Voyage 2013-2014: Chapter 3

22 Apr 2014, Jule III Phase II, 33 55.242 N/ 078 03.648 W

Our bags are (re)packed and we are ready to go (again); this time North. Seems like we have put more on than we took off last month. Something wrong with that. We are hoping to arrive in Bristol, RI sometime in late May. We hope to be in Beaufort NC, later this week, Elizabeth City mid next week (to see our now long time friends there), then Hampton by that weekend, then wait for weather to New Jersey and then Block, then Bristol. Hope our plans work out better than our aborted Dawg Rally last Fall.

03 May 2014, ILM to Elizabeth City, 36 18.00 N/ 076 12.70 W

We left ILM 7 days ago heading for Bristol RI and not in a hurry. We headed for Wrightsville for an afternoon anchor preparing for an overnight to Beuafort. Weather was good for the overnight but conditions before or after were not so good. We saw some old friends at the anchorage but we were all too lazy to turn on the VHF.

We left the inlet around 1600 as we wanted to slowly head up to Beaufort between weahter systems. Weather was light so a motor sail was in order. Arrived at the inlet at 0630 and continued to Hobucken for the night. The next several days were calm but the last day to EC through the Albemarle was a bit lumpy and rainy plus the mini crab pot floats made the last day a bit stressful.

Elizabeth City is one of our favorite towns as it has been one of our cruising homes for over 10 years. We stay at the Pelican as it is peaceful, cheap, and friendly, Billy, Josh, Earle, and Mike have made it our home all of these years.

During our stay, the wind was strong out of the SE which rises the water quickly. The Pelican's lot was flooded but Jule held well in her slip. It blew for several days so traveling around was a bit difficult.

Yesterday, the weather calmed and we have a window to head North. We hope we can go on the outside from Norfolk to Cape May but it looks a bit iffy. Still the Dismal Swamp is between us and that decision. We will try to tie up at the concrete dock this side of the Deep Creek Lock.