Tourist Chronicles: Potomac to Beaufort, NC.

10/12/12 Friday A beautiful sunrise greeted us as we pulled the anchor off the bottom of Breton Bay.

Breton Bay Morning.

Cruising at trawler speed got us back into the Chesapeake a couple of hours after our departure. Before hitting the Bay we passed this Navy ship anchored in the Potomac.

Navy ship with bow & stern anchor deployed.

Looking out at the Bay.

Our destination today is Deltaville but this time we're headed to a private dock in Wilton Creek at Bru & Sandy's condo for the next couple of nights.

Wilton Creek

Our Wilton Creek dock.

After cleaning the salt off of Tourist and myself, Pam & I joined the Coconut's crew for dinner and a roaring game of Domino's

10/13/12 Saturday Sleeping in was the order of business this morning which means I'm up by 7 and Pam 8:30ish! Once we prepped for the day it was off to the Deltaville Maritime Museum Car, Craft, & Art Show. My favorite part was the Trout sandwich for lunch and the old Cruiser's Inc. boat made in Oconto, Wisconsin.

Cruiser's Inc. Runabout.

Old Cities Service Oil Truck.

That night we attended a gun auction combined with an oyster & crab fest. Unfortunately I left the camera on the boat. There were mounds of oysters and crabs and several guns that went in the auction. We all had a good time even though smashing the crabs to get to the meat is way more work than I like to expend while eating.

10/14/12 Sunday The NOAA forecast called for 2' to 3' waves on the Bay and winds of 10 to 15 mph from the South. Not as smooth as we like but on the nose which works well for Tourist. After saying goodbye to the Brubaker's we were on our way. This is a bitter sweet parting since none of us know when we will get together again although I'm sure it will happen.

So long guys. It's always fun!

The Bay greeted us with a gift of smooth seas all the way to Norfolk. Again we cruised past the Navy fleet and into downtown.

One of the newer Navy ships in port.

Carnival Cruise ship dwarfing the USS Wisconsin.

We ended the day at a free dock in downtown Portsmouth, Va. tucked in between a couple of tall ships that had just competed in a sailing race down Chesapeake Bay.

Portsmouth Free Dock.

Our thought in stopping here (beside the price) was to eat at the Bier Garden (www.biergarden.com).

Bier Garden Restaurant.

The food was excellent complemented by German music piped through the sound system. The bonus for the evening was the Commodore Theater across the street which has Vegas style seating and serves food as well as wine & beer. We saw the latest Clint Eastwood film which we both liked.

Commodore Theater.

Then back to the boat where Tourist was illuminated like a show boat.

Lookin Good!

10/15/12 Monday Today was one of those frustrating days. We traveled 11.8 miles and it took us 3 hours thanks to the bridges that only open on schedule. The first and pace setter for all was the Gilmerton Bridge. The cruising guide says the first opening is at 8:30. A local told us it's actually 9 a.m. and in reality it is 9:30 a.m. By the time it opened we had 20 boats stacked up waiting to pass through! The next bridge wasn't as bad but a wait was still in order, and then came the lock. For most of these folks it's the only lock they go through so it's always fun to watch. We just slide in, get secured and watch the show. No injuries, just some wounded pride.

Great Bridge Lock looking behind us.

Great Bridge Lock ahead of us.

One more bridge following the lock and we were done for the day when we pulled into Atlantic Yacht Basin. Glad to be out of the cattle drive headed south for a couple of days.

10/16/12 Tuesday The yard was hoppin with work going on everywhere. We had a generator valve adjustment done by them as well as generator and transmission oil changes done by me. And lest I forget a trip to Wally World to complete our stay. We watched as they pulled a yacht out on the marine railway.

Comin out!

Even the geese are headed south.

10/17/12 Wednesday Time to continue our journey but not before the UPS truck comes carrying our absentee ballots. He shows around 10:45 a.m. and we decide to fill them out and mail them since we're still in civilization.

Pam filling out her ballot.

At 11:35 a.m. we pulled away with only 2 boats in front of us. We cruised through the day passing Coinjock and their Prime Rib dinner and anchoring at Lutz Creek in the upper reaches of Albermarle Sound.

Lutz Creek anchorage.

Suns down at Lutz Creek.

10/18/12 Thursday We overslept this morning and didn't get underway till 7:25 a.m. The anchor came up clean! First time all summer! Nice.
The Albermarle Sound can be snotty but not today. 1, maybe 2 footers as we crossed. Once we passed under the Alligator River Bridge it got even calmer and continued that way into the Alligator River-Pungo River Canal.

Alligator-Pungo Canal. 20 plus miles of ditch.

Our day concluded anchored with 5 sailboats in Campbell Creek. 96.5 miles from where we started. A great anchorage with plenty of space and good protection. Once we were settled in I climbed on top of the boat to change the burned out bulbs on the anchor light. What I found was a fixture that bit the dust. Rust had taken it's toll. Time to put plan B into action. Get the 360 degree white light from the dinghy and put it on top of Tourist.

Another sunset. This time at Campbell Creek.

10/19/12 Friday Hey. The plan B light worked! It was still lit and it didn't fall off the boat. However when we awoke fog had settled in to the area. Not too bad right where we were but thicker towards the ICW.

Lifting Fog.

Around 8 o'clock it was looking good with a little sunshine peeking through. Time to go! We worked our way past the four remaining sailboats and back into the channel. In less than a mile the fog returned thicker than before. We were now running on instruments since visibility was zero and no place to pull over. Fortunately a half hour later we came to the R.E. Mayo Seafood Docks and slipped in among the shrimp boats to wait for better visibility. Just before getting to the dock we passed under a bridge that I couldn't see until we were going under it!

R.E. Mayo Docks waiting on fog.

Our stop was only 20 minutes but it was long enough for the visibility to get better so off we went. Once we were out into the Neuse River we were caught and passed by the M/V Bernadette.