North Carolina November 29, 2007

November 29, 2007

Dear Friends and Family,

Wow, less than a week and another update from Jay & Barb. Don’t get used to that!

Last Saturday, we did make it to shore at Kitty Hawk with Jim, Kathy and Rachel Lee and delivered Whitefoot to the boarding kennel. We walked about a mile to the Lee’s timeshare condo and partially settled in before going out in search of lunch. Then we hit the beach to walk in search of sea glass. Rachel probably got the best haul and we hope that she may have started yet another collection. Here are a few of the pieces that Barb has made:

The Lee’s friend from college, Steve, was expected to visit from near Washington, DC and sure enough he called and we met him, squeezing into his vehicle to ride back to the condo. Steve has been all over the world helping countries get alternative energy source solutions for their rural locations. Talk about a job that a person can feel good about! And he is a nice guy, not just a good guy. After a good dinner out at “Henry’s,” we went back to the condo and after some reminiscing about the old days we all turned in.

Sunday was drizzly so, after a breakfast that couldn’t be beat, Steve took us on an excursion to the Wright Brothers Memorial and we enjoyed a ranger talk explaining how the gliders and the first plane were made and operated and saw the site of the December 17, 1903, first four powered flights. The Wrights took turns flying 120 ft, then 130 ft and finally over 860 ft. before a gust of wind flipped the unattended flying machine that historic day. As we walked the flight path, calculating their speed over the ground and air speed, I could imagine their excitement as they flew again and again until – rats! The wind that helped them ended their flying for that day. Much like today, weather related flight delays and equipment problems affected air travel. These are two of Jim Lee's Photos from the day at the Wright Brothers site.
See his blog at - http://stardust-voyages.blogspot.com/


We had some Hatteras Clam Chowder for lunch and then stopped at a kite shop that is owned by a hang gliding friend of Jim’s but the fellow was not in. As we looked around, we saw that the rarely found Cayman-style of Crocs were not only displayed, but were 20% off their list price. Barb and I both replaced our nearly worn through, two year old pairs and got some discounted Life Is Good fluffy warm socks as well. I will be interested to find out if Jim got a chance to hang glide after we left over the same site where powered flight got its start.

After shopping for some provisions we settled in for more visiting at the condo, some Sunday football – yes, the Broncos let a 14 point lead slip away and yes Betsy, the Patriots beat the Eagles. We had a great dinner followed by an evening of cards and turned in with plans to leave as early as possible Monday.

At 8 am Monday, the anchor was up and we motored into the wind. Then we sailed across Albemarle Sound and back to the ICW at the Alligator River. By sunset we had attained our goal of reaching the anchorage at mile marker 127 at the north end of the Pungo River near Belhaven, NC with possible gale force conditions threatening overnight. The winds never materialized. After a good night’s rest, we were up and underway again at the crack of dawn and made it to Beaufort about 80 miles away. Not sure of our plans to proceed, we went to the fuel dock and got a good slug of chemical energy stored in our tanks to allow us to keep our options open. We went out into the Morehead City Channel and anchored near the Coast Guard Station east of green “23” ready for a quick exit into the Atlantic, ready to continue down the ICW or ready to visit Beaufort again the next day(s). It turned out that plan “A” would be to leave before dawn to sail in the ocean with a following 10 – 15 knot wind, gusting to 25, in 3 – 5 foot seas trying to cover about 84 nautical miles and entering Masonboro Inlet with an outgoing current and anchoring before sunset in Banks Channel. Plan “B” – visit Beaufort and wait for a day of north to northwest winds. Plan “D” – travel by motor in the shelter of the ICW about 80 statute miles to Wrightsville Beach.

I know I skipped Plan “C.”

I wanted to put the ICW journey in its proper place. Plan “A” considerations - Ocean sailing can be so enjoyable if conditions are right. Plan “B” - Beaufort is a great little town and has one of our favored restaurants, “The Grocery.” Plan “D” - The stretch of ICW along the coast of North Carolina has currents and shoaling punctuated by a few bridges that have to be opened for us to transit, not a few power boaters for whom we slow allowing them to pass. Hopefully they pass slowly so their wakes doesn’t rock us. A practice not guaranteed. And then there is the Camp Le Jeune practice range where the Marines get good at defending our country. If they are practicing hard boats may be delayed. It is all charming, but even charm becomes tedious if there is too much of it.

