Ceibo Gets New Canvas, Fall 2012

 Ceibo at River Dunes, awaiting her first visit from Dave at Custom Canvas.

At Washington, getting her new dodger and her bimini frame.

Ceibo back at her home on Jordan Creek with all new canvas

Cape Lookout 2013

Sunday, June 23

9:00 - Left Jordan Creek, motoring with wind from the south. Lots of sailboats on the Pungo, traveling together and chattering on the radio.

The Neuse

Maw Point - motoring with mainsail up and a thunderstorm hits. Another storm at Piney Point, unable to sail so motored to Cockle Pt. then sailed under thick gray clouds. 4:00 - Garbacon Marker, doing 5 to 6 kn under sail when we were whacked by another storm close to the Adams Creek marker. We could barely see and control the boat. Saw 2 large, classic-looking yachts coming out together, then the Potash barge. Rain stopped, several shrimpers were working in the cut. We anchored at Cedar Creek by 5:30, among the crab pots and a little further in than last time, past my yellow sign, at 34.55.95 N and 76.38.67 W, in 6.8 feet of water.  It was pleasantly quiet, the sky was clear and the moon bright. 

Monday, June 24

7:00 - Raining. Brief break in rain so David decided to leave immediately, around 8:00. We fall in behind a shrimper.  Heavy rain begins. I can barely see so I try to keep him in sight to lead me. Another shrimper behind me. It clears a bit when we get to the Newport River, but radar shows more storms so we decide to anchor in Town Creek rather than try to make it out of the inlet on the wrong tide. We drive around looking for a spot among the abandoned boats and scruffy looking liveaboards. We come back out to the front side of the marina but decide it is too deep so we head to the back again and anchor close to the public dinghy dock next to the boat ramp. By now it is only 12:30. At 34.43.49n and 76.39.17 w. We start with 7 ft. of water but it drops to 5 by low tide. Abandoned boats become beached, and one that was almost sunk appears. Next to us is a pontoon boat full of junk and covered with a tarp. We watch the goings on for the afternoon, and met 3 young guys, who we named the Ambassadors of Town Creek because they were very friendly and went from boat to boat, and knew the deal on every boat there. They welcomed us to the anchorage and told us they had bought a big sailboat on salvage and were cleaning it up. That explained the pile of plastic bags on the deck. We watched them repeatedly pull on their dinghy motor, each taking turns. They finally got it going and when we met them they told us it was a 1972 motor. We saw a shrimp boat pull up by scruffy looking liveaboard's boat with a fleabitten dog, and pick up the owner and a woman who had been dropped off there by a couple of liveaboards from another boat. Quite a few characters in this anchorage made for an entertaining afternoon of people watching. The fridge had knocked off again so we grilled the chicken.  I had my first hot shower since we got the boat and washed dishes with hot water. Finally, the water heater had been installed. We talked to Nelson and Ondra who were on their way down Adams Creek from New Bern. They planned to dock in Morehead City and go to Lookout early in the morning, too.

Tuesday, June 25

5:45 - Up so we can make the bridge opening at 6:30. Next opening won’t be until 8:00 and we need to make the tide for going out of the inlet. I managed to find a shallow spot and bumped ground on the way out of Beaufort. It is a twisty and confusing channel. Note: Get over to the wall, even though you think you shouldn't. At the same time, we saw a sailboat very much aground on Shackleford Banks, just outside the channel. The inlet was choppy and rolling. There was a dredge boat to port, and we heard that marker 12 was out of place from a dive boat passing the other side of it. By then, we were already going around it with another sailboat. We left the channel before 8:00 and were at the Bight at 9:15. Nelson caught up with us and we followed him in and anchored behind him at 34.37.313 and 73.32.969 in 22 ft. of water. The weather was beautiful but windy. Nelson, Ondra and Jackson dinghyed over and invited us to Last Boat for cocktails. I napped after lunch and David got the dinghy ready. We went to the beach and walked, then came back to the Bight for a swim before going to Last Boat. We saw a turtle pass in front of our dinghy. Another couple who are also at Blackbeard’s Yacht Club were there also. Their boat is Dragonfly. Ondra and I caught up with Rat news and her family news. Jackson entertained himself well and also told me about Lizard Fish and showed me photos on the iPad. We went to bed fairly early, but the wind was strong and waves banged the hull. The wind died down and the sky cleared not too long after. Our new bed sleeps really well, and it is so much easier to lift to make it up. 

Wednesday, June 26

View from the  Cape Lookout Lighthouse

8:00 - Up and fixing the fridge, running the generator and getting packed up to go to the lighthouse. When we left the dinghy by the docks, there were no other boats, except for a ferry full of kids from a science camp. David climbed the lighthouse at 10:45 and took photos while I waited at the Keeper’s house. It was getting hot and the beach was crowded so we drove the dinghy along the shore to the beach access. We had to dodge a bunch of kids playing in the water to get the dinghy going and get on our way. We saw Nelson’s dinghy at the beach access so we went over to join them, but they left because Jackson was fussy. We ate lunch and I fed a skimmer who was quite good at catching food on the fly. We went back to the Bight to swim because of rip currents in the ocean. We looked at the weather report and decided to pack it in and head home Thursday as the wind was increasing and so was the chance of thunderstorms. David cleaned the hull from the dinghy, Nelson came by for a visit, then we took the dinghy apart and prepared to leave the next day. We counted 9 sailboats, a houseboat and the Coast Guard in the Bight for the night.

Me Waving from the Keeper's House

Thursday, June 27

Us, Nelson and other Blackbeard Marina boat, Freedom, left early, all out by 8:15. The windlass worked, didn’t work, and David had to pull the anchor up in 22 kn wind. It was in good. Last Boat was first out, then us, then Freedom who had tried to rouse Dragonfly with an air horn, but no activity from them. Freedom came around us and sailed closer to shore than we are comfortable with. Ocean was a roller coaster ride. We entered Beaufort Inlet at marker #10 on a rising tide. We made 9.2 kn surfing the ocean with a reefed main and motoring. We continued with the tide up the Newport River and Adams Creek Cut. The other 2 boats were well ahead of us so they had to deal with the Potash barge and rain. We did 7 kn up the cut, motoring at 1500 rpm and with the main up. Wind was behind us. We sailed the entire Neuse on a broad reach and made 7 kn. We turned into the Bay River and the wind kicked up to 22, gusting to 27. We saw a storm over Gale Creek so we headed to Bonner Bay to anchor. Big flies plagued us, making it hard for me to concentrate on steering the boat through some thin water. We headed to Spring Creek where the entry is very narrow but deep enough. We anchored in 7 ft. of water by 5:10 at 08.487 and 35.766, just before the turn where we could see a house on the opposite shore. The flies seem to leave when we stopped. We had light rain and a pleasant breeze. Very quiet. We both felt icky, salty, and windblown so we showered and felt better. Wanted so badly to go for a swim but the circling jellyfish made me come back up the ladder. We were tired and ate then went to bed. We had a thunderstorm in the night and had to close the hatch. Other than that, we had no rain all day in spite of it being all around us.

Friday, June 27

8:45 - Up and out of the creek by 9:00. We passed a couple of men fishing from a boat as we motored out. We entered Gale Creek by 9:30 and it took us about an hour and a half to get out into the Pamlico. We were lucky to be just ahead of a bad storm on the south side of the river. The C.G. came on the radio and warned of bad weather on the Pamlico Sound. We sailed back to the Creek and got in around 1:30. We spent the rest of the afternoon unloading and cleaning the boat.