We awoke this morning around 5AM. Still dark, our Adams Creek Anchorage was flat calm. I snapped a photo in time to catch both the red buoy & green can illuminated.
5AM Adam’s Creek
We stopped here in Adam’s Creek about 20 NM short of Beaufort, NC. It was a nice 60 degree day and the Patriots game was about to start @1PM. GO PATS!
However, let me take you back to how yesterday started. We weighed anchor in Campbell Creek and made our way @5kts out the 8 ft shallows.
Exiting Campbell Creek
We were a headin’ for the “Dog Ear”. That’s not an official term but if you look at the bathymetric charts long enough you’ll see it in the depth contour line.
A dog’s ear?
We had slipped past a still sleeping Canadian sailboat who was properly displaying the US flag above their homeland flag while in our waters.
We were back in Goose Creek and heading South past the USCG station and RE Mayo Seafood with their docks full of shrimp boats and ‘snowbirds’ as we ICW Travellers are often called.
USCG Station Hobucken
Shrimp Boats
RE Mayo Seafood & Docks
Soon we were turning to port to enter Adam’s Creek where we would drop anchor just feet off the ICW. We sat in the pilothouse watching the parade of boats heading South go by.
The Verizon cell service is 3G (not the faster LTE) so it would be like the internet of the 80’s.
Miss Dixie Hall was a prolific song writer who wrote more bluegrass songs than anyone else, some 500 songs. Many sung by country hit-makers from Johnny Cash to Miranda Lambert.
Miss Dixie and her husband Tom Hall
Miss Dixie will be remembered as a kind soul who devoted her life to animal rights as much as bluegrass music.
Yesterday morning we awoke before sunrise and got underway to Beaufort, NC.
The first & last supermoon of 2017 was helping slice through the dark as we pushed away from the dock.
Supermoon Reflecting the Sun’s Rays
Supermooninfographic
Supermoons happen when a full moon approximately coincides with the moon’s perigee, or a point in its orbit at which it is closest to Earth. This makes the moon appear up to 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than usual.
December’s supermoon is actually the first of three back-to-back supermoon full moons to come in the next two months. On Jan. 1 and Jan. 31, the full moon will also occur near the moon’s arrival at perigee, according to NASA, which billed the line up as a supermoon trilogy. The Jan. 31 supermoon is also the second full moon of January, making it a Blue Moon, and also occurs during a total lunar eclipse.
As the sun got ready to sneak over the horizon there was a beautiful orange-pink hue reflecting off the water.
Before Sunrise
Today’s leg of our journey takes us from Hobucken, NC to Beaufort, NC
The Beaufort of coastal North Carolina is “BOH-fert”. The Beaufort of South Carolina is pronounced “BYOO-fert”. Established in 1709, Beaufort is the third-oldest town in North Carolina.
Beaufort Leg of Journey
As we made our way out of Goose Creek and into Pamlico Sound, the only traffic we passed was a tug pushing a barge.
YATPB – Yet Another Tug Pushing Barge
The dominant wave set was coming from the NE and that meant we had a following sea as we turned and made our way down the Neuse River. A following sea that is slightly to one side of the stern can be annoying when you are at the helm. The waves catch up to the boat from behind and lift the stern pushing it to port or starboard. This can swing the bow as much as 30 degrees at times and it starts to feel like you are pointing the boat all over the place. I made a quick adjustment to increase the autopilot’s response rate and the bow heading deflection lessened considerably. Being a slow boat (6-9 knots) you are often at the helm from sun-up to sundown to make your destination. Autopilot is an electronic device with some firmware loaded on it that drives a hydraulic pump which turns the rudder. There are many settings that you can control but the response rate is the one you will want to adjust so that the rudder position changes are swift or slow enough for how you want the boat to point.
Autopilot Control
Autopilot Display
As weekend boaters, we were boating in destinations like Block Island, Nantucket or Provincetown. These locations are anywhere between 6-12 hours from our home port in Warwick, RI. We would be forced to run the boat at 8.5 knots and only get about 1 MPG. Now that we are full-time boaters, we slow the boat to about 6 knots and get 4 MPG. You can go 4X farther if you simply reduce your speed by 2.5 knots. (Recall 1 knot = 1.15 MPH so approximately every 6 knots you would simply add 1 to get the speed in MPH).
Even knowing this, we made the decision to up the speed to 8.5 knots and reduce the amount of time spent in the following sea.
Happy and Chief Martin Brody appreciated that we burned a a bit more fuel for their comfort.
Chief Martin Brody and his Big Sister HappyWake in the Neuse River
As we turned into Adam’s Creek the ride smoothed out and we dropped back down to 6 knots. The current in Adam’s Creek was swift and the DSM (Depth Sounder Module aka. Fish Finder) was showing asymmetric rippling of the creek bottom. I believe this is caused by a swift bottom current.
