December 15, 2020, day 10 of our journey on Magic Moments, a Kadey Krogen 44

The first 10 days have been extraordinarily enlightening. I've experienced many firsts.

We started out 10 days ago on Sunday from Galesville, Maryland; having  been at the Hartge Yacht Harbor for a couple of weeks, curtesy of my sister and brother in law. We had  made several trips in November on the weekends to close on the boat  (November 13), in Crownsville near Annapolis and take the boat with the help of Captain Rob to Annapolis for a week. Captain Rob gave us two days of training on the boat. Quite challenging, Roland has a PhD in boating, and I started out in daycare. Not my first boat, but my first and only other boat was in my life almost 50 years ago..

With the help of Chris and Charlie, dear, dear friends, we did the final provisioning on Thursday and Friday, and had planned to cast off for our trip down the ICW on Saturday. Unfortunately the weather on Saturday was not good, so, this was our first, of what will probably be  a number of weather related, changes in plans.  We used Saturday to get the boat organized (Capt Roland is also a chef so the galley is incredibly well equipped), and I took advantage of being on land by running for 3 miles. I did not know when I would get another opportunity to run.

We left early Sunday, December 6, 2020 at 7:43 AM. We said goodbye to Hartge Yacht Harbor in Galesville Maryland and started our journey.

So far, all steering is from the pilot house as it is still too cold to steer from the flybridge. We are looking forward to getting further south and spending our travel days on the flybridge which is outside and at the top of the boat.

We anchored out the first night in the Solomons, MD, arriving at 1:43 PM; it took us six hours and we had a beautiful anchoring but we did have a challenge with the generator. Our ignorance was showing. We scrambled for an hour and a half to try to figure out why there was only a small dribble of water coming out of the exhaust which would indicate that the generator isn't being cooled properly and therefore we would have to do something different. Roland tried everything: replacing parts, testing parts, reading the manuals (8 huge loose leaf binders). We frantically texted and called the Krogen mechanic, the seller, and anyone else whom we thought could give us guidance. (back up plan: nearby, excellent marina with skilled folks to help).

Luckily, while I was doing nothing helpful, (googling), I came across an aside mentioning the exhaust may be under the waterline. Sure enough that was the case; the generator temperature remained steady; all was well. The next morning, the responses confirmed that yes of course the exhaust is under the waterline and all is well. Roland never had a generator so the first of our educational opportunities. It called for an early happy hour at our first anchorage. It was beautiful!

It was a warning to us that our ignorance may cause problems in the future, hopefully not every day but probably more than once a week. This turned out to be true of course because we had the next challenge with our ignorance about the heater in the main cabin. But, I would be rushing ahead to share that story.

Day two, we left our Anchorage, Roland easily pulling up the anchor cleaning it off while I steered out of the creek into the river. It was a rather cold day and we used the generator so that we could have heat. This continued on and off for the next week using the heater as we motor south.

Over the 10 days we have enjoyed enchanting sunsets and attractive sunrises. All of our anchorages have been lovely and peaceful. Of course this is after the season so very few boats around and so far we haven't had to share an anchorage. Cold on day three when we anchored at a small cove on the Piankatank River near Deltaville, MD. We stayed put as the wind, the winds were too heavy to move on. Sunny but rather cold; the view was great. Our second weather delay.

On day four, Wednesday, December 9, at 8:30 AM, we departed the cove heading south and had a fun experience with the Coast Guard. We had a radio request from the Coast Guard identifying us as “fishing vessel Magic Moments”. Roland was entertained and thought that there was a fishing vessel nearby with the same name as ours. I was extremely doubtful of that, and when the second call came over the radio I suggested that the Coast Guard is confused and that we better answer. Sure enough the Coast Guard apologized for the error wished us a happy and safe voyage, recreational vessel Magic Moments, and then turned their attention and boarded the nearby fishing vessel.

The direction we were going was opposite of the waves and winds and the trip was very choppy. I got sicker and sicker what started out as uncomfortable ended up pretty bad. I was very happy when we cut the trip a little bit short and motored into Mobjack bay near Yorktown Virginia to anchor for the night.

