Jamestown, Yorktown, Williamsburg
Ships along the way . . . .
Hampton to Beaufort
Coast Guard welcomes us back to the boat!
October 14, 2010
The past 5 days have been everything we hoped it would be. The weather has been in the 70’s and 80’s with sunshine every day. Mike has had to pull out his warm weather clothes he had put away. Jamestown, Yorktown and Williamsburg historical sights were amazing. In all three towns the exhibits were reinforced by the use of living history; people dressed in the garb of the time and demonstrating a craft or job from the time period and events. We were struck by the difficulty of life. The 3 exhibits span a time period from 1609 through 1780. It truly was worth the time we spent in each area. Everyday were left tired but enriched.
Fellow boaters Bill and Jeanie arrived the day after we did. We went out the second evening they were here for shots; that is flu shots. There was a clinic about 10 miles away that accepted our insurance and since we had a car; it was the perfect opportunity.
Tuesday night was open mike at a bar near the dock. One of the other boaters had been there last year and raved about it. We met 3 other couples from the dock and had a pleasant night listening to excellent bands and good conversation.
I supposed the other highlight that needs mentioning is the discovery of a Costco near us. Given that we had a car-well you know the rest. Old habits are hard to break. Today we returned the car and are preparing for leaving in the morning. It is the first time we have stayed so long in one place. It felt good to be off the boat. There is so much to do and see, but it is time to move on. We will definitely be back.
October 16, 2010
Golly look at that…..
We left Hampton in the morning after fixing an electrical problem. It was minor but took an hour to fix. We are on our way to the Intercostal Waterway (ICW), the water route from Norfolk to Florida. Along the way we acted like country people coming to Chicago muttering, “Golly look at the tall building” and then bumping into people. For us it was, “Look at that naval ship? Did you see the size of that one? Look what they are doing on that one. Hey, there is one coming out.” It is a lucky thing we didn’t get run over as we gawked at all of the vessels. We counted over a dozen ships in port. It was really exciting. Our trip consisted of only about 35 miles. We are in Chesapeake City. There are two free docks, but the first on had no space. The second one had just enough for us to get into. As always we have met interesting people and they have given us information about what we can expect along our journey. It was suggested that we spend an extra day here because the high winds make Currituck Sound rough because it is so shallow. The waves make it hard to stay in the channel. Sunday and Monday are supposed to be calm and we will have two large shallow bodies of water to cross.
The weather is beautiful although last night was cold. We are near town so we have ventured out several times to explore. It also gave Francie a chance to go shopping without me.
October 17, 2010
Hello from North Carolina, we just crossed the border about a ½ hour ago.
Our alarm woke us up in the early morning. It was cold on the boat and we wanted to stay under the warm covers but we were motivated by the 8:30 opening of the first of two bridges we would encounter in this morning. When we peeked out, much to our surprise, all of the boats were gone except for one, who was directly behind us, and he was getting ready to leave also. It turned out that the bridge was opening a half our early.
The fellow behind us helped throw off our lines and pulled out right behind us. Another boat from the other side of the river pulled out in front of us. The mist was rising off the water and it was hard to see either boat. The river is narrow and tree trunks stick out of the water near the shore. It looks like a swamp. In addition the sun was peeking out over the tops of the trees making it more difficult to see but certainly adds to the beauty of the morning.
The first dozen miles the river was lined with trees. Later the waterway widened and we could see homes and tall grassy shores. As we traveled further, it widened into a sound with the the narrow navigation channel. Depths in the channel are only about 12 feet and the surrounding water varies from 3-8 feet. We are about 10 miles from our anchorage. Hopefully it won’t be crowded. At one point today I counted 8 sailboats ahead of us. There is a large migration south. We have seen several boats from Annapolis, Connecticut and one from Minnesota.
We are trading off driving every hour since once again we are motoring. I have a feeling it won’t change much for a while. It doesn’t matter that we don’t sail, we are enjoying the scenery and the whole experience.
October 18, 2010
It’s not margaritas in paradise, but it magical.
Yesterday we arrived in our anchorage in the early afternoon. We put down the sides of our enclosure, which we call our Florida Room, and it was so warm that we were in tshirts. We opened the door to the engine room to increase the warmth in the cabin knowing that when the sun goes down it will be colder. Best of all we had hot showers. Sometimes it is the little pleasures.
We had dinner in the Florida Room and watched the sun duck behind the trees and fill the west with an orange glow. What is does the MasterCard commercial say – priceless?
We were up at 6 AM to leave the anchorage. There was just enough light to avoid the crab pots scattered all around us. If we hit one and the rope gets into our prop, we will definitely have a problem. Therefore avoidance is the best policy.
