Day One - Success!

Other than being a little cold this morning, we had perfect conditions for our first day heading south. No wind, light traffic and calm seas was the case for the entire trip. We are anchored in Mill Creek off of Ingram Bay which is near Reedville and just south of the Potomac River. Previous trips across the mouth of the Potomac have been a little lumpy, but today the water was as glassy as could be. Hope it is that way on the return trip. If there was any excitement, it was dodging all of the crabpot markers as we came into this anchorage. The floats marking the crabpots were all over and we were dodging them right and left. The reward was a beautiful and quiet anchorage. It should be a pleasant night.

We got an early start, pulling out of the slip at 7:45am. The header picture was taken at sunrise which was very colorful. We had a few tasks, including stowing our dock lines and shore power extension cord in the dock box. Martha held the boat in the slip after all the lines were thrown, as I wrapped them up. The combination lock for the dockbox was being stubborn and wouldn't lock, so I had to jump back on the boat to get some WD-40 before getting it to lock properly. Why do things happen like this. It worked all season! Once everything was in the dockbox and locked up, I jumped on the boat and we pulled out. We were the last boat still on D Dock, as the others had already started their trip south or had been hauled out for the winter. It is now like a ghost town. The rest of the boats in the marina will be gone in the next couple of weeks.

When we took the previous Encore South in 2020, we dealt with crazy fog conditions on our first day. Today was almost the exact opposite. A little cloudy, but very clear on the water. We saw few boats on the Bay, mostly commercial vessels, but a few private boats heading south as well as one or two going north. I wanted to hail them on the radio and let them know they are going the wrong way.

We have made a reservation at the marina in Cape Charles, VA for tomorrow night.  This is an Eastern Shore town that we have not yet had a chance to visit. We will spend one night there before entering the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway (AICW) in Norfolk and most likely stopping at the iconic Coinjock Marina. More adventure awaits.