Bel Haven, NC

Every 2 or 3 days we have to stop to refuel, pumpout and top off the water tanks.  We stopped at this marina in Bel Haven, NC.  This was a quaint and beautiful small town. 

This was a peek at some of the houses around the marina.  Everything looked so neat and tidy.  They fortunately didn't have any real damage from Hurricane Matthew.

This was the young man who helped us with everything.  His name is Josh.  He didn't like having his picture taken, but let me take it anyway.  He is going to college and eventually wants to work on marine diesel engines.  He wants to work with his hands and be outside and not in an office.  I liked how he had a plan for himself.  We had such a nice conversation!

Josh told me this was the new dock they just built.  The owners have been making a lot of new changes.  As with most small coastal towns, the recession and other factors have caused a lot of businesses to close.  The new owners are trying to build the place back up.  I hope they can make it work!  I always feel sad when I see these neat towns become like a ghost town!



Here is Dolce Vita getting her water tank filled.  The Captain has the chore of filling and emptying the tanks.

Ed is all done with the work and now to pay for it!  This is never cheap but this was the most expensive gas we've paid for so far!  The gas was a bit over $3.00/gal.









One of my favorite parts of being on the water is all the water fowl.   It is absolutely amazing to me to see seagulls all lined up on every pier around and every sea wall!

This place also had a lot of ducks.  This was the first time I saw ducks in the ICW.

A Cormorant is drying it's wings in the sun since it doesn't have oil in it's feathers.

After we were done at River Forest Marina we motored out from there and anchored for the night.  We read somewhere that at dawn there was a dolphin feeding frenzy in this area.  This was one of our reasons for coming here.  We did get up at dawn, but no dolphins.  I think that it was getting too cold for them and they were headed South like us!

We did get a beautiful sunset and sunrise!

North River

 These are the waves we traveled on the North River.  I am excited over all of it.  The boat went up and down and sometimes rolled, but it's a bit of a thrill which is good!

Can't really tell from the next two photos, but this is where we ran aground!  It didn't take us long to back out and get going again.  The ICW is very shallow in parts!  We watch our fathometer (depth gauge) all the time to make sure we have enough water to move in!

Here's the hard working Captain!

















We actually got to raise our jib for a while!  What a beautiful sight!  We made pretty good time motor-sailing!

Alligator Pungo Canal

 This canal is one of my favorite places so far and I have loved them all.  We didn't see any alligators, but did see a lot of birds.  The sailboat about a mile or two ahead of us saw a black bear cross the canal in front of them.

The shape of the waterway in this part is in the shape of an alligator, hence the name.  Sometimes the woods were on the left and the marsh land on the right and then it would reverse!  It was 30 miles long!

Signs of Fall

This looked like an alligator from afar, but was just a long spot of grass.

We thought this was a hawk, or it could've been an eagle.

Coinjock, NC

This is one of the largest power boats I have ever seen up close!  It looked

 almost as big

We stopped at Coinjock, NC to get gas and provision some.  This is a very small town.  After leaving Coinjock we motored South about 4-5 miles and anchored out.  Ed heard the bilge pump turn on and off and knew something wasn't right.  After digging everything out of the sail locker again, he found the pump was broken!  We had to call someone to give us a tow back to Coinjock to work out the logistics of getting a new pump.  Fortunately, Ed was able to get another pump delivered to us.    A nice young man working at the dock was nice enough to go to the post office on Saturday.  Everyone in this area are wonderful!   The Boatus tow driver's boat broke down on their way to tow us.  So instead of making us wait overnight for a different tow boat to come he got some friends and their small fishing boat and they towed us back!                                                                                                                                                

The broken pump

New Pump Arrived!

The look of relief and happiness at the arrival of the new pump!

Kathy and Lee

This is the life!

 

 

Kathy and Lee are taking the same kind of trip as us. 
The difference is that they will be flying back to Annapolis for their daughter's wedding and will return to their boat in January.  We enjoyed meeting them and found out they like to play cards.  We played a game of Hand and Foot with them.  Lots of fun!

Intercoastal Waterway - nicknamed The Ditch

We got an early start this morning, 7:40, and headed South from Hampton Marina.  It took a bit of time but we made it to the the Ditch!  Along this way there were Navy Aircraft Carriers and war ships.  Very large and impressive!  The aircraft carrier reminded me of my late brother-in-law who was on one of these when he was in the Navy

It winds and winds for miles!  We were in VA the whole day!  We got to go through a lock with the boat. 

Notice the coffee color brown under the boat.  This is how the water looked as each boat went through!

 I was really looking forward to this part.  It was interesting but not as exciting as I was anticipating.  Tying up to the lock was a test of endurance.  Dolce Vita has a mind of her own and just wouldn't cooperate with the Captain.   We needed to get the stern close to the wall so the lock master could put the end of the stern line around a cleat, but the stern just wouldn't go there.  By the time we managed to get it all right we had the lock master telling us that if we had not made it that time he was giving up on us!  He was a temperamental man!  We told him we were newbies!  Oh well, chalk one up for experience!

At the end of the Lock

One of the Bridges along the way.

I am so in awe of being here on the Ditch!  I have heard so much about it.  We have been getting so many wonderful tips on how to go down it safely and what to expect and look for and now I am seeing it up close!  It started very industrial on both sides.  It eventually opened up with some beautiful scenery on both sides.  Lots of trees.  It then went to looking very marshy all around us.  Then there are the bridges and this is just the beginning!  So many different kinds...some where a portion of the road or train track was lifted up so the boats could go through, raised drawbridge type. and then there are swing type bridges.  Some of the bridges are 90' feet high so there was no problem going under them.  We were very fortunate today in that we didn't have to wait for any of them.  Sometimes if you don't get there in time you end up waiting a half hour.  Ed has a different perspective than me, but, for now, the experience is still novel and having to wait for a bridge is not bothersome.   Of course,  check back with me after several more weeks of this and I will probably have changed my opinion on this whole idea of waiting is fun!

A Bit of Fall can be seen in the Trees.

Some of the Birds observed.

We have been going from 7:40 am to 4:15 pm.  A long day.  We anchored on Black Water Creek.  There's only 1 other sailboat on this Creek.  A very peaceful place, except when jets were flying overhead.












Tomorrow...    North Carolina!