Voyage 2013-2014: Chapter 1

9 Nov 2013, The Salty Dawg Rally, 37 01.068 N/ 076 20.496 W

The Salty Dawg Rally festivities started on the morning of 28 October in the recently built pavilion at Bluewater. Badges, charts, tee shirts, hats, and other goodies were available. By now the marina was overflowing with boats tucked in every corner of the marina. SV Over Budget was in a rather tight fitting slip but Capt. Jinny backed in with a little help with the bow thruster.

Halloween was upon us and the Salty Pups went trick or treating. We rushed to the store to get some treats and arrived in time for kids. They looked really great, scary, and cute. There were 8 of them plus the volunteers who escorted them through the fleet. It was a nice reprieve from the preparations of the Rally.

The day after Halloween , the weather forecasts were looking stormy. The Caribbean 1500 decided to leave a day early (2 Nov) and the Dawgs decided to delay the departure from Monday to Wednesday (6 Nov). GRIBs didn't look great for a departure so we decided to delay our departure until Saturday (8 Nov) and head back to ILM for some medical attention.

Oh my! The fleet left on the 6th with mild conditions but the forecast for Thursday and Friday indicated significant deterioration, especially for the smaller and slower boats. The forecast turned true where up to 11 boats were in peril. Two boats were lost, 4 were disabled with compromised rudders, two lost masts, and many lost sails. The Coast Guard rescue swimmers plucked 6 crew out of the Atlantic. No loss of life!!

Our Saturday plans were dashed the next day. Though our Saturday window looked fine, a massive weather system would hurl gale force winds and seas as far South 25 N latitude by next Thursday. No way we could outrun this. It would turn out that much of the Dawg fleet would be effected by it also. Time to work on a Plan B. Sad!

17 Nov 2013, Plan B, 34 02.52 N/ 077 53.538 W

We left Bluewater at 1000 on 9 November with sadness while heading for ILM on the inside. Plan B will see us in Wilmington for Thanksgiving and then we will look for a weather window to somewhere. Did I mention that we were sad. Our first night's stop would be Deep Creek lock of the Dismal Swamp Canal. But wait, the Great Bridge lock is broken so vessels that can navigate the DSC were on their way. We managed to pick the least popular locking times to minimize the chaos. South Mills bridge and lock experienced 15 minutes of bumper boats as 11 captains tried to maneuver really big boats in a really small canal.

Elizabeth City was full due to weather and the Great i Bridge lock but our friends at the Pelican found us space. As we headed for the Pelican we got a VHF call from Diane of SV Ariel III. St. Jude had asked us to look her up but luckily she found us. After we were tied up, we headed for the bulkhead near the free docks where she was tied up. We later had dinner at Groupers where we swapped stories. Her stories were more interesting, especially the ones concerning her broken boat. She was hoping to get some assistance from the local boat yard. Happy ending after she was towed to Manteo for repairs.

We left the Pelican on Thursday (14 November) after the frost on the dock melted and headed down the Albemarle Sound and Alligator River where we were going to anchor off of Deep Point. Well, surprise! The anchorage was full and the overflow area had another 10 boats. So we anchored in the overflow. The crowd must be a product of the Great Bridge lock and extended stinky weather.

Two days ago, we headed for R.E Mayo where we normally tie up along with commercial shrimp and scallop boats. We bought fresh shrimp and scallops which would feed us for several days. Yesterday, we left the dock at 1000 and pointed Jule towards Beaufort. We arrived at the main channel around 1600 and promptly headed for the inlet where we sailed the night to Masonboro Inlet.

We arrived near the sea buoy at 0700 but couldn't see it because of the fog. Local weather indicated that it would lift by 0800. Well, they lied. We circled for nearly three hours until the fog lifted. By 1230, we were tied up at Mona Black marina. We had given up our slip but Randy found us a temporary home. We will be writing again after Thanksgiving when Plan B continues.