Day 50 - 54

Day 50 - Oct.4

Today was a day off.  Spent the morning relaxing on the boat.  Greg puttered, and I started my sweater...again.  After lunch we headed into town to take in the 2014 Grand Prix Boat Races.  There were a lot of people but not near the crowds I heard they were expecting.  Looks like the winning boat of each race takes a victory lap and we were every pleased to see our friend Eric take a lap, waving to the crowd.  We met up with Richard and Heather and watched some of the "Big Boys".  They have no restrictions and boy could they fly.  (Allan... I'm sure you would have loved this).  The best part though was walking around and seeing the boats close up.  Can't do that at home.
It started to cool off by late afternoon and the clouds were rolling in.  The winds picked up and we had a pretty rocky evening on the boat, but by early morning, things settled down and we rested easy.

Day 51  - Oct. 5

Three days in The Solomon's was a good break, but we were ready to hit the water again.  Anchorages are a bit scarce from here to Norfolk, the entryway to the ICW, so we spent a lot of time planning our route for the next couple of days.
We made a long run today of 43nm in 8 1/2 hrs and pulled into a perfect little cove in Mill Creek, Virginia at 4:00 pm.  We had a variable SW wind this morning while we headed south, so we decided to just leave the engine running.  Winds were going from 0 - 14 and back to 0 again.  By the afternoon we were getting hit square on the nose, and with the current pushing against us, we slowed considerably.  It was a nice day and nice to be sailing, but a very long day!  And it was sooooo cold today. Definitely the coldest day since we crossed the Gulf of Maine. We even put the cabin heater on this morning for the first time.
Tomorrow looks like it might be a bit nasty, so we will probably sit tight and enjoy the countryside.
By the way, we now know why we don't see a lot of Canada Geese at home.  They're ALL here.  We see (and hear) them everywhere in the Chesapeake. Literally thousands of them.  Speaking of birds.. We saw our first pelican this morning, and by afternoon they were as common as the seagulls.  They look like mini Pterodactyls when they're flying.

Day 52 - Oct. 6

Got up this morning to sunny skies and the weather to be 10 - 15 kts this morning.  With only a 25 mile run today we thought we should make the next jump.  We hauled the anchor at 9:15, sailed out for an hour, got bounced around and hit full on the nose with 16-19kt winds, turned around and dropped anchor in the same spot as last night at 11:15.  It was a very good decision.  We're not on this trip to beat ourselves up when we have a choice.  I really like this anchorage.  All we can hear are the birds, the wind in the trees, and the water lapping against the boat.  Ahh!
8 nm today and we didn't go anywhere.
Spent the afternoon sitting in the sun and trying to knit.
You know how there are certain sounds, smells, or tastes that can bring back a childhood memory? I'm listening to the wind in the trees and it took me back to sitting on the swing at my Grammie and Grampy's when I was a little girl.  There were huge pine trees on the way to the shore from their house, and on a quiet summer day I would swing and listen to the wind blow through them.  I can still see my grandmother in the kitchen making molasses cookies or doughnuts.  And there was always a pitcher of kool-aid for us.  It is a very nice memory.



Day 53 - Oct. 7

We're spending another day in Mill Creek.  Weather is the same as yesterday, so no point even trying to get out.  Tomorrow looks much better so we'll have a long day of about 50 nm.  It will be our longest yet, other than the Gulf.  Did domestic stuff today.  I made biscuits and washed the salt off the windows.  Greg worked at the water pump.  Can't seem to find out why we can't switch water tanks.  It had been working, but now sounds like air in the port hose, and we can't get water  from that tank.  We are also having issues with the transducer.  Works great until we get into shallow water, and then it goes all wonky.  Luckily we have the portable fishfinder, so we've been able to maneuver through the channels.  I'm hoping we can get it fixed in Norfolk, before we hit the ICW.
After our chores, we took a dinghy ride up the river a few miles.  Greg had read about a winery on the river so we went on a hunt for it.  Found it, but it's only open on Wed., Thur., and Sat.  Today is Tuesday :(
We spent the rest of the day reading and knitting.  I'll leave it to you to figure out who was doing which!


Day 54 - Oct. 8

After humming and hawing, we decided to give it a go today.  The anchor came up at 7:30, and nine hours and 48 nm later the anchor went down in Chisman Creek, Virginia.  It was pretty wild and wooly this morning, but I loved it.  It was the first bit of real sailing we'ed done in  couple of weeks.   By noon the winds had dropped a bit, and we were fighting a current, so the iron sail went on.  Two hours before arrival, we headed smack into the winds that conveniently (Not) picked up to 16-19 kts.
I've learned that every day that we motor will probably be a shower day. Hot Water! :)

Best part of my day... Seeing Greg down in the V-berth when I buried the bow in a large wave.  The water came over the deck, washed down the Dorado, and soaked him.  It really was rather funny, and it reminded us to turn the dorados around.  If he hadn't been there to take the washing, our bedding would have been soaked.

Day 55 - Oct. 9

Left our anchorage at 7:30 this morning.  I really like that hour of the day.  Very relaxing to get underway then.  We had lighter winds then expected so motored with the jib all day.  Arrived at the mouth of Norfolk harbour and found out what truly nice people they are.  We were given a navy ship and helicopter escort in.  At least I'm almost sure it was for us ;)
So, Norfolk / Portsmouth is without a doubt the ugliest harbour we've been in to date.  Almost 10 miles of navy ships, elevators, barges and tugs.  But we have a good anchorage and the people are friendly.  We are anchored on the Portsmouth side and took a walk up to the shopping district.  Hardly any stores and no one walking and very few cars.  It was creepy!  The two marine stores that were downtown have closed but we did get to Skipjack's.  What a great store to browse.  Check it out on line.  Items were very good quality.
Our evening was interesting.  The bilge was running a couple of times and we couldn't figure out where the water was coming from. Finally, after me getting my head under the floor in t eh bulge, and greg shining a light under the floor below the kitchen sink, we could see water fast trickling through a hole under a hose behind the cabinets.  Egads...how to get to it.  Unbeknownst to me, there is a hatch under the bottom drawer in the cabinet.  Greg took that out and we found a cracked fitting on the hot water hose.  Every time we turned on the water pump, water came flowing out. Luckily we had a spare and it appears all is well again.