A Halloween to remember

Sometimes it is better when you shoot from the hip. Even though Halloween has been a hot topic of conversation on Momo for days, Amie and I really didn't have a plan as to how it was going to happen. It's not like we could just take the girls around our neighborhood. This morning we left Southport at 0600, which meant the first 45 minutes of ICW travel was in the dark. The early departure was decided upon last night when we realized we REALLY did not have a plan for Halloween. We figured leaving early would allow us to figure something out. As we passed one possible stop after another today, each one looked less promising than the previous. At one point we were considering anchoring near a shrimp dock and then taking the dinghy over to ask the shrimpers if we could trick-or-treat in the homes behind the dock. Eventually, we started to come to the realization that we would probably need to do what we least wanted to do - pay for a slip at a marina. It turns out our friends on Sheila were staying at one in North Myrtle Beach while visiting other friends, and it was cheap. So, just after 1200 we pulled in. Shortly after, James, the dockmaster, insisted we borrow his car to do a grocery run. While Lucy and Scout played with the Sheila crew, we did a MAJOR provisioning. As exciting as that was, we both felt a bit guilty as we pulled back into the marina, because we still had no plans for Halloween. We gathered the girls, stowed all the groceries and looked at our watch - 4:45pm. Lucy then informed us that Scout no longer wanted to be a dolphin. She now wanted to be a butterfly. "Don't worry", she said, "I will make her costume."
Great, but where are we going to trick-or-treat? The marina is almost entirely filled with empty boats (we had hoped for a bunch of live-aboards or transients), and surrounding the marina is a retirement complex which looks very un-Halloween-friendly. At 5:00pm our neighbors in the next slip over inform us they are going to the bar, but if the girls wanted to stop by, they would give them a treat. So, a full-family effort ensued to get the butterfly outfit finished, and then we headed out. After our stop at the neighbors, Amie and I looked around and realized the marina was not going to work. So, we started walking. We walked out of the retirement complex, where our assumptions were confirmed by a complete lack of Halloween decorations and inviting front doors, and turned down the first street we came to. It was a development with upscale houses and jack-o-lanterns on front stoops - promising. We walked up to the first house and after the girls timidly ring the bell, an extremely warm and friendly lady offered them candy and we start chatting. Five minutes later, she and her husband are offering us a beer. Fifteen minutes later we are driving their completely-pimped-out golf cart around the neighborhood while Lucy and Scout are raking in the candy. Trick-or-treating in style!!! While Amie and Lucy were riding in the back and screaming at me to go slow, Scouty was riding shotgun, shouting, "Faster Daddy, Faster!"We had SO MUCH FUN and feel so fortunate to have met such generous and friendly people.
After a day like today, I am so thankful for this opportunity we are having together as a family. When Amie and I pulled the anchor up in the dark this morning in Southport, we had no idea how the day would unfold. That is the essence of this adventure - to be together and give ourselves the chance to have some new experiences. I have never really been a fan of Halloween, but today may have changed that a bit. Happy Halloween.

Perhaps the boat-buckets were a bit too over-zealous?

Lucy made about 90% of both costumes.

The mask didn't last too long.

Halloween won't ever be the same.

Southport

This morning we awoke to rain and opted to hang tight for a couple hours until it was forecasted to clear up. Shortly after 0900 we pulled up the anchor and headed south. We had another short day - just over 20 miles to get to Southport, a small town just inside Cape Fear. We had the genoa up for most of the day, with 15 knot northerlies pushing us along, and even turned the engine off for a couple hours while running down the Cape Fear River. Unfortunately, we had close to 3 knots of adverse current working against us in the river, so our SOG was not great. Regardless, we pulled into Southport at about 1300 hours and were delighted to find a funky little town with nobody else at anchor. That is a good thing because the anchorage is a tiny little basin surrounded by slips, with room for only 2 or 3 boats to swing freely. We went ashore and found some ice cream, good streets for scootering, and a library with a kids section and free wifi. Tonight after dinner Lucy and Scout got married...again. It was quite an involved ceremony this time around, featuring special drinks, phone plans, a fire alarm and lots of dancing. Amie and I had trouble following exactly what was going on, but all the excitement made for two tired young ladies and an easy bedtime. Tomorrow we cross the South Carolina boarder and hope to make Myrtle Beach for some trick-or-treating.

