It’s not usually good news when the captain is doing routine maintenance on the boat and greets you with the following words “I think we have a problem”. Well, it’s a boat so yeah what’s new I thought. Then he showed me this…
Nope, those are not gemstones or black diamonds, those are metal pieces that he found in the oil of our port (left) transmission. First he found 3-4 pieces in the oil, then put a magnetic wand in the oil drain and found a lot more… NOT GOOD!!! After some discussion with a ZF/Hurth Transmission expert, the consensus is those little metal bits are likely from our transmission clutch gears. Nope, not good at all.
The irony (pun intended), is that we have traveled almost a thousand miles with ZERO issues. No tale tail clunking, grinding or rough shifting. So our first though is can we keep cruising, take it easy on the engines and transmissions and have it fixed this winter while the boat is in storage.
Nope, not a good idea at all and the worst case scenario is that something could happen at the worst possible time and do even more damage to the transmission. UGH, we are not gamblers so continuing on our merry way didn’t seem like a good option. Our transmission experts were a bit puzzled about these bits of gear in just one of our two transmissions. They said this isn’t due to lack of maintenance – this usually happens because of an incident. Did we have an incident??? Nope, but there was one when the boat was being pulled out for the pre-purchase survey. Thats another long story, which I won’t bore you with. But honestly none of us including the engine and hull surveyor even thought about transmission damage. After describing that incident to the transmission expert, he agreed that it was indeed possible that this damage had happened then.
So now what??? We decided to bring the boat over to Bluewater Yacht Center in Hampton to have the transmission pulled and sent to Great Lakes Power to be repaired. Unfortunately , this type of repair can’t be done any other way.
The good news is we can stay on the boat while the repairs are being made but the bad news is our 1998 ZF Hurth Transmission isn’t easy to find OEM parts for. The Great Lakes Power folks found everything except the gasket and seal kit. It might be available by late September. UGH… after some looking we found an aftermarket kit made by a reliable company so we are going to go that route.
Yes, we are both a bit bummed as an extended layover in Hampton was not on the agenda for sure. So … no cruising for us until the repair is done but at least we have our trusty SUV Ernie to go exploring in. The marina is nice, we have a pool and laundry facilities and a really great cider place nearby!!
Plus it really pretty here and Mother Nature put on a show last night just to cheer us up!
With a 95% chance of rain and expected accumulation of over 1/2 inch it definitely wasn’t going to be a day to be exploring outdoors. After a leisurely morning with loads of hot coffee, we decided to get out and brave the deluge of rain. It’s weird to dress for a warm, wet day… I’ve mostly been living in shorts, a tee shirt and flip flops so I was puzzling on what to wear, LOL!!! So, I could have just thrown on a rain jacket over that attire but I figured it might be cold inside places we might go. Usually the air conditioning is set on high almost everyplace we’ve been into in Virginia. In the end, I chose a pair of lightweight, quick dry capri pants, a capped sleeve shirt and a pair of slip on boat shoes. EWW, shoes!!! Of course I forgot my light sweater but somehow I survived with my fashion choices and yes, I really did need that rain jacket!
We decided to explore locally and started off with lunch at Venture Kitchen and Bar in Downtown Hampton. Their website described handmade pizza dough and a wood fired oven, so that seemed like a perfect lunch on a rainy day. The young man who waited on us was great and very chatty. Not sure how we got on the subject but he was fascinated by The Great Loop and kept coming by to ask us questions. He has a friend who lives on a boat… that is not operable, but still, he totally got the magnitude of doing a 6,000 mile loop around the US on a boat. Maybe it was more the idea that a boat could could actually run for that many miles??? I loved his curiosity and interest in traveling and so hope he follows his dreams, gets out and sees the world.
After lunch, we headed over to the NASA Langley Visitors Center which houses the Virginia Air & Space Science Center. Wally worked for NASA in the early 90’s and is always game to visit anything NASA, Space or Aeronautics related. It was a very heady time in his career and the spacecrafts he designed electronic hardware for all launched into space and gathered some really amazing science.
Mars Pathfinder was one of the most exciting projects that Wally worked on during his time at NASA- JPL. I will never forget the excitement of seeing it launch in Florida and then seeing it actually land on Mars and start collecting data.
Hampton, Virginia is the birthplace of America’s space program. The Virginia Air & Space Science Center features interactive aviation exhibits spanning 100 years of flight, more than 30 historic aircraft, a hands-on space exploration gallery, unique space flight artifacts, and more! The Center is home to the Apollo 12 Command Module and the Orion PA-1 Test Vehicle – COOL!!!!
A unique collaboration between the City of Hampton and NASA Langley Research Center started in 1986. NASA Langley Research Center expressed a willingness to relocate their visitor center to downtown Hampton, so more people would have access to explore the past, present, and future of air and space. The City wanted a new place to highlight Hampton’s wealth of history. Hampton is America’s first permanent English speaking settlement and the birthplace of our country’s air and space technology so it appeared to be the perfect collaboration.
The museum isn’t big so it’s amazing how it can house so many aircraft’s. YF16, F4 Phantom, Burt Rutan’s Experimental and the FA18 which a friend based out of Whidbey Island Washington flew over our marina on occasion!
It was a perfect rainy day outing and it wasn’t really crowded either. There were more kids there than adults as the museum has an excellent educational program. They provide educational experiences through Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) to students who will one day become our next 21st Century explorers of the future. We had fun watching a group of kids being led by a teacher doing an egg drop experiment. The goal is to drop your egg from a high point and have it land intact – think humans in the first Apollo mission!!! The girl with the balloon design and the boy with the coffee filter design nailed it!! We helped a few that landed early on the second level of the museum where we were watching. Sadly, some of those egg astronauts didn’t survive their space flight.
It was a real walk down memory lane seeing all the Apollo exhibits. It was an exciting time in American history to see Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. My mother worked in High Tech and her group manufactured some of the high reliability power supply’s in these Apollo spacecraft that we saw in the museum. She was incredibly proud of that work and we all excitedly watched so many of the Apollo launches. Who’da thunk I’d eventually marry a man who helped send space craft to Mars and Saturn???
