Albemarle Loop

We left Elizabeth City 19 Oct and took advantage of a nice weather window. Our lives revolve around the weather... Most cruisers cross the Albemarle Sound from either the Dismal Swamp or Albermarle & Chesapeake routes and continue down the Alligator River on the ICW. The Ablemarle Sound can get really rough due it's shallow depths with waves one right after the other. Instead of crossing the sound, we did the Albemarle Loop. In an effort to attract boaters, towns and the Albemarle Plantation offer a free 48-hour stay! All offered free electricity (Edenton charged $6 for the 2nd night and I consider that DNF: damn near free) and water. Some had free laundry facilities and wifi. We had read about the Loop a couple of years ago and both agreed we wanted to try it. And were we glad we did!

Elizabeth City

There are several free places to dock. The first one is the Mid-Atlantic Christian University. This is where we docked. It's well protected from southeast winds and a short walk into town. Michael helped us tie up. We were then greeted by Andy-the-Athletic Director who offered us a hot shower. The next day we were greeted by Patrick who offered us a ride to the laundromat, grocery store or wherever we needed a ride. Dan-the-dock master told us we could stay as long as we needed to wait out any bad weather (signs say 48 hour limit but we've discovered those signs are meant for boaters that overstay their welcome). Everyone we met in EC was very friendly and we only had one run-in with a guy insisting we buy him a sandwich. The first night we had dinner/drinks at Grouper's with Mark, a friend we met in Deep Creek. There was a small tiki bar and inside restaurant/bar.

The next day we walked over two miles to the post office to get some exercise. We walked around town and visited the museum/welcome center. The museum was very interesting. We had dinner/drinks at Hoppin' Jonz. The atmosphere and food was excellent here! After that we walked down an alley (pictured below) to Ghost Harbor Brewing Company. Great craft brew selection!

Additional free dockage are Jennett Brothers. Well protected but their gates close at 5 and are closed on weekends. You would need to dinghy into town after hours. Mariner's Wharf (bulkhead) after that, slips, and is in the heart of the town. It's customary to pull in bow forward but if you have a trawler, bring a step ladder since the finger piers are really short! Next is Waterfront Park slips.

Leaving Elizabeth City

Hertford

Once we left the Pasquotank River, we cruised to Hertford Bay Marina. Most sailboats can't make it to Hertford because there is a 33' fixed bridge (I-17). Right after that is the Hertford Swing Bridge that operates from 10am-10pm. They monitor channel 13. It is being replaced by a new bridge. Immediately after the swing bridge is the marina. They are only 'open', meaning if you try calling, Mon-Fri and there is no dock master. There are only a handful of slips BUT the docks are nice and they offer free electricity and water!!! After being without plug-in electricity and water for four nights, we were very grateful. The heat was running and we got caught up on ice making. 

We hit the town Saturday and walked 20 minutes to 252 Grill. It was ok with excellent, friendly service. At the end of the marina is the Hertford Bay Tap House. It didn't look open when we walked by. Well... it was open when we returned AND had a food truck outside. The food truck looked like it had better/cheaper food than 252 Grill. We stopped in the Tap House for a beer. They are only open Wed-Sat so we stayed on the boat all day Sun. It was pouring down rain and we took care of some projects, watched football and enjoyed a nice lazy day. There isn't much to Hertford -- almost everything was either closed or out of business. But it's a cute town, we're grateful for their hospitality and glad we came! 

Lots of crab pots (floats) on the Albemarle Sound.

Made us feel like we were home on the Chesapeake Bay!

View from the dock.

The main drag. Almost everything was closed.

There were flower pedals on the dock when we returned.

At first we thought the locals were really glad to have us here.

Albemarle Plantation Marina

We arrived here 21 Oct and have been very impressed! The dock master, J.E., has been great and very welcoming. In fact, everyone here has been very welcoming, friendly and curious about us. We've been asked several times, "Are you Loopers?" They offer 48 hour free dockage (possibly more if weather is bad), $8 for 30 amp (fee usually waived), free ice and laundry!, wifi, pumpout, discount coupon for various items, pool, tennis courts, $25 golf cart (for your entire stay whether it be one night or two weeks) and more! It is primarily a golf course within a gated community. Someone even offered us a car to use (no names in case this isn't a common practice).

