Cutting Our Losses and Heading Home

Our plans had been to head from Eleuthera over to the Abacos for several weeks and then depart for a trip back to the States. But looking at the long range weather forecast that even mentions a possibility of tropical activity in mid-May, we make the decision to head directly back to the States with a several day weather window. We make our way out of Harbor Island, this time without the services of a pilot.  It is a nail-bitter, but with the help of our previous track, we successfully negotiate the reefs and emerge into the deep waters of Northwest Channel.  The wind is up, and we have a fast reaching sail along the south coasts of Abaco Island and Grand Bahama Island.  Around midnight we are passing the settlement of West End, and I make an attempt to get the latest weather forecast on our cellular internet service.  It is a good move as the situation has changed, and our weather guru is suggesting that we exit the Gulf Stream before noon the next day.  We had planned to arrive at Fort Pierce, Florida late afternoon, so we alter our plans to head directly to Lake Worth Inlet which is closer.  Arriving there in the early afternoon, we notice the north winds are beginning to build, and the waves in the Gulf Stream are getting annoying.  We escape to the protection of the ICW, and our reward is a day of negotiating a series of lift bridges that are not timed for slower sailboats.  It is a hurry up and wait scenario – one we hope not to repeat anytime in the near future. 

We arrive at the mooring field at Vero Beach to welcomes from many of our friends who also have been cruising the Bahamas. Your first stop in the States after a season in the Bahamas is one of readjustment.  Traffic, crowds, and all that the “land of plenty” has to offer are alien concepts.  One friend asks to go with me on my initial run to the grocery as she says she wants to see the expression on my face when I confront so many choices.  The day after we arrive we take the opportunity to tour a submarine factory, organized by one of the permanent dock holders.  We aren’t sure what to expect as it seems very unlikely naval subs were ever manufactured in Vero. We arrive at a small factory that builds personal subs for the luxury yacht community.  If you have a yacht over 200 feet long, perhaps you need a sub as the latest fun toy.  Their most popular model seats three and can go to depths of 3000 feet to give you an unparallel underwater experience.  By the way, you’ll need around $4 million dollars to join this club.  

Yours for only 4 mil

 The remainder of our time in Vero is spent reprovisioning and replenishing basic necessities, bouncing between shopping centers on the free bus service.  We also reconnect with friends over meals out (at what now seems like ridiculously inexpensive prices) and entertaining on various boats.  I even put on a pretty decent Easter dinner for several couples. 

Easter Monday we begin a three day trip up the ICW to St. Augustine. This portion is pleasant and easy for us to negotiate as depths are consistent and the scenery is varied, ranging from waterfront mansions to the Kennedy Space Center and the Canaveral National Wildlife Preserve. Dolphins show up around inlets, and the bird life is particularly interesting.  On one spoils island we see a colony of Roseate Spoonbills roosting side by side with White Pelicans.   

A Spoonbill flies past our boat underway in the Canaveral National Wildlife Refuge

We get to St. Augustine early enough in the day to enjoy a walk through the historical neighborhood and dinner with cruising friends who are moored nearby.

With the weather improving for a couple of days, we head out the St. Augustine Inlet for a 200 mile ocean passage to Charleston. It is an uneventful trip – always a good thing – and we drop the hook in an anchorage right across from the City Marina’s Megadock.  There is generally at least one interesting boat tied up on the dock, and this time we are treated to an approximately 200 foot long Perini Navi ketch, a high end Italian design.  We have seen others like this tied up in the Caribbean awaiting charter guests, and Exuberant looks pretty puny in comparison. 

A Perini Navi Yacht tied up at the Mega-dock across from our anchorage

We love Charleston.  It is probably our favorite city along the East Coast, so we will spend several days relaxing here.  We ride bikes through the neighborhoods, admiring the architectural gems and spring gardens and even visit the extensive Saturday morning Farmers’ Market that takes up an entire city block.  

A pineapple motif in a park by the Charleston waterfront

 

A traditional styled Charleston house in the historic district

Window boxes abound with springtime flowers

Another passage opportunity presents itself, and we take off for a 200 mile trip on the Atlantic to Beaufort, North Carolina.  Upon arrival, the crew is rewarded with a several night stay on a dock – a real dock with electricity, fresh water, and access to shore without a dinghy ride!  I have arrived in the lap of luxury.  We enjoy Beaufort because the docks line the downtown, with attractive shops and restaurants right across the street. The other side of the harbor is formed by Shackelford Island, a barrier island that is home to a herd of wild horses. 

