Passage Norfolk to St. Thomas, Nov. 4-Nov. 16, 2007

Hooray! We made it! After 11 1/2 days of sailing the high seas--and some were mighty high--we got there. It was an exciting voyage. Lots of wind and waves and a few storms, but with a crew of Steve Olson, an old sailing buddy from Denver, and Jeff Strouf, a new friend and fellow sailor, we had a fabulous trip. Steve and Jeff were thrilled to be out in the ocean out of sight of land braving the elements. Sue was not; but hard to stay that way when fellow crew were so positive and enjoying every minute of the joyride. We had a few bets on when we would arrive, but we all were pretty pleased to have made it by 1:30 am on Nov. 16th. More to follow.

Norfolk/Portsmouth, October 30-November 4

We motored the two hours to Portsmouth, where we anchored outside of Tidewater Yacht Marina along with lots of other boats heading south. The weather was beautiful until Thursday, when reports of strong winds were circulating. We decided to move a day ahead of schedule into the marina, Waterside, where we had reservations Friday and Saturday. We were glad we did. Got the last slip available and learned that most of the marinas were full.

Our crew arrives tomorrow-- Steve Olson from Denver and Jeff Strouf from Wausau, Wisconsin.
Steve is an old friend and sailing buddy; Jeff was a guy we met in Oriental, NC who loves to sail and was able to take time off from his job as a firefighter to go with us.

Hampton, VA October 26-30

After Onancock, we sailed in mounting bad weather across the bay to Deltaville. Publicized in our guide books as quite the boaters' town, we quickly learned that the town is a couple of miles away. There was nothing but lots of fellow cruisers waiting out the weather which continued on a downward slide. On Thursday, we decided to head to Hampton as the weather was only predicted to get worse. It was rather chilly, windy and rainy with 3' to 4' waves, however, with following seas, it really turned out to be an enjoyable sail.

We were glad to get into Hampton, where many boats were marinaed (is this a word?) waiting for the Caribbean 1500 Rally sponsored by West Marine. They are leaving Hampton on Nov. 4, weather permitting. However, with the rather steep price, we opted to do our own thing although we'll be following a similar route.

We enjoyed Hampton. We had a lot of running around to do still preparing for our long offshore trek. On Sunday, my cousin, Debbie, and her husband, Dom, who currently live in Richmond joined us for an enjoyable afternoon.

By Tuesday, we decided it was time to head to Norfolk/Portsmouth.

Reedville, Virginia October 21

Forgot to mention that we actually went from Solomons to Reedville, first. Reedville is the home of menhaden fishing, a dying industry. We were warned that it would be a smelly place to stay, but we went anyhow and found it to be very attractive although small and lacking in places to go and things to do. However, we weren't really there to do anything but spend the night. It was a waypoint in our travels south. The fishing boats and dilapidated quonset hut pictured above indicate the state of the menhaden fishing industry here.

Onancock, October 22-24, 2007

After Solomons, we decided to go sailing!!! The weather was right for a change with a good brisk breeze of 15-20 knots. Gorgeous day, great sailing. We ended up on Virginia's eastern shore at the charming town of Onancock. We anchored just off the town dock and enjoyed live music from our boat--but not for long. We dinghied to shore to the music and enjoyed the sunset from Mallard's Restaurant. We decided to stick around for a day since the weather was warm and beautiful and the town delightful. We had a great inexpensive breakfast of a steak and egg wrap at Janet's Cafe. We strolled the town discovering wonderful items for our boat at the Hospice Thrift Store and at the hardware store--an old time shop with everything from nuts & bolts to tricycles to paint--also clams and home-grown vegetables. We bought a dozen clams and steamed them. Delicious. We have lots of experience with all manner of seafood--except clams. We enjoyed them.

Galesville, Solomons--October 18-20

Finally we got away--Hasn't been easy. At the last minute Monday, we discovered we needed yet another part for our autopilot. Had to wait for it to be delivered--only to discover when it arrived, it was not the part that was bad, but a connection! Mike resolved it and we finally were underway at 10 on Wednesday. Arrived 10 miles south at another charming town, Galesville, where hungry swans hung around our boat hoping for a handout. (They seemed to have successful with the boat parked next to us whom we later found were from Grand Junction, CO.)

Left early Thursday for the 41 mile trek to Solomon's. Bad weather's coming but greeted us a tad early with choppy seas, wind and rain. With the wind on our nose, of course, we couldn't take advantage of it and had to motor through pounding waves. Met our friends Vicki and Porter as we motored in together Thursday at 5.

Bye-bye Annapolis, October 17, 2007

South!

St. Michael's--October 13 & 14

Finally left Annapolis for a fun weekend in St. Michael's, a charming sailing town about 20 miles across the bay. Saturday was a beautiful, sunny day as all of the boaters in Annapolis realized as well. We spent a good part of our initial foray weaving between racers--dead serious racers in whose way we did not want to be!

Sunday our return trip was beautiful, but much colder. I actually had to wear several layers of clothing to stay warm enough.

Friends in Annapolis

As mentioned in the last post, we spent many a pleasant time with Vicki and Porter Howard pictured above. We also met Andrew and Denise Applteton from Kingston, Ontario on a beautiful 52 foot custom sailboat, Samaria II, complete with sitting room for TV etc. We learned that Andrew, who emigrated from Glasgow,Scotland many years ago when he was about 5 years old, sailed across on a boat named Samaria, hence his boat name's origin.

September and October - Annapolis

We actually have spent a lot of time here in Annapolis. Annapolis is the capital of Maryland and the home of the Naval Academy. We've been getting our gear together for the passage to the Caribbean as well as having it checked out. In addition, the US Sailboat Show was here October 5-8 so we were able to meet with vendors, some we know, most we don't. In addition, the Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA) held a meeting all day Saturday, Oct. 6. There were various talks on topics such as medical needs for cruisers, rope handling, and traveling around South America. All were of great interest as well as the swap meet where we were able to pick up several books, tools and other equipment for a song.

Have spent lots of time with our neighbors on Cinnamon Teal, a 45 foot Trintella. Vicki and Porter Howard are from Seattle and have been sailing for three years. Vicki was a home ec/math teacher; Porter an electrical engineer for Boeing. They've been great sources of companionship for these last couple of weeks. They will be leaving soon, too, to head for St. Augustine and a new hard dodger for their boat, heading to points south.

Above are some scenes from picturesque Annapolis.