Sunrise in Mob Jack Bay

Mobjack Bay to Portsmouth

The sunrise, according to Captain Lombard , who was willing to go out in the cold to photograph it, was beautiful. Judith and I stayed warm(ish) in the salon and enjoyed the picture. We hauled anchor and headed out of the bay and back into the Chesapeake Bay, where the wind was brisk, and raised the genoa for a wonderful all-day sail south to Portsmouth. We are tied at the marina, which means showers tonight, electricity to recharge all our Apple books, iPads , and iPhones, and heat in the salon!

Portsmouth is a wonderful historic town, established in 1752 when William Crawford took 65 acres of his plantation and laid out streets (with names such as London, King, Queen, and High) and half acre lots. He named the new community Portsmouth after his hometown in England. Tonight we will stroll down High Street (very close to our marina) to dine in a unique and historic restaurant, of which we hear there are many! Rain is predicted for tonight, so when and if we depart in the morning is up to the weather. We are right at Mile Marker 0' at the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay and the beginning of the Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW). At mile marker 10 we make a choice - to follow the Dismal Swamp or take the Virginia Cut. Stay tuned! love, Liz

Raising The Flag

Deltaville to Mobjack Bay, VA. The first day of our journey began with the raising of the flag that was presented to Kev and Judith as a tribute for the work they are doing for the wounded Marines and soldiers. The flag was flown in Afghanistan, presented to Sgt. Daniel Jamal, one of our wounded Marines, and subsequently presented to Kev and Judith. We first raised the flag in Twentynine Palms on my flagpole, and we stood with the men around the flagpole in a prayer circle. Today was its second raising. We fly it with pride!

Don't let the blue sky of the picture deceive you - it was FREEZING cold and windy, Yesterday's nor'easter was sending whitecaps and five foot swells. With coaching from Kev and Judith, I was well prepared to stay warm in such conditions, wearing multiple layers from my toes to the top of my head. Our Judith has actually slipped overboard twice in the past two days! (She claims it was due to the rain and wearing shoes, after spending too much time going barefoot in the desert.). But actually she climbs over this boat like a monkey, the very able First Mate to Captain Lombard, who is the most accomplished sailor I have ever had the pleasure of sailing with.

By the time we dropped anchor tonight in this picturesque bay, the wind and waves had dropped, and we enjoyed a warm and hearty soup for supper, and, as always, our laughter and good company. love, Liz

Highest tide!

As a nor'easter blankets the East with snow, we here in Deltaville VA are only experiencing rain -but LOTS of it! The addition of all the rain caused the high tide to be really high, flooding over the docks. Skip, who lives aboard his sailboat on our Starboard side, loaned me his truck to drive into Deltaville to buy some serious Sperry Topsiders rain-boots, the first time I have ever needed to own a pair! On the way back to the marina, I stopped by the fish store for a pound of fresh lump crab. Crabcakes tonight!

Provisioning

While we had the rented car, we did our provisioning for three weeks. Starting tomorrow, we will no longer be connected to the land. Our travels will be dependent on the wind and the weather. four boats down is a family gearing up for a year's cruise, down into the Carribean, through the Panama Canal, and down to Guatemala, then beck to Boston, where thet are from. Their two little girls are being home schooled. We were visited by the girls today, and invited to sign a petition for everyone to go barefoot. Being a barefoot aficionado myself, I was enthusiastic to sign the petition, but also being a teacher and former Mayer,we had to discuss the petition in regards to the jurisdiction (state, county, city, etc) and they decided it would be a maritime jurisdiction reaching to 1/4 mile from the high water line. Contented that the petition was now correctly defined, Judith and I became the fist signers of the petition!

Fall Colors

Today we rented a car and drove around the Richmond area, visiting wonderful old small towns, all adorned with beautiful Fall colors. The South Is unique in America, with it's Southern dialect (I've discovered that y'all is the plural "you"). Most enjoyable is the Southern hospitality. Everyone goes out of their way to be helpful.

On my way!

Off on a new adventure! On Tuesday, October 25, 2011, I drove to Phoenix for a brief overnigqt visit with Jeff, Lauren and Katelyn before flying to Richmond Virginia. Good friends Judith Paixao and Kev Lombard have invited me to join them in their continuing journey down the Chesepeake Bay, and south down the Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW). We Invite you to join our journey on my blog site. If you go to lizizlog.spot.com and enter you email address, you will automatically receive my log entries. Stay tuned! Love, LIz