More Tales From The Swamp

Sorry everybody but we didn't have enough signal to add photos! We're off on our journey south leaving Beaufort! No contact for a while but will post photos once we reach safe harbor!

Here's what happened the past week while you were waiting!

After a brief one-night stay in Elizabeth City, we headed on out into Albemarle Sound in the direction of a little island called Colington on the Outer Banks. It was a solid day's motor where we rolled the jib out for a bit, but couldn't completely sail because there wasn't much wind. We arrived close to the island around 4 PM as the sun started to go down, but the journey wasn't over quite yet. There was serious shoaling all around the island that every single one of our charts (4 separate ones) had in a different place. This presented us with two options. We could 1) Just slowly nudge our way in towards the channel of the harbor where it looked like we could make it, and then if we ran aground, just back off and try another angle. Or 2) We could go all the way around the shoal, which meant heading south for another two hours and then having to come back up north for another hour. Of course we went with option 1: just go for it. We slowly made our way in towards the channel, seeing barely any water underneath our keel, but never touching ground. It was perfect! Right up until the channel that is...

After crossing this massive sandy shoal, the one place our boat decided to run aground was right in the entrance of the channel. Turns out the shifting sands of the Outer Banks hadn't left a clear entry for us in the marked channel, which we assumed was dredged. Never assume, ladies and gentlemen! We had to give the channel 4-5 tries, running aground each time, before we found a thin little channel on the outside of the marker buoys. We made it into the very calm peaceful waters of Colington Harbor where they allowed us to anchor right off of the yacht club and bring our dinghy into the dock. We stayed there for a night and the next morning went out and hit up the staple spots one must see and do while in OBX. We went to this place for breakfast, the motto of which was simply "biscuits and porn."  It is a gas station that is famous for delicious breakfast sandwiches, and like any gas station, their selection of adult magazines. Nonetheless, great food. After that we went to the Wright Brothers Memorial and climbed all the way to the top to see where they actually launched the first plane. It was a rather cloudy day but once we reached the top it seemed to clear up and we could see the ocean around us!

We then headed back to the boat to head out while it was still high tide, as to ensure that we wouldn't run aground this time. And of course, after running aground 4 more times, we finally found that little channel and made our way out towards Alligator River.

As night fell, we made it all the way past the Alligator River Bridge, right to the entrance of the small canal that headed through the swamp again. We dropped the hook for the night and cooked up a fantastic meal of deer and potatoes that our good friend Wiley had given us before we left Colington. I had never had deer before but I cooked that up something nice, if I do say so myself! Even had some leftovers that I threw in omelets in the morning.

We cruised down the Alligator River keeping a keen eye out for alligators, but no luck! We ended up stopping at the R.E. Mayo docks, an old shrimp boat dock and seafood company that lets transient boats tie up for very cheap. We ended up even getting a few pounds of fresh jumbo shrimp and scallops for practically nothing!

The next day we headed out early in the morning and out into more open water, allowing us to roll the jib out. The local fishermen definitely looked surprised to see a sailboat actually sailing the narrow channels as we dodged their various boats and crab traps. It took most of daylight for us to get into Morehead City, NC, where we found a nice anchorage right off of the main street downtown. We went into town in search of bacon (to cook up with those scallops of course!) and then right back to the boat for the feast!

The next night we decided to go into a place called Portside Marina in Morehead to refill our water tanks, diesel and give the batteries a full charge. It was a very nice marina, run by and older couple who just gave off that awesome southern hospitality charm. After filling the water tanks, though, we found out that our tank up in the v-berth was leaking something fierce, all of which was draining right out of our bilge. This meant Will had to do one of his favorite projects and go and hang upside in the v-berth hatch for a few hours while making the repair. Although he didn't enjoy it, he did it! We sealed it all up and filled the tank again with no leaks this time around. We spent the rest of the day wandering around town looking for a somewhat close grocery store, although there was none. so we headed back to the boat to cook up some supper.

