Tag: Albemarle Sound

Hello fellow adventurers and virtual crew members!

Eric here reporting on the completion of the Albemarle Sound Loop side trip.  The hospitality of the marinas and town folks has been overwhelming.

The original float plan has been altered, and the new course after leaving Plymouth is to cruise to Columbia and then on to Hertford.  After Hertford, the crew will go back to the ICW and head to Norfolk (mile 0) via the Dismal Swamp Route.

Columbia

The run over to Columbia was very rough on Thursday, August 27th.  The wind was out of the east and blowing directly down the sound. Unfortunately for the crew, east was the direction they needed to head after leaving the Roanoke River.

The only good news is that the rough ride was short because the run only took 4 hours.

Upon arriving in Columbia, the crew walked around town. On the side of one of the buildings is a painting.  Not so unusual.  However, within the painting are 10 hidden animals that can be seen around the area.  The crew spent about an hour looking the picture over and found 8 of 10 of the animals.

On Friday morning the crew walked over to the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge and wandered around the boardwalk.

If you are like the skipper, you may be wondering, ‘what in the world is a Pocosin?”  The crew learned that a Pocosin is a swamp on a hill.  The term hill is used loosely here, can be just a few feet rise from the coastal waters.

The refuge was very peaceful.  One section of the mile long boardwalk was closed and the entrance was guarded by a large spider.  There were many large spiders along the walk.  There must be lots of bugs in the swamp to grow such spiders.

Completing the boardwalk, the crew saw many large spiders, turtles, and a rare woodpecker. The skipper heard the woodpecker, but it took almost ten minutes to locate the little bird.  He was darting in and out of a hole in a tree.  Great way to spend the morning.

The crew then wandered back over to the painting and found the last two hidden animals.  After lunch, it was time to shop the town down and provision for the next week of the journey.

Hertford

On Saturday, August 29^th, the crew motored over to Hertford, North Carolina.  The Sound was up to its usual tricks.  The wind was out of the east again but the waves were confused and seemed to be coming from every direction.  It took a couple of hours to cross but luckily once in the river the waves calmed down.  Then it was back to dodging crab traps.

The skipper says he would not want to be a crab in these waters because with so many crap pots it would be impossible to move around without getting caught.  Lucky for the crabbers, one female has about 2 million little crabs per brood.

The marina docks in Hertford are brand new and have not been used much by larger vessels.  This was apparent as the crew came into the harbor at the end of the river.

The last S swing bridge in the country guards the entry.  The bridge tender stopped the traffic and swung the bridge open.  The drivers of the stopped cars were getting out of their cars and taking pictures as the boat passed through the bridge. Even the bridge tender was taking pictures. Once docked, a man showed up from the newspaper and interviewed the crew for the local paper.  The paper only comes out weekly on Wednesday, and looks like the crew will be the news of the town.

The REAL big deal in Hertford is Jim ‘Catfish’ Hunter.  For those not in the know, he was born, raised, and died here in Hertford.  The skipper is a big baseball fan, and was a big fan of ‘Catfish” Hunter.  The Chamber of Commerce houses the museum dedicated to their favorite son.

Tribute to Jim ‘Catfish’ Hunter

Born April 8, 1946, James Augustus Hunter learned to play baseball on his family farm.  He claimed that his three older brothers taught him the game.  He developed his awesome control by practicing throwing rocks and potatoes through a hole in the family barn.  The hole was made by the brothers.  They painted an X on the barn, then cut a hole at the center of the X.

He was only 17 and still in high school when he signed his first contract with the flamboyant owner of the Kansas City A’s.  His parents had to co-sign the contract.  First contract was for $75,000.

His career almost never got started because one of his brothers accidently shot him in the foot with a shotgun.  This caused the lose of his big toe, and a delay in his major league start.  Charles O Finley, owner of the A’s, sent him to a clinic and covered his medical and rehab cost.

In 1971, he got his first of five consecutive 20 game winning seasons.  In 72, he helped win the first of three straight World Series with the A’s. Then in 74 he won the Cy Young Award with 25 wins and an 2.49 ERA.

