October 2007

Where to start? Well maybe at the beginning of the trip. Solitaire left Solomon's Island in bad weather and continued the southward trip. Weather was just as bad as the day before. High seas, strong winds and following seas. In the evening we turned off the Bay and anchored on the back side of Deltaville in Jackson Creek. The entrance is a little tricky and only has room for one boat at a time. The channel leads into a big white house and just before the boat is beached, make a hard left turn. On the way out the next morning we bumped the bottom. The rain was still coming down, thunderstorms in the area, high winds and following seas. The waves were so high that the whitecaps were breaking above the seat on our bow pulpit. One wave hit us sideways, went over the top of the bimini on the boat and hit Nancy on the other side of the boat where she was sitting with one window of the cockpit enclosure open.

We finally made it to Norfolk and into the shelter of the harbor. Visibility was still bad with rain and drizzle. We anchored at Hospital Point, the start of the Intracoastal Waterway (mile marker "0"). This is also the start of the battle of the bridges. The first daylight opening is at 8:30 so we planned to arrive at the first bridge with a little time to spare. Unfortunately a railroad bridge just before the highway bridge closed as we approached it. It is supposed to be open most of the time. We hit it at the wrong time. The train crept onto the bridge and then stopped. So now our whole bridge schedule is down the drain. So goes careful planning. The bridges open every 30 minutes so once the railroad bridge opened we still had to wait for the highway bridge. Well, we finally got through the first bridge and on our way. Next bridge, would not open. The railroad bridge on the other side of it was closed (normally open) so another wait. Our mast cleared the bridge by 4 feet. The Bridges on the waterway are all supposed to be 65 feet high except for one that was only 64 feet.

A little way down the waterway from this bridge is a sign put up by the Corps of Engineers.

If the Dismal Swamp is the desired route, make a right turn or if you wish to take the Albemarle-Chesapeake Canal (Virginia Cut) then continue straight ahead. We took the Virginia Cut and made it to the Great Bridge locks with just a slight delay before the locks opened.

Then the race was on. The march of the sailboats.

Another bridge.

We finally got to the Midway Marina at Coinjock, N.C. We had been going for 4 days and treated ourselves to a Marina. The Marina is located along the waterway and had docks parallel with the canal so we just slowed down and put a line on a piling, filled up on gas (I think 38.3 gallons, not bad from Deale, Maryland) and went out for dinner. We ate with a couple from England who had sailed their 35 foot boat from England to go to the Bahamas. Great evening and then the trek began again in the early morning hours.

The group we had been with all anchored early and we kept going an additional 21 miles through the Alligator-Pungo River Canal. Nicest canal I have been on.

We anchored for the evening just as we left the canal. There was a large anchorage just a fraction of a mile from the canal.

Just a little information about radio usage on the trip from Norfolk and down the Intracoastal to this point. Channel 13 is used by all bridges, commercial vessels and locks. Channel 16 is not used for anything until the end of the canal, then everybody switches back to 16. Channel 13 is still used a little as the few remaining bridges come into view.

We continued on to Oriental, North Carolina and again splurged and stayed at a marina. This morning we slept in, checked our e-mails using the marina wi-fi and then made the short trip to Beaufort, North Carolina. We are anchored in a quiet area one bridge away for the downtown docks. This is also the first time that our cell phones have worked in the last 3 or 4 days. Friends Jay and Di are about 3 miles back at a marina getting some things done on the boat. We caught up with them.

Today was also the first time that we have seen the sun since we left Deale. The weather has been bad the whole trip. Winds, rain and high waves would not give up. We are going to stay here a few days and rest.

October 23^rd, 2007 We are in Oriental, North Carolina stop no phone stop more to come later stop

This last week has been a little hectic with all the last minute things. We first drove to Annapolis for some final shopping. We needed one more gas canister for our Soda Club machine and the cruising kit for our new generator (it includes air filter, 2 oil filters, 2 gas filters, 2 impellers ((water cooling pump)), value cover gasket, exhaust gasket, "O" rings and a few other items) and while we were there, we were invited to Owen's and Morina's boat for a farewell dinner.

Owen is from Australia and Morina is from Borneo. Great friends. We hope to see them again as they pass through the Bahamas on their way to the Caribbean.

This last weekend we were invited to join Gary and Jeannie

on their cruiser "Clannad" for a luncheon ride on the bay. Wonderful visit.

As we finished getting Solitaire sea worthy we watched the weather and did not like what we saw. A huge low pressure system was coming our way. We didn't know if we would be leaving or not. We continued getting the boat ready and got up early in the morning. Did last minute things (garbage, water) and watched the weather. When we saw that we could get about a third of the way to Norfolk before the weather hit, we left. The trip down the bay was not fun. The wind was gusting over 20 knots and right on our bow. The seas were so bad the cats wanted to abandon ship. Blazey ate 2 cans of cat food after we anchored (she couldn't eat anything all day) . We are now sitting at anchor in Solomon's Island waiting to see what the weather will bring for tomorrow.

