Elizabeth City, NC

On Tuesday, June 14 we prepared for an early departure since we wanted to reach Elizabeth City ahead of any storms. By 9:30 we were on our way having  walked Archie, done a load of laundry, prepared Zendo and said good-bye to Cathy.  Leaving the marina at Albermarle Plantation was much easier than when we arrived. The weather was overcast and hot but not rainy.  Unfortunately, Lynn slightly miscalculated the narrow channel and we ran aground heading out. But thankfully, Jonny was able to maneuver us back into that very skinny channel after just a few minutes.

It was quite rolly as we headed east across the Albemarle Sound. We had neglected to give Archie a CBD biscuit before leaving and he refused to eat one once we got underway even with peanut butter smeared on it.  Fortunately, we were able to change tacks after an hour and the rest of the day the cruise was quite comfortable.

We arrived at the town dock in Elizabeth City by 2:20.  There were two areas to tie up. The first had about three boats already and the tie-up was stern in with very short finger piers.  We would have had to climb over our aft deck rail and over the dinghy to get to the dock - not feasible!  The second area was much preferred as it was next to a big grassy park and there were no other boats there.  We had stayed there many years ago on our first cruise north.  The gate to get off of the dock was locked but we were able to climb over it easily.  Neither of these town docks had power or any amenities but they were free and easily accessible to the charming downtown area. By the way, I neglected to say that one of the best things about our stay at Albemarle Plantation was that it was free and it had great amenities!! 

That afternoon we walked into town with Archie and found a very nice local brew pub where we enjoyed a couple of refreshing local brews.

Later on we ate the rest of our leftovers for dinner, went for another walk through a lovely nearby nature trail and settled in for a quiet evening - a first for us in almost two weeks! We started the second season of Bridgerton.  Several blocks away, a fairly loud action movie was being broadcast outside but luckily it ended by around 10:30.

We were looking forward to the next day when we would be cruising through the Great Dismal Swamp!  And by the way, our ultimate destination this season is Maine where we will be attending a delayed wedding celebration for Jonny’s cousin Robbie’s daughter.

Hereford, NC

June 11 was the first official start of our 2022 cruise (now that Lynn has arrived on the scene)!  Jonny had picked up the boat from the boatyard in Wanchese where we had work done on it over the winter. He took it up to Edenton, NC where I met him on June 10 after having flown into Charlotte with Archie. I stayed in Charlotte for a couple of nights visiting my good friend Cathy who had just purchased a beautiful condo there.  She kindly drove us 5 hours to Edenton to meet Jonny and join us for a couple of days of cruising. It had been over 10 days since Jonny and I had been together so it was a welcome reunion.

That evening we had a delicious seafood dinner at Waterman’s Grill and the next day we had a relaxing three hour cruise as we headed to Hereford, NC. 

The weather was very pleasant and we had a relaxing cruise. But just as we arrived at the marina, a big storm came up with pouring rain and lightening.  The dockmaster was very patient as he helped us to tie up which was complicated because we didn’t know the set up there and we weren’t properly prepared.  Jonny was prepared for the rain with his raincoat but since I thought I would only be on the helm I hadn’t donned my rain gear and got soaked through since it took three sets of hands to finally get us tied up!

But all’s well that ends well and we settled into a very comfortable slip in a very pretty setting and celebrated our intense docking episode with a stiff drink!

That evening we walked over to the marina’s casual restaurant where we had pizza for dinner.  We were glad to be at this marina/resort which was quite beautiful with many amenities including a pool, two restaurants and free laundry! The grounds are very well manicured and there are many beautiful single family homes, townhomes and condos amid lovely forested areas.

The next day we drove back to Edenton to have lunch at a local pub and explore that graceful and historic town.

The weather was very hot, close to 100 degrees and we rewarded ourselves at the end of the day with a dip in the pool. Very refreshing!

That evening we worked our way through the many leftovers we had accumulated including the delicious Asian noodle dish and olive oil ricotta cake that Cathy had brought plus some delicious local corn on the cob. This was our last day with Cathy as we would be continuing our journey north the next day. 

Wanchese, NC

Our last day of cruising in 2021 was Sunday, October 24. How sad! We had to leave early since we wanted to get to our destination soon so Archie could do his business on land.  He seemed a little less depressed this morning than he was the night before.  We pulled up anchor by 8:10 and headed out on a beautiful clear day.

We cruised for four hours on dead flat seas on the Albermarle Sound and arrived at Roanoke Island, part of the outer banks of North Carolina by 12:30. 

We headed for Wanchese which is on the south end of the island. Manteo, which is more widely known, is on the north of the island. We learned that Wanchese differs tremendously from Manteo.  The former is really a working town focusing on fishing and boat-building and is much more low-key.  Manteo is more oriented towards tourism and is very popular with boaters and beach-goers.