After the museum, the weather gave us a break so we took a walk around Downtown Hampton. There is a nice river walk that winds along the Salters Creek. Don’t know if was the rain, but we wehardly saw a soul out and about and the area had ZERO vibe. Not good, not bad or indifferent, WTH??? We will have to check it out again on a weekend and see if that changes.
For boaters, Hampton is a nice stop if you are interested in the Museum and a checking out a few restaurant within walking distance. The Docks at Downtown Hampton is an option for boaters and it is right off the Hampton River in Downtown. Personally, I wasn’t impressed with it BUT the location is perfect. Safe Haven Bluewater which is a great marina is another option but it would mean taking their water taxi or Uber to get to downtown.
LOL, there was definitely no Joy at the Joy’s Marina. Looks like its hasn’t been operational in years!
After our walk around Hampton, we decided to drive over to the Phoebus Neighborhood and check out Sly Clyde Ciderworks. I really like this eclectic little neighborhood, it has all kinds of cool eateries, a few art galleries and a nice middle class vibe.
Wally is a big cider fan… me?? Meh, most are too sweet but when a good one comes along, I am all in. Wally had ordered a Sly Clyde Submursive Hard Cider at lunch and I liked it so much, that I decided to get one too. WooHoo, day drinking on a rainy day. We knew the brewery was local, so now we were really motivated to check it out. Again, there was not a soul on the streets and NO one inside at Sly Clyde when we got there around 3:30.
We had a great time with Amy, who was behind the bar. It’s really interesting and fun to connect with people who are locals. She is putting in a few extra hours at the ciderhouse on Friday and Saturday to top off her kids colleague funds. Otherwise, she is a bean counter at a nearby shipyard so we got to talk with her about that, which was fascinating! We also met her daughter who is in Vet School in Grenada but home for a summer break. The ciders were all great and we had more fun conversation with Amy and some friends of hers that stopped by with their adorable Cocker, Poodle Doodle Dogs. .
We started with a tasting flight but Amy kept the samples coming off the taps. Even a few of her own concoctions, which were delicious. The ciders were great and of course we left with several four packs and a few new friends. A very good rainy day indeed!
We took a short drive on Tuesday to Yorktown to take a walk along the York River and to also check out the American Revolution Museum.
Yorktown was established by Virginia’s colonial government in 1691 to regulate trade and to collect taxes on both imports and exports for Great Britain. By the early 1700s, Yorktown had emerged as a major Virginia port and economic center. Seems you could sail from Great Britain all the way to North American but you couldn’t hide from the tax collector – NOPE!
The walk along the York River was peaceful and beautiful which gave way to thinking about everything that has happened in this area since 1691. The siege of Yorktown was the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in North America, and led to the surrender of Cornwallis and the capture of both him and his army. The Continental Army’s victory at Yorktown prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict, making way for an independent United States of America. Pretty heady stuff indeed.
The museum is really quite amazing and I loved the interactive exhibits, the films and the immersive experience. Admittedly, I tend to get bored at museums that are all signage and displays. Clearly, they had my learning style in mind when they designed this museum. It’s amazing I managed to get through reading the 900 plus page Michener book Chesapeake, LOL. Seriously, that was a really good read and a great introduction to this part of Virginia.
The museum allows you to discover Virginia through the lens of the Stuart monarchy, whose royal foothold impacted and influenced early America and shaped the struggles and determination of those who lived in the colony in the 17th and 18th centuries.
I thought this an interesting view of history.
There is also an outdoor replica of an encampment at the museum complete with docents in period clothing at different areas explaining how the soldiers lived during the war. While the area around the encampment is absolutely beautiful, the conditions then were grim, especially during the winter months.
For those of you who are boaters or future boaters considering the Great Loop, Yorktown is a great stop and very well set up for boaters. The City run Riverwalk Landing Piers provides 1,200 linear feet of T-pier dockage on the York River. The piers allow overnight stays and provide electrical, water, and sewer pump-out. The concrete floating pier system looks to be very new and in wonderful condition. The depths at dockside range from 27′ to 50′ on well over 1,000 feet of dock frontage space. The Waterway guide also mentions that there are discounts for stays Mon-Thursday. When we were there on a Tuesday, there were only a few boats on the docks.
The museum is an easy .75 mile walk from the Waterfront Landing along the York River. If walking isn’t your gig, there is also a trolley. This FREE air-conditioned (and heated) service will take you from the Yorktown Battlefield Visitor Center all the way to the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, making several convenient stops along the way including Yorktown Beach and Riverwalk Landing. Apparently the drivers take the schedule very seriously as one of them almost ran us over in the cross walks by the museum. Or maybe they just don’t like us walkers!!!
There are also several restaurants just steps from the pier along with some really nice swimming areas.
FYI, there are some rules at the swimming beach. No potty mouth allowed but I think you can still laugh and have fun!
We have driven all over and around Norfolk since we arrived but we hadn’t explored the downtown area which has a lot to see and do. It is very compact and best explored by foot so we opted to take the ferry from Portsmouth to Downtown Norfolk. The ferry is an easy walk from our marina in Portsmouth and delivered us right to the Waterside area which is a great place to start exploring.
A cute ferry and only $4 round trip.
This great walking map is posted at the Waterside Park and the signage along the walk is great. We followed the waterfront trail to the left and headed towards the Naval Museum. We have toured several aircraft carriers and battleships so we opted to just explore around the area and not tour the ship.
The Hampton Roads Naval Museum is an official museum of the United States Navy and reports to the Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington, D.C. This free museum interprets the history of the U.S. Navy in and around Hampton Roads, Virginia from the Revolutionary War to the present day for service members and the general public. It is very well done and is well worth a visit.
There are several really pretty small parks along the walk as you head towards Freemason Street.
Freemason Street was perhaps the prettiest part of the walk and is part of the city’s oldest freestanding neighborhood, featuring tree-lined cobblestone streets filled with old, historical homes. It was a cool respite on a very hot day. Some of the wrought iron gates and iron fences were really beautiful. Freemason Street derived its name from the location of the original Norfolk Masonic Lodge (just east of the neighborhood).
