Mazu was glad to get off the boat and the leash and run around.  We were the first ones to this marina so there was no one for her to bother. She ran from one end of the grass lawn to the other, back and forth. Here she is enjoying the scenery on the Alligator River.
  Wanted to show you the piers that we have to swing ropes over to secure our boat.  I'd love to get a video of us docking at finger piers because it is not our strongest point.  I always ask for help.
  We were going to do a load of laundry here but were told by fellow boaters that the water here is disgusting - brown.  Skip that.
  Later we may try to find a 3' piece of board among the debris across the street to make into a fender board for when we need to dock against a wall.  Could be an adventure getting this board.  A fellow boater said he found his in a dumpster.  The stories we've heard from other boaters about how they bought their boat or things that have happened to them . . . everyone's got a story.  We boarded one boat that was identical to ours -- another Island Packet 380, 1999 except that they'd lived on it for 20 years!  We both got off and agreed, "If that's what living aboard is like we do not want to do it!!"  They had blankets and pictures and photos hanging up and carpeting and knick knacks and stuff on top of every surface.  They had 2 cats so they had this netting all around the life lines on deck to keep the cats on board.  Their dinghy was completely full hanging off the stern of the boat and the aft cabin was full to the brim with clothes and supplies. 
  We didn't even get a printer for our boat to see if we could  go paperless, and we're doing pretty well with that one.  We're paying bills on line, having a few things forwarded to us at places that will hold mail till we get there. Trying to simplify and live with a lot less.  No more books - only e-books even charts are electronic (Navonics, many weather apps, grib lines), though we have a complete set of paper ones too for safety.  You never know if the electronics will get wet or die out.   Everything on a boat has a back up including spare parts for anything that can break.  That's a lot of parts.
  I do miss TV and news, can I say that?  Sharing wifi at marinas never has enough bandwidth to get Netflix online or any streaming shows.  A few marinas have clubhouses with TV but usually you can't choose your own shows or it isn't quiet.  Doesn't work.   Not sure if we'll be anywhere there is enough strength for  skyping me into book club or to see family.  We haven't bought what we need to have the stronger communication links.  There will only be a small part of the trip tomorrowdown a 20 mile canal that has no coverage because it is a huge preserve with no population.  We should see some wildlife - bears, heron, ducks, birds, etc.
  Crazy ticket prices for the Red Sox tonight!  Hope they win!  Boston Strong. We've been listening to games on the radio and will tonight.
  Send comments to email: Debtwombly@gmail.com  or Drew@sunriselabs.com.  I did mark this blog to allow comments.  Doesn't work for many.

Wednesday Oct. 30:  Happy Birthday AJ!! 
   We got up early and found evidence that mice had skittered atop of our deck last night.  We then headed out on a super calm day with 55 degrees.  Looking back and all around 180 degrees of water and 180 degrees of blue and cloud sky.  Easy motor travel for only 5 no wind hours today to Alligator River Marina at the car bridge to the Outer Banks, NC.   Everyone has amazing accents - we are IN THE SOUTH. 

These pix give you a little bit of the feeling of the area.  We went through the Great Bridge lock.  We didn't wait longer than 10 minutes for various swing, draw and bascule bridges to open as we timed it pretty accurately for opening on the hour or on the half hour. There are  long stretches of nothing but woods.  At the end of the day at Atlantic Yacht Basin I got this wonderful scene of a group of young boys in a scull with the reflection.  We had the choice today to take the Virginia Cut made by the Army Corps of Engineers or the famed Dismal Swamp Route that was commissioned by General George Washington and dug by slaves loaded with history, no commercial boats and a speed limit.  We took the Virginia Cut because we're not sure how long all of this will take.  We'll take the Dismal Swamp when we go north.

   
  TUESDAY, OCT 29:  Our boat mast is 55' to clear high bridges.  We went under one today that was 65'.  If a mast is higher than that then it cannot go down the ICW.  Tonight we are at the famed Coinjock Marina in NORTH CAROLINA- where reservations are required because of it's famous 32 ounce roast beef.  Needless to say Drew couldn't pass at least a 16 oz. one.  We actually sailed, motor off, in the Currituck Sound today.  The depth was no more than 12' and the narrow channel had to be followed very closely.  Out of the channel and it's 6' immediately.  We draw 4.5 so no worries.  We followed the markers very closely.  Navionics app has been superb as a way of seeing ourselves following the route in the channel.  Of course always follow the markers in the water not the chart.  At times we were going across land on the electronic chart.  Still so nice to be in weather with high 60s and low 50s at night.  A nice new climate.  Heat is on in the cabin at night, snug and cozy.  Hey, Tate, wish you were here on this adventure  ; )