I did take some pills that Roland had given me and that I had used previously in Antarctica. I recovered quickly and fortunately was able to enjoy a fabulous dinner. I hope never to experience this again. It has been over 50 years since my last seasick experience and I hope not to experience seasickness again over the next 50 years.

Day Five, Thursday, December 10, 2020. At 6:45 AM we pulled up the anchor and returned to the Chesapeake from Mobjack bay; cold but calm (thankfully).

I gathered all my various medications and items to protect myself from seasickness, and my sister offered to send me some patches which I will pick up in Charleston when we connect with her younger daughter, my niece. My sister and brother-in-law have been fantastic in this entire journey from looking at boats when we first hatched the idea (not mine), and until today. I cannot thank them enough.

We crossed from the Chesapeake Bay at 11:48 AM, around Norfolk, to start the ICW, Mile Zero, at Hospital Point, passing the entrance to the Dismal Swamp, to follow the Albemarle Chesapeake Canal.

Right before Chesapeake City we went through my first lock. Roland dutifully trained me on lock procedure, including a quick rehearsal, so I would be able to do my part helping the lock tender secure the boat as the water level increased. Unfortunately the lock tender left us to our on devices and Roland had to jump off the boat to catch the lines. Last minute; be prepared, anything can happen. We made it through, called ahead for the nearby bascule bridge (the bridge is operated by weights and rises and separates in the middle, after the traffic is stopped). There is a great variety of bridges on the ICW. It is fun to talk to the bridge tenders and see how each operates. Requesting a bridge tender to open a bridge on the radio requires info as to our direction and boat name. Often the boat names are strange to the tenders and require repeating the name several times and finally, in desperation, spelling the name. There is usually a sigh of relief when we announce: “Magic Moments”. Yes, Engish, a name the tenders understand.

We ended day five in Chesapeake, Virginia at the Atlantic Yacht Basin Marina. Our first marina. All went well although I must say that I have never experienced a fuel pump working as slowly as this pump pumped nor water as slow as this water. We had to use a different technique that is, use the water from the tank and refill the tank after hours and hours because it was so slow. The water pressure was so slow that it was hard to wash off the boat which we needed to do because our first fuel up and first holding tank pump out, had a couple of glitches, shall we say. The boat very much needed to be washed off. Ignorance mistake number two: turn off the suction before removing the holding tank pump out hose. Yuck!
We had a wonderful stay in Chesapeake, Virginia it is the site of the Battle of the Great Bridge.

I am going to share a little bit about Chesapeake, Virginia and the Battle of the Great Bridge a little later so just skip those paragraphs if that part of history is not of interest to you.

We had to stay two nights in Chesapeake, Virginia because we were expecting a repair person to help with what we thought was a broken heater. This is ignorance event number three, of which we are aware.
It turned out that nothing was wrong with the heater; operator error. It was a less expensive error than it could have been. Only a little over $100. But apparently we have to be prepared for this learning curve. Fortunately, we had a small portable heater I brought from home at Roland's suggestion (brilliant), so we were able to heat the cabin at night. We learned a lot from the repair guy and his assistant, about these heaters. They aren't really good at heat; they are primarily air conditioners, and require different fan settings for heating and cooling. Where is that written in the library of directions and manuals?

We did a lot of food and wine shopping in Chesapeake, there was a strip mall within walking distance. I ducked into a Tuesday Morning and bought a couple of Hanukkah gifts for Roland; he loves his galley and all of its special equipment, so I found wooden cutting boards and oven mitts,,,highly needed items to start the Hanukkah celebration that evening. And, Chris and Charlie had left us with a Hanukkah/Christmas gift bag with all kinds of goodies in it including white Hanukkah lights for one side of the salon, and multi colored Christmas lights for the other.

Day seven, December 12, I was up really early, before 5 AM, thinking about our first three errors: generator exhaust, pump out technique and heater operator error. Hopefully we will cut down the frequency of our errors as we proceed on this adventure.