From Freemason Street we opted to take Grandby Street back towards the waterfront. Grandby Street was named in 1769 to honor Englishman John Manners (1721 – 1770), Marquess of Granby. The original street ran three blocks from Bute Street south to Town Back Creek, a semi-navigable stretch of marshland running the length of today’s City Hall Avenue. I am happy to report we did not have to navigate thru swampy marshland to get back to the waterfront!!
Honestly, sometimes I wonder what I was thinking when we decided to spend the summer in this part of the country. Yep, it’s hot and humid most days which makes exploring by foot not as exciting but what the heck, we gotta get out and do it anyway!
We found a really cute coffee shop along our walk to cool off in. Wally had a good laugh with the barista… unbeknownst to him, he had a nice size spider riding on his shoulder. While he was ordering, apparently the barista was staring at it and Wally asked her if something was wrong. She nervously told him about the spider, which Wally quickly brushed off and dispatched. Aww, poor spider… Seems this barista has seen a few interesting pets come in with customers … like snakes, tarantulas… ugh, so she thought maybe it was Wally’s pet spider – HAHAHA!!!!! We had a cold brew iced coffee to jump start us to go back outside and walk some more!
The mermaid has been the signature symbol of the City of Norfolk since 2002. The idea of a “Mermaid Parade” came up in 1999, and was implemented with local bronze sculptor Kevin Gallup mass-producing 130 mermaid castings for local businesses, artists and homeowners to sponsor and decorate. To this day the mermaid is the symbol of the city, and is part of the official city logo, its website and social media sites, and it now has this much larger mermaid fountain in Town Point Park on the edge of Elizabeth River, next to the Nauticus maritime museum.
The result has mermaids all over the city, and enthusiastic support for the city adopting the mermaid as its symbol. At least 80 mermaids have been customized and placed around the city. It was fun to look for them as they are each uniquely different and quite the work of art.
Norfolk has no shortage of art … everything from beautiful museums to outdoor murals. We made a beeline to the Glass Light Hotel and Gallery. Inside the hotel is the Perry Glass Art Collection featuring beautiful glass pieces from local and internationally renowned artists. The featured art includes a rotating selection of pieces, which guests will find throughout the gallery as well as the hotel.
These six-foot glass bunnies, “Pops and Bunny”, crafted by renowned Dutch artist Peter Bremers are ready to greet you in the lobby and restaurant.
This private collection encompasses two floors of over 65 glass art pieces from world renowned artists. Some currently being featuring are Dale Chihuly, Stephen Rolfe Powell, Nancy Callan, Karen Lamonte, Peter Bremers, Katherine Gray and Lucy Lyon. The Gallery is free to hotel guests and the public to enjoy.
All that exploring had us hungry and I knew just the place that Wally would love – The Grilled Cheese Bistro!!! I had read about this restaurant and knew it got rave reviews.
What happens when you combine two pieces of bread, slice of cheese, and a frying pan? The answer — a winning business model. The Grilled Cheese Bistro is a cozy downtown restaurant that launched in 2015, and has quickly become a staple for both foodies and novices alike.
Even though the concept of a grilled cheese seems rather simple, the culinary combinations that the chefs make are truly remarkable. The menu includes names like; Sam I Am, Gooey, Hangover, Dreamin’ of Reuben, and Guiseppe (Melon, Prosciutto, Basil, with Local Wild Flower Honey, Balsamic, Mozzarella & Fontina), so I was all in to try it! Damn, it was good… sooooo many delicious calories in those huge sammie’s. They were so big that we ended up each taking half of our sammie’s home. Dinner was recreated with a fresh garden salad …. Does that help reduce the overall calories??
After that delicious gut bomb lunch we were definitely walking a bit slower… or maybe it was hotter?? We headed back towards the waterfront and made a last stop at Slover Library and Selden Market Shops. The Slover Library blends traditional library functions with the best of contemporary library resources and services. The beautiful, innovative space design creates a vital and dynamic center for the community and is also known as an attraction for visitors. It’s welcoming spaces make it a great place to spend sometime reading.
Selden Market is Norfolk’s first retail incubator. They supposedly offer a mix up-and-coming concepts in retail, food and more from local, small businesses. They market the shops as the perfect place to shop for unique gifts offering products from home decor, jewelry, wallets, skateboards, apparel and more! The Selden Market is a great concept but it was disappointing as there were hardly any shops open and many of the spaces had no vendors occupying them.
We had a great day exploring downtown Norfolk but now we were ready to take our buddha belly’s back to the boat and plop down or have a nap!
Sometimes the joy of traveling is not traveling – LOL!! Seriously, it’s exhausting to be on the move everyday so taking a break for a few days or a few weeks is great. Technically we are in Portsmouth VA but are just across the river from Norfolk and I couldn’t be happier with the location. It’s easy to get to Norfolk proper and also explore the area with our trusty SUV Ernie.
We really wanted to be in Norfolk for the 4th of July… it just seemed so fitting to celebrate our independence surround by navy ships and personnel. Our slip at the Tidewater Marina gave us a birds eye view of the firework show and it was quite spectacular.
I use an app called Bands in Town… it helps you find musical events in your area. You can set your location and choose your favorite band or musician. Based on your preference it will alert you when a musician you like is in the area and also give you alert for similar musicians. I just happened to go on the app to update our new location and up popped The Doobie Brothers 50th Anniversary Concert tour at the nearby Atlantic Bank Pavilion. Wally loves the Doobies so of course we had to buy tickets for July 3rd. Concert day rolled around and by late afternoon a massive electrical storm was brewing. Thunder, lightening and torrential rain started around 5:00 pm. I was sure the concert was a no go and poor Bentie was shaking. We had good communication from the venue via social media so after the first big storm stopped we walked 10 minutes to the pavilion. Right as we got there. – KAPOW – another storm starts rolling thru. Geez, I was sure again it was doomed but long story short after two delays we got into our seats and the concert started at 9:00 pm.
