2022-10-02 Back in the water - Sailing south in a gale - Its cold - watch out for debris

The boat went back in the water on Tuesday.  We got all our projects done except painting the boom, but we can do that one in the water later if we still want.

Always very nerve racking to watch the boat in the travel lift moving.

Safe and sound back in the water

They could not get the mast on until the next day.  We ended up painting the entire mast.

Painted mast ready to go

The next day, we had to move the boat to another dock to install the mast.  When Kris went to back out the boat went forward - UH OH.   Kris felt pretty stupid, realizing that she must have put the props on wrong sides.  She was so careful to label, but something must have gotten switched.   She did a good job moving the boat thinking "backwards" to bring it to the dock.    The mast wasn't quite ready, so she went into troubleshooting mode to figure out what to do.   When the mast came, it was all hands on deck to get it back on the boat safely.   The first time, had an issue, as the yard had not checked to make sure the shrouds were properly seated at the top, so had to take it back down, set the shrouds properly, and then back up.   All went smooth the second time.

Mast going up

After the mast was on, we still had a lot of work to do, to reinstall the boom, run all the rigging, and put the jib back on.   Dean got to work on that, and Kris worked on switching the shifter cables, so when you pushed the throttle forward, you would actually go forward and not reverse.  A couple of hours work, and we were ready to go.

Worton Creek Marina from our stern, on our way.

We had some bad weather coming, so we decided to just head south fast, and go overnight south to Mobjack Bay.  We knew we would have some high winds, but no rain, and it was all downwind.  Started with 8 knots, and full sails, and by the end we were at 35 knots with bare poles.   Made good time, and other than it being very cold, was a good trip.

When Dean is bundled up - then you know it is cold.  He had on sweats and socks and shoes!  Kris had double layers below the belt, and 4 layers on top plus scarf and gloves!

Had a little friend hitch a ride during the worst of the wind

Trying to stay out of the wind

The Chesapeake Bay looked more like the ocean, with 6' waves.  

We made it into the East River in northern Mobjack Bay in the morning, cleaned up, had a nap, and then went in and visited our friends on Bedouin, who were on the hard doing boat work.  We may not see them again, as they are heading to the South Pacific, so it was good to stop.  The wind kept blowing strong all day, but only around 15 to 20 in our anchorage.  We were quite comfy and treated to a beautiful sunset.

Beautiful sunset in East River, north Mobjack Bay

Next day we just stayed put, as winds still were high, and it rained hard all day, while hurricane Ian went by.  Boat got a nice rinse getting all the salt off, and we had a good boat day decompressing form the last month of being very busy.

October 1st, we left with light winds, and motored down to Norfolk.   

Back to Norfolk

Had nice sunny day for once, and we were back in shorts.   Deans bruise looking better

Deans hematoma from the hospital visit.

Had  friendly duck stop by, and Kris could not help but give him a little bread

Friendly Mallard in Norfolk.

This morning at anchor we were bumped into by a orange plastic road barrier, and we can see some large chunks of wood heading our way.  Hurricane and Tropical Storm Ian that has passed will make going south a bit of a obstacle course, so we will have to keep our eyes open.

Hope it did not leave a mark on our freshly buffed and waxed boat.

Today we will go fuel up, and then head down the Dismal Swamp further south.  Winds should be up to 25 knots from the North tomorrow, but the Dismal is well protected, so will probably not even notice.