Virginia Beach, VA

As always when we are not at a marina, we started the day with a dinghy ride to shore.  We passed the remains of these docks where seagulls happily roosted.

This time we went to the Phoebus area of Hampton. This tiny section of town had a number of shops with interesting sounding names many of which included the word, panache.  It seemed like an older part of town that was trying to be relevant but nothing was open on this Friday morning, October 22.

We were particularly curious about what this business was offering!

The skies were very overcast and threatening so we held off pulling up anchor until 11 a.m.  As we left we passed these fishing boats that were docked nearby.

We only had an hour left of cruising time on the Chesapeake before we entered the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).  The bay was a little choppy and it rained some but when we got to the ICW everything calmed down.  We hadn’t cruised on the ICW for a few years because we had been leaving Zendo on the Chesapeake over the winter.

We passed through Norfolk (where the ICW starts at mile 0) and Portsmouth where we saw huge Navy vessels and other big ships on both sides of the Elizabeth River.

The ICW became quite beautiful as we left those two cities. We had forgotten that there was a lock to go through until shortly before we arrived at the lock at Great Bridge.  We had to linger for about an hour before going through the bridge and lock there.  Archie seemed to enjoy his first lock experience though he was tempted to jump off of the boat and onto the the lawn when we were level with it. Of course, as soon as we had to go through the lock, it started to rain more.  Jonny, gentleman that he is, took the forward line on the bow and allowed me to take the line under the aft deck roof to stay dry.

Traveling on the ICW is slower than other routes we’ve been taking due to the bridges that we have to wait to open and of course, the lock.  Traffic on the ICW is also an issue especially as the weekend approaches. This giant barge was a particularly unique example!

We were searching for a place to anchor with an area that we could take Archie to do his business. There were very few places and some had been silted in and really weren’t accessible anymore. As we approached another bridge we saw a fellow Heritage East owner who we knew who seemed to be stuck on the ICW.  It turns out that while he was waiting for the bridge to open and a number of other boats were circling nearby, he ran aground on a log in those narrow confines. He had already been waiting a few hours for a tow.  We were not in a position to help him so after chatting a bit we moved on.

It was difficult to hear each other because there were scores of jets flying overhead that drowned out overything.  There must have been a military base nearby but we never found out what it was.

It’s getting dark earlier now and we were looking for a place to anchor.  There aren’t a lot of places on the ICW but we finally found a good spot on Blackwater Creek which is in the town of Virginia Beach. It was actually an idyllic spot - a very secluded and sinuous creek surrounded by marsh grasses.  No other boats were anchored there and all we saw were a couple of very small, quiet fishing boats. We happily settled into this lovely spot.

Jonny then whisked Archie away down to the end of the creek about a mile and a half away.  There he took him for a walk by a little trading post that had a dock nearby.  That evening we had the second to last portion of the famous ravioli for dinner and enjoyed a very quiet and restful evening in a blissfully calm anchorage.

Hampton, VA

We woke up to a gorgeous sunrise on Thursday, October 21.

Instead of attempting the treacherous tire ladder, we headed over to the Deltaville Boatyard at Jackson Creek and tied up the dinghy there.  This is a busy marina with lots of activity even at an early hour. It had a large area for dogs so we threw the frisbee for Archie to give him some exercise. We walked around the area a bit though we weren’t close to anything too interesting.

On our way back to Zendo we passed a catamaran with the widest masts we’ve ever seen.  Jonny stopped by to ask the owner about them.  They don’t have a sail but they act as one as they fully articulate (turn in every direction).  We didn’t get to see it in action unfortunately.

We pulled up anchor by 9:30. The 15 knot wind made for a little Chesapeake chop, but it wasn’t too bad. We made good progress on yet another beautiful and clear day.

After an uneventful cruise, we arrived at our anchorage on the Phoebus Channel in Hampton, VA by 3:30.  This is a huge anchorage in a very large open area in a channel right off of the Hampton River.  There were several large sailboats anchored there and room for many more.  We found a spot that had plenty of space surrounding us. It wasn’t an idyllic setting by any means being somewhat exposed to the bay and with a busy elevated highway on both sides of the anchorage.  But Jonny didn’t want to venture further up the river where there were a few other, much smaller anchorages.  He was concerned that they would be full.

We took Archie in on the dinghy to Old Point Comfort Marina. It was located right next to Fort Monroe which was built for the War of 1812.  Lincoln planned the battle to retake Norfolk there during the Civil War.

Although we thought the fort was still operational, we later discovered that the fort had been decommissioned. Interestingly, the fort itself was surrounded by a wide moat!

The area surrounding the fort was like a lovely village with a church, beautiful green spaces and even a coffee shop.

All the homes are now privately owned.  The homes ranged from being quite grand and overlooking the water to more modest small two family homes.

We walked a little further and found an outdoor brew pub where we had some beers and talked by phone to Jonny’s cousin Robbie who lives in Maine.

Back on Zendo we had fish for dinner amid the rocking and rolling of our anchorage. Jonny went to bed early but I stayed up watching TV.  By the time I went to bed, I couldn’t fall asleep for a long time because of the rolly anchorage.  I thought Jonny was fast asleep but he got up and tried to sleep in the V berth.  Sometime after 2 a.m. I finally fell asleep.  This was NOT our favorite anchorage and I don’t anticipate staying here again!

Deltaville, VA

Wednesday, October 20 was a gorgeous, sunny day and we had a long day of cruising ahead of us. But first, we had a lovely walk on the grounds of Olverson’s Marina.

We planned to leave by 10 but Jonny was concerned that water was not flowing out of one of the through holes and he spent some time in the engine room trying to troubleshoot it. We finally took off at 10:20 and the water was flowing well - so no problem!