It was poring buckets … You couldn’t even see Downtown Norfolk a cross the river.
The Doobie Brothers band was really tight and the concert was a blast. Michael McDonald was on keyboard with his still great voice and the saxophone player was incredible. They even had a guest artist join them for the last few songs – Bruce Hornsby – who I LOVE!!! I also really liked the multimedia show that was playing behind the band. Seeing the old film clips of the much younger Doobies were really fun.
It’s been quite warm here so we have been doing our walks and exploring in the mornings. Or, we are finding indoor places to explore like the Chrysler Museum of Art and Glass Studio. This museum is really well done and I love that they have made art available to everyone by not charging admission. We also had a nice lunch at the museum cafe .. the food was really good and its a nice way to support the museum.
Of course, we have found all the necessities like grocery stores, West Marine, Lowe’s and Home Depot!!! There is even a Farmers Market every Saturday in Portsmouth and it’s a nice walk to get there. I’ve gone twice and done a side trip through the old town area to look at all the beautiful, historical homes.
My yummy lunch with spoils found at the local farmers market. Basil and heirloom tomatoes with a goat cheese and chive quiche.
There is an adorable family of ducks who have come visiting frequently. They seem to know when I will be sitting outside in the early evening and Mama duck quacks really loud to announce their arrival. Of course I scramble to find something to feed them … I am a sucker!!! They have been the happy recipients of stale bread, tortillas, corn and oats. Wonder if I can find some Purina duck chow somewhere??
Mama was trying to get the full attention of the brood… she seemed to be giving them a lecture on being grateful for unexpected gifts.
We have had some repairs and maintenance to get done on Escapade, so that is another great reason to tie up here for a few weeks. Our gal needs engine and generator oil/filter changes and we are replacing the house batteries as they are getting long in the tooth. Captain Handy aka Wally will be doing that as well as replacing the AC main water pump. He got the AC pump done earlier this week and after a couple of failed starts, he got the system working – YAY. All the AC’s are working again, they are much quieter, producing cooler air and not cycling on and off. YAY and more YAY – everyone is happier on board too. The portable monster unit we bought at Walmart in Elizabeth City saved our bacon and I was sure glad to have it.
It wa a little janky but it did the job. I put the vent tube out the porthole window and stuffed a towel around it to keep the warm air out.
The furbags are happy to have all the AC units working again too.
We have found plenty to keep us busy and entertained since we got here PLUS Wally drove to Florida in Ernie to bring Road House, our Entegra Coach here to Virginia. We really wanted it out of Florida during hurricane season. It was a whirlwind 5 day road trip for Wally but I stayed on the boat to look after the furbags. I found a great indoor storage facility about 50 miles from Norfolk. It’s a massive cinderblock building in the middle of nowhere. Definitely not worried about the weather with her inside that building.
Road House is all tucked away inside for the summer.
There is so much to see and do in this area so we will take advantage of having wheels. Williamsburg, Virginia Beach, Cape Charles and Hampton are a few of the places we want to check out so stay tuned for more land based adventures.
We had originally planned to head to Manteo NC for a few days in the boat with hopes of exploring the Outer Banks via car but Mother Nature had different ideas. There was a big blow coming and it was forecasted to last several days plus we had to cross the Albemarle Sound, preferably not on a big wind day. After looking at all the options, it made sense to scoot across the sound when the conditions were decent. We scrambled around and changed our car reservations and made alternative marina reservations.
We did NOT want to get stuck at the Alligator River Marina for days on end. It’s basically a gas station on a busy road with a marina behind it … in the middle of NOWHERE. No services to speak of, no easy way to get a car rental and the drone of cars going by the boat was constant. UGH, there would have been mutiny if we had to stay here for days…well, except there was no way to get anywhere – LOL!!! This marina is a necessary stop before crossing the Albemarle Sound or trying to head over to Manteo and is just fine for one night.
The view from the flybridge at dinner was very pretty but not enough to want to stay here for days!
As luck would have it, we crossed the Albemarle Sound the next day with 2-3 ft wind waves and long easy rollers, mostly pushing us from our stern. We got into Coinjock Marina with no drama and spent the next six days there. This marina is well run, has a nice restaurant and ships store, laundry, etc. Otherwise, there isn’t much going on there either, kinda in the middle of nowhere also! Most boaters just stop overnight here on the way to Norfolk. The good news is that Dave had rented a car at Enterprise in nearby Elizabeth City. They brought the car to us at the marina, but Dave had to take the driver back to Elizabeth City. The only downside was they weren’t open on the weekends to return the car and didn’t allow after hours return – weird. So, that meant we had to stay until Monday but we were happy to have the wheels to tour the Outer Banks and nearby areas.
Heading our to cross the Albemarle Sound.
Albemarle Sounds – not a bad day. Escapade did just fine.
Rustic Coinjock Marina
Unfortunately, our AC continued to vex us which necessitated a trip back to the Walmart in Elizabeth CIty to buy a portable AC unit. With the main salon AC being unreliable, the pilot house AC could not keep up with the solar load and high heat so it was uncomfortably warm inside. The portable monster unit was easy to get vented out our sliding door…Janky, yes but at least the boat was cool enough to feel good about leaving the pets all day. Fortunately the stateroom AC’s seem to be working okay, so at night we were nice and cool.
Our first day touring the Outer Banks took us to Kitty Hawk. We all agreed that the Wright Brothers Museum was well worth a visit and the ranger talks were also very well done. So much to see there…What was fascinating to me was why the Wright Brother chose this part of NC to conduct their glider flights. They wanted Wind, Sand and Isolation. Kitty Hawk has all three and in the day, it was very remote and isolated. So remote, it was sometimes hard for them to find a boat to take them over there. Isolation meant no prying eyes to steal their ideas and future patents. Why sand you may be wondering ?? So when they crashed it would be soft – and crash they did. Over and Over and Over again. But that did not stop the Wright Brothers, they persevered until they got the design right. OCD geniuses – perhaps!
