On our way!!

Here we go --left Dville on the 9th and now in Hampton, VA which is just across the bay from Norfolk Harbor and the naval facility. We are hoping to leave today for a short jaunt to where we will anchor out and be in line for the lock thru The Dismal on Mon am. The weather has really been finicky - today they are saying NE winds at 10-15. A bit more than we like to work with, but it will be at our backs which makes it much easier. We shall see. We decided to take the Dismal again as the winds are kicking up all week and that is a protected route. The route we were looking at has a large, open sound to cross and we decided that didn't sound like a lot of fun. Plus, right after that you cross the Albermarle Sound which is huge and you HAVE to have decent weather. One could be holed up for awhile and we didn't want to be holed up there. So - we will do the Dismal and found a nice, protected marina there, close to the Albermarle, that if we have to we can just wait out the winds. The highlights of the last two weeeks in Dville included a weekend of anchoring out - shaking out Panacea - and it was delightful!! We went about 20 mi up the river into another small river. Had the anchorage to ourselves and the weather was great!! Sam and Ted had their first dinghy ride! We decided to act like this was something they had been doing forever - very low key. Alan started the dinghy and brought it along side the boat. I lifted Sam by the handles on his life jacket and lifted him down to Alan who caught him under his belly. Of course, Ted was not a problem. I sat in the bow seat with Ted (who went to sleep) and my arm around Sam. He did great! His only real problem was he simply could not figure out why the motor was making so much noise! They actually had 3 rides and loved every minute of that. So - that bridge crossed! We had been sweating it for almost 2 yrs! Our marina hosted an Oktober fest which was great fun. Many Germans, Brits and an Italian couple - such great people and everyone had their mariner stories to tell. Our ride down the Chesapeake to Hampton went well - it was pretty choppy at first as the wind was against the current as well as trying to get out of our river channel into the bay. It finally settled down and all was well. Yesterday we went to the Air and Space museum here - awesome! They have the Challenger module, a full size Boeing 707, several full size military/bomber planes and much, much more. We had heard about it but did not make it there last spring when we were thru. Had dinner with another couple from the marina who are heading to Fl where they live in the winter. They have done the Loop so it was great conversation!! Those "veterans" are always so anxious to share their knowledge and that is a wonderful thing - we need all we can get!! Well, let's hope we get out of here today. We will have the SPOT on. I won't make another posting until we get to our marina in NC on Mon aft. Right now, it looks like we will have to ride out some weather there. Later.......

 

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