As the sun went down on the horizon we could see a crowd gathering right on the dock outside our boat. Could this be our entourage of reporters coming to ask about our voyage to come? Nope. Just everybody gathering for the annual Christmas Parade. This wasn't your average Christmas parade like they have in NYC with huge floats and giant balloons. This one took place on the water. With boats. And lots of Christmas lights and music. It was awesome! Something the whole town seemed to come out and gather for. Perfect timing for Will and me.

We took it easy the next morning, doing things like our laundry, taking showers, checking the weather, and then cast off the dock because of our 11 AM checkout time. Instead of heading back to our anchorage, we opted for the change in scenery and decided to head over to the town of Beaufort, NC. Right across the river.

At this point we had decided we were going to leave Tuesday. After looking at all kinds of weather charts and plotting programs, this is where our weather window seemed to line up best. We took Monday to take a cab ride to the local library so Will could get some work done and so we could have a solid Wi-Fi connection to plot our full course. After that we walked over to the grocery store, which was a little ways down the street, which had the fantastic name of Piggly Wiggly Grocery. We spent about two hours and two hundred bucks and have enough food for a small army. Of course it was dumping rain the entire ride back so by the time the groceries got back to the boat everything was pretty soaked and we were pretty beat. We threw everything in plastic bags, stowed it, threw a movie on, then fell asleep.

Donate Now

Hey Everybody!
Check out our new "Donate Now" tab at the top of the page! If you click on this you will be redirected to our Team JDRF personal fundraising page where you can donate, and keep track of how much money we raise for T1D research! Please donate to a great cause! This page will eventually fully replace our GoFundMe page but for now if you would like to donate to JDRF, you can do it directly through the donate now tab. If you would like to donate and help us out on our adventure, you can donate to the GoFundMe!

Thank you all!

Diabetes Daily

Sam Fifer grew up in a little town in west Connecticut–nowhere near the ocean–but he spent his summers in Nova Scotia where his friend Will Daniels was born and raised. The pair has been sailing “practically since we started walking” and have been in love with the sport since day one.

During one of his summers in Novo Scotia, Sam was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 11, but it has never interfered with his love for the water.

After finishing college, Sam and Will focused all of their energy on being out on the water, working on various boats, as sailor instructors in the Virgin Islands and in other bodies of waters: Will worked in “river restoration” in Novo Scotia.

“This summer, I moved back to Nova Scotia where we both lived in Mahone Bay on our boat, a 1982 C&C 32 named Tilikum,” explains Sam. “We’ve always had dreams of long distance sailing. We sat many nights in the garage talking about various islands we wished to visit, routes we wanted to take, and things we desired to see. We read all of the tales of great adventurers like Joshua Slocum, Francis Chichester, Robin Lee Graham, and their sailing escapades. These stories are what has inspired us to undertake this voyage, you only live once right? There’s no time like the present.”

Today, Sam and Will are raising funds through GoFundMe to sail around the globe, journaling their adventures at Sailing for Type 1 Diabetes.

In this interview, Sam talks about juggling type 1 diabetes as he sails his way around the globe!

•••

Tell me a your “diagnosis story”…how old were you? Were you terrified? How did your diagnosis impact your goals as an athletic person? 

Sam: When I was 11 years old my family and I took a vacation for Thanksgiving up to Nova Scotia Canada for a week or so. Along the 19 hour drive up is where I began to feel somewhat “off.” I kept having to tell my dad to stop the car because I had to pee every few hours or so, which seemed semi-normal to all of us at the time. And also I kept drinking lots of water (like two cases of 24 bottles in a day).

We figured these two things were just related to each other at the time because I didn’t really show any other signs of being sick. We got up to Nova Scotia and things started to get interesting. I no longer could drink the regular tap water from our sink because I complained of it tasting almost soapy. This resulted in us having to buy one of those purified water towers that you have to buy water from the store to fill.

