November 30, 2014  Day 9 South for Winter

Whittaker Pointe Marina
Oriental, NC

Just a short post tonight.  Another good travel day – sunny sky and calm water! We left our anchorage shortly after 7:00. By 9:15 we were in the Pamlico River and by 11:15 we were in the Neuse River.  We arrived at Whittaker Pointe Marina, near Oriental at 1:15.  This is our second visit here.   As soon as we got secured and settled in we used the marina’s courtesy car to do the provisioning.  We appreciate marinas that provide transportation!

We had dinner on board and Joyce worked on downsizing the loads of laundry that seem to multiply. We will leave in the morning and go to a marina in Swansboro, NC.

November 29, 2014  Day 8 South for Winter

At anchor
Pungo River, NC

We got underway at 0700 and headed back down the Alligator River. The water was like glass!  We arrived at the Alligator River Bridge at 0800 and were granted an immediate bridge opening. Two hours later we were in the Alligator River–Pungo River Canal, a narrow canal that is marshy and sparsely lined with trees.  We had the water to ourselves!  We saw one sailboat heading north and one or two fishing boats today.   This canal leads to the Pungo River on the south end. We chose an anchorage in Pungo Creek at 1510 and ended our travels for the day.

After we anchored we put up our little Christmas tree.  We found a spot on the sundeck and will enjoy the lights! We had a quick dinner of leftovers and relaxed for the evening.

We have another full day of travel tomorrow as we head to a marina in Oriental, NC

November 25-28, 2014  Days 4-7  South for Winter

At anchor
Alligator River, NC

Tuesday and Wednesday were fairly quiet ones for us at Atlantic Yacht Basin. The frozen water pipes had not been repaired, so on Wednesday we were able to move the boat to the north end of the dock where the pipes were fine.  We needed to do laundry and to fill our water tank before leaving.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving and had a great turkey dinner with all the trimmings.  We enjoyed talking with family members and we watched a favorite movie in the evening.

We finally departed Atlantic Yacht Basin early this morning. With ice on the dock and on the decks of our boat, it was definitely time to leave.  We traveled 8 ½ hours which was a long day but productive. We timed two bridges perfectly that had to open for us in Virginia.  We had a bright sunny day which kept the fly bridge warm. We crossed the Albemarle Sound with no problems. The waves were only 1½ ft. and we did not see a single boat on the sound!  We played Christmas music all afternoon and that helped make the day go by faster. Joyce even got out all the Christmas decorations while we were underway.

We are finally in North Carolina so we feel we are making progress. We hope to reach an anchorage near Belhaven tomorrow which will be another long travel day of about 60 miles.

 

 

 

November 22-24, 2014  Days 1-3  South for Winter

Atlantic Yacht Basin
Chesapeake, VA

After six weeks and two days we finally got underway and said goodbye to Poquoson, VA on November 22. While there, we had a wonderful time visiting family and friends.  We took care of numerous Dr. appointments and shopping. Bill also helped his brother restore a 1968 Owens boat by doing all the electrical work. We also got a few projects done on our boat.  Joyce was happy to celebrate her birthday earlier this month with many family members present!  Add attending a Seafood Festival, Christmas bazaars, art shows, sharing many meals with family and friends, and we kept quite busy.  We also took time to vote in the mid term elections. Nice to do it in person and not absentee this time!

It eventually started getting much colder and when the marina staff turned off the water until April, we thought this was a good hint for us to think about leaving!

Our first day of travel was smooth as we retraced our route south toward Norfolk. We saw two aircraft carriers, the George W. Bush and the Theodore Roosevelt, docked at the Norfolk Air Station, as we passed by on the Elizabeth River.  We stopped for fuel at Top Rack Marina. With their diesel price at $3.049, we could not pass up the chance to fill all three tanks.  As soon as we left there we heard a familiar voice on the radio. Jerry and Wendy Taylor, our delivery captains/instructors, were not far behind us on Aurora. They were headed to Atlantic Yacht Basin and we made a last minute decision to join them. We had intended on tying up at a nearby free dock, but with the temperatures dipping overnight we decided an electrical hookup was more important.

That was Saturday and today is Monday, and we are still here. We looked at the weather forecast which included wind and rain over the next few days, and decided to wait it out here. When we leave we will anchor quite a bit and we know the anchorages are not protected.  We also wanted to be at a marina on Wednesday and Thursday so Joyce can prepare a full Thanksgiving dinner.

So, we plan to leave Chesapeake, VA on Friday.  Our trip south will happen!  We will post again when we depart. In the meantime, we wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

 

October 8-9, 2014  Days 164-165  Chesapeake Bay

Whitehouse Cove Marina
Poquoson, VA

We left our anchorage in Mill Creek at Solomons early on Wednesday. We had a good cruise all day under a sunny sky.  We chose a new anchorage for our last night on the Bay – Indian Creek which is at Kilmarnock, VA. It was a very scenic and protected area and we shared the anchorage with two other boats.  We would definitely go back again! We enjoyed a magnificent full moon that evening.

We departed Thursday and made the final leg of the trip which took us back to Poquoson.  We arrived around 2pm and the dock master was here to greet us.  Bill’s brother Bob came over to visit later in the afternoon.  It is good to be back for about 5-6 weeks. We will visit family and friends, and take care of all medical appointments.  Our project list grows daily and we have already started working on some of the tasks.  We hope to get many things accomplished before we head south in mid-November.

We will try to update the blog from time to time but will not write often until we get underway.  Our summer and fall on the Chesapeake Bay was everything we had hoped it would be. We explored new rivers and creeks, visited large cities and small towns, docked in marinas, yacht clubs, spent time on a mooring ball and enjoyed many anchorages.  We had friends join us on board twice, and we attended the MTOA Rendezvous. It was the perfect place for us to be!

October 4-7, 2014  Days 160-163  Chesapeake Bay

At anchor, Mill Creek
Solomons, MD

We departed the Maryland Yacht Club early Sunday morning and had a good cruise to Herring Bay when we anchored.  We enjoyed watching a myriad of sailboats enjoying a decent breeze on this fall Sunday afternoon. 

By the end of the day we were alone in our anchorage and spent a peaceful evening.  We were watching the wind and waves forecast on the bay and decided to spend an additional day at anchor. The winds were from the south and we had good protection.  By early afternoon on Monday, the wind changed and came from the east.  This was a problem.  We had waves on our beam all afternoon and well into the evening – strong enough to knock two lamps over and to make us feel ill.

We left this spot early Tuesday morning and cruised five hours to Mill Creek in Solomons, an anchorage we have visited three times this summer.  We had three foot waves on the bow the first two hours, then two footers for the remainder of the cruise.  However, we were rewarded with a perfectly calm anchorage with protection on all sides.  What a pleasant contrast to last night!

We spent a relaxing afternoon and cooked dinner on the grill.

We will travel to another anchorage further south tomorrow.

 

October 1-3, 2014  Days 157-159  Chesapeake Bay

Maryland Yacht Club
Pasadena, MD

Just a quick post tonight. We have had a slight change of plans as we wait for a better weather window after this front has passed. We were planning to leave today but will now depart MYC on Sunday.

In the meantime, Joyce has done some cleaning and some necessary provisioning, thanks to Peg, another Looper who is here and has a car!  Bill has the chart plotting completed and has completed some chores in the engine room.  We have also been productive in scheduling several appointments while we are in Virginia.

We also went to dinner with Jim and Peg here at the club on Wednesday night and had a fun evening.

We will update again soon.