Monday, October 28:  A day of seeing much of the Norfolk and Portsmouth US Navy ships.  They are huge.  Lots of grey and impressive size with all kind of tugs helping them out of the inlet between  Cape Henry and Cape Charles, the tip of the DelMarVa peninsula.  The cranes that look like transformer giraffesWe started down the Intracoastal Waterway along with other snowbirds heading south.  Mazu and I now have our sea legs now not a hint of getting sick.  Also there was no wind or waves on this very narrow area through the industrial Navy and commercial yards of Norfolk and Portsmouth.  South of this is huge areas of the piedmont - wetlands, grasslands, low flat and a major flyway for birds.  We are averaging about 7 k.  It's like a jog south. 
    We won a free night at Atlantic Yacht Basin from the Snowbird Rendezvous in Hampton so that's where we stopped our first night on the canal. We haven't been able to find NPR on the radio and I'm lost.  It reminds me of what my daughter, Sarah, once said as we drove into a southwestern US town with no radio stations, "Never live where there is no music on the radio."  I say Never live where there is no NPR!  All the "free" wifi at the marinas is terrible - not enough bandwidth to stay on long enough to get email.  Fortunately Drew has the Verizon 4G modem Pantech so that's what is bringing you these photos and blog. 

Sunday Oct. 27:  Our last day in Hampton we went to the Air and Space Museum.  We also took a picture of Shawnee from the top of the building - you'll see a little arrow pointing at our boat in the picture.  Now you'll start to see some actual pictures of our trip south.

Here's a closeup of the anchor after we hauled it over to the dock.  Weird to say the least.  The dockmaster said he'd never pulled or seen anyone else pull up an anchor like that; a first adventure.  After all that, Yeang and Sarah had to get back and we just decided to stay another day.  Sunday morning we got up ready to leave and at 12 decided what the heck let's just stay.  We took the boat out to anchor (save $$).  We got in the dinghy to go ashore and the outboard motor wouldn't work.  We rowed in and visited the Air and Space Museum.  It was amazing, well worth it.  Many interactive simulators to get in and try to pilot a plane.  Lots of actual planes and space capsules hanging from the ceiling. 
  When we returned Drew got his dinghy fix it kit and manual and cleaned off the spark plugs.  Bingo it was working again.  The daily fix.  Now today, Monday we are supposed to leave for the ICW.  Weather has been great 63 degrees, sunny today, winds at 5 to 10k.  I am missing everyone.  Sending hugs.
 

After our sail with Sarah and Yeang we came in to anchor and Drew was having a hard time because we kept dragging back.  The anchor wasn't holding.  When the windlass pulled the anchor up so we could try again to anchor we didn't find a boot, but we did catch an old fisherman's anchor.  We weren't quite sure what to do with it and couldn't get it off of our Delta plow anchor.  As we went around in circles becoming everyone's entertainment for the evening, a good samaritan came out in his dinghy and put a rope through the fisherman's anchor so we could try to lift it off.  We didn't really want to just throw it back into the harbor so we came back to the slip.

Headed out for our sail.

Yeang and Sarah rented a car and came down Saturday to the boat from DC where they are working temporarily.  We sailed out of the Hampton River to the Chesapeake Bay where it was blowing 20.  We reefed in on the main and had the stay sail out.  Sunny and 63 degrees.  It was great to see them.  I realize how much I miss them.

