SAILING ISLAND ZEPHYR

Corrie and I crewed for our friends Steve and Janine on their Island Packet 420, Hope & Glory (a similar to our boat, but bigger) on a trip south from Norfolk in March 2024. They were bringing the boat to St. Augustine to spend some time there this spring. We had hoped to exit the Chesapeake and go south along the coast. However, that was not feasible because the weather was not cooperating due to a series of fronts coming through. Between work and other commitments, we had less than a week available for this trip so we would just help them get the boat as far south as we could. There was a stretch of calm weather after we arrived, but it wasn’t going to last long. We decided to try to go south on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) via the Virginia Cut route. Steve and Janine had arrived the day before to provision and prep the boat so we were able to get a quick start once we arrived. Corrie and I landed late afternoon and after an orientation on the boat we got underway by 5pm. We decided to try traveling south as it was getting dark. Janine decided to pass on the overnight trip and meet up later. Steve, Corrie and I figured we would see how it went, despite that most people only travel the ICW during daylight hours. At least it was nearly a full moon and a clear night with mild conditions for most of the night. Steve had done this portion of the ICW before but it was the first time on the ICW for Corrie and I. There were several places where we could stop along the way overnight if we felt uncomfortable navigating in the dark.

We had downloaded a track to follow on the navigation programs on the chart plotter and phones, and we also had spotlight to use to shine on the unlighted navigational marks. We found that one benefit of traveling at night was that the bridges and locks would open on demand so we didn’t have to wait for scheduled openings.

The first excitement of the trip was a container ship that was exiting it’s slip so we had to get out of the way. We didn’t realize it at the time, but we must have passed right by the infamous Dali ship that later struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. It was in port at Norfolk af the time we were going through. As we were going through Norfolk, we heard on the VHF that our first bridge opening required a 2 hour notice due to maintenance on the bridge. Fortunately, we were two hours away from the bridge so we called them right away and were not delayed. The bridge openings all went smoothly. The Great Bridge Lock was open and ready for us when we arrived. That was the first time for Corrie and I to lock through on a sailboat and this was an easy one to start with. The water level only changed a few inches and we were the only boat in the lock.

After the lock, we exited the city. It became rural and the shore-side light disappeared. We were on our own at this point, other than the occasional barge (or sea monsters as Steve called them). You do have to keep an eye out for the barges since they can be wide relative to the narrow channels. Most of the overnight section was in calm protected waters. At times we had to keep a lookout on the bow with a spotlight to highlight the markers so we could reference those to what we were seeing on the plotter and confirm where we were relative to the track we were following. As we got into early morning (still dark), we started to get into more exposed areas and the wind started to pick up. By the time we got to the Albermarle Sound, it was a bit choppy, but manageable with winds around 15 or 20 knots. At this point, we were able to take turns catching up on sleep. There’s an unlighted daymark halfway across the sound so we gave that a wide berth.

It just became light as we got to the other side of the sound and went past the Alligator River Bridge. From there it was an easy trip in the daylight and mostly straight path navigating. We had arranged to stay at Dowry Creek Marina, which is a little ways outside the town of Belhaven. The wind picked up as we were coming into dock, but we had several people to help catch our lines and tie us up. Steve did a nice job pulling in the boat with the broadside wind.

In this first stretch of the trip, we traveled 137 nautical miles in 20 hours, with an average speed of almost 7 knots. That is a lot faster than we expected. Traveling the ICW at night is not something we plan to do in the future, but the conditions were optimal and it was interesting to do it once. We figured we would have to travel slower and might not arrive at the marina until late that night. We were glad to be tied up and safe at the dock as the front came through. We spent a couple of days waiting out the weather in Belhaven before continuing south on the ICW. We (mostly Corrie) managed to complete a 1000 piece puzzle to pass the time.

On Monday, we got an early start and left Belhaven by 7:00 AM. We traveled down the Pungo river and then down the Pamlico River and then rounded the corner to go south on the Neuse river. Some of this area was exposed and the wind was out of the northeast around 15 knots, with enough fetch to build up some chop. We passed by Oriental and then south through a series of creeks / canals to Beaufort where we arrived at the town docks on the waterfront at 4pm, logging 65NM for the day. We took a brief tour of the nautical museum before getting dinner. They are proud of the fact that Blackbeard the pirate called these waters home and this is where his flagship the Queen Anne’s Revenge ran aground and sank. We can attest to the shallow waters around these parts and had a brief encounter with the bottom ourselves, but were able to back off and continue without incident.

On Tuesday, we got underway by 6:40 AM. It was a straight forward path along the coast on the ICW. Corrie spotted dolphins multiple times. We found that the current was always with us when Corrie was at the help as well. We were able to time a couple of bridges just right at the end of the day so that saved some time. Just after 5pm, we pulled up to the Dockside restaurant in Wrightsville Beach (near Wilmington), logging 72NM for the day. Steve did a great job pulling alongside between two boats. This was the end of the journey for Corrie and I since we had to get back. We had a great time spending some time with Steve aboard Hope & Glory. Steve’s partner Janine was flying in to join him so they could continue the rest of the journey to Saint Augustine, Florida.