Sharon did four loads of laundry, took care of 'heads and beds' -- "Clean sheet night!"

And cleaned the boat (inside).

After that it was time to explore the plantation via eScooters.

Covered bridge on our tour of the plantation.

Most marinas have a book exchange.

This one was like a library with someone(s) maintaining it!

This picture shows maybe half of it. 

We lucked out and had someone offer us the use of

their car to drive to Food Lion for provisions.

We gladly accepted since it had been almost

two weeks since we bought food and beer!

Dockside Cafe is in the same building as the restrooms and washer/dryer.

Their wood fire pizza is delicious! And the staff as good as it gets.

A lot of residents introduced themselves to us and we enjoyed talking to them.

Edenton

Short run from Albemarle Plantation to Edenton. This is a really nice town and full of history! The docks are nice (and free for 48 hours, electric $6 for 30 amp with 1st night free). We pulled in and received some docking help from the first mate on trawler (Silence Rising, GB42) behind where we docking. Once docked, we introduced ourselves to the couple and they said, "We know you. We've been following your blog!" How cool is that!?! We had tried hailing the marina a couple of times but didn't get a response. That really wasn't a problem since we already had a slip assignment. What seemed odd was that as we were tying up lines, the dock master just stood their looking at us. We later found out that one of the dock masters had been injured helping out a boat and sued the town. As a result, the dock masters are not allowed to help you. There are plenty of good restaurants, stores, shops, etc. We highly recommend taking the trolley tour!!! It is well worth it. Pretty much every home is historic -- like circa 1700/1800! First evening we went to Governor's Pub - good pub food and service. The next day, we had lunch at Edenton Bay Oyster Bar on the Chowan River. It's a hike from town but well worth it! We had a light dinner on the boat and then drinks at Waterman's Grill. The menu and food looked really good!

Our "Welcome aboard" package from the town!

Sunset behind the lighthouse. 

Penelope Barker House (Welcome Center)

Ka'Why Knot from the lighthouse.

Plymouth

Plymouth is located on the Roanoke River and it was a beautiful ride getting there! There is a 50' fixed bridge on the river. The docks are really nice and brand new! And have free electric and water! Check-in at the Maritime Museum across the street. This is a little different, but the bathrooms (women's has a shower) and 'laundry room' is in a warehouse. The washer and dryer are free so we took advantage of that and did a load of laundry. As luck would have it, there were Screamin' on the Roanoke drag boat races all day Saturday and we had front row seats. If you were looking for peace and quiet, this wasn't the weekend. There isn't much to do in Plymouth but it's always nice walking around looking at historical homes, buildings and churches. There are a few restaurants, two on the waterfront and one oyster bar & grill. There are three museums. We visited two of them and supported the local youth police Boy Scout league by going through their haunted house. It was put together very nicely! 

Old Episcopal church

Do not arrive at Stella's Cafe at 2:01!

This is the 'sister' lighthouse to the one in Edenton.

Front row seats to the drag boat races.

Warehouse where the restrooms and laundry room are located.

They are located in the back left corner.

Columbia

This was our last stop on the 'Loop' after a nice ride up the Scuppernong River. There are nine brand new slips at the town dock and a bulkhead. The slips are not very wide and we were pretty much shoe-horned into ours and stuck out past the pilings. In hind-site, we probably should have taken the bulkhead but it worked for us. Electric is free along with water, pump out and a bath house. Check-in at the municipal building open M-F. There are three restaurants (one closes at 2) and a tavern only open Fri & Sat. None of the restaurants/tavern were open Sun. when we arrived. The main attraction is the Wildlife Refuge which was closed Mon. <sigh> There is also a combined cafe and wine store with wine tasting. We walked all around town, did the wine tasting (shocker, I know), got carry-out from the Mexican restaurant (they don't have cervesas or margaritas) and had a quiet evening on the boat.

All ready for wine tasting!

It's art dammit!

