Thursday, May 7, 2009

Norfolk to Deltaville to Solomons

We discovered that if the weather reports say 2 - 3 feet waves, you need to add these together to determine the correct wave height! We left Norfolk on Monday morning with the intention of traveling to Mojack Bay for an overnight Anchorage. Leaving the Norfolk ship yards was not too bad until we hit the Chesapeake Bay. The waves were 4 to 5 feet and were beating us up pretty bad so we decided to cut our day short and find a haven to wait out the weather system. We tied up to the docks at Dare Marina just south of Yorktown - "Just Relax" and "Happy Clamz" dropped anchor in the cove and John and Sue used the dingy to join us for dinner in the evening. Early Tuesday, we left for Deltaville - about 40 or so miles further north. Because of unpredictable weather, we decided to stay in Deltaville for 2 nights and we all used the extra day for "projects" on board. John and Doug helped me change the oil in my VDrive and I was able to fix my VHF antenna connection to get better reception. Pia reciprocated by painting numbers and names on "Happy Clamz" dingy and repairing the Captain's chair on "Just Relax". We left Deltaville at 6 AM this morning and are currently in the Chesapeake headed for Solomons on the Patuxent River - a long run of 60 miles. Although we debated if we should stay in Deltaville one more day or not, it appears that leaving was the right decision. Although the swells are 2 - 3 feet, they are on our stern so not so bad. We plan to stay in Solomons for a few days and then to St Micheals on the Eastern Shore before arriving in Annapolis after the weekend when we will rent a car a drive back to Charlotte for a few days.
Since writing this post, we have arrived in Solomons - a cute little fishing/tourist village in Maryland. We are now in our 4th state since leaving Charleston. Today, we plan to break out the bikes for sightseeing and shopping. We hear the crab dinners are great. We may stay here until Sunday!

3 comments:

erniekale said...

Jack & Pia,
After our conversations yesterday, I feel like we have now joined you two on your journey. We guess we are part of the 'land looper' crowd. We love the commentary and pictures.
Have a great time, be safe and keep us posted. We will follow your travels and stay in touch.
Pia, I am glad you have established yourself as the one in charge. We can tell your rank by the pictures.
Regards, Robbie and Ernie

Anonymous said...

So let me get this straight- you leave from the South to navigate your way North so you can drive back south? Are you sure you are not still working at Sanofi?! Thats sounds like something we would do! Let me know when you get closer...and oh, by the way, those 2-3 foot swells are just wakes from our boats coming your way- join us! Tight lines!
Greg

HikerMom said...

Hello
I started following your loop merely days after your inaugural launch from the NC coast. We currently live on Lake Norman, so I was quite please to see we are kindred spirits of sorts.
My husband and I have been researching for months the Great Loop and aspire to do the trip ourselves. However it will be 8 years (once our son goes to college) before we actually make the trip. I enjoy learning of your adventures. I am in awe of all your pics. I thank you for keeping my appetite wet for this wondrous journey.
Happy trails!!!!
Jacqui and Josh Tessler