Asymmetric Rippled Bottom of Adams Creek
The fish finder was also well, finding fish. The DSM uses sonar or high frequency sound generated by a device that protrudes through the hull and is sending a column of sound waves straight down beneath the boat. These sound waves not only reflect off the bottom but when they hit a fish the sound resonates in the fish’s swim bladder (a small air-filled sack that helps control a fish’s buoyancy) and this echo is detected and colored sharply to allow you to spot fish on the screen.
Look Swim Bladders
Adam’s Creek is a lovely place with lots of sights to see.
Bonus Points for Parking Your Helicopter in Front of Your Mobile Home
Boat Slip only $75K
I’m Pretty Sure The War Over Slavery Ended?
Adams Creek spills out into the Newport River and it’s marshes and shallows are something that you will want to avoid.
Newport Marshes as you Head South to BeaufortKelly & I Often Joke… “If You Want to Know Where it’s Shallow; it’s Where the Birds are Standing”
As we pulled into our slip in Beaufort we hailed the dockmaster who warned us about the swift current running transverse to the slip we were assigned. As we pulled in to the fairway the current slammed into our full keel and began to push the boat toward the bows of the boats across the fairway. I was forced to back out quickly and reposition so that I could now take the swift current into account and position the boat for rapid spin and quick back into our slip. Kelly was quick to toss lines to the dockhands and soon we were checked in and given the keys to a “courtesy car”. Up North, I’ve never stayed at a marina that offers a fee courtesy car to marina guests. The car was a welcome treat and we put it to good use re-provisioning the boat with more food & beer.
Courtesy Car – We Got Wheels!
With all our chores completed we quickly made off to the marina bar for happy hour and spent time chatting with Bartender Kristen and fellow bar patron, Dan. Dan was an amazing fellow who told us stories of his solo sailing around the world in a small boat. He offered us some local knowledge about wild horses that roam the islands around here. I KNOW more wild horses to find!
Kelly & Sailor Dan
After I consumed as many 50 cent pork sandwiches as a man can eat and washed them down with a great local IPA it was time to retire to the boat.
We were no sooner readying for bed when we were accosted by “Monkey Bird”. This vile creature had a penetrating stare and an awful cry. I spent sometime staring into this monster’s gaze and knew it was time to lock the door and keep the crew of Simple Life safe.
Coinjock Marina is a great place to stop along the ICW. The Sandbar even had an Xmas tree up.
Too Early?
While we were at the pier a 1998 Bayliner 4788 arrived during the night and as they passed us we saw the severe damage to their bow.
Hope Nobody was Injured
It was a reminder about how dangerous boating down the ICW can be (especially when traveling at night). I hope nobody was seriously hurt. After having a crash like that you’d think you’d stay far away from everyone but as they passed us I thought for a second that they might hit us.
Yikes – This Pic Snapped Out My Pilothouse Window!
At that moment I went out in my PJs and attached two fenders to the canal side (just in case 😉 )
When we left Coinjock Marina it was foggy.
Coinjock Pier Looking Off our Stern
Even as we headed down the canal we had to rely on our radar to see any far out vessels.
Fog Was Worse Than This at Times
As you travel down these canals you will find homes along the canal and people going about their daily business.
Me Waving from the Pilothouse to the Locals
As we traveled along we saw several boats anchored just outside the channel. Being anchored well after sunrise is a sign that someone is having a peaceful morning enjoying their coffee.
Peaceful Morning on Anchor
We continued South down the North River and into Albemarle Sound. There was not a single boat to be found in the sound. We had the crossing to ourselves. While approaching the mouth of Alligator River I saw, what I thought were boats but upon closer binocular examination, I see they are some sort of mini islands? I’m not sure of their purpose? They look to big to be duck blinds?
I Need to Figure Out What These Are?
We anchored at the head of the Alligator River as we lost daylight. The anchorage was quiet with no boats passing but the cellular signal was dead. During much of the transit we would see our cell signal go from LTE => 3G => Extended 1X => blank. At times we would be excited to see 3G and upon trying to connect, we’d see the signal instantly drop to “Extended 1X” which did not work at all.
What Kind of Tomfoolery is this?
The Alligator River – Pungo River Canal was long and straight.
I Can See For Miles
Along the banks of this canal you can see the erosion from passing wakes.
Geology Experts of the Future Will be Doing Molecular Analysis on That Green Line
You will see many birds as you float along. It’s a reminder to me to improve my ornithological skills.
Where are my Ornithology experts?
Where is His Beak?
You’ll see other things that you’ll want to stay clear of like …
Fishing Nets
Sticks = Hazard
Are We Too Heavy for This Dock?
At times this can be difficult as you run straight down the sun heading South. While the camera does well looking into the sun, I was struggling at times.
Staring Match With The Sun
We arrived in Hobucken, NC and tied to an old dock for the night.
2 Days Journey
It’s been quiet here except for the passing tug pushing a barge down the river at night. At one point I was staring at a stand of tall trees that were illuminated on the shore and I could not for the life of me see the source of that light?
A Stand of Trees Illuminated
It became apparent moments later that it was the spotlight of an approaching tug and we braced for it’s passing wake.
MV Simple Life 
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