We left the Rappahannock after a raucous couple of days…didn’t get off the boat at all!  So, we left early – 5AM. It was pitch black out, so we left by instruments… slowly. Got out on the Rappahannock just in time to see a glorious sunrise, tugs and barges starting their day, and the Rappahannock oyster fleet going out. There were well over a hundred waterman’s boats moving to the oyster beds just outside the mouth of the river. I haven’t seen so many watermen in years. It was a wonderful sight! The south wind started building again, and so rather than buck the wind and waves again, we sailed 45% off the wind, and headed for the Eastern Shore. About ¾ the way across the Bay, we tacked and headed west, ending up well south of our anticipated destination, in a little place called Bennett Creek.

In the morning, the anchor windlass gave up the ghost, and quit working. The he windlass is an automatic winch that brings up the anchor and up to 220′ of chain…heavy chain, so we needed to get that fixed. Distressed, we went into a little place called Poqouson, filled up on fuel, and headed out to go to Hampton Roads and fix everything.. On our way out, David called a friend he knew in High School but hadn’t seen in 44 years, but thanks to the wonders of Facebook, we had reacquainted. David knew he lived near Hampton Roads, but whenu he called Bob, it turns out he lives in Poqouson! We turned around, he lined us up with a mechanic who fixed the sheared bolt, and we were back on our way to Hampton.

An uneventful trip, we wanted to hunker down here for the Nor’easter that was coming. We’ve had a great time here… spent a lot of time with Bob. He loaned us a car, and we’ve done our laundry, shopping, got a new windlass, as well as had some great meals with Bob and Debbie.  we also met some great new friends from the UK who had bought a boat just like ours…and, from a marina right next to ours  over the Internet!  They even know some friends of David who are also headed down to Florida.

We also went to the Air and Space Museum here, tested our skills on the different planes and flying skills…some were really hard!  but, both of us achieved HOT SHOT Military pilot level and I crashed my 737 in a field.  and, we both rode along with a army Air Force team through Romania in a B-24….we bailed out just in time.

We also met some nice boating folks, all going south… Waited an extra day for our windlass, was finally delivered and David installed it and we went on our way through the Norfolk Navy Ships and the Portsmouth Shipyard…really impressive!

Now we are in the Great Dismal Swamp which was surveyed by George Washington, has been open for navigation since then, and is one of the more discussed routes on the trip. It’s a 62 mile “ditch” filled with nature, beauty, bears, turtles and other such critters usually found in swamps. Unfortunately, it also has “deadheads”, old semi-rotten logs just below the surface that can do serious damage to a boat. The best advice seems to be to go slow, and keep a good look out. The most interesting part has been the locks…just like the Panama Canal.  First we had to go into a canal with 5 other boats and then the Lock Master filled it with 12 feet of water and then opened the gate so we could go out…now we are at the other one and we will go down 12 feet….

We’re planning on spending 2 days in the Swamp before exiting in North Carolina.

I am going to try to update every couple of days as I can…David is also contributing, so I am trying to merge our updates…love to all!

Katie & Dave

Subject: 2nd day
Our second day was exciting! Started out beautiful, then we had 20+ in winds directly on our nose and 3-4 ft seas with a few 5-7 ft. The waves came crashing over the bow, and I did not secure all the ports or hatches properly, so beds and bedding all wet….clothes, etc. So we anchored in this picturesque little creek across from the supersonic testing planes for the Navy. Tried to start the engine so we could get a hot shower, engine won’t start! David has been working on it all morning and has figured it out and is trying to fix it….we had planned to stay put anyway as there are some thunderstorms and rain predicted.

We were still smiling, but tired at 10 last night, so guess we are going to be okay. We are going to have a hot shower to celebrate our 3rd anniversary!

Forgot to add that during our furious flight down the Chesapeake, we heard this really bad sound, looked at each other and David flew out of the cockpit to stop the anchor from going down 200 ft. the wave broke a steel thingy, which hit the button on the automatic wench which allowed all the chain to go….down along with the anchor. David stopped it, yelled at me to put the boat into reverse…we were in 30 ft of water and he saved the anchor and we continued on our MERRY way…we needed wine!

We are having a great time…