Fall 2023. We made great progress until it came to a screeching halt.

After we left D.C., we made quick progress down the Potomac River and south to Norfolk.

It was on the James River when we were heading towards Norfolk that Jeff W learned why we suggested multiple times that he close the hatches while he is underway. I definitely bear some responsibility. A cargo ship was crossing our bow and I didn’t alter our course enough to avoid crashing into his wake.

For us, we merely took some water over the bow as Pegu Club plunged into the trough. But poor Jeff W was following us and when he took water over the bow it went down his hatches and onto his v-berth and main salon. I felt really badly about it, but Jeff took it in his normal good-nature and kept the hatches closed after that!

Jeff W wanted to see the Dismal Swamp, and that’s our usual choice on our travels (vs. the Virginia Cut), so we spent a few days moseying down the swamp and showing Jeff our usual docking spots.

He also got the chance to try his first Waffle House and gave it two thumbs up! The waitress thought he was great when he ordered one of almost everything on the menu!

On the third day in the swamp we made a rare (for us) stop for an overnight at the Dismal Swamp Visitor’s Center. Jeff B and I don’t usually stop here because it’s crowded during transient season and you are expected to raft (tie the boats alongside each other so more can stay on the dock.) We were killing time though before we needed to make a car trip north to Annapolis, and it wasn’t busy, so we pulled over and enjoyed some hiking along the trails.

Jeff B and Jeff W also did a VERY good deed while we were there. A boat came up with a man who was about 75 or 80 at the helm. He was traveling by himself, and Jeff B and Jeff W went over to catch his lines and help him dock. While he was docking, he fell and hit his leg on his winch handle. This was an old-fashioned winch handle that had a point on the end, so when he fell it punctured his leg and he slid down it, opening up his shin and calf about four inches, down to the bone. Jeff B ran down into his boat and grabbed some bandages with some medical tape, and both Jeffs did a rudimentary, but quick, bandaging job. He was on blood thinners so there was a TON of blood.

Jeff W went up to the visitors center to tell them, and an ambulance arrived about 20 minutes later. In speaking with in later, Jeff W found out that the man was dying of blood cancer and was taking one last trip south. Almost two months later, Jeff B and I saw his boat at Isle of Hope Marina just south of Savannah, so he was still going! Good on him.

From the Dismal Swamp we made a stop for several days at Lamb’s Marina, a very basic but friendly place near Elizabeth City, NC. We were leaving our boats there so we could go to Jeff’s cardiology appointment in Annapolis, and Jeff W could make a surprise drive up to his home in Massachusetts to surprise his wife. She was VERY happy!

From Lamb’s we went to Elizabeth City (where we introduced Jeff W to Currituck BBQ), then we had an uneventful trip across the Albemarle before stopping to anchor in Belhaven for a few nights. Jeff W discovered the joy that is Mad Hatter Bakery and breakfast at O’Neil’s/Gingerbread and saw why we enjoy Belhaven so much.

From there we bypassed Oriental and stopped in Beaufort, NC for a few days so Jeff W could get a part for his engine.

Our friends on Mer du Jour were also there (who we had last seen in Annapolis), so we were able to get together with them again which is always a treat. We also went to the North Carolina Maritime Museum (a first visit for the three of us) which was VERY interesting. The docent working there took a shine to us, and gave us a special treat by taking us to a lookout on the roof which had a wonderful view!

Our weather continued to be spectacular. In fact, it was the best weather we’ve had of the five trips we’ve made south. We were able to jump outside from Beaufort, NC to Wrightsville Beach, an easy ride, and the first time the weather had ever cooperated enough for us to do it!

After a quick stop in Carolina Beach, we went out the Cape Fear inlet and in the Little River inlet to anchor at Bird Island.

This was another first for us, and one we would definitely do again. Typically we go inside and anchor at Calabash, but that anchorage can be tight and there are sportfishing boats that really like to wake the anchored boats as they go by. Bird Island is MUCH deeper than the chart shows, with plenty of room for many anchored boats. It also is an easy in and out, and if you hop out there to Winyah Bay (like we did), you get to miss the drudgery and meh scenery of Myrtle Beach.

Of course the reward for making it through Myrtle Beach is you get to go through the Waccamaw River which is beautiful, and you miss that if you go outside, but we’ve seen that plenty of times. Outside was worth it. There wasn’t much wind so these were mostly motorfests, but the water was smooth and we were all loving life.

We were marveling at what an incredible trip we’d had so far, even though I had begun to notice a slightly different sound in the engine while we were motoring – a sound that Jeff B hadn’t heard, so I decided it was nothing. I tend to fixate on any subtle difference in sound that comes from the engine, even though it’s always completely normal. Unfortunately, it wasn’t normal this time and our trip came to a screeching halt. You can read more about that starting with the October 31, 2023 post which you can find under the archives drop down.

Little did we know at the time that the new engine would lead to a new experience for us – staying for a year in Beaufort, SC.