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November 22-24, 2014  Days 1-3  South for Winter

Atlantic Yacht Basin
Chesapeake, VA

After six weeks and two days we finally got underway and said goodbye to Poquoson, VA on November 22. While there, we had a wonderful time visiting family and friends.  We took care of numerous Dr. appointments and shopping. Bill also helped his brother restore a 1968 Owens boat by doing all the electrical work. We also got a few projects done on our boat.  Joyce was happy to celebrate her birthday earlier this month with many family members present!  Add attending a Seafood Festival, Christmas bazaars, art shows, sharing many meals with family and friends, and we kept quite busy.  We also took time to vote in the mid term elections. Nice to do it in person and not absentee this time!

It eventually started getting much colder and when the marina staff turned off the water until April, we thought this was a good hint for us to think about leaving!

Our first day of travel was smooth as we retraced our route south toward Norfolk. We saw two aircraft carriers, the George W. Bush and the Theodore Roosevelt, docked at the Norfolk Air Station, as we passed by on the Elizabeth River.  We stopped for fuel at Top Rack Marina. With their diesel price at $3.049, we could not pass up the chance to fill all three tanks.  As soon as we left there we heard a familiar voice on the radio. Jerry and Wendy Taylor, our delivery captains/instructors, were not far behind us on Aurora. They were headed to Atlantic Yacht Basin and we made a last minute decision to join them. We had intended on tying up at a nearby free dock, but with the temperatures dipping overnight we decided an electrical hookup was more important.

That was Saturday and today is Monday, and we are still here. We looked at the weather forecast which included wind and rain over the next few days, and decided to wait it out here. When we leave we will anchor quite a bit and we know the anchorages are not protected.  We also wanted to be at a marina on Wednesday and Thursday so Joyce can prepare a full Thanksgiving dinner.

So, we plan to leave Chesapeake, VA on Friday.  Our trip south will happen!  We will post again when we depart. In the meantime, we wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!