We believe in safety first. Even at the library.

Momo with the anchorage all to herself.

Wrightsville Beach

Yesterday we had a lazy start, weighing anchor after 0930, knowing we only had 20 miles to get to Wrightsville Beach. We also had two bridge openings to deal with, both of which opened on the hour, restricting our speed. Lots of dolphins played around our boat during the morning which mesmerized the girls. Scouty is now going to be a dolphin for Halloween. Once we arrived in Wrightsville, the girls went to the beach and Ted changed the engine oil. It was nice to have an afternoon for playing, rather than travel, and the girls clearly needed a little time to stretch their legs. It worked! Scouty could barely keep her eyes open at dinner, and she fell asleep on page 2 of their bedtime book.

Thank goodness for the girls' creativity! 

These dolphins played near our boat for several minutes.  

We passed mile 270 of the ICW today.

Ted got creative with the spinnaker pole today in order to make things a little more comfy. 

On the road again...

We are happy to be putting miles under the keel once again, after a couple nice days in Beaufort. Yesterday afternoon we took on diesel and water (and Ted convinced the marina to give him a free shower...his first since we were in Washington D.C...) and then in the evening we moved a few miles away to a less crowded anchorage near Morehead City. We updated our insurance to be able to proceed south and weighed anchor at 0645 this morning. It was a beautiful day - 80 degrees and sunny, and although there was not enough wind to do any sailing, we still made decent progress. Tonight we are anchored near Surf City in Sloop Creek. 

The girls had so much fun taking turns looking at each other through the V-berth hatch.  One would stay below while the other put on her life jacket, clipped into the jack-line and ran forward to the bow.  Then, she would run back to the cock-pit, remove the lifejacket and tether and run down into the cabin where they would laugh wholeheartedly together.  It was a lot of work on their part (on, off, up, down, laugh...) so we let it continue in an attempt to wear them out. 

Bucket bath for Lu

There was a lot of activity on the ICW today - including live firing drills by the Marine Corps.  These appeared to be targets.

US Navy patrol boats.

US Coast Guard repairing an ICW marker

Dancing with no pants.

Beaufort

Here are a few pictures of our trip to and around Beaufort.  We have had great weather recently with calm nights (great for sleeping).  This is a great little town to hang out in for a few days but we are already feeling a little antsy. 

Snack time in the ICW!

The anchor went down in Beaufort and immediately Ted was in the water to check on the prop and bottom.
The report was that things looked good.

FREE Ice Cream!!!  Can't beat Beaufort!

We dinghy'd over to the Rachel Carson Preserve in search of getting close to some wild horses.  In the afternoon we went to the Maritime Museum. 

While sailing, we often see monarchs heading south.  Here is one stopping for a snack on it's way.

Virginia Cut to Oriental, NC

We have been making some really good progress these past three days. We have been traveling with our friends on S/V Sheila, and it has been really fun to work together sailing during the day and then hang out at anchorage at night. The nor'easter that moved up the east coast during the past few days gave us very little rain, but strong northwest winds. This has enabled us to have the sails up for most of our travel these past three days, which is pretty rare in the ICW. On Wednesday we crossed Albemarle Sound. The winds were forecasted to be 15 - 20 with gust to 25, directly behind us. By the time we were in the middle of the 12 mile crossing, the winds were 25-30, with gusts to 40, right on our beam. The shallow sound produced steep short breaking waves. Thankfully we were flying along with a partially furled genoa at 8+ knots and made the crossing quickly. When we entered the Alligator River on the south side of the sound we found out that the draw bridge was closed due to the high winds. This happens when winds are higher than 30 kts, and despite this bridge being more protected than the sound, it was still honking here as well. After about 20 minutes the bridge tender radioed that sustained winds had come down to 28 kts so he was going to open it. We were glad to get through and then enjoyed a great sail down Alligator river under only the genoa.
That night we anchored in Broad Cove, tucking as close to shore as possible while the wind still blew hard. Thursday brought more good progress and great ICW sailing with the wind still out of the NW. We made it to the west end of the Pongo River/ Alligator River canal and had a beautiful and calm night to catch up on some sleep. Yesterday was another great day of sailing and we arrived in Orinetal, NC around 1430. Together with the crew from S/V Sheila, we went ashore for ice cream and groceries. Today we will make the short trip (20 miles) to Beaufort, where we will be holed up for a few days waiting for mail and doing some boat projects. Our insurance does not cover us south of Beaufort until November 1st, so we will likely spend Halloween there as well.

