Mr Grinch is coming with us this year

[boomerang]

We'll , it looks like we've overstayed our welcome on the Chesapeake Bay.
Last year we headed South over the Thanksgiving holiday and ended up running a few extra long days to be able to stay ahead of a weather front and to be able to make a deadline so Liz could return to work. We enjoy the trip as much as the destination and would've liked to had not been so rushed ,so as to maybe enjoy a little more what the trip has to offer, regarding anchorages and towns.
Which is why we decided on heading South this year over the Christmas holiday, where Liz has more time off and ,in theory, more time to enjoy the trip. Winters here on the lower Chesapeake normally don't get freezing cold until after New Year. Which is why we thought we could make a delayed departure work.
I realize weather forecasting is not too reliable for more than a few days into the future. Here's where the Grinch has invited himself onboard. Windfinder uses the GFS model, which has been as accurate as any, and our departure date of Dec 22 isn't doable for a days run to Norfolk. We tentatively have a window on the next day, Friday the 23rd. It's supposed to be bad luck to start a trip on a Friday, I hear.
So we make it down the bay a day late, on Friday, to at least Portsmouth mile 0 or better yet, Great Bridge. Which is where the temps are forecast to drop below freezing ALL DAY SATURDAY. This is after Fridays heavy rain which can, as I've witnessed first hand, freeze a drawbridges locking mechanism ,closing it to marine traffic.
Then , if by some miracle, the Centerville & North Landing Bridges do open, will we be lucky enough to get behind a tug to clear the ice that is no doubt going to form on the calm fresh water of the VA cut? I've seen that too, in warmer temps of the high 20's in the early morning followed by warming temps later in the morning. I can't imagine what we're in for with the daytime high never getting out of the 20's.
Yes indeed, methinks this years trip could be an adventure. We're keeping a close watch on the forecast. Hopefully, ol' Grinchy will find another boat to spend the Holidays on and we can enjoy our Christmas dinner of crockpot roast beast onboard, just the 2 of us.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. b. Stay warm and safe and Merry Xmas.

 

[psneeld]

Good thing you have that Wallas heater on board!

My first trip was through snow squally and 25-G35 on the Delaware, the third I had to break ice coming out of Baltimore inner harbor.... that's why there's a diesel heater aboard.

If it gets cranky, call me and I can walk you through the cleaning of the thermocouple.

Good luck and Happy Holidays to ya......

 

[fryedaze]

Good luck, you never know what the weather will deal you. One year we staged the boat in New Bern and headed south Dec 30th. It was awesome. Temps in 60s, 70s for weeks. The next year was an adventure. Started fine but by the Cape Fear River the bouys had 6" icicles. Pushed ice as we backed out of Saint James Plantation. The icing on the cake was a 4 day layover in Georgetown with 5" of ice and snow on the decks. As we went through McClullenville, slush was coming out of the marsh with the tide. Ran for 5 days inside lower helm with heat on. We normally always drive from bridge. Now we leave first week Nov. You should have the waterway to yourself [emoji23]

 

[O C Diver]

I realize weather forecasting is not too reliable for more than a few days into the future. Here's where the Grinch has invited himself onboard. Windfinder uses the GFS model, which has been as accurate as any, and our departure date of Dec 22 isn't doable for a days run to Norfolk. We tentatively have a window on the next day, Friday the 23rd. It's supposed to be bad luck to start a trip on a Friday, I hear.
So we make it down the bay a day late, on Friday, to at least Portsmouth mile 0 or better yet, Great Bridge. Which is where the temps are forecast to drop below freezing ALL DAY SATURDAY. This is after Fridays heavy rain which can, as I've witnessed first hand, freeze a drawbridges locking mechanism ,closing it to marine traffic.
Then , if by some miracle, the Centerville & North Landing Bridges do open, will we be lucky enough to get behind a tug to clear the ice that is no doubt going to form on the calm fresh water of the VA cut? I've seen that too, in warmer temps of the high 20's in the early morning followed by warming temps later in the morning. I can't imagine what we're in for with the daytime high never getting out of the 20's.
Yes indeed, methinks this years trip could be an adventure. We're keeping a close watch on the forecast. Hopefully, ol' Grinchy will find another boat to spend the Holidays on and we can enjoy our Christmas dinner of crockpot roast beast onboard, just the 2 of us.

