Norfolk to Wrightsville Beach

9/20/09

Norfolk

37°54′36″N 76°12′25″W / 37.91°N 76.20694°W
(36.885747° N, 76.2599° W)

Norfolk is in a humid subtropical climate, it is located at the south end of the Chesapeake Bay, and is also the beginning point of Intra Coastal Water Way.
Norfolk is also a natural harbor, and is home to many ship yards and military bases and academies, which of course I’ll talk about in a bit.

In the morning, bright eyed and bushy tailed, Mason, Jeff and I set off for provisions. It was about 9am when we returned to the dock, and left on the boat. Jeff works for Newport News Shipbuilding Company. Jeff being in Norfolk for many years and growing up in a nearby neighborhood gave me a lot of helpful information about Norfolk.

mile marker number 1 of the Intra Coastal Waterway


There is so many interesting parts about Norfolk, because it is a very important place in Virginia, but I’m only going to concentrate on a few things.

In 1619, Norfolk among three other cities located around the developed portions of the colony and became incorporated by the Governor for the Virginia Colony, Sir George Yeardley.

In later years Norfolk, I learned that Norfolk became very important because of its location, a very strategic place for large vessels to come in from the ocean and military purposes.

A real dry Dock



9/22/09
and
9/23/09

Somewhere in the ICW

From Norfolk, we intended to stop in Coinjock NC, BUT it was getting darker, real quick and lo and behold, we find our self’s barely 15 feet outside of the channel marker and we went aground! We tried every possible way to get off the mud, kedging, and reversing at high speeds, the boat did not budge. Not only did we have to spend the night there, somewhere three miles north of Coinjock, but it was very uncomfortable sleeping on deck, or anywhere on the boat for that matter, without the nice rocking and rolling sensation you get when not stuck in the mud.


Only one minor incident happened to the boat, well not even the boat itself, but the dingy got filled to the brim with diesel exhaust water while trying to reverse out of the mud! Tensions were pretty high all night long, and I avoid getting in the way and asking to many questions at all cost, so I volunteered to bail out the dingy and clean it up. My legs and feet were black for a week!



In the morning, we were all up (bet no one even slept that night), waiting for first sunlight to get a better look at the situation. We were contemplating calling TowBoatUS, when we heard an engine approaching and slowing down. Some old Salty Fisherman, rescues us, after two tries, he got us out! I thought for sure our lines were going to rip his little stern cleats right off! But they didn’t.

With a sarcastic thick southern accent the last thing we hear him say to us as he is motoring away, “there ain’t no water over there!” pointing in the direction of shore and the red channel marker.

the salty fisherman, bless you!


No more ICW (Intra coastal waterway) in the dark, ever! Take my advice.
We had enough provisions and fuel to take us to a neat stop called Alligator River.

Alligator River
9/22/09


It was still light out when stopped in at Alligator River Marina. A nice little place, right next to the Swing Bridge which crosses the channel. Just a stop for automobile/commuter traffic to fuel up or get a bite to eat. Not much to see or do here, just rest, get provisions and shower.

Later that night, when it was dark, we heard a bunch of commotion going out right outside the marina harbor walls. It was a sail boat that could not see the markers, and they ran into the rock jetty. Turns out they are two nice young men, all the way from the Faroe Islands, who bought a sailboat in the states and are taking it south. Their names are Robert and Mikael, and they are on “Sailing vessel Foelve” English version, and Folv, how they would type it in the Faroe Islands (pronounced like twelve but minus the T and add an F (F-wevle)) . We became good friends with them for the next few days, and I’m still contact with Mikael, which is nice, maybe he will give me some info about his home land(soon to come)

swing bridge south of the Alligator River Marina


9/23/09
Belhaven NC
35°32′35″N 76°37′24″W / 35.54306°N 76.62333°W

Belhaven, located on the north shore of the Pungo River, reminded me of those old southern towns you see on TV. It was a nice little quaint town. The marina we stayed at offered golf carts to get into the town, and no matter which one you used, there was something wrong with it. One had no brakes, to in order to stop you had to put it in reverse, and the other, did not ride straight, just zig-zagged as you flew along.

some times its the small town that are so much fun! Jeff and Mason enjoying a ride on the golf cart.

Me in my Phils 550 t-shirt in front of the Belhaven Library

never a dull moment

Robert and Mikael flying by in the zig zag cart

new friends :)

Robert showing us where the Faroe Islands are


9/24/09

Oriental NC

35°1′52″N 76°41′16″W / 35.03111°N 76.68778°W

Oriental was renamed to Oriental when one of the first peoples who lived there found a sunken ship carrying that name.



We only spent the night there, but had much fun. I learned form a few locals that Oriental was big in lumber, fishing and farming, and is now considered the sailing capitol of North Carolina.
Also, Kevin Williamson, who created Scream and Dawson’s Creek, was a native of Oriental.

9/25/09

Swansbourgh NC

34°41′36″N 77°7′38″W / 34.69333°N 77.12722°W
some soil/sand exposures


We rolled into Swansboro just in the nick of time. Not ten minutes after we finished tying up, a huge squall landed right over us. It lasted maybe 10-15 minutes with scattered rain the rest of the day the whole day after.






Joy, Jeff’s wife met us there, and we went walking around town. I also went to the cemetery and took some neat pictures of the great trees and old head stones.





also, a king mackerel fishing tourney was held right on our dock, so i helped out :)



Swansboro became incorporated in 1783 and has a slogan called “Friendly city by the Sea”, located by the mouth of the White Oak River.

I cute little story i heard from the waiter, he said that in the old days they had a fence around the border of the town, to keep the pigs, cows and other animals out. The children would wait by the gate to open it for people coming and going, and they would receive a coin or two every now and then for there help.

Joy wanted to try her hand at boating, so I volunteered to drive their car down to the next port (Wrightsville Beach, Sea Path Marina). It was nice to drive for once, and thought it be better that her and Jeff could experience it together.

It was weird driving, the windshield blocking the wind, air conditioning, blasting music (mostly the Avett Brothers) and going faster then 6-7 knots! And I found a Flanagan's!






9/26/09 through 9/29/09

Wrightsville Beach and Wilmington

Knot-a-lot coming into the marina in Wrightsville Beach.



First a bit about Wrightsville Beach. The main attraction here is the beach, and all along it are houses with architecture of ‘contemporary beach house’ theme. They are neat, all about the same height and all different pastel colors.



We stayed here a few days to get a new exhaust muffler put in. The folks at the marina were very nice, and one of them, Adam, took me into Wilmington, just a short drive inland.

new muffler, somewhere in there

Adam told me that (and I doubled checked his facts) that Wilmington is a very historic city, it is also a college town. It was incorporated in 1739. It was a very important port for the Civil war and the Revolutionary War, and is now considered a “US Coast Guard Town’.

Wilmington is home to many famous people and movies, and is considered the second largest city of the film industry. The Teen Age Mutant Ninja Turtles series was filmed there, along with it being the Birthplace of Michael Jordon, the basketball player.

There are lots of museums, theaters, and stages in Wilmington, unfortunately having only the evening, we drove around and checked them out, but did not have time to visit any of them.
On the morning of 9/30/09 we lit the fires and kicked the tires and bound for Myrtle Beach SC!