After Beaufort, NC, we anchored out a couple of nights (Snode Creek and Pungo River) and then went to Alligator Marina the night before crossing the Albemarle Sound.  Previous to this Sound, our “biggest water” had been in Charleston, SC.  THIS was going to be bigger and we had heard plenty of warnings about it.  Fortunately, weather conditions were to be good, so on the morning of April 25, we headed out.  Our intentions had originally been to do what’s referred to as the Albemarle Loop, which is going around the Sound and stopping at several places along the coastline, but since we were already behind many days, we decided to pass on it.

The water was slightly choppy, but not so bad.  We were lucky that the winds and waves were running with us, and not against us.   When we were about midway, we thought we were seeing things in the water.  Yes, we were — crab pots in the middle of the Sound!  The nemesis of boaters!  We made our way through a field of them and then were clear for awhile.  As we approached a turn on the far coastline, there they were again.  They were lined up on each side of the channel.  Oh well, at least these had some order to them.  They sort of led us into Elizabeth City.  We had survived the crossing.  We learned later, that those who came a day later had a much different experience.  What a difference a day makes!

Elizabeth CIty has several free docks, and as we approached, other Loopers hailed us and assisted us in finding a slip and docking.  There was a waterfront park in front of the boat slips and several boaters had found seats at the picnic tables and benches.  They were having a grand time visiting.  We Americans were outnumbered by the many Canadians who were making their way home, but there were good international relations!  Later that evening — everyone was still in the park — we struck up a conversation with a couple who was walking by and looking at the boats.  Turns out that they are intending to do the Loop in a couple of years, so they were picking up lots of info.  An hour after they left, they returned with fresh strawberry shortcake for everyone.  Those are the wonderful kinds of people we are meeting.

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Stayed in Elizabeth City for three days due to some rainy weather and wanting to go to Church.  We left Sunday and started the winding trail to the Dismal Swamp.  We saw a Looper boat close behind us and radioed them to please pass us.  We had an ulterior motive.  They were bigger than us with a deeper draft.  We wanted to FOLLOW them through the sometimes shallow waters of the Swamp so that we would have early warning.  Kind of sneaky, huh?

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To enter the Swamp, we had to go through our first lock — we were Virgin Lockers!  The Lock Master was so helpful and we got through without a hitch.  Then into the Swamp!  In 1763, George Washington first proposed draining the swamp, harvesting the timber and then farming the land.  That was done for while, but then it also became a waterway used for transporting goods.  Today it is used by recreational boaters — when they can get through it.  The day was perfect — sunshine and slight breezes.  The waterway is not very wide, so it’s sort of like going through a tunnel of trees.  They were a beautiful spring green color and the sunlight created beautiful depth in the shadow of the leaves.  It was so quiet as we passed.  There were only three boats, so we only heard the purr of the boat motors as we slowly cruised.  OK, we also heard the low water alarm more than a few times, but you get the idea.  It was sort of like an outdoor cathedral.  We only went part way the first day.  We tied up at the wall of the Great Dismal Swamp Visitor Center and took the pedestrian bridge across to the State Park.  They had a great visitor center and museum, and some hiking trails which we walked to stretch our legs.  Never saw any “wild life” that supposedly lives in the Swamp, but we did see the remains of a still which used to cook up some Moon Shine!

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The next day we continued our trek through the calm waters.  Sill beautiful, but in one section, we could hear and see some cars that passed by on a big highway.  It struck me that those people were moving so fast that they couldn’t possibly see the beauty that we were experiencing at 6-7 mph.  As we had experienced at the beginning of the Swamp, we also had a lock to take us out of the Swamp at the end of this part of the journey.  No longer virgins, we were now experienced lockers.  Ha, ha.  These were easy compared to what is ahead.

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Sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you!  This is Kathy with an entry for our blog.  I figured I should write this since I was piloting the boat when the bear got me.

We were traversing the Bogue sound, having left Swansboro, NC on our way to Beaufort, NC.  It is an area that is somewhat open to the ocean which means that storms can have significant effect on the shifting of sands under the water — shoaling.  It started out to be an easy day of a three hour cruise.  If that sounds like Gilligan, that’s exactly correct.  I was driving, between the markers on the channel and following our onboard navigation, when I saw the depth finder showing a decrease of water under the boat.  Tried steering out of it to find more water, but no luck.  We hit the sandy bottom.  We tried to back out, but no luck.  On a decreasing tide, we knew it would be hours before there would be enough water to float out, and the winds were picking up speed, pushing us in the WRONG direction.  There is a saying that there are boaters to have run aground, those who will run aground, and those who lie about it.  I’ll own up to it — we knew it was going to happen eventually.  We had no choice but to call Boat US which is a tow service.  We had purchased the towing insurance, so might as well use it.  We had a quick response.  A boat showed up within 15 minutes.  It then took about 40 minutes to get us free.  On our way again.

