Chesapeake Chase Day 4: Offshore Waves
An Early Start
The alarm went off at 4:00 AM (This is not a typo)! It’s still dark at this hour on the East Coast. Instead of watching the sun rise on the deck while sipping coffee, we watched the moon rise while motoring along in the channel to the Atlantic Ocean for an offshore passage.
Fred did all the checks including conditions offshore. Everything checked out and about 5-ish we were pulling anchor. In spite of the early hour, it was a beautiful start to the day. We did have our coffee while watching the sunrise from the pilot house, and it was beautiful! Gradually we were joined by our granddaughters. The waves by this time were at about the height we expected, about 3 feet. Naomi, the first one up wanted cereal, but the worrier (me) was concerned about the milk sloshing in the bowl. She opted to start with orange juice. The others soon joined and decided to have cereal anyway and just put in a little milk.
Waves
By this time the waves had shifted and seemed higher and definitely were becoming more uncomfortable. The forecast was obviously missing a foot or two! The discomfort increased some more making balance and movement more interesting and challenging, and even funny at times. Soon however three of us with weaker stomachs were in distress!
Adding insult to a now very uncomfortable situation, the AC in the main cabin and the pilot house wouldn’t come on. The forward cabin AC did work keeping the two staterooms cool but little of that reached the pilot house. The amount of spray coming over the bow made it impossible to open the pilot house doors. We were able to open one window part way and keep a towel close by.
So, you ask, why did we not turn around and go back or find an inlet to take us to the ICW? The next inlet was Cape Fear, our destination, and we were already about halfway there [editor: Little River was also an option, but about the same distance]. Turning around was not a reasonable option. Fred did adjust the course enough to ease some of the discomfort, but this added to the travel time.
We all skipped lunch, didn’t even think about eating. Naomi settled in on the bed in their room where the AC was working. Miriam and Phoebe entertained themselves in the main cabin. Fred manned the helm, and I settled in the pilot house by the one open window.
Unfortunately, Betty Lou didn’t settle in as well. Unexpectedly, a horrible noise came from what sounded like the forward stateroom. The first thought was the AC and so I was asked to shut it down. I did, but that didn’t stop the noise. Second thought was the bilge pump. Fred looked there. About the same time, Naomi said water was dripping from their closet. The noise did stop, and I noted to Fred that the noise was similar to what the bow thruster sounded like when he used it for docking. Soon the noise started again – very loud and annoying! After several more bouts of noise, Fred shut the power off to the bow thruster. Peace! He also discovered water under the bed in the main stateroom – not a good sign! Another place we discovered water was the port side window by the chart compartment in the pilot house. The final complication discovered was the port side door of the pilot house. It wouldn’t open.
Murphy’s Law was on overtime! Please understand, we were safe and always moving closer to the Cape Fear Inlet. The crossing was maybe more exciting than we were anticipating. There were moments of appreciating the beauty of the ocean God created. The water was that ocean blue (not aqua) that you see in pictures. The white caps were so white against the blue. Sometimes they looked to me like many small sailboats with their white sails in the wind. I managed to sight a fish skipping along the tops of the waves, and several dolphins appeared swimming powerfully along. I continue to feel awe when I see dolphins!
Southport
The day seemed endless, but the channel buoys finally were in sight. The big waves were gone! Once through the channel the Safe Harbor South Harbour Village Marina was not much farther. They were waiting for us at the dock. Without a bow thruster it took two tries, but we made it!
The girls wasted no time getting off the boat after three nights of anchoring and four days of being on the water. They handled it all very well, but we had all reached the limit of patience level! We got settled with power, shower keys, and assurance of two nights in the marina.
Next critical step was to get the AC working. It’s amazing how wonderful life is after a day like today when the AC does come back on. The Captain’s expertise at trouble shooting had all three units working within the hour. By this time, stomachs had recovered, and we were ready for food.
Fred declared we had all been through enough and we deserved a meal out. The girls had already scouted out the restaurant at the marina and gave it a thumbs up. Remember we have not eaten since breakfast which was skimpy. We walked up to the restaurant, Rusty Hooks, and there was a 30-minute wait. Should we plead mercy? The only other option was at the Betty Lou Galley. We put our name on the list and went for a walk.
The wait was worth it! Serving sizes were large enough that we ordered three plates of fish and chips. Two sides which we could pick were included with each plate. Our waiter was a perfectly charming young man who went out of his way to please three attractive young ladies and we left satisfied and happy.
By this time Fred and I were ready to call it a day. The girls desperately wanted showers. Fred and I knew showers would feel incredible, but our bed called louder and won. The ladies did their thing and we did ours.
Captain’s Comments
The forecasts had called for wind and current in our favor, and 2-3’ waves. We generally avoid conditions with more than 4’. I had been able to receive multiple forecasts the night before, but this morning, in a fringe cell reception area, all I could get was the NOAA forecast, and it hadn’t changed.
Nevertheless, the Captain is never off the hook.
The morning was incredibly beautiful. We pulled anchor and ghosted out the inlet by moonlight. Several other vessels were ahead of us. At the sea buoy, Betty Lou’s motion was easy over the swells, and we felt one with the world. And we got to watch the sun come up over the ocean.
As the day progressed, the wind picked up and moved around from WNW to the east, stirring up the seas and making the waves steeper. I adjusted course to take the waves at a better angle, but it was definitely uncomfortable. As the wind-blown waves hit the 5’ mark, the pilothouse and saloon AC’s lost suction; eventually, the generator also lost suction and automatically shut down, leaving us completely without AC. We never took green water over the bow, but with the wind on our nose, we were constantly under spray, making liberal use of the windshield wipers. The mid 80-degree temperature outside, and the heat from the engine, with minimal ventilation, made for pretty miserable conditions.
Three sea-sick crew members added to the misery.
When a screaming motor noise unexpectedly started in the bow, the first priority was to check the bilge. There was water in the forward bilge, below the suction for the bilge pump, so at first I thought the bilge pump was cavitating as the water sloshed back and forth. After verifying the bilge pump wasn’t the source of the noise by pulling its fuse, and with the forward AC off, the only remaining possibility was the bow thruster. Turning off the thruster power quieted the screaming.
There wasn’t much more we could do under the rough conditions to troubleshoot what was going on, so we focused on finishing the crossing while periodically checking the bilge for more leakage. I never saw more than about 1”, and I never heard the bilge pump run, but we also had some water in the engine room bilge that probably ran back from the forward bilge while going over the waves.
As the Admiral described, we were happy to make port in Southport after 12 ½ hours.
And I was extremely proud of our crew that day. No one panicked. No one whined. Positive attitudes generally prevailed (except, perhaps, during those moments of seasickness…).
Maybe that’s how a Captain can eventually get off the hook.
Peace
fks