Fought the wind and current for the first part of the trip until after Portsmith. The Dismal Swamp turn came up quick and then we were in much shallower water. It was cold, low 40's. We had to wait an hour at the Deep Creek Lock for the lock to open at it's scheduled time. After the lock, we docked at Elizabeth's Dock and got the generator running for some heat. Listened to the weather forecast and we have a "Winter Weather Advisory". We thought we left that behind us in NY State! Later I made a big batch of goulash. It sure hit the spot.
Update: When we awoke Sunday morning we had some snow on board!
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Comments [2]
We are airing out the boat, cleaning, relaxing and replenishing while it blows 20 knots. The forcast is for 20-30 kts winds the next couple days. Took Newton to the beach, He just loves the water. We are just north of the Navy base and there is lots of air traffic overhead. We know we are safe with all the destroyers and frigates standing guard in the southern part of the bay. You can hear the constant chatter of warships on the radio and the constant fwapp fwapp fwapp from the black hawks overhead.
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15 days and we will be in AZ
Left Ocean City, MD about 2:30 PM on Sunday and began our overnight trip to Norfolk, VA. Put up the main, mizzen and jib, only to be going 3 kts so, we motor sailed. Timing was everything, we wanted to make the the Cheasapeake Bay entrance at dawn, and we needed to be traveling at least 5 kts an hour to meet our goal. We had 114 nm to cover and the forcast for Tuesday on was not good. Our weather window was present and we needed to make time. Had a beautiful sunset, light and variable winds, and after the sun went down it was dark, pitch black dark. Couldn't even see the ocean midship, could hear it but, not see anything. It was erry to hear loons on our passage. Waves were one foot or less. It was cold, the low 30's and we did 30 minute shifts at the helm so we could stay warm. The time passed quickly. The stars were out and we were glad when the moon appeared about 12:30 AM. The radar worked fine and all the lighted sea buoys appeared as a blimp. No traffic until we reached the entrance to the bay at dawn. Several Navy warships and container ships passes us as we made our way across the southern part of the Cheasapeake Bay. We arrived at Willoughby Bay Marina in Norfolk, VA about 12:30 PM on Monday. Exhausted and delighted we made such good time. Sleep was not a problem, we slept well.
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We enjoyed our own feast and put our oven to the test. I made pumpkin pie, turkey, stuffing, squash, potatoes, gravy and all the other good stuff. Mmm Mmm good! The Gale is still lingering offshore and lots of fronts are moving across the area. Hope to leave this weekend for Chicopetegue Inlet or a run to south shore of Cheasapeake Bay. Time will tell, another front is moving across Tuesday and we could be stuck somewhre another week. We are warm, in good spirits and well fed.
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Get a good night sleep and enjoy the dock
After much consideration, we decided to skip going North on Delaware Bay and South down the Cheasapeake Bay, and are taking the outside route to the southern Cheasapeake area. We had a great sail on the Atlantic, sailed with jib and jigger, averaging 5.9 kts. Put the main up for an hour or so, made good time 40 nm in about 8 hrs sailing except for in and out of the inlets. Radar being finicky again. Greg and technican worked on it again. Now we are waiting on the weather window. Once again we have fog, gales, and rain.
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Well, we were not able to leave the dock because of fog. The fog has hung around most of the day. Our radar hasn't been working. I took Newton for a two hour walk to the beach and through town. Since we are here we decded to call a tech to see about having our radar fixed. Tech will check things on Tuesday and there is a Gale Watch for Tuesday night and Wednesday, so we will probably be here awhile.
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