It just feels great being on our way.

BOAT: Update on the new items. The freezer is now installed. Butch from "Shiver Me Timbers" spent a couple of days putting it in. It is a dual plate "Sea Frost" D. C. system and is working wonderfully. Nancy has it so cold that we could keep ice-cream. Butch did a wonderful and very professional job. I would highly recommend him. I have installed the new water maker and it is also a very professional job if I must say so myself. I have one fresh water line left to install from the engine compartment but other workers have kept me out of there. The new 6 kw generator with sound shield and remote instrument panel (that Nancy bought me for my birthday) is in place

with just a couple of connections left to do that should be done tomorrow

and then we are ready to leave.

The boat has been a mess the last few weeks with all of the projects going on. The cats had a hard time finding their food dishes. No matter how a person tries, the boat (vessel, yacht etc.) just ends up being torn apart. We now have a dining area that we can get to.

I think of the businesses we have employed - all have gone above and beyond the call of duty. Great service, friendly and good communication with us all the time. My accolades go to: Ocean Options, Annapolis (refrigerator); Shiver Me Timbers, Deale (freezer); Bay Shore Marine, Eastport, (generator); Phipps Boat Works, Deale, (cabinets and refrigerator door and receiving packages for us) and Osprey Marine, Deale, (fiberglass and paint work). Every one of these businesses provided exceptionally qualified workers with such great attitudes. It is such a big difference from some of the other grumpy old men businesses that we have also dealt with.

Nancy also completed varnishing the new cabinets and refrigerator door along with the aft toe rail. Everything is looking so nice.

We are looking at leaving this Saturday if all goes as planned. Just need to get our last minute mail and fresh vegetables before shoving off.

Nancy has been shopping for the items that we need for our 6-7 month trip. Things like UHT (Ultra High Temperature) milk that will keep without refrigeration for nearly a year and soda concentrate that we bought over the internet for our "Soda Club" (pop) machine. We bought it over the internet because the "Boaters World" supply was out of date or about to expire in a month or two. Through another internet source we bought canned meats - 50 pounds of canned chicken, beef, turkey and pork. At the "Seven Seas Cruising Association" meeting we talked to several cruisers about provisioning for the Bahamas. They told us what was either hard to get or very expensive in the Bahamas. She is stocking up on those items as well. Some people ask us about provisioning for such a long period since there are stores where we are going. Well the answer is that its cheaper here and easier to get to the boat on a dock from a car than bringing it to the boat from a dinghy and kind of nice to be done with it (the only heavy things brought to the boat by dinghy will be the rum). So things are coming along.

One of the funny things is that the cats are anxious to get going. As we load the things onboard they know that we are about ready to head out again and bother us constantly. Tippy is the traveler and is tired of looking at the dock.

Fingers crossed and my next web update will be from Virginia.

October 1^st, 2007 One of the reasons we wanted to get back to the Chesapeake was because of a very special invitation we had received from our dock neighbors Ken and Linda. They were celebrating their wedding anniversary with a roast pig and all the trimmings.

Debbie was having a good time.

This weekend we celebrated Carlie's birthday at the Chart House in Annapolis and had a great time.

Steve and Carlie's daughter Jen from Texas flew in for the party and to meet up with her friend Brad.

BOAT: We have ordered a new freezer configuration. Still waiting for it to come in. We had an engine driven cold plate and a 115 Volt cold plate in the freezer. Both worked just fine at the dock and while motoring but during the days of sailing without power the freezer would start to thaw and we would have to run the generator at night for a long period just to catch up on what we had lost. The new freezer will have two DC cold plates and will continue running all day under sail with the solar panels and wind generator. We have gone through a lot of our must do items with a couple of outstanding things left. Our generator is still not fixed. The shop is coming again tomorrow to continue working on it. I have installed the new water maker (The little Wonder) that will make 200 gallons of fresh water a day compared to 80 gallons a day that our old maker would do. We needed the larger output for our washer/dryer and normal onboard use. The other one would just take too much time running to fill the tanks. Installed is just a general term, I still have a filter, hoses and electrical to do before the job is finished.

Project are still occurring. Spar Tight will be going around the mast. The ocean conditions and storms flexed the mast so much the wedges in the deck partner would drop out. This will solve the problem. Oil and filter changes are also left to do. Nancy sanded and applied Cetol to the aft teak on the transom toe rail. A couple of coats are left to go on.

We are planning on departing for out Bahamas trip in a couple of weeks. All is dependent on the job list getting done.