Our 2014 sailing season is coming to an end. We enjoyed some wonderful cruises over the summer and an awesome cruise this fall, meeting friends all along the way!!

We renamed a couple of the photo albums and moved around some pictures. The album titled "Photos from 2014 Chesa Bay to North Carolina" now includes pictures from our fall trip to Wye River on the Chesapeake Bay and our awesome trip to Albemarle Sound and Manteo in North Carolina.

It's soon time to haul our boat for the winter. Thank you for following our blog and commenting on our blog or by e-mail! Hope to see you next spring!

The weather forecast looked good for traveling north on the Chesapeake Bay. At first light on Thursday morning, we left the harbor in Portsmouth and almost right away we watched a couple of dolphins surface and swim toward our boat. That's always a nice start to our day! Raised the mainsail in Elizabeth River and motor sailed as the sun rose. In Hampton Roads, we passed a warship that just returned from sea. There's always something interesting to see along the waterway around Norfolk!

We enjoyed a very comfortable motor sail between 6 to 8 kts on the Chesapeake Bay with one foot waves. It was a bit sloppy and rolly with one to two foot waves whenever we crossed the mouths of rivers.

After 8 hours into our trip, the engine got quite loud so we slowed down, turned off the motor, and SAILED from Windmill Point to the mouth of the Great Wicomico River. That was nice!! Earlier in the morning when we started the engine, it ran rough, chugged water and spewed smoke for about a minute, but it ran fine for the next 8 hours. We were a little concerned if the engine would start again and wondered if we might have to sail the rest of the way up the bay rather than anchor for the night. Fortunately, the engine started, briefly made loud noises, but soon ran normal again. We slowly motored into Ingram Bay and anchored in Mill Creek, one of our favorite anchorages.

Tim did a little research, drained the fuel filter, and saw water with the fuel. That was our problem. Whew! Problem fixed! We relaxed, enjoyed a delicious spaghetti dinner, and watched a beautiful red sky at night!

As we pulled up our anchor this morning, a dolphin surfaced several times looking for food. So cool! Motor sailed right away, staying away from the many fish traps around the mouth of the Great Wicomico River. We saw an occasional pelican and many seagulls. It was a clear day, so we were able to see lots of sailboats and also several schooners during the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race from Annapolis MD to Portsmouth VA. That was a special treat!

The wind calmed at times, but increased again as we turned toward James Island. We turned off the motor, SAILED thru the cut between James Island and Taylors Island, and enjoyed a wonderful and swift SAIL in the Little Choptank River to Fishing Creek!! What an awesome way to end our wonderful trip!!!

This fall, we spent a week visiting new places around Wye Island on the Chesapeake Bay and a month visiting new places along the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. We even SAILED to and from Manteo on the Outer Banks!! We cruised to new places, met old and new cruising friends along the way, SAILED quite a bit, and enjoyed the beauty all along the waterway!!

We added photos to two albums from our summer and fall trips - Photos of 2014 along Chesapeake Bay and Photos of 2014 along VA and NC. Thanks for following our blog!

What a contrast of views from the scenic Great Dismal Swamp to the busy industrial waterway with highway and railroad bridges, tugs and barges, large ships and yachts, Security boats patrolling Navy vessels, and Ferry boats running between Portsmouth and Norfolk!

Gilmerton Bridge and all railroad bridges were opened when we arrived, so we didn't have to wait for any bridge openings. That was a nice change! :)

We're tied up in the High Street Ferry Landing along with several other sailboats. It's a bit noisy when the ferry arrives and leaves, but it's really nice to be able to step off the boat and walk a block to visit downtown Portsmouth.

It's also nice to be able to visit with our friends Bill and Laurie who live aboard their boat a couple of blocks away. We just got back from a delicious lunch at The Bier Garden. Since it was raining when we left the restaurant, we walked back to our own boats. So glad we were able to spend quality time with Bill and Laurie!!

Tomorrow morning we start our run up the Chesapeake Bay!

