North on the Waterway—Oriental, NC to Hampton, VA—with a Philosophical Treatise on the Bungee Cord

In the beginning God created rubber trees and of that rubber, man made bungee cords. Bungee cords have to be the most important thing to boaters next to the discovery of fire and invention of the wheel! After all, we can eat our fish raw if we need to and boats don’t need wheels. But bungee cords! What did we ever do without them?

Half the stuff in Gilraker is confined by a bungee cord somewhere or other. I never knew bungee cords came in so many lengths and diameters. We have bungee cords as small as heavy string and some as thick as my thumb. We even have some without hooks on the end that can be cut to the desired length and have the hooks crimped on. We have a little bungee cord holding our fan up on the kitchen counter. We have a big bungee cord that keeps the “lid” of the door going down into the cabin from banging us on the head. We have bungee cords keeping the pots from crashing through the door of their cabinet. Maggie’s cage is held in place on a very narrow ledge by three bungee cords. Yesterday when we left Norfolk in some snarly weather we found out what wasn’t held in place by bungee cords. It’s a good test of where to install bungee cords to have some snarly weather. Every time something hits the deck, Gary says, “Remind me tomorrow to put a bungee cord on that.” We still need one on the wire canister that holds my kitchen utensils, so I just lay it in the sink every time we pull out. Yesterday I sort of wished I had a bungee cord on me!

Being in a meditative state of mind yesterday as we bounced across the harbor and I grabbed towels to mop up the drips where the windows leaked, I began to think—always a dangerous activity for me—our faith is like a bungee cord. It hooks around and holds us in place when we’re in freefall. The cord will let us stretch, sometimes it seems, to the breaking point, but when we’ve placed that hook in Christ, He’s the one controlling the stretch and hanging onto the hook. Unlike some of the bungee cords we deal with day to day, there’s no stretching beyond the endurance of the rubber, and no loosening of the hook once it’s set. The thing the bungee cord holds can’t do anything. It’s all in the cord, rather, Who it’s hooked to. That’s my thought for the day.

We left Oriental and chugged up the Waterway to Coinjock, NC. From the water Coinjock looks like about ten houses, a restaurant and a couple of long piers. There used to be two marinas, but one is no longer operating. The restaurant has a well-deserved excellent reputation. The kid who helped us dock had on a t-shirt that said, “Where in hell is Coinjock, North Carolina?” Good question (at least in one sense). He told us that we’d need reservations in the restaurant since it was Friday night. I looked around, thinking Why? Turns out he was right. About six p.m. cars seemingly drove out of the woods and converged on the little restaurant. By 7:30 there was a line outside. There was an explanation on the menu of the word “coinjock,” but all I remember was that it was an Indian word. Before I finished reading the paragraph my attention was diverted by a crab cake, and you’ll have to wonder, as I will, until our next visit to Coinjock.

Lois and Lorenzo came aboard for Spam and egg sandwiches on Saturday morning, after which we resumed our leisurely cruise up the Waterway to Chesapeake, Virginia, where we arrived late in the afternoon. Here we had a chance to use the infamous “clown” folding bikes we had bought in anticipation of the trip. We were docked in one area code and the bathhouse and laundry were in another to the far north (actually probably a quarter mile bike ride). If you’ve never ridden a folding bike with little bitty wheels and handlebars that stick straight out instead of curving in like a normal bike, you might not appreciate the skill and nerve it takes for two overweight people to attempt to ride such a thing in public, or private either, for that matter.

In the interest of our and the welfare of others we managed the wobbly ride to the bathhouse where HOT showers were available, and also to the laundromat. I managed to scrape the inside of my knee—while skillfully managing not to fall off the darn thing—and you’ll see a shot of Gary’s back as he carefully pedaled through the gravel back to the boat.

Chesapeake meant a family reunion of sorts for Lois and Lorenzo. Their son Daniel and his family live just a few minutes from the marina with the delight of their lives: David. David is the grandson of all grandsons. Daniel is in the navy and was at sea when David was born. Lorenzo and Lois came to Chesapeake to help out when he was born. There is a really special bond between them. David is named for Daniel’s twin, who died shortly after birth, and also for the Johnson’s boat, Li’l David.