Sadly, much of the Outer Banks is nothing like what the Wright Brothers experienced. Much of it is now now miles of soulless strip malls, mediocre restaurants, beach houses packed in like sardines and crowed beaches. From Nags Head all the way north to Duck was exactly like this and very disappointing from a scenery aspect. To add to the disappointment, we had the worst BBQ ever that day for lunch – waaaah! We did find a few pretty places and a not too crowed beach to explore, so I am only showing you those pictures.
Holy Cow can it rain in North Carolina… but once it was gone it was gone!
Our second day exploring the Outer Banks took us south of Nags Head to Manteo and we felt the area was redeemed! Our first stop was at the Pea Island Preserve…WOOHOO… this is what I was hoping to find in the Outer Banks. Pristine, unspoiled beaches, wildlife, birds and sand dunes galore.
From there we drove to Bodie Island Lighthouse and on to Manteo. I loved quaint Manteo, it’s waterfront walk, rustic marinas and scenic beauty. It would have been great to stay here on the boat as originally planned and I would highly recommend that Loopers put this down as a stop if Mother Nature allows!
We found a nice place for lunch in Manteo, strolled along the waterfront and were entertained by a group of young folks, bridge jumping into the cool water. The marinas here are just steps from town and the local Ford car dealerships rents cars.
Summer fun in Manteo!!!
We also explored inland from Coinjock – taking a drive to the Dismal Swamp State Park. A segment of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, the Dismal Swamp Canal, which is fed by Lake Drummond, flows for 22 miles between Virginia and North Carolina. It cuts through the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.
Before there was a canal, there was swampland. It was Colonel William Byrd II who envisioned something more during the late 1720s. But it would take years for the idea to blossom into action as construction on the man-made waterway wouldn’t begin until the 1790s.
The goal was to create a viable trade route between the Chesapeake Bay and North Carolina’s Albemarle Sound. It was the first canal that connected the two regions, then came the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal decades later. Now, the Dismal Swamp Canal is part of something bigger — the Intracoastal Waterway — a network of aquatic passageways along the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico coasts.
The Dismal Swamp Canal is the oldest operating waterway in the country. Both the canal and swamp played a huge role in African-American history. Between 1680 and the Civil War-era, the swamp served as a refuge not just for wildlife but for hundreds, if not thousands, of escaped slaves, who lived off the land freely.
Yep, that’s a narrow canal!
There are two viable routes for boaters to get to Norfolk from North Carolina. We had opted not to take the Dismal Swamp route as the canal depth is dicey for Escapade. The canal is supposedly dredged to 6 feet but is littered with stumps and deadheads just below the surface. We draft 4 foot 9 inches and didn’t want to risk damaging our props. This route is far from dismal, really it is quite beautiful but traveling at idle speed for 20 plus miles might have taken the bloom off the rose!
It was fun to hike around the area, we saw several snakes and a few birds. It was a hot afternoon and we were too late for any decent birding. We also chatted with a few boaters who were spending the night on the free dock at the Dismal Swamp Visitors Center.
On the way back to Coinjock, we stopped at Morris Farm Market – craft beer, live music and fresh produce – that is a trifecta of goodness in my book! This place was recommended by the bartender at Coinjock so he redeemed himself for the awful BBQ place he also recommended!
Morris Farms is very doggie friendly!
Maybe a little less child friendly – LOL. But there were loads of well behaved kids having a good time too.
Elizabeth City, which is up the Albemarle Sound had been on the cruise plan but was also crossed off thanks to the big blow. So why not explore it via car?
A quaint water front town, marketed as the “Harbor of Hospitality”, Elizabeth City has had a long history of shipping due to its location at a narrowed bend of the Pasquotank River. Whew, say that three times fast!!! Founded in 1794, Elizabeth City prospered early on from the Dismal Swamp Canal as a mercantile city. Later it developed industry and other commercial focus. While Elizabeth City still retains extensive waterfront property, it is linked to neighboring counties and cities by contemporary highways and bridges to support other transportation. It also hosts one of the largest United States Coast Guard bases in the nation.
We enjoyed a nice lunch at Hoppin John’s and a warm walk around town. Elizabeth City certainly is hospitable to boaters with three docks offering free moorage for two nights. We need a do over on the Albemarle Sound as there is so much more to see and do in this area.
Our stay was coming to an end, the car was returned Monday and we were hoping the AC repair team was coming. We had plans to have dinner at the Coinjock Marina Restaurant, celebrate Wallys birthday and then skeedaddle on Tuesday. Well, who’d a thunk that Mother Nature had other ideas?? AGAIN!!!
It had been windy off and on the past two days. Apparently, the wind had been blowing water up the C&D Canal, which was where we were headed. Word on the dock was that the water level was too high for two of the swing rail road bridges to open. There are really no other marina’s until after you get past these two bridges so boats were turning around and coming back to Coinjock. We figured all would be well in the morning – NOT.
Dinner was fun and we celebrated Wallys birthday with a huge tomahawk ribeye steak and a fine bottle of Leonetti wine we had stashed onboard. Later in the wee hours of the morning a massive storm came through bringing more wind, rain and a huge electrical storm. I woke up to see light flashing through the stateroom portholes and claps of booming thunder. I LOVE lightening storms at a distance but the furbags were not entertained, Bentley especially … poor buddy was shaking so I sat up with him for awhile.
We got up early on Tuesday, after not good sleep thinking maybe miraculously we could leave but not a creature was stirring, not a boat was on the move – AGAIN!!! The water was now higher than the day before. It had crept under the docks and was flooding the lawn in front of the marina. Not feeling optimistic, Wally made a call to the bridge tender. After at least thirty rings, a human picked up and informed us that “ donna know when da bridge gonna open-wadter too hi-havta wait til da wadter com down. Okay, despite not being able to leave… Wally repeating that back to all of us brought some much needed levity to the day.
Nope, no one’s going anywhere!!!