We had a long day planned. Our destination anchorage was 75 miles away. That doesn’t seem like much, but when we only travel between 7 and 7.7 miles an hour, it can take all day - 9 ½ hours to be exact. We do chores and trade off driving every hour. Since the weather is good, we are trying to make as many miles as we can. We never know when we will be sitting out bad weather.
Today we had a variety of traveling conditions from open water (where we could actually sail) to very narrow channels that if we stray from their boundaries we will be aground. It is a little like driving on the expressway. The last section looked like a swamp with its tree stump lined edge. In fact it was called Alligator River.
I was talking to a woman on the dock a couple of days ago and she mentioned that all of her friends think of this life style as margaritas and sunsets. They had been sitting out the weather for several days and were putting on a different type sail cover. She had to use the wench to take her husband up the mast so he could drill new blocks to the mast. He was up there for at least an hour. She mentioned that her friends don’t realize how much work living on a boat can be.
Today it seems our conversation kept coming back to missing our friends and family. We know that the decision to live on the boat is the best for us at this time, but it is still an adjustment. We are always alone or with people that we just met and may never see again. We have lots in common with them which helps make instant friendships. People on boats are always willing to help each other so we are never alone even among strangers. We can’t imagine what life would be like if we had not sold the house and stayed. Yet there is no replacement for old friends and family. Despite the anxiety of doing something new all of the time, it is a great learning experience.
We were tired when we finally dropped the anchor and had something to eat. As we ate dinner we once again watched the sun light the west on fire.
October 20, 2010
We spent last night in Oriental, N.C. and met up with Bill & Cheryl, whom we had originally met on the Erie Canal. It was their boat that had the pumpkin, decorated like a pirate, on the bow. Halloween is closing in! We all traveled to Beaufort, North Carolina today. In North Carolina, Beaufort is pronounced “Bofert”. Beaufort is the place where the remains of Blackbeard’s (the pirate) ship Queen Ann’s Revenge was discovered in 1996. Lots of commercial fishing in this area also. We plan to stay a day or so to catch up on email and (of course) laundry! We took a short trip in the dinghy to town and ran into the coast guard on the way back (see photo). Yes, that is a large loaded gun on their deck. They very nicely asked for proof that we had life vests on board for all the individuals on the dinghy. We saw our first dolphins of this trip today, some were even playing around in the harbor as we motored by in the dinghy.
The past 5 days have been everything we hoped it would be. The weather has been in the 70’s and 80’s with sunshine every day. Mike has had to pull out his warm weather clothes he had put away. Jamestown, Yorktown and Williamsburg historical sights were amazing. In all three towns the exhibits were reinforced by the use of living history; people dressed in the garb of the time and demonstrating a craft or job from the time period and events. We were struck by the difficulty of life. The 3 exhibits span a time period from 1609 through 1780. It truly was worth the time we spent in each area. Everyday were left tired but enriched.
Fellow boaters Bill and Jeanie arrived the day after we did. We went out the second evening they were here for shots; that is flu shots. There was a clinic about 10 miles away that accepted our insurance and since we had a car; it was the perfect opportunity.
Tuesday night was open mike at a bar near the dock. One of the other boaters had been there last year and raved about it. We met 3 other couples from the dock and had a pleasant night listening to excellent bands and good conversation.
I supposed the other highlight that needs mentioning is the discovery of a Costco near us. Given that we had a car-well you know the rest. Old habits are hard to break. Today we returned the car and are preparing for leaving in the morning. It is the first time we have stayed so long in one place. It felt good to be off the boat. There is so much to do and see, but it is time to move on. We will definitely be back.
October 16, 2010
Golly look at that…..
We left Hampton in the morning after fixing an electrical problem. It was minor but took an hour to fix. We are on our way to the Intercostal Waterway (ICW), the water route from Norfolk to Florida. Along the way we acted like country people coming to Chicago muttering, “Golly look at the tall building” and then bumping into people. For us it was, “Look at that naval ship? Did you see the size of that one? Look what they are doing on that one. Hey, there is one coming out.” It is a lucky thing we didn’t get run over as we gawked at all of the vessels. We counted over a dozen ships in port. It was really exciting. Our trip consisted of only about 35 miles. We are in Chesapeake City. There are two free docks, but the first on had no space. The second one had just enough for us to get into. As always we have met interesting people and they have given us information about what we can expect along our journey. It was suggested that we spend an extra day here because the high winds make Currituck Sound rough because it is so shallow. The waves make it hard to stay in the channel. Sunday and Monday are supposed to be calm and we will have two large shallow bodies of water to cross.