  Here is Drew fixing again - the A/C today.  His head is under the floor.  Can you believe all the tool boxes, hoses, and parts spread out?  Can't start dinner until he finishes up for the day or takes a brief break so I can get in the kitchen to prepare fresh trout. 
  After renting a car for a 3 hour rate, $21.21, we shopped at West Marine and Farm Fresh for stuff to eat and to fix the boat.  Eventually I'll take a picture of the salon not full of tools.  Today Drew worked on the air conditioning, repositioning the filter that says "clean often and thoroughly" IF you can reach it and IF we are using it.  I polished all the rust off of the oxidized "stainless steel" stanchions, poles holding up the bimini and dodger = the canvas that covers the cockpit and winches.  Still looking for a fulfilling role on the boat.  Cleaning is not my life's goal.  Mazu fell into the water today, again, after backing up and stepping off the narrow finger pier.  I have to haul her out by her collar.  She thought it was funny and started running around like crazy.
  Last night we had dinner with Larry and Pat on their 2004 Island Packet 370 that is as neat as a pin.  The whole boat looks like it's brand new.  Dinner was lovely.  They filled us in on spots on the ICW that are on the charts but not there in reality.  For instance, there is an island marked on the charts but not in the river.  In order to get through that part the boat needs to follow the channel right over the "island."  They also told us about some of the southern history that we'll see along the way.  Tons to explore.  Maritime Museums, famous Huntington gardens, National monuments and forts from the Civil War.  Evidently slaves dug the entire canal system in the 1700s for tobacco, slaves, and the cotton economy.  It protects boats from the rough seas of the Atlantic allowing trade between southern states and good ports for loading cargo.
  Off the coast of Morehead City, NC  there are many schooner wrecks - a divers paradise.
  NOAA is getting rid of the "magenta line" a line that follows the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) on all charts.  www.waterwayguide.com.  NOAA will provide free PDF charts.  The app that we are using and many others use on their ipad at the helm is Navionics.  It costs a bit, but contains all the charts, marinas detail, depths, etc. that we need and we can put in waypoints.  We are still deciding whether to go the Dismal Swamp route that has a speed limit and would be slower but interesting.  The thing that bothers me about the ICW is that we can't always use autopilot and we can't really sail; we'd have to motor miles and miles of narrow canals.  We will definitely follow it from Norfolk, VA to Beaufort, NC to avoid Cape Hatteras on the outside, then we'll see.

  Shawnee and Tweety side by side at the Hampton Public Piers. 
Down below Drew is fixing the frig door, replacing the gasket and then will screw the door back into place - takes hours; Mazu at his feet.  At times it feels like "Waiting for Godot."  Also the new pump for the water-maker came in the mail so that's another long project to replace.  We are simply doing all the jobs some might do ahead of time, we're doing on our way.  None of them have to do with sailing or safety.  That's what happens with boats with tons of systems.  Shawnee has solar panels, wind generator, radar, water maker, full kitchen with stove and microwave, bow thruster, navigation system, an automated windlass for the anchors, air conditioning, heat system - all items that are nice to have and require constant maintenance and oversight.
  As we went to fuel up today and get our holding tank pumped out we saw that the depth sounder was not giving any information - so I'll go in and clean it off today and then hopefully it'll work.
  Last night Drew received a happy email from a fellow Island Packet owner who wrote, "Have always appreciated your posts and used your electrical strategy for a bow thruster install on a Catalina/Morgan 44 that I was helping a friend with where the local marina plan was nonsense."  So I guess Drew's reputation precedes him from commenting on technical issues for years on the Island Packet List Serve.  Harry Burns and Patricia Wirth of Two for the Roads invited us to their home for dinner tonight.  Fun to have such a nice surprise.
  Yesterday we stopped for lunch at V Ventures restaurant on Queens Way that has fresh ingredients and unique combinations of foods.  I had the lentil stew with root vegetables and Drew a roast beef and cheese sandwich.  Earlier we had candy apple creme brulee they made up.  At this place we also discovered Crabbies an alcoholic ginger beer imported from Edinborough, Scotland.   Nice to be at Hampton Public Piers with access to downtown services, restaurants and museums. 
  Thanks Anna for the book recommendation.  I'll download it today.
  So excited because son, Yeang and daughter, Sarah are coming down here on Saturday from DC.  Hurray.  [I think we will head further south on Sunday.]

Wednesday Oct. 23  Another waiting for parts day in Hampton, VA.  With a couple of palm trees outside of this Jamoca Joe's wifi cafe it's not too bad even for a cloudy, rainy day at 60 degrees.  Pouring rain today so time for shower and laundry.  This morning we talked with Steve and Cindy from Red Ranger who live totally on their boat - no land base.  Interesting to hear how they handle all the paper parts of life - bill paying, mail, bank accounts, taxes, etc.  She sews on the boat making quilts, and he does a few IT jobs from their boat.
  Drew spent hours yesterday ordering parts to arrive over the next  couple of days. A few work emails.   My only work was sort of washing down the boat, all windows and topping off the water tank; i.e. not much for go-go me.  Need to find a niche.
   We aren't going up the Potomac because of high winds on the nose if we go north.  I really wanted to sail up to see Mt. Vernon from the river and the picturesque history laden coast.  Sarah and Yeang are in DC this month and we may not be able to see them : (  . . . unless we rent a car and go up there.  We'll see.
  If anyone has good suggestions for good books to read please email or put them in the blog comment.  3 people have been able to use the comment section, others not. 

