Wednesday, October 9 and Thursday, October 10 are spent at the Alligator River Marina. Probably the most exciting thing that happened was the fact that fellow butter who produces a navigational chart of the intercoastal waterway using Army Corps of Engineers data and from other sources as well as his own experience. He stopped-by and said if anybody wanted to hear about his experiences then he would certainly be happy to give a little presentation. Well it turns out that everybody had heard about it came to the briefing and he did a PowerPoint presentation on a chart system that you can use a tablet for that would give accurate information current deaths and wits in the channel all the way to Florida. That was exactly the kind of thing we needed to try and help us with our already well-planned trip so I do hope that what we are using Erin’s tablet is an assist to us. We came prepared always open to opportunities of new navigational systems to assess in the navigation and safety of the journey.

Following the very informative gathering we opted to give the “greasy-spoon” at the gas station a try for  lunch. It was sorta quaint. The counter inside the door continued on the left to a grill, and other galley things. The store had an assortment of stuff from scotch tape to some hardware and of course snacks, sodas and beer. We had the marina specialty, a nice thick hamburger with juicy tomatoes and lots of other traditional accouterments and just the right size bun, not too big not too small Erinhad her favorite sweet potato French fries and I had regular French fries and they were delicious. We decided to go back as we felt like now with that belly bomb we need to take a nap. For days we were hoping that we would get good news but in fact we were there three days waiting for the news. It finally came late on October 10 when they did a trial opening of the bridge with some temporary equipment. It did work and so the bridge engineer said that the North Carolina Department of Transportation had authorized an opening at 730 in the morning on Friday, 11 October to let all 16 of the boats go through the bridge. That was good news everybody anxiously prepared to go next morning. The day came to a conclusion with a pretty sunset.

Tuesday, October 8 2019 Anchorage North River to Allegator River.

Hello again today is October 8 Tuesday. I was right about my guess with the wind because we have had a quiet night at anchor as the wind shifted from the southerly to a northeasterly direction. We made the decision to go ahead and press on to the Allegheny River although the seas were running 4 to 6 feet in the Albemarle sound but, they were going with us. I knew we could use our fin stabilizers to keep the boat on an even keel so we would not be rocking and rolling. We are underway about 8 o’clock Erin had a fit with the mud that was on the chain so after she got the anchor up and cleaned, off we went..

Following the intercoastal waterway is reasonably easy and there are plenty of markers along the way to keep us in the channel coming down the river or thru the man-made cuts. It is reasonably narrow so having to keep up with it on the market by market basis or. Erin is very good at that so she has been the navigator this trip I’ve been the helmsman most of the way she relieves is me once in a while but just gets a little anxious  so there are lunches at the wheel. I know that will change as she gets more experience with steering. The trip has been uneventful until we learned about the Alligator River bridge was not functioning. The bridge engineer was sure when it was going to be able to be repaired. Apparantly an electrical problem and the system burned out so they were having to have it custom-made. This meant there was no notice as to when the bridge will be able to open. We went on anyway because there is a marina just before the Alligator River bridge. We called and they said they can accommodate us. As much as we prefer to anchor the wind was strong and there were no places to get in the lee of land.

It really wasn’t that difficult to cross the Albermarle Sound even with the very rough conditions the I’ll show you pictures nonetheless we made it across safely. The one exception was the very last hundred yards which put the rough seas on the starboard beam. We had to turn right into the marina and the seas on our side made it a real challenge even for an experienced seaman like Larry. We did get in and tied to port side to a long pier and were welcomed by the staff. This is not a large marina but would suffice for what we prisoners (of the broken bridge)would  need . There were 16 of us in the marina all seeking shelter of the marina because of the closure.

The marina is actually a gas station on the western side side of the bridge and had basic moorings for the watermen who work out of that part of North Carolina . There were more traditional moorings for the yachts. We found that if we looked beyond the basic marina status,it really was a pleasure to be here and we met immediately three other boaters who came over to assist with tying up. It was nice to know that we were in company of other cruisers. It is time for Erin and I to settle down down and plan what this delay will mean to our journey. We registered and wandered around thto get the lay of thre land and try the combinations of the marina heads and check and see what other facilities they had to offer.

