Ghouls and Goodbyes

Thursday, October 27

At Tidewater Marina, they are gearing up for a big Halloween Bash on Saturday night.  Some of the boats have already decorated for it!  Ghoulish!

 


 We got up early today, ate breakfast and did the final loads of laundry.  Then, we pumped up the dinghy, emptied the trash, and headed out to the anchorage just outside of the Tidewater Yacht Marina.  No use paying for a marina when we got everything done we needed. We are just putting in time now until we can go to the Ocean Yacht Marina, just up the river, to join the World Cruising Club and start our final preparations for the ARC Caribbean 1500 rally.

We left the dock at 12:05 and anchored in the small bay just out front of Tidewater Marina. The wind is really starting to blow, and the forecast is for gusts up to 20 knots this evening and overnight.  We will stay at the boat to make sure we don't drag anchor.

There is so much boat traffic (tugs, barges, sailboats, power boats, yachts, tankers, Navy ships, etc.) on this river that Carey could sit for hours just watching it all.  The Snowbirds are starting to bunch up here as we all prepare to head south around November first, when the hurricane season officially ends.  Some boats will be going down the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) while others, like us, will be going offshore.

We decided to eat dinner in the cockpit to watch the show.  It was already dark by that time, so we used our handy little Luci Light.


Friday, October 28

We woke up at 6:15 this morning and looked out our back window to see the Sunshine Carnival Cruise Ship behind us.  It was still dark out so we saw a mass of lights.  Very pretty.  We were so close we could even hear them doing their announcements.

 

Then, we heard a clunking noise.  Never a good sound to hear on a boat.  We jumped out of bed to investigate, and found that we were swinging around so much that we were bobbing over a nearby crab pot marker.  As we swung, it slid under our transom, clunking along, and then bobbed out the other side.  We shortened our anchor rode, which put us out of reach for the pesky pot.

Since we were up, we watched the sun rise over Norfolk.  Lovely.

Today, we did more organizing and preparing.  We have to change the oil, oil filter, and fuel filter before we go, along with a bit more engine maintenance, so we got all of that stuff ready to go for when we're at a dock.  It's easier to do at a dock, because nothing ever goes as planned, and we may need something right in the middle of the job.

Later, we dinghied in to Off Duty II at the marina and went out for dinner.  Dave and Nicki will be starting their journey down the ICW tomorrow, so this is our farewell dinner.  After dinner, we sauntered back to their boat and watched the baseball game (Cleveland Indians vs. Chicago Cubs).  We said our good-byes, but plan to meet up with them in the Bahamas in February or March.  It's sad to say goodbye to our new friends, but we are all excited to start the next step in our adventures.