Pasquotank
River Yacht ClubPasquotank
River Yacht Club
Elizabeth City, North Carolina
Cruising News and Stories
from SHADOW by Martha Jean Spero
New Notes Added 10-28-02
Excerpts From the Cruising Log of MV SHADOW
12/1/01 0700. Departure Day!
We leave our home of 5 months, PRYC. Light winds and warm temperatures.
Stop overnight at Alligator River Marina then reach our destination of Dowry Creek Marina without incident. As usual we are treated to a warm welcome by owners Ted and Mary and dockmaster, Suzanne. We settle in for what we expect will be a 30 day. Stay.
12/28/01 Dowry Creek, NC
Christmas has come and gone. We enjoyed spending time with family especially granddaughter, Emily. In our absence, we have been visited by unwanted stow-aways. Mice! The battle begins. The mouse evades our traps for several days but Rich puts out a veritable mindfield of traps and he prevails!
We must return to northern VA because we have sold our car, our last land based possession , to our daughter’s next door neighbor! None of the car rental companies will rent us a car one-way so we will be returning to Belhaven in a u-haul truck. Don’t laugh-it worked!
1/4/02 0900. Dowry Creek. Happy New Year!
We awake to 4 inches of snow on deck! It hangs around for several days and so does the wind. We must delay heading south until the weather clears.
1/12/02 0715 Arv: Oriental Marina, NC
Finally we are on our way! We meet up with another cruising couple who, like us, have headed south late due to health concerns. Oriental has always been a quaint town and is now seeing a renewal of the waterfront area. Looks good.
1/14/02 1400 Arv: Dudley’s Marina, Swansboro, NC
We begin what is to become our routine: Arrival at a new place with plans to be gone the next morning but we find the need too lay over one or more days due to a cold front moving in and bringing small craft advisories. Next year we start south earlier!
1/18/02 0700 Destination SC!
We have spent 2 days in Southport, NC, home of the Cape Fear River Pilot boats. We have enjoyed learning about their hard job and have watched them come and go to guide the big boys into port.
Rich has discovered several fluid leaks. He sets about looking for their origin.
We will spend 1 week at a lovely marina in Little River, SC called Cricket Cove while he tries to fix the leak by replacing a gasket (we must have it sent from Kilamarnock, Va ) that he thinks may be the source.
1/27/02 Arv: Wacca Wache Marina, SC
We have traveled down the beautiful Wachamaw River on a lovely warm record- breaking day. The leak is not fixed. In fact it is actually two leaks: fuel and oil. The marina’s mechanic is able to tell Rich exactly what is leaking and how to fix it but he does not have the parts. We can get them in Charlestown, SC. Which is only a two day trip away.
1/29/02 Arv: Georgetown Landing Marina, SC
Half way to Charlestown. Georgetown is a historic town. Many pre-civil war rice plantations were located here. The weather is so warm that we dig our shorts out of the bottom of the drawer. Now this is more like it! Wrong! The warm air brings sea fog so thick we could not see from one end of SHADOW to the other. 3 days of fog! We take the time in port to clean up the decks and put a coat of Cetol on the teak. Nice.
2/3/02 1500 Arv: Toler’s Cove, Mount Pleasant, SC
The tide in Charlestown harbor is ebbing at almost 3knots. We decide to stop for the night and traverse the harbor on the morning’s incoming tide. It’s Super Bowl Sunday so we settle in and watch the game.
2/4/02 Mount Pleasant, SC
Gale force winds greet us and the dawn! We are less than 5 miles from Charlestown but must wait another day!
Excerpts From the Cruising Log of MV SHADOW
Continued
2/10/02 Ashley Marina, Charlestown, SC. We arrived here without incident. The recommended diesel repair facility has come, diagnosed, and fixed our fuel leak. We are relieved. We then turned our attention to the wonderful city of Charlestown. The weather had been warmer so we have gone shopping, and site seeing, We have attended a free afternoon jazz concert at the library, and met another cruising couple from Seattle WA who are on their way around the world. Tomorrow we will leave here for Beaufort, SC.
