After being pummeled by gusty 55 knot winds and pelted by overnight rain, we awoke to a quiet Thursday morning. Judging from the slight motion in the tall pine trees and seeing a fairly quiet Alligator River, we decided to take advantage of the early morning lull, skipped breakfast and showers, and were underway at 7:30 AM. The lull lasted for about three miles, until we cleared the sand bar near the western headland above Fort Landing and entered Albemarle Sound. We had to cross about 12 nautical miles of the Albemarle before entering the semi-protected North River at Camden Point.
It was another wild ride, ably handled by our very seaworthy Duffy37. Winds quickly moved into the 35-40 knot range, pushing steady 4' waves, and occasional 5' footers at our port bow. Best speed we achieved was 15 knots and the autopilot handled steering far better than I could have done. So we bounced and rolled for 50 minutes until our course in the North River took us directly into the wind. Waves subsided to closely-spaced, very steep three-footers. The waves looked like a sine curve with the peaks about 4-5 feet apart.
With all of this active weather, mother nature still kept to her spring-time routine. At every suitable daymark, osprey pairs were building their nests. Over and over, we saw the male swoop down to the water, grab a stick in his talons, then return to the nest where the waiting female placed it in the nest. An amazing process.
Passing through the Coinjock land cut, we idled for about 15 minutes and were able to light-off the genset to make coffee and heat the boat. The waters north of Coinjock, leading into Currituck Sound are very shallow, and the channel is narrow. The water was boiling wildly, with whitecaps and blowing sea froth (which my Navy training tells me that the winds were stronger than 35 knots). Safely through, we ran Currituck's open waters, heading almost directly into wind and seas, so we had a good ride.
Finally, we arrived at the North landing Bridge, 20 miles from the end of the ICW, passing through at noon. Five miles further, we passed the Centerville Turnpike Bridge at 12:30PM. Approaching Great Bridge, I checked Chesapeake Bay's weather - not good; gale warnings, winds at 40 knots - gusting higher, with 5'-6' waves at the mouth of the bay. There was no way to get to our marina inside Little Creek Inlet.
We intended to have Ebb Tide II hauled and bottom-painted at Atlantic Yacht Basin, just south of the Great Bridge Bridge, a few weeks after returning home. With the unfavorable forecast and no expected improvement for several days, we decided to leave the boat there and have it hauled immediately. Our friends, Bob and Nancy Loy, picked us up and by 3:00 PM we were back in our home.
Our "conquest" of the ICW will not be complete until we pass Mile Marker Zero in Norfolk and our boat is safely back in its home slip. So there is still another chapter to be written in this cruising adventure. Happy Easter!!
Ebb Tide II underway
