So, I finally made it to to the ICW. I left Hampton on Thursday morning and motored to the Layafette River where I met up with my friend Bill (another 424 owner) who is also heading South.
My first night with my new anchor did not go well. At 10:25 the expected front came though and the wind switched around to the north and picked up to over 30 knots. I dragged about 200 feet until the anchor reset. It held the rest of the night with the wind between 22-25 kts. gusting to 30 but I was worried and had a sleepless night. I think I didn't back down hard enough. We'll see. Maybe it just needs to be broken in.
Leaving the Lafayette River and proceeded down the Elizabeth River past Norfolk and Portsmith, passing all the shipping and Navy docks. A lot of big boats and a few aircraft carriers.
The run down to Great bridge was cold (had my Buffalo Bills hand warmers in my pocket). There was about a dozen boats in line. A lot of waiting for bridges. Some open on the hour and some on the half hour. It took 4 hours to make about 15 miles. A lot of jockeying around trying to wait in a river with current and wind. Some waits were 15 minutes one was 50. We tied up just after the Great Bridge Lock and just before the Great Bridge bridge. We figure to stay here tomorrow as the weather is supposed to suck and at the other end of the next leg is Currituck Sound which is sensitive to winds. So we'll hang out on Saturday and start south again on Sunday. Looks like everyone else her is of the same mind.
The plan is to be in Oriental NC on Wednesday.
Time to go find the propane heater to warm up my sleeping bag. Seems I got a few more miles to go before I have to starting worrying about the butter melting.
Alan