Wild horses on Shackelford Island, across the creek from our dock

All in all, it is a very scenic location.  Right as we are tying to the dock, a boat goes by that we don’t recognize, but we hear someone shouting, “Hey, Burt and Prue.”  We immediately venture down the docks to find Mike and Ken Austin, brothers from our old sailing club in Ohio.  They are helping deliver a boat up the East Coast for a new and inexperienced owner.  We have a nice visit and try to provide as much information as possible about the trip ahead as neither our friends nor the boat’s owner have ever done this trip before.  And it is another of those “it’s a small world” encounters.

We cast off from Beaufort for a short hop up the ICW to Oriental where we need to pick up a regulator for our alternator.  The regulator broke upon our arrival in the States, and we have been limping along and chasing it up the East Coast ever since.  On our way bicycling to the West Marine Store we hear another “Hey, Burt and Prue”.  It’s a couple we met in Marathon this winter and they, too, are headed north.  We make arrangements to meet them for drinks.  We get back to our boat, and for a third time in almost as many days we hear “Hey, Burt and Prue” again.  Tied up one slip away is George on Delicia and his crew of friends we knew from Sandusky.  George, Mike P., Mike Z. and Chris (the guys all wanted to see their names in print in the blog J) join us for a dinner full of Lake Erie reminiscing later that evening. 

Exuberant docked in Oriental next to a beautifully restored Trumpe Yacht

In order to avoid rounding Cape Hatteras on the outside, we spend three more days slogging up the ICW. A stop for Cinco de Mayo in Great Bridge, on the outskirts of Norfolk, allows us to position ourselves for the last dozen miles of the ICW and the most frustrating section for bridge openings.  We arrive at the dreaded Gilmerton Bridge to find that we must wait for tugs to push a large freighter through the channel and the open bridge.  It takes so long that the bridge is closed to allow road traffic to clear.  Just as we are about to get our opening, a train comes by and the neighboring railroad bridge is closed for its passage.  Finally, almost an hour later, we get our opening.  Our reward is finding free docks for us and two other boats traveling with us available at (ICW) Mile Zero along the Portsmouth waterfront. 

Exuberant docked in Portsmouth

And right across the river from our dock are two aircraft carriers, one in a dry dock

We take the opportunity to wander through the renovated section of Old Town Portsmouth.    

One of the restored homes in Portsmouth's Old Town

That evening we join three other couples to stroll to the restored, historical Commodore Theater for dinner and a movie. 

We have ten miles to go before arriving at the open waters of the Chesapeake, but these ten miles can be very interesting.  We go by huge freighters being loaded and unloaded at commercial facilities.  We see naval vessels being refurbished.  And then we arrive at the Norfolk Naval Base docks.  Tied up are naval ships of every description, 

A large aircraft carrier tied along the Norfolk Naval Base docks

When we pass by the submarine pen, we see atypical activity around one of the subs.   

A sub with naval personnel on deck and tugs nearby.  What could be going on here?

Moments later, we are approached by a Coast Guard gun ship and told that one of the subs is leaving port. We need stay at least 500 yards away or risk “lethal fire”.  We look back, and sure enough, the sub is being towed into the channel.  We alter course to try to maintain the proper distance but it isn’t an easy process.  We need to avoid other traffic and stay in sufficiently deep water.  At first we are traveling faster than the sub so things are looking good. But suddenly, the tugs release the sub, and it starts moving considerably faster on its own.  There are few options for changing course, so we hug the far side of the channel and begin chewing our nails.  The sub passes us well within the 500 yards perimeter as armed security boats circle around it.

We're a bit too close for comfort with these guys!

This is the first, and hopefully the last, time we are waked by a submarine – and it does throw one heck of a bow wave when traveling on the surface. 

We take three more days to complete our trip up the Chesapeake to Deale, Maryland where the boat will spend two weeks getting routine annual maintenance and cleaning, after which we will travel to Ohio and Wisconsin to visit family and get our “annual maintenance” with doctors and the dentist. It has been 29 days since we left the Bahamas.  We have been traveling for 18 of those days including three offshore overnight passages.  And, we have covered 1162 nautical miles – whew!!!