Voyage 2010: Chapter 1

12 Oct 2010, Heading South, 38 19.98 N/ 076 27.01 W

After a few trips back to Wilmington and the Todd Thanksgiving (really kewl) a couple of days go, We finally left Herring Bay for our intermediary destination of Wilmington, NC. We left Shipwright Harbour without fanfare and had a light (10kt) wind on our nose (SE). Seas were OK and we were happy to be underway. Sadly it was another motoring event. We stopped at Mills Creek at Solomon's Island and were surprised that there was only one other boat anchored. We heard a lot of chatter on the VHF but do not know where they went. They are calling for some significant weather Friday so we will hustle our way to Norfolk to hopefully dodge the worst of it. We will see.

14 Oct 2010, Weather less than good, 37 32.73 N/ 076 19.79 W

We left Solomons at 0700 and faced winds NE@10-15 knots. We actually sailed for a while until the wind died a bit after we passed the Potomac. Still much of the day was sailing which is a bit unusual for us. We tucked into Fishing Bay near Deltaville and settled down to a nice evening anchorage.

Early in the morning, we sensed a swell out of the SE which did not bode well for today's trip. Nevertheless, the courageous crew left Fishing Bay and got the stuffing knocked out of them. So we turned around and headed into Jackson Creek. Three other boats took our lead but fortunately did not follow our grounding in the narrow channel leading to the anchorage. We logged the first grounding of the season. Fortunately, the wind blew us off and we secured a nicer anchorage,

The wind blew strong much of today so we did not venture off the boat. SV Fantasy Island was at the marina for repairs and we were invited for a birthday celebration. We tried but the weather was too rough for a dinghy ride to the marina. Guess we are not too brave. Weather tomorrow may be a bit rough with wind and sea predictions looking pretty nasty. We will see. Good practice for the rest of the season.