Wednesday May 25: Norfolk, VA

We made it to Norfolk (Virginia!) about 2:30 yesterday – temperature in the high 80's (in the shade) so we immediately plugged in to a marina and turned on the air conditioner – it's just too hot to even be outside. About an hour and a half later, the storm arrived. A long story but the bottom line was the window over the computer was open and the wind and rain, of course, was pounding that side of the boat. Result? Once again, a wet computer (have we seen this before? Yep.). Removed the battery and let it dry out – lucky again as it seems fine. The storm that left as quickly as it came was one crazy wind and rain. The Irish Rover – a tour boat that leaves from the dock just in front of us – was on it's way to the dock. The captain decided against trying to dock which was a good idea. In trying to turn into the wind though it looked like the ship could just be rolled right over. Luckily it didn't and they were able to ride out the storm and get back to the dock. A great memory for the tourists to take home!

On the way here from Elizabeth City, we passed through the Dismal Swamp (for info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Dismal_Swamp )– now a national wildlife preserve. It was really interesting – for the first 10 miles or so. Total length: about 22 miles! Here's a couple of pictures of us going through the swamp. We also have been seeing Canadian geese again. Funny that they aren't in the more southern states.

The picture at left: how do you know when the piling you are seeing might not be the best place to which to tie? When you see a small tree beginning to grow out of it!

There was a visitor's center but not open on Mondays, of course. We still spend a very pleasant afternoon at the rest area dock (the rest area is really for the nearby highway but they provide a dock for boater free of charge). It was very nice in the shade so I took advantage of it and finally took the time to read the Fort Sumtner brochure we had picked up in Charleston. Yesteday we then passed the “Welcome to Virginia” sign in the waterway!

While it was still cool this morning, we took a ride around the downtown area. Norfolk's art thing is mermaids. We think the one in the fountain was likely the inspiration for all of the ones we saw around town. Steve was particularly fond of the one below :-) There was also a Welcome Center designed and paid for by the Taiwanese government. Sister city or something. It was pretty fun – koi pond and fountain to boot.

The naval presence is HUGE – very similar to San Diego. I'm not sure which is bigger. We passed many navy ships on the way to the downtown area including an aircraft carrier. The information on the USS Wisconsin was very interesting (see plaque – double click) and the ship itself of course was huge. From the front though it was the skinniest thing! third picture is the ship taken from the front. Really shocking to see!

We leave tomorrow morning and head up the Chesapeake Bay. Not sure where we are staying yet but I'm sure we'll figure it out!

Sunday May 22: Elizabeth City, NC

We've traveled 120 miles the past 3 days with extremely nice weather seemingly following us and are now only 51 miles from Norfolk. VA. It's hard to believe we left Hollywood FL just over 3 weeks ago!

The waterways for the past 3 days have mostly been large and small rivers. The anchorage Friday night was quiet - half a dozen boats joined us. The large rivers (names are on the map above) are VERY large. They look like you could be on Lake Erie but the depth is usually no more that 15 feet with many shallow spots along the edges. Dowry Creek Marina was a nice stop after not having access to a real grocery store for over a week. There wasn't much there except some very nice people - and a courtesy car! Steve manages to stock up up again and found a place for the watermelon so it wouldn't roll around while we were underway. Strangely enough, the waters we have been in the the past few days is fresh water! Which mean no tides as the tidal surge does not make it up the rivers. The color is strange - kind of like tea - due to the tannic acid produced by the vegetation on the river bottom. The picture is our prop wash.

Yesterday was 20 miles or so on a canal - pretty boring with little or no wildlife or anything and then the large Alligator River.

We found a nice anchorage that was a bit out of the way but kept us protected in case the winds decided to not lay down. First is the sunset, then the sunrise (up at 6:15) and Joysea peacefully at anchor this morning.

It was a short 35 miles to Elizabeth City this morning. We had many hitchhikers as we moved down the lake. A light south wind will do that - the gnats like to be out of the sun and wind so guess where they position themselves! Saw a blimp and hanger on the way in and then the challenge for the day is getting on and off the boat - shades of Pennekamp!

A quick bike ride around town found that like many of the areas in which we have been, there isn't really any downtown left as everything has moved about a mile or so out of town - closer to main roads through the area. There were a few historical plaques, HUGE old homes and at the hardware store I found a chair that was fun :-) The guy at the store commented that soccer moms like them and also that he sells a lot for the Christmas parade! It's still strange to think that anyone would mind being in the sun for a Christmas parade!

Thursday May19: Still Moving North

The anchorage next to Camp LeJeune was nice but very windy. It blew 15 mph until about 9 and then finally calmed down totally by morning. We were up and moving early in order to be sure we were past the camp before live round firing practices started. Really. This is the sunrise this morning.

