dave – Page 6 – Sail Andante

Making Tracks

A long, narrow and shallow week on the ICW

From southern North Carolina into South Carolina the ICW is extremely narrow with many areas of severe shoaling. Driving this stretch required a lot of concentration to keep Andante in the center of the channel and out of the mud. And we’re definitely driving and not sailing. There have been a few rare occasions to hoist a sail and gain an extra knot of boatspeed (and a smile) but the engine is on all day long.

From Camp Lejeune we pushed south with brief overnight stops in Wrightsville Beach and then Southport where we loaded up on fuel, water and some fantastic shrimp and grits. The next day we weathered a gale in the marshes of Little River Inlet, SC before continuing on past Myrtle Beach and into the amazingly beautiful Waccamaw River. The owls were frighteningly loud but it was too cold to see any alligators. This was definitely one of my favorite overnight stops so far. Probably buggy in warmer seasons so perhaps lucky to enjoy it now.

We arrived in Charleston, SC on January 12 and plan to stay here for a day or two until a weather window allows a coastal passage to Georgia. South of Charleston and all through Georgia the ICW is essentially impassable due to shoaling except at mid/high tide. It will be much more efficient (and fun) to sail outside. This short break gives me a chance to top up fuel and water tanks and stretch my legs with walks through the city.

Southport, NC is a cute little town and Southport Marina was a great stopover for fuel and a hot shower.

I recommend the shrimp and grits at Fishy Fishy Cafe in Southport. The local shrimp have lots of flavor. The Bud Light does not. But I enjoyed it anyway.

Sunset in Little River Inlet on the NC/SC border. I didn’t realize South Carolina had offshore gambling until the “Big M Casino” steamed past. Glad to have good lighting and AIS.

Between Beaufort, NC and Charleston, SC we cleared 30 bridges. Most of those are a standard fixed vertical clearance (65 ft +/-) but quite a few (including 3 in one day this week) require swinging, raising, or floating the span out of the channel before proceeding. We’ve run into a few delays due to bridge maintenance but generally all works smoothly and the bridge operators are very accommodating.

Spanish moss on the banks of the Waccamaw River. Miles of narrow winding channels surrounded by nothing but swamps and trees.

Coast Guard doing two-boat drills in Charleston Harbor.

Andante on the “Mega Dock” at Charleston City Marina. We were probably the least “mega” boat in the place — but it was very nice.

The Ubers in Charleston may be a little slower than elsewhere. This is a very pretty city to walk around with lots of history. College of Charleston is a beautiful campus. And everyone seems to be extremely good about mask-wearing.

Morehead City to Mile Hammock Bay

Off to a good start.

We left Morehead City just after dawn and had a beautiful ride through the port and into Bogue Sound.

Bogue Sound is very scenic with many small sandy islets and lots of birds. One friend followed us closely for several miles. (This is my first attempt including video in this blog. Hope it works.)

We made good time and with the wind behind us were even able to carry a headsail for a while. The last few miles of the day cut through USMC Camp Lejeune. There were some interesting contrasts with beautiful marshes and lots of wildlife in a live-fire training area.

Fortunately the lights were not flashing when we arrived. There were definite sounds of gunfire and occasional louder explosions in the distance.

The barrier island separating the ICW from the Atlantic is very narrow here. I could hear the surf breaking as we sailed past. Do you think all those hunters wearing orange know they are dressed like a target?

I hope the birds understand what the flashing lights mean.

This swing bridge is within Camp Lejeune and is operated by the Marines. They were very punctual.

We anchored for the night in Mile Hammock Bay, a well-protected little harbor apparently used by the Marines for launching landing craft. It was a good place to ride out the gale that arrived overnight but was anything but quiet — the little harbor is adjacent to a busy helicopter landing area.

These two circled around playing follow-the-leader for hours.

Underway Again!

Finally.

The 3-4 weeks of actual work on Andante stretched over two full months to accommodate the holidays. It was great to be home and see everyone and eat way too much. But now its January, its cold, and we need to get south. As fast as this moderately slow boat can go.

We left Bock Marine on January 4 for a short trip to Beaufort. It was good to get underway again and test out the new steering and engine controls for the first time. Everything worked smoothly and we anchored for the night in Taylor Creek on the Beaufort downtown waterfront. I assembled dinghy and motored the 100 yards to shore for a nice dinner with Bill and Anne. From the anchorage I could see some of the wild horses on Carrot Island frolicking on the beach. Never mind that all I have to share are still pictures of seemingly relaxed horses. There was indeed frolicking.

Bock Marine in the rear-view mirror. I had a good experience here and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a DIY yard.

