Glenns Gone Sailing

The Pungo River was our route to Belhaven. With the wind at our stern (the back of the boat) we had an easy 50 mile journey to our destination. We motored since the wind was light; but even though we were motoring, the wind increased our speed by helping push us along.

We are presently tied to a dock at a marina, awaiting more rain that is to come sometime after midnight. We have shore power (electricity) so we have heat and plenty of hot water-things we take for granted in a home. Tomorrow it is suppose to rain all day so we plan on staying here two nights. We will check out the town of Belhaven tomorrow. The marina has golf carts we can borrow to ride around the town. How quaint is that? It sounds like fun to me, riding around in a golf cart in the rain. Just thinking about it reminds me of the time my dad and I were playing golf and got caught in a rain storm-good memory actually.

Gary is checking the navigational charts to plan our next day’s journey. That’s the captain’s job you know. Galley slave had the night off and got to have dinner at the restaurant here at the marina. The stuffed flounder with crabmeat was excellent….

Sunrise as the Moon sets - breathtaking

We didn’t plan on leaving Elizabeth City today, but the weather report indicated it would be a good day to travel across Albemarle Sound since the wind wasn’t going to be over 20 knots. Our boat sails well in 15 knots of wind and 20 is still manageable. As it turned out, the wind got up to 20 knots providing Gary with a great sail across the 14 mile journey. It was a fabulous day on the Albemarle Sound.

The water was choppy with small white caps as we took down the sails and motored into the Alligator River. I don’t really know if there are alligators in this river, and I don’t really want to know. “Ignorance is bliss” so they say. I don’t know who “they” are; but it seems “they” always know what they’re talking about.

We followed a boat in to the marina where we are staying tonight. We had spoken to the couple on this boat via VHS radio and found out they were going to the same marina we intended to go to for the night. It’s a good thing they knew the route, because it appeared to us to be difficult to find, as rookies. It’s that God and idiot thing working in our favor again…

There is a “swing bridge” right as we leave this marina that we will have to go through in the morning. We‘ve never encountered this type of bridge before, so we’ll give you the scoop on how it all works out in the next blog. It will open on demand, so we won’t have to wait until any particular time to take off in the morning.

 A lady on another boat took pictures of us crossing the sound and e-mailed them to us.  What a gift.

White Swan sailing across the Albemarle sound

Since it was such a yucky time to be on the boat, we attired ourselves in rain gear and toured the historical waterfront part of town. This town was first visited by the English in 1585 and settled in 1793. It’s original name was Reding and later renamed Elizabeth Town, and then it‘s current name of Elizabeth City. “Third time is a charm.” I guess.

The largest Coast Guard command center in our nation is in this city; however, we did not see it.  We visited the Museum of the Albemarle, which is not far from the wharf. It’s hard to explain how nicely done the exhibits in this museum are. The exhibits take the visitors on a journey from the days of the Native American Indians to present day. There also was a wonderful exhibit of waterfowl decoys. If you’ve ever been in our home, you know of our interest in decoys. Needless to say, we enjoyed this part of the museum tremendously. They had a duck shoot game set up in this part of the museum, and I have to admit, for the first time in my life I picked up a gun and tried shooting the inanimate flying ducks. I didn’t do well, so most of the inanimate little duckies lived. Most of Gary’s died.

We went to the Colonial Restaurant and had a southern home cooked dinner. Then we went to the Carolina Theatre & Grill, which was much like the Commodore Theatre in Portsmouth.  The movie“Old Dogs” with Robin Williams and John Travolta gets thumbs up from the Glenns.

Just south of Portsmouth is a huge “lift” bridge; the likes of which we have never seen. A whole section of the bridge rises straight up horizontally into the air so the water traffic can navigate under it.

We obviously showed our ignorance while going through the first lock. We were the first boat into it and thereby had no one to observe as to proper procedure. Suffice it to say, we learned. It’s not difficult once you know the routine. We read in the cruising guide to call ahead on the VHF radio and ask the lock-tender which side to have the lines and bumpers ready before entering the lock. We did as instructed. Once inside the lock, the next step was to throw the lines up to the lock-tender. One end of the line is cleated off onto the boat; and we were suppose to hang onto the other end of the line and throw the middle of the line up to the lock-tender. Needless to say, we blew that our first time. It’s an adventure!!!

About the Dismal Swamp Canal:

The canal is actually in the middle of two natural tributaries, Deep Creek and the Pasquotank River. Deep Creek is a three mile stretch that is very pretty with wooded banks and small beaches. The entrance to Deep Creek off the Elizabeth River was a little challenging to figure out, but the GPS helped us and we managed it successfully.