MONDAY, OCTOBER 21:  Today is another fix things in exotic warm ports day.   Yesterday we/Drew spent 6 hours replacing the gasket around the frig door.  Today the refrigeration man is coming to try to restore one of the plates that is totally not working.  We also have the water maker pump that is totally not working and needs to be replaced and 14 other projects.  Fortunately none of them have to do with actually sailing so we can keep moving if a repairman is not aboard.  The dinghy was never registered so Drew needs to get that done at town hall today as well or we could be hit with a sizeable fine.  So it goes.  Beautiful 62 degrees, sunny, light winds.  All's good.

SUNDAY OCT 20:  We did register and attend the events for the first Hampton Snowbird Rendezvous with seminars on communications and details on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) anchorages and marinas to Florida.  The entire event and all meals were free, even a dinner dance at the Hampton Yacht Club.  It's been great to meet people who are going south, learn places they recommend and hear about experiences, like the guy who has traveled 33,000 miles all on the rivers, lakes, and Great Lakes in US.  Today we've been side tracked a bit troubleshooting our Single Side Band (SSB) radio so it can work.  There are experts here who will help for free.  SSB receives emails, weather faxes and communications out at sea when phones are out of range.  We met one woman who has 10 three week old Havasu puppies aboard her boat.  Off to some round tables this morning.  More later. 
We will leave for the Potomac River tomorrow morning headed for Cornfield Harbor, Maryland side.

FRIDAY  OCT 18: Today we may register for this Snowbird Rendezvous to hear about the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW)

  After we go up and back to the Potomac River when the winds shift to south we will be heading further south on the ICW to get the boat to warmer water.  The pictures are of the Hampton Public Pier Marina and Shawnee in a slip.  The big green round building is where the facilities - bathrooms, showers, laundry, store are.  The cool building with wings is the Virginia Air and Space museum where we went to see "Gravity" on an IMAX screen.  It's a great museum with models of the history of aviation from the Wright brothers planes to jets.  Thought of Dillon who loved seeing this as a kid.
  The water looks calm but out of the Hampton River in the Chesapeake Bay the wind is blowing from the north at 10 +  so if we sailed north we would have to motor against the wind hitting the waves dead on - not fun.

FRIDAY: Oct 18: So here we are when we were sailing out at sea last Monday and Tuesday.  None the worse for it.  The outboard is hanging off the rail and inside for better weight distribution and Tweety, the dinghy, is way up high on the davits to avoid getting hit by high waves when we surf down the big ones.  The yellow strap around the nav station is the binocular strap to look at boats.  We saw two.
  At all times at the station we see radar, water temp 63, depth of the ocean usually 300',  boat speed -averaged about 6.5 k, wind speed up to 30k this trip, wind direction - directly from NW behind us, longitude and latitude, length of time and distance to the next way point that we have put into the navionics system, cross track error - that is if we go off course how much have we gone off.  For instance if we are headed near a fishing boat we have to alter course and go around them or a large cargo ship in shipping lanes. 
  At one point I started getting stir crazy so I put on my earbuds for the Ipod music, put on Motown and sang every song as loud as I could as I danced at the helm.  The waves, Drew and Mazu were my audience for my acapella performance.  To me I sounded great.

The Navigation station with the computer screen showing our track down the coast of NJ and DEL to VA.  The other picture is one of Drew's projects with the oscilliscope - Greek to me but fun to watch the electronics.  The other night at dinner we made a list of all the projects and there were 15!  He's ordering parts and sending them to this marina for when we come back from going up the Potomac River close to DC.  We leave tomorrow, Friday.  It takes 3 days to go up. 
By the way after I put on the transderm patch I never got sick again.  It's prescription, but I highly recommend them.  I just stuck it on behind my ear.  It's plastic like a band-aid.  I also fed my dragon like stomach so it wouldn't rear it's nasty head.  FYI Best foods to eat during seasickness are: olives, soda crackers, ginger ale, coke, scrambled eggs. No meat,  alcohol or coffee.

Drew getting ready to row Mazu and me to shore after our high seas sail.   I'm catching up with  pictures and videos for the blog because I didn't have Internet until today to upload all of this.  Everyone seems to want pix so I'll do that for the rest of the blogging.  Love it if you'd post comments just to see if anyone out there is reading this stuff.

Mazu exhausted when we finally stopped sailing.  We anchored in Hampton at 7:00 am.  She looks like we felt.  Just crashed and we all napped for the day before we moved over to Hampton Public Pier.

