Goodbye Chesapeake, Hello ICW

SHIP'S LOG:

I am no longer in the Chesapeake Bay. I dropped anchor in Hampton Roads, in a little place called Willoughby Bay, hard by the Newport News Shipyard. All of the cruising guides warn about the heavy traffic here yet it was all but deserted when I came through today. I do not expect that such will be the case every day in the future!

Before I left the York River Yacht Haven, I was able to indulge myself with two things you never get enough of when you cruise: hot showers and doing laundry! I am sure that it doesn't sound like a big deal, but OH!, to be able to take a 15 minutes shower and and to get all the clothes that could walk to the laundry clean again!

The weather, according to NOAA, was, once again, not the weather that showed up. I was able to sail down the York, motor sail part of the way to Norfolk, but the last turn , once again, was wind on the nose, and 25 knots of it as well. Aside from the occasional sea that slammed aboard, it also rained on and off during the day. I was a damp, chilly , windy day but I made it to Norfolk and got out of the Chesapeake at last. I played tag with a frigate. I am not sure what he was up to but whenever I tried to pass her, she upped and move further down my course and waited for me to get there and then, because of the new security laws and regulations, forced me to adjust course.

ABISHAG only draws 5 1/2 feet, so sailing in 13-15 feet of water is no big deal. At home, I do it all the time. Down here, where I don't have local knowledge of the water, it can cause some anxious moments when the depth sounder begins that upward shallow water creep. I can look around and see the "locals" sailing where my charts say they can't and it takes a certain amount of will power to stick to the course I have laid out that I know is safe, at least it has sufficient water. One thing I have discovered and that is that marks and buoys are magnetic! If you look at them long enough they attract you to them. Even when you have no need to go near them and indeed want to stay away from them, I find myself being drawn to them. May be it is a
hold over from the racing days, but marks seem to attack me like you wouldn't believe.

The Chesapeake's farewell gift was rain. It rained on and off all day. And even once the hook was down, the rain continued. True, I did get the gift of a rainbow, but it faded and the rain returned. Now the wind is blowing, about 15 knots and I am watching the GPS scribe an arc around my anchor. The wind is expected to lessen tonight (that's NOAA talking) but it is good holding ground and it is a safe spot.

There must be some type of helicopter train facility for the navy or army or somebody, because they are all over the place. I got buzzed a couple of time coming in to anchor. I gather that they start flying as soon as dawn breaks so I will have an early wake-up call tomorrow. I may give myself a day and stay put. This was the last "real" spot I "had to get to" on the trip. The rest of the way it is merely a question of staring and stopping whenever I want. I'll have to see if I can follow through on that!