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.”
