great dismal swamp in winter

[seandepagnier]

Originally Posted by sailor_ed

I have been frozen in 6" or so of ice with no problem... at a dock. (fiberglass boat) I would be worried about my anchor line in moving ice and would rather see some chain at the surface.

I can use all chain. I have been using line because it sucks to pull up chain by hand when it's below freezing.

In your location strong NE winds may drop the water level some 3' or more. Be prepared! Otherwise the protection in the river is great. Try tying up at Langs if it gets too cold for you.

Are you sure about 3' ?? I found a protected canal off the river that is 5' at low tide, and soft for another foot. I draw 4' I was going to anchor there and run a bunch of shore lines. Do you seriously think the whole river would drop 3 foot?

The wind is north west, not north east, and only predicted 20 knots sustained at the worst. There are a lot of trees blocking the wind.

I can anchor in 8' of water, but I will be out in the river, subject to moving ice. Would this be safer?

[seandepagnier]

what about knobbs creek near elizabeth city? Does it have much tidal flow? Anyone know how deep it is? My chart doesn't really show.

[rgleason]

There is a winter storm approaching. I'm thinking to go into one of the canals to get out of the tidal river. The canals have more ice, yes, but, it isn't moving ice. Is this advisable?

If ice won't hurt my boat, why do people bother to use de icers? Should I break the ice around the boat at night?

I'm trying to get through this storm. Thanks for any advice.

Sean, you're right about the storm. It's being called a Polar Vortex.
I think you'd be ok in ice, but it might hamper getting out and south when you want to. Boats are tied up in Mystic River, CT all winter, with just light bulbs near the seacocks for warmth and some do not have bubblers or electrical props like the docks always have.

You've come a long way, with some unusual weather affecting your progress. Is there any chance you could see your way to hitch a tow to get Alexandra out of the worst so you could sail south? It would make us all feel a little better about your travels, and I fear its getting colder, not warmer, now.

Best, your concerned friend.
Rick

[picklesandjesse]

Originally Posted by rgleason

Sean, you're right about the storm. It's being called a Polar Vortex.
I think you'd be ok in ice, but it might hamper getting out and south when you want to. Boats are tied up in Mystic River, CT all winter, with just light bulbs near the seacocks for warmth and some do not have bubblers or electrical props like the docks always have.

You've come a long way, with some unusual weather affecting your progress. Is there any chance you could see your way to hitch a tow to get Alexandra out of the worst so you could sail south? It would make us all feel a little better about your travels, and I fear its getting colder, not warmer, now.

Best, your concerned friend.
Rick

I agree, try and get to Beaufort, NC. Nice town. Then you can relax. All the best from Oz. Lots of books in the maritime museum. They used to have a car for free too. Maybe no more ?? who knows ??? It's about 110 degrees here in your language !!! Air con is on.

[rgleason]

what about knobbs creek near elizabeth city? Does it have much tidal flow? Anyone know how deep it is? My chart doesn't really show.

Sean this is probably a little late. I believe we anchored in there for one night with two anchors, skipper was nervous about swinging. There is some tidal range, but we did not notice much current. A lot of boats passed us to go anchor further in than we did, around the bend. By morning there was quite a fleet in there, when we left. The boat was a Shannon 38 drawing more than Alexandra.

The Knobbs Creek note on the Noaa RNC chart says "..Controlling depths were 9 feet on the centerline to the basin, 5.5 feet in the basin, thence to 2.5 feet in the centerline to the end of the project. 1974"

Hope you've got a good stock of firewood!

[puffcard]

Are you heating with wood? Stay safe, got a few days before the thaw.

[sailor_ed]

Didn't mean to alarm you but 3 ft wind driven "tides" are definitely possible in the NC sounds but only with a lot of wind ie 30+kts. For all practical purposes there is no real tide in the sounds except near inlets. Almost all water movement is wind generated. East winds raise water levels on the west side of the sound, west winds the east side etc. Currents flow accordingly.