Wednesday at 0245, I awoke to see the depth sounder displaying 5.5 feet and knowing that low tide was still an hour away; I must shorten our anchor rode and be a little farther out into the channel. By doing that I would surely be awake and probably unable to get back to sleep. Instead, I prepared to get underway and head out to sea with a great jump on the outgoing tide in the inlet and the probably of a good sail with time to spare getting into Masonboro Inlet executing Plan “A.”

In the dark, we experienced 9 knots exiting with the current in Morehead City Channel while the channel markers were plainly visible in the distance and on the chart plotter. Once outside the channel we were able to set the autopilot for the run to a point just outside the danger zone off Camp Le Jeune’s firing range, about 35 nm away on a broad reach at wind speeds about 18 knots. I wonder what the Marines fire way out there beyond the sight of any land? From there we ran downwind another 33 nm toward Masonboro Inlet on a dead run with the new whisker pole on the headsail. We had every bit of the 3-5 ft seas and a gust of 25 knots, but the boat handled wonderfully staying over 6 knots the whole way without any effort on our part. What a handy addition that whisker pole is. We arrived at the inlet at 1400 hours, took off the whisker pole, brought in the headsail and fired up the engine. Before I engaged the engine I noticed that the boat speed had dropped to about 4 knots showing us that the poled out headsail increased our boat speed over 50% on the run. I put the boat in gear and with the main still up for extra power and stability we turned to a beam reach with the occasional breaking wave slapping us hard, spraying the deck and the dodger with sea water while we made for the channel. After ten tense minutes we were inside and as we turned into Banks Channel Barbie furled the mainsail. We were anchored firmly by 1445.

Here we will stay visiting brother Tom and Vickie until we get some boat chores taken care of and our mail arrives. We expect Stardust to arrive no sooner than Monday and with a front coming through on Monday morning they realistically won’t make it until later in the week. We will be ready to sail when they are.

Until then, be well.

Leaving DC November 17, 2007

Jupiter’s Smile left the Gangplank Marina in the Washington Channel at 0704 on Saturday, November 17th. Brother Larry was aboard for a short ride down the river and we ate breakfast together as we motored toward Alexandria’s City Dock for a last farewell. Larry climbed onto the dock and watched us go and while gauging the height of our mast and the clearance beneath the Woodrow Wilson Rte I-95, 495 Bridge. We just made it under (with about 25 ft. to spare.)

Stardust had left the day before so that they could dock at Mt. Vernon and tour the mansion and grounds. Unfortunately, after docking and walking White Foot, Jim noticed that the water level was quite shallow. The dockmaster said it was low tide. Jim had checked the tide tables and knew that it was high tide. The dockmaster checked her tables and confirmed that Jim was right. The winds had been strong out of the north for about a day and that blew enough water out of the Potomac to make the depths at the dock too low for Stardust to stay and tour. Rachel had to postpone her eyewitness history lesson, but the dockmaster did grant them three free passes for their next visit, so while it was a big disappointment all was not lost. They anchored off the channel around the corner from Gunston Hall.

So, Saturday Stardust got to sleep in a little bit while Jupiter’s Smile made up the difference in distance by about 10 am. The strong winds of Friday did not continue Saturday so we had to motor the Potomac and since the wind had been blowing water out the previous two days the current was upriver and against us as the river system refilled with the incoming tide. It really didn’t matter as we were underway again with the sun shining and the trees wearing their colorful autumn best setting out for the beginning of a trip of undetermined length, duration and destination. Our objective: wear shorts and sandals again comfortably.

We anchored for the night out of the channel near Fredricksburg just past the town of Dahlgren, VA. Next day we made the Chesapeake Bay rounding Smith’s Point and putting in up the Great Wicomico River. The wind was expected to pipe up again out of the north again so we wanted good shelter for a good, unworried rest.

