VAExit, Dragging, and Baltimore

Sorry...lots of topics on this one as I try to catch up with "real time".  We are in Baltimore and I have better internet access but the rush to get here is now a rush to get the boat ready for the boatyard and us ready for a trip back to Colorado.

In my last post we were at Windmill Point, just outside of White Stone, VA. After waiting for a cold front that brought bands of thunderstorms through the area on Thursday, we departed for Solomons, MD on Friday. We sailed a bit, but after a front passes the winds tend to calm down and we ended up motoring or motor-sailing much of the trip.

One of the old Chesapeake lighthouses.

We were trying to find a place to anchor out and my wife came across a marina that offered floating docks for $1/foot with a BoatUS discount. We figured why not and tied to the dock for the evening. Calvert Marina is a large facility with lots of fixed docks, some covered (for boats without masts), and some reasonably nice and new floating face docks for transients.  The facilities are rather rustic, but the price is right and they also have a courtesy car if you need to re-provision in town.

The next morning we slept in a bit and left the dock around 10 AM.  There was some wind, but as far too often seems to be the case, it was coming from where we wanted to go (straight down the bay).  We beat into the wind for a little bit, but after a couple hours of velocity made good (VMG) around 1.5~2 knots, we again fired up the engines and made our way to an anchorage on the Rhode river just south of Annapolis MD.

Rhode Creek Anchorage.  Boat on the right is the one we
believe ended up a bit too close later that night.

As soon as we turned up the river, the 15 knot wind died (or this anchorage is far more protected than it looks).  The anchorage (known as "Rhode River 1" in Active Captain) already had a number of boats but we were able to find a spot and threw the hook.  We had dinner and settled in for the night.  Sometime around 10 PM the wind picked up a bit.  I don't recall why my wife went outside, but she summoned me out and we found a boat rather close to us.  I checked our anchor alarm and we hadn't moved other than to clock into the wind.  Best we could tell in the dark, the other boat dragged past us.  Although we weren't 100% sure, I thought the boat was the one anchored beside us earlier that evening and there were people on board.

I grabbed my handheld spotlight and tried to get the attention of the occupants of the boat.  After a couple flashes, someone appeared on deck and looked like they were scrambling around a bit (with our generator running to top off our batteries for the night, we couldn't hear or talk to them).  I don't know if the crew of that boat got the anchor to reset or it just reset itself by the time they were up, but the boat seemed to be OK.  Downwind of us and a bit closer to shore than I would be comfortable with but no longer moving.  Crisis averted, or so we thought.

Thomas Point Lighthouse, near Annapolis MD.

About 2:30 in the morning I needed to answer the call of nature.  I noticed that the wind had mostly died and what little there was had caused us to clock around about 180 degrees.  I decided to take a look around and, to my surprise, the dragging boat was now nearly beside us and only a couple feet from our starboard bow.  Since our cabin is right where the other boat would have hit us and since we didn't hear anything, I can only assume that we didn't touch. I was able to grab my boat pole and, without extending it, knock on the deck of the other boat.

I think the guy that popped his head out was a bit surprised to see me standing over him on the bow of my boat.  I told him that I've verified our position with my anchor alarm and that it appears he is dragging.  My estimate is that he dragged several hundred yards, making a U shaped path nearly around our boat.  He asked if we hit or if there was any damage and I told him I didn't think so, but that his anchor might be in the shallow area near the shore so he should be careful when he retrieves it.  He got his crew up and pulled up anchor while I monitored to make sure they, and us, were OK.  To my surprise, instead of resetting the anchor, he turned on his navigation lights and motored out of the anchorage under the moonlight. Not sure why he didn't just go reset his anchor, but either way I guess the problem was solved.  The next morning all the rest of the boats, including us, were where we left them the night before.  I do wish I had a chance to talk with the guy that dragged as I would be interested to know what anchor he was using and what scope...to see if there was anything I could learn from the second boat to have almost dragged into us in the past couple months. Only thing I know is that his rode was mostly line with only a few yards of chain on the end (what I could hear in the dark while they were raising anchor). Glad our Mantus anchor had no such problems and kept us in place.

