Boats

We see all shapes and sizes of boats along our way.  And lots of funny, stupid, crazy boat names too.
A big sail boat we saw today was called "'Spill the wine".

We saw our first derelict boat and we'll see a lot more as we get further south.  Boats that are just abandoned and left for a municipality to deal with.

Then there were these carnies taking their show with them to ply the winter markets.

We saw this Nordhaven tug in the Chesapeake-Abelmarle lock.  32 feet.  Costs $260,000.  A Rosie-wanna-be.

This one was in Norfolk.  60 metres long (260 ft)  I talked to a crew member.  She said the boat is registered in Cayman Islands but never stops traveling the world.

I also like these two old classic boats.

And then, of course, there was Norfolk, home of the US Navy Atlantic fleet and the biggest military base in the world.  This is where the money goes.  Meanwhile the wharfs in Norfolk are sinking while the sea levels rise and no one cares about climate change.  Meanwhile teenagers in Russia with a $200 computer can bring our system of government to its knees.Sigh.

So we're waitig for weather.  Coast Guard says 50-60 kt winds but I think that's offshore.  Radar shows a very brightly colored wall headed our way.  We, and 5 other boats are hunkered down in Pungo Ferry Virginia.

Norfolk to Pungo Ferry

Wednesday we had a long day getting to Norfolk from Deltaville.  Good tail wind but still 9.5 hours.
Our cruising speed uis 6 6 knots in calm water with no wind or tide assistance and 2200 rpms.
Here's a shot of Thursday morning in Norfolk at the Waterside Marina.
Norfolk morning
And here's a shot of Pungo Ferry in the evening.
:ungo Ferry

There's a blow coming later today.  Gale force winds.  So we're haning here for the day, tied up to some old piling.

Sleepy Sunday

Homemade (as in Rosie) soup, quiche and bread.  Nap time.

Deltaville, still

We're still in Deltaville, fixing stuff.  I broke a tooth.  Our outboard won't start and we've ordered parts.  Installed a new washdown pump, Changed all the fluids.  Restocked the larders.  Showers, laundry, shopping.  Hope to head to Norfolk on Wednesday if the outboard is running.

Tonight I was sitting on the bow with a beer looking out at the greater bay/ocean and, enter stage right, a Lord Nelson Victory Tug.  It heads around the corner out of sight.  I try unsuccessfully to hail it on the radio.  But three LNVT's within a half mile is more than I can handle.  So I jump in the motorless dinghy and row around the corner to find the tug.

It's Le Papa!  From Charlotte.  Andy Deeds boat now owned by Hal Findlay.  What a hoot!  Great to talk tugs with him  He's headed to Florida so we will be seeing him off and on down the ditch.  Le Papa still has a BMW engine so we encouraged each other and Hal shared a bit of Nick Cowles apple brandy which made the row back a joy!

Sitting for a week in one spot slows life down. 

We start each day with a long to do list but are happy to complete a quarter of it.

Deltaville, Virginia

It was not easy leaving Pat, Barb, Margie and Bernie at Solomon Island.  Such a good time.  We'll definitely stop on the way back.  But south we must go.  So with a north wind blowing on Monday we were off at 0745 with the tide.  A dozen boats left Solomons Island with us.  With the wind behind us and a fair tide we decided to make it all the way to Deltaville, about 50 nautical miles.  Tuesday wind would be on our nose.
So Kathleen had time to do some Lacy lovin'.

Anchored at Deltaville Marina, a great place.  We ordered some parts to be delivered here.  Rain gutter for salon windows and a "pump gard" for the new washdown pump.  Mud in the south really stinks so when you pull up the anchor it's important to leave that stink in the water.  Also oil changing time, coolant change, fuel pump change, etc.

Once the anchor was down we looked in at the docks and were shocked by what we saw.  Can you see it?

Yeah, it's us!  We're LNVT hull number 21.  This is hull number 20.  Needs as much work as Rosie.

This is a real boater haven.  Great facilities including a shop that can do everything and a courtesy car (GMC Yukon with 250,000 miles on it) to get into the one grocery store, one hardware store, a couple of gas stations and a West Marine.
There are some great boats here like this steel hulled beauty.

The weather is, as I had feared, unpredictable and extreme, which is the new normal.  Pair that with stupid errors on my part and we have had daily challenges.  There are times when we wonder what the hell we're doing but then the wind backs down and the sun comes out.
We're 32 miles north of Norfolk where we enter the "ditch".  No more open water for quite a while.  Rosie will like that.
Still fretting the BMW engine and the outboard is going into the shop tomorrow.  So dependent on the internal combustion thing now.  Sailboats and hard dinghies look good sometimes.
Not sure what's going on in Vermont but today was 75 degrees and sunny.  We sat in the pilot house for a sundowner.

All is well with us but we do miss our friends and family.  Feel free to call or comment on the blog.  We'll check ban in from Norfolk.

We're in Deltaville, Virginia.  Will post tomorrow. But I changed a setting to make it easier to comment.

Solomons Island, Maryland

We roared down here yesterday with wind and tide, hitting 8 knots surfing some waves.  Nephew Pat and wife Barb have a house here and a dock!  Barb's parents live here too.  Such great hosts!  So we're tied up and cozy for a few days.  Rain coming.  Went to West Marine so there's toys and tools to install. 

Walked around the island today.  Very nice place with a ton of boats.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fGrDsyBVu55dizjG7

And a cute church.

Here' Rosie snug as a bug in a rug.