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June 22^nd, 2008  We pulled back into our slip about a week ago.  We didn't want to try coming into our narrowing channel on a weekend (busy with boats)  so we pushed forward to arrive about noon on Friday.  The channel into the basin has shoaled so much that only one boat at a time can make it past one point.  The Federal Government is supposed to start dredging the channel this fall.  Right now a lot of boats end up grounded unless they have the chart that was produced by the Marina showing the depths coming in.  The other thing that we did was to time our arrival at just before high tide.  That gave us the maximum depth and if we had gone aground it allowed for the tide to continue rising a little and help us get off the mud.  But we made it through ok.

While in Norfolk we noticed some nice boats.    This one is based in Norfolk and gives rides to the public for a fee.  The week before we arrived, the tall ships had gathered in Norfolk  (2,3,or 4 mast wooden boats).  That would have been fun to see but we missed them.  There was a big one at anchor next to us at Hospital Point and it looked like it was getting some needed repairs. 

We left Norfolk with a weather forecast that should have been good for us.  But forecasters lie.  We ended up with 20 to 30 knots of wind on our nose and 4 to 6 foot seas with an occasional 8 footer thrown in for good measure.  At times we were going forward at 2 to 3 knots and not making any distance.  We pulled into an anchorage at Mobjack Bay to get out of the weather since we would not make our destination by nightfall. 

The next day was completely different.    No wind and almost flat seas.  So motor we did.  We decided to bypass Deltaville and make a run for our our second destination even if we didn't make it to our first.  We made our longest daylight passage to date.  We went 76.8 nautical miles (88.4 statute) from Mobjack Bay to Solomon's Island.  We arrived a little before sunset and after the anchor was set, our friends Mike and Kathy came by and spent a little time with us as we said "goodbye"  "see you later"  to them since they were staying and we would be leaving a little after 5:30 am for our slip.

Since then we have been busy.  Mostly cleaning the boat getting salt and rust off the metal and washing the hull with acid to get rid of the Intracoastal waterway smile, doing laundry, replacing zippers on the enclosure, and fixing the boat.  As we cleaned the boat I found missing split rings on the rigging, missing nuts on the davits,  goose neck nut almost off and I thought I was checking the boat over pretty well as we were at sea.  Tippy is liking it in the slip but she still sleeps in her "at sea" position, wedging herself in the chair so she doesn't roll so bad. 

We have been enjoying the evenings with old friends  (yes they are) and having a great time.  Last Friday evening we went to Lee and Diane's beautiful home for a wonderful evening.    We were with Jeff , Tessa, Nicki and Duke.  Remember us saying "see you later" to Mike and Kathy,  well we saw them again last night.  They had anchored near us in Pirates Cove.  So we drove the 15 minutes to their harbor and went out for dinner.    

GETTING READY  We also are getting ready to head out to sea again.  We have ordered new sail track, sail stack pack,  Nancy has picked out the new fabric for the enclosure she will sew up.  Ordered thread, zippers, new 130 watt solar panels with a fancy new solar controller that "everyone is talking about".  They should have been talking about the price, not cheap.  I will be pickling the water maker for the summer today and will start changing engine and generator oil and filters so everything is all set to go.  We need to haul the boat and put it in the yard a few days so we can get some work done on it and bottom painted.  I need the propeller drive train rebuilt.  New cutlass bearing, support bearing, PYI Packless shaft seal installed and transmission fixed (it growls a lot) and any other thing that might come up.  We have started getting rid of some salt encrusted things with the purchase of new throw pillows for the settee, new bed spread, new clothes (its surprising how the few clothes that are brought with on the trip, wear out).  I feel that we are starting to get our list down but so many big projects are left to do.

June 10th, 2008  What wonderful week this has been!  We have not been traveling far each day but doing nothing but a little of gunk holing.

