Week 51: May 21 – May 27 – Around the Great Loop on the Answer

Thursday arrived and it is still raining and windy. Arthur is still hanging around but it looks like the projection of Friday as the best travel day is still viable. We wait out the weather and make sure that everything is ready to leave early in the morning. We also decided to order from the local pizza place, Nunzio’s Brooklyn Pizzeria since we have not supported any local place this week. Food was fine but I’m not sure it lives up to NY pizza.

When we got up, the wind and weather were as projected. We were going to Morehead City and that is a 67 mile day so we left early, 6:32am. It turned out to be a great travel day and we were in our slip by 2:36pm. Long days on the water usually call for an early bedtime so we stayed on the boat and ate left-overs while New Hope met up with their friends for dinner.

The next day, New Hope traveled by car back to Southport to transport their car to Morehead City where it will remain until we arrive in Virginia. Peter and I took a walk into town. You can see that places are beginning to open with restrictions and we decided to take advantage of outside seating at Sanitary Seafood for dinner when New Hope got back. Peter’s cousin told us that when he was a child they would go there for dinner and the food was good and suggested we eat there if the place was open. The restaurant has been in town since 1938. It is located right on the water where the fishing boats come in so you are able to see the daily catch. It’s fascinating to see the fisherman fillet the large fish so quickly. Dinner was excellent with large portions and lived up to his cousin’s memories and the other recommendations we received.

While we were in Morehead City, we met Endeavor, a 37′ Nordic Tug. The boat was purchased in Beaufort, SC but the owners were bringing her back to Michigan. Since we were all heading to the same place, we invited them to join us. They planned to leave the next morning also but didn’t think they were going to travel as far as we planned.

Since we lost time to Arther, we decided to skip one of our stops in Oriental, NC and travel close to 70 miles to Belhaven. However, since we also needed to cross open water, we made a reservation at the half-way point too just in case the water was too rough. The day started out fine but within an hour, very heavy fog moved in and there was almost no visibility. Peter and I put on our life jackets for the first doing the loop.. After a half hour the fog lifted and visibility returned. While we expected some water issues on Pamlico Sound, we didn’t expect the Neuse River to be so bad. The Neuse was not nice but we journeyed on since we really wanted to get to Belhaven. I called the mid point marina right after 9am to cancel our reservations. As it turned out, Endeavor traveled with us the entire trip, actually in the lead, but they anchored out in the bay near the marina.

Belhaven is a small marina, a relatively new start up. New Hope had stayed there the previous year and said it was nice. The dockmaster was very helpful, the owner offered us his truck or a ride to the grocery store if needed. They had free laundry which is always nice, including detergent and softener, and provided bath towels and toiletries in the restrooms. The town has not really started to open up but you could see that it was a cute little town.

Since there is little to do in any town now, we are traveling more frequently in order to finish the ICW to get to the Chesapeake and really begin our journey back to NY. We only stayed in Belhaven one night and were heading to Alligator River Marina on the Alligator River. This is pretty much a must stop since it is right before the Albemarle Sound where you need to watch the water for a good weather day and also to make the final decision to take either the Dismal Swamp or the Virginia Cut. We postponed our departure time since there was dense fog. It cleared in about an hour so we still had plenty of time to get to where we were going.

While we were underway, we hit a milestone. We completed 5,000 miles on the Loop on the Alligator River at Mile Marker 104!

The marina wasn’t much but they are doing renovations and additions since it was originally only a gas station with a grill and a dock. They now have some new docks and have restrooms/showers. The restrooms/showers were from their purchase of property from Mobil Oil and while they were functional, they looked like they were used by all the workers at Mobil, a bit gritty. Renovations seem to be still in progress. However, the grill was working and New Hope said that it offered “must have” southern fried chicken. While we usually do not eat fried chicken, we trusted a southerner’s word. Yes, it was excellent.

The decision of the Dismal Swamp or the Virginia Cut was not too difficult. While the Dismal Swamp offers a more scenic route, with historical ties to George Washington, it is shallow with lots of debris and that would present a stressful trip. It also has two locks instead of one on the Virginia Cut but after all the locks we needed to manage on this trip, one more lock would not matter. However, we were more comfortable traveling along the ICW since the depth is more consistent.

The next stop would be Coinjock Marina, the last marina in NC since we would exit the cut in Virginia. It would also be the last time we would travel with New Hope as they would be leaving their boat at Atlantic Yacht Basin in Chesapeake, VA to have work done while they go home to their farm in Virginia. They plan to return in a few weeks to explore the Chesapeake and then travel the Great Loop next year.

We all went out for dinner to celebrate both our 5,000 miles on the loop and the end of another buddy boat experience. Dinner was at Coinjock Marina where they are known for their “Famous Prime Rib”, another excellent dinner with friends.

The next morning we woke up to fog but not as bad as the previous days. We waited a bit and then took off. This section of the cut ends with a number of bridges and the one lock. Many of the bridges were either high enough or had swing bridges that were open. We did need to wait at the Centerville Turnpike Swing Bridge with New Hope. Endeavor travels a bit faster and made the bridge. The bridge tender told them that we would have to wait so they waited for us on the other side. We were close to the last bridge and the lock and New Hope would be stopping before the bridge. We traveled with them for 18 days, 563 miles and 10 marinas. It was a good few weeks. We all got along even though they are Trumpers and Evangelical Christians and we are not.

After New Hope was secure at Atlantic Yacht Basin, we waited for the Great Bridge lock to open. Although the lock was only 1-2′ (we had a 1′ lift) it was probably one of the worst lock experiences and the the worst lockmaster we encountered. He could not decide if he wanted us to tie up on the port or starboard side so I was switching fenders a few times. He finally decided that we should come to port and stood there waiting for me to throw a line. When he caught the line, he started pulling us and with the current in the lock turned us around. While we were on the port side of the lock, we were tied on our starboard side facing backwards. Peter needed to do a 180 degree turn to get out.

After we exited, we continued traveling with Endeavor through Norfolk and stopped in Hampton, VA for a few days. We completed the AICW at mile “0” at 2:17pm.