Waiting on Weather

 We have been waiting on weather in a variety of locations for the last few weeks.  First we waited a couple of days before leaving the dock we were staying at.  Once we had good traveling weather we headed up the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) pushing hard.  Our first day we moved up the waterway, crossed the Pamlico River, traveled through the Alligator/Pungo Canal and anchored for the night about halfway up the Alligator River.  In the morning we pulled anchor planning to cross the Albemarle Sound.  The wind kicked up to 20+ knots and we pulled over to wait for the winds to drop.  The Albemarle Sound is notorious for being extremely rough in high winds.  After a couple of hours the front had moved on and we continued on crossing the Sound and entering the Pasquotank River.  Leaving the Alligator River we had two choices on how to continue, up the North River following the conventional ICW or up the Pasquotank River following the alternate ICW going through the Dismal Swamp Canal.  Due to the heavy boat traffic and problems with bridge and lock maintenance we chose the lesser used Dismal Swamp route.  We bypassed Elizabeth City and found a quiet anchorage next to Goat Island for the night.  In the morning we continued up the river and caught the 11:00 am lock opening, locking up to the canal.  Once out of the lock we continued to the Dismal Swamp Canal Visitors Center dock for the night.  The canal parallels Highway 17 and shares a rest stop/visitors center.  They provide free dockage for boats traveling the canal.  Also at this location is the Dismal Swamp State Park Headquarters and hiking trails.  We stayed an extra day to check out the park and hike several of the trails.  During the day several other boats moved on and others arrived.

The weather forecast was for high winds offshore for the next several days but we were ell protected in the canal.  After staying two days at the visitors center we continued a short way up the canal tying up at another free dock.  This was along the Dismal Swamp Canal hiking and biking trail that was a part of Highway 17 in the past.  Along with the dock the State has also built restrooms for the boaters and hikers/bikers.  It has the added benefit of being far enough away from the highway that it is very quiet and peaceful.  Two other boats joined us at the dock and we stayed for two days relaxing and hiking up the road. 

The weather was still bad offshore so in the morning we made another short move up to the Deep Creek Lock but stopped to tie up to the free dock just before the lock.  We waited at this dock for three days waiting for the weather and winds to improve.  We had several days of rain but were protected from the winds.  While here we were able to visit with my Great-Nephew who is stationed at Fort Eustis for training.  It had been six years since we had last seen him.  The next day Cori's brother delivered a package we had shipped to him and we got a chance to catch up with him.

Finally the weather improved and after spending a week in the Canal we moved into the lock and locked down to continue on to Norfolk.  In the past we have transited the canal in a single day and again two days.  A week to go eighteen miles is almost a record.  After stopping to top off fuel we moved up the Elizabeth River and anchored at Hospital Point in Downtown Norfolk.  The next day it rained and the winds picked up again.  We spent two days at anchorage letting the weather move on then motored down the river and across the James River to anchor outside of Hampton VA.  Yesterday we dinghied into town with two other boats that we had met in the Dismal Swamp to have lunch and beverages.  Today we dinghied to Downtown Hampton to attend the Blackbeard Pirate Festival.  Lots of vendors, food, information and cannons being shot off.  The people dressed in costume were also very entertaining.

This morning the weather forecaster told us that by Monday the weather patterns will change and we have a very good chance to make our run up to Buzzards Bay in New England, a three day offshore passage.  We may have finally gotten the change in the weather everyone traveling North has been waiting for.  Our weather forecaster has been saying that the last six weeks have been very unusual and not typical spring weather.  That is still a couple of days off so we will see how accurate he is.  If this works out we will then pass through the Cape Cod Canal and continue up to Maine.

Obviously we did not make straight runs like this map shows but followed the waterways. This is the map from our Spot Locator showing the locations we stopped along the way.