This was fine for a while, but then it got worse. I started to feel very cramped in all of my joints, making moving a little harder and still kept drinking and peeing all the time (like every hour). This is when we finally decided it was time to go home because something was indeed wrong.

The trip back was brutal. I turned a ghostly pale white/grey in color, could barely move, still drinking and having to pee every 20-30 minutes and feeling very nauseous and throwing up a bunch of times. I couldn’t eat, could barely even stay awake as we made our way back Connecticut where my parents immediately took me to our doctor.
They couldn’t figure out what it was at first because there was no history of diabetes in my family so they almost ruled that out right away. After testing my blood sugar at the doctors office, the doctor said my parents needed to take me to the hospital immediately. We went to the nearby hospital where I was immediately brought into the ER and hooked up to IV’s and given insulin.

Apparently my blood sugar was in the high 1300s and I was about a day away from a coma. Scary stuff! I was terrified and confused. As an 11 year old I had no idea what was going on and had never even heard of diabetes. At the time, I didn’t realize what I had, and how this was no a life long disease I had to deal with.

I was in the hospital for a week and missed a bunch of school. Finally I went back to school and noticed everybody treating my a little different. Like I had just been given cancer or something. Every teacher was constantly asking if I felt okay and making sure I ate properly and such, but I still didn’t really know what I was dealing with. I went back to the hospital a few times for more training on giving myself shots and testing my blood and regulating food intake and such and that’s where I finally realized a little what I had.

I rejected the fact that I was a diabetic, of course as I went into those rebellious teenage years and my parents tried to help me so much, but I didn’t want to believe that I had this crutch. I didn’t stop doing sports at school or really change my lifestyle at all because I didn’t want to show my friends that I was different.

I hated being a diabetic. I still hate it, but over the past few years I’ve grown up both mentally and physically. I know fully understand that this disease isn’t going anywhere and I have to man up and deal with it. I wish I could have realized this years ago of course and not scolded my parents for only trying to help keep me alive and rejected anybody who tried to help me, but I guess that’s just the way it went down.

Now I have purpose though. I got tired of hearing from doctors “oh, there’ll be a cure in five years,” “five years,” “five years.” That’s all I kept hearing. Now I’ve decided to try and help make a difference in the best way that I can. I’ve gotten my A1C down significantly and am generally feeling a whole lot healthier and that I have a little more control on this. I still have a ways to go but I’m keeping my head up, and now taking any help I can get!

In a nutshell: can you describe your sailing expedition? What are you hoping to accomplish?

Sam: Our expedition has three goals. The first goal is sail around the world!

The two other goals we’ve set while we do this adventure are raise as much awareness and as many funds as we can to let people know a few things. This disease exists and to be fully honest, sucks, but you can’t let it get in the way of your life.

Life is possible, even as a diabetic. We fly a JDRF flag in every port we cruise into which catches people eye and they come up and talk to us. Through our story is how we’re spreading awareness and through our blog and website is how we are raising funds. We plan on taking the next 3-5 years to complete this venture and breaking it off into sections. My friend and I are at the point where we don’t have many ties in our lives right now so we figure we might as well take our time and enjoy it!

What are the biggest or perhaps scariest challenges when it comes to sailing with type 1 diabetes?

Sam: The challenges for sailing with Type 1 are similar to the everyday challenges everybody on land has to deal with, only we don’t have constant access to a pharmacy or a store. I’ve had to battle with insurance companies trying to override my prescriptions that I can basically stock up on all of my supplies for months. I’ve had to make sure I essentially have 1-2 things of instant sugar a day in case I go low.

I have 20 vials of insulin all kept in our boat refrigerator that we had to enhance to ensure it will always be cold. I have 8 months supply of pump supplies all kept in a lock tight, dry container because things tend to get a little wet on a boat—haha! It is rather daunting though. I ask myself every day what might happen if I run out of supplies or sugar while I’m out at sea. The key though, is preparation. Prepare for the worst and you can only go up from there. There is no such thing as over preparation when it come to this stuff, and for that reason, our boat is sitting a little low in the water with how much supplies we have on board.