On our way, but not too far.  We couldn’t believe it, but it happened again.  About this time we wondered if we had any business being on this journey.  No choice but to call for towing again.  Same fella showed up, obviously thinking we had no idea of what we were doing.  Got us out much quicker this time — on our way again.

When stories are told, excessive tragedy always makes for a better story plot.  On that fateful day, I ran aground not one, not two, but three times.  When a new Boat US fella came, he found us 25 feet inside the left side channel marker.  There SHOULD be water there.  This time we were afraid of damage under the boat, so we requested a tow to a maintenance facility.  He took us all the way to Beaufort to Town Creek Marina.  We got there and the Service Manager took the boat out for a short ride and determined that the starboard prop had probably been damaged.  It was late Friday afternoon, a  diver could come on Monday to check it.  Might as well settle in.

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We had vacationed in Beaufort a few years ago and knew it was a charming place to be.  The marina had a courtesy car which we used almost daily.  To finish the story of our props, the diver came and removed both and took them to a prop shop.  It was Friday before they were returned, and considering that was Holy Week and Easter, we decided to just stay until Monday.  The winds were horrendous, so we didn’t want to travel anyway.

BUT, there are silver linings to this story of woe.  At church on the first Saturday there, we saw a couple we had known in Augusta many years ago—Joann and Bill Hoffman.  We spent several evenings together over the week and had a delightful time getting caught up and trying to figure out how we knew each other!  Another bonus was the church there.  The priest was a classmate of one of the priests at our parish in Augusta.  He had a gift for speaking and we attended several of the services there for Holy Week.  Our souls were nourished and we felt very blessed.  Additionally, as the week went on and not so good weather was predicted, several other Looper boats came into the area and we met some wonderful people.  So nothing is all bad — life would go on, as would our journey.

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While in Beaufort, we got the chance to speak with several Loopers about electronic navigation apps.  When we left on Monday, April 22, we thought we were all set and that the new apps would keep on the straight and narrow route.  No, THAT didn’t happen, but that’s a story for another day.  We’re still smiling, and realizing that we’ve had a heck of a learning curve this first month on the loop!

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I’m writing this post as I reflect on our first week of travel.  The first few days had some incredible sights, stars filling the entire sky the first night, dolphins checking us out the first time we ventured from an anchorage in our dinghy, sighting of more dolphins playing at our bow, bald eagles, narrow cuts to navigate and wide open rivers.  There are a lot of items to consider as we plan for each day: the tides which change the depth of the water and determine when we can traverse some areas; the predicted winds which are usually lower in the morning and can determine our time of departure; our destination for the day – an anchorage or a marina?  Then we have to plan a halfway place if the weather craps out (yes, that is an approved mariner term), or a more distant point if it’s a great travel day.  

As an example, we pulled into the Isle of Palms Marina (North of Charleston, SC) to stay for one night.  High winds off the beam of the boat, pushing us against the dock, kept us there for four nights.  What do you do on these non travel days?  There is a list of maintenance tasks on the boat (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly).  We have a supply of books we want to read and DVDs to watch.  We can search for things we have already misplaced on the boat.  The one thing we like to do on these days is meet other boaters.  We were very fortunate that Mack and Vicki on Confetti, notice our burgee (Looper flag) and introduce themselves.  Over the next three days we had many conversations with them, some about boating, some about life in general.  They are loosely doing the Loop, many side trips for them  They have a lot of experience in the Bahamas, multiple trips with fellow Kadey-Krogen owners.  Yes, some boaters travel in packs with like boat owners.

Mack and Vicki shared weather information apps with us.  There is a lot of weather information available on the web, although not all is applicable to mariners and may not be localized enough for our current location.  One app we learned about from them is Windy, a wind prediction app that consolidates the information from four forecasting models into one place.  Along with wind speed we get gust predictions, direction, rain percentage, and cloud coverage.  Another way to get weather info is from emails that contain small-boater specific observed data.  We are thankful that we met them.  The information from theses sites will make our daily trip planning easier and decisions can be made with boater specific information.  

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Things we are learning – sometimes we must be patient and wait.

Waiting for a good wi-fi signal to not only get email but to receive weather updates.