We met another couple who had finished the Loop a couple of years ago. They are from Michigan and leave their boat in Chesapeake for the summer while they go back for a seasonal business. At the end of the season they return to the boat and sail in the warmer climes. They left us with some supplies that wouldn’t keep on their drive home and good wishes for a great trip.

Yesterday we left Chesapeake, as I noted, in snarly weather and maneuvered through Norfolk. I took a picture of the old USS Simon Lake, a mothballed sub tender that used to be stationed in Charleston. Our naval reserve unit once had Sunday dinner on board her as a treat for the Seabees having built a baseball field for the crew. We almost got chased by a Coast Guard boat as they were escorting a sub up the channel to the navy yard. They didn’t have to shoot to get us to move out of the channel and give them plenty of room.

We got to Hampton in the early afternoon where we had another HOT shower. The city marina here is Hampton is very nice. Our plan now is to run on up the Bay to Crisfield, Maryland, today since the weather is supposed to be better this afternoon, then get bad again for several days. Crisfield is Gary’s birthplace and home of Evans Boat Company, where Gilraker was built. Gary has a lot of family in the area, so we’ll get to visit while we’re there. The captains still have to confer about the final plan. This is a really nice place if we have to stay for a few more days.

In Hampton we met the antithesis of Tanuki’s couple. This kind soul told us ALL the reasons we’ll have a miserable trip. He has met every bug on the Trent-Severn, hates the Mississippi, never has seen such storms as they encountered, even on the Chesapeake. I could go on, but you get the picture. Why they didn’t sell their boat and fly home, he never said, but when Gary asked him if he could tell us anything positive, he admitted that they’d seen some pretty scenery.

In a note to my children: I’ll try to stay more caught up on the blog. You need to remember that I’m constantly busy with laundry and stringing bungee cords, something I don’t do much at home. Besides, I’m retired! Maggie has learned a new phrase: “Hurry up, Judy!”

Friday, April 25, 2008

We have just ended our sixth day Looping. Wish you were here! We’ve found that other boaters love to talk and share sea stories just as much as we do. Folks walking by on the docks feel free to stop and chat. Several have seen our AGLCA (America’s Great Loop Cruisers Association) burgee flying from the bow and either asked what it is or told us they are fellow Loopers. We left Swansboro about 7 a.m. on Tuesday and had a lovely day cruising to Oriental—except for crossing the Neuse River. It was rough, but not dangerous. You can see the water coming up over the windshield in the first photo.

Oriental is a beautiful little town, although we didn’t really spend a lot of time in the town itself. I walked a few blocks from the marina and Gary hobbled down to a marine supply store for some line. His knees have been giving him fits.

Gary, Lois and Lorenzo had been to Oriental before and told me about the ribs in the marina restaurant. Our problem was that the restaurant is closed on Tuesdays. Since bad winds were predicted anyway, we decided to spend two days there. Great decision by the captains. We stashed and stowed some more, rearranged stuff, did laundry and took HOT showers. Lorenzo’s cousin, Cliff Vereen took Lorenzo to New Bern for some parts he needed and loaned his truck to Lois for a grocery store run.

Wednesday night I found the others weren’t lying about the ribs. And it was “all you can eat” night! One serving did for all of us but Lois. She started a second batch and took most of them back to the boat for Thursday’s lunch. It was a great way to finish off our visit to Oriental.

Bright and early we pulled out of Oriental and headed north on the ICW. We ran all day and stopped at an anchorage on the Alligator River. The place we stopped was one Gary has many fond memories of from fishing trips. Lorenzo anchored Li’l David and we tied Gilraker alongside. Gary unlashed our dinghy and found out that it really does carry the large loads advertised, as he and I both zipped around in it for a short sea trial.