Following the 74 season, he discovered a clause in his contract that was not honored.  Specifically, Charlie O was trying to defer 50% of Hunter’s salary to the next year for tax purposes rather than pay at the end of the season ($50,000).  Hunter took the case to arbitration and became the first free agent of the era.  A bidding war ensued for his talent (23 of 24 teams made offers), and he eventually decided to sign with the New York Yankees.  This contract was the first million dollar contract in sports.  He got a 1 million signing bonus and a 3.5 million dollar contract.

In 75, Hunter led the American League with 23 wins and taught the Yankees how to win again.

In 76, Hunter became only the fourth pitcher to win 200 games in the modern era before his 31^st birthday.  It was also in this time that he was diagnosed with Diabetes and his numbers began to fall off.

From 76-78, he helped lead the Yankees to three straight American League pennants and two World Series championships.

He honored his five year contract with the Yankees and retired back home to Hertford after the 79 season to return to farm life.  The locals talk of him sitting in the corner pharmacy signing baseballs for fans with one caveat, they were not to sell the ball for more than $3 because he wanted everyone to have an autographed ball.

In 1987 he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In September 1998 he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and a year later he died of complications from ALS on September 9, 1999 at the young age of 53.

Former teammate with the A’s and Yankees, Reggie Jackson described Hunter as a fabulous human being.  He was a man of honor.  He was a man of loyalty.

George Steinbrenner, owner of the Yankees who signed Hunter for 3.5 Million, said “We were not winning before Catfish arrived…… He exemplified class and dignity and he taught us how to win.”

Former teammate Lou Piniella said, “Catfish was a very unique guy.  If you didn’t know he was making that kind of money, you’d never guess it because he was humble, very reserved about being a star type player. But he told great stories.  He had a heck of a sense of humor.  When you play with guys like that, you feel blessed.

Best testimony of all is the town folk who speak highly of him and his family.  Just another farmer here in town that just happened to play a little ball in between hunting seasons and harvest.

Hello fellow adventurers and virtual crew members!

Eric here reporting on the Albemarle Sound Loop side trip.  The sound is 50 miles, east to west.  Kitty Hawk is on the east side of the sound on the Outer Banks while Edenton flanks the west side of the sound.

The Albemarle Sound marinas are sponsoring 48 hours of free dockage in each marina.  Our crew plans on stopping in 4 of the 6 participating marinas.

The float plan is to travel from Alligator River Marina to Edenton Harbor Marina, then to Plymouth Landing Marina, then to Albemarle Plantation Marina, and lastly the Elizabeth City Mariners’ Warf.

Edenton Harbor Marina

The trip to the west end of the sound took 5 hours and 20 minutes. The scenery did not change much as they were surrounded by water and distant views of land.

The challenge of navigating these waters were all the crab pots in the water.  Each crab pot is marked by a floating buoy.  Depending on the color of the buoy, some are easier to see than others.  The orange buoys are the easiest to spot.  The white ones are difficult when the waves are white capping.  The blues and greens are tough to see, and the skipper seems to spot them within yards of the boat.  Took the skipper and the mate watching to keep the vessel out of trouble.  One crab pot tangled up in the prop equals a bad day cruising.

Upon the approach to town there is a 65 foot vertical bridge that spans the sound.  The bridge is 4 miles long from shore to shore.  When the crew first saw the bridge, they could see the 65 foot portion but not the rest of the bridge.  Looked interesting to see a bridge to nowhere.

Once safely in Edenton, the crew walked around town to see the sights and learn the history of the town.

The town was first settled back in 1658 by some folks who left Jamestown, Virginia.  The site became the first permanent settlement in North Carolina.  The town was incorporated back in 1722.  Edenton was actually the capital of North Carolina from 1722 to 1743

In 1774 Edenton had their own Tea Party.  Penelope Barker led a group of 51 women in a boycott of English Tea.  The London papers described the women as uncontrollable.  The Barker House is on the waterfront and available for touring.

During the civil war the town melted down the church bells to cast 4 cannons.  The town was conquered early in the war and the “Edenton Bell Battery” was taken for use by union troops.  Following the war, 2 of the 4 cannons were returned and now reside by the Barker House.

