Saturday, 9/26/15 - What an eventful day
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| Leaving the Pungo River anchorage |
As forecast, the day dawned with rain, fog and wind. Ugghhh. We left our protected anchorage at the head of the Pungo River for the 1.5 hour trip to the River Forest boatyard where we hoped they could haul us & help swap our bent props for our spares. As we approached what we thought was the shipyard, we called the owner & he told us we would need to tie up at the Forest River Marina while he moved some boats around to make room for us. However, he assured us that he could lift us just fine.
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| The Forest River marina |
We tied up at the marina with some assistance due to the strong winds & waited ... and waited. Finally around noon, Axson, the yard owner told us he would be arriving shortly to "take" us to the yard.
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Axson guided us through the creek &
down the tight waterways to his lift |
As it turns out, it was a very good thing he did. He came aboard and acted as our pilot. He knew the local waters and was able to help us get waaay up a tiny creek to his yard without running aground (on the way in, that is).
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We had to muscle Samba around 2 pilings to get into the lift.
The waterway was too narrow for us to simply drive in to the slings |
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Checking the height. Samba was almost too tall to lift out
of the water. Argghhh. |
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| Close but we made it |
The quarters at the boat lift were impossibly narrow & difficult to negotiate. We had to lay Samba up against 2 pilings & muscle her into the sling. Ugghhh.
Fortunately, she didn't incur any damage from all the manhandling.
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| Jim checking out the props & running gear |
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| Axson III taking a look at the damage |
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| A bit of curl in the brass |
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| Offloading the 100 lb spare props |
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| The travel lift canal. Notice how much space is NOT at the end! |
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| Swapping the props - - in the rain |
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| While at the boat yard, the swollen river came up over the driveway to the yard! |
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| Leaving the boatyard, we couldn't get Samba turned so we had to back her down this narrow alley! |
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| Trees on 1 side. Boats on the other |
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| Talk about needing some bear grease to get through the opening! |
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| Everybody crabs around here. Even the mayor & DNR officer |
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With Axon helping pilot us, we rounded the tight corner &
were immediately caught by the wind and pushed aground! |
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| Helooo trees! |
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| Axson's son came to the rescue & pulled us free! |
After we were pulled off the shore, Axson helped guide us back to the River Forest Marina where he, Henry the marina manager & his assistant, Eddie, did a great job helping us get Samba tied up. The wind was so strong & we had had so much rain that the river level was 2 1/2 feet over normal. The local commercial fishermen said they had never seen the river so high other than when they had a hurricane. We doubled up our fenders to keep Samba fended off the pilings. Talk about a rocky night!
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| Double fended due to high wind & waves |
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| Forest River Marina - newly remodeled & very nice |
After our somewhat eventful day, we decided to have dinner in town in Belhaven. The marina includes use of their golf carts and laundry facilities as part of our rent so at Henry's recommendation, off we went to relax at "Spoon River", a delightful and surprisingly good local restaurant.
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| Spoon River's wine selection room |
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| What a fun little restaurant |
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| We hope the Caddy doesn't mind his little parking buddy |
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We thought we were getting a filet
with a "little bit" of lobster |
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Quite an unexpected surprise - -
and unexpectedly delicious! |
Sunday,9/27/15
Because of the forecast continued high winds & rain for Sunday, we decided to spend another day at the River Forest Marina. Good thing, too. The wind was even worse on Sunday and many of the streets in town had flooded, including Main Street. Even many of the local docks were under water. Wow, what a nor'easter!
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| Belhaven water at record highs other than hurricane levels |
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| Looking down Main Street in Belhaven. Notice the truck trying to get through the water! |
