BoatBanter.com - August 3 - Sailing in Steerage

There was a time, a more wholesome time, when sailors didn't think it
was cool to tell the whole world about their inadequacies, their
mistakes and their lack of sailing skill. Those were much better days.

You and Bob should be ashamed of yourselves. You are almost as inept as
that boob on Flying Pig.

Wilbur Hubbard

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
After Jeff's mention that he saw us in the Dismal Swamp canal on our
first trip down there, I have been re-reading some of the logs I wrote
on that first trip.

Oct 31, 2000 -We started out on the trip with the refrigeration not
working - using bags of ice. The SSB also didn't work and the new VHF
won't even transmit as far as the marina office.

Nov 2 When we went in to Fishing Bay (south of Deltaville), we could
not find a number of the marks but we had the electronic charts to go
by so it was not a problem for us. When we left the next morning the
CG boat was replacing some of them

Nov 3 - As we anchored a work boat putting out crab pots came up
behind us and circled the boat, putting one pot directly in front and
one directly behind the boat. Although the crab pot boat is almost
within arms reach of us, no eye contact was made.

Nov 4 - Bob did figure out how to get out without running into the
crab pots. I was re-figuring the route on the computer on the fly,
but the connection on the trackball was too long to fit into the
computer box, which made it difficult

We came into Point Comfort Marina

The fuel dock is on our starboard as we enter, and we want to tie up
port side to the dock. However, due to the wind, the boat is only
backing to starboard instead of to port as it usually does, and we end
up coming in on the starboard side. We use their lines, since all ours
are rigged on the other side.

We get 15 gallons, and Bob goes up to pay. We tell them we are
supposed to go into slip B33. They say there is no way we will fit in
a slip on B dock (which is mostly small power boats). The guy who
seems to be in charge runs up to the office and says it was supposed
to be E 33, but he is going to put us into E38 instead. That's really
better as that way we don't have to go around between the docks to the
other side but just go in as we come around the protective wall. I
think he decides this based on how incompetitant we were at getting in
to the fuel dock but whatever the reason, it's better for us.

We miss lunch because it is too late for lunch.

Nov 5 - bad weather so we stay at the marina

Nov 6 - still bad weather. Bob got out his tools and started
modifying the cockpit locker that contains the pass-through into the
kitchen so that it has a tray in the top to store things like winch
handles. He also (grumbling) switched the antennas on the radios so
that the one that will send is on the tall antenna.

The people in the marina are afraid that letting me attach the
computer to their phone system will mess it up. When we tried to hook
up the computer to the internet at the hotel (to get email) it took a
long time and a lot of futzing around and I had to use an #800 number
because the phones in the hotel wouldn't accept a local number with an
area code as being local.

Going through Norfolk -the Elizabeth River ferry paddle wheel came out
from his dock and turned down the river along our port side. He
started to pass us and got almost all the way past, and then decided
to come over to the other side of the river, and turned almost right
into us. We speeded up so he went behind us. The ferry is not on the
charts.

Nov 8- 9 - Elizabeth City - We got a sewing needle in the Singer store
next door to Stocks, and I got a new trackball in a computer store. I
call Radio Shack and they've got my spare computer back but lost my
address to send it to me. One boat is out of water, and Bob lends
them his hose because theirs won't reach.

I almost fall in getting back on the boat (there is a very short
finger pier and we have to climb off the bow - there is a plastic milk
crate to step up on, but it is still a good big step, and this time I
knock the crate into the water), and Bob says I won't be allowed off
the boat again. He's only half joking.

Nov 10 - Bob has to free up the speed log

When we anchored, Bob was letting out the chain, and I was reversing.
He had trouble getting it to stop, so he stomped on it, and I decided
I'd gone backwards enough, so put the engine into neutral. As Bob was
contemplating the amount of chain that was out, the boat hit the end,
and the anchor set and stopped the boat with a jerk.

The moon shown through the dodger and down the companionway hatch very
brightly and waked me up.

Nov 11 - Bob took over the helm as we approached the bridge at about
9:20 and was idling around in the canal and ran aground. He got off
and was blown back on, and then got off again.

We came out of the canal into the Pungo River (at 11:30), and Bob
immediately ran aground. He claimed it was because I didn't have
enough magnification of the charts. I generally like to have a scale
that allows me to see various land features so I can place where I am,
and in the canal it doesn't matter. You have to stay in the canal
anyway.

