May-6 2006

May 2006
North Carolina is not much different from South Carolina but the ICW here features shallow tidal inlets which provide cross streams and heavy shoaling. We stopped near Shallote (Shall-oat) Inlet for the night and were the only visitor tied to a fuel dock at a cheap marina. We had met some folks in Charleston who kept a 34 ft Crealock near hear and Beth and John Schwab came to meet us here and took us out for an excellent fish supper.
One of the boatyard crew came and collected blue crabs from the pots kept at the dock - very aggressive! They are pretty and also taste very good indeed. While you can eat them in the usual ways their flesh is usually used to stuff other fish such as ‘flounder’ - looks like plaice to me.
If you pick one out of the collection bucket - very carefully - the rest follow in a chain all hanging on to one another. Lots of sailing boats just drop their crab pots over when they anchor and collect tomorrows supper.

Our next day was spent exploring the bottom of the shallow inlets. In Shallote Inlet the red and green buoys (boo-ees) had been placed so that you could just get between them - and promptly run aground! We flew over the sand ridge and then travelled about half a mile with 10-20 cm under the keel.

In Lockwood’s Folly Inlet the dredgers were working hard but only to clear the channel out to sea for the shrimp boats. We checked on the VHF that we could pass by. They agreed and we promptly went aground again stemming the ebb.

The dredging crew told us on the VHF that we were aground - I guess some folks don’t notice! They then told us where the deep water could be found. We wondered why they had not told us that before...
We were to see another boat repeatedly that day and they went much more firmly aground each time they caught us up.
We passed through the middle of the Marines firing range at Camp Lejeune. We had checked it was not in use that day but there was considerable training activity on the water and in the air. Helicopters, landing craft and gunboats were everywhere. Our British ensign was quickly spotted and they cheered and offered Churchillian V signs.
Our next few days traversed the estuaries and swamps of the landlocked rivers behind Cape Hatteras heading up through Virginia.

To the North on an alternative (too shallow ) route lies the Great Dismal Swamp. Dismal is just the old name for a swamp here. The swamps are decayed cedar swamps with dead trees and snags everywhere. We endured a terrifying evening thunderstorm when at anchor one night. Fog was also a feature of the shallow, tideless, brackish estuaries. No radar remember?

Finally we were on the last leg to the only lock on the ICW, just before coming into Norolk and the biggest naval base in the world, or so they tell us. We tied up at a free overnight spot and planned to go through with other boats next day. A walk to a nearby supermarket kept us going and we found a handy store for buying Mace, Tasars and knives. Useful...