Carolina Sunshine

   It was a gorgeous day on the water today.  We had a long day but it was perfect. We had a couple of bridges we had to wait for.  1 we timed right, but the other not. We had to wait an hour for it to open

    There are some very shallow places just off of the ICW.  We had to pay close attention to the depth finder in many areas.

    We made our way to Carolina Beach NC where we are staying for 3 nights.  We needed to slow down and smell the salty air.

Tomorrow its is suppose to be even warmer, so we will pack up the chairs and cooler and go enjoy the Carolina  Beach.

Did you miss us

    I am so sorry that I have not posted in a while.  I am a procrastinator by nature.

   So where we left off was right after Hurricane Matthew.  There were some parts of Norfolk and Virginia Beach that saw flooding. Where we were was fine no boats were damaged in the marina.

   Our time here has been spent with Bob working on and off every day. When he is off we went and took the ferry to Norfolk and saw the Nauticus Museum and USS Wisconsin.

We also went for walks everyday and stopped for lunch a few times.  We ate at a German Restaurant that was really good.

 We headed back to Rhode Island on Oct 13th to spend time with some of our kids and to celebrate our granddaughters 2nd Birthday.   With our son we went to a brewery and stood in line for at least 1 1/2 hrs. to buy some craft beer, then on to a delicious BBQ place

We returned to Portsmsouth on Oct 23 where we reprovisioned and returned the rental car.  We left on Oct 24th and headed for Coinjock Marina where we spent 1night.  Next we headed to an anchorage in Belhaven NC. and spent 1 night.   So here we are on Oct 27th and are in Morehead City NC.   The weather has been very good for boating on the waterways and we are making good time in our travels south.   

Hurricane Matthew

      Just and update of where we are.

     We are safe and sound in the Renaissance Hotel in Portsmouth, VA   The winds are howling around 35 knots and gusts of 50 knots with lots of rain.  We could have stayed on boat and have been fine.  I had made arrangements a few days ago when we thought the storm was coming our way.  I decided to not cancel and go to hotel.  Instead of being cooped up in the boat, we now have so much more room in the hotel plus they have indoor pool and hot tub.

 
   

Holding up in Portsmouth VA

     As everyone knows hurricane Matthew is on its way north.   No one knows yet how it will impact the southeast coast.  We are in Tidewater Yacht Center for the month.

    We arrived today and have reservations until Oct 31.  So that gives up a couple of weeks to see Norfolk, Portsmouth and any surrounding areas that look good.  On the 3rd week of Oct. we will head north back home for a week.  When we return, weather permitting we will start our journey down the Dismal Swamp.  I know that does not add up to a month.  You see marinas have daily transients rates, some have weekly rates and then monthly rates. It was much cheaper to pay for a month than 3 weeks.

Bummer

    So the day started great. We got fuel and a pumpout and we were on our way at 8:45am.   The bay was nice and quiet after 5 days of wind and waves.   Arrived around 2:45pm at York Riverwalk Landing  Marina and checked in for 2 nights.  Went off for lunch and to walk around this cute little town.

   When we came back to boat and checked the weather we were surprised to see that the only good day to continue down the bay is tomorrow.  After that the winds are predicted to be between 15-18 knots until wednesday of next week.  This marina is exposed to NE winds so not a good place to be.  Bob was really dissappointed  when he new he was not  going to Yorktown Nat'l Park by the trolley tomorrow.  We will just have to put it back on the list of things we still need to see.


    So tomorrow we will head to Portsmouth, VA and wait out our time until we go home.

Still in Solomons MD

   We have been here since we arrived on Tuesday late afternoon.   I know that the weather called for a front to stall over where we are, but it has been nothing but rain and wind for 4 days straight.

    I have no photos to show you because I have not left the boat except for today. We got an Uber for the first time ever and had them drive us to a grocery store.  When all you do is sit in a small boat and have only 1 channel on TV (which is ION) to watch or a computer screen to look at you eat.  Thats the reason for the grocery stop today.

    Tomorrow is looking encouraging to leave.  If we get out there and its crappy we will head to either Reedville VA or Deltaville VA to anchor out.   On the other hand if its nice we will head to the York River and take a mooring.

We have about 2 weeks left before we will head home for Catherine's Birthday and see family.  I can't wait.  I have missed my granddaughter very much.