As exciting and beautiful a new port can be, sometimes the biggest scores are the little things. But first, let’s back up a little. On the dismal swamp we had access to a grocery store (across the street) whilst tied up to land. We made away like bandits since we went grocery shopping hungry…. A big no no for obvious reasons but it feels so good. We had mighty dreams of stews and extravagant pasta dishes, chicken salads, Mike even had an itch to make cornbeef stew…. We bought just under $200 worth of food. It felt like we bought everything…..everything except for cabbage for the cornbeef stew.

The next few days we searched; no cabbage in sight. We motored over the shallow sound to Roanoke Island and found a 24 hour free dock with some outstandingly fun veteran cruisers filled with all sorts of great tips.

Not only did we refill the tanks we walked to the nearest grocery store called Piggly Wiggly, would they come through…… ??? I know what you’re thinking, ‘with a name like Piggly Wiggly how could they not come through and provide the cabbage!?!

                          Yes! Of course Piggly Wiggly had the cabbage (did you not read the title of this post?), they also had the bacon, and ham bone…!  After our 2 nights, we were kicked off the 24 hour free dock despite us being the only boat. Whatever we had our cabbage.

Aside from Piggly Wiggly, Roanoke has a great history.

I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the early history of the United States. If not, listen up because Roanoke should be apart of your Alex Trebek Jeopardy arsenal of answers (or questions since they only accept answers in the form of a question – I hope I haven’t lost you yet).

• Firstly, let’s get the time period right.
• -Christopher Columbus “discovered” America in 1492…. I say discovered because we all know our favorite Norseman Leif Erikson (son of Erik the Red) discovered America way before him…. But really I’m not a fan of any culture that could discover a land already inhabited by other cultures but that’s my own pet peeve. Anyway.
• -Around 1560’s Elizabeth I gives her blessing to Sir Walter Raleigh to colonize the new world.
• -1585 Roanoke Island becomes an English settlement
• -1607 Jamestown, VA built and established by John Smith.
• -1620 Plymouth Rock becomes a refuge for the religious-persecuted pilgrims and their belief they should separate from the Church of England.

It’s believed Roanoke Island is where the first colony was created by a group of 100 or so English. One of the resupply ships never arrived and the next resupply ship reported the settlement….. gone. Had they moved elsewhere, had a local Indian tribe slaughtered the newcomers, did the Spanish remove them? Roanoke Island, also named the ‘Lost Colony’, has few answers to these questions. However, a Jamestown expedition lead by John Smith was reported to search for the lost colony and came back claiming that the Powhatan tribe had massacred the colony for siding with an enemy tribe. Is that the full and honest truth?

The colonists were never found but a recreation of what did stand over 400 years ago is available for the public in the Lost Colony park area. It’s not much, just a series of grassy hills in a square formation; used for food, water, or protection, we’re (*I’M*) not sure. What we are sure of is how the colony started. Sir Walter Raleigh received funding and 100 English men and women arrived in a foreign land not necessarily famers or engineers and not equipped for the struggles of creating a new settlement.

The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) has several segments (one that even leads out to Texas) but the segment I’m referring to is Portsmouth, VA (Norfolk, VA) at mile marker 00. to Key West, FL . The ICW uses natural inland rivers, marshes, and manmade dredged canals to allow commercial and social maritime safe/alternative passage from the Atlantic Ocean
(ex: shoals around Cape Hatteras; map of shipwrecks below).

It’s amazing but it’s not sailing. I wasn’t looking forward to the ICW motoring until I saw a friend of mine post a picture of her experience. It was a picture of flat glassy water reflecting lush beautiful trees on either side of her boat. It was gorgeous. Firstly, it technically wasn’t a picture of the ICW, it was another passage that reconnected with the ICW. Secondly, it was called the Dismal Swamp but frankly I don’t give two nuts what it’s called. It looked like this:So the Dismal Swamp dates back to as early as George Washington. Yes the first U.S. President, George Washington. He had a company that helped build the canal. It’s 6 feet deep and less so in some areas (reminder, Gaia’s draft is 5.2 feet).  And the water is tea colored due to to the tannic acid created by decaying vegetation.

Now that you have some neat-o facts to recite to friends, let me tell you of our experience. It was pretty entertaining actually. There are two locks which allow you entry and exit which opens 3 times a day. On Friday, we were gunning to make the 1:30 locks opening. To do that we had to go under three bridges, one of which, was a railroad bridge that opened at noon. It took longer than anticipated to get the anchor out of this nasty “cakey” mud and it also took longer than anticipated to fill up the fuel and water tanks at the nearby marina. Somehow, in all our luck, we were still early for the locks. In fact, there was a traffic jam. The 11:00 opening had a 17 boat rally traveling together down the ICW. Since only 10-12 boats can go through the locks at a time, several boats were anchored out in front of the locks in a single file line waiting their turn. We motored down to get a better look but a few of the anchored boats loudly and anxiously announced they were there first. As a sailor, I didn’t care, but the accountant in me appreciated their order. So the locks master eventually got on the radio and began corralling boats into the locks one by one at 2:30.  The locks master ushered 4 boats in on either side of the wall and any late-comer boats got stuck in the middle and rafted up to the side boats. Once we were secured in the locks and the water levels slowly rose, people began starting conversations back and forth.

