After a devastating hurricaine season, it is with heavy hearts for our family, friends and the cruising world who have lost homes, boats and cruising destinations, that we set off on our next adventure. After weeks of provisioning we are ready to cast off. After more than a year as landlubbers we are anxious to cruise again.
We are up early in anticipation of the days ahead. It is a chilly morning. After a bowl of oatmeal, Carl moves outside the boat to disconnect the shore power and ready the lines for leaving. I stay below to make sure that everything is in its place and secure from moving while underway. Our friend (and dentist) Ric stops by to wish us well. He has a present for Carl.....a hawaiian shirt that has palm trees and says "lost at sea". I'm just going to say that it must be a "good luck" shirt. Haha. Carl promises to wear it in the Bahamas. Just a few minutes later we see Davido and his crew ,Tim, on Utopia pass by our stern. We wave and wish them a safe voyage. They are headed offshore at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. They will probably be in the Abacos in 5-6 days. We will take the scenic route with plans to make a few offshore runs to spend a little less time in the ditch. We take our lines with us as we leave the dock at 8:15a.m. It is a gorgeous fall day. We motor across the Rappahannock to fuel up at the Tides Inn. We then slip under the Norris Bridge and head towards the mouth of the river. There must be at least 40 oyster boats working as we near Stingray Point. They must be stocking up for Oyster Festival this coming weekend! There are many birds (pelicans, cormorants and seagulls) fishing nearby. We are in Jackson Creek by 12:30 and drop anchor right behind our friend Bobby's sailboat, Summerest, in Snug Harbour. This is always our first stop and one of our favorite anchorages anywhere. We enjoy a bowl of chicken gnocchi soup that Carl's daughter Hope made, along with a grilled cheese sandwich. After lunch we finish putting up the isinglass panels and cut some new "welcome" mats. As I sit in the warmth of the sun in the cockpit, I reminisce about our past year in Urbanna. All of the friends we have made and the fun we have had! It is bittersweet to be leaving just days before the Oyster Festival that this little town of 500 is famous for. It is the 60th anniversary, begun in the year that I was born. Urbanna will be host to some 60,000 people. (I hope someone will eat an oyster fritter for me!) But we must go while the weather is good and try to get south before it turns too cold.