2/11/02 0700 Lv. Charlestown SC The forecast is for light winds and sunny. We plan our departure to be at the Elliott cut and Limehouse swing bridge at slack tide because we have been told that the current there can be as much as 7 knots! The day is sunny and somewhat warm but the wind is not light! We depart as planned and get through the cut and bridge without incident.
That, however, is the easy part of the day. Unfortunately, the tide is falling and the wind is pushing the water even further out to sea. We encounter many places on the ICW where there is much less water depth than expected. This makes for a nerve-wracking day. We try to leave the ICW at Rock Creek, a reportedly nice, protected anchorage, and we nearly run aground! So much for our 1st attempt at overnight anchoring. We continue on to Beaufort, SC, hoping to get there by dark.
Making 7 k most of the way, we do arrive safely at Downtown Marina in Beaufort, SC.
2/22/02 Beaufort SC. Over a week has come and gone and we have settled in very nicely here. We have met many people who either live aboard here at the marina year round or are snowbirds that travel south in the fall and go no further than here until spring. We ourselves have decided to stay here a month so that we can get used to our new lifestyle and continue with SHADOW’s renovations.
Beaufort is another old southern town that, like Charlestown, markets its heritage to bring in tourist dollars. The historic downtown is at the end of the dock and has many nice restaurants and shops. Real shopping is across the bridge on Lady’s Island or out of town a short courtesy car ride away. The town has a bakery, hardware store, library, post office and a barbershop all in walking distance. A very boater friendly town.
3/1/02 The weather is pleasant here. The days are for the most part, quite warm, however, the nights are still in the middle 30’s so we are glad for the heat being at the dock allows us.
Today I sat with Rich in a swing on the waterfront overlooking the waterway and the Lady’s Island bridge. We contemplated the job of the bridge tender. This way of life will soon be no more. Many of the less than 65 feet spans are being replaced. It must be a slow and easy way to watch the water traffic go by in between the hard job of opening the bridge as needed for water traffic and still insuring that the car traffic is not unduly delayed. I wondered what these people would do when the bridges are gone.
3/15/02
0700 Arv. Sail Harbor Marina, Savannah, GA. We have come here at the invitation of a couple we have met who owns a 36 Albin just like ours. They have given us their car for transportation and have invited us to church services. We share a meal and worship with their church family and feel very welcome here.
3/16/02
St. Patrick’s Day, Savannah GA. We have taken a special bus provided by the city into Savannah. There is not enough parking for the 500,000 people expected to attend today’s events but I suspect that the buses are provided so that people will not be drinking (and it is expected and encouraged) and driving.
It is hot. We have arrived early and are in a park along the parade route sitting under the shade of several trees. There is a party atmosphere; the people have started to celebrate already. Most, in the spirit of the Irish, have dressed for the occasion in green and wear multicolored beads (like Mardi Gras). Some have painted their bodies and hair. Others have painted their pets: dogs, cats and even horses. The marchers look hot and uncomfortable in the unrelenting sun and we are glad we have found some shade. This parade is impossibly long. We have been told it is 2nd only to the St Patrick’s Day parade in NYC.
The riverfront is prepared for the after parade celebrations. There is a truck bed bandstand with speakers as big as a grain silo and a band already too loudly warming up. Budweiser has set up a refrigerated 18-wheeler to dispense brews and all the shop owners have extra help ready to manage the crowds. Plus, there is an admission charged for all this. We decide to forgo this part of the celebrations and return to the suburbs where SHADOW is docked on the bus.
3/19/02
Savannah, GA. It has been unusually warm here. We have not needed the heat at night and have even put on the air conditioning during the day.
Our good friends, Lorrie and Ron Thompson arrive here for a surprise visit. They are on their way back to Kitty Hawk from visiting friend in Florida.
We site see in the city on a trolley tour. The preserved historic area of Savannah is full of lovely green places and beautiful antebellum homes. This is an especially good time of year to visit because the azaleas are all in wonderful bloom.
3/21/02
Vernon river anchorage, Beaulieu, GA. This is the first time we have anchored since we left Elizabeth City. The CQR anchor is new to us, setting it is different. We must master the technique. It is so peaceful here, we stay for 2 days.
