To Oriental, NC!

    We left Coinjock on Wednesday and only traveled about 5 miles to a little anchorage, because we knew the Albemarle Sound was going to be calmer the next day. So, we anchored out and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

     Erin and Michael scouted around for a place to take the dog ashore- it was all marsh grass except for a small patch of mud near a duck blind. We wanted to cross the sound early so we got up before dawn, took Tazzie over to the only spot of land within 5 miles of us, then left to cross the sound. 

     We had a nice trip across the sound and made it to a town called Belhaven. The next day we stayed there and our friend Kirk Johnson came and spent the night with us. Belhaven is a really small town, so we just spent the time playing games and visiting with Kirk. We didn't get as much rain as predicted, but a front came through, and our anemometer hit 59 kts (64mph). We're still hoping to validate our anemometer, because that seems really fast. The front that moved through dropped the temperature 20 degrees, so the next morning it was a cold dinghy ride to take Kirk back to shore. 

     We left Belhaven and motor-sailed to Oriental, where we were fortunate enough to get a spot at the town's free dock.  Some good friends of ours, the Edwards, live in Oriental, and provided us with transportation, laundry, and hot showers. Their two daughters, Nicole and Alexis, spent the day with Christine, Erin and Michael, exploring different creeks in the two dinghies. There is a very well-stocked marine consignment store here, and Mom was able to buy a fork. Somehow, she left for a six-month cruise with a family of five, with only four forks. Unfortunately, the only water-heater they had was too big for our boat. Oriental is a great little town, but the frost on the ground this morning reminded us to keep moving south.

Coinjock Marina...

Today we left Great Bridge (Chesapeake, VA) and made our way down the ICW to the Currituck Sound. The sound was very windy- our wind gauge read 40 kts. However, the sound is shallow, so the waves weren't too big. We are staying at a marina tonight, so it's nice to have electricity. My dad had neglected to tell us that we don't have a water heater on our boat, so we are all taking the advantage of the hot showers at the marina.

Erin practicing guitar and Tazzie enjoying the solid land at Coinjock Marina.

Also, my dad put our new boat name (Sheet Music) on the stern of our boat; it looks really nice!

HdG to Solomons Island, to Hampton Roads, to Great Bridge!

Saturday morning we left at about 6:30 - a little later than we were planning on, but we needed the sleep. It was a long, fairly uneventful day. We anchored at Solomons Island at about 8:30. So it was a long day. We weighed anchor Sunday morning at 5 so we could cross the Potomac before the wind picked up for the day. We sailed with the mizzen and the jib but continued to motor as well. At one point the current was with us, so we were going 8.8 - 9.1 knots! That's fast for our boat.

We've only really had one little...adventure, and that was this. (A little background first) While motoring at night, boats are required to have certain lights on called the running lights. The running lights include a red light that is always on the port (left) side, and a green that is on the starboard (right) side. Well, last night, as it was getting dark, my dad turned on the running lights and they weren't working. It's not legal to travel at night without lights, so we pulled into the nearest anchorage to stop for the night. Fortunately, while my dad and I were dropping the anchor, the lights came back on. Since our running lights are on the bow of the boat near the anchor, we think that it was just a loose wire, but we will have to check it out before we travel at night anymore!

We are staying at Great Bridge tonight - it's a free wall right in between the Great Bridge Lock and the Great Bridge bridge! It's not really a marina, but its a free place to tie up your boat! There is also a really good Mexican Restaurant within walking distance! My dad and brother are headed to a grocery store to pick up some fresh produce.

We'll keep you updated as much as we can!

~Erin