Day 2 - Windlass - "Everything on your boat is broken, you just don't know it yet."

It is now apparent that this adventure will present us a new challenge each day. Flexibility and ingenuity will be called for regularly. I just heard the above quote the other day, and I completely believe it.

Our anchorage in Fishing Bay was really nice, but that didn't keep me from waking up every hour or so to check and make sure we weren't dragging into another boat. The night went well and we just moved back and forth with the wind. The waves lapping on the hull were a little loud, but we're on the water, so it has to be expected. The sky was clear and we could see a lot of stars.

Fog moved in during the night and was so thick we couldn't see the houses on the shoreline. It cleared out before sunrise and finally looked promising for a clear day after many days of thick morning fog.
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After an uneventful breakfast and morning routine, we prepared to leave the anchorage and head over to the very convenient fuel dock at Fishing Bay Marina. It was about 400 yards away. Very convenient and we were anticipating a quick getaway. As usual, I bring up the anchor as Martha takes the helm. We knew we were going to have to take special care since we had deployed so much rode. There is a splice where the chain meets the anchor rode and it doesn't go through the windlass easily. I fed it through by hand, got the anchor up to the bow, but all of sudden the windlass loosened up and deployed all of the chain and some nylon rode. After many attempts to get it to work, we realized that a metal part of the windlass was broken in three pieces. We think this was left over from a previous windlass problem and today was the day it decided to break completely. We tried to think of how we could get the anchor up, but nothing seemed promising. Martha contacted our service technician at Chesapeake Yacht Center, and thankfully he answered the phone (Our apologies Justin for bothering you on a Saturday morning, but we are so grateful!!!) He suggested we tape the pieces together and put it back in the windlass since it works by friction. Martha did a great taping job with Monster Tape, put it back in the windlass and tightened it down. We brought the chain up slowly and had success. Yeah!! The anchor was up and secure. We will deal with the repair along the way when we get to a place with a good repairman. We will also need to deal with the poor design and perhaps eliminate the nylon rode that caused the problem in the first place. Will probably go to all chain.

We headed over to the fuel dock, filled up the tanks and headed south to Norfolk. It was beautifully sunny and mild. As we got the mouth of the Piankatank River we came across another sailing regatta. We found our path through all of the sailboats and made out way to clear water. It wasn't as calm as yesterday, but there was no fog. We had to slow down a few times when the water got rough, but still made good time getting into Norfolk. We just missed the departure of an aircraft carrier, but we could see the dominant silhouette in the distance. There was a little traffic through the Norfolk harbor, both pleasure and commercial. We passed all of the Navy ships and eventually found our way into Waterside Marina. Glad to tie up tonight rather than being at anchor. It is not overly crowded here with boats or people. I think COVID is keeping many away.

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We head to Coinjock, NC tomorrow, about 50 miles away. We have already met one boat here that is heading there tomorrow as well. There are probably more. I expect a caravan  down the ICW. Coinjock's claim to fame is the prime rib dinner. I plan to get one of those and I'll let you know how it is.