It was another beautiful day for cruising with not a cloud in the sky and only a little chop on the bay. We had mostly following seas and once we made a turn and were in the shadow of the shore, everything was smooth sailing.

I worked on the blog but unfortunately lost all my work once again because of poor connectivity.  This time I had the presence of mind to take a picture of what I had written so far.

Archie was like Velcro, cuddling up next to us or sitting on our laps much of the day. When he wasn’t next to us, he was nestled up in the furthest corner of the v-berth. The new flavored CBD chewies we’ve been giving him to help with seasickness seems to be working.

By 4:30 we found a nice place to drop the hook on Jackson Creek in Deltaville.

We took Archie on the dinghy to a public dock with no ladder.  All it had was a dilapidated tire hanging on the side.  We had to use it as a step ladder to get up to the dock and the tide was quite low so it was quite a climb and fairly treacherous.

But the neighborhood we walked through was attractive and we had a nice chat with some of the friendly residents. 

That evening we had wine on the aft deck but since it was getting chilly we had our lamb chop dinner inside the salon. There was a glorious moonrise which the photos don’t do justice to. Our trip is nearing its end and we’re sad, but happy to spend these special evenings on anchor in beautiful settings.

Callao, VA

After taking Archie for his daily on-shore walk in Port Tobacco, we hoisted the anchor at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, October 19.  The days are slipping by now that we are on the return leg of our voyage.  We were bound for Olverson’s Marina in Callao, VA.  It is located on lovely Lodge Creek off of the Yeocomico River which is off of the Potomac River.

The day started off very chilly with temperatures in the low 40’s but it warmed up considerably as the day wore on.  It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day with a little chop on the water.  It was smooth sailing for us, however, because the wind and waves were on our stern, in other words we had following seas.

We arrived at Olverson’s Lodge Creek Marina at 3:00 and tied up at the fuel dock to take advantage of the good fuel prices there.

We hadn’t been to Olverson’s in a few years and wanted to support them since they are such strong supporters of MTOA.  Freddie Olverson recently passed away at 86 and he had been instrumental in his advocacy for MTOA for many years.  He gives MTOA members one free night of dockage each year.  Most notably, he established Lodge Creek Yacht Club at his marina and all MTOA members have an honorary membership in it.  That provides us with the ability to stay at most yacht clubs up and down the east coast which is a great benefit to cruisers.

We docked at the fuel dock for our overnight stay and were greeted by Steve, Freddie’s son-in-law, who is now managing the marina.  He was very gracious and welcoming and offered us free dockage for the night even though we were not planning to ask him for it.  We were docked across from Freddie’s trawler named for his wife’s pet name for him.

Olverson’s Marina sits on many acres of land.  The surrounding countryside is quite beautiful with lots of open lawns - great for Archie to run free.  It also has space for people to store their RVs.  It’s always nice to be in wide open spaces after spending so much time in cities and towns.  The marina, which is usually quite busy and very social, was very quiet.  Few people were around due to it being the end of the season and mid-week.

We settled back on Zendo after a nice long walk.  In December we are going to a post-wedding celebration for one of Jonny’s cousins and I spent a lot of time looking at Air B&Bs there and ended up making reservations for Andy, Ed, Jonny and me at a residence hotel that his cousin had recommended, 

We are trying to use up the food in our freezer and for dinner we had the last of the mushroom ravioli from our trip to the Bronx’s Little Italy.  Our usual evening entertainment followed and we didn’t get to bed until 11.

Port Tobacco, MD return trip

After ten wonderful days we sadly left our comfortable stay in Washington, D.C. on Monday, October 18.  We took Archie for one last walk in the nearby dog park where he gleefully chased every squirrel in sight. The dinghy ride by the dock took us by some very interesting houseboats.

We took off from our mooring at 9:30, officially starting our return journey home.  It’s always a bittersweet feeling!  As we left DC, several helicopters flew overhead and on one we thought we saw evidence of it carrying a very high ranking government entity, the President perhaps?

Cruising down the Potomac proved to be rougher than we anticipated.  The wind was blowing and there were lots of whitecaps which made Archie quite uncomfortable.  Fortunately, we had remembered to give him his CBD and he was OK (we found a new brand that he likes the taste of).

I worked on the long DC blog entry while Jonny tried to keep us from rocking and rolling too much. Lunch was limited to Kind bars and an apple to avoid having to spend any time below.  By 1:30 we found a smooth tack and proceeded to our destination on the Port Tobacco river.

We dropped anchor in Goose Bay in a lovely wooded area that was protected and very calm. A picturesque red church was visible on the hillside behind us.

We took Archie in for his twice daily walk at a funky nearby marina.  The marina also serves as a mobile home park that includes permanent mobile homes as well as lots of RVs.  There was a small ship’s store that seemed to be a gathering place for the locals. Jonny asked if it was all right for us to walk Archie and of course they said yes.

We threw the frisbee around with him while checking out the premises.

The marina had a couple of trawlers and an Island Packet sailboat but mostly it was smaller motor boats. It isn’t a place where we would want to keep Zendo.

That evening we ate the delicious chicken and rice dinner that Greg’s wife, Lynda, had sent home with us. Sitting on the aft deck with the sun going down  and enjoying a nice dinner and glass of wine is one of the greatest pleasures we enjoy in our cruising lifestyle.

We caught up by phone with family and friends, alerting our Jacksonville friends to our expected arrival dates. Hearing that one of them is expecting to undergo quadruple bypass surgery was not a pleasant surprise. We hope we will be able to see him when we are there.

After watching a couple of episodes of Grey’s Anatomy (which is getting a little “soapy” for Jonny’s taste), we made an early night of it and were in bed by ten.