I'm going to dash this off since I have the luxury of free wi-fi at the Tidewater Marina in Portsmouth, VA. We need to scurry out of here by 8 a.m. to make the first bridge opening along our route through 'the ditch' of the Intra Coastal Waterway. The next two days will be, or should be, relatively easy. None of the crew aboard Alleluia have traveled this route before so it'll be new to all. My goal is to get a coffee cup in the Great Dismal Swamp Visitors Center.
Beth Newbold and her husband, Pat Winkler, are simply awesome sailors and friends. Upon arrival Beth quickly realized the piece of canvas that attaches to the new 'dodger' (probably called that because it helps dodge the rain?) needed to have a zipper changed out. She immediately set to work with needle and thread and attached it while underway. As the storm broke, she and Pat were able to get it in place and it was a welcome relief.
Most of the folks on this blog list or on Facebook likely have not done much sailing and this trip may seem too scary. But boats like this are built to withstand all kinds of weather and when properly maintained, it's safer to be aboard a boat in a storm than a lot of places. You EXPERIENCE the weather more so, but if you take proper precautions, it's a good place to be. And there's just nothing quite like seeing the night sky on a wide-open bay light up with every lightening strike.
Richard says, sailboats are safe in the harbor, but that's not what sailboats are for.
A metaphor for life, me thinks.
You'd be amazed by how many people not only do this regularly, but are nomadic live-aboards who travel from port to port, stopping in one place just long enough to get a short-term job and fill up their cruising kitty. I understand the appeal.
As long as there's wi-fi, of course.
Other followers of the intrepid Alleluia Four may find this story of of the Dismal Swamp Canal interesting. Alix and I drove the highway that parallels the canal a couple of years ago, and I wish I had known how significant it was in the nation's history. (The usual caveats apply about the veracity of anything on Wikipedia. That said, I think it's surely "directionally correct.")
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismal_Swamp_Canal
First Mate Julie & Captain Richard: Sounds like you're having a great time. Where's Dismal Swamp in regards to Norfolk?
ReplyDeleteTonight, toss down a gin & tonic for me.
Tom Morrow