Chesapeake Bay Bridge, and some wave generators.

The next morning, after making coffee, we raised anchor and pointed the bow of the boat up the Chesapeake once again. It was our last leg to Baltimore and was a nice and sunny day with almost no breeze so playing motorboat was again on the agenda.  We motored past Annapolis and under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  It was Sunday and there were a lot of boats about.  We came to learn that there was a sailing race across the bay later that day, but based on the number of fishing boats out, I wonder if most were actually interested in the race or just an excuse to anchor out, toss out a fishing line, and have a few beers. Given the number of dead fish we've seen floating in the upper part of the Chesapeake bay, I'm not so sure I would trust the fish caught there.

Baltimore Light (yes, looks a bit like the first one).

We turned out of the bay and made our way up the Patapsco river, past Fort Carroll, under the Francis Scott Key bridge (near where the man wrote the Star Spangled Banner), past Fort McHenry, and into the rather industrial surroundings of  Port Covington in Baltimore. There were a lot of high horsepower boats heading out to enjoy a day on the water and this part of the trip was the roughest ride we've had since...well...the onslaught of power boats at the inlet to Morehead City.  My wife once pontificated that weathermen were wrong and waves aren't caused by the wind but by all the power boats in the world...and I'm starting to believe her.

Ft Carroll, near Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

We find our way to the marina and yard where Rover will be getting a new bottom paint job and some other work done.  I think this is as close as I've ever been docked to military boats (there are a couple of some sort of military transport vessels at the end of the pier here).  They make our boat feel rather small.  A couple days of prep and we will be leaving our boat for the first time in over a year of living aboard.

Rover at the marina dock.  Big, but quiet, neighbors.

Keep your fingers crossed with us that this boatyard will prove better than those we have dealt with in the past.

Cheap Marker Lights

I've often wondered how effective the anchor light on a sailboat actually is.  A white light that can be seen for miles sounds like a good idea, but having that light 60 feet up in the air seems problematic to me.  From a distance you can look out across an anchorage and see the anchored boats.  But what about when you are in the anchorage trying to maneuver between boats on a dark night?  Or when someone in a dinghy is trying to make their way back to their boat after the bars have closed?  Do the lights sitting up 60 feet just blend into the stars or a nearby city skyline?

I decided a while back that it would be a good idea to add the equivalent of marker lights to our boat. Having not spent a lot of time at anchor, it was not a high priority (until recently). When at a BJ's Wholesale club back in Virginia last summer, I found and purchased a 4-pack of solar powered deck walkway lights. I figured if I could devise a way to mount these, they would work well.

Naturally, while sitting at anchor out at Elliott Key, a long way from a hardware store, I remembered my purchase and decided to see if I had any way to temporarily mount them and see how well they would work. After a little pondering, I remembered that one of the things the prior owner had left on the boat were these clips designed to make it easier to attach and adjust fenders.  I never found them particularly handy so they have been sitting in a settee locker since I discovered them.  I decided that I could use zip ties to attach the lights to the clips and see how well they would work.

It only took a few minutes to assemble.  I clipped them onto the pulpit and pushpit rails at the four corners of the boat.  We used them during most of our trip to Key Largo and so far I am pleased with how they work.  They are relatively low profile so they don't get in the way.  They cast light outward and a little downward to light up the hull. And since they are solar, they require no wiring and turn on and off automatically, so even if we forget to turn on the anchor light, we have lights warning others that we are there.

So far I am pleased with the result.  The units seem at least somewhat sealed from the elements so I hope they will last at least a while in the marine environment.  Looks like I will need to find a better way to mount them when I get a chance.

Free

There's a term that puts a smile on most cruisers faces.  Those out living on their savings (or cruising kitty as it is often called) like to be frugal, to stretch their savings and keep the adventure going as long as possible before having to find a way to refill the kitty. So things that are free or low cost are certainly helpful when they can be found.

