Norfolk, VA to Washington, NC

The MAP link shows our progress during the past week. As you can see, we are not meandering back and forth across the Chesapeake anymore. Our progress is now more or less south. If you zoom in on the map you can see we have had a combination of canals, rivers and open sounds to travel lately. We have had some marvelous sailing days. The specials ones were from the North River to Manteo, then Manteo to the Alligator River anchorage and a wild downwind sail from Pungo Creek to Bath on the Pamlico River in strong wind on our stern and steep waves rolling up behind us who's crests we often looked at from eye level. These 3 days were bracketed by a day under power in a river/canal from Norfolk to Coinjock and another day under power from the bottom of the Alligator River to Pungo Creek. This last day was about 5 hours in a steady drizzle. We saw a bald eagle, but were too slow on the trigger to get a photo, so we are sending a photo of a crane instead. Bad joke, but it was that kind of day. Very dreary; one of those days that make you want to stretch out on the couch with a good book and fire in the fireplace. Yesterday, after the downwind ride from Pungo Creek we spent a relaxing evening at the little town of Bath. We stayed here last year and it was worth a repeat visit. Main Street is 2 blocks long and you can walk down the middle of the street at any time of day and the only risk you run to being injured would be if you tripped over the sleeping dog. We saw the same dog in the same spot when we were here 11 months ago. Today was a bit of a bummer. It started great with a walk down Main Street, a relaxing read in the cockpit and lunch at the little sandwich shop a block from the dock. Like an idiot, I did not close the deck hatches when we left the boat and while waiting on lunch the sky opened up and it poured. Not only did everything get soaked, the cabin sole actually had standing water; about 1/4 inch in some spots. We hustled up and motored to McCotter's Marina in Washington. Fortunately we had a car waiting for us there. So we checked into a hotel and spent the afternoon and evening washing everything made of cloth from the boat - cushion covers, bed linens, the towels we used to mop up the mess...plus our normal weeks worth of dirty laundry. Fortunately we had a small window AC unit in the trunk of the car, so we put that in the main hatch hoping it will dehumidify the boat interior and the foam cushions. No smiling faces this afternoon. What a mess. I can't imagine how we would have dried out the boat if we had been at anchor or someplace far away from a hotel, car and laundry. Tomorrow we try to put everything back together and make sure we get everything dry inside. We have worked very hard to keep mildew out of the boat so this little incident will create a challenge for us. We plan to spend about a week here doing some maintenance and sight seeing. We plan a day trip by car to the Outer Banks. We've never visited there and seeing the huge sand dunes from our slip in Manteo got our interest. In September, we plan to take the boat to town of Ocracoke on the banks for a couple of days, so we will get to see the northern banks by car and the southern banks by boat. This will probably be my last post until we return to the boat in late August. We will restock the boat and continue south after our visit to Ocracoke. Oh, before I forget, Maneto is on Roanoke Island near the site of the first English settlement. Remember the "Lost Colony" from American History class? Manteo is very remote but well worth the visit.

Photos:

1. The crane. Sorry we missed the eagle.

2. The captain planning the next day's itenerary.

More in August. Thanks for reading my blog.