Visitors From Florida

These are our friends Pete and Dee, they may look familiar to you. That would be because we cruised across to the Bahamas with them and then cruised a few of the Cays with them. They live in Florida on the West coast and drove to New York to visit with friends and family along the way. They arrived on Wednesday just in time for our Wednesday night get together here at the marina. We have a pot luck every Wednesday night, it gives us and transient boaters a chance to meet each other.

Pete and Dee spent two nights with us on there way to Tennessee to visit with other friends. Thursday was a beautiful day for a sail. It was cool in the morning but warmed up nicely. The wind was 10 to 15 knots out of the NE and the waves were 2 to 3 feet on the bay so we cruised up the Rappahannock River. The winds were about the same until we got to the bridge but we had no waves. It's great to have a choice as to where to sail. When we arrived back at the dock our log told us we had traveled 24 nautical miles. We were quite amazed at that.

That evening we drove to Toby's for dinner. We had a great but short visit and Friday morning Pete and Dee were on their way again. Our plan is to meet up again in Marathon.

Summer sure is going by fast. It's hard to believe in less than two months we will be leaving to head South.

We will go by motorcycle to visit Patience and Steve in the Outer Banks on Thursday of this coming week. We are looking forward to the visit and a break for Larry from working. The following weekend we will drive by car to NY to visit for one last time this year and to see my sister Patti from Nevada. It will be good to see her and her daughters, it's been five years since we last saw each other. The next few weeks promise to be busy with visiting and preparing for travel South.

Two Day R&R

This was one of Natures treats after our Tropical Storm/Hurricane. On Sunday it was impossible to believe that on Saturday we were right in the eye of the storm. We had beautiful sunny skies and pleasant temperatures. Mother Nature sure can get angry and have a mood change quickly. There were some trees down and some were without electric but nothing like it could have been. I guess it was good practice in case a full blown hurricane does hit us.
















Larry took Monday and Tuesday off so we could go play. After putting our boat back in order we dropped our dock line and went sailing. The winds were light and we put out the sails for a pleasant sail out into the Chesapeake Bay. When the winds started to pick up we headed up the Rappahannock River and to Carters Creek, where we dropped the anchor and spent the night. We didn't expect to get a quiet nights sleep, winds were to pick up to 25 knots during the night but it never happened. We had a great night. On Tuesday we lounged around and had a cooked breakfast. Larry decided to dive the boat and clean some of the growth off. He was surprised at how easy the barnacles came free. While we were in the Keys he had to almost chisel them off.

We left around 11:00 AM and sailed back down the river to Deltaville. The wind had started to gain speed by the time we got to our channel. We docked and within an hour the heavy weather came with a vengeance. It was short lived but I think it was more forceful than on Saturday. It rained again during the night and today it has been over cast and in the low 70's. The temperature is to stay in the 70's over the next few days. I know for most areas that's warm but for us it means a sweater. I am amazed at how we have become use to the high temperatures and this feels cold.

The picture is of the bridge over the Rappahannock River and that connects us to a short cut to Kilmarnock. This bridge is celebrating it's 50 th Birthday this year. It's hard to believe that only 50 years ago one had to take a ferry across the river or rivah as it is pronounced here. We went under it to get to Carter's Creek.
















We were keeping a close eye on this tug as we approached the bridge. We were solely under sail and uncertain if we would be sharing the span with him but he reached the bridge several minutes before us.

Hurricane Prep In Deltaville!

Our boat looks naked with most of it's enclosure removed. I took this picture yesterday after we removed our head sail and most of our canvas. We scrubbed our cushions from the cockpit and after they dried we put them below decks. We then went by motorcycle to the store and bought some food and party stuff, rum and beer and gassed up the cycle. We are told the power may go out and we will be forced to party with all the boat owners that are here to watch their boats during the storm.

It's noon now and we are in the middle of the storm and receiving the brunt of it's force. If this is the worst of it I'll be glad. The wind is strong 15 to 20 knots with higher gusts. The most I've seen so far is 35 knots. Fortunately it is only classed as a tropical storm not a hurricane. The storm behind it is supposed to be worse. I pray it misses us. Larry had to work today so I'm on the boat by myself and plan when the rain lets up to go to the Captains lounge to be on level ground for a while. I certainly would not like to be out on the bay today, it's ugly out there, high winds and 7 foot waves. Tomorrow it's supposed to be sunny and warm with winds out of the NW at 15 to 20 knots not a good direction for us because we are exposed to the Rappahonack River. I think we will have another uncomfortable day but without rain.

Larry just stopped to check out our boat as he is checking others. He is drenched from the torrents of rain that are coming down. He said this is the brunt of it right now maybe it will subside soon.















On a lighter note last weekend I took Amtrak from Williamsburg, VA to Hartford, CT to visit with our youngest daughter, Patience. She was house sitting for a friend and this picture was taken at Terry's house with one of her two Persian cats. They posed for me to take pictures of them, hamming it up the whole time. Patience and I had stayed at Terry's Friday and Saturday night then Sunday and Monday at Patience's house. We went berry picking Saturday morning with more friends of Patience's from work. It was damp in the morning form the rain the day before but the sun came out and made for a pleasant afternoon and our picnic. Sunday we visited Patience's garden at Steve's parents house and did some harvesting of fresh veggies. They made of a great dinner that evening. Monday we went to the mall to shop then to Bertucci's for lunch. It was a great weekend and I hated to see it end but I was anxious to see Larry. My trip back on the train was less crowded and only 20 minutes late not an hour and a half like my trip to Hartford. I would definitely take the train again, it's nice to sit back and read a book while someone else does the driving. Next Summer I'm looking at a 15 day rail pass to visit CT and NY. Who knows maybe I can talk Larry into going.





















This is Norman! He is Patience and Steven's lovable cat. Every time we came to her house he would greet us at the door for a little loving. As you can see he is quite the ham also.

It's 1 pm now and I thought things were calming down but I was mistaken. It started to subside only to start all over again. I guess I'll make lunch and hope for the best.