So we left The beautiful state of Virginia and crossed over into North Carolina as we traveled through the Dismal swamp. Everyone was super nice in Virgina and we had a nice stay.
We hit the Blue Water Marina but they were closed, we needed some fuel. I headed up to the restaurant and they gave us the pass code to the showers and amenities, that was cool… Hot showers and clean jammies make for a good nights rest. We ate dinner at the gas dock and then headed out for the anchorage. It was a bit bumpy but not bad. In the morning we headed for the municipal docks they had the only pump out station in the area. Come to find out this was a great stop… They had everything we could need and they had a grant to help boaters. We tied up and off we went to get some allergy medicine for me and I also had a long overdue hair cut. We were going to stay but the weather was great so we hit the Dismal swamp and headed south.
We were talking about how we wished we could meet someone who had knowledge of the Atomic Four engine we have on the boat. When we arrived in Elizabeth City we were all talking at the dock and Trina mentioned this to a preacher that was there and he said “The Lord works in mysterious ways, he is standing right in front of you…” How sweet could it get? Not only does he know what he is talking about, he is a super guy. I have to say the preacher was right.
We stayed a couple days in Elizabeth City due to nasty, cold rain and we wanted to do some much needed engine maintenance. We thought we were going to have to pay big bucks for the repairs but come to find out there were just some minor adjustments and a tune up that I did in just about an hour.
Yesterday we took the time to do all the little things that were on the list that we wanted to do like rearrange and move things to make more room and move weight forward more. We had purchased a new faucet and water pump before we left and didn’t have the time to install it. There was not a running faucet on the boat, it was a pump type. The day worked out well, we finished everything and even flushed the water tank and filled with fresh water. It is so nice to have running water to do dishes in the sink now.
So we left Elizabeth City today at sunrise it was beautiful out and have made our way across Ablemarle Sound to the Alligator River and are headed South. It is warm and sunny but not much wind today we did get in a few hours of sailing, the boat did well on a broad reach in light wind.
It is the end of the day I have been writing this as I took a break and came below when Trina took the helm.
We had a minor mishap just before the Alligator River swing bridge. I had done the tune up on the engine and when I did I hooked the electric fuel pump to the oil pressure safety sensor switch like it should be… Well, it just so happened that it decided to crap out just before we arrived at the open bridge. The bridge guy hailed us and said we needed to group with the other boats to come through, we replied “we would love to but our motor just quit.” I am glad it did it when it did, going through the bridge would have been disaster. So at first I didn’t trust the fuel gauge it was bouncing from three eighths to one eighth so I added fuel as fast as possible and tried the engine but not happening so we thought OK what did we do that would cause this and we decided to bypass the sensor switch and hook it straight to the ignition and see if that would cure the problem and she started and ran like a champ. Whew were we glad. Another sailboat was on it’s way to the bridge so we grouped with them and passed through.
We have made our way about fifteen miles down the river here it is very windy and narrow with many obstructions we heard on the radio ahead of us there was a log in the middle of the channel so Trina took the helm and I stood on the bow and watched which was a good thing or we would have run right into it.
We made the choice to stop in an anchorage about ten miles from our original destination in order not to fight trying to get there before dark. On a twisty and windy river. So we are anchored at Bear Point. It says in the book to watch for black bears swimming across the channel… Nice. I find a bear climbing on board and out will come the bear gun and that’s that. Well Trina has dinner ready so it’s time to kick back turn up the tunes and watch the sun go down in the middle of no where.
Wolfbernz