Inside Tienda Mexicana

The Great Dismal Swamp 15-17 Oct

Immediately after passing under High Rise Bridge (MM 7), you have two choices. Continue straight on the Albermarle & Chesapeake Route aka the Virginia Cut or turn immediately right to enter the Great Dismal Swamp Canal. The canal is 22 miles long with locks on either end -- Deep Creek Lock at the north end and South Mills Lock at the southern. We were originally going to anchor in front of the lock but arrived exactly 10 minutes before the last 3:30 opening of the day! We called an audible and decided to hail the lock master on channel 13. We received exact instructions to put out fenders on the starboard side and to have two lines at least 20 feet in length ready for-and-aft. The light turned green and we entered the lock.

Since this was our first lock experience, Sharon was a nervous wreck but did great!

Locked in

Out we go.

Robert-the-Lock Master is probably the most famous lock tender in the world. He entertained us with cruising 'rules', played us a song on his conch shell and invited us over for coffee in the morning. Our boat was raised about six feet. Immediately after leaving the lock, we turned right and tied up to Elizabeth's Dock (free -- no electric or water). There were two other boat at the dock, a northbound sailboat and a southbound trawler that a guy, Mark, was single-handling.

We decided to get some steps in and walked to Food Lion to get some steaks for dinner. There's a convenience store at the end of the road and a further walk to Hardees, Food Lion, Pizza Plus (they will deliver to your boat!) and a Dollar General. You can dinghy down the canal to get to Food Lion (a much safer option given the traffic on a road you need to cross).

The next day we went to visit Robert and enjoy a cup of coffee. Not only did he give us coffee but pumpkin cake, bagels w/ cream cheese and a yogurt parfait! We hung out with him for at least three hours listening to his stories and history of the canal. 

This is just a small sample of Robert's conch shell collection. 

Boaters have been bringing him shells for years.

Our spread for breakfast!

Inside the lock master's house (no, he doesn't live there)

Robert even invited us along for a bridge opening. We hopped in his Jeep and off we went. Robert is not only the lock tender but a bridge tender. BUT he said his primary job is to control the depth of the water in the canal. Southbound boats go through the lock first, then Robert races down the canal and opens a drawbridge. Vice versa for northbound boats.

As popular he is as a lock tender, he's just as UNpopular as a bridge tender. 

He gets coffee and eggs thrown at him regularly. 

He even showed us a bullet hole where he was shot at while inside the building.

Elizabeth's Dock has 24-hour only docking signs. They are there in case boaters 'overstay their welcome'. We were originally going to go several miles down the canal to the Visitor Center for the day/night to wait out a rainy day. We decided to just stay put. The other two boats stayed put as well. There's room for four boats at the Visitor's Center and it's customary to put fenders out so other boats can tie up to you but we never made it there.

Thursday we cruised 40 miles to Elizabeth City, NC. The ride was beautiful, peaceful and quiet. We 'buddy-boated' down the canal with Mark following about a 1/4 mile behind us. The reason for the distance between us is that there are a lot of sunken logs in the canal. They get kicked up by passing boats and need time to settle back down. We experienced two unsettling thumps when we hit a log. It's not a problem of sailboats and single-engine trawlers (like ours) because our props are protected by a keel (sailboat) or skeg (trawler). A lot of the canal and Pasquotank River (after South Mills Lock) was blanketed with duckweed. It's pretty to look at but gets sucked up into your engine strainer and can cause overheating. There's a pedestrian bridge at the visitor center that was closed as we were approaching. It opened automatically for us. After 22 miles, we arrived at South Mills Bridge and Lock. We were about 45 minutes early for the opening so we tied up to a wall immediately before the bridge. We then helped Mark tie up and cleaned our strainer. The second lock was a piece of cake and Sharon wasn't even nervous. This lock tender is nothing like Robert at the south end! He barely grunted two words at us. After leaving the lock, we traveled 17 miles to Elizabeth City. The duckweed was really thick! Eventually it disappeared and the Pasquotank widened and I went to our normal cruising speed of 8 knots. I kept a close eye on the engine temp but it only was a degree or two higher than normal. Elizabeth City is very cruiser friendly and offers several places with free docks/bulkheads. We originally wanted to go EC Free Wharf but there is a bridge that doesn't open between 7-9 and 4-6. Naturally, we arrived around 4:30. So we selected Mid-Atlantic Christian University. Someone helped us tie up and then we helped Mark tie up. Andy-the-Athletic Director greeted us and offered us a place to take a hot shower. We politely declined but a Hollywood shower sure would have felt good! Cleaned the strainer and hit the town. There isn't much here but we went to Grouper's by the Free Wharf with Mark. Enjoyed some cold beers and dinner.

