We had a week of nice weather. A light breeze on the way down to Norfolk and some perfect beam winds along the way back.
Jackson got a bit of helm time in as we let the autopilot take a rest. He just finished completing the Virginia Boating Safety class and received is Boating License prior to this trip. He got to get some experience to back up his bookwork skills.
Heading down past the Naval Base towards the Dismal Swamp you pass by most of the US Navy Atlantic Fleet. We were lucky to watch a submarine pass by. Normally the subs are fairly hidden behind the security fencing along the piers.
It was a smooth trip down the Dismal Swamp canal. We did have to carefully pass a couple of northbound vessels. The tricky hazard in the canal is the overhead tree branches. You have to be extra careful picking your passing spot and watching up as you pass by other boats not getting too far over into the overhanging trees. We collected a few twigs along the upper shroud, but no damage to the instruments at the mast top.
From Deep Creek Lock its about 4-5 hrs to get down to the Visitors Center which is just past the North Carolina state line. We made it all the way down without any "bumps" on submerged logs along the way. We did see a couple trees that had come down in Spring storms that still hadn't been cleared, but they were not blocking more than half the canal allowing clear passage.
The Visitors Center and the Nature Center were both closed due to COVID, but the walkways were open. Sue, Rivah and Jackson and I went for a long walk through the woods and along the raised nature trail. We saw and laughed at the sign about ticks but didnt understand the importance of the sign until we finished the walk and checked ourselves. We pulled at least 20 ticks off EACH of us, not just the dog. We have never seen that many ticks before. They must have just had a swarming or something. We checked again at the end of the day before heading to bed and found one or two more we had missed.
It was soon time to head back to Virginia and take advantage of the upcoming southerly winds to blow us back up the Bay. Back up the canal and through the Deep Creek lock. This time Robert was working and he treated us to his stories of the Canal and some Conch horn blowing. We're glad we got to see Robert again as were learned that unfortunately he died unexpectedly a couple months later from a heart attack. We'll miss his coffee and doughnuts get-togethers he would host for the boats that stayed the night at the Deep Creek Lock free docks.
As we headed north up past the Naval Station we watched a fog bank roll in from the northeast. One minute it was clear blue skies an unlimited visibility and the next it was down to less than 100 yards. Fortunately we had seen this tanker at anchor before the fog enveloped him. It was a very eerie look to see the big hull looming out of the fog. We got to use our radar and fog signals as we decided to do a bit of sailing off to the west of the channel and anchorage area waiting for the fog to clear before we continued north into the Chesapeake (and shipping channels).
The trip back up the bay was a great sail with winds on the beam building to 20kts, perfect weather for our Island Packet. We were zooming north at 7+kts and at one point making 7.8kts in a strong gust. The winds were bringing in some stormy weather so we decided to head for our home waters and anchor in the Chisman Creek for a couple days.
Anchoring in the creek with some wind and rain forecasted was a good opportunity to try out our anchoring riding sail that Sue had just finished making. Jackson and I hoisted it up on the starboard backstay. I have to say it really doesnt do all that much but I suppose it slightly cuts down on the boat sailing at anchor. It doesnt stop the sailing completely though, so not worth spending a lot of money or time on. I think the sail kit was about 69$.
More important training for Jackson was learning to tie a Rolling Hitch that we use to attach our snubber line to the anchor chain rode. The snubber is very important when anchoring in windy and wavy conditions to allow some stretch in the anchor rode. I've tried all different types of hooks and shackles, all of which seem to come off in rough conditions, and have settled on just using the Truckers Hitch. Its important to get it tied securely though or it can also slip in strong winds.
Following the frontal passage, the next day was clear and sunny conditions. Jackson got to practice his small boat skills driving the dinghy around Chisman Creek.
Overall, it was a very successful trip. All had a great time and stayed COVID safe.