There were a group of marines practicing by their boat ramp/dock pilings. Looked to us they were just working on keeping a boat perpendicular to the wind yet backed up to the dock pilings. No easy feat as the wind was really blowing. We saw some dead tanks near the waterway - with lots of bullet holes in them. This is were we decided the live firing indicated by the sign happened! The sign itself is AFTER we passed through the area. If there had been live firing going on a marine boat would have stopped us from going north until they finished.

Medium size jets were also practicing - the jet would take off, circle the waterway, head back to the base and do a vertical landing. Talk about LOUD - sure glad that they weren't thinking of using us for target practice :-)

Things you never see in the north: pink houses, pink houses with seahorses and pink houses with a giraffe in the front yard!

Since we started off so early, we were at Moorehead City (across the river from Beaufort, NC) right around lunch time. As luck (or preplanning as Steve would accuse me of) would have it, there was a place with a dock so we stopped for lunch - The Ruddy Duck. The tide was turning anyway and we were going against it the rest of the 2 hours to our anchorage so the break was nice. Great fish and crabcake sandwiches! We are still traveling with Joyce and Dave on Joysea.

Last but the most important: congratulations to Matt and Wendy on their 15th wedding anniversary!!!! My how the time flies. Seems like yesterday .....

Wednesday May 18: On the Way to Lejeune

The night as St. James was very pleasant with a full moon tonight - which we have learned bodes for really high high tides and really low low tides. A thunderstorm rolled through early yesterday so we had a leisurely breakfast at the marina and when a weather opening presented itself, off we went.

After about 5 miles or so, it was evident that another front was catching up to us - very windy and very dark clouds. So 5 miles it was then! We turned back to Southport and ended up at the Plantation Colony Restaurant. They have floating docks and allow transients to stay there at no cost as long as you eat in the restaurant. Sounded like a deal to us! Crabcake and yellowfin tun sandwiches for lunch were great so we went back for supper :-)

The wind was very strong (note the flag in the background) and didn't die down until very early this morning. When low tide came last night, the dock we were tied to was sitting in the mud and the ladder at the end of the dock had 5 rungs that needed to be climbed to reach the restaurant level!

Southport itself was a small town of about 3,500 that was very fun to ride around. We stopped at one of the cemeteries - very old graves. I think if you blow up the sign it will be readable (double click on it). There are also many live oak trees in this part of the country. It was confusing until someone explained what they were as my comment was always "so what? We have live oak trees in Ohio as well!" Check out the difference at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_oak

Tonight we will be anchored next to Camp Lejeune! Some of the postings from other boats have indicated we might wake up to tanks or helicopters out practicing. Sounds interesting!!

Monday May 16: Near Cape Fear!

It's been a good few days of traveling and we are now in North Carolina - within 5 miles of Cape Fear. Not sure why it is named that but I think I want to find out! The map left shows the days of travel since we left Florida on May 7th.

The spot we anchored the other night was peaceful in the morning but had a strong current and wind when we came in. The anchor held well - with Joysea's anchor picking up the tension when we swung 180 degrees so that worked well. We're still not used to these 5.5 foot tide changes and associated currents. When we left, the anchor was kind of mucky so Steve tried to clean Joysea's anchor but that didn't work so well so he have our hose to Joyce and she finished the job.

The waterway has changed dramatically again. It's now lined with trees and great wildlife. Saw 3 bald eagles and there are pelican sitting on every available space on the waterway markers is taken. Lots of crazy trees and zillions of osprey (look close - there are 2 osprey circled in the picture of the neat tree). We even saw turtles along the waterway for the first time!

We ended up with a convoy as we passed Georgetown yesterday as two more trawlers joined in our parade. All of us stayed at Osprey Marina which was very interesting as the marina is off of a very narrow channel and very little float space for boats waiting for fuel. Luckily we were first in so didn't have to wait in the main waterway for our turn. Tight fit at the marina for sure. We had to back out of the slip we were in just to get out as there was no room to turn around!

Sights along the way: a condo place (I assume) with fun chairs facing the waterway, a McDonalds on the street next the the waterway (this was near Myrtle Beach) but Steve wouldn't let me stop, and something I've never seen: aerial cars on a tram across the waterway for the golf course whose parking lot was on the right bank but whose course was on the left bank! Talk about a swanky course!

Our arrival at St. James Marina was uneventful with Steve doing his usual great job of getting us tied up properly. He has figured out a great way to get a rope around the poles using the boathook :-) This is basically a marina for a condo place - took a ride around to check it out and it was similar to Greenwood Village in Sagamore. Some sort of crazy big homes though. Tomorrow: bring on Cape Fear!!