Thursday 8 November: Great sailing from Deltaville to Norfolk VA.
Last night we went to bed on a quiet note, no sounds outside and not a ripple in the water. Very sheltered anchorage here in Fishing Bay, Deltaville, behind Stove Point Neck bar. Throughout the night the wind starts, we hear it in the rigging. And Glen wakes up a few times, to tighten a rope which was clanking on the mast, and to check the anchor alarm.
During breakfast we listen to Chris Parker on SSB, stow away what might roll later when we sail, and we’re off.
We leave Deltaville motoring into 20kts of wind, through the winding shallows, bouncing on the waves which are occasionally splashing over the spray top. It’s not exactly a comfortable movement as we get thrown around (and I pat myself for taking the seasickness pill). But it’s definitely quite a comforting feeling here inside the cockpit tent, watching all this water coming over, and us dry and warm inside. Feels like we are watching a movie 🙂 And as we bounce all over the place on this choppy waves, we joke that this is nothing compared to what it will be like in few days time, when we go over the Gulf Stream! Good shake down for our provisions in the cupboards too, they should all settle in place… or fall out!
Almost 4nm later we are out of the shallows and can start sailing. Genoa only, broad reach, and we are rolling. Not too bad though, this is just the warm up for the Atlantic! Quite a few boats out, most just like us – genoa only. Feels nice to be sailing again, and we enjoy the peace. Even test our new mug holders, which are perfect fit for our mugs and water bottles.
The wind drops to 15kts, gusting 20kts, and so does our speed. Boats around us and we drop speed? Unheard of! A change of sail plan is needed. So we rig up the pole, after the usual faff, messing up the lines which always seem to end up under or over something they shouldn’t – and today was no different. Take two on the lines and we are good. Furl genoa away and then unfurl on the other side, poled out this time. Unfurl mainsail too, retainer on, and we are now set up for sporty speed, up to nearly 8kts. Nice, smoke them! The other boats disappear in the distance behind us… We even pass a motor yacht, called Jennie. Not often we do that!
The sea flattens out and the movement becomes more comfortable, we are rolling less. So tranquil now compared to how it was in the morning. Speed = stability.
To keep ourselves busy, we look at weather forecast from here to Bermuda, and Glen plays with route planning on Predict Wind. We could leave tomorrow afternoon, in quite big winds and have a weather window to Bermuda, only just (might have the last 50nm to beat upwind, depending on how fast we are till then). Or we could wait few more days and see how the forecast will evolve next week.
When we approach Norfolk Straits, the wind picks up and we go slightly off the wind. So we gybe the main, genoa furled away, and pole down. At Buckroe Beach and Park we go between some shallows which Glen gets a bit twitchy about. Very nice stretch of beach here, it must be beautiful in the summer. The usual cute lighthouse, and between trees are Carolina looking houses in front of Fort Monroe, which was built by the Brits in 1600s, according to our pilot book.
With the tide against us, we progress very slowly through Norfolk Channel, and Glen keeps glancing back to see if any of the competitors are catching up with us 🙂
It doesn’t seem to be a particularly busy channel, yet there’s lots of VHF activity, with a security boat checking on passing sailing boats near red buoy #8. And earlier a helicopter was doing the same. There is a huge naval base in Portsmouth, maybe that is why they have so much security checks in the area. Once into Elizabeth River the scenery isn’t particularly pretty. Just the naval base and loading docks for merchant ships. But there is a very impressive array of naval ships, aircraft carriers and stealth destroyers (with low radar footprint). We also see a tripper boat doing Naval Base Tour! Well, it is reputed to be the biggest naval base in the world.
And while checking emails, a piece of good news (to us) … looks like we just bought ourselves a Parasailor! Tony, the guy who sells it in Grenada, accepted our offer. Now we need to find a broker in Antigua who would clear customs for us, and hopefully the Parasailor will meet us there when we arrive.
We see the town in front of us, and we giggle about the fact that we only have some instructions about where we are supposed to dock, but not a phone number to call the OCC port officer in Norfolk. As we get closer, engine comes on and we furl away the mainsail. It was a very nice sailing trip, we enjoyed it. A bit of everything, from bumpy and rolly, but fast, to slow but comfortable.
We find the place, just by NOOA docks, and as we maneuver Cloudy Bay in reverse to tie up, Gary the OCC port officer shows up and assists us with the lines. He also offers some fender boards to protect our fenders from running on the pilings. Perfect timing, and we are moored up just before sunset. Although it’s quite chilly once the sun goes down, lunch in the cockpit is in order, to enjoy our new lamp and the pleasant scenery around this dock in the middle of town.
Glen potters on the decks, tidying up and giving it a wash to rinse off the salt spray. Although it was all thoroughly washed a week ago, we did manage to collect quite a bit of black dust since then. We look forward to nice clean Atlantic air. He then moves indoors, with various jobs, mostly digging out items we had onboard but didn’t use, to give them away and raise our waterline 🙂
And in the process, found some leather, which he plans to use to make some slots in the cockpit tent for the mainsail sheet to enter the winch, which is positioned inside the tent. Earlier this year we managed to wrap it around the tent…twice. Now that it has been repaired we would like to keep it in one piece.
I entertain myself with the usual…nagging Glen “what’ you doing” and editing videos. Quiet evening again, and early to bed (early for us), ready for decision day tomorrow.
We are actually going to miss these cozy evenings in the saloon with the curtains closed and heating on. On the other hand we are desperate to be in warm blue water again. We are after all, Blue Water Cruising, aren’t we?