The history of the swamp dates back to George Washington’s days. In the mid 1700’s he and other prominent businessmen purchased 40,000 acres to log the timber. Washington eventually sold his interest in the project to the father of Robert E. Lee. In 1909, a lumbering company purchased the swamp and continued to harvest the rest of the lumber. The Dismal Swamp Canal is the oldest operating artificial waterway in the United States. Since mostly slaves dug the canal by hand, and they were very familiar with it, they eventually used it for their escape to the north. The canal’s construction began in 1793 and was finally completed in 1805, taking 12 years to complete. Today, it is maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We saw a couple of their vessels and their station as we went down the canal. In 1973 the swamp was donated to what is now the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. We tied up for the night at the North Carolina Visitors Center where the park for the Wildlife Refuge is, but we did not visit it this time. Hopefully, we’ll have the opportunity another time.

The Dismal Swamp Canal is quite narrow and we had to stay in the center of the channel for fear of running over tree stumps and causing damage to the boat’s prop or hull. We made it through successfully… YEAH!!! SEE PHOTOS IN “PHOTO GALLERY”

CHRYSLER MUSEUM OF ART IN NORFOLK, VA

 Today, we took the ferry across the Elizabeth River to Norfolk.  We used the city transit system for the first time; and, after we found the first station, we did okay using this free city service.  We spent the morning preparing the boat for our absence since we are going home tomorrow so we didn’t have as much time as we would have liked to tour the museum.  So, we hope to revisit it before we leave the Portsmouth/Norfolk area. We were fortunate to get to go into this museum, as today is the first day they have been open since they  experienced flooding in their basement due to IDA. 

The museum had an Egyptian exhibit borrowed from the Brooklyn Museum.  We took advantage of the opportunity to see it.  Fascinating!!! If you ever have the opportunity to see it, it’s well worth it.  We enjoyed seeing the King Tut exhibit when it was at the IMA in Indy, but this was even more spectacular.

Another point of interest to us was the blown glass exhibit.  This form of art has always amazed me.  I was so impressed with Dale Chihully’s exhibit at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, and as we were walking around the Chrysler Museum’s exhibit, I kept looking for his work.  I did find some, exhibited right beside a piece from his instructor, Harvey Littleton.

DALE CHIHULLY'S BLOWN GLASS EXHIBITED AT THE CHRYSLER MUSEUM

Since we did not want to be in a strange area of the city after dark, we left the museum in plenty of time to find a station for the city bus.  We successfully made our way back to the ferry and our boat.  Then, guess what we did next….LAUNDRY. YEAH!!! After laundry and dinner, we packed our bags to be ready for our flight home tomorrow.  Our boat slip neighbors offered to take us to the Norfolk airport since he has a doctor’s appointment in town in the morning.  “Boaters” are such nice people; always offering to help other boaters out in any way they can. We are all “wired” the same.  Either that, or we’ve all “been hit with the same hammer”. 

Since we will be in Indy for a week for the Thanksgiving holiday, I won’t be posting anymore until after we get back to the boat.  Happy Thanksgiving to all.    FM/GS Jean and Captain Gary S. Glenn out…..

Today we rode our bikes into Portsmouth, which is not very far from the marina.  We had our bikes adjusted by a professional at a bike shop in town.  Money well spent, as they will be our mode of transportation on this trip.  While there, we went to the Lightship museum. A lightship is a ship that is designed to function as a lighthhouse and it can be moved wherever it is needed. We also went to the Portsmouth Naval Museum which presented a lot of history from this area.  We are glad we’ve had the opportunity to tour this historic area.  Our country was settled from here and though I personally have never been a history buff, I still find it all fascinating. 

Tonight we are going to the Commodore Theatre for dinner and a show.  We will walk there and back.  I asked the young man who worked on our bikes if the area was safe to be walking around after dark, and he assured me it was. 

Tomorrow we will be doing laundry at the marina’s laundry (always fun when you live on a boat.)  I asked a lady one time at the laundromat in Annapolis if she thought there was anything worse than doing laundry and her reply was, “Yes, not being able to do laundry.”  Her comment made me stop and think, how fortunate we are and how we take such mundane tasks for granted. Yeah!!!! I get to do laundry tomorrow!!!!

 Oh Yeah, HOW ABOUT THEM COLTS!  We watched the game on the big screen TV at the restuarant in the marina. We were the only ones rooting for them, but we showed them all in the end, didn’t we?

