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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| A pineapple motif in a park by the Charleston waterfront |
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| A traditional styled Charleston house in the historic district |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Exuberant docked in Portsmouth |
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| 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.
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| 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,
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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!!!