Brave Mazu learns to lean into the rolls of the boat as it rolls side to side.
She went twice on the boat but waited for land for #2.  We were at sea 3 days.
Dinners were in bowls. Drinks were in bottles.  Did manage to scamble eggs with the gimbled stove.  That means the stove sways to stay level as the boat rolls.  We had 4 hour watches.  Thank God for auto pilot.  Just really have to watch the radar for other boats, especially commercial tankers and super large cargo ships.  Stay out of shipping lanes.  We only saw 2 boats in 3 days.  Most were not out in this wind.  We saw 30 k winds.  We reefed in.  The wind was to our back so we went wing and wing with the sails.

Trying a video of the 7' waves and rolly action of the boat.  Not sure this works.  It was pretty rough in the North Atlantic for 3 days Buzzards Bay to Norfolk.  Just sitting in one place was required.  We had 4 hour shifts.

First beautiful sunset off Block Island Sunday

We had a swan visitor at Kingman Yacht Center.  Mazu was fascinated.

Cape Cod Canal, Sagamore Bridge

Drew and Mazu getting onto Tweety, the only yellow dinghy.

Oct. 13  We had a nice breakfast of Irish bacon and eggs, English and coffee. (No coffee for me.)  We are trying to decide, but we think we're leaving at 2 today and will head for Block Island where we can duck in if we have to.  We are crossing 2 big shipping channels in Buzzards Bay - always a little concern and must watch carefully.
  Wish I could figure out how to put pictures into this blogspot.  Obviously there's a way --I don't have a whole lot of time to figure out.   It's beautiful sunny weather, east wind at 15 to 20 k in Buzzards Bay.  Making sandwiches and getting ready.  Still figuring out ways to store things and not live in a place where everything feels likes it's never put away.  Everything needs to be at hand.
    Hope the dog and I hold down our tummies. Already put on the transderm patch - I'm ready.  My head is willing and eager just hope my body can handle it.  See pix on Facebook

Tuesday Oct. 8 I was so excited to get on board after 3 loads from our car to the boat only to find new tasks of stowing, buying paper charts, getting grib file and weather apps, buying at the hardware store, CVS of course, West Marine and stowing all of that over another couple of days.  We used our yellow dinghy, Tweety, to scurry to shore and back as the yacht club launch was on shorter hours.  As we did our work we watched the moorings get pulled out of the water.  The end of the Marblehead season is upon us and all the yards are filling with boats pulled out for the season.  Jack stands, blocks, wedges, are neatly stowed in all the parking lots awaiting the boats to support for the winter; out of the water like giant multi-boat tie ups, all sizes, power, sail, runabouts.  The sun is lower in the sky, the days shorter and cooler, the sunsets spectacular.

 Friday Oct. 11 Shawnee, sailing vessel Island Packet 380 with Drew, Deb and trusty dog, Mazu left the mooring at 7:30 am to what the weather report said would be 10 to 15 knot winds 2 to 4' seas in Mass. Bay. However in reality the locals are saying to add about 5 to 10 knots and 2' to the waves onto the reports to include the gusts. We entered a nice way point for 9 hours straight at 7.5k speed to the Cape Cod Canal. About 9:00am I started not to feel so well. I lost it about 4 times on our way. The last time I thought my stomach was coming out as the dry heaves were heaving me almost over the side and taking my stomach out of my body. Next outing I'll be wearing a transderm patch. As soon as we hit the canal and the water was calm so were my insides, completely empty at this point. The canal was the usual (see my facebook for pictures) beautiful Sagamore Bridge. Drew was fine of course and skippered us through the canal. We moored at Kingman Marine in Pohassett, MA, (check the map zoom in and out.) That night we ate dinner with my roommate from college Jean Mojo and her husband Steve at The Chart House Restaurant, the last weekend of the season. 

  Saturday Oct 12 It is blowing from the east at 23 k in this sheltered harbor today! (Anything over 20 k is small craft warnings.) Now it's time that we got the professional weather emails from Chris Parker and set up the SSB, radio communications. Drew spent the day doing his electrical wizardry fixing numerous connections. I did the laundry, walked the dog, cooked the meals, set up this blog, worked on some writing (trying to write biographies of my parents and add them to wikipedia). Connected with new friends, Holly and Steve at the laundry. We walked through a small local woodland preserve with Mazu for about 45 minutes. It was full of mostly scrub oak, pine, PI, wintergreen ground cover, and a gray air moss hanging from the trees that almost looked like the stuff in the south that hangs from the live oaks. 
  Depending on weather we plan to leave tomorrow afternoon taking a predicted weather window with less wind as we head south.