Lorenzo had gotten fresh salmon in New Bern and he grilled that in his grill and stir-fried veggies in ours on Li’l David’s back deck. Then we kicked back and watched the gorgeous sunset the Lord provided for our enjoyment. We were so far out in the boonies that we didn’t have cell phone service or internet access.

Gary & I watched an even more gorgeous sunrise this morning while we had our first coffee. It was totally quiet and still except for an occasional fish breaking the water and a few bird noises. Even Maggie was quieter than she usually is in the morning. It was an awe-inspiring sight to see the sky streaked with so many colors, the colors reflected in the water, and then the ball of the sun with the silhouette of a tree etched across it as it rose higher and higher.

I found a person can survive a cold sponge bath. It helps if you wash your hair first. While your brain is still figuring out what hit, you get the rest of it over with and a brisk toweling brings the blood back to the surface from wherever it has run to from the cold.

We were having a grand time tootling along letting other boats pass us, when Gary had a problem with one of the hoses on the engine. Luckily, Lorenzo was a submariner in the Navy and has enough extra parts on his boat for his and several others and the hose was quickly replaced and we were on our way again. Lois and I had a nice relaxing chat on Li’l David while the guys worked on Gilraker. Maggie cracked them up by asking several times, “What’s the matter, Daddy?”

We arrived in Coinjock, NC, about 5 p.m., had a great dinner at their restaurant, a luxurious HOT shower and enjoyed another pleasant evening.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Our second day on the Loop. Ah, this is more like it!

Friday was a disaster. So was Saturday, the day before we were to leave. There are always so many things to forget in preparing for a trip like this, and the older we get, the more we forget anyway. It’s a vicious cycle. And the more we forget, the more vicious it gets. I wanted to get the house cleaned and Gary wanted to get the boat loaded. My recent cataract surgery was a setback for me and Gary popped (or broke) a rib two weeks before our departure date. The whole last week of our preparation his knees gave him fits. We found that in doing the Loop you just have to set a date and leave. Period.

And that’s what we did. The house is fairly clean, but it will still be there when we get back—hopefully. If it isn’t I’d have wasted a lot of energy cleaning it. The boat is loaded—not the way I’d like yet. We don’t like climbing over a stack of boxes to get to our bunks, let alone piling more of them in the floor to get IN the bunk. We do have all of our real necessities, and we aren’t leaving civilization totally. And God has provided absolutely beautiful weather!

Sunday, April 20, 2008, we cast off about 9:30 with Delois and Lorenzo’s daughter in tears and several family and friends gathered at the dock to see us off. We’d had a big dinner the night before at Betty’s restaurant in Holden Beach. The men had thought to have a fish fry, but in a wise move decided on a restaurant dinner instead. Several of their children, grandchildren and fiancés of children were there, along with two of our sons and their wives. A boisterous good time was had by all, and we retired to a sleepless night on the boats. We were all too keyed up to sleep much.

After all the angst of getting the dinghy hung on its davits, climbing over plastic boxes and fumbling through every cabinet on the boat looking for a toothbrush, the cruise up the waterway was calming and refreshing. Even though there were a few cowboys racing around, we made it to Wrightsville Beach and tied up for the night. Robert Creech, a former co-worker of Lorenzo’s and his wife, as well as our son Robbie and his wife Greta met us for dinner at the Bluewater Grill.

We left Wrightsville Beach this morning in time for Li’l David to catch the opening of the Wrightsville Beach drawbridge and we felt we were really on our way! The Lord gave us another gorgeous day for cruising and, since it was a weekday, no cowboys on the waterway. We even missed a bad thunderstorm that was headed for Swansboro. It skirted by to the north of us.

Maggie the Sailor Bird is adapting nicely. She was very quiet yesterday, but was back to her talkative self this morning, answering her own ringing of the phone and asking, “Where’s Daddy?” I expect by the end of the week she’ll be sounding like a seagull. Tomorrow we’re off bright and early for Oriental, North Carolina.

We did leave Holden Beach this AM about 9:30, had a great day on the ICW . Judy will be doing the posting after this one. We got to Wrightsville Beach about 2:30 and stopped for the night at Dockside.