The First KISS! ! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

It was raining this morning and I wasn't sure about going, but it stopped by 10 and I figured, "What the heck?" and took off. This part of the ICW is very rural. In deed the only signs of civilization are the houses by the ICW and the boats on it. Most are still of Canadian Registry as they have some different type of insurance coverage that lets them, go farther south before November 1st. When the Nov. 1st deadline is reached, Hospital Point is going to look like something out of the Oklahoma land rush. Boy, those bridges they will have to pass through in the first20 miles will be a congested mess. Glad I won't be there.

I really hadn't wanted to push today. There was a spot at the 28.1 mile marker, a little creek that seemed to off a perfect spot to drop the hook. Unfortunately, since the charts were last published, a bar had filled in the mouth at about 5ft. That's 1/2 shy of letting me in and so I " Kissed" the mud for the first time. I deny full responsibility and blames it on the chartmakers for not updating things! It wasn't a hard grounding. Moving at only a not, I simply stopped moving and when I realized it, I just backed out. So I am 1 for 2, one(1) grounding for Two(2) days on the ICW.

The not fun part of this was that I had to rush and push for about 30miles to get to the next good anchorage, south of Coinjack, VA, at mile 61.8. It wasn't the most fun of the trip. Several large sportfishmen powerboats past during this time. They throw up tremendous wakes when they are move fast, which they all like to do. These would, however, slow down as they approached and so minimized their wakes. Unfortunately, as soon as they were just past, they would slam the throttles forward and their sterns would drop and dig a hole in the water and it would bounce me all around. I had some very unkind thoughts about those boat operators, speculating whether or not their parents ever married. I passed the two marinas in Coinjack which flank the ICW. If I had had the bucks, I probably would have stopped for one is noted for its restaurant and the Prime Rib it serves. However, I didn't have the cash and so, with a sigh, I passed by.

I am anchor now with three other boats in Broad Creek and we are less than 20 miles from the North Carolina Border. It takes less than 80 miles to get through Virginia, North Carolina not so much. I am suddenly besieged by mosquitoes! I haven't had to battle them since September! It is the one part of the return to summer I can do with out. Who thought of bug spray?

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

This morning before departing, I was looking at the charts of the trip so far. I find it hard to believe that I have come all this way. I know I did, I can remember the stops and all that happened, but it seems somehow a bit unreal. Really everything is focused on the moment. I am living in the now. It is a little disconcerting as there is a sense of rootlessness to it all, yet enjoyable at the same time. It sure makes going to bed at night and getting up in the morning a real adventure!