Day Fifty Three

We left Godfrey Bay about 8:30am this morning.  Our plan was to make it to Norfolk, VA, but, plans change.  We lost about an hour en route to an EPIRB alert on our AIS.  Although it said "test" we called the Coast Guard and notified them.  We provided all the information they needed.  They sent out an alert on VHF Radio.  It was about an hour before we heard the all clear.

The water was nice and calm today and that is always a pleasure.  We saw about 12-15 ships patiently waiting to dock.  Not sure where they were heading.  Again today the sun was shining and that always makes travelling more pleasurable.

I didn't take any pictures today because there was nothing to see although  we did see some dolphins.  It is quite amazing that they swim along side by side, come out of the water with perfect timing and don't seem to be in any rush.  They crossed directly in from of the boat.  So beautiful.

We will make Norfolk, VA tomorrow and there will be lots of pictures to be taken.  We travel right through the city and the Navel Base.

Day Forty Nine, Fifty, Fifty One and Fifty Two

Oh, it's nice to be back writing on the blog and being on the water.  We spent four days at Ingram Bay Marina.  It was great.  I had the chance to rest my leg and get off of the boat for walks.  That felt really good.

I spoke with my Doctor today just to make sure I was doing things right considering my injuries.  She said to continue as I'm doing and things should work out fine.

We travelled today from Ingram Bay Marina to just outside of Deltaville.  It was a beautiful day on the water, nice and calm and the sun was shining.  We will be heading to Norfolk VA tomorrow.  We are getting very close to our destination.  We will both be glad to get there and have a chance to relax.

I still am not able to upload the video of us on the water.  I will keep trying.

Day Forty Eight

Hmmmm, our anchorage was a great spot....the only exception was the local boaters who travel at the speed of light and do not slow down for anything.  We rocked and rolled most of the night and certainly didn't sleep in.  We were up early and left after eight.  Our travelling boaters from NH anchored out in the same spot.  Nice seeing them again.

We found a nice little Marina that was affordable and offered the things we were looking for.  We headed for Heathsville, VA.  When we started out the waters on the Bay were really rough.  We regretted leaving.  After about an hour or so things calm down and the rest of the day was not bad.

Smith Point Lighthouse

These little lighthouse are so amazing.  Most of them are not being used any more.  I'm sure they saved a few sailors in their day.

We are at the Marina and will stay here for a few night at least.  This will give me a chance to rest and not get bounced around for a few nights.

Day Forty Seven

We found an anchorage in Kent Point.   It seemed like a good place with lots of room.  It turned out okay but again the wind picked up in the evening and night.  Fortunately our boat was the only boat at anchor.

We met some fellow boaters in Cape May from New Hampshire heading for Florida.  As we headed for our anchorage they headed for Annapolis.  We met up again on the water.  They took this video of us and we reciprocated by taking a video of them.  It seemed really strange watching this video knowing it was us.

I tried putting in the video but it wouldn't load.  I will check it and see if I can save it in a different format.  I'll put it in another post.

The plan was to head towards Deltaville for a night in the Marina, pump out, laundry and fuel.  We knew we would not be making that trip in one day as we didn't want two long days in a row. 

Again there was very little scenery along the way.  This part of the US does not have the beautiful fall colours that we have.  There is still quite a few trees with their leaves in beautiful yellows and oranges.

We will anchor in Patuxent River, Lusby, MD.  Again this is a wide open area and we are hoping for a good night.

Day Forty Six

We wanted a calm night but didn't get it.  Around 4:30am the anchors were no longer holding us in place.  The winds were again unbelievable as was our little reversing falls.  We couldn't get either anchor up because the second anchor was wrapped around our main anchor.  Brian eventually had to cut it and we lost the second anchor.  After a great struggle Brian was able to get the anchor up and we left the anchorage.  It was still dark and raining.  We ended up on a Marina dock just across the harbour.  We stayed there until about 8:30 and then headed out.

The weather was really quite good all day.  The water was a little rough in spots but overall it was a good boating day.  Unlike the other places along the water that were filled with big beautiful homes this stretch of the journey was just coastline.  Having said that, there was nothing to take a picture of..  Just before we turned into our anchorage spot for the night we came across this old abandoned lighthouse.  It was kind of sad to see it so run down.

It's kind of blurry but I had to take the picture with one hand.

Day Forty Five

We anchored in Chesapeake City anchorage.  This was a very interesting anchorage.  Aside from the fact that it was a small anchorage that could not accommodate many boats it was a very different kind of anchorage.  There was a small creek that ran in and out of the anchorage.  Something similar to the Reversing Falls.  As the evening progressed the winds came up and were blowing very hard.  Around midnight our anchor was no longer holding us.  It was pouring rain and so dark we couldn't see anything.  The little creek was running like crazy,  We placed a call to Dave G who very calmly talked us through what to do.  We put down a second anchor and soon became well anchored again.  Thank you Dave G for your help and your calm demeanor.

The weather was not looking good for Wednesday and Thursday.  We decided to wait it out on Wednesday and wait and see what Thursday would be like.  So we stayed the day at anchor with the winds up until late afternoon.  We looked forward to a calm night.

Day Forty Four

We made it through the night without incident.  It turned out to be an okay anchorage.  The waters were relatively calm so we decided to get an early start in case the winds picked up.  We headed out about 8:00 am.  I was expecting some winds and stormy waters but fortunately it was a relatively nice day.  As we progressed during the day the canal became much more narrow.  At least we had land on both sides and the odd bridge.

Brian did manage to get a picture of the Salem Nuclear Power Plant for me.  It was about the only thing we saw most of the day.  

We made it to Chesapeake City and anchored there for the night.  It is quite windy out but relatively calm.  The weather is suppose to be okay for tomorrow but Thursday may not be.  We will travel if the weather is okay, if not, we will stay put.