Wiscasset, Maine to Beaufort, NC

We left home on the night of October 9th with temperatures in the mid 30s. The first leg was easy except for about 4-5 hours of unexpected headwinds and confused seas along Jeffries Ledge (NH, MA). We transited the Cape Cod Canal in the dark, without any difficulty. Shortly after exiting the Canal we were passed by a large cruise ship, fortunately not until the depths outside the channel in Buzzard's Bay were sufficient for us to move out of the way.

Our weather window looked so encouraging that we decided to bypass Long Island Sound and NYC with the intention of running all the way to Cape May, NJ before stopping. The stretch from Buzzard's Bay around the outside of Block Island and past Montauk was delightful, as predicted, but wind and seas unexpectedly came around on the nose, slowing us down so much that we realized Cape May was turning out to be an unrealistic goal. We went into a marina in Atlantic Highlands, where we enjoyed six nights of milder weather and beautiful walks while awaiting better conditions to proceed down the NJ coast.

We were blessed with west winds coming down along NJ so, although we had substantial winds on the beam, seas stayed comfortable. We got into Cape May just ahead of some high winds, stayed at Utch's Marina for a few nights, then had an easy overnight down the DE/MD coasts and into Portsmouth, VA. We anchored for one night then, as usual, opted for the Dismal Swamp/ Pasquotank River route to get to Albermarle Sound. The duckweed in the Dismal Swamp was more extensive and dense than we had ever seen. We emptied a fully packed strainer and anchored for the night by Goat Island in the Pasquotank.

Although the engine hadn't overheated while in the Dismal Swamp, it started to the next day when we were almost to the Albermarle Sound. Additionally, we had been accumulating sea water in the engine compartment which seemed to be getting worse. Before getting any further into the "wilds" of NC, we decided to turn back and stop in Elizabeth City to sort out the 2 likely unrelated problems. We got a spot on the free dock provided by the Atlantic Christian University. Dave checked the impeller and all sea water-related hoses, finding no obstruction, and pumped air through the thru- hull to release any obstruction there. We think that's what eventually solved the problem as we've had no more issues with overheating since. As for the water in the engine compartment, we were able to identify a hose that had worn through and Dave promptly repaired that.

Along with delightfully calm seas crossing the Albermarle we had very dense fog. At times our visibility was less than a tenth of a mile. Fortunately cruisers were communicating well by radio so, although there were 4 other boats we couldn't see with the naked eye converging with us as we approached the entrance marker to the Alligator River, we all safely made it through and the fog started to lift shortly thereafter.

The next day we had a fair current going through the Alligator/Pungo Canal then following winds and seas, making for the best sail we've had so far down the Pamlico and Neuse Rivers. Anticipating approaching high winds, we came into the Homer Smith Docks and Marina in Beaufort, NC. We're hoping to go offshore Tuesday but haven't decided on our next destination yet. Stay tuned!Read more