First Day Out

Woke up early, both anxious to get going and anxious to see what the day would bring.  The forecast was for northeast winds at 10 to 15 knots.  We were going straight into the teeth of the gale, or so I imagined.  Actually it wasn’t bad at the Hampton Yacht Club: light wind and beautiful sunny morning.  Without an excuse not to, we set off.

As recommended by my mentor, Frank Wiegand, I started out the cruise jumping in and out of the engine room, looking for any problems.  No problems.  The packing gland on the propeller shaft wasn’t dripping, so I loosened it.  Then it dripped too much so I tightened it.  It kept me busy in the first half of the trip.  But things “down there” were going well.

The first third of the trip started out bumpy – 2 to 3 foot waves on the nose.  The boat and its contents handled the rocking horse ride fine.  Then around Yorktown light house it settled down.  We were forging on to Deltaville.  Then we thought about visiting Pete and Sue in Onancock and steered right about twenty degrees and headed there.  58.5 miles and 9 hours later we tied up to the wharf in Onancock and Pete and Sue picked us up.  We saw Pete’s new garage filled with stuff and then had dinner at the Blarney Stone restaurant.  Nice evening.

Tomorrow, Jackson Creek in Deltaville if we don’t come up with a better idea.  And my birthday.