This was exactly what I needed – an absolutely gorgeous, low-stress trip. We had early morning fog that had burned off by the time we got under way and before we passed Belhaven town, the clouds were burning off too. The wind was too light to sail, but it turned out to be the perfect, […]
We split our time in Belhaven between being on the hook in Pantego Creek and a slip at Dowry Creek Marina. We had some amazing weather, from stunning sunrises to intense thunderstorms and two days of all-day silent skies. While the nights were cool, the days were comfortable. We took a couple dinghy cruises – […]
Today was one of the days I was most looking forward to on this trip. When we did this trip with our friend, I was in awe the whole time and I couldn’t wait to do it on our boat. It’s one of those places that you truly have to experience to fully appreciate, and […]
I was glad to see the sunrise, and by the time we finished breakfast, the parade of boats heading south was already under way. As we navigated the twisty section of channel immediately following our anchorage, I was especially glad that we’d been able to drop the hook. Being over-tired, I was prone to being […]
It was too dark to see the daymarks, but we were in an area where missing the channel meant a high probability of running afoul of fish stakes, grounding or both. Not knowing where the channel was headed, it was hard for me to buoy spot. I pulled up the charts on Chris’s phone in […]
I was so excited to finally be starting the ICW, but today was not without its challenges. The wind was up, and it made getting off the dock and getting fuel difficult. That delayed us enough that we didn’t think we could make the 1100 lock for the Dismal Swamp, and missing that meant we […]
When we originally planned the trip, we considered only staying one night in Norfolk. Between it being a city and the surrounding area being so industrial, we figured we wouldn’t really like it all that much. But it turned out to be a really cool stop, and as I find myself saying over and over […]
After three or four days of sustained 20kt winds with 25kt gusts, yesterday was finally settled enough for us to depart mid-afternoon. While I was a little sad to leave Deltaville behind, I was happy to finally move on. Periods of rain and drizzle mixed with sunny skies, creating amazingly dramatic skies, including a few […]
“The best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray,” and this weekend proved that out. Originally the forecast said yesterday would be rough but today would be more settled – and after we made the call to make a straight run to Norfolk today, the forecast changed. This morning was absolutely howling, cloudy […]
It was a quiet, clear morning as we hauled anchor in the dark, and I took the first watch as a stunning sunrise unfolded. We rolled out the jib and motorsailed, and our average speed during my watch was around 7.25kts over ground. Crossing shoals and at the mouth of the Potomac, we beat into […]