We had arrived about 3 o’clock and so there wasn’t much of the day left although winds were blowing and the waves were rolling in we were comfortably dark edge of this tiny little marina just before the bridge and so it was after a very light dinner to  we watched the news checked the weather and were ready to go bed  when we heard the announcement over the Marine radio that the Alligator River bridge would not open tomorrow as was hoped. The engineer on the bridge said that they had actually have the new equipment built that there was no spare there was nothing on the shelf life due to the age of the equipment. We like, all the others said, oh well, welcome to North Carolina and the Alligator River.

Hi All.

Sorry for the break in the Blog entries. I will get is caught-up to date and tomorrow. It is Sunday October 13. We are in Beaufort, NC. Leaving tomorrow Morning. My goal is to try to do an entry every 2 days,

Erin has a Facebook page. Her account is    Erin Michaud (Erin Murphy)  you will know it is her page because there is a picture of Abby the black poodle (boat dog). Erin is keeping up with  "highlights"  of the journey, the blog will tell the whole picture.

Monday, October 7, 2019 South of Great Bridge enroute to The Alligator River, NC

What a beautiful day. Sunny and light breezes and traveling with another trawler whose owners Doug and Donna we met at Great Bridge. This part of the ICW is what I call “boring” as there is little to see but a long waterway called the Virginia Cut, except trees on one side and wetlands and standing deadwood on the other.

The sun however was bright and there seemed to be welcoming warmth to the trees as they made the rustling noises of the light breeze. We had to wait till 9:30 for the North Landing swing bridge to open. It opens on the half hour when water traffic is present.

Our accompanying trawler is a plaining hull vessel and has greater speed that we do. They cruise at better than 10 knots, we cruise at 7-8 which quickly put them ahead of us. Other vessels were astern of us and had to wait for the swing bridge to open. So we had the Virginia Cut to ourselves all the way to the Currituck Sound in North Carolina. As we cleared the man made Virginia Cut we found large expanses of tall marsh grasses with an occasional tree. The tops of the golden-green marsh grasses seemed to be dancing happily as they swayed to and fro in the freshening breeze. It was pretty evident that a weather change was coming although the warm breezes felt good on our faces at this point. We continued to motor south into a SE zephyr.

All day long the weather forecast had been predicting the passing of a cold front which would bring us significantly different weather. Winds were expected to increase to 25 to 30 knots out of the Northeast as the front approached. In addition there would be the possibility of thunderstorms and widespread light rain. That front was destined to have a bearing on our travels today. We were hoping to reach the Alligator River Mile marker 84) and get through the bridge but this weather would probably hold us up so we started looking for places along the waterway where we could anchor for the night. That Anchorage would have to be in a pretty secure position so that we were safe through the night as the winds picked up and blew out of the Northeast. It is a fact that the open Albemarle Sound, and its short period rigorous chop as bad as the open Chesapeake Bay in a storm. Not a pleasant thought.

Erin and I discussed what it is that we wanted to do and we developed several options. Currently the wind was directly on our nose out of the southeast which meant that we would be traveling directly into. At mile marker 45 having the knowledge of the conditions across the North Carolina sounds told me that our speed would not allow us to cross the open 20 miles of the Albemarle Sound this afternoon. This option then came off the table. It was about 1:30 in the afternoon that we learned that the Alligator River bridge had been secured in the closed position because of failed mechanical and electric parts and those parts would have to be manufactured. This was going to be a real problem, not just for us but many snowbirds. This meant we would either have to spend a night at the Coinjock Marina, the only marina between our position and the Alligator River Bridge or anchor some for the night. We would rather been in the breeze than at a marina for the night.  Studying the chart Erin and I chose an anchorage near a small creek called Lutz Creek at the South end of the Virginia cut at the entrance to the Albemarle Sound. Erin studied the charts and agreed.

