Guided Discovery: Making tracks to Norfolk - Days 243 to 245

We departed Beaufort Tuesday (6/1) after five wonderful days and headed north on the ICW to Oriental,North Carolina. A short but very hot trip of only 27 very slow miles. (The good news is we only burned 13.2 gallons.) The temperature was 90+ degrees. Even with the bridge AC running it was still 80 degrees at the helm. Our ultimate destination for this next segment of the journey was Norfolk, VA (205 miles from Beaufort)

We arrived just after noon but did not go exploring as it was just too hot. Dinner was at the Broad Street Grill. This was not a very fancy restaurant but we had something big to celebrate. Our offer on the new boat was accepted by the manufactures. Details later.

There really was not much to see or do in Oriental and even if there was, it was too hot to venture outside.

Bed and Breakfast

The Old Theatre in Oriental

On Wednesday, we covered another 48 miles as we headed to Belhaven, which for us was just a stop on the way to Norfolk. Again it was VERY hot. Well over 90. This run through miles of swamp took 5 hours and involved several slow zones.

When we arrived we were surprised to find a very small and very sleepy town. Belhaven has a population of 2,305 and there were very few of them wandering around. Perhaps due to the heat.

We stated at the River Forest Manor and Marina. A very impressive name for a rather picturesque property. However, there appeared to be no one staying at the inn. Nor was there much action at the docks.

River Forest Manor and Marina

A quiet place

What was unique was our transportation; a rickety old golf cart that appeared to have no reverse. You may note the windshield is a bit glazed,which made it difficult to see as we drove to dinner into the setting sun.

This town was unique for one thing. Almost all the businesses were owned by a family named O'Neal. They owned the drug store, bakery, cell phone store, restaurant, etc. The Mayor of the town is Adam O'Neal. Unfortunately, the business district had numerous vacancies. In may ways, Belhaven reminded us of some of the poorer towns along the Western Rivers.

Again, Belhaven was just a stop along they way. Our next destination was Coinjock, NC, where we were told fuel prices were the best in the state. However, we were running low on fuel (133 gallons remaining) and, since we were anticipating a fast run for the 88 miles to Coinjock, we took on some fuel at Belhaven. For a town with nothing going for it, they charged the highest price we've every paid for diesel, $4.599. We bought 40 gallons ($183.96).

Side story: One of our disappointments with Sea Ray is the accuracy of their fuel gauges. We have both digital and analog. Unfortunately, they work off the same INACCURATE sending unit. For example, when we pulled into Belhaven our digital gauge showed 63 gallons remaining. Not true! After years of running the boat and keeping accurate track of fuel (on a spread sheet), I developed a correction factor that compensates for the inaccuracy that Sea Ray built into the system. Analysis of this data shows that between 50 and 100 gallons, you need to add 70 gallons to the amount remaining in order to correct for the inaccuracy. Below is the adjustment table that I put together over two years ago.

REMAINING	ADD
000-050	70
051-100	70
101-150	60
151-200	35
201-250	30
251-300	30
301-350	15
351-400	10

Note: Every time I fill up since developing the adjustments, I have verified their accuracy be predicting the amount of fuel to fill the tanks. The adjustments are accurate to within +/- 3 gallons.

So, I added 70 gallons to the 63 on board (for 133 total) and determined that I needed to add 40 gallons to have a 10% margin if we made the run at speed.

Note:That is why when the fuel gauge read "empty" enroute I was not concerned.

This estimate proved to be perfect. We made the run to Coinjock at an average speed of 20 MPH and burned 120 gallons. When we filled up at Coinjock, we took on 360 gallons (at $4.02 per gallon including sales tax).

We have no photos of Coinjock. It was basically a "gas station" with one long dock along the banks of the ICW. It did, however, have a nice little country restaurant where we paused for lunch before setting off for the 50 mile run to Norfolk.

Another side story. As is our custom, Diana took the Furry Kid for a UNLEASHED walk while I was fueling the boat. You may have noted that I wrote "unleashed" in upper case. Kodi found a muddy marsh -- swamp -- whatever and decided to go for a swim. Sorry, forgot to take photos. She was a very very muddy. Diana did the honors and gave her a thorough bath. So now we had full fuel, a pumped out holding tank and a VERY clean LEASHED dog.

After lunch we departed for the 50 mile run to Norfolk. This run took through Albermale Sound and the Albermale and Chesapeake Canal. The first 35 miles took 2 hours. The last 15 miles took 3 hours owing to the bridges with limited openings during rush hour and a lock (which we haven't seen for 193 days since the Black Warrior River back on November 22).

Great Bridge Lock

Along the way we passed the "Presidential Yacht" Sequoia, which was used from the time of Herbert Hoover to Franklin D. Roosevelt. Today,this magnificent Trumpy built yacht is used as a charter. Note: You may recall that we saw the Honey Fitz undergoing restoration in Riviera Beach at the Rybovich Boat Yard. On our journey thus far, we've seen two Presidential Yachts.

106 foot Former Presidential Yacht Sequoia

As we proceeded along the ICW to Norfolk it became very industrialized and somewhat reminiscent of the Calumet River. What was different was the number of Navy ships in dry dock undergoing repairs.