Deltaville Rains
28 September 2016 | Deltaville, VA
Elaine/68 and Pouring Rain
We want to update our friends and family as to our trip south. Thanks to our neighbors on S/V Perfect Match, Sharon and Ahti, we rushed to get our bottom paint on Monday a.m. (needed to coat about 30 sq. feet remaining after finishing our first gallon), in hopes of painting on Monday late morning. This was futile as it rained Monday afternoon, Tuesday for most of the day and we had dreams of painting this a.m. Again, rain prohibited any painting and we are now forced to cancel our launch date scheduled for this Friday. It rained on and off today and tonight the thunder and lightening all around us with torrential rain is amazing! We hoped to paint on Saturday and Sunday and tonight saw that more rain is forecast for this Saturday. Doesn't matter much as we will have all next week to paint as the winds are expected to become fierce by Tuesday. We are NOW hopeful to go into the sling on Thursday so we may paint under the keel and be launched on Friday, October 7th. We have also learned that not only the Dismal Swamp is closed, but also parts of the ICW South of Norfolk has been closed and the locks at Great Bridge are also closed due to flooding. It will take several days without rain to lower the water levels as they are releasing about 2" a day and as of this morning there was a minimum of 6" to release! Boats are stuck in the Dismal Swamp at the Visitors Center and also anchored in strange places, having passed through the Gilmerton Bridge. Soooo, as usual, weather dictates when and where we may go! The rain WILL end and we will begin our southerly transit soon. And of course, there is tropical storm Matthew that bears watching. Life on board is never dull!!!!
S/v Elle & I