This location has good holding ground and we would tuck-in as close to the shores we could on the south west shore allowing us to be in the lee of the land when heavy winds and rain came. Because of our options changing we decided to stop briefly at the Coinjock Marina and restaurant. Because of the anticipated weather it was doubtful that we would get Abigail ashore. (Abby is a 14-year-old Standard Poodle and by default, the boat dog). Therefore we decided on a quick stop at the Coinjock Marina to give Abby an opportunity to go ashore and do her thing.

Abby, The Assistant First mate was in complete agreement! 

Feeling a little bit guilty because we didn’t plan on spending the night we asked the Marina to let us tie-up for a short time to order a take-out dinner. The Marina said to come on in. Erin took Abby ashore and I went and got a wonderful seafood salad some very tasty wings and some Coinjock clam chowder. We were there all about 25 minutes and then were off again to make the next 10 miles to our Anchorage around mile marker 60.

The winds for this evening were anticipated to be from the southeast until midnight. We could see the dark clouds were beginning to gather. Sunset was early because of the diminishing sunlight. We did get securely anchored in a protected cove and put out 75 feet of chain in 8 feet of water which was more than we actually needed but it helped to give us an extra secure feeling.  (When using anchor chain the rule is to use 5 times the depth of the water which would be 40 feet.) We secured the boat in for the evening, fed Abby and we settled in to enjoy our salad and some 15 being soup which Erin had made before we left. (Decided to save the wings and chowder for lunch tomorrow) We heated the Bean Soup on the stove and enjoyed dinner as the boat gently rocked in the southeast breeze. It was cool enough that we did not need air-conditioning so we opened the hatch on the transom and turned in for the night.

We did have a surprise we had not anticipated this evening though. Once it got dark outside our lights inside the boat had been quite an invitation to a hoard of flying insects. They were everywhere, inside and outside. They looked like mosquitoes at first but they did not land on us nor bite. They were on the overhead of the main salon where the lights were the brightest and when I went outside they were all over the sides of the cabin like the sides were fly-paper. This was incredible. I got out the safe-to use around the galley and animals (all natural ingredients) flying insect spray. Erin and Abby were in the master stateroom so I closed the door to the forward and after berthing compartments and started spraying the main salon. Trust me this was not expected and it was  a bit creepy These bugs must have jet engines for wings considering the increased velocity of the wind. Nonetheless we became a floating motel for these critters. (Later we learned that they are called fuzzy-Bills)  

The ones that died on the outside seemed to dissolve into green goo which left hundreds of small green spots on the sides and decks. Great another reason to swab the decks!

About 1 o’clock in the morning I was awakened by a wind shift as the boat swung around facing into the Northeast. It was accompanied by a brief rain shower and I went forward to check the anchor. We were definitely secure and in the same spot. To be sure I checked the chart plotter to verify we were at the position we marked on it. When Larry anchors a boat… It stays anchored, and we were! With that confidence we returned to a very nice sleep. The fuzzy-Bills were dead! YEA!

The morning was going to bring decision time and we knew it.

Sunday, October 6, 2019-Underway and counting down the miles before arriving Key West, and beyond.     

The first order of business was to break a celebratory bottle of champagne on the bow, given by a colleague in Larry's industry for this purpose. So be it, Larry christened the cruise with a resounding smash. And with that,  the cruise officially began.

With due preparation and high expectations Serendipity slipped her mooring and under clouds, light air and very cool conditions departed JEB Little Creek, VA Beach, VA. Navigational track would take us thru the historic harbor of Hampton Roads where the battle between the Monitor and Merrimac took place and the site of where the fists successful launch of a military plane from a vessel as well as a pair of fortifications who both have served the USA well having been guardians of the harbor in almost every war in which the US has been involved.  Ft Wool has a distinguished history which can be found on-line at; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Wool

One notable fort is on a small island that was formed by shifting sands caused by the currents and early ships trading with the settlement at Jamestown by dropping their ballast stone on the sands.