The weather is beautiful although last night was cold. We are near town so we have ventured out several times to explore. It also gave Francie a chance to go shopping without me.
October 17, 2010
Hello from North Carolina, we just crossed the border about a ½ hour ago.
Our alarm woke us up in the early morning. It was cold on the boat and we wanted to stay under the warm covers but we were motivated by the 8:30 opening of the first of two bridges we would encounter in this morning. When we peeked out, much to our surprise, all of the boats were gone except for one, who was directly behind us, and he was getting ready to leave also. It turned out that the bridge was opening a half our early.
The fellow behind us helped throw off our lines and pulled out right behind us. Another boat from the other side of the river pulled out in front of us. The mist was rising off the water and it was hard to see either boat. The river is narrow and tree trunks stick out of the water near the shore. It looks like a swamp. In addition the sun was peeking out over the tops of the trees making it more difficult to see but certainly adds to the beauty of the morning.
The first dozen miles the river was lined with trees. Later the waterway widened and we could see homes and tall grassy shores. As we traveled further, it widened into a sound with the the narrow navigation channel. Depths in the channel are only about 12 feet and the surrounding water varies from 3-8 feet. We are about 10 miles from our anchorage. Hopefully it won’t be crowded. At one point today I counted 8 sailboats ahead of us. There is a large migration south. We have seen several boats from Annapolis, Connecticut and one from Minnesota.
We are trading off driving every hour since once again we are motoring. I have a feeling it won’t change much for a while. It doesn’t matter that we don’t sail, we are enjoying the scenery and the whole experience.
October 18, 2010
It’s not margaritas in paradise, but it magical.
Yesterday we arrived in our anchorage in the early afternoon. We put down the sides of our enclosure, which we call our Florida Room, and it was so warm that we were in tshirts. We opened the door to the engine room to increase the warmth in the cabin knowing that when the sun goes down it will be colder. Best of all we had hot showers. Sometimes it is the little pleasures.
We had dinner in the Florida Room and watched the sun duck behind the trees and fill the west with an orange glow. What is does the MasterCard commercial say – priceless?
We were up at 6 AM to leave the anchorage. There was just enough light to avoid the crab pots scattered all around us. If we hit one and the rope gets into our prop, we will definitely have a problem. Therefore avoidance is the best policy.
We had a long day planned. Our destination anchorage was 75 miles away. That doesn’t seem like much, but when we only travel between 7 and 7.7 miles an hour, it can take all day - 9 ½ hours to be exact. We do chores and trade off driving every hour. Since the weather is good, we are trying to make as many miles as we can. We never know when we will be sitting out bad weather.
Today we had a variety of traveling conditions from open water (where we could actually sail) to very narrow channels that if we stray from their boundaries we will be aground. It is a little like driving on the expressway. The last section looked like a swamp with its tree stump lined edge. In fact it was called Alligator River.
I was talking to a woman on the dock a couple of days ago and she mentioned that all of her friends think of this life style as margaritas and sunsets. They had been sitting out the weather for several days and were putting on a different type sail cover. She had to use the wench to take her husband up the mast so he could drill new blocks to the mast. He was up there for at least an hour. She mentioned that her friends don’t realize how much work living on a boat can be.
Today it seems our conversation kept coming back to missing our friends and family. We know that the decision to live on the boat is the best for us at this time, but it is still an adjustment. We are always alone or with people that we just met and may never see again. We have lots in common with them which helps make instant friendships. People on boats are always willing to help each other so we are never alone even among strangers. We can’t imagine what life would be like if we had not sold the house and stayed. Yet there is no replacement for old friends and family. Despite the anxiety of doing something new all of the time, it is a great learning experience.
We were tired when we finally dropped the anchor and had something to eat. As we ate dinner we once again watched the sun light the west on fire.
October 20, 2010
We spent last night in Oriental, N.C. and met up with Bill & Cheryl, whom we had originally met on the Erie Canal. It was their boat that had the pumpkin, decorated like a pirate, on the bow. Halloween is closing in! We all traveled to Beaufort, North Carolina today. In North Carolina, Beaufort is pronounced “Bofert”. Beaufort is the place where the remains of Blackbeard’s (the pirate) ship Queen Ann’s Revenge was discovered in 1996. Lots of commercial fishing in this area also. We plan to stay a day or so to catch up on email and (of course) laundry! We took a short trip in the dinghy to town and ran into the coast guard on the way back (see photo). Yes, that is a large loaded gun on their deck. They very nicely asked for proof that we had life vests on board for all the individuals on the dinghy. We saw our first dolphins of this trip today, some were even playing around in the harbor as we motored by in the dinghy.