Our Adventures with Seaquel

October 28 - 29, 2019 Days 10 and 11 MM 135 - 182 I'll start with yesterday - we awoke to another beautiful sunrise and pulled our anchor at 7:15. The cruise was calm as could be, at least in the early part of the trip! I love the marshes.  As we crossed the Pamlico Sound to the Neuse River our trip quickly became lively. First the winds were behind us and we were hobby horsing up and down the waves. Waves were predicted to be 1'-2' but were definitely more like 3'. It wasn't for very long which is a good thing.  Our girl Seaquel cruises like a champ but her crew isn't so comfortable in those seas. Then we turned to starboard and now we had beam seas. We went to a rolley ride. Photo Cred to Keith for all the pics of Seaquel. TY Captain Keith! Along the way.  Our destination was Oriental, NC where we anchored just on the other side of a bridge in Green's Creek.  Oriental is a teeny town, I read populatio...

October 26 -27, 2019 Buck Island South to Sophie Island Creek We pulled up our anchor by 7:15 on Saturday morning and were on our way. Look at this view out the galley window while cooking breakfast!  Beautiful boat that waked the heck out of us. The dustbuster came crashing into the galley from the pilot house, opened up and dumped all over the stove and my breakfast. Had to start over. I still like the view! Our original plan was to cross the Albermarle Sound and take it easy in the afternoon at our anchorage. The sound is short, only about 15 miles but can be really uncomfortable to cross due to the shallow water. That wasn't the case for us. We had a calm and peaceful passage down the Alligator River and across the Pungo Canal.  The canal is a super narrow cut,  built in the 1950's for agricultural runoff.  It connects the Alligator River to the Pungo River. We turtled along at a slow pace, enjoying the serenity of that ditch. Totally chill e...

Norfolk to Buck Island - South Anchorage October 25, 2019 It was a gorgeous sunrise in Norfolk. Shortly after we headed out, passing by a few more imposing Navy ships. They are massive! I felt like we were playing following the leader as it was a pack of us moving South.  Today was my first time in a lock. There were a ton of boats in that lock with us. My heart was racing as I wasn't really sure what to expect. LOL This lock was no big deal. There was a lock tender right next to the boat. I literally handed him the line. They said the water level changed by 2 feet but it sure didn't seem like it to me.  I was on the stern holding my line. Not a great picture. I’ll try again next time. 😃 The Atlantic ICW is 1100 miles from Norfolk to Key West. Here's the first mile marker (mm) we have seen. We are headed to around mm 1019. As with so much of our lives, it's all about the journey. And we are loving the journey. We picke...

October 23-24, 2019 Deltaville to Norfolk Today was like the days I have dreamt about. It was sunny and warm and the water was flat.  We left Deltaville about 9:30 and arrived in Norfolk at 3:30. The whole way was perfect. Not a ton of boat traffic until Norfolk and then so much traffic.  We passed the Wolf Trap Lighthouse. This type of lighthouse is called a caisson lighthouse because it's built on a concrete or metal caisson. It's also known as a spark plug lighthouse. Built in 1884, it's on the historic registers. Well, the lighthouse was cool but our first dolphin sighting off our starboard was way cooler! They were playing in our bow wake. A little thrill for me. I hope that thrill never goes away. Coming into Norfolk there are  boats and ships of every size and shape. Huge military ships, cargo, recreational, coast guards, barges and cruise ships.  We anchored at hospital point and relaxed on the bow. And then ...

October 21, 2019 Solomon’s to Deltaville Out early today. Feels good to be moving again. This cruise started out rolly and ugly, things were flying in the salon. Thankfully it settled down and we had an easy docking in Deltaville.  Anchorage across from the marina Dock mates! We decided to hire an electrician to troubleshoot before  installing a new inverter. Good move, saved us a bunch of money as it turned out we don’t need a new inverter. I wouldn’t say we are fully functioning but I would say Captain Eddie is figuring it out. We may need more new batteries so everything will talk.  We were interested in one night in the marina and ended up with two nights. The winds were howling out of the Southeast and the marina had no protection from that direction. It was too windy to move. It wasn’t all bad. We borrowed the loaner car, went to the local market, did a load of laundry at the marina and took super hot, long marina showers.  ...

Day 2  October 20, 2019 We disconnected from Right Hand in the morning set our anchor and hunkered down through the rain and wind. We took a lay day as it was really snotty out, pouring rain and wind.  Deb and Keith are all about using the least amount of water possible. Deb inspired me. I collected rain water in a 5 gallon Home Depot bucket and hand washed a couple of things. It was rainy and raw. I found a recipe for tomato soup in the instant pot. Yum, yum! Our boat is so cozy. Even in the rain it was a great day.                                                                      Tomato Soup There are never any shortage of boat projects. While I puttered about in the galley Eddie worked on power inverter issues.  Alas, all the hours with the electrician on board before leaving a...

Day 1 October 19, 2019 Sillery Bay to Mills Creek I didn’t sleep much last night, so excited and a little anxious. The day is finally here. We boat shopped for a good 5+ years before we found ‘our’ boat. Then we spent 3 years getting to know her. My captain made multiple upgrades and also a few repairs for the next 3 years. And now our dream is a reality.  We are aboard Seaquel, our 47’ raised pilot house SeaRanger trawler. She is a beast! Big and heavy and slow and we adore her.  Said goodbye to our gracious hosts Ted, Wayne and Amy and the Amy Daisy as we left Sillery Bay and headed to Solomon’s.  The Chesapeake Bay Bridge. We drive across this bridge frequently on our trips to our Delaware house.  We always say we’d rather be under it! This will probably be our last time under it for a long time. Our plan is to head south to Florida and then the Bahamas. We will store Seaquel on an inland river in Northern Florida for hurrica...