::Scene:: What’s your boat? Who are you? Where are you from? Where are you going? ::End Scene:: But we did have two boats comment on how young Mike & I looked. We turned around and saw another young couple looking at us anxiously. She yelled over ‘There’s not many of us around are there?”. Being a bit daft I had no idea what she meant by “us”. Wall to wall boats, we were both white couples on boats…. we looked the same as everyone else…… ahhh, except for that 20-40 year age gap I didn’t notice….   After the locks the rally continued onward down the canal but us youngsters tied up at the free dock after the locks and bridge.
And that free dock was amazing. There was a grocery store across the street so we could fill up on food. There was also an autoparts store that had our engine oil and filled our propane tanks! Thank you universe for being so good to us! We started on our journey at 7 am and we were first on the water! On the down side we had to be extra vigilant for stumps and deadheads since we were first on the water. No, that’s not a Jerry Garcia / Grateful Dead reference. Stumps are partially submerged logs drifting through the water and deadheads are dislodged logs that have been pinned to the bottom sticking upward. Hitting a stump or deadhead is a really great way to lose a prop! Throughout the entire traverse, we only heard one loud thud that shook the mast. We also bumped one smaller log but it wasn’t terrible. When we passed the rally boats rafted up at the Welcome Center, we also passed a beautiful navy blue sailboat called Valiant, absolutely pristine. The captain wore a hat, sun glasses , a scowl, and ….. driving gloves on at the helm. He did not smile, he did not wave, but he gave me a chuckle that I won’t soon forget.

In case you don’t know me all that well….. I tend to make up lyrics to songs and sometimes I just sing annoying morning songs. During the morning passage at the helm, and Mike was down below, I created a song to the tune of the Y.M.C.A…. I’m sure you’re familiar with it.

Heeey CAPTAIN! – Are you going 5 knots?

I Say Captain! – Are you searching for deeeadheads?

Captain! Motoring through only

6 – feet – of – non-ti-dal waters!

It’s fun to motor through the …. DIIIISMAL SWAMP!

It’s fun to motor through the DIIIISMAL SWAAMP!

(It goes on about the locks masters but I forgot my own lyrics).

I think sailors largely suffer from acute selective memory loss (must be all the rum). Sailing is glamorous. It’s you and the elements. The endless seas to new horizons. That’s what we remember…. at least that’s what I remember, the other stuff are just details to a story.

In planning a sail, you weigh variables & tradeoffs like Distance, Comfort, Time, Weather, Risk; and always remember strong winds can kick up high seas over time and space. The first overnight passage on this trip was 110 nautical miles Conney Island NY to Cape May, NJ. We had good wind from the West (from the coastline), which meant a limited amount of space for waves to kick up. We assumed it would be a smooth sail. So WHY the heck were there large swells coming from the South! Once the sun went down and the horizon disappeared, I was down for the count & not in a good way.

People react very differently to seasickness (aka the imbalance of the inner ear). Seasickness is disorientation between your visual perception and perceived balance. Women and children tend to be more prone. The usual aids for prevention are bonine, ginger root, bitters…. (no joke, I mean bitters, the stuff you put in your Old Fashions), and prescriptions like stugeron or cinnarizine.

I’ve seen people hugging the railing unable to move, I’ve seen others who just stand swaying back and forth. In the past, I’ve only gotten dizzy, taken a nap, and woke up to function just fine. This time, I tried taking a nap giving Mike the first 4 hour shift. I woke up feeling completely unbalanced in the stomach and in the head. Mike told me he was fine. It was a partly clear night with good light wind. We were just bouncing around everywhere. Swells from the south and waves from the West made for an uneasy ride. Around 1 AM I tried sitting on deck for my watch and finally submitted to seasickness. It’s the most awful feeling. I struggled; fighting exhaustion, nausea, and a very unbalanced inner ear for the next 3.5 hours. Around 4:30 AM I told Mike to go down below and take a nap. It was still pitch black but the seas were calming. As the sun illuminated the sky so too did my sense of health and happiness.

We eventually arrived in the quaint touristy town of Cape May around 11: AM, a 26 hour sail.

Part II ( Assateague Island,MD to Norfolk,VA)

Our second overnight passage had far less nausea…. but wow we pulled our New Englanders card and muscled through the coldest night on our trip. You’re probably thinking, ‘but Kirsten why would you pick the coldest night to stand outside in the wind, cold, and dark for 12 hours….’ Well, we wanted to spend one day exploring Assateague Island where the wild horses roamed. Secondly, we had this cold snap due to wind/weather coming from the Northwest – a great direction, but it brought the cold!  The wind was stronger than anticipated, unfortunately for us. Instead of leaving at high tide from Assateague Island, sailing 120 nautical miles, and arriving at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay around sunrise; we were going too fast and hit one of the busiest ports around 4:30 AM. In all our tips and advice, everyone always said, keep clear of the shipping channels, they’re busy (dangerous). Great job planning this one Mike & Kirsten (sarcasm)!

But in all that bitter cold, we saw a pod of dolphins various times, a whale breach, and a little bird take refuge on our boat for an hour or so. We also had amazing gumbo stew to keep us fed and provided an amazing boost to morale.

We made it into Norfolk under the cloak of darkness when I took over. As we shifted to a more westward direction, 4-6 foot steep waves rocked the haul swaying the boat by 45 degrees in either direction. It took me an hour to come to terms with my fear and discomfort. It was pitch black & little red dots surrounded the harbor (some being channel markers, telling you to avoid dangerous waters!), the wind was shifty and howling 25-30 knots, and series of steep 5 foot waves would violently knock the boat back and forth. On top of that, 200-300 foot tankers/containerships moving 10-13 knots could appear and pass you within a 4 minute period. We were on 3 hour watches and those 3 hours were the worst. The first rays of dawn had never been so welcomed, once again. We’re going to work on planning our estimated time of arrival better…. but in the meantime, I’m going to enjoy Norfolk, VA! I think we’ve earned it.