We've been at the anchorage in Tarpon Basin just off of Key Largo for a week now. "Parking" the boat here is essentially free (since we don't have solar or wind, there is a small cost in diesel for the generator to charge the batteries).  This beats the $60+ a night it would cost to be at a marina (and most marinas around here are far more than that).

Shore access can be an issue when at anchor.  When the shore is lined with private property, access can be tricky.  Often there are businesses (marinas, restaurants, and bars) that will grant access for a fee or only if you are visiting their establishment. This is what makes the nearby free government dock a nice feature of this anchorage. It allows us to explore Key Largo without being tied to one given restaurant or have to pay a daily landing fee.

Waste is another issue that needs to be dealt with when you are your own floating little island. Fortunately, the government center also has a dumpster and recycling containers where anchored boats are allowed to deposit trash. We try to minimize the amount of trash we produce, but in the pre-packaged society we live there is inevitably some trash (or recycling) produced by any household.

Of course that isn't the only waste that needs to depart the boat.  The...um...other stuff...needs a place to go too.  Fortunately, Monroe County (the county that includes all of the Keys) has a solution for that as well.  The county has contracted with a company called Pump Out USA to provide a weekly pump out service for boats anchored in their waters.  In places that didn't already have some sort of service, they setup a weekly schedule and will stop by your boat and relieve it of the unwanted cargo. To use the service, you fill out a registration form on the Pump Out Florida Keys web site and they will get you on the schedule.

This area really does offer quite a bit for the cruiser, but I think it is about time to move on.  We would like to do just a bit more exploring before we have to make our trek back up north.  I think we are going to pick up the anchor today and go find another spot to drop it.  Not sure what, if any, internet access will be available, but I will continue writing and post when I can.  In the meantime, I'll leave you with a picture of the sunrise over the government dock this morning.

Better than the other picture options for this post.

Another Day (or Two) in Paradise

Our pump arrived!  At 10:30 on Saturday I get the call that our replacement raw water pump for the generator was delivered to the shop. I hop in the dinghy, go to shore, make the death-defying crossing of the Overseas Highway (US-1) on foot and retrieve the pump.  The shiny new lump of bronze and stainless steel was a mere $350 and shipping was another $72, but we now had the pump. One more crossing of the highway, back into the dinghy, and the pump was at the boat and ready to be installed.

I install the drive gear onto the pump, add a little dish soap to the impeller to act as lubricant until water makes it to the now dry raw water lines, and bolt it back onto the generator's motor.  Hook the hoses up, complete an oil change, and the generator was finally ready to go again.  I'm happy to report that the generator is once again alive and cooling water flows from the exhaust and no oil or water is flowing from anywhere else.  Batteries are now capable of being fully charged (the inverter/charger running off of the generator is far more efficient and does a much more complete job of charging than the drive motor alternators).  As a celebration, we even ran the air conditioner that evening while the batteries were topped off.

This morning we sleep in.  No big tasks for the day and the wind is howling outside. We get up and make ourselves a nice breakfast.  Using the stove in the boat is much more palatable when there is a strong wind outside to sweep the hot air out of the boat.  Eggs, bacon, and fried potatoes.  As we are cleaning up, we notice a small sailboat had anchored fairly close in front of us.  Not all that close, but where there hadn't been a boat just a short time earlier.  We load the dogs into the dinghy and take them to shore for a little time on terra firma.

About an hour later we are on our way back to the boat when we notice that the small sailboat was now only about 15 to 20 feet away from us.  Oh crap, this boat is dragging anchor! No wonder we didn't see them arrive.  We quickly get the dogs on the boat and go over to see if anyone was on board.  Of course, no one was there.  Only a brokerage sign was found indicating that this boat was for sale.  We go back to our boat, get out a couple of fenders to try and fend off the boat if need be, and call the number on the sign.  The broker said they would call the owner, but that didn't really help us with the fact this boat is inching closer to us.

Way too close for comfort

We decide first order of business was to get our boat out of harms way, so we carefully pull up anchor and move upwind of the anchor dragger.  Fortunately there was some free space that was recently vacated by a trawler so we had the room.  Once the anchor was reset, I hopped back into the dinghy to see what I could do.  I checked to see if there was more rode that could be deployed but it appeared to be cleated at the very bitter end.  Best we could tell, the boats anchor seemed to reset and hadn't moved from it's resting spot that was feet from our original anchor position.