Andante anchored in Taylor Creek in Beaufort, NC. Sitting close to her lines with half fuel and almost no water — but lots of food. Will be interesting to see how much this changes when I fill the water tanks.

Wild horse on Carrot Island, Beaufort, NC.

The next day we stuck our head out into the Atlantic and sailed south for an hour before deciding the conditions were not at all what was forecast. It was very windy and rough with frequent heavy rain squalls. Not fun, so we turned around and headed back in the inlet.

Its easy to second-guess a decision like that. But after deciding to return to port not only was I immediately more comfortable, I was reassured by two significant good omens: A big pod of dolphins began following the boat and leaping alongside as soon as I turned around. And upon entering the inlet we were greeted with a full rainbow.

We anchored for the night near the Coast Guard base in Morehead City. It wasn’t a particularly quiet anchorage but was convenient to the ICW and allowed us to get an early start the next morning. With the very short periods of fair weather between frontal systems its looking like we’ll continue south along the ICW rather than offshore – at least for now.

Rolly anchorage inside Beaufort Inlet just off of the Coast Guard base at Fort Macon.

Almost Ready to Go

Just a few more days before we set sail.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I’m back on Andante after a nice holiday at home. Santa was very generous this year.

There are only a few more jobs to complete in the yard before getting underway early next week. The weather forecast for the next couple of days looks pretty sloppy so we’ll most likely stay put until Tuesday. Then we’ll relocate to an anchorage a few miles south of here in downtown Beaufort for fuel, water, and last minute supplies.

After that we’ll move to Cape Lookout to wait for appropriate weather to head south. At this point the first anticipated stop is about 85 miles away in Southport, NC at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. From there its another easy sail to Charleston, SC. That seems to be the best location for a jump to the Bahamas — but the Covid situation is changing rapidly.

Our new Winslow liferaft arrived and is now stowed, along with a well-equipped ditch bag and damage control supplies, in a dedicated cockpit locker. I’ve reorganized and inventoried all of the storage spaces onboard. My spreadsheet lists the contents of 87 lockers. No wonder I can never find anything.

I built a new heavy-duty storm hatchboard. Just in case. We already had traditional teak boards, a lightweight (night-time) board, and a screen. But nothing heavy-duty that could be secured in place in the event of really rough weather. Now we do.

I climbed the mast twice today and helped a friend do the same on his boat. I built a new suspension system for the radar reflector and finally changed the bulb in the anchor light from the original incandescent (2.7A) to a brighter but much lower power LED (0.1A). The difference in energy usage over 10 hours is staggering.

Details and Derelicts

The list is actually getting shorter.

The initial to-do list created just after we brought Andante home was pretty overwhelming. The list was huge and there were numerous jobs that I didn’t yet know how to even begin. And just when it seemed like things were going well, tasks were added to the list faster than I could cross them off.

Over the past couple of months notable progress has been made. I’ve been able to complete most of the significant structural, mechanical and safety items. Now the focus can shift to helping Andante look her best and making her as comfortable and livable as possible. Fortunately most jobs of that flavor can be done away from the boatyard at a more leisurely pace. I’m looking forward to that.

The boatyard can’t be described as a pretty place. But it has its brief moments such as this cold sunrise last week with mist over the creek wafting into the yard. About 20 minutes later somebody started grinding metal. Glad I was already up.

Many of the remaining jobs can be divided into inside and outside work. So on a recent sunny day I stripped and sanded and varnished. And when it rained over the weekend I repaired some canvas and worked on a few galley projects. And I’m constantly rearranging things below to maximize storage space — and trying to keep a list of where I hid everything so I can find it again later.

A quick sanding and coat of varnish on the cockpit coaming should keep it looking nice for a few more months. There are lots of damaged spots and the whole thing will need to stripped to bare wood eventually. I’ve completely removed the varnish from the toe rail, the hand rails, and the eyebrow and plan to let those go grey for now.

Before the rain I dismounted the dodger and bimini and patched up some holes and worn spots. There isn’t much holding this old canvas together. I added new zippers to attach the side panels that create a nice protected cockpit. I prefer to sail with the cockpit open but when its cold and wet I definitely appreciate the protection from wind and spray.

Another rainy-day project: Built a new spice corral from 1/2″ plastic lumber that almost doubles the amount of storage along the wall. I hope to replicate this in teak at some point. I’m not a very good finish carpenter so it seemed scrap plastic was the best place to start.

I do my best to take care of Andante because I’m counting on her to take care of me. For whatever reason not every boat receives the same level of care and attention. In fact, walking around the boatyard can be a bit depressing sometimes. Mixed in with boats that are clearly headed for sea are an astounding number likely headed for the scrapyard. I’m not one to get emotional over a junkyard full of cars — but its sad to think that each of these old boats was once somebody’s dream.