We stopped in the True Value/Radio Shack as they were closing, and
bought a cable TV cable. Bob went up to use the bathroom and thought
it was locked but actually both of us forgot the correct combination.

Nov 12 - Bob spends his time polishing the stainless. He says that at
least he didn't try to polish the anchor :-) He opens the engine hatch
in the cockpit floor to check to see if the engine temp on the gauge
is really 170 like it says, instead of 180 like it should be.

Nov 13 - Initially too foggy to see the daymarks 100 feet away. .

The engine hour meter stopped working yesterday and isn't working
today either. Also the oil pressure and temperature are not right. Bob
starts taking things apart and gets down in the engine compartment
twice. Eventually he finds the loose or broken wire that isn't making
a good connection and everything is fixed. Later, we heard a really
big racket - a throbbing noise. Bob has been into the engine room and
thought he fixed the engine electrical stuff which runs the gauges --
what is this racket?? Is the engine coming apart?
We look around and it is a BIG amphibious vehicle with big spinning
tires that is making the noise - it passes going north.

As we are going down towards Beaufort, I suddenly look up and find
that Bob is going to go the wrong way - I correct him.

Nov 14 - Bob had some trouble with the wash down pump (which is a
cheap Ruhl bilge pump that he plugs into a 12V plug in the Vberth and
puts over the side into the water and pumps water up out of the creek
or whatever body of water we are anchored in to wash off the anchor
chain and anchor), so he didn't get the anchor actually washed off.
Later, he finds that the plug had a short which caused it to blow a
fuse.

It rains and is hard to see. One burgee has the top snap broken, so I
go out and take both burgees on that side down until Bob can replace
the snap.

When we go to anchor at Mile Hammock Bay we have considerable
difficulty because we start out in 10 feet of water and as he lets out
the anchor chain, we are blown out onto the shallow part and end up in
5 feet of water. Bob resets the anchor once, and then just decides to
put out less scope. A trawler named THE TRAVELER came in late and
anchored so that he was on top of our anchor. The battery operated
light we have has gotten too dim for me to read my notes after
sundown. My computer screen is brighter but hard to read by.

Nov 15 As we went through the Wrightsville Beach bridge, I was telling
Bob to look for a marker to go into Wrightsville Beach to anchor. He
was looking on the wrong side of the channel, plus that was the marker
that DENALI ROSE had reported was gone. So we missed the turnoff,
which is almost as bad as missing the turnoff on the freeway. However,
I knew there was another way to get there and we didn't have to turn
around. We came in Shim's Creek instead of going in the Mott Channel
to the Banks Channel

Nov 16 - None of the charts (only the AAA map) mentions that there is
a ferry across the Cape Fear river. It goes from south of Sunny Point
to the Fort Fisher Historic Site across the river (a car ferry).
Unfortunately, since it isn't marked on the charts it is hard to tell
where to go to get out of the way of the ferry, and for a little
while, the ferry appears to be pursuing us to run us down.

We turn in toward the entrance channel of Bald Head and Bob has the
wheel hard over to counter the current. Suddenly he throttles back and
spins the wheel. In the entrance channel there is no current.

Nov 17 - wind up to 25 knots in the marina. We decide to stay another
way. Bob starts working on the SSB and gets it to work (I have said
I won't go offshore without it) and we listen to Herb's Southbound II

Nov 18 - We back out over the lump in the marina that is right behind
us - the depth alarm goes off, but we knew the lump was there because
another cruiser told me about it Wind on the nose at 20 knots, but
the waves aren't too bad. Bob saw the markers for Oak Island, and I
nearly directed him in there instead of to Southport. He complained
that the route that I had laid out on the computer didn't go that way
just in time to go the correct direction.

When we get to the Myrtle Beach area (the Rockpile) the marina tells
us that the ICW is closed south of them due to high steel work on a
new bridge. They say that the waterway won't be closed in the rain,
and it is 100% predicted rain for tomorrow. I call the construction
site on the cell phone, and they say they will not close the ICW
tomorrow, but will close Monday. They ask me to announce that on the
VHF.

Our cable is too short to reach for the free cable TV. Bob then sets
out to walk to West Marine. He tried to buy a longer TV cable, but
they only have a 20 foot one and no connector. He did buy a little
hand pump - he had one in the tool box he left at home

Nov 19- It is cold and rainy. We have transited some of the Rock
Pile, and are coming up to Barefoot Landing when *surprise* - there is
a swing bridge here that isn't on the charts and isn't mentioned in
the ICW Guide. It opens on request. I also relay to the bridge tender
what the construction guy told me about the canal being open today and
closed tomorrow.

