Sailing past boats south of the bridge.
It is cold...
Sunset as we turn into the Potomac River.
Anchoring in the dark in Cornfield Harbor.
10/27/2021 Wednesday Parkside to Cornfield Harbor
We met with Marty and Stephanie (423 Beneteau Far Fetched) Tuesday evening to discuss departure. Since the wind was blowing from the northwest we agreed upon an early departure to get out before low tide. In the past, when the winds blow consistently from the North/Northwest, it blows the water out of the bay and we can be stuck in the mud. I awoke around 5:30 and started the coffee and checked the water depth. It read 5.5 and was continuing to drop as low tide was still not until 8 am. I am on the ground when it reads 5.3. I took the trash out and met Marty on the way back, who already had his engine running. I quickly returned to The Office and started getting ready for departure. Sue was down below finishing up her chores and I started the engine and removed the power cables and lines. I moved the boat a little forward so that I could rest against the port piling so I could remove the lines as we were taking them all with us. As I did that I felt myself pushing through the mud. But, since I have ‘plowed’ my way in and out before it was mostly just silt. I was resting against the piling and removed the lines and then returned to the cockpit to depart from the slip. Once again I was definitely pushing through the silt but as my stern passed the outside pilings I reached 6’ of water and was on my way. Sue arrived in the cockpit and we looked back to Marty’s boat awaiting his emergence from their slip. It wasn’t happening so we motored very slowly and called back. He recommended that we continue on slowly and he would catch up with us. We continued out to Middle Rive and then onto the bay, motor sailing as slow as we could. By around 10 he called and recommended that we just go ahead and they would catch up. By now we were heading well on our way down the bay on a starboard broad reach in 25 knot winds and moving along quite well. Around noon Marty called and said that when they finally got underway they would sail all night as the weather on Friday looked like strong winds and rain. Because of this we changed out destination from Solomons’ Island (as agreed the night before) to Cornfield Harbor off of the Potomac River so that we could be a little closer to Norfolk the next day. Sailing was great and we were moving along at speeds over 9 knots. By the end of the day we had traveled 87 miles and hit a maximum speed of 10.1 knots. We did get slowed down after we snagged, not one but two different crab pots. We arrived at Cornfield Harbor in the dark and there were other boats there already so we found a spot in between them and dropped the anchor. This was a perfect spot as it was protected from the north / northeasterly winds. Dinner was pork and sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, and green beans. We cleaned up, relaxed a bit, and then went to bed early as Thursday would be a long day as well.
10/28/2021 Thursday Cornfield Harbor to Waterside Marina, Norfolk VA
Up early again to get a head start on the weather and catch the outgoing tide as long as possible. The bad weather that was predicted for Thursday night and all day Friday meant we needed to get to somewhere safe. We had a quick breakfast and then raised the anchor, once again, in the pitch black. All went well due to our new headsets and improved communication. We slowly motored out of the anchorage and headed towards the bay. Once the sun started to greet us, I hauled out the jib. Then, we pulled out the main and raised the RPM to get speed while we had the tide. We were moving along steady at 9.5 knows for a few hours. I called the Navy base marina for a slip but they didn’t have anything available. Then I reached out to Waterside marina via Dockwa texting and they confirmed the early arrival. We arrived at Hampton Rhodes with plenty of time to get to the marina so we slowed down and enjoyed the sights going into Norfolk. Kevin and Amy greeted us at our marina with a home cooked meal and we caught up on events since we last were together. Two days down the bay for 166.5 miles in strong winds was not the anticipated start of the trip but we were here in Norfolk, awaiting the start down the Atlantic ICW. Basically, our marina is at mile zero, so we will be starting from this location on Sunday. Exhausted, we ended the evening early and fell into bed.
10/29/2021 Friday Norfolk VA
We awoke at a decent time and spent the morning cleaning from our dash down the bay. Kevin and Amy came over and we walked around Norfolk and had lunch in town at the down town Hilton. We went over to their house and relaxed in the afternoon and then went to dinner at The Porch in VA Beach. It was a lovely day.
10/30/2021 Saturday Norfolk VA
Again it was a relaxing morning before we met with Kevin and Amy to have brunch at The Hair of The Dog in Norfolk. Afterwards we toured the Nauticus Museum and the USS Wisconsin. Dinner was at their home and they returned us to The Office so we could prepare for our departure Sunday morning.