We left Coinjock on the first of November and then made 2 longer stops over the course of the past 2 weeks – one in New Bern, NC and one in Charleston, SC. New Bern was a new stop on our way south, while Charleston is like returning to see a good friend. The warmer weather we enjoyed in Charleston has since evaporated. We need to keep heading further south.
New Bern, NC
New Bern claims that NC begins here, since this was the colonial and state capital before Raleigh took over that role in the late 1700’s. Although our trip through NC didn’t begin here, it was a first for us to visit this historic city by water. It took us 3 days to get there from Coinjock, crossing the Albemarle to anchor in the Alligator River, followed by another amazingly calm run to another anchorage in Bear Creek at the north end of the Neuse River. The 3rd day’s run was windier, but it allowed us to motorsail down the Neuse past the ICW turnoff and into the upper Neuse to New Bern, docking on the Trent River at Bridge Pointe Marina.
New Bern claims that NC begins here, since this was the colonial and state capital before Raleigh took over that role in the late 1700’s. Although our trip through NC didn’t begin here, it was a first for us to visit this historic city by water. It took us 3 days to get there from Coinjock, crossing the Albemarle to anchor in the Alligator River, followed by another amazingly calm run to another anchorage in Bear Creek at the north end of the Neuse River. The 3rd day’s run was windier, but it allowed us to motorsail down the Neuse past the ICW turnoff and into the upper Neuse to New Bern, docking on the Trent River at Bridge Pointe Marina.
You can’t tour New Bern and not start at Tryon Palace, the reconstruction of Colonial Governor William Tryon’s home and seat of government. Although the original was destroyed by fire in 1798, and US 70 had been built over its ruins, this was not going to deter the New Bern ladies who were determined that it be restored. Over the course of decades, they managed to overcome many obstacles, including re-routing US 70, and managed to reconstruct the palace and gardens to its former glory. The organization that maintains the palace has spent the ensuing years acquiring and restoring historic homes surrounding the palace, with the latest project being a restored waterfront – hopefully in time for the city’s 300th birthday celebration in a couple of years.
We spent 2 days touring New Bern. The first trip was on a colder, drizzly day where we took in the palace and some of the historic homes that are part of the tour. The 2nd trip to town was in much better weather, so we toured the gardens and more of the outbuildings, which included a working blacksmith, a cook in the kitchen and in-character guides in the historic homes. There was also a museum housed in the New Bern academy, the first public school in NC, which continued in active service through the 70’s. The whole tour was a Williamsburg in miniature for a bargain price of $15.
New Bern’s historical significance didn’t end with the departure of the state capital. Just 100 years later, Brad Caleb developed a popular health drink at the corner soda fountain. His health drink was later renamed Pepsi-Cola, and the rest is history. We had to conduct our own pilgrimage to the beginning of it all, where we enjoyed a tall glass of (diet) soda at the soda fountain for just a $1 and a video about the history of the Pepsi Cola Company. Our next stop was Mitchell’s hardware, which our guidebooks rightly said we shouldn’t miss. It was amazingly still a real hardware store, complete with hardware in bins and friendly clerks.
On a whim, we stopped in at the Centenary United Methodist Church, which had unusual Romanesque architecture. We asked someone we saw leaving the church if it was possible to see inside. He not only said yes, but unlocked the sanctuary and took us on a tour. The stained glass windows were beautiful in the late afternoon sun.
On a whim, we stopped in at the Centenary United Methodist Church, which had unusual Romanesque architecture. We asked someone we saw leaving the church if it was possible to see inside. He not only said yes, but unlocked the sanctuary and took us on a tour. The stained glass windows were beautiful in the late afternoon sun.
We can’t say enough about the friendliness of the New Bern residents whom we were lucky enough to meet. Even our cab driver ( 252-626-6161 252-626-6161 ) who took us downtown from the marina went out of his way to help us, including allowing us a stop at a grocery store on our way back, without charging enough (seemingly) to cover the gas back and forth. The same story was repeated throughout the town.
The timing of our arrival in New Bern turned out to be only a day ahead of Skip and Cherylle, who recently purchased a home here. On our 2nd day in town, we joined them at their lovely new home along with their friends Walter and Mary Jean, for dinner. For a home that they had just moved into, it looked amazingly settled and comfortable.
The timing of our arrival in New Bern turned out to be only a day ahead of Skip and Cherylle, who recently purchased a home here. On our 2nd day in town, we joined them at their lovely new home along with their friends Walter and Mary Jean, for dinner. For a home that they had just moved into, it looked amazingly settled and comfortable.
Cape Lookout
All good things must come to an end, so we eventually had to move on further south. We left New Bern on Saturday, November 8th, headed for Cape Lookout bight, where we would stage for a run south on the outside – destination uncertain and weather-dependent. The winds were up as we sailed down the Neuse toward the ICW. This was going to be a rough trip around Shackleford Banks to Cape Lookout bight. We had 5 foot beam seas, getting knocked about with each wave for the hour it took us to get into the protection of the bight. Unlike our last visit here, we were not alone in the bight. There were at least half a dozen cruising boats, along with dozens of little fishing boats who did not see any reason that an anchored boat would come between them and their catch.
All good things must come to an end, so we eventually had to move on further south. We left New Bern on Saturday, November 8th, headed for Cape Lookout bight, where we would stage for a run south on the outside – destination uncertain and weather-dependent. The winds were up as we sailed down the Neuse toward the ICW. This was going to be a rough trip around Shackleford Banks to Cape Lookout bight. We had 5 foot beam seas, getting knocked about with each wave for the hour it took us to get into the protection of the bight. Unlike our last visit here, we were not alone in the bight. There were at least half a dozen cruising boats, along with dozens of little fishing boats who did not see any reason that an anchored boat would come between them and their catch.
