Charleston SC to (almost) Norfolk VA

 Why "almost" you ask? Well, we're currently tied up at Atlantic Yacht Basin in Chesapeake VA. about 12 miles from MM 0 of the AICW in Norfolk and have been for over a week. Why so long you ask? Well, several weeks ago I was trying to find the source of a water leak that was allowing more water to collect in the bilge than I like. You see, on a boat, the water is supposed to stay outside. I had adjusted the propeller shaft packing to slow down the drip to 1 or 2 per minute. These packings need to drip a bit because the water cools the packing as the shaft turns. Thought this had solved the problem and gave myself a hardy pat on the back. A few days later there was still more water than could come from the shafts...now what? The lightbulb finally went off and I remembered there is another set of packings on our boat, the rudders. These require some cabinet disassembly in the stateroom to access and once able to get my camera down to "see" the shaft it was indeed leaking!

 This is how you access the packing from above.

You're looking at the top of the rudder post and the "access" hole to get to the packing. Repacking this is above my paygrade and requires the boat to be out of the water so that's what we're waiting for. This is a very good repair facility but also very busy. Hopefully it'll happen Monday.

Now back to our regular programing...The trip up from Charleston was very nice. It's still been more windy so we've had some delays but we've also taken some great side trips. Not being on the same "schedule" as when we did the Loop gives us more flexibility to explore. The AICW above Charleston is lined with very nice homes, most of which also have very nice docks.

We've also been trying to stop at places we didn't see last time through in 2016. One of the first was Southport NC. We stayed a couple of days to explore the town and wait out another blow. We did get to see a SpaceX rocket that had been launched from FL.

Next was a short day to Carolina Beach where we found an amazing dive bar that had a walk-in cooler to pick your beer from!

Next we were off to Swansboro, NC which is a small town with a big history. This is the town where Chris Craft built their big boats and where Chasing 80 was born. The town dock is very close to the main street with several cool shops and restaurants. While enjoying a beer on the deck of one establishment we even got to see a couple of local waterman getting into some sort of argument and almost sink each other...can I get a witness? one asked...

Our next stop was Beaufort (Bow-fort) NC. Another town that we had missed in 2016. The docks are also right in town which is easy to walk around. They had a classic boat show the weekend we were there. 

We also took our new e-scooters to a brewery a bit farther from town. 

The brewery is called Mill Whistle and has a replica of the original that blows every afternoon. The original is inside. Check out the video and turn up your volume.

 After a side trip up the Pamlico river to New Bern we traveled back to Oriental NC. This was another 3 day stay to wait out a wind storm. Once it passed we had a couple of very calm days to run out to Ocracoke on the outer banks. It's a very cool town and worth the side trip.

 Next was side trip to Washington, NC. It's another town that welcomes boaters and had docks right in the heart of town. We were tied up right next to the park which was buzzing with people all weekend.

I also got to celebrate my special birthday here. Special because it was a number change from 5 to 6...

After a fairly snotty crossing of the Albemarle Sound we spent time doing part of the Albemarle Loop. This is a program where the towns on the sound offer free docking for 2 nights and well worth a visit. The first stop after the crossing was Hertford, NC. The have just had a new drawbridge built which was beautiful but, unfortunately, not yet staffed! Jill was able to contact city hall just before they closed and get a number for someone to come open the bridge. We only spent 1 night due to more weather coming in and moved on to the Albemarle Plantation which has very nice docks in a golf community setting.

Thanks Paul for the edit!

 Next was a short trip to Edenton, NC which we were lucky to get to on another fun weekend. So here's a tidbit that I didn't know...Edenton is apparently responsible for the resurgence of vinyl records!! We just had to check out vinyl record night!

The town also has the old Roanoke River lighthouse in the city park marina.

With another front approaching we decided to skip the rest of the towns on the loop and run to the protection of Elizabeth City, NC. This town also has free docks although getting on and off the boat was a bit "interesting".

The charm of the town makes up for the challenges at the dock. This is the sign that I'm always looking for in any town!!

From E-Town it's on to the Dismal Swamp canal which is anything but dismal. We had hoped to stay at the visitors center but just like the last time through it was full. We decided to complete the trip to AYB in one long day. The distance isn't far but the slow speeds in the canal and 3 locks take up time.

They like to make sure you don't get lost...

The last lock on the Swamp route is the Deep Creek lock. The next lock on our way to AYB is in Chesapeake City and is on a every 2 hour schedule. Luckily our departure from Deep Creek would put us at the next lock at the right time...so we thought. After being lowered in the lock we waited several minutes until the lockmaster walked back to us and said "well, you might as well tie up. I can't get the gates open".

In case you want to know exactly where we were stuck...

After about an hour a couple of trucks arrived from the electric company and were able to work some magic and get the lower gates open. We were now off the pace to make the next lock and just took our time going the few miles. We were tied up by 5:30 or 11 hours after we started for a whopping 41 miles! 

Just so you don't think our time here has been waisted we have been working on other projects. Earlier in the trip we had one of our AC units kick the bucket. After a quote from a subcontractor here of $5400 (!!!) I had a friend drive me to West Marine where I picked up the same unit for $2200...that's a hell of a markup for the install. We had the old one out and new one cooling in under 3 hours.

I'm afraid this post has become much longer than I expected. If you're still here thanks for sticking around. Hopefully by this time next week we'll be somewhere in Chesapeake Bay. Follow along on the tracker.