3/24/02
ICW Mud River, GA We see our first in the wild alligator!
3/27/02
Fort George River anchorage, FL. We have made it to Florida. Our anchor is set and 3 other boats here join us. There is a lovely sunset and a beautiful full moon tonight.
We are glad to be through Georgia. The coastline is mostly wild and unpopulated. There are miles and miles of unbroken marshland. We stopped in Brunswick GA for a few days, a quiet town with few amenities for boaters. While there, Captain Rich performs his first solo oil and filter changes. No problem.
3/31/02 Easter Sunday New Smyrna Beach.
This is as far south as we will go; when we leave here we will head north. We have met with a high school buddy of Rich’s and his wife. We have walked the ocean beaches. The sand here is quite different than in NC. It packs hard and cars pull out on it to park for the day while its occupants enjoy the water and sun.
4/3/02 anchorage off St Augustine, Fl.
We will be here several days at anchor. For a fee, the municipal marina provides a dinghy dock and use of its facilities. We leave SHADOW at anchor to shop, do laundry, and site see. It is an odd feeling to leave the boat and go ashore. I keep looking back to see if she is still there and am nervous all day and anxious to get back to her. But, my fears are for nothing because SHADOW sits unharmed and very pretty at anchor when we return.
4/9/02 1200
Our destination this day was to be Jekyll Island Harbor Marina. We do end up there but not as expected.
We are less than two miles from Jekyll Island in St Andrew’s Sound when we run aground on a tide that is falling 1 inch every 5 minutes! A look at the chart and our GPS coordinates tell us we should have 16 ft of water but, as charts are not up to date, an uncharted shoal has formed there and we are on it. Shadow’s stern is to the wind and she quickly lists 45° to port. Panic and embarrassment prevail aboard so we call for help.
Once afloat, we realize that our hydraulic steering is not working. We are towed, 35miles by 2 different towboat companies (as they have defined territories) back into Florida to a repair yard at Fernandina Beach.
4/20/02 Fernandina Beach, Fl.
We have been living on the hard for the week. SHADOW’s broken seals and cylinders on the hydraulic system have been replaced, the rudder straightened, scraped off bottom paint replaced. We are ready to depart but when the oil is checked before we leave, Captain Rich discovers water in the oil. SHADOW has not overheated so the explanation is that as we sat aground, stern to the wind driven waves, water was forced up into the exhaust and then into the engines. The solution is multiple oil changes. It is a grueling job. SHADOW’s engine purrs seemingly unconcerned and unhurt. We depart tomorrow.
Excerpt from the log of m/v SHADOW
4/21/02 Sun. St. Andrew’s Sound, GA.
Ahead of us is a tug pulling a dredge and dredge barge and incredibly long dredge pipes. The total length is ½ mile long! So long, in fact, that two small helper tugs are accompanying the large tug and they travel the length of the tow pushing the pipes to keep it all in the center of the channel. It is traveling at 2 MPH. The ICW here is wide and deep. We have listened to other boats as they communicate with the tug captain. He sounds annoyed to be bothered with all the faster boats that are in a hurry to pass him. We are polite and compliment him on his piloting skills. We ask the tug captain’s permission to pass and we are told by him to pass on the two whistle He tells us his tow began in Jacksonville FL and his destination is Southport, NC.
We pass, amazed at the work of the small tugs as they chug back and forth and around the tow. We are glad to be passed him, continuing on our way to an anchorage in the Duplin River where we stop for the night.
4/22/02 Mon. Johnson Creek, GA.
It’s incredible! The tug and its dredge tow are ahead of us! As we slept, he and his crew sailed on and have passed us. Now we must pass him again! This time then we hear him on the VHF, we are approaching a narrow man-made cut, which is too narrow to pass this large tow comfortably. We decide to hang back and wait to pass him when we reach the wider sound. We are, however, alone in our resolve. Other boats, especially the large sport fishers, impatiently request permission to pass or pass without talking to the tug captain. We again hear the captain’s frustration in his crusty replies to the other boats. We watch as he and the helper tugs maneuver around several 90 turns in the tight channel.
4/23/02 Tue. 5 miles south of Calibogue Sound, near Hilton Head SC.
