Oct. 31, Wednesday

Evening report:
Safely anchored at the entrance to the Alligator Pungo River Canal for the night. All is well.

Morning report:
From Capt. Ken, "We're on the move again. Left Coinjock and headed south to Albemarle Sound, and the Alligator River. Don't yet know where we will be overnight. But someplace safe.

"Seas aloing the coast of North Carolina have calmed some and so, may be good for us to go outside when we get to the Beaufort area in two days. We'll see."

Oct. 30, Tuesday

Moonbeam departed Great Bridge at 07:00 and made 40 miles to Coinjock, NC.  The rain stopped, but the wind continued from the south at 30-40 Kts and the temperatures ran from the high 40's to the low 50's.
BURRRRR!

Oct. 29, Monday

Afternoon report:

Staying in place for the day. Parking lot next to Moonbeam's dock is flooding and became a waterfall today. Mooring sign time limits are being overlooked.

Morning report:
Still pouring outside. Staying put for now.
As we look at the impact of this storm on Delaware and New Jersey and New York, we are so glad to be this far south and in safe haven.

Oct 28, Sunday

Afternoon report, 1:00 P.M.:
Weather is ramping up here, but we are still safely tied to the dock:
It is pouring (not just raining) and with consistent wind at 20-30 kts.

Morning report:
The decision for today is to stay hunkered at the docks south of Great Bridge Lock. Current weather is rain with windgusts to 20 kts. even in this sheltered area. Weather only 10 miles north of our position, in Norfolk, is much more extreme. How glad to be inside on the ICW, and not offshore in heavy seas and winds!

Below, a NASA Oct 27th satellite image of Sandy, now being called the "Frankenstorm". It is easy to see how vast a region this storm covers -- essentially one third of the entire northeast US.

HURRICANE SANDY, A CATEGORY #1 HURRICANE,
ABOUT TO LAND ASHORE EAST COAST OF U.S.

Oct 27, Saturday

GREAT BRIDGE LOCKS BEHIND

Afternoon report, 3:00 p.m.:

Moonbeam is tied up at the public docks after passing through the Great Bridge Lock, the only lock on the ICW. Capt. Ken says they are hunkering down for the night till Sandy passes.

Morning report:
We arrived at the Chesapeake Bay entrance as predicted this morning. Heading on through Norfolk area and to Mile Marker 01 of the Intercoastal (ICW). Planning to make max distance before dark and get well south of hurricane expected path. All is well.

Oct 26, Friday

Noon position:  came down the Jersey coast and now about to pass entrance to Delaware Bay entrance.

Sunny, 10-15 kts port beam
Motor sailing at 7.5 kts to maintain speed to reach entrance to Chesapeake Bay entrance by Saturday morning, before Hurrucane Sandy arrival. Then down the Intercoastal Waterway for three days and out again for offshore sailing at Beaufort and maybe even more south than that. Depends on conditions.
39° 03.62' N
74° 31.99' W

Moonbeam heading south

After years of summering in Oyster Bay, Moonbeam has just departed on a last trip south. Next summer the boat willl be in the Pacific.

(L to R) DAVE FINEGARD, CAPT. KEN BARDON, RAY JAMES AND ROB REILEY

Jim Drinane did taxi service for picking up Ken at home and crew from LaGuardia and delivering them to Oyster Bay and the boat. Under nice weather, the boat and crew of four departed the marina on October 25, early afternoon. All is looking good and they will be out of the Northeast before Hurricane Sandy does it mischief here.

Capt. Ken said, "We're watching Hurricane Sandy and anticipating a conservative approach to the offshore legs. If necessary, we will be prepared to head in to safe harbor and wait out storm."