the Cooper: Friends from Florida to Virginia

Friends in every State – Good Thing!

From Florida to Virginia, we have met up with Looper friends. Friends that we did know before we started the Looper adventure: friends can take one’s mind off one’s misadventures.

It all started in Fernandina Beach, Florida. Mike and Mary Dickens, brokers and owners of Paradise Yachts, dinghied over to our boat and we spent a couple delightful hours getting reacquainted. We purchased “the Cooper” through Paradise Yachts in late 2010 and Mike and Mary spent the first four days with us as we brought the boat to Naples, showing us the ropes and giving us all sorts of practical advice. Last year as we cruised north they introduced us to Cumberland Island, Georgia. What a treasure! It was especially heartening to hear that our boat looked “great”.

The Gold Burgee flew off the flagpole as we crossed the St. Simon Sound. Not only did we not have visible proof that we were seasoned and accomplished cruisers. We can no way to tell the wind direction. It was a toss between the Canadian flag or the yellow quarantine flag. The Canadian flag won. So now it was the Canadian flag at the bow, the Frisian flag at the mast, and the US flag on the transom. (A big thanks to Anne Marie, our neighbor in Naples, for mailing our old burgee to us).

Steve and Beth Westgate (Gemini) live in Savannah, Georgia and we spent three nights at their dock. We first met Steve and Beth in Waterford, NY in June 2011 and it seemed every week or two we would be at the same marina until November 2011 in Mobile, Alabama when we headed home and they took a side trip to New Orleans, LA. They popped in to see us for a few days in Naples in January 2012 and so it had been a few months since we last saw them. Great meals together, along with their daughter Rebecca, and a generosity of time driving us to get our chores and fix-ups completed. There was some serious talk about cruising in the same neck of the water next year. Noted!

Steve and Rusty


Me and Beth

The next stop was in Beaufort, South Carolina where we again docked at friends, Chuck & Claria Gorgen (Odyssey). We were became internet friends in 2010 during the period that we were looking for a boat. Odyssey is a beautiful 1971 Hatteras that has been lovingly restored and is a seasoned looper and down east veteran. It was too much boat for us at the time. Even though we did not remain prospective purchasers, Chuck was always willing to answer our many questions as we continued the search for our boat. Then to our delight, in early 2011 they cruised down to Goodland, FL where we had our boat. Goodland is at the edge of the map.

Chuck and Claria Gorgen

It seemed for the next few days we were just getting ahead of “Beryl”. We ducked into McClellanville, SC and were joined at dinner by a couple from Cape May, NJ. The next and only two times we were in a grocery store (Morehead City, NC, and Deltaville, VA) and who should be there but Harry and Sharon!

Well, as we continued towards Georgetown, NC, we lost our dinghy. The lines snapped and off it went. And where it went, we do not know. On the plus side, it was leaking, and Rusty never liked it. On the not-plus side, we would have to get another one. And that meant finding a place to buy one that was near the water. After much research, we decided on a West Marine water tender. And lo and behold, wasn’t there a West Marine store in Morehead City, NC that would deliver one to us.

But not so fast. There was another little hiccup before we got to Morehead City. It was Memorial Day and Beryl was still pushing us north. Eyes glued to the IPAD, and concerned with finding a series of places to duck if necessary, I wasn’t paying attention to the navigation and failed to warn Rusty we had entered “the ROCKPILE”. Passing boats is not recommended and we were passing a slow sailboat and gave him too much room. Just as we edged back into the center of the channel the prop nicked a rock. Sickening sound. All I am going to say is that there was minimal damage to the prop. It needed to be machined. At the same time the marina guys noticed the strut was a bit off and they did some magic with a belt and a forklift. End result, the boat has NO vibration and is performing better than ever.

Needless to say, Rusty is hitting the chart books at night. I may have lost my job…

On Saturday, June 3, we arrived in Morehead City, NC, and had Roger and Linda Moffatt, and Linda’s brother Kevin, over to the boat for cocktails. We met Roger and Linda in Naples earlier this year and gave them a tour of our boat. They were interested in purchasing a Monk and our brokers, Mike and Mary Dickens, made the introduction. Roger and Linda did buy a Monk and so now we are part of the same family. It was fun to trade stories and hints on making our boats comfortable for cruising. We look forward to seeing them on the water!