Motorboats plowing past us in the ICW, although it is not usually this crowded.

Ted cannot refrain from making this a game, racing anything else that moves. 

Calm waters in the ICW

We think these birds were starlings.  They completely engulfed us for several minutes - moving across the sky in waves

Lucy makes a flag and we hoist it up the mast until the sun fades it or the rain washes the water-color out...and then she makes another.  So far we have had flowers, crazy patterns, a pirate and a pumpkin. 

Entering the ICW

Today I wished I could have played the game Battleship with Lucy.  We had another early start with our boat-friends from Canada.  Together we sailed for a while and then had to motor down to Norfolk.  What an overstimulating adventure Norfolk is - fighter jets, planes, helicopters, war ships, tug & barges, ferries, coast guard running man-overboard trainings (it took me a little while to catch on that they were just training) as well as an endless number of motor yachts and sailboats heading South for the winter.

We called the girls on deck every time there was a drawbridge we had to go under.  Lucy was fascinated by every aspect of the drawbridges.  Not many things are able to capture her attention more than fantasyland does.

And then we entered the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway - ICW.  We really wanted to, as the sign says, "do the Dismal" route but several people have led us to believe that we would run aground way too often.  Instead we plunged ahead down the Virginia Cut and into our first lock.  We are tied up to a free dock just 12 miles in.

In the lock with gates closing behind us...

Waiting for the water to rise...

Where we ended up for the night...

Brown's Bay

We left Deltaville just before 0700 this morning with high hopes the wind would allow us to fetch Norfolk. We were treated to a beautiful sunrise, but unfortunately, the wind was more southerly than we needed and steep chop soon developed, slowing our progress. After a few hours, we decided, along with our new friends from s/v Sheila, to head into Mobjack Bay, specifically for Brown's Bay. We spent the afternoon exploring the marshes and beaches around this area, seeing cool birds, turtles, and even dolphins. The crew of Sheila includes a four year old girl that Lucy and Scout played with all afternoon.

Momo and Sheila 

It was not all that warm, but Scout insisted on wearing her "striped bathing suit" to the beach. While the rest of us were bundled up in jackets. She had a blast playing in the sand. What a character!

She then promptly crashed for a 2 hour nap, in the bottom of the dingy.

Bahama Bound - or as Scout likes to say 'Hama"

Deltaville

Today the forecast predicted gusts up to 30 kts and steep seas so we decided to hang around and make the push tomorrow for Norfolk when the winds and seas will be a little gentler on us.  So we scooted into town, played at another park and made ourselves busy in the coffee shop.

In the late afternoon some of our crew members were pushing to go introduce ourselves to another boat that seemed to have kids aboard - so they went.  It is refreshing to find other families with young kids cruising with the same intentions.  

Solomons to Deltaville

Yesterday was a rest day in Solomons Island. We went grocery shopping, filled up on diesel and water, and went to the maritime museum. We left this morning at 0800 and were one of about a dozen sailboats all departing the harbor and heading south at the same time. We are starting to recognize boats and sailors, and it has been fun to be a part of this community headed south. We had really nice sailing weather today - 15 knots just aft of the beam for most of the day, and then it swung around to dead astern for the last two hours. Momo topped out at 9.4 knots and she averaged over 8 for much of the time. Around 1700 we arrived in Jackson Creek, which is near Deltaville, Virginia. We dropped anchor right next to another Valiant 40, and it was nice to chat a bit with her owners.

Lucy learning math underway.

Boats also headed south.

Lucy's scooter repurposed as a grocery hauler.

Scout fell asleep like this while we were filling up with diesel and water.

I think we are making southern progress.