Eight Days and Counting!

The days leading up to it and the weekend before Halloween were some of the nicest days of the year on the Chesapeake Bay. The winds were quiet and the days and nights were very comfortable. We spent one night in St. Michaels and then another on anchor on the Wye River. Those that had not yet put their boats away for the winter were rewarded for their patience.............or procrastination. We were able to enjoy being outside on the boat without heat, humidity or bugs. Air conditioning and heat were not necessary. What a delight!

This was one more opportunity for us to accustom ourselves to the boat and her many systems before the big trip, and remind ourselves of how enjoyable it can be out on the water. Martha's cousin joined us and had the best of conditions for his visit. We were able to use the newly installed AIS transceiver and get used to the additional information it provides. I feel a lot more comfortable having the ability to see other boats on AIS, but more importantly, that they can see us. We had quite a bit of fog to contend with on our last trip south. We could always see other boats sending an AIS signal, but being able to send our own AIS signal will give us a little more peace-of-mind during restricted visibility situations. Being in the vicinity of those big commercial vessels can make life a little scary when visibility is restricted. They are required to have AIS and hopefully we will be more visible to them now.

Last week was a project week and included the installation of a toilet brush holder (I know it doesn't seem like much, but it helps with small bathroom organization), removal of a toilet from the crew quarters which is used strictly for storage, and reorganizing that area, storing the old anchor in the forward locker and purchasing an anchor rode for it to use as a spare. We organized and reorganized the pantry area to try and make the best use of our limited storage spaces and removed a number of items from the boat that we will not need on this trip. Fuel tanks were filled and the holding tank was pumped out. Good ways to start a long trip.

We have completed the meal prep at home, frozen enough meals for most of the trip and finished food provisioning except for the fresh items that we will get right before we depart. Tomorrow we take the last big load of food and make a stop at the wine store on the way. The goal is to have just a small load when we leave the house next week.

Since we are within the ten day window, I am watching the weather carefully and hoping that we have a couple of good days to get down the Bay. We need to get past the Potomac River on the first day, and that can be choppy. It was actually ok the last few times we have gone by that area. Cape Charles will be the destination for day two, as we have not visited there before. We will be going through Norfolk and then Currituck Sound on day three, which had very sporty conditions and a lot of traffic on our last trip. We're hoping for better conditions this time. Day four will see us going through the Albemarle Sound which has been known to be pretty rough in certain weather conditions.

Beyond planning where you would like to be, it is hard to make definitive arrangements when you know that weather conditions can change it all. Hope for the best, plan for the worst is the way we approach. Knowing what awaits us is what makes it worthwhile.

This will be the end of the 2023 Season blog. The next entries will be in our ICW Fall 2023 blog. Looking forward to the adventure.