We left right away in the morning because we knew the wind was going to be picking up by evening and coming from the west, which was an unprotected direction due to the shape of the island. We were essentially following the island south, but the waves ended up being worse than forecasted. What was supposed to be about 2 foot waves was actually about 6 foot. It made for a rough ride to get to Rock Sound. Fortunately, the kids did fine. Joe and I both had our first bout of sea sickness. I hadn't had a chance to eat my lunch yet and was helping Joe get the twins ready for naptime. Being down below where it was stuffy, you can't see the horizon and I had an empty stomach, was a bad combination. I came back up to the back of the boat, but it was too late. Once I ate lunch I felt better. Joe had to get to the bathroom not long after that.
We were aiming for Rock Sound because it was a large harbor that was one of the few places we could anchor that had westerly wind protection. We had to anchor on the west side which was about a mile from the town. Joe did take the dinghy in and said it was far too rough on the other side for anyone else to go in, so he grabbed laundry and did a couple loads for us. The next day was 25-30knot winds, so we stayed put and had to just spend the day on the boat. Jesse and Chelsey did go in, in the afternoon when the winds had died down slightly and did a grocery store run.
[ add comment ]
We left the western side of the island and headed for the Current Cut. This has to be timed with the tides because it's a relatively skinny channel through the island and a strong current can be going through there. We heard someone on the radio the day before trying to do it and wasn't making any headway and had to turn around. We had no problem and the other side was gorgeous. The color of the water here is unreal.
Our end game was the Lower Bogue area near the Glass Bridge. On our way, Jesse yelled "dolphin!" We all came out onto the deck to see seven dolphins hanging out at the front of the boat. It was amazing. They hung around for at least 5 minutes.
We got to where we were going to anchor, and the waves were super rolly. Joe and Ben went to shore to scope things out, only to decide that it was too sketchy to bring anyone else ashore. Rick picked them up at a different beach, which was still pretty rough.
Our main goal at this spot was to go north to a Bottom Harbor Beach where sea turtles supposedly congregated, so go to the Queen's Baths and to see the Glass Bridge. On Sunday we went to the Queen's Bath, which was very pretty. After naptime, Joe had found someone to drive us to go see the turtles. It wasn't quite what we were expecting, but we did get to see quite a few turtles, which was fun. Ash loved it, Eli saw one and then just wanted to play in the water.
[ add comment ]
We wanted to check out Preacher's Cave and the Sapphire Blue Hole, so after the boys played on the beach for a bit in the morning, we moved the boat over to Bluff Settlement. While on the way, Chelsey put lines out and caught a Mutton Snapper. Once we anchored, Joe went onshore to see what he could figure out. He said everyone was super friendly, and on Wednesday he managed to find a taxi that could bring all of us to the northern part of the island to check those two things out.
Rick stayed on the boat and the rest of us hopped in and went to Preacher's Cave first. It was a big cave where people lived after they had shipwrecked on Devil's Backbone (a reef near the island) in the mid-1600's. After exploring that and walking over to the beach where we could see the reef, we hopped back in and took the short drive to the blue hole. Sapphire is definitely an appropriate name. I stayed with the twins and watched Joe, Jesse and Chelsey jump in. Ben climbed down a little ways before jumping in and swimming. We had it to ourselves for about 15 minutes before a couple more groups showed up. The timing was perfect.
For dinner that night, Jesse cooked up the Snapper that Chelsey had caught. It was super yummy.
On Thursday, there was going to be some wind from the west, so we headed back to Meeks Patch. While there, we had to spend a lot of Thursday on the boat because of the winds, but the kids got some more beach time on Friday, and the work that Chelsey and Rick had done on the paddle boards was put to work. We took those into the beach because the dinghy started giving us trouble again. Ben got a chance to try and paddled around the boat a few times.
[ add comment ]
We headed to the West End because there appeared to be a channel dug into the island that didn't have any buildings within it. When we got there, we had Joe and Chelsey watch from the bow of the boat incase any obstructions were in the channel, but it was a solid 15 feet deep, which is what it was dredged at originally. We found a good spot to anchor and were there alone. It is apparently an abandoned development. On some of the islands, they dredge out channels and then build marinas and homes along it. This one had concrete roads poured, utilities put in and a few houses had been started. Something must have happened and work on the project stopped. It made for a peaceful place to stay. Fully protected from waves.
It was a short dinghy ride to head out to the beach. We could either get dropped off down a nearby channel and walk there, or take the dinghy back out through the channel and beach it there. Jesse and Rick managed to get a few lobsters while snorkeling. The boys loved digging in the sand and playing in the water. The water was a great depth for them. Ben also tried snorkeling for the first time and is completely obsessed.
Another sailboat showed up yesterday and anchored nearby. Today, it completely poured and a rainbow showed up. That was fun to show the kids. While here they got a lot of great time on the beach and got to see crabs, a huge conch and lots of shells.
[ add comment ]
Today was a day to get some things done and let the kids burn off energy. We washed all the sheets that needed it from the leaky pull-up and throwup of the previous couple days. We had the kids run around in the grass. They tried to catch butterflies. We took the water taxi over towards a market that's nearby in order to find some lunch. Chelsey spent the morning organizing and cleaning some of the boat, which was awesome. We showed back up to the boat around naptime and the person we were waiting for that had the part we needed for the dinghy's motor came. Rick got it installed quickly, so we'll test that out tomorrow, but it should be good now.
Eli has decided that naps are optional. The last few days we've managed to get him to still nap, but today was not one of those days. During that time, Rick, Chelsey and Jesse took the 2pm van ride to the grocery store that the marina offered. They stocked back up on some produce. Once they were back and Ash was awake, we all took the water taxi back to the market for dinner and some fro-yo. Unfortunately, we found out the water taxi stopped at 6pm when it was already 7pm. The woman that was running the fro-yo place helped us get a taxi that fortunately fit all 8 of us.
[ add comment ]
Next
Calendar