Out of the Chesapeake
AJAYA'S CRUISE
Phil & Nikki Hoskins
Sat 30 Oct 2010 21:44
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36:30.40N, 76:21.36W
We motored the 30 odd miles from Herrington to Solomons which
wasn't a disaster as the batteries needed a good charge and staying in
Solomons for a few days waiting for decent weather gave us a chance to
stock up on some 'goodies' from Woodburns Gourmet supermarket.
From there down to Deltaville we had a great sail with the log
reading a maximum boat speed of 9.3 knots. With flat seas Ajaya revelled in the
strong winds from behind the beam and for a while every time we looked at
our boat speed it was well above 7 knots. This with full fuel and water tanks
too. A clean bottom was certainly a help achieving these speeds.
After a night at Deltaville we were rewarded with a
beautiful sunrise...........
  A beautiful sunrise at
Deltaville
and moonset -these two tugs are often to be seen tied up there
............but we paid the price for the great sail from the
previous day. Headwinds of up to 20 knots found us slamming into strong
southerly winds that were forecast to get even stronger the following day
which is why we chose to leave that morning. Fortunately they eased off as we
closed with Norfolk where we ended up in the middle of a mass of racing boats
tacking all over the place. We were now out of the Chesapeake.
Norfolk approach as always was busy with outgoing
commercial shipping mingling with incoming warships and us trying to keep out of
everybody's way. If you don't then somebody will soon be on the radio to you!
  We kept well away from
this!
The newly re-developed waterfront at Norfolk pictured from our
anchorage
We didn't quite get the tide time correct at Old Point Comfort
and ended up battling an ebb tide making the 5 miles or so seem like 10.
We finally anchored off Hospital Point overshadowed by the gigantic cruise ship
'Carnival Glory' which was about to embark on a 'Cruise to Nowhere' for 24
hours. From the loud cheering from the balconies onboard you would have
thought it was off to the Caribbean. It then executed a complete 360 degree turn
in the Elizabeth River (fascinating to watch) before gliding off into the night,
the onboard nightclubs probably already heaving with young
revellers.
  Carnival Glory (952ft) off on her 'cruise to
nowhere' quickly replaced by the Crown Princess
(951ft) - it was busy at Norfolk cruise ship
terminal
We treated ourselves to 4 nights in Waterside Marina in
Norfolk, partly to wait out bad weather, with the east coast being hit with the
worst storm in many years coming out of the mid west and partly to indulge in
some retail therapy in the vast shopping mall in downtown Norfolk.
Whilst in Waterside another cruise ship, the 'Crown Princess' paid a short visit
which gave us another 360 degree turnaround spectacle which attracted large
crowds. We also searched for dreaded Stink Bugs in our aft cockpit
locker where we keep our diving equipment. We'd put this job off for a week or
so fearing it would be alive with the damn things - body count was around 30! We
especially checked the snorkels!
We left Norfolk and headed into the Great Dismal Swamp
crossing from Virginia into North Carolina and stopped at the N.Carolina visitor
centre in the canal where we rafted alongside an Island Packet. It's just like
the Folly at Cowes only with more mosquitoes. It was a warm sultry night
but we were due a weather change overnight with the arrival of a cold
front.
  You can see ahead for miles on the dead straight
Dismal Swamp Canal with trees in their early autumn beauty & in the lock
at South Mills we see that we have not too far to
go!!!!
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