Oct 29

At 6:30 our neighbours rudely awoke us in order that we could all cast off and make for the next lock. These guys must be nuts I thought. The lock does not open until 9:00 and it should take less than 1 hour to get there. But once you are up, you are up so off we went.

It turned out to be a good thing we got the early start. Part way there, we encountered a tree that had fallen across the canal, blocking the path. We got out the jig-saw, fired up the generator and took the ends of several limbs off the tree. This created enough of a path that we and 3 other boats could fit through. The wine that evening was on them!!

We discovered the other good reason for our early departure when they locked us through at 8:00 AM instead of the advertised 9:00. This was when we found out our clocks were out by 1 hour.

Again, the canal was very beautiful. It was full of floating weeds, however, which did not bother our outboard but repeatedly clogged the cooling water intake filter of a Gemini 105 Catamaran.

Note the house for the Superintendent of the Canal. Is this an indication that they do not pay civil servants very well here or is this a relic from days gone bye?

Elizabeth City has a very charming tradition of hosting wine and cheese parties at 4:30 PM for visiting boaters. It has free docks and reasonably close shopping – especially if you have a bicycle. It is highly recommended.

Beverley used this opportunity to buy a sewing machine. Her painting is getting better and better. She is now able to do one of her other hobbies as we travel along.

We got one of the last spots at the dock, just fitting between an end wall and the boat behind us. Our new friends on Autumn Borne rafted up.

Beverley did much of the steering through the canal and seemed to be really getting into the trip.

Oct 28

I guess we could have started the day by sailing, but it would only be about 5 miles until we entered Hampton Roads and then sailed by the Norfolk Navy docks. I was worried that the traffic might be pretty busy so perhaps it would be better to motor.

As it turned out, we probably could have sailed because, this being a weekend, there was not much traffic. We did cross paths with a container ship and a Coast Guard cutter. I am amazed that they do not loose more containers in rough seas. I guess that is what insurance is for. The Coast Guard cutter was closely followed by inflatables manned by people all dressed in black. I don’t think they were drilling for marine rescue work.

The good thing about going through Norfolk on a weekend, is that the very restrictive bridge opening schedule does not apply – and there are a lot of bridges.

The row of mothballed aircraft carriers and other visible signs of military might are something to be seen.

The Dismal swamp can be absolutely beautiful. Some of the homes are amazing. The locks were scheduled to be closed on Oct 30 due to lack of rain. As it was, there were only 2 openings per day at each of the 2 locks. We were quite surprised that they opened at 2 PM instead of the scheduled 3 PM. It was the next day that we discovered that our clocks were off by 1 hour since they had automatically adjusted for the change in daylight savings time, but they were a week too early since the date has been changed.

The lockmaster at the first lock was quite proud of his banana trees. He had put a plastic bag over the bananas to hasten their ripening.

There are very few places to stop in the Dismal Swamp. When we pulled into the North Carolina Welcome Center, it was dark and there were no more rooms (spaces) at the dock. Fortunately, we were invited to raft up, making new friends in the process.

Oct 26 and 27

The forecast was for 15 to 20 knots from the East and rainy. The day proved to be a bouncy, rainy beam reach at 8 to 9 knots all day. Our progress over land was slower due to a foul tidal current and at the very end, the rain grew so heavy, you could only see about 100 feet.

Fortunately, visibility improved as we entered a small harbour called Salt Ponds. We were very tired and wet. We just wanted this leg to be over. I found it more than a little trepidating to run towards an unknown (to me) lee shore, not being able to see the harbour opening until the last minute and in a narrow channel with little room to manoeuvre.

There we met a very nice couple, Ron and Debbie who had completely rebuilt the living accommodations of the Stray Cat around ’86 to ’88. Most of their work is still to be seen as, in reality, the boat has been little changed since then.

Thanks Ron and Debbie.

We also toured their newer cat, a Victory 35. The accommodations made us more than a little jealous.

Now if we just sell the Stray Cat, the motorhome, the motorcycle, and maybe the house….

Oct 25

Forecast: 10 to 15 knots from the North East: waves 1 to 2 feet.

We had been warned not to cross the mouth of the Potomac if the winds were from the West as the waves could be very confused and large. The forecast wind direction was good.

I thought it was quite nice that someone sent out a fire boat just to give us a farewell.

