Two Days to Portsmouth

Ka'Why Knot underway (pic courtesy of Don)

We had our 'last supper' with the Julians Friday and had a tearful good-bye. I don't think I will ever forget hearing Gemma say, "Mr. Rob, are you crying?". (It was Nicole's fault!) We love them and will miss them big time.

 

We left Herrington Harbour North around 8:15 after pumping out and were southbound and down! We managed to time it perfectly to travel the first couple of hours with Jeff, Layne and their kids and Andy, Carrie and Ryan (their son) onboard Kroh's Nest, Don and Lynn on Olga and Tim and Laura on Sojourn. They were going 'slow' until Cove Point (near Solomons) before picking up the pace and going to Hampton. We had a perfect day on the Bay!!! And anchored in Cockrell Creek near a seafood plant in Reedville, VA. Luckily the breeze was in our favor and we didn't get to 'enjoy' the smell. Sharon made a nice dinner and we just chilled on the boat.

Leaving Herrington Harbour North

Perfect day on the Bay!

Kroh's Nest

Olga

We were not able to get a picture of Sojourn as they had the lead.

Bub-bye Maryland! We had a great summer and fall.

Seafood plant in Reedville, VA

Night shot of the seafood plant.

We left Reedville bright and early (for us) at 7:15. Our first 'problem' -- the anchor windlass didn't work. We had the EXACT same problem last year when we first left! So, I had to hand-over-hand 50+ feet of chain and the anchor. Day two was NOT a perfect day like day one. The Bay was pretty rough for the first two hours. We hit one wave so bad that EVERYTHING that wasn't secured went flying. This included Sharon's herb garden -- dirt all over the fly bridge, and her coffee cup. All I smelled was Toasted Marshmallow Mocha ALL day! 🤮 We were finally able to turn and head due south about the same time the wind and Bay laid down. The rest of the trip was pretty nice.

Norfolk is always impressive with all the commercial and military ships. We went to High Street Landing for the night after an eight and a half hour day underway. This is a ferry stop and there is free dockage for the night. There are no services (water or electric) but it felt good to get off the boat. We walked about 25 minutes (one-way) to Food Lion for a turkey breast for Thanksgiving. The neighborhood was a bit sketchy but we got in and out during daylight hours. We decided to eat dinner onboard. We were both exhausted and had some tidying up to do along with a couple of minor repairs.

Ka'Why Knot at High Point Landing

As I was typing this blog entry, I heard the bilge pump running. Uh-oh! The sea strainer* for the engine 'broke' (for lack of a better term) and needs to be replaced. Looks like we won't be getting an early start tomorrow but THANKFULLY if it had to break, it broke when we were docked and not underway. We're even pretty close to a West Marine and several marine supply stores! I consider this one a 'good luck' break/fix.

*Sea strainer: A sea strainer filters the cooling water before it goes into the heat exchanger on the engine. It catches any debris large enough to clog up your cooling system, which would cause your engine to overheat.