While in Elizabeth City, we watched the Carolina Cup Hydroplane races.    Two days of racing with many different classes of boats.  Only one incident, race boat caught on fire.    It's a friendly town - one we would go back  to. Before we left we noticed a barge coming out of the small canal that we would be going in and really didn't want to meet one coming down on us.  .  But, we left anyway, right after the races ended on Sunday afternoon.   We left Elizabeth City and went a few miles to Goat Island and anchored on the lee side of the river.  Water depth was 5 to 5.5 feet.  Just enough for us.  Great calm evening.  Mike got a great picture of us at anchor.    Flip the image upside down and you will see the actual photo.   This was our evening anchorage.     Quite nice.   We then headed for the Dismal Swamp.    I couldn't believe that I was driving the boat in a small ditch with only 6 to 7 feet of water.     I have seen highway ditches filled with more water.   Tippy just loves the waterway.  I wonder what she is thinking.  Like "WOW,  look at all those trees to climb", or "I know there is a mouse in there".     To get in the actual Dismal swamp we had to lock up into the canal at one end and lock down at the other end.  It was about a 7 foot rise.     The canal is fed from a lake and when the lake level drops the canal is closed.  We had to dodge a few logs and the prop hit something under water, but all was well.   As we left the lock we noticed a passenger on a little log in a debris field.  Just a little water moccasin.     Nancy was swimming in the river the night before.  We also had a passenger on the boat.  Best looking butterfly I have seen.    This is the actual Dismal Swamp.     No room to turn the boat around.  I had to watch the overhead branches on some portions of the canal as the trees grew out over the canal.  

Mike took this picture of us during last week's fire along the Alligator-Pungo River Canal.     We are a long ways from it now but this morning I could still smell the smoke in the air.

We are now anchored at Hospital Point in Norfolk VA. - back at milepost zero of the ICW.  We will probably leave tomorrow and continue going north or we may not.  We are retired.

June 6th, 2008  Well, now we are in beautiful downtown Elizabeth City, North Carolina and I do mean downtown.  The city has free slips along the downtown waterfront and we are in one. Their town nickname is "Harbor of Hospitality" and they take it seriously. Along with the "rose buddies" who have been greeting boaters here for decades, it seems like half the town strolls by to say hello. I think all of the 14 town slips are occupied tonight. Thank goodness we got in early. To get here we continued up the Intracoastal Waterway just taking our time exploring the things we had missed on the way down.  Staying at different anchorages and visiting little towns like Belhaven, N.C.    A very nice small country town atmosphere - one stop light; a couple little stores (including one that Nancy loves, called "Wine and Words".) Friendly people and a nice anchorage behind sea walls.  The city put in a dinghy docking area up a small creek that makes getting in and out of the dinghy easy and well protected.

Last night we anchored north of a swing bridge at Sandy point on the Little Alligator River just before entering Albemarle Sound.  It is an exposed anchorage but we had mild weather so the stay was good.  Leaving there was not.  We had heard about shoaling at the narrow cut going into the sound.  We listened to radio calls saying to favor the green side of the cut.  Well, I wasn't close enough to the green and hit bottom.  I put the boat in reverse and backed off and then very slowly went very close to the green mark and the depths stayed at about 10 feet.  Enough to get through.  I had marked the position that we went aground with the GPS and then plotted it on the chart.  We were exactly in the middle of the waterway course.  The last green mark leaving the river had been moved well to the west of its charted position and we had replotted it on our charts when we went south, so it was nice to have that reminder to turn about 45 degrees left when going to the last mark Green 3.

We have been traveling with Mike and Kathy on S/V Sapphire and it was their turn to follow, so they got to watch us go aground and stayed well our of our way until we got things going again.  (That's okay, it will be their turn to lead the way as we go into the Dismal Swamp Canal)

Earlier that day we went through the Alligator River - Pungo River Canal.  Its a 21 mile land cut that is straight as an arrow.    That's S/V Sapphire following behind.  As we were going along the canal a close-by forest fire reduced visibility to about 3/4 of a mile and started dropping ash on us.  It first started out as pieces about the size of a dime then things got a little serious as 2 to 3 inch ash descended upon us.    We got out the water hose and hosed down the boat just in case some of the embers were still hot.  One of the things that bothers me on this canal is the closeness of trees stumps.    Oh, the pink sky is from the forest fire (the smoke smell was so strong, it was like sitting by a campfire).  What was strange is that the coffee-colored water (caused by tannin leaching into the water from the roots of trees) and the sky turned about the same color as the smoke increased.

Mike and Kathy have brought over their Trivial Pursuit cards at the anchorages and I just have to smile as I see and feel the frustrations of not being able to think of the answer.  Keeps the brain engaged though. Here it is Nancy's turn to read.   

How are the cats doing, you ask.  Well Tippy just loves to watch the water and the shore when underway.  She is just like a old person sitting in a Lazy Boy - this is her kind of travel.    Blazey on the other hand, doesn't like the engine noise and tries to get away from it all by hiding in the stateroom where no one can see her.   

It's a hot day here in Elizabeth City and when we docked, we met some other boaters at the first air conditioned place we could fine, Groupers Seafood Restaurant - right next to the public docks.  The town mayor was at the wharf tonight asking the boaters to stay for the boat races tomorrow.  So, to do him a favor, we will stay a couple more days.