended up with caulk everywhere (which usually happens with us). But, we did find some places where the rain could have gotten into the Toe Rail so maybe we fixed the leak. The next storm will tell.
The gang got together on Papillion for cocktail hour tonight which I skipped to give my liver the day off. I hadn't been feeling that well all day and 3 hours on my knees didn't help. Laura went over with some munchies for a bit. I heated up some chicken soup for dinner - always best when your tummy doesn't feel so good.
Sunday, November 8th (Day 41)
When we got up this morning, the water had gone up about 3-4 inches. Yea! Plus, the forecast for the next few days showed the winds going back to the south which would make the water go down even farther. We were leaving!
In order to make Swansboro (our next destination), we would have to leave by around 8am. As it was already 9am, we took our time and I decided to clean the boat - we would anchor someplace before Swansboro. I took down our Wi-Fi extension and put the antenna back on the aft rail which is it's normal home. Then I got out the scrub brush and SoftScrub to clean the decks and walkways from the ground-in marina dirt. I couldn't believe how bad I had let the boat go. I had washed down the dirt from where we walked on and off the boat but hadn't scrubbed the decks. It took me a couple hours of heaving cleaning including some time on my hands and knees with a scrubby pad. I also washed down everything in the cockpit after taking out the seats and cushions. The whole boat was a different shade now!
After breakfast, we finished cleaning up the decks and I started untying lines from the starboard side of the boat. The lines on the port side would hold us nicely until we were ready to leave. I also performed my engine checks to make sure Gertrude (our Perkins diesel) was ready. It all looked good.
The engine started right up after sitting for 3 weeks. D and Don came down to help us off the dock and by 11am we were motoring out of the marina. D took this picture of us motoring down the fairway.
I wasn't too worried about getting out as we had sounded the whole entrance with the dinghy. I was pretty confident I knew where the deeper channel was and could stay in it.
Once through the breakwater, I turned toward the red marker where we had found deeper water in the dinghy. Right next to the red marker, the boat slowly came to a stop. Arrrrrrgh! I was right where I thought the deeper channel was and should have 6 feet of water here. I backed up a bit then turned closer to the red marker. The boat was still rubbing bottom. Now I wasn't sure which way to turn so I just pushed the throttle forward and the boat "plowed" it's way out. This is not a good way to maneuver a boat because the propeller has much more power in forward than reverse. If I motor aground at full throttle, there is no way I will be able to back off. But, at this point, it was a risk I took. After plowing the bottom with our keel for about a boat length, the water got deeper and the sandy bottom let us go. WE MADE IT!
This seems to have verified our decision to not leave Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday. I don't think there is anyway we would have pushed through if the water was even 3 or 4 inches shallower.
We motored out of the channel and turned east down the Neuse River. I would have loved to sail this area but the winds were right on the nose. Instead we motored the 6 miles to Adam's Creek and, once again, turned south on the ICW.
A short time later we slowly motored into Cedar Creek (off Adam's) and dropped the anchor at 1:30pm. 11.6 nautical miles for the day. It's beautiful here and so nice to be free from the dock. Laura took this picture of our calm anchorage.
We will leave early tomorrow morning and cruise down the ICW to Swansboro. Plans are to stay there for a couple days for a visit with my cousins Tim and Karen. It's possible there will be rain and storms in the area later in the week so we just might stay for a few extra days. We are still not in any hurry and don't mind staying a few extra days with good friends.
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