I head back to our boat and find the owner had tried to call and left a message.  I called him back and he let us know that he had called a friend in the area to come check on the boat since he was in Philadelphia.  I told him I couldn't promise anything, but at the moment the anchor seems to have reset. While I was talking with him, his friends arrived on scene, boarded his boat and found an anchor and some rode hiding in a locker, and deployed it as a second anchor to hopefully help keep his boat from going walkabout again. All I can say is I'm glad I'm upwind of him now.  Hopefully no other unattended boats will decide they need to come pay us a visit.

After the morning excitement, we decided to go to shore and take a bike ride to see what else was in the area.  Fortunately there is a decent bike path that runs along the highway and makes for a safer ride than if we were on the street.  We visited a couple shops, grabbed a bite to eat and had a nice afternoon. Upon return we found our boat right where we left it (the Mantus anchor has been very reliable for us in a variety of conditions thus far) and fortunately the dragging boat stayed put as well.

No idea what the plan is for tomorrow...and I think I like it that way.  I just hope that we can forgo dragging boats and emergency repairs and of one sort or another for a while.

Rainy Hampton Roads

It was time to give up our nice free spot in Portsmouth to some other deserving cruiser. Unfortunately, we hadn't come up with a better plan so we really didn't have a destination in mind.  I looked around and found a small anchorage in Hampton that claimed to have free WiFi and a nearby dinghy dock.  This sounded like as good of a place as any to hang out for another night or so as we continue working on the plan for the next couple months.

An interesting replica ship we ran across at Hampton Roads

The past few days have been sunny and hot, but we awoke this morning to overcast skies.  It is interesting, but the last time I was here it was nice when I arrived and rainy when I was departing north.  In any case, we untie the lines and, after determining that the tugs playing around the battleship across the river were not going to be in our way, we departed.

Small Anchorage. Image from ActiveCaptain

It was a short trip down the Elizabeth river, across Hampton Roads, and up the Hampton River. When we got to the anchorage location, we found a very small area with a string of crab pots going through it.  Even though it was a nice location, we decided there just wasn't enough room for our catamaran. We decided the other options that were marked up in this river were likely not any better and decided to go to an anchorage we heard of near Fort Monroe.

Fort Monroe Anchorage - Image from ActiveCaptain

This anchorage sits between the Hampton Roads beltway and Fort Monroe so we didn't expect much quiet but it actually was.  It was also pretty well protected from north through east winds, but some waves seem to sneak in from the south.  Just after we dropped the anchor, the rains started.

Wall of Rain Approaching

It rained on and off for the next 3 days...mostly on.  But we were still able to launch the dinghy and take the dogs exploring at Fort Monroe.  This was the first time the dogs had been in the dinghy, and I'm not sure they enjoyed the ride.  Maybe they just hate the life jackets, I'm not sure.  They did enjoy getting off the boat and roaming around the fort.

Ft Monroe Lighthouse

Dogs exploring the fort with us

View of the Chesapeake from the fort

We were able to come up with a new plan as well.  We have decided to go to a marina here in Hampton Virginia for a little while so we can sort out our cars (and maybe get them sold), have family come visit, and get some work done.  Then we will make our way to a yard to get the last few bigger items done.  At least that is what we have scribbled in the sand for now.

Bellhaven and An Alligator That Eats Anchors

We didn't exactly get up early that morning in Bellhaven, but we did get some much needed rest. This day's trip would start with a long stretch of man-made ICW ditch known as the Alligator - Pungo canal. It is a few hours of very straight and wind less canal with only a single turn. After that is the Alligator river and Albemarle sound.

As we motored up the canal with the drone of one engine slowly depleting our diesel supplies, we listened to the weather reports. It sounded like the strong winds would be returning again in the afternoon.