By the end of Sunday, there were 9 boats rafted along the wall at the Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome Center, with two boats rafted to our boat. It's always fun meeting new people by land and by water! During our 3 nights, some of the memorable cruisers we met were Rich and Bob from Oxford, who I'm sure we'll see again on the Chesapeake Bay; Greg and Debbie from Nova Scotia, who rafted to us and you'd have thought we were already good friends; and Michel and Annie from France, who sailed from Africa to Trinidad to the Caribbean islands and are now cruising along the Intracoastal Waterway. It will be fun to follow the many sailing blogs from the friendly cruisers we met along the way!

Early Monday morning after watching most of the cruisers head south, we headed north. It was only a 17 mile day, but it was all on the scenic Dismal Swamp Canal with only 1 bend in the canal, and we're now in Virginia. We docked at Elizabeth's Dock last night between the Deep Creek bridge and lock.

We'll soon be going thru the Deep Creek Lock opening and leaving the Dismal Swamp Canal. We have really enjoyed the quiet and beauty all along the Great Dismal Swamp!! Our next stop is the busy waterway in Portsmouth and Norfolk, where we'll stay for the wind and rain that's headed our way.

Our travel day on Friday was less than an hour as we motored along the straight and scenic Dismal Swamp Canal from South Mills Lock to the docks at the NC Welcome Center. We were the first boat to tie along the docks, but it wasn't long before other boaters stopped and stayed or moved along the waterway. The welcome center is along route 17, so there are also visitors by road and many of them walk down to look at the scenic Intracoastal Waterway.

Dismal Swamp State Park is across the pontoon bridge over the canal. Yesterday was the 3rd Annual Dismal Day at the state park. We enjoyed listening to good music while walking along the boardwalk thru the swamps, past the many vendors with pretty crafts and good food, going for a wagon ride on the Dismal Swamp Express along the canal road, and looking at a lynx, coy-dog, nutria and beautiful wolves. It was a fun time at Dismal Day!!

There were five boats along the docks Friday night and six boats Saturday night. We all got together last night under a pavilion and had a good time sharing boating stories with friendly cruisers from the US, from Canada, and a couple from France! It's always fun to meet cruisers along the way from all walks of life!!

Four of the six boats left the dock this morning. It was tempting to change our plans and join them as they headed south, but we decided to stick with our plans and head north. :) We'll spend the rest of the day at the welcome center and state park in NC before heading to Deep Creek Lock in VA tomorrow morning.

Hundreds of motorcyclists just stopped by the welcome center during the annual charity Swamp Roar. It was a bit loud for a little while, but it's very quiet right now. We just never know what we might see during our travels!!

Our last couple of days have been wonderful! On Wednesday, we enjoyed an AWESOME SAIL from Manteo in Roanoke Sound to the Pasquotank River. Winds were from the WNW at 10 to 15 kts, seas were 2 to 3 foot swells, our jib was reefed, and we SAILED between 6 and 7 kts!! AWESOME! It was a bit sloppy when Roanoke Sound, Croatan Sound, Currituck Sound, and Albemarle Sound met, but we scooted right along! We took water over the bow quite often and a couple times water came into the cockpit. What a wild and wonderful SAIL!! Winds calmed in the Pasquotank River, and we SAILED at 5 kts in calm water! Great sailing day!!

Tied up in a slip at Elizabeth City, a great town for cruisers! Traveled 45 miles in 7 hours with 40 miles and close to 6 hours of pure SAILING!! Doesn't get better than that!!

As always, we enjoyed our time in Elizabeth City! Yesterday we motored thru picturesque Pasquotank River and Turner Cut with gorgeous views of cypress swamps along the Dismal Swamp Route of the ICW. After locking thru the South Mills Lock, we tied along the bulkhead between the lock and bridge for the evening. We're on our way to the Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome Center, where we'll stay for a day or two. Love traveling along the scenic Dismal Swamp Canal route!!