37:15.3858N 076:28.6002W

Thursday August 12, 2010 9:30PM

So we are finally in the Chesapeake. Where we stopped in Portsmouth VA was about a half mile before mile marker zero of the intercoastal waterway so I didn’t consider us officially in the Chesapeake. Today we motored by the Norfolk Naval Base. We missed seeing the carrier CVN 74 - Harry Truman leave it’s berth, but we did see CVN 69 – Dwight D Eisenhower and CVN 77 – George Bush . In this picture the Ike is in the middle, the Bush is in the background and in the front is a helicopter carrier. Technically it’s LHA1 – Tarawa.

It you’re wondering what is on the bow of the Tarawa here is a close up

It’s a V-22 Osprey. Vertical takeoff, 225 knots cruise speed, in flight refueling, a helicopter pilot’s dream– I was born too soon. I did spend several weeks on CVN-69.

So after leaving Norfolk we continued north to the York river. We are now across the river from Yorktown VA. Our plan as of Thursday night is to do some boat repair stuff, walk through Yorktown, perhaps catch a bus to the Yorktown battlefield and then move on. If we follow today’s plan we’ll be leaving Sunday for Deltaville. All plans are subject to change.

We have finally run into a bit of rain. This is not our first encounter but it’s been a while. One thing I’ve discovered, nothing takes a person from a deep sleep to wide awake faster than sleeping under an open hatch when it starts to rain. This is not a situation that can be fixed by rolling over and pulling the sheet over your head. Since the hatch over the bunk is open, chances are several other large water gathers are also open. The fire drill that follows, as two people, wearing what people do when sleeping in hot weather, bounce off each other as they close all the boat’s openings, is not a pretty sight. (No pictures available.)

We have been using a wireless card to connect to the internet. I’m glad I have it. Most places we’ve stayed have had WiFi, but the connections have been iffy at best. Today as we headed up the Chesapeake the card proved its worth. There were several storms in the Bay and with the wireless card we were able to stay connected to the internet and watch the storms progress via the local weather radar, something our radar alone couldn’t do. I could see the storm’s track and intensity and adjust our track to miss the worst of it. I’m gonna miss that when we go south.