06/10/2011, Onancock, VA

We arrived in time to celebrate the 2nd birthday of Isobel's cousin, Anna. Of course Isobel was compelled to show her cousin how to unwrap and play with her new toys! The two girls provided the entertainment for the various aunts, uncles and Nana. We will work on capturing some of their cuteness on "film"!

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Hot!
06/09/2011, middle of the southern Cheasapeake Bay

Shortly after leaving Norfolk, thankfully, the wind filled in from the south, which allowed us to set the Cruising Spinnaker. Shortly after this photo we rigged our whisker pole and flew the spinnaker on the starboard side and sailed for 7 hours wing and wing. When we finally reached the entrance to Onancock Creek, we were feeling so good... we wanted to keep going...!

It has been a long time since we have had a good long sail. It is wonderful when everything is running well, under sail with a steady breeze... even with the heat (almost 100) there is something that is just "right" about a good day's sail.

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06/09/2011, middle of the southern Cheasapeake Bay

This little guy flew into the cockpit and landed on my hand! He rested there for quite a while and allowed us to look at it and photograph it. Anyone know what he is? After a while he flew off across the water!

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06/07/2011, Hospital Point Anchorage, Portsmouth, VA

We are at the official mile 0 of the Atlantic Intra Coastal Waterway... A short visit to Norfolk today... We went on board the Battleship Wisconsin... which was very impressive. Over 800 feet long with 16" diameter guns. It was brought out of mothballs in 1988 and launched the first cruise missiles in the first gulf war. Then, shortly after the war it was again decommissioned because it was costing $250,000 per day to maintain!

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06/07/2011, Great Bridge, VA

A few moments after the below photo, as we are spinning the boat to tie up to the pier, Isobel is jumping on the fender (that should be over the side). Good thing I didn't see this! Makes a good photo though, in retrospect!

As Uncle Readie points out, there is grass right up to the pier!

As an additional note on the fire we passed. We spoke to a bridge tender who said that the "problem" with the fire is that it is now burning underground... burning all the organic matter that has built up over the years. That is one reason the smoke plume is so white, it is filled with steam... They need a three or four days of rain to put it out.

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06/07/2011, Great Bridge, VA

As we arrived in Great Bridge, the sun was low and the light was great.

36 43.282'n 076 14.506

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06/06/2011, Great Bridge, VA

Bill heads up the mast to do some maintenance. This was in last nights anchorage.

At the beginning of June, knowing that we were going to be off the boat for almost a month, we shipped our genoa (forward triangle sail) and our radio out for repair... We don't have either one back yet!

The sail: Sort of a long story. In short, when the mast was rigged in VT, the mast was given too much rake, tipping it back. We measured for the sail with the mast in this position. Since this rake made the boat sail improperly, I quickly read up on rig tuning and started to adjust the mast forward. This shortened the fore-stay... effectively making the luff (forward edge) of the sail too long. Hopefully the adjusted sail will fit the properly tuned rig.

The radio: We had shipped the ICOM radio back for service last summer after having problems communicating with it before then. ICOM shipped it back saying that everything was OK. This fall when we had our "incident", one of the cascade of problems was that we were not able to contact anyone (TowBoat US, Coast Guard, local fishermen) about the condition of the inlet. We shipped the radio back to ICOM... this time they said they found a loose wire in the Microphone. Since our launch this spring, we had found that the radio still doesn't work! Now they have found two components that we failing. Rather than shipping it to us in Oriental, they shipped it to our mail forwarding service in FL!! Such service does not give me the confidence to recommend ICOM radios...

For these two reasons we took the "inside" route north... and it was a good thing as there was no wind and we motored the entire way... anyway. Although we missed Ocracoke and Manteo, we did save some fuel and time.

As compared to last night, we are in the thick of civilization! We are tied up to a town owned pier in Great Bridge, VA, just 100 yards north of the Great Bridge bridge... so we are surrounded by street lights and the sound of cars going over the bridge is constant.

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06/05/2011, East Lake, NC

We spent the day in the canal that connects the Pungo River with the Alligator River. We didn't see any alligators although we did see lots of small deer, turtles, GB Herons, etc... We would normally choose the other route north which crosses the Pamlico Sound with stops in Ocracoke and Manteo.

Isobel helped me by spotting all the crab pots, including those ahead of us... bringing us to this apparently remote anchorage at the mouth of the Alligator river. There must be another fire north of us as the smoke is in the air and the sun was red long before it set.

35 56.091'n 075 54.556'w

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06/04/2011, Pungo River

Updated image of the fire.

The day was hot, but not as hot as the ones past. We had our shades up all day as we motored... trying to balance visibility and temperature! We arrived in the Pungo river and anchored out where we could catch a breeze... one that lasted until just before the sun set as a orange ball in the west. I think the Alligator National Wildlife refuge fire is still burning as we can see a huge plume with a smoke cloud billowing high in the sky...

The water is now like glass... we think that tomorrow we will leave early and stop earlier so we can let the boat cool off (engine heat) before it is time for bed.....

More tomorrow,

35 31.620'n 076 32.899'w

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05/31/2011, Oriental, NC

It is quite pleasant here at about 7 am. After yesterday... baking on the boat, I was out pretty early to get the shades up. I am able to used the shade that goes aft of the mast because I am at a slip owned by some very nice folks who are on a boat called Whispering Seas. They are the same people who let me "house sit) back in November when we first arrived in Oriental.

So, here I am at the slip. trying to get a few things done... with the heat, I am trying to do things that don't require movement... Although now it is cooling off (93 degrees!) so I will get to some real projects!

I am sure all of you who watch this blog for news and photos related to Isobel will be happy to know that she and Lara will be back on board tomorrow afternoon... It will be great to have the family back together again and to return to our simple lifestyle.

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