Our new dinghy. It was delivered. We tried to put on the outboard. It did not fit. We removed the thick rubber transom cover and found the plastic lip of the boat distended which resulted in a too-wide transom. Screwing the edge into the wooden part of the transom did not make much of a difference. We ended up trotting over to an auto supply store and picking up thin rubber car mats. We made a template from the old cover and screwed it in place. Voila! Now you might ask why we did not go back to West Marine. We did. They offered to look at it at the end of the day. But we figured by that time we would be on the hook for another day’s dockage and who knows if the issue could have been resolved quickly.

On Monday, June 5^th, as we headed to New Bern, NC, we were hailed, “the Cooper, the Cooper, this is Merluza”. We met Eric and Patty in Little Current, Ontario in August 2011 and then again in Turtle Bay, Kentucky or was it Tennessee? They also stopped in Naples. Along the way we discovered a joint appreciation for coffee and margueritas both specialties of the “Merluza” team. We became in-trust beneficiaries of their Rideau Canal and Ottawa River charts, which will be passed on to others when we are finished with them. Unbeknownst to us, Eric and Patty had been moored quite close to us in Morehead City and unfortunately were headed in the opposite direction on Monday. However, our paths are meant to cross and so we will keep in touch.

New Bern is a lovely, walk able town with a great multi-building museum. The only problem is that we could only dock for four hours and then had to be on our way. Not enough time. We asked if we could overnight (we were the only ones at the city docks) and they said no. So off we went but not before we discovered a shop run by a Swiss lady. We purchased among other things, a can of red cabbage and black salty licorice. (One must be Dutch or married to someone Dutch to appreciate black salty licorice.)

New Bern iconic bears are everywhere

The very place Pepsi was invented.

Gigi trying to pilot the ship.

Not bad with a bit of help!

A stop in Oriental, NC to pick up mail was next on the list. The check from the insurance company was duly forwarded to our bank. We purchased a quiche at a small gourmet deli/restaurant in town. It was delicious!

It was rough on the Neuse River and we were happy to find the space at the Belhaven City Dock, also free. The docks were fixed and new with very high pilings. We were warned about the depth and had no issues. Fortunately a lady came over just as we approached and helped tie us up. Turns out Beth and her husband David are Monk owners (Elizabeth). They came over at the end of the day and had drinks with us. They know the same Monk owners we do. Small world!

View of side alley in Bellhaven, NC

Mail box visitor's center in Bellhaven, NC

We decided to do the Virginia Cut this year instead of Dismal Swamp. It was quicker we found and a nice change. Albemarle Sound was quiet this year. By the end of day on June 8 we were docked at Great Bridge, VA. We were tuckered and did not even go to the Fresh Market.

OnSail, a tall ship event, was the weekend event in Norfolk (pronounced gnaw fuk by Norfolkians). We had to pick up some mail and were hoping to stop at a marina for a couple hours and then be on our way. Well. It turned out that the (free) ferry landing was practically deserted so we docked. After picking up our mail and going to the farmers market, we left Gigi on the boat and had a super meal at Lagusternos, followed by fireworks on the water. The next day after church we took the ferry over to Norfolk and saw some amazing tall ships.

Sunday afternoon we headed to Hampton to visit with other boater friends. Tom and Claria (Journey) came to our rescue in May 2011 when we needed to find dockage for a week while attending a family wedding. A very lovely marina at Camp LeJeune, Swansboro, NC was the answer. Journey left Camp LeJeune and meandered in and out of various rivers visiting the towns along the way. Sort of what we were going to do if but for a rock or two. Finally in Hampton we met and got reacquainted. Spent a great day together at the local museum and then it was time to move on.

A view of downtown Hampton, VA

Tuesday, June 11 we headed to Deltaville. It took 7 hours. The first three were passable. The next three were barely tolerable. The last hour was “wow!” Wind was ok. The waves were nuts, starting with 1-2, 2-4, and then 4-6. And boy do we understand that when there is a prediction of 2-3 waves, every seven way is another 2/3 again. We stayed in Deltaville for three nights. The first morning we slept until 9 am. To put this in context, normally we are up at 5-6.

A lonely marker on our way to Deltaville, VA

Friday, June 14, we were aiming for Solomon’s, MD. Waves were so unforgiving we gave up after three hours and ducked into Reedville, VA. It is a charming anchorage. We are having crab cakes tonight (purchased from the local seafood company). The wind is blowing from the NE and we should not have any nasty menhaden smells tonight.