Waiting for the wind to subside in Isle of Palms Marina for four nights as it pressed us against the dock.  Then as the wind subsides, the rain was on the way.

We are reminding ourselves that this is supposed to be a pleasure cruise.  We have no specific schedule and delays are to be expected. We can’t start getting antsy about bad weather days. There is a lot to do and experience every day – wherever we are – and we are loving it (and learning something every day). 

My last post was about our first day and the great experience it was.  Our second day was equally great – learned about navigating through cuts, dodging crab pot floats, and ended up anchoring in Church Creek.  We put the dinghy in the water and motored to fellow looper boat Wild Goose to have dinner.  This will be the start of many dinner outings, taking the dinghy to a fellow boat, a marina, another dock, or a beach for dinner.

Our third day began with navigating through Elliott Cut, a narrow cut that is best to do against the current to maintain control.  A few miles later we entered the harbor of Charleston.  Seeing the city from this vantage point was new to us. Also new was our first venture into “big water,” including shipping lanes, container vessels, and multiple crossing channels.  This kind of water is also part of the ICW.

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After motoring past Sullivans Island, zig-zagging on a rising tide, we ended the day at the Isle of Palms Marina.  Ed made a perfect docking – which was viewed by many people peering from the windows at a nearby restaurant. People are always watching! That afternoon we rode our bikes to Saturday mass at Stella Maris church – a church we have attended before on our land visits to Sullivan’s Island (adjacent to IOP).  This island is one of our favorite places to visit.

As much as we wanted to continue our progress north, the winds looked iffy for the next day. Patience!

Every “Looper” we have met has emphasized to not have a schedule.  We have experienced that right from the start. We had planned to begin the Great Loop Journey on Monday, March 25.  Due to my “dinghy dilemma” I was not able to install the dinghy davit system until Tuesday.  Re-Scheduled departure to begin the Great Loop Journey was Wednesday March 27. Checking the weather Tuesday evening showed Wednesday to not be a pleasant day on the water – high winds and waves. 

Thursday we awoke to fantastic weather – scheduled departure for 9:30.  Many things to do as we were leaving our dock, and Vitamin Sea’s homeport.  On our training cruises, we knew we were coming back to our dock. We left our electrical cord, water line, and welcome mat on the dock.  This was different; all this had to come onboard – leaving nothing behind.  After topping the fuel tanks, and emptying the black tank it was time to go.  A big moment for us!

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We passed under the Ladys Island Bridge in Beaufort, our technical starting point, at 9:42 am.  A quick kiss with the Admiral and we were underway.  Needless to say this was a very emotional moment for both of us – after years of planning and learning.  Within forty minutes we were in unfamiliar waters.  We had met another Looper couple, on Wild Goose, who were going our direction on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), so we were invited to follow them for today’s journey.  This put us at ease to know that someone was leading the way for the first day.

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Lots of twists and turns along the way. The ICW is a series of rivers and cuts in this area.  The low water alarm sounded during one turn so we had to scramble to find deeper water. (Two alarms on the boat: the low water alarm means the water under the boat is “skinny”, the high water alarm means water is in the bilge area of the boat.  You have to immediately react to both of them.) 

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We anchored for lunch just north of Fenwick Cut, which was our intended anchorage for the night. There was so much boat traffic going past us that we decided to moved past the cut to South Fenwick Island to anchor for the night.  We noticed the Fenwick Island WMA (Wildlife Management Area) had a dock so we put the dinghy in the water. While getting the dinghy ready, two dolphins approached to check it (us) out – within two feet.  It was like having a welcoming committee! We motored over to the island and walked around the protected area for birds and “critters.” It was beautiful.

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Being on the water is usually relaxing to me, but is sure wasn’t today.  That will change because everything is all new to us.  We had calmed as night fell and the end of the day brought a beautiful sunset and a perfectly clear night sky with numerous stars. Only two lights were visible and they were navigation buoys. We stood outside on the boat and had this thought – if it all ended today, the one perfect day would have been worth it.

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Kathy and I have been curious travelers all our lives. Growing up in military families we got the travel bug early. Our past travels have led us to various parts of the globe by many different modes of travel. Now that we have the time we are embarking on our most ambitious journey – Americas Great Loop. This loop is a boating adventure around the eastern third of the United States and Canada encompassing many rivers, lakes, waterways and canals. Follow our adventure beginning March of 2019.

Our boat is a 2005 Meridian 408, a 40′ cruising vessel that will be our home for the next few years.