Prime Rib Tonight

We're headed toward Coinjock NC where the Coinjock Marina is famous for it's prime rib. Left at 6:30 this morning, now stopped for fuel in Portsmouth, planning to arrive Coinjock around dark. This will be Vicki's first experience with bridges - there are a bunch of them on this leg of the journey. Jim (we're buddy boating with Adventures again) tutored Vicki over cocktails last night in the art of timing bridges. We're planning to make the 11:00 opening of our first bridge and if we don't make it, we have to wait for the Noon opening which will delay our arrival until well after dark.

Hampton VA was a good place to be for two nights. We had good Thai and Chinese food the first night with Robin and Jim. Went to the Air and Space Museum yesterday. It's a wonderful museum with lots of hands-on exhibits and flying simulators. On a cold Friday afternoon there were about two other people there, so we got all the fun toys to ourselves.

In the Dark

It's Thursday morning and we're on our way from Solomons MD to Norfolk VA. We left at 5:00 a.m. - it's now 6:00 a.m. - and it's dark outside. This is our first experience driving in the dark. Norm has to drive up top from the bridge because the instruments in the pilot house are so bright that they interfere with the ability to see outside - guess that's our next project! He also has to drive with the window panel down so that the instruments up there (which are dimmer) don't reflect from the window. Gotta keep a look out for crab pots. This would all be fine if we were in the balmy tropics, but it's 30-something chilly degrees. Had to dig out those winter gloves and hats. Luckily, the sun will be up in an hour and we'll be enjoying hot oatmeal and pumpkin bread in the pilot house. Can't wait!

It's 11-12 hours to Norfolk. If all goes well, we'll be pulling in before dark. Afterall, that's the point of leaving so early.

Frost on the Boat Deck

It's time to head south! It was slippery on the boat deck this morning when we left Annapolis. You know it's cold when Captain Norm chooses to drive from the pilot house instead of the bridge.

We're heading to Solomons Island MD and will be there tomorrow for a minor repair and to wait out the 30kt winds forecast for tomorrow. Solomons Island is also the home of Vicki's favorite flavored coffee - Coconut. Good thing Norm made some extra storage room for those beans of fresh-roasted coconut coffee. Yummy!

Speaking of coffee, we just made a fresh pot of coffee while underway. We've never done that before because we were always conserving electricity. Now that the electrical repairs have turned us into a "Powerhouse", we're brewing whenever we want. Such freedom!

On Wednesday, it's off to Deltaville near the Potomac, then Norfolk. We're hoping to make Morehead City NC by Thanksgiving to have turkey with friends Rick and Lynnie.