{"id":3425,"date":"2014-10-01T15:03:02","date_gmt":"2014-10-01T15:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=3425"},"modified":"2014-10-01T15:03:02","modified_gmt":"2014-10-01T15:03:02","slug":"day-one-on-the-icw-and-well-on-our-way-to-beaufort-nc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=3425","title":{"rendered":"Day one on the ICW and well on our way to Beaufort NC."},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s Wednesday morning and we left Elizabeth City around 07:30 to make the run to Belhaven, about 70 miles south on the ICW.\u00a0\u00a0 We had a very nice visit in EC last night and enjoyed a terrific dinner of boiled spicy shrimp that we peeled and ate in the cockpit and washed down with a few beers.\u00a0\u00a0 We also had some terrific crabcakes, dusted with Old Bay seasoning and coleslaw on a bed of lettuce.\u00a0 \u00a0Mmmm\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

As we were preparing to head out today, we were treated to a wonderful sunrise over the waterfront park in Elizabeth City.\u00a0 Pandora\u2019s on the right. Nice place.\"\"<\/a>This morning Ken \u00a0left Pandora to drive home as our run was taking more time than he had to commit to the trip.\u00a0 As his schedule was really tighter than we both realized, it was unlikely that he\u2019d be able to do the whole trip anyway.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, my other crew member, Jim knows the boat pretty well now having sailed with me from Nassau to Essex last year.\u00a0 Actually, by the time we get to St Mary\u2019s GA next week, he will have been aboard Pandora for more miles than anyone else who has crewed with me in to date.\u00a0 He\u2019s a pleasure to have on board.<\/p>\n

So, we decided to make a long day today on our run to Belhaven and will be underway till early evening.<\/p>\n

A nice view of downtown Elizabeth City as we left this morning. \u00a0The water was glass smooth.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>As we head south, we are making a good 7kts which is good.\u00a0 Interestingly, when I left LI Sound Pandora\u2019s bottom had not been cleaned for about a month and the best speed that I was able to get with 2,000 RPM was only about 6.4kts.\u00a0 Now that I have gone all the way to Annapolis and now down to North Carolina, we are doing a bit over 7kts with the same RPM.\u00a0 That suggests that the light slime that had built up on the bottom has been worn off by the passing water.<\/p>\n

Speaking of speed, I am particularly pleased with my new Autoprop as I am getting nearly 1.5kts better speed at the same RPM. \u00a0\u00a0I checked the fuel economy the other day and determined that we are now getting better fuel economy at about .77GPH versed just under a gallon per hour, and going the same speed.\u00a0 That translates into a MPG of about 8.5 as opposed to something like 6.5 with my old prop.\u00a0 I\u2019ll need a bit more time to confirm that number, but it seems about right.\u00a0 I was told that I would see about a 15% improvement in fuel economy with the new prop, and this seems to confirm that.<\/p>\n

Yesterday was a wonderful day as we made our way through the Dismal Swamp Canal from Newport News.\u00a0\u00a0 The canal is an impressive engineering feat dug by slave labor during George Washington\u2019s time.\u00a0 Slavery is indeed an unfortunate part of our history and the canal is one example of the hardships that these people endured.\u00a0 I am pleased that the canal has been kept up for all of these years as a reminder of our past.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the sunrise just below the lock.\u00a0 Beautiful and very peaceful.\"\"<\/a>On a positive note, one of my favorite parts of the trip is seeing the Lock Tender Robert, as we enter the north lock of the canal. Robert is always good for a smile and warm greeting.\u00a0\u00a0 And this time, he even shared a Danish and cup of coffee with us.\u00a0 What a great guy.\u00a0\u00a0 As if that\u00a0<\/span>wasn’t\u00a0enough, he even agreed to do a \u201cshort\u201d\u00a0conch concert. \u00a0I hope to upload the clip soon but don’t have the bandwidth to do it right now. \u00a0You go Robert!!!<\/span>\"\"<\/a>Transiting the lock to the canal is a wonderful experience as we were lifted the 8\u2019 to the swamp and then dropped down again at the other end.\u00a0\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t Pandora look right at home in the lock?<\/span>Ken enjoying a cup of Robert\u2019s coffee.\u00a0 Note the wall above Pandora.\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/span>Now, in the full position, 8\u2019 higher.\u00a0 An impressive rise in only a few minutes.\"\"<\/a><\/span>Pandora looking good in the lock and ready to go.\"\"<\/a><\/span>On our way down the canal.\u00a0 So smooth and peaceful.\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/span>I guess that I\u2019d better focus on where Pandora\u2019s going and less on where she\u2019s been.\u00a0 Don\u2019t want to run aground.\u00a0 No wait, Jim\u2019s at the helm.\u00a0 Whew\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh yeah, I spoke with Chris Parker today and it looks like we will get some favorable winds to jump out of Beaufort for the 2 day sail to St Mary\u2019s, perhaps on Saturday.\u00a0 Fingers crossed.\u00a0 I\u2019ll talk to him again on Friday morning.\u00a0 Wish us luck.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s all for now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s Wednesday morning and we left Elizabeth City around 07:30 to make the run to Belhaven, about 70 miles south on the ICW.\u00a0\u00a0 We had a very nice visit in EC last night and enjoyed a terrific dinner of boiled spicy shrimp that we peeled and ate in the cockpit and washed down with a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_s2mail":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3425"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3434,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3425\/revisions\/3434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}