The last point of interest that the crew visited was the Roanoke River Lighthouse.  This is actually the third Lighthouse built.  After decommissioning in 1955, Emmett Wiggins moved the structure from the Roanoke River to Edenton to use as a personal residence.

But the thing that will be most remembered by the crew will be the May Fly invasion.  The morning after arriving in the marina the boat was covered by thousands of May Flies.  Worse yet, when they died they left a green spot from the algae they had been eating.  Needless to say, after weeks of cleaning and getting the boat looking ship shape, the bug invasion has left Still Waters II looking more like a spider café.  The dead bugs and green spots will take more than a few days to clean up, but heck, what else were the crew going to do?

Plymouth

The run over to Plymouth took about 2 hours.  The wind was out of the north so the crew rode the waves with the wind on the stern of the boat.  When they turned west to enter the Roanoke River, the crew took a few hard rolls as the wind and waves were directed at the beam of the boat.  They quickly entered the mouth of the river and all was calm.

The 4 mile run up river was beautiful.  Cypress trees initially line the banks of the river. Hard woods line the river bank by the time the marina is reached.

There was a fishing tournament in progress and the bass boats were flying up and down the river.  Someone should tell these guys you have to have a line in the water to catch fish.

Once docked, the crew learned the fish weigh in was only a quarter mile down river so they walked down to observe the process.  The tournament was sponsored by the Greenville Bass Club and had 60 boats participating in the tournament.  From 3 to 3:30 the fisherman began bringing in the catch.  Most boats had 5 bass with a total weight around 15 pounds.

The big bass winner was 7 lbs 11 oz, and this team also won first prize for total weight of exactly 20 lbs.  The hardest part of observing the weigh in was watching the fisherman go release the fish back in the river.  Seems our skipper is a catch and release fisherman also, he just prefers to release fish into hot oil.

Just next to the marina is a replica of the Roanoke River Lighthouse.  Remember the ‘real’ one is over in Edenton Harbor.  Seems a little odd that the community on the Roanoke River has the replica and their rival town has the real deal.  The skipper asked the Dock Master about the replica and got an ear full about the situation.  Looks like the skipper stepped on a raw nerve with that question.

Plymouth, North Carolina has a rich 400 year heritage.  Robert Lane was the first European in the area back in 1584.  By 1680, people began settling in the area.  The town of Plymouth was established in 1787 and by 1857 it was one of six major ports in North Carolina.  The town was also one of two ports of entry in North Carolina so it had a Customs House on Water Street.

Due to the strategic location of Plymouth, the Civil War saw plenty of action in the area.  The Union forces occupied the town early in the war.  In April 1864 the confederates won their last major victory of the war by retaking the town.  The CSS Albemarle was crucial in the victory by sinking the USS Southfield.

However, it was a short lived victory.  In October of 1864, the CSS Albemarle was sunk and the Federal Army was able to retake the town.

The little town is working hard to revive its past to lure tourist to the area.  The crew agrees with the Plymouth travel brochure that the area is a great place to come visit, relax, prop your feet up, soak up the history, and enjoy the natural experience.

Speaking of natural experience, one unexpected find in the town was the God’s Creation Wildlife Museum.  A business man in town has been hunting all over the world.  He has some of his mounts on display.  A lady in the office gave us a guided tour of each of the four galleries.  This was a real treat and well worth the stop.

Go to WWW.wildlifemuseum.net for a virtual tour of the museum.

The only constant in this world seems to be change.  Yes the crew has changed their plans again.  They have met some other cruisers who have recommended a stop in Columbia, so the crew is adding the stop to the Albemarle Sound loop.

They called ahead on Tuesday, but the marina did not have a spot for them.  Supposedly, a boat is leaving Wednesday morning from Columbia.  If so, the crew will head over and check the little town out.  Little is probably an overstatement.  Last census in 2010 shows a population of 900 folks.

Local Factoid – The weather in the area does not get cold enough for the black bears to hibernate so they enjoy the local cornfields and other crops year round leading to the record sizes of bears in these woods.