Our friends on the Island Trader do not like following seas because, with their broad motorboat transom, they tend to slew about. Shortly after leaving the harbour, however, we radioed them that the conditions were exactly as advertised and probably would not be too bad. Fortunately, they ignored our advice.

We hit 12.5 knots that day! Maybe we should rename our boat the Scalded Cat! I had no idea she was that quick. Imagine, 12.5 knots in 10 to 15 knots of wind and waves of 1 to 2 feet!

Now it is possible that our knot meter is a tad optimistic at those speeds – but it also averages over 8 to 10 seconds so our peak speed may have been higher than registered. The 10 to 15 knot figure was pretty suspect. Also, I could swear that standing at the steering station, where my feet are about 3 ½ feet above the water line, some of the waves were pretty well level with my eyes. For measurements of speed, the forecasters must be using Mario Andretto, for whom anything less than about 100 mph is just plain slow. They must also be using someone with Texas sized feet to estimate wave heights. I guess many units are different between the US and Canada (e.g. gallons, dollars), so why should knots and feet not be different?

Crossing the Potomac was interesting. At the two edges of the river, there seemed to be a number of large waves moving in odd directions that clearly were not wind driven. We have some other friends (the Manta 42, the Great Catsby) who elected to head for Tangier Island (East coast), avoiding the mouths of both the Potomac and then the Rappahannock as they headed for Norfolk. Perhaps they were wise.

We followed another cat into Reedville. The anchorage is very well protected, but what a smell as you pass the fish processing plant!!

There, Lee and Sherry invited to join them for dinner. What a great idea!

Oct 23 and 24

Forecast wind strengths and directions made it prudent to stay put in Soloman’s Island. It is extremely well protected and proved not to be a bad place to reprovision. The Naughty Gull (next to the Holiday Inn dingy dock) offered an excellent happy hour and inexpensive entrees (e.g. 2 for $20).

Poor Tuck went for a swim again. Fortunately, I was on deck and saw him swimming past. I called him over and then scooped him out of the water. He was pretty scared but not as scared as last time.

We also had a bad dingy dragging scare. We had jointed our friends Joanne and Lee for dinner on their Island Trader. See Bev making her dinner contribution. The “card sharks” also had their turn. When we set out to row back to our boat, we realized that she was adrift. We arrived with about 60 seconds to spare before she would have hit another boat, the Barbarosa. I am afraid that the Stray Cat would have lost that confrontation. The funny thing was that we had re-anchored after taking on gas and water that afternoon. This was about 4 hours before leaving the boat to join our friends for dinner. During this time, the wind direction did not change. I thought we were well hooked to the bottom. Perhaps it was a stronger gust that broke the Cat free. Anyway, we sought out shallower water that might not be so scoured by the tidal currents and threw out two anchors. End of Problem!!

Oct 22

Oct 22 a day of learning.

The weather forecast was for 6 to 10 knots from the South East. This would mean motoring all day as sailing into the wind would be too slow, but would also mean a nice easy ride.

As may be seen in the photo of our friends’ Nordhaven 48, it was pretty calm when we left the anchorage early in the morning after clearing industrial strength muck off the anchor chain, the foredeck and me. Some of the commercial fishing techniques were interesting. The clam digger in the photo lowers something that digs out a chunk of muck and then strains it leaving only the clams behind.

We were not long under way, however, when the wind rose to 15 knots right on the nose.

At least we were smart enough to take the dingy off the davits and to hoist it onto the afterdeck. So it proves that we can learn.

As we motored into the waves, the dogs became terrified (again) because of the slamming of the waves on the bridge deck joining the two hulls. Also, we took green water over the windward bow on several occasions. Unfortunately, we had left the forehatch cracked. It is about 7 feet above the water line but it took solid water on more than one occasion, making our bed more than a little damp.

Out other minor calamity concerned the dogs’ potty mat. It was on the foredeck, was not tied down and disappeared.

We were a happy couple to pull into Soloman’s Island and to anchor.

Our friends on the Island Trader 42 left about an hour later than us. They got soaked, taking heavy spray on the bridge deck as they motored into the same waves.

Lessons learned:
Ø Don’t believe the weather forecasts.
Ø Close and dog the forehatch.
Ø Relocate the dog’s mat to the afterdeck, now to be known as the poop deck. The afterdeck is a safer place for them anyway.

New York

Here is a photo that was on Beverley's camera of her and her daughter, Brooke. This was taken in New York. The Yellow Cab is the evidence. Note the smiles.