June 30, 2008.

We enjoyed our stay in Manteo very much, but it was time to leave. The weather forecast was for 15 - 25 knots with higher winds as the day went on. Yahoo, we will be sailing. We motored down the long channel and raised the genoa as soon as possible.

We should have been beam reaching for over 20 miles but the forecast was also filled with the threat of very violent thunderstorms. If beset by one of these fast moving monsters its easier for me to douse the genny than drop the main sail and stow it properly. So with this in mind we sacrificed a balanced sail plan and headed out under genoa alone.

The 15 to 25 turned out to be more like 8 knots and we were sailing along at just over 4 knots. Crap. We weighed our options and decided to put up all sail in spite of the threat of storms. With all sail up we were moving at close to 6 knots, which also cut 2 hours off our trip up to and across the Albemarle Sound.

While enroute the Coast Guard announced a major squall with gusts to 45 knots just 20 miles away and headed right for us. Fortunately, our increased boat speed enabled us to out run most of the squall. It hit bringing a driving rain but no spectacular winds. We could see it coming across the surface of the water, so duly warned we rolled in the genoa and kept sailing under main alone. When the storm left it took all our wind with it, we were forced to start the engine and motor for over an hour in the storms aftermath. It all worked out for us and after the weather passed we once again put up all sail and sailed to within 3 miles of Elizabeth City.

We arrived in Elizabeth City at 1630 and pretty much had the place to ourselves. There’s only one other cruising boat at the docks and it looks like it might be a permanent fixture here.
After walking the dogs and squaring the boat away Christy and I walked into town to find Thumpers.

Thumper’s is a non descript pub type eatery. When we were here last time some other boaters were raving about the meals they had there. So we walked a couple of blocks and sat down and got the best store bought meals we’ve had in a while. Christy’s portion of stuffed flounder and black beans was huge and tasty while I opted for a cheeseburger. Not just any cheeseburger though, this one was completely covered with a crab cake and then finished off with melted provolone. I was torn with indecision about whether or not I should put catsup on it. The burger cried out for it but I just couldn’t do it to a crab cake, it was an epic struggle. Next time you’re home having some crab cakes throw one on top of a burger with some provolone. That’s good eatin’, trust me.

While we were finishing up our dinner we looked out the window to see that it was once again pouring. We could have sat there and had a drink or two and let it blow over or we could run 3 blocks through the rain to close up every port and hatch on the boat. Shit. We left everything open on the boat because the evening sky held so much promise. We got back and closed the 8 ports and 3 hatches we had left open, we even had the hatch over the bed open, shit. While that was bad, the worst part was that we had left the front of the enclosure open to give the dogs a better breeze. What we found were two completely drenched, very sad looking little dogs. They were sitting in the cockpit with no real protection from the rain as it swept through. Luckily for us though they have short memories
and after a little extra attention, and an extra trip to the lawn they completely forgot about being abandoned to the elements.