Almost from the time we cleared the jetty at JEB Little Creek we could see the mammoth images of the US Navy’s aircraft at the world’s largest Naval Base. Having been stationed in Hampton Roads for 18 of my 24 year Navy career and having seen these behemoths I am always amazed at their size. As we turned the corner and passed the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel we felt proud and honored for our service (Both Larry and Erin).

The Elizabeth River past the Naval Station Norfolk is all about business. Since Larry retired from the Navy he has worked in the maritime industry along this river. Those 26 years has been the mainstay of his interest as he has served in many different capacities promoting the Port of Virginia. Again with pride as we passed the marine terminals loading and unloading ships with cargo from around the world was Larry proud and pleased that is are the opportunity to serve the port of Virginia and the rest of the nation. 

A lot of other things happen on the river of course and some of those things are a lot of fun others are all business. On our trip we saw the schooner Virginia 

which was out with the class either teaching sailing or teaching about the ecology and the growth of business along the Elizabeth River. The schooner Virginia was built entirely from private account contributions with volunteer work guided by craftsmen of the industry. She’s a great ambassador for the city of Norfolk and travels domestically as well as internationally to spread the good word of the city of North. She really is a beauty.

All along the river are signs that the city has grown in developing continues to grow those times include the revitalized waterside marketplace the tall buildings which grace the skyline of Norfolk as well as the city of Portsmouth on both sides of the river the cities have brought industry such as the cruise ships,

  shipbuilding and repair business and export cargoes

 as well as the developing industry of manufacture of concrete precast structures for the building of bridges and tunnels which is the highlight of transportation in the city of Norfolk and Hampton. As we passed through Chesapeake it occurred to me that there are about nine bridges in the city of Chesapeake which according to the mayor makes them the city of bridges. 

Right at the intersection of the alternate Intracoastal Waterway going down the deep Creek and now and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway on their way to great Bridge is an example of this as a new bridge is being built alongside the existing bridge and the new bridge is going to be 110 foot clearance with no draw.

Past the bridge is a great marina known as Top Rack with floating piers, excellent fuel prices , a wonderful restaurant called the Amber lantern,  excellent fuel prices for transients and locals. For the small pleasure boater is a boat hotel which offers a rack type marina. We continued  passing attractive homes along the waterway as we progressed towards the locks at Great Bridge.

Upon arrival at the locks we are met by the lock master who directed us to come forward in the lock on the starboard side where we had a bow line in a stern line ready. 

With two other boats in the lock the caisson was closed and we waited the southbound caisson to open. Upon opening we waited between the lock and the bridge is o open at 3 PM. There is free dockage on the south side between the lock and the bridge where the cCty or Chesapeake welcomes transient boaters. Once through the bridge however we took advantage of free dockage, with no special services at all, at the Memorial Museum for the Battle of Great Bridge. 

This reportedly was the first battle of the Revolutionary War in which locals repelled a larger British force which took heavy casualties. The battle took minutes as the British retreated back across the bridge . The Memorial commemorates this battle and the encouragement it brought to the colonists with supporting memorabilia in a monument and a museum.

Our stay once we tied up was highlighted by a visit from Larry’s entire family all which live in the tidewater Virginia area. For several hours we enjoyed conversation most of all a really fun farewell to our home of over 40 years in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

There are restaurants as well as a number of shops and other stores including all grocery, Dollar tree, a real RadioS hack and others in walking distance. Directly across the river from the free dockage at the museum is the Atlantic yacht basin offering fuel and a full complete line of services for yachtsmen along the waterway. It was a quiet night once the family left a beautiful sunset looking over the bridge and the serenity of a restful sleep for our first day on the water. More to come as we explore further on the journey.

Note; Erin is also posting on Facebook. her page is Erin Michaud (Abby ,the Black Poodle is the first picture and you will know it is her page). She has a shorter take on the days , with different pictures than the blog.

On to Day 2!

2 days and counting. Planning on UW at 0830 Sunday Morning with Great Bridge VA being the first destination. LOTS more to come. Stay tuned.

6 days and counting! Serendipity and Crew will be underway Sunday October 7, 2019. (Finally) STAY TUNED.