What is one of the scariest or most challenging moments you’ve personally experienced on the open water as a person with type 1 diabetes?

Sam: My number one scariest challenge I hope to never have to deal with though, is if we have to bail on the boat. If our boat sinks on us, we will have to go to our life raft. We have what is referred to as a ditch bag that has everything essential to bring with us if the boat sinks, even supplies and insulin. My fear though is say we are at sea and don’t get rescued for longer than a week?

Say we have “Castaway” situation, then what happens then? You try not to think about that stuff, as hard as it might be, and all you do is prepare for it. If you dwell on things like that, then you’d never even leave homeport!

I haven’t had any scary moment yet, but something is bound to happen at some point. My sailing partner is educated in what to do if bad things happen and I trust him with my life!

The hardest part about this journey I would say, is just starting it. It took a lot of courage to just go out and do it, but that’s what I’m here to show people. It is possible. Life is possible! Don’t let diabetes get you down.

Best of luck to you!!! Safe sailing!

Photos courtesy of TeamTilikum!

Dismal Swamp Diaries

Hello all! We have arrived here in Moorehead City, NC yesterday evening. We have had terrible/no wifi connection while traveling through the swamps so we are a little behind on our blogging. Here is an update up to Elizabeth City. We will update you with the rest very soon!

Portsmouth was a fun time! We stayed at a free wharf for 2 nights where the glow from our very own 50ft tall Christmas tree illuminated the boat the whole night. It's really bizarre for me to see Christmas trees, lights, and decorations going up as we travel South while the weather warms up all around us. Feels a little more like Easter than Christmas.

We managed to get some work done on the boat while we were here. We rewired the running lights for the 2nd/3rd time. We gave Tilikum a little bath, replaced the fuel filter and the fuel strainer, and we even topped off the engine oil. While exploring Portsmouth, we also managed to find a dinner-theater where you can sit at a table inside of a giant theater and order dinner and drinks while a movie is played. Sam and I arrived in our finest sailing attire consisting of diesel soaked shorts, long sleeved shirts with plenty of holes, flannel vests, ball caps and Nikes. Turns out this place was a little higher class than we thought and we caught a few looks. Nonetheless, dinner was cheap and the movie was good. Successful "bro date".

The next morning we took off, leaving Portsmouth in our wake and headed for Mile 0 of the Inner Coastal Waterway. We were motoring along through the highly restricted US NAVY base area near the beginning of the ICW in Norfolk, VA, bringing back that nervous feeling while looking up at all battleships and aircraft carriers towering over us and seeing the NAVY Police boats wizzing by with their machine guns. Then, Murphy's Law came back for another visit. We were thinking to ourselves, "wow, this would be a terrible place to break down." In fact, I think we even said it. Sure enough right at that moment, our trusty ol Yanmar diesel we've come to name Barnsworth, or Barney, decided to quit on us. He sputtered a bit, revved down and up a few times, and then spit out so much white smoke that it felt like we were back in the fog that Nova Scotia is so famous for. We immediately killed the engine and waited for the fog to dissipate. Then came the realization again.  We're right in the middle of the channel, broken down, drifting towards one of the "restricted" areas that completely surrounded us. YAY! Luckily there wasn't any wind so we drifted up the channel a bit while I was down in the engine compartment figuring things out. As I was down there Sam was up top on watch. And of course, without waiting very long, a US Navy Police boat with 2 massive machine guns mounted on the deck came barreling down on us. They flew up to us, circled around, and then pulled up aside. Two guys about our age were operating the vessel and they popped out of the cabin and asked us what we were doing. Like we'd be casually hanging around a restricted area, but hey they were just doing their jobs. We explained to them how our engine quit on us and were trying to fire it back up. They gave us the whole, "Well this is restricted waters" and "you can't be here." They told us to move and we had to reasonably explain to them again how our engine wouldn't start. Finally, we managed to negotiate our way into firing up the engine really quick and scooting over to an area to drop the hook so we didn't impede traffic while they stood watch. I quickly figured that I probably overfilled the oil pan when we topped it off in Portsmouth leading to some oil overflow burning up in the chambers (hence the white smoke). I pumped out some of the oil which took about 20 minutes and re-checked the levels. Seemed all good! We fired it back up and bid farewell to our heavily armed friends on our way to our first draw bridge!