The Albemarle isn't a place you want to be in strong winds as the shallow depths and long fetch can make for very rough conditions. The one automobile bridge that crosses the Alligator river won't even open in strong winds. Add in the fact we got a pretty late start and it was a sure bet that we would be anchoring out in the Alligator river this evening.  And that is exactly what we did.

I figured we might end up anchoring here and had scouted out several locations on both Active Captain and Skipper Bob's publications. What I found is that the river is known for a lot of submerged stuff that, as one site mentioned, could be hazardous to your anchor system. I guess some people drop anchor and then are never able to pull it back up. To try and avoid that issue, or at least help, I rigged up a trip line using a fender and some old dock line.

We checked out a couple different anchoring sites. With the large number of dead trees that surround much of the shore of the river, I can see why anchoring might be a bit hazardous to your anchor and chain. After a bit of debate, we finally decided on a location that was protected from the south-southeast winds but not from anything west...so I hope the winds don't shift. We dropped the hook and settled in for our first night together "on the hook".

I even managed to play with the remote feature on our new camera and got a picture of us at anchor.

The Last of the ICW

For a change, we don't get an overly early start.  The weather broadcasts indicate there may be some more unsettled weather and since we could probably use a little re-provisioning, I decided we would splurge for a marina this upcoming evening.  We pull up the anchor and head out just before 8am.

I still don't have 100% confidence in the various gauges on the boat and even though the fuel gauge claims we are mostly full, we stop at the Pungo Creek marina for fuel.  The Skipper Bob's Marinas book claims they have better than average prices for the area, but I this was the most expensive diesel we purchased on the trip.  Fortunately, the fuel gauge seems reasonably accurate and we only needed about 15 gallons (the boat holds 75).  The Marina book also claimed they had a store, but they do not. The marina is pretty run down and with the fuel prices, I don't think I'll return there unless it is an emergency.

After departing the marina we make our way down the Pungo river and into the Pamlico.  The winds were a little under 10 knots from behind us as we made the turn so I decided it was time to break out the spinnaker and we make like a sailboat for a short time.  The spinnaker doesn't last too long as we again quickly enter a narrow section of the river...and, of course, the wind is blocked by the trees.

We make it to Whittaker Pointe marina, just outside Oriental, well before dark.We get tied up and sign up for the courtesy car and make a run into town.  We come back, have dinner, check the weather, and call it a night.

The weather the next day is proving to be difficult.  The original plan was to head down to Beaufort/Moorhead City and out the inlet to open ocean.  But, the winds were predicted to be rather high and the seas even higher, so we decided we would find an anchorage near Beaufort to wait out the weather.

Entering and leaving Whittaker point there is a rather narrow channel with some shoaling.  They say there are boaters who have run aground and those that will.  With the winds as we were coming out, I did end up pushing into the mud as we tried to leave.  Fortunately I was going slowly and was able to simply back out and work my way around the pile of mud that narrowed the channel.

We set sail with winds again on our nose.  Just as we make it out of the Neuse river and into Adams creek a thunderstorm alert comes across the radio for the Neuse river.  We are relatively protected in Adams creek and we watch the thunderstorm roll by behind us.  We hear tornado watches for adjacent areas and the weather is a bit unsettled for the whole trip to Moorhead City.

I had originally thought we would use an anchorage behind Shackleford island.  Getting to this anchorage requires going part of the way out of the inlet and then turning behind the barrier island.  As we made our approach to the inlet, I realized that was not a good option.  The rough seas were pushing their way into the inlet and we would have had a very rough ride over to a relatively shallow cut into the anchorage.

Fortunately, boats travel slower than airplanes and we had plenty of time to figure out another plan. I knew of an anchorage just behind Fort Macon and we decided it was a decent location with protection from the easterly winds with a long fetch to the lee shore so we found a location and dropped the hook.  Just as all our previous anchoring, the Mantus set immediately and stayed put in the 30 knot winds.  This is where we would stay the night in hopes that the forecasts were correct and the weather would improve tomorrow.

On an unrelated note.  I think I understand why everyone has a romantic idea of of cruising.  When everything is nice, we have time to take pictures...and they are usually nice with beaches and sunsets and dolphins playing and all of that.  When it isn't nice weather, we are usually too busy with the boat to take pictures...like this part of the trip.