Glad we waited out the rain and traveled the Dismal Swamp when it wasn't dismal out.

Blazing a trail through duckweed.

This is the engine strainer the first time I emptied it.

Inside the lock with 4-6" of duckweed!

Our 'score' of duckweed after cleaning the strainer a second time.

The journey to Hampton and beyond

After  our first night on the hook in Smith Creek we begin to pull up the anchor and lo and behold after about 5 seconds the windlass stops working.

From Rob's post on Facebook "Two long (for us) days underway ⛴ and anchored ⚓ in Chisman Creek. The day started with Sharon breaking the anchor winlass. Since it was "her fault", she had to manually haul in 70' of 3/16" chain attached to a 35 lb anchor."

Now we have to move bins and other items to get to the chain locker. Once everything is relocated Rob rigged the windlass to be used. The only problem with this he had to be down below close to the chain locker and could not see so we manually get the anchor up and begin our long journey (8 hrs), underway to Chisman Creek.  Of course, I was not the one pulling up the anchor.

Once we arrive and anchor in Chisman Creek we discover water on the garage  floor  (also known as the forward stateroom) and inside my pots underneath the galley sink, we do not like water in those places.  Now of course to investigate the water in the garage we have to move those bins and things that were moved for the chain locker to another location.  The captain believes the water is coming from the shower hose that was installed recently as the bow goes down and forward. By the way we do not have a shower in the forward head.  We will keep an eye on this and assess as we go. Now we have to remove everything from under the sink to determine the cause of water in the pots which was  minor and just needed to tighten up the filter.

Ah dinner, cocktails, and sunset!

Ready for a new day and a shorter trip into Hampton. First pot of coffee is ready and turn the water on to make the second pot and OMG no water.  Now need to move some of those bins and things to look at the water pump. Just a blown fuse no big deal. 😕

Beautiful day to be on the Bay, we had a nice leisurely ride down to Hampton. There was a lot of chatter on the radio as a submarine was heading out to sea.  I was hoping we could see it but it was too far out.  Finally we arrive at Hampton Public Pier which has floating docks.  Well it really is only half a floating dock, now how I am suppose to do the lines? I'm already a nervous wreck now it is even worse. 😱😱😱  It was not the Captain's best docking and thank God dock master Matt was there to assist.  We would not have gotten into the slip if Matt was not there. The winds and the current were against us.

We stayed Sunday through Tuesday which allowed us to get off the boat and get some much needed exercise. Downtown Hampton was a stones throw away from the marina (about 2 blocks).  We had dinner and watched football at Marker 20 it was not gourmet but it was good.  I really liked the french fries.

Monday we were able to use the marina bikes and get around to do some sightseeing.

We enjoyed lunch at Venture (must try the tater tots) with our friend Nancy. We made a trip to West Marine thanks to Nancy. The dock master did not think it was a good idea to ride the bicycles to WM but we would have been fine.  So glad we were able to meet up.

The marina had a very nice herb garden that could be used by the boaters. We did not take advantage but there was basil, tomatoes, peppers, kale and various other items. The Bull Island Brewery is right above the boat docks. Rob enjoyed a oyster jalapeno stout while I was waiting to do laundry.

It's Tuesday and we are prepping for departure might as well top off the water tanks.  Rob tells me the site tubes show the tanks are full but we are waiting to see the water overflow on the sides (make sure the tanks are completely full).  Next thing I know "SHARON we have a leak need lots of towels".  We dry the floor, move the pillows and matress (water tanks are located under the bed) no leak at the top of the tanks.  Rob tightened up the hose clamp and everything was good.

Off we go no more mishaps, we traveled safely through Portsmouth and Norfolk.  Next we are into uncharted territory for Ka Why Knot and crew.

We are slowly approaching our first railroad bridge and the tender announced bridge closing in 15 minutes, lucky for us a tug boat ask to keep the bridge opened longer, we made through no problems and we could see the train waiting.

Next, believe it or not, we hit a backup. Had to wait about 30 minutes with 7 other boats for the train to go by.

Until next time!