Friday, October 27, 2017
Basin, Chesapeake, Va
53 miles 9.7 Engine Hours
Thursday day was spent organizing the boat with all the stuff. It’s important to have everything in its place. And, that is hard to do on a boat. Mainly because we bring too much stuff. Hey, it’s a 6 month cruise! And, as I’m writing this, I’m pretty sure I left the Bahamas Chart Book AT HOME.

Before we left the marina I obsessed about the level of the transmission fluid. I mean when you start the engine, transmission fluid flows uphill into the transmission cooler and when you cut the motor off the fluid runs back into the transmission. So, is the fluid low while running and correct when not running? If you check the fluid the way I thought, you cut the engine off run into the bilge, unscrew the dip stick, wipe it, put it back in, screw it back in, then unscrew the dipstick and read it. I mean how fast does the transmission fluid run back into the transmission once the motor is off? Is the level low while operating because so much fluid is up in the transmission cooler? I called my mechanic to calm me down. He came over and verified the transmission fluid is correct and check it without screwing the dipstick back in. That’s much easier than my perceived method. Whew. 3,000 miles on a boat is a long way not to be assured that the transmission fluid is correct. After all it’s a NEW TRANSMISSION!
So, finally at 9:24AM we left Horn Harbor and headed down the Chesapeake Bay. We took a little spray heading south straight in to the 10 knot southerly breeze. But the ride was just fine and a beautiful day it was as I watched the latitude decreasing on my instruments. As Jimmy Buffet says,” Changes in Latitudes, Changing in attitudes, Nothing remains quite the same” Yes Susan and I are smiling.

As we got near Hampton Roads it got very busy with tugs, Warships, two of those famous Osprey aircraft, military jets and two large container ships leaving Norfolk. You have to be on your toes while transiting Hampton Roads, Norfolk and Portsmouth. Also there were quite a few cruisers like us on their boats heading south converging. We adjusted our speed a bit to time getting into the Great Bridge lock with 5 minutes to spare. We were forth in line leaving the lock behind a tug pushing a barge. With the lock gate closed behind us, when the tug went in gear the water swirled around and I had quite a time keeping control of Liquid Therapy.
The lift bridge at Great Bridge is timed to open just a few minutes after the lock opens for southbound boats. Our destination of Atlantic Yacht Basin was within sight of the bridge and we docked at 5:12PM. There was a dock party going on and we joined right in. Met a lady from Switzerland that had sailed across the Atlantic in a 34’ boat! I was impressed. After mingling and some complementary wine Susan and I went to Vino, a very nice Italian restaurant, that we had frequented this summer on our cruise to Ocracoke. It was great and we almost fell asleep walking back to Liquid Therapy.
I did fall hard asleep on the setee and now it’s 2:50AM as I finish writing this.
Tomorrow will be filled with nature as we cruise down the
Albermarle cut to Coinjock, NC.
Today’s picture is Susan in action preparing her bow line for locking through at Great Bridge.
Good Night or morning I guess.