The Arctic Blast Arrived

We again made an early departure from Great Bridge after stopping for fuel at Atlantic Yacht Basin (which has really good prices for the ICW...or any Marina).  This day it was a bit cooler than the last couple with overcast skies, but still a mostly pleasant trip.  A couple more bridges to play with and we were motoring along "the ditch" once again...along with a few other boats.

Parade of boats down the ICW

During this leg I discovered one of the surprises that the boat yard left me.  They had replaced all the waste lines in the boat, but apparently broke a seal on one of the holding tanks in the process and it started seeping.  Not a good thing to discover during a trip.  I'll spare you the details, but it was a good thing I have bleach and an abundance of water on board.  I cleaned up the mess and declared that head off limits for the rest of the trip.  Thanks to the Skipper Bob's anchorage book, we found that nice little anchorage just before the Albermarle sound where I made my quick post last week (yes, my cell actually worked in the middle of nowhere for once...now that I was out of Virginia).  We worked our way up the creek and dropped our anchor, followed by two other boats that did the same.  I'm glad we got there first since our shallow draft made it easy to sneak pretty far up the river to a very well protected area.

That night the arctic blast arrived and it was considerably colder when we got up in the morning.  With the cold came high winds.  Our next leg of the trip had us crossing the Albemarle sound and it is known for being ugly in high winds.  In fact, the Alligator River swing bridge won't even open if winds are over 35 mph, to protect the unwary traveler.  We decided since we are in a nice anchorage, we would just stay put and wait out the winds.  Apparently so did the other two boats that were sharing the anchorage.  I made a couple phone calls and did the quick blog post with my rare cell phone coverage.

Broad Creek Anchorage

One of my calls was to my friend and boat broker Pete.  I had mentioned to him my troubles with my air conditioning system (which also provides heat) and he had the answer.  Apparently the raw water pumps are not self-priming and you have to "burp" the air out of the strainer.  Pete again saves the day for me...and we had the much needed heat for what was a chilly and rainy night.

The following day the winds did die down and we continued our trip, along with our anchor mates (one of whom we discovered were some people we met at the Great Bridge Lock free dock).  After exchanging comments complaints on the cold, we worked our way out of the creek and on to the Albermarle sound.

As is my usual luck with wind, it was dead on our nose so we motored across the Albermarle sound and down the Alligator river.  As we approached the Alligator River bridge I noticed that the starboard engine didn't seem to be putting out as much cooling water as I wanted, so we shut it down and I looked into the issue after making it through the bridge.  After much fun of trying to inspect the impeller and remaining system while underway, I didn't find any issue.  When we started the engine back up, it seemed fine, so I guess it was just a false alarm.  Lots of fun to work hovering over a warm engine in a small compartment while underway.

We arrive at the canal that connects the Alligator River to the Pungo river and decide we do have enough time to make it through the canal and to an anchorage at the far side before dark, so we press on.  The canal is a very straight, fairly narrow part of the ICW and there isn't a dock or place to anchor in the middle.  We do just make it through the canal and drop the hook in the anchorage on the Pungo river for the night.  Thus far, I've not spent a day in a marina...a far cry from the trip up the past summer.  Now if we could only sail more, it would be an inexpensive means of travel.

Chisman Creek Anchorage to Deltaville - Beating to Windward.

After getting up, verifying the anchor was where we left it, and making breakfast, we were again on the move.  This should be our last day of travel up to Deltaville VA.  The weather finally seems to have improved and is supposed to be nice for the next several days. We make our way out of Chisman creek and into the Chesapeake.  The wind was again from the northeast, but we decided to try and sail it anyway.

Goodbye Chisman Creek, you were a nice anchorage.