Don't think you have any worries about ice or freezing bridges. Water, land and the bridge are too warm to freeze in less than several days of weather in the teens. I left from Crisfield, MD around February 1st in 2016 with the harbor turning to slush in freezing temperatures. Norfolk water was about 10 degrees warmer.

My weather read says if your not to Norfolk by the 22nd, you won't be heading South till the 26th. But then, I don't believe the weather guessers past 3 days in advance for the Chesapeake this time of year. Systems move and change to quickly now to reliably predict them and their arrival time.

Ted

 

[boomerang]

I hope you're right ,Ted. The reason I'm sounding like a worrywart about the bridges freezing is because it happened to me in '03 or '04 ,if I recall correctly. We were in Great Bridge for the night at AYB and it rained the night before. When we awoke in the early AM, the entire area was icebound. We waited until 9 or 10 when the ice broke up a bit and left, only to arrive at the Centerville bridge where they told us it had frozen we had to wait until they got the mechanism freed up. It wasn't too long of a delay but it was also above freezing by 10 in the morning. The forecast is calling for it to remain well below freezing all day this time!
Scott, you know better than to think I won't call you if I have a question or issue! As a matter of fact, I dug the Wallas manual out to familiarize myself with some of the functions and maintenance. We haven't used it much at all, but when we have, it's performed flawlessly. Liz loves you for adding the additional vent in the head. I'm pretty sure I would've been too lazy & wouldn't have gone to the trouble if it was me installing it.
We'll see...it looks like it's going to be a go but the first few days don't look like we're going to be running from the bridge too much!

 

[psneeld]

I hope you're right ,Ted. The reason I'm sounding like a worrywart about the bridges freezing is because it happened to me in '03 or '04 ,if I recall correctly. We were in Great Bridge for the night at AYB and it rained the night before. When we awoke in the early AM, the entire area was icebound. We waited until 9 or 10 when the ice broke up a bit and left, only to arrive at the Centerville bridge where they told us it had frozen we had to wait until they got the mechanism freed up. It wasn't too long of a delay but it was also above freezing by 10 in the morning. The forecast is calling for it to remain well below freezing all day this time!
Scott, you know better than to think I won't call you if I have a question or issue! As a matter of fact, I dug the Wallas manual out to familiarize myself with some of the functions and maintenance. We haven't used it much at all, but when we have, it's performed flawlessly. Liz loves you for adding the additional vent in the head. I'm pretty sure I would've been too lazy & wouldn't have gone to the trouble if it was me installing it.
We'll see...it looks like it's going to be a go but the first few days don't look like we're going to be running from the bridge too much!

Ya get old enough and the one place out of a whole house, boat, RV or even USCG Icebreaker you want warm is the head.

And if not you, we all know who will....

The million dollar find/question....did you find the light fixture under the aft stateroom steps? I even forgot about it for longer periods of time than I care to admit.....

 

[Delta Riverat]

It's cold this winter! I'm in Central CA and it gets down to 35 at the house. When I go up to the boat in the river it's even colder. Not a lot of fun to work on it.

Double edge sword, I like that the Delta is cooler in the summer, but you pay in the winter when it's colder.

 

[Wildbill]

Well Boomerang, you won't be alone. We're still in Deltaville at Zimmerman marine getting our Hurricane heater replaced. We arrived in early November but due to delayed start, supply chain, and OBS (Old Boat Syndrome, everything touched needs some type of fixing), we're still here, hoping to be underway by the 21st. We're watching the weather very closely, unlike you we're still newbies, I've run up and down the ICW twice, first time for the Admiral. Recently the weather windows have been 3 and 3, 3 run days and 3 marginal or crappy days ( even chasing the local fisherman back in). We had planned to spend December in Brunswick, we've pushed back our reservations already to the 20th, guess we'll be asking to do that again, and celebrating Christmas underway. Hoping to see you along the way.

 

[boomerang]

Scott, I started going through the boat & the systems quite thoroughly from day 1! I'm probably not as familiar with it as you were/are but like you, I've just got to know everything I possibly can about the piece of fiberglass that separates my dry butt from the wet sea.
I found the step light you spoke of while still in Marineland. I liked the idea of lit stairs but just recently ended up moving the fixture to a more useful location...on the bottom side of the medicine cabinet in the main head. I can find my way down the steps in the dark but finding the toilet bowl target ,while half asleep in the dark, is more challenging. The light has been put to a better use there...

