Leaving DC November 17, 2007

Jupiter’s Smile left the Gangplank Marina in the Washington Channel at 0704 on Saturday, November 17th. Brother Larry was aboard for a short ride down the river and we ate breakfast together as we motored toward Alexandria’s City Dock for a last farewell. Larry climbed onto the dock and watched us go and while gauging the height of our mast and the clearance beneath the Woodrow Wilson Rte I-95, 495 Bridge. We just made it under (with about 25 ft. to spare.)

Stardust had left the day before so that they could dock at Mt. Vernon and tour the mansion and grounds. Unfortunately, after docking and walking White Foot, Jim noticed that the water level was quite shallow. The dockmaster said it was low tide. Jim had checked the tide tables and knew that it was high tide. The dockmaster checked her tables and confirmed that Jim was right. The winds had been strong out of the north for about a day and that blew enough water out of the Potomac to make the depths at the dock too low for Stardust to stay and tour. Rachel had to postpone her eyewitness history lesson, but the dockmaster did grant them three free passes for their next visit, so while it was a big disappointment all was not lost. They anchored off the channel around the corner from Gunston Hall.

So, Saturday Stardust got to sleep in a little bit while Jupiter’s Smile made up the difference in distance by about 10 am. The strong winds of Friday did not continue Saturday so we had to motor the Potomac and since the wind had been blowing water out the previous two days the current was upriver and against us as the river system refilled with the incoming tide. It really didn’t matter as we were underway again with the sun shining and the trees wearing their colorful autumn best setting out for the beginning of a trip of undetermined length, duration and destination. Our objective: wear shorts and sandals again comfortably.

We anchored for the night out of the channel near Fredricksburg just past the town of Dahlgren, VA. Next day we made the Chesapeake Bay rounding Smith’s Point and putting in up the Great Wicomico River. The wind was expected to pipe up again out of the north again so we wanted good shelter for a good, unworried rest.

On Monday at 0700 the anchors were raised to continue our journey southbound with the goal of reaching Salt Pond Marina just off the Chesapeake near the town of Hampton, VA and the home of friends we made in the Bahamas, Jim and Pat Wharry (S/V Shamrock). Once out into the Bay the 10 –15 mph winds were blowing 20 – 25 knots (knots=mph x 1.15) with gusts higher. The highest gust was 32.2 knots. It was a following wind and I took the opportunity to rig our brand new whisker pole to our genoa and we surfed the 3 – 4 foot waves on a run. Credit for the 7.9 knot speed goes to David Breasted who helped me with the purchase and rigging of the whisker pole and fittings. David is a long time experienced sailor and a selfless gentleman who gave me means to acquire the pole along with guidance, transportation and friendship. If not for David our little boat would never have been able to run a close to rumbline course and would have had to jibe several times to keep our sails filled like Stardust had to do. Jim did this so expertly. Stardust was faster and Jupiter’s Smile was straighter so we arrived at our destination at almost the same time.

The “almost” was due to a huge pod of dolphin that surrounded our boat toward the end of the journey. Between thirty and forty young, old, great and small animals played around us on all quarters. Several jumped clear of the water from time to time, all took turns riding our bow wave and while Barb and I took turns on deck to get a close look, they took turns swimming alongside the boat turning on their sides and even on their backs to get a look at us. We enjoyed their company for about an hour and we delayed starting our engine to head towards the marina’s entrance channel until we got into shallower water and the playful critters departed on their own before the sound of the engine could annoy them. I will put photos on the blog site as soon as I can.

Jim and Pat were at the dock to welcome us warmly. We felt wonderful seeing them again and as we walked to their lovely condominium I was impressed by the facilities. Their condominium overlooks the marina docks looking westward and one can see the Chesapeake and Hampton Roads from the stairway looking northeast through southeast.
We talked about what we had all done since we left them in the Bahamas sharing stories and good times. We all went out for Italian Food and continued the good times into the night. Next day, Jim Wharry took the women to the grocery store while I caught up on business issues. That afternoon, we all sat down to a fabulous early Thanksgiving turkey dinner. Jim and Pat treated us so well and we appreciate their kindness and hospitality. Leftovers left with us on Wednesday along with their love.

We motored into Hampton Roads and up the Elizabeth River between Norfolk and Portsmouth underway along with Naval warships, huge container ships, an oil tanker, a coal carrier, several tugs and homeland security vessels. We stopped for fuel and a pump out and then we were on our way again to run the gauntlet of bridge openings and a lock passage to anchor south of Coinjock, VA and just off the ICW at the mouth of Broad Creek. Along the way the VHF radio warned of gale force winds later as the 70-degree temperatures of the last few days would be replaced by cold air from the north.

Barb made cookies and her signature holiday dressing and we dinghyed over to Stardust for Thanksgiving dinner. Jim gave me an article to read. It was from the late 1800’s about a British couple and their skipper sailing on vacation around the Florida coast. Back aboard Jupiter’s Smile I began to read and at 2200, just as I read about the sailors in peril off a lee shore, the wind (almost calm until then) blasted us with a 33-knot wall of air. The boat pivoted 120 degrees and the wave action began to build, but it gave the boat a gentle motion riding on the substantial amount of anchor chain we had deployed in preparation for this weather event. Thank you National Weather Service for this warning. I continue to marvel at all the institutions and services available to place aids to navigation, dredge waterways, lift huge bridges, operate locks, notify us of weather, and the private enterprises that allow us to safely sail the coast of our wonderful country.

The strong winds blew all night and have continued all day unabated at over 20 knots as I write now. We used those winds to sail from last night’s anchorage to another about 20 miles away and off the shore of Kitty Hawk in Currituck Sound. We are exposed to the wind and the chop of the sound in about 6.5 feet of water just south of the bridge, anticipating the opportunity to join the Lee’s for a day in their timeshare at Kitty Hawk. They have not gone ashore yet either, because the wind is too strong and they would be spray soaked or worse before they landed their dinghy. So tonight we are both anchored firmly and the anchor alarm is set just in case. We are running more electronics than we usually do, but the wind generator will easily keep up with our consumption through the night. The wind is forecast to drop below 10 mph after midnight and we go ashore tomorrow.