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07/07/2010: "Out of the Bay and into the ICW"

July 6th:
We got an early start because we had planned out a long day. We left Solomons and continued south. We bypassed Reedville where we had stayed on the way up and planned on stopping further down the shore at Fleets Bay, just above the Rappahonnock River. I believe it was somewhere around 45 miles. We motored the entire way again since there was no wind. We tucked into Dymer Creek and set the anchor for the night. After an ok sunset, the skies are just too hazy, we called it a night.

July 7th:
We had a long day planned again. We looked at several possibilities involving making it to Norfolk/Hampton Roads and staying in Hampton for a day but decided against it and would try to move further along. We were up at 7:00 when a boat going by gave us a good rocking and we pulled anchor and started out. The forecast was for winds from a variety of directions but not above 5 knots and that is what we got. At one point it seemed like we would be able to fly the spinnaker and make good time but by the time we got it up and set the mizzen staysail to get a little more speed we were lucky to get 3.5 knots and the wind was clocking around again. Down came the sails and we started motoring again. We are just stuck in this weather pattern. The good news is that the tide was going out and it added an extra 1-2 knots so we were able to move along 7-8 knots. Not a lot but over time it adds up. The other good news is that Cori caught some fish today, 4 real nice spanish mackerel and only let one get away. We made it into Hampton Roads earlier then we expected and had to slow down because several of our first bridges don't open between 3-5 for rush hour traffic. We got to our first bridge and found it was under repair and did not have to be opened. The next bridge unfortunately did not open until 5:30 and we had expected a 5:00 opening and showed up at 4:45. We spent 45 minutes motoring up and down about a mile section of the river until it was opened. Then on to the next which we caught right on time. The next hurdle was getting through the Great Bridge lock but the lockmaster (is that his title?) opened it early for us to go through. It is a short jump to the Great Bridge which opens on the half hour but we had set this as our goal for the night, we will go under that bridge tomorrow. We are in Chesapeake City tied to the seawall at a city park for the night. We only have a few more bridges to deal with tomorrow and it will be clear motoring the rest of the way. There are a couple of areas around the Albemarle Sound that we can sail, but otherwise it is a motor trip home. All in all it was a long day. There was one bright spot pushing me along. I knew that there is a Dairy Queen only a block up the street from where we tied up. Nothing better then desert before dinner.