Chapter 4
Looking for the Sunshine
September to October 1991
I promised not to write much about the Intracoastal Waterway as I have covered it twice before in this newsletter, but
things change and a bit of an update might be in order for those planning the trip next year. The weather too has been
markedly different, much cooler than on the previous two trips and at the same time of year. In the past we hung around
enjoying Chesapeake Bay until the end of October, but this time we were just looking for some warm weather and hurried
on past Norfolk a good two weeks earlier. I don't know if I was lucky in the past, or have been unlucky this year.
We had a fast overnight trip from Sandy Hook down the outside of the New Jersey coast with west winds but large swells
coming in from the north east. Iris found the various lights displayed by the many working fishing boats a bit
confusing—we also saw the lights of quite a few tugs with tows. We had planned to go in Great Egg Harbour inlet to visit
friends, and actually arrived at the inlet two hours before dawn and
had to wait outside heaving in the swells until it was light enough to
see our way in. We spent a week in the Tuckahoe river doing a little
maintenance on Oborea and just generally relaxing. On the way out
we saw a big whale right off Ocean City about a mile out.
Delaware bay has a reputation for unpleasant seas, but for the third
time we went through in light winds and hazy sunshine and we
anchored for the night at Chesapeake City at the west end of the
Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. Actually we spent two nights at
this popular and convenient little basin, but the second night got so
crowded with yachts heading south that no one could let out
sufficient scope and a thundersquall at four in the morning sent
everyone dragging into one another;
we decided to get out of the mess and
entered Chesapeake Bay in the dark.
That day we overtook Gaia and two other Viking replica ships heading for Washington.
Annapolis remains charming and in spite of the crowds attracted by the boat show there was
still plenty of room to anchor in Spa Creek above the draw bridge. At the boat show we ran
into Simon and Debbi Slater and Paul Webb. In Spa Creek we found two yachts with whom
we had cruised down the St Lawrence and last seen in Cape Breton.
There have been changes at Solomons Island. This is a popular stop for the southbound yacht
as it is about halfway down the west side of the bay. It used to be a quaint little village with a
couple of marinas and a big general store for groceries. Since I was last there the marinas
have expanded and added condos, the general store has been bulldozed to make room for
trendy galleries and tea rooms and there is even a Holiday Inn at the head of the creek. All is
not bad however, it remains a pretty, sheltered place to anchor (we rode out a day of heavy
winds and rain here) and the Holiday Inn has a dinghy dock (for which there is a one dollar
charge) with access to a big new
supermarket right behind the Inn.
There have been changes at Smith
Island too. This island in the eastern
Bay is still worth a visit for its isolation
and its dependence on the crab and
oyster fishery, as well as the pretty
main street of Ewell where every house
has a pomegranate tree and the strange
old fashioned speech of the people. But
it is no longer possible to have a home-cooked dinner at Mrs
Kitching's house, she has had to retire on doctor's orders. The town
dock has been expanded to handle the daily tour boat and a
singularly ugly restaurant and souvenir shop has been built to
accommodate tourists. There is also a ten dollar charge to stop
overnight at the formerly free town dock.
Continuing south we found a lovely little sheltered anchorage surrounded by pine trees in Jackson Creek near Deltaville,
Virginia. Believe the markers on the way into the creek though, they look wrong, as if they will take you right up on the
beach, but they are right.
The trip up the Elizabeth River at the southern end of
the Bay, past miles and miles of naval vessels is
fascinating, but don't count on Norfolk as a place to
stock up the boat. There is a good anchorage across
from the town off the Portsmouth Naval Hospital, but
the downtown area consists entirely of office
buildings, parking lots and boarded-up stores with
scarcely even a variety store. To find anything else
one must take a cab or bus to the suburbs. If you do
decide to go ashore they are developing a park area
north of the Waterside Marina and in behind the
construction equipment are some old floating docks
where you can leave the dinghy.
Below Norfolk I urge anyone to take the Great Dismal Swamp Canal, the alternate smaller
route of the Intracoastal Waterway. We met yachts in Chesapeake Bay that said they
wouldn't go anywhere near the Dismal Swamp after hearing stories of yachts hitting
sunken logs and other debris, but we went through with seven other sailboats (including
the PDQ catamaran Tabitha of Toronto) and no one had any kind of problem. This route is
far prettier, especially the upper reaches of the Pasquotank River, and one avoids the
wakes of the big powerboats which all take the other faster route. Besides if you don't go
through the Dismal Swamp you miss Elizabeth City, the friendliest town on the waterway.
Elizabeth City has free slips for visiting yachts (maximum stay 48 hours) right downtown
and if you are a multihull and too wide for the slips you can tie up at the town park 100
yards west where it says ‘NO DOCKING'. Once tied up you will be met by Fred Fearing
and his welcoming committee who hand out maps and pamphlets about their city
(including a walking tour through some of the lovely old residential areas of town) and an
invitation to the daily wine and cheese party put on for visiting yachts. Another resident
drove us to the supermarket, and then waited while we did our shopping to drive us back
to the boat!
We crossed the North Carolina sounds without incident, spending a couple of days holed
up in the head of the Pungo river with half a dozen other yachts as Hurricane Grace over
Bermuda combined with an large high over the continental US sent gale force winds out of the north battering the Outer
Banks with flood tides and heavy surf. In our snug little anchorage winds didn't rise above 30 knots but they did bring in
temperatures not much above freezing. Even here in Beaufort, after a couple of warm days, the temperature has dropped
to near record cold, but we have seen spanish moss and pelicans so we must be getting close to the warm. Wild horses still
live on the island just south of the anchorage, and the marine museum will still lend a car free to yachters to make the run
out to the mall for groceries (just put in some gas).
The harbour is filling up with yachts waiting for a break in the succession of depressions and gales to make the offshore
run to the Virgin Islands, a passage I certainly do not envy at this time of year, especially as for many of them it will be
their first offshore passage. The North Atlantic is just too unpredictable in the autumn. We will continue to favour the
lovely sheltered waters of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, and we'll write again soon.