We arrived at the first drawbridge which was a double. Meaning it had a low train bridge and then a higher car bridge right next to each other. The train bridge raises when there are no trains, but the car bridge goes every hour. We were there at about 8:20 so the car bridge was down, but the train one was open. So we decided to go for it. We eased up to the bridge at speeds approaching a snails pace. Looking skyward praying that we would fit. We didn't... We bounced off the bridge with a dull thud ringing through the metal beams as cars zoomed by overhead. We were too tall by about a foot. Fail.. We backed up and waited patiently for the bridge to open at 9 and then headed through on our way to the Dismal Swamp!

For those of you who may not know what the Inner Coastal Waterway is or what most refer to as "the ditch", it's basically a series of canals that vary in width and depth. For the most part, it's pretty shallow and pretty thin. This waterway goes the whole way from New Jersey to Florida. It's a very common route for boaters headed South when you don't want to take the offshore route. If I had to describe what traveling through the canal is like, I would say its a lot like playing that game Minesweeper, except the mines are submerged logs and there are almost no clues for where they are located. So as your traveling along the canal often, especially with a 6 foot draft, you'll feel thuds on the keel the reverberate throughout the whole boat and your body.

But, it turns out the Dismal Swamp isn't so dismal. We saw the name on our charts and figured it would be dark, filthy, and the type of place that would be perfect for the setting of a bad horror movie. In reality, it was a beautiful river that had brightly colored trees forming a tunnel through the woods. Houses, roadways and walking trails followed it in tandem for most of the way. All in all, it was a really great way to be crossing state lines.

We hit our first lock and drawbridge on the canal and met some of our fellow cruisers who are also headed South for the winter. One thing we have come to realize is that we are basically the "babies" of the ICW cruising world. You don't really see (at least so far) anyone out here that is younger than 40. So we've been mostly making friends that are from a generation or two ahead of us. Despite our young age though, our sailing experience and abilities are as good or better than a lot of people out here. We have met a lot of newbies to the water while traveling along the canals. We actually met one guy that bought a sailboat one week before he took off on the ICW headed south. Awsome! We haven't met anyone that has come as far as us this late in the season though.

We motored along the canal until it began to get dark when we pulled into a river that joined in with the Dismal Swamp Canal. We drove up this small swampy river for a few hundred yards and wedged our 6 foot keel into the soft mud which held us in place (so much for that slick bottom job). Even though there was no wind, current or tide, we dropped our anchor just for good measure. As the sun set we fully took in how weird it felt that our 32 foot ocean going sailboat was sitting in a swamp 15 feet from shore on either side. There were all kinds of noises coming from the swamp like hundreds of little swamp creatures moving around all night and who knows what else. That night the crickets were almost deafening!  We made some dinner, hung out in the pitch black cockpit trying to spot light some gators (no luck yet). Then we went to bed as it began to pour buckets of outside. Our first actual drop of rain since we left Nova Scotia.

We woke up the next day and motored into Elizabeth City which was about 2 hours away. We approached the Elizabeth City Bridge where a really cranky bridge operator grudgingly allowed us and the 3 other boats we were then traveling with through. We tied up to the free slips that Elizabeth City offers and stepped ashore to meet some more fellow cruisers that were also tied up there.

Back in the swamp

Been back in the swamp for the past week with little connection to the outer world, eating great seafood, deer and even hoop cheese. Moorehead City tonight where we'll have the full post for you guys!