The SC bridges monitor channel 9 and not 13. People are having trouble
remembering that. The bridge list in the charts doesn't have it
correct either.

We have picked up a covey of boats behind us. We pass the bridge that
is being constructed. Farther down we see *another* construction
barge with a crane. It appears to be deserted.

Bob asks me if he should go to one side or between the barge and
something that is being built in the middle of the canal. How should I
know? There is only a sign that says "Slow - Construction Area - No
Wake". As we passed, it appears that there was an unattended generator
pumping out a caisson on the west side. (We did go between the barge
and the other thing.) As soon as we went through, everyone behind us
passed us. They just wanted to let us go first through the scary bit

We wanted to get to Georgetown tonight or at least down farther on the
Waccamaw River to Thoroughfare Creek to anchor. But we just can't get
that far. It is too much of a strain looking through the fogged up
dodger. And it is going to be cold, so we go into a marina.

Nov 20 - supposed to go down to 29 deg tonight, which means we have to
go to McClellanville because that's the only place that will allow us
to get to Charleston tomorrow that we can get electricity.to run the
heaters. We are going to be in Charleston for Thanksgiving with our
son's family.

We get to McClellenville just before 5 (sunset). Bob cuts into St.
Jerome Creek a little close to the side and the water gets a little
skinny. The entrance to the creek will be too shallow for us at low
tide.-there is a wreck on the chart right at the south side channel
entrance. The guides say (correctly) that there is a sandbar extending
out from the north bank into the channel across the entrance.

The guys on the dock tell us that the owner has gone into town, but
they help us tie up at what proves to be the fuel dock. The guy comes
back and we pay in cash, and hook up to the electric. Someone comes in
for fuel and afterwards there is a pervasive gas smell in the air,
which makes Bob wonder about cooking.

This is a fixed dock, and there is a 6 foot tide. Bob carefully
adjusts the lines so that we won't get hung up. He gets up a couple of
times to make sure that we are OK and at low tide the dock is over his
head when he is standing on the deck. It might have been better for us
to raft on another boat. The other boat would be floating too and it
would be like being at a floating dock.

Nov 21

I am awakened by a tremendous BANG by my head at 5:40 am. The shrimp
boat behind us has clipped us on the way out. Bob pulls on pants and a
coat and comes back saying that the bow wave just pushed us into the
pole. I don't think so. Later I go out on the stern and look where I
think the shrimp boat hit us, and find a rough place. Bob thinks they
just put some paint on us, but when I looked at it again later, and
there's definitely a chafed place about 3 inches long on the corner. I
didn't see how they could hit us there without hurting the dinghy, but
Bob said their stern swung into us.

We hear about a sailboat aground up near Isle of Palms

Bob goes to the head, and a power boat passes us, and immediately the
depth sounder goes crazy. It looks like we are running aground. One
second it is 6.8, then 5 feet, then 4.5, then 6.0. With two examples
of sailboats aground behind us, this isn't unlikely, but I can't find
the deep channel.

Eventually Bob comes back and we figure that the power boat stirred up
the mud and debris so that the depth sounder couldn't read the bottom
correctly

I call the Ben Sawyer bridge. They say the bridge is not able to open,
and they will let us know when it is fixed. So Bob slows down. Then
they say come on down and it will open. So Bob speeds up. Then she
says the guy hasn't come out from under the bridge yet (her own
private troll?). So Bob doesn't know what to do. The wind is against
us but the current is with us, and it is hard to control the boat even
in a slack current with no wind. Eventually we got within about a
half mile of the bridge and it started to open, so we put the pedal
down. There were two boats waiting ahead of us, so we went through in
a timely manner behind them at 12:18. She blew the closing horn as we
were within the bridge.

When we get the marina, the harbormaster picked a slip that would be
the easiest for us to get into (considering the wind and current) Bob
starts to mend some of the bimini curtains where the thread has dry
rotted. There is only one sail shop in this area, and they can't
handle anything this week. He also tries to rent a car, but they are
all reserved

Note - of the things that we KNEW that didn't work at the beginning,
the only one that has been fixed to this point is the SSB.