 

[boomerang]

WildBill, you have my sympathy. Deltaville is a good stop-in town while cruising, but to be stuck there against your will, in the cold winter,ugg. Bike trails or a sidewalk would go a long way towards making it a more cruiser friendly town.
With every weather update on windfinder, our departure date changes. Seriously!
The wind affected areas we are trying to work around (at 6.5 knots)are the Chesapeake (I don't want to be bucking 6 hours of Chesapeake bay style seas and I especially don't want to be crossing York spit with the winds & currents in disagreement), the Albemarle (I've seen a hard-valised liferaft get washed off of the bow of an Egg Harbor sportfish when her bow went under) and the Neuse. If we can get those under our belt, I'll be smooth(er) sailing.
Keep in touch & we'll share our fluid itinerary!

 

[2savage]

Reminds me of a passage I did some years ago bringing my 36' sailboat back to NYC from Key West a month after competing in KW Race Week. It was February. The last leg of the trip had seen a front pass through with the subsequent NW wind bringing Arctic air with it. We clung to the Jersey shore for flat water but light spray still came on deck and froze. By the time we got into New York Harbor there was a sheet of ice on all the port lifelines and the foredeck had about four inches solid. Needless to say when we got to our Marina in New Rochelle NY on Long Island Sound the docking procedure had to be modified!!

Thank GOD I now have a heated pilot house.

 

[Wildbill]

Well we're caught by the Grinch The furnace is in and running tonight but too late to run for Norfork. The week long forecast major storm system is here, and we're now waiting to continue our much delayed trip south till Monday given the weather and wave forecasts. Looks like the weather tomorrow will let us test the diesel heater to it's max.

 

[boomerang]

Well we're caught by the Grinch The furnace is in and running tonight but too late to run for Norfork. The week long forecast major storm system is here, and we're now waiting to continue our much delayed trip south till Monday given the weather and wave forecasts. Looks like the weather tomorrow will let us test the diesel heater to it's max.

It’s good news that you’ve got your heater in: it’ll be one of the best Christmas presents you’ve ever given yourself! Although it’s a balmy 46° here in Chesapeake right now, our diesel heater is still purring away blowing 150° out of the ducts!
Like you, the weather windows keep our agenda changing. We caught calm seas last Wednesday to come down the bay from out dock to the free dock in Great Bridge. Yesterday we walked into town and grabbed a few more groceries and then moved to the free dock 500 yards down across from Atlantic Yacht Basin. We’ll get underway this morning when the bridges are off of the rush-hour restrictions and make it to coinjock to wait out the coming cold …and I mean COLD…snap. We’ll give the Wallas heater a rest and let the reverse cycle keep Liz’s feet warm while there.
See you between here and warmer weather soon!

 

[Group9]

We got caught in an unexpected cold front coming across the Gulf of Mexico one February in a boat that only had an outside helm. That ended up being the most miserable trip of my life!

But, we didn't die!

 

[CheckMateTim]

I'm in Maryland too and the winds are gusting 30+ at our dock. Weather guessers (forecasters) are wrong often. Plan accordingly.

 

[Bellakins]

You just never know. We live off Goose Creek (ICW) in NC and it is supposed to have overnight temps in the 20s until about Wednesday here. Then things start to warm up a bit. Good luck to you getting south!

 

[boomerang]

Well Mr Grinch, you’ve made your point.
We had to juggle our departure date to beat the high winds forecast for the bay on the 22nd. I dropped our boat car off at Georgetown SC so as to have transportation when we arrived. Liz picked me up after she got off of work and we drove through the night to the house in VA where the boat is. We got to bed at 1:30 and woke at 3:30.
-2 hours of sleep. First warning

We went down to the boat where I noticed the tide was extremely low. We made it away from the dock but I was wondering if we would or not-2nd warning

1 hour into our trip, in the pitch black of the early morning on the Chesapeake , an alarm started sounding. We figured out what it was. A smoke alarm. But what was smoking? I turned on the engine room lights and opened the engine room hatch. A haze of smoke was in the air. It turned out to be oil smoke from the Lehman crankcase vent. I guess I bumped the tube and it wasn’t pointed at the air intake. Odd because it’s never done that to us before but everything seemed ok so we proceeded onward. That was warning 3

Mile post 0. We had just officially entered the ICW and passed the free dock in Portsmouth. We were contemplating staying there but decided to push on to Great Bridge. That’s when we noticed a bilge pump warning indicator light was on. We stopped and I climbed into the engine room expecting to see the engine swamped. I found it dry, as always. I cycled the breaker and the light went back to off. Wtf?!!? Warning 4

