The last of the ICW

Final phase of the ICW

We are transiting the Dismal Swamp as I write this blog post. We chose this route over the Virginia Cut again. I just think that the Dismal Swamp it is so neat, and a little middle earth magical (yes, that was a nerdy comment lol). The tree lined cypress swamp smells so fresh and like spring, I breathe in deeply and feel a little nostalgic now that we are almost done the ICW – only 30 miles to go.

We arrived in Oriental on Tuesday May 16^th just before dusk. We anchored in a little creek under the bridge with a few other trawlers and small sailboats (thay were able to get under the 45’ bridge). We made up a feast of chicken alfredo with a piece of fried pita and a small salad. After long days, we look forward to big dinners. We fell asleep with a slight side to side roll of the boat as a bit of the swell from the Neuse Rive had made it was in to where we were anchored. That roll picked up in the morning as the wind got stronger. We decided that instead of suffering we would look elsewhere. We found a more comfortable spot up another short creek and anchored in about 4 ½ feet of water. Once settled we put the motor on the dinghy and went ashore. We were on a mission: our head had just about kicked the bucket. It was leaking with every pump and no matter how much we tightened the ‘bushing’ on the pump handle it would not stop. Time to get serious and find a real fix. We tried the West Marine with no luck (the alternative would be ordering a part that would take 3 days to arrive). We did not want to wait around for that. We saw a small shop along the walk back called Marine Tech and decided to give it a try, nothing to lose, we went in. The man literally spent almost an hour helping us out with our options and calling different suppliers to try to find parts. As they stopped producing the certain brand of head that we have, our only choices were to try to fit a new toilet in the old one’s spot or he could order us a rebuild kit for our head, arriving the next day. We considered both option and decided on the rebuild kit as we didn’t want to mess around trying to secure a new head to the floor as it would not just fit in to the existing holes and bolts. We left and came back the next day. The kit had about every part we wanted except a new bushing – the part that we thought that we needed. We took the part and searched about every store we could find, the consignment store, the hardware store, the marine store and even back at Marine Tech. We found a few similar bushings so we thought that we’d give them a try, we weren’t optimistic though.

Back on the boat, it was time to reassemble the head replacing all the parts. We took our time and made sure everything fit snugly. It took a few hours, and some epoxy resin, but by the time the toilet was back together it worked like a dream. It turned out that we didn’t even need a new bushing because the new packing and rubber washer fit around it so it didn’t even need to be tightened. It was a good day, we fixed a big problem in our lives and at the end of the day were still on speaking terms.

Though we only planned on staying in Oriental for 2 days tops, we ended up spending 3 days, which was fine by us because it’s such a friendly town, we got a major project done and we had a comfortable anchor spot. We aren’t on any time line so we took the extra day that we needed.

On Thursday we decided to leave. It was a busy day on the Neuse River as boats were migrating north. We joined them, but only for a few miles and we wanted to treat ourselves to a marina. We got a tip from a couple back in Osprey that there’s this fancy, fancy marina tucked away in a small river just past Oriental where it’s only 1$/foot. We couldn’t resist. As we pulled up we knew it was high end when the fuel attendant was wearing white pants! Yes, white pants! We filled up and got a spot among the 40+ luxury yachts. We felt a little out of place but once we washed up Second Wind and Sal scrubbed the bottom, we were proud of our little boat. After cleaning the boat we spent the afternoon alternating between the hot tub and the pool- living the life of luxury. To top it off, they have steam showers with 5 shower heads for pure bathing pleasure. How can we go back to having cool birdbaths in the cramped cabin after that?

Smoke from the forest fire in Alligator River National Park

Our day of pampering was over and it was time to come back to reality and head on. We had a couple days where we were able to sail on and off as we passed through some sounds and larger rivers. The next two nights were anchored up quiet streams with no civilization in sight.

Saturday May 21^st. We survived.

Yesterday we travelled to Elizabeth City. On the way there we picked up little shad fly type bugs. They covered almost every inch of the boat. I’m not sure what they were doing but they were sure not welcomed, and there certainly was nothing we could do about it. If you killed them, they were very dirty and left a brown smear on the cockpit and if you disturbed them then they’d fly around you head, which was even more annoying. So we just let them hang out. Once the wind picked up we pulled up the sails creating a swarm but most of them left us after that. Except of course for the ones that died all over the boat.

We arrived in Elizabeth city around 3:30 pm. They have a free dock but as the wind was coming from the SE, waves were building up and created a very rocky docking experience. We decided to pass and went through the bridge. We were called over to a newly built dock and told we could stay for there for free. As it was much more comfortable there and we really didn’t want to pass by without stopping in the town, we did. It was by the college (the Mid Atlanic Christian University) and provided us with a shower and free wifi. What a treat! Once secured to the pilings, we cleaned what we could of the bugs of the boat and then showered. We walked to the main street and watched the boats there rock and roll in their slips, ever so glad that we were not there. We stopped by to see the man who invited us for dinner on the trip down. We had a great chat and got all caught up.

We thought we had it bad until...

The whole boat became covered in these insects

This morning we got up at 6:00am to Sal’s dismay but we wanted to catch the 11:00 opening for the lock. Just like the last time it rained as we were going through the dismal swamp, which is quite fitting, but at least this time it is warm and 100% more pleasant especially in the afternoon as it cleared up.

Next stop: Chesapeake Bay