So Tuesday was a bit of a lost day, AC dudes were a no show and was told they would be out at 8:30 am on Wednesday. We played cards, read, did Wordle, walked the dock and chatted with other boaters. We enjoyed getting to know Rhonda and Bob on Hawks Landing. We swapped boat stories as our boats are both Carvers, same make but theirs is 45 feet and ours is 53 ft. It was fun touring Hawks Landing and meeting their cat Charlie. It was a bit like ground hogs day as we ate dinner at the restaurant again and asked for our favorite waitress Shelby.
New friends!! Hoping to see Rhonda and Bob in the Chesapeake Bay this summer.
Wednesday morning rolled in and AGAIN, not a creature was stirring, not a boat was on the move. The good news was that the wind had shifted over night, bringing water back down the canal. Word on the dock was maybe by noon “da wadter com down” and “da bridge gonna open”! Well, yippee skippy… the AC dudes also showed up, worked a bit of magic with a descaler and back flush on the salon AC unit. It was as working again but they agreed we also needed a new main water pump as we still couldn’t run more than two units at once without a high pressure failure. We debated having them just install a new pump but the boss/owner somewhere behind the curtain quoted us $2,000 plus installation for a pump we knew we could buy for under $800. So long story short, Captain Handy ordered a new pump and will be installing it in Norfolk.
Meantime, “da water com down” and boats were departing the dock like the great migration. It would be about 40 nautical miles to get to Norfolk but with with three bridges and a lock that only open on a set schedule, this was a tricky run. I had estimated that if we could leave around 1:30 and if the all the cards aligned, we could make the 4:00 pm lock opening before the last bridge scheduled changed for rush hour car traffic. No pressure!!!
I got some great pictures and video of Rhonda and Bob leaving which I texted to her.
Hey, where did everyone go????
So with a cool boat, we made smoke and got underway. It was actually a beautiful cruise, the last of any North Carolina low country and into Virginia we went. As fate would have it, leaving Coinjock late put the pack of boats that were on the dock a long way ahead of us. We had the waterways us all to ourselves. Being in the great migration of boats must have been really stressful. The C & D Canal is narrow and we were so glad we weren’t cueing up, waiting for the bridges to open with a pack of 25 plus boats.
Goodbye North Carolina – Hello Virginia.
That was tight quarters… yikes!
Cruising into Norfolk was surreal after being on the ICW for so long as the landscape is filled with huge commercial dry docks, barges and naval ships. Other than almost being taken out by a tug boat pushing a huge barge, we cruised into Norfolk with no other recreational or commercial boats. That was about 30 seconds of sheer terror when we almost came bow to bow with that big barge. It was a blind corner just as we started under a bridge. Since we were going very slow anyway, Captain Wally put the boat in reverse and did a quick 180 degree turn to starboard. I am here to tell you that tug horn was really loud.
We had a wonderful 2 weeks with our friends Dave and Tanya, another adventure to add to the books! It was a bittersweet goodbye but we’ll see them again in November when we are back on the west coast. It was extra special to have them onboard to celebrate Wally’s birthday!!!!
The other cool thing waiting for us in Norfolk was our SUV Ernie. Our Charleston friend Drake drove him up the day we arrived and thanks to some plane schedule confusion, Drake was waiting for us on the dock at the Tidewater Marina. We were happy to offering him our couch for the night and dinner in the marina restaurant.
All tied up at the Tidewater Marina in Portsmouth VA – what a great view of the Norfolk skyline from our boat.
Escapade has traveled just over 862 nautical miles on the loop so far. It’s crazy to think that there is still over 5,000 miles to go! We are taking a break here in Norfolk for 2-3 weeks and then we will head out explore the Chesapeake Bay. Stay tuned for more updates as we explore the Norfolk area.
After leaving New Bern NC we only cruised about 55 miles but the scenery was beautiful and it was nice to be in rural areas again. Both Oriental and Belhaven are very small towns with a combined population of just over 2,200.
We picked up our long time friends and fellow travelers, Dave and Tanya in New Bern on the 17th of June. They will to cruise with us to Norfolk – YAY!!! The four of us have traveled all over the world together and they have been on all of our boats over the years. We also all really enjoy good wine and food, cooking or dining out and are completely compatible in small space. Dave and I love getting in the kitchen together and crafting up a great meal. It’s so wonderful to have them onboard and we really thrilled that they are part of our Great loop Adventure.
We had a quick stop between Oriental and Belhaven for some fresh fish. This dock is home to a fleet of shrimp and fishing boats. My kinda funky!!
Oriental is another small fishing village so we only stayed 1 night. It was hot, hot, hot so all we really did was walk to a local restaurant for lunch and hang on the boat. We also met some fellow loopers, one couple has the exact same boat as us – too fun.
What wasn’t fun, was that two of our four AC units have been giving us fits… of course they had to stop working on the day we expect guests onboard. ARGH….. Captain Handy has tried everything to revive the salon and pilot house AC’s but t looks like we need a new water intake pump which we can’t get until we get to Norfolk.
The Belhaven Marina Dock Master Greg was able to get a mechanic to come take a look when we arrived in Belhaven. After conferring with Captain Handy and looking the system he said it’s likely that our 24 year old, original water intake pump has gotten tired and can’t keep pump enough water through to the two big units in the salon and pilothouse at the same time on really it days. It’s a bit of a specialty pump and of course it’s not something we can find in rural NC. The good news is that it will run the pilothouse or the two bedroom AC’s so we will be just fine until we can get it repaired. Never a dull moment, living on a boat.
I also want to give kudos to all the folks who gave advice through the Carver Voyager Facebook Group I belong to. This is when social media is the best – al group of knowledge boat owners with the are make and model of boat who can lend advice. SWEET!!!
Belhaven is tiny and it is amazing that there is an excellent Farm to Table restaurant in this town of 1,400. We really enjoyed meeting the owner of Spoon River had a great dinner there on Monday. Honestly, it was one of the main reasons I wanted to stop here and we timed it to arrive on Monday when they were open. I had made a reservation and was glad we did as the place was packed. The eclectic interior is filled with art that is all done by the owner.
