Day 179, Year 8: Windbird’s Trek to Cape Cod, Day 2

by | May 1, 2013 | Passage to Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 8 | 0 comments

Day 179, Year 8: Windbird’s Trek to Cape Cod, Day 2
Date: Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Weather: Winds Ranging from 10-15 NE, Some Rain, High Temp in 70’s F
Latitude: 34 33.055 N
Longitude: 077 19.529 W
Location: Intracoastal Waterway, Mile 244, Mile Hammock Bay, Camp Lejeune, NC

It was a long, but successful day. Mark, Lee, and Lynda made it to Camp Lejeune safely and I made it to Cape Cod with no hitches. My flight left Myrtle Beach at 4 pm and arrived in Boston, after a stop in Charlotte, at 8:40 pm. That was about 20 minutes late, but even with that and having to pick up a piece of checked luggage, Jed only had to wait about 15 minutes. I sent him a text to let him know when I was at curbside and seconds later he picked me up. So just a little after 9 pm, I dropped him at the international terminal for his flight to London Heathrow. It was so nice to have someone there to pick me up so I didn’t have to bother with waiting for public transportation. I’m glad I paid the extra money to fly home today rather than tomorrow which would have cost about $40 less. The ease of pick-up was worth the extra money this time. Due to construction on the interstate, it took me longer than normal to get to the Cape. I got there around 11 pm and Heather met me at the van to carry my bags. What service! But as soon as we stepped back into the house, Ollie cried out and she had to go back upstairs. Unfortunately I don’t know the security code for their internet service, so this email will have to be sent in the morning.

Now for the Captain’s Log for Wednesday, May 1:
“We were up and away at 7:05 this morning. Life on board has been cheerful. We did have a bit of rain – lasted for a couple hours. And we did run aground trying to miss a dredge that decided to move into the waterway just as we got to it. Lee tried to avoid it but it was impossible to do without getting into shallow water. We backed up and swung the rudder from side to side until we got free. Lee’s opinion is that if you don’t have to call Tow Boat US, then you haven’t really gone aground! None of this really dampened our spirits. But more of a pain than the rain or the grounding was the waiting for bridges. We had to negotiate three swing or bascule bridges and we couldn’t time our arrival right for any of them! Everyone is taking a turn at piloting and Lynda is intent on learning as much as possible about how a boat works, how to anchor, etc. They are both good crew making my life easier.

We dropped anchor at 5:10 tonight I fixed curried spinach & tomatoes with rice and heated up the salmon cakes Judy had made for us. Lee washed dishes—and Lynda says that is rare. Tomorrow we will head for an anchorage on the Neuse River that is 71 miles away. So we will get started at first light. Of course, wind and current could play havoc with our plans and we have identified several alternative anchorages in case we can’t get that far. I am attaching three photos – two of the dredge being pushed by two tugs and one of Lynda using binoculars to read day marks.”

Day 178, Year 8: Windbird’s Trek to Cape Cod, Day 1

by | Apr 30, 2013 | Passage to Cape Cod, Sailing Logs Year 8 | 0 comments

Day 178, Year 8: Windbird’s Trek to Cape Cod, Day 1
Date: Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Weather: Winds Ranging from 10 to 25 ENE, High Temp in Low 70’s F
Latitude: 34 03.153 N
Longitude: 077 53.339 W
Location: Carolina Beach, North Carolina

I picked up Lee and Lynda at 7 am and brought them to Windbird to get ready for take-off. As Windbird pulled out of the slip at Lightkeepers marina at 7:30 am, I felt an emptiness inside. But I didn’t have long to dwell on that. As I was running down the boardwalk to get a photo of Windbird as she entered the Intracoastal, I realized that Mark had the van keys. He had taken them from me when I returned with Lee and Lynda to take something to the van and had forgotten to give them back to me. After a bit more running to get to a place where I could get Windbird’s attention, Mark had to bring Windbird back to a dock to give me the keys. It could have been a smoother start, but even with the delay Windbird was out in the Intracoastal by 7:45 am. What follows is the Captain’s account from today, written to me in an email.

“All in all it was a good day. Slower than expected, but nothing difficult. We started at 0730 and immediately had to pull back in to get the car keys– my bad! I should have remembered to give them to you as soon as I came back from the van. So we finally got off by 0745. Winds were 11 knots and cloud cover was 100 percent. We motored down the waterway at 5.9 knots at 2400 RPM. We set the speed log to MPH at this point (instead of knots) since the waterway is labeled in statute miles. We were passed often with north-bound boats. At about 1126 we were passed by ‘Tautaug’, a nice trawler from New Castle, NH. I chatted with them for a few minutes. By 1330 we passed South Harbor Village Marina where we stayed on the way down. The wind picked up as we entered the Cape Fear River to 20 to 25 knots from the ENE. And the tide was against us. But the good news is that the seas weren’t bad and the autopilot worked nicely keeping a steady course. And the sun came out! At 1630 we came out of Snows Cut and turned south to the anchorage at Carolina Beach. We dropped anchor at 1645 in a totally deserted anchorage in 15 feet of water and let out 90 feet of chain. We had traveled only 44.9 nautical miles over ground, but negative current meant that we traveled 54.4 nautical miles through the water. As for food prep – Lynda did lunch and I was to do dinner, but she went to it so I could write you. Your preparation for us is very much appreciated by all – me especially.”

So it sounds like Windbird’s first day out went well. Tomorrow I fly to Boston and Windbird will make it another 60 some miles northward in the Intracoastal. The weather tomorrow looks benign, but unfortunately windier times are coming—from the northeast.

130430 Day 178 Passage to Cape Cod–Trek to Cape Cod, Day 1