4/20/16           Wednesday                 free dock near, really near High Bridge, outside Portsmouth, VA

Continuing from yesterday.........

 Now this day was a HARD day! Not long but hard. We slept soundly last eve and work up to rocking winds around 17 knots. The wind kicked up to 24 knots as the morning progressed. It took a lot of effort to get our anchor up with me at the helm moving the boat forward over the anchor chain while David ratcheted it up. Out into the channel we decided to continue even though the winds were swifter than expected.  Through the narrow parts of the canal - Coinjock canal (?) was calm, narrowness didn't allow the winds to even be noticed....protected by land close at hand.

We've heard about Coinjock since anyone knew we were planning this journey. Apparently the ribs in this restaurant are the best anywhere. The marina (?) is face docks, so not much of a marina. The restaurant is the draw, I guess. We went right by with only a photo to remember and share....no food. no stories.

BUT, when we got out into Coinjock Bay - holy cow patties!!!!! - reminder of NJ coast. Okay not as bad. Not at all. But it was difficult for about 12 miles. Twelve miles traveling at 5 miles/hour, in really lumpy water, and on a tilt of about 10 degrees - shit! Not fun.  David wanted me to take a picture of the waves splashing on our windshield. "I'm not taking any pictures! I'm busy praying to all my sailing ancestors!" I did take a photo AFTER it had calmed a bit.

splash

So I missed the splash of the wave crashing into the bow and only got the after-splash. The lower left corner is the Laughing Buddha's hands. The twirl of what looks like string is a piece of seaweed that came on board with the wave. I try to rub the Buddha's belly each morning. Helps me remember to keep laughing.  Helps all things...human.

For perspective this is the view of the aft deck.

amazing contrast

The two photos taken within minutes of each other. How can the aft look so inviting and the fore look so threatening? Riddle me that.

As the day progressed the wind died down, we exited the wide open water of various bays and entered the tree stump-ridden canal, the Chesapeake and Albemarle Canal. The good part about this is that we saw so many Osprey building and sitting.

I watched a hawk fly with some branches in his/her beak, really fighting the wind, still. Finally landed on this nest and handed over the goods to be positioned by the mate (him or her).

"Honey, the twigs you need for renovating"

Other hard parts of the day - David did a wonderful job of keeping the boat going forward amid all the waves...which made him really tired...which he sometimes doesn't realize or denies.  And, he managed to not let two tugs w/barges run us off the magenta line. All really good.
I took the helm after Coinjock Bay and the confused sea and wiggled us through the "S" and "C" curves of the canal for a bit. Somewhere along the way we had to deal with bridges that open (or not) for boats....not the 65' highway bridges but the lower (6' to 35') swing or bascule bridges. We were already tired and we kept showing up too soon and having to wait and wait for the "on the hour, half hour" openings. Or we had to push the boat harder than was comfortable. Or we had to wait for the shrimp boat - Blackbeard - to come through the bridge from the other direction. Or..............

We managed.

A joy: coming around a curve we saw a catamaran without a mast. "Is that Bruce? What's his boat's name?" "Don't know. Maybe it's in the log." "Just call." Yes. It was Bruce who we met in NYC at 79th St. Boat Basin and with whom we've lead-frogged much of the way south. Last viewing was Fernandina Beach, FL. Turns out that is as far south as he went. We've tried to hail him on the vhf radio since we stopped for the night but can't reach him. We travel a couple knots faster than he does so he missed some of those bridge openings that we made. Maybe the lock, too. Oh yes. There was a lock in our day. I enjoy the locks.

So tonight we're at a free dock we know from our fall journey south. There is one other larger sail boat here but we'll not attempt to be friendly. Lucky if we're friendly to each other tonight. Okay, we are friendly to each other. Alcohol helps, as does rest in a familiar place. The BIG bridge beside carries noisy traffic. we remember this from the fall as well as experience it now. There are several geese. Maybe this is their courtship dance.

Oh, maybe we'll get the geese dance tomorrow. It will need some editing.