I was skeptical about having soft shell crabs but figured when in Rome… they were delicious!!!
Belhaven is really a one night stop as far as things to do but we stayed 2 nights so the guys could go fishing with a local guide. They had a great time, caught some fish and saw some of the local estuaries. Sadly, according to the guide, this well known mecca for fishing is in decline. Sounds like the fishery has not been well managed thus resulting in many of the local fish populations to decline. With this in mind, the guys release all the fish they caught. Hoping some stronger regulations in size and number of fish being caught will help this area recover.
Despite being a bit rustic, funky little Belhaven Marina scored a 5 star review from me. The staff was excellent and were there on the dock to get you tied up. They had the fixed docks set up with large round fender to protect the sides of the boat. They also bring you a bag of information from the chamber of commerce about the local area. The harbor master Greg made an excellent recommendation about the fish hide as well. The setting was charming and all of a block into the small town. There is also a cute ships store, free laundry and showers, lawn games, a book trade library, a BBQ grill with propane and multiple gazebos and sitting area around the small property. Need to make a grocery store run… just borrow a golf cart and off you go! I thought it was sweet that shampoo, towels and hair dryers are all included at the showers and laundry soap and dryer sheets were free in the laundry room as well.
From here, our plans get a bit loose…the wind will dictated where we end up as we work our way north to Norfolk. See you along the way!
What’s the difference between Beaufort NC & Beaufort SC?
The difference is about 375 miles or 6 hours. There’s a Beaufort in North Carolina and South Carolina. The big difference between them is in the way you pronounce Beaufort (This is not a trivial issue). Bless your heart, you will be corrected if you mispronounce either Beaufort!!!
Beaufort, North Carolina is pronounced “BOW-firt,” as in a bow and arrow. If you’re going to Beaufort, South Carolina, you must say, “BEW-furd. Ironically, both are named for an Englishman, Henry Somerset, the Second Duke of Beaufort, who never came to either North Carolina or South Carolina.
Originally we thought we’d have to skip BOW-firt but luck shown down upon us and thanks to a recommendation from some other loopers that we met in Beaufort SC, we got a last minute cancellation at the Beaufort Yacht Basin for 2 nights. How’s that for more irony??
Why was this such a stoke of kismet/luck you may wonder? The Big Rock Fishing Tournament has all but taken over Morehead City and Beaufort and transient boat slips are rented out a year in advance. This tournament is a big damn deal in NC. Almost anyone along the coast line understands how big a damn deal it is. Sport fishing is a huge passion in this part of the world and Blue Marlin are the prize catch. Entry fees for this tournament are anywhere from $2.5K to $40K and the prize purses for the biggest fish are huge. Cape Hatteras is legendary for these beautiful fish. This tournament is mainly catch and release but there is a prize for the biggest marlin boated over 500 pounds -$833,000 to be exact. Of course it has to meet the NC size regulations in order to keep it but wowie…. That’s some cash. I was please to read that Big Rock has a foundation and supports many local charities as well.
Most if the big boys are over at Morehead City where the tournament headquarter aka Big Rock Landing and the weigh in station are.
Here are a few interesting factoids about the NC marlin fishery.
WHEN: Blue marlin can and have been caught off Cape Hatteras every month of the year, the very peak months being July and August, with May, June and September a close second. HOW: Sport fishermen catch blue marlin by trolling artificial and natural baits. Boats pull up to eight lines at speeds ranging from 4 to 8 knots. Two of the lines are pulled close to the boat on the surface and are called flatlines. The others are attached to outriggers.
SIZE: The fish off Hatteras can be anywhere from 50 lb. babies to 1000 lb. giants, the average fish weighing between 200 and 500 lbs. LIMIT: The blue marlin fishery has strict regulations in NC. The fish must be 99 inches or greater in length and only one fish can be kept per BOAT per day.
Honestly, this is a big $$ sport… the payouts are never going to cover the expenses of these 50 to 80 foot mega boats. These big sport fishing boats are expensive and they can burn 50 gallons of diesel fuel an hour. Most of the boats competing in the tournament leave the dock at 6 or 7 am and return around around 5 or 6 pm. So with todays diesel fuel prices being around $4.00 per gallon, a boat running 12 hours @50 GPH = $2,400 a day. The tournament runs 6 days so the average fuel bill is $14,400 – SHEESH!!!!!
So, can you tell I got a little caught up in the excitement?? I’ve been listening to the Big Rock live radio during the day and following the leaderboards online. Saturday the 17th was the last day of the tournament and it wasn’t quite over when I finished writing this post.
So what else did we do in Beaufort??? Well, we walked all over and took the marina golf cart the Piggly Wiggly grocery store. Worst grocery store I’ve been to yet on the loop… old, smelly and sad so aptly named I guess?? I found a few decent veggies to tide us over but eww, don’t like smelly stores.
We had a really nice linner (because it ain’t lunch and it ain’t dinner) our first day in Beaufort, sitting outside at the Black Sheep overlooking teh waterfront. Best wood fired pizza we had on the loop! We also visited the Beaufort Grocery Store for lunch the next day… really good chow and they sold me a loaf of fresh baked sourdough bread cause the bread at the Pig was a no go!
We also visited the North Carolina Maritime Museum, the Watercraft Center and the Beaufort Historical site and the Old Burying Grounds. We had hoped to take a ferry to Shackleford Island but it was so windy on Monday that we nixed that idea.
There was plenty to keep us out of trouble for two days and we were glad it worked out to stop here. Beaufort is a cute little town with loads of charm, well, except the Piggly Wiggly!
Escapade underway on the ICW… photo taken by a member of the Escapade on the Loop Facebook Group.
Wilmington was a very nice side trip off the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway on the Cape Fear River. Both days we transited the river the water was like a pond so the fear level for us was pretty low. The name Cape Fear comes from the 1585 expedition of Sir Richard Grenville. Sailing to Roanoke Island, his ship became embayed behind the cape. Some of the crew were afraid they would wreck, giving rise to the name Cape Fear. It is the fifth-oldest surviving English place name in the U.S. Cape Fear was also the landing place of British General Sir Henry Clinton during the American Revolutionary War on May 3, 1775.
