Heading South

After our rush south, we arrived in Deltaville with plenty of time to get our flights home. Amazingly, at the marina we found a couple, Elaine and Harry, who we had previously met in Panama which was quite a surprise. They too were staying in Deltaville whilst working on their boat.

Plans for the new canvas work were talked through with the suppliers and the outboard was delivered to the repair shop. Then we put the boat to bed and set off for Washington Airport. It was a 3 hour drive to the airport and at times it was quite worrying as we were relying totally on a GPS and there were very few signs confirming it was taking us in the right direction. It was and we arrived in plenty of time for our flight. We were hoping for lots of shopping and a meal but facilities at the airport are poor compared to Gatwick or Heathrow. The flight was dreadful, awful food and disappointing films such as Beetlejuice and Mary Poppins!

We landed and collected a hire car then set off for Croydon where we spent a few days catching up with friends and having a lovely time. On our way north we called into to see some sailing friends, CD and then arrived at Alice and Mike's for our first Sunday roast in a year. Wonderful!! The 3 weeks passed in a whirlwind. We managed to see everyone and also do the boring stuff such as dentists etc. Mum and Dad had their 50th anniversary celebration in the middle which went well and we all enjoyed.

The time at home went too quickly and before we knew it we were back in Deltaville on the boat. The canvas work was finished a few days later, the outboard returned, working, and the new sails delivered. So we left on the Saturday morning to head to Norfolk. That night we anchored part way and then arrived in Norfolk Sunday. The harbour in Norfolk is full of US warships and aircraft carriers, there were dozens of them. We moored in the Elizabeth river very close to the start of the ICW (Inter Coastal waterway)on a dock organised by the Norfolk OCC port officers, Greta and Gary, who were very kind. We stayed a few days as our new main sail had to be adjusted but left as soon as possible as we have been eager to move south and get out of the cold weather.

On a miserable rainy and cold morning we set off down the ICW to Beaufort. This route avoids going outside around Cape Hateras which can be treacherous at this time of year. As we set off down the ICW we realised we were part of a huge migration south. At each bridge and lock there was a traffic jam of 18 boats and the river between bridges was just a constant procession with the motor boats overtaking and causing loads of wash. We hated it, we had to concentrate the whole time to avoid running aground and to avoid the other boats. We reached an anchorage just as it was getting dark which was early as it was raining so heavily.

The following day we set off again but cut off away from the ICW. We sailed over to the outer banks and around Roanoke. There was one other boat going this route with us. There was a narrow well marked channel which we managed to sail through and it was also a lovely sunny day. We reached Pamlico Sound at the end of the Roanoke channel at dusk. Unfortunately, the wind died so we motored across the sound overnight. It was a quiet night as there were no other boats and very dark as there was no moon. This made it very eerie especially as hundreds of gulls accompanied us. They were attracted by the lights and would swoop down in front of the boat with red eyes on one side and green on the other! It was like a scene out of Hitchcock's 'The Birds'!

We anchored in South River near Oriental. We arrived at 3am and went into the channel using our torch. Fortunately there were very few boats so we anchored easily and went to sleep. We had a day recovering and the following lunch time we left for Beaufort. This was down the ICW again but it was much quieter. The channel was quite complicated but we made good time and went through Beaufort and out of the inlet at 4pm.

After leaving Beaufort we had a great sail around Cape Fear. Our new genoa is performing well and we managed 9.1 boat knots which is fast for this boat. The following day the wind went around more to the west so we had to motor sail into Charleston. Even so we arrived in Charleston at 4am having made the trip in 36 hours.

Our first day in Charleston we were invited to lunch together with Emmett and Mecca on a Discovery 55 owned by an Australian couple David and Heather. This was a much better way to spend the afternoon than wiping all the salt off the boat! Also it was a lovely sunny day and probably the first time we had been warm since getting back to the US. The following evening we all met in the yacht club and some other cruisers also joined us. This led to an invite to a thanksgiving dinner at the club the following night. So we had our first ever thanksgiving dinner cooked by the ladies Auxilliary at the yacht club. It was lovely with turkey, stuffing, sweet potato and followed by pumpkin pie.

Our time in Charleston has been very busy buying boat supplies and socialising. We have been in the yacht club enough times for the members to recognise us! We have also made use of their dock to install our new anchor chain, all thanks to Emmett. Emmett and Mecca have been wonderful hosts yet again, cooking us wonderful meals, inviting us to meals with their friends and driving us to chandlers and grocery stores etc.

We left for Savannah on the 21st as we really must move south and get to the Bahamas! We were very sad to leave Emmett and Mecca, they are both so lovely and its sad to think we may never see them again. This is one of the problems with sailing as we are – you meet wonderful people who quickly become friends and then, you must leave them behind.