Beating to windward is what sailors call it when you are trying to head to an upwind destination.  If you have big swells and the wind in your face, I can imagine you could take quite a "beating".  In our case it wasn't bad.  We had maybe two foot seas on a 5 second period (at least that is the guess I noted in my log book). Of course it feels rougher because you are traveling against the wave direction so to you they feel much closer together. Winds were anywhere in the 15~30 knot range, justifying the need to reef the sails.  Still trying to figure out the best time to reef using the "sticker" the charter company put on the inside of a cabinet door as a recommendation.  As it turns out, I found the boat tends to make more leeway without going much faster if you exceed their recommendations, so it looks like I'll stick to those.

You do a lot of sailing when beating to windward...but you don't do much of it in the direction you are trying to go.  We were averaging around 5 knots, but our velocity made good (VMG - or the speed you are going toward your destination) ranged from around 3 knots to -2 knots.  We would play with pinching into the wind as much as we could, then falling off a bit for better linear speed to see if the VMG would change, but it was a slow ride.  I know I'm no expert when it comes to sailing and the best we could seem to get any sort of speed was at about 40 degrees off of the wind direction.  When you account for the leeway, we were traveling somewhere around 50 or more degrees away from the wind. Finally around 4:30pm we had to fire up the engines and motor sail or we were never going to make it to Deltaville before dark.  You can see in the image of our track below when we went from sailing to motoring as our course became much more direct.  While we sailed a majority of the distance we traveled, it seems we only sailed about 1/2 of the actual path between Chisman Creek and Deltaville.

We made it to Deltaville, but it was late and the boatyard I was heading to was closed for the day (and weekend), so we anchored in a nice bay just a little outside their facility.

Rover at anchor in Fishing Bay near Deltaville VA.

I guess I hadn't mentioned this, but the reason for this trip, in addition to getting north of Cape Hattaras before June 1, was to get the boat hauled and get some work done.  I hope I can find some decent tradespeople here, I've heard pretty good things about the area.

Dodge the Big Gray Iron Ships - Portsmouth to Chisman Creek Anchorage.

The weather was forecast to be better today, not great, but better and improving as the day went.  So, I decided it was time to move on.  We left the free dock in Portsmouth just a little before high tide (so we could get to the dock lines without getting our feet wet) and with gray skies greeting us.

Lots of Navy ships in Portsmouth/Norfolk.

There was other gray that greeted us as well, the gray of several U.S. Navy warships.  Shortly after leaving the dock, one of the ships came up from behind, backwards.  It didn't get that close and apparently found a place to turn around, because later, it passed us.  Actually, it was in the channel and passing a barge coming the other way in the channel and we, wisely, just moved off to the side and let them pass.  You can sure feel small when these ships pass by.

Navy Ship passing Barge.  Weather still wasn't great.

There is a causeway that goes into a tunnel north of Norfolk so ships can pass over the cars.  Just after getting through that part of the channel, we were passed by an aircraft carrier.  You really feel small when one of those giant floating airports pass by...even at a distance.

Aircraft Carrier with a 500 yard "protection zone" enforced around it.

Once we got away from Norfolk, there were no other encounters with the Navy.  We did hear on the radio that they were doing exercises in the area, I guess that explains all the ships that were out and about.

About the time we got on course, what little wind there was we found to be dead on our nose again.  So, we did a little sailing and a little motor sailing to make reasonable time.  At one point near the end of the day's travels the winds died down a bit and we flew the spinnaker again.  Still pretty sure I've used this sail more since I've had the boat than it has been used the entire rest of it's life.

We found a nice anchorage location courtesy of Active Captain and after a little debate about where to drop the hook, we anchored for the night.  The few times I've anchored out, I've had a hard time choosing an anchorage location.  Maybe I just try to be more considerate, but I try not to anchor right in front of a house on the shore or too close to where I think a lot of boat traffic may be (don't want to be inconvenient to others and certainly don't want to be run in to by another boater).  By the time we were ready to anchor, the clouds had all parted and it was a nice evening.  We grilled up some hamburgers on my Magma rail mounted grill and then were treated to a nice sunset.

Not a bad place to spend an evening.

This will be the first night I've spent at anchor on our boat. The anchor seems well set and the weather is calm now, so hopefully it will be an uneventful night.  One more day and we should be to our destination.