We arrived at the locks in great bridge before 4pm so as to have time to lock through and make the bridge opening. We hailed the lock master several times and never got a reply. We ended up calling the bridge tender and asked him if he knew what the problem was. He said he’d call the locks on the phone. We then got a radio reply from the lock master who told us to proceed into the locks, even though the red lights were on ,but by then we had missed the hourly opening for the bridge and had to stay at the northern free dock for the night. Oh well. Warning 5

We waited out the rains on Thursday the 22nd hanging at the free docks in Great Bridge and then head to Coinjock where we had reservations where we could ride out the high winds and extreme low temperatures until normal conditions allowed for an Albemarle Sound crossing on Sunday or Monday.

Today is where my pal the Grinch quit dropping subtle hints and got real.
We left great bridge with winds forecast to be 20-25 in the Albemarle ,just below coinjock. We’ve been in winds as bad before , plus most all of the trip would be on the sheltered ditch of the ICW. We cleared the last bridge, North Landing and got about a mile or 2 farther when the weather went berserk. It was steering the boat as much as I was. When we saw a gust, the 1st of many, pick up the water off of the surface and turn it into a cloud of spray , I told Liz to take the helm while I took down the Bimini. Right then, another mega gust hit as the coast guard started issuing warnings of severe gale winds. Great.
I went up to remove the top but Mr Grinchy had already done it for us. The entire top, all of the stainless bows and the port tall antenna. Warning 6.
That’s when we threw in the towel. I had a hard time doing it in the narrow ICW , but I turned the boat around , cancelled our reservations at coinjock and made reservations at Atlantic Yacht to ride out the extreme cold and head back home , with our tail between our legs.
But wait. That’s not the end of the story!
We cleared the north landing bridge and then the centerville bridges , no problem. We had our slip at Atlantic Yacht Basin in sight, just a mile away. When the Albemarle Chesapeake railroad bridge started closing. WTF! Oh well. One last delay. The train would pass and we’d be plugged in in Great Bridge and go into town to get drink and have a good dinner and lick our wounds.
After waiting for 30 minutes for the bridge to reopen, with super-high winds in a single-engine trawler, I called the coast guard. They said due to the winds the bridge was closed for 24 hours.
He acknowledged there was no notice to mariners and apologized but gee wiz. We we stuck in the waterway within sight of our destination. The railway will be hearing from us, I guarantee. Total bullshit having is within a few hundred yards and not allowing us to pass. Warning 7 and hopefully the last. We hear you loud and clear Grinch.
Thank goodness for Centerville marina at the base of the Centerville bridge. They’re closed for 2 weeks and the owners are in Florida but an employee happened to be here and said we were free to tie up there. The 50A service even works so we have heat until the railroad bridge opens and we can head home after this weather mess is over. The weather guessers really missed their “forecast” this time. It’s still blowing like heck but subsiding and we’re just happy to be tied to a dock.

 

[boomerang]

Our boat at Centerville Marina with the entire Bimini on the bottom of the ICW somewhere around mile post 25.
The ditch with white caps and froth from extreme winds.
Fun times. Not!

 

[psneeld]

Probably the worst weather in 12 years going north and south was Currituck Sound headed south to Coinjock. Had gusts to 45 that day.

That stretch must be cursed for that boat.

Sorry to hear about the trip so far... .hope the rest is better as well as the whole new year.

 

[O C Diver]

The Grinch is scared of the ghost of Robert Peek (former Deep Creek Lockmaster), and won't follow you into the Dismal Swamp. That's why I usually go that way.

Ted

 

[Wildbill]

Boomerang, was bitter sweet to see you in passing going the wrong way this afternoon, sorry to hear of your trials. As you could see we finally got underway from Deltaville after 2 months, only to arrive at Waterside without port engine reverse, and with the heater not working, air bound, was able to bleed off the air and get the Admiral happy again. The reverse was probably accidently hit and moved during the heater installation, and appeared to not be shifting into full reverse, adjustment made, testing in the morning. Hopefully the ice problem you told us about will clear with the warming weather. Hope all was well on rest of your trip, heard the CG radio transmission, the Chesapeake was smooth for our run down, hopefully it stayed that way for you...

