We spent a couple of pleasant days in Hampton. The other cruisers were very friendly - we had a nice evening with Tom and Chris on the catamaran POLAR PACER. We also met some interesting people from Denmark on the boat ULITA. Hampton is a great place to walk around. Not only is the town pretty but they have also painted murals on many of the buildings. The public library is about a mile from the docks, and there is a free art museum next door. Bill commented that the buildings did not appear that old, then we read the historical plaques that are scattered all over town. Hampton has managed to come out badly in every single war that even came close to its location. During the Civil War the South burned the entire town to the ground so the North could not take it over.
We left Hampton on Saturday, Oct 16th and headed over to Great Bridge. The short run from Hampton through Norfolk made us have empathy for clothes in a washing machine. The wind was gusting over 30 knots and the seas were the very short steep Chesapeake waves. Adding tugboats, barges, and large ships to the mix made for an interesting day. Happily, after we went through the lock at Great Bridge Scott and Kitty (and a group of other cruisers) had saved us the last space on the free dock. If RONDO was 2 feet longer she would not have fit. Bill did an impressive job of shoe-horning the boat into a very small space. In the afternoon we went to the grocery store with Scott and Kitty and made good use of their new fold up grocery cart to carry the shopping home from the store. Bob and Gail from STAR were also at Great Bridge so we all had dinner together on TAMURE.
On Sunday we headed down the Virginia Cut and anchored out for the night and for the first time this trip inflated the dinghy and rowed over to visit with STAR (Boy have we become marina queens if this is the first time we used the dinghy!).
The next day we tagged along with TAMURE over to Manteo on Roanoke Island where we met some of Scott and Kitty’s friends, Janet and George. Janet not only gave us a professional grade tour of Manteo, but also invited us for dinner.
Tuesday we headed back to the ICW and anchored at Tuckahoe Point, just before the Alligator River-Pungo Canal. The anchorage is in a secluded location in the middle of nowhere and would be very quiet except for the fighter jets doing maneuvers and high speed turns overhead.
Wednesday we headed down the Alligator-River Pungo Canal as the morning mist was rising off the river. We stopped in Bellhaven in the afternoon and walked around then moved over to Pungo Creek to anchor for the night.
Thursday we went to Oriental and anchored next to STAR. TAMURE was at a marina and met up with friends with a car, Pat and Russ from CONSORT. We all went out to eat at a very cool restaurant, the Silos. The restaurant is built inside two old silos. The food was great, the beer was cheap, and the waitress had a good sense of humor about having a large table of cruisers. Before we went out, in the interest of making new friends and keeping old ones, we decided to "shower". I lean out the companionway into the cockpit and Bill washes my hair. Halfway through he asked if I was crying or laughing. I explained I was doing both. I was crying because he has no feeling in his fingertips and he was pulling my hair out by the roots and it hurt, and laughing because I was thinking of all the people who said they were envious.
Friday Pat very kindly drove Kitty, Gail, and myself to the Food Lion - 15 miles away. It was a treat not to have to carry groceries and to have a girls day! In the afternoon Bill and I went for a long walk around town and got back to the town dock just in time to catch ULITA’s lines. The best part about cruising is the people you meet, and keep meeting. In the evening we had a pot-luck at the Sail Craft Marina with TAMURE, STAR, CONSORT, and a couple of other people who keep their boat at the marina.
Saturday we had tentative plans to stay in Oriental for the town pig roast, but the day was too beautiful not to use the boat so we headed to Beaufort, NC. The weather was fantastic - blue sky, no clouds, temperatures in the high seventies, lower eighties. As we were approaching Beaufort we started seeing dolphins. A classic old wooden poweboat with lots of varnish passed us with dolphins playing in the bow wake. Wow! In the afternoon we went for a walk around town and saw the wild ponies on Carrot Island.
(No photos - the internet is too slow today).
No comments:
Post a Comment