We were headed for Spencer’s Yachts where we would keep Zendo for the winter.  Spencer’s had been highly recommended to us by a fellow boater who has had a lot of work done there.  When Jonny called he discovered that their rates are 40% less than rates on the Chesapeake. So that’s why we’re here! 

As we made our way through the channel that leads to Spencer’s we passed some beautiful homes along the way. 

When we arrived at Spencer’s it was clear why they are so highly regarded as boat builders.  Their yachts, which are high end sport fishing boats, are practically works of art - sleek, streamlined and beautiful! Our little trawler was dwarfed by them.  Fortunately, for us they also work on boats that belong to mere mortals like us.

Once we arrived we switched into high gear packing and preparing Zendo to be hauled out for the winter. This is the first time that Jonny hasn’t winterized the boat himself and the first time that it will be hauled out of the water for the winter.  

We took Archie for a walk and discovered that this high end boat yard was in the middle of a very modest neighborhood.  There were dilapidated mobile homes nearby just a few blocks in from the waterfront.  The people we met were friendly and most had dogs so Archie was in heaven.

That evening we celebrated the last night of our cruise with one of Jonny’s delicious perfect manhattans followed by a cozy dinner of Chicken Nonna.  This has been a wonderful five months.  We visited family and friends all along the way and several of them came to stay on Zendo with us. We enjoyed visiting vibrant cities like Philadelphia, New York and Washington, D.C.  We traveled as far as Montauk on Long Island and spent lots of time on both shores of Long Island Sound and the Chesapeake Bay.  We also had lots of quiet time to ourselves in beautiful peaceful anchorages.  It’s been a wonderful trip and we are very grateful to be able to do it! Now we’ll be heading back home to Miami to our family and friends there and we are looking forward to that too.

Virginia Beach, VA

As always when we are not at a marina, we started the day with a dinghy ride to shore.  We passed the remains of these docks where seagulls happily roosted.

This time we went to the Phoebus area of Hampton. This tiny section of town had a number of shops with interesting sounding names many of which included the word, panache.  It seemed like an older part of town that was trying to be relevant but nothing was open on this Friday morning, October 22.

We were particularly curious about what this business was offering!

The skies were very overcast and threatening so we held off pulling up anchor until 11 a.m.  As we left we passed these fishing boats that were docked nearby.

We only had an hour left of cruising time on the Chesapeake before we entered the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).  The bay was a little choppy and it rained some but when we got to the ICW everything calmed down.  We hadn’t cruised on the ICW for a few years because we had been leaving Zendo on the Chesapeake over the winter.

We passed through Norfolk (where the ICW starts at mile 0) and Portsmouth where we saw huge Navy vessels and other big ships on both sides of the Elizabeth River.

The ICW became quite beautiful as we left those two cities. We had forgotten that there was a lock to go through until shortly before we arrived at the lock at Great Bridge.  We had to linger for about an hour before going through the bridge and lock there.  Archie seemed to enjoy his first lock experience though he was tempted to jump off of the boat and onto the the lawn when we were level with it. Of course, as soon as we had to go through the lock, it started to rain more.  Jonny, gentleman that he is, took the forward line on the bow and allowed me to take the line under the aft deck roof to stay dry.

Traveling on the ICW is slower than other routes we’ve been taking due to the bridges that we have to wait to open and of course, the lock.  Traffic on the ICW is also an issue especially as the weekend approaches. This giant barge was a particularly unique example!

We were searching for a place to anchor with an area that we could take Archie to do his business. There were very few places and some had been silted in and really weren’t accessible anymore. As we approached another bridge we saw a fellow Heritage East owner who we knew who seemed to be stuck on the ICW.  It turns out that while he was waiting for the bridge to open and a number of other boats were circling nearby, he ran aground on a log in those narrow confines. He had already been waiting a few hours for a tow.  We were not in a position to help him so after chatting a bit we moved on.

It was difficult to hear each other because there were scores of jets flying overhead that drowned out overything.  There must have been a military base nearby but we never found out what it was.

It’s getting dark earlier now and we were looking for a place to anchor.  There aren’t a lot of places on the ICW but we finally found a good spot on Blackwater Creek which is in the town of Virginia Beach. It was actually an idyllic spot - a very secluded and sinuous creek surrounded by marsh grasses.  No other boats were anchored there and all we saw were a couple of very small, quiet fishing boats. We happily settled into this lovely spot.

Jonny then whisked Archie away down to the end of the creek about a mile and a half away.  There he took him for a walk by a little trading post that had a dock nearby.  That evening we had the second to last portion of the famous ravioli for dinner and enjoyed a very quiet and restful evening in a blissfully calm anchorage.