It was extraordinarily foggy and very hard to see as we left Chesapeake VA., and followed a narrow part of the canal. We went under or passed several bridges (a swing bridge, railroad bridges that are lowered to let the train pass but otherwise raised like a large, flat elevator, and a floating turnpike bridge).

At 1:45 PM, we anchored in a small cove on the North river near Point Harbor, North Carolina. It was cloudy and mild and we were both really tired. The anchorage felt like the wilderness, as we were in the middle of a swamp. Peaceful and still. We had a great dinner. Roland made delicate squash with brussels sprouts, rice and scallops and we went to bed early.

Day eight, December 13, 2020, Sunday.

We got up early. Started all the standard preparations getting ready to pull up the anchor: start the engines, heaters off, microwave off, generator off, checking that the engine exhaust was functioning, and before first light we were on our way; Captain R in his foul weather gear, to bring up the anchor. Visibility was low, so we proceeded along in the fog slowly.

We approached the Alligator River Swing Bridge in the dense fog. We couldn't see the bridge until we were almost touching it. The bridge tender wanted to see us before opening the bridge. A little close for comfort.

We entered at 12:30 PM, the 20 mile, Alligator Pungo Canal, which is 20 miles long, narrow with lots of debris on both sides. Thankfully, there was not a lot of traffic. This canal is known for fast powerboat speeding by and “waking” slower boats (us). It is late in the season, so it wasn't that bad.

The motor vessel following us, HAU˜ OL I, which, in Hawaiian means, happy, cheerful, joyful, a lovely name, was recently purchased, as Magic Moments was. The captain had damaged his prop (we don't know whether this was error number one or not),was limping along. We have sonar maps, he did not, and because of the “deadheads” in the water (submerged logs), we suggested he follow us. He gratefully, followed us with Roland on the radio coaching him from time to time when we were aware of any submerged obstacles.

Late afternoon arrival in Belhaven NC, at River Forest Marina. Henry the dockmaster helped us dock. He asked us to dock on our port side not knowing that we did not have a walk around on our port side. This was our first port side dockage. A little challenging. No need, I hope to do that again!

December 13, 2020, Magic Moments' one month anniversary. Belhaven is an adorable town, population 1500, and the River Forest Marina and Henry the dockmaster were terrific. We took a ride around town, going through the main intersection which is the only traffic light in Bellhaven, on a loaner golf court cart from the marina. Stopped and had delicious oysters, outside, and interestingly enough met the captain and crew, husband and wife, from Venezuela, living in Orlando, of Hau' oli, the boat we coached through the canal. It was really cool after the time on the radio to see them in person. They were going to be off the next day, the weather was not really good so we stayed an extra day in Belhaven.

The extra day in Belhaven was a joy to me. I got to run 3 miles all over town. We had a lovely breakfast in the morning and then an hour following the historic home walking tour. Got back just in time to take cover for the next 4 1/2 hours of gale force winds driving our boat against the dock. Roland had to go outside three times in the storm, to move the fenders around to protect the boat from smashing against the pilings as the wind clocked around. I am told that clocking winds is typical of a storm. This I needed to know??

Caught up on my email during the storm. Thrilled that we decided that a weather delay was perfect, and we were not out in this weather.

After my social zoom monthly meeting, Roland returned with takeout from Spoon River restaurant, which is, as Henry, the dockmaster, says, a destination restaurant, well-known up and down the ICW. We had flounder and duck and brussels sprouts and a smoked fish appetizer salad; it was extraordinary followed by chocolate cheesecake and a bottle of wonderful wine. It was quite a joy and our first take-out meal since we cast off from Galesville, Maryland.

Day 10, December 15, 2020, Tuesday, up early 6 AM, read Joe Biden's speech from last night after the electoral college voted and got ready to cast off to Oriental which is 41 miles from Belhaven. We were expecting iffy weather so the night before I applied the patch and hopefully all will be calm and it will turn out to be unnecessary. After my event a couple days ago, I'd rather be safe than sick. lol  Terri...