Here’s our general strategy for getting to Charleston, SC. This has three phases to it. Phase I is to get to Norfolk. Phase II is to get to Beaufort. There are a lot of moving parts.
We’ll see if we do none, some, or all of it.
For example, there are family complications piled on top of family complications. We’re bound for Charleston because it seems to fit with all the other things going on. We’re not completely tied to a calendar, but, we’ve got a window.
And there are birding locations in the wilds of eastern North Carolina. There are cities we’ve never been to. Fuel and water for the boat and us. A lot of moving parts to getting south.
Phase I is the trip down the Bay to Norfolk. I like to compute ETE (Estimated Time Enroute.) That way the departure can be a little flexible and the ETA depends on when we finally get rolling in the morning.
- Herring Bay to Solomon’s Island. ETE 6h 55m. Get Fuel.
- Solomon’s Island to Deltaville. 8h 12m
- Deltaville to Mobjack Bay. 4h 41m
- Mobjack Bay to Norfolk. 6h 19m
This has one looong day and a bunch of short-ish days. It’s superficially simple because we have a lot of alternatives and bail-point points along the way. We’re familiar with the bay.
For Phase II, CA picked a bunch of spots to anchor in North Carolina based on seasonal bird migration and our need for laundry and fresh water. We’ll get to CA’s list of sites in a moment. First, however, here’s the “direct” route to Beaufort. I’ve pencilled in ETA’s based on an 09:00 departure.
The starting date is likely Monday 18 Oct or Tuesday 19 Oct. Depending on weather and laundry and what-not.
Start End ETE ETA
Norfolk (SM 0) Coinjock (SM 50) 7h 33m 16:33
Coinjock (SM 50) S Alligator (SM 100) 7h 33m 16:33
S Alligator (SM 100) Belhaven (SM 135) 5h 17m 14:17
Belhaven (SM 135) South River (SM 180) 6h 48m 15:48
South River (SM 135) New Bern 3h 45m 13:49
New Bern Beaufort (SM 205) 7h 00m 16:00 Get Fuel
This doesn’t include the bridge details; we’re not completely familiar with those. More importantly, it doesn't include CA’s birding locations. The additional details get us to this.
Destination ETE ETA
Norfolk 0h 0m 2021-10-19 08:30:00
Bridge: Gilmerton Lift 0h 50m 2021-10-19 09:30:24
Bridge: Great Bridge 0h 38m 2021-10-19 10:30:55
Bridge: Centerville Turnpike Swing 0h 32m 2021-10-19 11:30:04
Bridge: North Landing Swing 0h 43m 2021-10-19 12:13:30
Coinjock 4h 18m 2021-10-19 16:31:27
Durant Is 4h 20m 2021-10-20 12:20:41
Bridge: Alligator River Swing 0h 36m 2021-10-21 08:36:29
Catfish Pt 1h 33m 2021-10-21 10:10:19
Bear Pt 0h 43m 2021-10-22 08:43:26
Belhaven 5h 4m 2021-10-23 13:04:08
Junction: SM145 1h 26m 2021-10-24 09:26:53
Juniper Bay 4h 10m 2021-10-24 13:36:53
Silver Lake 3h 55m 2021-10-25 11:55:00
West Bay 4h 42m 2021-10-26 12:42:00
South River 3h 51m 2021-10-27 11:51:00
New Bern 3h 45m 2021-10-28 11:45:00
Beaufort 7h 22m 2021-10-29 15:22:14
If you read closely, you’ll see that the ETE’s and ETA’s don’t precisely add up around the first three bridges. They’re on a schedule and only open on the half-hour. So, you make the leg take an hour instead of the stated time enroute. Don’t be mislead by hours, minutes, and seconds in the ETA times. I didn’t change the spreadsheet format to show only hours.
Overall, we want to take about 10 days, maybe some more depending on how long we stop and if we have to wait for weather.
Here’s a snapshot of the 24th through the 29th, working our way around the Pamlico Sound. Up in the north-east corner there are some little triangles for places want to stop. Plus some anchors for places we’ve stopped before.
So far, the snotty weather on the 16th (and anticipated for 17th) may push this back a few days. Who knows?