Oh no, there he is ahead of us again. We are not surprised. After we enter Calibogue Sound, we pass him, saluting his expertise, and continue on our way. We think as we leave him behind us that we have not seen the last of him. Right we are.
4/24/02 Coosaw River, SC
The tug and his tow are just ahead of us. We are sorry to see him in this part of the ICW. The way ahead is long and winding. On our way south, we had trouble here with very shallow water. To make matters worse, the tide is down. A quick check of the chart reveals that it will be miles before the channel is wide enough to safely pass him.
To maintain our distance behind him, we slow to his speed and have a 2nd cup of coffee. Not so others. We hear again the annoyance in the communications between the tug captain and the impatient boaters. Geez, he’s just doing his job!
As we continue to listen, we hear the tug captain calling the coast guard. Uh oh!
He says, "Coast Guard, Coast Guard. This is the tug J.D. Contrell. I have completely destroyed, repeat completely destroyed, day mark green 185! The coast Guard radioman is unable at first to locate green 185 on his chart. We grin and shake our heads as we listen to the talk between him and the tug captain until they figure it out. By this time we have arrived at green 185, which is at the south entrance to the Ashepoo Coosaw cutoff. Sure enough, a jagged post and a floating sign are all that is left of it. The tug captain is having a day he will not soon forget, nor will we. We pass him later for the 4th and last time.
As he falls behind us, his responses to hails from other boats are humble and polite. We continue on our cruise. We will not see him underway again, but, when we reach Southport, the dredge is on sight and working to deepen the channel in to Cape Fear River.
5/3/02 1300 Arv. Awendaw Creek anchorage.
We have spent a week in Charlestown, SC. Our daughter and her family came south by airline to visit with us. We have done the town and enjoyed watching 18 mo. old Emily.
When they left for home we headed north. This is our first stop north of Charlestown. Single-handed cruiser accompanies us on s/v NARNIA.
The hook is down in 10ft. of water. This creek is open marsh except for a few scrub pines to our NE. NOAA has forecast thunderstorms, high winds and damaging hail for tonight.
2200. Thunderstorm! We are spooked watching the light show out our cabin windows. The winds have picked up but nothing like the forecast. Heavy rain but no hail. The lightening is spectacular, we are OK. It is comforting to see NARNIA’s anchor light shinning just north of us.
5/4/02
Our destination was to have been a well-known anchorage on the Waccamaw River. It has been windy and overcast all day. We have watched squall lines approaching from the south and waterspouts have been sited. We decide to go to Georgetown, SC, tie up at the dock and spend a safe night there.
5/5/02
It is very cold and windy today. Sweatshirts again. The current is against us all the way north in the Waccamaw River.
1130. The sun comes out to warm us. It is a very pleasant part of the ICW. The Waccamaw is a beautiful, unspoiled, fresh water river running through cypress swamp and hardwood forest.
1330. Arv. The oxbow anchorage on the Waccamaw River. Beautiful spot. There are 3 other boats already anchored here. There is little current or wind here and we have the hook down in 15 ft. of water. We see turtles, egrets, osprey and a bald eagle. It is quiet except for the noise of small boats, which will stop at dusk.
We are trying to get reliable information about a levy break along the ICW at Myrtle Beach. The break spilled mud and sand into the channel reducing the depth to less than 5 feet at low tide. A dredge is reported to be working 24 hrs a day to deepen the channel. Deep draft boats have been stopped or chosen to go outside and around the obstruction.
5/7/02
0900 We stayed at anchor 2 days in the idyllic Jacamar spot. We have passed the levy break area where a dredge is working non-stop. Our depth finder shows no less than 6 ft.
1045. We are in NC. We hear talk on the VHF that the Sunset pontoon bridge cannot open because the tide is so low. Boats are piling up around it awaiting the rise of the tide.
1145. We reach the pontoon bridge and the bridge tender opens for us. We ask him if he often cannot open the bridge due to low tide. He says that it happens infrequently but more often this spring perhaps due to the drought.