 

[boomerang]

This years attempted trip will make for an interesting read from the ships log in the future. After loosing our Bimini top & turning around somewhere around mm 25 due to the higher than predicted and earlier than predicted wind and subsequent extreme cold, the trip only became more dramatic. The winds went from gale strength to flat in a day. As I feared, Monday the day after Christmas,the waterway froze over with the sub-freezing temperatures and calm water. We watched (and listened) as 2 sailboats crunched south. Both being less beam width than us, their paths were uncomfortable to follow and I had my doubts as to whether or not they made it to the ice-free part of the ICW anyway. We retreated to Atlantic Yacht Basin through the path we cleared by blowing the 1/2” thick ice with the prop wash. The sailboats were both taking videos and snapping pictures of the iced over waterway and the transient boats (us included) tied to the dock in the ice. I don’t suppose it occurred to either of them that we were tied up for a reason. Folks just don’t seem to get it that ice will literally cut a fiberglass boat to shreds. I told Liz that they were foolish but we were bigger fools trying to follow a fool.
We tried again later in the day but the ice wasn’t any better so we retreated once again.
The following day we watched a Motoryacht style boat crunch through the ice. It amazed me watching these nice boats getting blatantly chewed up by the ice. again, more pictures and videos. An hour later, the motoryacht was stopped dead in the water, halfway between AYB and the centerville bridge. They must’ve leaned over the bow and seen what 30 minutes of plowing ice can do to a boat.
Behind them came another onslaught of boats. Some had just started their journey after Christmas and some had holed up farther north to wait out the bad weather we’d experienced. A PDQ36 power cat came through the locks first. We said to ourselves, if he pushes on, we’re following him. He pulled into AYB to top off with fuel. He told me that he tried to go through the ice in a previous year and did $5500 worth of damage to his hulls so he grabbed one of the few remaining slips left to wait until the thaw or a tug came through.
A Katie came through next ,followed by another sailboat. I radioed the Katie and warned him of what was ahead and told him that the motoryacht ahead of him had been there for a couple of hours. We officially gave up and left our slip for the last time, this time definitely pointed north to head back home. The Katie grabbed our slip before we got to the bridge. We caught the 11AM Great Bridge bridge opening and motored to Salt Ponds, but not before the Grinch had 1 last laugh. The #7 at Gilmerton and Old Railroad bridge a few miles north were both closed, delaying us a bit longer.
Oh well, we always set off anticipating the trip will be the most exciting part ,not the destination. This trip was definitely an adventure.

 

[Gdavid]

Glad you made it through the misadventure safely. I hope that one day my wife is gung-ho as yours, mine would have hailed an uber and left me to my foolish endeavor solo.

 

[boomerang]

Buddy, the calamity most likely could've been avoided if it weren't for a little to much risk taking on my behalf. That and we had a schedule that was a little flexible but not open ended. Hindsight, if I had secured the bimini before we left, like I briefly thought about doing, instead of thinking the winds would be ok in the sheltered ditch, we could have probably chugged on to Coinjock to wait out the storm as planned. Better yet, instead of lounging a whole day at the free dock in Great Bridge, we could have arrived at Coinjock and simply stayed an extra day but we had reservations for Friday and Saturday and didn't feel we needed to stay an extra night since is was a short run ,less than 40 miles, that we could easily make.
Oh well. We'll give it a go again next year. We're putting the RIB back on the trailer & winterizing the boat this afternoon. Something I was hoping to avoid!
At least I don't have to stow the bimini for the winter!

 

[Gdavid]

At least I don't have to stow the bimini for the winter!

That is a positive perspective. It is fortunate that it didn't remain partially attached and swing the stainless hardware around wildly, bashing every piece of glass, gelcoat and finished surface it could reach. There is a Viking, aft cabin near me in the boatyard with the forward windows blown out. I'm curious to learn what happened.

 

[Wildbill]

Sorry for the delayed reply, we pushed south (anchorages with no Wi-Fi, or cell service) and finally made it to Brunswick landing. We encountered the ice just where you said , at AYB, we refueled and watched a couple vessels push through the much thinned ice compared to your description, and we followed. The ice persisted for a few miles the became spotty for a few more miles, a Kady Krogen was ahead of us, but due to my caution quickly left us behind and in places the ice shifted back into the channel causing more cautious advances. We had the usual cruising excitement with equipment, and cold weather, our new furnace initially was working great then failed , now dealling with that. Admiral isn't to happy over that or some cool night at anchor . Enjoying the first day of a months stay, then back to repairs, developed some electrical gremlins and trying to find, stop an oil leak in the starboard 4-53, and she needs a good cleaning and wax