We left Monday morning to head back to our home base in Oriental. A hurricane was brewing offshore, and we had more work to do on the boat before heading south for the winter. We got off to a rough start as I somehow managed to get a line in the propeller as we backed away from the mooring. By shifting back and forth from forward to reverse, I was able to free the line. There was a slight vibration of the propeller, so we proceeded slowly as we made our way down the York River to the bay. As time went on, the vibration smoothed out some, and we were able to continue. The wind was light from the SE as we headed down the bay towards Norfolk. We made good time despite the propeller issue and ended up anchoring off Hospital Point in downtown Norfolk for the night.

The next morning we set off to head down the ICW south. The only unpleasant part was the extremely rude treatment we got from the Great Bridge drawbridge operator. He felt we were not close enough as we held back a bit to allow northbound traffic to clear. He even threatened to close the bridge as we were approaching. This would have resulted in serious damage to our boat. In the end, he held the bridge open, but his behavior was very unprofessional. I have run into some bad bridge tenders over the years, but this guy was the worst, and there was no reason for him to behave the way he did. After passing through the bridge, we stopped for fuel and water at a marina before heading down the waterway. That evening we anchored in a small creek just off the waterway. We have anchored in small creeks like this before. They are deep but narrow, meaning as the boat swings you end up only a few yards from the marsh grass. Not much room should the anchor not hold tight. A location so remote as this you would think would be quiet; however, once the sun set, hundreds of thousands of frogs all started croaking at once. It was surprisingly loud!

The next day we again left early, shortly after 8:00 AM. Another day of motoring through the waterway as it wound its way south. We had to cross the Albemarle Sound on this leg. Although only about twelve miles across, the Albemarle Sound can be a pain depending on conditions. On this day, the wind was mostly out of the West giving a long fetch for the waves to form. Although not strong, there was enough wind to generate a moderate chop for our crossing. We made good time, so were not uncomfortable for very long. Once across, we dropped anchor just off to the side of the Alligator River entrance in the river.

We awoke to a thunderstorm passing by. It soon moved on, and we could get underway before 9:00 AM. The weather was calling for more thunder storms so we were watching the weather closely. It was about ten miles down the Alligator River to the Alligator/Pungo Canal. The canal was another fifteen miles or so of a mostly straight and narrow waterway. As we neared the end of the canal, we could see the storms brewing ahead of us. The radar showed storms to the north and south of us. So far we were in the middle, but we knew we would not be spared. Just as we came out of the canal and approached our anchorage, a downburst hit us with gusty winds and rain. Barely able to see through the rain, we got the anchor down and set. We stayed in the cockpit, watching what we could see of the shore along with our position on the GPS map to make sure we would not drag anchor. As the storm passed, we relaxed and could go below for dinner. A few other cells of wind and rain passed through the evening but calmed down by bedtime.

Once again, we had a brief morning shower before the clouds blew east and away from us. As we motor sailed our way down this more open stretch of the waterway. The wind was our friend most of the day, and we could make good speed most of the day. Today we would be back in our slip in Oriental by early afternoon. We were tied up with power and air conditioning going by 5:00 PM. The jeep started right up and was ready to go, so we went out for a nice comfort food meal.

Now it is time to change modes and get back to getting boat work done while trying to make a few extra bucks. The weekend was mostly spent doing some organizing and catching up on paperwork. The coming weeks will be back to boat work.