Norfolk, VA
To see as much of the world as we can,
Using the smallest carbon footprint we can,
Spending the least amount of money we can,
Making as many friends we can.
This week we're starting south from Belhaven, North Carolina. After Hurricane Sandy moves on and devastates the northeast.
The Commodore Says: "It may be raining, but at least it's not really cold."
The wintery cold front that merged with Hurricane Sandy brought plenty of blustery winter weather. It was cold …
This week we're starting south from Town Point in Norfolk.
The Commodore Says: "There's nothing so helpful as local knowledge." In our case, local knowledge includes our trusty copy of Skipper Bob's Anchorages Along the ICW, and the Waterway Guide Altantic ICW. And http://cruisersnet.net. And all the random …
We hung out in Reedville with Indefatigable.
First it rained. Then it cleared.
Then we fired up the grill and had tuna steaks, corn on the cob and a multi-bean salad. Plenty of good red wine (and beer.)
We didn't actually raft …
Red Ranger is a documented vessel; she's mostly set for international travel. According to Skipper Bob's Bahamas Bound, we need a bunch of paperwork before we can sail foreign.
US Customs Decal https://dtops.cbp.dhs.gov/ Be sure to order after September 1st for the coming year. Insurance …
Do it again? Absolutely. It is a great trip.
Changes?
No schedule for a rendezvous with the family.
No attempt to meet folks at an anchorage (like Lewes). Only meet folks at dockside.
More time to wait for fair winds and tides.
11 days on the boat.
72 hours …
Where do we stand on August 12th?
The engine (or transmission or something) is throbbing. A lot.
As the crow flies we're 94 nm from home. If we go back the way we came, it's 223 nm and four more days of travel. We have three days of vacation.
If …
Tuesday, the 16th, was an important objective of the trip. A rendezvous with the family. Everyone else had driven up from Rehoboth to have dinner with us in Lewes. Dinner included five nieces and nephews, plus a bonus friend of a nephew; Mother; three sisters plus husband and permanent …
Things we did on August 10th:
Motored out into the Delaware Bay with moderate confidence. The tranny was still throbbing or pulsing. But we were tired of being stuck in Greenwich, NJ, so we were willing to take a chance.
Sailed for about three hours. This was our first sailing …
One of the locals drove me all the way to the nearest West Marine. Really.
What an amazing gift.
We were graced and blessed by the kindness of strangers. Again.
Put in the new shifter cable. We're ready to move.
Technically, the boatyard and/or marina was closed on Monday. But. The mechanic was gracious enough to help me by watching over my shoulder while I took apart the linkage between binnacle and transmission.
The shifter on the tranny didn't feel like it was going all the way into Forward …
Sunday, a day of rest.
Apparently, looking at my log, we did nothing. Really.
Mistakes were made.
Looking back, I count doing nothing on Sunday as a mistake.
All was not lost, however.
The kindness of random strangers started to rain down on us. Ernie gave us the grand tour …
Mistakes we made on August 6th:
Pulling into Nantuxent Cove. It was small, shallow and not very sheltered. Port Mahon, Delaware, might have been better.
Anchoring anywhere near crab pots. Our keel and rudder protect our propellor from just about all assaults. Apparently, however, if you switch gears right over …
Stuff we saw on August 5th:
Bridges. The William Preston Lane, Jr. Memorial Bridge, known as the "Chesapeake Bay Bridge" (or sometimes the Kent Island bridge,) is right there outside Whitehall Bay. Dual-span bridges are painful to line up against, since there is all that structural steel at varying distances …
New for August 4th:
Watching closely for container ships. In the Southern Bay, the shipping channel is close to the Eastern Shore. We barely see the ships. Up here, however, they're right in the middle of the bay! An AIS tracking app on the iPhone (like Marine Traffic) helps. Proper …
Here's the key conversation.
CA: "Tell me when we get past Smith Point."
Me: "Why?"
CA: "From the point, the entire rest of the trip is new territory."
Things we did on August 3rd:
Getting past Smith Point. Last time we tried to go that far north ("Gang aft agley …
We're bound for Lewes Delaware, just inside Cape Henlopen, via the C&D canal.
The float plan assumes that (1) wind and weather are with us and (2) we have no mechanical problems along the way. It's about 200nm, which is about 40 hrs of travel time. Life is full …
At some point, we'll need to return to Deltaville. If everything works out, we'll depart Lewes Delaware and return to Deltaville via the C&D canal.
The float plan assumes (1) we get to Lewes, (2) that wind and weather are with us and (3) we have no mechanical problems …
Lon said "I liken sailing to making music on the water. The two for me are inseparable." Lon followed his comment with an invite to hear Dramtreeo in Reedville on July 23rd.
Let's review our tangled social network.
Lon's a very active Whitby owner. We met him at the …
For our 28th anniversary, we did something new and different: we went camping. Camping isn't all that new. But we spent our first night on the Ranger. No water. No heads. Limited electricity. Delightful.
[The Emily Post list of anniversary gifts: 1st paper, 5th wood, 10th tin, 15th crystal, 20th …
The waiting is hard.
Red Ranger is still in the shed. It's only been two weekends. For a while, we were really pushing hard to get jobs done. There's an exhilaration -- an adrenaline rush -- to diving into a list of jobs.
When the list is finite and within one's capabilities …