One more bit of trivia for all you pub dwelling trivia players. The 1962 film Cape Fear and its 1991 remake were set at Cape Fear (although neither movie actually was filmed there).
Wilmington is a port city so there are massive container ships on the river. We had to sit and wait for a container ship to exit the loading docks and go to the turn around basin. The water sheriff controlled river traffic while a single tugboat moved this massive ship around. It was actually really interesting to watch the entire maneuver.
Most of the time we avoid getting this close to these big ships and give them wide berth. Especially when they are under full power out in the shipping channels as the bow and stern wakes are enormous. They can’t slow down or stop for us recreational boaters so it’s really dangerous. In this case, the sheriff was monitoring how close was acceptable and we stayed well out of the way.
Our approach to Wilmington on the Cape Fear River.
The population of Wilmington is over 117,000 so this was a big city for us on the loop. We tied up at Port City Marina and enjoyed two days of shore leave in town. We took a guided horse trolley tour, visited the Battleship USS North Carolina, strolled the beautiful river walk and enjoyed the Friday nite summer party at the Port City Docks. Of course, there is no shortage of great restaurants and shops to peruse in Wilmington. We had a fun lunch at the Beer Barrio… 30 draft beers on tap and a great taco menu.
Being a University town, Wilmington has a nice vibe and a younger demographic as well. The north end of the waterfront is all new construction with mostly mixed use condominiums. This area is no stranger to hurricanes and the Port CIty Marina where we tied up was fully rebuilt after Hurricane Florence whipped arse on North Carolina.
We really enjoyed the self guided tour of the USS North Carolina. This massive battleship participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific theater of operations, earning 15 battle stars and is the most highly decorated American battleship of World War II. I really appreciated the crew stories that were on each one of the informational signs around the ship. These stories really bring home the actual day to day life onboard, some were sad, some made me laugh out loud.
As we explored the ship, I was thinking it wasn’t really that much different than our boat. Escapade has an engine room, electrical control panels, a galley, berths, heads, generator, anchors, windlass, pilot house with a captains chair… ok, so we don’t have any ginormous guns on deck or torpedos – LOL. We only hold 800 gallons of fuel and the battle ship could store 221,000 gallons of diesel fuel. Egads, I thought our fuel bill was huge!
It was also fascinating how huge this thing is and that most of the enlisted men were assigned a certain area of the ship and stayed in that area. They had divisions and most of the men socialized within their division, slept in the same area, ate at the same time, etc. I think I would have wanted to work in the supply room or the medical area which were of course the plum jobs. No thanks on the laundry room!!!
Oolala… the guys in the laundry area were allowed to work in their skivies because it was so hot.
I also loved how dog friendly Wilmington is. There were dog relief areas and bag stations all over and dog parks too. This is probably the tiniest dog park I have seen!
Our two days in Wilmington flew by and off we go again… see you at our next stop up the ICW!!
Charming, quaint, friendly, scenic and slightly rustic – all are very good descriptors for Southport NC. I really loved everything about this small town. Could it be tainted by being welcomed to town almost immediately after we docked at the marina both via social media and in person by the local Great Loop Harbor Host??? What’s more charming than having a local Great Looper show up at your boat with a warm welcome and an invite to come sit on the porch and visit.
Not many places can boast having a dock just for yoga!!
Yep, definitely tainted by that! These two are legendary in the America’s Great Loop Cruisers Association (AGLCA), not only for the local warm welcomes in Southport but also for all the ways they volunteer to support the AGLCA. These two life long boaters have put over 32,000 miles on their boat cruising and are a wealth of knowledge about the Atlantic Intercoastal Water Way between Norfolk Virginia and Florida. We met them two years ago at a Looper Rendezvous in Fort Meyers Florida where I attended their session on cruising this part if the ICW. I’ve appreciated and referred to his detailed handout about this route with all the stops and anchorage suggestions.
You are treated like family when you arrive in Southport… not only do they host “Porchtails” every evening at their home overlooking the water but if you need anything they are there to help you. Need a boat mechanic, parts, restaurant recommendation, a ride to the grocery store, doctor or dentist – they got ya covered. These are two of the finest people and so passionate about the Great Loop. We spent two very enjoyable evenings on the porch with them, other loopers and neighbors – it felt like we were leaving old friends when we said our goodbyes.
I love the Purple Martin nesting gourds and box that Kay and Robert have in their yard.
Besides the warm welcome, the Morning star Marina in Southport was a great place to tie up the boat. Not only is it a full service, beautiful marina, it is also just blocks from the downtown historical area and waterfront. We walked at least 4 miles everyday exploring Southport. The marina also has a loaner car which we took full advantage of twice. The car is available to guests of the marina for 2 hours a day or longer if there isn’t anyone else signed up for it. We did a grocery store run our first day there and also used the car to take a drive to nearby Oak Island where we walked on the beach and checked out the lighthouse.
Southport is a small town – population is just over 4,000 which just adds to its quaint charm. It isn’t a fancy water front village but it isn’t gritty either. It truly is unique and has its own sweet vibe. Nice restaurant choices… some right on the water and some just blocks away in town. Loads of cute shops and some amazing local artists whose work can be seen at several co-ops around town. The free maritime museum is worth a visit as is the local market that is held on Wednesdays. There is also a REALLY good seafood market – Potter’s, which is right on the waterfront. This 5th generation family business has their own docks and thus a killer selection of fresh fish. Believe it or not, I did NOT get shrimp. WHAT… I bought some grouper cheeks at the suggestion of the fish monger and made blackened fish tacos for dinner.
We found plenty to keep us busy during our three day stay in Southport. Oak Island was a 20 minute drive and we enjoyed a nice long walk on the beach. Not sure that walk worked off the delicious BBQ lunch we had at the Southport Smokehouse… we might have needed to walk there and back!
Southport will definitely be added to our list of favorite loop stops from this trip. Next stop Wilmington NC.
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