Sandy

We left Annapolis on Sunday afternoon and stayed the night in the Rhode River which is 2 rivers south. The next morning we set out for Solomon's Is. and had a nice motor sail in light winds and arrived to an almost empty anchorage in Mill Creek. We relaxed and prepared to leave early the next morning to make Fleets Bay just north of Deltaville, VA. We were planning to meet a childhood friend of John's who lives on the water outside of Whitestone, VA. When we pulled anchor that morning there was a problem with the windlass which did not have its usual power. John was able to raise the anchor the last few feet using the mast winch. We arrived in Fleets Bay and John's friend Renny had arranged with a neighbor for us to use his dock on Ashley Cove just off Dymer Creek. We pulled in and secured lines and Renny picked us up and took us to his home on the point with amazing views of the Chesapeake. We met his wife Lena and their Labradoodle, Boson. They had their home built and moved in a year or so ago. This area of the Northern Neck is charming. There are quaint little towns and boating is a big part of the economy. It is beautiful here especially this time of year with all the leaves changing color.

Renny found us two fellows who came and removed the windlass to trouble shoot the problem. Bottom line is that the gears are shot. It is an old windlass. The motor we replaced last spring is fine but the rest of the mechanics are very worn. The particular windlass we have is no longer made and the company has been bought by Lewmar. We spent the next two days trying to research our options. We decided it was not worth trying to repair the old windlass as we would not be sure how long it would last and we were not confident in going out of the country with that uncertainty. We were referred by another friend of Renny's to a local marina and we now await an estimate for a replacement which will require some deck work when it is installed. During all of this Renny and Lena have taken care of us. They, including Boson, have driven us around trying to find info on how to fix or replace our windlass, fed us and provided us a sounding board in our decision making.

In the midst of all of this, Sandy, came on the scene. She started moving up through Cuba and Haiti and the Bahamas. The entire neighborhood was glued to the weather channel. By Friday morning neighbors and friends were assisting each other in trailering boats from the water up the road to a high area that would not flood with the storm surge. We helped our friends move their beautiful little skipjack and their outdoor furniture. We have been trying to decide whether to stay at the dock or move out into the creek. Without having the windlass and with our heavy anchor and chain we are reluctant to move but concerned with the high storm surge and keeping Spunky safely off the dock. Our friends are trying to decide whether to stay in their home as during the last storm, Irene, the road to their home was washed out. Some of their neighbors are packing up and leaving. I think Renny and Lena will stay as they have a generator and will have electricity but the group of homes on the point have a common well and if the power goes out they will have no water. We will, of course, stay on Spunky so we can adjust lines and take care of any problems that arise. I admit that I am quite anxious. So much can happen. We will be stuck aboard Spunky as the water rises above the dock. It looks now like things will start deteriorating on Sat. night and we will get increasingly stronger winds and rain through Tuesday. Much depends on where Sandy come ashore. The Navy in Norfolk are moving their ships out to sea..All the marinas are scrambling to get boats out of the water as the storm approaches so we will not even be able to start the windlass replacement process until mid week. What we thought would be a leisurely trip down to Hilton Head now looks like we will be rushing to get to our Thanksgiving celebration with friends.

I wrote this last night. As of this morning the reports are that Sandy will be turning west a little farther north which is good for us and the storm surge will not be as strong as earlier predicted. This is what we have been hoping for. We won't know until it is over what in fact will actually happen. Thanks for all your notes of concern. We will let you know how we are as the storm moves over us. Hope you are all battened down and those of you effected by Sandy are not without power too long.

Almost Home

After leaving Elizabeth City we spent 2 days in Portsmouth walking through the historic homes and up to the Food Lion and taking the ferry across Elizabeth River (only $.75 for seniors)  to a shopping mall as we haven't been in one for at least a year. All our shopping before leaving the states had been at marine stores and boat repair shops. Leaving Norfolk at 6:30 a.m. Monday morning we were surprised at how empty the port was of ships both container and navy. I think all the navy vessels are across the oceans protecting our freedoms and the container ships it turned out were anchored out awaiting pilots to bring them into port on Monday morning since as we began to head out of the port several were coming in to dock. They are huge and are accompanied by tugs that help turn them to go into a dock.

We got a call on our VHF from Water Music a boat that we crossed with from the Bahamas to Charleston. What a great surprise. We motor sailed along with them to an anchorage near Reedville, VA. We spent an evening on their boat sharing tales from the last couple of weeks since we had left them in Charleston. They waited for a later weather window and sailed outside to Beaufort, NC and then inside to Norfolk. It was a nice time.

This morning we were off at 6 a.m heading up the Potomac for Washington, DC. We had a great sail with winds gusting to 28 and then had to turn with the wind on our nose and so we motored the last 20 miles to Colonial Beach where we are now docked for the night after filling up with fuel. It is the last place that we can get diesel with our 6 ft. draft. Actually there is not a marina in DC where we can get diesel so we filled all our cans to have enough to get back down the Potomac to Solomon's Island when we head back to Annapolis.

Tomorrow we are headed up to an anchorage across from the Capital Yacht Club in DC where we will check in with the harbor police and get permission to stay for 2 weeks which is apparently the limit.

Hope to see many of you soon and hope to hear from everyone else about what is going on in your lives.

Elyse and John

Heading Back

We arrived in Norfolk, Va this afternoon in the rain and wind. Murphy's law says that if we are trying to dock the wind will be blowing us away from the dock and we may have rain. Fortunately for us there were a couple of guys to catch lines when we came in with the wind blowing us away from the dock and the rain pouring down.

We spent two very nice days in Elizabeth City, NC at a free dock. It was challenging to get off Spunky as the finger pier was very short and we had to climb over the bow rail and down to the dock but it was doable. There was no electric or pump out and the water was some distance away but we were happy to find an empty slip after motoring about 85 miles from Bellhaven and crossing the Albemarle Sound which is always a challenge usually rough going. We met our friends, Don and Jean there (they were there for a 60 mile bike ride) and they delivered to us a good two months of mail that we had held up at our mail forwarding service. We had two nice days visiting the wonderful Elizabeth City museum and art center. The visitor's center put on a wine and cheese greeting and we met some very nice people. I got a haircut and we made a post office visit to notify Bahamas immigration that we had left the country.

Tomorrow we will explore Portsmouth on the advice of our friends Ed and Sue Kelly who are now in London and if weather permits leave again on Monday morning to move on up the Chesapeake Bay.

We took the Dismal Swamp route and even with our 6 ft. draft only bumped the bottom a few times. The lock tenders were wonderful to us, one locking us through after the prescribed time and the other giving us info on speed to meet the next bridge and where to anchor for free. It is cold and damp but we are tucked in our cockpit enclosure and getting ready to cook dinner.

Good to be back but not liking the cold and rain. The water temp is 20+ degrees below Bahamas.

Hoping for an early Spring.