Underway for 2015

But Mr.Cargo Ship, the best fishing is right here
in the middle of the channel !!!

The boat was only 3 days out of the boatyard and we were still working our long list of things to do to prepare for departure, when a huge beautiful high pressure system created a perfect weather window for cruising.  So on Monday May 4 we cast off the lines from Southport NC & pointed the bow north.

Boy, this salt air sure makes a person tired!

Because the yard period took longer than expected (don’t they always?) we wanted to make up some time & push hard to get to Norfolk.  This meant that the first day, instead of staying in the protected waters of the ICW (and have to time our passage for mid-tide or better through all the shoaling areas), we would go “outside” in the ocean.  It was a good decision since we traveled over 100 miles that day, which would have normally taken us 2 days to travel. 

The seas were pretty calm, with no wind and no wind waves, but we had an irregular sea swell on the beam.  It became a long bouncy trip for our first day, and since we both hadn’t found our sea legs yet, when we went below into the cabin we became queasy.  The nice part was having the water so clear that we could see the dolphins approaching the boat to jump in our wake.

At the marina that night, as we went to bed early, we both heard an unusual dull crackling noise, similar to hot metal which was cooling & contracting, and it came from all along the hull.  After lying awake for an hour trying to figure it out, Sue realized that we had “snapping shrimp” along the bottom of the boat, an event which we experienced once last year.  “We’re not in Kansas any more, Toto.”



In the Great Bridge Lock with a few other folks
heading north

After spending the first night in Morehead City NC, we stayed on the “inside” along the ICW, and had a calm, almost boring, trip in the smooth water.  That is, until the last hour of travel when the winds suddenly kicked up to 20 gusting to 30 mph.  We had white caps & sea foam everywhere as we threaded our way into the anchorage amid the myriad of crab pots which we almost couldn’t see. I let out all of our 150’ of chain rode that night.  As they saying goes in aviation, “Hour upon hour of complete boredom, interspersed with moments of sheer terror”.

On our 4^th day of travel, passing Coinjock Marina (as the T-shirt says, “Wherethehelliscoinjock?”) and approaching Norfolk, we had to pass through bridges that opened only on a schedule.  We arrived at the first bridge exactly 2 minutes early, after a morning run of 4 hours.  Gee, who does our trip planning?  He must have been an engineer or something!

Leigh & the dachshund lovers........take a look at this!!!

We made it through the 4 bridges and 1 lock (with a whole 2’ lift), before finding our marina for the night.  We fueled up, taking on 200 gallons and costing “only” $2.39/gallon.  When we had stopped here last year, the price was $3.50/gallon & I was then glad to pay it!  This marina has a great restaurant on site, and if you spend $75 for an excellent meal, you don’t have to pay dockage for the night.  So we took advantage of the offer twice!

Passing the USS Dwight Eisenhower (CVA-69)
which has "IKE" on the front of the island

 

Leaving Norfolk on May 9, we had our most challenging day so far.  The first hour went smoothly (they normally do) as we passed the ships and shipyards of Portsmouth & downtown Norfolk.  As we approached the Naval Base (the largest US Navy complex in the world is here in Norfolk) we could see the fog bank ahead.  We turned on the radar, and for the next 3 hours we saw absolutely nothing outside the boat.  Visibility was ¼ mile or less as we ran through Hampton Roads & the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, dodging all the buoys and other boats & barges, and listening on the VHF radio to the aircraft carrier which was entering the harbor (and hopefully not where we were).  It was very challenging (a.k.a. stressful) to navigate only by radar & chartplotter for so long in a high traffic area.  And then, the crab pots appeared!  The only good thing about seeing the crab pots was knowing that then we were out of the main shipping channel.

This was all we saw for 3 hours!

The fog finally cleared as we approached Mobjack Bay on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay, and tried to anchor in a creek called “Put-in-Creek” (yeah, all you relatives in Put-in-Bay Ohio should grin about this!).  The crab pots were too numerous to allow any swing room at anchor, so we went elsewhere for the night.  After a couple stiff drinks (to calm our nerves, of course), we both fell into bed exhausted.  And this is supposed to be PLEASURE boating!

We had a nice anchorage, as well as a good trip into the marina at Deltaville VA.  We were here last summer by car, when we met some cruising friends who were here for maintenance.  This time, it’s our turn for some minor maintenance.  We have 3 heads on the boat, and two of them need fixin’, which just justifies the saying, “Why do we have 3 heads on the boat?  So that we have ONE that works!” 

The Admiral celebrates her fabulous docking skills

What was really impressive was how Admiral Sue docked the boat today on a face pier, with less than 5 feet clearance on both the bow and the stern.  And in the wind, no less!  When we got to the dock, our bow pulpit and anchor were overhanging the sailboat in front of us.  Talk about “sandwiching” the boat into a tight spot! 

We’ll stay here for 2-3 days to take care of outstanding maintenance issues.  Besides, that little ol’ tropical or sub-tropical or whatever rain shower is supposed to come by & we may as well be in a marina.  And if I need something else to do, Sue will give me the TO DO list from the boatyard.

The Admiral used a shoe horn to squeeze into that space!