I was sleeping soundly when we were hit with a some severe winds around 3AM. A cold front was pushing through with strong winds straight out of the west. I had just purchased a new anchor the week before the trip. It is a "Ronca 25" and it is supposed to have great holding properties. I did not put out much anchor rode, maybe 60' because I was concerned about swinging into shallow water on a change in wind direction. I really should have let more line out, but I can report that the anchor held well, even in 35 knot winds.
With the news about the closing of the Alligator River, and my concerns over the US264 Bridge at MM "127" that is only 64' high (it is the only bridge that is not 65' due to a contractor screw up), I decided to head east across Albemarle Sound to Roanoke Island.
Since it would only be about a 3 1/2 hour trip, we were not in a rush. I slept in this morning until 8:30. Steve decided to do some fishing. I heard him yelling that he had just caught breakfast. Here is a photo of breakfast.
We had fillet of Rockfish and scrambled eggs for breakfast this morning...not a bad start to the day!
Today's trip to Manteo (on Roanoke Island) would be a short trip, but with some rather rough seas. Last year I motored up the Chesapeake Bay in a 45 knot blow, but the boat, captain, and mate all did well. This trip was much worse!
We pulled anchor and headed out of Broad Creek around 11AM. This time, we had to cross the Albemarle Sound with 25 knots directly across our starboard beam. It was much different than the Chesapeake Bay. The shallow depth of the Sound really churns it up. Waves were 4-5 feet but with a very short period. I buried the bow of the boat at least 4 times and was taking water over both rails. It was a very tedious couple of hours.
As I exited the north River, I headed for the marker MG at Middle Ground, and from their to a red marker that started my journey around the north side of Roanoke Island. We pulled into the Manteo Waterfront Marina at 2:30PM. Dockmaster Carl met us and helped us to back into a slip for the evening.
Once we got settled, we found out that the strong blow out of the west had blown the water from the Albemarle Sound into Roanoke Channel and Pamlico Sound. The effect was to raise the water level about 3 feet above normal. One of the reasons that we had headed this way was to cross under the US64 bridge onto Roanoke Island. It is supposed to be 65' high. We were encouraged to wait for a day when the winds would turn to the northeast and bring the water levels back down..so we decided to just take it easy until tomorrow, especially with our bridge adventures of Tuesday!
Manteo is a neat little community. Its main claim to fame is that it is the location of the "Lost Colony". Sir Walter Raleigh brought the first British settlement to land here in 1587. He returned to England for provisions with plans to return in 1588, but was delayed by the defeat of the Spanish Armada in that year. When he returned in 1589, the colony was gone, supposedly absorbed by the indigenous Indian population. BTW, Andy Griffith also lives here!
There is a museum and theater at the sight of the First Colony, as well as a recreation of the original vessel. These photos of the replica boat and of "Twice Blessed" were taken at dusk.
Once we were settled, we stopped at a local restaurant for dinner, and then took a cab to get some groceries. We finally settled in around 7PM and just vegged for a bit, turning in around 10PM
What will tomorrow bring? We will be able to get under the bridge, or have to wait until Friday..or later? Darn, I wish that this mast was just one foot shorter......
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