I wintered 5 years on the hook in the Posquotank and never had any concerns but this years ice sounds exceptional. I would go up the creek to the turning basin and stay warm!

[kmacdonald]

Looks like the Polar Vortex is going to be with you until at least Sunday. Given the age of your boat, I would guess the glass hull is extremely brittle and subject to crushing by the moving ice packs. Try to stay away from it and for Gods sake keep it away from the hull. Stay warm and try and make it further south before further damage is done.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by sailor_ed

Didn't mean to alarm you but 3 ft wind driven "tides" are definitely possible in the NC sounds but only with a lot of wind ie 30+kts. For all practical purposes there is no real tide in the sounds except near inlets. Almost all water movement is wind generated. East winds raise water levels on the west side of the sound, west winds the east side etc. Currents flow accordingly.

I wintered 5 years on the hook in the Posquotank and never had any concerns but this years ice sounds exceptional. I would go up the creek to the turning basin and stay warm!

Wind was mid to upper 30's here with most of the gusts in the high 40's and one at 52 knots.

Looks like there are a few gusts in the plus 60 knot range at the First Landing Buoy with 64.1 knots being the highest I saw. (no wonder we lost power here for a few hours due to the wind and snow weight maybe)

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=44064

Down there inland a bit he probably had winds in the 20's with gusts in the 30's but very cold and 4"-6" of snow.......and it's still snowing here

[rgleason]

This looks like the closest station a little bit inland, possibly comparable to where Sean is.
NDBC - Station MNPV2 Recent Data

15knts - gusts to 38knts.
Wind chill 9F
Air Temp 23F
Water Temp 38F

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

Looks like the Polar Vortex is going to be with you until at least Sunday. Given the age of your boat, I would guess the glass hull is extremely brittle and subject to crushing by the moving ice packs. Try to stay away from it and for Gods sake keep it away from the hull. Stay warm and try and make it further south before further damage is done.

His hull is extremely strong and overbuilt. It should be OK.

https://www.practical-sailor.com/rev...27-1135-1.html

Most buoys are showing water temp in the mid to upper 30's (as shown above)

Hopefully he has a means to stay warm.

The snow should have stopped now where he is but we have a few more really cold days. Monday's forecast is for temps to be in the 40's

[Don C L]

Is there anyone in the area, who knows the area, who can go check on Sean?

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Don C L

Is there anyone in the area, who knows the area, who can go check on Sean?

The roads are pretty bad, and it just stopped snowing where he is few minutes ago.

When I tried to get to my boat this am, (we lost power and I needed my propane hotplate) there were cars and trucks stuck all over the place.

The storm must have come in really fast last night. Drifts over a foot in places and you couldn't tell where the driveway entrances were. It was still dark then though

[rgleason]

Don, This is a very good question. I am concerned about him. I would take him healthy food, water and a big bag of small wood pieces, cut up so they are about 5" -4" long. He has a 20lb propane tank that he turned into a fireplace heater.
Alexandra was rebuilt and strengthened, has no seacocks and no engine. Has two solar panels on the cabintop. Her hull is slightly gray (unmistakable) with some staining from crossing oceans. She has dynema standing rigging with the halyards flipped around the spreaders to prevent flapping.

I believe he has winter clothing, but dry heavy jacket, hat, gloves, and foulweather pants would be welcome.

He is very independent minded and resourceful, but this weather is not good.

I will try to identify where he is likely to be from his posts.

If anyone can help give this contributing sailor a visit to check how he's doing, we would be grateful. As I said he is independent and does not bother people, but I am sure would accept some food and firewood!

Next post, location.

[Don C L]

Yeah, though I vacationed once long ago in Nag's Head, I am not familiar with that area, but it looks like MAYBE someone in Elizabeth City could find him if he is in there, but it probably would not be for 2 or 3 more days at the earliest. Perhaps someone here knows someone in Elizabeth City?