The winds didn’t die down until late that night, which caused us to wait another day before heading out to allow the seas to calm down. Given the short window, we decided to head for Charleston. We left before dawn on Monday with north winds in the 20’s and higher seas than we would have liked. By mid-morning, the wind and waves had calmed down and we had a comfortable 39 hour run to Charleston. The winds and waves had built behind us again the next morning, but we only had to endure the worst of it for a few minutes as we turned into the inlet before we made the protection of the breakwater. By 1pm, we were tied up at the Charleston Maritime Center and could relax.
Charleston, SC
After making a longer outside run from Cape Lookout bight to Charleston, we took some time there to re-group and explore a little of the city. We took in the Citadel homecoming parade. The cadets assemble on the parade grounds at 5pm, marching in to the accompaniment of the Citadel marching band. Once assembled, the flag is lowered at sunset, with the standard cannon being fired, and then each corps passes before the reviewing stand as they leave the grounds. Very impressive.
After making a longer outside run from Cape Lookout bight to Charleston, we took some time there to re-group and explore a little of the city. We took in the Citadel homecoming parade. The cadets assemble on the parade grounds at 5pm, marching in to the accompaniment of the Citadel marching band. Once assembled, the flag is lowered at sunset, with the standard cannon being fired, and then each corps passes before the reviewing stand as they leave the grounds. Very impressive.
Our stay at the Maritime Center overlapped with the schooner Roseway which was built in 1925 as a Grand Banks fishing schooner and then restored in the late 90’s to be used for the World Ocean School. We were invited to tour her while we were there. We took a day to do some errands via the easy to use CARTA bus system, using our one-day pass. We ended the day by using the pass to take a trolley ride around the city, taking in the nicer homes and views by the Battery. A very economical way to see the city.
Our last full day in Charleston was Sunday, which presented a dilemma in a city with so many churches. We ended up at the Circular Congregational Church, which was established almost 350 years ago, with a charter that it should be led by a “Protestant Dissenting Minister of the Congregational, Independent or Presbyterian Persuasion”. That focus on dissent has been their history ever since. They are currently affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church. It was quite a difference from the much more formal St. Phillips Episcopal just down the street.
Engine Woes
Dave took advantage of the time in New Bern and the recommendation of some local boaters to hire a mechanic, Chuck Courtney ( 252-670-3159 252-670-3159 ), to replace the injector line #2, which turned out to be the source of the small fuel leak that had plagued us since leaving Deltaville. The only hitch in the repair was discovering that the recently purchased injector lines were not the correct ones for our engine. There had been an engineering change on our model engine, so we had to order the ones for our serial number range.
Since we had to make a rush order of the injector lines, we included in that order a replacement fuel return check valve, which we hoped would solve the problem that requires us to bleed the engine routinely. Unfortunately, just after we placed the order, we received a bulletin from Yanmar informing us that they recommended the valve be removed from the system. Dave and Chuck replaced the valve anyway, since we now had the part. However, as we have travelled further since then, it is obvious that it hasn’t solved the problem. It appears we will need to follow the Yanmar bulletin and take the valve out.
Other Boat Stuff
Dave found time in Charleston to install 2 new outlets in the cabin. One is a new DC outlet and the other is an AC outlet wired to our little inverter, so we can run a regular blender using battery power through the inverter. To make the wiring easier and allow for more expansion later, Dave installed a new buss bar to feed the power to and from the outlets and the inverter.
Cathy used the time in New Bern to re-seal some of the windows that were continuing to leak despite her efforts back in Deltaville. This fix seems to be working.
Further South
We’re still working our way south and hope to be in Florida soon. Rather than jumping outside from Charleston, we’ll make our way to Beaufort, SC and then go outside from there to Fernandina Beach, FL. We need to get back into shorts and T-shirts!
Dave took advantage of the time in New Bern and the recommendation of some local boaters to hire a mechanic, Chuck Courtney ( 252-670-3159 252-670-3159 ), to replace the injector line #2, which turned out to be the source of the small fuel leak that had plagued us since leaving Deltaville. The only hitch in the repair was discovering that the recently purchased injector lines were not the correct ones for our engine. There had been an engineering change on our model engine, so we had to order the ones for our serial number range.
Since we had to make a rush order of the injector lines, we included in that order a replacement fuel return check valve, which we hoped would solve the problem that requires us to bleed the engine routinely. Unfortunately, just after we placed the order, we received a bulletin from Yanmar informing us that they recommended the valve be removed from the system. Dave and Chuck replaced the valve anyway, since we now had the part. However, as we have travelled further since then, it is obvious that it hasn’t solved the problem. It appears we will need to follow the Yanmar bulletin and take the valve out.
Other Boat Stuff
Dave found time in Charleston to install 2 new outlets in the cabin. One is a new DC outlet and the other is an AC outlet wired to our little inverter, so we can run a regular blender using battery power through the inverter. To make the wiring easier and allow for more expansion later, Dave installed a new buss bar to feed the power to and from the outlets and the inverter.
Cathy used the time in New Bern to re-seal some of the windows that were continuing to leak despite her efforts back in Deltaville. This fix seems to be working.
Further South
We’re still working our way south and hope to be in Florida soon. Rather than jumping outside from Charleston, we’ll make our way to Beaufort, SC and then go outside from there to Fernandina Beach, FL. We need to get back into shorts and T-shirts!
