Tashi Delek - The Intra Coastal Waterway. Norfolk, Virginia to Oriental, North Carolina, 10

The Intra Coastal Waterway. Norfolk, Virginia to Oriental, North Carolina, 10 - 15 Nov 12

Tashi Delek

Mike & Carol Kefford

Thu 15 Nov 2012 20:00

36:10.55N 075:53.5W

When we came up through the waterway in May it had been thick cloud and rain the whole way. This time clear and sunny which was considerably better. We set off through the docks and under the bridges of Norfolk …..

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….. but quickly reached the countryside and spent our first night on a free jetty at Great Bridge surrounded by signs explaining how the town had defended themselves from the British during War of Independence.

On again through the canals……..

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….and wide open Sounds……. This is the Alligator River Swing Bridge which had just opened for us. We love watching traffic stop for Tashi Delek! The yacht following us is Podjo with David and Barbara on board. We had met the previous day when we were close enough in the channel to chat without using the radios. They had anchored close to us and rowed across to share a glass of wine. They have sailed for many years but this was their first cruise away from their home waters of Long Island and they had so far had a very challenging time including dealing with Hurricane Sandy in New York. More on Podjo later.

Then back into more canals. The autumn colours were stunning and we enjoyed watching the birds although didn’t see any other wildlife. We heard on the radio that someone had spotted a bear!

Rather than head straight to Beaufort, the stepping off point on the coast, we took the advice of the family we had met on Cajou in Norfolk and broke the journey in Oriental. Not only had they recommended the town they had made contact with the couple they had met there, Diane and Michael, and arranged for us to use their private jetty rather than anchor. Our intended two days stay turned into a fantastic ten days of new experiences and a whole lot of fun with new friends.

But first we had to get up Whittaker Creek and alongside the jetty……

Note the green markers indicated the left hand side of the narrow and shallow channel. Or did they? We watched a yacht come out and apparently ignore them. Did this mean local knowledge or foolhardiness? Mike called them on the radio and they said the channel was navigable, it seems they had taken a short cut from their marina. They then suggested calling another marina further up the creek for more advice on what happens next. We did and were guided through which red and green to hug, not quite hug and stay away from altogether as we inched our way up with nothing showing on the depth gauge.

Michael had helpfully hung a brightly coloured windsock on their jetty so we at least knew where we were aiming for and Mike wiggled our way in with calm aplomb finishing with a 180 degree turn and gentle glide up to the jetty where Michael was waiting to take our lines. Our departure was less elegant – more on that story later.