We have "Hit Bottom" in search of free docks!

It was great to see our Little ship again. Splash she went and in minutes we were tied to the free dock at Stingray Point Boat Yard. This is where the addiction started! We enjoyed a great day dressing our girl back back up for traveling again. Nice thing about docks is plugging into shore power which means heat!!!!!! After a record setting time trial of installing sails, canvas, solar system, dinghy, etc, etc, we were off to the next free dock: Carl & Debi's place up the Rappahannock River about eight miles. We rafted alongside of their beautiful yacht: River Rat. Able Seaman "Hannah" (their cat) boarded Godspeed, conducted a complete "Cat Scan", and said "Meow". At that point we knew all was good with the world! Then we traveled the lower Chesapeake Bay and entered the deepest natural harbor in the world "Norfolk". You guessed it " the Portsmouth Free Dock". Three days of living it up and we needed to move on. Next free dock was Coinjock, NC. It was not free but it was in the low 20's and the heat was very welcome. We then anchored in the Alligator River and saw no gators, might be a touch cold.

Sites along the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW)

Now, after not having a free dock for a few nights we needed a fix bad, so we sailed into Belhaven, NC and found it. A big beautiful municipal free dock and this is where we "Hit Bottom". We read reviews on this bad boy and there she was, supposed to take a vessel with over 6' of draft and nobody was there, so we moved in for the kill! Heck, we were on the bottom before we even got close. The good thing was the wind was so strong that we were instantly blown sideways and onto the shoal, further and further! Godspeed has always been able to power off when aground but this time mother nature was not going to give her a chance. Not to worry, we have towing insurance just in case this happens, so we called TowBoat US on the radio and there they were... GONE! No answer. So, after calmly freaking out for a minute or two, we launched the dinghy and a 35 lb Bruce anchor, rowed a hundred feet or so, and then dropped it. Lorrie attached the anchor line to a sail winch and cranked Godspeed back into deep water. We returned later in the dinghy, checked water depths and there was no way Godspeed was free docking there. At this point in our addiction we were overdue for a "free dock fix". The next night we stopped at the R. E. Mayo shrimp docks on Goose Creek. This place is right out of the Discovery Channel.

Shrimp boats coming and going and best of all the shrimpers actually talked to us. We filled the freezer with shrimp, scallops, and flounder filets. Then we hung out at the wood stove while the shrimpers told "Shrimp Stories" of 12 inch long 1/2 pound shrimp, we rolled our eyes in disbelief and then they went to thier boat and showed us some!

"Big Shrimpin" !

It gets worse...That dock was $13, so we were in Free dock withdraws! So we set sails for Oriental, NC. Now returning to Oreintal is the complete circle for us, full lenth of the east coast and back again. This is where we bought Godspeed over two years ago and started cruising. As we entered the harbor and were circling our would be anchor spot, a rowing dinghy appeared from another boat and Barry said "hey why don't you tie up to the "FREE DOCK".

Barry

So there we were tied to a free dock in a great location when our friend Dave, that sold us Godspeed, showed up like a pusher and said "hey guys this is a nice free dock alright, but come tie up to my free dock, it's much better"... so we did! We once spent eight months swinging on the hook without being tied to anything. At that point in cruising we were "salty anchor Dogs" and were proud of it! Now look at us,

Free Dock "ADDOCKS"..."Addocktion" is a terrible thing...we need professional help!