Kathy
11/06/2009, Waterside Marina, Norfolk, VA

So, all of the cruising guides tell you to avoid anchoring or docking at an unknown area after dark. And that certainly wasn't our plan when we left Deltaville shortly after 6:30 Thursday morning. We wanted to reach Norfolk before a gale warning went into effect at 6:00 that evening. We decided to head out and if we were making bad time or the weather turned early we would head to one of the anchorages or marinas along the way.

As it turned out we made pretty good time and shortly after 2:00 we were at the entrance to Hampton Roads with just over ten miles to go to the marina. That's when we just about stopped moving. Our speed went from almost 6 knots to just over 3. At first that was okay because it let us watch the navy helicopter out over the bay hovering. It seemed to be doing some kind of practice drill. At one point it was dragging a boat across the water.

However, we watched it much longer than we really needed to watch. It ended up taking us three hours to cover the last ten miles and we actually picked up speed near the end of our route. The result was the picture above. I took this picture about 3 miles before the marina. The good thing is that there are so many lights in this area we could see pretty well. The bad things was the amount of traffic, even after sunset.

But we made it safe and sound and we are now officially in the ICW. The marina is about a half mile past Red Buoy "36" which is the marker for mile zero of the ICW.

The marina is nice, but tight to move around in with a boat that doesn't like to back up straight. That fact combined with gusty winds this morning and early afternoon helped us decided to spend a second day here. It also allowed George to catch up with some computer work (we have a great internet connection) and Ben took an on-line test in math.

After work and school we went for a walk around Norfolk. It is a nice city with lots of places to eat nearby. There is also a large shopping center about four blocks from the marina. The guys both got their hair cut. Ben's was getting out of control and George's wasn't much better.

We plan to leave tomorrow morning and hope to reach the Dismal Swamp Visitors Center. They are calling for several nice weather days, although tonight it's supposed to get quite cold. Good thing we're plugged in and can use our electric heater.

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Kathy
11/02/2009, Solomons Island

We're stuck in Solomons still, but it's much better being stuck here than Atlantic City. There has been a small craft warning for the past three days and they're threatening one again tomorrow. The conditions are not sounding too bad but when it gets a bit rolly George and Ben have a hard time woking.

After school Ben decided to try his hand at crabbing. Above is the result of his efforts. He had a second one on but got so excited that he pulled it up too quickly and it jumped off. All it takes to catch crabs here is a string, some kind of weight (Ben used a shackle) and raw meat (Ben used bacon.) Than you drop it off the side of the boat and let it down to the bottom of the bay and tied the other end to a cleat on the boat. After a while you go back and check the bait. You have to haul the bait up very slowly inorder to keep the crab from letting go before it reaches the surface. When it gets close to the surface you scoop under the crab with a net. For the record, while we only got a few tablespoons full of crab from this guy, it was delicious.

In additon to crabbing we have spent time getting some of the thing done. We went shopping for food. This is the first place in a long time that we've found easily accessible stores with resonable prices. George got a few boat jobs done this weekend and today I managed to get all of the laundry done. Everything was wet so I ended up with six loads. So all in all it was much better than when we were stuck in Atlantic City where we couldn't get anything done.

We are planning on leaving tomorrow and heading to Reedsville. If we can get an early start and we make good time we may continue on to Deltaville. It would be nice to get to Norfolk by the end of the week, but the weather is not looking very good for the rest of the week. Of course it could always change.

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Kathy
10/30/2009, Solomons Island

We left shortly after 8:00 this morning heading for Cambridge on Chop Tank River. We arrived at the mouth of the river shortly after 11:00 and decided to do what we do best and change our minds. With bad weather heading this way for tomorrow and possibly Sunday we figured we might as well get as far south as we could today. So we kept heading south and broke out the guides.

We still needed some place where we could get food for Ben and we wanted a place that was well protected from potentially bad weather. We settled on Solomons Island and we arrived here shortly after 4:00. It seems like a great place to be for a day or two. I've already found a Gourmet Grocery Store and there is apparently anothernon-gourmet grocery store a mile or so away. There are also hardware and boat stores within walking distance.

On the way here today George and Ben spotted an island that they figured looked rather tropical. I think they're just wishful thinkeres. Look at the picture above and you decided.

More exciting for me than the island were the pelicans. We saw a large flock of them today as we headed south. I didn't get any pictures because I was just so happy to see them, mcuh like the dolphins earlier. For me, pelicans really mean south. We don't have anything that even looks remotely like a pelican in Michigan or Ontario. They are definately a signs of goods things (e.g. warm weather) to come soon.

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Kathy
10/29/2009, Annapolis, MD

Well it seemed that way. There really is too much to see in just one day. To do this city properly you need a week, but we had one day and we rammed as much as we could into that one day.

If you want to do Washington while your sailing down the east coast this is the place to do it from. Save yourself the 100 miles up the Potomac and catch a commuter bus. For $4.25 each, both ways, we caught the bus just before 7:30 from a stop a short walk from the mooring field. It let us off about an hour later right at the Smithsonion. We just reversed the route for the trip home. Not a bad deal at all and you get to travel in a very comfortable bus.

It really is amazing how much area the capital covers. It all looks so close together on the television. lol By the time we caught the 4:00 bus home we were all pretty tired.

If we had more time we probably would have gone again at least once, but it's not getting any warmer so we need to get moving again.

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