All for now… First Mate & Galley Slave Jean    aka FMGS Jean

THE COMMODORE THEATRE IN PORTSMOUTH, VA

We went to this theatre the evening of November 17th to see the animated movie with Jim Carey as Scrooge.  They used the new type of animation for this movie where the characters almost look real. (Freaks me out…soon we won’t need real people as actors because the animation is so realistic.) This theatre opened in 1945.  It has been restored and is beautiful inside, with crystal chandeliers and murals on the walls. The seating is not theatre style; instead there are rounded-back cushioned chairs at round tables seating two to four people at each table.  To order from the lite-fare menu, telehones at each table are used.  We enjoyed the evening as it was something different for us to experience.

Before I begin with our personal update, I want to take the opportunity to thank a very dear friend, Glen Becker, who designed this new website for us.  His gift to us is going to make all our lives easier in trying to communicate with each other as we continue our journey down the ICW. You can read our blogs, e-mail us, and follow Spot,  all on the same webpage.  THANK YOU, GLEN! You are an angel who has come to the techno-ignorant’s rescue.

     SUNSET OVER PORTSMOUTH 11/15

Update 11/16/09:  The storm has brought a lot of issues to the Norfolk/Portsmouth area; many affecting the recreational boaters headed down the ICW. Not only did the intense winds and rain stop our journeys temporarily, but now there is a lot of debris washed into the rivers, etc. by the flood waters; shoaling is occuring in some of the deep waters making them more shallow and thereby non-navigable; one of the locks is closed that is needed to go further south, and the list goes on….So, for all the aforementioned reasons, we have extended our slip rental to a month.

 This decision also gives us the liberty to fly home for Thanksgiving out of Norfolk.  We’ll be home for a week and then fly back here to hopefully continue our journey.  We are not upset in the least about this delay.  Our motto is “sailing is all about the journey, not the destination.”  We also often tell each other, “When you’re there, that’s where you are.”  And, we are here. And loving it.

  The delay has given us opportunity to tour the area.  Yesterday, we took the ferry to Norfolk and went to the Norfolk Naval Museum and also went aboard the battleship Wisconsin. While there, we were treated to a concert by the Hampton Roads Metro Band.  After our time at the museum, we walked the waterfront area of Norfolk.  We found that part of the city to be very clean and the people friendly and accommodating to visitors. We didn’t have time to go to the Chrysler Art Museum, so we would like to go back to see it.  The photo shown above was taken from the ferry as we returned to Portsmouth.

 Today we rode our bikes in Portsmouth, touring the old historic area which offered interesting architecture.  Tomorrow evening we are going to go back to that same area to have dinner and see a movie at the Commodore Theatre.  We’re having a blast. 

 Now that Glen has taught me how to download pictures, later  I’ll make a gallary to share with all of you, so you can see some of the spectacular things we are seeing.

 Captain Gary and First Mate/Galley Slave Jean

Portsmouth, VA

We started from Annapolis, Maryland where we purchased our boat, White Swan four years ago. We have sailed her on the Chesapeake Bay for the last four years, getting to know her. She’s a comfortable boat, 33.5 feet by 14 wide and is usually not too much for the two of us to handle. Since retirement, we are extending our cruising territory to include the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) and the Bahamas.

We left Annapolis on November the fourth, my grandson Caleb’s birthday. (He’s 10 years old now.) We spent a couple of nights in Solomons, MD as we headed south. While there, we had to have the GPS sensor replaced. Solomons is a lovely town and is one of our favorite ports to visit as we cruise the Chesapeake. We enjoyed our stay there. We used our marine folding 6 speed bicycles for the first time and had lots of fun.

After Solomons, we started cruising in less familiar territory of the Bay. That was when it seemed like the adventure really began for us. Last Monday, we were surrounded by fog, but decided to leave our anchorage to resume our trip. We took turns on the bow of the boat directing the other one as to which way to go, using headsets (technology is wonderful) and GPS to help wind our way through a serpentine shaped channel. Gary could see crabs crawling on the bottom of the creek at times, indicating we were in water that was too shallow. Obviously, we made it out of the anchorage and to the Bay, only to find the fog was not just up the creek where we spent the night, but also on the Bay. We eventually had to go close to shore, drop anchor, and wait out the fog. Time for a good nap. Heh, we’re retired….we are in no hurry.

Tuesday, we made it to the end of the Chesapeake Bay which is the Norfolk, Portsmouth area. We went in to get fuel and in listening to the “locals”, realized we’d better rent a slip and stay while a storm went through the area. Three days later, we’re are still in Portsmouth awaiting the storm from Hurricane Ida to make it’s way past us. All is well, though. We are safe and dry, as long as we stay in the boat….

More later.

First Mate Jean