Hope's and Howard's Sailing Adventures

While we met some interesting folks in Charleston (Germans on a catamaran docked in front of us, and Brits on a French aluminium boat and Ken and Michelle on a 51 ft C&C on the other side of the dock from us), we were ready to depart the heat and the constant motion of the boat against the dock, caused by the changing swift current, wake from passing boats and wind. So, we departed around noon on Sunday, close to slack water. As it turned out, Ken and Michelle also planned to depart around the same time and were heading to the Chesapeake so we agreed to keep in radio contact on the way. It couldn’t have worked out better if we had planned it. They seemed to pull away from us initially but we caught up with them overnight and from then on we were pretty much neck and neck all the way into the Chesapeake. It was the longest and perhaps the most enjoyable leg yet; wind was generally on the beam and in the range of 12-20 knots but gusted up to 24 knots initially so we had some great sailing and frequently did over 8 knots; Howard saw up to 12.4 knots surfing down waves . FUN!!! The wind dropped overnight on Monday so we motored for about 6 hours but that was about it (apart from maneuvering into and out of harbours, etc.). We had been anxious about the weather rounding Cape Hatteras but it turned out to be just fine, just a bit more of a sea and changeable winds.

Along the way, we had frequent visits from dolphins who seem to love playing in our bow wave and saw many flying fish, one of which we found on our deck on Tuesday morning (which, by-the-way is the only fish we have caught to date on this trip).
Our original intent was to head for Hampton Roads but as we got closer, it became clear we would be arriving in the dark. So, after discussing with Ken and Michelle, we decided to head for the closest marina (Cutty Sark Marina in Little Creek; K & M had been there previously) just past the Chesapeake bridge-tunnel, which crosses the entrance to the Bay. It turned out to be a very wise decision. We punched the tide through the bridge-tunnel around midnight and could see very dark skies and lightening ahead and to the north. Ken and Michelle initially led the way but seemed to be having some issues so we then took over the lead. Howard upped the revs on the engine and we had the full mainsail up to maximize our speed but were only doing about 6 knots. A kindly fishing vessel behind us in the shipping channel waited patiently to let us both through before him. We then quickly dropped the mainsail (into our new stack pack, which worked a charm) as the wind had by this time increased to almost 25 knots, and headed for the well-lit entrance to Little Creek. By the time we reached the entrance the wind had picked up to about 34 knots but as the Navy has a base in Little Creek, the channel was wide; we just had to be careful not to encroach on the restricted naval zone in the creek. Thankfully, we had plotted our course carefully beforehand so we could just stick to our intended track on the chart plotter . Even as far as to which dock we should be on. We had placed all our dock lines and fenders on the starboard side, thinking it would be the easiest approach to a T-dock. However, when we arrived at the T-dock we found the wind was from the stern, which would make a much more difficult approach. So, the First Mate/Chief Galley Slave/Admiral had to quickly change the lines over to the port side as the Skipper/Captain did circles and figures of 8 in the creek, in the dark trying to miss all the other boats and piers, what fun! Howard managed to line the boat up well and then commanded “Jump wifey, JUMP!”, which I did after a bit of hesitation, dock lines in hand. A quick turn around the wooden piles for the spring and stern lines . But the bow line was too short for me to bring ashore with me and the boat was being blown off at quite a rate. Howard drove the boat forward, which helped keep the dinghy (in davits) off the dock, then took the remainder of the forward spring line back to the boat to pull it in from the bow. It worked and we managed to secure all four lines without any damage to anyone or anything, WHEW! But then we saw Ken and Michelle arriving, at a nearby dock. Clearly they would appreciate help (little did we realize how much so, initially). So, off we trotted, down our fairly long dock and along theirs, still with our life jackets on and were ready to take their lines. We found out that Ken does most of the sailing and docking on their boat because Michelle is not very mobile. There is no way he could have brought the boat alongside and get lines ashore before being blown off, if we had not been there to help. Once their boat was secured we arranged to meet for a slap up breakfast in the morning. However, by this time the rain was starting and wind had really picked up so by the time we got back to our dock, we found Second Wind was about 4 feet off the dock and no matter how hard we both tugged on the lines, there was no way we could pull the boat in far enough for us to step onboard. We had visions of having to sleep on the dock or perhaps take shelter on someone else’s boat for the night. Eventually (probably only 15 minutes later but it seemed like much longer) the wind eased enough for us to tighten both the bow and stern lines so we got onboard, put out some extra lines for insurance and managed to dodge the worst of the torrential rain. A couple of coconut rum on the rocks drinks helped to settle the nerves down enough for us to have a few good hours of sound sleep. Breakfast in the marina restaurant was sooooo good, accompanied by cup after cup of coffee and lots of loud chat, finding out about these people with whom we have been sharing a great trip for the past 61 hours. They are an interesting couple. He was of Scottish decent, and even though born in the USA had a slight British accent. Michelle is French Canadian. They have been living aboard their boat, on and off, for the past 15 years. He was a journalist turned lawyer. The latter in order to fight the exorbitant lawyer fees he and his journalist friends were incurring. He later came on board Second Wind to help diagnose the persistent low voltage starter battery issue we have been having. We reckon there is a slow drain on the battery and he showed us what to do to figure out where the drain is coming from.. another task for us in Worton Creek. They then headed off to Hampton Roads where they intend staying for 6 weeks or so while we decided to catch up on lost sleep and chill for another day. We again ate at the marina that evening and thoroughly enjoyed the live music and good value tuna on a bun. The marina may look a bit tired, especially the showers, but everything worked just fine and the restaurant certainly had character.
Today (Thursday) we are heading up the Bay. If we see signs of thunderstorms, we will probably stop for the night somewhere along the way. Otherwise we may well continue overnight to arrive in Worton Creek tomorrow morning.