Entering the Chesapeake Bay

OK, where was I?

We did enjoy the excellent prime rib during our one night stay at Coinjock, and the homemade chips were also all they were promised.  We left the next day and arrived at Atlantic Yacht Basin in Chesapeake, VA.  It is on the ICW just a few miles south of Norfolk.  Moonstruck 2 (NOT Moonstruck II, as I had thought) showed up two days behind us.  Knowing Doug and Judy needed work there, and that we had a scheduled trip home the week of May 20th, we just couldn’t pass up the chance to get some work done on Once Around.  Nothing major…well, too major. 



The house of the day between Coinjock and AYB



Someone else's house of the day



Our first look at Moonstruck 2



Some other poor soul on the hard in the yard



My First Mate wanted everyone to know about the newest...washers and dryers that take credit cards!



Sign of the day

We flew home as planned with Once Around out of the water and Moonstruck 2 expected to be pulled any day.  We had a great visit with the kids and grandkids at home.  Maybe four days a month is enough contact…just kidding children…J

Arriving back on Saturday the 25^th, we found Once Around back in the water as promised, but Moonstruck 2 had not yet even been pulled out!  

Once Around and Moonstruck 2 slept together while we were all gone...un-chaperoned!

Doug and Judy returned Monday from their visit to their 2^nd home in Wisconsin, and since we were pretty much boat yarded out, Once Around left Atlantic Yacht Basin on Tuesday and had a gorgeous cruise through Norfolk, into and across the lower Chesapeake Bay to a cute little town at Cape Charles, VA.



Leaving Atlantic Yacht Basin through Great Bridge and Great Bridge Lock



Norfolk skyline

The following photos are the sights of the shipyards (and traffic) in and around Norfolk:

Evan, that you?

We chose a marina named Bay Creek, because it was so well protected from the south winds, which tend to rock the boats in the Cape Charles City Marina.  Good plan, however, the (latest) entrance channel is marked by some small floating buoys, which, if I had been warned would have been nice.  Instead, following the normal route I found myself with a “0” reading on my depth sounder…NOT GOOD!!!  By some miracle, we did not run aground and were able to very slowly turn 180 degrees and get back into the new channel.  Crisis averted, but not before I had aged a few more years.

a confusing entrance!

In Bay Creek Marina

The marina is fairly new and very nice, but is struggling in this economy.  It was less than 40% occupied.  We had a great two day stay and enjoyed touring Cape Charles by golf cart.  It is a beautiful little town and my First Mate really enjoyed looking at the homes, both large and small that lined the town streets. 



part of downtown Cape Charles





The Cape Charles house of the day...although not the biggest, the Admiral's favorite!



Also, we ventured out to the Country Club, which had your choice of a Palmer or Nicklaus designed golf course.  The red roses that lined the entry roads were spectacular, and there must have been hundreds or thousands of them in full bloom.  Not sure these photos do them justice…

 



On Thursday we headed back across to the west side of the Bay to Dozier’s Marina in Deltaville, VA.  It was my First Mate’s birthday so we celebrated by taking our dinghy over to a little restaurant here in the harbor called “Cocomo’s”.  It wasn’t fancy, but we really enjoyed the local atmosphere and the steaks were pretty good.  Carrie got several phone calls from the kids, her sisters and her dad wishing her a happy birthday.  Daughter Carla’s 4^th grade class actually sang happy birthday to her over the phone from their classroom.  All in all, she said it was a great birthday…although there was no gift from her captain.  She’s pretty understanding however (this has happened before), and many years ago when it happened she announced that it was OK, her birthday season was the 30 days before and after the actual date.  So, as long as I find her a worthy gift in the next few weeks, I may keep my job…

The Birthday Girl outside Cocomo's

Aptly named for the birthday girl

For just a second we thought....

...but not THE Jolly Tolly!

Our view from the porch at Dozier's Marina



The crew of Once Around on the porch 



Since then we have mostly just relaxed, although we did some boat chores and provisioned on Friday.  We were hot and sweaty afterwards as the temperature here reached 90 degrees and the humidity was pretty high.  My First Mate had a great idea, and we mixed up a pitcher of Margaritas and took them up to the little pool that the marina maintains for its guests.  We had it to ourselves and sat in the cool salt water for a couple of hours…and got sort of sloshed!  I managed to barbeque some chicken and Carrie made a salad, and it was an early night to sleep aboard Once Around.

We had hoped Moonstruck 2 would meet us here on Thursday.  However, it is now Saturday and we are still waiting for them.  The maintenance and repairs to their boat took longer than expected, but they are reported to be on their way and should arrive here in a couple more hours.