On Monday at 0700 the anchors were raised to continue our journey southbound with the goal of reaching Salt Pond Marina just off the Chesapeake near the town of Hampton, VA and the home of friends we made in the Bahamas, Jim and Pat Wharry (S/V Shamrock). Once out into the Bay the 10 –15 mph winds were blowing 20 – 25 knots (knots=mph x 1.15) with gusts higher. The highest gust was 32.2 knots. It was a following wind and I took the opportunity to rig our brand new whisker pole to our genoa and we surfed the 3 – 4 foot waves on a run. Credit for the 7.9 knot speed goes to David Breasted who helped me with the purchase and rigging of the whisker pole and fittings. David is a long time experienced sailor and a selfless gentleman who gave me means to acquire the pole along with guidance, transportation and friendship. If not for David our little boat would never have been able to run a close to rumbline course and would have had to jibe several times to keep our sails filled like Stardust had to do. Jim did this so expertly. Stardust was faster and Jupiter’s Smile was straighter so we arrived at our destination at almost the same time.

The “almost” was due to a huge pod of dolphin that surrounded our boat toward the end of the journey. Between thirty and forty young, old, great and small animals played around us on all quarters. Several jumped clear of the water from time to time, all took turns riding our bow wave and while Barb and I took turns on deck to get a close look, they took turns swimming alongside the boat turning on their sides and even on their backs to get a look at us. We enjoyed their company for about an hour and we delayed starting our engine to head towards the marina’s entrance channel until we got into shallower water and the playful critters departed on their own before the sound of the engine could annoy them. I will put photos on the blog site as soon as I can.

Jim and Pat were at the dock to welcome us warmly. We felt wonderful seeing them again and as we walked to their lovely condominium I was impressed by the facilities. Their condominium overlooks the marina docks looking westward and one can see the Chesapeake and Hampton Roads from the stairway looking northeast through southeast.
We talked about what we had all done since we left them in the Bahamas sharing stories and good times. We all went out for Italian Food and continued the good times into the night. Next day, Jim Wharry took the women to the grocery store while I caught up on business issues. That afternoon, we all sat down to a fabulous early Thanksgiving turkey dinner. Jim and Pat treated us so well and we appreciate their kindness and hospitality. Leftovers left with us on Wednesday along with their love.

We motored into Hampton Roads and up the Elizabeth River between Norfolk and Portsmouth underway along with Naval warships, huge container ships, an oil tanker, a coal carrier, several tugs and homeland security vessels. We stopped for fuel and a pump out and then we were on our way again to run the gauntlet of bridge openings and a lock passage to anchor south of Coinjock, VA and just off the ICW at the mouth of Broad Creek. Along the way the VHF radio warned of gale force winds later as the 70-degree temperatures of the last few days would be replaced by cold air from the north.

Barb made cookies and her signature holiday dressing and we dinghyed over to Stardust for Thanksgiving dinner. Jim gave me an article to read. It was from the late 1800’s about a British couple and their skipper sailing on vacation around the Florida coast. Back aboard Jupiter’s Smile I began to read and at 2200, just as I read about the sailors in peril off a lee shore, the wind (almost calm until then) blasted us with a 33-knot wall of air. The boat pivoted 120 degrees and the wave action began to build, but it gave the boat a gentle motion riding on the substantial amount of anchor chain we had deployed in preparation for this weather event. Thank you National Weather Service for this warning. I continue to marvel at all the institutions and services available to place aids to navigation, dredge waterways, lift huge bridges, operate locks, notify us of weather, and the private enterprises that allow us to safely sail the coast of our wonderful country.

The strong winds blew all night and have continued all day unabated at over 20 knots as I write now. We used those winds to sail from last night’s anchorage to another about 20 miles away and off the shore of Kitty Hawk in Currituck Sound. We are exposed to the wind and the chop of the sound in about 6.5 feet of water just south of the bridge, anticipating the opportunity to join the Lee’s for a day in their timeshare at Kitty Hawk. They have not gone ashore yet either, because the wind is too strong and they would be spray soaked or worse before they landed their dinghy. So tonight we are both anchored firmly and the anchor alarm is set just in case. We are running more electronics than we usually do, but the wind generator will easily keep up with our consumption through the night. The wind is forecast to drop below 10 mph after midnight and we go ashore tomorrow.