Elizabeth City to Belhaven
Trip Start
Jul 21, 2001
1
27
45
Trip End
Apr 22, 2002
Belhaven,
North Carolina,
United States
Tuesday, October 30, 2001
The winds were predicted to be 20 knots gusting to 25 so we had not planned to go anywhere today and tomorrow would be worse. When we awoke the winds were light and several boats started to leave including Seaquel. Since George and Julie had traversed the waters of the Albemarle Sound twice before we wanted to follow their lead across these treacherous waters. We would be taking a short cut across waters only 7-8' deep. High winds create dangerous troughs which can drop you on the bottom. If we didn't follow their lead we would take the safe but long way around and this route would also bring us into head winds instead of being able to sail with the wind just ahead of the beam.
The first hour or so was quite pleasant but as we entered the Sound and started the short cut across the shallows the wind picked up. We had reefed our mail sail and genny but we were still doing 6-7 knots without tidal assist. During the day, the wind kept increasing and soon after leaving the shoal area it had reached 22 knots, then 25. The highest wind that Seaquel recorded was 32 knots. Margaret and I had never sailed in wind this strong and it was quite a learning experience. Since we were not pounding into head seas our sails weren't pulled in tight and I was able to ride the large waves instead of crashing into them. There is a trick to steering across the large waves and when we did hit a cresting wave wrong the spray would splash back towards us in the cockpit but because the wind was so strong it swept the spray sideways before it could hit us. Margaret certainly didn't like the sail but she was surprised that she wasn't seasick and didn't even have to take anything. Once I got more skilled with quartering the biggest waves she even relatively relaxed and read. The cats were fine with Sinbad staying below curled up on the lee side (the lowest side away from the wind) of the forward berth and Hercules jammed into the smallest space he could find by Margaret in the cockpit.
Near the beginning of the Alligator River, Seaquel, with its deep keel, anchored in what I felt was quite an exposed anchorage, so we said goodbye and continued on, entering the Alligator-Pungo Canal.. With our 4'6" draft we were able to anchor just off the main channel in a closed section of the Fairfield Canal with a bow and stern anchors to keep us tightly in line with the narrow channel. Peace, finally, after 54 nautical miles.
We were pleased that we had held our own with the other larger boats and that Mystic Loon performed so well in those conditions. In fact there is a saying that a boat will always be able to take more than the crew. This is certainly true in our case. We have no desire to sail in those conditions again but at least if we get caught we will have this experience to look back on.
I would later receive an email from one of the boats which stayed behind. Dave, from Nicou, talked with a tugboat captain who worked those waters and he said he would not be out on a day like this. Glad we didn't know that as we kept innocently sailing along, glad that for a change we weren't motoring. When Dave and the others did leave two days later they had no wind and had11 hours of motoring.
Oct. 27
We completed the remainder of the canal and sailed to the small community of Belhaven and River Forest Marina. Shortly afterwards, Martin and Pauline who we first met in the Dismal Swamp pulled in with their beautiful 42' catamaran, Forever Young. It was great to have people we knew to share the time with and recount our adventures in the Sound. They sailed with only their jib up and with their large boat did a constant 9 -9.3 knots.
Martin is from Toronto and Pauline from New Zealand. They lived aboard their new boat in the Cayman Islands before bringing it back to Canada. Now they are on their way south again possibly to Cuba, possibly Trinidad. They joined us after supper. Normally all of us go to bed quite early on our boats but we couldn't believe it when we saw it was after 12 when they left that evening. Margaret and I had been to Grand Cayman Island just last year aboard a cruise ship so we had some grounds to relate to their stories of life there. I did two SCUBA dives there and they had dove the same places in addition to many more. I found it hard to believe that Pauline first qualified to dive in Tobermory in "NOVEMBER". I recall my friend Bruce Cunningham and I freezing as we dove there in the warmth of July.
Oct. 28
The marina has golf carts for their patrons to take into town. The carts have licenses on them and although they meet no safety standards for road use we were told "just pretend you are driving a slow car". We took a four-seater and went into town, parked in a normal car parking space, stopped and turned at the traffic lights, and were treated by everyone with courtesy and as if this were a most normal mode of transportation. The only other place we've seen this was in Lake Erie in Put-In-Bay and it was great. That evening we were invited over to Forever Young and saw how the other part of the world lives - two queen sized beds, fridge and freezer run off 6 solar panels, 28" TV, etc., etc.
Oct. 29
Forever Young left early in the morning but we had decided to stay and wait for friends we had made aboard "Nicou", a 38' Landfall. Dave and Judy elected not to follow us into the Sound when we left and had been forced to stay several days as the winds just increased each day. Today was a beautiful day, chilly but 10 knot winds predicted so we knew they would definitely be on their way. After Margaret took Hercules for his morning walk as I did some boat work, we asked for a golf cart and did some more exploring. When we returned, we toured the River Forest Manor which is the hotel connected to the marina.
It is a world Famous Restaurant and Inn and has been featured in National Geographic, Country Inns of America, and by many newspapers. Different articles and historic pictures adorn the walls of the reception area which also serves as the check-in for boats in the marina. I'll quote from their brochure to give you an idea of what we wandered through in our blue jeans and storm jackets. (It was cold driving in the golf cart.)
"In 1899, John Wilkinson, the Vice President of Norfolk & Southern Railroad began construction of the Victorian mansion known today as the River Forest Manor. Italian craftsmen were called in to carve the ornate ceilings (they were outstanding and reminded us, on a smaller scale, of the plaster ceilings we had admired in Venice) and by 1904 the mansion was complete with carved oak mantles for each of the eleven fireplaces, sparkling cut glass leaded into windows, crystal chandeliers glittering from the ceilings and tapestry placed above the mahogany wainscoting in the dining room." In the front lobby was a turn-of-the-century cash register about 5 feet high and several antique Victorian couches and love-seats. A magnificent oak staircase led to the upstairs rooms but we didn't investigate. Apparently two of the rooms have antique baths so large that they include oversized tubs for two, a rarity in those days.
For any boat which may follow our route, a better and cheaper marina to stay at is Rob's Boatyard and Marina to the west of River Forest which, for example, charges $5 for a pumpout while River Forest charges $15. Diesel is .40 cents a gallon cheaper and dockage is $1 instead of $1.25 and they also provide golf carts and cable TV hookup. Too bad we hadn't stayed there for the past two evenings.
The wind has finally died and we are anchored just west of the two marinas in company with seven other sailboats, no power boats. Everyone knows how poor sailboaters are :-) Of course, it's hard to say that about the 50' sailboat anchored off our stern - estimated value maybe 1.5 million!!!
