Ready or not

...here comes Sandy.
We're well tied in, 3 lines at the bow & 3 lines at the stern on the windward side. This shouldn't be too much of a big deal for us. We're inland a fair distance where we should only see 30 to 40 knot winds. We've anchored out in 40 and we've seen 70 at the dock back in Michigan.
Back at our stop in Norfolk, we stumbled into some used docklines. Used, barely; they were like new. Big, fat strong 3/4" lines! One of them would sell for about $75. We got 5 for $40...total! Perfect timing, they're all in use today.

There are at least a dozen cruising couples here, riding out Sandy. The marina has a very nice clubhouse where we're having potluck hurricane dinner parties every night. Great place to swap lies and exaggerations!

Our biggest issue will be how long this lasts. Reports are gusty winds running through Thursday. We want to get going south!

Running away

We're running from the coast as fast as we can, away from the effects of hurricane Sandy. It won't be powerful, but it will be big!
We should be fine docked in Dowry Creek marina tonight through the storm. Likely not to see more than 35 sustained.

Pictured is us running in light rain, west in the Aligator-Pungo canal.

(This was written Friday, published Saturday, we have sketchy connections)

Gettin Sandy!

Hurricane Sandy is in the Bahamas now and the track north keeps changing toward our short term destination of outer banks NC. So we're making alternate plans to head inland. The outer banks will likely see 40 to 50 mph winds for over 24 hours. Where we're headed now, Dowry Creek, will get 40 for maybe 12 hours in a better protected marina. We'll be well secured for at least 70mph sustained winds.
Well, that's the plan! Stay tuned...

Picture Perfect Day

Got underway before sunrise this morning. Sunshine, light winds, following seas & a favorable current are making this a fantastic morning. Add in our first dolphin sighting since May. A nice wrapup to our season on the Chesapeake. We'll make Norfolk by mid afternoon and tie up at the free town dock in Portsmouth. This evening we'll search for a sports bar to catch the Lions on Monday Night Football.

Cruisers have intentions - not plans

We spent a great night in a small anchorage off Chesapeake Bay called Mill Creek. We set our alarm for three am - not to take off to sail but to sit out on the bow of Freedom to watch the Orionids meteor shower. The Orionids are meteor showers caused by the debris field from Halley\'s Comet when it last passed close to the earth in 1986. Brrrrr, it was cold, we took our hot chocolate, our go anywhere chairs and our blankets and watched the show. The sky was totally clear and the stars were bright and shining. We saw at least a dozen "shooting stars" before we gave it up to go below into our nice warm cabin and back to sleep.

In the morning our plan was to sail east to an island towards the middle of the bay. It is supposed to be a quaint little town. We encountered winds over 20 knots, waves of 3-5 feet directly on our beam ( the side if the boat). We had waves splashing over the bow of the boat and it was just plain uncomfortable. If we turned to go south instead of east it would be a great day of sailing....so we did!

Now we are heading south to Deltaville, VIrginia. Remember, we have intentions, not plans.