5/9/02
Motts Channel anchorage, Wrightsville Beach, NC. There are lovely, expensive homes all along the ICW here. It seems every one here has a boat! We had trouble setting the anchor in the swift current here. We dropped it 3 times and dragged. A friendly boater, who watched our trouble, came to offer advice. We are not used to the CQR type of anchor we now use. We have always anchored with a Danforth type. It seems that each type needs to be handled differently. We take is kind advise and have no more trouble.
As we leave here this morning we see many swimmers in the water. Just heads in bathing caps moving through the water ahead of us. Is it a swim club or lifeguards? Don’t know but it gives me shivers to think how cold the water must be!
5/15/02
1300 Arv. Campbell Creek anchorage just N of Hobucken C.G. Station.
This creek is peppered with crab pots. We find an open spot to anchor ½ mi W of the ICW in 5 ft of water.
5/16/02
0930. Great anchorage. The mist swirls as the sun rises. There is no other boat in sight. No other sounds but the birds calling. It is ironic that the peaceful, quiet anchorage we sought is right in our own backyard!
5/17/02
1015 Arv. Dowry Creek Marina. Belhaven NC. Great to see familiar faces and greet old friends.
Excerpts
from the log of MV SHADOW
. We have arrived at
We remain here at AYB. Our now straightened shaft was only part of the
cause of the leaking stuffing box. Captain Rich and the mechanics here at AYB
have now reconditioned Shadow’s old and worn transmission! These further
repairs added to the stock market’s continued downturn, have left our finances
precarious. To change this I have contacted several agencies for employment as a
traveling laboratory technologist. A move we have considered but hoped would not
be necessary so soon after retirement.
Finally, a job!
I will travel to
0600. The rental car is packed to the roof with all that we need and
think we need to live in upstate NY for possibly several months. Shadow is to be
undercover and looked after here at AYB until we return. We have emptied the
refrigerator and left 3 fans running to keep the mildew at bay.
****
We are back aboard Shadow. She is dirty and stale smelling inside but we
find nothing that is unexpected in a boat that has been unused for so long.
How relieved we that this is so and happy to be home aboard her!
Our land adventure has been more and less than we expected. Work
is-well-work. I was gladly welcomed into the lab; they needed and appreciated my
skills. This was a real ego booster. I worked days, evenings or nights as
needed.
Rich couldn’t get work in the x-ray department. He tried not working at
all but there was only so much shopping, laundry, running laps on the high
school track for exercise and television watching he could do! So he got a job
bagging groceries (a no brainer) at the local supermarket. The work filled his
afternoons and he enjoyed talking to and helping the customers.
With no household responsibilities, we had plenty of time off to see the
sites and tour around the area. Malone is dairy
country
very close to the Canadian border, the
We traveled to the St Lawrence seaway-1000 island area. The St Lawrence is a river of clear blue water dotted with rocky islands some large enough to have lovely houses on them. Neat!
§
We visited
§
We spent a long day at the
§
We went to Massena and
visited the Eisenhower Lock, one of many locks on the seaway. We stood on the
observation platform and watched a huge 500 ft tanker lock through heading west
and then watched a dozen pleasure boats enter, raft up and lock through going
east. The lock drops or raises boats and ships 45 ft. It was easy to tell the
veteran from the first-timers. We decided we wouldn’t want to be the boat
against the wall. This first boat ties to the wall and is responsible for all
the others rafted against him as the water flows into the lock. Scary!
We
traveled east to
We
spent many of our days off exploring in the 6 million acre
§
§
We took a walking tour
through the Village of Saranac Lake, renowned before the turn of the century for
its TB sanitarium and cure houses. Many suffers, famous, infamous, rich and
poor, came to Saranac Lake for the cure which was no more than rest, good food
and most important breathing the fresh, clean, cold air of the mountains. Many
of the houses today still have open cure porches. The sick boarders were brought
outside, winter and summer, lying on special wheeled couches where they remained
all day. Many, it seems, got better. This continued until the cause and the
antibiotics to treat TB were discovered.
§
We went to
§
And finally, we spent
several Sunday afternoons walking trails within the Park, enjoying the peace and
quiet of the woods, stopping along the way to eat a picnic lunch at a lakeside
lean-to.
0700
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