" When Pigs Fly"

When we last wrote we had arrived in Coinjock, NC after a couple of great boating days.  The prime rib at the Coinjock Marina restaurant lived up to its reputation and the hush puppies were awesome too.  The plan was to spend just one night at Coinjock but once again, the weather intervened with high winds, so we laid up another day. 

Wish my pics did justice to the beauty we have seen.  Sunrise at Dowry Creek

The next morning after the high winds we found sunshine and blue skies, a bit breezy but manageable, and we were able to make our way through the winding river. As we cruised through Albemarle Sound we were pleasantly surprised with a smooth ride in spite of the 1’ to 2’ seas. The auto pilot was working great and we felt like we were living the dream. Life couldn’t get any better…but it could get worse and it did in a hurry!

November 20th will be remembered as a very DARK boating day to say the least. Some was my fault, well maybe most was my doing with some bad information from the Garmin, and then again it was my own damn fault. We were approaching the Alligator River Swing Bridge and we had a 15/20 knot wind on our stern gusting to 20 to 25. From my end this was all doable. I had the auto guidance feature running on the Garmin. At Green 7 Garmin showed our course making a very radical turn to port and then a second radical turn toward starboard, returning essentially to our original direction.

The charts showed something very different. Now in my defense, and the admiral is my witness, Garmin has been known to make radical turns for no reason. I opted to travel the magenta line as noted on the charts, a decision I’ll regret until my credit card is paid off. The charts showed a lazy backward “S” as it passed between two sandbars. Any idea where this is leading? You guessed it! We were fast aground! Our depth was 8’ then it went to 6’, to 4’, and finally settled at 2.4’ all in about a nanosecond and we were stuck. Since we need 5’ of draft, 2.4’ was not working for us too much.

I was extremely disturbed with myself and I think I may have even invented some new cuss words as we came to a slow stop. This became especially upsetting when the boat that had shadowed us all the way across the Albemarle Sound followed the radical Garmin course and went on to the bridge. Finally things calmed down and it was evident that we were not going anywhere without some help. I called TowBoatsUS. I have a gold tow insurance policy and assumed there was nothing to worry about other than my bruised ego. Man, was I ever wrong. We contacted the tow company and exchanged pleasantries with the tow captain; he said it would be two hours before he could be there. We just rocked and bounced hard while we waited.

When TowBoatsUS arrived Captain Harry started explaining the difference between a soft and hard grounding. To our amazement the distinction has nothing to do with the substance that keeps the boat from floating.  It is totally dependent on the length of time it takes to get unstuck.  If it’s a soft grounding my BoatUS insurance will take care of the costs. If it’s a hard grounding they pay ZERO and it reverts to my yacht insurance that pays $1,500 and my Master Card. Then he explained the costs. They mounted up quickly in my case. $250/ hour portal to portal for the captain, boat, and truck = $850.00 plus $25/foot x 55’ x 2 hours, plus $250 for the weather, $190 for his mate portal to portal for a grand total $4,010.00. You can imagine my sticker shock for this episode and I couldn’t help thinking we have the worse spots yet ahead of us in South Carolina and Georgia. Many more episodes like this and you’ll find a for sale sign on the Pig.

I consoled myself with one piece of good financial news. This Wednesday I’ll receive my first “rocking chair check” so it does pay to get old, just not enough.

After arriving at the Morehead City Yacht Basin we tied up, washed the boat down and went for a nice sea food dinner at the Sanitary Fish Market. The name troubles Anna a little but this has been a long time favorite of mine. I just love their hush puppies.

The Captain's tools

We had planned to depart Saturday morning but the Carolina wind changed our mind again. The breeze was kinda warm but it was blowing 20+something so boating was out of the question. We decided to spend the weekend shuttling the truck from Norfolk to Myrtle Beach. Sunday the wind blew even harder and there was a definite crispness in the wind. Long pants and coats were the order of the day.  Even thought about gloves. I need to get out of this state.

After a grocery stop Sunday afternoon we returned to the dock to find the water had been disconnected and the dock pipes blown out and no one seems to know when it may be turned on again. This only concerns us because again we are wind stuck.

There was a lot going on Monday morning. Anna wanted to get a load of laundry washed, the rental car needed to be returned, and we needed to fuel up the boat. While all this was going on I talked to the BoatUS captains for some local knowledge. Monday’s weather was doable but we ended up wasting too much daylight on our chore list and couldn’t get to our next planned stop till after dark, this is never a good plan. Then there are also those two bridges to pass under both require on the hour openings. Timing is critical and you can’t predict how the bridges will impact cruising time.

So Tuesday then became our departure day until the weatherman jinxed both Tuesday and Wednesday with higher winds gusting up to 50 knots. The bad weather making national news for the next few days has gripped our little part of paradise too.  Friday morning now looks to be a much better day so that’s our planned departure of Morehead City towards point south.

This is a shot from Norfolk.  Too early for Christmas but still beautiful

This one is just for fun

We had hoped to be at least in Myrtle Beach before Thanksgiving but we’ll settle for being safe and sound (though kind of cold) in Morehead City. While everyone is having turkey and reading our blog Anna and I will be having nice thick T-bones and bakers with lots of toppings and of course, her famous punk’n pie, not such a bad trade.  Happy Thanksgiving to all of our family and friends.  Boating starts again Friday...maybe.  

See ya on the water.